JOHNNY CRIED FOR DAYS AFTER HEARING THE AVENGERS BROKE UP. He was an inconsolable mess, locked up in his room and throwing darts at a picture of Senator Ross he had forced Reed to get for him after the scientist had dealt with the fiery pillows thrown his way when it was explained that there was no changing the mind of the former general.

He had been a nightmare to live with, but he was too upset to care, and he felt a warped sense of justice whenever he heard Reed go to Ben's room and let him know that it was safe to come out because Johnny was in his room and Ben adamantly refused to so much as be in the same room as the teen who was, as the older man put it, "crying over the divorce of the gay dads he never had to begin with."

Reed hadn't argued with him, and Johnny couldn't either, because that was honestly how he felt, and he knew that the only reason Reed himself was making such an effort with Johnny was because of the 5'5" blonde that was currently threatening to kick down his door if he didn't let her in that very second.

"Johnny, come on," Sue groaned, kicking half-heartedly at the door.

Johnny felt a sense of pride at how her exasperation bordered on a whine; she dropped that kind of tone once Reed came into the picture, and Johnny always found it funny whenever he could get Sue to sound like the annoying older sister he knew she could still be.

"It's just a locked door, Sue," Reed said, and Johnny was surprised that the man was siding with him, though he figured he was most likely acting in self-interest; Sue was scary to deal with even when she wasn't mad, and she didn't need pyrogenesis to burn Baxter Building to the ground.

But Reed was putting himself on the line over a locked door, and Johnny had no choice but to be grateful; unless, of course, this was all a calculated act to get Johnny to open up to Reed, in which case he would never talk to any of them every again.

"You already took the soundproofing out of his room, these are the formative years where he needs his privacy, and with all that's going on, I don't think we can afford to have his development compromised more than it already is," Reed went on, and Johnny lifted his head from where he was trying to smother himself, making the same confused face he knew Sue was making just outside his door.

"I've been reading about parenting and adolescent growth, Johnny isn't the average teen, but at least we'll be able to parse whether he's just being a regular boy or if there's more we should worry about," Reed explained, and Johnny scoffed, rolling his eyes before continuing his study on how long he could hold his breath and listen before he burned the door down.

Unfortunately, Sue seemed to have a much more positive reaction to Reed's efforts.

"Thank you for taking this seriously," Sue said, and Johnny gagged, pressing his pillow against his ears to try and block out the sounds of his sister being in love.

He was able to hum and drown out whatever romantic-adjacent comment Reed came up with, but was unable to keep the picture of him and his sister out of his mind, not a doubt in his mind that Sue's arms were loosely looped around Reed's neck while the man held her waist.

He had half a mind to text Ben to tell him to look and make sure so that they could add it to their running tally; every week, they would tally how many times Reed and Sue would stand in a certain position, and the two bachelors had made it a game all on their own of new ways they could pretend to throw up and dramatically ruin the couple's moment.

But he didn't want to move and wasn't quite ready to pretend like everything was fine and that he was done with his current episode, so he just made a mental note of it—though he had a feeling he would forget by the time he would actually get hold of his phone—and went on trying and failing to take a nap.

It must have worked in the end, however, because one minute Johnny was trying to sleep, and the next he was being startled awake by the sound of his door opening. He whirled around just in time to see Reed's arm and hand returning to normal proportion and width as he stepped inside.

Johnny narrowed his eyes, hugging a pillow close to his chest. Reed opened his mouth to speak, but Johnny shushed him, scanning the rest of his room. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and there was nothing that seemed to be shifting strangely, but he knew better than to think Sue wasn't there.

Moving to sit on his knees, he raised his arm, shifting his body towards the right corner of the room. He furrowed his brow, the tip of his tongue peeking through his pursed lips, then launched the pillow in an arc, similar to a boomerang.

She watched as it curved along the right side of the room, smacking into an unseen force before thumping lightly against Reed, falling onto the ground uselessly; Johnny had half a mind to salute his fallen comrade for its sacrifice to the cause.

"Johnny!" Sue cried, finally revealing herself and her mussed up hair where she stood right beneath his TV, "What was that?"

"If you want me to talk to Reed, then I'll talk to Reed, but you can't just sneak in and pretend like you're not here!" he shouted back, feeling his cheeks burning, "Have you even heard of privacy? It's, like, a big deal!"

