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Homecoming

Joe hit the rooftop and rolled immediately to spread out the impact, glad that his reinforced boots absorbed the shock better than his old ones. He came up from the roll and kept running, his black trenchcoat moving behind him like a cape. The scents and sounds of New York were so familiar, so inviting that the cold night didn't seem foreboding at all. In fact, it was so inviting that he'd almost wished he'd come home sooner.

Soon, he'd have to stop by the mansion and see some of his other friends. Sammy brought him home but there were others who needed to know he was back. Now that he knew Bruce was running the Avengers, he had to pay his respects and find out where things stood between them. They'd last spoken a few years ago and the conversation hadn't ended well. Since then, it seemed that the Captain had taken a shine to Bruce and really liked him. Secretly, Joe had always wondered if his father wished he was more like his friend rather than a drifter, but Joe never brought it up because he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.

A scream split the night air and Joe immediately adjusted his position due west, in the direction of the sound. One block over in a dark alley, three thugs had cornered a young woman and were making lewd gestures at her in concert with verbal description of what they'd like to do to her. Joe didn't like guys who harassed women and so he leaped down into the alley, coming up behind the group.

"Look guys, I'm gonna make this real simple. Let the nice lady go and I'll only break a hand, jaw or leg before you go to jail." Joe said, pointing at each man respectively as he indicated which limb they'd get broken.

"Make this a fight and all of you will spend six months in the hospital and THEN go to jail. Your choice." he said, turning slightly so that he wasn't facing any of them directly.

Two of the thugs chose to try circling him so that he couldn't get away while the third guy grabbed the woman and held a knife to her.

"And which super-chump are you supposed to be?" the thug asked.

Joe sighed and waited for them to attack.

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Joe pulled up to Avengers Mansion to meet Bruce and check the place out. It was just as big as he remembered it. No, wait. It was bigger still. Every time he'd come here, he'd had the time of his life, at least when he was a boy.

As he got older, though, the place became a museum to his father's legacy and something of a reminder of the man he wasn't.

He knocked on the door, unwilling to just walk inside and hoped that he didn't get fried by the security.

"Hey, Bruce. You here?" Joe called out.

It was one of those days where she was lounging at the Mansion again, craving company of some sort. Roxie felt lonely after her break-up with Vincent, that much was true, but she also wasn't looking to get back into any of that with anyone right now.

She still had a lot of things to figure out.

Still, she'd spent the day at the Mansion, clearing the fridge clean out of any baked goods that Jarvis might have stock-piled in there.

There was a Roxie-sized dent in the red wine as well, though Roxie herself wasn't drunk. It took a lot more than that to get the demi-goddess wasted.

She was the first to the door after she heard it knock. Not at all carefully - after all, the voice on the other end was looking for Bruce, so how dangerous could whoever was on the other side be? - she swung open the door, and blinked.

Staring back at her was a face she hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Joe?"

Joe's face had at least two days of stubble and he was somewhat taller than when he'd left. He looked down at the woman in front of him and, for the second time that evening, he felt like he knew the person in front of him but he could exactly place it.

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Roxanne Danvers? Is that you?" he asked, squinting a bit at the hair color. She was blonde the last time he saw her, several years ago, he was sure of it. But the dark hair suited him.

His gruff exterior immediately softened and he offered her one of his trademarked all-American smiles.

"Wow. You look great. Not that you didn't before or anything. I mean...yeah. How are you?" he asked, looking for a topic of conversation that didn't go into Roxie's looks. He remembered her being very pretty...as well as very much about having fun.

Joe used to be the opposite of fun.

"You're still short." he said, teasing her about her height. He used to do that a lot to both her and Sammy.

She blinked a couple of times, disbelieving her eyes. Joe. He'd been one of her first big crushes, which wasn't all too surprising. You'd have to be an LMD not to have a crush on someone who shared Captain America's genes. He'd enlisted one day, and then disappeared. That had been a few years ago, and she hadn't honestly given him much thought since, except to once in awhile wonder where he had disappeared off to.

The cold, sullen look that had taken the place of what had once been a bright, sparkling smile broke a little as Roxie smiled at him, while cursing her misfortune. There had been a time, before the Kreenapping, when Roxie would have been all over Joe right then, like green on grass.

