The wall-mounted TV played the news report on mute. Footage from the wedding was displayed on the screen with the caption 'Super couple's disastrous wedding raises question of the Avengers' future'. The helicopter could be seen spiralling out of the sky from the perspective of the ground news crew, showing it crash into the rooftop with smoke trailing behind it. The camera work was uncoordinated as the cameraman ran with the crowd that screamed and panicked. The unstable recordings and occasional sights of the cameraman's feet caused the headache in Johnny's head worsen, and he gave up in watching the mess of a news story. It was full of backless claims and statements made by news anchors who grasped at straws for a hint of drama.

Johnny put his hand over his eyes as FRIDAY flicked through channels, but it was full of Avengers drivel. He had pulled the blinds shut over the floor to ceiling windows that lined the left wall, yet the headache thudded at his lower neck like it had been hit with Thor's hammer. The chase with the silver surfer had drained him and he was deciding whether to call the team for another meeting.

Although he told them most of the events that occurred during the chase, he was yet to explain the logistics of what happened. Johnny remembered how the entity warped through buildings and even flew through a bus at one point. But nothing was destroyed, and no one was hurt. It's ability to warp matter, as Tony had explained, made it difficult for Johnny to keep up with its speed. There were many times were Johnny had to take longer routes to avoid casualties, as his flames could set people alite and combust building structures.

Johnny was pulled from his thoughts of the silver surfer at the sound of a knock at his door. He hummed in reply, and kept his eyes closed when he heard the door open. Looking through his eyelashes, he saw the blurred figure of Natasha. At the entrance of the red-headed woman, he sat up straight with a light grunt.

'I thought that someone should come check on you,' Natasha stated. 'I know Susan's usually the one for that, but she's obviously got a lot on her plate.'

'Yeah. I guess it's not always all about me,' Johnny said, his voice strained as he leaned against his headboard.

'Shocking.'

The Romanoff grabbed the grey armchair that was sat in the corner and carried it to be next to Johnny's large bed. His floors were tiled with a white, shaggy rug placed stylishly under the bottom half of the bed. With the blinds pulled closed, the room was lit by lights that were underneath the TV and that lined the skirting of the walls.

'Have you heard from Steve at all?' Natasha asked once she was sat down.

'No,' the man shook his head. 'The guy knows how to hide.'

'You miss him?'

'Pfft, I'm not ten,' Johnny rolled his eyes, but then frowned. 'Yeah. I miss him.'

'You two were pretty close.'

'Well, Sue had Tony, so I kind of had to find a friend. Steve was cool. Although, the whole patriotic thing was cringe.'

Natasha laughed lightly and sat back in the armchair. She wasn't that close with Johnny. They were teammates and had shared a joke or two, but that was the mutual relationship that most of the team had with each other. She was always closer with Clint because of their history with SHIELD, while Johnny was closer to Sue and eventually with Steve. But Natasha could tell when the man was troubled. It was part of her position in SHIELD to be able to read people, and Johnny was like a rainbow of his emotions to her.

'I'm sure Steve is out there watching all of this,' Natasha crossed her arms. 'Anyone would feel bad your sister. I could see she was devastated.'

'She'll be okay. Tony's there. He's a dick, but he does love her. He'll do anything for her...'

'Rhodes said that they had plans to move away. Is that true?'

Johnny clicked his tongue and smiled, but Natasha could see it wasn't of happiness. She saw how he looked down at his fingers that fiddled with nothing. His eyes were narrowed, and she didn't have to ask how he truly felt about the topic.

Sue was never the Storm to be the hero out of the two. Even before they got their powers from the cosmic storm, Johnny was the one to stand up with his arms wide when there was even a lick of attention. He loved the glory and the action, and being a superhero couldn't be more of a fit for him. When SHIELD told him about his ability to fly and combust at will, he was eager to reach his full potential as The Human Torch. It would be years before he decided he would retire his blue suit and live in a house with a white picket fence in a boring , surburbian neighbourhood.

But when Sue announced that she was pregnant, and then their wedding was planned, Johnny knew that their days of fighting together, were over. There wouldn't be anymore missions with Tony's sarcastic remarks and Sue's attempts at a civilised inter-com communication. Johnny hated to think what it would like to be a one-man band, but he still had the Avengers. But then again, even they were dwindling with Steve gone and Bruce missing.

'What about you and Pepper?' Natasha changed the subject at the lack of Johnny's response. 'She seems like she puts up with you.'

'To some degree,' Johnny snickered and thought about his orange-haired bombshell. 'I love Potts. She's great. But I know she wants the same as Susie; a nice, normal, boring ass life.'

'What's wrong with that?'

'Nothing. It's just... not for me, you know?'

'Right, I understand,' Natasha lowered her head into a nod and gave him a small smile. 'Now, are you going to tell me what's really bothering you?'

Johnny looked to the woman with eyes that asked how she knew. Her caring smile turned into a smug one, with the left end of her lips twitching to be higher than the other. The ex-SHIELD agent was a natural at her conversational tactics and Johnny thought that her intentions were completely innocent. He was touched that she had come to check on him, but now he knew that she was there on the concern of the team.

