Doing Things the Hard Way (Open to Avengers)

[fear_the_rider]

This scene takes place three days after this scene.
 

Tommy's bike pulled up out front of Avengers' Mansion at 8 am, giving him what he hoped was enough time to find his target and speak to her so that he could locate Joe before nightfall. He could be at the bar, hoping that Texas Marion might show up again but he didn't think he was quite that lucky. He could even be sleeping in his hotel room, but he needed to see his old friend. Tommy dismounted his bike and looked up at the fence that separated the mansion from the outside world. These people probably had no idea what it meant to go hungry, to want for something they couldn't have. Joe seemed more grounded than most, but he was still the kid of one of one of the biggest badasses of all time. 

Tommy didn't hate the Avengers but he was very sure that they had no clue what was really going on the world. They punched out the "A-List" bad guys and came back to this place for fun. Rather than knock on the door, Tommy had a better idea on how to get what he wanted: stick out like a sore thumb and wait for them to come to him. With any luck, he'd get the person he was looking for in short order.

So Tommy pulled out a cigarette, lit it and stared at the front door as several of the passerby noted the grungy looking biker out front of the mansion. Eventually, someone inside would get the message.

Comments

[fear_the_rider]

"I earned it and so I don't complain." he grinned.

"Yeah, he is. Truthfully...he's the man I wish I could have been if my life had turned out differently." Tommy said.

"I'll try to be around when he gets back but I can't make any promises. I do a lot of traveling and I don't know how long I can stay before I've got to get to the next place. But you can tell him I was here and that I wanted to apologize. Maybe that'll be enough if I'm not here." Tommy said.

"But for what it's worth, you'd be good for him. He needs someone like you." he said.

[avengingwarbird]

"Even if you're not here when he comes back, you won't be away for long," Roxie said. She brushed back a lock of her hair and grinned easily. "Most people tend not to stay away from me for too long." Another sentence she'd never used in a non-flirtatious capacity before. "Besides, if you're really as worried as I think you are about your supernatural issue, you'll find that there's lots of help here in the city for whatever your ailment is."

She nodded, then. "It's a nice thought, him needing me, but we both know that's not true. He's a strong, resilient man. I'm just...a friend."

[fear_the_rider]

"I bet they don't stay away. You probably have to fend them off with a stick." Tommy laughs, his first real laugh in several weeks. He was starting to see how easy it was to talk to her and that was nice. She was the second girl this week that he was more interested in talking to than sleeping with, which was new for him.

When she said that she was just a friend to Joe, he shook his head in disagreement.

"I don't know what you two have talked about but that wasn't the vibe I got whenever he talked about you. We were in Arkansas a couple of years ago and Joe was going through his things. He pulls out this old toy warplane. Must have been from like, World War Two or something. Anyway, I thought it was a little weird that he was carrying it around and he said that someone special gave it to him when he was a kid." Tommy told her.

"I asked him why he still had it now and he said that thinking of 'her' was the only thing that made his days tolerable anymore. New Years' Eve that year, he was looking at a magazine article and I remembered that girl. I asked him why we were after crooks if he could be with her?

He showed me the article he was reading and there was a picture of that girl with her boyfriend, some European guy. He said that he would always care about her, but he didn't fit into her life anymore, not the way he wanted." Tommy finished.

"I'll give you three guesses who the article was about and the first two don't count."

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie silently just stared into her drink as she listened to Tommy, her mind a flurry of thoughts, her stomach tightening into knots. Was there even a chance between them? She didn't want it to be a two ships passing in the dark thing.

She wanted...well, him. But it was too early, wasn't it? And what if Joe wasn't ready? After all, he'd loved Melissa, and what happened to her...that wasn't the sort of thing that people tended to get closure on.

She breathed out a low, shaky sigh. "It's funny. For as long as he was away, I just assumed I'd never seen him again, that he'd moved on, that he wouldn't remember me." She looked up at Tommy. "Now that he's back, it's changed everything."

[fear_the_rider]

"Look, I ain't no authority on relationships because I've never really had one. But all of the good books I've ever heard of say that talkin' is a key. And that you shouldn't wait. You two should talk about it and see what happens." Tommy said with a shrug.

"Just don't wait too long. Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone and there's a lot of things that get left unsaid because we don't wanna be 'too forward' or 'we're not ready' or any other crazy ass reason people make up to avoid doin' what they want." he said.

"And that's all for this episode of 'Dear Tommy'. I should probably go. Take care, Roxie. I'll call you when I'm back in town." he said, rising from his chair.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie rose as well, waving to Aaron to let him know that they were finished there.

"Do that. If I'm not at the Avengers Mansion, I'll be at my place. Either way, stop by," she said. Then she walked around the table and gave Tommy a quick hug. "And thank you."

[fear_the_rider]

Tommy returned the hug, surprised and glad at how things turned out versus how things had gone when they met.

"Anytime, Roxie. Be careful, though, and if you any Feds come by, call me. I'll deal with 'em." he said.