Chapter 1: Yuèlǎo
"How far are you willing to go to bring him back?" The sudden sound of an unfamiliar voice had Steve jerking to his feet and reaching for his shield in half a heartbeat. The chair he'd been sitting in four hours at a time screeched as it was pushed backwards by Steve's sudden movement.
"Who are you?" Steve growled, as he moved so that he had a better position in which to protect his fallen teammate and love. The man before him simply offered him a small sad smile before tucking his hands into the sleeves of his black robes. Blue eyes darted down to track the movement before moving back up to eye the stranger before him.
"You didn't answer my question Captain," the man said his voice soft,
"How far are you willing to go to bring him back?" Steve tensed and remained silent unsure if the man in front of him was a threat or not. There was something about the pale skinned man that made him think of how he had felt when Thor had introduced him to his mother. The man before him didn't feel like he meant any harm to anyone but to be fair neither did Frigga and she could wield a mean sword when push came to shove. Taking a deep breath Steve lowered his shield slightly.
He had no other choice but to trust that the man before him didn't mean any harm. Not that that meant that he was going to let his guard down but in this situation it seemed like it would be best to let the man before him think that he was. "What do you want?" he asked. The man offered him another smile before answering.
"I wish only to help you and your lover. Red threads are so very rare in this world and I would hate to see another fade and break before the ones it tied together could truly begin." Steve swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and turned to look at the beds occupant. Tony had been utterly lifeless for days and so far no one could tell him what was wrong with the genius.
All they knew was that something dark had torn through the armor during their last battle and before any of them had even know what had happened Tony had hit the ground and gone still as death. Only the glow of the arc reactor and his soft breaths had assured them that he wasn't dead where he lay. There had been no physical injury of any kind and every scan they had run on the man had come back clear. It was almost like Tony had fallen asleep and couldn't wake up.
"What are you talking about? What red thread?" Steve questioned as he pulled the chair he'd been sitting in back to where it had been before he'd stood and sat down. His shield stayed propped up on one of his thighs and his fingers ran across the edge in a mindless motion that helped calm Steve's nerves. The pale man took a step forward his robes swishing softly before he kneeled on the floor in front of the super-soldier.
"You may call me Yuèlǎo and once long ago I tied the red thread around the little fingers of soul mates. Now however all I do is watch and let the thread work on its own. I find that it's better to let pairs match naturally instead of controlling the matches like I used too." Here the man stopped and gave a deep sigh before bowing his head in what might have been shame.
"I caused terrible things to happen once when I tied together two souls who should never have been bound together in the first place. Now I merely watch and nudge possible matches towards one another but given the situation I thought that I might be able to do something good and help fix some of the bad. Pale grey eyes locked onto Steve own blue and the sorrow there made Steve's heart ache for him. Yuèlǎo was doing nothing more than what Natasha, Tony, and so many others were trying to do. The man before him was trying to right the wrongs of his past and Steve knew that he didn't have the heart to turn him away.
The least he could do was humor the man and listen to what he had to say. Besides listening to Yuèlǎo talk would waste time and if he talked long enough one of the other Avengers would show up. It was getting close to lunchtime and someone always brought him something to eat or stayed with Tony so he could go get food himself.
"Can you help him?" Steve asked as the hand that had been running along the edge of his shield reached out to wrap around Tony's. Yuèlǎo offered him a soft smile.
"I cannot but you can." Steve opened his mouth to ask another question but was cut short when Yuèlǎo kept speaking. "The creature that attacked your lover is a thing of darkness and of misery. It and others like it seek out beings who've had lives full of such things and feed off of them. They pull the spirits from their prey's bodies and trap them in places of darkness where there is no hope of them ever escaping on their own.
"If he," here Yuèlǎo paused and nodded at Tony's still form. "Where any other soul he would die a slow death as his spirit weakened and faded away into nothing leaving his body as nothing more than an empty shell. A body without a soul dies a slow death Steve Rogers and more often than not those that are left behind cling to that empty shell and suffer much more than they should. But unlike so many others who have befallen the same fate he has a bond. A bond with you Steven Rogers that will let you find and pull him back from the darkness and into the light." Here Yuèlǎo stopped speaking and waited. Steve didn't know if the man was waiting for him to speak or if he was giving Steve time to take in everything he'd been told.
