July 2019: Though my soul may set in darkness

[marcicatverse]

Title: Though my soul may set in darkness
Author: marcicat

Fandom: Guardian
Rating: T

Summary: When canon offers you time travel as a potential solution, why not embrace it?




He woke up.  He woke up disoriented, and had a half second's thought of 'night shift' before the memories slammed into him.  Shen Wei.  The Guardian Lantern.  The wormhole.  Ye Zun.  His -- mom?  

Shen Wei couldn't possibly be there, but he reached out a hand anyway, because there would never be a time he didn't want to be wrong about that.  Nothing.  His body choked out a cough.  "Da Qing."  

There was a crash from the direction of the kitchen.  "Not my fault," Da Qing called.  

His second attempt at talking turned into more coughing, and Da Qing leapt over the sofa to stare at him.  "What's wrong with you?  Are you dying?  Do you need a hospital?  You'll still have to show up tonight, you know."

He was pretty sure he'd already died.  Maybe.  He was -- less sure about anything else, at the moment.  Everything was filtering back in, but not, he thought, entirely in the correct order.  But standing up turned out to be easier than talking, and when he reached out a hand to grab Da Qing's shoulder, it was solid and warm.

"Tonight?" 

Da Qing rolled his eyes and full-body leaned into him, tumbling them both back onto the bed.  "Newbie's first day?  You were only asleep for an hour; did you forget already?"

He batted Da Qing's hand away where it was waving in front of his face, and stared at the ceiling.  Newbie's first day.  Guo Changcheng.  Shit.  Did that mean it worked?

The back of his neck prickled, like the second before a lightning strike, and he laughed.  Of course he would portal in.  Why waste time with doors?

Da Qing's hiss cut off abruptly when the Black Robed Envoy appeared.  "Hei Pao Shi!"  He shot Zhao Yunlan a look of sheer confusion as he ducked his head.

The robes and mask gave nothing away.  But in his eyes, he saw his own desperate hope reflected back.  His thoughts were a drumbeat of it worked, it worked, please tell me it worked.  He took a step forward -- two, three, until they were toe to toe.  "Shen Wei," he said, like it was everything.

And maybe it was, or close enough, because Shen Wei's, "Zhao Yunlan,” felt like a revelation.  The robes and mask disappeared in a heartbeat, and when they hugged it felt like he was finally breathing.  

Da Qing fell off the bed. 

Shen Wei made a noise that might, maybe, have been a laugh.  "It's good to see you again, Da Qing."  Not that he could possibly actually see the Damn Cat, with his face buried in Zhao Yunlan's shoulder.  

He could stand there forever and it still wouldn't be long enough.  Letting go was unthinkable, but then again -- he closed his eyes and found the connection between them, bright and strong.  He tugged it, gently, just enough to see the blush start to rise up Shen Wei's cheekbones.  "Zhao Yunlan," he said again.

If it had worked, there were things they needed to do.  He took a breath, and leaned back enough to move his hands to Shen Wei's arms.  "Yes?" he said.  

"Yes."  Shen Wei unclenched his fingers one by one, and carefully smoothed out the shirt underneath them -- a lost cause, but Zhao Yunlan certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell him that.  Finally he raised his eyes, and he watched them fill with steely determination.  "Lu Ruomei."  

"Go.  I'll explain things here."  From the suspicious lack of noise behind him, he suspected the explanation was going to need the extra good fish snacks.  

A portal opened, and he could feel the rush of it echoing between them.  "Shen Wei," he said, as the robes reappeared.  Their eyes met.  "I never had the chance to thank him, before."

He saw a hint of a smile, and the portal blinked out of existence, taking Shen Wei with it.  He let out a long breath, and turned around only to see Da Qing hastily stuff his phone under his leg.  

"What."

Da Qing blinked up at him with an expression that was probably meant to look innocent.  "It's nothing!" 

He nodded.  "Right, right, of course."  He stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.  "There's a packet of fish snacks hidden in the back of the utensils drawer."  

Da Qing darted for the kitchen, and he could hear the rattling of drawers and cupboards being opened.  "Hey!  We don't even have a utensils drawer."

"Not yet," Zhao Yunlan answered, already scrolling through the abandoned phone.  "But we will, and there will be fish snacks in it.  What's this?  You're taking pictures of the Envoy and gossiping with the team about him?"

"You hugged him!  I thought I might be having a stroke!"  Da Qing crossed his arms and glared.  "If the Envoy killed you, someone had to know to come get me!"

He laughed, to cover up the twist in his gut when he saw Lao Li's name in the group chat, and tossed the phone to Da Qing.  "Tell them you're fine, and we'll see them later."  

Da Qing rolled his eyes.  "Lao Zhao possibly concussed," he said, tapping the phone.  "Will observe and report back."  

Zhao Yunlan threw a pillow at him.  "Damn Cat.  Get over here."  

"This better be good."  

That, at least, he was ready for.  He spread his hands wide and grinned. "Of course!"

*******

They took the car, because Da Qing said he wasn't letting him out of his sight.  When they pulled up to Number 4, Guo Changcheng was already there -- but instead of cowering behind his papers, he was talking animatedly at -- Zhao Yunlan squinted.  "Zhu Jiu?  Really?"

"Who?" 

He got out of the car instead of answering, and Guo Changcheng beamed.  "Real Chief Zhao!  You're here!"

"Xiao Guo," he said, sighing.  "I'm the only Chief Zhao right now."

"Sorry, sorry -- but we were all -- it was very confusing, and we had to be able to tell you apart somehow, but Old Chief Zhao was already your --"

His eyes went wide and he cut himself off.  Zhao Yunlan waved a hand at him.  "It's fine."  He considered the odds that Guo would break himself of the habit before his father heard about it.  They weren't great.  "We'll sort it out."  Somehow.  Maybe.  And definitely not until he'd put it off for a good long time.

He turned deliberately towards Zhu Jiu, who looked like he was trying to become one with the wall.  "Zhu Jiu!  What a surprise."

Zhu Jiu scowled.  "All of you are crazy."  

"Hey!"  Da Qing bristled, then seemed to consider the situation.  "Well, all right.  That's fair, actually."

"Why are you here?" Zhao Yunlan asked.

More scowling.  He didn't remember seeing many expressions other than scowling or smirking, so maybe this was the best they could hope for.  "The boss said I had to help.”

"No," he said.  "Not that part."  He slung an arm around Guo Changcheng's shoulders and waved broadly at the door.  "Why are you out here, and not in there?"

He swept them all towards the door, making sure Da Qing went through first.  He was mostly sure the shield wouldn't stop him on his own.  He would have been more sure if Guo Changcheng had tried it already, but they'd make do.

Stepping back inside the SID was more overwhelming than he'd hoped.  Da Qing nudged him hard when he froze up, and he batted him away.  "I'm fine."  

"He's here!" Da Qing called, and pushed him towards the sofa.  The rest of the team was already scattered around the table, clearly warned by Da Qing's texting.  Even Lao Chu had showed up.  

He shook his finger at Da Qing.  "What are you looking so excited for?  I already explained this to you."

"I think you skipped some things, 'Real Chief Zhao,'" Da Qing said, shaking his finger right back.

"Oh!" Guo Changcheng startled forward.  "I have letters!"

"Who are you?" Zhu Hong asked.

"This is Xiao Guo," he said, dropping onto the sofa and pulling Guo with him.  "We've traveled back in time from the future."  He quirked a smile.  "We're here to save the world."

Guo Changcheng was only trembling slightly under the full scrutiny of the SID, which was certainly more impressive than his last first day.  "Well, we -- we sort of already saved the world before, or after -- we would, I mean -- we did."

Zhao Yunlan sighed.  "Fine.  We're here to save the world better."  The words from before finally registered.  "What letters?"

"Oh.  Some people --"  His eyes darted around the room.  "Um.  Some people thought a letter might be more helpful, for their past self.  Than, um.  You explaining."

Chu laughed.  "Huh.  He obviously knows you, Chief Zhao."

Lin Jing was mumbling to himself as he typed notes into a tablet.  "If they were in the future...  But they already existed here, so if they were here, and then they came back, does that mean they're here twice?  Was it a replacement?  Is the older consciousness in the younger body?  How would we know?  No, don't ask that.  But if that’s true, how could they have brought things with them?  If they could bring things with them, why didn't they bring more?  Who writes letters anymore?"

Finally he looked up and realized everyone was staring at him.  "Er, that is to say -- really, time travel?"

Zhao Yunlan caught his eye and pointed at the tablet.  "Those notes don't leave this building," he said.  Hopefully his expression conveyed 'we'll talk about this later' well enough that they'd never have to.

Lin Jing's eyes went wide as he realized the implications.  "Of course, Chief Zhao."  

"What about you?  Did you bring anything back?"  Zhu Hong crossed her arms and gave him a suspicious look.  

"Nope!" he lied cheerfully, already anticipating Lin Jing's demands to study anything that had come through the wormhole.  

"Why not?"  Still suspicious, then.

"What, you wanted me to bring presents?  It was the future, not a sightseeing trip."  

"Chu-ge thought I might be the only one who could bring things with me," Guo Changcheng offered, and Zhao Yunlan was so distracted watching Chu's expression that he didn't think to stop the words that came next.  "Since I was the only one who was alive when we came back."

Silence.  He dropped his head into his hands.  "Xiao Guo," he muttered.  "Was that really necessary?"

"What?"

Da Qing flung himself off the table and onto the sofa between them.  "You were dead?!  You didn't explain anything!"

He rubbed his hand over Da Qing's back, and sighed.  "This would be a good time for those letters, Xiao Guo."

*******

He wasn't actually expecting to get a letter himself.  "What's this?"  

"It's from Chief Zhao," Guo said.  

The envelope was suspiciously thick.  He raised his eyebrows.  What could the old man possibly have to say to him that would take that much paper?  

"And a few other people."  Guo swallowed nervously.  "They wanted to write too."

He stuffed the envelope into his jacket.  He'd deal with it later.  "Do you have more of those in there?"  Guo's bag still looked unusually full, and the way he immediately put a hand over it and stepped back told him everything he needed to know.  "Ah.  Different question, then -- who wrote to Zhu Jiu?" 

Guo's idea of whispering was surely loud enough that the whole team could hear.  "It was -- it was Fire.  From the--"  

He held up a hand to cut him off.  "I remember."  He'd showed up when they needed him and hadn't asked any questions; that was enough of a recommendation.  "You."  He pointed at Guo, then moved his finger to Zhu Jiu.  "Watch him.  Everyone else, go through the boxes at the back of the library.  Xiao Guo will send you a picture of what you're looking for."

They'd appreciate a chance to gossip somewhere where he wasn't, and he'd appreciate Shen Wei's face when he learned they'd already locked down one of the Hallows.  Also he could use a nap.  Resurrection time travel was tiring.

"Um.  Real Chief -- I mean, Chief Zhao -- I don't have a picture of the Guardian Lantern."

He opened his eyes.  "You don't have a picture of the Guardian Lantern."

Guo did at least look appropriately repentant.  "No?"

Zhu Jiu cleared his throat.  "I have a picture."  

Unbelievable.  Not even villains could resist leaping to Xiao Guo's rescue.  He closed his eyes again and pointed in what was probably Zhu Jiu's direction.  "Good.  You're hired.  Zhu Jiu will send a picture of what you're looking for."  

The team's chatter faded as they moved away from the table and -- hopefully -- towards the library.  He felt Da Qing leap onto his chest and settle there, purring.  "Damn Cat," he murmured.  "You're supposed to be helping."

"I am helping.  Not letting you out of my sight, remember?  Now be quiet; I'm listening."

He drifted for a while, letting the familiar sounds of the SID anchor him.  He focused on the part of him that would always point to Shen Wei, and waited.  

He didn't have to wait long.  All the lights flickered at once, and white fog billowed in the doorway.  And then Professor Shen stepped carefully into the room, trailing guests behind him like confused ducklings.  The Shadow Man -- currently un-shadowed, he'd halfway expected.  Lu Ruomei and Li Qian, less so.  The team spilled out of the lab, and there was a second of silence as everyone stared at each other.  

"Chief Zhao," Shen Wei said, half introduction, half apology.

And, well, what was he supposed to do in the face of that?  He stood up, displacing Da Qing with an irritated meow, and spread his arms wide.  "Welcome to the SID," he said brightly.  "Please, sit down.  And don't touch anything," he added.  "Wang Zhang will get you the guest forms to complete."

There was no such thing as an SID guest form, but he had confidence that Wang Zhang could come up with something that would keep them occupied.

Shen Wei grabbed his arm like a lifeline and dragged him a few steps away from the group.  "I'm sorry," he said.  

"Forgiven," he replied automatically.  Then he frowned.  "What are you sorry for?"  He waved a hand towards the table.  "I don't see anything that requires an apology."

Shen Wei frowned.  "I shouldn't have brought them here."

Nothing could have made him happier than Shen Wei trusting the team -- trusting him -- enough to bring his problems to them.  He'd throw a party, if he thought Shen Wei would let him get away with it.  But he had enough sense not to say that in front of an audience.  "What happened?" he said instead.  

"Li Qian and Lu Ruomei overheard me speaking with Hao Xue, and -- misinterpreted.  They thought I might be in danger, and intervened.  Unnecessarily."    

It was an unusual clarification, especially when he put it together with the guilty expression on Hao Xue's face.  He made a note to bring up his heroic willingness to overlook both at a later time.  "So you brought them all here."

Shen Wei's expression turned innocent.  "I thought, since you'd already explained it once--"

"Ha!"  Da Qing scoffed.  He'd switched back to human form, and found a snack along the way.  "He didn't explain anything.  This one said two sentences and fell asleep.  Xiao Guo gave everyone a letter from their future self instead."  He narrowed his eyes at Shen Wei.  "I'm supposed to say thank you, but I'm not going to.  You said you'd protect him, and then he died, and you were gone too and I was stuck with Lin Jing!"

Zhao Yunlan threw his hands up.  "For the last time, I wasn't dead!  Do I look dead?"

Da Qing shot him a glare.  "Oh, like 'not alive' is better?  You left me!"

"I came back!  What are you complaining about?  You weren't even there!"

"Cats know these things.  Your plans are terrible."  Da Qing sniffed, and looked back at Shen Wei.  "You can't let him plan anything."  

Shen Wei's face turned soft and fond, an expression that seemed to be reserved for Da Qing alone.  "I will always do everything in my power to bring him home," he said solemnly.  He held out his right hand, pinky extended.  

Da Qing beamed, and held out his own hand.  "Pinky promise."

Zhao Yunlan really hoped someone had the presence of mind to get a picture.  From the frantic whispering he could hear behind him, he was confident the answer was yes.   He clapped his hands together.  "Well!  That's settled."  He spun around and pointed at Lin Jing.  "Did you find it?"

"Er, yes?  It's in the lab.  It's, ah -- it's glowing."

And suddenly it was like the world shifted several degrees off center.  He felt Shen Wei and Da Qing step in to support him, and he was definitely going to wave them off, just as soon as he stopped wanting them to stay right there, so he could prove he was there too.  It was fine.  He was fine.  He could feel the weight of the Guardian Lantern, burning into his palm.  He was --  maybe not fine.

Shen Wei's voice was sharp as he asked, "Glowing like it's lit, or just glowing?"

It was Chu who answered.  "Both.  The eternal flame is lit, and the Lantern itself is glowing."  

That was good, right?  That was what they'd hoped for.  He sucked in a breath and patted Shen Wei's shoulder.  He tried to straighten up without looking too obviously like he hadn't been entirely sure which was was up for a few minutes.  "Good work.  Don't touch it."  And then he groaned when the entire team looked shifty and wouldn't meet his eyes.  "You all touched it, didn't you?"

"It was glowing!  You never said not to touch it before!" Lin Jing protested.  

"You should know better," he said, shaking his finger at them.  "I'm telling you now.  Don't touch the Hallows.  Especially if they're glowing."  

Da Qing rolled his eyes.  "Why is he like this?" he muttered.  "I bet you touched them constantly."  Shen Wei ducked his head and smiled, and Da Qing pounced on it.  "He did, didn't he?"

Shen Wei sighed, but he was still smiling.  "Yes."

Everyone turned to look at him, and he spread his hands out to the sides with as innocent an expression as he could manage.  "Which is why you should listen to me, as the voice of experience."  

Zhu Hong was the only one who laughed out loud, so she was the one he pointed at.  "Zhu Hong!  Thank you for volunteering to explain the current situation to our guests."  

She crossed her arms.  "Xiao Guo.  Letters."  

Guo leaped forward.  "Of course, Hong-jie."  He handed envelopes to Li Qian and Lu Ruomei, and then shuffled awkwardly around Hao Xue.  "I -- I don't have a letter for -- which isn't bad!  I don't --"  He trailed off, and looked at Zhu Hong, who looked at Zhao Yunlan.

He gestured for her to carry on.  She looked back at Hao Xue.  "They time traveled from the future.  They're here to save the world better.  You probably died the first time.  Sorry."

Zhao Yunlan cleared his throat.  His whole team, seriously -- the worst at comforting people.  "You saved my life," he said, carefully not looking at Shen Wei.  

"My life," Shen Wei corrected.  "I am in your debt."

He leaned closer.  "Which one of us did he take the sword from, hm?" he said quietly.  "It was definitely my life."

Shen Wei dropped his eyes.  "It was my fault you were there.  I wouldn't have let you give your life to free me."  

"Oh?  And how were you planning to stop me?  Rattle your chains at me?"  He wasn't actually trying to make Shen Wei angry, so he stopped there.  Took a deep breath.  He turned back to Hao Xue, who mostly looked fascinated.  "Both our lives," he said, probably not very graciously.  "Thank you.  We're in your debt."

Hao Xue's eyes went wide.  "That's -- not necessary, Lord Guardian.  Lord Envoy."  He nodded to both of them.  "I can't accept thanks for something I haven't done."  

"Very wise, Hao Xue."  After all, they were all hoping the opposite would hold true.  He was very carefully not thinking about all the conversations he now hadn't had, all the lives they now had a chance to save -- and the ones they were still too late for.  Even ancient meteorite-powered mystical alien technology had limits, it turned out.

