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The residence of the Fantastic Four is quiet. Clean. Spotless. Almost as if noone has used the living area since the last time one of them went on a cleaning binge… because that is precisely what is happening. Since Johnny's return home, all of the activity in the home has been in one place: the lab.
Johnny is wearing his uniform — again? still? — with a pair of magnifying goggles perched on his nose, sitting at a workbench as he tinkers. But it isn't one of his own projects. No. No, right now, Johnny is working on one of Reed's, serving as the other man's hands.
Because Reed himself is draped over a bar like a wet dish towel, utterly without solid form as he observes over Johnny's shoulder.
"Ben will find her," Johnny says under his breath. "This is fine, everything is fine."
*
Lieterally like a dishtowel, actually— or maybe it would be more accurate to say some kind of sad, half-melted taffy. The rail Reed is draped over is actually hanging from the ceiling, because without control over his elasticity, he droops considerably. In fact, his head is about the only thing he seems to have any control over, and even that is experiencing a bit of sagging-face. His lower body stretches down to puddle on the floor, arms in the same condition. One expects him to break into cries of "I'm melllltiiiiiiing" and second now. It's too early for a Raiders of the Lost Ark joke after all. Whatever, there's little more pathetic-looking than an elastic man with little coherence of form left.
He doesn't seem as concerned about Sue's disposition as Johnny is, either— but then, that's kind of understandable. He's got to make use of lucidity while he's got it.
"Good, now connect the sensor contacts to the main unit… we'll need to work out the power circuit next…"
*
The fine-ness of the situation could be in question.
The quiet ding of the elevator up to the residence heralds to no one that another has entered the quarters — not that anyone can easily see or identify her. And not by choice. Which is why she's taken to wearing multiple layers of clothing. Yes, there is a body here. No, it is not trying to be invisible.
Sue's petite form, outlined by only the cut of the third layer of clothes she's wearing — the first two have seemingly disappeared with her (again) — pads into the living space. Which gives her pause. She gapes at the spotless empty of the room and wonders at the state of it all.
A slow, silent breath has her twisting towards the staircase up to the lab. Something niggles at her brain, calling her to some semblance of attention as she takes the steps two at a time. "Reed?" her voice, croaky as it is, carries enough to announce her presence before she reaches the top of the stairs… where she returns to silence and gapes at the spectacle duo of Reed and Johnny.
*
"I had some thoughts on that, depending on how much juice you think this thing will nee — "
Johnny immediately cuts off when he hears Sue's voice croaking its way up the stairs, freezing like a deer in a semi's headlights. Briefly. He bites down hard on his lip, partially just to snap himself out of it long enough to finish his immediate task before he very carefully sets the tool aside. Only then does he turn to look, pushing the goggles up onto his forehead.
And blinks. Any awkwardness or fear Johnny might has been feeling about seeing Sue again seems to vanish. <Seo? Are you okay?>
*
Reed , for his part, offers Sue a smile that does not quite reach his usual wry, self-deprecating fashion. "Welcome home, Seo," he greets, sniffing a little afterwards. "I believe I may have caught your cold. It may be somewhat more dire a situation than it first appeared." Reed is a master of the understatement, but in this case it's probably somewhat less effective as dry humour goes.
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 7
*
An arm of the jacket lifts, as if to wash away any concern about how she is or isn't. She sniffles once — yeah, her symptoms have flared up — and swallows around the growing lump in her throat before finally replying, as if coming out of a prolonged stupor, <I'm.. okay enough. Just, a cold. Same cold.> Because colds render her invisible without her consent, clearly. There's a strange casualness to the tone despite the situation. She should be in a maternal fit, but it's weirdly disconnected, distant.
Her sleeve rubs at what one can only presume is her head. "Thanks," she sniffles again. "More dire, how? The sneezing is…" she sniffles again. "Lethal."
*
Immediately, Johnny reaches for a box of tissues that's sitting on a corner of the workbench and extends it in the disembodied outfit's direction. "We… don't think it's just a cold," he says in an odd voice, trying not to look at either of them, now. How, exactly, should he phrase this..? "When I got back, Reed… wasn't himself." Well. That's one way of putting it.
