Title: A Lane to the Land of the Dead chapter 5/14
Pairing/Characters: Teamfic. No Pairings. Loki, Thor, Avengers, Original Male Character. Brief non graphic mention of OMC/OMC
Tags: Gore, violence, strong language, angst, self harm, torture.
Note: There is no major character death in this fic.
Summary: 5th part of the Teamwork series, but this is written like a standalone fic, so if you haven't read the others you will still be able to understand it.
Loki has been an Avenger for two years, but as a new threat pushes him away from the team, they begin wonder just how much they can trust him.
~0~
Chapter 5
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Thor confessed to Tony after the apartment building collapse that he was worried for his brother's state of mind, and for the next week they all watched him like a hawk, looking for any signs he might be depressed or feeling guilty, but Loki seemed content to follow William around like his shadow.
It was a quiet time, without a single call out for alien invasions or cackling villains, and everyone enjoyed the break from the usual craziness.
"What are you up to today?" Tony asked when he found Thor, Loki and William sat outside by the landing pad, enjoying the morning sun.
"We were considering taking William to see the wonderful sights of Midgard," Thor answered.
"Cool," Tony said as he sat on a spare sun lounger and inspected his phone. "Anywhere special planned?"
"I spent a lot of time in New York as a child so I am quite familiar with most of it," William said. "But I would very much like to visit the Natural History Museum. It would be lovely to see it before they brought in the holographic displays."
"Holographic displays?" Tony asked, suddenly perking up.
"I-I really should not speak much of the future," William said, raising an eyebrow. "It may cause problems."
"True, true, but holographic displays?"
"I'm afraid I've said too much already," William said suspiciously.
"Meh… you're boring," Tony said going back to his phone. "And… oh, my shares went up. Looks like I'm richer than I was this time yesterday."
"You are always richer than you were this time yesterday," Loki said.
"There's a delightful picture of me attending that charity gala on Thursday night on here. Wanna see?"
"No," Loki replied.
"Oh, and another body found in an alleyway last night. The press think someone is copying Dexter."
William looked over the top of his book and asked, "Copying what?"
"Dexter. You wouldn't have seen it, it's a TV show about a guy who kills criminals, kinda like a vigilante, but he's also a crazy serial killer himself."
"That does not sound like pleasant entertainment," he replied with a frown.
"So, museum, right?" Tony asked, putting his phone away.
"Aye, it sounds like a wonderful quest," Thor said cheerfully.
"It's not a quest, Thor. We aren't going to get anything, rescue anything, or find anything," Loki said disdainfully.
"Aye, but I seek a bookmark as a gift for new nephew who loves to read, and that makes it a quest!" Thor said playfully. He stood, pointed to the sky, and loudly pronounced, "To the museum!"
"Shit, yeah!" Tony shouted. "To the museum!"
Loki rolled his eyes.
~0~
William announced he was going to bed at around ten pm, as he was tired out from his long day of sightseeing and excitement. When he was back in his room, the door safely closed behind him, he created a clone.
"Get in," he said, staring into its blank eyes. It moved slowly, pulled back the sheets, and climbed into the bed. "Now sleep."
He watched as the clone closed its eyes, its breathing slowed, and then he teleported away out into the city.
~0~
William walked through the dark streets, looking for suspicious activity, waiting for something or someone to attract his attention, and thought about Stark's words earlier that day. Was it so bad to be a vigilante? Stark and the Avengers regularly killed criminals, invaders and others who deserved it, so why should he be judged differently for the same actions?
He paused at the end of an alleyway, watching a man walk down the other side of the road, peering into cars. The man stopped, placed something against the window, and tapped it with his other hand. The window shattered with a dull pop, the man reached inside the car, and then ran down the street.
William teleported to dark doorway further down the street and watched as the man ran into an alleyway, stopping by a dumpster. He pulled the back off the phone he had stolen, removed the battery, and threw the sim card on the floor. He put the phone back together and then walked out into the street.
William trailed behind the man, hiding in the shadows where the dim glow of the streetlights did not reach, and watched as he entered a bar. He waited outside for a few minutes and then followed him in.
The bar was mostly empty and the few people inside its dirty walls made William's lip curl in disgust. He crossed the room, caught the barman's eye and said, "Bottle of beer, please."
"Got ID?" the man asked.
"I have," William replied, pulling a blank piece of paper from his pocket, which he held up as he cast a glamour over the paper to make the man see exactly what he wanted him to see.
The barman looked at it briefly, nodded and popped the top off a beer. "Sorry, but you understand, we gotta card people. You don't look your age at all."
"You're only doing your job," William replied as he reached for his beer and took a long drink. As he placed the bottle back on the bar he handed the piece of blank paper to the barman. "Keep the change."
"Very generous! Thanks," the man replied, he rang the sale into the cash register, and then placed several bills in the tips jar.
"You're welcome," William said, as he picked up his bottle again and turned round to scan his eyes across the room. The man he had followed in came out of the bathroom, and as William watched him walk towards the bar he was distracted by door swinging open.
Another man entered and suddenly William forgot all thoughts of killing and revenge. The man was gorgeous; suddenly he ached to be touched, to be held, and to be loved. He uttered a few words under his breath and waited for the stranger to notice him.
