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The large but gentle pure white deer stood in the middle of the living room, nuzzling his soft snout against the vibrant, pale purple fox that was on his back. The small vixen rubbed her head against the deer, licking his cheek before curling up on his back. Both animals were still one single color, though Steve knew that it was just a matter of time before their colors started blending.
Snow and Amethyst had been very close lately, which was easily mirrored in the way that Bruce and Natasha had been spending more and more time together. It was only a matter of time before they announced to the team that they were dating, he just knew it.
Watching two souls bond was a beautiful thing. It usually started with patches, a little bit of purple in the soft white fur. The amount would begin to grow, and when the two souls were completely bound together, they'd match. Steve could see the two eventually turning a soft lavender, though that would take some time. And maybe the colors would recede, maybe they would fade like the bond. Maybe not. Steve only wanted his friends to be happy, and he could see that they were definitely looking happy together.
If they weren't happy, their souls wouldn't be snuggling up together. No one could really control the way their souls acted, especially when they weren't able to see them.
Which was another issue altogether. No one else was able to see them.
"Hey Cap, you okay?" Tony asked, waving a hand in front of his face.
Steve glanced back over at him. Tony was sitting across the table from him, a hug of coffee in his hand, an eyebrow raised. That's when Steve realized that, to Tony, it looked like he'd just been staring into the living room at nothing for a while.
The newspaper in his hands crumbled a little as he gripped it tighter. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You stare into space far too often to be healthy," Tony commented. He had an unamused, I-don't-believe-you look on his face. It was impossible to ignore Scarlet, the bright red snake that was curled loosely around his neck, resting his head on Tony's shoulder. He obviously didn't know that Scarlet was there.
"I'm fine," Steve repeated, forcing himself not to glance down at the huge, dark blue wolf that was curled up at his feet. Cobalt, the wolf, snorted disbelievingly at him, and Steve bit his lip to keep himself from responding. He only talked with the spirits when he was alone. "Really Tony, there's nothing wrong. If there was something wrong, you'd be the first to know."
The genius smiled, and Steve felt his heart beat faster. If only, if only. But Cobalt remained the same dark blue as he'd always been, no little red patches or anything. Scarlet was still the same flashy, vibrant red that he'd always been. Well, a guy could dream.
It was all pretty simple. Steve saw things. He saw things in a way that most people would think that he was crazy. In fact, he had seen a psychiatrist when he was a child, when people told him that he shouldn't be seeing colorful spirit animals. He shouldn't see the pale green rabbit he'd nicknamed Emerald that always comforted him as a child. He shouldn't see the huge, dark blue wolf that always followed at his side. Cobalt didn't exist. He shouldn't see the silver fluffy cat that twined around Bucky's ankles, either. He shouldn't be able to feel it when Silver curled up on Cobalt's back.
But that was okay. He just stopped telling people about the colorful animals that they couldn't see, the colorful spirits that were constantly at their side. He watched as they changed, as colors faded and blended and were tainted by others. He watched as people changed, and their souls showed that. But he never told anyone else about the spirit animals.
Bucky had never had a problem with him seeing the animals, or commenting on them. He'd mentioned a few times that he wished he could see Silver, or hold the cat in his arms. Steve wished that too. The animals gave Steve a window to the person's soul, helping when it came to things like trust. They acted the same way their spirit animals did. No one could hide their souls to him.
When he'd woken from the ice, Steve thought that he'd lost the ability to see the beautiful creatures that stuck by everyone's side. He wasn't even sure if that was possible, but when he didn't see his partner right away... He couldn't have been happier when Cobalt had leapt up onto his bed and reminded him that he wasn't alone.
He never mentioned the animals to his new Avengers friends. He wasn't even sure if Bucky remembered that the spirit animals existed, seeing that he was still trying to remember who he was.
"Steve," Bucky shouted as he came running into the room.
The super-soldier had been sketching animals on the couch until he'd heard his name. At that moment, he'd dropped everything that he was doing and was alert, ready to defend his team against some enemy. But Bucky didn't sound scared—there were days when he did, when the Winter Soldier was too much and he was too guilty—but right now he sounded... happy?
The brunet skidded to a halt. His eyes were wide, and there was a huge grin on his face.
"What's wrong?" Steve asked, because he could never be too sure. Cobalt circled around the ex-assassin, checking his spirit-cat. The silver cat purred and rubbed against the wolf. Steve noticed that there was a significant loss of smoky-black that had been tainting the cat's silver fur, from all his time as a brainwashed assassin.