'You had me for a minute, there,' he shook his head with a small laugh. 'But I appreciate you being an ear.'

'You're welcome, Storm.'

'Please, it's Johnny.'

'I thought you wanted to go by John, now?'

'Eh I lost interest in that idea. Pepper thought it didn't suit me.'

Natasha waited for Johnny to say what it was that troubled him so much. When in the lab, Thor mentioned something along the lines of 'the flaming man didn't seem himself'. The team agreed and discussed whether they should approach him. Usually, they would leave Sue to do the sibling thing for them. Any serious talk had to be forced out of the less mature Storm, and Sue was the only one who had the power to do that. But with it being her wedding day, they thought it would be unlikely that she would want to in this instance. Natasha was the one who said she would give it a go, and the team didn't object.

'Before I lost the surfer, through the clouds and stuff-' Johnny started and  paused as if his words were fighint against him. '-he, it, whatever, said something...'

'It spoke?'

'English, would you believe?' Johnny resisted the urge to go off topic. He hesitated in continuing and he was sure that Natasha could see he was struggling to talk. His mouth opened and closed, his headache spiking in pain every now and again. But it was nothing compared to the sensation in his chest. Whether it was fear or dread, it made it feel as if a force was pulling it back and turning him inside out.

'It looked back at me... and...' Natasha leaned forward to hear his strained words. 'It said 'all that you know... is at an end.''

Natasha pursed her lips and felt the same feeling in her chest. With all the team had gone through and seen, it wasn't unusual to hear that all that they knew was at stake. Whether this meant the Avengers or the world, it was concerning to hear from an entity that was assumed to be an alien.

'I wanted to tell everyone, but I have to admit, it did scare me a little...' Johnny rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. 'I know we've heard it all before with Loki and Ultron, but this guy seemed... pretty keen.'

'You take some more time to rest. I'll gather the others,' Natasha said and stood from the armchair. 'Fury will want to know about this.'

Johnny nodded and Natasha turned to head for the door. He watched her leave and appreciated the smile she sent over her shoulder. She left the room and Johnny was left in silence. He was glad that he had told somebody and didn't have to be the one to break it to the team, but he still felt the heavy feeling of doom on his shoulders.

---

With Sue and Johnny resting in their respected rooms, the Avengers gathered in the lab once more. Fury was on one of the screens that hovered in the air, giving his input on the discussion when he saw fit. FRIDAY continued to monitor for any anomalies around the globe and Tony checked on it frequently. Natasha's mention of what Johnny was told by the silver surfer was a point of interest, and he was positive that it would return to Earth. In the meantime, the team planned what their next move would be.

'I will listen for word on the being. Maybe Asgard will have some answers,' Thor explained. 'I only planned on being here for a short time. I need to return, but I will be in contact if I find anything of interest.'

'I'll deal with the governments. They're on your tails again,' Nick's voice came through the screen. 'Try to keep this under the radar as much as possible.'

'Well, if this is the end of the world, I'm spending it in what was supposed to be my retirement,' Clint pushed himself off the counter that he leaned on. 'Laura's already as stressed as it is. If you need me, find someone else.'

'My sentiments exactly,' Tony mumbled and caught Fury's singular eye that moved to him on the screen. 'But for you, supreme leader, I'll do anything.'

With their respected goodbyes, members of the team left the lab with Nick signing off without a word. Rhodey patted Tony on the shoulder before he hobbled out on his walking stick, leaving the Stark alone. The screen that displayed FRIDAY's progress was minimised at his command, and he brought up another in front of him. His finger held it as he moved across the room to sit on the stool that was in front of a table. 

Outside the walls of glass, Sue looked in to see Tony sitting at the desk with light green screens around his head. One screen displaced a clearing in a forest where the sun beamed down on the lush, green grass. Another screen showed a diagram of a what looked to be a house plan, dimensions listed down the side and stretched around its perimeter.

The team had passed her on their way out and said they would be in touch if anything came to light. They gave her sympathetic smiles at the way she spent her wedding day, and Sue tried not to appear too weak in front of them. Wanda said that she will be only a phone call away if she needed her. Another woman's presence was a comfort when going for doctor's appointments for updates on the baby. Pepper was also avaliable, but she had the businesses to run. Wanda was a good friend of Sue's and she appreciated her offer of support.

Tony looked up and down, the table having its own screen that Sue couldn't see. He typed on the transparent keyboard, unaware of her presence that watched him work before she disturbed him. She liked seeing him in his element, his attention switching between screens and calling on FRIDAY to add to the diagram.

Sue eventually asked for FRIDAY to open the sliding door, breaking Tony's focus. He stood up from the chair at her entrance, a smile beaming with his teeth shining through. The two met halfway and Tony took hold of Sue's hands, holding them together in his own.

'Hey,' he greeted, leaning forward to kiss her softly. She hummed as his lips touched hers and she noticed the twinkle in his dark eyes.

'Hi. What are you working on?'