The job started out small, cleaning up the lab equipment and taking notes while running after Reed. You spent the first few months just trying to understand how his brain worked and processed, so you could best support him. He moved and thought quick, so you always had to be ready. You were the lab assistant of Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, husband to the invisible woman, brother in law to the human torch, he was the smartest man in New York, and possibly the world.

You made fast friends with everyone on the team, and Reed slowly trusted you to handle much more than just taking notes. You managed their flight logs, planned their space excursions to a t, created new suits, did your own research, and even supported them in their powers related training. You knew the ins and outs of the Fantastic 4, that also meant you knew the ins and outs of Johnny Storm, New York’s hottest bachelor, who seemed to have a little crush on you.

At first, you tried with all your strength to avoid his charm, but with all the hours you worked at his home base, it made it basically impossible. It started as something innocent, it really did. The small compliments and flirting, you thought it was a joke, to get a reaction out of you. But what was an at-work -only-friendship quickly turned into a meaningful one. You were sneaking into his room after work, finding excuses to be around him on the weekends, and eventually he kissed you.

It was the opposite of what you expected from Johnny Storm. No flash, no cockiness, just a kiss. You were at the pier one night with your legs hanging off the dock. You had just finished a bottle of wine and you were basically leaning on one another looking out at the water, shoulder to shoulder. He whispered your name, catching your attention, and before you knew it you were all but making out on the dock.

Ever since that moment you were his and he was yours. You became insatiable for one another, an addiction. Maybe it was the high from sneaking around, or maybe you belonged together. Nobody knew yet, you weren’t even sure if you had fully admitted it to yourself yet, but you were falling in love with him. There were no labels attached, no big conversation to discuss it, just moments that you shared. He brought you coffee, kissed your cheek when no one was looking. Taking you on quiet dates all the way in Brooklyn where no one was around trying to snap a picture of him.

He started dropping notes at your desk whenever he walked by saying things like;

"You must be made of copper and tellurium, because you're Cu‑Te."

"How about we mix our substances and see what kind of reaction we get?"

"You’re like a Bunsen burner, hot."

Never failing to make you roll your eyes, but also laugh, and maybe even blush. Sometimes the note was simply an invite to his room, which you always happily accepted.

You were never one for relationships, in the past you had jumped in too eagerly and been hurt, you always found it best to just avoid feelings all together. You typically found yourself sneaking out of one night stands, or finding excuses to leave dates early. But it was different with Johnny. He was knocking all the walls around your heart down without even trying. And you had given up on trying to hold them up, you wanted to let him in.

Nobody knew about whatever you had going on with one another, and you liked it that way, which Johnny respected. Although he would drop to his knees and marry you tomorrow (his words not yours) he respected that you wanted to take things slow emotionally.

This particular night you were making out in the lab when you pushed Johnny lightly in the chest, causing your lips to part. “I need to finish this tonight, and you’re distracting me Storm” you said, trying to sound like you meant it, but the smile and blush on your cheeks gave you away.

He smirked, but knowing you really did need to get back to work, he kissed your cheek. “Just try and go home tonight, at least come to my room for a good night's sleep, you’re working way too hard” Johnny said out of care. You smiled and looked at him, “ill try” you said softly, knowing damn well you were going to be in here all night, and part of him knew it too.

A few hours later, your watch read 11:30 PM and you were still leaning over the lab table in front of you, meticulously taking notes on the notepad beside you. You looked at your watch and sighed, at this point you’ll crash on the couch once you’re done. Then you heard it, a small “dink” like someone bumped into a table behind you, rattling the beakers on top. You turned around quickly, nothing. “You’re alone,” you whispered to yourself, “it’s in your head” you were trying to convince yourself.

You turned back slowly to the table in front of you, dropping another chemical on the fabric in front of you that you were testing for durability and protection. You sighed as it burned right through, “okay so that's a no…” The lab was dark besides the lamp on your table. Your mind drifted to Johnny as you stared at the experiment in front of you. His arms, his eyes, the way he knew every inch of you… You shook your head trying to shake the thoughts away, “focus” you whispered to yourself.

You began jotting in your notebook again when all of the sudden you felt the air shift, like someone was behind you. You froze, your breath caught in your throat, you swear your blood went still.. Before you could turn around or react, a strong arm wrapped around your upper body, and a cloth came over your mouth, and then everything went black.