~0~
~0~
As the first light of dawn started to peak through the nicotine stained net curtains of his small apartment Joe was dragged awake by the dappled light falling on his face. Normally he would curse himself for forgetting to close the curtains, but this morning was different. He was feeling pretty good, as it wasn't every day that you went into a bar and got hit on by a beautiful woman, let alone one who wanted to come home with you.
He'd only dropped in the bar after a bad day, feeling the need to drown his sorrows in the nearest place that served alcohol, even if it was a dive. He hadn't noticed her at first, he'd made his way over to the bar, ordering his favourite beer, then he turned and found himself face to face with the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in real life.
She was like a movie star with her long black hair and huge brown eyes, and she laughed, placing her hand on his arm when he blurted out a ridiculously cheesy chat up line.
Within ten minutes they were kissing, within 20 they were walking down the street to his apartment, and occasionally she would pull him into the shadows to run her hands possessively down his body.
When they reached his tiny apartment she had pushed him on the bed, and his neighbours banged on the walls, complaining loudly about the noises the woman was making and she had laughed, screaming even louder as Joe moved against her. He wondered if he dare wake the woman and he turned to face her, but instead found a dark haired young man lying in the bed next to him.
"What the fuck…" Joe whispered to himself as he gently slipped out of the bed. He fumbled on the floor, picking up his boxers, and pulled them on as he backed away across the room.
He thought back to the night before. He knew he wasn't drunk; he hadn't even finished half his beer before 'she' had dragged him out into the street. Had he been drugged? Did she do something to him? Maybe he was just going crazy? He suddenly felt sick and ran into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before he threw up.
"You didn't drink that much last night did you?" an amused voice came from the other room.
Joe stood up and wiped his face with a towel. His hands shook as he placed it back on the side of the bath and he moved back into the bedroom.
"I want you to leave," Joe said. "This was a mistake."
The young man raised an eyebrow, then purred, "You didn't seem to think it was a mistake when I had your cock in my mouth, darling."
"You need to leave, now."
"Are you this rude to everyone you sleep with?" the young man asked, as he climbed out of the bed.
Joe watched as he picked up his trousers and pulled them on. Trousers. The woman had been wearing a dress the night before, he was sure of it. "Who the hell are you?"
"Tsk, tsk. I told you my name last night. Are you always this forgetful, or was it the lack of blood flow to your brain?"
"Get out now!"
The young man pulled his T-shirt on, sidled across the room and seductively said, "Not even going to give me a goodbye kiss?"
"GET OUT!" Joe shouted, pushing him in the chest.
He looked confused for a second and then his mouth dropped open in sudden realisation. "Oh, you can see me?"
"GET OUT!" Joe shrieked, pushing the young man violently.
The boy staggered back, his feet catching in the shirt that Joe had discarded on the floor the night before, and he fell backwards, slamming his head on the sharp corner of the table on his way down.
Joe's eyes went wide with horror. The boy lay on the floor, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
"No, no, noooo…" Joe said desperately as he knelt next to the boy and shook him. "Wake up, wake up!"
He laid his head on the boy's chest and involuntary tears leaked from his eyes when he realised there was no heartbeat.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Joe shouted, as he stood and tears ran down his face. He kicked the body roughly in the ribs and shouted, "You stupid fuck! Why didn't you just leave?"
He had to do something. If he reported the boy's death he knew with his criminal record there was no way this would be written off as an accident, and even if it was he would still face a long time in jail.
"I'm not going back," Joe muttered. "I'm not going back."
He pulled the sheet off the bed and tucked it over the body, glad to be finally covering those blank, lifeless eyes. He tilted it one side to wrap the sheet under it and saw the large pool of blood that would need to be cleaned later.
Joe almost vomited when he saw the huge hole in the back of the boy's skull and the way his brain bulged out. He looked around, wondering where the missing bone was, and realised it had pushed inwards, killing him instantly.
He continued until the sheet was tightly wrapped around the body like a shroud and then stood up.
'DNA,' Joe thought. 'We had sex. My DNA will be all over him' and he knew what he had to do.
~0~
It was still early and no one witnessed Joe carry the rolled up carpet that had previously covered his bedroom floor down to his car and dump it in the trunk. He drove through the streets until he came to an old abandoned warehouse by the river and he carried the roll inside.
The carpet burned quickly, it didn't take long before Joe could smell the disgusting scent of burning flash and started to gag. He wanted to leave, to run as far as way as possible, but he knew he had to stay and check that the fire didn't go out. The fire had to burn until all the evidence was gone.
Thirty minutes later and the carpet had burnt through revealing the charred skin and muscle underneath it. Once he had got over the initial shock of the smell Joe began to find watching the process of a body burning to be almost morbidly fascinating. He watched as the head burnt, and was almost amused when the large chunk of skull fell out of the hole, landing among the burning embers.
As the fire burnt out Joe was confident he had done enough. Any DNA evidence on the body would be long gone and he turned to walk towards the exit. He heard a sound come from behind him and turned, expecting it to be a bird fluttering around in the rafters.
"No!" Joe shrieked as he saw the still smouldering body struggling to stand among the ash.
The thing moaned, an awful keening, breathy sound as it finally stood and began to stagger across the floor on half formed feet.
Joe looked in horror as it stood in front of him; it raised its fingerless right hand and smashed it through his chest.