"What the hell was that?" General Hagar shouted. The group was assigned to the United States Embassy in London while they got debriefed. Elena was being hovered by Johnny, he constantly asked if she was okay and each time she said that she was.

"We'll make adjustments. Next time we'll be ready," Reed said as he glanced at Johnny who ducked his head from meeting his gaze.

"Next time? There's no next time," the General spat, "You can't handle this alone. That's why I'm bringing in some help."

"Who could possible help?" Elena asked as she still felt iron on her tongue. Johnny reached to take her hand but stopped short, "Who will help you if not us? Who has the experience in this that we don't?"

"You bring in more soldiers and weaponry, you're gonna put innocent people in danger!" Reed stated.

"No more than you already have," a voice said, "And, my dear Elena, you should know that by now."

Victor Von Doom waltzed out of the doorway. Elena's eyes significantly widened as her entire form shook while changing her skin to diamond. She backed up so much that she stumbled into the circular table and she still shook. Johnny looked at her with concern before glaring at Victor.

"No," she whispered.

"Victor," Reed said, not believing the sight before him.

Victor laughed, a sound that sent Elena into a state of trembling, "What's the matter? Afraid of ghosts?"

Ben roared and charged like a bull before pinning Victor to the concrete wall behind him. Elena closed her eyes, almost in pain before gripping the table so hard it started to crack.

One of the General's soldiers raised their gun, cocking it and aiming it at Ben, it was Danny. Elena's eyes quickly sparked with anger as she set the metal on fire, causing him to drop it.

"Since you're a ghost, you won't mind if I break your little neck," Ben growled making Victor's face contort.

"Let him go," the General ordered.

"Don't you know who that is?!" Johnny asked which made Elena flinch ever more.

"It's Victor Von Doom; he's here under my orders."

"Ben, let him go," Reed said. Ben looked at him then moved as Victor dropped slightly with a cough, "How is this possible? How are you still alive?"

"No thanks you you five, that's for certain," he bit back as he brushed invisible dirt off his jacket.

"Von Doom's made contact with the alien. He's got valuable information," the General stated.

"Information that might just help save the planet," Victor walked forward, his eyes locking with Elena's who was slowly becoming more and more flight risky, "Now, let's be clear about this, shall we?" he paused, "I hate you," Elena gritted her teeth slightly, "All of you."

"Feeling's mutual," she growled.

"But for the world's stake and… We need need to work together to survive."

"General, we know firsthand - you trust Victor, and you're gonna regret it," Reed stated as he stole a glance to the General.

"Never trusted him," Elena whispered making Johnny glance over at her, she was still in diamond form.

"So far the only one I've regretted trusting here is you, Richards."

Elena felt a slight stab and winced, something Victor caught, "Reed, don't agree to this," Ben pleaded.

Reed glanced around his team then focused on Victor, "Let's see what he's got."

"I made a detailed recording of our little encounter."

"All that you know is at an end," the Surfer stated. Energy beamed through his arms and shot into Victor.

"Well?"

Ben stepped beside Victor, "I like the part where he knocks you on your ass," Johnny and the rest of the team struggled to suppress their laughs, except Elena. She was lost in her own mind, in diamond form, next to Johnny.

"Look at where the energy levels surge when he attacks me," the clip rewinded to all everyone to see what Victor meant, "There. See what happened?"

The General sat up, "The energy was channeled through him but it originated from his board," Reed stated.

"If we can separate him from the board we can cut off his power completely," Victor's plan made Elena flinch.

"And that's what we have to do," the General demanded.

"How?" Johnny asked.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't need you people, would I?" Victor snapped back.

"You three should get started right away."

"No," Elena firmly stated making the General pause and turn to the diamond girl.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she growled as she stood, "No. I am not working with him."

"You don't have any choice, you're working with Von Doom."

Her eyes narrowed, "I'm not working with him," she pointed to Victor, "Because the last time I was in the same lab as him," her skin was tightening, "He drugged me, kidnapped me, tortured me mentally AND physically and then tried to kill me, along with my team!"

"Elena, you should do this," Danny stated making her widen her eyes at him.

Johnny suddenly knew why she didn't bring up her time with Victor, she was still suffering from it, "Find yourself someone else," she looked at the General, "If he was any other man," she took one step closer to the General making Danny reach for his gun, "You would gladly put a bullet in his head," with that she left.