The siblings both turned to Reed, who startled at the sudden attention. His gaze darted between the two before he visibly swallowed, a hand rising to the back of his neck before immediately going to take his glasses off, staring down at the ground.

"He has a point, Sue," Reed mumbled, cringing in pain as he spoke, "But, Johnny, you know why Sue is doing this, she wouldn't feel the need to if she felt there was another option."

"There is another option, but she doesn't want to leave me alone!" the boy shouted, pointing sharply in Sue's direction.

"Don't talk to me like I'm not here!" Sue bristled, and it was as if they were back in Long Island and their parents were waiting for the right time to step in and help them cool off.

"You do the exact same thing to me!" Johnny shouted, and he could feel his temperature rising, and he hated that he couldn't control it, knew that Sue would hold it against him, "If you don't want me to do it, quit doing it to me, I can hear you guys! And you just tried to pretend you weren't here, so excuse me for giving you what you want!"

"You think I want this?" Sue shrieked, and Johnny faltered when her voice wavered, her usual tell that she was one wrong word away from crying, "You think I like worrying about you? You think I liked being so scared that I needed the soundproofing on your room taken off because I want to make sure you're not—"

She choked up, a hand over her mouth, and Johnny felt all his anger dissolve as he watched his sister turn towards her boyfriend, Reed's mouth a thin line as he pulled her into his arms. Johnny looked away, though he knew Reed was avoiding his gaze just the same.

"Just because I'm upset doesn't mean you have to worry this much. I've never gotten to anything close to that point," he said, still staring at a fixed point on the wall.

Sue started to argue, he heard her take a breath to begin, but the words never came, and he knew he had won. He didn't feel victorious, though, and his lips were more inclined to form a frown than a smirk, so he wasn't sure he could even consider it a win.

"It's not fair that you're taking it out on me because you're scared of me being way worse than I am," he continued, wincing when his voice cracked, "I know everyone else is, that's why I can't go to school, but...I thought you knew me better than that."

Johnny didn't know how long he stared at the wall waiting for an answer.

He waited and waited, not wanting to look at Sue until she responded. He hadn't paid attention to how long he waited, but it occurred to him that he had been waiting much longer than was typical. 

When he finally turned, he found no one there. 

He shifted on his bed, checking to make sure they hadn't just moved to another part, but there was no one in his room besides him; or, to be more specific, no one he could see.

With he sigh, he leaned his weight forward and flopped face first back onto his bed, landing on the rest of his pillows, their comrade still fallen on the ground. He wiggled around until he was comfortable then tensed all his muscles, from the tips of his toes to his temples. He held all the tension in place for ten seconds, counting as slow as possible in his head.

Then he relaxed, releasing the tension all at once, and he let out an involuntary sigh, sinking further into his mattress as a smile played on his lips, already feeling himself grow drowsy.

He couldn't remember who, but he had been told by someone that this would trigger some biological response to help him sleep as he was tricking his brain into thinking he had just escaped some kind of danger.

He didn't necessarily want to sleep—he had been napping on and off for the past week and had woken up fairly late that morning—but he didn't want to leave the room to try and figure out where Reed had gone and why he hadn't said goodbye.

If Johnny's suspicions were correct, then he knew exactly where his sister was.

So he pushed away any and all thoughts—which wasn't so difficult since there was nothing that was actively eating at him, and he had learned how to zone out at a young age to fight the barrage of panicked thoughts that filled his mind more often than not—and let himself be lulled to sleep by the steady beat of his heart in his ears; it was slightly rushed, but he didn't see any reason to will it slower.

He did take deep breaths which helped the process, and he felt his smile start to fade as his muscles relaxed and his eyes grew heavier. He felt his lips part—the tell-tale sign to all who knew him that he was actually sleeping and not just faking—and was about to drift into a light sleep when he felt light fingers card through his hair.

His lashes fluttered against his pillows and cheeks as he opened his eyes slightly, unsurprised to see no one there. He closed his eyes once more and nuzzled into his pillow, sighing softly as the fingers continued to brush his hair, careful not to tug when getting caught in tangles and knots, moving in a deliberate pattern.

There were only two people in the world who knew exactly how he liked his hair to be stroked as he fell asleep, and one of them hadn't been around for some time, so it didn't take a genius—which Johnny adamantly expressed he was not despite the number of experts and events that would suggest otherwise—to know who was with him.

