Hey y'all! I'm back with a new chapter! This one is rather intense emotionally, so hold on to your seats there! Can't say that I have an excuse as to why it's been taking me so long to update...I'm sure you're all tired of reading that from me, but at least I'm being honest! Sorry for making you guys wait forever. Hopefully it won't be another long wait until I update again. Like I have said before, I won't make promises, but I'll at least try my best, so you have that! Sorry again for taking forever.
It's been awhile, so please let me know what you think! If there's anything I can do better or that you like, I would genuinely like to hear it!
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Disclaimer: I don't own Fantastic Four
Chapter Nine: Revelations
THUNK
"I can't believe we're working on the same side as Victor."
THUNK
Ben sat at a long table as Johnny stood on the other side, throwing darts at the circular board hanging on the wall. The two had decided to stop by the pub they frequented when they had time to themselves. It was close to home and they always got free drinks from the bartender, which was always a plus.
Johnny frowned to himself as he aimed another dart at the board, Ben taking a nice, long swig from his large glass. Although the two usually clashed, they had found common ground between themselves these last few days. The Thing found that the Human Torch was not as irritating as he used to be, and the Torch had seemed to cool down on the jokes he made.
"I miss the days where I could just wail on the guy without any worries." Ben watched his younger teammate as the dirty blond's lips formed a tight line, his dart suddenly lighting aflame as it hit the target on the mark. Both heroes stiffened, Johnny's eyes widening as he lurched forward and quickly dumped water on to the dart. The pair then glanced around, the pub suddenly silent. Eyes were fixated on the two, Johnny chuckling weakly as he gained back some composure.
"I'll pay for that!" As soon as the crowd continued on with what they had originally been doing, Johnny relaxed and pulled the darts from the board, walking back to his spot. He shook his head as he glanced down at the darts in his hand.
"You know, I've got to say, lately I've been feeling like a complete screw-up." Johnny tried not to think about all the mistakes he had made in the last couple of days.
Shaking his head, Ben took another drink of his beer. "No, no, kid. You're not a complete screw-up." Johnny shrugged as he threw his dart ahead. "It's out of our hands now. It's up to the eggheads now," the bulky man stated as Johnny finished throwing his last dart before placing his hands on his hips.
"...You think Reed is right?" the young man asked as he pulled out a chair across from Ben and took a seat. "About the whole 'end of the world' thing?" Ben hesitated as he looked from Johnny to his drink with a slight grimace on his face.
"He's never been wrong about this kind of thing before." And both of the men knew it was true.
"...Well, I've never been a deep kind of guy-" Ben scoffed at that.
"Really?" Ignoring the sarcasm in the man's deep voice, Johnny leaned forward as he held his drink in his hands before looking up and staring at his friend with a rather serious gleam in his eyes.
"If Reed's right, and this is it..." Johnny trailed off at the way his heart grew heavier before he looked back down to his beer. "...How would you like to spend your last few minutes?"
Ben hadn't been expecting such a heart-felt and lonely kind of a question. He blinked before he recovered from his initial shock, shrugging his stony shoulders. "Part of me wants to say that I would go out fighting," he began with a empty chuckle. "...But the honest truth is, I'd like to spend my last couple minutes holding Alicia."
And the thought of having someone close to your heart to hold and love suddenly sounded so much more appealing to Johnny than it ever had before.
The young man quietly stared down at his beer for a second as a voice suddenly echoed in his imagination.
"You can only fool yourself for so long, Torch."
With a small smile, Johnny sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "That sounds nice." Ben couldn't actually go through with the motion, but if he could have, he would have raised his brow at his companion. "Not the 'holding Alicia' part, that's your girlfriend, not mine," Johnny began to babble. "Not to say she's not attractive! She's very attractive!" Ben gave Johnny a deadpanned stare as the young man continued to ramble.
Having enough of the Torch's incessant talking, Ben lightly slammed his fist on to the table, Johnny blinking before he relaxed. "What I'm trying to say is...well..." And at that moment, for some unknown reason, Lily's face appeared in his mind. "It's just nice to have somebody."
Ben's gaze softened as he found himself staring at a completely different person than the normal Johnny he knew. The Johnny he knew was arrogant, slightly selfish, and a womanizer. But the Johnny sitting before him was thoughtful, honest, and almost vulnerable. And Ben wasn't sure what to think anymore.