Victor just smirked, "I'm glad we have the opportunity to collaborate again. I'll try to talk slowly so you can keep up," Victor patted Reed's shoulder before leaving.

Sue immediately looked to her brother, "Johnny."

The blonde simply nodded before running after Elena. At first he didn't know exactly how to find her, or know if he could even find her. That was until he saw some of the military people nervously look at a door before rushing past it. Johnny looked at it and saw the sign saying: Ladies Room. Course she picked the most obvious places to hid in.

Slowly Johnny pushed the door open, carefully listening to the sounds coming from inside of the bathroom. Then he heard it. Soft sobs and clinking diamonds. Peaking his head in, he didn't see her at first, but when he stepped through, he felt as if his whole world had shattered.

Elena Brighton was sitting under the sinks curled up in a ball, crying in her diamond form as the ground around her changed into the clear gem.

"Elena," Johnny whispered causing her head to snap up in fright and push herself into the wall. She stopped seeing that it was Johnny and all of her defences fell as she cried harder into her knees. Immediately he sat next to her, wanting to reach out and take her in his arms.

Stay back…before you get someone killed.

Reed's words were haunting him. He didn't mean any harm. It just happened. Too busy thinking he didn't realize that Elena had moved closer to him, to the point of barely touching.

"Talk to me, Glow," Johnny whispered, "Please?"

He saw her shake harder before taking a deep breath as she looked up, "I still remember it like it was yesterday."

Johnny looked at her with orange eyes making her slightly step back, he shot another fireball, this time at Elena. Moving her arm up to shield her face it collided with her bare skin. Elena's diamond skin couldn't protect her from Johnny's flame, not when it was intentionally used to harm her. A scream ripped from her throat as she gripped her arm, the smell of burning flesh filling her nose.

Johnny's eyes widened in horror when he realized what he had done. His stomach sinking when he saw her face contorted in pain, pain he caused. She cradled her burnt arm, a whimper electing from her lips whenever she moved. Reed appeared at her side, gently taking her arm to see the damage. His face paled when he saw how bad it was.

Elena flinched as her nightmare continued to torture her mind. The drug Reed gave her was strong. Making her oblivious to the world around her. Oblivious to Victor Von Doom approaching her, with a collar making of the same metal as his skin. Leonard held the remote for the collar, to raise the electricity levels as he pleased.

"Johnny," she whispered in her sleep, flinching ever so slightly. Victor smirked at her diamond covered form as he pulled out the needle filled with a hallucinating and intoxicating drug. He nodded to Leonard who grabbed his phone to play the recording.

"Elena?" Johnny's voice came out from the device, "Elena?" those two sounds of his voice made the diamonds vanish, leaving Elena laying on a table in her Fantastic Five suit. Victor smirked before plunging the syringe into the soft neck of hers. Grey eyes snapped open as she pushed him back. Her hands ripping out the needle before reaching for SOMETHING to throw at Victor. She managed to grab a microscope and chucked it at him before reaching for a few other things with her wind, they formed immediately to diamond.

"Elena, let's talk about this," Victor warned as he smirked, seeing her stumble slightly while shaking her head.

"What did you do?" her words were slightly slurring together, "Victor?"

Before she could react her body swayed and Victor caught her, but not before he clasped the collar onto her neck.

"He had that assistant of his drag me back to his building, place me in the genetics lab. I've never felt a drug like that before," Elena whispered as Johnny looked at her in shock.

"What happened next?" he asked, dreading the answer.

Elena struggled to wake up, but then snapped to attention when she realized she couldn't move her arms, legs or neck, "What the—?"

"Like them?" a dark, sickening voice cooed to Elena as she furiously looked around, she was in a lab, much fancier than Reed's. Suddenly a light filled the room from a screen in front of her.

"Victor?" she whispered as a feeling of dread sank into her stomach.

"I hope you don't mind," his metal face appeared before her, this looked like a recording, but she couldn't be sure, "I needed to borrow you from the….team," Elena furiously pulled at her restraints only to have them slightly crack her skin, forcing her into diamond form.

"Where am I?" she demanded harshly, but the drug he gave her was strong. Things were blurring from her memories and she had to shake her head clear to look at Victor Von Doom.

"Safe…for now," Victor's voice made her skin crawl as she watched him, no guilt or remorse where in his eyes, only pure evil, "Unlike your dear uncle."

