Halloween Plot

[echolls_cursed]

They'd been spared.

It was Halloween morning, and there wasn't a pair of hooker-boots between them. It was a huge relief, one which they promptly celebrated with a little roughhousing and a lot of kissing. Both of which were going well until Logan backed into one of Neil's shelves, knocking it down and banging his head.

That sort of killed the mood.

After a brief argument about who's fault it had been, Neil had left in hopes of borrowing some nails and a hammer from the building crew, leaving Logan to tidy up and get dressed. He wasn't alone for long though, and when Logan heard the door open behind him, he instantly assumed it was Joe, coming to see just what the hell they'd been doing.

"You know, in some cultures, they have this thing called 'knocking'. Apparently it stops people from walking in on one another while they're getting dressed," Logan quipped, pulling on a t-shirt and turning around.

He really wished he hadn't.

""Nothing I haven't seen before," Aaron replied, his voice laced with that carefully practiced tone of a loving father. "I spent a good six years bathing you after all."

Something told him that Aaron wasn't going to simply vanish this time, and Logan struggled with himself for a moment as he tried to decide how to react. "You mean the Nanny spent six years bathing me," he corrected, forcing himself to stay casual and relaxed. "Rosalita always had a softer touch than you anyway."

Aaron laughed, a forced and cold sound that Logan was all too familiar with. The calm before the storm. "I've missed you, Logan. I'm really looking forward to becoming a family again."

Logan just shook his head. "You're not my family anymore," he said firmly, voice level and calm. "I'm twenty now, and you're not my father. You were never my father. Just the asshole that..."

He was promptly cut off by the back of Aaron's hand as it hit his cheek, snapping his head to the side with a sound that seemed to echo off the hut walls. "Don't be disrespectful," his father said simply. "I don't care how old you are, you are my son, and you'll show me some respect. You're right, you're not a child anymore, and I won't treat you like one if you don't act like one."

Rubbing his cheek, Logan glared, fighting back the feeling of fear that sat deep in his gut. "You're not my father," he said again, looking up at the older man for a long moment, and then trying to push past him so he could leave.

He really should have known better, but after all this time, he didn't want to be the weak child he'd been two years ago. He didn't want to cave and let Aaron shove him around. He'd built a new life here, and if would take more than a slap in the face to get him to give it up. When Aaron grabbed his arm though, fingers digging into his forearm as he shoved him roughly back into the room and onto the bed, Logan couldn't fight the fear any longer. In that moment, he was seven again, and Aaron... Aaron was the most frightening person in the world.

Mouth open slightly, there was an obvious look of panic on Logan's face as he watched Aaron move closer.

"Is this how it has to be?" he father asked. "Twenty years old, and you still need to be taught how to treat someone with respect? It's embarrassing, Logan, I hope you know that. You should be ashamed of this." Fingers moving to his belt, Aaron just shook his head as he slipped it free from the belt loops on his jeans. "We'll do it this way then."

Logan didn't even argue. He knew better than that. In the long run, the belt tended to be the better option. It was usually enough to calm Aaron down, preventing bloody noses or broken bones. That didn't make it any easier to swallow though, and Logan's stomach turned as he got to his feet and pulled off his shirt. He didn't need to be told to face the wall, he just did it, forcing his mind to go blank as he heard Aaron step up behind him.

"You know I only do this because I love you," he heard his father say... right before the first lash fell.

When it was over, Logan's back burned, and he wasted no time pulling his shirt back on. "I need you to leave," he said calmly, glancing at his father. "You can go to the compound... that big building... you can get a room or something. You can't be here though. Alright?"

Aaron just raised a brow. "Don't want to introduce me to your boyfriend then? You're lucky you're mother's not alive to hear about that. It would have killed her."

Logan just frowned, knowing that wasn't true. "Lucky you drove her to suicide you mean," he corrected coldly. And this time... This time he waited to hit the ground.

(Locked to those close to Logan, If you want to tag in and didn't already get an okay from me, just drop me an e-mail.)

Comments

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Logan, c'mere," Joe said quietly, moving closer, sliding one arm around Logan's shoulders. His own body was still shaking, adrenaline pumping through him as he pulled Logan closer toward him. There was likely going to be bruises on his throat, definitely one on his ribs and probably a couple on his face, but he'd worry about explaining those to Dale later. Right now he just needed to make sure Logan would be okay.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Face screwed up, Logan tried to swallow it all down, but when Joe pulled him closer, he had to let it go.

Still silent as his breath hitched and he choked back sobs, he let the tears come this time. It was stupid. So fucking stupid. And he hated himself for letting Aaron get to him. For letting him hurt him again.

Turning, he rested against Joe, hiding his face against the other man's shoulder. He winced a little and let out a hiss when the other man accident touched one of the welts that criss-crossed his shoulders and back, but didn't pull away. In fact, he held on just that much tighter.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

There was nothing really that Joe could say in response to everything that had happened, nothing he could do that would make any of it any better, but he kept his gaze on the direction they'd come, making sure Aaron hadn't followed them. If there was one thing he could do, it was keep Logan safe and he fully intended on doing just that.

His own bruises hurt and his throat ached, but he kept both arms tight around Logan. Brushing his hand back and forth gently over his shoulder, Joe let him cry and he watched the trees.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

It took Logan a long moment to pull himself together, but when he finally did he took a step back and dried his eyes.

