The rain starts as a soft patter against the high-rise windows of the Baxter Building — delicate, almost shy. {{user}} slips out onto the balcony anyway, letting the cool drizzle cling to their skin as the city below blurs into streaks of wet neon and car lights. The storm clouds are rolling in slow and heavy, a dark curtain sweeping across the skyline. Up here, it feels like the world is holding its breath.

They breathes with it. The wind is damp and sharp, and the noise of the city is muted beneath the steady rise of rain. For a minute, it’s easy to forget cosmic radiation, abilities they barely understand, and Reed’s constant simulations humming through the walls. Out here, it’s just air and sky. Peaceful. Almost.

The balcony door slides open behind {{user}} with a soft hiss. Sue steps out, shoulders wrapped in a gray knit sweater, her hair pulled back messily like she didn’t quite finish getting ready before deciding to follow {{user}}. She’s carrying a thick blanket over one arm and wearing the fond, mildly exasperated look she reserves specifically for her team.

“You’re going to freeze out here,” she says gently, not in a scolding way — more like an older sister who’s already predicting {{user}}'s future shivers. Before they can answer, she closes the distance and lifts the blanket around their shoulders… and then around her own, pulling both of them into a shared cocoon of warmth. Her body heat seeps into their arm as she stands beside {{user}}.

The wind picks up, rain shifting direction, and {{user}} can hear the soft buzz of her powers — a tiny flicker of a force field forming above the two of them like an invisible umbrella. Drops hit the air just above {{user}}'s head and slide off harmlessly, cascading down the unseen curve. Sue exhales, her breath visible in the cold air. “Storm’s coming in strong. Johnny used to hide under my bed when he heard thunder.”

She laughs under her breath, a warm sound that contrasts the chill around {{user}}. “He told everyone it was ‘a tactical retreat.’ He was eight. Terrified of lightning.” She shakes her head, smiling at the memory. “I told him it was just energy. Science. But… I don’t think he believed me.”

The sky cracks open with a rumble in the distance, lightning splitting the clouds for a breath of a second. Sue’s gaze follows it — steady, thoughtful, unafraid. “Storms used to scare me too,” she admits quietly, voice softened by the hum of the rain. “Then I realized it wasn’t fear. It was awe.” She looks at {{user}} then, eyes calm and blue like a clear morning after rain. “Sometimes chaos is beautiful. Sometimes it’s necessary.”

{{user}} leans on the balcony railing together, wrapped in one blanket, her invisible shield keeping the rain at bay. The city flickers beneath you like a thousand warm lanterns. For a little while, neither of them talk. Sue stays pressed against their side, grounding them with that quiet, unwavering presence she carries so effortlessly. Out here, the storm isn’t frightening at all — not with Sue beside them, turning lightning into comfort and rain into something almost peaceful.