Chapter Three

The sun was setting over the city as he ran with the beast through Central Park. The first time he went running with the cat, there was some issues, but since then people figured the beast wasn't a problem or they assumed Captain America had his reason for running with a gigantic white tiger. White Blaze kept up easily with him as the air began to chill. It was nice to be alone with his thoughts. He was still looking for Bucky with Sam's help but to no avail. He had spent most of his time with Nat trying to get his new team into shape when she wasn't nagging him about what happened in Africa. The incident with Kunito put it in perspective they weren't ready for everything. Small world events kept them fairly busy, but still no sign of Kay.

White Blaze growled at him, "what's wrong, cat?"

The tiger dashed off the path and cut into the woods, and Steve decided to follow after the beast. He followed the tiger easily until they came to a clearing where they could see the skyline of the buildings. There was a strange sudden chill and Steve saw a shimmer in the skyline. White Blaze growled fiercly at the spot and Steve knelt down to him. There was a shimmer again and he realized it was the door, "can you take me to it?"

The tiger chuffed in response and ran after the beast. Cars honked at them angrily as they dashed across a busy street to head into the city. The cat realized cars and people were annoying and scaled a fire escape. Steve was always amazed at how smart the cat actually was as he scaled the building after it. They ran roof top to roof top and Steve noticed dark clouds moving in but it was different than the clouds from before. The clouds from before moved in from everywhere, these seemed to have an epicenter where he saw shimmer.

White Blaze halted as they got close to the spot where he had found Kay that one dark night. The beast roared angrily at the shimmer as Steve heard the sound of the thunder and heavy rain began to fall almost instantly. He could see the door clearly through the rain and he felt his heart pounding. He looked down and saw that the bottom of the door was still invisible and cars drove through unaware of what was above them. What was on the other side of that door? He hoped it was Kay.

He heard the sound of a bell and he looked back and saw a small red headed child. She was the most solemn looking child he had ever seen with the fiercest green eyes. She wore a strange little kimono like dress with a fur collar and a cross with bells strung around her neck. She smiled and pointed up, "and the Lord yelled to his servants 'let there be a storm of all storms'."

Steve glanced back at the door as lighting struck, there was a creak of an old door and the terrible sound of thousand bells ringing in his ears. He fell back hard and heard White Blaze roar in defiance as he came to his side. His vision cleared and he looked up to see an armored being that he had never laid eyes on before. He had seen the Nendo, which were animal shaped and monstrosities of all sorts but this...this was... for lack of a better word, a samurai. It would have dwarfed him even on his feet, and had metal armor the color of dark gray steel. Its eyes burned in the dark of the rain and carried a long pole like weapon.

White Blaze snarled and jumped at the armored being but was easily knocked away. Steve got up, wishing he had had his shield or even just his suit but his fists would do.

"Get down, Steve!"

Steve recognized the voice instantly and took a knee as an arrow sailed over his head and hit the armored being square in the chest. There was a bright light and he looked over to see Clint smiling dignified with his shot as the armor fell to pieces. Steve stood up as the man came to his side, he was holding his shield, "you followed me?"

He shrugged, "someone has to keep you out of trouble."

Steve saw White Blaze shake off the rain and stood up as lightning struck again. This time it was further over and he saw silhouettes of two figures in the bright light. The two figures were fighting in the rain as the light dimmed. One an even larger armor, the other a familiar red armor. White Blaze caught his look and the two started running across the roofs towards the fight with Clint in toe.

The large armor was unlike the one that appeared in front of Steve. This was a dark blue armor built like a bear, carrying a large spear like weapon in his hand. There were spikes and a long torn cape that flowed from its back. The Oni looked down right small compared to the behemoth as lashed at her with the spear. Steve had to give Kay a hand, he threw his shield, which knocked the attacker back. Kay summoned her sickle and jumped in the air, "Ko Rai SEI!"

Her chain glowed with heat as it pierced the armor and it fell to pieces. It vanished in an instant and she landed. Only then did he notice how broken her armor was as it vanished from her. White Blaze was faster than both of them as they ran to her aid. The rain began to stop as the cat nuzzled the woman who panted as she sat on her knees. She was wearing a satin kimono that had been shredded to the point it barely covered her. She had his shield in her hands, "hey, there soldier."

