She thought about staying there in the control room. Just wait for sickness or hunger to take hold. She didn't know if the radiation she was exposed to was eating away at her livelihood. She could be dead in a few minutes, anyway. But when the minutes passed, she was still awake and hollow. Radiation at that extremity should take hold within moments of exposure. Something was different.
Without much feeling, Sue eventually made her way through the ship and to the emergency shuttle. Reed made sure that everyone was aware of how to leave the rocket in case of an emergency, so it wasn't hard for her to know what to do. But the unwillingness to do so was the worst part.
She set up the departure and pulled closed the round door that sealed shut. A countdown began before it deployed from the Marvel-1, jetting itself back down to Earth. Sue watched out the window as the rocket grew small and the idea of leaving Johnny, Reed and Ben floating through space for eternity pained her all over.
The shuttle descended for Earth and fell off the coast of Australia. An SOS signal was sent out and she was rescued from the shuttle within an hour.
Back on the Marvel-1, the door to the boarding dock opened. Men in black bodysuits ran into the ship and were greeted by the blaring red emergency lights. An agent led a unit in attempts to find the crew that had been hit by the cosmic storm. They had receieved the information about Susan Storm's arrival back on Earth, so their targets would be Reed Richards, Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm.
'Richards and Grimm have been found, sir,' an agent said to his leader. 'The radiation was fatal.'
Johnny Storm was found soon after, but hope and optimism was running thin. No one was meant to survive the sheer power of the storm, but when the news of Susan Storm's survival got back to SHIELD, there was question on whether they knew anything about astrodynamics and happenings.
'Sir?' another agent came up to the leader of the group. 'He's fading but... Storm's alive.'
'Get him back on the ship.'
'Yes, sir.'
---
'When I woke up, SHIELD explained what happened,' Johnny went on. 'I knew you had survived, but SHIELD was working on monitoring your adaption to the radiation. I wasn't allowed to come see you. No matter how much I wanted to... but I knew I would at some point.'
'But when I was here on the helicarrier. You could've come found me.'
'I didn't know how to tell you. It's not a regular occurence to have your sibling rise from the dead. Looking back on it now, it probably would've been better if I did come find you...'
The siblings sat in Johnny's quarters. Sue was baffled by everything she told him about waking up, SHIELD protecting his identity, and the miracle of him being alive. SHIELD said that even though Sue was protected by the radiation gear she wore on the Marvel-1, Johnny's situation was still yet to be explained. He had the same changes as her, yet no severe deformities or illness. They didn't know what made him different from Reed Richards or Ben Grim. It was all still in need of research and investigation.
'But... but you were dead...' Sue felt the unearthing of all the emotions she felt when seeing him under the red fluorescents. 'I saw you. You weren't breathing and...'
'I know. I still can't get my head around it either.'
'You were in their watchlist. You were in the files as a potential threat.'
'They had to be prepared for if I escaped. You should have seen me when I found out that they had a freezing agent installed in my room in case of an unauthorised flare up.'
Johnny chuckled as he spoke, and Sue raised an eyebrow. She remembered the description of him in the watchlist file of being 'highly flammable'. She still didn't know what this meant, and he was yet to explain.
'What do you mean by 'flare up'?'
'I probably shouldn't show you in here or we'll be under three feet of extinguisher fluid.'
That's how the two made it to the room where the cell that once held Loki was. It felt empty without it, but at least it wasn't tainted by the presence of someone who was responsible for the murder and injury of at least a hundred people. Sue stood to the left just as Johnny instructed before he made his way to the path that led out to the open space. There was no catwalk or rails, making Sue confused as to why he stood at the end as if there was still a way to walk across.
Johnny breathed a deep breath out of his nose before Sue watched in horror as he was engulfed in flames. She let out a shriek and cupped her mouth with both hands, watching as her brother hovered off the catwalk and in the space in front. His eyes were empty of his irises and his skin was like it was one with the fire that flared around him. The inferno held Johnny up in the air as his pilot and he looked to Sue through the fire.