"Professor Shen?  Chief Zhao?"  Li Qian's voice drew his attention back to the table.  It drew everyone's attention, in fact, because she'd put Longevity Dial down in front of her, and it was glowing.  Of course it was.  Even Zhu Jiu had stopped lurking by the wall and was eyeing it warily.

"Wasn't it smaller before?" Lu Ruomei asked.  

"It does that," he said, taking a step closer.  He stopped when he felt Shen Wei tense, and held up his hands.  "Not touching," he said.  

As if in response, the Longevity Dial levitated itself off the table and spun in a lazy circle, projecting an image of the Guardian Lantern.  He gave a short laugh.  "Yes, we have that one, you're welcome."  The glow got brighter, and the image changed to the Mount-River Awl.  "Really?  We can't start with the one that's right next door?"

He heard someone whisper, "Is he talking to it?"  Probably Lin Jing.  But the image obligingly switched to the Merit Brush, and he beamed.  

"Thank you!  Yes, we're working on it."  

The Longevity Dial settled back onto the table, but continued to glow.  "Li Qian," he said, and she jerked her hand back from where she'd been reaching for it.  

It was Shen Wei who sat down next to her.  "May we?" he asked quietly.  Li Qian hesitated, then seemed to brace herself, and she nodded.  Shen Wei, at least, didn't try to take the Longevity Dial himself, but looked around at the group expectantly.

If he took out all of the people who'd shown an ability to use the Hallows -- or had them used on them -- that left... not that many options.  "Lin Jing."  No answer.  He dragged his eyes away from Shen Wei and saw Lin Jing staring at his phone.  Zhu Hong flicked his ear, and he yelped.  

"What?  I wasn't doing anything!"  

Zhao Yunlan sighed. He waved towards the table.  "Lin Jing.  Take the Longevity Dial to the lab."

"You said not to touch them," Lin Jing said suspiciously.  

"Ah, that's a good point."  He shook his finger at Lin Jing.  "You're a genius, right?"

"Of course!"  

He raised his eyebrows.  "In that case, I'm sure you'll figure something out." 

*******

"Did you do this in the other timeline too?  Hide in Professor Shen's office and eat all his food?"  

Probably more than he should have, but not nearly as often as he would have liked.  He tipped his chair back so he could put his feet up the desk.  "One, I'm not hiding."  If he was hiding, he'd be doing it in his own office.  Or he would have closed the blinds.  "Two, this food was for me.  It even had my name on it, see?"  He flipped the note around and tapped on it.

Da Qing was sprawled out on the sofa, but he leaned his head back so he could look upside down at the note.  He squinted.  "Professor Shen has nice handwriting.  If you're not hiding, why are we here?"  

"I'm here because I'm waiting for someone.  You're here because you're neglecting your duties as Deputy Chief to follow me around all the time."

"Ah!"  Da Qing made a face.  "You say neglecting, I say delegating."  

With the Merit Brush safely ensconced in the lab with the other Hallows, the rest of the team was casting a net for the face-stealing Dixingren and his paralyzing-gas partner.  Zhu Jiu was being suspiciously helpful.  But Shen Wei and Guo Changcheng both agreed he wasn't being mind-controlled, and he figured they would know. Wang Zheng kept an eye on him when the others weren’t around, and she said he spent a lot of time staring at the Guardian Lantern but was otherwise a model guest.  

Zhao Yunlan gave a dramatic sigh.  "It's true, you weren't very helpful the first time around with that case; they probably don't need you there."  

"Exactl -- hey!"  Da Qing twisted himself around on the sofa to glare at him right-side up.  "Oh, look, Professor Shen is coming."

He yanked his feet off the desk so fast he nearly overbalanced the chair, and Da Qing laughed so hard he fell off the sofa.  “He’s not! But your face!"

He probably deserved that.  He threw his napkin at Da Qing anyway, and they both froze when someone knocked on the door.  Shen Wei wouldn't knock on his own door, right?  "Come in!" he called.

Li Qian entered first, followed by Lu Ruomei and Wang Yike.  "Student Li," he acknowledged.  

She nodded at him.  "This is Chief Zhao," she said, presumably for Wang Yike's benefit.  He wiggled his fingers in a wave, and she gave him a flat stare in return.  

That was fine.  She didn't need to like him; she just needed to listen.  Ideally, not murdering people would also be good.  He slid his business card across the desk.  "Chief Zhao Yunlan, Special Investigation Department."

Wang Yike paled, but her expression stayed defiant.  "I know who you are."  

He raised his eyebrows.  "Really?  Do you know why I'm here?"  Silence.  He was happy to wait — they were early; he hadn’t even gotten to finish his lunch.

"I haven't done anything wrong," Wang Yike said finally.  

"Yet," he added, and she glared at him.

"If you know that, you know why.  They deserve to suffer for what they did!"  She clenched her fists, and Li Qian wisely took a step back and pulled Lu Ruomei with her.

He leaned forward, making sure she had an easy target if she decided to go on the offensive.  "But do you?  Vengeance is a fire that burns your enemies and yourself in equal measure."

"It doesn't matter what happens to me!"

It was an echo of every argument he'd ever had with Shen Wei, and he had to remind himself not to shout back at her.  He took a deep breath instead.  "Wanting to protect the people we care about is — something we have in common.  When those people are hurt, no matter how it happens -- there's no way to make it right."  

She wasn't listening, or she was but didn't believe him.  "You don't understand what it's like," she insisted.

He thought of Shen Wei, dripping blood and energy on the ground in front of him, and swallowed hard.  He met Wang Yike's eyes and spoke quietly.  “I do. I wanted the one who hurt him to die.  I wanted to kill him with my own hands, for what he did.  To repay every hurt twofold."

At least it looked like she was finally paying attention.  "And?"

And it turned out it was his brother, which was complicated enough even before time travel got involved.  "And -- I decided our future was more important than our past.  That making the person that I love happy is a more worthy goal than exacting payment for past hurts."  He nodded towards the door, where Zhang Rounan had entered with Shen Wei.  "You say it doesn't matter what happens to you.  It may not matter to you, but it does matter to someone."  

Zhang Rounan gave a small nod, and Wang Yike looked away.  "And they just -- what?  Get away with it?"

He leaned back and smiled.  "I never said that."  He tapped his phone.  "Lin Jing, are you ready?"

"Yeah, let me just -- there."  The video link connected, and he tilted his phone up to show the rest of the room.  

"Who's that?" Wang Yike asked.

"That," he said, waving at the phone.  "Is Dragon City's number one whistleblower.  Say hello, Cong Bo."

”Um, hello?  I’m still not sure how you found me."

"That's not important. What's important is what you've found -- tell me, has Lin Jing earned his bonus this month?"

"Hey!"  Lin Jing appeared back in the frame.  "Yes, is the answer.  Definitely yes.  We left no stone unturned in our search."

Cong Bo frowned.  "Well, actually, we didn't have to look all that--"

"No stone," Lin Jing interrupted.  "Left unturned.  Boss, how does academic dishonesty sound to you?" 

"Bad?" he guessed.  

"Very bad.  Try combining it with bribery and blackmail, and all planned out using their university email addresses.  I'm sending you the files now, but an anonymous tip is probably the way to go.”

Lu Ruomei looked confused.  "I don't understand.  How did you know?" 

“Three students who committed a despicable act would somehow turn out to be honorable and upstanding citizens in every other way?” He made a face. “Not even our intern could believe such a coincidence.”

Lin Jing snorted, then seemed to realize he was still on camera, and tried to turn it into a cough.  “Ah -- yes.  Also, failed a class but still in good standing for athletics?  That’s where we started.”

He caught Wang Yike's eyes again as Lin Jing expounded on his investigatory skills, and pointed at his business card.  Hopefully if she decided it wasn't enough, she'd call first.  

*******

"I missed you."  He was sprawled out on the sofa -- he’d swear it was more comfortable than he remembered it being -- but he looked up so he could watch Shen Wei smile at his words.  

"We had breakfast together this morning," Shen Wei reminded him.  

That was true.  And yet.  "And then we didn't see each other all day!  I had to text Zu Ma for updates." 

They'd split the team to cover as much ground as possible -- and a little bit because it probably wasn't a good idea for the entire SID to descend upon Wu Tian’en for a conversation about a son he didn't know had been abandoned and crimes that hadn't yet been committed.  Besides, they couldn't all fit in one vehicle anyway.

But it meant he'd had to spend the day placating and gently threatening wealthy businessmen, while Shen Wei got to confront the web novelist and drag him off to Dr. Cheng.  Literally, since Zhu Hong had knocked him unconscious when he kept trying to sneak back to his computer.  

"Is that what he was doing lurking in the hallway?" Shen Wei asked.  "He's supposed to be a patient, not a spy."

His brain derailed slightly when Shen Wei started sketching something on a pad of paper, but he managed to say, "There's nothing wrong with him.  I asked if he would keep an eye on you today; he said yes.  I'm thinking of recruiting him full time."  

"Dr. Cheng says he has stunted growth," Shen Wei said mildly, not looking up from his drawing.  

Zhao Yunlan rolled his eyes.  "Dr. Cheng is a better at medicine than she is at lying, and has doubtless helped many Dixingren pass unnoticed through her care.  Keeping Zu Ma at the hospital with her is a convenient fiction and we both know it.  He should know there are other options available."  

Shen Wei frowned. “He's still a child."

"He looks like a child.  Chu Shuzhi has looked 35 for a hundred years."  He realized his mistake almost immediately, when Shen Wei's eyes snapped up to meet his.  

"How do you know that?"

"Ah."  He sat up and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, watching Shen Wei put the pieces together alarmingly quickly. 

"You said ‘one time.’  One time you risked walking in their dreams." Shen Wei suddenly crowded against him on the sofa, close enough that he could lean forward and touch their foreheads together. 

They'd had to agree to ban the 'it hasn't even happened yet' argument from all disagreements, which left him -- not much.  "It was only one time on purpose?” he offered.  “How do you know it wasn't Chu's?"

"Zhu Hong already spoke to me.  It was in her letter." There was a beat of silence, and then — “Zhao Yunlan."  Shen Wei always said his name like it was a complete statement all on its own; layers of feeling and meaning carefully tucked inside.

"I can't always stay safe," he replied softly.  "But I do listen to you.  Chu was sleepwalking, and we didn't realize until it was too late.  I was in and out; he never even saw me." He put his hand on Shen Wei’s chest, feeling the pendant tucked under his shirt. “I’m not leaving you. You’re stuck with me.”

Shen Wei mirrored the gesture. “Good.”

There was no way he was going to move first, but finally Shen Wei dropped his eyes, and he took that as his cue. He shifted them both around on the sofa until his head was in Shen Wei’s lap. Then he felt around on the table until he found the sketchpad, and passed it over — without even looking at it, which he felt deserved some sort of prize. “There. That’s much better.”

Shen Wei let out a quiet laugh, but he dropped his free hand to Zhao Yunlan’s head and ran his fingers through his hair. “Are you comfortable like that?”

“Exceptionally.” He kicked one foot up over the arm of the sofa. “What are you drawing?”

He heard paper rustling, and Shen Wei moved the sketchpad so he could see it without sitting up. As soon as he did he wanted to laugh. “Bears? Professor Shen, did you draw all those pictures of bears you teased me with?”

“I hung them in my office afterwards,” Shen Wei said, which was absolutely a yes. “Now I find myself missing them.”

He smiled, and reached up a hand to tap the picture softly. “An artist as well as a scholar. Is there anything you can’t do?”

“Too much,” Shen Wei said seriously. Then he dropped his eyes. “Not enough.”

He was sure Shen Wei could work up an extensive argument on why either was true, or even both at the same time. “A different question, then. If I give you a phone, will you use it?”

There was no reason why the Black Cloaked Envoy would have a learning blindspot the exact size and shape of computer-based technology. Which meant it was Professor Shen who had adopted that particular quirk. For reasons that were surely at the time logical enough to make him want to cry, or possibly punch something, but that were now, hopefully, irrelevant. He held up a hand. “Before you say anything, I have a list of important considerations.”

He paused, but Shen Wei didn’t interrupt. “Thank you.” He almost lost his train of thought when Shen Wei took his hand and tangled their fingers together, but he was determined not to be distracted.

“First, you have people you want to stay in touch with.” He used his free hand to gesture to himself, and then more broadly around the apartment. “We are also an excellent excuse for avoiding any unwanted social engagements!” He mimed looking at his phone. “‘An important message from Chief Zhao Yunlan! I should take this immediately.’”

It was harder to tell upside down, but he thought Shen Wei was trying not to laugh. “Second, pictures. Third, it would be my deep and abiding honor to be your emergency contact.” He stopped there — he had more, but they were mainly variations on the first three, and silence sometimes worked better than words with Shen Wei.

“Yes.”

He frowned. That seemed almost suspiciously easy. “Yes what?”

“If you give me a phone, I’ll use it.” Shen Wei had looked away, but he was pretty sure he was smiling.

“You were going to say yes the whole time, weren’t you?”

Definitely smiling. “Yes. But I enjoyed hearing your arguments.”

*******

In retrospect, he should have guessed the team was up to something as soon as he received Da Qing’s text — a long string of laughing face emojis and nothing else.  But the damn cat was finally letting him leave his sight for things like ‘picking up lunch with Shen Wei,’ so he’d put it off.  Whatever it was, it would probably be easier to deal with in person, right?  When Wang Zheng met them at the door with a loud, “Real Chief Zhao! Professor Shen! You’re back early!” he suddenly wasn’t so sure.

He ignored the ‘Real Chief Zhao’ and tried to peer around her into the building.  Changcheng had them all doing it; he couldn’t decide if he was irritated or touched, so he was mostly pretending it wasn’t happening.  “Wang Zheng,” he said.  “What a surprise. What’s going on?”

“Nothing!” she said quickly. “Everything is fine!”

He looked at Shen Wei, who raised his eyebrows.  He didn’t look concerned, so there couldn’t be anything too dangerous inside.  Which didn’t mean it wasn’t going to be something extremely irritating, but maybe they’d at least get to eat lunch first.

Despite her words, Wang Zheng didn’t step aside.  Finally he asked, “Are you supposed to delay us out here for a certain amount of time, or were you just the lookout to let them know we’re back?” 

“Oh!  No, go right in!  I’ll go first, to make sure — um, that everything is still fine.”  She hurried ahead of them.

“Well, that’s not worrying at all,” he muttered.  He checked his phone, but no new messages had appeared. When he looked up, Shen Wei was smiling again. “What?”

“Your team cares about you very much,” Shen Wei said.

He rocked back on his heels, and nodded. “Mm, I see how it is. When they’re planning something devious, suddenly they’re ‘my’ team.” Surprise replaced the edge of sadness in Shen Wei’s expression, so he pushed a little more. “They care about you too, you know. Not just because we’re a package deal.”

Someday, hopefully someday soon, Shen Wei would believe it. In the meantime — he waved towards the main room. “After you.”

The applause started as soon as they crossed the threshold, and he was pretty sure it was only a combination of shock and ingrained politeness that kept Shen Wei moving forward. The room was crowded with people and food, and above them all, a banner that proclaimed, ‘Congratulations Professor Shen On Your New Phone.’ Li Qian leaped forward to take the bags from Shen Wei, and handed them to a girl he didn’t recognize. She was sitting on the table; he approved.

Da Qing wandered over with a full plate of dried fish, as Shen Wei got drawn into a conversation with Li Qian and Lu Ruomei. “Were you surprised?” he asked. “They wanted it to be a surprise.”

He couldn’t stop laughing every time he looked at the banner. “Did you come up with this?”

“Not me.” Da Qing pointed towards the lab. “Zhu Hong and Xiao Guo.”

They were talking with Dr. Cheng and Cong Bo, but Guo sneezed, and it made Zhu Hong look up and scan the room until she saw him. He raised his eyebrows, and she shrugged. It was a shrug that said ‘you’re welcome’ and ‘you owe me for this’ in equal parts. What in the world had been in that letter?

"We were surprised," he said.  "Thank you.  Did you--"  

"Lock down the lab?" Da Qing interrupted.  "Obviously.  And your office."

He grabbed one of the fish in retaliation, and leaned back when Da Qing swatted at his hand.  Da Qing made a face.  "King of the cats, here.  Top of the food chain.  You should be bringing me food, not stealing it off my plate."   
Ten thousand years, and he was still using the same argument.  "Is the king of cats slowing down in his venerable old age?"

Da Qing moved his plate out of reach and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.  "Are you sure you're not getting faster?"  

He had no idea, actually.  Between the Longevity Dial, the serum, and the void, it seemed -- not impossible.  They'd been trying to create a sustainable energy balance between light energy, dark energy, and four alien-influenced pieces of technology with the power to destroy the timeline.  Recreating realistic human limitations hadn't exactly been a priority.  He gave Da Qing his most innocent expression.  "Me?"

Da Qing scoffed.  "I taught you that face.  Just tell me this: are you going to do something stupid again?"

He flinched, and Da Qing's eyes went wide.  "Of course not," he hurried to say.  Then he sighed.  "I hope not.  It shouldn't come to that."

"Did you make this plan?" Da Qing demanded.

"No."  He hoped the next question wasn't going to be who did make the plan, because he didn't think Da Qing was going to like that answer any better.  

But Da Qing just nodded.  "Well, good."

And that was that.  Da Qing was called away to settle a dispute between Lin Jing and Wang Zheng, and he made his way to the stairs.  Looking over the group from the mezzanine made something settle in his chest that he hadn't even realized had been out of place.  They hadn't spent enough time doing this the first time around.  

He felt Shen Wei step up next to him.  "I had nothing to do with this," he said preemptively.  "But it was a good idea."

Shen Wei leaned on the railing next to him, close enough that their shoulders were touching.  "I know," he said, and there was a hint of a laugh in his voice.  "Your surprise was very genuine."

He raised his eyebrows, but didn't bother moving.  Why would he, when he was so comfortable where he was?  "My surprise?"  

