Despite Rhy'Din being home now, Johnny Storm hadn't stopped paying attention to the news back on Earth, especially with a sister and her family still there. But this time around, it wasn't the East Coast that concerned him, so much as the West Coast. It seemed 2020 was a crappy year all around for those who called Earth home, which made Johnny just as glad he and Liv had decided to stay and raise their family on Rhy'Din. That said, he still cared about his home planet, and he couldn't very well sit idly by while wild fires raged on the west coast when he knew he could help. 

Though she had decided not to join her father at the fire station - at least, for now - Fliss had insisted on accompanying him to Earth. After all, she possessed similar abilities where fire was concerned and had already proved her worth. Though Johnny had resisted at first, concerned for her safety, she was an adult now, capable of making her own decisions, and there was no one he'd rather have at his side.

With Sue on the ground, coordinating the fire breaks and containing the worst of the spread by sheer force of will, it had been the Storm father and daughter slowly drawing the heat from the flames to extinguish them for two long, arduous weeks. "God, I feel like I could sleep for a month," Fliss groaned as she packed her backpack for the trip home.

"I feel like I could sleep for a year!" Johnny remarked with a chuckle. He'd been through exhausting missions before, but nothing quite like this. The threat of fire, though never entirely extinguished, was at least at a manageable level now and with minimal loss of life. "You were awesome, by the way," he praised his eldest.

Caught in the process of stretching out her back and pretending not to yawn, there was a pause before Fliss answered him. "Well, I had a really great teacher, you know."

"I can't deny that," Johnny agreed with a grin, though he was mostly teasing. He might have helped teach her how to use her abilities, but the rest she had done on her own. "I'm proud of you, Fliss," he said, turning serious. "And I hope you never have to go through anything like that again, but how's the saying go' With great power comes great responsibility or something like that?"

"You sound like that Parker kid's uncle," she teased him back, nudging her elbow against his side affectionately. "You know it goes both ways, right' I'm proud of you, too."

He shrugged, his expression a mixture of pride and embarrassment. "Can't very well sit on my ass when people need my help, can I?" he asked, though it was a rhetorical question.

"Oh, geez, can you not mention your ass when Mom's parting words to you involved biting you on it when you got back?" she asked, feigning disgust. Now she was a married woman herself, however, it was definitely feigned. She had a feeling Lucas was going to both scold and welcome her when they got back.

"Oh, come on. Don't be a prude," he said, nudging her back. Fliss and Lucas were married now, and he knew they had to have sex, but he didn't really want to think of his daughter that way.

"You're my parents," she reminded him laughingly. "I'm allowed to be squicked out by the thought of you getting jiggy with it."

"Yeah, well, that goes double," he said, struggling to zip his duffel bag closed as it was too stuffed with clothes he couldn't be bothered to fold.

She glanced down at his bag and snorted with laughter. "How did you ever manage before you had Mom?" she asked him, batting his hands away from his bag to open it up and start folding his clothes so it would shut for him.

"Uh, I just bought new clothes," he admitted. Or didn't bother wearing anything but his collection of fireproof uniforms. That didn't really answer her question though. Once upon a time, he had Sue to take care of him, but that was a long time ago.

"You're adorable," his daughter informed him with a fond grin. She was silent for a moment as she folded his underwear. "This felt good, you know? Last time I did something that used my powers, people died. This time, people lived. I like that better."

He slung an arm around her shoulder. As much as he'd enjoyed spending time with his daughter, they were both eager to be home with their family. "Love you, Fliss," he told her, planting a kiss on her cheek.

She leaned into his side, smiling as he kissed her cheek. "Love you back, Dad." But they had been away from home for two long weeks, and neither one had the patience to wait one more night. Besides, it was funny to imagine the look on Tony's face when he realized his guests had absconded without his knowledge sometime in the night.

"You got the portal device thingy?" he asked. He wasn't very good with tech of any sort, which was why he had given it to her for safekeeping. Besides, he wasn't sure if his elevated body heat  would cause it to malfunction, and he didn't really want to have to call Tony for help.

"Uh, yeah." She dug the portal stone out of her pocket, jangling it on the end of the keychain Matt had put it on when he realized it was spending way too much time in the junk bowl, right out there were anyone could see it. Attaching the stone to her keys was a sure fire way to make sure Fliss nearly always had it on her.

