"Yes ....no ....yes, I'm here ....Seriously, I'm right here, I'm standing outside the hospital right now!" A low laugh accompanied the slightly irate insistence of the young woman nattering away on her phone with someone she was obviously very familiar with. "Alright, so where are you? ....And they'll just let me in, will they?" She blew a breath up along the side of her own nose, huffing her fringe out of her eyes, and turned toward the street with a bright smile on her features. "Okay, I'll drop by later. Dinner, right' ....Brilliant. See you then ....Bye!"

The roar of a motorcycle engine was heard as Johnny approached the hospital. It wasn't his preferred form of transportation, but he'd learned long ago that a stream of fire streaking across the sky was more not the best way to maintain a low profile. Not that he cared about that necessarily, but more normal means of transportation tended to have less chance of attracting the wrong kind of attention. Besides, driving could be just as fun as flying, so long as you weren't driving a station wagon. Hell on wheels, as much as in the air, he didn't bother to slow the bike as he approached the hospital parking lot, instead jumping the curb onto the pavement and swerving into the lot, coming to a screeching halt and just missing a lightpost.

Just in the process of closing her phone and putting it back in her satchel, Lucy reared back instinctively as the motorcycle roared within inches of her. Shocked and not at all happy with the driver for putting her in danger as much as himself, she turned to stalk toward him, the length of her greatcoat flapping with each step.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded, pointing insistently at the pavement in front of her as an unspoken order for him to dismount and come and be told off. "You could have killed me, you could have killed yourself! Do you have no respect for anyone else's right to continue living and be unharmed by your complete and utter idiocy?"

It had been a close call, sure, but he knew what he was doing, and it hadn't been that close, had it' Live on the edge, that was his motto. Grab life by the balls and....yeah. He climbed off the bike and pulled off his helmet, turning just in time to see and hear a girl yelling at him and accusing him of being reckless. Him, reckless" Never. His knee-jerk reaction was to ignore her rant and check her out. Blue eyes looked her up and down, halting on her face and those knock out eyes of hers. Despite her obvious irritation with him, he found himself whistling in appreciation.

The whistle pulled her up short, the reaction physical as her body swayed away; the eyes that had caught his attention blinked, and judging by the confusion in her expression, he'd manage to totally derail her line of thought just with that one action. Giving herself a little shake, Lucy stuffed her hands into her pockets, hoping like hell she wasn't blushing. "Yeah, well ..." She cleared her throat. "You're an idiot. I thought you should know that."

"I've been called worse," he admitted with a c*cky smirk on his face that rarely disappeared, unless he was in a serious mood, which he tried to avoid, if at all possible. He shoved his keys in his jacket, switching hands to tuck his helmet under his left arm, and holding out a hand to introduce himself. "I'm Johnny, and you are?"

"Annoyed," was Lucy's answer, too aware that she was just on the cusp of blushing because a cute, if foolish, man had wolf-whistled her. "And about to be late, so if you don't mind ..." Her ponytail flipped him off as she turned abruptly, biting at her lips as she marched toward the hospital building. She had an assessment to complete today before being accepted for her residency, which meant she was going to have to spend a couple of hours triaging to impress the consultant in charge of the junior doctors. Doing that on top of a slightly embarrassed reaction to being almost knocked down and becoming a patient was not going to be fun.

He snickered at her answer, a little amused at her annoyance, finding her kind of cute. "Nice to meet you, Annoyed..." And then she was flipping her ponytail at him and storming off toward the hospital. "W-wait!" he called after her, hurrying to catch up, coming up alongside her as she marched her way toward the building. As it happened he was going the same way. "Do you work here" Are you a nurse?" He could hope anyway.

Two hours and twenty minutes later, she was freed from the severe eye of the consultant in chief, changed back into her civvies, and waiting awkwardly in the lobby, wondering what on earth she was doing. "He's probably not even going to show up," she muttered to herself. "I am such an idiot."

Despite all the crap in life, fighting bad guys, getting the crap beat out of you, going far away from home, feeling like an oddball, and on and on, there was one thing in life that made it all worthwhile and that was women. Well, that and adventure. Both was even better. 11:30 rolled around and Johnny wasn't there yet.

