Hey readers! I'm back with a brand, spanking, new update! You all probably didn't expect me to come back, did you? But I am! Sorry it took me forever. Been sort of busy lately. I've been wanting to update, but out of the lack of motivation, I haven't, but here we are now! It'll be the four year anniversary of this story in three days, so I thought it would be fitting to update now! Can't believe this story has been going for this long! So thank you to everyone who has stuck around, and thank you all who have reviewed as well! I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting (I feel bad now!). Hopefully that won't happen again!

Hope you all like this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or anyone from "Fantastic Four", just Lily and Travis!

Chapter Eight: Doom has Arrived

She wasn't sure where she was or how long she had been there. It was if she was floating on a cloud, but it was so dark. Nothing but blackness covered her. It was so dark, that it was hard for her to tell whether or not her eyes were open or closed. It wasn't until she heard a deep voice reverberating in the silence that she realized that her eyes were closed.

"The end of all time is here." Lily frowned at the voice as her hazel eyes slowly fluttered open, a sudden brightness nearly blinding her. She grimaced as she quickly covered her eyes, shielding them with her hands. "Your time has come. Earth will fall." The voice was the same voice she remembered hearing before, but she couldn't match the face with the voice. The light slowly began to subside as her senses began to return, her muscles slowly breathing as her blood began to move within her again.

"Lily?" Said woman winced as she slowly sat up, rubbing her head as she did so. She opened her eyes wide, allowing them to grow accustomed to the light as she glanced around.

She was back at the Baxter Building.

"Lily!"

"Sue? What happened?" She couldn't remember much after London, or, well, she couldn't remember much after they had arrived.

Lily frowned as she looked over at Sue, the blonde smiling happily at her. "We'll explain everything in a second, let me get the others." Nodding, Lily watched as the older woman quickly stood up and walked towards the door of the small infirmary they had while she called out for the other members of the team. After a few seconds, the men of the group piled into the room with relieved looks on their faces. She looked to the end of the bed as a weight shifted, Johnny sitting with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at Lily with a worried stare as she hesitated before smiling at him.

"Johnny..."

"Good to see you up, kid," Ben said with a wide smile as Lily quickly tore her gaze from Johnny's and smiled back at the stone man, Reed pulling up a chair and sitting at the bedside.

"How're you feeling?" he inquired as Lily shrugged.

"I feel fine, actually."

"Good. I ran a couple tests while you were resting, and everything checks out perfectly," the scientist stated as he smiled reassuringly. "Do you remember anything that happened?"

"...No, I-" And then, without warning, Lily's eyes widened as her memories came rushing back to her. She gasped as she held her head and blinked several times.

"Lily? What is it?" Reed asked as the girl quickly looked up at him.

"I remember!" she exclaimed as she quickly stood up, everyone backing away in order to give her a bit of space. "When he grabbed me, it was like he was showing me his own memories," Lily explained as Reed and Sue exchanged confused glances.

"What do you mean?"

"Ok, let me start over," Lily said as she shook her head, turning to face the other four.

"You guys all know I started meditating, right?"

"Right."

"Well, after I started meditating, I found that I could control my powers better. My mind had created a connection between myself and the world around me," she said as she paced back and forth while the others merely listened carefully. "But when the anomalies began to happen, I started getting these severe headaches and..." she hesitated as she frowned to herself.

"This is going to sound crazy, but there were times, and still are times, where I can hear this screeching. It's a voice, and it's always screaming, like it's in pain," Lily explained as the others frowned at her explanation. "And when we showed up in London, I heard it again...I think it's...well, I think that the screaming happens whenever one of the craters form." The black haired woman watched as Reed's eyes widened before he grimaced.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"I wasn't sure. It wasn't until I came face to face with the Surfer that I finally realized it." For she and Mother Nature had grown a tight bond with one another, and when one felt pain, so did the other. "I just figured I was being delusional."

"So then, what did you see when you came into contact with the Silver Surfer?" Sue asked as Lily relaxed and leaned back against the counter.

"...I could hear him. He kept repeating it over and over in my head," Lily said quietly as Johnny raised a brow.

"Repeating what?" he asked as Lily looked up at him.

