Avenger Assembled

"I'll make it better," Jack promised. "But maybe in a couple of days, when her mood's had a chance to settle down. You know how Lynn can be sometimes." He hmmed. "I guess I should have brought the head back with me, but I was hoping maybe she'd have come out to collect it."

"C'mon, honey, why don't you turn solid again and we can talk about this like civilized people," he suggested, his face all innocence. "It'll be all right. You know how much the Interceptors appreciate practical jokes, right? And I'm sure Grim wouldn't go and do a thing like that. It'll be okay. This was just a little ill-advised. And I really don't think she picked up on...well, the other thing."

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"Well...I mean, it depended on the circumstances and who you were kissing. I mean if it was Ace, that'd be one thing, but..." He blinked, listened to his words and thoughts. "OK, fine, I should have told you I was trying to see if Grim would kiss me before I did it! And maybe about the head thing, but I swear I thought you knew about that. Jeez, is it just Wesley and I who heard about that?"

"Honey that's the Louis XIV!" he called, catching the end table whipped his way as his wife unleashed her wrath. "It didn't mean anything! It was just to see if she really liked and respected you! And she did! Nothing even happened, and it wouldn't have mattered if it did!" He ducked behind a corner, vaguely conscious of the dire faces of the ghosts watching from the shadows. "C'mon, honey, it was just a thing."

"Okay, fine. I wanted to see if she was really your friend, so I wanted to see if I could manipulate her into kissing me if I told her a sob story about how dark and angsty my life was. It was pretty good, too, but I think it spooked her. So she's got more sense than I gave her credit for, you know?" He caught the look in her eye and added, "So really, I learned my lesson there already....?"

Jack folded his arms and gave her a cross look. "I'm not going to tell you that. You're already angry with me. You'll just...just take it the wrong way!" He kept his voice in a loud stage whisper, not wanting to frighten the sleeping boy. "Besides, it wasn't that bad. I just wanted to make sure she was really your friend, and it turned out she was."

Seize Initiative for Edge (1 pp) Done By Angrydurf

"Well I assumed she knew! I mean she and Wesley broke up around then, I assumed that was because she'd heard the story. I mean it was months ago!" He threw up his hands, then admitted, "I did mention his name, but I'm not sure she heard me, what with the screaming and all." Shifting in his seat, he added, "Well, maybe it technically was a cemetery, but it was a nice one! That veteran's cemetery in the Fens where she first got involved with our big transdimensional case...I thought she'd appreciate that!"

I spend an HP (as a reaction) to make Phalanx reroll his Grapple check (whatever it is) and take the lowest of the two.

"You know, the head! That I had in the jar?" He blinked. "Didn't you see it? It used to be up in the top of the hall closet, with the rest of the stuff you told me to dump out when we moved." Tugging at his collar, he said, "Uh, you see, a funny thing happened a couple of months ago. Lynn's old landlord was a vampire, one of Melinda's people, and Wesley and I helped her get him off her back by making a fake Grim head: like I'd killed her and pulled off her head. It was fake, though, and made out of a pig. Anyway, that guy fled the area when I took over, and when I was cleaning out his space, I found that he'd taken the head and put it in a big jar of alcohol. So I had in the closet in the apartment till we moved. I thought Grim would think it was a funny memento of her time in the Knights."

Much later that night, Jack caught up with his wife in her study as she nursed a dozy Jack Jr. He'd changed out of his play clothes and into ones for around the house relaxation, leaving all signs of his ill-fated trip outside to the past. Except for his feelings, which surely he could safely discuss with his wife. "Well, my trip to meet with Grim didn't go very well," he admitted. "I'll say this, though: I was wrong about her. I tried to work on her emotions, but she did turn out to be your friend after all. I was really pleased about that, so I went straight to giving her her present." He caught her inquiring look. "Yeah, that was the part that went bad. I tried to do something creative, you know, something she'd think was funny. You know how much she likes jokes, right? So I took the head Wesley made out of my desk at work, I had it put into one of those big executive desk toys, and then I put it in a box and gave it to her. I may not have handled the moment right, because no sooner did I start telling the story when she started screaming and running away! All the way back to her house, I think."

Eh, I'll just have Mark fall down.

"Go, Zoe and James! Woo!" Mark usually didn't pay attention to his friends' love lives, especially lately, so he assumed a coupling had happened that he hadn't heard about. "I wanna see a slow dance!" He applauded, then took the opportunity to lean over to Zarana and whisper, "They may be king and queen, but you are the true empress of the jungle." She stared at him, blinked, and said aloud, "Zuzu's beard! Why does that work so well?!" before laughing and planting a kiss on him, the necking couple losing sight of the action by the stage.

