Chapter Text
"What are you doing?"
Johnny does a double take just to see his sister leaning on his doorway. He pauses, looks at the papers he's holding and then to his sister again, seemingly amused with whatever he seems to be doing. "What do you mean what am I doing? Fixing my room obviously." He scoffs, not looking at her in the eye.
Sue rolls her eyes, as if she doesn't know him like the back of her hand, "for her?" She teases, but not really, she knows it's already for the woman who surfed through her brother's heart, leaving a permanent mark on him.
"What for her?"
"Johnny."
He pauses, taking a deep breath and facing her, "I am just fixing my room."
Sue roams her eyes around, nothing really changed, "your room or your papers of her language?" She eyes the papers he hasn't let go of yet.
He furrows his eyebrows and looks at her, "you know, you almost lost me, your fantastic, charming, loving, protective brother," she rolls her eyes again, "and now that I had a second chance in life—"
"Oh, really? You're the one who has a second—"
"You treat me this way, wow."
Sue sighs, looking at the seriousness in his banter, she cups his cheeks and squeezes it and he frowns, being treated like a baby again as if Sue didn't make it clear she would also move heaven and earth for him,
"I won't forget that," she says, her tone soft like her heart, "I would never forget that she saved your life. I owe her that one."
Johnny takes in her words, not forgetting how she cried and embraced him like she never did before when Ben told her what unfolded while she was unconscious, after she thought she successfully pushed Galactus in the portal, after she thought her son and the world are safe. She never knew that the price she almost paid was her and her brother's lives.
But the important thing is the present, that they're both alive, and right now, he is utterly embarrassed so he scoffs, Sue knowing he's about to pull a joke or say something that will make the atmosphere worse.
"Oh wow," he stands straight, Sue's hands are still on his cheeks, "I didn't know you'll have a change of heart for your," he pauses, almost slipping.
Sue retrieves her hands, taking a step back to observe him longer, he looks like he just realized what he was about to say, and he's already hating the smirk forming in her face, "for my what, Johnny? Oh, or should I say, Jonathan?"
A shiver runs down his spine and the hairs on his arm and nape raise, he physically jolted and Sue is having so much fun, she's never seen him this way, this affected and this in denial.
He quickly puts down the paper to his chair and walks to her, pointing to her face, she stands still. Did she hear their conversation the other week? Eavesdropper! A sneak! "Do not!" He shakes, "call me that name, Susan."
Her eyes widened in offense, "ah."
Horror paints his face over what he just said, "I'm sorry."
She crosses her arms, seemingly accepting the apology. Of course, she doesn't, "if you are truly sorry—"
"Which I am!" He convinces no one.
"Then continue," he blinks, "for my what, Johnny?"
He turns her around and gently pushes her out of his room that she didn't even enter, "please give some privacy to your baby brother whom you love so much."
"You didn't answer—"
"Yeah, bye!" He closes the door gently because he never slams the door on her. He counts to five seconds to confirm she's out even though he couldn't hear because his heart is busy pounding and defeaning his ears, he shakes, about to walk to the papers again when she speaks,
"My sister-in-law?"
"GET OUT!"
"I am out."
"Susie!" He whines.
He hears laughter from the other side of the door, it doesn't help that he's terribly blushing , "alright, alright, I'll leave you be," he lets out a sigh of relief, about to thank her for her generosity, "to study my sister-in-law's language."
"I'm fluent!" He corrects.
"Oh!" Amused, "so she is my—" he opens the door, to show her he's one second away from weeping and whining and even crashing out, "what?"
He did whine, and her eyes widened at the childishness, "ugh, fine, geez." She turns her back to walk away.
"Yeah! Go bother your husband or something!"
She stops in her steps and turns to him, a stifled smile so obvious Johnny wants to burn himself alive, "maybe you should be a husband too," he deadpans, what corny joke is she— "to my sister-in—"
He slams the door to her face, she chuckles, there really is a first for everything, and she's glad he's having his first steps in romance. He opens the door again, realizing he just slammed the door to her face, "I'm sorry, I'm gonna close the door on you again," then he does, gently again.
Sue just shakes her head, indeed walking to where her husband is.
