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[b][color=#ffffff]The Raft, New York[/color][/b]

[color=#ffffff]It had taken Johnny Storm and Rachna Koul the best part of thirteen hours to get to New York. They had driven through the night in a car that ‘Jim Hammond’ borrowed from Horton’s Auto-Parts with Phineas’ blessing. The old man seemed to be able to tell from the look in Johnny’s eyes that he wouldn’t be coming back. Once the dust had settled, Johnny would make sure to send some cash through to the old man for the kindness he’d showed him since showing up in Indiana. Though as Johnny and Rachna sat opposite the heavily-sedated Hector Hammond, it felt like it would be an awful[i] [/i]long time before the dust had settled.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Hammond looked even lousier than he’d done when he showed up at the Baxter Building. Perhaps the power cosmic had temporarily invigorated Hammond’s old flesh, because now it looked to be almost falling from his bones. Hector looked like he was rotting. He smelled like he was rotting too. Koul and Johnny did their best to cover their disgust – if only because they might never have recovered if they’d succumb to it.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~I must say, your visit comes as something of a surprise.~[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny sneered.[/color][color=#ea9999] “Yeah, well, you and me both, egghead. If it were up to me, I’d have burned you alive for what you did to Guy and Ben.”[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~But then what incentive would I have to keep your secret? I presume it [i]is [/i]still a secret? I can’t imagine the public would take too [i]kindly [/i]to the thought of interdimensional travellers crossing over into our world and assuming their counterpart’s identities. The world hasn’t changed [i]that[/i] much since they put me in this place.~[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The heft collar around Hammond’s neck dampened his powers to the point that he could only use his telepathy to communicate. For all intents and purposes, sat opposite them was a normal middle-aged man, albeit a grotesque one.[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“You’re just as ugly on the inside as you are on the outside, aren’t you, Hammond?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Hammond’s dewy eyes turned to Rachna. Though his limbs were lifeless and unmoving, there was something perverse in Hammond’s gaze. He looked Koul up and down and then eventually, once his skin-crawling assessment had come to an end, returned his gaze back to Johnny.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~Who is your lady friend, Jonathan?~[/color]

[color=#ff5151]“I can speak for myself,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Rachna said with a click in Hammond’s direction.[/color][color=#ff5151] “My name is Professor Rachna Koul and I am [i]nobody[/i]’s lady friend.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Hammond’s expression flitted from revulsion and curiosity as he looked again to Rachna – though this time not Rachna the woman, but Rachna the scientist. Eventually, something resembling a wet, whistling sigh left Hector’s drool covered lips.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~A shame.~[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Koul rolled her eyes at the statement and with an encouraging nod from Johnny steered the conversation towards its true purpose.[/color][color=#ff5151] “We’re here to talk to you about Franklin Storm.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]The mention of Franklin Storm’s name seemed to set Hammond into an instant rage. At least, the nearest to a rage that a man incapable of moving his limbs could manage. The sickly-looking veins on Hammond’s forehead began to throb angrily and spittled leapt from his mouth and down his chin. His bulging eyes became fixed on Johnny Storm.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~This is another one of his tricks, isn’t it? He’s sent you here to torment me. He wants to know what I [i]know [/i]about him because he’s still out there. That Agent Gardner of yours was lying. Gardner helped him to [i]pretend [/i]that he was dead.~[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“This isn’t a trick,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Johnny said with a solemn shake of his head. [/color][color=#ea9999]“He’s [i]really [/i]dead, Hammond. That’s why we’re here. We’ve recently come into some … information that suggests that maybe Franklin didn’t kill himself at all. We think he was murdered. Maybe even by people he trusted.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Upon hearing the words leave Johnny’s mouth, Hammond’s rage seem to be punctured. For a second, he almost appeared to be saddened by it. His forehead drooped, his breath sharpened, and his gaze dropped to the ground as if reflecting upon a lost friend. As soon as the moment had arrived, it passed – and it became clear that the sharpening of Hammond’s breath was not sadness, but excitement. There was a caustic quality to his eyes that seemed to indicate that Hammond was laughing – or at least trying to.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~It would not surprise me. You see, beneath that carefully-maintained veneer there was a cruelty to Franklin. He was a man with many[i] [/i]enemies – and a man that [i]deserved [/i]each and every one of them.~[/color]