Shen Wei coughed.  "Chu Shuzhi was -- unsure, how I would react."

"He warned you ahead of time."  Zhao Yulan laughed.  "Of course he did.  I told you," he said, waving a finger over the rail.  "They're your team too."  

His eye was caught by Zhu Jiu talking with Zhang Rounan, both of them bent over a tablet and gesturing wildly.  The tablet sparked.  Zhu Jiu looked around guiltily, and he sighed.  "In fact, I insist you take fifty percent of the responsibility for them.  More, if you'd like."

*******

He finally tracked down Zu Ma, talking with Lao Li as the party was breaking up.  They both looked delighted, although only one of them continued to look that way after he interrupted them.  Zu Ma glared at him.  "I don't understand you."

He spread his hands out wide.  "Neither do I!  Understanding why people do what they do is one of the great mysteries of life."

“Mr. Tan told me you visited him.  Why were you there?"

"That's a good question.  Why don't you ask him?"

Zu Ma gave an exasperated sigh.  "I did.  He wouldn't tell me.  Are you the one who paid his hospital bill?"

Smart kid.  "Why does it matter to you?"

Zu Ma looked at him like their ages were reversed.  "Because people don't do things without a reason.  So if you did it, you must have a reason.  I thought maybe it was so that I would keep texting you about Professor Shen, but he has his own phone now, so what do you want?"

He thought about trying to put him off with a joke, or a glib answer.  Or even a true answer -- he did want Zu Ma to find Lin Yusen and keep him out of trouble, after all.  But it was an honest question, and it deserved an honest answer.  "I want my second chance to not come at the expense of someone else's," he said finally.  

There were a few seconds of silence, and then Zu Ma said, "I don't know what that means."

He shrugged.  "Well, you're welcome to try to find out. In the meantime, remember the name Lin Yusen. He’s an enormous troublemaker; I’d like a warning before he does anything too irreparable.“

“Do you want me to bring him here?”

“Absolutely not. But he’ll probably show up anyway.”

With that, he retreated to the main room, only to find that the girl he'd seen earlier was back, sitting cross-legged on the table and sorting through the leftover food.

He looked around, just in case there was an explanation somewhere that he'd missed.  Nothing.  Chu was on the sofa, which was moderately unusual, but not actually suspicious.  The rest of the team was at their desks, and Shen Wei had gone to the university.  He pointed at the table.  "Ah, who's this?"

Chu frowned at him.  "That's Dong Nan."  The girl waved.  "You don't know her?"

"Should I?"

Guo popped up from behind his computer and beamed at him.  "She's my Zu Ma," he said, like that explained everything.  "I already talked to Ya Qing; it's fine."

He nodded, slowly.  Surely there was a way to make those three statements align in a way that created an actual explanation.  And surely it would be easier to figure out if Chu wasn't glaring at him.  He held both hands up.  "You know what?  If you say it's fine, Xiao Guo, I'm sure it's fine.  Lin Jing -- my office."

He magnanimously ignored the faces Lin Jing was making at his back.  There was a certain finesse required to write reports on the SID's current projects -- all of which were taking time and resources, none of which he wanted to share in full with the Department of Supervision.  It was a combination of carefully selected truth and complete fabrication, and he was looking forward to dumping all of it into the hands of their resident spy.  

"All the reports?"  Lin Jing ran his hands through his hair.  "Boss!"

He put his feet up on the desk, and pointed his lollipop at Lin Jing.  "Last time, I fired you," he reminded him.  

Lin Jing put both hands over his chest.  "Haha, what am I saying -- I love reports; I would be happy to do this for Real Chief Zhao."  

Zhao Yunlan rolled his eyes.  "Don't oversell it.  Have you found anything yet?"

"Right."  Lin Jing's expression turned serious.  "We're trying.  He's definitely hiding something, because no one is that clean, but it's deep.  There's nothing I can find with the lab.  Cong Bo's been going through the family -- medical records, permits, taxes, everything.  Nothing yet."

He leaned back and stared at the ceiling.  "She's his step-daughter.  What about the mother?"  

Lin Jing shook his head.  "Dead.  Malignant neoplasm, a year after they married.  All the hospital records match up, though.  She was diagnosed before they even met."    

Zheng Yi's power was mind-control through sound waves.  Zheng Zhongyuan's research was based on sonar.  There was no such thing as a coincidence in a case. 

"The hospital records," he said.  "What about Zheng Yi's?  She must have had physicals, vaccinations--"  

But Lin Jing shook his head again.  "We looked.  Everything's like clockwork; no unusual visits, nothing out of the ordinary at all."  Of course -- with her power, all she'd have to do is say she was fine.  Any suspicions would be halted before they even started.  And as much as he wanted to, they couldn't swoop in and steal her away without something more substantial than being too ordinary.

"What would it take?" 

"Cong Bo thinks he'd have to confess, to get anything to stick."  Lin Jing's expression said more than enough about how likely he thought that was.  "Can’t the Black Cloaked Envoy do something?"

He made a face. “We're looking into it."  It was more complicated than it should have been, trying to figure out what Shen Wei was allowed to do to protect Dixingren on the surface.  Where rules existed at all, the wording was convoluted at best, contradictory at worst.  “The Envoy’s freedom to act in Haixing is centered around restricting and removing criminals, and those who mis-use their powers.”

“It’s just too bad Zheng Yi hasn’t committed any crimes yet,” Lin Jing mused.

The idea seemed to hit them both at the same time. “Of course!” He shook his finger at Lin Jing. “Contact Li Qian; find out if anyone knows Tan Xiao well enough to convince him to listen to us.”

“Me? Where are you going?”

Wasn’t that obvious? “I’m going to the university, to let the Black Cloaked Envoy know that a crime is about to be committed.”

*******

Convincing Tan Xiao turned out to be the easy part.  Convincing Zheng Yi was more challenging.  Tan Xiao was trying, but it was obviously going to take more than his word, or more time than they could afford.

He was bracing himself to intervene -- they both played the violin and had crappy fathers; that had to be common ground, right?  But Shen Wei put a hand on his wrist.  "Let me?" 

Shen Wei was hard to deny at the best of times. Shen Wei in the robes of the Black Cloaked Envoy, with his hood down and no mask to hide his earnest expression, was a force of nature.  He twisted his wrist around so he could squeeze their fingers together, hidden in Shen Wei's voluminous sleeves.  "Thank you."  It would serve well enough as enough of a placeholder for everything else he wasn't saying.

At least they weren't gathering a crowd.  More of a crowd.  The park had seemed like a logical meeting place, even when eighty percent of the team -- and Lu Ruomei, for reasons apparently related to sharing a study group with Tan Xiao -- decided to tag along. He hadn't expected Ying Chun to show up as soon as they arrived and greet Shen Wei like an old friend.  And he definitely hadn't been expecting Ya Qing to show up right behind her, and greet no one.  Which hadn't stopped Guo Changcheng from regaling her with stories about Dong Nan.  Ya Qing's expression could perhaps best be described as reluctantly amused.

But she and Ying Chun were doing -- something -- to deflect attention away from the group, for which he was both grateful and suspicious.  He couldn't help feeling as if the situation had somehow become much bigger than Zheng Yi.  Zhu Hong certainly seemed to think so, if her rapid-fire texting was any indication.

Finally, she tucked her phone away.  He patiently waited a full five count, then checked his messages.  Most of her texts weren't to him, because there was only one.  'It's fine.  Try not to look like an idiot.  Poke Da Qing when it's his turn.'  

Vague, but not alarming.  He was debating trying to get more information when Shen Wei stood up.  "Zheng Yi has agreed," he said calmly.  "As long as she doesn't have to use her power on Tan Xiao."

Zhao Yunlan frowned.  That was the opposite of a problem.  "She can use it on me; it's fine."

Da Qing coughed loudly.  "She has to use it on someone from Haixing," he said.  "Not you."

"I'm from Haixing." 

"Doesn't smell like it," Da Qing retorted.  

He looked at Shen Wei, who wouldn't meet his eyes.  "What, really?"  Probably they should talk about that at some point.  "Not me, then.  Xiao Guo, put your hand down. If I don’t count, you don’t count either; don’t think I don’t know about that.“  Were they really down to a single token human on the team?  And of course Lin Jing had stayed behind to help keep an eye on Dong Nan and Zhu Jiu.  

Chu nodded towards Lu Ruomei. 

“Student Lu,” he started, and then cut himself off when she flinched.

"I can't," she said, looking at the ground.  She bit her lip, and then dropped to her knees.  "Lord Envoy.  I'm sorry."

Shen Wei looked stunned, but there was delight creeping in behind it.  Zhao Yunlan was happy to provide all the distraction he needed to get there. He pulled Lu Ruomei back to her feet and smiled widely. “You're from Dixing?  Do you have family there?  Have we met them?"  

"Yes?" Lu Ruomei said hesitantly.  "I'm from Dixing.  I -- have family there.  I don't know if you've met them?  Have you been to Dixing?"

"Of course!  Not yet.  We'll be going back soon."  The best-worst part about time travel was that all those things were true.  

"Wait, what about me?" Da Qing asked suddenly.  "You can't say I'm not from Haixing.  I've been here longer than any of you!"

He'd been reluctant to volunteer Da Qing, particularly with two Yashou leaders watching -- but if he was going to volunteer himself...  He looked at Shen Wei, who gave a tiny nod.  

"Flower Tribe recognizes Cat Tribe's decision," Ying Chun said serenely.  

Ya Qing muttered, "You mean Cat Tribe does whatever they please, as usual." 

Da Qing looked smug.  "That's right."  He turned to look at Zheng Yi, who looked at Shen Wei with wide eyes.  

Shen Wei bent down to whisper something in her ear, and she nodded.  "Da Qing," she said carefully.  "You should give all the fish snacks in your pockets right now to Chief Zhao Yunlan."

Da Qing's expression went blank.  He obediently emptied his pockets. 

Shen Wei put his hand on Zheng Yi's shoulder.  "Like this," he said quietly.  She frowned, and just like that, the control was gone.  Da Qing blinked.

"Fish snacks!" he exclaimed, seeing the pile in Zhao Yunlan's hands.  "Hey, those are mine!"

The relief bubbled up, and he laughed.  "They're yours, Damn Cat.  Here." 

While Da Qing stashed everything back away, Shen Wei said, "Zheng Yi, for using your powers, the treaty requires me to act.  I remove you from the custody of Zheng Zhongyuan."  He made a sweeping gesture with one hand, and then immediately ruined the image by adding, "Please text me if you need anything."

Zheng Yi beamed.  Tan Xiao looked like he might faint, but Guo stepped in quickly to pat him on the shoulder and surreptitiously prop him up.  

Everything seemed resolved, but there was still a weight to the air, a sense of anticipation.  He'd always been terrible at waiting.  Zhao Yunlan spread his hands apart and looked around the group.  "Well?"

Ying Chun coughed, and it sounded like she was covering a laugh.  "Since we're here," she said lightly.  "Flower Tribe recognizes the Black Cloaked Envoy."  She nodded to Shen Wei.  "And the Light of the Guardian Lantern." She turned to him, and nodded.  

Recognition wasn't allegiance, but it wasn't neutrality, either.  And the last thing he needed was another title, but it wasn't like he hadn't brought this one on himself.  Try not to look like an idiot.  He nodded back, and Zhu Hong stepped forward.  "Snake Tribe recognizes the Black Cloaked Envoy, and the Light of the Guardian Lantern." 

Ya Qing gave a loud sigh, and crossed her arms.  "Yes, fine," she said.  "Crow Tribe recognizes the Black Cloaked Envoy."  There was a long pause.  He stuck a lollipop in his mouth and raised his eyebrows at her.  "And the Light of the Guardian Lantern," she added grudgingly.  

Zhu Hong cleared her throat.  Right.  He poked Da Qing, who jumped.  "What?  Oh!  I mean, sure, yes, Cat Tribe recognizes the Light of the Guardian Lantern and the Black Cloaked Envoy.  Obviously."  

From the way Shen Wei hid a smile, the order of the titles was important.  Lessons learned a lifetime ago -- 10,000 years, an eternity, the blink of an eye -- came rushing back.  "I recognize the Yashou Tribes," Shen Wei said.  

Zhao Yunlan leaned on Da Qing.  "I recognize Cat Tribe," he said.  "Along with all Yashou Tribes."  

Ya Qing huffed, but Ying Chun smiled.  Of the two of them, she was the one whose opinion mattered to Shen Wei, so she was the one whose opinion he cared about.  Irritating Ya Qing at the same time was definitely a bonus, though.  

*******

"Did you really take Zhou Weiwei back to Dixing the first time?"

Shen Wei didn't hesitate, which he considered a personal victory.  "Yes.  But I doubt she stayed there."  

They were sitting on a bench not far from Ji Xiaobai’s house, waiting to see of Guo Changcheng was going to be successful in convincing him to — what?  Keep an open mind?  

"You didn't even try to put her in prison, did you?"  It had taken him longer than it probably should have to realize that the reason Dixing's prisons seemed so sieve-like was because the Black Cloaked Envoy only delivered people to them about a third of the time.  The other two-thirds he recruited to his personal spy network or mysteriously lost along the way.  Of course, on the first trip through the timeline he'd been extremely distracted by Shen Wei's -- everything, which he felt was a perfectly reasonable excuse.

"She didn't hurt anyone," Shen Wei said.  

He glanced over.  "She did threaten to kill us," he said.  More to see what the reply would be than because he had any real objection.  Plenty of people had threatened to kill him over the years; he didn't think she would have gone through with it.

"She was -- distraught."  Shen Wei frowned.  "You don't have a problem with this."

The 'what are you trying to distract me from' was unspoken but unmistakable.  He sighed, and looked up at the sky.  "It's not you.  I'm trying to distract myself.  This case…” He hesitated, and Shen Wei made an encouraging sound. What was one more confession? “The first time around, I misjudged Ji Xiaobai.  I made a mistake, and then I acted in anger.”

He forced himself to meet Shen Wei’s eyes. “And now instead of fixing my mistakes myself, I put it on Xiao Guo.  What type of person does that make me?" 

As always, Shen Wei was much more willing to discuss Zhao Yunlan's feelings than his own.  "A good one," he said immediately.  "Who is able to put the well-being of others above his own.  You might wish to rewrite your own past actions, but Guo Changcheng has the highest likelihood of bringing this situation to a conclusion that creates the most benefit for those involved."    

He hoped that was true.  He wanted it to be true.  Shen Wei put a hand on his arm. “Zhao Yunlan," he said.  "Trust your team.  Have they not earned it?"

"Of course they have."  He laughed, and shook his head when Shen Wei gave him a questioning look.  "It's just -- you, giving me a lesson on trusting people.  Who would've thought?  Is the sky falling?  Is Professor Shen ill?"  

He reached out like he was going to check for a fever, and laughed again when Shen Wei pushed his hand away.  He patted his chest instead.  "Do you need to be distracted?" he asked more seriously.  

Sorting out the mirror Dixingian was the last thing on their unofficial list before they could go after the last Hallow.  The trip to the Northwest had turned into a larger group than either of them had expected, and with that came more delays.  They were both feeling the pressure.

Shen Wei sighed.  "I still don't see why this has to be such a -- spectacle."  He said 'spectacle' like what he really wanted to say was 'ordeal.'  "We could easily retrieve Sang Zan and the Awl and return here without all of this."

At least it was still 'we' and not 'I.'  And he knew Shen Wei knew all the reasons why, but if it would make him feel better to hear them again, well.  There was very little he wouldn't do to make Shen Wei happier.  "Wang Zheng is going because she deserves any measure of peace she can get from it, and unless we're planning to kidnap Sang Zan without his consent, she has to be there."

"And the rest of them?"

He leaned back and spread his hands apart. “Ah, they want to support Wang Zheng?  They threatened to follow us anyway if we tried to leave them behind?  It's not the whole team?"  Lin Jing had volunteered to stay behind in case the Department of Supervision started asking questions.  Guo Changcheng and Chu were also staying, supposedly to assist with taking down the fight club manager.  He suspected it had more to do with Guo's memory of how sick they'd been the first time around, but he couldn't prove it.

He poked Shen Wei's shoulder.  "Even with Zhu Jiu tagging along, that's fewer than we had before.  It's your scholars who've expanded."  

Shen Wei sighed again.  "I did try to explain."  He had.  Zhao Yunlan had been there. Who would have expected that Teacher Zhang was the one person at Dragon City University completely immune to Shen Wei’s wiles? He would be impressed if it wasn’t so inconvenient for them, but he couldn’t entirely fault her logic. Without the earthquake forcing their hand, it was unlikely that Qingxi Village would grant more than one permit for exploration — a permit that the SID had already obtained. If she and her students wanted to conduct their research, their best chance was to go together.

Shen Wei had tried to dissuade her by detailing the potential dangers — namely the Ghost Beasts, along with the actual ghosts, and the fact that the village was likely to be quite irritated if the Hallows brought the mountain down around them. Which probably wouldn’t happen. He hoped. Zhang Rounen had offered herself and her students as backup should there be any trouble, and when Shen Wei had insisted that wouldn’t be necessary, she had calmly stated that if that was the case, he must have everything well managed and it would be perfectly safe for their research to carry on as planned.

“I know,” Zhao Yunlan said. “Teacher Zhang is an immovable object. Who knew the halls of academia would turn out two such formidable warriors?”

“Zhao Yunlan.” Whatever Shen Wei might have been planning to say was interrupted by Guo Changcheng.

“Professor Shen! Real Chief Zhao! Everything is settled now.” Chu Shuzhi was following behind him at a considerably less excited pace, but he nodded a confirmation of the statement.

“Really? I mean — that’s excellent.” He tried not to let his surprise show. “And, ah, when you say ‘everything is settled,’ you mean?”

Chu gave him a knowing look. “The wedding is postponed. Zhou Weiwei’s older sister will be staying with them while the three of them — discuss the situation.”

“No death threats? No tears?” He thought about the people in question, and amended his words. “Not too many tears?”

Guo Changcheng shook his head enthusiastically. “I think that if they all put in their best effort, they will definitely succeed,” he said, as if they were solving a logic puzzle, and not negotiating the complexities of truth and love.

