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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That, in this case, would be Bruce.

"Hey," he said. "Sorry I'm late. There was a pretty major traffic accident on the roads. Stopped to help out."

Joe looked up from his musing and nodded to Bruce. "No problem, man. I ran into Roxie and we talked for a bit. She's been through some stuff. She invited me to crash at her place so that my parents don't drive me nuts." Joe said.

"Whatever the Kree did to her is eating her alive, man. Have you offered her some time off?" he asked.

Bruce nodded. "She took a leave of absence for a while immediately after."

He frowned though. "The whole Olympian thing is kind of my fault. Her trying to get in touch with it was my plan when they knocked out our powers."

"I can't tell you what to do with your team, but maybe you should offer her another one. Your the head guy in charge, man. Your biggest priority is getting everyone in and out of the combat zone in one piece. If you can do that, that's victory right there, even if the mission is a failure." Joe said.

"Also, this Vincent guy that she used to date. Do you think he can function on the team without their relationship?" Joe asked. He was curious about Vincent but he didn't really have a reason to voice it. Such concern would look odd coming from a non-member.

"Who is your number two?"

Bruce nodded. "You're probably right. Seemed to me like she was doing okay, but people just don't reinvent themselves that easily."

Another nod. "I think they're okay. Time enough to avoid it with Vincent going on a leave of absence."

Roxie reinventing herself, Nicky and his Asgardianness and the fallout from being banished from his home, Jay and the fact that he seemed to be getting worse the more he Hulked-out, Vincent and all his issues, Erin and her inexperience (and him putting her in such a clutch position during such a big fight...).

Seemed like he and Marcus might be the only sane ones. And he was the one running the show.

"Never really got around to picking one. We've really only had like six members at one point," he said. "Nicky or Marcus usually fill the role, when it comes up."

Joe can see that Bruce cares about his people and that he's not just the leader of the team because he's the toughest guy there. That was one of the reasons the Avengers was in good hands. He also seemed to know his people which was also a good sign.

"You should probably get a second, just in case. If everyone knows the command structure, then the team can still function if something happens to you, God forbid. If the team knows who's in charge when you're not available, then they can still operate and pull out the win when needed." Joe told him.

Something else came to mind just then and Joe wondered if he'd regret it, but Bruce needed people he could count on if his teammates were injured or otherwise occupied.

"Look, I'm doing some work with SHIELD right now but they haven't asked me for a lot of help yet. If you need another reservist, I'm willing to help out if you're down on numbers." Joe offered.

"Just keep me in mind if you need another body to help out."

Another nod. "A good idea. Kinda depends on if Marcus decides to stay or not. If Vincent goes--which he is--I'm hoping I can convince him to stick around. But either him or Nicky would be the best fit."

He smiled. "I appreciate it, Joe. Thanks."

Homecoming

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