Meet-n-Greet

[cityship]

After being released from stasis, having the slime removed from their bodies and clothed in the creepy, pulsing leaf-suit that everyone wore, and being taken to the Weapons & Possessions lockers to collect their belongings, the new arrivals would find themselves standing in the Observation Deck. Round windows lined the fleshy walls, revealing the bright display of lights that was inter-dimensional travel. They would also discover that there were people--members of the command staff and crew that had woken earlier--waiting for them.

Comments

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen kept wandering around, taking in as many faces as he could. A few he definitely recognized, a few he couldn't put his finger on, and a large number that were total unknowns to him. All things considered though, this wasn't that bad a deal.

No Rogues. No Checkmate. No Waller.

A perfect chance for a fresh start.

"And dude.." He mused to himself out loud. "It's outer space. This is gonna be awesome."

[goddamnwingman]

Dick had been making his way around the room, mostly just observing. Partly seeing if there was anybody new that he knew. Anybody who looked like they could be trouble.

Admittedly, he was partly still looking for Batman, but Titans would be good. His team. His family.

This face, however, made him pause and make note to warn Tim. "Huh. Okay, wasn't expecting this."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen spots his former partner in awesome and advances hesitantly. "Nightwing... bro... hey." He coughs into his hand. "Uhh... sorry about the whole escape pod thing. Just... I couldn't roll with what Bats was doing to the team, to us." He grimaces.

"I didn't want to let you down, after all you'd done for me, but.. it was just time, man."

[goddamnwingman]

It's a good thing that the mask has those white things. You know, the ones that hide his eyes because Dick just blinks a few times. But it is there on his face, anyway. Just a little dumbstruck.

"Umm. Yeah, I'm...sure it's all right, just..." He pauses, then shakes his head. "You must be from sometime past me." Possibly way past him, even.

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen blinks, as he expected to at least get a handshake. (It's not like he went in for the man-hug.)

"..past you? What are you on about? You're Nightwing, right? From The Outsiders."

[goddamnwingman]

"I have been," Dick agrees, raising an eyebrow. "Most recently of Blüdhaven." And there was a bit of a wince at that. "But Batman's not had anything to do with the Outsiders that I know about. That was mostly Arsenal."

And Nightwing. He definitely had something to do with it, even when he didn't.

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen huffed. "Damn right he's not had anything to do with it, except march in and say he's taking over, after you, me, and the rest of the team busted our asses off the grid for most of a year."

He examines Nightwing's face carefully, speedster senses letting him watch for even the briefest of twitches. "You... you really don't know what I'm on about... do you?"

He looks.. disappointed. Maybe a little lost.

[goddamnwingman]

He may not have speedster senses, but Dick knows disappointment when he sees it. And it's the whole leadership kick in the pants that makes the stiffness in his bearing soften a bit. Not entirely trusting, but not as bad as before.

"I'm sorry," he says after that moment. "'Haven's just been blown to a smoking crater in the ground and we're apparently heading straight into another Crisis. That's the last thing I remember before being here."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen sighs and then grimaces. "Dude... there is so much more past that that I can't even try to cliff-note it for you."

He clears his throat. "Important things though? I know whose dad my dad killed and got killed by. I've done my best to make things right with him, and... I think it's at least a partial success. You and me... we were buds. Well, as much as you let yourself be buds with anyone on the team. We... did some dirty deeds to help a lot of people, and we did it with the whole world thinking we were dead terrorists. I'll get you the full version later."

[goddamnwingman]

More with the blinking. "If that's the cliff-note version, I'm not sure how much I want to hear the real thing." Dick sighs, rubbing his forehead and thinking for a moment. "You should know that Robin's here." No need to say which Robin, after all. "And he's from around the same time I am. We know some of what's going to happen, but not everything. Anything we can try to change for the better would be good, though."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

"That's the cliff-note version so far as ME." Owen grimaces. "And even that's skimming some details. You 'n' me, we're gonna have a sit-down. Unless you're one of those 'I can't know about the future' types."

He scratches the back of the head at the Robin info. "Oof.... wasn't looking forward to having that talk-through again.."

[goddamnwingman]

"I'll see what I can do to make it easier." Not that it's going to be easy at all with Tim. "Apparently Superboy dies during the Crisis. We're doing our best to try to figure out a way so that doesn't happen. Though, given the timeline I've heard, it's not exactly going to be easy."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

"Tall order man... the S-kid went out a first rate hero." Owen nods, then blinks. "He's here? Along with Robin?" He hesitates, then dares to ask.