"...Another world awaits. Your herald summons you." A disturbed expression came over the young woman as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Reed, you said that 8 days after the Silver Surfer arrives the planet dies...but I don't think it's the Surfer that kills it." Reed stood to his feet as he approached the young woman.

"Then what is it?"

"...I don't know. But I know that the Surfer isn't who we're looking for."

"Is that right?" Stiffening, Lily slowly looked over her shoulder at the familiar voice as her eyes widened. The other four glanced at one another, having realized they had forgotten to catch Lily up on everything she had missed.

"Vi-Victor?"

"Good to see you too, Lillian." Growling at the sound of her full name, Lily glared icily at the man in the doorway as he smirked back at her.

"You're not real."

"I'm as real as it gets."

"Reed!" Lily snapped as she turned back to him. "What the hell is going on?"

"Just relax. You shouldn't be moving around too much-"

"No! Not until someone explains to me what the hell is happening!" Lily barked angrily as she turned to snarl at the man that had once tried to kill them all.

"Shouldn't you be dead?"

"And here I thought you d missed me." Lily's hands balled up into tight fists as she gave Victor a cold stare.

"No matter how much time has passed, there's no possible way I could ever miss you."

"Just as charming as you were before, I see." Doom rolled his eyes as he walked further into the infirmary, Lily glaring as Reed stepped forward and turned to the young woman.

"Look, Lily. There's a lot that happened while you were unconscious."

"Apparently, bringing people back from the dead was one of those things."

"I was never dead, Lily," Victor chimed in as he stood beside Reed with a pompous kind of smirk across his lips. "You should know better than to think you could get rid of me so easily." Lily said nothing as she merely narrowed her eyes for a moment longer before turning her full attention back to Reed.

"So then, what happened?"

After Lily had been brought back up to speed, everyone had gone their separate ways. Immediately, Reed and Victor had returned to the lab with Sue trailing behind them while Ben had gone to see how Alicia had been (she had been waiting back in the living room since they had left and returned), and Johnny quickly retreated back into his room to put on a normal set of clothes. Lily had done the same, but she had remained in her room thereafter while the Human Torch walked out, staring only for a moment at her shut door before he went off on his search for Ben.

Johnny couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that he was so off-beat lately. Everything he did seemed to only lead to trouble, and it seemed that the rift between everyone was only growing bigger. His already heavy thoughts lingered on the idea of Sue and Reed quitting the team, which only succeeded in angering Johnny, and yet, making him feel guilty as well. After all, it had been because of his lack of teamwork that the mission in London had almost gone awry. Not only that, but his heart had been rather heavy with confusion, doubt and defeat as of late. There was a shame inside of him that he couldn't continue to contain, because the longer he tried to pretend that he couldn't feel anything, the more he began to feel.

Needless to say, he was feeling rather unlike himself.

Walking into the living room, Johnny stopped before he smiled, Ben sitting beside Alicia with a sweet gaze as the woman ran her hands over him with a concerned look on her face.

"Don't worry, Alicia. Ben here has some pretty thick skin," the young man said playfully as the pair looked up at Johnny, Ben smirking at his joke.

"For once, I agree with the kid." Alicia chuckled as she turned to Johnny.

"And how are you?"

"I'm alright. Not really sure how to feel about whatever the hell is going on, but I'm good," Johnny stated as he looked over at Ben.

"You feel like getting some air?" he asked curiously as The Thing nodded, standing to his feet.

"Maybe a drink or two."

"Good man!" Johnny said enthusiastically as the pair looked back at Alicia. "You up for an adventure?" the Torch inquired as the woman merely smiled before shaking her head, her gaze off in the distance.

"You two go ahead. I think I'll stay here and relax for a bit."

"Sounds good."

Johnny waited for a moment as Ben quickly placed a gentle kiss to the woman's lips before turning and nodding at him.

"Let me get a shirt on first."