"Let's go home," he told her, a warm smile on his face as he linked his arm with hers. They'd done what they'd come here to do, and now it was time to go home. They'd been gone long enough, and they were both getting more than a little homesick.

The mansion was quiet as they made their way down to the ground floor, with only the barest mumble of sound coming from the main room the live-in Avengers used as a sort of common area. Fliss couldn't help smiling to herself at the sound of the group laughing, even as they stepped out into the dark evening. "I'm glad they're getting on better here."

"Sure you don't want to say good-bye?" he asked as they made their way from the mansion. Though the fires had been on the West Coast, they'd originally portaled into New York to meet up with Sue before heading west, and they were returning via the same route.

Fliss shook her head with a smile. "They'll keep us here all night drinking if we go up there now," she predicted, chuckling. "I'm not that eager for a hangover!"

He frowned, a little uneasy about the idea of his friends encouraging his daughter to get drunk. Here in New York, she wasn't even old enough to drink legally yet, but the frown was quick to disappear, knowing she was mostly joking. "Neither am I!" he said, though he had to drink a lot to get drunk these days. "Besides, your mother would kill me."

"Oh, please," Fliss drawled. "Where she's from, I've been legal to drink for three years already." She grinned at her father, knowing perfectly well that the discrepancy was what made it harder for him to discipline drinking once she hit seventeen.

"You don't think she'd have a problem with you getting drunk?" he asked, brows arching upwards. There was a significant difference between drinking and getting drunk, however. Fortunately, Fliss had never been the kind of teen who seemed all that interested in that sort of thing.

"I think she'd have a problem with it if I was doing it every night," his eldest pointed out. "But once in a while doesn't do any harm, right?" She nudged him with a grin. "Besides, I only ever get drunk with people who can control me."

"And who would that be?" Johnny asked, as the two of them descended the stairs of the mansion and started across the grounds.

"You, Luc, Aunt Nat," she answered, counting them off on her fingers. "You, because you kill me with the disappointment thing; Luc, because he gives me other things to do with my mouth; and Nat, because she is totally fine with punching me if I go too far."

Johnny waved a hand at his daughter as soon as she mentioned Luc. "Okay, okay, too much info again!" he scolded with a chuckle. He knew Fliss adored Luc, but he didn't really want to hear about the details of their love life.

"You squirm more than Alexei does," she accused him fondly, pulling out the portal stone as they approached the hedged in circle where the permanent entry to and from Rhy'Din had been set up on this Earth. "Maybe I should speak up in front of both of you when Mom and Aunt Lucy are around - they'd love to watch it."

"Old" I'm only thirty-three," he told her, though he'd  never kept his age a secret. He enjoyed birthday parties as much as anyone, but he wasn't sure he liked the idea of getting old. He took her hand and pulled himself to his feet, pausing a moment to crack his back, but only because she'd tackled him.

"You're older than me," she pointed out with a cheeky grin. "Ask Alex what constitutes old sometime - it's an eye opener."

"Alex thinks sixteen is ancient," Johnny said. To be fair, sixteen probably did seem ancient when you were only eleven.

"And yet he can't wait to be sixteen," the big sister laughed, hiking her bag onto her shoulder once again. "C'mon. Betcha the kids're waiting up just in case you get home early."

"Let's not rush it. He'll be sixteen soon enough," Johnny said, almost dreading that day, not because it meant he himself would be older, but because it meant another of their children would be almost grown up. He plucked his duffel up off the grass and slung it over a shoulder, eager to see the smiles on his family's faces and know he was home.

Falling into step with him, Fliss let the last of her tension relax from her shoulders, letting go of the stress of the last two weeks, safe in the knowledge that they were home, and they were well. They had helped avert disaster for so many people, and they had both come through it all in one piece.

But before they could reach the front door, the door was flung open and a stream of Storms were racing toward them to greet them. That's what happened when you had children with heightened telepathic awareness. "Papa!" Alex cried, throwing himself at his father's legs in greeting.

Maria was not far behind her brother, hugging Johnny's other leg happily as Liv came to the back door. Bella, too, came bounding out to greet them, torn between smothering Johnny with love, or just tackling Fliss to the ground.