He looked at Shen Wei. Then again, there was something to be said for sheer, unrelenting faith in the face of overwhelming odds. “Well done, Xiao Guo.”

*******

“So, how worried should I be about this plan?”

He was resting his eyes and taking the excuse to lean on Shen Wei’s shoulder. He must have dozed off, though, because he didn’t remember Da Qing draping himself over his other side, or the start of whatever conversation he’d woken up to. Sandwiched between two of his favorite people — he hoped that meant Zhu Hong was driving, but he was too comfortable to check.

“Zhao Yunlan did not make this plan,” Shen Wei answered automatically, and he could feel Da Qing nodding.

“I still don’t like it. Why is he sleeping so much?”

Shen Wei shifted under him, probably to put a hand on Da Qing. He was still hesitant to reach out, but Da Qing’s easy acceptance — and occasional shameless attention-seeking — was wearing him down quickly. “What we did, to come back here; it forged a connection. To each other, and to the Hallows.” He paused, then added, “Not dissimilar to your own connection to them.”

Zhao Yunlan almost snorted. Not dissimilar, no. But Shen Wei patted his hand like he was reading his mind, so he left his eyes closed. Shen Wei told the story better anyway.

“When they’re united, fulfilling their purpose, they will be a source of great strength,” Shen Wei said. “For Dixing, as intended, but impacting everyone connected to them. When they’re separated, the reverse is true.”

“My memories,” Da Qing guessed.

“Yes,” Shen Wei said. “Most likely. The Guardian Lantern is the most demanding of the Hallows. It pulls on all of us, but —”

“Him the most.”  Da Qing poked him, gently.  “Just had to be special, didn’t you, Lao Zhao?  No consideration for me, the 10,000 year old cat, who has to follow you every time you get into one of these messes.”

“We appreciate you very much,” Shen Wei said seriously.  It was the kind of thing only he could get away with saying and not sound unbearably trite; Zhao Yunlan suspected it went hand in hand with his inability to lie believably.  (Convincingly, yes.  Believably, no.)  

He heard a wrapper crinkling, and Da Qing made a pleased sound.  “Of course you do.  That’s why you’re my favorite.”

And that had him sitting up before he had time to think about it, blinking against the bright sunlight.  “Hey!”

“Oh, are you done pretending to be asleep now?” Da Qing asked.  “Good.  Let’s  talk about your father.”

He made a face.  “Let’s not.”

“Fine,” Da Qing said, far too easily.  “Dixing, then.  I’m coming with you.”

Zhao Yunlan yawned, and stretched his arms out to the sides.  If it left them conveniently placed to drop around Shen Wei’s and Da Qing’s shoulders, that was just a happy coincidence.  “Of course you’re coming.”  

“Because I told you —“. Da Qing cut himself off.  “Wait, really?”

“We assumed you would want to accompany us,” Shen Wei explained, which was a nice way of saying ‘we both know you’re crazy enough to leap into the portal after us, and I don’t want to have to traipse all over Dixing looking for you again.’

Da Qing looked suspicious, but he said, “And you’re just going to show up with the Hallows?”  

That was essentially the plan, yes.  He looked at Shen Wei.  “Yes,” he said.  “That’s the plan.”

Da Qing nodded. “Simple. I like it.”

“That’s a terrible plan,” Zhu Hong announced from the drivers seat. “Sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry.

He pointed a finger at her. “This is why Da Qing is going and you’re not.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, that’s because you need someone other than Lao Chu to be answering questions when the entire political balance between Haixing and Dixing is upended, and the Lord Guardian and the Black Cloaked Envoy are mysteriously absent.”

She wasn’t entirely wrong. “Ah, that too,” he said.

“Professor Shen,” Zhu Hong said, pointedly ignoring Zhao Yunlan. “What about your brother? He’s helping you, right?”

“Yes,” Shen Wei said without hesitation, and he could feel the conviction behind the word ringing between them, echoing back and forth like a bell.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Freeing him will be the first thing we do in Dixing.”

To her credit, Zhu Hong only looked moderately skeptical. “Good. Xiao Guo told us,” she said. Told them what, he wasn’t entirely sure. Her next question clarified exactly nothing. “Should we be prepared for a coup?”

“Here?” he asked, surprised into answering without thinking.

Based on her startled expression, that wasn’t what she meant. “In Dixing,” Zhu Hong clarified. “Why? Should I be asking about here?”

He looked at Shen Wei, who nodded minutely. “It’s not impossible?” he offered. Zhang Shi’s letter had been — comprehensive. The situation at the Department of Supervision would need to be addressed, but they had no way of knowing how much the changes they’d already made would impact things.

Shen Wei added, “But not likely, in either place. It would be best to avoid any unnecessary upheaval.”

Da Qing snorted. “Except for the upheaval you’re planning on causing yourselves, you mean.” Zhao Yunlan tried to look innocent, and Da Qing looked back and forth between him and Shen Wei. “This! I remember this about the two of you. With those exact expressions!”

He knocked their shoulders together. “Damn Cat. Admit it; you missed us,” Zhao Yunlan said.

He heard the shutter-click of a picture being taken, but when he looked up, Zhu Hong was already tucking her phone out of reach. “What?” she said. “You know how the team worries.”

More like how the team gossiped. She interrupted before he could demand to at least get a copy of the picture. “You should take Zhu Jiu with you.”

Shen Wei frowned. “Why?”

“He knows Dixing; he would be good backup.” That was — arguably true. Free of mind control, Zhu Jiu could best be described as conflicted, but then again, who wasn’t at that age?

Zhu Hong added, “Also, if the Department of Supervision starts asking questions while you’re gone, it would be helpful if he wasn’t around.” And that was definitely true. Technically, Zhu Jiu was on record as a volunteer informant sanctioned by the Black Cloaked Envoy, and he was officially connected with the fight club case. Technically, they hadn’t disclosed that he was also a full-time guest of the SID. Or that he had the power of teleportation, and an unfortunate habit of thinking murder was an effective problem-solving strategy.

“You make a compelling argument,” he said. “If Zhu Jiu agrees, we’ll take him with us. But that means you get Sang Zan.”

Zhu Hong rolled her eyes. “The librarian? Somehow I think we’ll manage.”

“Ah, yes, of course.” He nodded, and made sure he was out of hitting range. “Did I mention he can’t read?”

*******

Qingxi Village was very much how he remembered it: small, cold, and full of people who were eager for him to leave.  “You would think,” he said, pointing his lollipop at Shen Wei.  “They would be happier to have us handling this.  The Ghost Beasts, at least.”  



Shen Wei made a non-committal sound.  He was looking at the stars — the view from the roof of the hotel wasn’t bad, and it kept them close enough to the rest of the group that even Da Qing couldn’t be bothered to join them.   With three Hallows humming in their heads and the fourth within reach, there was no way they would sleep.  Everyone else was at least pretending to rest for a few hours; they'd leave for the caves pre-dawn.  



“People are often very dedicated to their local legends and ghost stories,” Shen Wei said finally.  He uncapped a bottle of water and passed it over.  Zhao Yunlan handed him the lollipop in exchange, and Shen Wei ducked his head and smiled.



“You think they’re superstitious?”  



“I think they would like us to believe they are, yes,” Shen Wei said.  “The Ghost Beasts never attack the town.”



He'd caught that too, in their brief exchange with one of the locals before someone else pulled her away with an 'urgent question.'  There was silence for a few seconds.  He drank his water, and pretended he didn’t notice Shen Wei inching closer.  



There weren't enough pieces for a clear picture, no matter how he rearranged them.  Were there local Dixingren?  Was the Awl influencing them?  The trapped souls?  "Is there a possibility that without Zhu Jiu agitating them, we won't run into them at all?"



Shen Wei looked frustrated.  "I don't know."  



Zhu Jiu hadn't been expecting them; they’d been able to figure out that much.  They suspected the Ghost Beasts had been drawn to the dark energy he'd thrown at the pillar, or possibly to the Hanga souls he'd inadvertently released.  They'd hadn't attacked him, and they had some ability to follow directions, and everything beyond that seemed determined to remain a mystery.



Zhao Yunlan closed the final gap between them and tangled their fingers together.  "We ask out of respect for your experience, not because we actually expect you to know everything," he said. "You're not responsible for carrying all the knowledge of two worlds."



"You've said that before," Shen Wei replied, which wasn't even close to agreement.  

"Because it's true."  He tugged on their joined hands.  "What are the mountains, without the river to shape them?  What is the river, without the mountains to guide the rain to it?"  



He could hear the smile in Shen Wei's voice.  "And wasn't it Chief Zhao, not so long ago, who claimed he could never say such sentimental things?"



"Ah, Xiao Wei.  Is it really such a surprise?"  They'd hurt and died and re-shaped the world for each other; saying it out loud was the very least of the things he was willing to do to keep it.  He leaned in until their foreheads were touching, and Shen Wei put his free hand on his chest.  "What else but love has the power to shake the very foundations of a person?"



Shen Wei dropped his eyes.  "I'm not --"  



"You are," he interrupted, because the end of that sentence was 'worth it,' and he refused to hear it.  "You are, to me.  To us."  



He felt Shen Wei's fingers curl into his jacket.  "Zhao Yunlan."



"I'm right here," he said, reaching his own hand out.  



They breathed together, falling into the same rhythm without conscious effort.  "I miss him," Shen Wei said finally.  It was quiet enough to be a whisper, like he was admitting a secret. He didn't have to say the rest -- that the closer they got, the more the fear grew that something would go wrong, that it wouldn't work, somehow.  Fear didn't have to be rational to take root.



"I know," he said.  There wasn't anything he could say to make that fear go away, but he could at least keep Shen Wei from being alone with it.  "I know,” he repeated.  “I see you.  I'm scared too."  It was everything he'd wanted to say 10,000 years ago; no less true in the present even with all they'd shared since.  



Shen Wei relaxed his fingers and patted his chest.  "I see you too, Zhao Yunlan."  And then, as if they hadn't completely derailed the conversation several times over, he said, "The Ghost Beasts aren't a threat to us right now.  If that changes, we can address it at that point."



He laughed, and leaned back.  "You won't get any argument here.  Not that watching you fight them wasn't -- inspiring, in its own way."  He couldn't resist teasing, just a little, and he didn't need to see it to know Shen Wei was rolling his eyes.  



"If they prove to be dangerous," Shen Wei started.



"We'll be ready.  And if not --"  He waved his free hand towards the village, an exaggerated gesture he knew would make Shen Wei smile.  "Well.  Who are we to deny people their legends and their ghost stories?"

*******


"Remember when I said the last time we did this, there was some sort of energy field around the mountain that made it harder to use Dixing powers?"  

They'd portaled to just outside the mountain while it was still night.  The way it lit up to his senses, though, it might as well have been mid-day.  He shook his head, and blinked to clear away the afterimages.  Zhu Hong gave him a sharp look.  "Lin Jing said the resonance of the Awl could have a similar effect as the SID's shield," she said warily.  "Why?"

"That's not going to be the problem," he told her.  Shen Wei was practically glowing.  His clothes kept flickering between his robes and Zhao Yunlan's jacket (he'd insisted Shen Wei wear it -- for luck, he said, but mostly because he was hardly going to pass up the chance to recreate one of his favorite memories).  

Even Zhu Jiu looked like he could feel it.  He was staring at the backpack that held the Hallows, and Zhao Yunlan really hoped they weren't talking to him.  It didn't seem likely, but it wasn’t impossible, either.  

Zhu Hong was the only one who was actually paying attention.  "But there is a problem," she said, looking back and forth between him and Shen Wei.  Wang Zheng was watching the mountain, and Da Qing -- who had slept through breakfast in Shen Wei's lap -- was yawning his way through a handful of dried fish while they talked.  

"There's an entrance to Dixing nearby," he said.  Which he should have thought of; the Ghost Beasts had to have come from somewhere, after all.  "Having all four Hallows so close to it is -- distracting."

Da Qing waved his hand in front of Shen Wei's face.  Nothing.  "Huh," he said.  

Zhao Yunlan batted his hand away.  "Damn Cat.  Eat your fish."  He wanted to reach out and touch, but there was a good chance he'd wind up either knocked to the ground or caught up in whatever Shen Wei was seeing, and neither would be helpful.  He tugged gently on the connection between them instead.  "Professor Shen.  Shen Wei.  Xiao Wei."

He had more, but Shen Wei's eyes snapped to his before he could keep going.  "Zhao Yunlan."  

"Back with us?" he asked, and Shen Wei nodded.  "Excellent."  He waved towards the mountain.  "Ah, not that I doubt your sense of direction. But are you sure this is the right entrance?"

Shen Wei narrowed his eyes.  "This is the only entrance on this side of the mountain.  Is this not how you accessed the caves before?"

"Not exactly?"  He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.  "We -- might have made our own entrance."

"In an area experiencing earthquakes?  You could have caused a rockslide."  He could definitely hear Zhu Hong snickering behind him as Shen Wei fretted.  He patted his hands over Zhao Yunlan's arms like he might have missed some injury from an imagined rockslide.  "Must you be so reckless," he said, glaring at the mountain and Zhao Yunlan in turn.  

It wasn't a question, and he didn't bother to answer.  Wang Zheng said, "Chief Zhao," in a tone that clearly indicated she was about to head into the caves with or without them, and he waved her towards the entrance.  

"Lead the way."  Shen Wei fell into step right behind her -- the jacket was back, but he had his sword in his hand.  Zhu Hong was next, followed by Zhu Jiu.  That left him and Da Qing to bring up the rear.  Da Qing, who was staring at him like a particularly interesting snack.

"What?"

"I'm waiting to see if you're going to zone out like Professor Shen," Da Qing said.  

"I'm fine," he said automatically.  It was probably even true.    

Da Qing poked his arm. “And to see if you're going to pull a sword out of nowhere too.  You practiced, right?  In the past?  I think I remember that."

He rolled his eyes.  "I remember you laughing a lot.  I was terrible."  He pushed Da Qing towards the entrance.  "Besides, why would I need a sword?  I've got you."  

Da Qing shook his finger at him.  "You mean I've got you.  If we run into trouble, I'm throwing you at the Ghost Beasts.  Professor Shen will rescue you."

That was -- probably fair, actually.  He tossed his flashlight forward, and Da Qing snatched it out of the air.  "Or you could just use this.  They don't like light."  He ignored Da Qing's pointed look when he pulled a second flashlight out of his jacket.  "Well?  Are we going, or not?"

He didn't think they were that far behind the rest of the group, but by the time they caught up, Sang Zan had already been freed from the pillar, and Shen Wei was watching his tearful reunion with Wang Zheng like a proud papa.  Even Zhu Jiu looked reluctantly charmed.

Zhao Yunlan clapped his hands together.  "Ah, young love!"  He looked at Shen Wei.  "Do you have the--?"

"We were waiting for you," Shen Wei said.  

Zhu Hong crossed her arms.  "For a while.  I thought you were right behind us.  Did you get lost?"

Maybe.  He was sure he'd already explained that the Hallows were distracting.  They'd been getting steadily closer to his sense of where Shen Wei was -- other than that he'd followed Da Qing and trusted the cat not to lead him into a dead-end.  "How could we have gotten lost?"  He waved his hands around the cave.  "We're right here."

Da Qing sniffed.  "Cats don't get lost," he announced.  "They take a different path."

Shen Wei didn't bother to hide his smile.  "Of course."  He gestured towards the pillar.  "Zhu Jiu?"

Zhu Jiu jumped.  "What?"

"The Holy Tool?" Zhao Yunlan prompted.  "The fourth Hallow?  You got it last time."

"I did?"  

"Yes," Shen Wei said firmly.  "If you would?"
  
Either of them could have plucked the Awl out of the pillar -- Shen Wei had likely had to make a significant effort to leave it behind when he released Sang Zan.  After so many years in its presence, Sang Zan could probably call it out himself.  But Sang Zan wasn't going to Dixing with them.  And you never knew when 'retriever of a Holy Tool' would be a helpful title to be able to claim.

Zhu Jiu stepped forward and gave the pillar a considering look.  Dark energy was already gathering in his palms.  "Try not to bring the cave down on top of us," Zhao Yunlan offered. 

Zhu Jiu rolled his eyes, but the energy dissipated slightly before he brought his hands up.  He reached towards the pillar cautiously, and the Awl obligingly waited for the energy to reach it before appearing in front of them.  It lit up the cave with its glow, and Zhao Yunlan laughed.  

He could feel the four Hallows reaching out for each other, for them, and he knew they weren't going to wait much longer.  Shen Wei was suddenly next to him, and he couldn't say for sure if it was teleportation of if he'd lost a few seconds.  "Right.  Everyone clear on what they're doing next?"

Wang Zheng smiled, and Sang Zan waved enthusiastically from the opposite side of the cave.  Zhu Hong, on the other hand, moved close enough to jab her finger into his chest.  "If you're not back in 48 hours, we're coming after you," she warned.

He nodded, and she moved on to Shen Wei.  "That goes for you too, so don't bother thinking of sending them back without you.  You come back together, or we come get you.  The SID is a family."

Shen Wei looked like nothing could have delighted him more than being threat-welcomed by Zhao Yunlan's team.  "Thank you, Zhu Hong."  

Their team was the best.  Zhao Yunlan pointed with one hand and draped his other arm around Shen Wei's shoulders.  "Portals!" he said brightly.  "Zhu Hong, you're in charge until we get back.  Let's go make the family bigger."

*******

They stepped out of the portal at the base of the pillar, close enough that Da Qing startled backwards.  Zhu Jiu reached out to steady him -- he looked surprised that he'd done it, but he didn't drop his hand until Da Qing nodded at him.  

Zhao Yunlan wanted to thank him, but the feeling of the world tilting on its axis was back, and not collapsing was taking a disproportionate amount of his focus.  Closing his eyes turned out to be a bad idea.  He heard Shen Wei take a sharp breath, and then he was there, a solid presence all along one side, and a hand on the back of his neck.

"Da Qing," he heard Shen Wei say.  "The Hallows."

