Jax sat in an inexpensive hotel on the outskirts of Star City.    He had lost count of how many times he had picked up his phone to make the call. The number half dialed on the blinking screen of his cell.    Sitting on his lap an old picture taken at the Titans Tower, Laurel with a big smile and Jax photo bombing her picture.   It was a call he dreaded to make, yet it was a call he knew he had to make. A call that on some level he needed to make, he needed to find out where her head was at.  

     Jax again looked at the picture, his clean shaven face and the smile.  He looked so young, now he felt so old.  Years of traveling and the time working with SHIELD, just more choices that weighed on his conscience.     Of course he had been debriefed by SHIELD, but they did not understand how much he wanted to hold on to his guilt.   There was at least one good outcome from his conversations, he had decided that it was time to try to restart his life.   His meeting with his adopted family had not gone well.  Perhaps his conversation with Laurel might actually defy the trend and at least tie up some of the ragged threads of his life.  

     Again he started to dial her number, Ring...Ring... the answering machine.. This is Laurel...   He was not really listening to the message, he was only listening to the voice.  His sensitive hearing able to hear the subtle changes in her voice.  A voice he knew so well, he could catch most of the changes even on the recording.

    BEEP... The noise jogged him out of his revelry...   " Hi, this is David.  I know I am the last person you expected to hear from.  Hell, probably the last one you want to hear from.   But....I am in Star City and I thought I owed you the call.  Call me if you want to talk.  I am going to be here for at least a few days.  I hope everyone is doing well, hope to hear from you." 


     BEEP...

   "Damn, her number was actually the same", he had actually expected the call to fail.  Well the die is cast, every step would get harder.  He tossed the phone on the bed and opened a beer.  Taking a deep drink, he looked at the label.   "I so hate getting drunk, but maybe today is a good day to make an exception. "

Jax sat at a table in a little diner in the Triangle. No matter how bad things were, every neighborhood seemed to have little diners.

Jax sipped his coffee as he read Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. As always he was keenly aware of his environment, glancing around between pages, his sensitive nose and ears scanning around him. His ultra sensitive hearing caught a few words of interest from the tv which had its volume set to low to bother the customers.  He glanced at the Tv and saw another of the endless metahuman battles that seemed to plague the world. He returned his attention to Shel Silverstein. Jax was accompanied by a battered guitar case and his camo jacket tossed on the chair that faced him.

“Here you go. Eggs over easy, with sausage and toast”. The waitress smiled at him and spent perhaps a few seconds longer than she needed setting the plates on the table. “ Can I refill your coffee?” She smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.

Jax smiled back at her, “No I am great thank you.” Jax could smell her interest and her momentary anger at his casual dismissal.

“ Well if you need anything just call me.” She quickly sauntered off.

Jax watched her with some mild interest... Yes definitely a Saunter he thought.

Glancing at his watch, another 30 minutes and the traffic should thin out and he would get on the road. The thought filled him with a momentary twinge of regret. Laurel has every right to be angry, I really can't blame her for not responding, what did you expect anyway. Guess I did believe in fair tales. Jax knew it was time for him to put this behind him and start over. The nightmares still came, but they were bearable again. His time in Europe had not been a total waste and then there was the fact that SHIELD had buried Ravager's history and the warrants. He was at least free of that. Now it was time to start putting some kind of life together. The problem was that Jax really had no idea what to do now, he really had not thought past this moment.

Two men came in the front door, and Jax heard yelling in the back. Another man from the sound of it. The smell of gun oil and powder would of told him all he needed to know.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE CALM AND NO ONE NEEDS TO GET HURT!!!"  The man at the front door yelled as he brandished a sawed off shotgun, his companion moved into the room also carrying a shotgun. The third man came through the kitchen proceeded by what appeared to be the cook.

Jax examined them with hooded eyes, two sawed off shotguns and a Desert Eagle, the wear marks on the tops of their boots, most likely from a shift bar, the smell of methamphetamine from their pores and the battered leathers. Cycle gang bangers, most likely.

"ALL OF YOU GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW!!"   The man with the mouth approached the terrified waitress who was now paralyzed at the register, his shot gun gesturing threateningly. " OPEN THAT REGISTER!"

The second shotgun was being pointed at the few patrons of the restaurant. The cook now getting down on the floor and Mr. Eagle glancing around at the stunned customers. " MOVE IT DAMN YOU.. ALL OF YOU COME OVER HERE AND LAY DOWN!" Mr. Eagle this time, his voice slightly shaky. The smell of fear clung to these two, so they were definitely not professionals, just followers.

The customers were standing up and moving at various speeds as they began to process the events around them.