Lucy walked out of the hospital lobby into the winter sunshine, peering at her watch anxiously. Ten minutes, she decided. She'd give him ten minutes, and if he hadn't showed up by then, she would likely never see him again, so it wouldn't matter if she wasn't there or not.

Five minutes later, the elevator doors swished opened and among the small throng to exit was Johnny, being pushed down the hallway in a wheelchair by a pretty nurse with blond hair and green eyes, who was giggling a little too loudly. He had a smile on his face, but looked just a little ashen.

She caught the sight of him through the main doors, frowning in surprise, and marched back into the hospital without a second thought. "What the hell happened to you?" Lucy asked Johnny, offering a slightly jealous nod to the nurse who was pushing him along.

The nurse darted a slightly shy smile at the other woman as she rolled him into the lobby. "Passed out," she explained. "Doesn't like the sight of needles." She glanced from Lucy to Johnny. "Will you be okay now, Mr. Storm?" She looked a little more concerned than necessary.

"I'm fine, thanks, Trixie." He pushed himself up out of the wheelchair, looking just a little bit pale and shaken. He felt silly for passing out, but hey, at least, he had a pretty nurse to fuss over him.

Lucy's brow rose as she looked between Johnny and Trixie, catching on to what kind of man he was. He was a flirt, and a womaniser, and he probably wouldn't be too bothered if she had stood him up. Her lips curved into a faint smirk; she knew exactly how to deal with men like this. "Is he discharged, Trixie?" she asked curiously. "Only you should probably sit with him a little longer - I have a quick phone call to make."

Trixie nodded her head. "He said he was meeting someone. I assume that's you?" The tiniest hint of jealousy in her voice.

"I'm right here," he reminded the two of them. He was already out of the wheelchair, his helmet held in one hand. He only swayed a little. He had, in fact, flirted with the nurse a little, innocently, but it wasn't Trixie he'd asked for coffee and he'd been worried he'd miss his date with "Annoyed". "I'm fine," he reassured them both. "Stop fussing." Though he secretly liked the attention.

"Yes, that's me," Lucy nodded, her own jealousy well hidden now that she had decided how she was going to deal with him. She smiled at Trixie brightly, deliberately ignoring Johnny's slightly put out reassurance. "Please, just a little longer. I won't be more than ten minutes." She glanced at Johnny, her expression daring him to object before she skipped out of the hospital again, pulling her phone from her bag. Liv had better pick up this time.

He sighed and dropped into a chair, feeling a little more woozy than he originally thought. "She hates me," he grumbled to himself, pouting as he set the helmet in his lap and rested his chin on a propped up fist. The nurse frowned. "Would it help if I gave you my phone number?" she asked innocently.

He bristled a little again as he followed after her, not moving quite as quickly as he had before, but he'd make a fast enough recovery. "I wouldn't go that far. Glasses are cute on some girls. Besides, if all I wanted was to get someone into bed, I'd have asked Trixie for coffee, instead of you." So there. What do you have to say to that, Miss Smarty Pants" Note he made no comment about the unslightly body hair because, well, he preferred his women without a moustache or underarm hair. He was weird like that.

"You'd have been disappointed," was Lucy's laughing reply as she led him through a door and into the quadrilateral courtyard at the centre of the tall tower blocked hospital. "She was working - you wouldn't have gotten coffee out of her until at least half three, and if she was on a long day, that would make it ten o'clock tonight. So you enjoy the thrill of the chase, do you?"

"The thrill of the chase?" Now, there was a question, depending on which chase they were talking about. He didn't really consider himself to be the settling down type. His life wasn't really conducive to that, or so he thought, and he was having way too much fun to get too tied down, but he was human and he got lonely sometimes, especially far from home. But none of that answered her question. He shrugged. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Well, that really depends on whether you're the one chasing, or the one being chased, doesn't it?" Taking pity on him, Lucy slowed to walk beside him, offering an arm if he felt the need to lean on her. "I used to enjoy being chased. Hasn't happened for a good long while, though. Too busy to notice."

