Work Text:
That was a much better landing than the last time, Zhao Yunlan thought. He remembered the sensation of the wormhole spitting him out, but this time he hadn’t landed on the hard rocks. Instead he landed on something softer. Or rather someone, although ‘softer’ wasn’t really a good description for that person in any sense.
“I hate time travel,” Zhao Yunlan grumbled.
“Get off me,” Ye Zun said icily in response, pushing at Zhao Yunlan’s chest.
After some fumbling and Ye Zun’s knees ending up (absolutely not accidentally, Zhao Yunlan was sure of that) in Zhao Yunlan’s side, they finally got up. Ye Zun started to brush his clothes off. Zhao Yunlan gave him a cursory once-over. Ye Zun’s silver hair, gathered in a messy ponytail, looked a bit more tousled than before, but apart from that he looked completely unharmed.
Ye Zun stopped fussing with his clothes and threw a furious look at Zhao Yunlan. He took a sudden step forward and Zhao Yunlan unconsciously took a step back. He wasn’t scared of Ye Zun, not really. But Ye Zun was unpredictable, and despite Shen Wei’s assurance that his evil psycho twin brother wasn’t evil or psycho anymore, Zhao Yunlan still believed in taking necessary precautions. Also, Shen Wei wasn’t here and he was the only one who could control Ye Zun.
“You idiot, this is on you and your inability to stop fondling the Hallows,” Ye Zun said.
Zhao Yunlan gaped at him. The nerve of that guy...
“My fondling?” he asked, offended. “Who tried to steal the Hallows despite promising his brother that he would never, ever do that again?”
“If you didn’t try to tear them out of my hands, this wouldn’t happen.”
“Oh, really? So I should just stand there and let you use the Hallows to plan world domination again. Or to use them for some other nefarious purpose.”
“It wasn’t anything nefarious!” Ye Zun shouted, and he had the gall to look wounded.
“So what did you plan to use them for?”
“I just wanted...” Ye Zun said.
He stopped talking abruptly. For a hot second he looked kind of anxious and unsure, to Zhao Yunlan’s surprise. But then he got that usual condescending look in his eyes, reserved for anyone who was not his brother. Zhao Yunlan hated that look.
“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Ye Zun said haughtily.
“Yes, you kinda do, because here we are. And I don’t know where or when we are. So, fess up, where and when did you want the Hallows to transfer you?”
Ye Zun just crossed his arms over his chest, a stubborn look in his eyes. Zhao Yunlan rolled his eyes. What are you, a child, he thought, irritated.
“You don’t want to talk, fine. But what now?” he said. He looked around. “We’re in Dixing. I think. Do you recognize this place?”
Ye Zun tightened his lips. For a while it looked as if he would just ignore Zhao Yunlan’s question. But then he let out a small sigh and the coldness in his eyes abated a little bit. He gave their surroundings a careful look.
“I don’t know where we are,” he finally said with a shrug.
It looked casual, but Zhao Yunlan knew him a little now, and he could see the doubt and uneasiness underneath the nonchalance. He would gladly dress down Ye Zun a little bit more. But that would accomplish nothing. He wondered if someone had already noticed that they were gone. He was pretty sure they had; Shen Wei probably knew right away. Shen Wei must be worried sick, Zhao Yunlan thought, his heart squeezing painfully.
“Shen Wei is going to kill us,” he said, trying to bury his worry under a light tone.
Ye Zun’s shoulders twitched. He looked at Zhao Yunlan with eyes that were not cold anymore, just anxious and maybe even a little bit scared.
“He’s going to kill you, because it’s your fault,” Ye Zun said, but his voice trembled a little bit.
Zhao Yunlan ignored it. He looked around again, but it wasn’t more helpful than the last time he did that. Just rocks and bushes and trees everywhere around them. Well, no one was going to help them here, so...
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Where?”
“Does it matter? What’s the point of standing here? Do you think the Hallows will suddenly appear and take us home?”
He moved in the direction on his right side. Ye Zun took a step, but then stopped. He closed his eyes, a tense look on his face. Then he abruptly turned in the opposite direction.
“This way,” he threw over his shoulder.
He marched ahead, not waiting for Zhao Yunlan’s reaction. Zhao Yunlan ran after him.
“Hey, what do you mean that way?” he shouted. “Why that way?”
****
The walk didn’t last very long. After maybe 10 minutes or so, they emerged into a clearing at the bottom of the steep hill. Ye Zun stopped so abruptly, that Zhao Yunlan nearly bumped into his back.
“Great, what now?” Zhao Yunlan asked. “Is there a way up or are we going...”