"Is.. uh... Impulse, or Kid Flash, or whatever he's going by now... is he with them too?"

[thetruemsmarvel.livejournal.com]

Carol had gotten a bit bored wondering around, just taking things in. She had also gotten annoyed by her suit. So in a flash she had chanced into her Ms. Marvel uniform, mask and all. It felt better to wonder around in something more familiar, than the suit that seemed to be a part of the ship. In her wonderings she over heard the red head. She snorted rather loudly as she moved closer, running a few fingers through her hair to get the few knots out, her boots clicking loudly on the ground.

"Space is vastly over rated. The movies make it seem far more interesting that it actually is."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen chuckled before he even turned around to face the voice. "Oh come on, it's my first time in outer space. Cut me some slack if I need to geek out a bit."

Then he saw her, statuesque and nordic as a glacier. Sinfully attractive and wearing something... well, he'd seen female heroes wear less, but still, DAMN. He immediately got the impression she could snap him in half with her pinkie if she chose, and he always found that attractive in a woman. And boots with heels. She was wearing boots with heels, and stroking her hair out.

As his eyes widened, he immediately tried very hard to command his hindbrain not to let him say--

"Woof."

The color fell out of his face as he realized he'd failed, hands clamping over his mouth, before falling away so he could start grovelling.

"Oh excuse me, that... that was in no way cool. Sorry... very sorry." He coughed into his hand, then extended his other one. "Hi, Owen Mercer-Harkness-Thawne. Freelance Adventurer, occasionally says stupid things."

FAIL.

But still, DAMN.

[thetruemsmarvel.livejournal.com]

Carol blinked a few times. If she had came over here just a few minutes before, before she had gotten her barrens, she was sure he would be flying through those windows. As it was, she was relatively calm. So she let him apologize, and felt a bit of pity for him. The apology was kind of pathetic.

"Well that's a great first impression Owen. I'm Captain Carol Danvers. US Air Force. And sorry to bust on your first time. But I guess you lucked out. This is actually pretty nice. I've been in worst situations in space."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen shook her hand bashfully, making sure to keep eye contact. EYES. But not so much that it made him seem creepy. He managed a smile with some of his confidence again. "Well, this one IS off to a pretty great start. I mean... I meet some of my childhood heroes already, get re-united with one of my best buds... and I'm out of the train0wreck that things back home were turning into. Yeah, I'll agree that I'm lucking out."

He tilted his head curiously, raising an eyebrow. "What was your first time in space like, Captain Danvers?"

[thetruemsmarvel.livejournal.com]

"Well I used to work for NASA, so it wasn't anything to write home about. Then there was the time I was kidnapped by an alien, and had my DNA rewritten." She shook her head, she didn't want to think about that because it brought up memories of Mar-vell. And she wasn't sure if she wanted to test her emotions just yet.

"Needless to say, I've spent a lot of time in space."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen laughed. "You kiddin'? Being in NASA is definitely something to write home about. I wrote home just for making the Dean's List in undergrad."

He arched an eyebrow, then pointed at her, gesturing up and down. "Rewritten... into this? Or is this the normal?"

[thetruemsmarvel.livejournal.com]

"My father didn't approve of me going into the Air Force, let alone working for NASA. He hated it until his dieing day." Granted it was all because of her brother Steve's death, but the old man could have at least said he was proud of her. But no. He just hated it all.

"This was what I became. Ms. Marvel, kree human hybrid. Or something else. No one's quite sure what I am. But I was human." She shook her head slightly. She was used to guys asking about her, but this was new. He didn't know her at all. Which means he didn't know anything about the things she's had to do. The Civil War, the Invasion.. none of it.

"So tell me a bit more about yourself Owen."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen looked at her body language as she spoke of her father. "I'm guessing you told him to go scratch and did exactly what you wanted."

"Kree... never heard of 'em." He shrugged. "Can't argue with the results though, it seems." He would have given her a wink, but was worried that would be too much after the bad first impression. Maybe later.

