Chapter Text
Working with the great Reed Richards presented itself as an amazing opportunity. The man was a genius who had the potential to be one of the greatest scientists in the world; if only he could catch a break. He had some incredible ideas, ones that could change the world if they were implemented; but he didn't have the money to produce the stuff he needed. That was his biggest setback, it meant he had to propose his ideas to people like Victor Von Doom and hope he would accept.
Delilah had faced a lot of challenges since being hired as the man's assistant. Loss in pay when they struggled to bring in money, dealing with high profile companies that wanted nothing to do with Reed and his crazy ideas. But worst of all, on many occasions, she'd been subjected to being in the presence of the biggest asshole on the planet. It was hard to believe that the largest challenge anyone faced wasn't one that was life-threatening or complex; just really really annoying and horny.
There had been one too many times where she had considered punching Johnny Storm in the face. It was painfully tempting when he would open his mouth and say the most ridiculous thing, and it was harder when Reed and Susan (a lovely woman who just possessed the curse of being Johnny's sister) were dating. Around that time just a few years ago he was almost always around, being utterly insufferable twenty-four-seven. Now that they had broken up, the chances of the two crossing paths were much slimmer, but it still happened from time to time and he hadn't changed a bit.
However, now that Reed needed money and resources from one of his old friends, it seemed much more likely that she would be spending a lot more time with Johnny from now on. Of course, Delilah wasn't all that happy with that news.
She was there when Reed and Ben took to pitching their idea to Mr Von Doom, having brought all the necessary documents and made sure they didn't forget anything back at the apartment. There was nothing for her to say during the presentation, she simply stood there and listened to the proposal up until it was interrupted by the man claiming he had heard enough.
That was around the time when they all had their reunion with Sue in the office. They were informed she was Victor's director of genetic research, much to Reed's dismay. He had always felt like he was in competition with Von Doom and now he had the love of his life too? It couldn't get much worse in his eyes. The entire room could feel the awkward tension between them as they said pretty much the first words to each other in four years. They kept it civil even though it was obvious Sue wanted to strangle him on the spot.
She pulled her into a hug with a happy smile on her face. "Hey, so nice to see you. How are you doing?" There was brief conversation made between the two as they caught up before Sue slipped past her to greet Ben. While the blonde was distracted, Reed and Delilah shared a look, one that was pretty much him asking what the hell the politeness with Sue was. He wanted her to be on his side in terms of the break up, he was the one paying her salary after all.
Delilah just shrugged, unsure what to tell him. She knew why they broke up and she firmly believed it was Reed's fault too. But she wasn't going to pick sides. He was her boss and Sue was her friend, it wasn't even like they both didn't still love each other, so she didn't much see the problem.
After the deal with Doom was made, the three of them packed up, heading to the elevator where they would be meeting Sue in a few minutes. She didn't take long, stepping inside and motioning for her peers to do the same. Ever the children they were, as soon as the doors closed Reed and Sue decided it would be a good time to start a conversation. The only issue was that they couldn't uphold a conversation that didn't turn into an argument.
It was a few minutes of that kind of thing before anyone stepped up. Ben was the one that interrupted, not needing to hear the petty bickering. "When are we leaving?" he asked, politely.
The blonde turned to glance over her shoulder, smiling sweetly at her old friend. "I'll be scheduling the launch, so, call me in the morning." She was digging around in her pocked for something before she turned back to the brunette who was still watching her.
When he looked at what was in her hand he saw it was a business card with her number on it. He scoffed, grinning at her with an expression full of cockiness. "I think I remember the number." She clearly didn't appreciate the attitude behind his smile, so she gave him one that was nothing but patronising. "It's been changed."
Delilah pursed her lips at the awkward interaction, wishing more than anything the elevator would hurry up so they could all get out and distance could finally be put between the pair of exes. The silence was broken once again at the sound of Ben clearing his throat, drawing the woman's attention over to him where he widened his eyes and then sent them Sue's direction, indicating he wanted her to bring up the topic they'd been discussing on the way there.
"So, uh Sue, as far as crew, we were hoping Ben could pilot," she said shyly. Don't get it wrong, she loved Susan, thought she was great, but she could be more than a little intimidating at times. So the woman felt she had to approach her with her question very lightly out of fear of rejection.
Her and Johnny may have not been all that similar, but it was certainly a Storm family trait to be blunt and along with that often came hurt feelings.
"We already have a pilot on our payroll," she explained, looking past the other woman in the elevator to make eye contact with Ben, "But you're welcome to ride shotgun." None of the group knew who the other pilot was going to be, and though Reed was sure none would live up to the skills his friend possessed, he also believed in his ex-girlfriend's decision making. She would surely only employ the best of the best, how bad could it be? "Remember my brother Johnny?"
Oh, it was bad.
୨⎯ next ⎯୧
Sue told them where they would find Johnny, sending them all that way while she tended to something inside the building. Two pairs of binoculars were handed over, along with a point in the right direction and she was gone, off to tend to her own business. The three of them stood a fair distance away from the dirt road in which he was riding his motorcycle, the two men having hogged the binoculars to get a better look, though you didn't even need the binoculars to see how big of a show off he was being, just like always.
Ben sighed loudly and dramatically, catching the attention of the two other people with him. "Can't do it. Cannot do it."
Reed didn't seem to like that he was so unwilling to work with the 'kid'. He and Johnny had a little sort of rivalry going on, which had been for a long time, mainly upheld by the younger of the pair and his constant torment of the poor man. The only reason Reed tolerated him so well was because of Sue, she made sure he was rarely the butt of the joke and at the time he met Johnny he just wanted to impress his girlfriend, and in turn he grew on him. "Oh come on now, Ben. You're being unreasonable."