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" Elena screamed as she felt tears come to her eyes. Suddenly a burst of energy came through her restraints making her scream in agony.

"I gave him what he always wanted," Victor purred, "Normalcy," Elena's eyes widened as she saw a image of her uncle, struggling out of the chamber Reed was building, human, no longer an orange rock man, "But unfortunately, the rest cannot have that."

She let out another scream as she was electrocuted, "What do you mean?" she softly asked as tears came down her face, she was shaking. In fear. In pain. In vulnerability.

"Reed, well, he's gonna feel hell, freeze over on him," he showed an unconscious Reed, hooked up to a freezing machine, "Sue. Now Sue, she has a choice. You or me," she could practically see him smiling.

"Sue will NEVER choose you!" Elena screamed out in anger but another douse of energy was sent through her system.

"I plan on that," Victor smiled, "So I'm going to rip out her heart, slowly, intimately, before handing it over to Reed as he takes his last frozen breaths."

Elena gasped when her head felt a sharp pain, almost seeing what was happening to them in the future if Victor got his way, "You'll never get away with this," she said with so much emotion in her voice, she swore she was back in her old apartment, with her dead parents on the floor.

"You, I will save, making you change anything I want into diamonds. You will be my own slave."

"People will come for me, you know that and so do I. Someone will come," Elena smiled victoriously before it vanished as she remembered her night in the hospital, stitching the area's where her father cut her.

"Yes, Johnny…"

Elena's struggles froze at his name, her body began to shake as she looked at Victor with wide eyes, tan skin coming through. White hair hanging by her cheeks, "No," she breathed, "Please no. Victor. Don't."

Victor didn't pay attention to her as he lifted a heat tracking missile, "He will go out with a bang," he looked Elena dead in the eyes through the screen, "Just like he always wanted."

The screen went black as Elena screamed out. Her chair was turned to look out the windows, towards the Baxter building. Elena screamed in pain as another jolt of electricity went through her body. She struggled in the chair she was held in. Furiously glancing around she saw a familiar initial of a man she despised. V.

"Think, Elena," she whispered to herself before letting out another scream, "Think!"

Suddenly her entire body stopped living as one as she saw a missile fire, "Johnny…"

She saw flames erupt before going through the city with the missiles trail behind it.

Everything was blurring as her childhood came back to her. Shaking her head she hardened her skin, forcing herself to pull on the restraints even harder.

Elena saw an explosion and let out a heart breaking scream, knowing exactly who that missile was tracking. Then she got angry, her diamond skin rubbing against the metal furiously as her body began to heat up.

"I melted the restraints and came to you guys as soon as possible," Elena finished, her eyes down cast on the grey tile floor, "The drug he used on me…made me hallucinate my memories and the present into what he said. Those words….felt real to me," she glanced up at him as tears stained her cheeks, "Then I saw your explosion."

Johnny's mouth dropped open, "And you thought I was dead," she softly nodded before looking at her hands, "Was that what you were dreaming about? What caused all the nightmares?" another nod, "Glow," she didn't look up to him, "Is that why you were avoiding us?"

She slightly nodded her head, "I had to make sure you were real or not…sometimes I can't tell the difference between reality and Victor's drug."

Johnny's eyes softened as he looked at her, "And how do you know?"

She squeezed her eyes shut and slightly laughed, "You call me Glow."

He looked at her in pure shock. Before he could do anything she leaned her head on his shoulder. A shock went through them both, feeling their powers switch. Johnny wrapped his arm around her shoulder slowly, their powers switching back to their original owners and only a small amount of blood tricked down her face.

Her mind was slowly cracking. Her hard diamond mind, cracking into small lines. Slowly becoming unstable, things kept coming into her mind. It hurt and more importantly she saw. Saw images of millions of dying and then her own memories resurfacing, it was like someone was going through her mind like a timeline. Reliving every moment.

They sat like for a while, in complete silence, taking comfort in their own presence. Elena heard the gentle thrum of Johnny's heart, only to have it pick up in speed when they heard Ben calling out for the two of them. She looked up at the door and cringed.

"I don't know if I can face them," she whispered.

"You won't be alone."

Right then and there, Elena smiled softly, seeing that Johnny was finally getting it.

Johnny launched a dart at the board. It landed in the cork just above the center, "How can we be working on the same side as Victor?" he asked as he launched another dart into the circular board.