He arched a curious brow. Was she offering him an arm' He didn't feel he really needed it, but what the heck. An offered arm was an offered arm. He wondered if she was toying with him or just being nice, but decided to just wait and see how it played out. He leaned into her arm, his body heat obviously warmer than a normal human's. "Too busy working on your career?" The question was a serious one.

"Mmhmm," she nodded, glancing down at his arm on hers with a faint frown of curiosity as the heat from his body radiated easily through his coat and hers. "You run hot, don't you? And yes, I went from airhead to straight As in four years and then went straight to uni to study medicine. You don't really have much time for a social life as a student doctor."

You don't have much time for a social life as a superhero either, he thought, which was probably why he burned through one relationship after another, not to make a pun. "My Dad was a doctor," he told her spontaneously, wishing he hadn't mentioned it as soon as it had come out of his mouth.

"Really?" He'd caught her attention with that comment, common ground she hadn't been expecting to come out of his mouth. "Of medicine, or of some other discipline?" As she asked, her head tilted toward his, intrigued by him despite her full intention to teach him a lesson against using women up for his own enjoyment.

"He was a surgeon." He quieted a moment, not really wanting to talk about his father of all things. "So, what made you decide to get into medicine?" he asked, turning the tables back on her. He made no explanation about his hotblooded temperature, afraid she might decide she'd rather experiment on him than get to know him.

"Well, it started out as wanting to prove a point to my family," she admitted with a faint laugh, reaching out to open the door into the cafeteria. "They'd decided that I was never going to amount to much and they made no attempt to hide it. So I turned things around and decided I would go for the most difficult career path I could think of. But I do enjoy medicine, a great deal." Realising she was talking quite a lot about herself, Lucy looked up at Johnny with a frown. "What about you, what do you do?"

A day or so later ...

....precaution, current guidelines recommend that pregnant women undergo MRI only when essential. This is particularly the case during the first trimester of pregnancy, as organogenesis takes place during this period. The concerns in pregnancy are the same as for MRI in general ...

Lucy sighed, drawing her feet up beneath her on the couch as she rubbed at the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses. It was at times like these, when her sister was out and about and she was stuck inside reading some massive textbook, that she felt the weight of her choice to become a doctor. She wasn't due to start work at the hospital for another two weeks, waiting for the next intake of residents to join her impatient malingering in and around the city, so to pass the time, she had decided to try and catch up on the advances in various fields. Why she'd thought radiology was a good place to start, she might never know.

A buzzing sound drew her eyes from the large book on her lap to her cell phone on the table as it vibrated its way toward imminent death at the hands of the hard wooden floor. Reaching out, she caught it as it wobbled on the edge of the table, reading the message from Olivia, her twin sister.

AM IN RDI. JSTORM FLIRTING WITH GIRLS. WHAT DO I DO"

She laughed as she read this. Lucy hadn't actually thought that Liv would go out of her way to find Johnny, only that her twin might be conducive toward teaching the handsome womaniser not to play with women and expect no reprisals. But Liv was there now, so it was a golden opportunity to let her sister play at being her, as well as form her own opinion of the young man Lucy had taken a shine to.

GO TALK TO HIM.

The phone buzzed in her hand as she sent this, setting the device on the arm of her chair as she turned her eyes back to her reading. She couldn't help wondering whether Johnny would guess that Liv wasn't her, and if he did, what his reaction would be. What Liv would think of him after an hour in his company. As it turned out, an hour was when Liv decided she'd had enough of Johnny's company. Lucy's phone buzzed again.

HE WANTS TO TALK. ARE GOING FOR WALK IN PARK. BE HERE.

Lucy stared at the message for a long moment, feeling her heartbeat quicken. What the hell did Liv think she was doing" Did she really want to swap over in the middle of a meeting with the guy' What if Johnny caught them' The young doctor was momentarily horrified by the thought of the cheeky, c*cky Johnny Storm catching the twins as they tag-teamed him.

But ....he wanted to talk" And if Liv wasn't comfortable with that idea, then that must mean that he'd gone serious on her and she didn't think she was the one he should be talking to. Lucy frowned a moment longer and sighed, heaving herself up and out of her comfortable sprawl on the couch. The geeky half of the Broderick twins was annoyingly right when it came to things like this.