But it also doesn't really explain things, and Johnny seems to steel himself before he elaborates: "He was very persuasively trying to convince me to rig a death ray up on the roof," he says, forcing himself to look roughly where he expects his sister's eyes to be. "Between sniffles and sneezes."
*
Reed has considerably less compulsion to hem and haw about it. "This was after I attempted to simply tell him what to do to set it up after— correctly— determining he'd argue against it. Fortunately, Johnny knows our equipment well enough he figured it out. That's when the persuasion attempt happened." A pause. "Now that I'm… lucid… I'm somewhat concerned what happens next time. I may not be quite so… immobile under the influence of a relapse. Thus—" his eyes shift to indicate the device Johnny is working on. Since nothing else will point at things correctly.
Then a frown. "Are you sure you feel all right? You sound a little… off."
*
And then, in a completely uncharacteristic way, Sue hums. She's normally the one to freak out and act like the ever present conscience — in fact, she typically sees it as her job to ensure the ethical use of their talents, resources, and equipment. Despite this, she asks, with a hint of curiosity in her tone: "What was the death ray for? I mean, besides the obvious. Just because?" There's a strangely stilted nature to her posture and her tone, neither of which she typically comes by naturally.
The emptiness of Sue's face, without any hint of expression makes it impossible to know if her silence is or isn't a choice. Almost like it could be a trick, there's just an edge of apprehension in Sue's tone, "I feel…" again the sleeves of the jacket lift to rub her face "…even, I guess? Sedate, probably." She inhales a long breath. "You also probably shouldn't make a death ray." Probably
*
That reaction — or lack thereof — is enough to give Johnny significant pause, the younger Storm turning in place to give Reed a very uncertain look. Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom.
"I'm not going to let him build a death ray," Johnny says first, running both hands over his face as he looks towards Sue again. "But whatever this is, it clearly does something to peoples' sense of judgment. Reed knows better than to build a death ray," he says, ticking it off one of his fingers. "I know better than to say a bunch of incredibly hurtful, cruel things to you that I can never take back or apologize enough for. And you hate spending time with Victor, but the last time you were sick, you went to see him."
*
Reed has disconnected.
*
Reed has connected.
*
Reed opens his mouth— presumably to answer Sue's question, and probably more honestly than is wise. In his defense, he still isn't aware where she's been the last little while, and the answer WOULD give some weight to the degree of mental state he was in at the time.
However, he's interrupted by a sneeze, and a loud >FUMP< noise as his body briefly resembles a parachute opening. He lands back on the bar, starting to slip off backwards as his balance is shifted, and it's only catching the rail with his chin that prevents him ending up a puddle on the floor. This is just miserable.
*
There's an uncomfortable twitch of the floating jacket's shoulders at Johnny's words. A few beats pass before Seo offers: "What you said…" the sting lingers, even if Sue has made her peace with it. "Well, you were right." There's a simplicity to the words. "I've spent too much time caring what they think — living in the shadow of the dead — and interfering in your life because of it. So." A pregnant pause follows — long enough that a person might wonder whether Sue is finished speaking. "I'm stepping out. Your choices are your own, Joon. Your decisions are yours. They always were, but I won't interfere anymore. Children shouldn't raise children. And you're raised. It's done anyways." She sniffles again as she finally opts to take one of the tissues. "It's too much pressure. For everyone. I'm not your mother; I never was. I'm not stupid, I know that." Again her hands rub her face.
"Bless you," Reed's sneeze has her closing the distance and helping him adjust on the bar for a better vantage point. It takes a moment for invisible hands to go about their work. And when she's done, she observes back towards Johnny, "And I don't hate spending time with Victor. I know he's difficult, but he can be nice to me." And then as evidence, she observes, "He offered me a job."
*
"You're not my mother, no — but you are my sister, and you deserve more respect than that," Johnny says firmly, reaching out to gently touch her sweater-clad shoulder when he comes close enough to take a tissue. "That wasn't me, nunim. I love you. I'm sorry. If you really think I need the degree, we can talk about it after Reed and I finish this thing."
