Christmas Mood Fic: Chipper (Fantastic Four 2005)

[Wig_Powder]

As usual, I come bearing a Christmas giftfic for Tarotgal in thanks for all she's done for the sneeze fetish community, which I do by filling at least one prompt in her Sneezefic in 132 moods challenge. There's only one this year, but I hope everyone will enjoy. Especially since it follows my other Christmas tradition of making sure at least one of the Christmas fics is for a Ioan-centric fandom...

~~~

One summer morning, three of the four inhabitants of the Baxter Building were eating breakfast (Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm engaged in a silent but obvious contest about who could eat the most waffles) when Reed Richards finally joined them. When Sue Storm looked up to greet her fiancé, she caught one look at the expression on his face and gave a half-exasperated, half-amused sigh. “Okay, what bright idea have you had this time?”

Reed beamed at her, eyes glowing. “A new type of sealant. If my calculations are right, it should provide a protective coating that’s water resistant for at least ten years.”

“Is that why I saw a light on in your lab at three in the morning when I went into the kitchen for a late night snack?” Ben asked.

Reed nodded. “The thought struck me just as I was going to bed, and I knew I had to see it through to its conclusion. I’m going to start working on it after breakfast.”

“How long will it take to make this sealant?” Sue asked, pointedly raising an eyebrow.

“There’s no way to know for sure, of course,” Reed said, “But the actual creation of it should only take two or three days. After that, it’s a matter of testing it before presenting it to others for a second opinion.”

“Will the tests be done by Saturday?” Sue continued, looking at Reed intently, “Specifically by six-thirty pm?”

“I don’t know. It depends how much I have to tweak the formula. Why…” Then he finally registered the expression on her face and grinned sheepishly. “Oh. Right. Our romantic evening.”

“Yes,” Sue answered, tempering her look with a teasing tone in her voice, “The evening you planned to make up for all the time you spent in your lab last month. The evening you’ve already bought show tickets and made restaurant reservations for.”

“I won’t forget,” Reed promised her, “Even if I’m not done with the tests, they’ll keep for one evening. I’ll make sure not to run any particularly challenging or long-running tests on Saturday, just to make absolutely sure I’m not forced to cancel.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Sue said, “And I’ll probably remind you on Friday night and Saturday afternoon just to be on the safe side.”

Reed nodded. “That’s probably wise. I try not to follow the stereotype of the absentminded scientist, but I’m aware I get a little too caught up in my work. It’s good to have people around me to keep me grounded.”

“I can break down the door and yell a reminder through it, if you want an extra reminder.” Ben said with a smirk.

“And I can set off the fire alarm on purpose.” Johnny chimed in.

“Thanks, but I think Sue’s reminders will be enough,” Reed said quickly, “And I’d appreciate it if you two kept the pranks to a minimum for the next few days. The chemicals I’ll be working with aren’t particularly dangerous or explosive, but I’d rather not take any chances.”

“We’ll do our best,” Ben promised, “Though I don’t think you’ll have to worry too much today; Johnny’s probably not going to be able to move after he gives up on out-eating me.”

“Not a chance, slag heap!” Johnny responded, getting to his feet to make more waffles, “You may have a bigger stomach, but I have a faster metabolism! You’re going down!”

As Johnny and Ben hurled good-natured insults at each other, Sue and Reed made eye contact and shook their heads in unison before turning their attention to their own, reasonably proportioned breakfasts.
***

None of the team saw Reed for the rest of the day. After breakfast, he left to purchase some needed chemicals, then disappeared into his lab to start working on the solvent. He didn’t even come out for lunch or dinner, which meant he either was too engrossed in his work to eat or was eating one of the frozen dinners he kept in a side room off his lab for occasions like this. This was something the other three were used to by now, and other than Sue knocking on the door to confirm he wasn’t joining them to eat and Ben and Johnny trying their best not to cause a ruckus, they simply went about their business.

