nextgenerationmarvel | Moving In (Roxie)

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.

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"I used my Avengers clearance to keep a hold of the knife," Roxie said. "Told them I wanted to look into that personally. They still might have questions for us - they have reports to fill out and all of that, after all, but I didn't want them too involved. Not until I knew where you wanted to go with this." She squeezed his hand again. "I'm behind you on this. Whatever you need."

"Okay, thank you." he said, glad for Roxie's presence right now. Joe didn't know what he would do if Roxie wasn't here with him right now. Those guys might have gotten him or...they might have attacked her here.

"They told to deliver their message and run. I think that knife is mine. Melissa gave it to me when we were together. Said it was a ritual knife from another civilization. The day they buried her, I put the knife into her coffin. If it's the same one...some bastard dug her up and violated her resting place." Joe said quietly.

"And if they did that, then I need to talk to her brother. Once I check out the knife, you can give it to the cops. I'll speak to whoever I have to speak to." he said.

He always knew that there was a chance of this happening but why now?

He turned to Roxie to look her in the eyes.

"This was not supposed to happen. I can leave if you want. You offered me a place to stay but this wasn't part of it. Say the word and I'll go. I don't want you getting hurt because of me." he said.

He was almost hoping she would tell him to leave because he didn't want her getting hurt because she took him in.

Roxie reached up and gently cupped the right side of his face with her hand. She offered him a sad, but hopefully reassuring smile, and gently shook her head. "You do what you need to do, Joe Rogers. If you want me there with you, I'm more than happy to be your back-up, but if this is something you absolutely need to do on your own, well, I understand that too." And then, tentatively, she reached up and kissed him on his left cheek. "But you're not moving out, and I won't ask that of you."

Joe didn't move when Roxie kissed him on the cheek. It would have been very easy to make that small sign of affection into something more, but he couldn't do that. Even so, Joe's arms wrapped around Roxie's waist and held her close to him for a moment after she kissed him.

There were a million things he could have asked in that moment, so many of them able to change the dynamic between them forever. But before he could move forward, Joe had to know that his past was behind him.

It was the only way to be fair to her.

"Roxanne...will you be here when I get back?" he asked, looking down at her.

"If you mean here, as in exactly in this spot, then I probably won't be," she said wryly. Her face softened then, and she nodded as she reached for his hands. She brought them up to her face and gently kissed his knuckles, partially for affection, partially to let him know, again, that she was there for him - strength to draw on, if he needed it.

She was certain he wouldn't.

"I'm not going anywhere, no."

Joe needed a rock and Roxanne was offering to be one for him. That made him feel better, like he would come out of the other side of this in good shape. Her kisses on his knuckles made him feel better and he lifted and kissed her hand in turn.

"Good. When I get back, we need to talk." he said, giving her a wry grin of his own.

"Now, I should get in touch with SHIELD. They might be the only ones who can get me the info I need." he said, reluctantly letting Roxie go.

She watched him go, longing already starting to build up within her. But, he had things he needed to take care of first, and so did she. When all of that was said and done, maybe they could figure out everything else that had happened here.

After a beat, she turned away to deal with the police and the rest of the mess that had put a damper on what had otherwise been a pretty great, incredibly surprising evening.

Edited 2012-11-25 07:43 (UTC)

Moving In (Roxie)

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