"Can you hear me?" Bruce was tinny in Steve's ears. This was a far cry from the streamlined tech Tony created but the sound of his voice was a relief. Blackness enveloped him but a tiny spark of something glowed in front of him.
"Yes, can you hear me?" He asked. A long few seconds passed.
"We can. What do you see?"
"It's dark, but it looks like I'm standing at the end of a long hallway. There's a light in the distance." He decided to not touch anything unless he had to. "I'm headed toward it."
The hallway wasn't as long as he thought. Within a few minutes, he was standing in front of a glowing golden ball of light. It was as tall as he was and pulsated in even rhythms but made no sound. It was beautiful.
"I've reached the source of the light. It looks like a larger version of those particles Wanda found."
"Interesting." That was T'Challa.
An impulse to walk into it seized him. He stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do when something changed. An image appeared in the light.. Bucky.
"Bucky?" He asked. The image smiled at him.
"Steve," He reached out a hand to touch him, Bucky reached back when the tinny noise broke through. Bruce's voice.
"Whatever you're seeing, Steve, it's not Bucky. He's outside, remember, sent us the message. This thing can obviously read your thoughts. Be careful."
Steve pulled back his hand. "You're right, that's not him but now I have this urge to join him, wherever he is. I'm going to attempt to go around this thing…"
Bucky pulled back, a hurt expression on his face. The way he looked after the bomb blew his arm off when Steve visited him in the hospital. Hurt, Betrayal.
That wasn't me! Steve scolded himself. He has sent Bucky off to sleep in a Wakandan lab. Safe and looked after. The image changed again, Bucky arm blown off, tears of pain in his eyes. He had to go to him…
"Steve?" Bruce's voice broke through.
"I'm ok, I'm going to go around this thing." He shut his eyes and felt for a wall, hoping that thing wouldn't speak to him again. He reached out into the darkness and found one. Nothing happened. Keeping close to it, he turned his face turned away so the glowing ball of light was behind him. He inched himself around, forcing himself to take quick glances until he believed himself on the other side.
Once there, he glanced upward. He was in another room. A larger room, reaching up to a great height. Golden electric circuity covered the walls. It was almost like being in a Cathedral. At that moment Steve realized why this place seemed so familiar. The Sanctorum in New York. The lines, the windows, all very similar.
"I'm in another large room, bigger than the one you're in. There are gold electrical wires covering the walls, going in all directions. Kind of pretty in a weird sort of way. Almost like someone went crazy with Christmas lights."
"Is Peter there?" Bruce asked.
"I think I'm alone. Wait, a minute!" Steve moved closer to the walls, adjusting his eyes so he could see past the glowing network. "This stuff looks alive if that makes any sense. The bigger cables are transparent, the light is moving through them. There are finer wires, webbed together into a kind of honeycomb." His eyes played over the mesh but a thing so bizarre popped in front of him, forcing him to step back. From deep within the circuitry covered and obscured by wires and circuits, two eyes stared back at him.
"Whoa!" He said, another step back. He shook his head to get the revulsion out of his system. Steeling himself, he looked again. He was right. A person caught up in the web, embedded deep in the system.
"What's the problem, Steve?" Bruce asked.
"Someone's in there caught inside the wiring," he said as calmly as he could. "Not Peter, but appears humanoid. I don't think they're in there by accident. He forced himself to examine the other panels. More eyes, more faces. "More people Lots of them. They aren't responding to my presence."
"That sounds worse than we thought," Bruce said. "We did suspect there was something more than tech or magic guiding this thing. That must be where Peter is…"
"And why they could not leave," T'Challa said.
Steve turned around and surveyed the large room. He didn't give into despair that often but now might be one of those times. This room was huge, the panels with their mysterious symbionts were all over. Peter could be anywhere. Something small thing caught his eyes. A dark spot on the other side of the room. Part of the network that looked unfinished. Running to the spot it relieved him to find the form of Peter looking back at him. The wires had yet to cover him.
"I found him. He's not entrenched as deeply as the others."
"Good. It must take time for it to do whatever the hell is it does. Steve, is anything embedded in his skin?" Bruce asked. "Check on his leg or hand, don't go near any vital organs."
Steve knelt down and followed the course of wire to Peter's left leg. He gave it a slight tug, ready for anything but nothing happened. He reached down to examine the point of contact.
"It looks like those patches they stick on you in the hospital when they check your heart. I'm going to remove one." As gently as he could, he pulled the sensor away. Peter did not react.
"I can remove them.
It took time but there weren't as many sensor patches as he first thought. Slowly he pulled them away, expecting to get zapped with each one but nothing happened. It occurred to Steve that this place was so well hidden and secured that perhaps no one thought to use extra security measures. Nothing was supposed to get past that golden ball of illusions and find this place.
After what seemed an eternity Peter collapsed in his arms. He was breathing.
"He's free, and he seems to be ok," Steve said. At the sound of his voice, Peter sudden came awake.
"Aunt May!" He exclaimed "Mr. Stark! I have to find them…"
"Peter, that wasn't real. They're not here. We're in what looks like the control room."
Peter took a minute to get his bearings but when he did, he immediately came to life. He jumped up and took a good look around, his face full of wonder. "This place is amazing!"
"Don't look too closely," Steve said using his most commanding tone. He was hoping to spare the boy further trauma. The sight of the people stuck inside this system had unnerved him, he didn't know what effect it might have on Peter. "I mean it, don't stare at the walls. When this is over, maybe we can come back and inspect it, but right now I have to get you out of here. When we go past the big light, remember it's lying to you. Don't listen to it or you'll just end up back here again."
Peter nodded. Together they went back toward the light. Steve motioned him over to get close against the wall with his face turned away and Peter followed suit.
"Peter…" The voice of his Aunt May. "I miss you…"
"Don't listen!" Steve said, trying not to sound too harsh. Peter nodded and faced the wall and inched his way around in tandem with Steve.
"Parker! You've done such a good job, I've got your new suit all ready for you!" Tony's voice was so real the illusion almost caused Steve to turn around. He and Peter exchanged a glance but inched a few more yards around the light.
"Steve, you love me, and I love you. We should be together and I promise, I won't leave you again."
Steve stopped for a moment to pound on the wall. He glanced over at Peter who looked up with pure astonishment on his face.
"You and Bucky are...together? I mean like together... together?"
Steve nodded as he moved a few more feet.
"Why the secrecy? I mean who would care?"
"Bucky's idea. He's kind of sensitive about everything. He's asexual." Steve said. The words had popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. Bucky said he could tell people and while this conversation was uncomfortable, it was serving its purpose of distracting Peter.
"Asexual? You mean he's like a plant?" The boy's question was so innocent and unexpected Steve laughed despite the circumstances. "No, he's not a plant. I'll explain later. Come on. Not far."
A pale glow revealed the vent. He made Peter go first, gently pushing him out of the hallway toward Wanda's outstretched hands.
"We have him, Steve," Bruce said. "He doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear."
"Check him out. I'm going back and enter that thing. If you need to come to find me, I'll be a blank spot where the circuitry hasn't taken over. Regina and I are going to have a little chat."
With that, he turned around and strode toward the pulsating golden ball. Bucky was waiting for him, a smile on his face and a mischievous look in his eyes. He reached out to Steve and Steve took his hand, allowing him to guide him deep into the light.