Beauty In The Breakdown

[eternalscribe]

Title: Beauty In The Breakdown
Author: not_from_stars
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Fantastic Four/Women of the Otherworld
Character(s): Johnny Storm/Savannah Levine
Word Count: 5,130
Notes: This came about from a conversation sky_more_blue and I had during RPing FH!Johnny and Savannah over Christmas wherein Johnny said he'd buy he and Savannah their own island. Then the idea came up that something happened during her first year of college that causes her to run away to the island.
Summary: "I can't remember everything that happened," she managed to get out. "I'm sorry, Johnny. I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" He shoved the words out through clenched teeth. "You cheated on me and all you can say is that you're sorry?"



Chris frowned at Eve. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Exactly what I said, Chris," Eve said in frustration. "I don't know where she is. All I know is that she's gone and that all the information I have is in that damn letter. She dropped out of school and said she needed some time away. She doesn't say why."

"Did something happen at school?"

"I don't know! I thought that you could find her!"

"Eve, I can sense her because she's still alive, but I can't seem to find where she is."

"Damn it," she cursed. "Something is wrong!"

Chis sighed and re-read the letter again.

"Mama,

Please know that I love you and that I'm safe. I need some time alone and away. I need a change and to make some decisions.
The first of these is that Wesleyan University is really not the place for me. I never should have accepted the scholarship to
there. I don't belong there. That being said, I've dropped out of school and the proper paperwork has already been submitted
and filed. All of my things will be shipped back home by the school. I know you're disappointed in me about it, and I'm very
sorry.

Please, don't try to find me right now, and don't ask Chris to, either. I've done a spell that I found in one of Kristof's grimoires
and no one will be able to find me while I don't want to be found. I need this right now. I need to be alone for awhile, Mama. I
promise that I'm safe.

Let the rest of the family know for me, okay? I don't want any one worried and freaking out. I just need some time to get my
head cleared up.

I'm sorry.

Love,
Savannah"

Chris shook his head. "This makes no sense, Eve. It doesn't sound like Savannah. Did anything happen at school?"

"She talks to you and Summer more about school than she talks to me, Chris," Eve sighed, dropping onto the couch. "Last time I talked to her about school, she was really happy and excited about something she was working on. That's why I'm so confused about this letter and about the fact that she's disappeared."

"Does Johnny know she's missing?"

"Not yet," Eve said softly. "He and his team have been out of the country. I've left messages for him. I was hoping to find her before he got back, but it's been two weeks now and we can't find her." She shook her head. "At this rate, he'll get back in time to take place in the latest search party." She looked at him. "She didn't say anything to you or Wyatt about something being wrong?"

"Eve, you know as well as I do that if Savannah had told Wyatt that something was wrong at school, we wouldn't have known about it until it was over. He hasn't said anything to me, so I'm thinking not."

Eve ran a hand through her hair. "Damn it. I hate this feeling."

"Which feeling?"

"This feeling of powerlessness."

"We'll find her, Eve. I'm not feeling that she's in any danger, so we have some time."

It was a week later that Johnny stormed into Stonehaven and looked at Eve. "How long?"

Eve sighed and Sean winced slightly. So, he had gotten the messages.

"It's been almost a month," Eve answered quietly.

"And you guys haven't found anything?"

Sean shook his head. "No one has. Not us. Not Chris or Wyatt. Not the Pack. Not the Cortezes. And we haven't heard from her since her letter."

"The one telling Eve she had dropped out of school?"

Eve nodded. "Johnny, she told you everything. Did she ever mention that she was having any trouble at school?"

Johnny gave her a sour look. "If she had, do you think we would be having this conversation?"

Sean sighed and shook his head. "I don't know where to look next, Johnny. We've looked in all of the places we can think of. We even contacted some of our friends in France and in Scotland. None of them have heard from her."

Johnny nodded. "We'll find her and get to the bottom of this."

He found her two days later -- and admitted to himself that he should have looked here first. Wasn't that what he had promised her that Christmas vacation of his senior year? He'd buy them a place that was theirs. Some place that she could go to whenever she wanted? As he had finally figured out, she was on their island as he expected her to be.

Even though it was dark, she was sitting on the sand, staring out over the water. He could tell immediately by her body language that something was very wrong. Her back was to him, but the change was still obvious. Her hair -- which she usually wore wild and free -- was pulled back into a messy pony tail. Her shoulders were hunched and her chin was resting on her knees.