Yuèlǎo's explanation sounded as farfetched as anything he had ever heard before but that didn't mean that it wasn't true. He fought alongside and lived with a Norse God. Hell, the situation that Steve himself was in was something that shouldn't have been possible. But if Steve knew anything at all about his life it was that nothing was impossible when you were an Avengers and a man out of time. He dealt with the weird and unbelievable on a daily bases and this was simply par for the course.
The major question here however wasn't if Yuèlǎo was telling him the truth but was if the man's intentions were as pure as he'd have had Steve to believe. There was every chance that he could simply be waiting to kill both him and Tony after Steve agreed to whatever it was that the man had planned.
If he did mean well however then that meant that he was just as eager to help Tony survive as Steve was. He could always ask Thor about the creatures Yuèlǎo had mentioned because surly if anyone had heard of them then Thor would have and if he hadn't he'd know who to ask in order to find out. Taking a deep breath Steve shifted in his seat so that he could give the kneeling man his full attention.
"If I agree what will I have to do?" And if he wasn't nearing Tony levels of recklessness at the moment he'd head his belt. Yuèlǎo offered him a hopeful smile his pale eyes looking a little brighter.
"It is a simple spell that must be cast. The spell will use the thread between your fingers to take you to your lover. Your body will remain here asleep while your soul travels to your other."
"That sounds far too easy." Yuèlǎo offered him a rueful smile.
"That's because the only easy part of what I plan to do is the spell itself. The rest of it will be both simple and difficult. Nothing worth having after all is ever easy to obtain after all." Steve shook his head and fought against the sudden urge to start laughing like a loon. Of course it wouldn't be easy. Nothing in his life came without some form of trouble attached. It was a lesson that Steve had learned early in life.
"I'd have been more worried if you told me that it was going to be easy." Steve admitted as he set his shield down next to his chair. If Yuèlǎo really wanted to hurt either of them then he'd already had his chance and if the pale skinned man was simply waiting to screw him over then he'd deserve it. Steve turned in his chair so that he was facing Tony before leaning down and placing as soft kiss on pale lips. His hand wrapped around one of his lovers and squeezed it gently before he let go. Steve climbed to his feet with a soft sigh before turning to back around so that he was standing above the sitting god.
"When can we start?" Yup, Tony levels of stupidity and recklessness. From his place on the floor Yuèlǎo smiled.
oOo oOo oOo
"The path you will follow towards the other end of your thread will take you through many worlds. All of them worlds where you and your lover share a life together. You'll be both gifted and cursed with glimpses of the many live you have and will share together. This is unimportant however." Yuèlǎo paused and locked eyes with Steve before speaking again, his words all the more important.
"The closer you come to your Tony the less of the other worlds you will see. Instead you'll be given glimpses into the mind of your lover. The things you will see will be the things that the shadows feed upon. I cannot tell you what you will face or how to save your soul mate. All I can do is send you to him." Steve's eyes darted towards Thor as Yuèlǎo finished speaking. The demi-god gave a firm nod of his head. While Steve had been willing to do whatever it took to get Tony back he hadn't been foolish enough to trust both his and Tony's bodies being alone with Yuèlǎo.
Thankfully Thor had shown up not long after Steve had agreed to do the spell. Steve had half expected Thor to attack the smaller man or at least demand to know why he was there. Instead his face had brightened and he'd been all too happy to help. Yuèlǎo and Thor had conversed with each other in a language that he had no hope of ever understanding before Thor had sworn that Yuèlǎo was here to help.
"One cannot lie when he speaks the language of truth to another." The prince had told him when he'd asked about their brief words. Steve had no real choice but to believe his friend.
Thor wouldn't put them in danger willingly and Steve couldn't think of anyone better to watch over him and Tony than the god of thunder. While Thor admitted that his skills in magic were poor he still knew more about magic than anyone else in SHIELD did and it was to him they turned to when they needed advice unless they wanted to call Strange and it wasn't often that they did want to call Strange.
"Are you ready brother?" Thor asked as he clasped one of Steve shoulders.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Steve admitted as he let out a shaky breath.
"Fear not Steven. All shall be well." Thor nodded to himself his decision about the outcome of Steve's venture absolute.