"You want me to just--?"

The "yes" was echoed from multiple directions, and he smiled.  His head was still tucked against Shen Wei's shoulder, but he managed to get out, "It's fine.  They know what to do."

He felt the Hallows rising up.  He could picture them circling around the pillar, a jubilant mirror to its creation 10,000 years ago.  "Brother," Shen Wei murmured.  

Ye Zun slotted into the space on Shen Wei's other side like he'd never been gone.  Zhao Yunlan grabbed blindly for his arm and pulled him closer.  It was like completing a circuit; like the universe had reoriented itself and there was solid ground under his feet again.  He felt Ye Zun's hand cover Shen Wei's on his neck, and he wondered how long they could get away with just staying that way.     

Someone coughed, and he almost sighed.  Not long, then.  He could still feel the Hallows, lazily drifting up and apart in a rapidly brightening sky.  It seemed like all of Dixing should be able to feel them; their satisfaction hummed in his bones.  

"Just show up with the Hallows," he heard Da Qing mutter.  "It's a simple plan, he said.  Why did I believe that?"  

"It is a simple plan," Zhao Yunlan said.  He took a deep breath -- he patted Ye Zun's shoulder, and squeezed Shen Wei's.  None of them took a step back, but he shifted around so he could see Da Qing squinting at the sky.  "What was complicated about this?"

Da Qing stared at him, then walked over and poked him in the forehead.  He batted the hand away.  "What?"

"I'm trying to figure out if you're messing with me, or if you genuinely think that."  

"It can't be both?"  Da Qing swatted at him, and he laughed.  "I'm fine."  

Da Qing looked at Shen Wei, who nodded.  Then he turned his attention to Ye Zun.  "I remember you.  You tried to kill me."

"I'm -- sorry?" Ye Zun offered.  

Da Qing stared at him for a few seconds.  "Well, you're better at lying than your brother, at least."

The cough came again, and he realized it was Zhu Jiu, trying to get their attention.  "You might as well just interrupt," he said.  "Everyone else does."  Zhu Jiu nodded towards the steps -- where they had an audience.  "An Bai!"  He beamed.  "An Bai's friends!"  

"You know us?" An Bai asked.

"Of course!"  He shook his finger in An Bai's direction.  "In a manner of speaking.  Ah, you didn't by any chance get a letter?"  Officially, he knew nothing about any unauthorized passage back and forth from Dixing that any of his people might have engaged in.  Unofficially, Changcheng missed a lot of work that first week. He had theories.

An Bai frowned.  "How do you know that?"  

Ye Zun cleared his throat.  "This is Zhao Yunlan," he said.  An Bai's eyes went wide.

"Lord Guardian!"  

He looked at Ye Zun.  "What have you been telling them about me?"

Ye Zun raised his eyebrows.  "Me?  You should be asking the baby Guardian that question.  They showed up here all on their own."  

He rapidly discarded the first three things he thought of in response to that, and just waited. Finally, Ye Zun said grudgingly, “We may have talked after that.”

An Bai added, “We didn’t know when you would arrive,” which Zhao Yunlan assumed meant they’d been loitering around the pillar ever since they got their letters. He tried and failed to feel bad about it — he couldn’t see how it was much different than what they’d been doing the first trip through the timeline, except hopefully with less petty crime.

He spread his hands out to the sides. “We’ve arrived!”

An Bai’s friends looked thoroughly unimpressed. “If you’re really going to rewrite the treaty, shouldn’t you go to the palace?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Ye Zun said.

It was Shen Wei who stepped forward. “They’ll come to us.” He’d exchanged the jacket for his black robes at some point when Zhao Yunlan wasn’t watching, but his expression — defiance, determination, not a single trace of fear — remained uncovered by any mask or hood. Ye Zun mirrored him in white, and Zhao Yunlan shuffled the rest of them into some semblance of order just as the palace guard started filing into view.

He thought they must make a relatively impressive sight, though admittedly that was mostly Shen Wei and Ye Zun. It certainly seemed to intimidate the guards, who looked like they weren’t exactly sure who they were supposed to be guarding, or from what. The Justiciar followed, for once seeming at a loss for words. And behind him — “Your Majesty,” Shen Wei said, inclining his head slightly.

The King practically bounded up the steps. “Hei Pao Shi! You’ve done it! The Hallows have returned!” It looked like it was only the weight of Ye Zun’s stare that stopped him from wrapping Shen Wei in a hug, or possibly breaking into a dance.

Shen Wei smiled. “The Hallows have returned,” he agreed.

“And you’ve brought guests! And my successor!” The King gave An Bai a sharp look. “I’ve been watching you, you know!” He seemed incapable of speaking in anything other than exclamations. Of course, he was probably high as a kite with the amount of energy the Hallows were pouring through him. The throne of Dixing was inextricably linked to the very heart of Dixing itself. With the Hallows fulfilling their purpose, the king’s life-force was suddenly his own again, and then some.

“I bring representatives,” Shen Wei said. He waved elegantly towards Da Qing and Zhao Yunlan. “Of Haixing and the Yashou.”

Zhao Yunlan elbowed Da Qing. “Now I count as Haixingren again?” he muttered.

Da Qing rolled his eyes. “Oh please, like I was going to let you be mind-controlled.”

“To renew the treaty, yes!” If anything, the King looked more even more delighted. “Right on schedule!”

Zhao Yunlan felt relief rush through him, twining together with Shen Wei’s fierce joy and a triumph that had to be Ye Zun. Ma Gui and Fu You had done it, then. One last message from the future; one more clause added to the treaty. He let out a slow breath. This time, they’d get it right.

*******

“I could sleep for a — ah! What are you doing here?”

They’d chosen to arrive back in his office rather than the main room, out of what he hoped was an overabundance of caution. The revised treaty wouldn’t officially be presented to Minister Gao for another week, but it was likely that rumors were already circulating. Each government had plenty of sources of information the other politely pretended not to know about, after all.

He hadn’t been expecting to find the office already occupied, and certainly not by Sha Ya, sitting in his chair and tapping at her phone. “Waiting for you,” she said, not batting an eye at the sight of the five of them.

Zhao Yunlan nodded, even though that answer was completely unhelpful. He wondered what the social convention was for introducing people you hadn’t technically met yet. Then he thought he must be more tired than he realized, if he was worrying about social conventions. “Da Qing, Zhu Jiu, this is Sha Ya. I’m sure she’s about to explain her presence in SID headquarters further.”

“Lin Jing already told us about the time travel,” Sha Ya said, which was neither explanatory nor reassuring. “We were bringing lunch when the Director arrived for a surprise inspection.”

He felt his stomach tighten. Shen Wei tensed next to him, and Sha Ya looked back and forth between them, suddenly wary. He waved for her to continue. “Guo Changcheng said I should wait here so I could warn you when you got back,” she finished quickly.

“And when you say ‘we,’ you mean?” He looked around the room, making sure he hadn’t missed any additional unexpected guests.

“Hua Yuzhu is helping with the tour,” Sha Ya said. “She’s the best at talking with people.”

“Ah.” He waited, but apparently that was the entire explanation. “And the fact that she doesn’t actually work here?” he prompted.

Sha Ya shrugged. “She’s part of the Coalition. It’s good outreach.” Clearly mis-interpreting the reason for his silence, she added, “She really is good at talking to people. Very diplomatic.”

“I’m sure she is,” Shen Wei said soothingly. “Who is doing the inspection?”

There was no reason why it should be his father. The timing was all wrong; he hadn’t shown up for months the first time around. And yet somehow he wasn’t surprised at all when Sha Ya said, “It’s Director Zhao. He said he used to work here.”

He heard a tap at the door, and Zhu Hong slipped inside. “He’s headed this way. We told him you were investigating a lead, but I’m not sure he believed us. He seemed to know when you showed up.”

“Do you want us to distract him?” Da Qing asked.

Yes. He did want that, was already so ridiculously pleased that his team had tried to cover for him, but — he shook his head. “No. He won’t leave until he talks to me. You should go; take everyone here out the back way. Zhu Hong, clear out everyone in the front. Just — go home, take the afternoon off, do whatever.”

Zhu Hong and Da Qing nodded, but as the room emptied out, he realized two people hadn’t moved. “Shen Wei,” he started.

“I’m not leaving you,” Shen Wei said.

“And I’m not leaving him,” Ye Zun added.

And it wasn't like he actually wanted either of them to leave.  There was no reason to fight about this.  He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.  "Right."

He forced himself not to look around the room for things to tidy up, and looked at Shen Wei instead.  He was back in the clothes he'd worn in the mountains, glasses and all.  Ye Zun had followed his lead, exchanging robes for jeans and a long-sleeved shirt he vaguely remembered Shen Wei wearing at one point.  Both of them looked like they could pass for university students.  Ye Zun blinked innocently at him, and he almost laughed.

On the one hand, having the Black Cloaked Envoy lurking over his shoulder might have kept the conversation from descending into shouting immediately.  On the other hand, the idea of shouting at his father while Shen Wei wore his jacket was -- surprisingly satisfying.

There wasn't time to debate it anyway.  Zhao Xinci strode into the office like it was still his, and stared at him with a familiar look of disappointment.  "Zhao Yunlan.  So you are here.  I've been getting the runaround from your people for hours, claiming you were out.  Investigating."  

The look he gave Shen Wei and Ye Zun made it clear he thought 'investigating' meant something else entirely. Zhao Yunlan was torn between laughing and being offended on their behalf.  His father frowned -- another familiar look.  "When you were promoted to head of the SID, I hoped it would temper your rash, impulsive decision-making.  Clearly I was wrong."  

Conversely, feeling the anger rising on either side of him helped him maintain at least an appearance of calm.  "I want to speak with Zhang Shi," he said.

"What?"  For once, he'd surprised the old man.  Zhao Xinci looked shocked.  And speechless.

He raised his eyebrows, and waited.  Finally, his father's eyes flashed yellow, and his expression softened.  Zhang Shi said, "How did you--?"

"Find out about you?  You told me.  About a year from now."  

He watched as Zhang Shi worked through the implications of that.  Watched him take in Shen Wei and Ye Zun, and whatever his additional senses could pick up about the three of them.  "Yunlan," he said softly.  "What have you done?"

*******

It was too much, and not anywhere near enough.  "What have I done?"  He spun around and walked away -- he couldn't go far, but he put his hands on the desk and tried to collect his scattered thoughts.

"Your premise was flawed from the start," he heard Shen Wei say quietly.  "Zhao Yunlan would never allow one of his people to risk themselves if there was a way to bear that burden for them."

"I'm not sure I follow," Zhang Shi said, carefully, cautiously.

Zhao Yunlan turned to face him.  "I think you do," he said.  "You want to know what I did?  What we did?  Exactly what you wanted.  We returned the Hallows to Dixing.  We lit the Lantern.  And then we realized we could come back and do it better, so we did."

Zhang Shi went pale.  "You?"

He sighed.  Why was everyone surprised by that?  "You knew the Hallows could be used for time travel — you even knew I had done it.  Yes, I was selfish enough to do it again and risk everyone by changing the past."  He pointed at Zhang Shi.  "And you're hardly one to talk about following the rules."

Ye Zun wiggled his fingers to get his attention.  "I don't think that's the part he's asking about," he stage-whispered.  

It took him a few seconds to catch up.  Well, a few seconds and Ye Zun turning his palm over in Shen Wei's 'summoning dark energy' gesture.  His own palm tingled, and he shook off the ghost-sensation of the lantern in his hand.  "What, the lantern?" he said.  

He frowned at Zhang Shi, still not entirely certain what the issue was.  "You don't actually have to be virtuous to light it, you know; Ma Gui just made that up afterwards because he thought it was funny."

Shen Wei coughed.  "He wants to know if you'll be sacrificing yourself to it.  Again."

Zhao Yunlan very carefully didn't flinch, and said, "Of course not," like they'd never had reason to doubt it.  "It's called the eternal flame for a reason.  Eternity doesn't have a start date or an end date.  The flame will be lit; therefore it is lit."

Zhang Shi closed his eyes, and Zhao Xinci opened them.  "You did what?"

Well, no one could say he hadn't tried.  He reached over the desk for the envelope he'd stashed in the top drawer.  "Died; came back; time travel.  Here.  You wrote yourself a letter.  I'm sure you've answered your own questions better than I could."  

"Minister Zhao," Shen Wei said, before the conversation could deteriorate further.  "There's another matter we need to discuss.  The serum research."  

"Is classified," Zhao Xinci replied.  He glared at Zhao Yunlan, like him sharing classified information with Shen Wei was a more likely explanation than time travel.  Which -- fair.  

Shen Wei didn't seem to agree.  "Perhaps it was unclear," he said, in a tone that indicated it had been perfectly clear.  "Zhao Yunlan is not the only one who returned to this time."

"Four Hallows," Ye Zun interrupted.  "Four people."  

"Yes."  Shen Wei very obviously took a deep breath.  His hands flexed, but stayed empty.  "I know about the serum research because I was there, and I have seen its effects firsthand.  I stayed silent once.  I won't this time.”

Ye Zun interrupted again.  "Alternately, we could start investigating where all of those samples came from.  Personally, I would be extremely interested in that."

"There are legitimate reasons --" Zhao Xinci cut himself off.  "No.  You're right."  

And that was something he'd never expected to hear, in any timeline.  He rocked back on his heels.  "What?"

Shen Wei suddenly pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned at it, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.  "An urgent message from Zhu Hong," he said calmly.  

Zhao Yunlan's phone hadn't chimed.  He draped himself over Shen Wei's shoulder to peer at the screen -- sure enough, it was showing a weather app, with no message in sight.  There was rain predicted overnight.

Shen Wei looked at Zhao Xinci.  "She is requesting our immediate assistance.  If there was nothing else?" 

Zhao Xinci gave Shen Wei a brief nod.  "Of course.  I'll go first."  He looked at Zhao Yunlan and hesitated, like he wanted to say more.  His eyes flashed yellow-gold again, but ultimately he turned and walked away without another word.

When the sound of footsteps faded, Ye Zun crowded against him to look at Shen Wei's phone.  "Very clever," he said admiringly.  "I want one.  Is he always like that?" 

"That was him in a good mood," Zhao Yunlan told him, sighing. "You realize we have to go find Zhu Hong now.  He's sure to bring it up later."  It was one of the man's most defining characteristics; he never let anything go.  It was as aggravating as it was admirable.

Shen Wei patted his shoulder.  "I doubt she's gone far.  Wang Zheng or Lao Li probably let everyone know when he left." 

Sure enough, Lin Jing's voice echoed through the building.  "We come in peace!  And we've brought food!"  There was a pause, and then, "What do you mean don't shout?  How else would I get their attention?"

"Aw, someone's trying to make a good impression."  He poked backwards at Ye Zun.  "That must be for you." 

He felt Ye Zun draw back.  "Am I -- welcome?"  

It was an uncertainty he hadn't expected, and Ye Zun probably wouldn't believe any of his confirmations anyway.  He was suddenly reminded of Shen Wei’s first official meal with the team, and he threw his arm around both their shoulders.  "Of course!  You’re going to love how much food you can get on a stick these days."

*******

Spending afternoons at Dragon City University's campus was ideal in a variety of ways.  First, being there made Shen Wei happy, which would have been enough of a reason on its own.  

But second, it was a convenient place to meet people who might prefer not to visit SID headquarters.  Bureaucracy meant they had to leave the shield up, at least until things settled down with the treaty talks, and that tended to give a certain 'less than entirely welcoming' impression.  

The university was an acceptable neutral ground for everyone.  With the possible exception of the Chancellor, but what he didn't know, he couldn't be concerned about.  And best of all, the university had a large number of strategically placed benches where a person could doze off in the sunshine and no one would disturb them.

"Hey."

Zhao Yunlan sighed.  Almost no one.  "Zu Ma," he said, without opening his eyes.    

"I found your person," Zu Ma said.  "Lin Yusen.  He's very -- enthusiastic."

He swung his legs off the bench and sat up.  "I thought I saw him lurking around the other day.  What did you do?" 

Zu Ma shrugged, and stuck his hands in his pockets.  "I got him a job at the fruit stand.  They'll need the extra help after the baby's born.  And he'll be able to see how boring your job is, so he'll stop following you around."

He generously ignored all the parts that were insulting or concerning (got him a job at the fruit stand how?).  It was -- a surprisingly good idea.  "Good work," he said.  Zu Ma gave him a wary look.  "What?"

"You don't usually tell people good work," Zu Ma said.  

He didn't.  But he and Ye Zun were waging a carefully planned campaign to get Shen Wei to talk about his feelings, and they were trying to lead by example.  "Ah."  He leaned back on the bench and pointed a finger at Zu Ma.  "If I said you'd understand when you were older..."

Zu Ma rolled his eyes.  "You can just say it's about Professor Shen and his brother.  Everyone knows."

He had questions.  So many questions.  But any interrogation about what exactly everyone knew was put on hold when a new thought occurred to him.  "Speaking of following me around."

"I'm not following you.  I was here first."

"Waiting for me.  Because you knew I would be here."  He spread his hands out to the sides.  "That still counts."

All it got him was a frown and a subject change.  "Dr. Cheng says I need your permission to join the fight club school."

Dr. Cheng had a real sense of humor making him responsible for any aspect of Zu Ma's life choices.  Also, the what?  He held up a hand.  "Wait right there."  

He used his other hand to pull out his phone, giving Zu Ma his most harmless smile while it rang.

"Xiao Guo," he said, as soon as it connected.  He held the phone up flat so it would be on speaker.  "Where are you right now?"

"Real Chief Zhao!  We're -- I'm --"  He could hear the murmur of voices in the background, but nothing distinct.  

"It sounds noisy there," he said.  "Can you speak louder?"

As expected, as soon as he had an easy second question distracting him, Guo forgot he'd been trying to avoid the first question.  "Oh, sure, of course -- I'm at the fight club!" 

"Right, right.  Still working on that case?"

"No!  I mean yes.  But no.  Sort of?"

He nodded.  Zu Ma had his face in his hands, though it was hard to tell if it was in dismay or if he was trying not to laugh.  "And by 'sort of,' you mean?"