The next morning, Ben was the first one up, and he took advantage of the silence to have some coffee and read the paper. He was halfway through the sports section when he heard the sound of someone walking into the kitchen. As it wasn’t accompanied by a snarky quip or a female voice, he knew who it was even before he lowered the paper. “Mornin’, Stretch,” he said, “How’s the great new glue comin’…”

He trailed off when he got a look at Reed’s face. It wasn’t the stubble or the bags under his eyes that got Ben’s attention—no, that was par for the course when Reed was on a science kick—it was the watery eyes and the pink nose that stood out. “Um…you okay there?” Ben asked tentatively.

Reed looked up from the coffee machine. “I’m fine,” he answered, sounding confused, “Admittedly, I didn’t get any sleep, but I’ll make that up tonight. Why do you ask?”

“You look…” Ben gestured to Reed’s face, “A little sick.”

Reed squinted at his reflection in the coffee machine, then shook his head. “It’s nothing. Some of the chemicals I’m working with can make your eyes sting. It should clear up now that I’m out of the lab.”

Sure enough, after wiping his eyes on a napkin, Reed pretty much looked and acted normal. If anything, he was in an excellent mood, chattering happily about the progress he’d made and how everything was going according to plan. Since he wasn’t worried, Ben decided he wouldn’t worry, either. Though he did make a mental note to tell Sue about it when he had a chance; if there was a chance Reed was overworking himself and making himself sick, she needed to know if there was any hope of putting a stop to it before their big date.
***

It was Johnny who was the first to hear the sneezing. He was leaving his room and heading for the garage to keep a date when he passed the bathroom and heard a weird noise. He paused and put his ear to the door, not wanting to barge in (he might be a prankster, but he wasn’t an idiot) but wanting to make sure everything was all right in there. Given the experiments Reed got up to, there was every possibility that one could affect the plumbing, or escape through the air ducts and wind up in an unusual place. And if there was one thing Sue had drilled into his head (aided and abetted by one particular incident involving bright pink sludge), it was that any unusual incidents needed to be reported as quickly as possible.

For a few seconds, he couldn’t hear anything, and he started to believe it was just the pipes settling. As he was starting to move away, however, he heard the noise again, and this time, he was close enough to identify it.

“Hihhh-tishh!”

Johnny admittedly wasn’t all that familiar with his future brother-in-law’s sneezes, but he knew that sound couldn’t possibly have come from Ben and it was too deep to be Sue. Figuring it was just one of those random sneezes everyone got on occasion, he shrugged and was about to move away again when he heard another sneeze. “Hihhh-pshh!” This was immediately followed by a thick, wet sniff and a gross sounding blow. Johnny grimaced and decided he’d better investigate, if only for Sue’s sake. Rapping on the door, he called out “Hey, Reed? That you?”

“Yes,” Reed replied, and Johnny wasn’t sure if it was the closed door that was making him sound blocked up, “Did you need the bathroom? I was about to take a shower, but it can wait if you need it.”

“No, I was on my way out,” Johnny said, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I heard you sneezing.”

“I’m fine,” Reed said immediately, “Thanks for the concern, though.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. Enjoy your evening, and try not to get into any trouble.”

“No promises.” Johnny said, and stepped away from the door. Instead of leaving, though, he waited around for another minute. Reed sneezed three more times, then the shower started up. Deciding he’d done more than enough listening in, Johnny finally continued down the hall. Other than the sneezing and possible congestion, Reed hadn’t sounded tired, or out of it. If he said he was fine, he probably was. Then again, with an experiment to finish and a date to keep, Reed might also be inclined to deny anything was wrong, including to himself.

Johnny shook his head. Why was he worrying about Reed when he should be worrying about keeping his date? As he reached the garage and headed for his car, he put the incident out of his mind.

Or rather, he forgot about it until the next afternoon, when he, Ben, and Sue were eating lunch (soup this time, and Johnny knew better not to suggest another eating contest, even if the food on offer was mostly liquid). Just as Ben was asking aloud if the others thought Reed would join them, he was interrupted by a sneeze right outside the kitchen.

