013. sacrificial lamb

CHAPTER THIRTEEN, sacrificial lamb!

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"𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐓." 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 whispered into Lacie's neck as he kissed the sensitive skin, the repetitive beeping from their watches halting his movements for a second. Lacie sighed, both from Johnny's lips and from the constant vibration on her wrist, breaking her out of the moment with the Human Torch.

She pressed her hands against Johnny's shoulders and tried to shove his built frame off of her, "Come on, we've got to finish the translations too." She muttered and rested her head on his pillows, feeling Johnny stop his kisses and groan into her neck.

"Fine. Fine." He lifted his head to peck Lacie's cheek before hopping off the bed and turning back to the paper scattered across his floor. "The world's ending and I can't give my girl some attention?"

Lacie raised her brows and sat up on his bed, "Your girl?" Johnny turned to face her and shrugged, "Just a thing I'm trying out."

Lacie's cheeks blushed, "I like it." She nodded at him and felt her heart flutter as Johnny threw her a bashful smile and walked back towards her.

Johnny placed his hands on her hips as she stood up from his bed. He bowed his head to brush his nose against hers, "Yeah?" He whispered, "Shall I use it more often?"

His lips connected with hers lightly and Lacie mumbled against his, "Translations." Johnny sighed at her command and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before turning back and kneeling down to the papers.

Johnny fiddled through the papers and his eyes fell on some of the notes he and Lacie had left each other in the corners, when they had gotten sidetracked on their mission to translate the transmissions.

In Lacie's neat, cursive handwriting, the words 'You look cute confused.' was smudged in the corner of one where Johnny's handwriting had gotten messy from countless equations and mistakes. He smiled at the sheet and turned to one where she had been writing a sweet note to him but it had gotten cut off early, the time when Johnny spotted her actions and pulled her into a kiss before she could finish it.

Lacie peered over Johnny's hunched frame as his hands stilled and his brows furrowed, "What is it?" She asked him and he didn't respond, the creases in his forehead deepened.

Johnny rose from his spot on the floor and flickered his eyes between his notepad and the window coated in endless notes. He tilted his head and connected the dots between their collective work.

He sucked in a breath and punched both of his hands in the air, "Yes!" He exclaimed and turned to Lacie who sported a confused facial expression.

Johnny turned to Lacie and swooped her into his arms, spinning the pair around as she yelped and grasped at the white shirt tight against his biceps. "It worked, Lace!" He placed her back down on the floor and his grin was splitting, his eyes lighting up in pure joy.

A wide smile itched on Lacie's face and she shook Johnny's shoulders, "We're onto something!" Johnny wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a crushing hug, kissing her cheek as he buried his head into the crook of her neck.

The pair laughed in excitement before their watches buzzed again. "We're coming! We're coming!" Johnny rushed out and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair and met Lacie who had already made her way to the door, her hand outstretched for him to take.

Johnny and Lacie jogged into the lab with their hands intertwined and smiles gracing their faces, contradicting the seriousness of the remaining Fantastic Five as they wore their headsets.

"Guys, we did it!" Johnny beamed and announced to the group. They all turned slowly in their chairs and looked between each other.

Ben rolled his head back and squeezed his eyes shut, "God, why did you have to tell us that?" Lacie and Johnny looked confused, "What?"

Sue bit the bullet as Reed simply rolled his eyes and turned back to his computer. She sighed and shuffled her chair closer to the pair standing up, debating on how to start and word her sentence, "That's great and all but..."Johnny raised his brows as Sue continued, "You two don't need to document and announce when you have sex--"

"What!" Lacie sputtered and only just processed what Johnny had said as they entered the room with zero context, feeling her cheeks burn and a heat rash form on her chest.

Johnny widened his eyes and his nonchalant demeanour faltered, "No! I mean we have had sex but--""Johnny!" Lacie cried out and hid her head in her hands as the blonde rambled on, "That's not what we were insinuating though!" Johnny stuttered.

Ben laughed and clapped his hands together. "Alright, Johnny! You finally showed her the list!"

Lacie removed her face from her palms and glanced up at Johnny who had fallen pale, "What list?" Her words rang out in the silence in the lab.

The Fantastic Five looked between each other and encouraged someone to break the awkward pause with their eyes, but no one made the effort nor had the guts.

Ben cleared his throat, "So... the world's ending, am I right?" He forced a laugh and turned back to his computer, muttering curses under his breath at the sheer awkwardness he had caused; more like Johnny had caused but the man had too much pride to admit that.

Reed sighed, "We're moving a planet here, Johnny." Ben adjusted his headset, "Yeah, guys. It's five. The Fantastic Five."