Johnny was whistling as he swung the lab doors open with his hip, fully expecting for you to be asleep on the couch in there. He had two cups of coffee in his hand, but he stopped when he looked over and saw that you weren’t there. He was immediately offended that you actually went home instead of sneaking into his room last night. But then he turned to your work station. And his heart beat picked up.

The beaker was spilled all over the table.

Your notebook was still out, now covered in whatever chemical you had in the beaker.

The chair was turned to its side on the floor.

There is no way in hell you would leave a mess like this.

His breath hitched and he dropped both cups of coffee in his hands, immediately turning and running to find his family. When he got to the kitchen, he was frantic, yelling and waving his hands, trying to get his point across. Sue tried to calm him down, but he saw red.

Reed and Ben followed him into the lab and they immediately got to work. They were reviewing the security footage but whoever did this was good, too good.

“They knew what they were doing,” Reed said, rewinding the tape and watching the attacker sneak up on you again, and again. “No shit Reed!” Johnny yelled, throwing his hands up in the air as he paced beside them, “they had fucking chloroform, they obviously knew what they were doing. This was strategic, planned, they wanted something.”

Before Reed could even turn around to try and calm him down, a fireball went right in between their heads, smashing into the screen where they were watching the security footage on replay. Ben grabbed one of the many fire extinguishers that they kept around and put out the flames. When Reed and Ben faced Johnny, he was basically panting, chest moving rapidly, eyes going in and out of their red, fiery hue, both hands holding fire.

“Johnny you have to calm down, we're all on the same tea-” before Ben could finish Johnny interrupted him, shouting, “How could you tell me to calm down!? She’s out there, maybe alive?! Probably scared to death and god knows it probably has to do with us, so how the fuck am i supposed to calm down?”

Sue walked in, taking in the scene around her, Johnny literally lit up, the screen that was now in ashes and Ben and Reed staring at Johnny.

“Johnny, what’s gotten into you, we're going to find her.” Sue said, taking a hesitant step towards him.

“Whats gotten into me is that I’m in love with her, okay? Happy? I’ll admit it. I love her so much and I didn’t even get to tell her. For fucks sake, when I walked into the lab this morning i was annoyed she didn’t come to my room before she left last night, i was fucking annoyed,” he put the fire in his hands out and ran a hand down his face, “I was literally mad at her for a second, before I realized she would never leave her work space a mess, shes too clean for that, too particular about her research. And all I feel right now is rage. I want to kill them, any one who had a hand in this, I want them to burn. If something happens to her, I’ll never have gotten the chance to tell her she’s the love of my life.”

Ben and Reed looked at one another, not sure what to address first. Sue took another step towards her brother, who had tears falling now, “we’re going to find her, but we need you to calm down, and help us.” He nodded quickly and wiped his cheeks.

“Okay, okay. Where do we start” he sniffled and made his way to the other screen that he didn’t just set on fire. Ben, Reed and Sue all followed.

The day was spent searching for any signs of where you might be, they were able to identify the van, but no plates, nothing concrete to track. Nobody had dared to question the love confession that spilled from him just hours ago, that was a conversation for another time. Right now they all had one priority; finding you.

Everyone moved in and out of the room all day and into the night. Mostly quiet, watching security footage, the news, tracking satellites, trying to get any sort of information. Johnny had been watching hours of blurry footage from street cameras when Sue set a cup of coffee next to him.

“Johnny it’s the next day, you didn’t sleep at all” she softly placed a hand on his shoulder. He peeled his eyes away from the screen and looked at her. “Sue, i don’t know what to do” he said above a whisper. She hugged him then, pulling him into her chest, “i know” she whispered back.

She placed a kiss on his head and they sat there like that for a minute when a loud beep came over the speakers and a message came over the screen. They broke apart and turned to the screen. Ben and Reed ran in, “did you see this?” Reed said breathlessly, holding up his tablet, which had the same message as Johnny’s screen.

GIVE US PROJECT FLAME AND SHE LIVES. YOU HAVE TWENTY FOUR HOURS.

“Reed, can you track it?”

“On it” he replied, typing away on his tablet.

Then another message appeared, except this time it was just a picture of you. Your hands and ankles zip tied, laying on the ground, seemingly passed out. You had duct tape over your mouth and a black eye blooming. There was blood on your temple and you were still in the clothes Johnny had left you in the other night.

“What is ‘project flame’” Sue asked, trying to divert Johnny from staring at the picture of you on the screen. He sighed.

