Moving In (Roxie)

[the_next_avenger]

The night after their discussion, Joe followed Roxie's instructions to get into the building and headed upstairs to the apartment to check it out. He politely declined the doorman's offer of assistance as he didn't want to frighten the poor guy with the weight of his bags or their contents. Between all the clothing and weapons, Joe knew Uncomfortable Questions might be asked so he avoid the whole situation by carrying his own things.

 

Once he got through the door, Joe turned on some lights and checked the place out. Roxie had really good taste; the place was furnished much better than the places he'd been in the last few years. He didn't even see any rats scurrying once the lights were on. The cleanliness of the place made him realize just what kind of dumps he'd been inflicting on himself since he left Colorado Springs.

He sought the nearest empty bedroom and found it, sitting his bags down and taking off his coat.  He was about to figure out what he'd sleep on when he remembered something about a rooftop garden. Now, he had to see it.

He found the access to the rooftop and stepped out, looking around at the place. Whatever he'd expected this place to be, this was so much more. Joe simply walked around a bit, getting an idea of the space. He could put a heavy bag right over there, in the corner, if Roxie didn't mind...

for a moment, Joe let all of his worries and trepidations about the world fall away and he stood near the edge of the building with his head titled back, eyes closed and just enjoyed the sounds of New York by night.

Comments

[avengingwarbird]

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" Roxie was hovering a couple of feet above Joe, dressed in sleek, black metal body armour that resembled a cat suit. A black metal belt with red highlights was slung low across her hips, and her black and red mace dangled from it, moonlight glinting off of its spikes. There was a soft breeze tonight, and it rustled through Roxie's hair.

Upon closer inspection, Joe would notice that a thin sheen of sweat covered Roxie's skin.

Eurynomos, an ancient Greek demon who fed on the flesh of corpses had somehow managed to escape from the Underworld, and Hera had charged her favourite granddaughter to track it down. Doing a sweep of all of New York's cemeteries had not been the easiest thing - especially not when some of them harboured vampires, zombies, and living mummies named N'Kantu.

"Because if you need to be alone, I'm fairly certain I can find something else with an ass that needs kicking." This was said lightly, though she was being honest. Her home was a pretty good size, but she didn't want Joe to feel as though she was crowding him, regardless.

Sometimes, experience had taught her, a guy just needed some alone time.

[the_next_avenger]

Joe opened his eyes and...wow. He knew she was demi-god but moments like this made him realize that Roxanne Danvers was a goddess in all the ways that mattered. Joe had to remember his manners and not stare at her as he smiled.

"I dig the mace and the armor. Who knew little Roxie would grow up to be the terror of the fashion world and the New York night? Okay, maybe you did. Greek goddess heritage advantages and all, right?" he teased.

"Actually, I was thinking about joining the ass-kicker's club, myself. I spoke to Bruce last night before I left and went on reserve with the Avengers. He gave me an idea of where things stand with you all and I wanted to help." Joe told her, shoving his hands in his pockets. It wasn't cold or anything but he needed to something other than twiddle his thumbs and he didn't want to talk with his hands.

"This place is amazing, by the way. I think I'm going to like it here." he said. "Rooftop gardens with extra privacy for workouts? Sold. But I'm also getting ready for a patrol." he said.

"How are you feeling tonight? Is everything okay?" he asked.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie grinned. It was something that she found herself doing easily around Joe - perhaps because he was so disconnected from the horrible things she'd been through recently. "Thanks. I find that it's a lot more practical than my last look." Granted, back then, she'd tapped into her Kree side more, and the look had been designed for optimal sex appeal, not practicality and ass-kicking.

"Going on reserve, huh?" Roxie lowered herself down, her toes softly touching down on the rooftop. "That's actually not a bad plan. With some of the upheaval we've lately, a few more helping hands is a good thing."

"I'm well. Just a little Greek mess-up that I needed to take care of, but that was taken care of...fairly easily." She'd almost lost a hand, to be honest.

"So, can I ask...what do you do when you're out on patrol?"

[the_next_avenger]

"That's the way I was thinking about it when I talked to Bruce." Joe said. "You guys could use some extra help if something big comes up."

When she mentioned that she had a Greek issue to take care of, a little alarm bell went off in Joe's head but he decided not to press it. He realized that he knew so little about this new Roxanne in front of him and that he wanted to know more but he couldn't just ask. Not yet.

