002. fire n' ice

CHAPTER TWO, fire n' ice!

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"𝐇.𝐄.𝐑.𝐁.𝐈.𝐄, 𝐖𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 to scan the baby." Reed muttered and paced the length of the room, his forehead coating a thin layer of sweat. Lacie was lounging in one of the chairs, eyes following Mr Fantastic's moves.

"The internal scan hasn't achieved the right levels..." He placed his glasses on and bent over to read the baby's details.

Lacie sighed and swivelled around in the chair, "Reed, why can't you just act like a father for once?" Reed didn't glance her way and headed straight to the transmission scans. "What do you mean, I'm acting like a father right now? I'm checking if my baby is alright."

Frostbite shook her head and stood up to follow him, "No, you're acting like Reed the scientist, not Reed the father." Reed opened his mouth to interject with another fact but Lacie spoke before him, "I get it, you want your child to be healthy. I understand. But just... be there for Sue too."

Reed turned to face her and slowly nodded, "You're right. I'm probably overthinking this." He put his hand on his chin and scanned the data in front of him.

"You're not overthinking," Lacie reassured him, "Just trust Sue and her word, she knows the baby better than anyone else." She smiled at him and he reciprocated the action, appreciating her honesty and kindness that came with it.

H.E.R.B.I.E beeped from beside Lacie and Reed furrowed his brows, "2:15? What 2:15? I don't have any meetings today."

"Ah, Reed!" Johnny called out as the doors opened to reveal him, arms tucked behind his back and a dark blue shirt tight against his chest.

Reed's face dropped and he glanced towards Lacie who covered her mouth with her hand, almost like she was trying to suppress a grin that crept up onto her face. "Oh. That 2:15."

Johnny strode into the room, head held high and winked at Lacie as he approached the pair standing next to each other, "Lovely to see you too, Lace."

Lacie crossed her arms against her chest, "Can't say the same for you, Flame Boy." She teased and grinned as he mocked the offence, continuing his journey into the room.

"Thank you for making the time." He said, not clocking Reed's reluctance to see him. "Johnny, do you have to today?" He said and walked with Lacie to meet him in the middle of the room.

"I have some thoughts on the new suit design." Johnny announced. Lacie's head snapped towards Reed, "New suits?" A smile spread on her face, excited by the concept of something new for her to wear.

Reed groaned, "Please don't encourage him." He turned his attention back to the Human Torch, "There are no new suit designs."

Johnny whipped the paper from behind his back and held it in front of Lacie and Reed's faces, making them flinch backwards before Lacie craned her neck forwards to gain a closer look.

She plucked them out of Johnny's hand and held them close to her face, squinting her eyes, "Oh! These are sick!" She exclaimed, mouth dropped open with a grin, not seeing Johnny smile adoringly at her reaction.

"You finished them years ago. They have dust on them." Johnny said. Reed sighed and snatched the design from Lacie, making her retract her hands of her irrational fear of paper cuts.

Johnny blinked at Reed, understanding his circumstances and trying to be empathetic, "I get it. You're gonna be a father soon. New responsibilities. You're a bit scared--"

"I'm not scared. I'm... I'm busy." Reed sighed, "I don't need the same lecture from both of you. God, it's like you're the same person." He flicked his eyes between Lacie and Johnny, watching the faces tint pink slightly.

Johnny smirked and shrugged, "Well, we are fire and ice." Lacie looked up at him, her face scrunched up, "That's so corny, Johnny."

The blonde held his hands up, "What? It's true!" Lacie shook her head and walked towards H.E.R.B.I.E, "Oh, Johnny! A new transmission came through today." She said to him, knowing the pair had been trying to work out the translation for weeks.

Johnny's posture dropped and he placed a hand on the small of Lacie's back to guide them towards the transmission, "Have you listened to it yet?" He asked her.

"Not yet. I was waiting for you." She admitted, not looking up in his direction, already knowing his face would be sporting a smug smile.

"It's more of the same. It's a complex signal." Reed butted in, walking with the pair and urging H.E.R.B.I.E to take out the record. "Knock yourself out." He handed it to Johnny.

Johnny flipped the record between his fingers and scratched H.E.R.B.I.E on the top of his head in appreciation.

Reed's voice raised and he pointed to his work area, "Johnny, I'm running a test." He thought that would be his cue to leave him alone in his lab, but the blonde didn't get that impression. Instead, he hopped up and grabbed Lacie's wrist to drag her along with him, "Cool!"

Reed looked behind him and Johnny held his hands out, "I've got time!" He smiled and tilted his head. Lacie leaned into Johnny, "He hates you." She sang to him in a quiet and mocking voice.

Johnny glanced down at her, "He can't hate me. I'm his pregnant wife's brother, if he hates me that means his life is over." He winked back and watched Lacie suppress a laugh, both of them jogging to catch up with Reed.

"Bridge teleportation test." Reed announced and stretched out his arm to place the other part of his test on the table opposite. "Movement of organic matter, six meters." He muttered to himself, grabbing his safety goggles and placing them on the bridge of his nose.

Johnny picked up a pair from the table and lifted them to wear, but Lacie plucked them out of his hands and placed them gently on her face, turning to face him with a smug smile on her face. Johnny rolled his eyes playfully and tried not to smile too much and looked down at H.E.R.B.I.E, "Thank you, Herbert." He nodded as the robot handed him his own goggles.

