chapter four!
004. blowing off steam

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    INGRID HATED WORK Christmas parties. Every year, no matter the workplace, she always secretly hoped something dreadful▬but never too dreadful▬would befall her that would tragically make her unable to attend. She found them exhausting. An exhausting theatre play where everything was bound to go wrong. No work Christmas party was perfect, and she could never control it. There was always one overly drunk co-worker, always one rambunctious person who lost all manners, always food on the menu that Ingrid neither liked nor could finish eating, and always▬without fail▬she found herself on the outside of the conversation, listening and sipping away at her drink, and feeling as if she were to slip away, there would be no one in attendance who would realise or care. 

    Even worse, were the venues. Being the intern of a self-proclaimed, incredibly rich CEO of an independent science research company such as Von Doom Industries meant the Christmas parties (where the CEO himself rarely ever attended) were luxurious beyond Ingrid's wildest dreams. With every other stress weighing down on her shoulders and making her stiff, there was the worry she would do something wrong, or say something wrong, or eat something the wrong way or▬god forbid▬break something. 

    She didn't know what anyone would expect from a work Christmas party other than embarrassing failure when the staff of the rooftop bar at one of the luxurious high rises in Manhattan were constantly refilling everyone's wine glasses and champagne flutes. It was a disaster waiting to happen. 

    Ingrid had almost managed to find an excuse out of this one. The date of the work party landed coincidentally close to her mother's birthday▬a day which was both sad, but also bittersweet and happy that always involved Ingrid and her father visiting her mother's grave together, and Ingrid always heard her favourite stories about her mom. But it was also incredibly rude to not attend the Christmas party of the workplace one attended in their first year of employment. Not only that, but Susan Storm, an ever-persuasive individual, somehow managed to convince Ingrid she had no other choice and would be missing out on an experience she'd forever regret.

    So far, Ingrid Rivers had yet to find the experience she would have regretted missing. 

    Finishing the rest of the champagne in her flute, Ingrid made a subtle face to herself and set it aside before anyone could refill it for her. Puffing out a breath as the aftertaste of the bubbles passed, she brushed some of her hair out of her face and reached for a glass of water. 

    She heard footsteps and felt the presence of someone hovering by the drinks table beside her. Ingrid didn't look up, keeping to her own business as she sipped at the water▬but she never knew what was more awkward, avidly ignoring someone at the drinks table and waiting for them to grab their glass and move on, or experiencing the moment of brief eye contact and polite smiles, never sure whether she should initiate small talk or not (Ingrid was never good at small talk). 

    Just by feeling their shadow, she knew they were taller than her. The musk smell of fresh cologne that itched at her nose told her it was a guy. Ingrid refused to glance up, trying her best to avoid social contact with anyone she didn't know▬perfection was discipline. She had to pick and choose. She will let someone talk to her, but if she tried to talk to them, that is where she will push them away▬scare them off with her nervous habits and terrible small talk conversation topics. 

   But she could feel his eyes on her. It burned▬that was the best way she could describe it. It burned with the what-if; will she look up? Will she speak? Will he speak to her? Or will he just walk away? 

    And then, the decision was made. A switch in the awkward, curious air between them when the stranger beside her shifted in his weight and leaned slightly against the edge of the table▬facing her. "You gotta tell me what's so interesting about that cup of water."

    Teasing. He was teasing. Ingrid glanced up at that, not sure how to respond. Teasing usually meant embarrassment. Ingrid hated feeling embarrassed. Embarrassment was a reminder that she wasn't perfect at something. 

    Her eyes found the bright glint in his▬a curious, charming and thrilling glint so bright it was almost blinding, making Ingrid falter and forget whatever words she might've managed to say. There was a boyish look about him; a breath of coming-of-age excitement, the stifling laughter in games of hide-and-seek and throwing up one's arms during the downward dive on a rollercoaster ride. And when he grinned the moment he noticed he had grabbed her attention, suddenly, Ingrid was back in high school▬and yet it was the experience she never had. The experience which involved skipping class, summer trips and enjoying the teenage life they raved about in the movies, but never seemed to reflect the dreadful reality of life. But his smile? That cheeky, crooked smile made Ingrid feel like everything they lied about had been true all along. 

    Her heart fluttered because that smile was perfection. 

    Ingrid managed to find her voice at last and cleared her throat, pushing past her initial naive giddiness and reminding herself that she wasn't some shy schoolgirl who had never seen a boy before in her life. "Not that interesting," she said, awkward and taking another sip of the water. "I was just thinking about things▬unrelated to water, of course. I mean, that's obvious, but..." she winced to herself and subtly shook her head, cursing her abhorrent social skills in the back of her mind. "I ... uh ... sorry."

    She missed the soft amused smile that tugged at the corner of the stranger's lips as he looked down at her. "I'm Johnny," he introduced himself. She looked up again as 

    Ingrid titled her head, a curious frown knitting at her brows. Johnny looked like he was going to say something else as he shuffled in closer ever-so-slightly and dropped his voice, but she cut him off before he could speak. "Johnny? Like ... Johnny Storm?" she stood up straighter, intrigued. "Wait, are you Sue's brother?"