"Sweetheart?" He called out to her as he approached. He didn't want to startle her. When she didn't respond, he frowned. "Savannah?" She didn't move and that caused him no small amount of concern. He sat down next to her on the sand and touched her hair. "Baby?"

Savannah flinched away when he touched her, but continued looking out over the water. "Do you know that it's next to impossible to purposefully drown yourself? You keep trying and trying, but your body fights you on it and it just doesn't happen. You'd think it would be easy, as rough as the ocean gets, but it's not."

That greeting not only startled him, it scared the shit out of him. He took a deep breath, trying to get his emotions under control. The flinch hurt, but not as much as the knowledge that Savannah had apparently tried to drown herself -- and more than once. "Savannah..." When she didn't say anything, he reached out to grab her chin and turn her face to his. "Damn it, look at me."

The first thing that Johnny registered was how cold Savannah's skin was when he touched her. The second thing he registered were the dark circles beneath her eyes. Frowning he grabbed her up in his arms. He needed to get her back to the cabin and warm her up. His body started heating up further as he carried her. She weighed a lot less than he remembered and he didn't like it.

Something had happened. He was as sure of that as he was his own name. Something bad enough had happened that she had dropped out of school and attempted to drown herself in the ocean. He kicked the door open to their cabin and carried her straight to the bedroom, where he gently sat her down. When she started to get of the bed, he pressed her back down.

"Stay," he growled, his emotions making his voice sound angrier than he had planned for it to. Again, she flinched and again he was getting more concerned. He grabbed an extra blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, before sitting next to her on the bed and pulling her close against him. To his confusion, Savannah didn't relax into him like she usually did. She stayed stiff as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

Of course, this stiffness allowed him to feel her ribs quite clearly through her skin, and he realized her could feel her shoulders more sharply than usual, too. This was really not adding up to anything good.

"Savannah," he said quietly, trying to keep his voice calm and level. "When was the last time you've eaten anything?" When she didn't answer, he again lifted her face to look into his. A choked curse escaped his lips as he got a good look at her face now that they were in the light.

Her skin was paler than normal, and there were hollows beneath her eyes and beneath her cheekbones. The dark circles under her eyes were much darker than he had realized outside. When he lifted his eyes to look into hers, he was taken aback by how full of despair and sadness her usual blue eyes were. Sue would probably described the almost black eyes he was looking into as being haunted.

"God damn it, Savannah," he said, struggling to keep his tone even. "Tell me what's wrong or I swear I'm taking you to a hospital and then I'm calling Eve."

"I think I've done something really bad, Johnny," she said. Her voice was flat and she dropped her eyes.

"Talk to me, baby. Tell me what happened and I'll fix it for you."

To his surprise, Savannah started crying. In a flood of tears and words that he had to sometimes struggle to hear, his girlfriend told him the story of a party she had gone to... a guy she had met... and a hotel room.

His jaw clenched. "You cheated on me?"

Savannah moved away from him and he didn't try to stop her. She went over to the side of the room, putting the bed between them, and slid to the floor.

"I can't remember everything that happened," she managed to get out. "I'm sorry, Johnny. I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" He shoved the words out through clenched teeth. "You cheated on me and all you can say is that you're sorry?"

Savannah's shoulders hunched more and she buried her face in her knees, not able to say anything.

Johnny stood up from the bed. He had to get away from her for right now. He had to go cool off. He looked at where she was breaking down and was torn. One the hand, he wanted to go and gather her up against him and tell her everything was going to be okay. On the other hand... he was pissed at her for doing this to him.

"I need to go... somewhere... away from you for a little bit, Savannah," he finally said. "I will be back and we'll... we'll talk." Or something like that. He had seen that she was still wearing his ring, so they'd need to decide some things. He was at the door before he looked over his shoulder. "Stay. Here." His voice was a growl. "Don't you dare leave this cabin." He wasn't taking any chances about her and the ocean after how she had greeted him. He also wasn't taking a chance on her disappearing again.

He slammed the door behind him, and stood on the porch for a few moments, trying to get his temper under control.

"Flame on," he growled, throwing himself up into the sky.

He stayed away from the cabin all day and on into the next night. He was doing his best to get all of his anger worked out before he went back to see Savannah. He didn't want more anger than necessary to interfere on them talking, but damn it, he was angry. He was angry at her for doing what she had done. He was also hurt that she had been able to do something like that. They belonged to each other -- well, he had thought she belonged to him -- and the idea that she had been capable of cheating on him really hurt him in a deep way.

"How could she?" he seethed for the hundredth time as he walked along the beach.