"Well, after the owner was arrested, everyone wanted to know what was going to happen.  And -- it was you who said they should be in school, right?"

He heard a familiar giggle, and the pieces started to come together.  "Xiao Guo.  Did you start a school so that Dong Nan would have one?  And get the kids from the fight club to join it?  All during time you said you were at work?"

"Um.  Maybe?  Yes?  Yes, I did, Chief Zhao, but it's important!  Everyone should have the right to learn if they want to.  And you can't take away my bonus because I already promised it to Lin Jing for helping us with the paperwork!"

He laughed, and shook his head.  Changcheng was always at his most adamant when it was in someone else's defense.  "Excellent.  I'm sending you Zu Ma; I'm sure you can find something for him to do.  I have just one question," he said.  

He hesitated, then added, "Well, many questions, but one that's the most important.  Why haven't you asked Professor Shen for help?"  

"I thought -- you could ask him?  You're his favorite."

Zu Ma rolled his eyes, and Zhao Yunlan beamed.  "That's right!  I am."  He shook his finger at the phone, even though Guo Changcheng wouldn't be able to see it.  "Don't think I don't know what you're doing.  However, I will ask anyway, because I am a supportive and benevolent leader at all times."

Da Qing strolled into the clearing after he hung up the phone.  "Why would you lie to a child like that?" he asked.  

"Why would you eavesdrop on my conversation?"  He leaned sideways to avoid Da Qing's swat, and noticed the gaggle of kittens trailing after him.  "Hey, what's this?  Are we adopting?"

"We're educating.  They've been eating garbage!"  Da Qing sounded exasperated.  "I keep telling them."  He turned to the kittens and put his hands on his hips.  "Watch."

He shifted to his cat form and put his paws on Zhao Yunlan's knee.  Ah.  This was a lesson he was familiar with.  "Hello, what a fat cat," he said.  Da Qing flexed his claws.  "I mean, what a cute cat!  Are you hungry?"

Da Qing meowed, and he tried not to laugh.  "You do look hungry, yes.  Here, have some fish."  He ripped open the packet of dried fish he had in his pocket and handed one over.  Da Qing took it delicately in his teeth and carried it over to the kittens, where he shifted back.

"See?" he said.  "Easy.  Now you do it."  

One of the kittens immediately put its paws up on Da Qing's foot.  "Not me, them!  Oh, all right."  

Da Qing shooed the rest of the kittens in their direction -- most of them bee-lined for Zu Ma, who looked confused.  Zhao Yunlan threw him a package of dried fish.  "If you sit down, it may keep them from climbing you." 

He was immediately made a liar when Zu Ma sat down and an enterprising kitten started up the back of his shirt.  He tensed, ready to step in, but Zu Ma just laughed.  "What are you doing, Cat?"

The other kittens swarmed his lap, and Zu Ma's expression went soft.  "Don't push," he said quietly.  "There's plenty for everyone.  Yes, you too."  He plucked the kitten off his shoulder with gentle hands and set it next to the others.  "Here, sit with your friends."

Zhao Yunlan looked at Da Qing and raised his eyebrows.  Zu Ma was weak for kittens -- who knew?  Da Qing looked smug.  "King of the cats," he mouthed, pointing at himself.  "You're welcome."

*******

"I think that went well."

Ye Zun leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the table.  Zhao Yunlan pointed a finger at him.  "See, I don't know how anyone could confuse the two of you.  Shen Wei would never put his feet on an official table.”

The Department of Supervision had sent a message summoning the Chief of the SID and the Black Cloaked Envoy to  a meeting, and Zhao Yunlan and the Black Cloaked Envoy had dutifully attended.  They were an hour in when Minister Gao said, “Hei Pao Shi.  About your brother.”

And the Black Cloaked Envoy had said in his most innocent tone, “Professor Shen?  He’s at the university; several of his students requested his assistance with a lab project today.”  

Zhao Yunlan didn’t see how it could possibly be his fault that Minister Gao hadn’t read the treaty carefully enough to note that Black Cloaked Envoy was now a title shared by two.  It only made sense, with so much additional travel being allowed between Haixing and Dixing.  But the Minister had turned a worrying shade of red, and excused himself to attend to an urgent matter he’d just recalled.  He wondered how long they’d have to wait for him to come back, and who would be with him.

Ye Zun raised his eyebrows.  "You've never seen him do it, you mean."  He did take his feet off the table, but only to swivel his chair and drop them into Zhao Yunlan's lap.  "Better?"

He laughed, because it was and it wasn’t, as Ye Zun was perfectly well aware.  It wouldn’t be if Minister Gao walked back in, but honestly it was probably a toss-up whether it was actually worse than than table or about the same.  “I’m honored,” he said, waving his hand in a flourish and then patting Ye Zun’s ankle.  “Have you?”

“Seen Shen Wei put his feet on a table?  Yes.”  

Zhao Yunlan narrowed his eyes.  He wasn’t lying, but he looked — like there was a joke somewhere, and Zhao Yunlan was missing it.  “Humor shared is humor doubled,” he said solemnly, and Ye Zun laughed.

“We were — very young,” he said.  “His feet were on the table, yes, but so was the rest of him.  He’d climbed up to be able to reach higher; probably getting back something of mine I’d had taken away.”

He’d seen some of their memories, of course, but even as a child Shen Wei had seemed -- determinedly serious.  Intent, maybe, was a better word.  “Was he happy?”  

The real question he wanted to ask was ‘is he happy now,’ which Ye Zun was also perfectly well aware of.  

“You’ve spent considerably more time trying to make him that way than I have,” Ye Zun said.  “Are you sure I’m the right person to be asking?”  

He turned his hands palm up.  “Who better?  You have a different perspective.”  

Ye Zun rolled his eyes.  “You’re obviously an only child.  Have you asked him?”

Of course he had.  But one of Shen Wei’s innumerable talents was deftly sidestepping any questions he didn’t want to answer.  "Of course I have.  And I've heard all about you, and me, and his students, and Zhu Hong, and the last time I got an update on Zheng Yi.  Everyone except him."

"Have you considered you might be asking the wrong question?"

He unwrapped a lollipop and pointed it at Ye Zun.  "Ah, that's very clever.  I have, and this is why I'm asking you!  Lollipop?" 

Ye Zun took it and studied it carefully, while just as carefully avoiding making any reply.  That was as much of a hint as he was going to get, apparently.  Zhao Yunlan unwrapped a second lollipop for himself, and tried to work through his thoughts out loud.  "What is the right question?  Is there a right question?"  

He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair.  "If a person sees their life as a series of beginnings and endings...  He's very used to waiting, whether for one or the other."  He spoke to the ceiling, which was considerably less distracting than watching Ye Zun analyze a lollipop.  

"But waiting becomes a habit like anything else -- there's a comfort in its familiarity, if not its content.  And a habit slips easily into an identity."  He frowned.  "Who is Shen Wei if he's not waiting for something to begin or end?  How do you stop waiting?"  He cut himself off when Ye Zun made a surprised sound.  "What?"

"Nothing."  Ye Zun shook his head.  "That was -- unconventionally insightful.  I almost see why he likes you."  

High praise, from Ye Zun.  He patted his ankle again.  "I'm very likable.  And love is infinite in its mysteries."

Ye Zun kicked him and dropped his feet to the floor.  "Right.  Why don't you stop thinking about Shen Wei's mysteries and start thinking about how we're going to get out of this meeting."

"Oh, are you ready to leave?"  He pulled out his phone and hit send on his pending messages, then slid the phone down the table so Ye Zun could see them.  Secrets and Ye Zun were a volatile combination; it was easier to just tell him anything he might want to know, and work from there.  

Ye Zun gave him a skeptical look.  "There's no way we'll be back at Bright Street by lunchtime."

"Let's make a bet."  He held up his fingers in a countdown.  As soon as he hit zero there was a knock on the door.  A nervous-looking guard stuck their head in.  "Chief Zhao?  Lord Envoy?  There's a car for you."  

"A car?" he said, standing up.  "We're in the middle of an important meeting with Minister Gao!" 

The guard tactfully didn't mention the lack of Minister Gao in the room.  "Yes.  I'm very sorry; there's been a change to the schedule.  Very unexpected."

Zhao Yunlan was already moving towards the door, ushering Ye Zun ahead of him.  "Of course, of course.  These things happen.  You've done your best, I'm sure."  They slipped into the hallway, and he elbowed Ye Zun when it looked like he might laugh.  "Minister Gao will be hearing from us." 
 
The car turned out to be driven by Lin Jing, who gave them an unsubtle thumbs-up.  He waved Ye Zun in ahead of him and said quietly, "Never underestimate Wang Zheng."

"Also, don't keep an electronic schedule on a networked computer," Lin Jing added.  "You never know who might get into it."

*******

Da Qing walked in the front door, shook his finger in Zhao Yunlan's face, and said, "You promised me a utensils drawer!"  Only then did he seem to notice the tension in the room.  His eyes tracked between the three of them -- Shen Wei on the sofa, Ye Zun at the counter, Zhao Yunlan with his hands mid-gesture on the table between them.   

Zhao Yunlan raised his eyebrows, and Da Qing rubbed the side of his neck.  "Ah, haha, you know what?  I was about to leave."

"You've only just arrived," Shen Wei protested.  

"Yes."  Da Qing nodded vigorously.  "And I'm only passing through, nothing to see here."  He quickly shifted into his cat form and slipped out the window.  

There were a few seconds of silence.  And then Ye Zun asked, "What's a utensils drawer?"

It was as good a distraction as any.  "Ha!"  Zhao Yunlan pointed at Shen Wei.  "See?  It's not just me."  It wasn't that he hadn't appreciated the utensils drawer once they had one; it was just that he mostly appreciated it because Shen Wei liked it.  Keeping everything in a drawer wasn't any more convenient than leaving it on the counter next to the sink.  

As usual, Shen Wei was more than willing to pretend any conversation that made him uncomfortable wasn't happening, and move on without resolution.  It looked like he was trying not to smile.  "I see, yes."

"I don't.  Why would you need a whole drawer?" Ye Zun was very, very good at looking sincere, but Shen Wei's obvious humor gave him away.

He waved a hand back and forth between them. "Are we allowed to joke about this now?"  Because yes, possibly the person who'd spent ten thousand years in a pillar wasn't the best judge of average household living standards.  But they all had things they were treading lightly around, and it was probably better to ask than guess.  He still wasn't sure what he'd tripped over before Da Qing passed through.

Shen Wei looked at Ye Zun, who said, "Yes, of course.  Isn't that what we were just doing?"

Shen Wei sighed.  "They actually don't have a utensils drawer."

“What, really?"  Ye Zun craned his neck around to look at the kitchen.  "What's in the drawers, then?"

He cleared his throat.  "Other things.  Things we don't use as often as utensils."  He refused to feel self-conscious about a perfectly reasonable allocation of storage space.  

At least Shen Wei's use of 'they' at least gave him an idea of where he'd gone wrong before.  "Which brings us back to the previous topic!  I think we --"  He made a wide circle with his hand to make it absolutely one hundred percent clear he was talking about all four of them, obviously, this should not ever have been in question.  "All of us, should consider moving.  We need a bigger refrigerator."  

"Among other things," Ye Zun muttered.

"Ah," Shen Wei said.  He blinked.

"Not kicking you out," Zhao Yunlan said quietly.  He moved to the couch, crowding close.  He could always claim it was so there would be room for Ye Zun on the other side.  "Not any of you.  Not ever."

And then he had Shen Wei gripping his shirt tight enough to make his knuckles go white, and he hadn't even realized he'd been worried.  Not like this, at least; not so deep he couldn't even say the words.  He put his hand on the back of Shen Wei's neck and leaned their foreheads together.  "Shen Wei. We're here."

As if he'd read his mind, Ye Zun wedged himself against Shen Wei's other side and held out his hand.  He reached for it without needing to look.  "I'm going to do the thing," he murmured.  "Now's your chance to tell me if that's not okay right now."  

"Do it," Ye Zun said.

"Shen Wei?" 

His eyes were closed.  That was fine; they didn't need to be open for him to see this.  "I don't -- yes.  It's okay."

Zhao Yunlan took a breath.  The Hallows were a constant hum in his mind -- in his soul, would probably be more accurate, but his mind was easier to visualize.  He focused on the connections between them, and cajoled the Lantern into helping.  Once it figured out what he was asking, it was overjoyed to assist, and the room lit up bright enough that his eyes watered.  

He felt Ye Zun tense, and then deliberately relax.  It felt different than it had in the void.  Not more real, exactly.  More immediate, though.  More physically present.

Energy looped between then, winding in and around and through. They weren't a single entity, but they weren't, strictly speaking, three separate people either.  He'd gotten over being surprised by how okay he was with that back in the void, where surprise had been more of a relative thing. "None of us are alone in this," he said, just in case hearing the words again would help. 

"Whatever happens, it happens to all of us.  Wherever we go, we go together.  There is nowhere -- not any place, not any time -- that we couldn't find each other."  

With all the doors between them flung open, he knew the fear that Shen Wei couldn't say out loud wasn't that they wouldn't be able to, but that they might not want to.  They'd all hurt each other, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose.  Sometimes without even knowing. 

It was Ye Zun who spoke, resting his hand over Shen Wei's heart.  "Even when I hated you, you were the most important thing in my heart.  Every version of you."   

Shen Wei smiled, and didn't look away.  He looked proud, and sad, and like he desperately wanted to be convinced. “Even when I had nothing, I still had you.  And when I had everything, it was only because you were a part of it."  

"Everything now is more than it used to be."

"And the heart can grow to hold infinity.  My home is your home."  

Ye Zun studied him carefully. “But you’re still worried.”

“I’ll always worry. There are some things you can’t carry for me.”

The light got brighter.  If it went on much longer, they were going to start getting calls from the neighbors.  He wasn’t sure anything had been resolved, but the panic was gone, contentment rippling between them in its wake. “Now you both make heartfelt speeches?" he teased.  "How will people tell you apart?"  

Ye Zun immediately said, "I'm the tall one," and Shen Wei made a sound that was almost a laugh. “Besides, you started it.”

He let the energy fade to the background again, and dropped his head back against the couch. “That’s right. I did.” He didn’t bother trying to keep the satisfaction out of his voice.  "We should probably do that more often."    
Shen Wei patted his chest, and he nodded.  He was fine.  It was their energy as much as his own that he was using; hadn't they just been talking about that?  He was just -- letting his eyes adjust back to what passed for normal.  "I'm still not sure how you're doing it at all," Ye Zun said.

And he didn't want to let go of his hand, so he poked Ye Zun with his foot instead.  "The Lantern is a light; it lets you see things.  Don't overthink it."

There was a meow and a rattle of bells from the window, and he laughed.  "Damn Cat."  He'd probably been eavesdropping the whole time.  "You might as well come back in."

He didn’t bother opening his eyes, but Shen Wei said, "Hello Da Qing,” and a few seconds later he felt cat paws criss-crossing their laps, looking for the best place to settle.

"Mm," Da Qing replied happily.  "Naptime.  We need a bigger couch, too."

*******

When they went back to Dixing, they took Lu Ruomei, because they'd already offered.  Somehow that had turned into a group of nine, and he still wasn't entirely sure how it happened.  

“I have a question,” he said, waving his mug at the group. “And, ah, not that we're not happy to see everyone gathered together to celebrate this auspicious occasion."  They'd pushed three tables together, and it was still a tight fit.  "But why are you here?"

"Hong-jie invited us," Hua Yuzhu said brightly.  "As representatives of the Coalition, to show our support of the new treaty."  

Sha Ya raised her mug.  "To the treaty," she said, and the toast was echoed through the bar.  It was more crowded than he ever remembered seeing it in the previous timeline. Probably a combination of people hoping to catch a glimpse of the Black Cloaked Envoys, and a natural consequence of the city being shut down for the celebration.  

Apparently the King officially naming his successor was a big deal. Neither Shen Wei or Ye Zun had been forthcoming about whether this was the standard level of celebrating such an occurrence. He couldn’t tell if it was because they didn’t want to admit they didn’t know, or if this was actually tame for a Dixing party, and they didn’t want him getting ideas.

He leaned closer to Shen Wei.  "Does Dixing have a legal drinking age?" he asked.  

Shen Wei blinked innocently at him.  "A what?"

Da Qing laughed.  "It's a little late to be worrying about that now," he said.

Which was true.  The time to worry about it would have been before the toasting had started.  Possibly before they'd entered the bar.  
Ye Zun swapped his empty glass for Shen Wei's full one.  "They're fine.  There's no alcohol in this."  

He gave his own mug a suspicious look.  "Really?"  So the buzz in his head was just the Hallows.  Good to know.  He held up a hand.  "Let's get back to that."  He pointed at Zhu Hong.  "Coalition?"

Her innocent look could rival Shen Wei's.  "The Coalition.  Yashou, Dixing, and Haixing, united in the spirit of cooperation.  I submitted a report on it."  

"To me?"  He would have remembered that, right?  

"You were busy," Zhu Hong said.  "I gave it to the Deputy."

Everyone looked at Da Qing, who was nudging his mug towards the edge of the table.  He froze with his hand outstretched.  "What?"

"A report from Zhu Hong about a Coalition?" Zhao Yunlan prompted.  

"Oh, that," Da Qing said, sounding relieved.  "I signed it.  It's a good idea."  He poked at his mug again.  

Sha Ya leaned forward.  "People don't trust the SID," she said bluntly.  "Maybe they trust you," she added, although her expression was skeptical.  "But not the organization.  Definitely not the authorities in the upper departments."

"Agreed," he said immediately.  "And?"  He was well aware that the SID had an image issue.  And a discrimination issue, and likely a whole host of other issues that they'd been putting off dealing with.  If Zhu Hong had plans, he was willing to be convinced.

Hua Yuzhu said, "The Coalition isn’t formally associated with the SID, and it doesn't have any authority.  It's just regular people, doing things together to prove it can be done.  Group events, community outreach, that sort of thing."