Assuming, of course, that Johnny can even remember it's something to discuss in light of this new information. He's trying not to gawk at her, his mouth working silently for a moment. "You don't — Seo, he makes your skin crawl," he says slowly, looking incredibly confused. "He offered — when? Did you go back?"
*
Reed mumbles a thanks as Sue helps him back onto his perch. His reaction to the news is considerably more restrained than Johnny's. Unsurprising, though whether this is due to being more reasonable or because he's too miserable to work up a complaint is unclear. So his response is a mild, curious "Can't say I'm very surprised. What does he want you to do?"
*
"No, you were being honest," Sue offers back to Johnny. "I need to focus my attention where it's wanted. You do what you want. My efforts can go elsewhere." The coat shifts as her head quizzically cants to the side with a vague feeling of deja vu. Did she hear that somewhere? "Victor only makes my skin crawl when he's with his cronies," Sue replies to Johnny. "He offered me the job a few days ago. I… am still thinking about it." Although she's certainly giving it actual thought. Towards Reed she shrugs, "Whatever I want to research, it seems. He was virtually buzzing with energy when he pitched me the offer. Which… I'm still considering."
*
"A few days ago," Johnny echoes, slowly setting the box of tissues back on the workbench. "And he offered you a job… doing what you already do here. Which I assume you would be doing at the Embassy. With Victor. And his cronies." Her words, not his. "And you're considering it."
He says nothing more. Johnny just watches Sue with a very patient lofting of one eyebrow, his hands coming to rest lightly on his knees.
*
Perhaps the most miserable portion of the entire affair is the way reed can't even lift a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. He just has to hang there, unable to decide what about the situation is most worthy of nose-pinching. Sue's news, Johnny's reaction, the insanity of the whole situation… Victor's involvment and ongoing interference, the little tug at the back of his mind reminding him that atomizing the embassy DOES make some degree of logical sense still…
"It's your decision. I *would* however, raise some thoughts for consideration. One, that jobs are usually more rigidly-defined than this offer. Two, that you'd be placing yourself under the auspices of a man that has already shown disregard for your privacy by breaking in to your residence. I'm sure you've already thought of these concerns, but I believe they're sufficient to warrant mention."
*
"My cronies," Sue corrects Johnny. "I'd get my own staff. Apparently." Her hands scrub her face again. "And it's not like that. You know what I look like, right? I don't have opportunities the same way other people do. I don't. I make them for myself. I'd be ridiculous not to think about it. And it's not just for me either. I know you don't understand this, but I need to embrace opportunity for more than myself. Women in science are still relegated to lower positions. Even when qualified. So I'm thinking about it." While Reed may desire to pinch the bridge of his nose, Seo indeed pinches hers.
While no one can see it, she does nod at Reed's thoughts, "Two points that continue to make me question whether I should accept the offer. Despite my status."
*
For a moment, Johnny just closes his eyes. Reed's mild reaction has made one terrifying fact clear to him:
Right now, he is the only person in this room who is not out of their goddamned mind.
Think fast, Johnny — you're thinking for three, here. Much as Sue had done, he scrubs a hand over his face and takes a deep breath as his mind races. Finally, he rises to his feet and moves closer to Sue, reaching out to lay his hands against her shoulders so that he can aim an incredibly earnest expression at… where her face should be.
"…okay. How about this," Johnny says slowly. "The three of us can put our heads together and figure this weird 'sick' out. We can fix it. And if you're interested in taking Victor up on the job offer after you and Reed are definitely, totally healthy again…"
*
The first indication the Reed's mental state may be sliding back to 'in question' is the way his eyes slide sideways to a cable laying on the floor across the room. Fighting to control annoyance is unlike him. He is smart and self-aware enough to realize this. "One wonders how he plans to handle the legal issues of hiring a US citizen to work on Latverian soil inside the United States," he muses, mostly to himself.
There's a long pause, before the adds, "I suppose I just don't see how that is any different from what we've worked towards here. Aside from the obvious."
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 2
*
The hands on Sue's shoulders can feel an unusual tension across her body. While her expression isn't known, she's not herself. Truly not herself. "I… I was serious. I don't think…" they can almost hear the frown in Seo's tone. She changes easily to Korean, <You don't want my interference in your life anymore. I can't stop that pattern and be here. I don't know how. Please tell me you see that.>
She takes a single step backwards. "Look. We have our roles here. And I know you all appreciate me. It's not that. It's… that this would be something for me. I limit myself. And maybe I have further to go." And then with another step back, she says, "Besides, I didn't say I was taking it. Just that I was considering it."
