He was falling. Fast. Plummeting from the atmosphere. Wind whipping around him, stealing his breath, slamming into him from all angles.
"Flame on!" Johnny yelled, waiting for the rush of his flames exploding around him, the addictive adrenaline that came with ignition, the sheer weightlessness that came with flight.
But this time was different: there was no rush, no adrenaline, no flight. He was falling like a rock.
He wanted to throw out his arms and legs to slow his plummet towards Earth but he remained in a cannonball position, his limbs tightly wound around each other, completely immobile.
"Come on, you stupid…" he swore as he concentrated on his hand, wanting to psychically open his fist and set his limb on fire.
"Flameonflameonflameonflameon !" he shouted desperately, his breath catching in his throat as he saw the continents come into view. He focused on his core, drawing out his heat.
"Work, you frickin' powers!"
Nothing.
He was at tree level now, seconds away from smashing into the ground. He heard people screaming, saw them running out of the way. He tried to rotate into a position that would minimize the damage done when he landed but, from the height he had fallen, he was pretty sure he was a pancake either way.
"I'm sorry, Sue," he breathed as he crashed into the ground.
It was the second day of Johnny's stay and, though his vitals were improving, he was still unconscious. His respiratory infection was clearing up under the antibiotics, as evidenced by the second chest x-ray they had run earlier that morning, and his vivid facial bruising was starting to fade. After delivering that news, the doctor had attempted to kick out the rest of the Fantastic Four, telling them they needed to eat and rest for a few hours outside of the hospital. Sue had steadfastly refused to leave but had encouraged her fiancé and teammate to follow doctor's wishes.
She was sleeping fitfully beside her brother when she heard a small voice from outside the room exclaim, "It's Mr. Johnny!"
She blinked blearily, and slid her hand out from underneath her brother's, scrubbing the remainder of sleep from her eyes. She glanced at the doorway just in time to see Chris, the young boy she had briefly met in the waiting room, dodge the police officer standing guard outside the hospital room and run towards Sue.
"Hi, Ms. Insibivle W'man," he said bashfully, hiding his face behind his stuffed bear.
The guard recovered quickly and grabbed Chris by the arm. "I'm sorry, Ms. Storm," he apologized as he began to drag the child from the room.
"No, that's all right," Sue stood and gently released the security guard's grip on the boy. "He can stay."
"Are you sure, Ms. Storm?" the guard inquired.
Sue nodded. "Can you let his parents know he's here?" she began, but was cut off by loud shouting outside the room.
"Christopher Michael! You come out into this hallway right now or you'll be grounded for a—" the shouting became louder and louder until the worried mother was standing outside the door.
As she passed the room, she glanced in, still in the midst of her tirade.
"Christopher! You come out here right now! You know what I said about wandering off."
"I sorry mommy!" the little boy cried, running towards his mother and wrapping his arms around her legs. "I saw'd Mr. Thing come-d out of hewr. I wanted to see'd Mr. Johnny and to tell him to gets better."
The anger fell off the mother's face, quickly replaced with pride for a split second before frustration and worry won over again.
"I'm so sorry, Ms. Storm," the mother recited as she pulled her son from the room. "He's usually such a good kid."
"No, it's okay," Sue said. "It was very sweet of him."
"Mommy, I wished Johnny better real quick?" Chris begged, looking up at his mom with wide, begging eyes.
The mother stared silently at her son. "You ask Ms. Storm if it's alright first," she finally conceded.
The large blue eyes were now fixed on Sue. "Pwease Ms. 'Torm?"
"Yes of course," she reached out one arm, and, after a quick glance to his mother to make sure it was okay, Chris grabbed it and allowed her to lead him by Johnny's side. "I'm sure he'd be glad to know that he had such cute fans that care," she grinned, ruffling his hair.
"He no look so good," Chris intoned quietly, staring at the unconscious Human Torch.
"He's getting much better," Sue replied truthfully. Though the test results kept coming back positive, it was still concerning that he had not regained consciousness after two days. Reed kept telling her that in a case such as this, there was no measure of normalcy and Johnny would come back when his body was ready.
"That good," Chris tucked his bear under one arm before busing himself with his right pants pocket. After a short struggle, he pulled out a small Fantastic Four bandage, a twin to the one he wore on his forehead. He struggled for a second to get it open, allowing the wrapping to drop onto the floor. Tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration, he stood on his tiptoes and placed the band-aid on Johnny's cast. He then kissed his open hand and laid it softly on top of the bandage.
"Mommy always kisses my owies," he told Sue as he grabbed the trash from the band-aid and stuffing it into his pocket. "Then they always getted better."
Unbeknownst to the boy, as soon as he had pulled out the band-aid, his mother had reached out, ready to stop her son. Sue shook her head, waving the mother off, allowing this boy to "heal" her brother.
She knelt down and looked Chris directly in the eye. "Thank you," she said, pulling the boy into a hug. "I'll be sure he knows you want him to get better."
The boy squirmed uncomfortably in Sue's hug, eventually wriggling free. "Dood. Cos if he not better, you only gots three, not four. You's need four to be called the Fantastic Four."
