the-fantastic-mister-richardsâ:
Reed carried his plate to the sofa and sat down, though the conversation quickly made him forget about the pizza in his hand. He sat it aside and furrowed his brows, his expression taking on a characteristic seriousness. Heâd made mistakes, and plenty of them, and he knew that heâd hurt people he was close to..but he wasnât there to be told he didnât care. There were a lot of things that he was good at, great at, brilliant at, and feelings werenât one of them. Never had been. He muddled through and realized things too late, but it wasnât because he didnât care.Â
For a moment, he thought about saying that he and Sue had been split up for a year. If Ben didnât know that already, it wasnât the time for it. Itâd look like he wanted sympathy, or that he was trying to change the subject. Well, maybe heâd find out sometime.Â
âNow thatâs not fair. Not for a second. I didnât pass that law, and I tried to appeal it every way short of telling them to stick it where you think my headâs been this whole time. I dissolved the team because we were never vigilantes. We worked with the law, right alongside it, to help. How were we supposed to keep on doing that when it told us to stop existing?â It wasnât as if heâd liked it, it wasnât even like heâd thought it was right, but Reed had always been the type to try to learn a system and then change it rather than outright fight it like an enemy. He just hadnât found a way to do much changing, this time.
As he watched Ben eat, he shook his head. âYou decided that, Ben. Weâve been friends for a long time, and you should know that youâve always got a place with me. You took off, and I guess you decided all of the rest of this for me, didnât you? Well, youâre wrong.â And he wasnât going to be shy about telling him, either. Reed didnât need to be told about himself. He knew what his flaws were, and abandoning his friends wasnât one of them. âI canât speak for Johnny or even for Sue,â though he felt sure their answers would be much the same, âbut it never had a thing to do with whether or not I cared. If Iâd known you needed help, Iâd have helped. I donât remember you reaching out.â He wasnât trying to lay blame, exactly, but he wouldnât take on every ounce of it either, even if he deserved a lot of it.Â
âWow... there it is. So I guess ya finally got sickâa runninâ after The Thing when heâs had oneâa his tantrums, huh?â Ben said, nodding to himself as he put his pizza aside. "Anâ wadda ya mean, âya didnât know I needed help?â... When have I ever not needed ya help, Reed? We bin there fer each other since college anâ ya know me betta than anyone, but I never figured thaâ Iâd haveâta ask fer yer help.â
Despite the potential for harshness in his words, Benâs tone was more melancholy than angry. He might look like a monster, but Ben Grimm was very much human underneath his nigh indestructible rocky hide, with a big heart to match his size.
âNo one tells ya howâta deal witâ this stuff, do they...? It ainâ like Flight School, no one hands ya a traininâ manual on day one thaâ says âHereâs whaâ ta do if ya exposed tâinsane levels oâ Cosmic Radiationâ,â Ben snorted, pushing himself up out of the chair.Â
âTruth is, Stretch... Iâve made a whole lotta mistakes these past few years, anâ Iâm only jusâ now gettinâ back on my feet. I know thaâ I canât lay allâa thaâ blame at yer door, but I reckon I probably wouldnâta made such a damn fool outta myself if Iâd had my family around me. Ya wanna beer tâgo witâ thaâ pie?"Â