Fantastic Four (Movieverse) – Lost Time

Summary:

Sequel to Hunted. Sometimes the only way to get things right is to do it yourself. But Doom has found that is so much more fun to stand back and watch as your puppet tears them apart. Siblingness/Family stuff

Disclaimer:

I owned nothing then, I own nothing now D:

Author’s Notes:

Thanks to EasyButton, SadietheBonanzaGirl, silverangel83, Lil Kanny, and LuffysAngel for reviewing!

I have the real urge to yell “I’m ” again cause that was such a bloody long hiatus, but I shall resist the urge and just apologize profusely for the lack of updates! Sorry!

But anyway, enjoy the long, long awaited Chapter Three!

Chapter Three: Betrayal and Lies

The Baxter Building

It was a long walk down to the reception area from the lab. Reed was left alone with his thoughts, which was never a good thing. He was so sure that Franklin Storm was in prison, how on earth was he suddenly waiting in the Baxter Building? He hoped this was just a prank, a really bad practical joke, because if it wasn’t the already rocky relationship between Sue and Johnny wouldn’t last.

Finally Reed reached the reception area and was struck instantly by the similarity in appearance between Franklin and Johnny Storm, which was then followed by dread as he realised that this was no joke. They had the same facial features and a similar way of holding themselves. From the distance Reed stood from the man he could have mistaken him for Johnny, although Franklin was obviously a lot older, looking tired with greying hair.

“Mr. Storm?” Reed asked uncertainly. The man managed to tear his gaze away from the holographic receptionist and looked towards him. Reed approached cautiously and offered his hand for the man to shake. When he was this close to Mr. Storm he could see that he and Johnny even had the same eyes.

Franklin hesitated before taking Reed’s offered hand and shaking it. “Hello.”

Reed tried to relax and smile, but there was something in the way Franklin looked at him. Maybe he just didn’t recognise the world famous superhero – he had been in prison for a long time. “I’m Reed Richards, Susan’s husband.” Reed decided it would have made the moment even more awkward if he suggested that he was technically Frank’s son-in-law and so remained quiet.

“I’m Franklin Storm, Susan’s father.” Franklin replied almost robotically.

Curiosity got the better of Reed; “I thought you were in prison?”

Franklin visibly flinched, and Reed regretted asking, but he had to know. Franklin quickly covered his reaction and answered, almost too casually. “I was released on parole last week; thought I should come and visit my family...so much has changed...” Franklin seemed to drift off, staring at something faraway.

Reed blinked, slightly confused by the change in attitude. “I’ll call Susan, I’m sure she’ll want to talk to you. Roberta?” Reed glanced at the hologram that nodded and set to calling Susan.

Franklin continued staring off at the faraway place while Reed waited awkwardly for his wife. There was something very not-right about Franklin Storm, but it wasn’t Reed’s place to decide if he should be trusted or not, it was up to Susan what should be done, with maybe a little bit of input from Johnny. This was going to be an interesting day.

Five minutes later, a confused and slightly scared looking Susan entered the reception area, gasping when she saw her father. She glanced at Reed who shrugged unhelpfully, and then walked up to Franklin, unsure how she should react. “Dad?”

Franklin snapped out of his reverie and noticed Susan for the first time. He smiled, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and swept his daughter into a hug. For a moment Susan tensed, but she quickly relaxed into her father’s embrace. After a minute that seemed to go on forever, Susan pulled back and held Franklin at arm’s length. “What happened dad?”

“I got released on parole, last week, thought I’d come see you” Franklin repeated brokenly “and your brother.”

Susan closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself so that she could think clearly. Already the dread of having to tell Johnny the truth seemed to block out the gap in Franklin’s story. “You told me twenty years ago to tell Johnny that you were dead.”

Franklin blinked as if he had completely forgotten that fact. “Oh.”

Kayla was in the too-white room again. Johnny entered without knocking and sat down on the examination table, waiting for the good doctor to look up and notice him. Eventually she looked up from her notes and turned to glare at him, “Have you never heard of knocking?”

“No point, you probably wouldn’t have heard it anyway,” Johnny easily replied, smirking slightly. Kayla just rolled her eyes and continued staring at her notes. “How can you spend so much time in here?”

“Easily.”

“That’s just not human, were you a hermit in another life?” Johnny joked, hoping to provoke Kayla a little. She was more fun when she was riled up and arguing with him.

“What is it that you want?” Kayla huffed, exasperated at Johnny’s persistence. “Do you annoy Reed this much or is this a privilege you reserve entirely for me?”

Johnny smiled; the grin lighting up his eyes. “This is just the only way to make you socialise. Have you thought about my offer?”

Kayla looked confused for a second and then sighed. “The dancing.”

“The dancing.” Johnny repeated.