"I'll tell him," Sue promised, her emotions torn between the adorability of Chris' statement and sadness at the memory of almost losing her brother.
"We'd better get going," the mother spoke up quietly from the doorway.
"Yes mommy," Chris huffed sadly as she hustled him out of the room.
Sue heard the mother begin to rant, her voice getting softer and softer as they moved away, about how, while the gesture was touching, he was still not getting ice cream for dessert since he wandered off.
"You'd better get better soon," Sue informed her brother, staring at the small band-aid on his dark blue cast, truly touched by the little boy's gesture.
"Your fans are worried."
After a split second, she added, "We're all worried."
Miraculously, he didn't die on impact.
At first, there was no pain, only an empty void, but as time drew on the breaks, sprains and other injuries made themselves known, starting with his toes and working up to his chest. As the sensation returned to his torso, the shear pain associated with breathing stole away the little breath he had managed to gain. White fireworks exploded behind his closed lids and he focused on anything but the pain.
He heard a faint whisper, almost positive someone was saying his name.
He tried to open his mouth, but that motion sent fire—and not his kind of fire—racing up and down the side of his face.
"That's it, Johnny," he heard, only slightly louder this time.
Was that Sue? What was she doing here?
"S'e," he groaned through clenched teeth. With great effort, he repressed the cough that threatened to follow, knowing it would wreak havoc on his throbbing torso.
"Get a doctor!" he heard Sue shout, the sound so loud on his abused eardrums that he wanted to curl into a ball and cover his ears but his leaden body steadfastly refused the motion.
"S'okay Johnny," he heard Sue said, felt her cool hand on his face. "I know you can do it. Just open your eyes for me."
Johnny concentrated very hard, managing to force out two words.
"What Johnny? I didn't hear you. Just open your eyes. I know you can do it."
A litany of swear words shot through his skull. He focused again and repeated, much more slowly, "mag…ic…w'rd."
"Now, you jerk," Sue swatted him lightly on the shoulder, "or I'll make sure the least attractive nurse in the hospital is assigned to your room."
Fine, Johnny thought, managing to crack open his right eye. He actually wanted to open his left one but even through his drugged state, he sensed that eye was swollen almost, if not completely, closed.
"That's it," Sue continued encouragingly. "Welcome back."
"Long?" God, his throat hurt. What he wouldn't do for some…
"Three days." He felt a chilled metal object at his lips, automatically creaking open his jaw to allow Sue to slip in some ice chips.
He managed to lift an eyebrow to express his surprise.
"In and out," Sue clarified. "Mostly out."
He swished the chips around and swallowed almost immediately, sighing with great satisfaction as the chips quelled some of the inflammation in his parched throat. Almost as if the ice contained a magic healing ability, he felt some of the excruciating pain drain away, leaving only a dull throbbing sensation. He shifted his arm and felt the soft pressure where the IV was inserted. He was on the good stuff if he wasn't in any pain.
"I love you," he rasped in relief.
"I love you too Johnny," Sue responded, offering him some more ice chips.
With great determination, Johnny looked around his room, seeing an empty lounge chair and a reinforced stretcher within arm's reach from where he was currently lying.
"What time s'it?" he asked, the clock still a bit too far for his sight range.
"2 AM," an unfamiliar male voice replied.
Johnny quickly turned his gaze to his left, seeing for the first time a well-built Chinese man wearing a lab coat, flipping through a thick file.
"Who're y'u?"
"I am Dr. Chan. I am responsible for your overall care, Mr. Storm."
"Johnny," the Torch corrected.
"Johnny it is. I won't bore you with the semantics of your current situation but you'll be here for a few days until we can get those ribs healed up and that knee looked at. Until then, you will obey the orders of my nursing staff or I will have you sedated until I believe you are fit to leave. Am I making myself clear?"
Johnny frowned and looked back at Sue, silently asking "Is this guy for real?"
She lifted one shoulder, shrugging.
"Johnny?" the doctor repeated impatiently.
"Crystal," he answered, biting back the urge to tack a sir to the end of his response.
"Good. Now let's start with your vitals. How are you feeling?"
Even with one eye swollen shut, Johnny's glare was deadly.
"All right," the doctor grinned. "I guess that was a stupid question. What is your current pain, on a scale of 1 to 10? 1 being no pain, 10 makes you want to scream."
Johnny thought for a moment. "Like a three."
Sue swatted him lightly on the arm. "This isn't time for you to be macho. Don't lie to him."
"'m not lying," Johnny croaked. "I feel pretty good."
"That's the morphine talking," the doctor scribbled a note on his pad. He performed a quick exam, jotting down Johnny's responses to each injury.
Ooh, a cast, the younger Storm thought upon seeing the blue wrapping on his arm. That'll be fun to take care of.
And a Fantastic Four band-aid? What the –?
"Well, considering the circumstances, I'd say your injuries are healing nicely. I'm looking to release you in a few days, should you continue to improve. But most importantly, while you're here, do not 'Flame on'," the doctor imitated Johnny by dramatically flinging open his fists. "Not only will that set back your recovery but it will ruin my nice new equipment. And trust me, I had to beg for this new equipment."
