Evil Dead
Chapter 2
"Brother! There you are!" Thor's bright, cheerful expression was a welcoming sight and distraction from all the gloom around them; only to have that happy smile fall when the man caught sight of Tony. "Son of Stark. It has been a while."
Tony forced a smile on his lips as he moved over to the tall blonde that could bend him in half and then some. "Hey Point Break. Long time no see. I see you grew a beard. Looks nice." Tony commented as he gradually dragged his eyes up and down Thor's body. "And gained, like, two tons of muscle. Jeez. What do they feed you?" Tony reached out and squeezed one of Thor's biceps slowly, feeling the hard muscle beneath his hands. "Damn. I can break a tooth biting you."
Thor's thunderous laugh was a welcome sound; it warmed the cold, tensed air around them. "I can assure you, Son of Stark, Jane has tried, and no part of her has broken." Thor said, a wide mischievous smirk on his face; Tony could have sworn he heard Loki scoff in disgust.
"You and Jane are still together? Good job, Point Break." Tony grinned brightly, taking a step away from Thor, happy the man wasn't about to pummel him into the ground.
Loki watched from a distance, not daring to move just yet. His emerald eyes lingered on Tony before he broke the gaze, not wanting the other to notice him staring. The familiar faces of his friends brought him little comfort, only the realization of how truly alone he was. These weren't his friends; they were Thor's—they were Tony's. He was the collateral damage they had all picked up after Tony left.
It was then that Loki noticed an extra blonde head in their group. He was tall, muscular, clean shaved and had bright sapphire eyes. He felt the words just spill out of him—as if he had no control over himself what so ever. "Who's your friend, Stark?"
Tony looked up, stopping mid sentence to look at Loki, then back at Steve. He cleared his throat and pointed to the blonde. "Oh. That's Steve. My boyfriend."
Loki froze in his spot, staring Tony for a second before he walked past the group and around the other side of the cabin.
"Alright. Open up, it's going to start raining soon."
Tony glanced up at the sky as he moved over to the door, trying to find where he put the cabin keys. After Loki had run off without a word, Thor had gone after him; that had been about half an hour ago. He realized he probably shouldn't have brought Steve along for this, but Steve was part of his life now, Loki will just have to deal with it.
"Check your back pocket."
Tony looked up at Steve, who now stood right behind him. Giving the blonde a warm smile, he reached for his back pocket, fishing out an old rusted key. He held it in his hands for a moment before taking a deep breath and moving to unlock the door—only it was already unlocked. Tony frowned a bit, eyes scanning over the door before he pushed it gently; the door creaked opened slowly, a gust of foul air hitting Tony right in the face. Tony pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose as he walked in.
"It was already opened." Tony said as the others walked in after him. "Ugh. Smells like something died in here."
The inside of the cabin looked just as bad as the outside, maybe worse. Every surface was covered in what seemed like three layers of dust and spider webs. The wood was rotten and damp and squeaked every time anyone took a step; a few rays of light filtered in through the shuttered windows.
"Anyone else rethinking staying here?" Clint asked as he looked around. "Or you know, totally creeped out?"
"It's not that bad. It just needs a little remodeling." Steve said as he stood next to Tony, taking in their surroundings. It was pretty bad, but it was nothing they couldn't fix. "And cleaning." He added as he ran a finger over the surface of the coffee table, seeing it come out coated in dust.
Tony ignored the comments as he walked down the hall. He didn't remember this place—or maybe he did; maybe he just repressed it. Nothing seemed familiar. It felt as if he was walking into a stranger's house instead of his own family cabin. Tony reached one of the rooms and gently pushed a door open and stepped inside. This room—his brother's room from what he could tell—was nicely kept, a complete contrast to the living area of the cabin. It was still covered in dust—that was a given—but the wood wasn't rotten, and the damp air didn't seem to gather here. Papers and photographs littered the walls and desks and Tony couldn't help but walk over to it, wanting to see what his brother was like back when he was alive because he couldn't remember. He didn't remember Gregory or Maria. He just remembered Howard, the one person he wished he could forget.
