Growing Fire {Fantastic Five}

4) Miscalculations

Valerie POV

I escaped to the lab as quickly as I could, hoping to all things holy that Johnny wouldn't follow. I didn't want to hear his apology now, just like I didn't want to hear it a few years ago. I trusted him, and what did I get for it?
Betrayal and heartbreak.

I still had my old phone stuffed in the back of my closet. It had I don't know how many missed calls and texts from him. I got a new phone and changed my number so I wouldn't have to get them anymore. Just seeing his name appear on my phone was enough to send me into tears back then. It probably still would now.

I thought I had my emotions under control, but seeing him and talking to him now still made fall back to how I felt the day that caused me so much pain. I thought I could ignore it but I couldn't. I guess I wasn't strong enough. Or maybe I was still that naive little girl I was when we met.

That's why I ran to the only place he couldn't go. Why would Johnny Storm need to be in a lab? There wasn't one, which is why I chose it as my escape. The perfect hideaway.

There wasn't even anyone I could talk to about this, not even Sue. The four of them were so caught up in their little group that they never noticed how close Johnny and I got. They'd already graduated when Johnny asked me to prom. No one knew about us but us.

Of course Reed was in the lab when I got there. That's another reason I chose the lab over anywhere else. Victor and Sue would immediately notice that I was upset and would want to know why, but Reed had proved time and time again that he was clueless when it came to emotions. The poor man was oblivious, and I was so thankful for it then.

"Hey, Reed. How's it looking?" I asked. I tried to keep my voice clipped and businesslike, and free from any emotion. But it didn't seem to matter as he paid no attention to me.

He was too absorbed in staring at the screen. I walked towards him just as the computer started beeping about the event reaching the threshold in nine minutes and forty-seven seconds. Not good. We'd planned on it arriving much later.

"That's impossible. It should be seven hours," Reed babbled. He was gaping at the computer screen.

"We've got to tell the others. There isn't much time," I said. I pulled Reed out of his chair and ran to the control center to warn Vic and Sue. I heard footsteps behind me and knew that Reed was following.

When I arrived I just stopped and stared at what Reed and I would be interrupting. Victor was holding out an open ring box to Sue.

"Four little words that could change our lives forever," Victor whispered. I covered my mouth with my hand. Then Reed barged in and either didn't notice what was going on or didn't care.

"The cloud is accelerating. We've got minutes until it hits and not hours," Reed panted. He was bent over the hand rail trying to catch his breath. Susan looked up at us incredulously as Victor slowly turned to face us. He did not look like a happy camper. Sue walked away from him and came up the stairs.

"Victor, that storm is deadly, we need to abort," I continued, cringing at the murderous look on his face.

"Get a grip, you two. We didn't come all this way to lose our nerve at the first glimpse. Just close the shields," Victor said nonchalantly.

"Ben is still out there," Reed replied.

"Then reel him in," Victor ordered. "We came here to do a job, so let's do it, quickly."

Reed nodded and ran out, I presume to tell Ben and Johnny. Sue was at a computer typing in various orders and calculations.

"Victor, they're right, we have less than six minutes," Susan said frantically. I peeked over her shoulder at the computer screen. It showed both the station and the storm. The storm was practically on top of us.

Susan and I walked over to one of the railings to look out of a window. The storm was rapidly approaching. Then something struck the ship, causing it to shake. Victor came up behind us and held us tightly as the storm continued to rock the station.

Once it stopped, Victor went to a computer and started tapping instructions on the screen. I looked at the codes he was typing in and turned to look at him incredulously.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Closing the shields," he said coldly.

"You can't just leave them out there!" Sue yelled.

"Watch me," Victor replied. We turned away from him and towards the exit.

"You can't help them anymore than I can!" Victor exclaimed.

"We can try!" I shouted.

The two of us left Victor and ran out just as the shields closed behind us. We ran down the hallways in an effort to reach Reed, Ben, and Johnny.

Suddenly Susan stopped and looked out a window. I kept running while I followed her gaze to see Ben floating through space towards the airlock with the storm right behind him.

I burst into the room where the airlock bay was and saw Reed and Johnny staring out the glass at Ben.

"Alright, Johnny, get ready to close the portal," Reed ordered. Johnny nodded and turned to the control panel. I walked closer and stood to the right of the doors, next to the plants that were supposed to be taken out for testing.

Ben stood right outside the doors as the storm hit the ship a second time. A blast of red energy came hurtling towards us. It hit Ben first, obviously, but soon I too felt frozen in place by the powerful force.

I imagine that everyone else outside the shields was having the same issue, but I was too focused on the pain that the energy was causing me as it pulled and warped my body and everything in the station.  I cried out and heard Sue yelling somewhere too. Different blasts of energy kept hitting me over and over again until the light grew so bright that I could no longer see anything. Then darkness fell over my eyes like a curtain, and I welcomed it.