Sue Aborts The Fetus

The real question was whether to tell Reed or not. Sue Storm knew that. It ate at her soul like acid. On the one hand, it was her body. She could get it taken care of quickly and quietly. TV and movies never showed the reality of it; there was no pleasant way to vacate the uterus. There would be pain, blood, cramps. Yet far less than a full pregnancy would be.

Yet to not tell Reed would be a lie in and of itself. An omission.

She found him in his lab, looking through a microscope. With a thought, the device turned invisible. He blinked and looked up at her. Sue Storm handed him the test results.

Reed, ever the analyst, read them. He frowned.

"Ten weeks? We haven't—" he began.

"I know. I don't know how it happened either," she said, and laid one hand on her abdomen. "I'm going to abort it."

His face, normally so expressive, grew stony.

"Are you sure?" he asked quietly. "I could run more tests..."

"Mysterious pregnancy where we haven't had sex? After I almost died during the last three?" Sue said. There was a bitter edge in her voice. "I don't know what's going on, Reed, but I know we have two beautiful children together, and I want to be able to raise them up. Whatever happened here...it needs to stop. Tonight."

Reed nodded.

"I designed a medical teleporter. For the Night Nurse. For heroines who were...who need an abortion. Non-invasive, quick recovery," he said, his voice almost a whisper. He stretched out his arm to wrap it around her shoulders.

She hugged him back. Later, in private, there would be tears. Now, she had to be strong. To make the rational choice, even if it wasn't the one her heart or faith would have her make.

It was as simple as Reed said. She laid down on the medical exam table, her shirt pulled up to the bottom of her breasts. He ran a sensor over her abdomen. Targeted her womb. Pressed a button.

Sue didn't even feel any different when the fetus was gone.

"It will take your body a little while to move out of preparations for pregnancy," he said. "Your hormones will be wild, metabolism will be pushing fat storage, you'll still get odd cravings and appetite. We should refrain from sexual activity for a few weeks; once you ovulate again, you'll be in the perfect state to conceive."

The Invisible Woman nodded, numb. Tears glittered in her eyes.

"Reed. Did I do the right thing?" she asked.

He pulled her into a hug as the sobs started.

"We did the right thing," he said, not mentioning what he had seen on the scanner when it had locked on to the fetus. The mutant DNA. The certain knowledge that whatever the fetus was, it was no part of him. And if Mister Fantastic felt any guilt at that, he did not speak it aloud.