Fic: 'Burnout' (Fantastic Four)
Title: Burnout
Rating: FRT
Warnings: Major angsting, character death
Pairings: Reed/Sue, Ben/Alicia, slight Frankie/Johnny
Disclaimer: I make no attempt to pretend that I own the Fantastic Four.
Summary: Post-SS AU - their plans went awry, and Johnny paid the price. Now all that's left to do is cope.
For Rebecca, who gave me the plot bunny
Susan Richards got up every morning at half past seven to make breakfast for her husband and get her five-year-old son ready for school. At eight thirty-five they made the short walk to his school together, little John holding his mother’s hand and chattering excitedly about his friends and teacher. By the time she got home, Reed had left for work - he taught Physics at the local high school.
After she had tidied away the remnants of breakfast, Sue watched television for a while before doing the laundry. The big story of the day was a bank robbery in New York, a robbery which - once upon a time - the Fantastic Four could have prevented. She couldn’t help but sigh regretfully as she thought of her old life. She remembered hating the publicity, remembered wanting to just be normal. Well she’d got her wish…but the price was too high.
Normality had cost her Johnny’s life.
It had been seven years. Seven years since she had watched her baby brother crash and burn. Mortally wounded, Victor Von Doom had one shot left in him, and he hadn’t missed his target. With Johnny dead, the Fantastic Four was finished. He had died before they could even reach him, and the powers he had ‘borrowed’ with him. From that day, the surviving three had been completely, horribly normal.
It seemed like most of the world tried to attend his funeral. Leaders from every country, assorted celebrities, more journalists than she would have thought existed. A ship could have been launched on the tears shed that day. Most of the day remained a blur to Sue. She remembered Captain Frankie Raye - the only female she’d ever thought immune to her brother’s charms - sobbing and apologising over and over again for misjudging Johnny so badly, and Alicia crying silently into Ben’s shoulder. The sun had been shining brightly as they lowered his coffin into the ground, creating an incongruously cheerful atmosphere as birds twittered merrily. At the time, Sue had thought vaguely that Johnny would have found that funny. All over the planet, the Human Torch was hailed as a hero. Dying to save the world…she supposed it was the way he would have wanted to go.
So here she was. She was normal, just like she’d wanted. People had long since forgotten about Sue Richards…no-one cared what she did any more. It was just what she’d wanted.
And she hated it.
There is a sequel, Ashes
Rating: FRT
Warnings: Major angsting, character death
Pairings: Reed/Sue, Ben/Alicia, slight Frankie/Johnny
Disclaimer: I make no attempt to pretend that I own the Fantastic Four.
Summary: Post-SS AU - their plans went awry, and Johnny paid the price. Now all that's left to do is cope.
For Rebecca, who gave me the plot bunny
Susan Richards got up every morning at half past seven to make breakfast for her husband and get her five-year-old son ready for school. At eight thirty-five they made the short walk to his school together, little John holding his mother’s hand and chattering excitedly about his friends and teacher. By the time she got home, Reed had left for work - he taught Physics at the local high school.
After she had tidied away the remnants of breakfast, Sue watched television for a while before doing the laundry. The big story of the day was a bank robbery in New York, a robbery which - once upon a time - the Fantastic Four could have prevented. She couldn’t help but sigh regretfully as she thought of her old life. She remembered hating the publicity, remembered wanting to just be normal. Well she’d got her wish…but the price was too high.
Normality had cost her Johnny’s life.
It had been seven years. Seven years since she had watched her baby brother crash and burn. Mortally wounded, Victor Von Doom had one shot left in him, and he hadn’t missed his target. With Johnny dead, the Fantastic Four was finished. He had died before they could even reach him, and the powers he had ‘borrowed’ with him. From that day, the surviving three had been completely, horribly normal.
It seemed like most of the world tried to attend his funeral. Leaders from every country, assorted celebrities, more journalists than she would have thought existed. A ship could have been launched on the tears shed that day. Most of the day remained a blur to Sue. She remembered Captain Frankie Raye - the only female she’d ever thought immune to her brother’s charms - sobbing and apologising over and over again for misjudging Johnny so badly, and Alicia crying silently into Ben’s shoulder. The sun had been shining brightly as they lowered his coffin into the ground, creating an incongruously cheerful atmosphere as birds twittered merrily. At the time, Sue had thought vaguely that Johnny would have found that funny. All over the planet, the Human Torch was hailed as a hero. Dying to save the world…she supposed it was the way he would have wanted to go.
So here she was. She was normal, just like she’d wanted. People had long since forgotten about Sue Richards…no-one cared what she did any more. It was just what she’d wanted.
And she hated it.
There is a sequel, Ashes