Chapter Text
Reed
It was completely unexpected, having not 1 but 2 lovers who love unconditionally and with no fear. Reed didn't think he could be loved let alone so much. Reed had always been a complicated person, his father left when he was very young, sailing off into the distance and never looking back. He withdrew after that, only making one good friend later down in university. For him to be swept up by romance– He never saw it coming, instead, he was there … back at that fundraiser…
18 months ago Reed Sunaj Richards had just fished himself out of a 3 month long lock-up in his lab, testing on a rare particular DNA strain. He was trying to see if the gene itself could be manipulated to prevent Lupus, a serious autoimmune disease that seemed to be very common on the island. He'd lost track of time completely, barely remembering what day of the week it was. It was the medical director of the hospital who made the trip to his lab to come pull him out to attend this Breast Cancer fundraiser.
Man did he hate schmoozing the rich and powerful– but damned if it wasn't for a good cause. As much as he loved to be back in his lab right now he knew his intelligence was needed right now. So he drew up a smile, and started to press through around, looking for the whales that his boss had given him a list of. He spoke with them, drank with them, shook their hands as they congratulated him on his recent achievements. So much schmoozing his face was stuck in a permanent smile. . . . .
After about 2 hours he completely shut down, hiding within the crowd, nursing a glass of whiskey that he had got from the top shelf at the bar. He glanced at his watch that was around his wrist– it was only 8:30, and this thing was supposed to end at 11, he couldn't stand another moment here. . . . . .
Sue
The last thing Sue was expecting was to fall so hard and so quickly, with two people? How lucky was she? After a difficult young life, she had a right to be lucky now. At this very moment….
18 months ago, Sue was finishing up a weather analysis report to send to the two news stations on the island. It had been a long day but it was about to get even longer because she had just received a text from Johnny saying he was coming to the tower.
Johnny, Johnny, her petulant little brother, a kid she practically raised after their parents passed when she was freshly 18 and Johnny 10. She worked very hard, getting jobs around the island, making enough money so she could move the both of them to Trinidad so she could attend university. After her graduation, they both returned and Sue got hired immediately. She used her expertise and solidified herself as an authority on Weather and other natural phenomena. She also got to use her pilot's license (something her father gifted her) and do her own data collection with a plane that was given to her by the international Weather Society.
Johnny was a charismatic soul and he climbed the Societal ladder of the island. He was an every man despite his official job title was PR manager for the reigning political party. If you wanted anything done go to Johnny, he knew everyone.
There he was now bursting through her front door, arms wide, goofy grin on his face. He asked her if she had anything else to wear besides her plane clothes. Sue shrugged, Johnny face-palmed. He then took her by the hand and dragged her out the front door and down towards the elevator. Before she knew it– she was dressed in a gorgeous blue cocktail dress, make-up done (thanks to Johnny using a hidden talent of styling) – and being dragged through the event hall doors on the hospital's top floor. Johnny gave her a wink, “telling her to enjoy herself ” as if she wanted to be stuck here with a bunch of rich snobs. Pfft what a waste of time.
She soon figured out why her brother had dragged her to this fundraiser: she was eye candy–intelligent eye candy. A lot of these men were interested in talking to an intelligent beauty. Not that they appreciated her mind, no in fact it's for them to pretend to appreciate her mind in order to try to seduce her. . . . it's gonna be a long night. . . . .
Victor
Victor never thought he'd know love like this. It just hit him out of nowhere, completely derailing his plans for his take over in local politics. He felt wanted, needed and not betrayed and lonely. This was real love…..
18 months ago Victor had just drawn up a plan to make his bid to be the new MP of the Central Constituency. He knew that he had gained enough popularity among the locals and now the government itself. Victor may not have been born on St. Hallvard but from the way he acted you'd never have guessed, until he opened his mouth to speak. His accent was still so strong as was his connection to his heritage.
Though he grew up the bastard son of an Italian nobleman – ripped away from his mother and family and forced to grow up in practical isolation in a castle in the Balkans. When he grew older he grew restless and rebellions and his father shipped him off to university (under heavy supervision) One spring he gave his bodyguards the slip and hopped on a plane to the tropical isle of St. Hallvard along with a few friends he made. He had a blast – fell in love with the local Populus, vibes and weather – and he vowed to come back and live there permanently, consequences be damned.
And that's exactly what he did, at the tender age of 20 he graduated university with Bachelor's and Masters Magna cum laude before everyone else, topping a year that wasn't even his. With his degrees in Architecture –Political Science –World History– and his brilliant mind; he ran away from his oppression much like his four fathers after the holocaust, and returned to the island he loved so fondly.
As he ingrained himself more into society he noticed the utterly corrupted system plaguing the island. He saw how they made the locals suffer under their immense greed – and he wanted to do something about it. Quickly, he climbed the political ladder becoming a trusted advisor to the reigning party. Those big mouth politicians just loooved to brag about their achievements (or lock thereof), all the things they've done, money they'd given, bribes they took, crooked side-businesses they were involved in. Victor took note of every last one. He had a file with blackmail material on all the party heads, if anyone objected to him, he'd threaten them with it.
He was on his way to that fundraiser to announce his bid to take over the party. He had the blackmail file in hand, and a devious disposition. He waltzed into the party, in a sharp Armani green suit, leopard print shoes. He looked very foreign, but that's exactly what he was going for. He spent his first two hours announcing his presents by going to each party leader and greeting them. All the while expecting to crash the party early.