With that, he left.
"Nice guy," Johnny commented, feeling with one hand for the controls. With Sue's help, he managed to raise his bed into angled sitting position.
"I'm glad you're feeling better Johnny. You had us so worried there."
"I'm sorry Sue, I really am," he replied, lowering his gaze and staring intently his cast.
The two sat in silence for a long moment listing to the nurses' chatting in the hallway, the sounds offset by the rhythmic beeping of his heart monitor.
"Why didn't you tell us you were hurt?" Sue asked quietly.
"I don't—" Johnny began but was cut off by a sharp glare from his sister. He closed his mouth and thought, his face furrowing in concentration.
"Why are you so down on me? You don't even know me," he remembered himself asking the very, very attractive Captain Frankie Raye.
"Actually, I know you very well. I read your personality profile: confident, reckless, irresponsible, self-obsessed—bordering on narcissism."
"Okay, so you do know me."
"All I've seen is a guy who almost got his team killed."
"I didn't want to be that guy," he admitted aloud.
"What guy?" Sue asked, genuinely confused.
"The guy who almost got his team killed," Johnny regurgitated Frankie's words, wincing as they left his lips.
Then he frowned as he realized what he had just said. He didn't usually admit stuff like that, especially to his sister. It must be the drugs talking, he realized. There was no way he'd be this open if he wasn't on some very strong painkillers. He looked at his sister, his eyes narrowing as he realized she had been waiting for this perfect moment to confront him. And people thought he was the sneaky sibling...
Sue gasped. "Johnny, whatever gave you—"
"Don't deny it, Sue. You were all thinking it," Johnny spat, keeping his voice at a harsh whisper to avoid being overheard by the inquisitive nursing staff. "The London Eye, for example."
"Johnny, you can't—"
"Can't I? Hell, I'm on fire, Sue. I am a hazard to everyone who even comes near me. The whole chase with Norrin? All the stunts he was pulling, Sue, we could have hurt a lot of people. I'm a portable danger zone."
"Jonathon—"
But the younger Storm continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Mostly, though, I'm tired of being the scapegoat when something goes wrong. I thought, just this once, I could do something right. Something that would show everyone that there's more to me than just…" he shrugged helplessly, unable to come up with the correct phrase.
But Sue, being the sister that she was, didn't need Johnny to finish that sentence. She understood him wanting more in life that just the negative publicity that had been following him around lately. She understood the desire to help, no matter what the cost and, deep down, she was proud that her brother had finally come to this realization.
She reached out and awkwardly hugged her brother, mindful of his injuries. "Johnny, from the moment you saved that little girl on the bridge, everyone knew that you always would have our backs, no matter what stories the media would spin."
The younger Storm's eyes darkened and he pulled away viciously. "Yeah, Sue, you say that, but you didn't see Reed when you were…" he hesitated, his breath catching in his throat. He swallowed hard before continuing, "…dying. I wasn't even allowed near you. He was worried I would do something to you. My team was scared of me Sue; I can't live like that."
"Reed was just worried Johnny," Sue insisted, laying her hands on her brother's shoulders. "You know him: all he does is think logically, without considering the social ramifications. He was in shock and his scientist-mode just kicked in, telling you to stay back, given all that had…happened. You know he didn't mean it."
"Yeah, whatever," Johnny harrumphed petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest, wincing as his cast collided with his ribs.
"I mean that Jonathon Storm. When push comes to shove, we all know that you have our backs. It just takes some people a little longer to realize that. Let the world get to know this new Johnny. I'm sure everyone will like the outcome."
Sue looked down at Johnny's arm, spying the brightly colored bandage. She pulled back and pointed to his cast.
"See that band-aid? A little boy who thinks you're the greatest thing since sliced bread ran away from his mother to come tell you to get better. He doesn't care how everyone else sees you: all he cares about is that when the world is about to end, all four of us," Sue waved her finger in a horizontal circle to include the absent Reed and Ben, "are ready to defend it."
Johnny stared at the band-aid for a long moment, inspecting the cartoon version of himself shooting twin fireballs out of his fists at the gigantic creature hanging off of the Empire State Building while the Thing shielded a gaggle of pedestrians from the chunks of falling building.
"Sliced bread, huh?" he said after a moment, looking up from the cast and meeting Sue's gaze.
His sister gently swatted his arm. "Is that all you heard from that entire conversation?"
Johnny pretended to look shocked. "You mean, you actually said something important?"
Sue scowled at her brother without any real malice before reclining in the plush chair that had been brought in earlier. "Get some sleep Johnny. Your body needs it."
Johnny considered complaining, as all little brothers should, before his body rebelled and a giant yawn stretched his jaw so wide it cracked—loudly. His expression matching his sister's, he closed his eyes, feeling as if a not-insignificant weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Night Suzie," he murmured, fighting off another yawn.
"Night Johnny," he heard before the healing sleep claimed him.
Thanks for reading! The last chapter will be posted Friday.