“Hihhh-TCHH!”

Everyone’s heads turned towards the door just in time to see Reed walk through it, rubbing his nose with a tissue. He lifted his head, saw them looking, then smiled and raised a hand in greeting. “Afternoon, everyone.”

“Hey.” Johnny said in response, the events of last night coming back to him. As Reed got some soup and milk, humming to himself, Johnny looked him over. Reed didn’t look like he was shivering or sweating, and he didn’t have on any extra clothes, except for his lab coat. Almost everything about him looked normal, except for his nose, which was tomato red. Even as Johnny watched, Reed’s nose crinkled, and he quickly set down his dishes and pulled a new tissue from his lab coat, pressing it to his face. “Hihhh-CHFF!”

As he sneezed, Reed seemed to grow by an inch or two, but he quickly retracted his legs and picked up his food again, joining everyone at the table. As Johnny turned to start eating again, he noticed both Sue and Ben were looking at Reed too, Sue with concern and Ben with suspicion. Reed apparently didn’t notice everyone examining him, because he asked with another smile if there was any news he’d missed while he’d been in the lab. From there, they proceeded to have normal small talk, though it was interrupted every few minutes by Reed sneezing and stretching slightly. Johnny was surprised Sue wasn’t saying anything about it, but decided it was best to follow her lead.

“How’s the inventing going?” Ben asked eventually, in a tone that was clearly fake casual.

“Wonderfully,” Reed said, “I got the solvent to the right consistency last night. I started the preliminary tests right before I came up to…Hihhh-KISHH!…to eat. If everything keeps going smoothly, I might even be done before Saturday.” He grinned at Sue as he said this, and she smiled back, though it wasn’t as wide or pleased as his was.

They finished lunch about five minutes later, at which point Reed put his dishes in the dishwasher, gave Sue a kiss on the cheek, and went back to work, sneezing two more times before making it into the elevator. There was silence for a few seconds while they all waited to make sure the elevator had gone, and then Ben said;

“So, we doin’ anything about that, or…?”

Sue’s eyes gleamed, and Johnny winced; that was the expression he feared most on his sister, the one that nobody who valued their lives messed with. “Oh, yes, we’re doing something. But we’ll give him a chance to come clean first.”
***

Ben stood in the elevator, arms folded, as he, Sue, and Johnny all rode it up to Reed’s lab. Sue had been hoping Reed would join them for dinner, where the three of them would try to steer the conversation in a way that would make Reed admit to being sick. Unfortunately, he’d apparently decided to eat in his lab again, meaning they’d have to take matters into their own hands.

The elevator pinged, and they stepped into the small hall between the elevator and the lab doors, which were unsurprisingly closed. As they approached it, they heard a sneeze ring out loud and clear, sounding even harsher than the ones from the afternoon.

“Hihhh-GISHHH!!”

Ben lifted his hand to pound on the door, but Sue lifted her own hand to stop him. “We’ll take it slow,” she said, “Startling him may put him on the defensive.”

“Have it your way, Susie.” Ben said, and let her knock on the door.

“Reed?” Sue called, knocking loudly enough to make sure she was heard, “Can we come in?”

“Give me a minute!” Reed answered, “I’m right in the middle of a test!”

“Can you pay enough attention to us to talk?”

“Of course,” Reed said, “What do you…Hihhh-TCHIEW!!…want to talk about?”

“That.” Sue said. When Reed didn’t respond, she clarified. “Your sneezing.”

“Oh, that,” Reed said, and Ben was both taken aback by his blasé tone of voice and the frustration on Sue’s face, “It’s nothing serious, I promise.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Sue said, her tone sharp, “Johnny and Ben tell me this has been going on for at least a day. Reed, if you’re getting sick, the lab is the last place you should be. And before you say anything, this has nothing to do with our date. I might hate it when you lock yourself in your lab instead of spending time with your family, but I hate it even more when you pretend everything’s fine when it isn’t. I’d rather cancel our date then go on it and have you be miserable.”