A few minutes later, Lucy was bouncing on her toes in the ladies toilets located in the park, tapping out a message to let her sister know where she was. The lights in the place were off, leaving her shivering in darkness, not particularly looking forward to the quick change that was coming up. A minute or two later, she heard footsteps crunching in the snow, and her sister's voice asking a question that made her wince.

"Have you ever had a monogamous relationship?" Liv was asking sharply, her voice growing louder as the couple drew nearer. "Ever been faithful to just one girl for more than one night?"

"That's a little personal, don't you think?" Johnny sounded slightly put out by the question, but at the same time a little defensive. "I warned you, didn't I? Play with fire and you get burned."

"Oh, that's right, Liv," Lucy muttered to herself, rubbing her hands together to stave off the cold. "Upset him just before you run away, thanks a bunch."

Her sister's parting shot, however, was a little more mature than Lucy had come to expect from her twelve-minutes-elder-twin. "Flirting and what it leads to is more than a little personal itself." Lucy heard Liv excuse herself, and moments later, the two women were hurriedly shedding their clothes, swapping boots, pants, tops as quickly as they possibly could without making too much noise.

With any luck, Johnny wouldn't be able to tell the difference when Lucy stepped out to join him.

That didn't hurt his ego a bit, but it didn't stop him from worrying she'd think him a freak or that being with him could get her hurt. He frowned and led her over to a park bench where he drew her down beside him and looked out on the snowladen trees sparkling around them. He used to like the snow, once upon a time. Where should he begin" "I'm....different, Luce."

Drawn down to sit beside him, Lucy still didn't let much distance open the space between them. Without moving around, she was going to get colder faster, which was why Johnny ended up with her pressed close against his side, her chin resting on his shoulder as he spoke. "Everyone's unique, Johnny," she murmured. "Just tell me."

He seemed to sense that she was getting chilly and drew an arm around her to keep her warm, his body temperature abnormally high. She'd be feeling toasty in no time. The easiest way was to tell her was to just show her. Odd how he had no compunction about showing off in the inn, but when faced with someone he actually....That was the problem, wasn't it' He actually cared what she thought of him, for some reason, he realized. "Not unique. Different." He paused a moment to consider his words. "Promise I won't become a science project?"

She snorted with laughter, nestling close as his arm wrapped about her shoulders. Lucy didn't pretend to understand how he was still standing and coherent with a natural body temperature that was so high, but she was prepared to take full advantage of it. "I'm a doctor, not an evil scientist," she smiled. "I took an oath to help, not harm."

"Right." He'd heard that before, but not from her. Bottom line was, did he trust her" He had to admit that - and he wasn't sure why - he did trust her, though he hardly knew her. He raised an arm, curling his fingers to make a fist, watching his own hand, focusing his attention on what he was doing, though he could do this in his sleep. And suddenly, his hand was enveloped in flames.

The sudden eruption of flame made her jump, a startled gasp ripped from her throat as she lurched back from the unexpected flicker of fire so close to her face. "Oh my ....oh my god, doesn't that hurt?" she heard herself ask, her astonished gaze flickering between his burning hand and his focused expression.

He didn't just create a tiny flame like he did when he was showing off, but let her see the flame that covered his entire hand. He had the flames completely under control. Though startled she might be, she was in no danger of being hurt. He immediately doused the flames, and they disappeared as quickly as they'd appeared. "No, it doesn't hurt. Not anymore."

Her fingers reached to take his hand in hers, her fingertips stroking over every inch of his palm and knuckles, checking him for any sign of burns or even additional heat from his skin. Yet his words were what caught her attention, the way he reassured her biting deep. Her eyes lifted to his face, a deeply concerned frown furrowing her brow. "But it used to," she said softly, releasing his hand gently as her eyes searched his face. "How long?"

It had been nine years, give or take, but it seemed like yesterday. Nine years to learn control and mastery over his abilities, so no one but him would ever get hurt, like they had once. "There was an accident, when I was sixteen. My DNA was altered and....I ended up like this. I know it sounds crazy."