"Ah! So I finally found you two." The pair looked up as a smiling Lily stood at the end of the table with her hands in her back jean pockets. Ben grinned as Lily placed her hand on his arm in a friendly way before she walked around the table and took a seat beside him.
"I see sleeping beauty finally decided to join us." Johnny smirked as Lily rolled her eyes before Ben stood to his feet.
"Let me get you a drink, kid."
"Thanks!" Lily watched as Ben made his way to the bar before she turned her attention to Johnny.
"So then. What were you two talking about?" she inquired as Johnny examined her closely for a moment before he shrugged. She seemed to be acting suddenly normal around him, and although the two hadn't actually addressed what was really going on between them, the dirty blond was happy that she was no longer avoiding him for the time being.
"Since I asked Ben, I'll ask you too," Johnny said as Lily blinked, curious about her friend's question.
"With all the stuff that's been going on, if the world does end, how would you spend your last few minutes?" Johnny stared at Lily as she blinked, her eyes slightly wide. She thought before a small smile crept along her pink lips.
"Well-"
"Here you go." Lily and Johnny looked up as Ben set a cocktail in front of Lily, the black haired woman nodding and smiling.
"So, how you feeling?" Ben inquired as Lily smiled and waved off his concern, taking a sip of her drink.
"Fine, fine. I just hope that Reed listened to what I had to say...I really don't think the Surfer is what we should be worried about."
"At this point, I'm more worried about the guy who's working with Reed," Johnny pointed out gruffly as both Lily and Ben nodded.
"The guy's probably up to no good," Ben stated as Lily scoffed, taking another sip.
"When has he ever been up to something good?" Ben and Johnny nodded at the woman's statement before she spoke once more. "For now, all we can do is just trust that Reed and Sue have everything under control. If we're lucky, Victor won't be an issue." But they were never usually that lucky.
Having a few more drinks and a few more laughs, the time ticked by until finally, Ben stood to his feet, setting his tenth glass of beer down on the table. "Alright, kids," he said as Lily and Johnny looked up at him. "It's time for this old geezer to get out of here," he claimed as Lily laughed, finishing off her fourth drink.
"What happened to you, Ben? You used to be able to out-drink us all." The rock-like man laughed as he adjusted his jacket before he began to walk away.
"This guy's got someone to see." And both Johnny and Lily knew exactly who he was talking about.
Waving, Lily and Johnny watched their friend walk out of the pub before they turned to each other, a tense silence falling over them. It had been a long time since they had been alone together, and neither were really sure how to act anymore.
Throwing his head back, Johnny finished off his seventh beer before Lily glanced at him. She stared hard at him as he stared down at his empty bottle, avoiding her gaze. She frowned at that before she blinked.
"Your question."
"What?" Johnny looked up with a confused look on his face as Lily smiled at him.
"You asked me what I would do with the last few minutes before the world ended," she recalled as the dirty blond blinked before nodding.
"So? What would you do?" he asked as he leaned forward, the tension slowly fading and the two falling back in-step with each other. Lily smirked as she too leaned forward, almost like she was about to share a secret with the hot-headed man.
"Do you want to know?" Johnny gave Lily a knowing look as she laughed, raising the rim of her glass to her lips and finishing off her drink. She stood to her feet while Johnny watched her curiously before his friend motioned for him to follow her. He quickly stood up and walked after her, the two waving goodbye to the bartender before walking out.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see." Lily gave her companion a wily smile as he smirked before releasing a short laugh. The two walked silently beside each other, though the air was light around them. The initial awkwardness had been forgotten as Lily led the way, Johnny following curiously after his friend.
Where the hell were they going?
After walking for a few minutes, Lily waved down a cab, the two climbing in and Lily smiling at the driver. "Brooklyn Bridge, please."
"Brooklyn Bridge?" Johnny blinked as he looked at his teammate as if she were crazy. She rolled her eyes at him before she looked out the window.
"Do you want to know or not?"
"Yeah, yeah."
The drive was about 20 minutes from where they had been, the driver pulling up to the side of the road at the start of the bridge. Luckily, at that time of night, not many cars were passing through the bridge, which made pulling over much easier for the driver.
Leaving the cab driver with his fee, Lily and Johnny stared up at the bridge. A wide smile was across the young woman's lips as she placed her hands on her hips, Johnny stuffing his into his pockets.
"This is it?" the young man asked, unimpressed as Lily laughed and began to walk ahead.