“Last year, she figured out a way to harness my flames and turn them into a renewable energy source. We were messing around in the lab and she wanted to see if I could basically transfer my energy to different things… It was something that was kind of just a stupid idea at first, but then it worked.” He rubbed his temples. “The issue was, it was too powerful, we couldn’t figure out how to control it the way I am able to control my own energy. It could power the entire city, but if it got into the wrong hands… it could be nuclear explosion level devastation, so we stopped researching it” he walked over to the filing cabinet at your desk and pulled out the taped folder, labeled CLASSIFIED, flipping it to Sue, “just better in theory, I guess. I don’t even know how they know about it.”

As Johnny finished his explanation, a new message appeared with an address.

“Let’s go,” he said, turning to the team.

“Johnny, she's not there, they just want us to drop the file, there is no way she’s going to be there.” Reed said. “It’s our only lead right now, Reed.”

“Johnny, just give me a few hours to track this message, okay? We’re going to get her back I promise.”

“Fine, but if you don’t come up with anything in an hour, I’m going myself.” Johnny said aggressively, sitting back in the chair next to the screen where he was before.

About thirty minutes later, Reed came up beside Johnny and Sue, making them both perk up in their chairs. “We traced the message’s micro-transmitter—we think this is where they’re holding her, this is our best shot.” He flipped the tablet showing a small location dot blinking at what seems to be an empty lot not the outskirts of the city.

Johnny’s chest hunts for air, each pulse flaming beneath his skin. His hands, shaking, curl into fists. "Tell me where," he rasps.

This isn’t just her—they’ve crossed a line.

They pile in their vehicle, and make their way to what seems to be a large, empty warehouse Reed was able to track down. Johnny swore it was the longest ride of his life.

They all stealthily make their way towards the building. Sue nods at Ben, and he slams the large door open. Sue raises a translucent shield, slicing through the stale air. Reed disables the alarm wirings with precise hands. Johnny bursts through the main door, immediately lit up, flames licking the edges of the doorway.The warehouse smells of rust, old oil, and faint charcoal; light cuts through darkness in fiery shafts.

A hulking guard charges with a steel pipe. Johnny barrels forward, the pipe thudding into his flame-shielded forearm—but Johnny hulks through, fire licking the guard’s boots, sending him crumpling backward. A second one yells and swings a machete; Johnny dodges with a lunge that scatters gravel, his boots skidding across the concrete. He retaliates with a fiery backhand—powerful, raw, personal.The captor snarls. "Give us the files, or she dies!" another man yells from across the warehouse. Johnny can hear your muffled sob echo in the background.

Reed’s plan cracks—surprise backup arrives: more guards pouring into the warehouse from back corridors. Sue groans as she blocks gunfire with her shield. Johnny ignites his full nova flame, filling the corridor with molten orange roar. "Back off!" His voice is molten.

Then, Johnny sees her: bound, battered, tired, and scared. He couldn't focus on anything else, he blew through the building, burning down anything and anyone that tried to stop him.

You pressed your eyes shut tightly as the room began to fill with smoke. You hoped and prayed the smoke was because they were winning. That's when you felt an arm wrap around you, before you could react you heard him.

“It’s me, you’re safe, I got you.”

Johnny.

You took a full breath for the first time since you arrived. He put his other hand under your knees and scooped you up. You finally opened your eyes and looked up at him. He looked beat, like he hadn’t slept in days, similar to how you assumed you looked.

Before you could comprehend anything, you were being carried out of the flames bridal style. Firefighters went running past you into the building. When you were far enough away from the flames, he gently set you down and pulled you into a bone crushing hug.

“You came for me” you choked out through silent sobs. You could feel the bruising around your body from where they had thrown you around from place to place, but you didn’t care, you never wanted to let go of him. He pulled back and cupped your cheeks, “Of course I came for you. I will always come for you and I will always save you. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have left you that night, I should have stayed with you..” You reached up to caress his cheek, leaning your forehead against his, both of you with tears running down your cheeks, “Johnny, this is not on you… you’re here, you saved me, and I’m okay.” He nodded and tried to catch his breath, pulling you into his chest again.

Johnny closed his eyes. The world bends around his heartbeat.

He remembers how you smile at his jokes in the lab, how you reach for his hand when no one is looking. Each memory, each spark between them floods him now.Why is this so shattering? Because you matter, you’re everything. Because you’re the reason he’s still human, he loves you.