'My god,' she muttered and stepped out from behind the railing. 'You... you can fly?'
'That's what surprises you?' Johnny's voice came sarcastically from the blaze. 'I guess I should've expected as much for The Invisible Girl.'
'It's woman, actually.'
At the sound of metal creaking, Sue turned from Johnny and saw Tony. The man walked in with his head down and didn't see the two at first, but looked up in time to see Johnny step back onto the catwalk with his flames still blazing. The two men looked eyes and recognised each other, pointing their fingers at the same time.
'You were the torch in the rotors,' Tony said as Johnny shook off his inferno.
'And you were the guy in the suit.'
'Huh...' Tony let out and turned to Sue, who noticed his expression. His eyes were hard and there was no cocky grin that was always associated with the Stark. She knew he was upset at Agent Phil Coulson's death. Tony may have not have liked that SHIELD tried to interfere with his life as of recently, but he had respect for the man.
'Is that... is that my suit?' Tony looked down at Johnny's attire with pinched eyebrows.
'Actually, it's my suit,' Sue said in a matter-of-fact tone.
'Actually, it's my suit.' Johnny followed. 'SHIELD replicated your design and technology so that I didn't burn all my clothes off every time. It's very impressive, Mr Stark.'
'Copied, I think is the word you're looking for there,' Tony let out a sigh and slipped his hands into his pockets. 'They're taking my stuff now, too? I can't get a break...'
Tony walked with his head down to the rail that looked out to the large empty space of the room. Sue gave Johnny a look over her shoulder before walking to stand next to her friend. He leaned his elbows on the rail and clasped his hands together. The woman bit her lip at the sight of his frown. He was angry and hurt about Coulson's death and Sue knew how he felt.
She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it to let him know she was there. He glanced to her and put his hand back to lay it over her own, filling Sue with warm and the bubbling sensation she often got in her stomach from his touch. Johnny watched the two from his place and saw the way his younger sister looked at Tony. He silently excused himself and left the room to give them a moment alone. He didn't know Tony and thought it would be best to leave the two to talk.
'Did Fury say anything I should know about?' Sue asked softly.
'About the Avengers Initiative crap,' Tony said in a bothered tone. 'And about Phil believing in it. He was an idiot.'
'Tony-'
'No, he was!' the man stood up straight and stared down at Sue. 'He went and took on Loki alone. He was out of his league. He should have waited!'
'He thought he was doing something right-'
'Right. How did that work out for him?'
Sue watched as Tony stepped away and walked aimlessly along the walkway. This was the first time she had seen Tony so upset. He felt guilty and helpless for one of the first times ever. He did think Phil was foolish for trying to fight Loki on his own, but he also felt responsible. The agent shouldn't have been alone. There was a team, but they weren't there.
'He made it personal,' he mumbled as he looked down at where Phil died. Blood remained on the grey wall where his fatal injury was and Sue bit her lip at the sight of it.
'That's Loki's point,' he turned and looked to Sue. 'He hit us all right where we live. Why?'
'To tear us apart?' she tried.
'He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience.'
'He wants to draw us to him. Somewhere where he can be victorious?'
'Exactly. This is the opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered-'
Sue tilted her head to the side with her eyes wide at the sudden conclusion. Tony also stopped and stared back at her, his face showing the same revelation. The Stark tower was where Loki was heading. It was the tallest building in New York, and it would stick out to anyone with its bright lights and the name 'STARK' plastered across it.
'That son of a bitch...' Tony cursed before remembering something else. 'By the way, I don't mean to pry, but what's with the hothead in my suit?'
'That's Johnny,' Sue let a smile break at the mention of her brother.
'The Johnny?! Johnny Storm just helped me fix SHIELD's rotors in my suit?!'
'My suit, Stark.'