There were a handful of things that Johnny Storm was willing to bet his life on. Until today, Savannah's faithfulness to him had been one of those things.

"Damn it," he cursed.

He didn't want to break up with Savannah, but the fact that she cheated on him was hard to swallow. After something like that, he wasn't sure he could ever trust her again. If he couldn't trust her, there was no way he could stay with her, much less marry her. He'd have to leave her, no matter how much the thought of not being with him hurt.

But, he had seen the look on her face and in her eyes. Cheating on him had torn her up, he could see that. Hell, she tried to drown herself afterward. Physically and mentally she was destroying herself with the guilt of her actions. Did that mean she deserved a second chance?

Johnny was sitting on the sand watching the ocean and trying to decide what to do when he heard Savannah scream from the cabin. Hearing that scream caused panic to move through him and he was on his feet instantly and running to the cabin.

Unsure of where they stood now or not, there was no way in hell he was going to let someone hurt her. Not here in their private place.

When Johnny burst through the store, the scene that greeted him froze him in his tracks for a moment.

At some point, Savannah had gotten a blanket and curled up on the couch -- instead of their bed. There was no one attacking her, but she was still screaming. The blanket was tangled around her, and always unable to see her in distress, he knelt down next to the couch and started to try to get the blanket from around her. The screaming stopped suddenly... and it was replaced by words.

Savannah was talking in her sleep.

He knew it probably wasn't the fairest thing to do to her, but he wanted to hear what she was saying.

"Nice to meet you, Jake... no, I don't drink... the punch... something's wrong. I don't feel so good. The world is tilting... I'm in a car? How did I get into a car? What is this room? Where am I? I need out of here... I want to go home. No! NO! Get off me. You're not Johnny... get away... If I can get one of my hands free... the spell wasn't strong enough..."

Savannah thrashed around on the couch and Johnny was positive that all of his muscles were locked into place as he listened to Savannah reliving that night. He frowned. Part of him wanted to grab her so she didn't hurt herself... but the other part wanted to listen so he knew what had happened to her.

"He hit me! I have to get away... call for help... he's gone to check what damage I did when I bit him... the door... the door is so close. No... he's coming back... so dizzy..."

Savannah whimpered in her sleep and then went still. After he was sure she was done with the nightmare, Johnny gathered her up in his arms and moved her to the bed. He made sure she was comfortable and warm, before going out to the main room to get a beer.

He was so angry he was shaking -- and he didn't want Savannah to think it was directed at her. What had she said to him when she was "confessing" what she had done?

"I can't remember everything that happened that night."

Johnny took a long drink from his bottle, and then another.

There were two things that he was absolutely sure of right now.

The first was that no matter what Savannah believed, she had not cheated on him. That also brought about a huge surge of relief as well. It meant he could still trust her and not have to make any hard decisions about them. The second thing he was sure of was that someone was going to die. Someone named Jake, as a matter of fact.

Johnny could fill in the blanks in Savannah's memory pretty well after listening to her nightmare -- and he was glad he had listened.

From what he could piece together, Savannah had met this guy, Jake, at a school party. She said she didn't drink, so he gave her punch. She became ill and woke up in a room somewhere. She had tried to get away, but whatever made her sick also made her magic not work as well as it usually did. Jake retaliated by hitting her. That plus whatever was in her drink probably caused her to lose consciousness -- and who knew what this guy might have done to her after she was out.

And Savannah had been here locked in her guilt and grief over what she thought had happened for a month. A month!

Yeah, he was definitely going to kill someone.

"He drugged her," Johnny said out loud in a soft voice. "That's why she can't remember anything."

Shaking his head, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial. When the voice answered at the other end, he closed his eyes. "I found her. No, but she will be. Because I'm going to make sure of it, Sue. I really don't think you want all of the details. Let's just say that she's been under a misconception about a few events for the last month or so." Johnny shook his head. "No, Sue, but I do need you to do me a favor. I need you to compile a list of all of the schools or universities close to our building and elsewhere in New York that have specialized art degrees and programs. Because Savannah dropped out of Wesleyan and there is no way in hell that she's going back there. I'll explain another time. Sue, please, not right now. I don't have time to do this with you. Savannah needs me." He nodded. "Talk to you later, and thanks, sis." Johnny closed the phone and took several deep breaths.

There were calls he needed to make... and then he needed to go in the bedroom and hold his girlfriend for awhile. After what she thought she had done, and him leaving yesterday, he was pretty sure what kind of mental state she was going to be in when she woke up. He wanted to be in there before she woke up, but there was one call he had to make.