His voice trailed off when he realized that Ye Zun wasn’t listening. Ye Zun’s shoulders shook and something like a muffled sob escaped his lips.
“No,” Ye Zun said, eyes frantic. “No, no, no,” he repeated, dropping to his knees.
He touched the ground with trembling fingers. The soil looked as if someone had dug something out of it very recently. There were also strange dark spots on the grass nearby. They looked like blood.
What the hell happened here, Zhao Yunlan thought, and why is it so important to him? He opened his mouth to ask, but before he could get a word out Ye Zun jumped to his feet.
“It’s your fault,” he spat out.
Zhao Yunlan sighed.
“What is my fault this time?” he asked.
“I’m too late!” Ye Zun shouted. “It’s all for nothing. Why do you have to ruin everything?!”
His hands tightened into fists. But he looked more devastated than furious. He slowly lowered himself onto the ground and sat on the grass.
“Why are you too late? What did you want to do?” Zhao Yunlan asked.
Ye Zun ignored him, looking morosely at the ground. Zhao Yunlan sighed again. He would gladly ignore this moping fool, too. But he couldn’t just go and leave him here. And they were clearly here, wherever here was, because Ye Zun wanted to be here. It just seemed that the Hallows miscalculated a bit and Ye Zun was apparently too late. For what, Zhao Ynlan didn’t know. But he was determined to find out.
“Come on, talk to me,” he said. “We’re in this together.”
Ye Zun raised his head and looked at him. He didn’t look angry anymore, he looked tired and resigned.
“I wanted to fix everything,” he said, his voice barely above the whisper. “I wanted to...” he paused with a haunted look in his eyes. “I wanted to kill him before he separated us.”
He sighed and dropped his head on his knees. A light bulb went off in Zhao Yunlan’s head. He didn’t know everything about the source of the conflict between the brothers, but he knew enough. And that explained where and when they were. So this was Ye Zun’s idea for fixing the whole situation. It kind of made sense if Ye Zun wanted to reverse everything bad that happened to him. Ye Zun wasn’t forthcoming with details about his time with the rebels. Well, he wasn’t forthcoming with Zhao Yunlan. He talked to Shen Wei and there was this one time when furniture went flying in their house and glass shattered in all the windows. And Zhao Yunlan wasn’t sure which one of them was responsible for that display of power. Later Shen Wei looked as if he wanted to murder someone for a long time, and he spent that whole night in Ye Zun’s room, holding his brother in his arms while he slept.
So yes, Zhao Yunlan understood now, and maybe even empathized a little. But that still didn’t change the fact that something had gone wrong, and they were in the past without the possibility of getting back.
He had to think and why stand when you could sit, so he dropped onto the ground beside Ye Zun and leaned back on his hands, closing his eyes and trying to think hard about something, anything that could be helpful. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even realize at first when Ye Zun muttered something quietly.
“What?” he asked. “Did you say something?”
Ye Zun looked at him as if he was some kind of really fascinating but also repulsive bug.
“Why you?” he asked. “Why did he choose you?”
Oh, so that’s what it was about. Zhao Yunlan stayed silent, because Ye Zun clearly wasn’t waiting for an answer.
“If I succeeded I would be the most important person to him,” Ye Zun continued in a strangely flat voice, as if he was trying very hard not to show how much it affected him. “Then I would be the first in his heart. And he wouldn’t hate me.”
Ah, damn it. Zhao Yunlan really wasn’t the best person to play the therapist to Ye Zun right now. Or ever. But there were only two of them here, and Zhao Yunlan really needed Ye Zun to be functional and stable, if they ever hoped to find the way out of this situation. He sighed and changed his position so he could look Ye Zun in the eyes.
“Shen Wei doesn’t hate you,” he said gently.
Ye Zun looked at him carefully, as if trying to find the signs of laying in his face.
“But he loves you more,” he finally said.
“He loves you differently,” Zhao Yunlan said. “He fought for you. When everybody said to him that you couldn’t be trusted and it would be best for everyone to just lock you down somewhere and throw away the key. I was one of those people, remember?”
Ye Zun still looked at him with doubt in his eyes, but at least he seemed to be listening, really listening. Not just pretending to get along with Zhao Yunlan for Shen Wei’s benefit. Who knew maybe this unexpected trip to the past would be good for something. Provided that they managed to find a way back.
“That thing you did – trying to change the past... I get it,” Zhao Yunlan said. “Sometimes it does seem easier to just erase past mistakes than try to make up for them. But I want you to listen to me and listen carefully. Shen Wei loves you. He believes in you and your redemption. You don’t have to change the past to be deserving of his love.”