    If Johnny was surprised, he didn't show it. A small smirk just slipped onto his lips, as if Ingrid intrigued him as much as he intrigued her. "The better-looking sibling. So, you've heard about me, huh?" he glanced her up and down subtly. "If you've heard about me, you've definitely thought about me, too, I bet."

    Ingrid arched a dubious brow. She then set aside her cup of water and rested one hand on the edge of the table. "I heard you're a shuttle pilot."

    Johnny chuckled at that, shrugging with a fake sense of modesty. He looked like his older sister, Susan Storm. They both had the same light blonde hair and the same startling blue gaze▬both incredibly good-looking, too. "I would call myself more of a captain▬and definitely one that can take you high enough to see the stars."

    "Captain, really?" she quipped back sarcastically without a single anxious thought, not appreciating the terrible, blunt pick-up lines. "I didn't know being kicked out of NASA for sneaking in Victoria Secret models made you a captain."

    "Depends on what context, princess."

    She was speechless in her disbelief. Slowly, a scoff escaped the back of her throat and Ingrid shook her head, turning away from Johnny and focusing back on the drink table. She wasn't going to humour that with a response.

    Johnny wasn't too deterred though. He just continued to smile at her. "What's your name?"

    She considered not telling him. She considered walking away and finding some excuse to leave the Christmas party early anyway. But something made her stay and set down her glass of water. Looking up and meeting his gaze, she answered: "Ingrid."

    "Ingrid," he tested her name out on his tongue, not looking away from her. There was a softness to it that was different to the way he had been speaking to her before. "Nice name. Cute."

    She tilted her head, expecting another comment to follow. But when it didn't, and she noticed the subtle smile▬a little genuine smile on Johnny Storm's face, she couldn't help the way her heart seemed to flutter, nor the soft blush on her cheeks as she looked away, shy. 

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    SHE WASN'T EXPECTING to wake up. 

    When Ingrid Rivers did, she was very confused as to where she was, and if anything that had transpired had been real to begin with. It was the sunlight that coaxed her awake, shining through the open blinds of the window to her right. Her lashes fluttered, and she felt as though she had slept for a hundred years her mind felt so muddled and heavy. She stared at the glass of water on the bedside table and through it to the distorted view it gave her outside the window; it was then she was sure she must still be dreaming. The glorious mountain range in the distance with its white, snowy tips. There was a pang in her chest. The Adirondack Mountains were in northern New York, but how could Ingrid be here? Her head hurt trying to put the pieces together. The last thing she remembered was the cosmic storm, and thinking that would be it▬that would be the last thing she'd ever see. 

    Maybe she was dead, but Ingrid knew better than that▬even with her head so muddled. 

    Her hand lifted to rub at her forehead, hoping that would somehow soothe the uncomfortable, distant pounding at her temples and help her think. She slowly sat up, and it was then that she felt the shuffle of wires beneath her shirt▬every time she moved her arm, it pulled against the monitor at the side of her bed. She stared at that, too, very confused. 

    She was in a hospital bed▬though the room around her was very luxurious for a hospital. It was spacious, with an ensuite and a vanity sink, drawers and a comfortable-looking chair sat by the window with a perfect view of the mountain range. Ingrid focused back onto the monitor, watching the line spike a little as her heart skipped a few beats, hit with a jolt of fear. Her gaze found a symbol etched into the corner of the monitor▬a brand name. VDI. Von Doom Industries. 

    Her heart skipped another beat▬and the monitor spiked. Ingrid took a sharp breath, clenching the sheets tucked tight into the side of the bed as she remembered; remembered the look on Von Doom's face as he closed the shields on her, even as she screamed for help. 

    She saw her phone on the bedside table and suddenly grasped for it, but her aim was clumsy and weak▬her wrist hit the edge of the glass of water and it fell off, shattering on the pristine floor. 

    "Damn," Ingrid cursed, and her voice was dry and raspy from lack of use. 

    She ignored it and continued to reach for her phone▬not exactly sure who'd she call, but she had to call someone. 

    Ingrid grabbed her phone just as the door slid open and she held it tight, watching as the nurse stepped in with an anxious breath▬when she saw the shattered glass on the floor, she hurried over. "Oh, you're awake▬are you okay? You didn't cut yourself, did you?"

    "Where am I?" was the first thing Ingrid asked as the nurse immediately grabbed her hands to check for any cuts. It took her a moment to be satisfied before she rounded the bed to observe the monitor. "What happened?"

    "You're in a quarantine facility in Upstate New York," answered the nurse, her eyes not leaving the monitors. "We've been monitoring you for a few days since the incident, but it's good to see that you're finally awake, Miss Rivers▬I'll have a doctor come and see you shortly..." 

    Ingrid blinked, trying to follow her words but she was talking quite fast▬or perhaps it was just Ingrid; everything sounded and felt like she was somehow submerged in deep water▬she was sluggish in her reactions, her movements, her thoughts. 

    "The incident...?" she murmured, and it took her a moment to realise what the nurse meant. The incident▬the Cosmic Storm. Somehow, she had survived, and they managed to get back home to Earth. "How ..." Ingrid swallowed, her tongue feeling very dry. "How long...?"

