Chapter Text
Johnny Storm had a problem.
Actually, he had several.
There was the fact that Ben had eaten the last slice of pizza and denied it despite the evidence being quite literally stuck to his shirt.
There was the fact that Reed had been talking about some new experiment for approximately forty-seven minutes.
And then there was Spider-Man.
Johnny Storm had been staring at Spider-Man for exactly ten minutes.
Not that he was staring.
He was observing.
There was a difference.
A very important difference.
Spider-Man was crouched on the edge of a building across the street, looking down at the mess the Fantastic Four had just helped clean up. The whole thing had been relatively minor, just a group of criminals with stolen technology causing trouble downtown, but Spider-Man had shown up halfway through and somehow managed to make the entire thing look effortless.
Johnny thought he was pretty cool.
Okay.
Really cool.
Possibly the coolest person Johnny had ever met.
"Johnny."
He didn't respond.
"Johnny."
Still nothing.
Sue sighed.
"Johnny, you've been staring at Spider-Man for ten minutes straight. It's starting to get pretty creepy."
Johnny blinked, he finally broke out of his supposed trance.
"What?"
Sue pointed across the street.
"That."
Johnny immediately looked away.
"I wasn't staring."
"You absolutely were."
"I was observing."
"You were smiling."
"I smile."
"Not like that."
Johnny frowned.
"What does that even mean?"
Ben snorted from beside them.
"It means you're lookin' at him like a lovesick idiot."
Johnny whipped around.
"I am NOT!"
Reed glanced up from his tablet.
"Technically, your behavior does suggest an unusually high level of interest."
"Reed."
"Yes?"
"Stop helping."
Johnny looked back toward the building.
Spider-Man was still there.
He was talking to one of the police officers now, gesturing wildly as he explained something. Even from this distance, Johnny could tell he was making some sarcastic remark.
Johnny smiled again.
Sue noticed.
She grinned.
"Oh my God."
Johnny immediately pointed at her.
"No."
"I didn't even say anything."
"You were going to."
Sue folded her arms.
"Johnny, I totally get why you like Spider-Man."
"I don't like Spider-Man."
"Sure."
"I don't."
"He's mysterious."
Johnny's face tightened.
"He has a secret identity."
"He's funny."
"He's sarcastic."
"And sure, that spandex does—"
"WHAT THE FUCK, SUE?"
Johnny clapped both hands over his ears.
"NOPE. NO. I AM NOT LISTENING."
Sue burst out laughing.
Ben nearly choked.
Reed looked genuinely confused.
"What did I miss?"
"Nothing!" Johnny shouted.
Sue was still laughing.
"Johnny, you're only eighteen, we have zero clue who Spider-Man is, or his age!"
"THAT DOESN'T MATTER!"
"You're acting like a twelve-year-old."
"YOU'RE MARRIED!"
Sue raised an eyebrow.
"And?"
"You're talking about Spider-Man like THAT!"
Ben laughed harder
Johnny turned toward him
"You're not helping!"
"I'm not even sayin' anything."
"You're laughing!"
"Because you're ridiculous."
Johnny groaned and dragged his hands down his face.
"I don't have a crush on Spider-Man."
Sue smiled
"Okay."
"I don't."
"Okay."
"I just think he's cool."
"Of course."
"And funny."
"Naturally."
"And he's really good at what he does."
"Definitely."
"And his suit is practical."
Sue stared at him.
Johnny paused.
"...What?"
"You've thought about his suit."
"No."
"You just said it was practical."
"I have eyes."
"Apparently."
Johnny groaned.
Across the street, Spider-Man suddenly turned toward them.
Johnny straightened.
Spider-Man raised a hand.
Johnny waved back so enthusiastically that Ben actually covered his face.
"Please stop," Ben muttered.
Spider-Man fired a web and swung away.
Johnny watched until he disappeared.
Sue looked at him.
"Still don't have a crush?"
"No."
"Right."
Johnny crossed his arms.
"He's just cool."
"Whatever you say, Johnny."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A couple of hours later, Johnny was back at the Baxter Building.
Reed had sent him to grab a piece of equipment from one of the storage cabinets. Johnny had forgotten which piece, but he figured he could probably find it.
He opened one cabinet.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing useful.
A third.
"You're looking for the wrong cabinet."
Johnny jumped.
He turned around.
A boy was sitting at one of Reed's workstations, staring at him.
He had curly brown hair, and dark brown doe eyes, freckles covered his face.He wore a lab coat that was definitely too big for him, this kid looked younger then Johnny even.
Johnny frowned.
"Who are you?"
The boy blinked.
"Peter Parker."
Johnny waited.
Peter stared back.
"...Parker."
Johnny recognized the name.
Reed had mentioned him before.
Peter Parker. His lab assistant.
Johnny had never actually met him.
"You're Parker."
Peter's eyebrows lifted slightly.
"Yeah, that's what I just said."
Johnny ignored the sarcastic remark.
"I've heard about you."
Peter looked suspicious.
"Good things, I hope."
Johnny shrugged.
"Not really." (That was a complete lie Reed would boast about this Parker kid whenever he got the chance.)
Peter stared at him.
Johnny stared back.
There was a moment of silence.
Peter finally turned back toward his work.
"Nice to meet you too."
Johnny walked over to the workstation.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping Reed."
"With what?"
"An experiment."
"Obviously."
Peter looked up.
"Did you need something?"
"Reed sent me to get something."
"What?"
"I don't know." Johnny truthfully replied.
Peter blinked.
"You don't know what you're looking for?"
"No."
"Then how are you planning on finding it?"
Johnny shrugged.
"I was hoping I'd recognize it."
Peter stared at him for a few seconds.
"Right."
Johnny narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You said that like you meant something."
"I didn't."
"You definitely did."
Peter sighed.
"Storage cabinet on the left. Second shelf."
Johnny looked over
There was the equipment, he grabbed it quickly, he didn't want to spend anymore time next to this Peter Parker guy.
Some people were just easygoing and natural to talk to, like Spider-Man, unfortunately Peter Parker was not some people.
"Thanks."
"Sure."
Johnny turned to leave.
Then he stopped.
"You're kind of annoying."
Peter looked up.
Johnny slapped himself internally
"I've known you for approximately three minutes."
"And?"
"And you already decided I'm annoying?"
Johnny shrugged.
"You made a interesting first impression."
Peter laughed once.
It wasn't particularly friendly, but it didn't have any malice to it either.
"Good to know."
Johnny walked out.
Peter watched him disappear through the doorway.
Then he looked back at his work.
"Fantastic."
Johnny rolled his eyes.
He had absolutely no idea why Peter Parker irritated him so much.
He also had absolutely no idea that the person he spent ten minutes staring at today was the same person he had just called annoying.
And Peter Parker was perfectly happy to keep it that way.
And neither of them knew it yet but this was going to become a very big problem.