She tended not to take no for an answer.

But she was a different woman now.

Still, she pulled her old friend into a warm, if brief, hug, and then grabbed him by his arms and pulled him into the Mansion.

Finally, she said, "Me? You're the giant!" Roxie's eyes swept over him. He'd always been taller than her, but he had gotten so much taller since she'd seen him last. "You look fantastic, though." If a little scruffy, but it worked on him.

"How have you...where have you...how is everything?" She was leading him into the kitchen as she hammered him with questions. There may not have been any pies or tarts or cakes left, but there were things for sandwiches.

Joe hugged Roxie, noting that she'd definitely grown up in the last few years. She was pretty back then, but she was far too young for him. Now she was gorgeous and...he couldn't go to that place in his head.

Not now and maybe not ever again.

He was a different man.

"Thank you. You look amazing, like I said." he followed her inside the mansion and did his best to keep his mind on the conversation and Roxie. Something about her seemed different, and not just her hair.

"I've been good. I've been...traveling. Let's say that. Things didn't work out with military school." Joe said. The tone of his voice indicated that there was a lot more to that story that he wasn't talking about.

"Things are all right. Mom and the Captain were glad to see me. Sammy found me in St. Louis and talked me into coming home." he told her.

"What about you? Know any cool places to hang out? I could use a night out soon but I don't know how much New York has changed." he said. Roxie knew how to have a good time and where to hang out. She also knew other things, but Joe did his best not to judge someone on how they lived their life, so long as they weren't hurting anyone else.

It didn't always work, but he tried.

Roxie indicated the island in the center of the kitchen with its assortment of chairs and barstools - all of which seemed to work together. There were different kinds, to accommodate the variety of people who inhabited the Mansion. She nodded at one, implying that Joe should take a seat.

She then reached into the fridge and pulled out a variety of meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments and laid them carefully across the island in front of Joe, and then turned back to get a plate, a few knives, and the cutting board.

As she set to making him a sandwich, she snuck a look at Joe. The way he'd paused before he said the word "traveling" piqued Roxie's curiosity. When they'd been younger, he'd still been a little older than her, and so she knew there were certain things about his life that she was unaware of. And unlike Roxie's later years, where she'd appeared in the society pages and gossip columns for her antics and exploits - both in and out of costume - Joe had pretty much disappeared.

"Sammy's good at that," Roxie nodded, brushing past the military school bit. There was something there - a story - but Roxie didn't want to push. Joe had just returned, and scaring him away was pretty much the last thing she wanted to do.

He would, she hoped, open up when he was ready.

"New York is...New York," Roxie said. "A new hotspot every week, but the old pizza places, falafel stands, and hot dog vendors are still the better than the new places that crop up." Truth be told, it had been a very long while since Roxie had slipped into something shimmery and barely there and gone out for a night on the town, having her choice of men available to her to do with whatever it was that pleased her most.

"I have a permanent invitation to the Boom Boom Room and Le Bain, but if you're into tons of celebrities and kitschy eighties decor, Ph-D at Dream Town isn't too bad." She paused. "Westway is nice, but small, and a little hipstery." She said that last word a little disdainfully. She didn't understand that whole irony thing. Just be who you are and do things because you feel like it, not because you're trying to make some bizarre statement. "There are other, more low-key places, too."

Joe sat down at the island and watched as Roxie made him a sandwich and actually felt really good for a bit. He hadn't had a homemade meal in...well, longer than he'd like to think about. And the last woman who'd done so for him...well, he didn't want to think about her, either.

"Yeah, Sammy is good at getting people to think about things other than themselves. She kind of saved me. I wasn't doing so well, though I fooled myself into thinking I was." Joe said, sneaking a look at Roxie while her back was turned. Yes, he was sure there was something different about her, something in the way she stood and carried herself. When she answered the door, Joe thought he saw an unhappiness or an anger in her expression that vanished when she realized it was him.

Was she expecting someone else?