Lucy had no idea what to say. How on earth could she offer any kind of opinion or reassurance to someone whose experience of life was so far detached from her own" "It doesn't sound that crazy," she heard herself say softly. "I met a man at the hospital today who can absorb other people's injuries into himself and heal them. Setting yourself on fire isn't as insane as that." She shook her head, twisting to look up at him. "Would ....would it be really rude of me to ask if you could ....show me again?"

There was something in his eyes, some hidden pain or regret, something he tried to keep hidden so no one else would see, but it was there, buried deep. "Luce, I can envelop my whole body in flames like that. I'm a walking Zippo lighter."

He wasn't supposed to tell anyone. It was supposed to be a secret, but it was ridiculous. He'd already been seen in action outside the inn. He'd made no secret of it. It was only a matter of time before his identity became known and his connection with the Avengers, but explaining to someone sounded ludicrious. "This..." He snapped his fingers, producing a much smaller but just as potent flame. "My life is a comic book." Literally.

Comic books were not something that had been a huge influence on Lucy's life thus far. She had little to base her mental imagery on as he tried to explain to her what his reasons for being here were. "I'm assuming when you say comic book, you're not referring to Peanuts or the Beano."

"No." He was being facetious about the comic book reference. He was aware there were alternate realities where his life had been made into a comic book, for him, it was all too real. It was all so complicated, and he wished it wasn't. He closed his hand and the flame disappeared. "I'm a superhero." God, it sounded so presumptuous to say it. He wasn't trying to brag about it, but tell her the truth.

To her credit, she didn't laugh. She didn't even smile, although her expression became a little tight as she forced the expression to stay beneath the surface. What did you say in answer to that' "Um ....do you have a sidekick, or are you a one-man show?"

"Haha, very funny." He didn't look amused. "The next time I try to be honest and tell someone the truth, remind me not to bother." He would have gotten up, but she was on his lap and he didn't want to spill her onto the snow. Instead, he only turned his head away so she wouldn't see the hurt expression on his face. "I guess I know now why Clark never told Lois he was Superman."

"Oh, Johnny ..." She let her smile show, her fingers stroking against his cheek before trying to guide his eyes back to hers, her head ducking to find his gaze once more. "Don't be so defensive. Think about it from my point of view - where I come from, superheroes are comic books and films. I'm sorry I laughed ....but I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Truly."

He slipped his arms beneath her and scooped her off his lap to set her down on the bench beside her. "I knew you wouldn't believe me." For some reason, he seemed to think she either didn't believe him or was making fun of him or both. He'd been through this before, and it was like a knee jerk reaction, but there was one way to make her believe him and that was to simply show her what he was capable of. He moved to his feet, backing away from her, and holding out a hand warning her silently not to get close.

Lucy frowned, confused and a little hurt herself by his willful refusal to see what she actually meant when she said it clearly. Rising to her feet, she backed up as he did, curling her arms about herself as she shivered in the sudden cold on her body. "What did I say, what?s wrong?"

The pain on his face was evident and it wasn't even her anymore he was annoyed with. It was his whole damned life. He was starting to feel something for her and he knew it was dangerous for them both. There was only one way to make her understand and that was to show her. "Flame on!" he shouted, and immediately he was engulfed in flames, from head to toe, his clothing melting away, the Human Torch in all his glory. "This is what I am, Lucy. A freak." And with that said, he took off, soaring into the sky, like a meteor going in the wrong direction.

As the white hot flame eneveloped him, Lucy started violently, lurching back hard enough to fall into the snow, staring at him with wide eyes. If only he'd seen what was going through her mind at that moment ....In her eyes, his flaming form was beautiful. And then he was gone.

Fury dripped through her suddenly, pushing herself up onto her feet to yell after him as he sped off. "Oh yes, that's right, run away, you big brave man!" she shouted, her hands clenched by her sides. "Sod that fact that I'm going to freeze out here without you - you protect your delicate sensibilities and be alone the rest of your natural life, you coward!"

He couldn't hear her - her voice wasn't loud enough to carry far through the night, her shivering already taking hold. She kicked at the snow, turning to make her way back to the apartment she shared with her sister. "Bastard man," she muttered to herself. "Coward. Stupid, sexy idiot."