He dropped to his knees and wrapped her up in a hug, she was chilled to the bone. He took of his wet sweater, even if it was wet, it was better than being in soaking satin. He pulled her to him but noticed something odd as he did. Her hair, was still cut the same way. Shouldn't it have grown out at least? It had been months seen he had seen her. He didn't say anything as she pulled away and Clint said, "hell of way to make a comeback, don't you think?"

Her smile faded as she noticed the man with the bow and arrow, "who's your friend?"

He smiled back as he folded up the cross bow and placed it over his shoulder, "we've met before, Miss Ogre. Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye."

She scrunched her nose, "oh, yeah, you're that ass who stopped me from stealing the sword in Geneva."

White Blaze chuffed in protest and she hugged him while cooing, "you been watching out for him, right?"

The tiger sat up proud and chuffed in great honor. Steve managed to finally find his voice, "where have you been?"

She smiled at him and said, "can I get some warm clothes first before we go on about this?"

Steve nodded as he helped her stand up. He noticed that she was shaking ever so slightly and that there were cuts and scrapes all over her. White Blaze didn't even bother to 'ask' before he grabbed her up on his back. Clint said, "well, she can barrow some your clothes right, Steve?"

He nodded quietly as they headed in the direction of his place but he couldn't help but feel like something or someone was still watching him from the where the door should have been. He shrugged it off and followed after them. It wasn't long before they had gotten to his place where he gave kay a pair of his running clothes. Clint foraged for a change of clothes but bargained with just a towel until his clothes dried near the heater, since Steve was nearly twice his size. White Blaze laid on the fire escape sun bathing to dry as they changed.

She saw Clint making tea in the kitchen and wrapped Steve in a tight hug, "I thought I would never see you again."

He cupped her face with his hand and smiled as he pulled her close, "I was feeling the same."

She laid her head against his chest, and she saw the date on the newspaper that was sitting on his coffee table. She broke free of his grip and looked at it, "this...isn't right, is it?"

He looked at her suspiciously, "you been gone for three months..."

She shook her head, "no, I've been gone for a day."

"The Nether Realm was always funny with that sort of stuff," Clint added in.

The two looked at the man in the kitchen and Kayura asked, "what did you just say?"

He poured some hot water into three mugs, "you heard me. I don't know why you expect the Nether Realm to follow any sort of rule."

She narrowed her eyes, and Steve asked, "how would you know about things like that?"

Clint smiled softly at Kayura, "Ogenki, One-san."

Kayura's eyes went wide, "no..."

He smiled as he sipped his tea, "been a long time, but then again, I was never able to stay away from your sort of trouble."

Steve raised an eyebrow, "explanation?"

"You can't be though," Kay said as she dashed towards the kitchen, letting go of Steve. "No one else has aged, not even Mia..."

"I got ripped off, I can tell you that much," he laughed as she stood on tip toe and pulled on his cheeks.

Kayura stood back in shock, "Yuli-chan, nandesuka? Do yatte! (Yuli, what? How?)"

Steve interrupted, "is this another one of those things that should have been told to me by someone or anyone?"

Clint shrugged, "it wasn't important."

Steve wasn't expecting Kayura to slug Clint. Thankfully, he had set his hot tea down seconds ago and he crashed to the kitchen floor barely covered by the towel. He rubbed his cheek, "ow! You always did slug like an anvil!"

She cracked her knuckles again, "so help me god, you play martyr again, I will put you under!"

Steve rubbed his face and repeated, "explanation please."

"I'm sure you saw the photo, right," Clint asked as he managed to get up. "The one on Rowen's mainframe of the ronin warriors?"

Steve only nodded as he crossed his arms. He was fairly certain Kayura was going to slug his comrade again and he wasn't going to stop her.

"Well, I was that little boy," he smiled and Steve raised another eyebrow.

"Say what?"

"Long story short, you know that he was hurt by the armors and hidden away by Mia AKA Maria," he paused as Kayura cracked her knuckles. "Well, there was a program at that time called Tahiti. It was a strange program set up to erase memories of the originals from their beserker training. I was literally eighteen year old vegetable because of the armors, and the thing planted memories that made me believe I grew up in a circus before I joined S.H.I.E.L.D."

"A circus," Kayura asked.