“Sue, I promise you, I’m not sick.” Reed said, though his argument was undercut by another sneeze. “Hihhh-KASHHH!!”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Sue said, rattling the door handles, “Let us in, or I’ll have Ben break this door down.”

“I did say I’d do it, Stretch.” Ben reminded him.

“All right, all right,” Reed said, sounding resigned, “Just a moment.” They heard running water, and then footsteps approached the door. As soon as they heard the click, Sue pushed the door open.

The scent hit them immediately. It was an odd combination of butter, perfume, and something burnt. Johnny immediately gagged and stepped backwards, while Ben waved a hand in front of his face. “Good Lord, what is that?” he asked.

“Butyric acid.” To Ben’s surprise, the answer didn’t come from Reed, but from Sue. She turned to look at Reed, who had turned red and was standing off to the side rubbing his nose with a tissue. “I take it that’s the key ingredient in your solvent?”

Reed nodded. Sue crossed her arms and glared at him. “And why would you voluntarily choose to work with a chemical whose scent you know you’re allergic to?”

“I’ve been taking medication,” Reed said defensively, “And I thought the end results would be worth the discomfort.” He smiled, the eager glow coming back to his eyes. “And it has been! I can show you the tests if you…”

“No, Reed.” Sue said, the tone angry enough that both Ben and Johnny flinched and Reed braced himself for more. Then Sue glanced around the room, looked back at Reed, and sighed. “So there was no other chemical that could work as well as the Butyric acid.”

Reed shook his head, still watching her warily. Sue continued, “And you took as many precautions as you could, including maximizing the airflow through the lab and wearing a facemask.”

Only then did Ben notice the white cloth resting against Reed’s collarbone. Reed nodded again. Sue squinted at the lab bench that appeared to have the most work and mess on it. “And you’re nearly done with the project.”

“Yes…?” Reed said nervously, “I just need to run one or two more tests, and then I can present my material for peer review and get rid of the aci…Hihhh-ESHOO!!”

Sue’s posture abruptly relaxed, and now she was the one to nod. “Fine. Just promise me you’ll never actually use this solvent yourself, that you’ll let me be the one to clean up your lab when you’re done, that you’ll warn me next time you’re going to use the acid, and that you’ll keep your exposure to the acid at a minimum on Saturday.”

Reed blinked. Behind Sue’s back, Johnny gaped at her. Ben didn’t even try to be subtle and just made a confused noise. Finally, though, the excitement came back into Reed’s eyes, and he smiled and straightened up. “You have my word. On all of it.”

“Good. We’ll let you get back to your work.” Sue turned to go, but called over her shoulder “Oh, and you should probably leave the doors open. I know you like to keep them closed so people know you shouldn’t be disturbed, but it’s probably better for air circulation this way.”

Ben lingered long enough to see Reed wave a hand in acknowledgement as he hurried back towards the lab bench, then followed after Sue and Johnny. “I’m impressed, Susie. You had us all thinking you were the one with fire powers for a moment.”

“Oh, I’m still not happy,” Sue said as they entered the elevator, “It’s moments like this that remind me why we broke up in the first place. But he’s clearly better than he used to be about balancing his work and his health, so the least I can do is meet him halfway. Besides, throwing himself into his work is just who Reed is. We’re going to have to just accept it and do what we can to keep him from going overboard.”

“Speak for yourself,” Johnny answered, “You two can try to keep him on a leash, I’m not going anywhere near that lab unless it’s somehow related to me. Way too much weirdness goes on in there.”

“Can’t argue with that, bic-head,” Ben said, as they arrived back at the living area, “But I’ll brave the halls every so often. If not for my sake, then for Reed’s. And the team’s.”

“Stop being so noble,” Johnny said, giving Ben’s shoulder a light nudge with his fist even as he grinned, “You’re making me look bad.”

“That’s not hard to do.” Ben countered, giving a grin of his own.

Sue rolled her eyes affectionately. “Help, I’m trapped with teenagers in adult bodies.”