*
<Seo, please. Of course I want your interference in my life. You're my family,> Johnny replies in an almost painfully gentle voice, allowing her to slip out from beneath his hands in order to back away. <Besides, your boyfriend is here, and look at him. He's been run through a taffy pull. He needs you here a hell of a lot more than he needs me.> And a hell of a lot more than Victor needs her there, but that remains unsaid.
Johnny eyes Reed for a long moment before, without a word, he pulls the goggles back down over his eyes and reclaims his seat. He needs to finish this thing, fast.
*
Reed still doesn't understand Korean. It's anyone's guess as to why he hasn't bothered to learn it. Not that it particularly matters right *now*, since he's withdrawn to some deep thought anyway. Not so deep the english goes unnoticed, though. "I didn't think you were— I just thought you wanted to discuss it."
A thin frown, then, followed by "That aside, I think perhaps someone should put me in my—" Pause. "No, the containment unit is better. Fewer options available inside," he amends, eyeing Johnny's return to work. Probably not just his imagination, then. Great.
*
Seo remains silent longer than is probably appropriate, but her thoughts feel heavy. Uncertain. Unconvinced. But not clear in any way. "I… I'll help." There's a pause, almost like there's something she's forgetting. Whatever it is lost again to science, which strangely has incredible clarity in her thoughts: "But it's not blood based. I've already looked into that. I analyzed my cellular structure. Nothing looks like there's anything wrong. It doesn't code in cells the way I would expect. It doesn't," her eyes lid, "make sense. Even… we compared my sample before and after and… nothing. No difference. Maybe an elevated white blood cell count indicating fighting an infection, but even that wasn't as high as a general virus. More like…" She lifts a hand. No, she has no thoughts on the matter.
"And I did just want to discuss it. Genuinely. I'm working through my thoughts here. It's not… the Latverians are developing a vaccine. I was hoping to get my hands on what they've already got to try to pool resources. We're far from the only ones infected."
*
For his own sanity's sake, Johnny is going to assume the 'we' that Seo refers to having had before-and-after blood samples is her and Reed. If he even thought Victor might have samples of their blood, he'd be hard-pressed not to go burn the damned embassy down and then blame it on whatever illness is affecting their judgment.
That train of thought makes him pause. "I was… not myself, the other day. When I withdrew. When we fought." Johnny's brow furrows slightly and he continues to work, trying not to allow himself to become distracted. "But I wasn't sneezing or anything. I haven't gotten sick since we got our powers. My body temperature's too high, viruses just kinda cook. But the other symptoms…"
He knows Reed wants to be put back in his bucket, but. Johnny turns in place to stare at both of them, managing to look very serious despite his goggles. "If it's just a virus, I shouldn't have been able to catch it. At all. And you should have been able to find something in the blood samples. How the heck are they working on a vaccine to something you and Reed haven't been able to see?"
*
Reed wants dearly to rub his temples. The aggravating thing is it's not hard to think in his current state. It is— if anything— too easy. And far too easy to say what's on his mind. "Let's not worry about Victor's involvement. It's…" he considers several choices here. "…not very productive." there. That's fair. Thinking about Victor makes him want to do incredibly rash, if entirely well-thought-out, things. That line of thought is entirely too seductive.
"So it doesn't make sense that a virus or bacterial infection would present the way it has. What does make sense?" he can totally hang onto this whole thing if he focuses on safe directions to think in. Probably.
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 4
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 5
*
Seo sheds the jacket, rendering her wholly invisible. She's getting hot. Following the jacket a sweater appears out of seemingly nowhere. Not only is she invisible, she's in invisibility overdrive. Her paces, however, are less than silent as she walks to the chalkboard and begins scribbling across it. "Alright," focus on the task at hand. "It spreads like a virus. Not everyone seems to get it even if they come in contact with someone who is sick. It has a long incubation period, which would suggest fungi, but I looked over my sample and there's no trace of anything that would indicate as such."
