Hello all my dearest friends and readers! I have been wanting to do a story based on this prompt for a long time and after quite a while, I have finally finished it. Honestly, I am not really happy with the final result, but I hope it's enjoyable for you

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Fantastic Four…

Broken Without You

Even in the early hours of the morning, stars flooded the sky which made what happened several hours ago seemed like it never happened at all…or what she had hoped they would do.

"It's all over now. You don't have to worry. It's never going to happen again."

These words continued to run through Sue's mind as she ran her hands through her hair again. It was 3:00 a.m. and despite being completely exhausted like the others, couldn't fall asleep. Just when she believed that her body had calmed down, the same moment and images replayed in her mind once again and betrayed her exhausted body. She kept trying to focus her mind on something else in hopes that it would put her to sleep.

Unsuccessful each time.

Sue knew why this particular memory had imprinted itself into her mind.

His appearance…

The way he looked at her…

Coming in and out of delusion…

Struggling to breathe…

Barely able to speak or move…

Sue had wondered how Reed was still alive by the time she turned off the liquid nitrogen tanks. She had been so close to losing him and by the way things looked, had she arrived later than she did, he would most likely have been dead or dying.

The only conclusion she could think of was that despite what Victor had put him through, Reed was doing everything in his power to stay alive.

Sue felt herself becoming angry as the moment of Reed's short fear of her re-entered her mind. She knew right away that it was Victor's fault for Reed thinking that way especially after finding the markings that Reed was too fearful to let her examine.

Although Sue wasn't exactly sure what Victor had done, it was enough to mess up Reed's mind to where he needed help sorting out what was real and what wasn't.

A new set of words ran through her mind.

"You saved his life. The pain wasn't your fault of his fault. Everything was Victor's fault. Reed survived because of you."

Giving up on trying to sleep, Sue got out of bed and walked to the window. It wasn't until after those words repeated themselves did Sue make the decision to talk to Reed and find out if he was feeling alright after everything that had happened.

Expecting him to be in the lab, Sue quietly made her way down the hallway hoping that Reed was there and would be willing to talk to her. With Reed's habit of putting science before eating and sleeping, she was pretty sure that he would be there either cleaning it up or just hanging out. She knew that science was important to him, but Sue wished that he would take a break once in a while…which was what led her taking him to the planetarium. She knew right away that Reed wasn't thinking straight when he told her of his plan to test the machine on himself. The results would not have turned out well especially since they both knew that Reed would be doing something extremely risky and quite possibly deadly.

Unfortunately, an argument with Ben after returning to the Baxter Building had prompted Reed to go with his plan and test the machine on himself. Which of course, gave terrible results as its effects on Reed only enhanced his powers and severely weakened him instead of taking them away like it was supposed to. Thankfully, Sue had been in the room and was able to help him recover (although he needed to rest for quite a while because even after her care, Reed was still very weak.)

After a while, Reed started to regain his strength, but when the lights started flickering and remembering why the machine didn't work, Reed decided to force his still weakened body out of bed and made his way over to the lab where he found Ben back to normal but unconscious and Victor clearly no longer himself. Despite not being on good terms, Reed had tried to reason with him. But Victor, completely ignoring his words, proceeded with the plan he had set up a long time ago. After being mocked by a sarcastically asked chemistry question, the next thing Reed knew, he was hanging from the top of the Baxter Building, unable to use his more malleable body to prevent him from falling off the ledge, blacking out as he hit the clock above the front door.

When he regained consciousness, Reed found himself shackled to a chair, cold and unable to move. Victor stood in front of him where he once again asked Reed a chemistry question, now in a more sadistic way. Knowing Reed was unable to answer due to his jaw being frozen shut, Victor chuckled and mocked him again by saying it wasn't like him to give up while taking one of Reed's fingers and bending it back until it cracked, causing him agonizing pain and his groans earning him another sarcastic question.

"Painful? You don't know the meaning of the word."

At the time, Sue had no idea that Reed had been kidnapped until Ben regained consciousness and said that Victor must have taken him.

. . .

Once Sue reached the lab, she suddenly wondered if this was a good idea. Randomly checking up on him early in the morning after such an eventful night. Despite their relationship being saved thanks to the planetarium visit, Sue didn't want to appear needy and pathetic to him. But a flash image of Reed in his frozen prison made the decision for her. It actually didn't take her very long to find him. To her surprise, Reed wasn't cleaning the lab like she thought he would. Instead, he was sitting at his desk staring at an empty flower container. Sue also noticed that the way he was looking at it seemed like he wasn't focused on the container, but rather something else. After a deep breath, Sue slowly walked towards the desk.