"Come on." Johnny sighed as he shook his head, following after the young woman. After walking for a few minutes, Lily stopped as Johnny did the same beside her, the two staring up at one of the stone towers. The young man glanced out to the water and his gaze softened as the East River sparkled in the moonlight. His eyes then wandered to the sky itself as he stared up at the moon, finding a strange solace from just gazing up at it.
"Hey!" Blinking away his thoughts, the 25 year old looked up, Lily stepping over the railing of the bridge and standing upon a pillar of water. "You coming?" Smirking, Johnny walked forward and swiftly hopped over the railing, standing beside Lily. She smiled as Johnny glanced down at his feet, expecting them to be soaked. He nodded in approval at the way the water seemed to solidify under him.
"Hold on." The pillar of water began to rise, Johnny almost losing his footing at the sudden movement. He quickly caught his balance as Lily laughed, her hazel eyes gleaming in the light. Johnny would have shot a snarky comment at her, but the way she was smiling and looking at him so fondly distracted him.
Finally, the two reached the top of the tower, Lily stepping off the water and Johnny following after her. They carefully took a seat as the pillar of water sank back into the river.
"So, this is where you'd want to be?" Johnny couldn't blame her. His blue eyes were glued to the river, the water shimmering and the stars and moon reflecting of the surface. He smiled to himself as Lily glanced over at him and nodded, happy with her decision.
"I've come here a couple times on my own, just to clear my head or meditate. This time of night is always the best because there's nothing but the sound of the breeze and water," Lily explained quietly as she closed her eyes, enjoying the night air. Johnny glanced over at her as his gaze softened. He relaxed beside the woman as he leaned back against his hands and sighed.
"Not a bad pick, Lils."
"...In my last few minutes, if the Silver Surfer really does end up killing this planet...I want to bring you and Ben and Reed and Sue here, and I want to stare up at the sky one last time before it all ends." Johnny said nothing in return, he just nodded as he looked out to the water.
"So. What about you?" Johnny blinked as he turned his head to the left, Lily gazing at him with a curious stare. "What would you do?"
He hadn't thought about it. Because, just as he had told Ben, he was never the type of person to think about such deep and thoughtful things. He lived everyday by the second, living spontaneously and letting the days lead him wherever they did. But these last few days had opened his eyes a bit. He'd like to say he had almost grown up a bit. He had found that the things he used to care about didn't nearly mean so much to him now, and the things he would have never even thought about were starting to become important to him.
"What would I do?" Johnny repeated the question as Lily nodded.
"That's right."
"Well..." Johnny smiled softly as he looked over at Lily, their eyes locking together. "This." Lily's eyes widened at that as a shiver rolled down her back. "This is exactly what I would want to do." Because, when Johnny truly thought about it, standing beside Lily had been the only consistent thing that ever made sense to him.
Lily said nothing as she tore her gaze from Johnny's. She closed her eyes as she tried to control the rapid beating of her heart. His words had startled her and had caught her off guard, but she didn't want to show any reaction. Not when things had been going so well between them so far.
Clearing her throat, Lily smirked, wanting to change the subject. "You should feel lucky."
"Oh yeah? What for?" Johnny asked playfully as his companion began to swing her legs back and forth.
"You're the only person I've ever shared this place with," she said as Johnny raised a brow at that.
"Really?"
"That's right!" she said with a wide smile as she looked back out to the night before Johnny rubbed the back of his head.
"What about Travis?" The question had surprised Lily.
"What about him?"
"You haven't brought him here?" Johnny asked as he played it cool. Lily thought for a moment as she shook her head.
"No, I haven't."
"What a surprise, since you praise the ground he walks on," Johnny shot with a smirk as Lily scoffed.
"I do not!"
"Sure."
A comfortable silence fell over the two as they stared out at the river for a few minutes. No one dared to break the silence, both too afraid that if they did, the moment would end and things would suddenly turn sour again. So, instead, they enjoyed the other's presence quietly, listening as the water lapped.
"...A part of me's still hung up on Reed and Sue wanting to ditch the team." Lily blinked as she looked over at her friend while he sighed and rubbed his face. "And to be honest, I don't want to be...but it just gets under my skin," he admitted as Lily's gaze softened. She nodded her head as she leaned a bit towards her companion before speaking.