Ye Zun frowned, but his eyes lost the tragic ‘woe is me’ look.
“But...” he started to say.
“No buts,” Zhao Yunlan interrupted him. “And if you ever try something like this again I will kick yours.”
Ye Zun looked at him, puzzled.
“My what?”
“Your butt. I will kick your butt...” Zhao Yunlan stopped and sighed. “It doesn’t sound so threatening, if I have to explain it.”
He got on his feet and brushed his pants off.
“Anyway, stop moping. We have to find a way back,” he said.
Ye Zun slowly got up, too. He gave Zhao Yunlan a fretful look.
“Gege is going to kill me,” he said with a sigh.
“Yeah, he will. And I won’t stop him. But now just think. How can we go back if we don’t know where the Hallows are and how to acquire them?”
Ye Zun frowned.
“I think that maybe...” he said.
But Zhao Yunlan never found out what Ye Zun’s idea was, because at that exact moment he felt familiar pulling sensation and suddenly a wormhole opened above them in the sky. He managed to resist for a few seconds, just enough time to grab Ye Zun’s hand in a tight grip. And then they were both pulled up and up and up.
****
They landed in the reverse order this time. Zhao Yunlan first, Ye Zun right beside him, his hand slipping from Zhao Yunlan’s grasp.
They were in the lab, he managed to register that. But the first thing he noticed was Shen Wei kneeling on the floor, looking like death warmed over and coughing blood. A feeling of worry flooded Zhao Yunlan’s brain as he rushed to Shen Wei’s side.
“Shen Wei!” he shouted.
He kneeled by Shen Wei, noticing in passing the Hallows scattered on the floor. There was no one else in the laboratory beside the three of them. Shen Wei noticed his anxious looks, because of course he did.
“I sent everyone away,” he said. “I couldn’t be sure that...”
He stopped and dropped his gaze, avoiding Zhao Yunlan’s eyes. Zhao Yunlan didn’t know what he wanted to do more – scream at him for risking his life again or just take him in his arms and kiss him breathless. He did none of those things, just squeezed Shen Wei’s arm lightly.
“What did you do?” he asked.
“I did what I had to do to bring you back.”
Shen Wei had that look in his eyes. The look that said ‘you are worth dying for’. Zhao Yunlan hoped to never see that look on Shen Wei’s face ever again.
Ye Zun walked slowly to Shen Wei and looked at him hesitantly. He fidgeted with his hands, as if he wanted to reach out to his brother and stopped at the last second.
“Gege,” Ye Zun said quietly.
Shen Wei looked at him with relief in his eyes and smiled. Then he braced himself against the table and tried to stand. Zhao Yunlan grabbed his arm to help him. On Shen Wei’s other side Ye Zun did the same. They exchanged brief looks over Shen Wei’s head. Ye Zun’s eyes were full of guilt and remorse. Zhao Yunlan was sure his eyes looked the same.
Shen Wei pulled them both into a tight embrace.
“Please” he said in a tired voice, but there was steely determination under the tiredness. “Don’t ever do that again.”
Zhao Yunlan let out a deep breath, trying to fight the mix of guilt, overwhelming love and sudden arousal. Really no time and place for that now, he berated his body silently. Ye Zun buried his head against Shen Wei’s neck.
“I’m sorry,” Ye Zun whispered. “I’m so sorry. I just wanted to change it, so you would never hate me again.”
Shen Wei pushed Ye Zun’s head back a little, so he could look at Ye Zun’s face. His eyes were soft and forgiving.
“I could never hate you,” he said gently.
He touched Ye Zun’s face and Ye Zun looked as if he forgot to breathe for a moment. But then Shen Wei’s hand dropped heavily to his side. He blinked and swayed on his feet.
“Shen Wei?” Zhao Yunlan said.
“I’m a little bit tired,” Shen Wei said.
That is the understatement of the year, Zhao Yunlan thought, but he didn’t say anything. There would be time for another very serious talk with Shen Wei about his self-sacrificing tendencies later. But now Zhao Yunlan had to make sure Shen Wei didn’t drop dead where he stood. So he tightened his grip around Shen Wei’s waist and gestured to Ye Zun to do the same on the other side. Ye Zun gave him a worried look. But besides worry, there was also gratitude in his eyes. Zhao Yunlan nodded slightly. It felt like a very tentative beginning of, well not of a beautiful friendship definitely, but some sort of maybe understanding. And joined concern over the one they both loved.
“Let’s get you home so you can rest,” Zhao Yunlan said.
She Wei’s smile in response was the most beautiful thing in the world.
“Yes,” Shen Wei said. “Let’s go home.”