    "Three days," murmured the nurse and Ingrid glanced over to her again, sitting up straight in her bed. Her gaze found the tag on her uniform, reading Georgia as she brushed her long plait off her shoulder and letting it fall down her back. Ingrid watched the frown on her face, and she stiffened. "That's ... interesting."

    "What?" Ingrid demanded, sounding very tired still. She was very confused. 

    "Do you take any blood pressure medication?" asked the nurse and Ingrid stared at her, dubious.

    "No," she answered, slow and growing concerned. "Why? What's wrong?"

    "Nothing to worry about," said the nurse quickly. She smiled at Ingrid's frown, though it didn't comfort her. "I'll let the doctor know you're awake, he shouldn't be too long."

    She left the room in a slight hurry that she tried to hide, but Ingrid could tell. She left without giving the shattered glass a second thought. 

    Ingrid watched her go, feeling a twist in her stomach. She frowned to herself and glanced at the monitor once again, and as her headache pounded, she watched her blood pressure spike▬spike far higher than it should be. And then, just like that, it slowly dropped; the numbers counted down and down, and with it, her pain went away. 

    So quickly it was almost as if it never happened▬like she had just imagined it. 

    The doctor seemed to think so, too. Anything abnormal that the nurse had spotted, or that Ingrid had imagined seemed to no longer exist. Ingrid's blood pressure was normal, her oxygen levels and her heart rate. Everything about her held no evidence of any anomalies or possible reactions after being struck by a Cosmic Storm. It baffled her almost as much as it was baffling the doctors and she wasn't exactly sure what would be more comforting, being perfectly fine after such an experience, or left completely changed. 

    But it did mean that she could get all of those wires off of her and leave the confinement of her room to explore the quarantine compound. It felt more like a hotel resort than an isolated containment. The compound was huge, with a gym, a cafeteria with an extensive buffet that looked more like a fine-dining restaurant, a pool, an entire garden with outdoor seating, and terrace balconies with a perfect view of Lake Ontario in the far distance. 

    Ingrid hated it. 

    She couldn't wait until she could go home. Home. To that small, cheap apartment in New York City where her father would be waiting and she could just hug him tightly and never let go▬once she had that, Ingrid knew she'd be home, and she knew she'd be safe. 

    Ingrid couldn't relax in this luxurious quarantine compound while knowing her father must be out of his mind in worry▬alone in that apartment and waiting for the moment she'd be able to return, unable to come and see her. The thought made her choke up, realising just how much she needed her father, still▬perhaps more than he needed her. 

    She found herself standing on the terrace, fiddling with her phone▬pushing the keyboard in and out as she contemplated calling her father. She missed him, and she needed him, and yet she couldn't bring herself to call him. What was she supposed to say? She didn't want to worry him, and she knew there would be no way she'd ease his conscience. Ingrid wasn't exactly sure how to explain all that had happened to him, either, nor was she sure she wanted to. Deep down, some part of her wished it was a dream▬some part of her wished she had woken up and forgotten all of it, then perhaps she wouldn't feel so on edge and tense in this place because all it was, was a haunting reminder of the look on Victor Von Doom's face when he chose to leave her for dead. 

    Ingrid sat down on one of the chairs and gazed out at the view of the lake▬a lake so large it looked more like the never-ending sea. It reflected the bright sun and blue skies above▬its colour merely a disguise, hiding what lay beneath its surface. A lake large enough that it had its own minuscule tides, and yet despite these tides, they weren't large enough or vicious enough to allow the lake to be considered tidal▬not perfect enough. 

    Lake Ontario itself was the smallest of the five Great Lakes. It was always competing with its siblings in size and depth▬but no matter its beauty and how mighty it might look; how great it showed itself to be, it was always in another lake's shadow, always compared. It was always only just great enough to be considered as something spectacular and with potential, but never as great as the rest. 

    (And Ingrid knew she was beginning to lose it in this place now that she was likening herself and her insecurities to a lake). 

    The door opened and Ingrid tore her gaze away from the lake. Susan offered her a little smile as she closed the door behind her, tugging at the sleeves of her shirt and walking over. "Hey," she greeted gently, setting down two cups of hot tea on the table and taking a seat opposite Ingrid. "How're you feeling?"

    Ingrid managed a small smile of her own at the tea. She reached for hers and brought it to her lips, enjoying the sense of calmness that washed over her just at the subtle smell of chamomile. "I feel okay," she said.

    Susan frowned a little at her tone, relaxing back in the chair. "You don't sound happy about that?" she chuckled, confused.

    "I am," said Ingrid quickly, blowing on her tea. "It's just▬I feel like I shouldn't be fine, after everything ... that there should be something wrong with me."

    Sue Storm pursed her lips and sipped at her tea. Even though, just like the rest of them, she was tired, startled and if not a little scared over everything that had happened, she still looked so well put together. "I think we should all just be incredibly grateful nothing has happened," she said gently. 

    "You sure you're not feeling anything abnormal?" Ingrid pressed, troubled. "I mean, we were exposed to a serious amount of cosmic radiation▬we should be dead, and yet here we are, without a scratch. I know you think it's odd."

    Susan took a deep breath and just sighed it out. She shook her head and sipped at her tea. Ingrid tried not to get annoyed because she knew that deep down, Sue was troubled by the same thoughts. She was a scientist, how could she not be? "Ingrid," she said after a moment, giving her a soft but stern look. "What would you prefer? For something to be horribly wrong, or for it to be miraculously okay?"