Edge goes on 10

Mark eventually slipped away from his date just long enough to fill out a list of song requests for all his friends: Erin: "I am Woman, Hear Me Roar," Helen Reddy Hey, she needs a nice one! Eddie: "Evacuate the Dance Floor," Cascada It's dancy. Eddie likes dancy music, doesn't he? Alex: "Brick House," the Commodores Heh! Bet she won't see that one coming. Zoe: "Changes," David Bowie Ooh, hope that doesn't make her mad... Trevor: "People Are Strange, The Doors Trevor seems like he'd appreciate that one. James: "Cotton-Eyed Joe," Rednex Devil in a Blue Dress? No, something silly, so he'll laugh. Mike: "Born to Fly," Sara Evans Let's get some country up in this hizzy! Mark thought without irony. Zarana: "Let's Get Physical," Olivia Newton-John With any luck, we will, heh-heh-heh He thought for a moment, then voted for Erin and Trevor for prom king and queen. Because they deserve it. And because Trevor never tried to beat me up! After that, Zarana yanked him back on the dance floor, just in time for a song he didn't recognize, one that was fast, sweaty, and with lots of physical contact. And that was...that was pretty good.

Jack sighed, looking down at where the fake head had landed on the ground below. The tough plastic meant it had bounced a few times like a superball, eventually rolling and coming to rest at the foot of the mausoleum. "Hmm. Maybe I should have run that one by Taylor first. Ah well, I guess it's easier to make jokes than take jokes." Rather than stick around, he opted to disappear at that juncture, heading away into the Freedom City night as a puff of mist on the wind.

Inside the box, Grimalkin was confronted by a horror! A woman's head frozen in a silent grimace drifted inside a clear, thick plastic bubble, the face instantly recognizable as her own! With the lid off, she could just smell the alcohol that the head had to be floating in. "Didn't Wesley do a great job?" asked Jack. "He's a real craftsman. He misses you, you know. You should call him."

Jack put his hand over his heart, not quite able to look at Grim. "Well, Lynn, I can understand that. I mean, who could ever...I mean..." He paused, blinked, looked up at the Moon overhead, and suddenly..."BWAHAHAHAHA!" He leaned back on one hand, joyous laughter in his voice and in his eyes, as his laughs rung off the tombstones all around them. "Okay, I couldn't keep up the Twilight routine any longer. Lord, I can't believe I used to live that way." Lifting the box, he said, "Anyway, Grim, this is for you. Happy Birthday. It's actually not just from me, but the original owner gave it to me. Said it reminded him of you, and, well...I think he was right."

"It must be so, so beautiful to know that feeling," said Jack, laying his other hand on Lynn's, so they were holding onto each other's hands underneath the moon overhead. "All I wanted to tell you, Lynn, is that I'm no threat to you or anyone else you love," he said, emotion thick in his chocolate-coated voice. "I just...I just want you to know that whatever my nature, I'm still a man. A man with feelings. And I don't hate you. Whatever's come between us."

"It isn't easy reconciling being a father with everything else," Jack admitted, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Taylor does her best, you know, but ultimately she's only human. Using magic isn't the same as just...as just being different." He sighed deeply. "Does Billy make you feel human?" He asked her wistfully. "Like...being with someone as normal, or at least more normal than you are, give you that feeling of humanity?"

You should buy Sense Motive: my advice is to cut down the profession skill some. It's nice for flavor, but there's no reason why Medicine can't cover any Vet checks you'll need to make. Please note the Defensive Roll and Leather Jacket on his Toughness line.

"He'd like that, I'm sure," said Jack, smiling gratefully at Lynn as he patted her on the hand, his touch just a little cool in the chill of the night. "He's a good boy. Looks like his mother, which is all the better for him." He laughed softly, then added, "Takes after her everywhere, really. Which is the best thing for all of us." He took in a deep breath, carefully miming the effort, then exhaled. "It's not easy, Lynn. It's not easy at all."

"He's our son," Jack clarified for Rouge, putting those particular cards flat on the table. "No, it's not supposed to be possible. But it did happen." He gave her a level look and added, "That information does not leave this room, of course. The danger to our son from the wider world, much less other vampires, is incalculable. I told you how much humans hate vampires, even superheroes? Imagine how they feel about children with vampire blood."

"Heh, I like the shirt. Anyway, I missed your birthday," said Jack with a wry grin, "and I had something that I owe you. But I wanted to talk with you, first," he added, a little more seriously. Chuckling, he added, "You get the box either way, but I was hoping I could trade you some conversation." Looking away just a fraction, he added, "If...if you want to, that is. I know things have been...difficult lately."