But there was something different about the cat.
"I felt him," Bucky whispered, grinning like a maniac. "I was just sitting there, a-and I felt him hop up on my lap." There were tears of joy in his eyes. "He's real, Steve, I felt him! I felt Silver. I can't see him, but I swear I felt him."
"That's amazing," Steve said, embracing his friend. "And you're glad?"
"Of course I am," Bucky said. He looked so much younger, like he hadn't seen a war, like he hadn't been tortured and brainwashed, like they were kids again. "I've always believed you... I remember when you told me, when we were kids. You said... you called him Silver, and... you haven't mentioned him in all the time I've been here, so I thought Hydra might've..."
"Killed him? Buck, Silver's a part of you. And you're still here, aren't you?" Steve said, patting his shoulder. If Bucky could sense the spirit animal, maybe there were other people who could feel their spirit animals? Perhaps he should tell his team, to maybe see if any of them were able to see or feel the spirit animals.
"Is he still the same? They didn't... he's still the same, right?" Bucky asked. He sounded terrified, like perhaps Silver had been injured, or changed, or something. He glanced back down at the cat, who had climbed up onto Cobalt's back. Silver purred.
"He's not injured... I was a bit worried before, since his color was a bit... damaged," Steve said, noticing the look of worry on his friend's face. "But now... I haven't seen him looking this bright in a long time. But he doesn't look the same as when we were younger... Which brings me to my next question—you and Clint."
A blush crossed Bucky's face. "That's not a question."
"So it is true?" Steve asked, watching the blush on Bucky's face darken. "Buck, I know it is. Silver's got some gold patches—on his left eye, on his right leg, on his tail—"
"Okay, it's true," Bucky snapped, though he was still grinning. "We were tryin' it out, to see if it would work... We were going to tell the team eventually." He them seemed to have a sudden realization. "Wait—the spirits only share colors if there's a strong bond, right?"
"Yeah, a strong soul-bond," Steve said, gasping when the other super-soldier hugged him tightly.
"Thank you," Bucky said, hugging Steve a little tighter before running off, Silver trailing after him.
Steve just smiled and patted Cobalt's head.
"Where do you want me to put this?" Steve asked, gritting his teeth as he brought the large piece of machinery across the lab.
"Over there's fine," Tony called, though he sounded a bit out of breath. When Tony had asked him to help move some stuff in the lab, he hadn't expected the genius to actually try moving things around, too. He had a lot of machines in his lab that were far bigger than himself, so when Tony had started dragging the machines around, too, Steve had been trying to get him to stop.
"I can do this, you know," Steve offered, gently setting the machine down. If he didn't know Tony, he'd ask why the man needed all of this. But he'd spent far too many hours down in the lab with him to not know. Tony created wonderful things. He was constantly tinkering with new ideas, creating new gadgets, upgrading the team's armor...
Steve shivered a little as he felt a snake on his back. He looked around, trying to see if he could find those pesky spirit animals. Because he could see them, his connection with Cobalt was a lot stronger than other connections. Bucky usually couldn't ever tell if Steve was petting Silver, or if Silver came in contact with one of the other animals. But he could always tell.
Now, that wasn't to say it was a creepy feeling, seeing that that snake spirit was a part of Tony's soul. He didn't mind. He just wasn't sure where they went.
"Over here, Cap," Tony called, and Steve turned around, watching as Tony waved his arms. "I've only got a couple more things."
Steve hurried over to his side, a little surprised by the genuine smile on Tony's face.
"Thanks, Steve. I mean it," Tony said, patting his back before picking up another machine. "Just a couple more, I promise."
Steve nodded. "Like I said, I don't mind helping out."
"I know what you said," Tony gasped, dragging the machine over towards the workbench where it belonged. "But this isn't fun."
Steve closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment when he felt the snake slide over his shoulders and loop loosely around his neck. He smiled, grabbing another machine. He could only hope for the violet that he knew would never appear. Cobalt would always remain dark blue, Scarlet would always remain bright red, and that stunning violet that he'd dreamed about so many times would never appear.
"And after this, as a thank you, can I take you out to grab some of those hotdogs by the park? The good ones?" Tony offered, and Steve nodded. He loved spending time with Tony.
And whether or not they could ever have that beautiful soulbond that he'd hoped for, spending time with Tony was enough.
At least, that's what he told himself.
