Chapter 35

Susan Storm-Richards had seen better days.

She'd known that Reed wasn't always the easiest man to get along with, even before they married, but she knew he was a good man who did what he thought was best. Which, as it turned out, was part of the problem, because doing what he thought was best at all costs had led to their friends being killed or imprisoned, their marriage falling apart, and finally, left her watching her husband being tried for treason on live television.

Part of her wanted to march down to the courthouse, scream and rage at everyone for dragging away Reed in chains like a common criminal, after everything he'd done, after saving the world time and time again, after fending off the endless hordes of nightmares that seemed intent on devouring the Earth... but then she remembered Bill Foster. She remembered that horrible thing they created from Thor's DNA. She remembered the Negative Zone prison.

Reed said it was for the greater good too. Had she ever known him at all? Or had she just pretended not to see this part of him?

"Stretcho's not lookin' too good, huh, Susie?" The familiar, gravelly voice of Ben said from behind her. He wasn't kidding, Reed hadn't looked this tired and hopeless even when he'd been on trial in space for not killing Galactus when he had the chance. He was unshaven and his eyes looked tired, even his voice sounded empty whenever he answered a question.

"I've never seen him like this, Ben. Even during the actual Civil War, he didn't look this defeated."

Ben sighed "That's because he thought he was right durin' the war. Now it's startin' to look like he pulled all this crap fer nothin'. There ain't no more justification to hide behind."

Sue covered her face with her hand, trying to force the despair back down "...I don't want him to go to jail, Ben. Even now, after all this, I don't want him to go away. God help me, I just want my husband back."

A heavy, rocky hand touched her shoulder with surprising gentleness "I know, Susie. Me neither. But there ain't nuthin' we can do to help him now. We told him, we ALL told him what he was doin' was wrong, and he wouldn't listen. We did all we could."

The sound of a doorbell broke the silence of the room.

" The hell? We have a doorbell up here?"

She shook her head "No, we don't. We don't have a doorbell anywhere in the tower, and especially not in the living room, nowhere near the entrance!"

"Ah, that was me actually" A new voice interrupted from above, drawing their attention. Sitting on one of the window alcoves far above, and holding an old-fashioned doorbell in one hand, was a familiar figure. It was hard to forget a face who had been all over the news for weeks, especially since she had a suspicion he was involved in Reed's predicament.

"You!!"

"Yes, me, Mrs Richards. Or is it back to Miss Storm now?" The mutant said as he shuffled off the alcove, floating lazily towards the ground as the doorbell dissolved back into nothing. Ben growled and stepped in front of her protectively.

"You have some damn nerve to just walk in here, I don't care if yer the damn mutant messiah or not! I've clobbered bigger jerks than you in my time!"

"Ben, don't-"

"It's fine, Miss Storm, Mr Grimm has a point, normally I wouldn't just walk into someone's house, but you wouldn't belive the waiting list they have for personal meetings with the Fantastic Four, so this seemed easier."

Susan glared at him "You've already taken my husband, what more could you want?!"

"Simple, I'm here for your son."

That's as far as Ginnungagap got before a forcefield smashed him off his feet and sent him crashing through the wall.

...

"Okay, I could probably have worded that better."

Seriously, that hit actually HURT, even with my near-indestructibility activated. Struggling to free myself from the rubble of the wall, I add a few more protections I should really have put on before coming here, just to make sure she can't blind , suffocate me or put forcefields inside my body like I remember her doing from the comics. I really shouldn't be surprised how strong she is, considering her forcefield actually managed to crack the armor of a Celestial. Susan Storm comes floating toward me just as I get back to my feet, trying to wipe the dust from my clothes.

"You son of a bitch, if you even THINK of trying to take my son away, I'll squeeze your organs out your nostrils, I don't care what kind of powers you have!" She means it too, I can see the forcefields begin to materialize around me, even if they won't have any effect now.

"Miss Storm, please, I'm not planning on taking your son anywhere, it was just a poor choice of words. I just want to meet him, nothing else."

She still looks understandably suspicious, but she doesn't try to attack again "What could you possibly want with Franklin? And what makes you think I'd let you anywhere near him?"

"Because, Miss Storm, Franklin is currently the only person on Earth who is capable of destroying me outright. And I want to make sure he's capable of doing so if the need arises"

"The hell are you babblin' about?" Ben has finally caught up with us "You WANT Franklin to destroy you?"

"No, I want him to have the ability to in case the need comes up. I know the news haven't painted the most flattering picture of me, but trust me, I'm well aware how dangerous my powers actually are. And since I'm still as fallible as any other person, there's always the chance of me going bad at some point. Franklin has the potential to be the single strongest mutant of all time, but he needs someone who can help him control his powers, not ignore them or shut them away." That's putting it lightly, aside from the second Jim Jaspers, Franklin is probably the strongest entity in the entire multiverse, he made an entire universe by himself as a child. I can only create pocket dimensions, and even that is fairly limited. If anyone can be a safety net against me, it's him.

Grimm grumbles menacingly "What, after all the crap you've pulled, you expect us to belive that? Ya probably want to make sure there's no competition, yer not getting yer hands on Franklin as long as The Thing is here!"

I sigh "Mr Grimm, if I wanted to harm Franklin, why would I even have bothered talking to you? I could have disintegrated you both before you even knew I was here, I could have sent the building into a black hole, I could have turned the whole thing to stone with everyone in it. I am not your enemy, I want the planet to remain intact just as much as you do."

Susan lowers herself to the ground, staring at me inscrutably "I've already lost my husband. I'm not letting anyone endanger my children as well, no matter how well intentioned they think they are."

"You know how powerful Franklin already is, you know the potential he has for the future, just as well as I do. He needs someone close to his own level to learn how to use it consciously, you've seen the results of what might happen otherwise." Susan looks stricken, clearly remembering Reed having to effectively lobotomize their son just to keep his power under control when he was even younger than he is now. Ben growls.

"That ain't gonna happen aga-"

"It WILL happen again, Mr Grimm. In fact, it's probably going to get worse before too long, since Franklin is only a few years away from puberty, when his mutation will begin to develop even further. Listen, I'm not Charles Xavier, I'm not running a school here, I'm not asking that you send your son away. All I'm asking is to help the boy get control over his powers, because I'm one of the few who can. If you still don't want me here, I'll leave."

Susan stands silent for a moment. Finally, she looks away. "...he's looking after Valeria. I'll introduce you."

Ben looks at her uncertainly "Susie, are ya sure..?"

She shakes her head "No. But he's right. We can't help Franklin with his powers. But maybe he can."

...

"Franklin, honey? There's someone I'd like you to meet."

A blonde boy who looks to be about 8 or 9 is sitting on the floor of his room, a small robot hovering nearby keeping an eye on him. He's busy showing off some of his toys to a much younger girl, about 3 or so. That'd be Valeria Richards then. Franklin looks up as I follow his mother inside.

"Who is it, Mom?"

Susan walk over to him, kneeling down and picking up Valeria, who grumbles in annoyance over having her playtime interupted. "This is Ginnungagap. He's a mutant, like you."

Franklin stares at me curiously "I've seen you on TV. A lot of people are scared of you"

"People will always be scared, no matter how much we might wish things were different. Simply hiding and hoping our problems will solve themselves won't change that." I hold out my hand and a bird made of crystal pops into existance above it, flapping it's wings despite it's artificial nature "I'd like to help you so you don't need to hide who you really are any longer."