009. expect disappointment

CHAPTER NINE, expect disappointment!

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"𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 do we even have?" Ben asked from beside Lacie on the couch, sitting across from a frantic Reed who flickered over his analysis. "And what will we do when he gets here?" Johnny asked, pacing up and down the length of the room.

Franklin was propped up on Lacie's lap, her knee bouncing to keep the child happy and his laughter contagious as the rest of the Fantastic Five wore frowns on their concerned faces.

"What about the ship? We blast it. Problem solved." Ben shrugged and Johnny pointed at him in approval of the proposition.

Reed had his back turned to the group and trained his eyes on the chalkboard, "We can't blast it."

Lacie rubbed her hand up and down Franklin's back, "Guys, conventional weapons won't work on it." She pointed out.

Johnny stopped in his tracks and tilted his head at Lacie, "How'd you know that?" Lacie smiled innocently, "When I'm bored I hang out with Reed in the lab."

"Lacie, that's the definition of boring." Sue gasped at Johnny's comment before he resumed pacing, "Johnny!"

Johnny waved a hand in Reed's direction, "No offence, Reed." Ben chuckled and turned to Lacie, "When you say bored, do you mean when Johnny isn't around?"

Lacie readjusted Franklin on her lap and furrowed her brows, "God, does everything think I follow Johnny around like a puppy dog or something?"

"No, it's the other way around." Ben laughed, "Moving on!" Johnny shouted from across the room, "So we run?" He turned back to Reed.

Sue swayed on the spot, a cardigan wrapped around her tired frame thanks to the giggling baby on Lacie's lap, "We run?" She questioned her brother.

"Draw them away from earth. We're faster than them, right?" Johnny shrugged.

"I could help draw them away," Lacie piped up from her position on the couch, "I mean they seem pretty adamant that they want me so I could lure them away, no?"

Reed sighed and looked at the woman, "Lacie, no--" "No, it's fine. I'm fine with it." Lacie nodded and smiled, but it seemed too forced in Johnny's opinion.

Johnny furrowed his brows as the remaining team members looked between each other, "I'm not fine with that, by the way!" He exclaimed and threw his hands up, muttering something under his breath along the lines of, 'Can't believe we even had to think about that'.

Ben placed his hand on Lacie's shoulder, "Lacie, even if you tried that, we're not faster than the herald."

Lacie brushed the small tufts of hair that sat on top of Franklin's head back and let him hold one of her fingers as he babbled incoherent words, "What if I got a head start?" She asked.

"But that's all we got." Ben reasoned, "And then he could still eat the earth anyways." Lacie nodded in agreement.

Johnny walked towards the couch and sat down next to Lacie, his thigh brushing against her own. Franklin saw his uncle approaching and reached his hands out to him which Johnny accepted. Still on Lacie's lap, Franklin's small hands grabbed on Johnny's sleeves to yank him closer, making the Human Torch smile.

Sue sat down also, sparing a glance at Johnny and Lacie caring for her child. She smiled at the interaction before turning her attention to her husband, "Reed, you wanna take us through what you have?"

Mr Fantastic turned to face his team, all their expecting faces awaiting an answer. "What I have?" Reed stuttered out.

"Yeah." Sue nodded. Reed glances back to his board, the equations holding no significance and feeling like a void of his knowledge, "What I have is nothing."

Lacie tightened her grip on Franklin and stopped her movements of fiddling with his small hand. Franklin babbled and she snapped back into focus and played with him again, mind still reeling from the idea that Reed, the smartest man in the world who always had an answer for everything, had simply run out of ideas.

"Nothing?" Johnny raised his brows, "Did you say nothing?" He felt his nerves arise as Lacie and Franklin's fate was in the hands of all five of them, yet no one could muster up a reasonable solution.

Reed picked up papers that were tossed onto a chair, "I analysed the samples that H.E.R.B.I.E took from Galactus' ship." He handed them to Ben, "All evidence suggests that it predates our universe. It could take 10 years to understand this."

Sue leaned forwards and rested her elbows on her knees, "We're talking about a God?"

"I'm talking about something beyond our experience. An unknowable life who imagines Franklin as his successor," Lacie looked down at the infant in her arms, seeing his face smile up at her. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against the top of his head and hoisted his body up, allowing him to play with the ends of her hair. "And possesses some cosmic power." Reed finished.

Ben scoffed, "That can't be true. You ran all those tests, right?" Lacie nodded as he looked at her, knowing she was at almost every one of his tests.

"I have and I don't know what can or cannot be." Reed raised his voice, growing frustrated with the prospect that he couldn't decipher an answer. "I'm not sure how long. I'm not sure of anything, I have nothing. I have nothing!"

Lacie felt Sue's eyes on her child and lifted Franklin's hand to wave at his mother, smiling as Sue's face lit up despite the stress of the current situation.

"If we could solve something," Reed exclaimed, hands moving fast to wipe off his previous equations, "Any link in the chain. Archimedes. The Law of Levers. 'Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the earth'."

