nextgenerationmarvel | I Know It Took A While... (Rose)

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I Know It Took A While... (Rose)

Tommy Templeton pulled up to his motel at the edge of town and killed the engine on his bike. Between helping the others on the semi-team he was on and his own personal business for The Boss, he hadn't a lot of time to himself in the last few months. The situation down in New Orleans was a nice break and Kassi helped out, but Tommy still wasn't in a good place.

He loped up the steps to the room and closed the door behind him, dropping his bag on the floor. He set the 24-pack of beer on the small table to his right, determined to get started as soon as he laid down for a moment. A wave of fatigue hit him just then, the result of pushing too hard for too long. He needed to call Joe. He needed to call Roxanne about Joe. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and a slip of paper fell to the floor. Probably another receipt. Need to keep those for when I file...

He bent down and picked up the slip of paper and turned it over.

Rose: XXX-XXX-XXXX

"Oh man. How did you forget to call her?" he said to no one in particular.

We have no time to indulge in petty fantasy.

"Yeah, I know." Tommy said, pulling his phone from his pocket. He dialed the number.

He hoped she'd pick up.

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Tommy waited for her to sit down and then took his own seat. A waitress arrived just then and made eyes at Tommy while she took their drink orders. Tommy smiled but he looked sightly uncomfortable at the woman's obvious attentions, preferring to focus on Rose.

"Well, I'm pretty good at b.s. but I'm not jokin'. You look great." he said.

"You said you got some bad news, though. Want to talk about it? I listen almost as well as I get into fights with strangers. And I'm a master at that." he said, grinning.

Rose took in a breath. She genuinely liked Tommy, felt a kinship with him, not to mention a good deal of attraction.

And she had to talk to somebody...

"Long story," she said. "But the short of it is, I found out I'm adopted, and that my biological father might be... well, the worst person who ever lived is probably puttin' it mildly."

Tommy listened quietly as Rose explained the nature of her dilemma. When she explained that her bio dad was a monster and that she was adopted...a shadow of sadness crossed his features.

"This probably isn't a comfort to you, but I know what you're going through. Kinda. I learned I was adopted a few years ago. But it was my step-dad who was the biggest piece of crap who ever lived. And my mom wasn't much better." Tommy said.

"Did bio-dad call you and drop the news? Or did your adopted dad have to tell you because somethin' happened?" Tommy asked.

Rose would have almost laughed, but she controlled herself. "Nah. That'd been the easy version. Me and some of the other girls were campin' up in Canada, and he somehow managed to come across out campsite. He... he had the same eyes as me. And I just kinda... knew it. He told me I smelled like somebody he used ta know..."

She looked down. "He hurt a friend of mine. She coulda died. And that's how I hadta find out...?"

"Hey, I'm sorry to hear that." Tommy said, reaching out to gently place his hand over Rose's.

"Is your friend okay?" he asked her.

Rose gave him a small smile. "She's fine. Tough kid. But it coulda been a lot worse."

"An'... it's not like I'm questionin' my family. My Pops is my Pops, my sister's my sister, and my brothers are my brothers, dorks they might be. I just... I wanna know more. An' I wanna know why they were keepin' this from me."

"No, of course not. They love you and you love them. Now, this ain't none of my business and you can tell me to shut up...but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say they did it to protect you." Tommy said gently.

"I know, I know...people toss out that kind of reasonin' when they're doin' somethin' they don't want someone to know about. But if your bio-dad is really as bad you say he is, and it sounds like he is, then they didn't want you to look him and judge yourself by his life." Tommy said.

"You're your own woman, Rose. The people who love you make you, even if the people who make you don't love you, as my old man used to say."

"Sounds like yer old man was pretty clever," Rose told him. She shook her head. "They probably did. But now I got way more questions than I ever wanted."

"What would it take to get those answers?" Tommy asked as the waitress came back with drinks.

"Logan-ing up and talking to Pops about it," Rose said. "I been, ah, I been kinda avoiding him... avoiding everybody, really, since we got back."

"If he hid it from you, sounds like he had a good reason. I bet the last thing he wanted was for you to shut down and shut everyone out." Tommy said.

"Your friends that were with you...are you talkin' to them about it?" he asked.

"Little bit," Rose said. "Couple of m' other friends too..."

She shook her head again. "I come by broodin' natural-like. Or close enough to it. Pops is the same way sometimes."

"Well, closed mouths don't get fed, Rose. Bite the bullet and talk to your old man. No matter what he tells you, at least you'll know. Isn't that better than imaginin' the worst all the time?" he asked.

Tommy felt like a hypocrite telling Rose to find out about her father when he didn't have the courage to do the same about his. Maybe if it turned out well for her, he'd think about it.

She nodded. "Yeah. I know. Used ta think I was pretty fearless... but this scares th' heck outta me."

"You seem pretty fearless to me, Manhattan Rose. I think you're gonna land on your feet on this one." he said.

"Hey, that's SOP fer me," Rose said. "I get knocked down, but I get up again."

"Besides that bad news, how is everything else going for you?"

"Not too shabby," Rose said. "Nearly caused a friend of mine ta have a panic attack just by lookin' at him. Course, I was sorry about it, but it's kinda funny now."

Tommy's eyebrows raised when she mentioned giving someone a panic attack with a simple look.

His mind went back to a time, not long ago, when he'd done something similar. His adopted mother was still sitting in a mental hospital, screaming her head off daily, from what he heard.

"Panic attack, huh? Let's agree that we won't give each other a panic attack if we just look at each other. What do you say?" he asked with a grin.

There was nothing supernatural about Rose. She could just be that darn scary. Plus, Dolemeck was the nervous type anyway.

She grinned. "Ya got yerself a deal, Tommy-Boy."

"You up for a few games of pool tonight?" he asked.

"Is th' Pope Catholic?" she asked with a grin.

"Now that's the what I like to hear, Manhattan Rose. Let's eat and then I'll take you somewhere for the real fun." Tommy said.

They'd order dinner and eat. Tommy would take care of the tab before offering Rose his arm.

"There's a bar down the street. Pretty much a dive, which is my favorite kind of bar."

In a move that would have had anyone who knew her's eyes bugging out, Rose took her arm. Most people would be pretty surprised to know there was a real feeling girl under that gruff exterior.

"Is there any other kind?" she asked.

"I hear there are different ones but I wouldn't know. I'd never go to anything but a dive bar." Tommy laughed.

They left the bar and headed down the street to Aces and Eights Tavern.

Tommy secured them a table and a pitcher of beer, ostensibly for himself.

"I'll rack and you break. Meanwhile, I'll start with Twenty Questions." Tommy said.

"What kind of guy are you into?" he asked, getting the balls set for Rose to play.

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