Laying flat on her back, Lily sighed as she stretched and began to sit up, the dizziness in her head now completely gone and her bearings well put-together now. She sighed as she ran her fingers through her black hair, unknotting whatever kinks she had. Her hazel eyes flickered around her room as a sigh bounced off the walls before she stood up, having had enough of her isolation time. Slipping out of her sweats, Lily quickly pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a tang top, buttoning up her gray cardigan afterwards. She tugged on her black flats before she walked out of her bedroom, turning to walk down the hall but stopping. Her eyes landed on the door across from hers as she came to a slow stop before she slowly approached the door, almost as if she was approaching a sleeping lion.

Being around Johnny was already hard enough as it was, but Lily's feelings also made things worse. Their once close relationship had began to crumble because of the distance she was forcing between them, and although that was what Lily wanted, she was scared. She was afraid for multiple reasons. She was afraid that Johnny would discover how she felt and pull away, she was afraid that her feelings for Johnny would only grow if she stayed around him too long, and she was afraid that sooner or later, it would be too late for her to ever escape him.

And in the back of her mind, she knew it already was.

Frowning, Lily rubbed her face as she stared a second longer at his door.

She was being selfish. She knew it. Because there had been several times Johnny had tried to reach out to her, because just has he had promised, he was trying to be a better friend to her. And as sweet as that was, it only made things harder for Lily. But she was tired of running and she was tired of trying to avoid the truth. She missed Johnny. She missed the way they joked around and the way they used to stay up late and talk. Her days were always so much brighter with him by her side. And she knew that her absence was taking a toll on him as well. All along, Johnny had been trying to be a better friend to her, but in reality, it was Lily who needed to be the better friend. And with everything that the Human Torch was going through, she knew that now was no better time to be a better friend to him.

Rolling her eyes at herself, the former teacher raised her closed hand as she knocked on Johnny's door. She waited for a few minutes and raised a brow in confusion; no answer. She knocked once more, and once more, there was silence.

"Johnny? Are you in there?"

"He just left." Jumping, Lily released a shocked yelp as she turned to her left and relaxed, Alicia walking towards her with her hand on the wall to guide herself. She laughed as Lily sighed, chuckling at herself as well.

"Did you enjoy that?"

"Only a little," Ben's girlfriend said with a hint of mischievousness in her voice. Lily smirked at that before she stepped away from Johnny's door a bit.

"I was coming to check on you. I hadn't heard from you since you guys came back from London."

"Thanks, Alicia. Sorry I wasn't out sooner. I was trying to get rid of some lingering nausea and dizziness," Lily explained as the two began to walk side-by-side down the hall.

"So, you mentioned that Johnny left?" Lily asked innocently.

"He and Ben went out for a few drinks."

"Ah." Lily nodded with an understanding look on her face as the pair turned down a hall. She didn't notice the way Alicia smiled softly before she spoke.

"So, how are things with Johnny going then?" Lily blinked as she looked over at her friend with a confused stare.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about." A blush dusted across Lily's face as she cleared her throat. She was happy Alicia didn't have the satisfaction of seeing the look on her face, though she probably sensed it anyways.

"How long have you known?"

"Long enough," Alicia said with a laugh as Lily groaned and shook her head.

"Am I that obvious?"

"No, I don't think it's that your obvious," Alicia began as she thought for a moment. "...When I'm around people, I can feel their energy. It's something I've taught myself to do over time," the blind woman explained as Lily nodded with an interested look on her face.

"And when I'm around you? And when someone mentions Johnny? Well, your energy sort of skyrockets," Alicia said with a wide smile as Lily blinked, slightly surprised. The two friends stopped in front of the elevators as Alicia carefully turned to face Lily. "And it's not just you, you know." Lily was sure her heart had stopped for just a moment at the woman s words. Her chest seemed to constrict against her heart as the woman lost her breath.

"Johnny, he's the same too."

"...Alicia-" Blinking, Lily watched as said woman reached out and pressed the down button for the elevator, a smirk spreading across her thick lips.

"They went to the usual pub a few blocks down," the woman stated evenly as the door the elevator beeped and then opened. Lily hesitated before she stepped inside, smiling and nodding.

"Thank you."

"Have fun!" And although she couldn't see Lily's expression, Alicia was sure there was a smile across the young woman's lips.

Seeing as it's been awhile, please let me know what your thoughts were! Hopefully you liked the chapter! Thank you for reading ^_^