Growing Fire {Fantastic Five}

3) Rising Storm

Valerie POV

It was the day of the mission launch. I had already packed my bag, and I was at Susan's house helping her to get ready.

"I'm so excited, Sue! My brother may be a knucklehead for agreeing to Reed's mission, but at least I'll get to see space!" I chattered excitedly. She laughed at me and finished putting her hair up in a tight bun at the back of her head.

"You'll love it up there," Sue replied confidently. Then she got behind me and French braided my hair. Susan had already been up in Victor's space station with him a couple of time before. I don't even want to think about what they were doing up there.

"So who all is going?" I asked, shuddering as I tried to forget the dark thoughts of my brother's sex life.

"There's you, Victor, Reed, Ben, Johnny, and I, I think," Susan answered. I frowned. Johnny Storm was not a face I wanted to see soon—or ever again.

"Johnny's coming? Why?" I wondered.

"He's the pilot," she answered shortly.

I snorted. "Come on, Sue, you must be joking. With Ben coming, why in the world is playboy Johnny piloting?"

"I'm not joking, Val. My brother is a good pilot and he knows what he's doing," Sue protested sharply.

"You realize he got kicked out of NASA for sneaking models into a flight simulator, right? That sound like quality pilot material to you?" I retorted.

"I know that Johnny is probably not the best man for the job, but he's my brother, and he could use a break. I'm just trying to be there for him like you are for Victor," Susan argued.

"Fine. I'll give him a chance. But only because he's your brother," I consented reluctantly. There was no getting around Johnny being there. I was just going to have to ignore him.

"Thank you, Valerie. That's all I can ask for. I know how much of a pain my brother can be," she thanked me quietly.

"You got that right," I muttered under my breath.

Susan smiled at me and got out her makeup brushes. I sighed to myself but saw no reason why not. I trusted Sue with my face.

"May I?" she asked. I nodded my approval and Sue put simple makeup on me. She knew me long enough to know that I wasn't big on wearing lots of makeup. She applied foundation, eyeliner, and mascara and then packed up her hair and makeup bag for the launch.

"What use could you have for makeup on a space station, Sue?" I wondered.

"You never know when you could need mascara or a bobby pin. It's better to be prepared than not," she replied with a grin.

Susan was always so happy, and I had no choice but to be happy along with her, despite the fact that I would be stuck in space with her playboy brother. Space—where no one can hear you scream.

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Soon enough I was with Sue gathering up everyone's space suits in a storage room at the loading dock. I'd been avoiding everyone else that would be on the launch, even my brother.