A few hours later, you’re finally back at the Baxter Building. You’re sitting on a table in the lab with an IV hooked up to your hand. Reed taking blood from one arm, and Johnny clinging to the other. The truth was you had never felt so physically exhausted in your life. Reed was running every test under the sun to make sure you were okay. After Reed took the blood sample, Sue stepped up and began to tend to the gash on your forehead. When she reached up, you winced.

Johnny squeezed your hand, just silently letting you know that he was there and you were safe. As you sat there, you slowly dozed off as Sue tended to your wounds, feeling safe for the first time in the last few days.

When you woke up, you were laying on the exam table, a blanket draped lazily over you, Sue was sitting in a chair next to you and smiled.

“You’ve only been out an hour or two,” she said, smiling softly, “we’re all so glad you’re okay.” Ben walked in with a tray of snacks for you, “hey hey kiddo, lookin’ tough” you smiled a little at that, assuming he was referring to the bruises all over you and the stitches on your forehead.

You sat up, and propped yourself up on your elbows. “How did they know about the project?” you asked worriedly. Sue shushed you, “you don’t need to worry about the logistics, they were taken care of and we will work on the rest. You just focus on getting better.” You were hesitant, but agreed.

You unplugged yourself from the IV and excused yourself from the lab. When you slowly made your way to Johnny’s room, he was sitting in his blue chair facing the window. You knocked lightly on the door, making him turn to face you. You could see the remnants of tears on his cheek shining in the dim light of the room.

“Hey, you’re up. I was going to come back down. I just didn’t want to crowd you or anything.” he said, seemingly nervous. You walked over to where he was sitting and sat on his lap. He gently wrapped his arms around you. You slid yours on his shoulders and around his neck.

“I would love a shower, can you come with me? I don’t want to be alone” you asked vulnerably. He didn’t bat an eye, he scooped you up and carried you to his ensuite before you had time to protest. He placed you down and helped you undress, moving carefully, like you would break at any sudden movement.

“Are you going to join me?” you whispered, he again didn’t hesitate undressing himself and turning on the shower. You both got under the warm water, and you moaned at the contact. You could feel him staring at you, but not really at you, your injuries. You had some bruising on your ribs from when they threw your limp body in and out of the van, then onto the warehouse floor. They had hit you a few times, trying to get you to tell them about Project Flame, giving you the option to come clean before they involved the team. But you didn’t give in.

“I’m okay,” you whispered, turning to face him. “I was so scared. I thought I was going to lose you” he whispered back. You didn't say anything, you moved your hands behind his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. The water trickled down on both of you as your lips moved in sync.

It was the most intimate kiss you had shared. It said everything words couldn’t. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m yours.

Neither of you said anything after that, Johnny slowly spun you around and started washing your hair for you, massaging your head, leaving kisses on your shoulders as he helped you. He helped you out of the shower, minding your bruised ribs and wrapped you each in a towel. He began brushing out your hair and then he looked at you in the mirror. You accepted his help, feeling exhausted just from the last twenty four hours you had.

“I’m here, whenever, if ever, you want to talk about it. I won’t leave your side until you’re literally begging me for space. I am never leaving” he whispered it like a prayer, sending chills down your spine. You smiled lightly at him, and he smiled back.

You both walked into the bedroom where he gave you his clothes to wear, your favorite. Then you both crawled into bed, laying on your sides facing one another. His hand rested on your hip, rubbing lazy circles, more for him than you, reminding himself that you were here, with him, safe.

You leaned in and kissed him then, softly but passionately, which he happily returned. You parted your mouth and he slipped his tongue in. You slid closer to him, pressing your chest against his bare one, feeling the heat radiate as you closed the gap between you.

He pulled away from the kiss and rubbed his thumb across your cheek, “I lost it while you were gone. I was ready to burn down the entire world to find you. And I would have done it, if Sue hadn’t talked me down” he confessed quietly.

You stared deeply into his eyes, your heart beating fast from the kiss.

“I’m in love with you. I think I have been for a while, but it took this to make me realize it. God, I even shouted it to the team when they were trying to calm me down after I realized what was happening. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something happened to you and I didn’t at least get a chance to tell you I’m in love with you.”

You were shocked at his confession, “You were all I thought of while I was there, I was so scared, Johnny.” You looked down, trying to remain composed, “I knew you were coming for me though,” you whispered, he smiled at the fact that he was able to provide some hope while you were stuck with your captors.

And then you said, “I love you too.”

You both smiled, you nuzzled into Johnny’s chest and took a deep breath in, memorizing his scent. He wrapped his arms around you and rubbed his hands softly up and down your back, kissing the side of your head occasionally.