"Do you remember that time when we were younger and Sue had been watching us?" Lily started. "You and I snuck out and tried to drive your dad's convertible, and we nearly wrecked it." Johnny laughed at the forgotten memory as Lily shook her head with a grin.
"He would have killed me if he knew it was me."
"Yeah, but it was Sue who took the blame for it." Johnny's gaze softened as his smile faded. He looked over at Lily as she smiled at him. "And Sue's always been like that. She's always put other people first, and she's always been really thoughtful towards others."
"...Yeah," Johnny agreed as Lily pulled her legs up from the edge and adjusted herself into sitting pretzel-style.
"Sue's grown up now. And so have we. She doesn't need to look after us anymore," Lily stated as she sighed. "You can't blame her for wanting to move and start a normal life," Lily said as Johnny shook his head.
"And then what after that?" Lily raised a brow as Johnny's brows furrowed. "She goes off and lives her life and forgets about us?" And then, Lily began to understand what was going on in Johnny's head. Her gaze softened as she shook her head.
"...She's not going to just leave you behind, Johnny."
After the death of their parents, Johnny had only ever had Sue. It had been the two of them together, since the beginning. Even before Reed, and even before Ben and Lily. It had always been them together. But now, things were different. Things were changing. And Johnny wasn't sure where he belonged anymore. If he wasn't apart of the Fantastic Five, what was he apart of then? Where did he belong in this chapter of life? And he knew, he knew that he was being childish and he knew that he was acting like an idiot, but he didn't know how else to feel.
And Lily had seen through him so easily. She had been able to figure out without any trouble what he was thinking. And that was a bit unnerving to him. He didn't like feeling vulnerable, he didn't like not having control. Which was also why he was having such trouble with his circumstances now. He had no control over himself, he had no control over the team, and he had no control over what was coming in the future.
"And anyways, you still have me and Ben," Lily added gently. Johnny shook his head as he turned to Lily with an upset face.
"Now all of a sudden you've got my back."
"Excuse me?"
Standing to his feet, Johnny shook his head as he shot a cold stare down at Lily. "Where the hell have you been the last couple months, Lily?" Said woman's eyes softened as she began to stand up, a throb of guilt hitting her hard.
"Johnny-"
"You don't get to ignore me and then pretend like we're best friends whenever you feel like it," Johnny snapped as he shot his companion an angry stare. Lily sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Johnny, it's not like that."
"Oh, it's not?" he snipped as Lily's gaze hardened. "Because it kind of seems like that to me."
"Don't try and lash out at me because you can't deal with change well," Lily barked as Johnny scoffed before glaring at her.
"Lashing out? I think my lashing out is well deserved!"
"Oh, don't act like a kid, Johnny!" Lily yelled as the young man across from her rolled his eyes.
"You ignore me and avoid me like the plague, and I'm the one acting like a kid?"
"That's not fair!"
"Why? Why is it not fair? Huh?" Johnny snapped as he took a step forward, leaning in close. "Because I've been wracking my brain for the longest time. And I just don't really get it!"
"Of course you don't get it, Johnny!" the water controller yelled. "You don't get it because you're incapable of ever thinking about how other people feel! You only ever see things from your point-of-view!" Johnny didn't back down as Lily glared up at him.
"It's always like this with you!" Lily exclaimed as Johnny crossed his arms, unwavering under the woman's heated gaze. "You go off and spout a bunch of crap without even knowing anything, and you think you have some right!" Lily laughed bitterly at that. "You have no idea what everyone else has been going through! You think living this life is easy for Sue? You think that trying to get married four times and failing each time is fun for her? And do you think Ben is completely happy with himself? Sure he has Alicia, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still have issues with the way everything turned out for him!" Johnny frowned at that as he uncrossed his arms, letting them hang by his side.
"And do you think Reed isn't always worried? Everyone always comes to him, hoping he can just figure out their problems, and he barely has time to deal with his own life!" Lily shook her head as she finished her rant.
"You think this is any easier for me?" Johnny snapped loudly. "You think I don't know that this is hard for everyone? I'm not an idiot, Lily. I get it. But that doesn't mean that this is any better for me, I mean, hell! I can't even touch you guys or else I just screw everything up!" the young man exclaimed as he threw his arms up in the air with defeat.
"You're always so quick to judge me, like I'm this big, bad villain! I'm sorry that I can't be as perfect as your little boyfriend." Lily released an incredulous and frustrated laugh at that.