He wasn't sure where he was going but he'd fly around for a while, trying to burn off the pain and the loneliness. He'd let her get to him. That was his first mistake. He had to be alone for a while and sort things out, even though he didn't really want to be alone. The only ones who seemed to understand were others like him, but he hadn't let any of them get close either, and he was far away from home, far away from those who understood him and cared about him. There were times when being the Human Torch sucked and this was one of them.

((Again, huge thanks to Johnny's player!))

He frowned a little, wondering if this was a good idea, after all. He didn't want to scare her. He didn't think much of riding a bike, but he knew it frightened some people. "Do you trust me, Luce?" he asked, in a serious tone of voice.

There was a brief pause as she gave this some consideration, edging closer to his back to selfishly make the most of the heat that radiated from him. "Yes, Johnny," she said finally, confidence in her voice proving her point. "I do trust you."

That was all the answer he needed. "Don't worry. I'll be careful," he promised, turning back around and revving the engine witih a twist of his wrist and then his feet were off the ground and the bike was roaring through the streets, heading north away from the Marketplace and the city at large.

If he'd thought she was holding on tight before, it was nothing to the sudden death grip that crushed about his chest as the bike roared to life. Even her thighs clamped hard either side of his as she laughed, ever so slightly hysterical with the thrill of the speed.

Riding a motorcycle wasn't very conducive to carrying on a conversation, between the roar of the engine and the wind whipping around them. The air was a little chilly, but so long as she stayed close, she'd share his heat and stay toasty warm.

He took to the road more carefully and slowly than was his norm. A bit of a daredevil, he loved a good adrenalin rush and loved living on the edge, but he knew it wasn't for everyone and though he wanted her to have fun, he didn't want to scare her. He glanced into his mirror every now and then as if to make sure she was still there, though he could feel the death grip she had on his middle. He hadn't taken anyone out on his bike until now, and had bought the helmet earlier that day with her in mind.

The unsteady tightness of her grip on him did slowly begin to relax, though there was no way in hell she was going to be loosening her grip entirely. But there was a certain exhilaration in whipping along the roads like this, exposed and vulnerable and thrilling to experience. Lucy felt herself laugh, glad they were wearing helmets. If they hadn't been, Johnny would have found himself being kissed. Who'd have thought the staid Dr Broderick was a bit of an adrenalin junkie"

He smiled to himself when he felt her relax a little behind him. Was she laughing even? He wasn't sure why, but the thought of that warmed his heart. He just wanted to show her a good time. Encouraged by her reaction, he turned his head, raising his voice over the sound of the engine. "Hang on!" Once he felt she was secure, he increased his speed, the bike feeling as though it was flying across the road, the wind and the scenery whipping past. There were trees up ahead and he was headed that way, away from the congestion of the city.

As the speed increased, so did her grip, but that didn't last nearly as long as it had when they had first set off. The hysterical edge to her laughter eased off as the city fell away behind them, her grin wild, almost feral with delight behind the visor protecting her face from the whistling wind. Lucy was loving every second of this, enjoying the heightened buzz of her heartbeat and breath as Johnny took her further and further from the artifice and traffic of the city itself.

It wasn't long before the city was behind them, trees on either side of the road as they entered a wooded area, and he slowed the bike down before turning down an unpaved road that continued into the woods. The bike weaved its way along the road until they came to a clearing where he finally pulled off the road and came to a halt.

Entranced by the scenery whipping past at such speed, Lucy almost didn't notice when they slipped off the road, her eyes drawn forward once again as the bike drew to a stop. The slight lurch as the brake took over entirely thumped her intimately close against his back for a brief moment before she slid her hands from his chest, reaching up to pull the helmet off. As her hair cascaded in every direction feasible, she laughed again, the sound just as wild as before. "That was incredible!"

He liked the feel of her against him, close against his back, holding onto him tightly. He hadn't felt that way about anyone in a very long time. He unclasped his own helmet and pulled it off his head, turning to look at her over his shoulder and smiling broadly. "I knew you had a little adventure hiding somewhere inside you." He straddled the bike, his feet on the ground to hold the bike steady and waited for her to climb off.