Johnny laughed at the greeting, beaming happily. He knew they'd done a good thing, but this was where he belonged. "Okay, okay, I missed you, too!" he said, crouching down to hug his children tight and risking a sloppy kiss from Bella. He looked past the children then to Liv, a smile on his face that was just for her. "Hi, honey, I'm home."

"Welcome back, Major," Liv teased affectionately. She had been expecting him, but it would be a wonderful surprise for the little girls in the morning when they woke up and Papa was home already.

"Major?" Fliss queried, tilting her head at her father curiously.

"Inside joke," Johnny said, with a shrug. If he had to explain, the pun lost all its humor.

Behind Liv, another figure emerged from the house, unmistakable even in the darkness from the silhouette of wings at his back. "You're back," Lucas murmured, a smile lighting his face as he stepped around Liv and went to greet Fliss.

"Yup, we're back!" Leaving her curiosity to one side about her parents' in-jokes, Fliss beamed as she moved to meet her husband with a smile and a kiss. "Miss me?"

"Every second," Lucas confirmed, his arms sliding around her waist to pull her close, despite the small crowd looking on. They'd seen as much already.

Johnny cleared his throat as he got to his feet again, taking Alex's hand on his left and Maria's on his right. "Time to say goodnight. It's well past your bedtime," he told them, though it was really just an excuse to give Fliss and Luc some privacy.

Alex groaned. "Do we have to' You just got home."

"It would only melt," he added, with a wink at Liv. "Anyway, most of the fires are under control now, and Fliss and I are home safe and sound, and that's all that matters, right?" he said. "Did you miss me?" he added, that smirk back on his face again.

Little Maria nodded, throwing her arms around Johnny's neck to hug him tight all over again. A warm pulse of worried affection made itself known in his heart, a sharing of her feelings through the empathic abilities she was learning to control.

Not to be upstaged by his sister, Alex followed suit. He was still young enough that he wasn't afraid to show affection for his family members, including his parents. "We all missed you, Papa ....Even Lir!" he told his father.

Watching as Johnny was smothered with love by his older children, Liv smiled to herself, letting him have as much time as he needed. Alex and Maria were almost certainly delaying bedtime on purpose, and she knew it, but at the same time, she didn't blame them for it. Johnny had been missed, and he deserved to know it.

Johnny ate up the love for as long as he could, before Alex pulled away to ask, "Can we have milk and cookies before bed?"

Johnny chuckled. He didn't doubt that they'd missed him, but he was well aware they were conning him, too. "I don't know, can you?" he asked, looking to Liv for an answer.

Liv didn't even try to hide the grin on her face as she answered. "Seeing as you've already had milk and cookies tonight, I'm going to go with a big ol' nope," she informed them, chuckling at the brazen impudence. "Honestly, you'd think Papa and I never actually talk to each other sometimes!"

Alex blew out a breath and pouted, though he couldn't very well argue with his mother when she was right. "Sorry, Mama," he murmured.

"Tell you what ..." Johnny was quick to interject. "If you both go right to sleep, I'll make my special chocolate chip pancakes in the morning, okay?"

Maria's eyes went wide with hopeful excitement, a promise that earned Johnny another kiss and a hug before she seized her brother's hand and started to tug him toward the stairs.

Liv laughed quietly, bending to kiss Alex's hair. "Nice try," she complimented him. "Maybe next time."

"G'night!" Alex told them both, glad his mother wasn't angry with him. Chocolate chip pancakes were better than cookies anyway.

"Not too early!" Johnny called as the pair thumped their way up the stairs to bed.

Laughing, Liv leaned against the wall, listening to the thump of feet up the stairs and into bedrooms. "They've missed you," she said, looking over at Johnny.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, taking a step closer so that he could wind his arms around his wife's waist and kiss her nose.

"Mmm, I might be persuaded to admit to that, yes," she teased softly, that tease belied easily by the way she went so willingly into his arms to cuddle close. "You smell gorgeously smoky, by the way."

His brows arched upwards at her statement, even as she snuggled in. "I took a shower!" he insisted, pausing a moment to take a sniff of his own clothes, but he and Fliss had been so engulfed in smoke for the last two weeks that he was a little immune to the smell.

She chuckled, hugging her arms tight about him. "I like that smoky smell, believe it or not," she informed him. That must have been odd to know, given that she herself had been in a life-threatening fire not so very long ago. But that smell reminded her of him, and how could she not love it?