Now as she talked about the New York hotspots, Joe noted that Roxie wasn't talking about them with the same flair she used to use when talking about fun. She loved having fun and seeing new places. He'd read about her exploits in the society pages when he was in Colorado and then while was on the move. It was one of the few things that connected him to home. She usually hung out with different people and he figured she was enjoying herself. The woman he saw before him barely bore a resemblance to happy, flighty girl he used to know.

He started ask her if something was wrong but then stopped himself. He didn't want to pry into her life; he was practically a stranger to her after all this time. Why would she trust him if she had a problem.

"I really like the small and low-key spots. I used to love shopping at the Mom and Pop places I came across while I was...traveling. St. Louis had a lot of great barbecue spots that you had to really look for. The locals always know the best places to eat and hang out. I haven't been to a club since sophomore year at the Springs." he said.

"Do you still go to those places? Maybe you could show me around sometime, if we're not both punching out baddies?" he suggested.

Edited 2012-11-10 02:22 (UTC)

Roxie slid a plate laden with a few different kinds of sandwiches in front of Joe, along with a pitcher of ice-cold lemonade. "It's funny," she said, "the sorts of things we fool ourselves into thinking."

Yeah, there was enough baggage in that room, right then, to fill an entire baggage claim area at LaGuardia.

She reached back into the fridge and came out with an oversized container of potato salad, which she carefully scooped out into a large bowl before passing that over to Joe as well.

One didn't just come home and not eat.

Roxie nodded her head and leaned against the counter opposite her friend, pulling all of her long, dark brown hair over to one side, absently brushing through it with her fingers. "Anytime you want to go, I'm game," she smiled.

And then, after a moment's hesitation, "...I don't want to pry, but..." she paused. "You know, never mind. I'm glad you're back."

Joe took a moment to be polite and then dug into the food with abandon. He took the first pair of bites of a sandwich with grace and table manners, but soon the bowl of potato salad had migrated to his side of the counter, as if by magic.

The pitcher of lemonade might also have ended up with a Joe-sized dent in it after a few minutes.

When she said yes to showing him around, Joe smiled around a bite of sandwich, then wiped his mouth as he realized how much of a pig he was being.

"Sorry. Really haven't had a homemade meal in a while." he said.

She started to ask him something and then stopped.

"No, wait. What were you going to say?" he asked, finally swallowing this bite and pausing before the next so she could speak again.

"No, don't apologize," Roxie said with a chuckle. "You weren't here ten minutes ago when I was surrounded by pie and cake and a bunch of other pastries." She paused. "Which, I'm sorry, but I left no baked goods for anyone. Though there might be ice cream, if you're interested?" She was already in the freezer, digging around, before coming out with a trio of ice cream cartons. Rocky road, peanut butter banana chip, and dulce de leche.

She set the cartons in front of Joe, with a sextet of spoons. It was only the two of them, after all, and grocery day was fast approaching.

"I was about to asking something incredibly personal, and I realized that I shouldn't pry," she said. "Are the sandwiches okay?" This was asked as she pried the lid off of the peanut butter banana monstrosity and dug into it.

Joe points at the Rocky Road. It was his favorite of all ice creams; cookies and creme ran a close second. In any case, Joe was going to enjoy it. He hadn't had Rocky Road since...yeah.

After he finished the sandwich, he picked up a spoon and smiled at Roxie.

"Personal questions are not necessarily a bad thing. You can ask and if I can answer, I will. If not, then I'll tell you I can't." Joe said.

"But if you ask me a personal question and I answer, then I get to ask you one in return. Fair deal?"

Edited 2012-11-10 04:06 (UTC)

Roxie thoughtfully bit into a ribbon of peanut butter, letting the warmth of the banana flavor underneath burst into her mouth. She slid up onto the counter across from Joe and crossed her legs, one dark denim clad leg over the other. "Fair enough," Roxie replied. "We've known each other long enough to where I think I can answer whatever you throw at me." She dropped the spoon back into the carton and stared at Joe for a long moment. "How are you, Joe? Really? You pretty much dropped off the face of the planet for awhile."

