Stuck Indoors

Now for the fun part. Ha, ha.

Merc was, once again, running her hands down the sides of her blue uniform from the space ship.

"Our uniforms were exposed to the storm like us." Reed explained. Merc looked at everyone else. Johnny was doing the same as her. "So they can transform like us, becoming invisible, changing size on demand, remaining impervious to flame, or not changing at all." Merc smiled slightly but it dropped as she looked at Ben.

"You look like an eighties rock band." Ben said. Merc smiled again.

"You know Ben, these suits stretch. I'm sure I could…" Sue started.

"I wouldn't be caught dead in that." Ben said.

"I love these costumes, man." Johnny said, striking a few poses. Merc giggled until she got looks from the others. "But their missing something, right? I can't put my finger on it…"

"Their not costumes." Reed said.

"Not yet." Merc muttered.

"We're not taking them out." Sue said. "Johnny, we need to stay here till we've stabilized."

"You guys are worse then NASA." Johnny said, walking away.

"Maybe it's missing a utility belt." Ben said. Merc went after Johnny. She noticed his bedroom door closed and went there, not even bothering to knock.

"Hey, Johnny. You know their right about all this…" Merc started but stopped as she entered the room to find standing only in his boxers. "Well that answers that question."

"What question?" Johnny asked, not even embarrassed.

"Whether you boxers or briefs." Merc said, smiling. She closed the door and went to her own room. "Wait a second…was I just flirting with him again?" She hit herself in the head lightly. "No, no, no. Bad, Mercy. Bad."

"Let's make this quick, I've got a lot to do today." Johnny said, coming into the kitchen the next day where everyone else was sitting. He grabbed the bowl of orange juice that Ben had in his hands. "Oh wait, that's right. I don't go anywhere."

"Well this might make you feel better." Merc said, handing over one of the magazine's that Reed had delivered to the building. "Apparently one of your one-night-stands did an interview about you." Johnny looked at the magazine before throwing it back onto the table and pouring some of the juice into a glass.

"Merc…who's Jake?" Reed asked.

"One of my…students." Merc said. "Why?"

"Well he's in here." Reed said. Merc grabbed the magazine from him and read the article.

"Oh that jack ass is so getting his ass kicked." She said, standing up. "I never dated him…who does he think he is?" She headed for the door out of the kitchen.

"You can't go anywhere, Merc!" Sue said. "Especially when all you have to do is flick your wrist and send people flying." Merc sighed and turned around, resuming her seat. Johnny patted her shoulder.

"I'm concerned our powers may be evolving." Reed said.

"I know!" Johnny said. "I'm so close to flying, guys. I can feel it." He threw his napkin onto the counter and set it on fire by accident.

"You can't fly." Sue said.

"Yet." Johnny said.

"Johnny, could you put that napkin out." Sue said. Johnny turned around and began to frantically pat at the napkin, only managing to spread the fire. "Mercy…"

"I'm on it." Merc said, making the tap turn on and the water shooting at the fire.

"Thanks." Johnny said, sarcastically. He turned around and everyone saw that his shirt was soaked.

"Sorry…" Merc said, trying not to laugh.

"So come on, Reed. How you gonna cure us?" Ben asked.

"I'm going to build a machine that will replicate the storm." Reed said, holding up a diagram. "The power will pass from this generator to this chamber."

"What, no pop-ups?" Johnny asked.

"If we can reverse the wave signal created by the storm…" Reed said, ignoring Johnny.

"Then it can turn us back to normal." Ben finished for him.

"Exactly." Reed said.

"But…" Merc said, not even needing to read Reed's thoughts to know that there was something else.

"Even the slightest miscalculation could increase our powers expediently…or even kill us." Reed said.

"Dying…not that's bad." Johnny said. "I think we should just let sleeping dogs lay, guys." Everyone looked at Merc. She had been in the middle between Johnny and everyone else the whole time.

"Maybe…using the machine can be…voluntary?" Merc suggested.

"I guess so." Reed said.

"So how long until this contraption of yours is ready, Reed?" Ben asked.

"It's hard to…" Reed started.

"How long, Reed?" Ben asked.

"I don't know." Reed said.

"Relax, Uncle Ben." Merc said. "When has Reed ever let you down…and not gotten you back up again?" Reed and Ben both looked at her and she just shrugged.

Later she sat on the couch switching channels while Johnny was searching through the kitchen for stuff.

