Fantastic Four (Movieverse) – Lost Time

Summary:

Sequel to Hunted. Sometimes the only way to get things right is to do it yourself. But Doom has found that is so much more fun to stand back and watch as your puppet tears them apart. Siblingness/Family stuff

Disclaimer:

I own nothing...at all...nada D:

Author's Notes:

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!

Thanks very much to everyone that read, reviewed and favourited Hunted! I hope you like this next instalment just as much :D

The plot is set one year on from Hunted, but we're starting with a flashback

Enjoy!

Chapter One: Blood Ties

Twenty Years Earlier

New York

All I see when I close my eyes is her. Her skin deathly pale. The light fading from her eyes. And so much blood.

I tried to save her, but I wasn't good enough. I am...I was...a surgeon. I saved lives every day. But I couldn't save her. My wife; my beautiful Mary.

It was a year ago now. I had taken her to some medical conference that I must have thought was vitally important at the time. Our children, Susan and Johnny, were at home, sleeping, when it happened. I was driving. It was dark and raining. I didn't see the other car till it was too late. I tried to save her.

The hardest thing was going home and telling the children. Susan burst into uncontrollable tears that I couldn't stop. My already broken heart shattered to see her so upset. But Johnny's reaction was worse. He said nothing; no tears, no tantrums of grief. He just stared with those pain filled eyes.

He still wasn't speaking three months later when I lost my job at the hospital. I couldn't work knowing that I hadn't been able to save her. That it was my fault. I couldn't find another job. I was too drunk to try. Too drunk to care. But we needed money to live. And how do desperate men make their money? They gamble.

The less money I won, the more booze I drank. And what's happening now? This was inevitable.

Dr. Franklin Storm stood watching the silhouette through the window of the front door. He recognised the man from the club where he had gambled away all of his money. Frank wasn't a stupid man; he had known when he had started this downward spiral that something like this would happen. But he hadn't cared.

The house was quiet. It was late at night and Johnny and Susan were upstairs in bed. The man knocked loudly on the door, making Frank jump at the sudden noise. The racket would wake the kids; he had to end this quickly.

Cautiously, Frank opened the door. The man was rough looking, with no hair on his head but a thick layer of stubble lining his jaw. A scar lined the side of his face and his eyes were an emotionless grey. When he spoke his voice was as rough as his appearance; "Time to pay up Storm. $50,000."

Frank's eyes grew wide in surprise. He had know he had lost a lot of money, but was it really that much? "What? $50,000?"

"Plus Interest," the man smiled, revealing a gold tooth "That makes it $62,000. Pay up."

"I-I don't have that kind of money!" Frank objected, adding to the man's sadistic delight. He took a forceful step into the house and Frank tried to slam the door on him. He caught it easily, his smirk growing wider as he revealed his gun.

"If you value your life, you'll find that money right now, doc," the man pressed the gun to Frank's chest, pushing Frank back as he closed the door behind him.

Frank reacted purely on instinct. He grabbed the barrel of the gun and tried to twist it out of the man's grip, but the man wouldn't let go. He followed quickly with a left-hook that took the man by surprise. Before Frank had time to capitalise though, the man recovered and jabbed him in the ribs, making the doctor double over, and then brought an elbow down on his back. Frank collapsed to the floor, but was instantly lunging forward, tackling the man to the ground.

That's when the first bullet went off.

It ricocheted off of a lamp and embedded itself in the wall as the struggle continued. The two men grappled on the floor, both trying to gain ownership of the gun. Punches and kicks were exchanged until the second bullet left the barrel.

The fight left the man in an instant as he saw the blood trickling from the wound in his chest. Frank backed away hurriedly, watching as the man took his last breaths.

Frank didn't see Johnny and Susan watching.

One Year Later

New York State Penitentiary

The prison was an iron box filled with tortured souls and surrounded by wire. Everything was grey. The walls. The floor. The furniture. The only break in the endless grey was the bright orange jumpsuits worn by all the inmates.

Susan Storm sat on one side of the glass window, the plastic phone pressed to her ear as she studied the broken man in front of her. He was grey too, if you didn't count the orange uniform. His once blonde hair had darkened and his tired face was sullen. His blue eyes were dull. That's why the inmates have to wear the orange jumpsuits, Susan decided, if they didn't the guards wouldn't be able to find them.