It seemed his suspicions were correct.

When he woke up, it was the middle of the night and his stomach was growling. He took a minute to do a sweep and see if Sue was still in his room, but after calling her name and helicoptering around the room with two of his pillows, he concluded that his sister had left and was probably with Reed.

Sighing, he made his way to the kitchen, only turning on the lights over the kitchen island, casting the room in a dim golden glow. Running a hand through his hair, he opened the fridge, bracing his arm and leaning forward, brain still trying to catch up and actually take stock of what they had to eat.

He was still trying to get his brain online, glassy eyes trained on a tub of strawberries, when he heard footsteps making their way down the hall. He tensed, raising his head to try and peer around the corner even though he knew exactly who those footsteps belonged to, and he contemplated running back to his room but decided against it, instead opting to just go back to staring blankly at what was there.

It wasn't until Ben was already in the kitchen, pausing by one end of the kitchen island, that Johnny accepted his fate and closed the fridge door, spinning on the balls of his feet to look at the—literal—mountain of a man that was looking at him the way Reed looked at fussing toddlers: with poorly concealed fear.

"I'm not gonna cry if that's what you're worried about," Johnny grumbled, because he had already gotten his tears out, now he was just bitter, "And I'm not gonna set anything on fire. Or ask for a hug."

"Thank God," Ben rumbled, and Johnny was sure his relief was more about the hug than it was about the fire, "So are you done being a hormonal teenager or do I still have to wait to tell you that I got that new video game you wouldn't shut up about back before shit hit the fan."

Johnny gasped, wide awake in an instant, desperately searching for some indication that the man was joking, unable to fight the rising excitement and hope that fizzled through his veins, the feeling not unlike when he'd Flame On, and he had to check to make sure he wasn't lighting up on accident, though his hands were flame-free.

"Can we play?" Johnny asked, only catching too late that he was giving Ben a perfect opening to poke fun at him.

But it seemed his recent moody disposition made Ben more wary to tease him, the older man instead looking towards the clock, Johnny following his gaze, the two seeing that it was on the earlier side of the middle of the night.

"Three rounds," the man acquiesced, pushing Johnny to the side when the teen didn't move, Ben opening the fridge and pulling out a beer.

"No you can't have one, eat some yogurt," Ben growled, not even letting Johnny take a breath to try and pose the question.

The blond grumbled, trying to shove Ben out of the way so he could reach inside, grabbing a pack of the yogurt smoothies that he still insisted Sue buy for him even though he was far too old to fall for the gimmick of the now passé brand and could also find himself a similar product with more substantial ingredients and a bottle that was larger than the palm of his hand.

He didn't care that he was being scammed by nostalgia, Sue would have to pry his yogurt smoothies from his cold, dead hands; and, considering his biological state, he figured that, even in death, his hands would never be cold.

"Let's go!" he cheered, hooking both of his arms around one of Ben's and tugging uselessly, "Jeez, dude, you thought about losing some weight?"

Ben scoffed, shaking Johnny off like one would a fly, and the teen was nearly thrown into the wall from the momentum, having let go at an inopportune time. Of course, because this was Johnny, he just laughed, letting his socks slip against the hardwood, clutching his pack of yogurt smoothies to his chest as he chased after Ben who was lumbering back to his room without a second glance.

Ben's room wasn't that much different than Johnny's, though his bed was far bigger. He had different items on display and visible, but like Johnny he had a flat screen TV and various gaming consoles, as well as two beanbags that accommodated his size, meaning Johnny was practically swallowed whole when he flung himself onto the red one.

"Shut up!" he called, his glare to Ben falling flat as he tried to pull himself out, wondering if this was what it felt like to be trapped in quick sand, "Help me up, I'm dying."

Ben snorted, grabbing him by his shirt collar and pulling him out, Johnny crossing his arms and definitely not pouting no matter what Ben or anyone else said because he was a mature young adult and did not pout, thanks much.

Instead, he waited until he was set back on the ground and Ben was turning on one of his consoles before launching himself onto the large bed, bouncing three times, before flopping onto his stomach by the edge.

"Three rounds," Ben reminded, handing Johnny one of the normal controllers while he held onto the modified version Reed made that fit his hands.

"Three rounds," Johnny agreed, flashing one of his winning smiles before focusing his attention on the TV.