"Hey, Johnny, check it out." Merc said. "The X-Games are on." Johnny came over with a glass in one hand and jiffy pop, actually popping, as it sat on his other hand. He handed the drink to Merc and she took it. She took a few sips, watching the stunts, and then put it on the table. Johnny popped over the tin foil cover and offered the popcorn to Merc while eating some himself.

"Geez…" He said.

"I know…look at those guys." Merc said. "You gotta wonder about how much they weight though." Johnny laughed slightly. Merc looked at him.

"God, I gotta get out of here." Johnny said, putting the popcorn down and getting up.

"Wait, what?" Merc asked. She followed him to his room. "Johnny you can't…you wouldn't…"

"I can and I will." Johnny said. He stopped at the closet and looked at the uniforms.

"Johnny…" Merc said.

"Come with me, Merc." Johnny said, pulling out his uniform and hers as well before handing it to her. He went to his uniform and looked at it.

"What?" Merc asked.

"You heard me. Come with me." Johnny said. "Cheer me on as I show those X-Game boys a thing or two."

"Johnny…" Merc said, smiling slightly. "I can't. Sue's right. I raise my hand and I can knock people backwards."

"Just be careful." Johnny said.

"Remember my little telepathy thing?" Merc asked. "Too many people…major headache."

"I thought you were getting over that." Johnny said, starting to take his clothes off. Merc instantly made the blanket lift up to hide him. She looked at the uniform in her hands before smiling slightly.

"I can't, Johnny." Merc said. "Do you know how much trouble I'd get into with my Uncle?"

"Right." Johnny said, coming out from behind the blanket in the uniform.

"What's that?" Merc asked. She walked over to him and looked at the little badge type thing on his Uniform.

"Oh…I thought it could be our little symbol." Johnny said. "Actually, Reed thought of it."

"Reed? Are you serious?" Merc asked.

"Well it's on yours too." Johnny said, turning the uniform over in her hands so that Merc could see the front of it. Merc laughed. "Ok…how about this…you stay here and be my cover."

"I don't know…" Merc said.

"Please, Mercy. Mercy, please." Johnny said. Merc laughed again

"Oh fine." She said. "Just don't be gone too long and don't blame me if they find out."

"You're the best." Johnny said, pulling on another pair of pants and a shirt. He gave Merc a quick kiss then left. Merc stood frozen for a second before returning to the living room to watch the games again and finish off the popcorn. It wasn't very long until Johnny showed up.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest for you…" The announcer said. "Mr. Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Five." Merc smiled and clapped her hands together once. Johnny came out on a bike wearing a Motocross outfit. The crowd on the TV cheered and Merc sat forward as she watched Johnny do a flip.

"Go you." She muttered.

"Look at that lift." The announcer said. "But Johnny, that's old school. Show us something new." The camera was on Johnny and Merc blinked as she saw steam rise off him. He took off fast and shot up a ramp. He actually let go of the bike to do a stunt.

"Oh no." Merc said. She watched as Johnny grabbed for his bike but couldn't reach and soon there were flames on him. "Johnny! Wait a second…"

"Is he flying?" The announcer said as Johnny rose into the air a bit before coming crashing down on the opposite ramp.

"Oh…that must have hurt." Merc said.

"What must have hurt?" Ben asked.

"Nothing." Merc said, jumping up and going over the table to cover the TV.

"Mercy." Ben said, somewhat threatening. "What are watching? I heard you yell Johnny's name."

"It's nothing, Uncle Ben." Merc said.

"Mercedes…move." Ben said. Reluctantly Merc moved away from the TV. "NO FREAKIN' WAY!!"

"Ben! What? What's going on?" Reed asked as he and Sue came running in.

"What's going on? That's what's going on!" Ben said, pointing at the TV.

"So what can you tell us about these outfits?" The TV reporter asked. Johnny was standing next to her with a girl on each arm. Merc felt jealous for some reason.

"It's kind of Armani meets Astronaut." Johnny said.

"He didn't." Sue said.

"Oh, he did." Ben said.

"What did he do to his uniform?" Sue asked. Merc looked at Reed who peeled back his labcoat to show that he had the same badge as Johnny: a circle around the number "5". Sheepishly, he covered it up again and Merc just smiled as she looked back at the TV.

"So what are your superhero names?" The reporter asked.

"Oh no." Merc said.

"Well I'm the Human Torch." Johnny said. "Ladies call me Torch." Merc rolled her eyes.

"What about the rest of the team?" The reporter asked. The TV showed a picture of Sue.

"That's the Invisible Girl." Johnny said, as the camera returned to him.

"Girl?" Sue said.

