Fantastic Five

Chapter 8

Reed's research into what exactly has happened to them goes on as he looks into Susan's invisibility- or light manipulation, apparently- and his own extreme elasticity.

It's during Susan's turn in the lab that Isaac notices another problem they'll have to deal with.

He's left his greenhouse for once in favor of the kitchen and vaguely registers Johnny sitting at the island as he leans down to grab a bottle of water from the bottom of the fridge. Closing the door, he notices a faint but familiar smell.

"Johnny?"

"Yeah?" he calls, sounding oddly distracted by something.

Isaac turns around and leans back against the fridge. He nods in his direction, already cracking the water open. "You're smoking," he says casually.

"What? I don't- oh!"

He watches in amusement as Johnny tries and fails to smother the small flames licking at his chest. There are several holes in his shirt by time he finally manages to put them all out.

"That's a bad habit," Isaac tells him with a smirk. "Especially indoors."

Johnny gives him a look. "Ha ha," he says, the smile pulling at his lips at odds with his flat tone. "Very funny."

Isaac only shrugs and takes a sip of his water. "In all seriousness though, you should probably do something about that."

"Yeah," Johnny mutters, pulling at his shirt and frowning down at the various holes now in it. "I'm gonna run out of shirts pretty fast at this rate." He pauses then looks up with a smirk.

Isaac knows exactly what he's about to say and cuts him off before he can do any more than open his mouth. "No, you can't just walk around shirtless," he tells him. "And no, I don't want you to."

Johnny raises his eyebrows, still smirking at him. "You heard about that river in Egypt?"

"You heard about the cocky dumbass in a burned shirt?"

"Ouch," he says with an exaggerated wince. "You know, it wasn't long ago I was a pretty boy instead."

"The two are not mutually exclusive," Isaac says flatly.

Johnny thinks for a second then nods. "I'll take it."

Against his better judgement, Isaac can't help but laugh. He does his best to ignore the way it makes Johnny's entire face light up.

"Reed's in the lab with Sue," he tells him. "I'm sure he can figure out a solution to your whole," he gestures vaguely, "situation."

Reed does manage to find a solution. Unfortunately, his solution is to have them wear their suits from the space mission.

"Our uniforms were exposed to the storm, like us," he explains. "So, they can transform like us- turning invisible, changing size on demand, or remaining impervious to flame."

"Okay. Yeah. That works for you guys, but why do I have to wear this thing?" Isaac demands. "What I wear has nothing to do with my plants."

The ivy vine still wrapped around his arm constricts slightly in response to his agitation. He absentmindedly calms it with a brush of his hand, and it relaxes again.

Ben, sitting on the couch and decidedly not wearing one of the suits, laughs to himself. "You guys look like an eighties rock band."

Johnny is the only one who seems pleased by the comment. He runs his hands down his own suit, happy as can be because he knows he looks good.