only fire burns like this | j.storm

Cassandra Fletcher didn't quit physics - physics quit her.

At twenty-one, she was brilliant enough to see the universe in equations and broke enough to lose her place in it anyway. Tuition fees don't care about potential. Genius doesn't pay rent. So Cassie learned how to survive - quietly, strategically, without asking for more than the world was willing to give.

By day, she works in a house built for heroes, trusted with things that matter.
By night, she works a club job that pays better than brilliance ever did.

She doesn't apologise for either.

Johnny Storm notices her in both places - composed and careful under fluorescent lights, magnetic and unguarded beneath strobe lights. He's used to being wanted, used to fire and spectacle, but he isn't prepared for the jealousy that hits when everyone else starts looking at her too - or for the anger that follows, sharp and directionless, at a system that makes survival look like performance.

As Sue Storm begins to trust Cassie instinctively, and Reed Richards realises the quiet girl in the hallway is a prodigy in hiding, Cassie is forced to confront the future she buried - and the one she still wants.

Because loving Johnny Storm means fire.
And only fire burns like this.