"Are you serious? Don't try and bring Travis into this like he's done anything wrong to you. It's not his fault that you have no consideration for other people and that you're always looking for nothing but a good time, Johnny!" Said man groaned as turned and took a step away from Lily.
"You don't get to try and make any accusations about me, not when you and I haven't had a real conversation in months!" Johnny was tired. He was tired of being a screw up, he was tired of being seen as nothing but a nuisance, and he was tired of being judged so harshly by the people that meant the most to him. "You have no idea what I've been feeling and what I've been going through, Lily, so don't sit there and act like you're this perfect little angel who knows everything!" Johnny nearly yelled, his patience suddenly completely gone.
Lily's voice was caught in her throat. She was trembling from all the emotions that were running through her as she argued with Johnny. She closed her eyes as she shook her head, her heart feeling as though it was about to explode.
"Do you have any idea about how I've been feeling?" Johnny said nothing as he waited for Lily to continue. "You think that I'm just ignoring you because I want to?" Tide laughed coldly as she shot her friend an icy stare.
"You have no idea what I'm feeling. You have no clue about the issues I'm going through. And how could you? It's not like you ever care to ask."
"How can I? How can I know what you're thinking when you can barely stand being around me alone for more than five minutes?" Johnny asked exasperatedly. He turned back to face Lily as his jaw clenched shut for a few seconds. "Do you think I don't care about how you feel? That I don't sit around and wonder what I've done to make you hate me?" Lily's eyes widened at that.
"Johnny-"
"What did I do, huh? What can I do to fix whatever I did to you, Lily?" Johnny looked at said woman with pleading eyes, an expression that she would have never expected to see upon his face. "I've been trying to be better and I've been trying to do better, and I know that lately I've been screwing a lot up, but at least I'm trying!" the man exclaimed.
"I don't hate you, Johnny."
"Then what is it? Why do you keep pushing me away?"
"Because!" Suddenly, Lily was on the rebound as she ran her fingers through her hair. "How can I not, Johnny? How can I stand next to you and pretend that everything's ok? Just seeing your face makes me want to crumble. My heart feels like it's going to burst from my chest whenever we're together and whenever I think about you, and I can't stand it!" Johnny blinked as the woman continued on with her rant, his heart skipping a beat.
"Lily-"
"Being around you is too hard, Johnny. Because I care too much about you. More than you'll ever care about me."
"...That's not-"
"Don't!" Lily backed away from Johnny with a wounded stare as the man stared back at her, unsure of what to do or say.
"Lily..."
"...Maybe you're right," Lily snapped as she took a few steps back on the little space that they had. "Maybe I have been acting a little selfishly lately, but if there's anyone to blame, it's you!" Johnny blinked, any sign of anger erased from his face. The desperate gleam in Lily's eyes and the way her face twisted suddenly made his chest hurt.
"...It's always been you..." Without another word, Lily turned and hopped off the tower, landing safely on a pillar of water. Johnny stood motionlessly for a few minutes, not bothering to watch Lily leave. He closed his eyes as his shoulders began to sag, exhaustion suddenly coming over him. He rubbed his face as he released a feral yell, all his pent up emotions and frustrations getting the best of him.
He hadn't even been sure how the hell the conversation had turned like that. Everything had been so blurry, and he had been so angry. And now he was just feeling guilty. Now he was full of regret. He wished he could understand fully what had happened, but there was no way for him to tell. The only thing he could think about was the way Lily looked at him, like she was reaching for something she could never have.
"Shit..."
She hadn't been thinking. She had said too much, and now there was no going back.
Lily walked silently down the sidewalk, pushing past the doors of the Baxter Building and immediately making her way to the elevator. She didn't bother saying hello to the doorman like she usually did, and he didn't seem to mind. After all, it wasn't hard to see that she was in no mood for a conversation with anyone.
Standing in the elevator, the black haired woman leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. She berated herself in her head as she bumped the back of her head softly into the wall a few times.
"What have you done, Lily?" At least before, she could go back and forth with talking to Johnny. She could pretend she didn't like him the way she did, and they sometimes fell right back into place with each other. Now, there was no way they could. Now, it was too late. Now he knew, and now there was no turning back. Whatever friendship Lily and Johnny had left, it was now ripped away from them because she couldn't hold it together.
Although she had been the one to say that Johnny had been lashing out, in the end, it had actually been her who lashed out.