When she asked what he did on his patrol's, he looked down at the rooftop.

"I help people who need it. I go after purse-snatchers, muggers, gang-bangers...all of them. Sometimes it's messy. When Bruce caught up to me, I was in the process of breaking the arms, legs and jaws of a few guys that thought picking on a young woman was a good plan." Joe told her.

"I carry weapons. Not as impressive as your mace but I've got a really cool knife. I also have a gun and a really cool bike. But I've spent the last few years trying to help out people who don't always get to see the Avengers or the X-Men or even the Fantastic Four types. People need heroes that they can relate to and...I guess I call this my way of helping with that."

He fidgeted as he realized that he'd probably said more than she'd asked to know.

"I run across rooftops pretty often. It's not cool like flying, but it's what I've got." he grinned.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie listened intently, taking it all in. It was very different from how she did things - she fought aliens and monsters from Greek myth and giant robots gone wild.

"Sounds like you have some stories to tell," she said after a moment. "But I like what you're doing, because with the Avengers and the others...it's always about the bigger problem, the crazy stuff that needs a team of people to deal with it before things get even worse. There's not a lot of soloing that we do."

The breaking bones thing didn't shock her or anything. Sometimes, a little brute force was required.

"Have you ever actually been flying?"

[the_next_avenger]

"I've got a few stories, not all of them bad." Joe said. "I'll tell you a couple sometime, if you want to hear them."

He shook his head about the flying question.

"Not unless you count getting on an airplane and a few simulations in school. Never really thought about it. I take my bike everywhere." he said.

"What's it like? When did you realize you could fly?" he asked.

[avengingwarbird]

"According to my mom, I was already floating before I was walking," Roxie replied. "I'm not sure if that's really true or not, but I've pretty much been able to do it all my life." If it was ever a power that she lost, she wasn't sure what she'd do. Roxie flew everywhere.

She was lucky that the tousled, windswept look worked for her hair, honestly.

"It's...there's a sense of freedom," she replied after a moment. "I can understand why my mom was a pilot before she got hit by the Psyche-Magnitron. You feel as though there's nothing much that can touch you - that you can go anywhere. It's...beautiful."

[the_next_avenger]

"My mom says I jumped off of anything I could find as soon as I could walk so I get it a little." Joe said with a laugh.

She described flying and Joe remembered for a moment how badly he'd wanted to fly in school. He was pretty good at it, but that was then and now he was here with a demigoddess who could fly, beat up bad guys and, from the articles he'd read, dance very well.

"That sounds amazing. Hey, I meant to ask you before about your mother. How is she these days?"

Joe had had a small crush on Carol Danvers as a boy. It passed quickly but sometimes he remembered it, like while in the presence of his roommate, who was also her daughter.

[avengingwarbird]

Everyone seemed to have had a crush on Carol Danvers. Not that Roxie could blame them. Her mother had been - and still was - an incredibly attractive woman. Fiercely intelligent, too, and so very much the opposite of her daughter. While Carol had never relied on her looks for anything, Roxie had built very much out of using her beauty to get ahead.

"She's great. Busy with her magazine, for the most part. We generally have a lunch date once a week so that we can get caught up on things." They had grown closer since the Kreenapping incident, it was true. Carol herself had been terribly violated in her earlier days as Ms. Marvel, and she understood better than anyone else in Roxie's life what the younger Danvers woman had been thinking.

"You should be here the next time she comes by for our lunch thing. I'm certain she'd love to see you."

[the_next_avenger]

"They were wrong to do that to you, Roxanne. You're a funny, smart and beautiful girl and you've got more to offer than just being someone's baby factory." Joe said with all due seriousness.

"And if those Kree clowns, or anyone, forgets that I'd be happy to smack them from here to Cybertron or wherever they're from their stupidity." he said.

Yes, Joe is a fan of the Transformers. No, he doesn't care because the sentiment still stands. His thoughts on Roxie being a good mom aside, he nods when she says she's glad he never let his dark thoughts get out of control.

"I am, too. It would've been unfair to everyone I know and love. Besides, coming home has been really good for me." he said.

"All that time I thought I couldn't come home because I was too different, that everyone I knew was too different, and it turns out that those differences are not a bad thing. I realized that maybe that difference is what I needed too." he said.