"You got me, pal. Things were a lot simpler when I could just whale on the guy," Ben replied as he glanced to where Elena was. Johnny went through one last dart but it set ablaze and landed on the board.

"Oh shit!" Johnny rushed forward with his curse and poured the nearest drink on the flame to douse it. He then turned to the owner who stood behind the bar, "I'll pay for that."

"You better," the owner replied before handing Elena her drink. She paid for the board before returning to the table but stopped to talk to a couple of guys.

"I'll tell you Ben, I'm starting to feel like a complete screwup," he said despondently while collecting the darts.

"Hey, hey," Ben responded, "You're not a complete screwup."

"Thank you," Johnny said with a gracious nod of his head before resuming throwing darts.

"Yeah, I can change pretty much anything into diamond," Elena slightly smiled as she leaned against the table where 3 guys where having a drink.

"Look, kid, it's out of our hands. It's up to the eggheads now," Ben pointed out.

"You think Reed's right about the whole 'end of the world' thing?" Johnny asked uncertainly.

"He's never been wrong about this kind of thing before."

Johnny returned to his seat in front of Ben and leaned back into the chair, "You know I'm not exactly a deep kinda guy."

"Really?" Ben was so sarcastic that Johnny couldn't help but smile.

He leaned forward and crossed his arms over the table and began to play with his beer bottle, contemplating his words, "But if Reed's right about this is it," he raised his sad blue eyes to meet Ben's, "How do you want to spend your last few minutes?"

Ben was a little taken back by the question, it wasn't something he had thought about. He just didn't expect Johnny to ask him, "Part of me would like to go out fighting," he paused, smiling fondly in a way that Johnny knew exactly who he was thinking about, "But the truth it…I'd like to spend my last couple of minutes, holding Alicia."

Johnny mulled over Ben's soulful words. He leaned back into the chair and averted his gaze to the ceiling for a second, "That sounds pretty good," he was thinking back to the moment in the bathroom but then he realized his thoughtful expression might have caused Ben to think otherwise, "I mean not the 'holding Alicia' thing. She is your girlfriend, not mine. Want nothing to do with her," Ben didn't look amused, "Not to say that she is not attractive. She is very attractive, she's so attractive. Even with the—" he waved his hand before his eyes, "I can't even think of a guy who wouldn't want to—" Ben slammed a clenched fist on the table, rattling the wood, ending Johnny's rambling and making Elena look towards her uncle with concern. Johnny titled his head, not afraid but surprised by Ben's anger as Elena approached them, "What I meant was…It's nice to have somebody."

Her mind went to the moment she opened her eyes after fighting Victor, she loved the way he gently held her towards him, so careful and loving. His mind went to the same moment, her looking up at him with relief and happiness in her grey eyes. The cracks of Ben's rock like face softened considerably. Silently he raised his glass of beer towards Johnny, "Well, you got me pal."

"Aw," their drinks clinked together. Elena realized in that moment that she might not have forever. Elena's boots clinked as she slowly approached them, Johnny looked up. His blue eyes locking with her grey ones. She had an unguarded uncertainty in her stormy gaze, but she didn't shy away.

"What?" Ben demanded, noticing Johnny's alert body language.

"Glow," he responded with a dazed look in his eye. Elena approached them silently; her eyes latched onto Johnny.

"John—"

"Lenie," Ben boomed, startling her slightly, enough for her hands to harden, "Finally got that drink."

"Sorry, got held up at the bar, Uncle Ben," she grinned, shaking the diamond off her hands and looking down at her uncle, "Hey."

"How you holding up, kid?" he inquired curiously. Ever since returning she was even more silent and distant than of late. Her lips quirked slightly as she sat next to her uncle.

"It's…uh…" she took a deep breath, "I've been better," she confessed, "Victor being in the same building as us," her eyes locked onto Johnny's, "It scares me."

"It'll be fine," Ben tried to promise making her grey eyes go back to her uncle, "I should check up on Alicia," he stood up, the metal lets of the chair scrapped against the tile, "I'll meet you guys back at base."

"See you," Johnny acknowledged with a raise bottle of beer.

"Bye Benny," Ben leaned over and placed a small kiss on top of Elena's head before leaving the bar. The two looked at each other, Johnny could tell she was struggling to say something, "What were you two talking about?"