He nodded and grinned nervously, "don't hit me again..."

Steve asked, "so how did you remember? And how long have your remembered?"

"When Loki mind fucked me," he answered. "Whatever the scepter did, both unscrambled the Tahiti protocols and reversed the damage done by the inferno. Honestly, it took me moments to realize that I was doing a lot of good in the world as Clint Barton and I just stuck with it. It wasn't until the armors became active again that I thought there would be any need for me to reveal myself."

Steve could hear Kayura cussing under her breath in Japanese before she said, "you pig headed, no good, chivalrous bastard. Do you know how long I looked for you when Mia decided to run off like that? I searched every damn ghost story and nothing, now you're telling me we even met over the past couple years and you didn't say a damn thing?"

Steve saw her clench her fist again and wrapped her up in a hug from behind as he asked, "and what purpose does it serve now?"

"Well, the ronins honestly think Kayura is dead," he paused as he looked her over. She was scowling at him with her dark eyes. "You should take her to the party."

"Say what," she asked loosening up.

"Jun and Sei's eighteenth birthday party," he said. "Look, One-san, I know you're mad at me but honestly, this is your world not mine anymore. I want to do my best to protect you but not at the sacrifice of what's precious to me. I've done that gamble too many already and I don't need those odds to catch up."

Kayura pushed Steve off easily and hugged him, he had grown into a fine man. She had one last question for him though, "you have kids?"

"Two boys and a girl," he smiled and he saw her face light up with a smile. "I've told them bed time stories about the little girl who grew up to fight the demon king."

She felt her cheeks turn red, "that's not quite accurate."

"That's what I saw when I was their age," he laughed. He grabbed his clothes from drying on the old room heater, slipping them on with ease and without exposing himself. He unwrapped the towel and placed it on the heater. "Well, I best be going, you two have a lot to catch up on." He started out the door, "one more thing, don't do anything I wouldn't do..."

She scowled as the man shut the front door, "he takes after Kento... sono baka... (That idiot.)"

Kayura felt Steve quietly embrace from behind. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and she felt him pull her close and he whispered in her ear, "don't let him rile you up."

She leaned back against him, "no, I just missed the brat is all."

"Do you want to go, tomorrow? We could stay in."

She smiled at his words, he was trying to be charming, "I would love to, but you know its probably better that my queen knows I'm alive. You say I've been gone months huh?"

Steve felt her break his grip and turn around so she could place her hands on his chest, "yeah, it sort of felt like eternity."

She stood on tip toe and pressed her lips to his softly and whispered, "it felt like eternity for me as well."

He gulped as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "dai tsuki..."

She smiled, "you've been learning for me? I know you spoke some before..."

He interrupted her with a heavy kiss, pulling her closer. His arms around he waist as she felt him pull her tight against him. He was so warm, and his mouth felt so good against hers. She had a few heavy kisses in her life but this took her breath away the second he broke it. He laid his forehead against hers, "I know what I said before was...sudden..."

She remembered his proposal, "please, don't take it back..."

He saw look so sad for a second, "I wasn't...I was just thinking it might have be sudden is all..."

She took his hand in hers and interlocked their pinkies and asked, "do you know what the red string of fate is?"

He shook his head and kissed her hand, "enlighten me?"

"There's a legend that the gods tie an invisible string to the little fingers of those who are destined for each other," she said as she interlaced her small hand with his. "These chords may get tangled, damaged, knotted but they will never break."

He pulled her tight against him, "so I take that as a yes then?"

She nodded, "but you have to do one thing for me Steve."

He answered, "anything?"

"You can't get involved in our wars anymore," she paused, "we have to keep our worlds separate...I know that's difficult...but no good come from this."

He thought about how Thor's world inter mingling with theirs ended up causing the events of the Chitauri Invasion, "then you can't interfere with mine."

She nodded, "I might fight demons."

"So, I might fight aliens," he replied as they walked back to the living room.

"You'll have to babysit White Blaze," she laughed.

"You babysat Clint, that's an accomplishment," he laughed in return. "Kayura...you could lose me..."

"You could lose me as well," she said honestly.

"Not right now though," he replied as he pulled her close. Her small frame fit snugly against his. He looked down and saw her eyes flutter shut. She was exhausted, he pulled her close and closed his eyes as he held her in his arms once again.