"YOU TOO!" The shotgun was now pointed at Jax. He slowly got up as he examined the man. Bandanna over his face, a big man, one eyebrow, hands scarred, working hands, slight shaking, but familiar with the weapon. Mr Eagle was about 5'7, bandanna and left handed. The information continued to flow into Jax's mind. As he remembered Musashi,  Mind like the moon thought Jax as he felt the beast coiling inside. He pushed it down and concentrated on centering himself. He was a warrior, not an animal. No emotions only action now.

He took his time as he approached Eyebrow, he could immediately tell that the newbies were getting more agitated and nervous the longer he took.

“HURRY UP AND FILL THIS BAG YOU STUPID WOMAN!"  That was the man at the register, he seemed to be calm and in control.

Jax was now standing in front of the Eyebrow, meeting his gaze eye to eye. " He is a big one ain't' he", said Eagle.  Sliding closer, obviously nervous with Jax's size and demeanor.

"He's not so big", replied Eyebrow." Now get down, I will kill you if you don't stop giving me that look!"

Jax started to kneel and raise his hands up in the universal signal of surrender.  Eagle was close enough now. Quickly he stretched out, his hand grabbing the shotgun and turning the barrel toward the entrance. All the while his leg coming up and a size 13 boot driving into Eagle's stomach. The shotgun went off, the smell of burning flesh, his flesh and a quick burst of pain as the barrel super heated with the discharge. The burst striking the man at the register in the chest. Jax's head continued forward as he stretched to his full length, striking Eyebrow in the face.

To the patrons of the restaurant it was all too fast to really follow. The man at the register went down as a shotgun round struck him, the second man fell down his nose a ruined spray of red and the pistollero flying across the room stopping only when he met the corner where the wall and bar met.

Jax calmly tossed the shotgun toward the table where his ignored breakfast waited. He bent down and picked up the pistol. " Anyone know how to use this?" He asked.

“ Ya I was with 1st Marine in Afganistan”, replied the cook who was getting to his feet.

“Well here you go then, make sure they behave.” Jax replied as he handed the pistol to the cook.

The cook took the pistol and quickly checked it. A man that knows his business thought Jax. Next he walked over to the man in the front, he was not hit in the chest but the shoulder.

I was off thought Jax rather dispassionately. He bent and ran his hand under the man, no major blood loss back here, so the slugs did not penetrate completely. “ Can you get me a rag or a table cloth please”, he asked the waitress. She just stood there her breathing rapid and shallow. Shock thought Jax he again repeated himself louder this time and with more authority. “ I NEED A Rag please!” He repeated. Now the young woman realized that she was being addressed...

"Yes, yes of course”. She took off her apron and tossed it to Jax. Not what he asked for but it should do. " Is he dead", she asked.

Jax smiled at the ridiculous question, amazing how people tune out such obvious details when they panic. “No, Miss. He will live”. Jax waded up the apron and pressed it against the wound. Maybe the apron was actually a better choice he thought. As he realized that he could tie the ends around the man's body and apply pressure to the makeshift bandage. The would be robber groaned in pain as Jax was far from gentle as he moved him about. “I can't say I am sorry, you ruined my last meal before I get on the road”

Jax could hear the sirens of the first responders, although he doubted anyone else could. Jax grabbed his patient by the leg and pulled him over to the other two robbers. A trail of blood smearing on the floor behind him. The would be robber groaned in pain. Jax deposited him next to his friends and then looked at Eyebrow, “I like that Jacket”, Jax told him as he bent over and examined it. “Hard to get clothes that fit as you well know”. He ran his hands over the jacket, and removed a few shells and a Arturo Fuente Opus X. Not a bad cigar, and you can't beat the price.  Thought Jax, he also found the man's wallet and opened it, taking out $12.00. “You owe me for a meal partner. I don't think I want the jacket after all.”

Jax walked over to his table the customers were now on their feet and still trying to figure out what to do. Jax dropped the cash on the table and then added the cost of the meal from his own pocket. He took a last drink of coffee and swallowed one of the eggs. No time to enjoy this meal. “Well folks I hope you all have a better day and if you would be so kind, no one remember what I look like”. Jax added as he picked up his guitar case and his jacket. He walked out of the dinner the sirens now clearly audible to anyone.

Jax sat down on an old Harley, that was kindly given to him by a bunch of drug dealers in San Diego. The growl of the bike was a sweet sound to him and he pulled out onto the street. Passing the two police cruisers and then an ambulance as they screamed by him. Jax pulled over a block away and situated things. He put his cellphone in the phone carrier on his handlebar, put his jacket on and lite the Opus X. DAMN, he thought. I left my book at the diner. Sighing at such a universal injustice he looked at his map program. Where to now that was still the question, time to get far away from the west coast, it was no longer the right place for him. Reno was close and as good a place as any to start. He entered Reno Nevada in his Waze. “Proceed North for 2 miles then exit right” the automated voice ordered him. He brought up his messages again, more from habit than hope. Nothing, from her. Time to go then.

Jax shifted the bike into 1st and eased off the clutch, the bike sliding into traffic as he began his journey East.