capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

WHO: Gerry Drew and James Rogers
WHERE: Their penthouse, then maybe elsewhere
WHEN: Backdated a day or two, nighttime
SUMMARY: Trying to patch things up after their fight.
FORMAT: Whatever

This was all so stupid and annoying! Gerry was finally feeling good about being in costume and out on patrol again after the whole Joker incident. He was finally getting the confidence to go out and fight crime, thanks to that and Spider-Man agreeing to patrol with him, but then James had to go and overreact like everybody else always did!

Okay, maybe it was a bad idea to break up a gang of that many people with just the two of them without a real plan, but they pulled it off perfectly. And maybe that one guy's knife had come close to cutting Gerry, but he'd seen it and dodged it. The knife cut his costume, but it didn't even break the skin. Still, there was no reason for James to get on him about not being careful, or suggest that he stop until he could get some real protection.

Gerry was sick of hearing it! He could take care of himself! Sure, the cut could have been a problem, but he knew how to treat them and keep them from getting infected, he'd done that before. Ever since he was kidnapped and tortured, everyone had been treating him like he was so fragile, like he'd die from a paper cut, but that wasn't the same! He had lacerations all over his body when James found him, he'd lost a lot of blood... Anyone would have been in trouble from that.

So, yeah, Gerry was fed up of hearing about it, and he'd webbed James to the side of a building. It wasn't an overreaction after the things they'd said to each other, and it wasn't like James was in trouble, the webs would have disintegrated in an hour or two, and then he could go home where Gerry wouldn't be.

He'd spent the majority of the evening swinging through the shadier parts of town, catching muggers and gang members, recklessly fighting and not even paying attention to the risk he was putting himself through.

It wasn't until he'd gone back to his apartment, exhausted and hungry, that he maybe started to feel bad about the whole situation, that he could have possibly gone too far by sticking James to a wall in the cold and then abandoning him. He wasn't ready to talk to James yet, though, even as his phone started ringing over and over. James was trying to call him, but he didn't have the energy to argue more, and, even though he wanted to apologize, he ignored the repeated calls, flopping down on the couch in his living room.

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After Gerry didn't answer his phone or return any of his calls all night James was starting to get worried. He hadn't come back, and last time that happened Gerry had been kidnapped and tortured.

Finally it was too much for James. He knew he could make Gerry come to him. He might be interrupting something, but it was worth the risk on the chance that Gerry was injured or captured.

"Come on, Gerry," James said, willing Gerry to join him in Tony's apartment.

No sooner had Gerry just landed on the couch did he feel the familiar sensation of being pulled away from where he was and teleported into their penthouse, falling hard on the floor in front of James. He hissed in pain, sitting up and rubbing his elbow before pulling off his mask and looking up at the other.

"This is the most useless power ever! It never works when I want it to!" He was about to go further, but didn't. This power never worked when he expected it, and it always brought him to James, even when he didn't want to see the other... Or did he? James had been calling him all night, after all...

"So," he muttered, not looking at James. Even though he wasn't really upset anymore, he was still pretty hurt by the whole situation, and he didn't know how James was going to react to him just showing up like this.

"I'm sorry I webbed you to that building, I guess."

James hadn't expected him to suddenly apologize like that, but it made this easier. He nodded, holding down a hand to pull Gerry up. "I'm sorry about what I said over the phone, and I'm sorry about yelling at you. I was really worried about you," James said. He knew it was hard for Gerry with other people who didn't want him to be a hero.

"I miss having you on patrol with me but I don't want you to be reckless. I don't want you to stop. I just want you to be more careful. And you should wear some kind of armor," James said. He'd thought a lot about what he was going to say to Gerry.

Gerry just looked up at James before taking his hand and pulling himself up, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. He was expecting many things to happen when they ran into each other again, but he didn't expect anything like this. He didn't expect James to actually apologize to him, after what they'd said to each other, he didn't even expect them to be friends anymore.

He was relieved though.

"I might have overreacted a little." He shrugged. "I just... It was just a knife, and I'll be okay if I get cut. Everyone acts like I'm dying because of what-" He took a deep breath. "What happened."

"I'm your partner, James, and you're my best friend..." He looked seriously at the other. "I know you're worried about me,I have you watching my back, and I'm watching yours. I'm not helpless though, okay? I... Probably could use a stronger costume, I guess."

"I didn't want you to be sick for weeks again," James said. If Gerry had been injured while helping him it would have been all his fault. He didn't want Gerry to be sick and stuck inside again and James was responsible for him.

"I bet Tony could make some kind of armor for you. He made a really cool energy shield for me before I recovered my dad's shield."

James did worry about Gerry, and it wasn't as if wearing armor was a strange thing for a hero to do. His own new costume had a little body-armor and Torrun wore heavier armor and Tony's entire hero career consisted of armor.

"I was tortured, James," Gerry's head sunk a little, still not used to admitting that out loud and still trying to come to terms with it. If he was honest, he still wasn't over it, he still had nightmares, but going out patrolling again was good for him, it made him feel like he was in control again. That was why James and him arguing had shaken him so badly.

"That was the worst case scenario... A little cut wouldn't make me that sick, as long as I treated it, and I know how. We can ask Tony though, but... Armor is heavy. I need to still be fast and flexible."

He looked off to the side, still feeling guilty that he'd made James worry so much over him. It was nice to know that somebody here actually cared about him enough to react the way that James did. He wasn't used to it, and he felt bad for blowing up earlier.

"Someone did show up to get you down, right? You didn't have to stay until the web wore off?"

Bringing up what had been done to Gerry made James feel so horrible. He'd heard stories about villains as he grew up but seeing what one person could do to another was something else entirely.

"Yes. Some people I know... and Natasha." James wasn't sure what to think about that. He'd been so embarrassed about her showing up to get him down, but at the same time he'd been too excited at the prospect of seeing her again, even for a little while, to not accept her help.

Gerry didn't like bring it up. Even just mentioning it still brought back terrible memories and feelings, but it was important that James at least understood that he wasn't as week and frail as he had been after that... Sure, he had to treat cuts as soon as possible so that they didn't get infected, but he could do that in the field. He wasn't going to die from a small cut... He hoped.

He looked down guiltily when James mentioned that his mom had to come pull him down. He knew about how she had reacted to him and was treating him, and while it was a good sign that she was willing to come help him... Gerry wanted her to realize how awesome James was. "I'm sorry, I overreacted. I went back to get you down, but you were already gone."

He fell silent for a moment. He wanted to make this up to James somehow. "Hey, let's go out."

"It was really embarrasing. Don't do that again, okay?" James said. He was surprised Gerry suggested they go out. "Go out? You just got here."

He was glad they had a chance to talk about this. He didn't want to lose a friend over an argument.

He'd never had someone go off and leave like that before. of course, there wasn't anywhere to run off to where he had grown up.