"What about the other girl on the team?" The reporter asked. A picture of Merc yanking on Johnny's hand came onto the screen.

"That's…uh…that's Mystic." Johnny said. Merc blinked. "Yeah you gotta be careful around her…she'll read your mind without even thinking it…really."

"Oh that little…" Merc said.

"And what about Reed Richards?" The reporter asked. "I hear you call him Mr. Fantastic. Can he really stretch any part of his anatomy?"

"Well I've always found him a little limp in that area." Johnny said. A picture of Ben filled the screen.

"What do you call that thing?" The reporter asked.

"That's it. The Thing." Johnny said.

"Ok, I'm gonna kill him." Ben said. He started walking, Reed and Sue following. He turned and looked at Merc who was still looking at the TV. "Merc…you're coming too."

"But I…" Merc said.

"Now!" Ben said. Merc sighed and followed them.

"There he is!" Sue said, once they got there. Johnny was surrounded by girls. Ben peeled off from them and Merc stayed with Sue and Reed. "Johnny!"

"Hey…can we talk about this later, guys?" Johnny asked. "Where's my ride?" At that moment a ball of red metal came flying over and landed in front of them. Merc jumped. It wobbled a bit and then beeped as if the alarm was just being set. Johnny got hit in the head with a license plate.

"You're gonna pay for that, Pebbles." Johnny said. Merc looked at Ben as he stood looking proud of what he just did. "What?"

"You gave us names?" Sue asked. "You don't think, Johnny. And now you're the 'face' of the Fantastic Five?"

"A face that's about to be broken." Ben said, marching over with his hands balled into fists.

"This isn't permanent, Johnny." Reed said. "We need to be careful until we're normal again."

"What if some of us don't want to be 'normal' again?" Johnny asked, looking pointedly at Merc. She looked to be in slight pain but he guessed it was from the headache that was starting. "We didn't all turn into monsters." Ben pulled his fist back, about to hit Johnny. He stopped and turned around.

"Johnny…" Merc said, warningly. He ignored her and threw a fireball at Ben. Merc flinched. Ben turned around.

"Did you just…" He said. Another fireball hit him in the face. "That's it, Tinkerbelle! You wanna fly?" He charged back over to them. "Fly!" Reed moved in front of Johnny and Ben's fist stretched his body, still managing to hit Johnny.

"Uncle Ben!" Merc shouted. Johnny hit an advertisement board for Burger King. He got off it, leaving flames on it. He jumped down from the board and headed back over to them.

"Let's see if you can get blood from a stone." Johnny said. He and Ben headed towards each other but Sue and Merc stepped in between. Merc held her hands up to Johnny, stopping him instantly while Sue made a small force field to stop Ben.

"You two need a time-out." Sue said.

"Blockhead started it!" Johnny said. Ben stalked off.

"I don't care!" Sue said. "Damn it, Johnny." She went after Ben.

"What?" Johnny asked, looking at Merc.

"Don't yell…god my head is hurting enough as it is." Merc said. Johnny went around her and kicked the remains of his car.

"You need to control yourself and think before you act." Reed said.

"That's your problem Reed." Johnny said. "You're always thinking, you never act."

"Well around you someone has to be the thinker." Merc said.

"What does that mean?" Johnny asked.

"He's right. You don't think." Merc said. "I know this because I've been your best friend for years now."

"What if we got these gifts for a reason?" Johnny asked. "What if it's like…some higher calling?"

"A higher calling like getting girls and making money?" Reed asked, sarcastically.

"Is there any higher?" Johnny asked. "This is who we are Reed. Accept it. Or better yet: enjoy it." He looked at Merc. "And don't you act all high and mighty. You think this is cool too. I don't need to be able to read your mind."

"Yes…I like the powers and I want to keep them so long as I can control them." Merc said. "But I don't like the attention." Her head snapped in the direction of the crowd. "Or the constant headaches from hearing all of their thoughts. Or from hearing those girls thinking about the fastest way to get fame by sleeping with you." A bunch of girls went red. Merc went over to Johnny. "You have to be more sensitive."

"I'm sensitive enough." Johnny said.

"You don't think about other peoples' feelings, Johnny." Merc said. "Sure…you may consider mine a few times but back there…giving me a name and saying what you said…that wasn't thinking."

"Come on, Merc. You know me…" Johnny said.

"No I don't." Merc said. "Not anymore." She started walking away. "You're not the same anymore, Johnny." Reed, who was still there and watching the whole thing, gave Johnny a look before going after Merc.