Chapter Text
Johnny Storm is tough. Johnny Storm doesn’t cry.
And yet, here he was, crying. Alone in the middle of the night. Thinking that nobody could hear him.
But someone did hear.
Sue heard.
She’s the only one who cares anymore.
Ben and Reed had grown tired of him lately.
And yes, he knew that he was a pain in the ass to deal with. With all the stumbling and slurring, it seemed to outsiders as though he had taken up heavy drinking.
But he wasn’t drunk. And he couldn’t help acting that way. Ever since he’d gotten hit in the head by some sort of space ray while rescuing his sister, things just hadn’t been the same.
Sue offered him some headache pills, but he declined.
“It doesn’t work anymore. Just makes me sick.”
“Oh.” Sue blinked away tears.
All she wanted to do was take his pain away.
But there didn’t seem to be anything she could do.
He had saved her, but she couldn’t save him.
My hero. My baby brother.
“Don’t cry,” he said. “I’ll be okay.”
He keeps saying that, but he just keeps getting worse.
If only I had known earlier that something was wrong. Maybe we could’ve fixed it before it got this bad.
But Johnny Storm is tough. Johnny Storm doesn’t let anyone know when he’s hurting.
“Okay,” Sue said. “Just… try to get some rest.”
“I’ll try.”
Johnny had always found it difficult to fall asleep, but it was even harder when he was in pain.
Still, he had to admit… he was feeling a little tired. Just a little bit.
He closed his eyes but opened them seconds later, feeling Sue’s hand wrapped around his.
He tried to pull away but she held on tighter. Soon, she would have to go back to bed with Reed. But for now, she just wanted to make sure her brother would be okay for the night.
“It’s okay. Sleep.”
His eyes were getting heavy, so he closed them again.
The memories flashed before him.
Escaping from a dying planet.
Grabbing Sue and getting her to the platform so that she could get onto the ship.
Getting zapped so that he fell down into the flames.
Of course, it was thanks to my powers that I survived.
But maybe I shouldn’t have.
Because ever since then, my life has only been getting worse and worse.