"Going to be the Fantastic Six at the rate Johnny and Lacie are moving, apparently." Sue mumbled under her breath and bit back a smirk, practically seeing Lacie whip her head around to glare at her as she was the only one who heard her.

"Let's move the planet." Johnny skipped over to his seat and whacked Ben on the back of the head as he passed him, "Cool beard."Ben glanced over at Johnny, "Really? Thank you." He smiled. Lacie walked to her seat next to Sue and placed the headset on, tangling with the two plaits she had braided her hair into.

"Copy, London." She placed her right hand on the microphone and listed out locations. Lacie could feel eyes burning into the back of her head and twisted in her chair to see Johnny waving at her.

Lacie eyed Sue who was engrossed in her work, 'What list?' She mouthed and Johnny winked back. Lacie shook her head and smiled at the Human Torch as he turned his back to her, his hands waving to encourage her to help save the world.

"Earth, go for countdown." Sue nodded at Reed, the static voice of the cities ringing out in the lab, 'Here we go, folks.' The strong American accent announced through their comms.

The countdown began and everyone leaned back in their chairs, shoulders relaxing and relief flooding their veins. Johnny stood from his seat and rounded to stand behind Lacie who remained seated, his hands grounded into her shoulders and massaged the skin there, "Here we go." He whispered and his cheek brushed hers.

A loud blaring alert made Lacie's smile drop and Johnny's fingers stop their work, heads snapping to the screen in front of them. "What's happening?" Johnny pulled his headset off and sped towards the main screen.

The connections began dropping off location by location, voices screaming in Lacie's ear asking their whereabouts and situation updates; yet, she couldn't rip her eyes away from the screen.

The Silver Surfer swiftly tore apart each bridge as if it was nothing, quickly moving onto the next with clear intent of her final destination.

"She's going for this bridge." Reed said under his breath. "No," Sue shook her head, "She's coming for Lacie and Franklin."

Lacie's heart fell into her stomach and her palms iced up, a chill air radiating off her body. She frantically moved to shut down the building but Johnny grasped her face and messily pressed a quick kiss to her lips, "I'll be right back." He rushed out.

As he turned away, Lacie tugged on his wrist and furrowed her brows together, "Where are you going?"Johnny's eyes flickered between the screen behind Lacie and the woman herself, "Just trust me on this." He closed his eyes and his hands held Lacie's.

Lacie turned her head to see the screen he was peering at and nodded in understanding, "Go get 'em, Flame Boy." A smile twitched on her face.

Johnny groaned and began walking out the room, "We're not bringing that nickname back!" He called out behind him and pointed at her.

"It's redacted if you get this silver woman off my ass!" Lacie shouted back and sighed as the elevator closed on Johnny's figure, his head nodding at her with certainty was the last thing she saw.

The windows shut down and all light left the room as Reed's commands worked, leaving a pit of worry brewing in Lacie's chest. "Wait, where's Johnny?" Ben asked and Sue whipped her head around, eyes searching for her brother's whereabouts.

Reed blinked at Frostbite, "Lacie--" "Just trust him." Lacie nodded and switched the main screen to footage of Times Square that sat empty at the moment, "He knows what he's doing." Lacie took a deep breath and felt the Fantastic Five surround her and cast their gaze to the screen.

Meanwhile, Johnny saw the Silver Surfer approach their bridge at a fast rate and quickly intercepted her movements, sending a blast of fire her way that would hopefully aggravate her into following him.

The Silver Surfer was hot on his tail as Johnny circled the city. He twisted the watch on his wrist and activated the 'Transmitting Broadcasting' switch, projecting her vocals onto every screen he passed along the way.

The Silver Surfer flinched as her voice echoed around the city and stopped her flight the second Johnny landed in Times Square.

Lacie watched him appear on the footage and her breath hitched, the tips of her hair freezing over with nerves. She hadn't noticed until Sue swatted at her hair, the frozen ends snapping off and making Lacie flush with embarrassment. Sue only smiled at her, happy that someone cared for her brother and his well-being just as much as he prioritised her own.

"Shalla-Bal!" It was repeated in various voices, all with the same hope and desperation that resonated with the Silver Surfer. Her language was broadcasted on the screen next to her hovering figure and she turned to it, listening to each crack of her voice and moments she could no longer claim.

Johnny stared up at the woman and cleared his throat, beginning to speak in her language. The same one he had studied for weeks on end, the nights sat with Lacie as the notebook laid between them and their hands locked together.

"Shalla-Bal." Johnny started and straightened his posture. "How do you know that name?" She responded with a stern face.

Lacie smiled weakly at the sight and suppressed her emotions as Johnny stood strong. Reed scoffed under his breath at the sheer disbelief at what Johnny was doing right now, how he was so casually conversing with the Silver Surfer, or Shalla-Bal, and reaching her level.