    Ingrid sighed, too, and sat back in the chair. She frowned back out to the view. "I don't know," she admitted. 

    Susan watched her for an intense moment, her azure gaze crystalised all of the sudden; like the glass of a microscope, and Ingrid was the specimen. "Do you remember anything after the storm hit?"

    The question took her aback. Ingrid frowned and tried to think. It was all very muddled and hazy between the storm and getting back. She had moments of a memory, but she was pretty sure she had been unconscious for most of it. Ingrid had a blurred memory from after the storm; of flickering lights and a feeling of horrible pain, and thirst▬she had been so thirsty. 

    She also remembered amongst all the pain and muddled thoughts, the blurred sight of Johnny hovering over her, checking whether she was okay. 

    Ingrid had thought that had been a dream, too.

    She pursed her lips and decided to shake her head. "No."

    Susan set down her cup of tea and leaned forward, continuing to frown at Ingrid. "We thought you weren't gonna make it," she said to her, grave. "You were incredibly dehydrated, your blood pressure was way too low, you were like ice to the touch, Ingrid. You still want something to be wrong with you?"

    Ingrid's stomach twisted and churned at what Susan said. She felt her heart skip a fearful beat▬no one wanted to hear how they almost died. She held her cup of tea tighter, trying to calm down the sudden racing pace of her heart. The distant pounding ache to her temples returned briefly and she shook her head, taking a deep breath to try and think again.

    Susan didn't notice. Instead, her gaze was suddenly fixed on the lake. "Huh," she mused with gentle surprise and confusion, "look at that ... waves."

    Ingrid frowned and glanced up. She looked over at Lake Ontario and her breath hitched▬there were waves. A sudden small group of them rolled onto the shore, crashing gently against the earth. 

    "Waves at Lake Ontario," chuckled Susan, trying to ease the tension between them. "You don't see that every day."

    Ingrid tried to put the conversation behind her for the remainder of the day▬she tried to not think about any of it: the storm, Von Doom's face, the state Susan said she had been, and the fact that she seemed to be miraculously okay now.

    The last of them to wake up was Ben. Of all of them, they had been worried about Ben Grimm the most. He had been hit by the cosmic storm the most▬straight on in a more vulnerable state than the rest of them. And yet, despite this, he was fine. There seemed to be absolutely nothing different, nothing abnormal, nothing concerning about him. 

     Ingrid told herself she would stop troubling herself over it, but she couldn't help it. None of it made any sense. They should be dead, and yet they weren't▬there was no way they got out of the storm completely unscathed. Seeming completely okay didn't settle Ingrid nerves and anxieties, it just made her feel worse, because what if what they couldn't see on the surface, what the doctors couldn't recognise▬what if it was far worse than anything they could've imagined?

    The cosmic storm was supposed to be something that was going to change the world▬a piece of research that could revolutionise science because it brought life to the earth as they knew it; it could fundamentally change the very genome of living plants and therefore, theoretically, animals too▬including humans. 

    There was no way they should have survived that storm unchanged. 

    The day passed by, and nothing strange seemed to be happening▬and Ingrid's frustrations only grew. 

    Rubbing her eyes as she made her way back to her room after her third lap of the entire compound, Ingrid slowed to a stop when she caught the gaze of an infuriating gaze across the hallway. 

    Ingrid stopped in the hallway, frowning at Johnny Storm's curious grin▬as if the very sight of her was something unexpected, even though they were currently living in the same building. She rolled her eyes.

    With a soft, aggravated huff of breath, Ingrid walked over and stopped to stand in front of him. Her gaze met his, unimpressed. She noticed the ski jacket he was slipping on over his shoulders, and her frown deepened. "What are you doing?" she muttered, arching a brow of interrogation. "Where are you going?"

    Johnny chuckled, zipping up the bright red jacket to his chin. "What? No 'hello'? No 'I'm glad you're okay, Johnny?'" He snapped his fingers at her. "It's 'cause you were gonna say you missed me, right?"

    Ingrid shook her head at him, wondering what went through his head every time he spoke. "You know we're not supposed to go anywhere," she told him. "We're in isolation, in case you've forgotten."

    "Oh, come on," Johnny brushed past her and she threw her gaze to the ceiling, annoyed, but spun on her heel to follow him. "It's been three days of isolation and none of us have multiple heads, so I think it's okay. And I don't know if you've noticed, but the sickest runs this side of the Alps are right outside that window▬" he gestured to the passing window to prove his point.

    "You want to go skiing?" scoffed Ingrid incredulously as she followed him back to his room. 

    "Snowboarding," corrected Johnny, amused at her indignant footsteps that echoed on the tiled floor behind him. 

    "Whatever, but you can't," her pace caught up beside him, growing frustrated. "It's against the rules, they said we have to▬"

    "▬Stay until we finish the tests, I know▬"

    "▬You can't leave the building Johnny▬"

    "▬But you know I'm not good with rules▬"

    "▬Oh, I know, and it drives me up the wall▬"

    "▬Why don't you ever just take a breath and live a little, Ingrid?" Johnny spun around and walked backwards, shrugging. He was completely unbothered by her icy scowl. "Do you ski?" he asked her.