Them
Reed stood in the corner, taking another sip from his glass. He lowered his glass from his mouth and was greeted by the intense feeling of being stared at. The hair on all his body stood up and his eyes darted up searching the crowd for those eyes. Before he knew it, there were two gorgeous people standing in front of him on either side. The two people didn't even notice each other until he stared back at them both.
“And who might you be, gorgeous lady?” Victor's silky smooth voice rings.
A slight flush grew on Sue's light brown skin. She'd always been ashamed of that, being one of the lightest girls in her class and also having a blushing problem.
Victor's eyes scanned her – searching for something, it was – her hand. He grasped it in his, and then turned to look at Reed.
“I must say you must be some guy to have such a beautiful lady take your fancy in a crowd like this.”
Sue speaks up, “And what about you? You are a beautiful, rich, foreigner, why are you hanging out here with these lowlife politicians?”
Victor chuckles, “Believe or not, the rich of this island are all here, not just their lackeys."
Reed kept standing there, his lips quivering with words he would like to say. Sue and Victor both turn their attention to the man in front of them after their short exchange.
“Hi, I believe we have yet to meet,” Victor says, pausing then offering his free hands to the doctor. “The names Count Victor Von Doom, but I’m not sure what my royal title is to me down here.”
Tentatively Reed Richards took the hand that the Count was offering, allowing his fingers to be squeezed in them. He finally found his voice seconds later, “H-hi, I’m Dr. Reed Richards, Diagnostician at St. Hallard Memorial.”
Victor smiles, glancing over at Sue, then back to Reed. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Dr Richards. . . and you gorgeous lady.”
“The names Susana Storm, uh but. . . . you both can call me Sue.”
Victor raised her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to it, “What a gorgeous name for a gorgeous woman, I think I’d like to call you by it in full, Susana.”
He let Sue’s hand slip out of his and then he began to raise Reed’s hands to do the same. He thought that would be enough to make his intentions clear to him, and to her. With half-closed eyes, he watched the doctor’s reaction as he pressed his soft, full lips to the top of his slightly hairy hand. The doctor had a strange look on his face, almost like he was shocked to feel that particular sensation, it looked so new to him. Victor was mesmerized.
Sue had been watching the interaction intently, and she saw now that Victor was also entranced by the man in front of them as he was with her. A strange feeling stirred in her stomach, how is it possible that she felt such intense attraction to two people at once?
When Victor let go of Reed’s hands and turned back to Sue, he saw the look in her eyes and he knew at that very moment that she wanted what he wanted– and they both wanted Reed.
“It seems that we are not at an impasse, which is very. . surprising. Most times these things end with blood and heartache, but I predict a very d.ifferent outcome for us.”
Sue nodded in agreement. “Well yes Victor, I think you might be right.”
Reed’s eyes darted from Sue to Victor then back again as he tried desperately to make sense of the situation he was in. two beautiful people just singled him out in this crowd and were now giving him all their attention. This had to be a dream– or at least some sort of mistake. There was no way . . .
“Care to dance boys?” Sue suddenly says, breaking reed out of his mind.
Sue offered one hand confidently to Victor, and the other to Reed a little more carefully. She saw how Reed had reacted to Victor’s kiss earlier and she knew there was something different but equally special about that wonderful doctor.
A wicked smile spread across Victor’s face as he grabbed hold of the offered hand. He turned to Reed, prompting him to take Sue’s hand.
Unexpectedly, a smile spread across the doctor’s face, the first since the two had approached him. Reed wasn’t sure what this strange new feeling was but he wanted to go with it, he wanted more of it, and he'd go with them, follow them anywhere if it meant they’d keep making him feel like this. So he took her hand, and with incredible strength she dragged both of them to the dance floor on the other side of the banquet hall.
Slowly, they all swayed to the music in a tight circle, Victor taking charge and pulling Sue and Reed on either side of his broad shoulders. In seconds, Reed swore that their heartbeats all synched together at once. And he melted into both of their touches.
“This is, I- I’m actually having a little fun,” he states, a smile spreading across his lips.
Sue laughs, “Well I'm really glad that you are Reed, I'm having fun too.”
Victor nodded in agreement, taking Sue by the hand and prompting her to do a little spin on the long beat.
“Yeah, this was really unexpected, I was going to just finish my whiskey and head home. None of this rich folk cared about how I was trying to speed up clotting factors in hemophiliacs, or pinpoint certain genetic markers for fetuses in order to sure sickle cell anemia before they are born.”
Victor was stunned to hear such intelligent and novel ideas, he expected him to be smart, he was a doctor but he had never heard a doctor care about cures more than the amount of lives they saved after the fact.
Reed continues, “I just want to help people you know. To save them before they get sick, so they don’t even have to worry about getting sick in the first place. I want to save humanity.”
Reed suddenly clammed up, feeling a little embarrassed that he droned on about medicine instead of enjoying the dance. He tends to be this way and that’s why all of his previous relationships fell through, he always ended up being too much for them.
“That’s absolutely incredible Reed,” Sue says.
“Yeah, you are a marvel, Dr Richards,” Victor chimed in.
If his brown skin didn’t make it physically incapable to blush, Reed knew he would have been more red than a cherry tomato had that very moment. He wanted to ask them if they really thought so, but just the look on both their faces said that they did. So he settled into their embrace and continued to dance the night away.