2013.04.28 - A Fantastic Four

It's been over a month since Reed Richards has been home. He tok off for Antartica to perform solid research. It's not that he couldnt get anything done at home. Antartica is one place in the world in which the need to be cold has it's advantages. One of the reasons for his science holida was one or many, however one of which involves his new intern. Sporting a beard, one that Sue will hate, and carrying a bag of research the abscent Doctor Richards has finally returned home.

Thanks to yesterday's meeting the intern is in one of the labs cursing in front of a computer. Rising from the comp chair he moves to a cutting laster not too far away. This Fantastic Four lab is filled with all manner of goods for the scienctific. Applying the cutting laser to some light weight metal he cuts carefully. Wearing giant black goggles, a pair of blue coveralls and some gloves, Ben Reilly looks more like a grease monkey working with expensive equipment instead of a Scientist.

She-Hulk was hanging out at the Baxter Building that day. She had the day off from work, so she was in her comfy yoga clothes and lounging in front of the television watching a cartoon about a boy and his dog who like to have adventures.

Oh its so good to be home Reed thinks to himself as he walks through the main entrance. As he passes the living area. He sees She-Hulk, but the fact shes there doesn't actually hit him till hes at the opening to his lab. "Mr. Reilly! I can see youre still hard at work, but I might I make a suggestion? The sonic blade over there." Reed says pointing to a large machine. "It will give you a cleaner cut and make less of a mess then the laser cutter will.Speaking of messes is that large grease spot five meters to your left one of mine or yours?" Reed suddenly stops and blinks as reality finally rewinds and catches up to him. "And did I or did I not just see a large green woman lounging in the family room?"

Smiling he nods to Reed, "I lost track. There's a few burn spots I know are mine," smirking he makes a note to use the sonic cutter. However he thought Sonic technology is best saved for screwdrivers. Pulling up the googles the words blurt out, "That's our Orio-," he cuts himself off. A blush runs through his face. His new teammate is cute but then again Ben's the nerdy guy that liked abnormally colored women thanks to Star Trek. Recomposing himself he casually walks out into the living room, "Hey JolLY GREEen," his voice cracks and raises at points. Another blush runs through his face and he pushes himself to recompose once more. "Jen. Have you met Dr. Richards? He's been gone for a while and joined the professional beard growing circuit whilst away. Nevertheless he is still Mr. Fantastic." Letting the introductions settle in for a moment Ben doesn't speak until the first rounds of hellos are had, "Boss Man. Meet the SenSATIONal SHEE-Hulk," a cough escapes his lips, "I need a drink." Quickly the teen goes into the kitchen to grab some water.

Shulkie had a mouth full of popcorn when she noticed Reed walking by, and muffled a hello. She swallowed the rest of her snack and hopped to her feet. She-Hulk hurried over towards the two and held out her hand to Reed, "Hi! So glad to finally meet you. Sue's told me all about you."

Her eyes watched as the kid moved into the kitchen, "And I told you don't call me an Orion slave girl. I love Star Trek, but that's racist against green skin..I think."

She laughed, "I'm the Sensational She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters."

Sue Storm finally makes it home after a particularly busy day at the clinic, carrying a canvas grocery bag with all of the things needed to make dinner. "I'm home!" she calls out as she heads for the kitchen. "I smell popcorn, you guys still going to be able to eat?"

Reed cocks his head to one side as he puts his hand to his bearded chin and stretches to 'examine' Jennifer visually. "Intriguing. Green pigment seems to be completely throughout. Hair follicles as well as eye seems to have green tint to them. Only a few subjects known to have such coloring." Yeah hes talking about her out loud and to himself. "Size and structure seem to be mutated. Strength, endurance and possibly toughness may be augmented as well. Will have to perform a deep scan to get a complete analysis of..." but before he can continue his examination, Reed hears Sue. And almost with a snap he turns his head quickly, much like a teenager in a school hallway.

Peeking his head out from the kitchen Ben retorts, "I don't call you that to be rascist. I call you that because back when I was seven I watched old re-reuns of Star Trek. The most beautiful girl I saw was the Orion," then he would disappear back into the kitchen if it's not for Reed's sudden movements. Thinking to himself, I haven't seen move like that since that shipment of Vibranium came in, Ben goes to the couch sitting next to She-Hulk. Whispering low to the woman he says, "They may need a moment."