He looked over to find her head resting against his shoulder, and he let go of her hand just long enough to slide an arm around her to hold her close. "I know, but..." He frowned, sighing. "I'm not....normal. My life isn't normal. I like who I am. I like what I am. I've accepted it, but....it makes being with someone....difficult."

Curled against his side, Lucy sighed softly, her forehead resting against the hot column of his throat as her fingers slid into the back pocket of his jeans comfortably. "Well, I'm not that easy to be with myself," she told him quietly. "When my residency starts, I'll be working 36 hour shifts. It doesn't leave much time to have a so-called normal relationship. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disappoint you or anything. I think we're both difficult, in our own ways."

"Why do you think that would disappoint me?" He asked, glancing down at her. "What you do is important. What we both do is important." Yes, he had his serious side and didn't think being a "hero" was just a big game. He took the responsibility seriously, even if he didn't act like it most of the time. "I wasn't bragging when I told you what I am. I was asked to come here because..." He broke off a minute, unsure how to explain it. "Because someone has to stand up for what?s right. Someone has to take a stand."

"And there isn't any organised defence in this city against the psychos that habitually take their frustrations out on it," Lucy agreed with a slow nod. For someone who had only been in Rhy'Din for a week, at most, this was surprisingly insightful. Unless you knew that it was her sister's opinion. She twisted, looking up at Johnny with warm eyes. "You bag 'em, I tag 'em?"

He turned to face her when she twisted against him, and he smiled faintly. "I wish it was that simple." He brushed the tendrils of dark hair back from her face. "In a way, both of our jobs are about helping people. We just go about it a different way. You try to keep them alive, I try to keep them safe."

The job at the amusement park was just for fun and to earn enough money to support himself. His true calling, ever since the age of sixteen, had been to be a hero, even if he didn't like using that word to describe himself.

Her smile softened at the gentle brush of his fingers against her skin, her eyes almost tender as she gazed into his. The subject of the conversation was all but forgotten as she found her gaze drawn to his lips, forcing her focus to lift back to his eyes as she spoke. "Johnny," her voice was a soft whisper, urging him to lean closer to hear her clearly. "Kiss me."

She didn't have to ask him twice. His arms went around her waist and he drew her close, his heart beating fast. Though an adrenaline junkie who was addicted to anything and everything that was fast and dangerous, he took his time kissing her, slowly, languishing in the tenderness that was their first kiss.

As his lips closed over hers, Lucy didn't know whether the heat that flooded her body came from herself or from him. It was a sensational thing to experience, the half-expected warmth urging her spine to curve with the wrap of his arm, her palm lifting to smooth against his jaw as her lips parted beneath his. Slow and tender, yes, but with something harder, more demanding behind it, she drew in a slow gasp of breath, suddenly rising onto her toes to curl her arms about his neck, deepening that kiss with undeniable hunger.

His temperature, as if not running hot enough, rose a little higher. If one didn't know better, they might think he was on fire, his temperature feverishly high. But there were no flames, none but those in his heart. That heat radiated off him, but not uncomfortably so. He had learned control long ago and was able to hold her close without turning to flames. He dipped his head downward to return that kiss, lips parting with hers to explore further.

Briefly, her lips broke from his to ghost her breath over his skin, nuzzling close as her arms tightened about him. "God, I've wanted to do that since you almost knocked me off my feet at the hospital," she heard herself admit in a breathless whisper, her lips brushing to his once again almost before her words were done.

He reluctantly broke away from her just long enough to look into her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, dipping his head back down to brush his lips against her cheek, the side of her neck, her throat. He'd been with countless women, but very few who made him feel the way she did. Like it didn't matter if he was a different. All he wanted was for someone to see him for who he really was inside.