He paused as she asked about him. So far it'd been much more comfortable just to geek out over the pseudo-fictional characters he'd met. He wasn't going to lie to a direct question though. "Well... I like long walks on the beach, rare steaks, cookie dough ice cream, and Neil Gaiman novels. I'm known as Captain Boomerang" He grinned, turning his chin up slightly. "--former c-list Rogue, been superhero-sober, if you want to call it that, for over a year now. Absolutely one of the good guys now."

That was all honest, whilst still avoiding Dad stuff he didn't want to talk about justnow.

[thetruemsmarvel.livejournal.com]

"My dad and I never really got along. He expected me to be the typical little girl, but I don't think I could ever fit into that mold." She shook her head slightly and was glad to be able to focus on other things.

"The Kree is an alien warrior race. Not much really to know about them." She shrugged a bit, it was true. Other than their hate for the Skrulls, and the tendency to mess with human DNA. There wasn't much to know about them.

"Cookie dough you say? A man after my own heart." She grinned a bit, she was a sucker for some good ice cream, and even if she didn't get the Rogue thing, she figured if he was trying to be a hero, she had to give him that. Simon after all, hadn't always been a hero. Jessica either.

"I'm sorry, but.. what's a Rogue? I mean I know what rogues are... but I don't think you're talking about it like that."

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

"This probably revolves around a lot of 'local' knowledge, so try to bear with me." Owen shrugs. "The 'Rogues' are a slew of costumed villains around Keystone, the Flash's town. Usual assortment of deranged geniuses and freak-shows, but pretty much just in it for the score, no world-conquerers or whatever among them. Turned out my dad, my real dad, I was adopted, was one of them. The original Captain Boomerang. He played both sides of the fence for years... until he died while on a contract."

Yeah... this is what he hadn't wanted to talk about.

"I'd met him just a little before that.. kinda patched things up. Made some really bad calls and fell in with the other Rogues after he got killed, took up the gimmick." He tapped a boomerang on his jacket holsters. "Wasn't much of a villain, even if I was great with the gear. Did my time, behaved... ended up saving a real A-list hero who was in jail on stuff he got framed for, ended up hitching a ride out with the heroes saving him with a jailbreak. Rolled with them for a while... until I wound up here."

[thetruemsmarvel.livejournal.com]

Carol had figured that these Rogues would be villains, but she was kinda amazed at the knowledge that they weren't in it for the world domination. There wasn't any real groups of evils back home that just wanted stuff. She would have gladly welcomed them back home. If it meant she'd be able to get rid of the over barring "I'm going to rule this planet" crap.

If she had known Owen for a bit longer, she might have hugged him. She knew that it couldn't be easy loosing a parent, especially one you didn't know all that well. She had lost her father, but at the time she didn't have access to those emotions. Still didn't it seemed, or she just didn't care.

"I'm actually surprised. We don't have many bad guys who turn good back home. Mostly there's just the gray area guys who you want to throw in jail, but who are actually doing good things." She shrugged a bit. She hated the gray area, she really did.

[fast-thrower.livejournal.com]

Owen would not have minded that hug at all. And not just for the girly-bit related reasons.

"It... it was kind of my fault. He was... well, he was past his prime; a joke, really. Ended up meeting me, and it was nice. We just.. we talked, had a catch." He tapped the boomerangs again, wincing. "Then... he gets it into his head to put himself back on the map. Goes to pretty much the prime networker for villains in our 'business', and picks up a contract. It was all a set-up though. The same person that took out the contract on..." He paused, Robin was here after all. "On let's say, John Doe, had sent him a warning, and a gun. He was the dad of another hero, a teen one.

Turned out to all be the plot of some psycho hose-beast ex-wife of one of the big heroes trying to get his attention again. Killed another guy's wife, along with taking out the contract-scheme on my dad and the other guy's dad. Hero-dad and mine killed each other... then the feds even hijacked his body before I could even see it. Putting a roadblock on ressurection, they said." He practically hissed. "Whole reason I fell in with the Rogues was to try to get him back for a proper burial."

He caught her surprise at the notion of the Rogues and was a little surprised. "Really? You're from a cape-infested world and there's no just plain thugs? Must get... well, depressing." He grimaced. "So far as the Rogues go... it's kind of a; well not non-aggression, but a non-escalation deal. The cops don't get involved, and the Rogues don't involve bystanders. Similar deal for other heroes. They stick to their towns, the Rogues keep to Keystone and The Flash. I can't say they like each other enough to be a brotherhood, but... it's something."