    Ingrid couldn't believe him. "No, but, Johnny, listen▬"

    "Shame," he cut her off and she set her jaw. "You should learn, we could have so much fun▬" Johnny winked at her and she stopped in her tracks. 

    "You know what? Fine," Ingrid threw her hands up and spun around to leave him. "Do what you want, Johnny. I don't really care. Ugh, you're so annoying."

    She didn't see the face Johnny made, whistling lowly to himself in surprise at her reaction, but not that bothered by it. He shrugged once again and disappeared inside his room with a confident stride while Ingrid stormed off in the opposite direction. 

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    SHE STILL HADN'T called her father by the end of the day. Ingrid sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone and finding her words choked in the back of her throat. She tried to think over what she could say, how she would explain everything▬how to ensure her father would not worry, but every time she thought she had a plan, it all fell away as soon as she went to reach for her phone and she had to sit there and try to figure out a better one. Every single one was at fault▬no words she could come up with were perfect. 

    Her headache was returning and it didn't help. She took some ibuprofen for it and decided to take a shower▬hopefully the hot water would clear her head and help her think.

    Ingrid's mind was never quiet, though. It always was thinking about something, stressing over her workload, or overthinking something she had said or troubling her with some minuscule problem until it exploded into a huge problem. Even the task of what she was going to do for dinner▬when she was going to go down to the buffet▬was a task filled with multiple variables she had to consider. 

    She sighed and closed her eyes, letting the water run down her face and front of her chest▬it was relaxing as it hit her neck and shoulders. Ingrid took a deep breath and sighed once again, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes. 

    Her headache was pulsing, still, and it annoyed her. Ingrid pinched the bridge of her nose and wiped the water away from under her eyes, leaning forward and letting her forehead rest against the tiles, hoping the sudden cool touch would ease the pain. 

    Ingrid felt as though she was going crazy. How could she be the only one who was concerned▬who felt as though something wasn't right and felt like she was on edge, waiting for the worst to suddenly happen? Perhaps it wasn't because of herself and the possibility of what that storm did to her that she found herself on edge. Perhaps it was the Von Doom Industries symbol everywhere she looked▬a chilling reminder of the look on Dr. Victor Von Doom's face as he watched her call for help, and yet left her to her demise. 

    She expected poison to come from the showerhead if owned by a man who had been so ready to leave her to die. 

    Just being here made her feel like there was a constant chill running up and down her spine.

    Or perhaps that was because the shower water had suddenly switched to a temperature as cold as ice.

    Ingrid gasped when she finally recognised the change, hunching up and stumbling out of the water's aim. She shivered, staring in surprise. Quickly, her hand groped for the handle and pushed it down. The water stopped. She frowned, very confused as she carefully twisted the knob from hot to cold, and then back to very hot▬just to be sure. 

    Slowly, she turned the water back on. 

    When she felt the water warm back up again, she fixed the temperature to a comfortable heat and stepped underneath it again. Ingrid shook her head, moving past the strange moment▬there were other people using showers in this facility, it wasn't the most unusual thing for the water temperature to suddenly fluctuate. 

    Ingrid reached for her shampoo to start to wash her hair. She made a face as the water got into her eyes for a second. Wiping the water away quickly, she reached again. 

    She frowned when the water pressure dropped. Ingrid looked up at the showerhead as she grabbed her shampoo bottle, watching a single line of water trail down from the base. 

    "Seriously?" she muttered, annoyed. Ingrid reached for the handle and twisted it all the way. She scoffed to herself when the water pressure didn't change. Her headache was almost unbearable. "I do not need this right now..."

    Frustrated, Ingrid turned the water off and waited a few seconds. She was starting to get cold, and she wanted nothing more than to disappear into the steam of a very good shower. She turned the water back on, eyeing the pressure as it came out of the showerhead. Everything seemed to be okay again. 

    It was fine for a while after that. Ingrid shampooed and rinsed her hair, massaging her scalp in another attempt to ease the pounding headache still troubling her. Pulling her wet hair over her shoulder after all the shampoo was rinsed out, Ingrid reached for the conditioner▬

    She froze. Her breath hitched. 

    As she moved her arm, so did the water. 

    Ingrid couldn't tear her eyes away▬no, she could barely believe what she was seeing. The water was running normally, and yet, it seemed to make a complete detour around her arm; avoiding it and wrapping around the side as if an invisible force was blocking it. The water fell to the tiles normally beneath her arm.

    She was hallucinating▬she had to be, yes? Ingrid blinked a few times, but the water did not go back to normal. 

    She had to be hallucinating, or even dreaming▬her headache might have been so bad that Ingrid was indeed asleep, and her worries were manifesting into a strange dream. 

    Ingrid glanced behind her in the mirror, and her heart skipped a beat. Her reflection was fogged up, but not so fogged that she couldn't make out her silhouette. If this were a dream, her image would be distorted. 

    Her heart started to race and she fixed her stare back onto her arm. The water was still warping its path around it.

    Ingrid pursed her lips and tried to think through this logically. She took a deep breath, and even though her hand was trembling, she carefully moved it closer to the water. Her eyes widened and she watched, stunned as the water moved, too. The warp in the centre of its fall grew as her arm passed through it▬not touching her skin at all. 