He flipped his phone open again and hit another speed dial number. He leaned his head against the wall as he waited for the phone to be answered on the other end.

"Dude, what's up? Did you find her?" Chris wasn't bothering with pleasantries when his charge had gone off the radar.

"I found her, Chris," Johnny said. "She was on the island."

Chris let out a sigh of relief. "Is she okay? Do you need me?"

"She's in rough shape, but she's going to be okay, as soon as she eats and sleeps for awhile. I, on the other hand, am going to kill somebody." There was an undercurrent of steel in Johnny's voice.

"Who hurt her?" Chris asked, his voice just as cold.

"From what I can gather? Some asshole named Jake," Johnny let out a breath. "Chris, Savannah has spent the last month thinking that she cheated on me at a party." Johnny quickly told Chris about what Savannah had said to him -- and then about the nightmare he had witnessed. "She couldn't remember anything that happened when she was awake and has been tearing herself apart about what she thinks happened. She couldn't tell me when the last time she ate was -- and don't even get me started about the heart attack she gave me about the ocean."

Johnny heard the sound of a glass breaking through the line. "What can I do?"

"Chris, I think she was drugged and attacked... and I want the bastard's ass for it." Johnny took a deep breath. "She doesn't know yet that she didn't do anything wrong."

"Okay, I need a little more to go on, but I'm sure that Wyatt and I can exact some revenge," Chris said. "Other than the guy's name, do you know anything? Like where she met him or anything?"

Johnny sighed. "I don't have a lot of information right now, but I'll be asking her more questions when she wakes up. It was at a party at her school five weeks ago. She only knew the guy as Jake from what the nightmare said. She tried to use magic on him, but whatever was in her drink caused it not to be as effective. He also hit her when she fought back." His voice hardened.

Chris sucked in a breath. "Let me know what you find out. We'll take care of it."

"I'll make sure she removes that god damned spell, too. She never should have done that."

"Yeah, well, when has Savannah ever thought with logic over emotion?" Chris asked.

He sighed. "It's what makes her our girl. Look, can you do me one more thing? Call Eve to let her know I found Savannah and I'll bring her home in a few days. If the rest of her family see the condition she's in right now..."

"Will do," Chris promised, not needing Johnny to finish that statement. "Tell her that we still love her."

Johnny smiled faintly. "I will. Look, I need to go. I want to get back in there before she wakes up and does something stupid."

"Good luck with that."

Johnny laughed, but it wasn't his usual laugh. "Thanks. I figure after I explain to her what I heard, I can get her to start healing again. And me leaving to go kill someone probably wouldn't help with that." He sighed. "I have never wanted to hurt someone as much as I do this Jake guy."

"Yeah, well, that's what you've got me and Wyatt for."

"And I appreciate that," he sighed. "Thanks, Chris. I'll call you tomorrow after I talk to her and see what other information I can get from her to give to you guys."

"Sounds good," Chris said. "Take good care of her, man."

"I will. You know it. Night."

Johnny hung up the phone and took a few deep breaths. As much as he wanted to go after this guy and kill him for what he had done to Savannah, the simple fact of the matter was that she needed him here more. He could count on Chris and Wyatt to do something to punish the asshole and he could take care of Savannah. She was his first priority right now. The way she had looked when he found her -- he had never felt as worried about her as he had right then. He finished his beer and got to his feet.

Besides, he could always look for the asshole at a later date if need be.

He went into the cabin and then into the bedroom. He frowned when he saw that at some point while he had been outside, Savannah had left the bed and curled up on the floor. Was her guilt beating at her so much that she couldn't even sleep in their bed? Shaking his head, he went over and lifted her into his arms and then placed her back on the bed. He put his cell phone on his bedside table, and then got into the bed with her. Reaching out, he gently pulled Savannah against his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

"I love you, Savannah," he whispered, kissing her hair. "We'll fix this, I promise you."

It was a long time before Johnny was able to fall asleep. He kept seeing the look in Savannah's eyes when he first found her on the beach.

Johnny was awakened by a loud crash coming from the living room of the cabin, followed by a mutter of pain and a stream of curse words. He jumped up from the bed and moved into the room. His eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of him. One of the large and heavy bookcases was toppled onto the floor with books strewn everywhere. Savannah was just starting to get up from the floor, rubbing the side of her head and then her arm.

"What are you doing?" He asked in a low voice.

Savannah flinched slightly and looked down at the floor. "Packing my stuff."

"And why are you doing that right now?"