“I can’t say I’ve thought about it, no,” Kayla lied. Of course she had thought about it, it was an offer difficult to refuse. It would be nice to get out of the Baxter Building, she was starting to go stir crazy in here...and the whiteness of this very white room was starting to get to her...

Johnny just continued smiling knowingly as he watched Kayla decide. She was so easy to read, she might as well have been thinking out loud. He waited for her to sigh as she came to her decision, and then answered for her “That’s a yes then.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed at how he did that. She nodded reluctantly, making Johnny hop off the table and grab her hand. He pulled her into a standing position and proceeded to hug her. It wasn’t a lover’s embrace, but it was more than friendly. That was pretty much their relationship. Caught somewhere between just friends and romance. Sometimes it was annoying, but it was never awkward.

Kayla pulled away with a smile on her lips. Suddenly her smile turned into a frown of concentration as she focused on something else. Johnny watched her curiously, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Kayla shook her head with a little laugh, “Someone new is in the Baxter Building, I didn’t recognise the heat signature is all.”

That was part of Kayla’s icy ability – she could identify and locate different heat sources within a certain radius. She would just use it subconsciously to keep track of everyone inside the building, but mainly to keep an eye on Johnny. She never had to leave her little white box to know where he was.

Johnny was curious now. He knew the new person was probably just a new postman or an electrician or something, but what if it wasn’t. It was Kayla’s turn to watch and read Johnny as he considered who the mystery person could be. He turned to look at her but before he could ask she answered “He’s in the reception area.”

“So it’s a He then...wonder what he’s doing here.” Johnny headed towards the door, taking Kayla by the hand and dragging her with him.

Kayla realised there was something wrong before Johnny did. She pulled him to a stop just outside the reception area, indicating that they should wait. From where they stood they could see Reed standing there awkwardly watching the exchange between Sue and another man who had their back to them.

The man seemed taken aback by something Sue said, his only reply being a surprised “Oh.”

Susan sighed heavily, closing her eyes again. She dropped the hold she had on her father’s arms and took a step back. Franklin looked offended and hurt by her reaction, but didn’t move to hold her again. “You should leave,” she murmured. “Now is not a good time for this. Maybe some other time, when Johnny’s ready to know...”

“You can’t keep lying to him you know. He’ll find out eventually,” Franklin replied, the threat barely disguised by the disappointment in his tone.

“I know,” Susan blinked away tears, trying to think what to do next. “You should go now.”

She looked away from her father and glanced past him, shocked to see a confused Johnny being held back by Kayla. How long had he been there? Franklin noticed the change in Susan’s features and turned around to see what she was staring at.

Father and Son stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, Franklin trying to think of something to say and Johnny trying to understand what was happening. Kayla kept a hold on Johnny’s arm, partly to be of some comfort, but mainly to restrain him if he tried to do anything stupid. Sue watched the exchange between them, knowing everything was about to blow up in her face.

They all stood, frozen in that moment until Johnny finally found his voice. “Y-y-you’re d-dead.”

The slightly crazy side of Franklin had the urge to go ‘Boo!’ at his son, but luckily his rational side managed to maintain control. “I was in prison.”

The images Johnny had struggled to suppress all those years ago suddenly flashed before his eyes. He remembered being woken by the sound of the front door slamming and loud voices. He had crept out of his bed and along the corridor until he could see his father from the top of the stairs. Sue had joined him moments later, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. His father and the strange man had gotten into a fight. He didn’t know what to do. If he could have used his voice he would have screamed when the gun went off the first time. When the gun went off the second time he was sure that his father had been shot. But no, it was the strange man who lay there gurgling and gasping his last breaths.

Johnny blinked, still not quite believing what was happening. He managed to point at Sue and stammer “S-she said you were-“

“I’m not.” Franklin said.

It had scared him, that day Sue had told him about their father. When she had climbed into the car and simply said those two words, he hadn’t cared. And that scared him. He had just been told his father was dead, and he had felt nothing. Maybe a part of him had known it wasn’t true, but why would Susan lie to him? He placed all his trust in her, and he knew that he believed what she said. The man standing in front of him just couldn’t be there.

“Johnny, I need to talk to you,” Sue said calmly. She covered the distance between the two of them and led him away into the nearest room. Kayla had been reluctant to let him go, but she knew this was not an argument she should be involved in.

Franklin appeared very downhearted and disappointed by the reunion. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t it. Kayla turned and disappeared down the corridor she had come from, leaving Franklin with Reed.

Reed had no idea what to do. He could try and reinforce Sue’s suggestion that Franklin leave, but what if once the siblings had finished yelling at each other they felt the need to talk to their father? Franklin would be long gone and it would be Reed’s fault. But then again, what if he allowed Franklin to stay and the siblings didn’t want to see their father again; Reed would be prolonging the amount of time they had to spend in his presence. Besides, there was something about that man that freaked Reed out.