    She pulled her arm close and held it against her chest. The water dropped down its normal path▬like nothing happened; a large amount of water splashed the tiles at her feet. 

    This couldn't be possible. The physics of this couldn't be possible. 

    Ingrid held her breath, her initial fear slowly turning into a scientist's inquisitive curiosity. How was this possible?

    She moved her hand out in front of her, watching the way the water reacted to it; Ingrid's eyes turned bright with amazement, filled with more than a scientist's awe, but instead the soft delight of a child▬the moment they realised they could make water run down their fingers as if they had powers the first time they were in the shower; but now, this was something very real. 

    Ingrid couldn't believe the sight as she watched the water twist with her hand; following its movement and the patterns she created, as if pulled by some gravitational force▬Ingrid was creating her very own miniature tide movement. 

    Water moved as a direct response to the Moon's influence in the Earth's gravity▬that was how they got tides; the physics of the natural world. It was ... impossible for Ingrid to somehow move the water on her own▬to create some gravitational pull and magnetism ... or to manipulate it? It was against every law in physics she had studied. 

    Her breath hitched and her hand dropped; so did her heart into her stomach as she realised. 

    (Unless...)

    Ingrid didn't bother to get dressed. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her, fumbling with it even as she stumbled out of the bathroom. She raced out of her room and rushed down the hallway, her heart racing▬but her mind racing even more. Water from her hair dripped down her back and onto the tiles behind her as her bare feet pounded, and Ingrid almost slipped multiple times. 

    Her frantic stumbling led her to the buffet room where she knew Susan, Reed and Ben were having dinner. Ingrid didn't even care about being indecent with her hair drenching wet. She clutched the towel tightly and burst into the room, ignoring the estranged looks from the workers behind the bar and in the kitchen.

    "Sue! Sue!" she exclaimed, breathless as she ran up to their table. "I was right! I was..."

    Ingrid's words fell away and she slowed down to a stop, everything she was going to say disappearing from her mind. She stared, incredulous and a little disgusted at Johnny's state. He would have been almost completely naked if it weren't for the bright pink snow jacket he desperately clutched around his waist by the sleeves.

    In the end, all she could manage was a disappointed sigh and a set of her brows. "Seriously? Snowboarding, huh?"

    Realising what she meant, Johnny glanced down at the snow jacket and met her gaze again. He gestured to her. "Oh, well. Look, I can explain▬"

    She made a face and shook her head. "God, Johnny, no one wants to know about that▬"

    "▬No, not that▬Though," Johnny backtracked, chuckling to himself, "guys, I think I found my future wife, it was so good▬"

    Ingrid made a face, "▬Johnny▬" she groaned, "▬what is wrong with you▬?"

    "▬But first things first▬" he gestured at her again, grinning, "▬pink towel? Didn't realise pink was a you colour▬"

     "▬Oh, my God, are you actually serious right now▬?"

    "▬Because I was thinking you were more of a rigid, no-nonsense, needs a little loosening up blue▬"

    Before Ingrid and Johnny's bickering could continue, and Susan might just lose her wits if she heard one more word from either of them, she held up her hands and spoke over them, stern and curt: "Both of you, stop it."

    Surprisingly, they listened. 

    Realising she had their attention, Susan Storm took a deep breath and stood up from the table. Ingrid only then noticed Ben was not with them▬instead, sat an empty seat and an unfinished plate of dinner. "Okay, what happened? One▬" she added sternly when they both went to speak at the same time, "▬at a time."

    Ingrid decided she should be the one to speak and she jumped to the chance before Johnny could. "I was right," she said, her tone still a little breathless from her rush to get here. "The▬the storm, it has done something. Just now, in the shower, I thought I was going crazy but I moved the water. It moved around my arm▬" She held out her arm as if that would prove her point. "And I mean around it, like it wouldn't touch my arm. It moved with my arm." At the looks on all of their faces, she flushed. "I▬I know, it sounds crazy, like really crazy, but you have to believe me▬"

    "No, it doesn't sound crazy," Reed cut her off, speaking up. He took a deep breath and shared an uneasy look with Sue. "Right now, that doesn't sound crazy at all." He suddenly stood up, urgent. "We have to find Ben, right now."

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    "INGRID'S right," said Susan, a little flustered as she marched alongside Reed through the doors and into the next corridor towards Ben's room▬both of them looked very distressed and rushed; flustered even with worry over all that was happening right now. She sighed and pressed the palm of her hand against her temple. "It's the cloud. It has to be the cloud▬It's fundamentally altered our DNA."

    "Let's not jump to conclusions," murmured Reed, and Susan scoffed lowly, shaking her head. "We need a massive amount of evidence before making that leap."

    Ingrid followed right behind them, trying to keep up with their frantic pace down the hallway while barefoot and keeping a tight grip on her towel. Tailing behind was Johnny, who was otherwise preoccupied. Ever since they left the buffet room, he had been snapping his fingers consistently▬over and over again, to the point Ingrid felt like she was going to snap herself. 

    Until finally, "Whoa! Guys, look!"

    "What?" grumbled Ingrid as they all spun around, though her frown immediately lifted when she saw it. 