Franklin is able to get some good sunlight exposure when Johnny walked him around early in the morning, and as he's comfortably nestled in his uncle's arm, he talks to him. "After you're done with uncle Johnny, you're gonna go back home to your boring parents, what a sad life you live, huh?"
He's about to turn to his left, right where the car is to go to Baxter building, when his eye catches Shalla-bal's favorite fruit.
He looks at his nephew, "well, spending a little more time with uncle Johnny to buy some fruit for your aunt Shalla-bal won't hurt, right?"
He stops in his steps, he doesn't realize he's been pertaining to her as Franklin's aunt. It's not like they can call her any other thing like what? His previous abductor? Galactus' once loyal servant?
Franklin taps on his cheek and Johnny returns to reality, "yeah, aunt."
He hides his grin, remember the conversation he had with his sister regarding Shalla-bal as her sister—
He feigns biting Franklin's cheek, making the baby giggle, he couldn't contain the giddiness he feels. Is he really… is he really in—
"A plastic of pomegranates, please."
"Looking happy, Johnny," the vendor pointed out.
He grinned and turned to his nephew, "well, I'm with my beloved nephew," he kisses at Franklin's cheek once more.
The vendor hums and Johnny's heart skips a beat, is he that obvious? "I thought it's because of a particular space girl."
Red colors his face and neck and he stammers, smiling, to mask that he finds the vendor's joke funny, "haha! You are very funny, sir! Have a good day!" He says, quickly paying and getting the plastic bag from the vendor who also quickly grabs his wrist.
"Peel it for her, will you?"
With the arm carrying Franklin, he removes the vendor's hand in his wrist, his lips in a tight line so as to not grin like a hopeless idiot. He skedaddles to the car, leaving the latter shaking his head at the obvious young man who fancies the one who brought destruction in their world.
Once settled in the kitchen and handing Franklin to Ben (because apparently, Reed is on some experiments with Shalla-bal again), he stares at the pomegranates he just put in a basket, "I am gonna peel you all later."
He turns around only to stumble back, holding on to the table for support and balance, "Jesus! What are you standing there for?"
Shalla-bal stares at him like she's disinterested, "you need my help with something?"
"Wait, what? I thought you're with Reed?"
"We just finished since you came home with Franklin."
He frowns, had Ben told him, he would've bring Franklin to his father himself and maybe he would've surprised Shalla-bal with her favorite—
He shakes his head internally, "okay," he slowly starts, "who told you I needed help with what?"
"Your sister mentioned it."
"My sister, Sue."
She blinks, "is there anyone else?"
He gulps, there she goes again with the care in her tone, "you're right, she's my only sister," he awkwardly chuckles, "I'm sorry, what do I need your help for?"
Her brows raised, like she's so amused and while he's glad he's providing her entertainment, he's so lost as to what Sue is scheming, "with my language," she answers, "she said you were re-learning it again."
He blinks then closes his eyes hard, recalling that Sue caught him with his notes again. "I'm not re-learning it, I'm fluent— I told her that! Sorry, I didn't mean to scream." He didn't notice that tiny upward motion of the side of her lips, "what exactly about it?"
"She didn't specify, just that you need my help."
Johnny hopes his sister can hear how loud he's screaming at her in his head. He stands up straight and clears his throat, "okay, first of all—" he pauses and she waits, patient with what he has to say, "yeah, yeah I think I do need your help."
What a lie, you know enough. The voice in his head continues, you just don't know enough about her. He walks to her and she follows, opening the door and letting her in first, he lets her observe his room, lowkey thanking himself for actually tidying it up when Sue caught him the other day because he wanted to prove he did clean his room even though all that mattered to him was his notes of her language.
She walks to the table where the papers neatly lie and Johnny's heart constricts again, seeing how her presence completes his room, how she seemingly fits, like she's meant to be there all along, the missing piece in his life and his heart.
They're both in the science fields, aren't they? How bad would it be to imagine him still studying more of her language, her world, and then she enters his room, finished with conducting more experiments and proving hypotheses with Reed, going straight to fall gracefully on his bed— their bed.
He massages his chest again, his heart beating fast and loud but there's a certain serenity in it.