Reed nodded, "We need a lever." Johnny leaned into Lacie when he saw her looking at him through the corner of his eye. 'What?' She mouthed to him and winced slightly as Franklin tugged on her hair.

Johnny gently pulled Franklin's hand off her and into his own, "You wanna translate that?" He asked on behalf of Lacie's confused facial expression.

Ben stood up, "Yeah we solve the right small problem, we solve the big Galactus one." Reed pointed at him, "Yes! Yes." Relief flooded his features as the team caught on to his idea.

"Alright, guys. Let's go look for levers." Ben rounded Lacie and held his hand out to help her and Franklin up.

Lacie stood with his help and Johnny placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her out. Ben wandered over to Reed, "You're supposed to sleep when the baby sleeps."

Reed furrowed his brows at the random advice before Lacie peered over his shoulder, "He's been reading the books." She teased him and fell into step with Johnny.

Johnny stood at her side and slid his hand around to hold her by the waist, "Come on, I've got to show you something in my room"

"Woah!" Ben exclaimed and moved quickly to pluck Franklin out of Lacie's arms, "Don't want a child to see that. You're sick, Johnny."

Johnny's jaw dropped and Lacie turned her body into his, hiding her laughter in his chest as Johnny wafted Ben away from the pair, "You turned it into something weird!"

Ben walked away with Franklin peering over his shoulder and waving to Lacie, "Not weird if you've got that list, Johnny!" Ben shouted with his back to them.

Lacie took her head out from Johnny's chest, "What list--" "Ignore him, Lace." He interrupted her and swept her away into his room.

As they entered, Johnny scurried off and returned with his suit in his hands, "Put it on."

Lacie's jaw fell slack and she raised her eyebrows, "You're joking, right?" She chuckled but it trailed off as Johnny's face was a look of seriousness.

"No, I'm being serious. Put it on." Johnny nodded and shoved it into her arms. Lacie stumbled over her words and held the heavy suit, "Is this just an excuse to see me in your clothes?"

Johnny blushes a bright red and he turns Lacie around, encouraging her into his ensuite to put the outfit on, "No! No! Cheap shot, by the way!"

Lacie laughed and tilted her head to look at him over her shoulder, "What? You seem to like it." She teased and Johnny sighed, shutting the bathroom door on her and knocking against its frame, "Just put it on, please."

Frostbite pulled on his suit and felt it slipping from her frame before she zipped it up, the suit bigger on her as Johnny's frame was much more built that her own. She lifted the helmet into her hands and looked at herself in the mirror, "Johnny, I look ridiculous!"

She heard Johnny's laughter from the other side of the door, "I'm sure you don't. But that's beside the point, Lace. Come out here!"

Lacie opened the door slowly and watched Johnny sit up from his position on the bed, him pressing his lips together to suppress a laugh but it slipped out anyway. "Don't laugh!" Lacie scoffed as she trudged towards him, the feet of the suit dragging against the floor as she did so.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to." Johnny chuckled and took the helmet out of her hands, "You need to wear this."

Lacie sighed and let him gently place it on her head, his hands stayed either side of the device. "Johnny, it stinks in here!" Lacie cringed and scrunched up her nose.

Johnny waved his hands, "It's pheromones, relax." He smirked. "Don't you literally turn into a flame in this thing?" Lacie looked down at the outfit that was engulfing her body.

"Yeah, that's kind of my thing, Lace." Johnny chuckled, "You know, being the Human Torch?"

Lacie's face scrunched up and she groaned, "Oh, God! So this outfit is just pure sweat then? That's gross!"

Johnny sighed and ignored her protests, "Just watch." He flicked the lens down so it covered her eyes and lifted her wrist to switch the footage on. Lacie stared at Johnny as he worked, his features a shade of blue behind the lens but still as attractive as ever.

The image of the Silver Surfer appeared in front of her and replayed the footage of when Johnny flew down to 'charm' her.

"How did you know her name?" Johnny said, worry threaded in his voice. The woman slowly turned her head to look at him, "Whose name?" She asked.

"You know damn well whose." Johnny spat, a burst of flames emerging from his body for a second. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and think rationally, "What do you want with her?" His voice dropped.

"Shit!" Johnny muttered, "Wrong bit. That's uhh--" "You talk about me to other people?" A smirk grew on Lacie's face as she teased him.

Johnny fumbled with the watch on her wrist to quickly change the footage, "No! That was about--" "That was totally about me, Johnny!" Lacie laughed.

"Not only did you call me sexy in space," Johnny groaned at the reminder, "But you defended me." Lacie couldn't wipe the smile off her face as Johnny's cheeks flushed.

Johnny's fingers shook as the footage changed, "That's embarrassing." He said to himself under his breath. Lacie heard him and nudged his leg with her own, "No, it's sweet."

"Really?" Johnny's head snapped up to hers. "Yeah." She nodded and ignored the footage that was playing for a moment before Johnny nudged her back, "Watch it."