"How does he know that?" Sue whispered under her breath. "He's a genius." Lacie grinned and refused to tear her eyes off the screen.

"And how did you get these?" Shalla-Bal asked and looked at the screens. "Die with yours." Johnny shrugged and spoke in her language, fluent as if he had known it his entire life.

"How?" Ben exclaimed, "He barely has a grasp of the English language." He looked over at Lacie who had never looked more enamoured until this moment, "I feel like you had something to do with this." He nudged her and she simply bit back a smile and shrugged.

"I've got to thank you and your 23 transmissions," Johnny said, "This little project pushed me to the girl of my dreams so it's a win-win."

Lacie blushed at Johnny's statement and timing of it; there was never an inappropriate time to gush over Lacie March according to Johnny.

"Yeah, you definitely had something to do with it." Ben said under his breath before turning his attention back to Johnny on the blurry screen.

"All in your language traced back to the planet Zenn-La. Your home." Johnny switched on his watch and the transmission appeared behind Shalla-Bal, "They were looking for you. To thank you."

"Once I translated one phrase, I pieced together enough language to understand a part of your history." Johnny breathed out and Shalla-Bal's eyes glazed over as if she was reflecting on her past, "You were some sort of scientist, or an astronomer."

Johnny continued, "When Galactus came you offered to service his scout and spare your planet. Was it to spare your family?"

Shalla-Bal opened her eyes, "He turned you into this... Shalla-Bal." Her blinking became rapid as Johnny listed off his knowledge.

"Those messages were from the one planet that Galactus spared. Your planet." She turned to face Johnny again, lowering to perch over him, "These planets weren't so lucky."

The audio flicked to cries of desperation, pain and hopelessness; perhaps all of them, but Galactus never let them live long enough to decide indefinitely.

"How many do you remember, Shalla-Bal?" Johnny raised his voice and named the planets, watching as Shalla-Bal quivered at the memories, "They begged for mercy! You brought Galactus to all these planets. And now, you're bringing him here. To my home! To my family! To my love!"

Shalla-Bal screamed out and covered her ears, eyes squeezed shut and legs shaking. She sped off and away from the painful result of her actions, things she regretted and wished she could ignore; but Johnny Storm was a stubborn person.

Johnny followed her and flew out of sight of the footage, making the remaining Fantastic Four sigh and stumble back to their seats, awaiting Johnny's return and message.

The table beneath Lacie's hands grew with a thick sheet of ice, creeping towards the computers and the edge, icicles teetering off the sides.

"I'm just trying to save my world..." Johnny's voice was less harsh, more understanding now, "Like you did."

Shalla-Bal turned to him, "So give up the child. If he was older, he would do it himself. Like I did." Johnny waited for her to say the words he was dreading more than anything in this world, "And let Lacie go."

Johnny's chest tightened and his throat dried up, "Take me." He pushed through his nerves, flames growing across his body, "Take me, not the boy."

"And don't lay a hand on Lacie." His voice was stern and meaningful, doing absolutely everything in his power to ensure Lacie would be safe and at home for the remainder of her life; even if it meant he wasn't there to hold her.

"Let me be the sacrifice." Johnny said. Shalla-Bal's face was blank, void of any emotions that Galactus had stripped her of, "It's not yours to make." She said, her voice low.

Johnny gritted his teeth, "Then stay and help us." His patience was wearing thin and desperation was threaded in his tone.

"There is no help." Shalla-Bal admitted, "Take the child and leave this doomed place. Maybe you'll live long enough to forgive yourselves."

Shalla-Bal blinked and took a deep breath, "And keep Lacie close. Her time is running out."

Johnny felt like he had been doused in water the way his cold ran cold, despite the literal flames engulfing his body. Shalla-Bal turned and glided towards the moon, out of sight and reach for Johnny to catch.

Johnny's body couldn't move, anyways. His figure felt frozen and he was sure his heart stopped beating. For as long as Johnny would live in this cursed world, he would protect Lacie March with every fibre of his body; there was no world in which Johnny lived without the woman he loved.

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authors note!

oh lord that was a rough one and we're entering galactus battle era... i'm so scared and i'm the damn writer...

reconnecting with nature bc lacie is so unbelievably fucked:

first thing galactus is doing when he gets here is coming for lacie's ass that johnny is for sure gonna have a heart attack

WE'RE NEARLY FINISHED WHAT IF I WEEPED

everytime i write a chap on wattpad i feel like that one danny and drew fanfic they reacted to... is that too niche should i sit alone in a corner now

BYE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH I'LL CRY