She-Hulk placed her hand on her hip as she chuckled at Reed's quick analysis of her. He was everything she expected, after all of the pictures she didn't quite imagine there would be a beard.

She looked over to Sue and hopped over to the other side of the couch and turned her attention back to the cartoon, she whispered back to the kid, "Well I'm noooo slave girl. But man do I love Spock."

Sue Storm steps into the living area as she has to go through there to get to the kitchen, and stops, looking from Jennifer and Ben to ... Reed. She lets the bag slip from her hands into a controlled fall to the floor. "Reed?" Her expression goes from surprised to delighted in about three seconds. "Ohmygod, Reed! You're home!" She rushes over to give him a hug. "Why didn't you call and say you were on your way in?"

Anyone can see Reed wasn't expecting the hug. Last time he didn't get a hug, and he went into space that time. But that doesn't stop him from hugging her back and even *gasp* smiling. As he pulls back sligtly he looks to Sue. "Funny story that. As I was exiting my research pod in Antarctica, I discovered that an elephant seal had decided to take up 'a position' on my pogo planes nose cone. As you well know thats a where the communications array for the plane is." Yeah not so funny the way Reed tells it.

Smirking at she-Hulk he says, "It's the logic and the ears I bet my friendly Galia," the words are soft and they match his smile. Instead of making fun of Reed's strange story Ben starts to hum a song from his youth. Before long he starts to sing, "Yes, you want her. Look at her, you know you do. It's possible she wants you, too. There is one way to ask her. It don't take a word. Not a single word. Go on and kiss the girl," sometimes Reed needs to be told things very directly.

She-Hulk slapped Ben thankfully very lightly on the shoulder and whispered, "Shhh! They are re-connecting. Having a romantic moment. And its She-Hulk, Jen, Shulkie, Pick one."

She turned around in the couch and peered over the side. Her romantic life is nothing stellar at the moment, so she was nosy. Plus it was obvious how much Sue missed Reed while he was away.

Sue Storm looks at Reed oddly. "An ... elephant seal?" When she hears Ben start to hum, she blushes and tosses him a mostly not serious glare. She would have also aimed a force field Gibbs-slap at him if Jen hadn't beat her to it by smacking the kid on the arm. Turning her attention back to Reed. "So you're telling me that you flew all the way back here with an elephant seal on the nose of your plane preventing you from calling at any point along the way?" Yes, she's very much teasing him now.

Reed looks at Sue for a moment with an odd look. "Don't be silly Susan. Elephant seals are endangered species and with the airspeed the pogo flies at and the altitude the poor thing wouldn't survive the flight." he says not quite catching the hint of humor. "Oh but I did bring presents." Reed says with a smile. "Sorry Jen, was it?" he blinks as he remembers her introduction. "But I don't think I received the memo of you joining us...?" he looks to Sue as he says this, the sideways glance is no where inconspicuous, knowing darn well she would know if he did or not. "Or I would have gotten you something from Sydney on my trip back."

Holding his arm he shoots She-Hulk a look that would be given to a brother and sister. Hitting her back in the shoulder enough to sting as much as her swing did, "Jen-Hulk?" he asks. There's always a fourth, fifth and sometimes sixth option. People just didn't say there are options beyond it. Smiling at the group he just keeps his mouth shut.

She-Hulk smiled and leaned against the back of the chair, "Hey don't sweat it. I'm just glad to meet you. I called up Sue recently and asked if there was room on the team. And hey, it's always handy to have a laywer around."

She looked over to Ben and stuck out her tongue.

Sue Storm can't help but grin at Reed as he calls her on her joke, then steps over to reclaim the grocery bag on the floor. "Reed, go get your loot, I'm going to get started on dinner. Luckily, I'd already planned something quick and easy." She picks the bag up and resumes her path to the kitchen.

Reed is about to say more before Sue walks away. "I have it all right here." he says as he stretches to retrieve a bag. Once the bag is in hand he reaches into it and pulls out what looks like a hypodermic gun filled with a blue liquid. "For Mr. Reilly. It's something that we talked about before my sabbatical." he gives his young intern a smile and a nod as he hands the 'gun' to the man from across the room. Yeah needle guns are always a present around here. "Well I guess Ben, the other Ben that is, wouldn't mind sharing with you Jennifer." as he reaches into the bag he pulls out a large snow globe of the Sydney opera house. And with a smile he extends his arm and globe to Jen. But what did he get for Sue?