Whatever raindrops were hitting him were turning to steam on contact, but it didn't seem to bother him. What did bother him was the fact that she hardly knew him, but seemed all ready to judge him without giving him a chance. He'd finally met someone who he thought he might be able to build a serious relationship with, and she as scarred by her past mistakes as he was by his. He furrowed his brows when she disclosed a little about her past, anger flaring in him and causing his temperature to rise. Even he had never been that callous toward women. "I'm not him anymore than you're..." He broke off with a sigh, maintaining a small distance. "What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to have an open mind," she said softly. "Stop making assumptions about me and my motivations, because you keep getting it dead wrong. I know I'm not perfect, and I know I'm an idiot for not trusting myself to you straight away because of some teenaged idiot's hormonal gambling. But Johnny, I really like you. I wouldn't be here if I thought you were anything like him." She looked away, staring out at the rain falling on the grass, not wanting to see his face as he rejected her out of hand.

He watched her quietly, listening while she opened herself to him, taking a chance and being honest about her feelings, afraid he'd hurt her, as much as he was afraid she'd do the same to him. Not to mention his fear that her being with him was dangerous to her heath and welfare. He was trying to wrap his head about what she was telling him. She wasn't rejecting him outright, it seemed. What was it exactly that she wanted from him them' A promise that he'd be faithful" "Lucy..." His voice turned quiet. "Just tell me what you want."

Slowly her eyes turned to him. "For you to want me, and not what I seem to represent to you," she told him quietly. "You can't put me on a pedestal, Johnny, I'll just let you down. And I don't want to do that."

He wasn't sure what he'd done wrong. He'd been nothing but honest to this point. He'd told her he wanted to get to know her better. He thought he was going about it the right way. "I don't understand," he finally blurted out. Everything seemed to be going well, until he'd turned serious. Was that what had gone wrong" "I do want you. I....I know I'm an ass. I know I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, but I..." He wasn't really sure what he was trying to say.

"Oh, Johnny ..." Lucy pushed from the tree to wrap her arms about him, surprised by how deeply she disliked seeing him lost for words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you. Forget I said anything, I'm being a pranoid idiot." Her lips brushed his softly. "Forgive me?" A second kiss touched his mouth tenderly. "Please?" A third kiss pressed more firmly to his lips, the tip of her nose stroking along the side of his as she gazed up at him.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Lucy," he told her as he looked down at her, her kisses temporarily silencing him, his ego knocked off kilter, unsure now what she wanted from him. Not more than a few minutes ago she was talking about shagging and now she was worrying about getting hurt. Maybe she didn't want what he wanted. Maybe she just wanted to have a little fun, and he wanted to give her that, but he was maybe it would grow into something more. "Am I rushing things?" he asked, trying to sort things out. "Do you want to take things slow" I can do slow."

"What I want ..." She rolled her eyes lightly, curling her hands to his back. "What I want is a little complicated. I want the fun, the intimacy ....but I don't want to rush into any deep emotional waters. For one thing, I work hours that are too long and too consuming to expect anything from you, Johnny, and for another, I don't know if I know how to take things slowly."

"Okay, so you want to be friends with benefits, is that it?" He still wasn't quite getting what she wanted from him. She was saying she wanted a relationship but she didn't want it to get serious but she wasn't sure if she could take things slow. To him, it sounded like she was conflicted.

"No ....Oh God, I really suck at explaining myself, don't I?" A soft laugh escaped as she sagged against him, resting her forehead against his chest for a long moment. "Alright, let's see if I can make myself clear. Is there a way to take it slow without postponing the benefits?"

One arm slid around her back as she leaned into him, still a little confused but starting to understand. She still seemed a little conflicted to him. "Well, yeah, but....I thought..." He shook his head. "Why didn't you just say that?"

Her head tipped back as she looked up at him. "Because I'm an idiot who couldn't express herself properly if her life depended on it."

"Okay, so..." He still wasn't quite sure where they stood with each other. "Are we....dating or what?"

"Um ..." She bit her lip, blushing a little as the first answer that came to mind blurted from her lips. "I think if you come home with me tonight, we're dating." It didn't occur to her that he would then meet Liv, the twin sister she hadn't actually mentioned yet whom he had already met under false pretences.

He smiled finally, mostly because of her blush. "Why don't we cross that bridge when we get to it?" And then he was kissing her again, tipping her chin up to meet his lips, not taking no for an answer. If she wanted him, he wasn't going to argue with that. He needed to find out where this was going and there was only one way to do that.

((Again, mucho kudos and thanking yous to Johnny's player!))