nextgenerationmarvel

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 nodded in understanding. He just didn't want his friend to close a door that might still be opened before she was ready to do so. He felt bad that Roxie was in such pain. Whatever else the Kree had done, it had left her deeply scarred.

An irrational part of Joe wanted to find those sons of bitches and hurt them for what they'd done to her. But he realized that wasn't a wholly rational thought and pushed it aside.

"All right. I accept the offer and I'll help with groceries. And if you happen to need someone to talk to in the middle of the night, I'm sure I can help with that, too.

I'll probably be awake, one way or the other." he smiled.

"When do you want me to head over?"

As far as Roxie was concerned, that door was long-closed. Possibly forever, and she honestly felt that it was better that way.

"Same here," Roxie said. "About the middle of the night thing," she nodded. "You can come over anytime," she added, holding up her forefinger. She walked over to the dining table behind them and snagged her oversized purse from a chair. She brought it over and rummaged through it before pulling out her wallet. Roxie deftly pulled out a card that had her name, number, and address on it and handed it over to Joe.

"I don't generally carry my keys on me because I usually just fly in through the roof window, but if you give this card to the doorman and tell him I sent you, he'll let you right in." She paused. "His name's Declan. You'll find the keys in the first drawer in the island of my kitchen, though. So, you know, you have access." She reached over and gave Joe a quick hug. "I'm so glad you accepted, by the way. I want you to make yourself entirely at home. No formalities." Because Roxie was possibly one of the last people to ever stand on formality.

"I'll try to remember the no formalities part. I've been livin' alone for awhile, but I'll make sure to have a sign up if I'm less than decent before you walk in." Joe said half-jokingly.

This would be Joe's second time living with a woman that wasn't his mother and he felt nervous about it. He and Roxie were friends, right? No awkwardness or anything, right?

"All right, then I'll be there in the morning to move my stuff in. Won't take long. I've just got my duffel bags." he said, taking the card.

"Thank you again, Roxie. I really appreciate this."

Awkward? Not on Roxie's end. Of course, Roxie wasn't the sort of person to make things awkward anymore. Sometime ago, that would have been a very different case.

She managed a small laugh, though. "Just leave a sock on the rooftop garden," she said. "I'll get the message." As for Roxie...well. Coitus was no longer a thing she took part in, so Joe really didn't have to worry about that.

"Don't be silly," she said, giving him a swift kiss on the cheek. "I wasn't going to take no for an answer."

Joe smiled as she kissed him on the cheek. "That was one of the things I always liked about you, Roxie. You never give up. It's an admirable trait." he told her.

"I'm gonna head out but let Bruce know I was here. Let him know that I went to go get settled in and that I'll come back tomorrow to talk about everything." he said.

Homecoming

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