An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
“Any change?” Sue asks as she walks in with Franklin at her side. Like usual, she goes to the pod and lets her fingers rest lightly on the glass. She watches the blue shimmer pulse just out of sync with Johnny’s breathing.
Darcy shakes her head. “Not really.” She coughs once. “Um. There was a little bit of a spike on the thermal graph, but otherwise it’s been all quiet.”
“Anything to cause the spike?” Sue asks.
Darcy hears, Did you do anything to make him worse? With a side of, Did you hurt him again?
“No,” she says, answering all these questions with one syllable. “No idea what—if anything—caused it.” The room is suddenly impossibly small, and oxygen feels like it’s at a premium. “I’ll let you get to it,” she says under her breath and ducks out as quickly as she can. The door closes behind her, muffling the sound of Sue beginning to read out the numbers on Johnny’s monitors for Franklin to slowly type into his little tablet.
She sits on the couch and lets her head drop into her hands, resting her elbows on her knees. Her eyes are stinging from how dry the air is in the medical wing. That’s what she’s telling herself. Not from lack of sleep. Not from lack of peace. It’s the air.
If she could shut them for more than a few minutes at a time, she knows they would probably feel better.
But every time she shuts them, she finds herself remembering that stupid smile. That breathless Hey, Gorgeous. The sickening way Johnny’s head had lolled forward the moment he hit the ground. Practically lifeless.
Prompts: TaserTorch, Christmas Wedding, kiss in falling snow
Snow was falling gently as the bride and groom left the ceremony. Darcy couldn’t help but squeal in glee and do a few twirls, sticking out her tongue to catch a few flakes.
“It’s so pretty!” she exclaimed happily. “C’mon, Johnny, embrace the beauty!”
“I already did, and I intend to do so a lot for the rest of my life,” Johnny said, not taking his eyes off of her.
Darcy blushed, but still stood in awe watching the large flakes float gently to the ground.
“Awwww, smooth as always, hot stuff. But you got to admit, it’s really pretty.”
“It is, so let’s get some photos before you get too cold. I love how the snowflakes make your hair sparkle.”
“And I love how cute you look with snowflakes stuck on your enviably long eyelashes, babe,” Darcy returned, snuggling up against him. “Gotta say, this Christmas wedding thing was a great idea.”
Johnny leaned down to give her a long kiss as the cameras clicked and the snow continued falling.
“I agree, sweetheart,” he told her. “I wholeheartedly agree.”
for BMiller
296 words
Rated T
I’ve been cursed, can you help me?
~~~~~~~~~~
“I have a---” He had to stop for yet another sneezing fit and Johnny was wracked with chills. Something he hadn’t felt in years. Never mind the sweating and overheating, he hadn’t been cold since he’d become the Human Torch.
“I have a cold,” he whispered, sniffing loudly. “I’ve been cursed, Darce. Can you help?”
He hated coming back here and begging her like this, but he didn’t know what else to do. She was the only witch he knew who could handle something like this. Just because he’d one-night-stood her didn’t change that fact.
She sighed and circled him, reaching out and feeling his forehead and coming away from that with a frown. “Yeah, I can help. You’ll have to snuggle after, though.” She winked.
“I would have last time if Id’ known you wanted it,” he countered before sneezing again.
“Don’t lie to me, Johnny,” she said. “I can always tell when your’e lying.”
“Fix me,” he begged. “And I’ll do whatever you want.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s so tired. How about I fix you and you tell me what it is you want? Because I cannot hope to figure that out myself.”
“Fine,” he replied, going to shake on it, but sneezing again, caught up in the shivers again. “Once I figure that out, you’ll be the first to know.”
“You already have,” she said. “I would just like to be in on it.”
“You’ve got it. Fix me.”
“Sit down,” she commanded, and moved over to a cabinet nearby to assemble what she needed. Johnny had no problem taking orders, and telling her what he wanted was going to be easy.
He wanted her. And he wanted her for himself.
But right now, he just wanted to stop fucking sneezing everywhere.
I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE! I love the fanfics that have Johnny and Steve in them. Chris Evans did such a great job with both of those roles, I actually think their personalities would play off of each other really well. Sigh. If I was a better writer I would attempt it myself, but I fear I could not do this justice.