She begins scribbling some pictures of cells. The chalk lifts and despite being invisible, the pair know she's probably pointing a finger and speaking, "If medically there's nothing wrong with you, but your symptoms say otherwise, good medical advice says that's all in your head. To be honest… the closest thing I can even come close to thinking it looks like is sp — " the chalk drops. The ping of psionic energy that resounds in a tight circle around the chalkboard forces all objects backwards (including the chalk and board), giving a pretty good idea where Sue is.
*
"….spore infection," Reed finishes the thought, before adding "Are you alright?" and swaying impotently in the breeze kicked up by the force bubble. "Johnny, the" he doesnt' manage more than a wiggle, visibly frustrated as he tries to gesture and gets almost nowhere. "the multiscanner. You'll need to modify it for a shorter wavelength." A pause. "Much shorter."
*
As Sue sheds layers and becomes truly invisible, Johnny has to silently stomp down on a brief burst of fear that she's about to leave again. The footsteps and the Magical Writing Chalk are enough to reassure him, and with a brief tightening of his lips, he returns to work, occasionally looking up to follow her train of thought. He can multi-task. It's important that he multi-task.
When she cuts off and the chalkboard jumps backward, however, Johnny immediately stops what he's doing. "Seo?" he asks worriedly, starting to stand and pushing the goggles up onto his forehead… only for Reed to give him directions. He makes a bit of a face, nodding once and immediately moving towards one of the larger bits of machinery set against one of the lab's walls. "How short?"
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 6
*
Being invisible while creamed on the floor doesn't do anyone any favours. The rattle from her power outburst has Sue just staring at the world above. The hum across her mind feels distant and present — a strange fog over everything she does. "Hippocampus…" she mutters, not really hearing Reed's question. She doesn't make any effort to get up, just remaining there on the floor a few moments.
It's only after she's continued to puzzle and stare at the ceiling that she processes the question. "I'm… " she doesn't know how to answer the question and so settles on "…going to be fine." She presses a hand to her forehead. The thrum over her head pulsates the more she thinks and reasons this. "Parasite?" She groans.
*
Reed thinks about the question while he gradually stops swaying. Does the math. "Very short X-Ray range. Somewhere in the nanometer range. It's hard to say since it gets dangerous the shorter it is. Start with 5nm and run a few scans out of phase with each other. If it shows us anything, we can figure out how to get small enough for a decent image." Hell, he'll irradiate his skull a little if it gets closer to an answer, it's fine.
*
That's weird, Seo's voice is coming from a lot lower than usual. Johnny casts a worried look in her direction as he quickly tinkers with the multiscanner, his brow still furrowed. "5nm, got it… nunim, did you fall?" he asks, frowning. "You can take my seat at the bench if you need it."
Johnny won't be needing it for a while. Tinkering done, he straightens back up and practically scampers back over to Reed. "Sorry about this, buddy," he says awkwardly, and with a slight wince, he carefully grabs Reed by the shoulders and just kind of… draws him towards the multiscanner, allowing him to stretch. "You're easier to move into range than the scanner is."
*
Johnny's question has Sue lifting a hand as if he can see it to wave it off. Which actually has her chuckling softly. She groans again. "I just… thought I'd sit down." Because that seems likely. With a sigh, she frowns and rolls onto her stomach in an effort to press herself up to a stand, but ends up just assuming the fetal position with her forehead pressed against the floor.
"Anything on the scanner?" she murmurs into the floor.
*
Reed makes several awkward noises as he's stretched towards the scanner's specimen tray. This, as Ben would probably say, is a revoltin' development. Not that he can do much about the necessity. "Lead sheet for my face please," he requests in a slightly hurried fashion as his head settles and he turns it face-up to get a good profile orientation. Let's just reduce the amount of irradiating going on here. This is such a bad idea. SCIENCE.
*
ROLL: Sue +rolls 1d10 for a result of: 10
*
As Reed requests a lead sheet for his face, so shall Johnny provide. This is in no way a mildly humiliating situation — but at least noone else is there to see it, right? Not even Noemi and Ben ever need to hear about this.