The once white paper were now yellowed with age and stained brown. Tony couldn't make out the words on it, but it seemed like someone spilled something on the paper and just left it there. Tony pushed the papers aside slowly, pulling a black journal from underneath the mess. The journal was barely held together anymore, papers falling out; bugs had eaten their way through the cover and bindings. The genius blew on the surface gently, watching a cloud of dust lift into the air, exposing his brother's name written on the front in neat handwriting. A small smile tugged on Tony's lips as he set it down and opened it to the front page; he didn't have anything of Gregory. Howard had thrown everything that belonged to his brother away without an explanation, so finding this room—this journal—it tore Tony up inside. His chest felt like it was a blender of emotions. He didn't know how he should feel. Happy? Relieved? Sad?
Tony had pushed his brother out of his mind, and now coming face to face with something that belonged to him was like a slap to the face. He missed his family. Closing the journal again, Tony set it aside and turned his attention to the photographs on the wall. Most were ruined because of sun exposure, but there was one that caught his eye. A family picture. Tony moved closer to the wall, grabbing the picture and yanking it free from the thumb tack that held it in place. The photograph showed Howard and Maria laughing, with a teenage boy—Gregory—playing with a little kid—Tony—in the back yard of the cabin.
Tony felt his throat close up at the picture. He didn't remember this; didn't remember ever seeing Howard smile or laugh. He wouldn't even remember his mother's own face if it weren't for the pictures Howard kept around the mansion while he was growing up.
"Tony?"
Tony snapped his head up to look at Steve, who was standing in the doorway with a small frown on his face. "Steve." He said, clearing his throat and putting the photograph down. "What's up?"
"We're going to start cleaning and repairing the cabin before it starts to rain. Do you want to help out?" Steve asked. He had been standing there for the past five minutes, watching all the emotions run across Tony's face like a speeding train. He didn't want to bother Tony, but he had the feeling that the man needed to be around others; if not Tony might actually break down. Steve knew coming here was a bad idea, but it was something they had to do—that Tony had to do.
"Ah." Tony cleared his throat again, not quite feeling like himself anymore. "Ah, yeah. Yeah, I'll help."
They spent half the day working on the cabin. Steve and Thor worked on all the manual labor of fixing the door and windows and the rest of the cabin. Clint and Natasha worked on the inside of the cabin, fixing anything that happened to be broken, while Bruce and Tony cleaned the whole place. Half way through the repair and cleaning it began to rain, a slight drizzle at first but then it began to storm.
Loki sat under a tree while the rain fell. He didn't want to go back inside, not yet. The storm wasn't so bad, and the cold rain felt good on his heated skin. He swallowed back every stupid emotion he felt; he had been an idiot to think things would have been different. He had been an idiot to expect anything less from Stark. He had been an idiot to expect it not to hurt so much. But it didn't matter now. He was here to get better, and with or without Tony's help, he would.
Thor had come after him after he left the group and had stayed with him for a while before it began to slightly drizzle. After that his so called brother left to go help the others fix the cabin, leaving Loki alone again. Being alone was one of the things that Loki found solace in now. It relaxed him, and the noise from the cabin made him remember why he was here.
He didn't need a constant reminder; he couldn't forget.
How could he?
"Brother?" Loki opened his eyes to look up at Thor; his wet hair was clinging to his face, his clothes doing the same to his muscular body. "Come inside. You'll catch a cold." Loki stared at his brother for a moment before pushing himself up. "We've finished most of the cleaning and construction. The rest will be finished tomorrow."
Loki didn't say a word as he walked back to the cabin. Once inside he ran a hand through his hair, water droplets falling on the wooden floor. Natasha and Clint were on the couch, sitting in front of a fire to warm them up; Bruce was in the kitchen trying to cook all of them some food while Steve and Tony were somewhere in another part of the cabin.
"Come brother, let's dry you up." Thor said, taking a step towards Loki.
"I do not need your help, Thor. I am not a child." Loki hissed out, narrowing his eyes at Thor and stepping pass him, walking down the hall and to the first door he found, slipping inside and closing the door behind him.
The room was small, with one window and a bed pressed to the side; a small desk parallel to the bed. Other than the furniture, the room was empty. Loki walked towards the window to look outside, frowning a bit as he watched the rain hit the glass for a couple seconds. Turning away from the window he began to peel his wet clothes off, setting it down on the desk until he was shirtless and only in his black jeans. He didn't know where Thor had placed their things, and right now he didn't want to confront him, so Loki sat down and pressed himself against the wall, looking out the window.
A/N:
Sorry it took so long to update this. I'll do my best to do better but yeah.
~KikiHeraShadows