Maybe Darcy is a mutant with pyrokinesis. Maybe she’s an accidental arsonist. Maybe she’s an ancient hearth goddess who almost never gets fired up enough to do more than smolder.
IDK, but it’s not only Johnny Storm that has fire powers this time.
I’ll be removing my tasertorch Command the Moon, It Will Come Down from my ao3 account later this week so I can give it a makeover into a new original work.
July 20 - Darcy Lewis/Johnny Storm(Chris Evans). Can it be fluffy and smutty please for @bval-1
Written by @ozhawkauthor
“You intrigue me, you know.”
“Because I don’t hang on your every word?” Darcy didn’t even bother to take her eyes off her computer screen. “Must be novel.”
“A little bit that, yeah,” Johnny laughed, swivelling back and forth in the spare office chair next to her desk. She stuck out a foot to still him.
“Don’t distract me right now, please. This has to be right or we could strand the next person to use the bridge between dimensions.”
“Well… if we could make sure it was Reed…”
She had to chuckle at that, but she also kicked his chair a short distance away and concentrated on running through Jane’s program one more time, double-checking every step. Finally, she clicked on the button to confirm acceptance and turned to Johnny, who was waiting for her with surprising patience.
“We are not stranding your brother-in-law between dimensions. No matter how annoying he is. I wouldn’t even strand my brother-in-law there.”
“Your… oh, that’s right. You consider Jane your sister, so Thor’s your brother-in-law?”
“I was talking about Loki, actually.” Darcy gave him a reproving look. “Be nice. Thor’s a darling.”
“To you, maybe.”
“Just because he threatened to lightning-strike your balls if you broke my heart.” She smirked, remembering the horror-struck expression on Johnny’s face and the way he’d put his hands protectively over his junk. Johnny might be a superhero in his own right, but nobody wanted to get on the God of Thunder’s bad side.
Johnny winced at the memory, obviously still wary of Thor.
“So why do you say I intrigue you, anyway?” Standing up, she clambered onto his lap facing him, hooking her arms around his neck. “If it’s only partly because I make you do the chasing?”
Johnny took the time to steal a slow, lingering kiss before answering. “Because this place would come to a grinding halt without you, and I don’t think anyone realises it. You make sure your mad scientists are all fed and that they get an amount of sleep which serves to keep them functional.”
“I had a lot of practice with Jane,” Darcy attempted to disclaim.
“Wrangling one mad scientist is impressive enough. I know, believe me. Seeing my sister do it with Reed has impressed that on me. Taking on a whole facility full of them? That’s just… I don’t even have words for how impressive that is.”
“They’re not all mad scientists.” Once again Darcy attempted to downplay. “Helen Cho’s really very good about looking after herself. As long as you make sure she doesn’t have to actually leave the lab to get food, anyway.”
“Stop pretending you’re not awesome.” Johnny’s blue eyes crinkled up around the corners and he butted his nose against hers gently.
“Okay.” She laughed. “I’m awesome.”
“Problem is, I think I’m the only one who recognises it. Everyone else just takes you for granted.”
“They really don’t. Not considering my salary, anyway.”
“Okay, I take that back. I’m not the only one. Pepper recognises it too. I mean, she’d almost have to. It’s entirely due to you that she actually gets to see Tony on a regular basis, fed and not manic from sleep deprivation.”
Darcy smiled, surprised all over again by how astute Johnny was when he wasn’t pretending to be an idiot so others would underestimate him. After dating for three months, she really shouldn’t be, though.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” she queried, honestly curious.
“Well, I was thinking about throwing a ‘Darcy is totally awesome’ party,” Johnny teased, “but then I realised I’d rather appreciate you privately. So, I ordered us in a fantastic dinner and bought an excellent bottle of wine and three different flavours of Haagen-Dazs.”
“Annnd this is why I’m with you despite the hate mail from your fan club.”
“Stop it, I make sure that’s screened before you get your mail.”
“Doesn’t silence the Twitter trolls, sadly.” She smiled ruefully at him, then squeaked as he rose to his feet, carrying her easily with him despite her not being exactly a lightweight.
“Don’t worry about them. I sicced Vision on your mentions yesterday.” He grinned wickedly. “Now hold on tight, sweetheart.”