The simplicity of the question caught Joe off-guard. The spoon stopped halfway to his mouth and he looked up at Roxie, perched upon the counter, and something in his expression changed. Suddenly, he wasn't looking so much at her, or even through her, but back down the years to a place he didn't really want to go. He wasn't even sure why he was telling her this but...he didn't want Sammy or Bruce to see him the way he saw himself. It was the same reason he hadn't told his mother and father the details of what happened.

"I'm here, Roxanne. I got kicked out of the Air Force Academy for violating the Honor Code. It was one of the only things I ever really wanted and I...I blew it. I wrecked the life of someone I cared about and I can't make up for that. I can't fix it. I was arrogant and an innocent person paid the price for it.

I couldn't take the disappointment I saw in my dad's eyes when he confronted me about it. I couldn't tell him what I'd done. I'm the son of the most stalwart and righteous man walking the earth and when it was time to do him proud, I blew it." Joe told her.

"So I ran like a coward. I got on my bike and started moving from place to place, taking out my anger at my cowardice on any thug I could see. I told myself I was making up for what I'd done, but you don't really come back from something like this. I didn't care if they killed me. I didn't think about what it would do to my parents if someone found my cold, stiff carcass in a dumpster someday." he said, pausing. Only now did he take a bite of the ice cream and look up at her.

"The night Sammy found me, I had three broken ribs and I was in bad shape. The nights were getting to me. I narrowly escaped being blown up and it was literally dumb luck that got me out. I...I wasn't really trying to get out.

So, I'm here. I screwed up and people got hurt. Samuel Rogers, son of Captain America and all-American Screw-Up, reporting for duty, ma'am." he finished, his voice bitter and full of self-loathing.

Edited 2012-11-10 05:13 (UTC)

Silently, Roxie slid off of the counter and set aside her pint of ice cream. She walked around the island, stood behind Joe, and wrapped her arms around him, hugging Joe with all of her strength. She didn't say anything. Sometimes, words weren't a good place to start. Sometimes, they weren't enough.

Joe sat there silently for what seemed like an eternity. He was out of tears; those had been cried out during the first few months after everything had gone down. He still had nightmares about all of it. The gunshots, the trail, the angry recriminations.

Someday, I'm going to take the person you love most from you, Rogers. Then you can tell me how sorry you are and I'll accept your apology by putting a bullet in your head.

Roxie's hold on him was strong, comforting and somewhat soothing. For awhile, he said nothing. She probably wished she hadn't asked him. What could anyone say after that?

"So what happened to you? I don't mean the hair color. You were always so quick with a smile. I mean...all of the tabloids and society pages I read about you showed me a girl who took life by the throat and wrung every second of joy out of it she could get. I saw a lot of pictures of you over the years and there was a light, I guess, that I always saw in you." Joe said.

"I don't see it anymore. So, what happened?" he asked her.

Edited 2012-11-10 05:42 (UTC)

Regret asking him what happened? Never. Roxie had genuinely wanted to know, the fact of the matter was that her heart broke listening to what Joe had been through. At the moment, though, the only thing that she could have done to offer any solace was to hug her old friend.

She was also touched that he'd actually followed her exploits in the papers. God knows she'd been written about everywhere but her mother's own publication, Woman magazine. The thing had served to make Carol Danvers what New York society tended to call "The Feminist Anna Wintour," and the description was apt. Carol wielded that power well, though, and where Anna Wintour spread fashion and fluff, Carol spread knowledge and power.

Which is probably why Roxie, who was more apt to appear at a party displayed in the page of Vogue than a fundraiser in Woman, had always been a bit of a disappointment to her mother.

"I'm glad you told me," she said, softly. "And I promise, I won't breathe a word of it to anyone." Because that needed to be said, in case he had any doubts.

Roxie sighed and then pulled away from Joe. She slid into the stool next to his and gently ran her hands through her hair.

"The Kree. You know the story of how Mom got her powers, right? Captain Mar-Vell, the Psyche-Magnetron, all of that? Well, the Kree decided that they needed someone to...breed...babies for them." Her eyes darkened and she looked down at the granite counter, following the pale blue veins in the dark green stone. "They wanted us to...you know," she waved her hand, as if trying to wave away what it was they wanted her to do. "And up until then...well. You've read the papers. You've seen what I've done. The parties, the scandals. The catfights with society heiresses and the romantic entanglements with men of all sorts." There were no tears in her eyes, either, as she spoke. Just a sense of hollowness. She was all cried out.