"So...where do you see yourself in five years?" he asks.

[avengingwarbird]

"I'm learning that change isn't such a horrible thing," Roxie admitted. "Sometimes it's not the most wonderful thing, its true, change is needed, otherwise...well, no one would have invented the wheel, and can you imagine life without your bike?" There was a thin thread of logic in there somewhere.

"Five years from now? I don't know. At one point, I thought I'd be working at my mother's magazine, possibly married to Vincent. Now? Everything's new and different and undecided." She smiled softly. "I kind of like not knowing what might come next."

[the_next_avenger]

"Yeah, I love my bike. Walking or running everywhere wouldn't be a lot fun. I'd have to learn to fly then." he said, digging into his food.

He nodded at her answer to his question. "Well, you seem like you've got the fashion thing covered. I haven't really ever known anyone more put-together, fashion-wise, than you." Joe said, after swallowing a bit of food.

"Am I doing all right with your questions so far?" he asked.

[avengingwarbird]

"Wonderfully," Roxie stated. "I hope I'm doing just as well though?" She stuck her fork into her food and pulled out a chunk of chicken covered in the tangy, spicy mango sauce, along with wisp-thin slivers of red onion and peppery shreds of arugula.

"I just feel as though there's so much about you that...well, when I was younger I'd sometime dream about how...you..." she twirled her fork around. "I'm trying so hard not to make things awkward," she finally said.

[the_next_avenger]

"You are doing great. I mean, I feel like I know a lot more about you than I ever did." Joe said.

Her aborted sentence piqued Joe's interest. Where was she going with this?

"Well, I don't want to make things awkward but...what do you mean? Wait. You don't have to answer that. I don't want to pry." he said, taking a drink of his water.

[avengingwarbird]

"It's not important," Roxie said, waving her hand as though she was just waving the sentence away. "Just a little flustered for a moment, that's all." It was clear she wasn't being entirely honest. "As a kid, where did you think you'd be as an adult?"

[the_next_avenger]

Joe was sure she wasn't saying something but he'd just told her that he wouldn't pry into something she didn't want to talk about. Respecting boundaries was a part of respecting a person as well as friendship. He decided not to pursue it for now.

"When I was little, I wanted to be the next Captain America. I wanted to train with my dad every day so I could fit into the suit." Joe said with a laugh. "There are still days when I imagine that I could be him. Be Captain America. But then reality sets in." Joe said.

"Now I'm just a guy trying to help people wherever I can and make the world a better place each day." he told her.

[avengingwarbird]

There was something about that story that brought a piece of history forth in Roxie's mind. She tilted her head and studied Joe for a long moment. "You're calling yourself Nomad, aren't you?" she said suddenly. Given everything he'd told her, it would make sense if he did.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie leaped back in horror as the doorman fell. "Anton!" she yelled, rushing to grab him. She hadn't known him long - she hadn't lived here long - but Anton had always been nice to Roxie.

And now someone had plunged a knife into his back because of her.

She pulled her cellphone out of her belt and quickly dialed 9-1-1.

When the call had been done she turned her attention back to Anton. "Anton, what happened? Who did this?"

[the_next_avenger]

Joe heard the yell and rushed into the living room, knife drawn and scanning the area. He saw Roxie checking on Anton, the doorman, and blinked.

The guy was bleeding out.

"Roxanne, what happened?" Joe asked, getting down on the floor. "Get the knife out and get his coat off for me. We need to put pressure on the wound and stop the bleeding." Joe told her as he stood and looked around. He remembered seeing a towel in the kitchen on the way in.

He ran over and grabbed towel then came back and tried to help Roxie stop Anton's bleeding. When he saw the knife, he paled a little bit in recognition but put it out of his head. They needed to save Anton right now.

"You called 911? Okay, stay with him. I'm going to find out who did this." he said, getting to his feet.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie reacted to Joe's words, unused to feeling this kind of helpless. She gently slid the knife out of Anton's back, her movements sure, firm. She'd stabbed enough things to know how to unstab something.

She placed a gentle amount of pressure (for her) on Anton's wound and frowned after Joe as he ran out of their home.

She'd seen the expression on his face when he'd seen the knife Roxie had pulled out, the flash of recognition on his face.

It meant one of two things, Roxie was sure. Someone connected to Melissa's family, or Tommy.