Taking the gun a tear runs down his face. Liquid life in the pam of his hand. Without saying a word Ben gets up and heads to the nearest empty room. Wherever that is, be it the bathroom, a broom closet, the cafe, and he pulls aside the coveralls. Pressing the gun into his neck Ben screams for a second. The blue liquid vanishes and goes into his body. "At least I've bought some time..."

Shulkie graciously takes the snowglobe and looks at it, turning it gently to watch the snowflakes dance across the globe, "It's lovely. I'd love to share with him. Thank you."

She looks over oddly towards where the noise came from, the Ben kid was cute but a little weird. But she was used to weird.

She placed the globe on the coffee table and stood next to Reed, "And even if you didn't get the memo, I'm glad to be on the time. We can start those tests as soon as you'd like. I'm plenty strong and tough, might even give The Thing a run for his money."

Sue Storm abruptly rushes back from the direction of the kitchen with an expression of alarm. "What was that?" She calls out more loudly, "Ben? Are you okay?" She looks at Reed and Jen questioningly when she sees the young man isn't in the room anymore.

Sue Storm hears the elevator and realizes Ben has fled, likely to his room. She looks at Reed again, still clearly a bit worried. She wants to ask again about the young man and his rather loud reaction to whatever that injection was, but she knows better. Instead, she waits and gives Reed the time he needs to find a way to say what is clearly on his mind. And it's not at all like him to need to think about what to say so she knows it's important.

Feeling her eyes on him Reed looks down and tries not to look at her as he compiles his thoughts. While he can say anything to just about anyone, Sue tends to turn his mind into a useless gray mass of ooze. His mouth opens as if to say something then closes. "I have done the calculations and I've gone over all the variables. I've tested hypotheses and ran simulations and scans. However in each event my heart rate rises, I start to perspire and my tongue gets twisted. I have done everything in my power to try to understand this one question for years. And I have come to one single and definable answer." Reed's foot starts to tap quickly. He's nervous? A man who can stare down a cosmic storm and analyze its meaning is nervous. "I.. I can't live in a world where I can't be near you anymore." he blurts it out in the simplest way he knows how. "It's stupid and immature of me, I know."

Sue Storm waits patiently, inwardly alarmed by Reed's nervous tics. When he finally starts voicing his thoughts, she's initially amused by the sciencey phrasing and she smiles, but then as he continues her smile fades to leave her with simple and open expression. "No, Reed, that's not stupid and immature. If anything, it's finally the exact opposite."

Reed finally looks to her. "While I need to inhale and oxygenate my cells. I need you, Susan Storm, more. No one knows me better than you do. And no one can see through.." he waves his hand in front of his face. ".. this. All they see is Reed Richards: Super brain and not Reed Richards: Science nerd." He isn't going to say it. Because throughout his life every one hes said it too has been pulled from him.

Sue Storm ducks her head a little to meet Reed's eyes even though she's a bit shorter than him, and offers him a smile. "Of course I do. I remember Reed the Columbia University science nerd. And you really haven't changed /that/ much." She's pretty sure she knows what he /isn't/ saying, and she's equally certain she knows why. "I just have one condition."

Looking into her eyes causes the man to smile. "Anything." He says quickly. He will do anything she asks. Always has and always will. Of any of them, including Johnny, Reed knows never to cross Susan in anyway.

Sue Storm smiles brightly at that, then reaches one hand up to Reed's face and ... tugs lightly at the beard he's grown while in Antarctica. "Shave this off. It's like a muppet died on your face."

Feeling the tug he chuckles and bows his head to her. "Done." he replies. As he looks at her he turns, well his body does anyway, and makes its way down the hallway. "Oh and I hope you don't mind. I couldn't find anything glamorous in the way of clothing when I was in Sydney." he begins to say as his head starts to return to his body as it heads to his room to remove said muppet from his face. "So... I hope you enjoy the diamond earrings instead."

Sue Storm chucklles and shakes her head. "Earrings sound perfect. I'm going to go finally start dinner now. It should be ready in about half an hour. Okay?"