She opened her mouth reluctantly and spoke her language, the exact one that Johnny and Lacie had been trying to decipher. "It's a blessing. It means 'Die with yours'."

Lacie flicked the lens off with wide eyes, "Holy shit!" She gasped and pulled the helmet off, "That sounds exactly like--"

"The transmissions!" Johnny nodded and smiled widely, crouching down in front of Lacie and plucking the helmet out of her hands, "We're on to something, Lace."

Lacie smiled and watched as Johnny's hands lifted to her hair and smoothed it out, "I swear you've never been wrong before." He stated as he removed his hands but stayed in close proximity.

Lacie furrowed her brows, "What do you mean?"

"Before we left you said you felt nervous about it all and that was before we knew what we were up against." He said and looked in Lacie's eyes, "Is that another power you have? Some kind of intuition?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Lacie's lips, "Well, if you expect danger then you can be fully prepared for it."Johnny stayed silent for a moment and Lacie could practically see the cogs working in his brain, before he blurted out, "Did you just change the wording of that phrase you say all that time?"

Lacie blushed bright red as she had been caught out, "Maybe..." She mumbled and laughed as Johnny clicked his fingers and waved his hands around trying to find the words, "Oh, God. It's the--"

"Expect disappointment and then you can never really get disappointed." They said at the same time and grinned at each other.

Lacie tilted her head, "What? You remember things I say now?""I remember everything you say." Johnny shrugged as if that was normal, a smirk toying at his lips.

With her cheeks burning, Lacie breathed out a loud and shook her head at him, "You're a charmer, Storm." Her voice lowered as he leaned closer to her.

"No more Flame Boy?" Johnny teased and licked his lips. Lacie kissed her teeth and flickered her eyes between Johnny's eyes and lips, "You grew out of it." Her voice teetered on a whisper.

Johnny hummed and tilted his head to shuffle closer to her, his hands on either side of the chair she was sitting in. Lacie's heart raced and her breath hitched as Johnny's nose brushed against hers, her hand itching to thread it through his hair.

Before Johnny could lean in and make the move he'd been waiting for for the last two years, an energy force directed towards them made them flinch away from each other and snap their heads to the door.

"Why are you wearing Johnny's clothes?" Sue laughed and entered the room, sending a smirk Johnny's way as he grumbled out in annoyance.

"I-- We were--" Lacie tried to formulate an answer but her mind still replayed Johnny slowly leaning in to brush his lips against her own, "Just look at this." She waved Sue over and stood, snatching the helmet off the floor.

"What do you wanna show me?" Sue asked and Johnny rushed up to his sister, "It's really good." He said with a forced smile on his face before whispering to her, "I'm gonna kill you by the way."Sue snorted a laugh and shook her head, "I barely slept last night." Johnny guided his sister to where Lacie previously sat. "It's not like you chose this whole thing being a mother, you know?"

Sue sat and Johnny followed her movements, "Sit down. Trust me." He placed the helmet on Sue's head and she grimaced, "Johnny, it smells."

Lacie pointed at Johnny, "That's exactly what I said!" Johnny waved the pair off, "It's--" "Pheromones." Johnny and Lacie said at the same time and Sue tilted her head at the woman, Lacie shrugged, "Don't ask."

"I'm rewinding the footage." Johnny said and pulled the lens down for his sister to see.

As Johnny took a step back and stood shoulder to shoulder with Lacie, he raised his eyebrow at her slack jaw. He was about to open his mouth to ask her what's wrong but she answered him, "So I actually didn't need to wear this whole outfit?" She gestured down at the suit on her body.

Johnny put his fist against his mouth to cover his laughter, "No, you're right. I was messing with you that whole time." Lacie slapped his shoulder, "You're such a dick."

Sue lifted the lens as Johnny played the transmission, the audio repeating the exact saying out loud. "I told you I had heard that before!" Johnny pointed at his sister who nodded impressively.

"Now we have a sentence translated, we can use that to figure out what all of this means." Johnny smiled. Sue nodded, "Reed could build an algorithm--"

Johnny sported a frown and crouched down, "His big brain is busy. I am all in for this." Lacie handed him a paper she had distracted herself with and away from Sue's prying eyes and smirk.

Johnny placed down the paper beside each other and raised his eyebrows at his sister, "See? I can reference old stuff too."

Sue sighed and looked over at Lacie, "Let him have his moment, he's proud of it." Lacie teased and ruffled Johnny's hair, the man swatting her hand away and scooping the papers up to present them on his board.

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authors note!

hope u all noticed the spiderman reference bc of course i had to get my fav in there looolll

i'm literally giggling writing the next few chaps... that's all i'll say

i wanna get at least another one out today bc i've completely written the one after that, so i'll double check if it flows right and i'm happy with it then maybe three chaps will be out today (!!)

ALSO TS12 !!!! THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL OMGGGG

hope you're all having a lovely day and see you soon <3