He stared at her. She smiled serenely back at him. “You're saying this Coalition is a networking opportunity."  He grabbed Da Qing's mug just as he pushed it off the table, and Hua Yuzhu nodded.

He shook his finger at her.  "You're very good.  You should definitely put that in the official report."

Zhu Hong rolled her eyes.  "Now you want to teach a snake?  If we need your help we'll ask for it."  

He poked Shen Wei's shoulder.  "See how they treat me?  I get no respect.  It's shocking."

"Astonishing," Shen Wei said dryly.  "Where could they have ever learned such behavior."

A commotion at the door kept him from replying, and he leaned back in his chair to see what was happening.  It looked like it was just a couple of rowdy kids making noise, but one of them looked familiar.  And they were headed straight for them, as the rest of the bar went quiet.  "I knew this would happen," Da Qing muttered. "Can't take you anywhere."

"What makes you think this is my fault?" 

Da Qing sniffed.  "Cats know these things."

"Lord Guardian!" Wu Xiaojun came to a breathless stop next to the table.  "See?" he said to his companion.  "I told you he was here."

He felt Shen Wei’s startle of recognition next to him.  “Gao Tianyu?”   

"Who?" Zhao Yunlan whispered.

"From the Longevity Dial case," Shen Wei said quietly.  "He came to the hospital."

“Ah, right.“  And then snatched Li Qian out of the car.  It felt like a lifetime ago.  

Gao Tianyu crossed his arms.  "Have we met?"  

"That's the Black Cloaked Envoy!" hissed Wu Xiaojun.  

Gao Tianyu scoffed, and glared at Zhu Jiu.  "No it isn't.  Don't be stupid; if they were in Dixing they'd be at the palace, not sitting here with the powerless traitor."

The last thing they needed was for this to turn into a fight. So Zhao Yunlan laughed, and tipped his chair back even further. “Tell me, how do you know we’re not who your friend thinks we are?”

“The Black Cloaked Envoy is a hero,” Gao Tianyu said, like that should be explanation enough. “Now that he is re-united with his brother, nothing will stop them from restoring Dixing to glory. He would never associate with—”

“With friends?” Zhao Yunlan interrupted. “With family? With teammates who worked together to return the Holy Tools to Dixing? You must think the Black Cloaked Envoy has a very lonely existence.”

Gao Tianyu’s face darkened. “Who are you to dare speak his name so casually? He would strike you down where you sit.”

He couldn’t help laughing again, and he nudged Shen Wei. “See? He doesn’t even know me, and he knows you’re too good for me.”

Shen Wei — who had never met a situation he wasn’t willing to escalate — stood up smoothly, and allowed his weapon to materialize in his hand. Gao Tianyu went pale. “I am the Black Cloaked Envoy, and I will associate with whoever I choose.”

“I’m the brother,” Ye Zun added, thankfully staying seated. “Those who seek glory should first seek knowledge.”

“And I’m the wife,” Zhao Yunlan said, giving a little wave. “What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants.”

There was another, larger commotion at the door, and An Song and Dan Dan walked in. He should learn their official titles at some point, if only so he would know what he was ignoring. “Lord Envoy,” Dan Dan said, bowing to Shen Wei and Ye Zun in turn. “Lord Guardian.” He got a shallower bow, but it was still there. “The Palace is ready for you now, and your guests as well.”

He clapped his hands together. “Excellent!” He stood up, and let the tiniest bit of light from the Guardian Lantern shine through him. It wasn’t showing off if there was a good reason, right? “Wu Xiaojun and Gao Tianyu will be accompanying us as well. For educational purposes.”

An Song gave him an irritated look that clearly communicated he wasn’t impressed, and that last-minute guests were extremely inconvenient. Zhao Yunlan offered a hopefully innocent-looking smile in return. The last time around, they’d pushed too many people away — with the best of intentions, yes, but rarely the best of results. For a chance at a different outcome, he’d inconvenience the Palace every day if he needed to, and consider it time well spent.

*******

“Zhao Yunlan!”

He wished he could say he didn’t trip on his way out of the portal, but having someone yell his name was distracting, and it turned out traveling via the warping of reality was already disorienting enough on its own, even with practice. A burst of dark energy kept him from falling — probably Ye Zun, who’d been behind him going into the portal on the other side.

Shen Wei was in front of both of them, his own dark energy gathered around his palms, ready to take on whatever threat had appeared. There shouldn’t have been any threats inside the SID, though, especially not first thing in the morning. He stepped to one side and felt Ye Zun doing the same. Maybe they should have brought the others after all.

Then he realized who had shouted, and was glad they hadn’t. “What are you doing here?” he asked Zhao Xinci. “Is this a thing now? Every time I go to Dixing you come harass the SID?”

“You seem to have forgotten you’re not allowed to traipse off to Dixing anytime you feel like it — any travel requires official approval from the Supervisory Department.” His father gave him a disappointed look. “Or did you think you could attend a royal succession ceremony and no one would notice?”

He held up a hand, and pretended he didn’t see Shen Wei edging further in front of him. He deliberately took another step to the side. “Any travel between Haixing and Dixing by the Chief of the SID requires approval. Lucky for me, I was there in a different capacity.” He could and would throw his ‘Light of the Guardian Lantern’ title around if he had to, but Zhao Xinci rarely led with his real complaint. The trip to Dixing was just a convenient warm-up topic.

Sure enough, Zhao Xinci sighed, and said, “You’ve always done as you pleased, of course.” Concession and insult in one. “I came here to tell you the serum research has been ended. For now.”

“For now?” Ye Zun repeated, sounding dangerous.

“Yes, for now.” Zhao Xinci looked frustrated. “Minister Gao wasn’t happy with your little stunt the other day. There are limits to what I can do, no matter what you choose to believe.”

“Minister Gao should have read the treaty,” he said easily. If they’d really wanted to cause trouble, they would have waited to see what came after ‘about your brother.’

The look of frustration only increased. “They are already questioning your actions. If you make them question your loyalty — you are not irreplaceable.”

The air went frosty and sharp, and he thought Shen Wei might actually have growled. “As head of the SID,” Zhao Yunlan clarified, just in case. “Yes, I know.” Zhao Xinci’s expression didn’t change. Neither did Shen Wei’s. He didn’t know whether to be glad or not that he couldn’t see Ye Zun’s.

“I appreciate your concern,” he said, in a tone that made it clear he neither believed it to be concern nor appreciated it. "My loyalties haven't changed."  Let them interpret that however they wanted.  

Zhao Xinci frowned.  He spoke quietly, as if Shen Wei and Ye Zun couldn't have heard him whispering from across the street.  "Zhao Yunlan.  If you choose this path, there will be consequences.  Be cautious, or you may find all sides turned against you."  

"My loyalties haven't changed," he repeated.  "And there's only one person here talking about taking sides.  Maybe the Supervisory Department should think about why that is."

His father walked out.  

And then walked right back in, an angry Zu Ma in front of him, and a flustered-looking Lao Li hovering behind them.  "Who is this?" Zhao Xinci said.  

He looked at Shen Wei.  Shen Wei looked at Ye Zun.  "That's our brother," Ye Zun said calmly, like it wasn't a blatant lie; like he didn't take brotherhood more seriously than anyone Zhao Yunlan had ever met.  He reached out to tug Zu Ma behind him, and rolled his eyes when he saw Zhao Yunlan smiling.

"Your--?"  Zhao Xinci looked back and forth between them.  "That's not--"  He stared at Shen Wei.  "Is that true?"

Shen Wei raised his eyebrows.  "Are you accusing my brother of lying?"

When his father's gaze turned to him, Zhao Yunlan shrugged.  "I was going to go with secret child; you should be grateful.  Brother is much easier to explain."

Zu Ma made a noise that might have been a cough, but wisely didn't say anything.  Zhao Xinci closed his eyes.  "Do you take anything seriously?"

He did, and the protection of those in his care was one of those things.  That didn't mean there wasn't humor to be found in them as well.  And he knew, theoretically, that his father was trying to protect him, in his own way.  But it had taken the threat of imminent death to get them even close to seeing eye to eye the last time around, and he still wasn't sure if it would happen again.

"Yes," he said finally.  Shen Wei was edging in front of him again.

The acoustics of the building meant they could all hear it when someone laughed in the entryway.  It sounded like Dong Nan.  He tried to communicate via eyebrows that Lao Li should go distract her, but Lao Li was already having an eyebrow conversation with Zu Ma, and wasn't paying any attention to him.  Typical.  

Dong Nan skipped into the room, which was also typical.  Seeing Minister Guo walk in behind her carrying bags of food -- definitely more unusual.  "We brought breakfast!" Dong Nan announced.  

Minister Guo took in the occupants of the room and paused.  To his credit, it only looked a little like he was questioning his life choices.  "Why don't you go show Lao Li what we brought?" he said, carefully shuffling Dong Nan back towards the entryway.  His method worked much better than the eyebrows, and Lao Li took the food -- and Zu Ma -- with him when he left.

Zhao Xinci crossed his arms.  "And who is that?" he said.  "Your sister?"

"She's here with me," Minister Guo said, with a politician's knack for making a complete non-explanation sound perfectly reasonable.  "We brought breakfast."

It was like he could see the moment his father -- or possibly Zhang Shi -- realized none of them trusted him not to put a child in danger, just for not being Haixingren.  Not even his coworker, or his own son.  He watched him take a careful breath.  "That's -- of course.  I have an early meeting."  He nodded to no one in particular and headed for the door.  

He wasn't going to feel bad for him.  He wasn't.  Dammit.  

He patted Shen Wei on the shoulder as he went by.  "Save me some dumplings?"  It was as close to 'I'm planning to come right back, so you don't need to follow me unless I don't show up before breakfast is over, and then definitely come rescue me' as he could get on short notice.

"Of course."

He caught up with him right outside the door, and they stared awkwardly at each other for a few seconds.  "Times have changed," Zhao Xinci said finally.  "Your generation faces different challenges."  

He stuck his hands in his pockets to keep from pointing.  "Change happens because of our choices, regardless of our age," he countered.  "Or hasn't your oldest friend taught you that?"  

He received only silence in reply, and pretended that was fine. He said, “You know what I think about a lot? If we didn’t actually care about each other, it wouldn’t hurt so much.” And he walked back inside.

*******

It had taken him some time to figure out napping, once they got back.  Longer still to convince Shen Wei that closing his eyes and relaxing was an alternative to sitting and staring at him while he slept.  Shen Wei called it keeping watch.  Everyone else called it adorably weird when they thought he couldn't hear them, which it definitely was.



Ye Zun didn't nap.  It was possible he didn't sleep at all, but he refused to give a clear answer, and no one wanted to push.  Zhao Yunlan had some vague plans about vacations and hammocks -- being able to see the sun would help, he thought -- but mostly they all put up with Ye Zun poking around in everyone's desks every time they dozed off.



"Why doesn't Sang Zan have a desk?" 



It didn't sound like a question he needed to wake up and answer.  Sure enough, Zhu Hong said, "He has a whole library; why would he need a desk?"



"But Lin Jing has the lab, and he still has a desk here too."  



"Ah," Lin Jing said.  "That's because I can make it look like both of them are being used.  If Sang Zan had a desk, it would be too neat; the rest of us would look like slobs in comparison."



"Speak for yourself," Zhu Hong said.



"I think it's because Wang Zheng likes having him share her desk," Guo Changcheng offered.  "That is -- I mean, she's the one who would submit the requisition form for a new one, wouldn't she?"



Everyone seemed to consider that for a while, and he drifted closer to sleep.  "Do you want a desk?" Zhu Hong asked, and yes, that was probably the right question.



"I haven't decided yet," Ye Zun said.  



They could put another desk in his office.  Or two.  But Shen Wei already had an office at the university, so maybe he wouldn't want one.  Also, they usually just worked on the sofa.  


"If you decide you don't, can you request another one for the lab?" Lin Jing said.  "He won't say no to you."

He opened his eyes, but didn't bother to actually sit up.  "What do you need another desk for?"

"Ahaha, Boss -- you're awake."

Shen Wei patted his arm, and he closed his eyes again.  "How could I sleep with you admitting your loafing right next to me?  The desk?"



"It's not for me!  It would be for guests -- like a visiting desk, for the partners and allies the SID is committed to working with?"    



He waved a hand to cut off the explanation.  "Sha Ya can't have a desk in the lab.  She doesn't like cats."    


There was a pause, and then Lin Jing said, "But if she did like cats, she could have a desk?"  
 

"Don't you have reports to write?"



"I'm writing, I'm writing!"


He waited, but no one else said anything. It was unusual for Da Qing not to chime in if they were talking about him.  "Where is the Damn Cat, anyway?"  

Lin Jing scoffed, but Guo Changcheng said, "I think he's out back with the kittens again."  

The group seemed to get bigger every time he saw it -- they were either feeding every stray in the city, or building the best information network the SID had ever had.  Possibly both.  But Da Qing seemed happy, and that was good enough for him. 

He yawned, giving in to waking up all the way.  "Call it a cross-cultural Yashou ambassadorial lecture series.  That should cover it for a while."


"That's not bad, actually."  Lin Jing's typing sped up again.  



Zhao Yunlan moved to the table and propped his feet on the couch.  He wanted to be able to see the rest of the team when they answered.  "Speaking of cross-cultural Yashou ambassadorial activities.  We must be coming up on the Yashou market, right -- after the Reunion Festival?"



He had his doubts about the so-called "market."  Especially since the first time around, he was pretty sure Shen Wei had just brought him to an empty field.  Though he supposed the Yashou leaders had all showed up eventually, so maybe there was something to it.  Or maybe they'd just been trespassing. 



"Do we need special invitations for this thing, or --?"  He spread his hands out to the sides.  



Zhu Hong, at least, looked like she knew what he was talking about.  "It's -- open to the public," she said.  "In theory."



"Ah!"  He pointed at her.  "In theory.  And in actuality?"



Zhu Hong was very deliberately not looking at Shen Wei, who in turn was giving the floor far more attention than it deserved.  "The market includes a wide variety of wares," Zhu Hong said carefully.  "Some of which might be... less welcoming, of scrutiny from certain sources."



Illegal stuff, sure.  "But you invited me."  The tips of Shen Wei's ears went red, and he suddenly realized what they weren't saying.  "Wait, wait.  So showing up at the Yashou market with the Black Cloaked Envoy is the equivalent of showing up to a party with a cop?"



"You're a cop," Shen Wei muttered.  



He poked at Shen Wei's knee with his toes.  "But Ying Chun likes you!"



"Ying Chun likes everyone," Zhu Hong said.  "Ying Chun likes Ya Qing."



"I like Ya Qing," Guo Changcheng protested.  



Zhu Hong raised her eyebrows as if to say, 'yes, this proves my point exactly.'



He nodded.  "Well, it's bound to be different this time around."



"Two cops!" Lin Jing said, and then froze when Zhu Hong flicked his ear.  "Did I say that out loud?"



"Because the SID is a family," Zhao Yunlan said.  "I don't say these things just so you have pretty background noise.  And not just a family now."  He waved at Guo Changcheng.  "Xiao Guo?"



Guo stood up and nodded vigorously.  "Yes, of course.  I mean, you're already -- Dong Nan already considers you all to be part of our, um, flock."



The timing was perfect.  Chu Shuzhi swept into the room with Dong Nan at his side, both in their standard black on black outfits.  Dong Nan had even added a scarf.  Zhao Yunlan gestured in their direction. “You see?  The family resemblance is unmistakable!"



Shen Wei pushed his feet off the couch, but he was hiding a smile while he did it.  

"Chief Zhao!" Dong Nan said excitedly.  "Look what I found!"


He pulled his feet up on the table and she jumped up next to him.  He refused to be the person on the team who was the worst with children, and it wasn't like he could cause too much trouble with Lao Chu standing right there glaring at him.  Dong Nan held out a -- he had no idea what it was, but he gave it what was hopefully an  appropriately impressed nod.  "Ah," he said.


Chu glared harder.  "It's for you," Dong Nan said earnestly, but he could see a hint of mischief in her eyes.  

"A trade, then," he said.  He dug around in his jacket for a Guo Changcheng-approved snack, couldn't find one, and pointed dramatically towards the door.  "Is that Minister Guo?"  Lao Chu spun around to look, and he tossed Dong Nan a lollipop with a wink.  She giggled -- and the lollipop was hidden away by the time Lao Chu turned back around.  

He got another glare for his trouble, but it wasn't like the rest of the team hadn't been watching the whole thing, even if Lin Jing was still pretending to type.  "Huh," he said, unwrapping another lollipop and sticking it in his mouth.  "I guess it wasn't him after all."  He picked up the -- whatever it was, and held it up.  "So tell me, what is this, exactly?"  

*******

"Ding Dun."  He flipped through another page of notes, but that was the only name that stood out.  

"What about him?"  It was a familiar scene -- Shen Wei's campus office, tossing ideas back and forth.  Only instead of Shen Wei on the other side of the desk, it was Ye Zun.  They were waiting for Shen Wei's lecture to finish -- having been banned from waiting in the classroom or the hallway, Ye Zun was more than happy to continue being a distraction from Shen Wei's office.

He tapped the clipboard.  "He hasn't showed up yet."  

Ye Zun frowned.  "Are you expecting him to?"  

"Are you?"  Ding Dun's mysterious death and return to life had never been explained, as far as he knew.  He still wasn't sure why he'd destroyed the Dijun booklet, let alone masqueraded as a fortune teller and then stabbed him.  If it had been Ye Zun orchestrating things, they were probably in the clear, but if not -- well, better to find out too early than too late.

"No?  Why would I?"  Ye Zun looked like he was trying to place the name.  "Ding Dun.  He -- helped Zhu Jiu confirm the location of the Mount-River Awl?"

Zhao Yunlan nodded.  "We thought he was dead after that, but he came back.  Burned the book that recorded everyone's powers."  He paused -- he really hadn't thought he'd have to tell the whole story, but Ye Zun gestured for him to keep going.  "Then he stabbed me."

Ye Zun's face darkened.  "He what?"

"In the arm!  I was fine!"  After Shen Wei had healed him, he'd been fine.  Close enough.