Reed took a step toward Franklin to ask him to leave, but was interrupted by the arrival of Ben and Alicia. Part of Reed was relieved that he wouldn’t be left alone with Franklin, but he also saw the strange reaction the man had when he saw Ben in all his rocky glory. They were all used to people’s initial reactions to Ben being fear, but there was something else in Franklin’s eyes.

“Egghead, what’s going on?” The sound of Ben’s gravelly voice made Franklin involuntarily flinch. The movement drew Ben’s attention, “Who’s this?”

Reed took a moment to compose himself. “This is Franklin Storm, Susan and Johnny’s father.”

“Oh,” Ben murmured, “That explains the shouting.”

Reed finally noticed the muffled sound of raised voices coming from the direction Sue had dragged Johnny. At least Johnny seemed to have regained his voice and gotten over the initial shock. It was Franklin now who seemed unable to speak in the presence of the Thing. Reed glanced nervously at Franklin now suddenly desperate to get away from him. “I have some work to do in my lab.” He paused, and then spoke directly to Franklin “Make yourself at home?”

He hadn’t meant to say it as a question, but Franklin just seemed to make Reed uncertain. He fled, trying to be casual but most likely failing. There was something seriously wrong with that man.

“You lied to me.”

Johnny stated once Sue had shut the door behind them. She glanced guiltily at him before averting her eyes. She looked so tired and emotionally drained, but Johnny couldn’t help adding “Again.”

Sue remained silent, allowing Johnny a moment to get himself together. He looked at her accusingly. “Do you do anything but lie to me?”

“I did it to protect you.” She said quietly. She sat down on one of the sofas as if her legs would no longer hold her up anymore. Tears already threatened to fall as she gazed up at her brother, silently begging that he would understand. “You had already been through so much...”

“So telling me my father was dead was gonna help?” Johnny retorted.

“It was either that or live with the shame...did you really want to spend your childhood knowing your father was locked up for killing a man? Having to go to that cursed place to visit? Did you want to watch him being broken down by life in a cell?” Sue argued, her voice rising with every point. “It was better this way.”

“It was better for me to find out the truth when he showed up out of the blue?”

“This wasn’t the way you were meant to find out. I was going to tell you...but there was never a right time. You seemed so okay, I didn’t want to bring you down with this.” Sue hid her face in her hands, trying not to show the tears that fell freely down her cheeks.

Johnny knelt in front of Sue, taking her hands away from her face and holding them. He looked in her eyes and saw the pain in them. Usually he was so stubborn, he could have kept this argument going for days, but he hated seeing Sue like this, even after everything. “Why do you keep lying to me?”

A tear slipped down Sue’s cheek and Johnny wiped it away. “I don’t know.”

“It’s going to stop now, okay?” Johnny reasoned, “I don’t think either of us can take much more.”

Sue leant forward and wrapped her arms around her brother, relieved when he hugged her back. She had no idea what had changed his mind about her. She had expected more shouting, not this. She didn’t even try to stop the tears anymore and she held onto Johnny as if he would disappear of she let go. “I’m so sorry Johnny...I just wanted to protect you.”

“I’m sorry too,” he whispered back. She felt him smile. “I think I may have overreacted a little.”

Sue pulled back and looked at Johnny sadly, not quite getting what he was referring to. She thought he had had quite an adequate reaction to finding out his dad was alive actually; she most likely would have done the same. Was he forgiving her for more than this? “To what?”

“Everything.” Johnny sighed and then sat down next to her. “It was over a year ago now. I still can’t believe what you did, and I still don’t understand why, but I think I’ve punished you enough. You were right, it’s about time we moved on. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Sue sighed, hugging him again. She was comforted by Johnny’s words, but she knew he had wanted to say more. Maybe now wasn’t the best time to press the issue. She was just glad to have her brother back.

But just when one thing in her life starts going right, there’s always another part just waiting to go wrong. Suddenly every light bulb in the entire building shorted out, some exploding and showering the ground in glass. Panic filled Sue as she shared a fearful look with her brother. “Leona”

The siblings leapt to their feet and ran down the semi dark hallways of the Baxter Building. It was early evening so there was still some light shining through the windows. Sue ran ahead of Johnny and was the first to slam through the Nursery door.

It was empty. The baby cage stood open with Leona’s blanket hanging slightly out. The intricate mobile that hung above it still jingled eerily. Susan fell to her knees, unable to handle anymore. She felt Johnny crouch next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll find her.”

We’ll find him.

Yay! Chapter Three is finally done!

I had a weird moment while writing this, my muse did a U-Turn and now pretty much my entire plot needs reworking XD It was strange how I suddenly found myself writing Johnny forgiving Susan...maybe my muse was bored and decided to give me some hard work to do!

Anywayz, I will attempt to update again soon! Please review!