"Go and save your love and when you return we shall hear the tale of your victory and feast." Steve laughed and offered a smile that held more confidence than he felt at that moment.
"It's a deal Thor." Thor beamed and the pair of them turned towards Yuèlǎo. The man stood at the ready his dark robes pooling around him like water that had been spilled on the floor. His eyes were bright and ready however.
"Lay down on the bed." Yuèlǎo nodded towards the cot that had been brought in for Steve to sleep on when he'd refused to leave the room. Steve had slept on it once since its arrival and it hadn't been a very comfortable sleep. The cot was almost too small for his large frame and the lack of a warm body next to his had left what sleep he had been able to get unsettled and filled with nightmares. The image of Tony hitting the ground over and over again had plagued his dreams only instead of being comatose the other man had been dead.
Steve's footsteps seemed loud in his ears as he moved over to the cot and sat down. He took a moment to prop his shield up against the side so that it was in easy reach. It didn't matter to him that he wouldn't be able to use it during this mission. All that mattered was that it was nearby and that he'd be able to reach it if something went wrong and he woke up to danger. Taking a deep breath the soldier let his eyes linger on Tony for a half second before he recited a short prayer in his head and lay down on the cot.
His eyes remained closed as Yuèlǎo spoke soft words he'd never be able to understand. As the chanting continues Steve felt the hairs on his arms begin to rise. It was the same feeling he got if he stood near Thor while to god was carrying his hammer. A soft prickle of magic on his skin that made the flesh on his arms and back break out in goose bumps.
Unlike the prickly magic of Thor or the almost freezing magic that Loki gave off this felt smooth like sticking his hand under a running faucet and letting the water flow over his skin. This feeling was calm and peaceful and before long comforting warmth seems to settle over his skin. It was almost like falling asleep.
oOo oOo oOo
Steve jerked awake to the sensation of falling. Some part of his mind expected to hit the floor after rolling off of the cot he'd been sleeping on for the past several days. The floor never came however and his fall never stopped. At first nothing filled his vision but a deep dark red that seemed to come from everywhere.
The longer he managed to keep his eyes open however the more the area around him changed. The red below him faded into a single thin strand before the nothing below him faded into a deep purple and then the dark blue of the night sky. And it had to be the night sky because floating before him were thousands of small lights that could only be stars.
Steve blinked again his eyes falling to the bit of red that hadn't faded away with the rest. It was a thin strand that stretched out into the sea of stars before him. Blue eyes traced the red line back to its origin and wasn't as surprise as he should have been to find that it was wrapped around his pinky. Yuèlǎo had told him that he and Tony were tied together by a red thread and there it was right in front of his very eyes.
It was the little thread that was pulling him down. That was pulling him towards Tony. Steve wanted to scream out Tony's name and see if the other man would answer his call. He didn't however whether it was because he physically couldn't or because couldn't bring himself to disturb the peace Steve didn't know.
It didn't matter however because at that moment his outstretched hand brushed against one of the small lights, that weren't stars after all, and for a brief second the world was awash in white light before a series of lightning quick flashes filled Steve's vision.
A warm hand on his shoulder.
A stolen kiss near a moonlit castle.
The gateway to the camp for people like them.
The sharp crack of a gun going off and a bullet tearing through a man who'd been a fool to try and touch one of his own.
These and countless over small flashes of lives that were both his and not his. All of them different. All of the shared with Tony. There was a brief second of the blue he'd seen before the flashes before he was pulled back in only this time there was more than the split second of the lives that both were and weren't his.
oooooo
So this is one of those things that was only supposed to be a few thousand words but mutated horribly and now I can't seem to control it anymore. So instead of posting the entire thing like I planned on doing I'm going to break it up into three chapters and post one a week (maybe). That way I can get a bit of feed back as well as posting this in all of my usual places on the same day instead of on different days. Don't ask it's all deviantart's fault.
So, just you you know the next chapter is going to be a lot longer than this one because in chapter two we'll get to all the crossovers and AU"s. They're in drabble form and none of them are really complete stories. They are glimpses for a reason. I plan on expanding quite a few of these idea's and turning this into a series. Points to the people who can tell me what the Three little flashes (after the first) were. Those are idea's that I wanted to include but didn't really want to do drabbles for because I have too many of those as it is.