    Small flames, no larger than candlelight, danced along the tips of Johnny's fingers▬it did not burn him, it did not blister his skin, nor did it seem to cause him any pain at all. Seeing it, Johnny beamed with excitement. With another snap of his fingers, the flames extinguished. 

    They were too stunned to speak.

    "Now, picture that," grinned Johnny, and then gestured at himself, "but everywhere! It was everywhere!" he laughed in disbelief. "What?!"

    Susan turned to Reed and crossed her arms.

    Dr. Reed Richards looked a little light-headed. "The cloud has fundamentally altered our DNA."

    Johnny was thrilled with this idea. He couldn't contain his excitement, and his cackle of delight made Ingrid wince. "Cool! So cool!" He stumbled a little to catch up to the rest of them. "And you know what, guys? I think I was flying!"

    "This isn't something to celebrate, Johnny," Ingrid whispered to him urgently as they continued to stride down the hallways of the quarantine compound in search of Ben's room. "We have no idea how dangerous this could be!"

    "What?" he guffawed at her. "Not to celebrate▬? This is amazing!" he chuckled again, throwing a hand up to the ceiling as if to thank some higher power. "We have superpowers!"

    "We don't have superpowers," Ingrid muttered to him as they followed Susan and Reed. "This isn't some comic book."

    Johnny made a face and snapped his fingers again. On command, another small flame sparked to life. "Look at this, Ingrid. Tell me this isn't a superpower, 'cause it is."

    "What're you gonna do, Johnny? Put on some spandex, grab a shield and go save the world?" she quipped back teasingly. "With your single flame? Become what? The Matchstick Man?"

    "I told you, I was flying▬"

    Ingrid scoffed at that as they rounded a corner. "Yeah, right▬"

    "▬And 'Matchstick Man?' Now that joke was bad, Ingrid, even for you▬"

    "Both of you cut it out," Susan shot them a quick look over her shoulder. Ingrid flushed, surprised at the chiding tone. She grew sheepish. 

    Johnny didn't listen. He just kept snapping his fingers▬lighting a small flame again and again, and then making it sizzle to nothing with a breath of smoke. He showed Ingrid and she tried her very best to hide her genuine intrigue▬but she couldn't. She wanted to know how he could do so without burning his skin and feeling any pain; there would have to be a protective layer▬and then somehow be able to conjure a flame just like that would require some electric field ... just at the thought of the physics alone behind it was sending her mind was racing with questions and theories, and then more questions. And that was before Ingrid even considered the chemistry...

    "This is insane," murmured Ingrid, not sure whether she was worried, intrigued, or ashamed to feel a breath of excitement. "You should be in pain▬your skin should be burning."

    "Look, look▬" Johnny snapped his fingers again and the flame that sparked was slightly larger than it had been the last few times, "▬still getting the hang of it, but look▬"

    In front of them, Susan closed her eyes with an exasperated grit of her teeth. "Johnny..." she warned.

    They reached Ben's room. Reed was at his door in seconds, tugging on the handle. It wouldn't budge. It was locked. "Hey!" he said loudly, trying to see through the small window into the room. He rapted his hand against the door a few times. "Hey, Ben! Ben▬it's Reed!"

    "This is so cool," Johnny was chuckling to himself, not even paying attention to the situation at hand. He clicked his fingers one last time▬

    Susan swivelled on her feet. "Johnny, stop!"

    Behind her, Reed tugged desperately at the handle, his foot planted against the foot of the door as if expecting that would somehow unlock it. 

    Johnny's flame died down. He stopped at his sister's scowl. "All right," he muttered.

    Reed's feet skidded on the tiles. He gave up and hovered over the security panel. 

    "All right?" demanded Sue, not believing her brother for one second.

    Johnny hunched up in childish defence. "Yes!"

    She scoffed at him. "God!"

    Her brother mimicked her. "God!"

    "What's wrong with you?!"

    "What▬?"

    "Sue!" Reed interrupted them, running his hand through his hair. "Do you know the code?▬Ben! You gotta hang in there! We're coming!" he added, almost yelling through the door. There was still no response from his dearest friend. 

    Susan Storm let out a childish, frustrated huff of her own and clenched her hands, storming over to the panel. Reed staggered out of her way, taken aback.

    Johnny immediately looked back down at his hand and snapped his fingers. Ingrid reached out and pinched the flame just as it burst to life without thinking▬both of them stared, stunned to find it sizzled to nothing, a curl of smoke curling from Ingrid's fingers. She felt no pain. 

    Their gazes met. 

    After a tense silence between them. Then Johnny pulled his hand away and made a face at her. "Fun police."

    Her face contorted, incredulous.

    A horrible scream echoed from Ben's room.

    They all jumped. Johnny and Ingrid forgot and jolted to attention, scrambling to the door with their hearts in their throats as the screams continued▬horrible screams of anguish and wails of pain. They knew it was Ben.

    "Hey!" Reed shouted, slamming his hand on the door. "Ben! Ben, open up!"

    "Hang on, Ben!" cried out Sue, her fingers trembling as she tried to unlock the door, but all of the codes she tried failed. "Damn it!"

    "Hey, does somebody have keys to these doors?!" Johnny yelled out down the corridor, all jokes forgotten. 

