Chapter Text
Reed and Ben step into the elevator in the Von Doom Industries Tower, having finished talking with Victor and Susan Storm. Reed really wanted to ask Susan about Jax's well-being but didn't seem to have the time as he was too focused on his work.
"He knew about NASA. What if he made the call to shut us down--"
"Ben, think about all the people we can help if this works--"
"Maybe you should think about yourself for once. You always let this guy push you round--"
"We got what we wanted. That's enough." Reed said, wondering when the door to the elevator will close.
"I know, I know. I'm just worried about what he wants..." Ben trailed off, looking at someone. "Speaking of which..."
Reed follows Ben's eyes to Susan as she joins them in the elevator, and the doors of the elevator finally close. It was quiet in the elevator for what felt like hours, but the silence was quickly filled with Susan's voice.
"You sure about this, Reed?"
Reed nods, his head facing the floor of the elevator, eyes focused on his shoes. "Those solar winds are flaring, but I factored them into my coordinates and--" His words were cut short by Susan, though he knows exactly what she was asking about.
"I was talking about us. Working together." Susan said, holding her gaze on Reed making him squirm under her gaze. Did the elevator just get smaller?
Reed talks without thinking, which is a first for him. "Well, uh, based on our history... you can handle the biogenetics, and I'll focus on the molecular physics. Or, um, maybe I should take the biotech, you work the microscope, since you have some background in electropho--" He was cut off again by Susan.
"Right. That's exactly what I meant." Susan said, shaking her head.
Reed looks at her, wondering what he said was wrong.
Ben smiles, patting Reed on the shoulder. "Way to not overthink it." He said to Reed before turning to Susan to talk to her. "So when do we leave?"
"I'll schedule the launch. Call me in the morning to talk about resources and crew." Susan said, offering a business card to Reed.
"I, uh, think I remember the number." Reed said, thinking about Jaxon and Susan's phone numbers in his head. Actually, it was just yesterday that he had called Jaxon and talked to him about his break-up with his girlfriend.
"It's been changed." Susan said before adding when she sees Reed's face fell. "And Jaxon had to change his numbers because she wouldn't stop calling him."
Reed nodded jerkily and took the business card, moving the card around his fingers and noticed that the card-- at the back-- have another number on it. He softly smiles when he recognizes Jaxon's handwriting. He pulls himself out of his thoughts when he remembers what he wanted to ask Susan. "As far as crew, I was hoping Ben could pilot the mission--"
"Well, he's welcome to ride shotgun, but we already have a pilot on our payroll. You remember my brother Johnny..." Susan said.
Ben gives Reed a grim smile, which Reed returns with a sympathetic smile.
Reed thinks it is the best time to ask about Jaxon's well-being. Yes, he had talked with Jaxon yesterday, but that was yesterday not today. He clears his throat, gaining Susan's attention. "How's Jaxon?" He asked, noticing the concerned expression passing by Susan's face before it disappeared.
"He... is not well..." Susan slowly said, not knowing how to describe her little brother's well-being when the girl who had cheated on him, abused him and raped him, manipulate him is trying to get back with him. Even worse is when she was coming to their home to talk with Jaxon himself, even more when you know she has a restraining order against her to come to their home.
Reed tensed, not liking the tone in Susan's voice. "Is he safe?" He asked, concerned for Jaxon.
"When we're up there, we will be." Susan said, giving Reed a small smile.
Reed slowly nods. "Can you please tell him that he can always go to the Baxter Building when he wants to?"
Susan nods, feeling herself relaxed at the thought. "Of course."
Reed nods, relaxing as well. He looks at Ben, seeing the knowing look on his face and arches an eyebrow at his friend. But Ben only shakes his head with an amused smile, filling him with more confusion.
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Jaxon looks at the mirror in front of him, wearing the blue tight uniform, turning to his side with his head still facing the mirror. "God..." He let out, catching the attention of his sister and twin brother.
"What's wrong?" Sue asked, concerned.
"This uniform makes my ass look fat." Jaxon said, making Sue smile and Johnny snort.
"Maybe it'll finally get his attention, eh?" Johnny teased, chuckling when Jaxon glared at him. He takes Jaxon's bag and swung it around his shoulder with his own bag, wrapping his arm around Jaxon's shoulders. "We'll see you soon, Sue." He said over his shoulder, dragging Jaxon with him to the locker room.
"Alright, Johnny. Don't do anything!" Sue calls out before the door closes.
"No promises!" Johnny calls back as the door closes behind them and walks to the locker room with Jaxon beside him. He playfully winks at Jaxon, grinning when Jaxon rolls his eyes at him. He pulls his arm away from Jaxon's shoulders and takes out his camera, turning to the entrance. "Captain on the bridge!"
