chpt. 17

"Johnny?" I croak.

"Yeah. It's me." He seems to exhale as he speaks, as if relieved? How long was I unconscious? Or, well, asleep?

I feel his warm hand holding mine, and I give it a gentle squeeze. He looks down on me, his blue eyes are darker than usual. His undereyes purple. I see his family in the room, too.

Susan is sitting on a chair in front of the bed. I gasp, seeing a little baby on her lap. She cooes at him, "Congratulations." I say, turning to Reed, "Both of you."

She beams at me, "Thank you."

"Thank you." Reed replies.

I then feel a ball of fur and the sound of loud purring on my face.

I chuckle, "Hey buddy." I whisper. "How long was I out?" I ask.

"Out, a few seconds. Asleep, a good half our." Johnny explains.

"I feel terrible..." I murmur, sitting up.

They all exclaim, I freeze, mid sit up. "Don't sit up if you feel unwell, kid." Ben says, his eyes wide.

I chuckle, "Not that terrible. Just I feel a burden now. You had a child," I mention to Sue and Reed, "Went to space! And I... fainted."

Johnny chuckles at the last part. I playfully punch him in his arm, to which he playfully faints. I roll my eyes at him.

Reed considers my sentence with the squint of his eyes, "Well—"

Susan sends a wave of invisible force his way, knocking him back a bit, "Remeber what we said?"

"Oh, yes. Will you join us for dinner?" He asks.

"We take it very seriously." Johnny adds.

"We do. You take it... seriously-err." Ben says. I chuckle. Johnny shakes his head, grinning.

"So, uh, will you?" Reed asks.

I smile, "That will be lovely, thank you."

There is a long moment of silence. Almost as if everyone is afraid to speak first. Did they get the information they needed from space? Is it good? Bad?

Susan sighs, looking at me, "We met with Galactus." She starts.

"He's massive." Johnny murmurs, staring blankly into his hands on his lap.

"And he's coming for our planet." Reed adds, his arms crossed. He's staring at the floor.

"And that silver woman?" I ask. Anxious fills my chest.

"She chooses the planets he destroys." Susan says.

"He's also hungry. Eternally, hungry." Ben adds with a sigh.

I frown, "So, what? He's going to continue eating planets? Forever?"

"No." Reed says. His voice his hollow.

"He wants our son." Susan says. I can feel the rage coming from her. "In exchange for our planet to go untouched."

I stay quiet, my eyes wide as I stare at their child in her lap. Why would he want a child? There's nothing I could say now even if I wanted to.

"And your ex-husband wants you dead." Reed says. I shiver, my body going cold. "He's also helping the woman." He sighs heavily.

"I know this may sound stupid, but I want to help." I say.

Reed looks at me, "It does sound stupid."

"We need all the help we can get, Reed. For Franklin, for everyone." Susan says, her eyes filled with determination as she looks at me.

I nod, "I'll help any way I can." I say.

+

I start to make my way to my room, slowly. Not trying to faint again in the same day. I then hear a 'beep' and 'bwop' behind me. I turn, first seeing Johnny—who insisted on walking me to my room—then Herbie.

"Hey Herbie." I greet.

"Bwee!" He responds back. "Bwo bwa bwoe bwee-bwee?" He tilts his metal head, hands spinning.

"What?" I ask, as I stand in my room door.

"He asked how you're feeling." Johnny explains with a smile.

He then seems to pet Herbie on his head with a scratch, and Herbie let's out the most adorable sound that sounds like the equivalent to a cat purring. I melt.

"I'm good, thank you, Herbert." I say with a smile.

"Bwo wob." He replies.

"Herbert!" Reed yells from downstairs and Herbie zooms away with a "Whah-whah!" I chuckle.

I enter my room, Johnny still on my heels. "Uh, can I help with anything?" He asks me, his hands behind his back. He wants to take care of me. I realize.

I smile, "Uh," I sit on my bed thinking. Before I can do or say anything, Johnny runs over to my bed, fluffing my pillows. I stare at him in silence.

An unknown feeling rests in my chest. I've never been treated like this. Taken care of, literally had my life saved on multiple occasions. I let him fluff my pillows, help me tie my hair—which I had to redo, because of loose strands as well as tucking me into bed.

He fluffs some more pillows, as Susan enters my room with a soft knock. She tilts her head, amused.

"Johnny?" She asks.

"Yeah?" He answers, still occupied with fluffing my pillow.

"Reed needs your help in the lab." She says, crossing her arms.

"Comin', comin'," He mumbles, before standing back, staring at me tucked in under a blanket. And nods triumphantly, before going downstairs.

She watches with a smile as he leaves, before closing my door, and sitting on the bed. I sit up slowly, not wanting to ruin Johnny's handiwork.

"So you and my baby brother?" She asks me.

My eyes widen and my face turns hot, "I—uh..." I splutter. "We aren't—" What makes it worse, is that she's his sister. I swallow. We were talking about the world ending a few minutes ago...

She chuckles, "You think I don't see the doe eyes and yearning?" She questions.

My eyes narrow, "I don't yearn."

She tilts her head, "Maybe. But he definitely does."

I flush more at the comment, "I—I don't know what to say," I sigh heavily, "I don't know what's going on between us..." I mumble.

She laughs, head thrown back, "Sorry. It's just... I've never in my life seen him like this."

"All doey eyed and yearning?" I ask.

She grins, "Yes. Exactly."

We're quiet for a while, until she clears her throat, "We didn't approve of his involvement with you, Reed and I, at first." She starts.

"And, with me being pregnant and the fate of the world being up to us, we had bigger things to focus on." She says, looking at me.

I nod, urging her to continue, "My point is, we were harsh. When you used were going through terrible things, too. And I apologize."

My eyes widen, "But— you shouldn't! Its not your fault! I understand, well can imagine, like you said, you have a child and was in space and all these things. I get it."

She smiles at me, "Still, we could have been a little nicer." I smile, saying nothing.

"So, how is my brother treating you?" She asks.

"Better than I deserve." I say softly.

She points a finger at me, "If you anything to hurt my baby brother." I hold my hands up. She grins.

"Same goes for him. If he does anything, you tell me first, okay?"

I grin, "Okay."

"Thank you for offering your help back there. We're going to definitely need it." She smiles, putting her hand on mine.

"You're welcome."