"I mean, it's obvious why they chose me, right? Not my mom. Not Moonstone, Ultra Girl. There was a reason why it was me." Not that she wished what had happened to any of the above-mentioned women - not even Moonstone. "Because I played, I was fast, I was loose, they wouldn't need to force me into...I was the kind of girl that was easy to do that to." She'd even so much as told Bruce that if it had been any other sort of situation, she would've willingly had sex with him.

She shrugged. "The Avengers managed to save us. I was found in...bridal wear, I think. I'm not really sure. Anyway, after that..." she shrugged. After that, everything had changed.

She was still trying to find a way to join up with SWORD. Take the Kree out forever. Not that she'd told anyone about that.

"So, no more...any of that. Because, clearly, I was being punished."

Edited 2012-11-10 06:31 (UTC)

"Thank you. I'm not really ready to discuss it. I left out a lot of things just now and I'll tell them to you later, when I can." he said.

He started to reach for her as she walked away but quickly withdrew when she sat down across from him. He thought she might not tell him what happened, but he listened silently as she recounted what happened to her. Yes, Joe knew that Roxie enjoyed the company of me but that was no reason for anyone, Earthly or otherwise, to judge her. That was no reason for anyone to try to use her for breeding or any other purpose that she didn't consent to.

And the Kree had tried to use her that way. It made Joe angry enough to punch out the next Kree he saw here on Earth.

"Hey, you stop that right now. You did nothing wrong, Roxanne. Those idiots from Hala, or wherever, are the ones in the wrong. You live your life the way you want to live it and you don't let anyone tell you different." Joe said, laying a hand over hers. He looked straight into her eyes.

"Change because /you/ want to, not because someone thinks poorly of your life. I hope I see that girl I used to know. She was pretty amazing and she's one of the best people I ever met." Joe said.

"We're a real pair, aren't we?"

Roxie squeezed Joe's hand warmly. As a little girl, when she'd imagined all kinds of silly futures with him - a secret she would never share with anyone - the thought that they would both grow up to be slightly damaged adults had never crossed her mind.

"Always so warm and open and accepting," Roxie replied. "There aren't quite enough men in the world who are like you, Joe Rogers," she said. "A part of me knows that they didn't choose me because of how I lived my life," she admitted. "A small part, one which Bruce and Jay tried to coax out. But it's difficult believing it some days," she added. "I'll get through it. We Danvers women are nothing if not strong, persistant, and able to take anything that life tosses at us." It was all too true for her mother, who'd had everything from her powers to her memory to her own rights and mental facilities snatched away from her, but Carol Danvers had risen above it all.

Roxie would too, one day. She missed the girl she used to be.

"If you ever feel like talking about the rest of it...I promise not to judge, or to offer any unwanted advice," she said. "I know what it's like to feel as though you're alone and a failure - and for the record, you're not the first, and I can't believe you're the latter." She squeezed his hand again. "Whatever's gone on, you'll get through it."

"I'll remember that, Roxie. Someday, I'll tell you." Joe said, accepting the squeeze of his hand and returning it with one of his own. Her words encouraged Joe and made him feel somewhat better, even though he knew deep down that he couldn't have known what would happen back then. He'd done the best he could with the information he had and gone from there.

Still, it was nice to know that someone didn't immediately see him as the bad guy.

"Are you seeing anyone? I just realized that it was presumptive of me to ask you to show me around sometime without making sure I don't step on someone's toes. I don't want to start any trouble or even give the appearance of starting trouble." Joe told her as he tried to sound less awkward than he knew he was sounding right now.

"We're friends and I want to respect that by not assuming that you're just free to hang out because I am." Joe said.

"Please tell me this isn't sounding like a come-on because the level of awkward is ratcheting up faster than tensions during a Galactus invasion."

"I look forward to that day," Roxie said, managing a small smile.