Ben acts on reflexes and Johnny snaps a picture with his digital camera then walks into the locker room at the same time Ben realizes who it is.
Jaxon takes notice of Reed's small smile, turning away before he could notice him staring at the man.
"Digital camera: $254. Memory stick: $59. The look on your hard-ass former CO's grill when he finds out he's your junior officer: priceless." Johnny said, grinning as Jaxon passed by him.
"Stop it, Johnny." Jaxon said, and Reed's head snapped up from where he is standing when he heard Jax's voice. He turned to Ben, giving the man a small smile. "Sorry about him, Ben. He was dropped as a baby." He said, making Ben snort as he sits on the chair, giving Reed a small smile of which he returned.
"Hey!" Johnny exclaimed, offended.
Ben shakes his head and suddenly reaches up to Johnny as if to grab him, amused when Johnny flinches, but Ben just reaches for Johnny's zipper and adjusts his uniform. "I can handle the ship. I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition. But I don't know if I should be flying or playing Vegas in these suits. Who the hell came up with them?"
"Jax did." Sue said, entering the locker room, wearing her blue unicorn and carrying a stack of flightsuits. She hands them out to the guys. "The synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your individual needs to--"
"Keep the hot side hot, and the cool side cool!" Johnny said, cutting her sister's words short.
"Wow. Fantastic." Reed said, staring at Jax which made Sue softly smile at him which Reed didn't catch. She wonders, maybe hopes, if he is checking Jaxon's out but was disappointed when Reed opens his mouth. "Material made from self-regulating unstable molecules. I've been working on a formula for this." He said, looking at Jax as if he's hung the moon making the younger man blush under his gaze.
"Great minds think alike." Jaxon muttered, looking away from Reed.
"Guess some think faster than others." Victor said, entering the room with his custom-tailored flightsuit. "I hired Armani to design the pattern. These colors will look great on camera."
A door opens and Leonard enters in a sharp suit. "They're ready for you, sir."
"Showtime."
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
Victor and Sue lead the others into the command center, talking with each other.
"If you behave, maybe next time daddy'll let you drive." Johnny said in a dad voice to Ben.
"Keep talking, there won't be a next time." Ben said, already feeling tired with Johnny beside him. He sometimes wonders how Jaxon could handle Johnny with Jaxon being the opposite of Johnny.
Reed is looking out the window, looking at the Earth, not noticing that Jaxon had joined him.
"A long way from the projection booth at the Hayden Planetarium, isn't it?" Jaxon asked.
Reed turns towards Jaxon, giving him a softened smile. "Yes. Yes it is."
Johnny and Ben exchange a look. Both of them have the same thought of when those two would get together, seriously, even Sue is getting tired of them at this point.
Reed keeps looking at the stars, eyes wide, like a little kid making Jaxon smile at the sight.
⋆✴︎˚｡⋆
They enter the nerve center of the space station. Victor goes to a computer console on the observation deck below. The windows are closed, so there's nothing to observe.
"Leonard, how's the feed?" Victor asked via comm-link.
"Recording, sir. We see you perfectly."
Victor glances at a camera mounted into the console.
"We can monitor the cloud's approach and observe the tests from here." Sue said, glancing at Jaxon who can finally relax now from his girlfriend's threatening presence.
"Is it safe?" Ben asked.
"The shields on the station should protect us." Reed said, glancing at Jaxon every few seconds to make sure he is okay.
"Should?" Ben questioned.
"What's wrong, Ben? Eighty-million dollars worth of equipment not enough for you?" Victor asked.
Ben turns to Victor, and Reed cuts in before Ben could say something. "Let's start loading those samples. Get your suit ready, Ben."
Victor keeps his eyes on Ben. "So you still do all the heavy lifting?" He gives a friendly smile, patting Reed. "Maybe you should have stayed back in the lab. Field work never suited you."
"Work first, high school rivalry second." Jaxon said, looking at Victor who turns to look at him. "Unless you want us all to die, Victor?"
"Of course not." Victor said, holding a tight smile on his face. "I'm going to borrow Susan for a second."
Jaxon looks at Sue, who nodded slightly, before looking at Victor. "Sure." He said, following Reed to where he is going to work.
It was silent for a few minutes as they worked, once in a while each of them checked the wind velocity just in case it rises.
"How are you doing?" Reed decided to ask, breaking the silence. Though, he noted, it is not uncomfortable.
"Good, for now." Jaxon said, giving Reed a small smile. "Thank you for offering to let me stay at your building."
"Of course." Reed said, nodding. "If you want anything, don't be afraid to ask, Jax." He said, making Jaxon smile at him.