It's easy to tell when the scanner gets going. It isn't exactly quiet. Johnny rests his hands on the console and squints at the screen as an image begins to resolve into place, his jaw working from side to side. "Hippocampus," he says to himself. That's… there. Right?
Must be. "Well there's something that shouldn't be there," Johnny mutters, leaning forward until he's practically rubbing his nose against the screen. "Or we need to clean the screen. Seo? Can you walk?"
*
The longer Sue's here, the more her head hurts, but the more she starts to sound like herself. "It's such a pretty face," Sue mutters to the floor. "Even when all stretched out." Her forehead remains where it is with even pressure. But the pressure remains. "It hurt. It actually hurt. Even if.. even if it was true. It really hurt. I failed you Joon. I know I did. I wasn't good enough. I'm not good enough. I should never reproduce," she peels herself from the floor. "I'm sorry," she finally says a little higher now. Even as she stands, she can feel the dizziness getting to her.
Slow steps that she can't even see, cause her to slip beside Johnny. "Not spores," she says quietly. "Parasite of some kind." She groans again. Her head won't stop throbbing. "Maybe a plant. Probably transmitted through nasal passages to get to the brain."
*
Reed can't quite keep the dislike for his own suggesttion from coloring his voice, closing his eyes. "Well, at least it's something. Could increase the resolution to 1 nanometer, maybe even .1, see if you can pick out more detailed features." Not wild about it, but sometimes self-sacrifice is a necessary action to help the larger population.
*
Johnny's lips form a thin, tight line as he tries not to listen to his sister's commentary. But that's futile. "It isn't — Seo, you didn't fail me. You and Aunt Margay have done everything you can to make a respectable person out of me. The fact that I can be an ass is nothing to do with your parenting skills," he says with a sigh, and it's finally his turn to pinch the bridge of his nose. Now? They're doing this now? Really?
Oh, thank god, they're talking science again. Johnny doesn't even ask first, so desperate for the return to the topic at hand that he just immediately reaches over to adjust the resolution. "Let's start with one. You'll be fine," he says easily.
*
The suggestion from Reed, and Sue's thoughts while painful, coming back to her results in a single word in response. "No. No increase. We know there's something there. It's not a virus. Not spores. We don't risk it. Frankly, I like Reed's brain the way it is." There's something pointed in her tone. And as she makes the point, she flickers back to visibility.
And, unfortunately for Sue, she looks like hell. Her unstable molecules uniform is, likely the most precise thing about her. Her eyes are puffy, her hair is matted, and her cheeks are sallow. In fact, she probably hasn't been able to look in the mirror today, making it all the more uncontrolled. She takes a long breath and releases it. "We'll look up solutions for parasites. Maybe we know someone between us that has this as a specialty… scanning Reed's brain again is a bad idea."
*
After a moment, Reed makes a noise of agreement. "Seconded. Unless it becomes necessary," he decides, adding "…we need a better device for this kind of thing" as an afterthought. Then a frown, as concerted effort only gets a vague, limp-wristed hand-flop haflway across the room. Progress, though. "…okay, someone help me off this thing. I'd still like to get somewhere I can't do much of anything rash anytime soon, while I still care enough not to."
*
For a moment, Johnny just eyes his now-visible sister. Whatever he thinks of her current state, though… he just nods once and reaches over to carefully retrieve poor Reed from the scanner, one hand supporting the back of his head so he can have at least some dignity. He's kind of upright! Like a person! (Or a sock puppet.)
"If we need more data, we can scan you next," Johnny suggests to Sue. "Spread the load around, you know? If I start having whackadoo thoughts again, I'll come in here and scan myself."
*
"It won't be necessary," Sue counters to Reed. "And Joon's right, we can definitely scan my brain. Or whatever approximation — " she starts and then sees her hands, prompting a tight smile akin to thank God. "I could be scanned now. If you think it'll help. I still think the knowing that we're right about the lack of virus or bacteria should give us a leg up in our efforts." She pinches the bridge of her nose.
Her lips curve downwards as her mind continues to clear. "I'm… I'm sorry I wasn't here. The last few days, I mean." Her cheeks hue a soft pink. "Honestly. I just… couldn't come home." It's not even a wouldn't.