Smiling, Darcy hooked her legs around his waist and nestled her head against the crook of his neck. He showed no signs of strain as he carried her out of the lab and down the three flights of stairs to her apartment, where a delicious dinner was indeed keeping warm in the oven. Darcy inhaled the fantastic scents and suddenly realised she was absolutely starving.
“Now you sit right there, sweetheart,” Johnny deposited her carefully in a chair at the table, “and let me wait on you.”
“I could get used to this,” Darcy said as he poured her a glass of wine and served her dinner.
“Could and should.” Johnny stole a kiss before taking his own seat opposite her. “I’m resolved to take just as much care of you as you do everyone else. Now eat your dinner before it gets cold.”
She laughed to hear the words she spoke so often to her scientists used against her, and picked her fork up.
“I don’t know if I’ll have room for ice cream, if I eat all this!”
“Oh, that’s not for you. It’s for me to lick off you,” Johnny said wickedly. Darcy spluttered and almost choked, staring at him wide-eyed.
“Eat up quickly so we can get to the fun stuff,” Johnny urged, stealing yet another of Darcy’s scientist-wrangling phrases. She gave him a narrow-eyed look and set her fork down.
“You know what, I’m not going to be rushed over my dinner.”
“Well, we could save it for later?” Johnny said hopefully. Darcy scowled.
“Or not. How about I put on some nice relaxing music and you take your time eating?”
She smiled as he scrambled out of his seat, picking up her fork again. “I nearly said ‘good boy’ then,” she admitted between bites, “but that would give away the fact that I’m literally house-training you like a puppy who’s been used to pooping on the carpet.”
It was Johnny’s turn to almost choke on his food, but then he laughed. “Relationship-training, you mean?”
“You’re the one who admitted I’m the first girlfriend you’ve had in years you made it to a one-month anniversary with.”
He winced, but she was quite correct. He normally got itchy feet and a roving eye after just a few dates… or sometimes even on a first date. Darcy, though, was different. She’d fascinated him from their first meeting, in part because she flatly refused to fall at his feet. They’d known each other six months before she condescended to let him buy her a coffee, and another six weeks before he managed to get her on a date.
Maybe it was the taking it slowly and getting to know her before their relationship began which made all the difference, because Johnny Storm admitted to himself that for the first time in his life, he was head over heels in love. He couldn’t get Darcy out of his head, couldn’t get enough of being with her, in bed or out of it. Just sitting here gazing at her enjoy her dinner was enough for him, at least for now.
As soon as she finished eating, of course, he was out of his chair and scooping her up into his arms again, raining kisses on her laughing face as he carried her into the bedroom. At least she was as eager as he to get to the action, attacking his clothes as he stripped hers off, pulling him down atop her once they were both naked and kissing him hungrily.
“I fucking adore you,” Johnny said, interspersing the words with kisses down Darcy’s throat, heading for the full breasts he liked to worship on until she got too frustrated to let him continue.
“What’s brought this on?” Darcy asked on a gasp as his mouth closed over one nipple. He didn’t reply, too busy, and it took her slightly confuzzled mind a minute to add two and two to make four. “Wait… is this because that new guy flirted with me yesterday? Remy Something?”
Johnny stilled, and she knew she’d hit paydirt. Finally he lifted his head with a sigh. “LeBeau.”
“Only guy I’ve ever met who’s an even bigger flirt than you,” Darcy mused. “You didn’t seriously think I was going to fall for that Cajun charm, did you?”
He shrugged, looking a bit sheepish.
“You’re an idiot.” Reaching up, she fluffed his hair gently. “You’ve no need to be jealous, Johnny. You won over me already. I’m not looking to trade you in.”
“I’ve never been jealous before,” he admitted plaintively.
Darcy had to suppress the urge to say “Aww, bless.” He looked genuinely pathetic. Instead, she said “Welcome to Normal Human Feelings, Johnny.”
He wrinkled his nose and said “I don’t like it.”
She had to laugh. Her ladyparts, however, were feeling decidedly unsympathetic to his plight, and he needed his mind taking off his non-existent problem. So she put a hand on top of his head and said “Let’s keep you busy… and me satisfied. After all, if you keep me happy, I’m hardly likely to look elsewhere, now am I?”