Jaxon checks the data on the work station, set on a wall. The results of the calculations are not what he expected as he sees the wind velocity digits rise. "Reed..." He calls, pointing to what he is looking at when Reed turns to him.
Reed does a double-take when he sees the readout: Event Threshold, T-Minutes 10:00. "No... no... impossible. It's... too fast." He said as both of them stood up, looking at each other for a few seconds before nodding.
Jaxon runs to Johnny and Ben while Reed runs to Sue and Victor. "Johnny!" He calls out when he sees his brother, who stands at the sight of him. "We need to get Ben inside!" He exclaimed, stopping in front of Johnny.
Johnny said what Jaxon had said to Ben before turning to Jaxon. "What's wro--" He didn't get to finish his sentences when Reed joined them.
"Ben, we need you back inside." Reed said, even though he knows Johnny had already said it.
"I ain't done arranging your flowers, egghead." Ben said into the radio.
"Ben. This is serious. Turn around." Jaxon said as Johnny motions for Ben to look behind him.
Ben turns and sees the cosmic storm, rumbling towards the station. Not close, but not far. "Roger that, on my way." He turns back towards the ship. Behind him, the storm grows.
Reed, Jaxon and Johnny stand by the airlock, waiting for Ben and hear the automated voice. It panics Reed.
"Come on, Ben, come on..." Reed muttered under his breath.
"Reed, we're running out of time." Victor said from the radio.
They can see Ben outside the window, still twenty yards away. The entire corridor rumbles as the lights flicker and spark. They watch helplessly, not knowing what to do to help Ben.
"Reed, you need to get here so we can close the shields! Now!"
"Not until Ben is back inside!" Reed responded to Victor on the radio.
"It's too late for him, and soon it'll be too late for all of us."
Reed bites his lip, thinking, before he decides. "Victor's right. Johnny, Jax, get to the command center. Close the shields."
Jaxon snapped his head towards Reed, disbelief shown on his face. "What about you?" He only needs one look from Reed to tell him that he won't leave without Ben. Jaxon and Johnny share a look with each other, turning to Ben. They are not going either.
"Come on big guy, you can do it!" Johnny muttered, taking hold of Jaxon's hand as they watched Ben.
"Event threshold in thirty seconds."
The exterior air lock door slides open. In agonizing, weightless slow motion Ben reaches to haul himself inside.
The leading edge of the cloud hits: Ben is pelted by a hissing mass of space dust, splattering his suit with orange stains. Larger particles, small pellets, pepper him. Ben haunts himself in the last few feet by pulling on his tether.
"Event threshold in ten seconds. TEN..."
Johnny punches the controls to close the exterior airlock door as Reed opens a first aid kit, grabbing a thermo-elastic blanket while Jaxon stays back to give them space.
Jaxon turns around when he hears footsteps and sees his sister. He looks back at the cosmic storm as Sue screams their name. He closes his eyes as the cosmic storm hits them all, the light sparks and broken glass hits him before everything turns dark.
• cast •
Chris Evans as Jaxon Storm
Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards
INCLUDING
Chris Evans as Johnny Storm
Jessica Alba as Susan Storm
Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm
Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom
Laurie Holden as Debbie McIlvane
Kerry Washington as Alicia Masters
Hamish Linklater as Leonard
Kevin McNulty as Jimmy O'Hoolihan
Doug Jones as Silver Surfer
Beau Garrett as Frankie Raye
Andre Braugher as General Hager
Emma Stone as Autumn Howell
Tyler Posey as Eugene Wallace
• Jaxon Storm •
Name: Jaxon Lumen Storm
Age: 23 - 25
Birthday: March 25, 1982
Height: 5'7 (170cm)
Siblings: Susan Storm and Jonathan Storm
Relatives: Franklin and Mary Storm † (Parents), Susan Storm (Sister), Jonathan Storm (Brother)
Suit:
Powers:
• Light Manipulation = The power to manipulate light.
• Flight = The power to perform independent movement above ground in a gaseous atmosphere or vacuum.
• Glowing Eyes = The power to possess eyes that glow.
• Glowing Bodily Aspects = The power to possess bodily aspects that glow.
• Glass Phasing and Travel = Jaxon has the extraordinary ability to interact with glass surfaces. When near any glass object, such as a window or mirror, he can: Phase into the glass and become one with the material. Travel through the glass at the speed of light, moving seamlessly from one glass surface to another, provided they are connected in some way (e.g., windows in the same building). Exit from another glass surface, allowing him to traverse large distances or escape dangerous situations through reflective surfaces.
• Light Shield Construction = The ability to create shields out of light.
• Light Solidification = The power to solidify light into a tangible form.