To be perfectly honest, Roxie wouldn't have minded if it was a come on. But she wasn't sure where Joe stood on that, and so she just laughed it off lightly and said, "No...I was. Up until the Kreenapping." She paused, realizing that there was a very good chance that Joe didn't know him. "Victor Amorason. He's on the Avengers with me," she added. "He's also...Victor von Doom's son. From a different reality than ours." There was also the fact that he was Amora's son, but one shocker at a time. "I broke up with him after the whole...well. You know." She paused again and asked, "What about you? Was there anyone special in your life or...?"

"Wow, as in Doctor Doom's son?" Joe asked. He couldn't keep the shock out of his expression when Roxie laid it on him. Doom was a tough customer in /this/ dimension, so he couldn't imagine what his kids would be like, let alone ones from another dimension.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It's not awkward for you, is it? Being on the same team I mean?" he asked her. He didn't know what it was like to work with someone you dated or used to date, for that matter. He didn't know how he would do it if it came down to it.

When she asked if he was seeing anyone, that sad, somewhat far-away look returned and he looked away.

"There was. Her life was the one I ruined. She died not long after." Joe said, finding a spot on the wall to focus on. There was no other way to put it.

"Look, I've taken up enough of your time and dumped enough of my garbage on you. I should probably go. Tell Bruce that I'm staying at my dad's loft if he wants to stop by." Joe said, standing up from his chair.

"It was great seeing you again, Roxanne. A better surprise that I can tell you." he said.

He would turn to go unless she stopped him.

"We met at a nightclub, and we...were really only sleeping around for awhile," she explained. "Then there was a kerfluffle with an other-dimensional evil clone and...well. Things got messy. And then wonderful. And then messy again." It was really the easiest way to explain it.

"Joe, wait," she said, standing up. God, that story he just told her killed her. "Look, if things are tense at home - and I get the feeling that they might be - there's a room for you here. Or...and I realize this might make things more awkward, but my own place...it's uptown, but there's a few spare rooms, if you don't mind walls decorated with lots of ancient Greek weaponry. There's also a pretty nice private rooftop garden."

Edited 2012-11-11 04:07 (UTC)

Joe stopped when Roxie asked him to and turned around. Things /weren't/ tense at home, but they would get that way in a hurry if his parents pressed him for information too quickly. Dad was doing his best not to pry but Mom was asking questions that probed just a bit deeper each day. It was only a matter of time before they tried the team-up to get him to talk.

Besides, living at home with his parents, while he was grateful to do so, made him feel weird, especially at his age.

And staying at Avengers' Mansion when he wasn't truly part of the team didn't feel right, either. He didn't want to freeload.

"Look, I don't want to impose on you, Roxie. Staying here at the Mansion when I'm not on the team would be like freeloading...and I'm not sure how well my style mixes with the Avengers.

But my parents are going to drive me nuts sooner rather than later. I don't want to be ungrateful to them, but I don't want my work getting in their way, either." he said.

He paused for a moment.

"You've got a rooftop garden, huh? What's your rent like? I'm paying you /something/ if I take you up on this. And you won't even know I'm there. I won't disturb your schedule with my...night work." he said, knowing she'd get the message.

She got the message loud and clear. Had it been anyone else, Roxie would have thought that work was different, but with Joe...

Well, there was only one kind of work that it could possibly be.

"I paid for the whole place with Olympian gold," Roxie explained. "I bought it through Hestia, the Greek goddess of hearth and home?" Evidently, having dominion over that made it so that, in the modern day, Hestia could be a real estate agent. "I couldn't take money from you. Just pitch in with the groceries, and we're good to go, I think." She smiled warmly at him. "And don't worry about disturbing my schedule. Given my genetics, I don't really tend to need all that much sleep," Roxie explained. "Besides, it'll be nice to not be all alone in my home all the time." The only visitor she'd really had was Jay, and that had been awhile ago.

"I get not needing much sleep. Sleep and I had a falling out years ago." He said.

Roxie wasn't going to let him pay rent but he'd figure out a way to pay her back. She was being kinder than he deserved and he wanted to honor that. But there was a question at the back of his mind.

"You and Vincent...have you two talked about things? I don't want to interrupt you two working things out or give a wrong impression." he said.

Homecoming

At the Mansion.... (Open to Avengers)

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