H.E.R.B.I.E. whirred quietly only for Johnny to hear, making the Human Torch snap his head to face him and mutter a sharp, "Shush!" The robot clearly guilty of teasing Johnny and his relationship with the woman next to him. Johnny fist bumped H.E.R.B.I.E and glanced at Lacie one more time before looking at Reed's hands working on the experiment.

"Let's run it." Reed said and pulled the lever and everyone watched as the egg was engulfed by a field of electricity, before disappearing from their sight. Turning around, they saw the egg reappear in the same space on the opposite table.

"It worked!" Johnny praised weakly before the power in the room shut down completely. Lacie sighed into the darkness, "Johnny?"

"Yeah?" He responded and lit up the room with his body ablaze, hands on hips and head tilted, staring at Reed and Lacie with a smug smile.

"Don't look at me, it wasn't my experiment." Lacie held her hands up and backed away from the Reed and Johnny stare down.

"Could you reset the breaker?" Reed said through gritted teeth, being the last person to admit when his own experiment didn't go to plan.

Johnny slowly took off his glasses and peered down at Lacie who watched his every move. The Human Torch casually rolled his shoulders and leaned towards Lacie, hoping she could feel the heat from the body on her bare arms; silently wishing that she'd find his powers half as cool as he found his own.

He stared at Reed for a moment and took off to the right, "Other way." Lacie whispered to him, making him change direction and turn around, passing her on his way.

She had her head bowed down to try and disguise a smirk at his error, her hand rested beside her body. As Johnny passed her, she flicked her wrist out and shot a spec of ice so it landed on his thigh, making him flinch. "Ow! Seriously, Lace! You need to break that habit." He called out behind him, already hearing Lacie's laughter and Reed scolding her, urging her to leave him to his father duties.

Lacie followed Johnny into his room after he reset the power in the building, sneakily snatching the record out of his hands and then speeding in front of him. "Hey!" He called out and jogged to walk beside her.

Lacie smiled and looked at him, "You did it last week, it's my turn now." She reasoned and placed the record gently in its player, Johnny standing behind her and a hand hovering on her waist as she bent down to start it.

She sat cross-legged on the floor as Johnny squatted beside her, hands against the record player supporting his weight. His brows were furrowed as the record played out loud, repeating the same weird language they had heard for weeks on end.

This was Johnny's favourite part of the week, but he'd never verbalise it. He had an excuse to spend endless time with Lacie alone, seeming like they weren't gonna decipher this language anytime soon, he could revel in these moments for a while longer.

"I just don't get it. It feels like the same thing over and over." Lacie sighed and rubbed her eyes with her hands, confused for the fourth week in a row.

Lacie's eyes scanned the room and fell onto a piece of paper wedged into Johnny's notebook, "What's that?" She pointed at it and let her fingers touch its worn edges.

Johnny's eyes widened and he intercepted her, grabbing it and enclosing it in his fist, "Nothing!" Lacie tilted her head at him, "What are you hiding, Flame Boy?" She teased, brows raised at the blonde's flushed expression.

Johnny shook his head and looked to the floor, "Something you'll..." He laughed to himself, "Something you'll hopefully find out very soon."

Lacie nodded and chose not to press on the situation, accepting patience and turning her attention back to the record.

The Human Torch reopened the note in his hand, scanning the list and training his eyes on the second note. His eyes flickered to Lacie who was listening intently and back to the list, folding it gently back together and shoving it in his pocket, clearing his throat.

Johnny stood up and walked to the window, "It's cool, though. Don't you agree?" He turned his head to watch her.

She placed her hands on her knees, "It would be cool if we actually knew what they were saying."

Johnny shook his head, "Not that, Lace." He sat in his chair next to her, elbows on his knees as he leaned closer to her, "Our whole fire and ice thing going on." His eyes lit up and a smirk etched onto his face.

"What?" Lacie furrowed her brows. "It's cool! We're opposites of each other, no one else in the team has that!" Johnny laughed, "Lace, come on. Don't deny it."

He watched her stare at him, a smile growing before she sighed and scrunched up her face, "It's a little bit cool." She chuckled as Johnny sank off the chair and moved so he was sitting across from her, "Yes, Lacie!" He cheered.

Lacie laughed at his reaction and shook her head, "We're compatible. We work!" Johnny continued, making Lacie stand up and run her hand through her hair, "I'm too tired for this, Johnny." She smiled and stood in his doorway.

Johnny remained on the floor and smiled up at her, chest feeling tight as he saw her cheeks pinker than usual, hoping his charm (and list) was working and in progress.

"Knock if you figure out any more of this... language." Lacie waved her hands around and gestured to the record player.

Johnny nodded at her and saw her turn around to leave, "Goodbye, Frostbite." He winked at her as she turned around with her tongue over her teeth.

"See you, Flame Boy." She winked back and turned on her heel, leaving Johnny in his room with the piece of paper tucked into his pocket.

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authors note!

hey (again) smashed this out in one sitting so if it's poor then i'll painfully edit it again soon

but i'm hoping to keep upload consistent because i'm OBSESSED with writing these two !!!

thank you for all the support so far, love u all :))))