“Would you trade us?” Ben asked knowingly.

“Not for anything.”
***

Sue, looking stunning if she did say so herself in a shimmering pink dress, knocked on Reed’s door. “Ready to go, Reed?”

“Just one second!” Reed called back. Fortunately, the statement wasn’t a delaying tactic, because he opened the door and stepped out a moment later, looking quite dashing in a black suit. “Shall we?” he said, offering his arm. Sue smiled and took it, and they headed for the elevator, passing by Ben on the way, who gave them an approving thumbs-up.

As they were walking through the garage, Sue looked Reed’s face over carefully. “Not bad,” she said, “I can only see a few traces of pink. I’m surprised a scientist like you would know his way around a makeup brush.”

“Well, we do have to learn how to carefully blend things together and figure out how much is too much,” Reed pointed out with a chuckle, “Even if we don’t have the experience, it’s similar enough for us to pick up fast. Especially when the makeup job is more a matter of concealment then enhancement.”

Sue laughed too, then squeezed his arm. “In all seriousness, you’re sure you’ll be okay? I know you took at least three showers and the strongest non-drowsy medication out there, but I also know it takes several days for the Butyric acid to leave your system.”

“I won’t deny I’ll probably sneeze sporadically,” Reed said, “But since I haven’t been directly exposed to it for over twelve hours, they shouldn’t be too loud. Besides, I came prepared.”

He gestured to his suit jacket. Sue looked closer, then laughed again when she realized the cloth she’d assumed was a pocket square was in fact a bunch of tissues carefully arranged to look like one. She also suspected Reed had somehow rigged it to act like a tissue box if he needed it. “You’re prepared for everything, aren’t you?”

“No,” Reed answered, “But I try to be.”

“Not a bad trait for a scientist or a superhero,” Sue said, inclining her head as he opened the car door for her, “Maybe you can try to teach Johnny that someday.”

“That’s going to be an uphill battle,” Reed said, “We’d probably have to bring in other superheroes for that lesson to stick. Though it would probably be safer if he got the lessons from Steve Rogers instead of Tony Stark.”

“No argument there,” Sue smiled, “I think Tony would just encourage him to be even more reckless.”

Reed chuckled again, then focused his attention on getting the car out of the garage. Once they were out on the street, he glanced over at Sue and smiled at her. “You look lovely tonight.”

“Thank you,” she said, smoothing out her dress, “I figured it would be best if we matched.”

“What do you mean?”

Sue grinned wickedly. “My dress and your nose.”

Reed gave her a look, then stretched out his arm to wrap around her before returning his hand to the steering wheel. Sue nestled into the embrace, watching the lights of the city go by. Sure, Reed’s workaholic tendencies were a nuisance. But in moments like this, or ones like earlier in the day when he’d given her a deep kiss and eagerly told her that the solvent was perfect, it felt like everything balanced out.

[MyOwnPrivateSFC]

Aw!!! Sweet!

[snowshie]

HA! I did not expect that. I love competent characters, and love Ioan so this is right up my street. Thank you for sharing this!

[Wig_Powder]

I'm glad both of you liked it! It was a lot of fun to write!

[AngelEyes]

This is wonderful! I love that Sue just goes with it after confirming he has taken precautions and doesn't overreact. It was nice. And Mmmm, Ioan!

[Wig_Powder]

I thought having the outside party be accepting rather than angry would be a nice change of pace. Glad you agreed, and thanks for reading!

[groundcontrol]

Oh man, these past months I was looking forward to your Christmas fic, and you did not disappoint! Obviously, it's great because it's your writing and Ioan, but I'd also like to second the whole "not overreacting" thing because it makes it so sweet. Sue's just accepted the fact that her husband has a one track mind and leaves him to his odd devices. Love, love, love. 

[Wig_Powder]

@groundcontrol Thank you! I'm so flattered you were looking forward to my weird little tradition, and that it was a success for you!