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It is approximately two o'clock in the morning when the prodigal son finally returns from a completely uneventful, totally boring, not-at-all-disastrous night out.
Johnny is as quiet as he can possibly be when he lets himself inside and geeeeently eases the door closed behind himself. He's slightly rumpled, which is not unusual; he smells a bit like a bar, which is not unusual.
He comes creeping inside with a wince already on his face, craning his neck to look towards Sue's room, which is… okay. Also not unusual. But more notable.
*
Alas, someone is up, despite the late hour and the lights in the common area being off. There's a little pool of light at the counter near the kitchen— Reed is up late, messing with something involving a lot of wires. He had to patch up his mistakes with Sue… so naturally he did nothing else for most of the day.
He looks up, still wearing his micro-circuitry glasses— essentially a pair of reading glasses with a collection of extra lenses attached. It looks not unlike someone decided corrective lenses aren't good enough and glued binoculars to them. Super-nerdy, really. He catches Johnny's look towards Sue's room and speaks up.
"We had a talk," he says quietly. No further explanation deemed necessary.
*
The younger Storm is so preoccupied with whether or not Sue is awake that he doesn't even notice the light in the kitchen. Johnny jumps in surprise when Reed speaks up and he whirls around to look his way, a hand clutching his chest through his t-shirt. GAH.
"…good talk?" Johnny asks hopefully, casting a wary look over his shoulder before he starts shuffling his way into the kitchen. "Please tell me it was a good talk, Reed."
*
"Sorry— I didn't mean to startle you," Reed is quick to offer Johnny, flipping his glasses up into his hair. "I…" he begins, drawing it out while he considers the question a bit more. "…think so, yes. She seemed less upset afterward."
*
The apology gets waved off as Johnny comes up next to Reed, dragging another stool over so that he can hitch up and sit next to him. "Well. That's a relief," he says with a relieved sigh, lightly clapping the older man on the back.
He leaves his hand there, silently studying the mess of wires that Reed is working on for a very long moment, until:
"So I got into a bar fight in Hell's Kitchen."
*
The only indication of Reed's inner reaction to this news is the way the probe in his hand slips off the contact he was using it to hold down. The tip of the probe regains its spot quickly, though, and Reed solders the lead in place before he responds. "Okay," he says evenly. "Not ideal, but what happened?"
*
See, this is why Johnny comes to Reed first when these things happen.
"I used to go to Farrell's a lot before — well, before we had money," Johnny explains, sounding a bit awkward at that last part. He runs both of his hands back over his hair and takes a deep breath. "There was a girl there alone and this group of guys was being… I mean, there were five of them and one of her," he says, growing increasingly flustered.
With a long-suffering sigh, Johnny bends forward and lets his forehead hit the counter with a dull thump. "All I wanted to do was reimburse them for the drinks they were sending her and get them to leave her alone. I swear."
*
Reed squints in thought at the name of the bar, but it doesn't seem to be coming to him. It's not exactly important, to be honest. He gives Johnny a sidelong glance and a raised eyebrow. "No need to defend the decision. I know the type. Go on."
*
"I was turning around to walk away," Johnny says without lifting his head from the counter, resting his hands against the back of his head with his fingers interlaced. "And there was this guy — were these guys, light eight of him — who'd come to back me up, I guess. And then… someone," he says awkwardly, "landed a really good insult on the jerks from the bar."
Johnny lifts his head just enough to peek up at Reed, his expression pained. "I really did try to walk away. And then I tried to talk them down. But all I could really do was avoid breaking any furniture with them. Got the girls out and got them a cab, then went back in to try and… fix it."
*
Reed mumbles something about 'quantum-entangled duplication' when Johnny's description of the guy-who-was-guys-plural catches his attention, but he dismisses it with a shake of his head. Not now, Reed, focus.
He listens to the rest, and then nods. "Well. That could be worse… maybe it'll go unnoticed and we won't have to mention it to your sister." That would be nice.
*
That would be nice.
"Nnnnnnno, we should really mention it to my sister," Johnny says with a wince, pushing himself up to sit. "Keeping things from her never ends well. Remember?" He lightly smacks Reed in the arm with the back of one hand.
Hesitantly, Johnny adds, "…and Patricia Walker was there. Chances are good it'll hit the papers."
*
Reed grimaces. This is his pained face. He nods. "Yes, best not make the same mistake twice in one twenty-four hour period," he agrees. Then a thin frown and a short nod, once. "Oh…. yes, I doubt she's wandering around unnoticed. Throw in Johnny Storm and…" He leaves the gadget aside and rubs his nose. "Alright. So."
*
The relief that floods Johnny's features as soon as Reed says those two magic words is palpable. He quickly sits back up and grasps the edge of the counter with one hand, watching Reed attentively. Reed clearly has his full and undivided attention.
*
Likewise, Reed has abandoned his tinkering to give Johnny his attention while he explains The Plan. "Joon, I want you up and back at the law firm first thing when they open. You might be sitting in the lobby for a while for a walk-in. Explain the whole thing and let counsel do their work. Don't leave anything out." He scratches his cheek. "I'll talk to Seo when she gets up. I don't think she'll be too upset under the circumstances."
*
Johnny gives a crisp nod, already patting his pockets down for one of the business cards he'd gotten when they'd first visited the firm. He's pretty sure it had office hours on it. Maybe. "I was planning on doing that already," he admits. "I mean, I don't know if there is gonna be a problem, but just in case."
*
Reed nods. "It's what a retainer is for, after all," he notes, running his hand through his hair. "Anything else I should know?"
*
To his credit, Johnny actually stops and thinks about that, his eyes looking off to the side.
"She gave me her number," Johnny notes in an almost questioning tone, looking back to Reed.
After a moment's pause, his mouth twitches into a frown and his eyes roll towards the ceiling. "…aish. She was looking for somebody who's missing and I was going to ask her about it, but then everything happened and -"
*
Reed would never say this with Sue around, but… well, of COURSE he's going to be different with Johnny when it's just the two of them. How else does one expect they become friends in the first place? "So… the evening wasn't a total loss, is what you're saying," he muses with a sidelong amusement, before Johnny continues.
"Well," Reed notes thoughtfully, "at least you've got a great reason to call her, right?"
*
That makes Johnny smirk and smack the older man in the arm again. "Please. Like I needed a reason." Still — he doesn't disagree.
He does, however, slide back to his feet with a tired sigh. "…well. If I gotta be up in the morning, I guess I better try to sleep. Are you sure you don't want me to tell Sue about this myself?" Johnny asks, loosely folding his arms and frowning in concern.
*
Reed shifts as Johnny gets up, to return his late-night attention to the electronics in front of him. "I'm sure," he says, pulling his optics back down off his head. "We need to be ahead of it, so that means you need to be out first thing. And she'll want to know, so…" He shrugs. "Divide and conquer."
A pause, as something in Johnny's question occurs to him. "We had dinner. It'll be fine. You'll be coming to the Conference, though." Like that wasn't already going to happen.
*
That doesn't stop Johnny from groaning and tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling, his shoulders slumping. "…fiiiiiine." He gives Reed a light pat on the shoulder as he moves past him, heading for his room.
"But it better not be boring."