Delilah chuckled, shaking her head and folding her arms across her chest as she finally tore her eyes away from the man's figure in the distance. "No, I agree with him actually. Reed he's an asshole."
The man sighed, watching as Ben walked away. Clearly he wasn't happy about this, nor was she, but if none of them had a say in it then they were going to make their frustration known. He understood both of his friends' hesitation to work with Johnny, he wasn't exactly the most quiet, simple guy to be around; especially not when it concerned them. But it wasn't like they had much choice. They just needed to be adults and get over it. "You only think that cause he's being trying to get in your pants for the last four and a half years."
He wasn't wrong, but the fact that he knew the reason behind her distaste for him and yet still wanted her to be mature about it and act like none of it ever happened, was really annoying. "Exactly. I know better than anyone. Ben's right."
୨⎯ next ⎯୧
In true Johnny Storm fashion, the man made a rather bold entrance, jumping straight into terrorising poor Ben at every cost. The older man already looked completely done with it, whereas Reed was hiding behind his paper giggling at the scene before him. Delilah on the other hand was trying to keep busy with her back turned for as long as possible so he didn't see her. She was still tuned into the conversation happening around her, but she had no desire to partake in it where she was concerned.
Once Johnny got bored and took a seat on the arm of a nearby chair, Ben moved on to a different subject concerning the suit he'd been instructed to put on. "I don't know if I should be flying or conducting swan lake in these things. I mean, who came up with these suits?" the man muttered.
"Victor did. They're supposed to be like a second skin, they--"
Delilah's head turned at the sound of Sue's voice entering the room, allowing the woman's brother to see her face for the first time. Up until that moment he hadn't realised the beautiful lady in the room with them was in fact the one he had pining for for nearly half a decade. The corner of his mouth began to curl upwards at the sight of her, but he was momentarily distracted by his sister.
It allowed Lilah the chance to get a look at the man. He had certainly changed since the last time she saw him, at least visibly. He was taller, more muscular, but she wasn't necessarily complaining. Though she would never, ever, admit that,
She thought she was subtle when her eyes raked his figure in the suit. Sue really wasn't lying when she said it was like a second skin. It highlighted all the best parts of him. His excessively broad shoulders, every solid ridge on his stomach, his a--
She would have gotten away with it if it wasn't second nature for Johnny's eyes to be on her whenever she was in the room. For years he had taken to watching her do the most basic tasks whenever she was around. His favourite was whenever she was talking to one of her friends, the way her eyes would shimmer and a smile would curl on her lips that was just absolutely beautiful.
"Like what you see, Lilah?" That was all it took to snap her out of her thoughts, her usual irritated expression reserved for only Johnny slipping back onto her face. "Shut up."
He liked that he caught her out, knowing he had some affect on her even if it wasn't as strong as he would have liked. That was another sign of progress for him, one that he was doing something right. Her embarrassment was taking over now and she no longer had the upper hand, she needed to get out before he realised what kind of state he'd put her in.
He pushed himself to his feet to approach her, ignoring her protests as he wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders. "'S been so long, beautiful. I missed you, d'you miss me?" She didn't just accept the touch, muttering some nasty things about him under her breath as she pushed on his chest to tell him to knock it off. None of it was serious, if he knew she really wanted him off then he'd let go without hesitation; he might have been trying to woo her but he wasn't a psycho. He knew these attempts were all in good fun though, this was there dynamic.
He flirted, she pretended not to like it. But everyone that was around them long enough knew she had developed a soft spot for him long ago.
She scoffed. "In your dreams." He moved to open his mouth again but the entire room already knew what he was going to say, or something along the lines off. Reed was the one to warn him, which had the man raising his hands in his own defence.
His eyes lingered on Richards for a moment or so longer before moving back to her. "Still Reed's assistant?" he asked. It felt like there was an ulterior motive behind his question, but knowing him it would come to light in mere seconds if he was just left to play it out. All she did was hum, accepting that he would remove his touch on his terms once he was finished being a total douche. "Would you mind getting me a water, sweetheart?"
Reed moved as though to speak up again, but it was easier to just play along. She locked eyes with her boss, shaking her head as she stepped out of Johnny's arms to cross the room and grab a complimentary water. There was a scowl glued to her face the instant her back was turned from him, and she was rolling her eyes a thousand times in her head at the fact she couldn't just scream at him or hit him or something.
In only seconds she was re-crossing the room, handing the cold bottle to the man. "Anything else, Mr Storm?" she asked, flashing him a sickly sweet smile that was painfully fake. He didn't seem to care whether it was real or not though, he liked taking any civil interaction with Delilah as a sign of positive progress of their relationship brought on by his flirting.
He dragged out the silence much longer than necessary, just so he could spend longer in her company, before finally speaking up. "No, I think 'M all good, sweetheart." He had that boyish grin on his face that made her want to roll her eyes as he took a sip of the water. With a half-hearted nod she turned on her heel to walk away, but the sound of him speaking again halted her in her steps. "Though you could call me Johnny. Mr Storm makes me sound so old."
She hummed. He had been telling her to call him by his first name for years, assuming she was just being professional with him because she believed she had to be while working. Though he'd never seen her address his sister or Ben so formally. In reality, Delilah refused to use anything but his title because in her mind it was too close to the two being friends. There was a possibility she'd budge and call him Jonathan, but nicknames were off bounds until he decided to have a more tolerable personality. "No. I'm okay."
He scoffed, hearing his sister laughed at yet another failed attempt to get on her good side. He shot her a glare as he heard her heels click against the floors as she marched out of the room. "Johnny, you got to stop trying. She is way too good for you," Sue quipped.
"I'm not stopping until I get that girl."