[color=#ff5151]“That’s not true,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Koul shouted across the room at a volume so loud it made Johnny jump.[/color][color=#ff5151] “There wasn’t a cruel bone in Franklin’s body.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Out of Hammond’s sight, Johnny slipped his hand to his side and gently touched Koul’s wrist. It wasn’t a romantic gesture. Far from it, in fact. Johnny was simply worried that Rachna would lose her cool and end up saying something that couldn’t be unsaid. Without turning her head, Koul subtly nodded by way of confirmation and Johnny returned his hand to his lap.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~Trust me, my girl, I have known Franklin Storm a [i]lot [/i]longer than you.~[/color]

[color=#ffffff]When Johnny spoke, he intentionally lowered his voice. [/color][color=#ea9999]“You said that Franklin had a lot of enemies. Who else wanted him dead, Hammond?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Hammond seemed to clam up in response to the question. The quadriplegic’s body language was difficult enough to read in normal circumstances, almost entirely restricted to micro-expressions and tiny facial movements, but when Hector decided not to play ball it was almost impossible to read him. Worse still, Johnny noticed that the end of the fifteen minutes that Koul had wrangled with Hammond were nearing an end.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~Let’s just say that Franklin lost a lot of friends when he decided to climb into bed with SHIELD.~[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Koul let on a frustrated sigh and ran her prosthetic hand through her silken hair.[/color][color=#ff5151] “What does that mean? Stop talking in riddles, Hammond.”[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~Why should I tell you anything? What do I stand to gain? If Franklin was murdered, he was murdered – and I regret [i]only[/i] that I was not the one that murdered him. You come here offering nothing and expect my cooperation in aid of a man that I despised? Have you no sense at all?~[/color]

[color=#ffffff]There was the rub, Johnny thought to himself with a smile as his eyes met with Hammond. For all his talk of despising Franklin Storm, Hector’s opposition to helping them wasn’t [i]principled[/i] at all – they just hadn’t brought enough to the table. It made him sick to his stomach to know that Guy had been beaten half to death, Ben’s face had been permanently scarred, and their way home had been destroyed by a man so wretched and insignificant.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny swallowed his contempt for Hammond and asked the follow-up question the villain had so clearly sought.[/color][color=#ea9999] “What is it you want?”[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~This body of mine is useless. My brilliant mind languishes in a prison of my own making [i]within [/i]this prison with nought to entertain it. But you, Jonathan Storm, possess that which I covet most.~[/color]

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[color=#ffffff]There was shame in Hector Hammond’s eyes. His face said that knew that the request he was about to make of Johnny Storm was pitiable but he was going to make it all the same. Johnny cast a quick look up to the clock on the wall again as he waited for Hammond to claw together the gumption to make his demands. Both men seemed to sense that something untoward was coming. Yet whether Johnny liked it or not, Hammond held all the cards – and the super-villain seemed to very aware of that fact.[/color]

[color=#ffff00]~Your memories. The feel of a woman’s touch, the sun’s warmth on your skin, of sand beneath your toes, and the way they look at you, the adoration they [i]pour [/i]on you. I want it, Jonathan. I want to feel again, but not just [i]any [/i]life, I want your life. That is the price of my cooperation.~[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Johnny nodded and stood up from his seat. He was halfway across the cell when he felt Rachna’s hand pulling him back. [/color][color=#ff5151]“Johnny, no.”[/color]

[color=#ea9999]“You want to be a hero, Hector? So be it,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Johnny said as he pulled his arm free.[/color][color=#ea9999] “I’ll give you what you want, but in return you give me [i]everything [/i]you know about Franklin Storm. You so much as hold back a single thing and the next time you see me, I really [i]will[/i] burn you alive.”[/color]

Johnny's hand pressed against Hammond's skull. His skin was sopping wet but cold to the touch. Johnny could feel the veins on the villain's head throbbing against his palms. It would have made a lesser man's stomach churn. Hammond seemed to cherish the physical contact. Johnny wondered how long it had been since he'd been touched. Not long enough he thought, as a breathless phrase left Hammond's lips.

[color=#ffff00]~We have a bargain then.~[/color]

Hector Hammond's eyes rolled back in his head and suddenly both he and Johnny Storm began to convulse noisily. Johnny's limbs flailed about wildly and he seemed to be making noises that were more befitting beast than man. Koul watched on in terror through her fingers, sending a silent prayer to whichever deity would listen that in aiding her find Franklin's murderer, Johnny had not lost himself completely.