"You okay?" he asked Joe, his voice tight and dry. "I didn't... I didn't want you to get hurt, you know?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"I'm good," Joe said easily, brushing it off, but his voice was hoarse from the hold Aaron had had on his throat. "Don't worry about me, man, I've had a hell of a lot worse." That, at least, was the truth.

"You okay?" he asked. "He hurt you bad?"

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"No," Logan lied. "I'm fine. Just took a bad fall."

It was a stupid lie, seeing as how he was pretty sure his back was bleeding... He didn't want Joe worrying though.

"So... Bucky's here? What happened?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Me and Dale woke up and he was there," Joe said with a dismissive sort of shrug, not really wanting to get into it. He figured Logan would have to see Bucky sooner or later, but if he could put it off at all, that was exactly what he was going to do.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan looked at Joe searchingly, looking for some sign of what had happened, but didn't push. Instead he wrapped his arms around himself and tried to look calm and casual.

"I think I'm bleeding," he admitted. "I don't want to go to the clinic though. I don't want to have to explain this to anyone."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"C'mon, I'll take you back to the hut, I got some shit there," Joe said, nodding in the direction of his place. The only reason he had that shit there was because Dale made him keep it, but it was useful for things like this.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan nodded a little and followed, hesitating again before moving closer so he was flush against Joe's side.

It was childish, but for the time being, Logan was sort of okay with that. He needed Joe. Needed to be with him.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe hoped Bucky had taken off, although he knew there was nothing to say that he had. He was likely still sitting there, waiting for Joe to return. "If you, uh... if Bucky's there, we'll get the shit and leave, okay?" he asked. He didn't want Logan seeing the skeleton, especially not right now.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"What did he do, Joe?" Logan asked, brow knit as he looked at Joe closely, wondering just what that asshole had done or said to have Joe so uneasy.

He didn't like the idea of anyone spooking Joe. It was unsettling. And he wasn't going to let some rotting aged rockstar chase Joe away from his home. It wasn't right.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Shrugging a little, Joe didn't answer at first. All he did was continue to keep an eye out for Aaron, hoping the other man didn't decide to join them again. "He put the skeleton in the bed," he admitted. "He's been doing that for fucking ages, but this was the first time Dale could feel it, too."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

"You mean... your skeleton?" Logan asked quietly, even though he already knew the answer. "It was there too? Real?"

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe nodded slowly, frowning down at the ground. "Yeah, it was there." And it probably still was, even if he didn't want to think about that much. It was way too much, too fucked up.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan shuddered a little, but kept quiet. He wasn't sure if Joe wanted to talk about it.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

As they passed by Logan and Neil's hut again, Joe shot it a quick glance, still on guard for Aaron, but no one came out or moved in the trees nearby.

He couldn't say the same for his own hut, of course.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan was too busy watching Joe to notice anything at first, but he did snap to attention when he saw the door to Joe's hut open from the inside.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Joe had been about to say something when Bucky came out, Joe's skull held in one of his hands. And he knew that if he'd seen Aaron, that meant Logan could see Bucky.

"Nice of you to come back home, Joseph," Bucky said, leaning against the door frame. "Your boyfriend ran off."

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan frowned deeply, his eyes flickering from the skull to Bucky's bony face. He didn't say anything though, not yet, he just reached out and rested a hand firmly on Joe's arm, squeezing in a silent show of comfort.

"Come on, let's just grab that stuff, okay? Then we can go wherever."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"He didn't run off, you don't have any fucking idea what he does or where he's gone," Joe muttered darkly, stomping up the stairs and shouldering past Bucky. He regretted that decision as soon as he was inside. The skeleton was still there, stinking and rotting, damp dirt clinging to the bones.

"Stay out there, Logan," he called, although he doubted that he could keep Logan out if he really wanted to. And he wasn't sure he wanted him out there with Bucky either.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Logan scowled a little, not liking that he was being told to stay put when Joe had so brazenly wandered into his own hut. He behaved though, at first, hanging by the door and sizing up Bucky.

"You don't think dragging around a dead body is a little less punk rock and a lot more serial killer?" Logan asked Bucky.

"Or is it really just that hard to find a girlfriend? You know, they sell dolls now..."

[jdick.livejournal.com]

"Never had to worry much about women," Bucky said thoughtfully, lifting Joe's skull so that he could look at it in the face. "Not with Joe around, practically panting to please me in any way he could. Any way."

From inside the hut, Joe shouted, "Shut the fuck up, Bucky! That's fucking bullshit." And it was. But there had been a point where he'd wondered if he would've made Bucky happier by offering him absolutely anything.

A moment later he came out with the bandages and a towel, scowling deeply.

[echolls-cursed.livejournal.com]

Joe's word was good enough proof for Logan, and he shot Bucky a look that made it clear he didn't believe him.

Fingers curled into fists, he was itching to hit the guy. Still, he wouldn't, not unless he said the wrong thing. He could hold back... he could behave. If only for Joe.

[jdick.livejournal.com]

Still scowling, Joe walked down the stairs toward Logan as Bucky headed back into the hut. "Have you been scuffling, Joe?" he called and Joe could hear bones banging together as Bucky collected the rest of the skeleton.

"We should go," he said to Logan.