Chapter Text
4.5 years ago, a guy, his best friend, his wife and said wife's younger brother took a shuttle and gained powers from space. Luckily for the planet, said 4 people are truly, fantastic human beings that use their powers for good. Overall a net positive for the planet, but people are still gonna people.
“Isley…” Harleen started again.
“No.” Isley snapped.
“We have no other choice!” Harleen reminded her. “And involving Alec in this is worse than the entire Woodrue thing.”
“Well, okay, first of all, you know Alec technically doesn't know-” Isley started.
A scream from the swamp was heard- an ugly, low one.
“Is!” Harleen waved frantically.
Isley thought hard for any other solution that didn’t involve calling the, ugh, Fantastic Four. She looked at Harleen’s frantic face and “Aha! Remember what you are always saying to me?”
“Uh, small talk is courtesy and that talking to plants isn't a replacement for actual human-to-human communication?”
Isley snapped her fingers. “Yes! That! How about we do that before making any rash decisions like alerting the Fantastic Four. Sue is probably busy, and well, I don’t really know what the rest do during the week other than Reed locking himself in his lab-”
“Isley,” Harleen interrupted her, “as your only friend I am compelled into pointing out that you do that too.”
“Um, excuse you I go to my botanical garden every day-”
“Yes I know plants are living things but they are not a suitable replacement for human-to-human interaction!
Isley scoffed. “Oh okay, and how’s that any different than Reed only talking to his wife and his wife’s brother?”
Harleen tilted her head. “You know, now that you point that out I have no idea how someone like Reed managed to date someone before the entire shuttle thing.”
“That’s what I keep saying!”
“To whom?!” Harleen questioned, “Your plants?!”
“Well, yeah.” Isley brushed a lock of her hair from her face. “Why did you say it in that tone?”
Harleen was in the middle of sighing when she saw it: vines coming from out the swamp that looked like they were heading straight for them.
“We’ll talk about this later.” Harleen declared. “Fine, let’s try your idea first. See if we don’t get tied up in a vine trap.”
“Thank you.” Isley said. She ran towards the swamp. “Yo, um, Man…Swamp Thing? Can we talk?”
Harleen and Isley walked up to the University the following morning.
“See, I told you that talking things out does work!” Harleen said. “And it wasn’t even my idea! Wow, I’m super proud of you, Is.”
Isley blushed a bit, scratched her arm. “I, um, thanks. I guess you are rubbing off on me a bit.”
“Pamela Isley?” A voice called out to her. A very recognizable voice, she might add.
“Hey, Reed Richards.” Isley turned around, a bit nervous.
Reed stared at her, and then to Harley, and then back again to her. As if he was waiting for-
“Baby animals have better communication skills.” Harleen commented.
“Oh! oh! Yeah, small talk, that’s what happening here because um, classmates way before the entire going to space thing.” Isley moved closer to Harleen for comfort.
Reed placed his hands on his coat. “It is refreshing to hear someone that isn’t my family talk to me like I’m not Mister Fantastic.”
Isley snorted. “Yeah, okay, I do understand that the rest of them let you do that because you were the one funding their living space, but like. For the rest of the team? Gloating much?”
Reed quizzingly stared at her with his glasses. “I’ve always wondered about that one.” He scratched his head, as if he was on the cusp of figuring something out.
“You know what would benefit the two of you?” Harleen piqued with excitement. “A hang out!” She threw her hands out.
Isley made an error noise. “Are you even seeing this, Harls?” She questioned.
Fortunately for Harleen, Reed seemed to highly consider this. “I can bring Sue. You bring…
“Harleen!.”
“Harleen.” Reed looked interested at the idea. “I will check in with Sue. From what number should I contact you with the details?”
After exchanging information, Reed finally hit them. “So, what brought you to the university?”
Isley paced their apartment. “We need a game plan. Something that derives from the fact that, oh I don’t know, we were at the university because we were sketching the groundwork for when we sneak into the archives and get rid of a certain number of documents?”
“Is, we haven’t even done that and you are already stressing out over a normal catch up between a college friend that straight up told you he appreciates how you interact with him!” Harleen commented. “Are you sure it isn’t because you don’t go out with friends because you don’t have them? And friendly reminder, I am your roommate so grocery shopping doesn’t count.
Isley groaned. “Why did you do this to me?”
Harleen rolled her eyes. “Because this will be good for you! Also, I talked to Sue on the phone-
“Wait, *you* are calling her Sue?”
“It is, quite literally, her name.” Harleen responded.
“Uh, not literally.” Isley shot back.
Harleen leaned back on the sofa. “The more you speak, the more you ain’t convincing me that I’m right. “
Isley groaned in despair.