She swallowed, lifting her face to look into his and then dropping her eyes to the floor again. "To get it out of your way," she said softly.

It was then that Johnny remembered that Savannah still thought she had betrayed him and that it was over between them. He glanced down to her hand. "Where's your ring?"

Savannah fought back her tears, not wanting to break down again. "I-in the bedroom. It's on your nightstand."

His heart ached for Savannah when he heard that soft whisper from her. It was full of so much pain, and again, he wanted to kill someone over it. "Come here, Savannah," he said in a gentle tone.

She lifted her head and Johnny watched as confusion crossed her features, before she moved closer to him. When she stopped, he reached out and pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms securely around her to hold her in place.

"Johnny?"

"Shh," he said, picking her up after a moment. "I'm going to hold you for a few moments, and then we are going to talk." He walked back into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, pulling her into his lap. He pressed her head against his chest and then stroked her hair. "Sweetheart, you seem to be under a few misconceptions about things and we need to get those straightened out." He reached out to his night stand and grabbed her ring. He then took her hand, and slid the ring back onto her finger. "First of all, you need to keep that where it belongs. We wouldn't want you to lose it."

"But --"

"No, you need to listen to me. Savannah, you didn't do anything wrong."

She shook her head. "I did. I cheat--"

"No, you didn't." He tilted her face up to his so he could look into her eyes. "Being assaulted and taken advantage of while you are in no condition to defend yourself is not cheating." He stroked her cheek gently. "You told me that you can't remember everything about that night, right?"

Savannah nodded. "But I woke up in a hotel room and --"

"And I have a pretty good idea of how you got there."

"I don't --"

He placed a finger against her lips. "You had a nightmare last night and you talked in your sleep, sweetheart."

Savannah paled. "I did?"

He nodded. "You did, and I'm glad you did. From what I gathered from your screaming and fighting, you were drugged and taken away from the party to the hotel. You tried to fight back, but the drug affected your magic too -- and he hit you." His eyes darkened in anger as he explained this to her. "You didn't cheat on me, love. That guy Jake, he drugged you and then took advantage of you. You didn't do anything wrong. You definitely did not cheat on me and there is no reason that you should have been torturing yourself for the last few weeks."

Tears filled Savannah's eyes and slid down her cheeks. "I didn't betray you? I didn't break us?"

He shook his head and rocked with her. "No, sweetheart, you didn't. That asshole messed with you. I called Chris and he and Wyatt are going to take care of him so I can stay here and take care of you. As much as I would like to kill him for what he did to you -- and what he's caused you to think these last few weeks -- but right now, I need to take care of you. You need to eat, and you need to get some real sleep. I told Chris to call Eve and let her know that we'd be back in a few days." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "We'll get you through this and get you registered for school again."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not going back there. I'm not."

"Easy love, easy. I didn't mean you'd have to go back to Wesleyan University. I would never expect you to do that. But, you are going back to school. Sue is researching schools in New York that have excellent art programs for you." He tilted her face up and looked down into her eyes. "It's going to be okay, Savannah, I promise you that."

"I believe you," she said softly.

Johnny nodded and moved her off of his lap to lay her in the bed. He covered her up with the blankets and then gave her a serious look. "You are spending at least the rest of today and maybe tomorrow in bed and get rest. You're too thin and you're too pale. I don't want any arguments out of you, got it."

"You're going to stay with me, right?"

Johnny looked down at her. "I'm not leaving, Savannah, I promise. I'll be close by if you need me."

"I always need you."

He laughed softly and leaned down to kiss her. "Yes, but right now, you need rest. I'm going to clean up the mess in the living room and get some food put together." He ran his hand down to cup her face. "I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me."

"Forever?" She murmured.

Johnny could see that things were catching up with her as she fought to keep her eyes open. "Yes, baby. Forever. Now get some sleep."

He sat with her until he was sure she was sleeping, and then he headed out into the main room of the cabin, where he stared out the window at the ocean for a long time. There was an asshole out there somewhere that was really lucky that Savannah needed him so much right now. Seeing how she had been beating herself up, and thinking about what her nightmare told him about what she had gone through, he wanted to kill him. He took a deep breath. Chris and Wyatt would take care of things, he didn't doubt that for a moment -- and honestly, he didn't want to leave Savannah alone right now. He wasn't sure if she would believe everything he told her if she woke up and he was gone.

Shaking his head, he narrowed his eyes. One day, he'd find this guy and explain to him what happened when you messed with Johnny Storm's girl.

However, right now he had a bookcase he needed to fix.