    "There's gotta be an emergency trigger▬!" Ingrid frantically searched for another option as Ben's screams continued. There was a horrific crash; like something heavy had snapped in two. "Maybe if we trigger the fire alarm, the door will unlock▬?"

    Another mighty crash followed. The entire hallway seemed to tremble▬as if an earthquake had hit, and Ingrid's hand went to her mouth, feeling her gut twist painfully with worry; it sounded as if the earthquake had come from inside Ben's room. 

    "We don't have time for that!" Johnny gripped the corner of the threshold. "Just break the glass!" he told Reed who stood at the door, suddenly very still in thought. "It can't be that thick!" When he didn't say anything, Johnny snapped. "Reed!"

    Reed didn't respond. He simply stared at his hand▬and an idea struck him. They all stood back, watching with either bated breaths or dubious faces as he knelt. 

    He set his hand down, his palm faced up against the floor. Ingrid's jaw went slack, and her stomach churned again▬though, this time, for a very different reason as she watched the tips of Reed's fingers go flat, and then slide through the crack at the bottom of the door.

    Like his skin was made of rubber, his entire hand flattened and stretched underneath the door to the other side. Ingrid heard the muffled thuds of his hand on the other end as it climbed up the door, searching for the lock. 

    Reed bit the inside of his cheek in concentration. Ingrid couldn't help but turn up her nose when she saw a glimpse of his fingers through the door window. 

    But then, the door clicked. Reed had unlocked it. 

    Slowly, his hand withdrew back underneath the door; sliding back to its normal size▬like a slimy rubber band. 

    He stood up, clenching and unclenching his hand▬shaking out the weird feeling that followed. He glanced at them, and even Reed didn't seem to know what to say.

    Johnny pursed his lips. "That's gross," he said in the end. 

    Reed gave him a short look but didn't say anything. He grabbed the handle and burst into Ben's room, heart racing. The rest of them followed though they skidded to a stop at his side, frozen in their shock.

    Ben was nowhere to be seen. His bed was broken▬snapped in two. The monitors were strewn across the floor; the entire room was a mess as if some furious beast had come through and plundered▬a beast that left a towering, ginormous crater in the wall as it made its desperate escape.

    A horrible feeling settled over all of them. 

    Because deep down, they knew what caused this destruction was not a beast.

    Reed swallowed a lump in his throat, taking a few hesitant steps further into the room. He stared out at the view of the sunset where a trail was left by something so large, it sent trees falling. 

    "What is that thing?" muttered Johnny, hearing a ferocious howl in the distance.

    Ingrid didn't say anything, but when she saw the look on Reed's face, she knew she was right. 

    That thing running away. It was Ben Grimm. 

    "What's going on? What happened in here?"

    The new voice made Ingrid jump. A soft gasp escaped her lips and she glanced around. The moment she saw him, she was flooded with memories▬the look on his face; the peace he held when he closed those shields. Ingrid's chest twisted painfully, and she stumbled into Reed's shadow without a thought, hiding herself from the steel scowl of Dr. Victor Von Doom. 

    She watched him fiddle with his cuff links, frowning at the mess as if it were some minor inconvenience▬and yet the mess in the room still mattered more than the person who had resided in it. Dr. Victor Von Doom clenched his jaw, and Ingrid couldn't help but stare at the stitches on his right temple; a jagged gash that would leave an equally jagged scar.

    Sue stammered, and she surged forward. "V▬Victor," she managed, "are you feeling all right▬?"

    He held up his hand and she stopped in her place. Dr. Victor Von Doom had little patience for her; little care at all. "I'm fine. Just a few scrapes, that's all."

    "Ben did this," said Reed, and Victor's frown deepened. "He's had some kind of reaction to exposure from the cloud."

    Susan tugged at the edges of her sleeves, and Ingrid thought she saw her skin fluctuate with the flicker of the light, translucent for a moment. "We all have▬um▬different symptoms."

    Dr. Victor Von Doom turned his frown onto her, looking at her for the first time since he arrived. "Symptoms?"

    She hesitated at the look on his face. Susan suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Victor▬um▬I should have▬"

    "Just find him," he ordered and marched out of the room, leaving the last of Sue's sentence stranded.

    She swallowed hard, and she hugged her stomach. The light flickered, and Susan Storm seemed to become just as invisible to the naked eye as she always believed, deep down. 

    Johnny pursed his lips and eyed the cracks that had fractured all along the back wall. "Anybody got any ideas where the big guy's going?"

    Reed sighed when he found something trampled on the floor. He picked it up, and there was a sad look in his eyes as he stared down at a picture so happy. He tucked the photo of Ben and his fiance into his pocket. "He's going home."

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    a/n: look who finally got another chapter out, woohoo!!!

    i'm on break with uni, so finally have time to myself, and yet still feel so busy lol. but here's a long ass chapter to make up for it i guess. sometimes i feel like i know how to write johnny's character and then i feel like i don't ugh. 

    i cringe at this chapter but it is what it is. i hope you guys like it anyway <3

     reed and sue are just tired parents, tbh. ben is the uncle. 

    no one:

    johnny and ingrid: *excited children running to tell mum and dad about the cool new superpowers they just witnessed*

    (minimal editing)