[the_next_avenger]

Joe, indeed, knew where the knife came from. He also knew that said knife could not be here unless someone was willing to open a coffin to get it.

It was a message, all right.

I'm going to take everyone you love from you, Rogers. And then I'm going to kill you. It may not be tomorrow or next month...but someday, your life is going to come crashing down around you. And I want you to remember what you did to her when it does.

He ran down the stairwell and into the lobby, sprinting for the front door. He saw a male figure get into the passenger side of an old Chevy Cavalier as the car screeched to life. Going for his bike would take too long, so Joe ran after them.

The driver must not have expected that or expected Joe to keep so close after just a few seconds. The car sped up and Joe stopped, pulling his sidearm from inside his coat. He fired three shots at the car as it sped away, hitting the trunk, the back window twice.

The car swerved wildly about one-hundred yards away and slammed through the glass of a jewelry store. Joe ran toward the car as the second occupant, the one who'd run to the car, crawled out and fell on the concrete. He saw Joe coming and reached toward his pocket for a weapon, but was met with a swift kick to the face from Joe.

Nomad reached down and pulled the guy from the floor by his collar and slammed him against the car.

"Who sent you?"

"I ain't tellin' you nothin', white boy. Pack sand." the gang-banger said.

Joe pulled his gun and placed it to the man's temple.

"Talk or I end you." he demanded.

[avengingwarbird]

The paramedics and cops were at the scene in moments. Roxie could have alerted the Avengers, but she didn't want to do that unless this thing took a turn where it concerned the latest generation of Earth's Mightiest.

As soon as she was able, Roxie was down there, by Joe's side...watching the scene unfold.

She froze. This, whatever this was, it wasn't her fight. She wasn't about to get involved. Unless she absolutely had to.

[the_next_avenger]

The thug's eyes went wide and wild as he felt Nomad press the gun to his temple. This crazy white boy couldn't be serious. The guy who hired him said he didn't have the guts to kill anyone.

"You won't do it. You're a hero." the thug said with a note of pride.

Click.

Joe remembered seeing Tommy pull this trick in a bar fight in Rolla, Missouri once. He thought his friends was crazy enough to actually pull the trigger.

So did the other guys. They gave up.

"You're just one gang-banger. I could send you to hell and sleep like a baby tonight. Who. Sent. You?" Joe snarled. He didn't yet realize that Roxie was next to him but the thug did, and he looked at Roxie with terror in his eyes.

"Help me! He's crazy!" the guy begged Roxie.

"WHO SENT YOU?!" Joe snarled, putting the barrel of the gun against the man's eye.

"He said his name was--urk!"

The thugs words were cut off as he began choking on something. His body convulsed and he went limp in Joe's arms, blood pouring from his eyes, nose and mouth.

"What the hell...?" Joe said as lowered the guy to the ground and checked his pulse. Then he cursed.

The man was dead. Only now did Joe notice Roxie.

"How much of that did you see?" he asked her.

[avengingwarbird]

"Your threatening him to talk, or you'll end him," Roxie said. She knelt down next to the man, checking his pulse as well. Not because she didn't trust Joe's judgement, but because it was habit for her to do so. "This involves you, doesn't it? And Melissa? Or Tommy?" She stood up and crossed her arms, looking at Joe expectantly. There was no anger in her eyes, only questions that she wanted answers to - mostly, was he alright? She gave voice to that specific question only a second later and watched, out of the corner of her eyes, as the paramedics wheeled Anton out. The police would have questions, she knew.

The paparazzi behind her would want answers.

[the_next_avenger]

Well, she'd heard everything. That wasn't going to play well with an Avenger. He was pretty sure they wouldn't understand; they didn't deal with people like this on regular basis, so how could they?

Roxie would find that the man was indeed dead.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I don't know what it involves just yet but I've got a couple of guesses. Look, can we not do this here? Too many people and I don't really like audiences. Not much for exhibition." he said, nodding to the paparazzi who were snapping their pictures.

"Roxie, is this your new boyfriend? Sir, what's your name?" one asked.

"Wait, isn't that Sam Rogers?" another asked.

Joe put his gun away and started walking back to the brownstone. The cops would want to know what's going on and he wanted to ditch the reporters and their questions.

And a small part of him that he would not acknowledge wanted Roxanne to himself again.