"Hi dad," she greeted quietly. This was the first time she had visited him since he had been sentenced with the manslaughter charges. She didn't know what else to say.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Susan," Frank hung his head in shame. "I never meant for any of this to happen."

"I know dad," Susan replied evenly. "If I blamed you I wouldn't be here. I wanted to see you."

Frank watched his daughter through the glass. He managed a small smile before tears filled his eyes. "S-Susan...I don't want you to come here anymore..."

"But-!"

"No, I don't want you to see me like this. You are not to come here again. You are to forget about me..."

"Dad! You can't expect me to do that! I love you dad!" Sue cried, pressing her hand to the glass.

Frank visibly flinched. "I don't deserve your love. And you don't deserve my shame. Please, please don't come here again." The father and daughter looked into each other's eyes in a moment of understanding.

"And what about Johnny?" asked Susan quietly. "What shall I tell him?"

With a pained sigh Frank answered "Tell him I'm dead."

"Fine."

Susan hung up the phone and stood from the small booth. She didn't look back as she walked to the door and waited for the guard to open it and let her out. She would never go back there again. She left behind the man she once called her father.

Once outside, Susan headed straight for the car her aunt had driven her there in and climbed into the back seat. A silent Johnny looked at her curiously, and then stared blankly forward as Susan relayed the news.

"He's dead."

A little while after the accident in space just after they have found out about their powers (some point during the first film)

The phone rang three times before Susan picked it up. "Hello?"

"This is Janice O'Riley from New York State Penitentiary, Am I speaking to Miss Susan Storm?"

Susan froze instantly. It had been years since she had heard from this place. After a shocked silence the tinny voice of O'Riley asked again. "U-u, Y-yes, I'm S-Susan..."

"Good Afternoon Miss," O'Riley continued. "I am calling to notify you of a prison break that took place here last night. Your father, Mr. Franklin Storm, is one of the missing inmates. We are looking for him and we would appreciate it if you would call the police if he tries to contact you."

"R-right, s-sure," Susan nodded, her state of shock not wearing off. "Th-thank you for letting me know." Slowly she put the phone back in its cradle. He escaped? Why?

Susan slumped into the closest chair, trying to process the information she had been given. She decided not to tell Johnny; it was best if he kept thinking that Franklin Storm was dead. How would she explain that she had lied to him all this time?

Present Day

Doom's Evil Lair of Doom (Somewhere in America)

Doom sat on his thrown, adorned in his hood and mask, surrounded by computer screens. Each one had a different image; some from inside his own lair, some from inside the Baxter Building. His eyes followed the grainy footage of the siblings. Too many times they had beaten him down. This time would be the last.

He had always believed that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself (or manipulate someone smarter than you and take credit for what they do) But since his last two attacks had been futile, he decided he would try something different.

"Leonard." The small man darted forward from the shadows at his master's call. "How is Dr. Storm doing?"

"The treatment is going well sir...the scientists have said that he'll be ready in a month..."

"Too long." Doom interrupted. "Bring him here now."

Leonard knew better than to protest and disappeared from the room. Doom observed the siblings again. He had been watching them for years now, he knew them so well. But still they eluded him. They mocked him with their existence. But now they were fragile. After the events in Latveria, the bond between the siblings was holding on with tenterhooks. Now was the time to act.

The large double doors swung open, and a shackled Dr. Storm entered following Leonard. He had been cleaned up since Doom had broken him out of that prison. His hair was grey with age but he was clean shaven and tidy. He was no longer slow and tired but strong and quick. The treatment was going very well indeed.

"Good Evening Dr. Storm," Doom greeted with an evil smile on his face.

"Mr, mr, MR!" Frank sing-song replied, his eyes darting nervously. "I haven't been a d-d-d-doctor for years sir!"

"Ah yes," Doom nodded. "Mr. Storm, do you know why I broke you out of prison all those years ago?" Frank shook his head, although it could have just have been a nervous twitch. "For moments like these. Did you know you're a grandfather, Mr. Storm?"

"G-g-grandfather?" Frank stuttered, his head and eyes twitching faster.

"Yes, yes, you're daughter Susan had a baby girl," Doom explained. "I was thinking that, if you were still in that prison, you wouldn't even have known of the little girl's existence. But I'm going to give you the chance to meet her. I'm going to tell you exactly where she is...

"...a little family reunion..."

I had forgotten how much fun this is to write!!! XD

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