*
"We missed you," Reed notes promptly. "But I think we're all aware at this point that unusual behaviour is at a record high," he adds. But he doesn't miss the choice of words. "You don't have to answer this, but when you say 'couldn't'…" There are a lot of versions of that that could apply. Also he sounds more… thoughtful than anything. Like he's requesting another data point for a graph.
*
"Because I might have been here." Johnny's assuming, sure, but he's pretty confident about this one. He focuses on getting Reed back towards what he has affectionately dubbed his bucket — too bad he can't compare him to certain rubber-faced space constables — with a small frown on his face. "Look. Until we fix this, neither of us should bail. But if you need space, I'll give you as much as I can. And if you need help with all of this, I'll give you that, too. And once this is all sorted out…" He waves vaguely. "…we'll sort out the rest."
*
Being visible has its disadvantages. Johnny's response to Reed's question has Seo freezing. Her expression tightens into something guarded, nearly stoic, but it's still a tell. "It was more than that." Her eyes turn down and she presses a forehead to her hand again. "I mean, yes, I was upset. I needed time. I wanted space. I roamed the city for awhile. I protected a bus full of children. I… just walked alone. But," her eyebrows draw together tighter, "Coming back didn't feel like an option. Being here wasn't sentimental. Even entering the apartment it was… empty. I can't explain it." Her eyebrows lift. "it's like everything that has happened here was meaningless to me. But it's not."
But she can't ignore Johnny's thoughts either. "Joon," her voice is gentle, "I'm at a loss. I can't…" her eyebrows draw together sharply, "understand myself. I came here actually okay. I mean, I wasn't mad or hurt or upset. I was fine." The was may be the operative word. And then as a point of reassurance she manages, "I will be fine. We will be fine."
*
Reed's reaction to all that? "Interesting," he muses, deep in thought (and his bucket). "Thank you. I think it's safe to say that is not a normal sort of 'couldn't'." He chews on his lip, which is about the extent of his mobility, shifts a little in the container. "I think some time quarantined would definitely be wise. I'm getting some movement back and I still think it wasn't an entirely bad idea."
*
"Well. If your scan looks anything like Reed's, we can probably explain it," Johnny replies to Sue, still looking — and sounding — rather troubled. No surprise there. "I mean, not in detail, but we can pretty safely say that whatever's in there is messing with more than just impulse control. Right?"
He musters up a smile for Sue at her reassurances, quickly holding up his hands as if to wave it off. "I know. It's — when your scan's all clear, we'll talk about it," Johnny says, running one hand back over his hair before he turns to eye Reed. Oh, dear. "…yeah, quarantine sounds good. Where should I put you, Reed?"
*
"I'm not sure quarantine is helpful to stop its spread. The Swedes have it. The Canadians have it. I've been told every country on the other side of the Iron Curtain has some varying degree of it," Sue's arms cross over her chest. How does she know this? "Victor told me. It's all the buzz on embassy row. A lot of countries are still trying to keep it silent not to incur panic. But not everyone has been successful. The Swedes — I was going to track down — " Seo's eyes light up like she just remembered something "The fellow that was arrested: Thurston." Back on topic, "But as far as quarantine is concerned… the keep the public safe part? I don't want to put anyone in harm's way." She shrugs. "I'm guessing half of New York has it. They just don't know." She scratches her neck. "And Heather was sick last I checked. We thought we picked it up in Canada, but it's far more sweeping than that."
*
"It's not about preventing it from spreading," Johnny tells Sue with a slightly pained expression, already picking up the Bucket of Reed in both of his arms. "It's about keeping Reed from doing anything he'll regret once his head clears."
*
Reed coughs, mumbles something quietly. "Yes," he agrees reluctantly. "The aforementioned death ray. That containment unit we built for testing your powers in a controlled environment, Johnny. It should do the trick. And has the benefit of an intercom that can be turned off when I inevitably try to talk my way back out later."
*
Sue levels a look at her brother and then Reed in the bucket. Her arms slide over her chest for a few beats as if assessing the situation. "Alright. So. No building death rays. And. Containment for Reed. Got it. I'm…" she looks over her shoulder and back towards the stairs. "…going to follow on some things."