Conquering an Untamed Flame (Johnny Storm fanfic)

Chapter 14: Wild Cats

          Loyalty.

          Loyalty is crucial to the majority, if not all, relationships. It may not be as critical as respect or trust, but in a way, it interconnects with the higher traits of a true relationship – which of course is a vague and wide area to be explored. In order to respect someone, there are various deeds and actions you could commit to in order to present your respect to them, but being loyal is certainly one of the key steps to earning that respect, as well as giving it.

          It also aids in trust. If someone isn't loyal, would you trust them or rely on them in times of hardship? Trust and loyalty are two of the rarest qualities in the contemporary world we have today. These two conjoin together so closely it's as if they're one, two threads interwoven that shape one idea or concept. Trust deeply relies on loyalty, and loyalty deeply relies on trust.

          A good friend of mine – Lillian Nightshade – once told me: 'There are times when you need someone to get down and dirty in the mud so that the people who are clean don't, yet when they do get dirty, those who are clean have the audacity to point a finger at them and blame them for dirt that stains the floor'. It means that those who may be slightly mucky or not entirely clean – so not entirely innocent or good but still have their morals and intentions in the right places – will do what they can for those who are clean, for those who are innocent and pure, in order for them to remain that way.

          So those who are slightly tainted or dirty get really dirty. They get down in the mud and do what those who are clean couldn't. This means that while they're probably still morally in the right place, they've become so caught up in all the dirt and cruel things in the world – murders, thefts, homicides, tortures, enslavement – that they've grown used to it. Then there are the clean people.

          The now dirty people did what they did in order to help those who are clean, out of friendship or maybe something more, simply because if the clean people did it the world would fall into chaos at the fact that the purest people out there would be tainted. Yet when the dirty people return to their friends with a job well done, what do the clean people do?

          They betray them.

          All trust placed in the clean people, gone. All loyalty that the dirty people thought they had with the clean people, vamoose. They return to find guns pointed at their heads, or men with badges and cuffs waiting for their arrival, all because they are dirty. The last part of her quote shows this. 'Those who are clean have the audacity to point a finger at them and blame them for dirt that stains the floor'.

          The pure and good people – SHIELD, FBI, super heroes, CIA – they turn around on the people they once called friends and blame them for all the murders. For all the thefts. For all suffering.

          Whatever happened to loyalty and trust?

          This is why we must take what loyalty and trust we get in strides and not take advantage of that. Even the smallest acts towards trust and loyalty are treasures that deserve to be polished and taken care of.

          Even if it's the loyalty of a pet.

          "I can't babysit Hercules! I'm already late to Stark's business meeting with the Stark Industries board of directors. If I'm any later, I'll be beating Stark at his own game."

          "Well I can't take care of the little tyke; I need to accompany Jordan as his buff but dim bodyguard then make a guest appearance at the Baxter Building as War. Can't you get a pet sitter or something?"