. . .

Unaware that he suddenly had company, Reed kept his focus on the empty container hoping that somehow it would make him forget what happened in Victor's conference room earlier that night. Unfortunately, it wasn't working at all.

The markings on his neck and jaw not only reminded him of what Victor had done, but also that he was foolish to think that Sue was going to do the same thing.

Even though they both knew it was Victor's physical torture along with the liquid nitrogen that led to the delusional thinking Reed still felt guilty. Sue was there to rescue him and for a short time he feared her…the woman he loves.

The way she looked at him when she first saw him.

How she kept talking to him when she found out he was delirious.

Reed then thought back to the results of the failed machine test. If seeing him frozen wasn't bad enough for her. He remembered Sue struggling to help him as half his body had basically melted. When she got him to bed, she made it clear that he needed to rest. For once he had listened to her, but when the lights started flickering, he knew that something was going on in the lab with the machine. Even though his mind was yelling at him to stay put as he would be making a terrible mistake, Reed forced himself out of bed and into the lab where he was face to face with Victor and the next thing Reed knew, the both of them were in Victor's conference room.

What happened next had literally been nothing but pure torture. Once Victor had pushed his head back, Reed had convinced himself that at that moment he was never going to see Sue again.

Despite him dealing with everything, Reed wondered if Sue had it just as hard. She wasn't the one being tortured but it was clear that she was afraid of losing him as he was just as afraid of losing her.

A soft voice took his attention away from the flower container and his thoughts away from the events that happened earlier that night…for the most part with the latter.

"Reed?"

He looked up and saw Sue standing a couple of feet away from the desk. She looked exhausted, worried, fearful, and concerned all at once.

Immediately he knew something had been keeping her up and by the look in her eyes, had a pretty good idea on what that thing was. But not wanting to jump to conclusions, said nothing about the subject and instead pushed the flower container aside.

"Sue, it's three in the morning. Are you alright?" he asked with nothing but pure concern.

Expecting Reed to ask that question before anything else, Sue had mentally prepared herself, hoping her response would be good enough for him.

"Well, not really. I was wondering if you are feeling alright after what happened." She responded, trying to hide her nerves.

Although his suspicions were confirmed, Reed did not know what to do or say next. Normally, he would just say that things are fine, but it quickly became clear that she wanted to talk to him.

The awkward silence gave Sue the impression that he wanted her to leave, but just as she was about to apologize for her intrusion and walk off, Reed suddenly broke the silence.

"Sue, if you want to talk about this, we can." He said softly.

Reed wasn't even sure if he could talk to her about what happened, but he was sure going to try.

. . .

A few minutes later, they settled on the steps of the lab and leaving Sue to bring up the topic again. Rising from her seat, she knelt in front of Reed and slowly put her hands on his face.

"Reed, please tell me what exactly did Victor do to you?" she nervously asked while slowly running her hands across his jaw and down his neck.

Since his suspicions about the conference room were confirmed, Reed prepared himself. But just as he was about to answer her, it suddenly felt like his jaw was frozen shut again.

Victor's sadistic enjoyment

His finger being cracked twice

Unable to breathe when his head was tilted back

The rough grip on his jaw and neck

All the agonizing pain he felt

Reed no longer wanted to tell her. If he told her, she would be more worried than she already was at that moment. He slowly shook his head and Sue quickly realized that telling her wouldn't be a good idea as it haunted him and he didn't want to burden her with his near-death experience.

. . .

Reed's sudden refusal to answer was completely understandable. She knew that if Victor was able to torture him to the point of delusion, then it would be something that he wouldn't want to talk about. Instead of asking him again, Sue rested her head on his chest, listening to the soft thuds that came from within it…slow, calm, and steady like it should be.

Then Sue wondered how quickly Reed's heart must have been beating to try and keep his body warm as the liquid nitrogen continued to take over it. At some point it must have felt like it was literally shattering due to the extreme cold.

Glad that she understood his refusal to answer and seeing her head glued to his chest, Reed gently wrapped his arms around Sue's waist, holding her closer.

Feeling Reed's arms around her waist allowed Sue to notice that he didn't mind what she was doing and welcomed it. He knew why Sue was listening to his heart and that she found comfort and relief in the fact that it was beating.

At that moment, he thought about telling her what happened in the conference room. But seeing her suddenly grab her shirt and whisper something into his chest that he was unable to make out made him realize that if he did tell her, it wouldn't turn out well for her either.