To be fair, she did look tired. It had been a rough couple of weeks for her, but she wasn't ready to sleep yet. "I'm good," she promised him. "So much better now I'm home." Without conscious thought, she curled her arms around him, burying her face into the crook of his neck to breathe him in. "I love being home. I love you."

He smiled, happy to just hold her for as long as she wanted. "I love you, too, and I missed you," he told her again. He would never make her promise not to go away again, if she was needed, but he hoped it wouldn't happen again anytime soon, if ever. "Come on," he told her, taking her by the hand to lead her further into the house. "Let's get comfortable."

"Mmm, that sounds wonderful." She shuffled along behind him, happy to be lead. Her parents would likely be a little surprised by how acquiesant their eldest was in the company of her husband, but then, she didn't have to be the one in charge in her own home. Luc would take care of her.

He didn't take her to the bedroom, but to the living room, pulling her down beside him onto the couch. It was cozy enough there, and what he really wanted was just to be close for now. The rest would come later.

And she was right there with him, curling up as close as she could get to him, needing that reminder that, despite all the heat and hardship, she really was home and safe and with him. It was a weak feeling she would never admit to Johnny, but with Lucas, she wasn't ashamed of the fear she had been feeling for days.

He wasn't telepathic or even empathic, but Lucas knew Fliss almost better than anyone, and he had a feeling the last two weeks had been harder for her than she'd let on. "Are you okay?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her to hold her close in his embrace.

"I will be," she said softly. "I know we saved a lot of lives, but ....so many of them lost almost everything because of those fires, you know" They have to rebuild with nothing to start from. And that's just the people. Am I an idiot for crying over wild animals and the trees themselves?"

"No, of course not," he said, frowning in concern, not only for her but for everyone who was affected by the fires, including that of nature. "But, you know, fires are a part of nature, too. They just got out of control," he reasoned, though that might not give her much comfort.

"I know," she sighed. "I guess I take everything a little too much to heart, huh' Not the best quality in a psychologist, really." She snorted with laughter, trying to make light of the open heart she'd learned from her parents.

"You take everything to heart because you care, Fliss. That's not a bad thing," he told her. "You want to help kids like yourself and Maria and Alex. That's not a bad thing either. And you know what?" he asked, tipping her chin to face him, a reassuring smile on his face. "You're gonna be awesome at it.

She smiled faintly, letting him see how tired she was after two weeks of hard graft with minimal sleep. "You're way too good for my ego, you know," she said fondly. "How have you been? You didn't tell me much about what was going on here when we talked on the phone."

Lucas shrugged. "I'm fine. Just missed you and wish I could have helped," he admitted. He'd felt more than a little useless while she'd been away, but he would have only been in the way.

"Baby, what you do here is completely incomparable," she reminded him gently. "Trust me, I've been in a situation where I had to be rescued from danger. I know how amazing it is to be pulled out of harm's way by someone who chose to be there. You're a hero, even if you don't realize it."

"I'm not a hero, Fliss. I'm just doing my job," he insisted, but none of that really mattered now that she was home. "I'm just glad you're home," he told her, pulling her tighter, as if he never wanted to let her go.

"It feels good to be home," she agreed, cuddling in tight herself. "I missed you so much. I mean, I love Dad, but his idea of evening conversation before bed suffers without Mom and the kids there to keep him on one topic for more than ten minutes."

"Stop it, Fliss. You are always a good wife, but more importantly, you are a good person. You're a hero to a lot of people, including me," he told her, pulling back the covers once they reached the bed so that he could tuck her in.

She laughed quietly. "You're the best," she said. He never let her put herself down without arguing with her, even when she said it jokingly. He was better at the psychology than she was some days.

"Get some rest, baby. I'm not going anywhere," he assured her as he helped her into bed, even going so far as to take her shoes off before tucking the blankets over her and leaning close to press a kiss to her forehead. "Love you, Fliss."

"Love you back," she managed, her weariness catching up to her in a big way. One hand groped for his, not sure if he was coming to bed or just putting her to bed, but not wanting him to go far.

There was nowhere he'd rather be at that moment but right there beside her, proving it by climbing into bed beside her and pulling her close. He might not fall asleep just yet. In fact, he was likely to just lie awake and watch her awhile, but he wasn't going anywhere, and neither was she.