Whether or not they only played three rounds, neither would say, but in the late morning when Reed and Sue burst into Ben's room to enlist his help finding a missing Johnny, they found the man and the missing teen fast asleep with the TV idling on a menu screen, Ben snoring on his beanbag while Johnny was on his stomach, arms dangling over the foot of the bed, game controller slipping from his fingers.

"Am I allowed to say 'I told you so?'" Reed asked, then groaned when Sue elbowed him in the stomach.

While their scuffle didn't disturb Johnny, it had been enough to rouse Ben who only realized they were there when he had finished his routine of making inappropriate noises as he stretched, the sound of his back popping enough for Johnny to stir but not yet wake.

Now knowing he had an audience, Ben motioned towards Johnny with an expression that was not fond no matter what anyone said. "He's cured."

Ben and Reed shared a triumphant smile, the two having brainstormed together to try and find a way to convince Sue that Johnny's dour disposition was a product of adolescence rather than a major concern that needed professional help, but the satisfaction was short lived, beaten back by a cold wash of guilt at their celebration, when they turned back to look at Sue.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, carding her hand through Johnny's hair. "I know you two were right that he just needed some time to get it out of his system. I remember being a teenager, I threw a pity party at least once a week. But I had both of my parents and could go to school without fearing that my sister's boyfriend would have to help his boss lock me up."

Reed winced and Sue held up a hand, silencing the responses neither man had prepared. "All I'm saying is you can't blame me for expecting the worst when my orphan kid brother, high-risk sentient weapon, finally started to break down in front of me."

It didn't take a genius—which Johnny would, once again, argue that he wasn't—to figure out what she meant. It did take a genius—which a good number of professionals would argue that Johnny was—to not immediately say so and blow his cover.

So, instead, the resident genius—though many would rather die before calling him that out loud—said what Johnny had fought hard not to. "You thought he'd been hurting this whole time. It was just right now that it was bad enough he couldn't hide it anymore."

Sue nodded, vision unfocused as she kept her eyes trained on Johnny, not seeing that his lips were pressed together rather than apart. "We watched our dad spiral, Johnny wouldn't want me to have to see that if he was."

"But he has you," Ben said, tone gruff but far from unkind, "And us, if he wants some guy time. The kid'll at least try to reach out before he decides to keep us out. Especially you."

Reed nodded solemnly. "Even when he knows he'll get in trouble, he still calls us to help him when he messes up. He trusts us, Sue, you more than anyone else. From what I've read, it's important for trust to go both ways, especially for teens."

Ben nodded in agreement, mimicking Reed's expression. "Trust him, Sue. He read it in a book."

That shocked a laugh out of Sue, and if she was crying while she did, that was no one's business but her own, the others in the room opting not to mention it. Instead, Reed just reached out, one of his arms wrapping around Sue twice before pulling her into a hug, and Ben pretended to gag when his best friend pressed a kiss to Sue's forehead.

"I'm starving, just let the kid sleep, he'll wake up later," Ben said, herding the couple out before they could argue, only stopping to let Sue glance back her brother one last time before they closed the door behind them.

When Ben's lumbering footsteps could no longer be heard, Johnny opened his eyes, glad no one had noticed his fingers twitching when he had struggled to keep it in his hand, having woken up when he felt it slipping.

He groaned, letting himself take the time to stretch and apologize to all the aching muscles and joints that had protested him falling asleep with his head and arms dangling off the bed, as well as keeping the same position after he had already woken.

But while his body was less than happy, Johnny couldn't help but feel a little better. He was still miffed about the Avengers—he didn't think he would ever get over that, and, as he had told anyone who would listen, if he saw Senator Ross in person he would shoot on sight—but the irritation towards his family had dimmed, at least somewhat.

It was enough, at least, to put his pity party on hold; he was far too dramatic to stay away for long, but for his family's sake, he would give them a break from their Johnny-shaped problems.

But little did Johnny know, trouble was just over the horizon, and it didn't matter whether he caused it or not, because he was the target and it would never let him go.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 04.06.21 )

Long time no see, huh, ya'll? Sorry about that! But I'm here and I'm ready to start chipping away at the various fics I have, especially the ones for the teen characters.

Also, Harrison has a major role in the Netflix show The Irregulars, and I'm so proud of my boy, he's so pretty, and so is Froy, so expect that I'm gonna be updating this fairly frequently because it'll give me an excuse to look at gifs of them and I'm weak.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!