She had already seen enough.

Instead, Reed removed one of his hands and started to slowly stroke her hair while remembering his "reliance" on her to keep him alive. Growing up, Reed never really liked to rely on someone if he needed to, only himself even at a young age. He had always relied on his intellect which would usually result in both him being targeted by bullies and Ben coming to his rescue as well as taking the position of Reed's protector. It was bad enough that he had to rely on the one who tortured and tried to kill him for the funds needed for the space mission that had brought Sue back into his life.

But this time, it was completely different. His life literally depended on her. Even though she saved his life and that she was no doubt a brave and strong woman, he could tell that she was both terrified and angry when she saw what Victor had done to him and wanted to make him pay for it. But because he was still frozen and shackled to the chair, he was unable to help her.

"Sue, I'm sorry about what happened. You did not deserve to see that."

At first Sue didn't know what he meant but before she could ask, it came to her after a few seconds. Everything that went on in the conference room.

She had no idea how to respond to that. But based on his tone knew that what happened had imprinted itself into his mind. After a few moments of wondering what to do and say, Sue gently placed her hands on the sides of his face.

"Reed, what happened in the conference room was not your fault. It was all Victor's fault. You have nothing to be ashamed of. It was all him." She softly said while doing her best not to stare at the markings which Reed noticed. He thought about it again and decided to ask Sue if she still wanted to know.

"Sue, if you still want to know what exactly Victor did, I can tell you." He said while putting his hands on her shoulders.

Knowing that she would get caught, Reed asking if she still wanted to know somewhat surprised her. But his refusal from earlier made her question whether or not she wanted to know.

She already knew that Reed was nearing death's door.

She knew why Victor used liquid nitrogen.

She knew that Reed had been in agonizing pain.

Did she know enough?

Did she want to know more?

After some careful thinking, Sue slowly nodded.

"Yes, but only if you want to tell me."

With a nervous nod and voice, Reed began to explain everything Victor had done after trapping his jaw. As he was doing so, he remembered what Victor whispered to him after releasing his jaw and cracking his finger again.

"I know you are glad that it's you approaching death's door."

Reed knew exactly what Victor meant by that. Victor knew that Reed was glad it was him in the conference room and not Sue. He knew that if it was her in a deadly trap, Reed would never forgive himself.

The very thought of Victor suffocating Reed was something that Sue could not handle. The pain he must have been in, the added stress and fear to his freezing body and mind. Victor enjoying the fact that he was hurting Reed even more.

At that moment, Sue once again grabbed his shirt and rested her head on his chest…immediately hearing an accelerated heartbeat.

He was scared but he still told her.

She should have said no.

"Reed, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said yes."

Now flash images of Reed's additional torture went through her mind and after suddenly seeing everything put together at once caused her to finally break down.

Not knowing what to do or say at the moment, Reed just held Sue close and allowed her to cry into his chest until she calmed down.

This is exactly what he was afraid of. Seeing her break down made him think that he should have kept it a secret…not for his sake, but for hers. What's worse was that she was most likely blaming herself for her breakdown when it was his fault.

For the next several minutes, the only things that were heard were Sue's crying and repeated apologies. Once she calmed down, Reed took his turn to speak.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I never should have told you because I knew you were worried enough when you came in and I should have kept it a secret."

Suddenly, Victor's taunting remark played itself.

"I know you are glad it is you approaching death's door."

Reed never would have forgiven himself if it was Sue in his place. She was completely innocent and whether or not Victor had a plan set for her, Reed knew that she didn't deserve it. As long as it was him in Victor's deadly grasp, then everything was perfectly fine with him. Yet, she basically risked her life to save him and Reed found himself wondering what Victor would have done to Sue if the liquid nitrogen did kill him.

But as quickly as those thoughts arrived, they vanished. There was no reason to think that way.

Victor was now a statue on its way to Latveria where they will never see him again.

The entire team survived Victor's murder attempts on them.

Now here Reed and Sue were alone together proving to the former that his "reliance" on Sue wasn't a bad thing. It was something he needed to do. If it wasn't for her turning off the tanks when she did, he would have been dead.

"Reed, promise me this will never happen again. We will never lose each other." Sue hopefully said after slowly wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

"I promise that we will never lose each other. Everything is over. We are safe and I will never leave you again." He softly said.

For the next several minutes, they quietly held each other, not wanting to let each other go.

They already lost each other once.

They almost lost each other.

Both of them had fought to make sure that they would never lose each other again.

I seriously hope you enjoyed this!

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