Johnny slightly furrowed his brows as he took a sip of his beer, "Glow," he started but saw the pleading look in her eyes, she needed to be distracted, "Last moments, how we want to spend them."

"Oh?" she questioned taking a long sip of her own beer.

"Ben wants to be with Alicia," this made Elena sadly smile as he kept his eyes on the bottle in his hand, "I thought it was nice. To have someone."

Elena reached her hand across the bar to take his, but he stuffed them under the table, making her sigh, "You're not alone," she said making him look up at her, "You'll never be alone," she gave a half smile, "You'll always have me," his jaw slightly went slack as her words as she picked up a dart to fiddle with.

Eventually the two left the bar and head back to base. Elena was playing with that sapphire ring on her hand making Johnny look at it curiously. She always wore it, even on missions. Did Danny give it to her all those years ago?

"Where did you get that?" Johnny asked suddenly, grabbing her attention, "The ring, I mean," her eyes went to the small circle in her hand and she softly smiled while brushing a piece of white hair behind her ear.

"It…it uh…It was my moms," she struggled out, glancing at him, "It's her birthstone," she slightly shrugged, "Always wore it, well, not always," she said as the walked down the sidewalk, "She didn't wear it that night."

"Why?" Johnny cautiously asked.

"As long as I could remember, she said that as long as she wore it, the stone would protect her," a single tear went down her cheek, "I guess she didn't want to be protected anymore."

This lapsed them into a somber silence, Elena still playing with the ring while Johnny watched her.

"How would you like to spend them?" she knew what he meant. She looked up at the sky, searching for the stars she had seen up close before turning to look at him.

"With the one I care most about," Johnny's heart skipped a beat while staring into the strength and vulnerability shining in her storm eyes. He didn't know how to react, every fibre within him was saying to kiss her. Consequences be damned. But Elena wasn't someone Johnny wanted to take that risk with. She was continuously opening her heart to him, he just couldn't.

"I would like that," he whispered making her look at him with a hopeful smile on her face before they continued their way.

Reed worked non-stop to find the link between stopping the surfer and the board. He was working his ass off and he was always coming to the same dead end. It was actually Sue who helped him out, she brought up the word 'pulse' which sent Reed in one of is inventor crazes in which he completed the design for the object that was to separate the surfer from the board. Victor approved immediately and they began to work on the finished design to ensure that it would work properly.

"So exactly how does this work?" General Hagar asked the team, slightly surprised Elena was there.

"When we activate the field, it'll separate him form his board, making him powerless," Reed explained as the simulation of the pulse machine was displayed for him to see.

"It's like a fish in a net," the General gasped.

"Yeah," Sue and Reed said at the same time.

"In theory, anyway," Reed finished.

"How long before this is operational?"

"Three hours."

"Three hours," he repeated in disbelief.

"I know, I can only go so fast, since apparently I'm working by myself now," Reed said whilst he crossed his arms. Sue and Elena stole a place at the other side of the large room.

"What do you need to make this happen?" the General asked.

"Actually, there are a couple of things."

Sue dropped the papers she was holding and nodded Elena over to walk with her. They rounded the corner to find Victor working on something other than what he was supposed to be doing.

"What are you doing?" Sue demanded, in what Elena thought was the best mom voice ever.

"Don't you knock?" he replied.

"You're supposed to be helping Reed in the lab."

"Tell him not to worry," Victor responded. He was way too calm for Elena's liking. She took a step forward and leaned against the metal shelves next to her, "I'll be there to hold his hand and finish his little project for him," Sue looked over at the gear that was placed on the table Victor was working at, "Anything else?" he asked, obviously growing agitated as Elena stepped up to she stood next to Sue.

"How'd you do it? How'd you come back?" Elena asked making Victor chuckle.

"Scares you, doesn't it? Hmm?" Victor moved closer to Elena, she visibly tensed as he got closer but didn't change forms, "The things I can do."

Elena blinked before her eyes narrowed, "Did you know that I can change your entire body into a diamond before slowly shattering it into a million pieces, leaving nothing but sparkling dust," Sue looked over at Elena in shock, she'd never heard her speak in such harshness before.

"Give it your best shot," Victor taunted. Elena's brows twitched before she scoffed.

"Just get back to the lab."

AN: Cute, fluffy then serious shit. Elena's walls are crumbling down… Johnny is getting closer… Victor is still an asshole. Please leave a review and no FLAMES.

Xoxo - Scar