Johnny Storm Is Very Interested in Mae

An hour and ten minutes later, Sue Storm met Mae Milton in the lobby of the Baxter Building. Sue was in one of her more conservative Fantastic Four outfits: high neck in black, gloves, boots, nothing showing beneath the throat or ears. Mae was dressed in what Sue guessed passed as conservative for her: a shimmery blue one-piece dress and matching two-inch heels. The dress hugged her curves—Mae hadn't had kids, but her breasts were bigger than Sue's, as were her hips, but the narrow waist spoke to a corset or possibly surgery, giving an exaggerated hourglass shape.

Sue smiled, and Mae smiled back. They hugged and went through all the small talk. Business was finished in the elevator: Mae had brought over the contract exchanging the rights, including the original film of the photos. Everything Sue would need to take down the images legally. The money discreetly disappeared into Mae's cleavage.

Then the door opened.

Mae looked in awe as Sue Storm walked her through the room with the portal to the Negative Zone, currently set to show an alien planet revolving around a black sun. She showed Mae where they kept the weapons they had confiscated from various villains. Mae's jaw dropped as she saw the hangar with the Fantastic Four's various vehicles, from the Fantasticar to the captured Skrull saucer that the heroes kept for emergencies.

Along the way, Mae asked questions, and Sue told Mae about some of her life after university. Visiting other worlds. Atlantis. The moon. Subterranea. Wakanda. Other dimensions.

"All those strange, fantastic places," Mae said, not hiding the longing in her voice. "And all I've managed to see are miles of dicks."

Sue laughed. Yet it was a nervous laugh. She hadn't considered how Mae would feel, considering how wildly their lives had diverged.

The tour ended with the Fantastic Four's living area. Mae looked oddly wistful as she saw the photos on the wall—Franklin and Valeria, Ben and Alicia, Reed and Sue's wedding—and then Johnny Storm walked in.

"Hey sis, Ben took the kids to the science museum and—wow!" He stopped midstride and stared at Mae. She smiled back at him.

"Is that little Johnny? Why, he's grown!" she laughed. "Do you remember me?"

"Tess—um, Mae!" Johnny Storm shook himself and then mentally shifted gears, his shock turning into a winning smile.

"I haven't seen you since that time Sue was taking an exam and needed me to look in on you when you had the mumps," Mae said, stepping away from Sue and laying a hand on Johnny's chest, with its prominent 4 emblazoned on it. "And look at you now! The handsome hero."

"I was eighteen," Johnny said. "I told her I didn't need anybody to look after me."

"Oh, I didn't mind. You were cute even then. Too bad you didn't have a thing for older women—you were just my type."

"Well, some things have changed—" Johnny said.

Sue Storm felt as if Mae and Johnny had disappeared into their own little flirtatious world, and an uneasy feeling gnawed at her guts.