“Jesus, you are acting like I’m telling you to cut trees.” Harleen said. “Is it really that hard for you to avoid saying we killed those Exxon executives?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me about the fact we probably did them a favor. Just because we didn’t know Sue was gonna gun hard against shitty corporate executives…”
“Well, to be fair, I think a lot of the alive folks complied because they thought it was either comply in the beginning or well. You know, us.”
“Mm, good point. Well, where exactly are we meeting them?” Isley asked.
“Museum that has a coffee shop in it!” Harley responded. “I’ve looked it up, its exhibitions for archaeology are divided into animal and other life species?”
“Yeah, fossil plants. They exist.” Isley confirmed.
“Huh.” Harleen tilted her head. “I guess that does track…”
“What.”
“Anyways. Wow, would you look at the time! I have to finish some reports before I forget!” Harleen stood up from the sofa, stretching her arms. “Also, it’s a museum, don’t over think it!
“I was looking for information documents penned by Dr. Theodore Sallis. I have his commercial books, and in certain parts he mentioned that a bunch of his undergraduate and student research projects were archived in here, and I know that he wrote that he didn’t publish them because they were like, really badly written, but that he hoped that someday he would go back to them and rewrite them-
Susan Storm was staring at her amused.
“I’m talking too much, aren’t I?” Isley sighed.
Susan’s face didn’t look annoyed though. “Right now, I am having a lot of pensive thoughts answered.” She hummed in kind. “Reed does need friends, Ben is sorta…”
“Contractually obligated, yeah.”
Susan’s eyes bore into whatever she was watching in the distance. “I wouldn’t exactly put it that way, because you know, Ben did choose to go up knowing the risks.”
“Mm, true. And I guess no one could’ve predicted that.”
Susan sighed. “Reed was actually friendly with the people that helped with other aspects of the shuttle. I know it doesn’t seem that he was more open in being in normal social gatherings before, but he was. After everything, he shut himself up into even the most minuscule stuff. He still feels guilty about Ben, and he’s-”
“The one that does the grocery shopping and takes walks around the neighborhood, yeah I’ve seen him around.” Isley finished.
“Lectures to college kids and small talk before meetings or an event is simply not ‘I do socialize with people, Sue’ excuse.” Susan stated, hands bunny circling the sentence.
Isley fidgeted with a hair lock. “Um, oh oh yeah you’re right. Definitely.” Isley looked around, and luckily saw the coffee section. “Oh, hey, there’s the coffee shop Harleen told me about. Looks good.” She took a step towards the direction.
“We should find Reed and Harleen first.” Susan reminded her. “Tell them where we are so they don’t think we ditched them.”
“Ah, yes of course.” As they walked inside the museum, Isley remembered. “Hey, aren’t you mad they closed off the archeology wing-”
“In the exact same day we planned for this outing?” Susan interrupted with a quiet fury. “Absolutely not, it would be ridiculous to even think about the fact that I was looking forward to something that wouldn’t have made me mark off this tedious month.” She paused, and then looked at Isley. “This double date might actually save this day, I love Reed but he wants to spend more time on the evolution of humans than the fossil sections of animals.”
“Didn’t know you were into archaeology that down.” Isley commented off-handly, and then she paused in her tracks, allowing Susan to go further into the museum before she noticed that she had lost Isley, who in her part had just been frozen to her spot.
“‘This ‘double date?’” Isley murmured.
“Woo hoo!” Now that was a successful outing!” Isley cheered.
Harlen smiled at Isley’s enthusiasm over a run of the mill day with human beings. “See, I told you, not all human beings are bad!”
“Well, I mean.” Isley suddenly turned her head away from Harleen’s. She tweeded with her thumbs. “Thinking about it, I guess it's all thanks to you.” Isley tentatively said.
“Aw, thank you Is!.” Harleen said. “Man, it was really great I decided to hide out in that empty warehouse, huh?”
“Technically not empty.” Isley pointed out. “I already had moved a good chunk of my plants.”
“And about that,” Harleen started. “Are you ever gonna do the legal paperwork?”
“I just don't see the point in doing it now. Everything in the garden is up to code because if it wasn’t it would’ve harmed the plants. If I take out the paperwork now, I might get fined, and uh, that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
“No no, I get ya, saving money for when you take out the legal paperwork and if someone decides to be a total bitch. But like, if we’re gonna do the entire University archives thing, I was thinking, maybe you could file an alternative request in another building or something? Just in case.”
Isley thought about it. “Mmm. Got it!” She snapped her fingers. “Reed likes archives, and no one would dare question Mr. Fantastic, right? Especially if the only thing missing is some apparent ‘dead’ botanist undergraduate papers. And that’s only if they find out in like, six months minimum or something, at which point we are in the clear.”
“Oh Isley.” Harleen remarked. “But you do have a fair point there.”