Ye Zun grabbed his arm and studied it, like he might be able to see evidence of the injury.  "This was in Dixing?  Where was Shen Wei?"

"He's not my keeper, you know."  Ye Zun raised his eyebrows, and he sighed.  "He was looking for me.  I heard he showed up right after."

"You heard?"  

He shrugged, making sure not to pull his arm out of Ye Zun's grip.  "I was unconscious.  Didn't wake up till I was back at the SID, and Shen Wei was long gone."  

Which was suspicious, in retrospect, but the team hadn't know he was the Black Cloaked Envoy at that point.  He could hardly show up with an unconscious Zhao Yunlan and zero explanations as Shen Wei, and he couldn't linger as the Envoy without inviting even more questions.  

Ye Zun nodded, but didn't look up.  Finally he lifted his finger, and his arm was covered in lines of shimmering energy.  "May I?"  

He had no idea what he was being asked.  "Sure," he said.  Ye Zun tapped his arm, and the energy disappeared, leaving only a lingering buzz behind.  He flexed his fingers cautiously.  "Thank you?"

"I'd like to see someone try to stab you now," Ye Zun said smugly.

Shen Wei froze in the doorway.  "Excuse me?"

He held up his arm.  "Look!  We were talking about Ding Dun."    

Shen Wei's frown was identical to Ye Zun's.  "Does your arm hurt?  The knife had a poison on it I wasn't familiar with."  He poked at the energy around his arm until it was visible again, and tilted his head to the side.  "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I thought it was from you," Ye Zun said.  "Isn't that how you heal yourself?"

"I usually just--"  Shen Wei held out his hand, and a ball of dark energy appeared in his palm.  

Ye Zun's expression was impossible to interpret.  "But -- doesn't that hurt?"

Shen Wei looked away.  "I'm used to it.  And it's efficient."

"This way is better," Ye Zun said firmly.  

He wiggled his fingers. “Ah, not to interrupt. But is it supposed to do that?” The traced lines were spreading from his arm to Shen Wei’s hand.

He looked at Ye Zun, who held his hands up. “It’s not me.”

That’s what he’d been worried about. At least Shen Wei didn’t seem upset — more bemused, as the light continued to track its way up his arm. He concentrated on pulling it back, or at least making it invisible again, and the second worked before the first. Shen Wei quirked an eyebrow at him, but didn’t move his hand.

“Ah — sorry?” he offered. He had no idea what he was doing, which they were all well aware of. Sharing their dark energy powers had been inevitable, but it was like having a library’s worth of knowledge dumped into his head with no context. He knew things without knowing how he knew them, and instinct could only get him so far. Or rather, it worked fine until he started thinking about it. 

“It’s fine,” Shen Wei said.

“You need practice,” Ye Zun said, which was a nice way of saying ‘no it’s not.’

They all did. Even Shen Wei, who was arguably the best at keeping his powers under control, was struggling to find the balance between them. He was too used to hiding, while Ye Zun was too used to fighting the seal of the Hallows, and Zhao Yunlan was too used to not having any powers at all. It was an awkward combination.

And while they weren’t exactly hiding the existence of shared powers, they weren’t exactly not hiding it either. A Department of Supervision that approved of human experimentation to induce genetic mutation seemed unlikely to turn a blind eye to Chief Zhao suddenly having Dixing powers. The explanation that would be required to prove the process wasn’t replicable was — complicated. And personal. And they still couldn’t be sure it would convince the DOS not to start flinging their people into wormholes on the off chance they’d come out the other side super-powered.

Ye Zun looked like he was choosing his next words carefully, but what he finally said was, “Someone’s going to notice eventually.”

He made a face. “Da Qing already knows. Or suspects, at least. Since the mountains — he asked if I was going to manifest a sword before we went after the Awl.”

“Did you?” Ye Zun asked.

“Of course not. It was a flashlight.” It was Shen Wei’s turn to make a face, and he he said, “What? It’s useful, and you can hit things with it if you need to!”

“It’s hardly an elegant weapon,” Shen Wei said.

“But extremely easy to explain away when it’s present at a crime scene in the hands of the Chief of the SID,” he countered. “And it never needs batteries!”

Ye Zun held up a hand. “To clarify — you have no difficulty channeling the Guardian Lantern through a dark energy manifestation of a flashlight. But you can’t figure out how to limit a healing grid?” He poked Zhao Yunlan’s arm to bring the lines of light back into view. They’d reached Shen Wei’s shoulder, and even as Ye Zun pulled his finger back, they jumped to him as well.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.  "Is that what it is?  It felt nice, when you did it."  He reminded himself that they might know all his secrets already, but saying them out loud still had power.  "It's very hard to convince myself to stop doing something that might make you feel better, or make you safer." 

Shen Wei smiled.  Ye Zun rolled his eyes, but he reached out to Zhao Yunlan's other arm and started the light tracing up that side too.  “We’re fine," he said, in an echo of Shen Wei’s earlier words.  "We'll figure it out."

*******

The Reunion Festival dinner was as bright as he remembered it.  He had never been sure if it was lit up so brilliantly in his memories because it had truly been that way, or simply in contrast to the darkness of being blind that had followed after. But there were dozens of strands of lights, and an honestly alarming number of candles -- Wang Zheng and Sang Zan had outdone themselves.  

"I thought I'd find you up here."

Shen Wei leaned on the mezzanine railing next to him, looking out over the crowd.  That was a change from the first time around -- their family had gotten a lot bigger.

"Just taking a break," he said.  He stuck a lollipop in his mouth and held out another one in a silent offer.  Shen Wei took it, but didn't unwrap it.  

He angled closer so their shoulders were touching, and Shen Wei didn't move away.  "The coat was nice of you," he said.

It hadn't taken much of a suggestion -- Dong Nan had exceeded his wildest expectations with the one she'd found, and he hadn't seen Guo Changcheng without it since.  He hadn't realized Shen Wei knew he'd been behind it, but he probably should have.

"He looked cold."  There'd been no absolute zero lab this time around, but he figured that sort of thing made an impression.  "Besides, now he matches."

The coat was black, and it did have the effect of making Changcheng fit right in next to Dong Nan and Chu.  He couldn't wait till Ya Qing saw it.  

Shen Wei nodded absently.  He obviously hadn't come over to talk about fashion choices.  "I've been thinking," he said, and then stopped.

Despite what some people said, he did know how to stay quiet.  He watched the group below, and waited.  Zhu Hong and Zhu Jiu were demonstrating some kind of spinning flip that was definitely going to end in disaster -- for the candles, if nothing else.  

"About the time travel," Shen Wei finally added.

He didn't have to ask which time travel Shen Wei was talking about.  “Me too. I think we should just ask them,” he said.

Shen Wei made a surprised sound. “Ask — who?”

He realized Shen Wei hadn’t been around either of the times they’d contacted the past. And apparently no one had ever told him about it. And by no one, he meant himself. “Ah — Ma Gui and Fu You? You see, interesting fact about the Hallows — you can use them to video conference with the past!”

Shen Wei turned to face him. “You’re not serious.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s true. The Snake Tribe’s forbidden area has a setup for it, along with the doorway to Dixing. It activated automatically when we put the Hallows into place, and we spoke to them before I arrived in the past. It’s how they knew I was coming. The connection only lasted for a short time; it was unstable because the Lantern wasn’t lit.”

He stopped, but they’d all become experts in each others’ silences. “And?” Shen Wei prompted. He looked like he might be able to guess what was coming next, but he wanted to hear Zhao Yunlan say it.

And it wasn’t like he’d been avoiding talking about it on purpose. Exactly. It was just that some things were easier left unsaid, and they all lived with how it turned out every day anyway. It hadn’t seemed important, and then when they got back, it seemed even less so, and more awkward to bring up. Or maybe he’d been avoiding it.

“And they got it working again after —“ He couldn’t say it, so he cleared his throat instead, and gestured with his lollipop to distract from anything his face might be doing. “After. When I was in Dixing. They were the ones who told me how to light the Lantern.”

In retrospect, he thought it explained a lot about why they’d been so — not deferential, exactly, when he was in the past. Indulgent, maybe, was a better word. His title of Chief of the SID would have meant nothing to them, but the Hallows commanded attention even then. Maybe more so than the present, when so much of what they could do had been lost.

Shen Wei’s grip on the railing tightened. He moved his hand closer and nudged Shen Wei’s pinky with his own. Purely out of concern for the railing’s structural integrity, of course. Shen Wei didn’t quite smile, but he let Zhao Yunlan hook their fingers together, and when he said, “I see,” it sounded more like ‘I need to think about this,’ and less like ‘I may spontaneously travel back in time myself just to slap the Hallows out of your hands every time you even thought about touching them.’

He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. One more truth to go. “Even if we could get the Hallows to take me back, I don’t think I can do it again the same way. Not with — everything.”

Shen Wei seemed more amused than upset, so he must have already come to the same conclusion. “And yet wasn’t it the great Kunlun who advised that one should have no regrets?”

He made a face. “That advice works better when time only goes in one direction.” He waved at the crowd below them. “I think we’ve proven that regrets can have remarkable powers of motivation.”

Shen Wei tugged on his pinky. “Call it what it is. Not regret, but love.”

Ye Zun stepped out of the shadows and dropped a hand on both of their shoulders. “How do the two of you ever get anything done, with all of these declarations of love all the time?”

Shen Wei actually laughed, and Zhao Yunlan beamed. “Ah, we love you too, you know.” He didn’t expect a reply, and he didn’t get one, but he could feel how pleased they both were.

He patted Ye Zun’s hand. “As strange as it seems, Ma Gui and Fu You may know the most about what we’ve done, or are going to do. Hopefully they have some ideas we haven’t thought of.”

“We’ll need the Hallows.”

He shrugged. Getting them would be the easy part. The real question was how much of a diplomatic incident they would cause in the process. “We’ll take Changcheng if we need to. No one can say no to him.”

*******

"I feel like Lao Zhao made this plan.  Didn't I tell you not to let him plan anything?"



The King had been willing to let them borrow the Hallows, but only if they didn't take them out of Dixing.  And coincidentally, the Snake Tribe had been not at all willing to let them enter the forbidden area.  Which led to them sneaking in anyway, but from the Dixing side.  "The plan is fine," he said.  "It's a compromise; what's wrong with that?"



Da Qing gave him a disbelieving look.  "You're doing both of the things you were specifically told not to do.  That is not in any way a compromise."



"Shh.  You're distracting Shen Wei."  That was a lie.  Shen Wei wasn't listening to them at all, because he was busy trying to find the entrance.  If anything was distracting him, it was the Hallows.  "Besides, you didn't have to come."



"I definitely did," Da Qing retorted.  "Do you know what it said in my letter?  'Never, ever let Zhao Yunlan go to Dixing without you.'  It was very clear."  He leaned closer.  "Why is Shen Wei the one looking for this door, anyway?  Aren't you the one who used it?"



"Not going in this direction.  It looks different."  That was probably also a lie, but he hadn't exactly been taking notes the last time around.  



"There," Shen Wei said.  He put his hand on Zhao Yunlan’s shoulder, and then he could see it too — a distinctly portal like blur. 



“Excellent!”  He waited for Shen Wei to start moving, and then stopped again when Da Qing poked him in the chest.  



“Can you see anything right now?” Da Qing asked.



He waved his hand towards the door.  “Of course I can!”  He could see a portal-like blur; that totally counted.  



“Really?  Because you’re kind of glowing, and it seems like maybe you haven’t noticed.”



Busted.  He sighed, and said, “The Lantern is part of me,” because he thought that would go over better than the other way around.  “When we’re this close together, there’s a sort of resonance.  It’s — distracting.”



Da Qing scoffed.  “I’m beginning to think you’re as confused about what distracting means as you are about compromise.”  But he fell in easily on Zhao Yunlan’s other side, and they made it to the cave without any further commentary.  



Once they were settled in the console, the Hallows calmed down, and his vision mostly went back to normal.  "Now what?" Da Qing asked.  "Something's supposed to happen, right?"  He reached out to poke the Lantern, and leaped backwards as the screen lit up.



It showed a much younger Da Qing also jumping back, with a guilty expression.  They all stared at each other for a few seconds, and then current Da Qing waved enthusiastically.  "Hello!"



"I wasn't touching them!"  Past Da Qing scratched his head.  "Much, anyway."  



Current Da Qing waved it off.  "Don't worry about it.  Could you get Ma Gui and Fu You for us?  We need to consult with them, about the Alliance."



"What?  Oh, sure.  Hold on."  Past Da Qing raced off, and the screen went dark.



It lit up again almost immediately, and Ma Gui and Fu You were there smiling back at them.  It looked like they recognized him, and he wondered when they were.  How quickly after the Hallows had been returned had the Alliance split up?  



"Da Qing!  Zhao Yunlan!  It's good to see you again!"  Fu You nodded to Shen Wei and Ye Zun, but didn't say their names.



Ye Zun stepped forward and looked at her consideringly.  "You recognize us," he said.  "You've spoken to us from further in our future?"  



Ma Gui laughed.  "And you told us you'd figure it out right away," he said.  



Fu You nodded.  "It's good to see you as well."



"We have some questions about time travel," Zhao Yunlan said.  "Which you probably already know!"  It was either very convenient or very inconvenient to talk to people out of consecutive order; he hadn't decided yet.  



"We're happy to listen and offer any help that we can," Fu You said smoothly, not confirming or denying.



The explanation was by its nature somewhat more circular than linear, and when they reached something that could be considered a stopping point, Ma Gui exchanged a look with Fu You that might have been amusement.  "What exactly is your question?" he asked.



He held his hands out to the sides.  "Do I have to redo the time loop where I met you all 10,000 years ago to prevent this timeline from experiencing some kind of catastrophic effects?"  



Fu You was definitely trying not to laugh.  "Effects like what?"  



He waved his hands around.  "Like -- I don't know.  Catastrophe!"  He pointed at Ye Zun.  "You said the timeline would correct itself if we tried to change it."



"I -- was lying?  What do I know about time travel?"  Ye Zun looked defensive, and Shen Wei patted his arm.  



"No, you're right; it does," Ma Gui said.  "But what makes you think what you're experiencing now isn't the corrected timeline?"



"Ah."  He shook his finger at the screen.  "That's a good question."



Ma Gui smiled.  "Besides, I wouldn't think you'd need to redo the loop either way.  We remember you being here, and you clearly do as well, so it's already happened."  



"But I haven't not done it yet," he said.  



Da Qing frowned.  "Did that make sense in your head?  Because it didn't out loud."



"Also!" he said, ignoring Da Qing entirely.  "People don't remember what happened the first time through this part of the timeline, except for us."



"Are you sure?" Fu You asked.  



Everyone looked at Da Qing.  "Oh.  I mean, I'm probably not the best person to ask, right?  I have a lot of memories; I don't usually worry about sorting them out.  Besides, the first timeline was very stressful, and Dr. Cheng said stress can impair memory recall."



His phone chimed, and he thought the cave was creating an echo until he realized it was just everyone's phones at once.  He had a new text from Ye Zun.  Does anyone remember things from the other timeline?



He looked up, and Ye Zun shrugged.  "We might as well ask them all," he said.



Yes.



Yes.



I thought we weren't talking about it.



Yes. Also I can hear your phones from outside the forbidden area.  You're lucky everyone is distracted by the Market.



He waved his phone for the benefit of Ma Gui and Fu You.  "Apparently everyone remembers things and just didn't mention it.  Which makes no sense!"



Ma Gui said, "When you first met us, you remember the healing ointment?  That was also outside your personal understanding of how things worked, and yet you accepted it with no difficulty.  What makes this different?"



He really wished there was enough room to pace.  "I expect medicine to be mysterious!  I expect time to be -- not mysterious." 



Fu You just laughed.  "Consider it this way.  Perhaps it's not time itself that's mysterious, but your perception and experience of it."



He wasn't sure that helped, but then again, maybe it did.  He looked at Shen Wei, who gave a small nod.  If Shen Wei wasn't worried; he wasn't going to worry either.  “All right. We will consider that, yes."  He clapped his hands together.  "Since we're all here -- any other questions?"


*******


It felt right to mark the occasion somehow.  No one had come right out and said 'we should have a party on the day you died in the other timeline,' but they'd all made the effort to actually show up at work, so he figured the thought was there.


"Behold!"

Zhao Yunlan opened his eyes, but didn’t bother moving from his sprawl on the sofa. He was sandwiched between a sleeping Shen Wei and a pretending-to-sleep Ye Zun; he might never move again. Besides, it was Lin Jing’s ‘look at this’ voice and not his ‘something’s about to explode’ voice. Whatever it was, he’d bring it over eventually.

“I present to you my most recent scientific breakthrough; prepare to be amazed!”

That was enough to wake Shen Wei. He sat up straighter, and Lin Jing set a familiar-looking device on the table with a flourish. Guo Changcheng immediately said, “Oh, is this the popcorn machine?”

“It is!” Lin Jing agreed. “But improved!”

Da Qing leapt on the table. “How is it improved?”

“Higher capacity!”

“More popcorn.” Da Qing nodded approvingly.

Zhu Hong and Wang Zheng waved Sang Zan over to the table to join them. “Popped — corn?” he said.

“You’ll like it,” Wang Zheng assured him, and he nodded.

Ye Zun was frowning. “You do know that’s a —“

Shen Wei coughed loudly. “Popcorn machine?”

“Sure,” Ye Zun said slowly. “If you say so.”

Lin Jing looked back and forth between them. “Do I want to know? I don’t want to know, do I. But I do want to know!”

“Eat first, ask later,” Chu told him.

Zhu Hong threw a piece of popcorn at him. “Wise advice, Lao Chu. Being a teacher agrees with you.” Xiao Guo threw a piece back at her, and things escalated from there.

It was, he thought, probably the nicest ‘we didn’t die this time’ party he’d ever been at.

And afterwards, when the popcorn was gone and the stories had been shared, he remembered. A few days or a lifetime ago, standing in this room with these people, before they’d all split up to save the world. And he’d said they would all meet back together afterwards. Looking at his family all around him — somehow, some way — they had.