"It's going to be more than just 'getting rid of the Avengers,'" the man announced from where he was standing, up above everyone else. The man was brilliant, or else he wouldn't have been able to build the vast amount of technology he'd created. And wow, did it work, didn't it?
They'd been fighting for a while now, and Steve could feel his muscles aching. He was tired, though he wasn't about to give up. No, he'd never give up. Cobalt was at his side, panting, as he looking around to all the other spirits, making sure they were okay.
The machines had kept them all close together, so that they'd ended up fighting back to back. But then the battle had just stopped when the man behind the robots wanted to make his entrance. The huge, blood red lion that followed at his side sent shivers down Steve's spine. The beast looked vicious.
"I don't want to kill the Avengers," the man continued, and he reached out into thin air. At least, that's what everyone else would've seen. But Steve watched as he stroked his lion's mane.
He could see the spirits. He wasn't alone! There were other people who could see the fantastic creatures that followed everyone around, the colorful and brilliant part of peoples' souls that appeared outside their bodies. He thought he was the only one who could see them, but this man—this villain, of all people—could see them too! It was amazing!
"I want to break the Avengers," the man said, grinning wickedly. Okay, it was a little less amazing.
The lion had a familiar look to its other half as it pounced. Steve didn't have time to shout a warning, nor did Cobalt have time to charge at the lion.
Bucky gasped in pain, grabbing at his chest as he felt to the ground. The lion pressed a large paw on top of Silver, while the hissing cat tried to free himself.
"Bucky?" Clint asked, at his side in an instant. The archer held tightly to his boyfriend, trying to calm him down. Bucky only seemed to be able to breathe again once Cobalt had tackled the lion off of the little cat, giving Gold a chance to swoop in and carry the cat off to safety.
Midnight, the huge jet black bear that appeared from inside the gentle deer Snow whenever the Hulk appeared, also charged at the lion, knocking it away when it pinned Cobalt down and nipped his neck.
"Stay back," Steve called to his team, both physical and intangible. The pale purple vixen let the red snake curl around her to get him to safety quicker, while Midnight chose to back off and listen. Cobalt, snarling and ready to attack, moved backward in front of his team.
"What just happened?" Tony demanded, sounding worried. Usually the Iron Man suit was able to hide all emotion when he spoke, but he couldn't hide it now, not after everyone had watched Bucky crumble so easily, without a single hit.
The Hulk snarled at the villain but stayed back, just as Steve had said to do. Steve had always wondered if the Hulk could see the spirits, or at least sense them. Sometimes his eyes would flicker in their direction, like they might've been there, but... He was just glad his teammate had stopped fighting. If the Hulk continued on his rampage, in this close of quarters, no doubt a couple Avengers would be injured.
"You alright, Buck?" Steve asked, and the brunet nodded. There was pain on his face, but he had a look of strength in his eyes, so Steve was convinced.
His voice was a little raspy as he asked, "Can he see them too?"
"I think so," Steve replied bitterly.
"Can he see what?" Tony asked, landing beside Steve. His faceplate flipped open. "What's going on?"
"You haven't told them, Captain?" the man chuckled darkly, using the machines to lift himself into the air, away from any trouble. "I might as well educate them, then. Every human being has a soul, but it's been separated into two parts. That's just how life works. One part, the minor one, stays within the body, letting it live. The other part, the important part, lives outside the body. It manifests in the appearance of an animal. A spirit animal, you could say."
"What's he talking about, Steve?" Natasha asked. She looked like she didn't believe a word that the crazy man was saying, but when she looked over at Steve... "Do you know this man?"
Steve shook his head. He didn't want his team to lose trust in him—he really didn't know the man! But... "He's... not wrong, though."
"What your dear Captain hasn't told you is that, like me, he can see these souls," the man said, grinning like a madman. "He can touch these spirit animals. He can take that part of you away, if he so chooses. There's a reason why he hasn't told any of you about the colorful animals that he sees everywhere. After all, he wouldn't want to look crazy, now, would he? Not like me. You wouldn't want to be compared to someone like me, right Captain? I've always been the crazy one. But not you, right?!"
"Is he serious?" Clint asked. "You see... colorful spirit animals?"
"He's not crazy," Bucky mumbled, leaning on Clint as the archer helped him to his feet. "He's still there, right Steve? That man didn't just...?"
"Silver's fine," Steve assured him.
"This is crazy," Tony said, shaking his head disbelievingly. The armor closed up, and he blasted off into the sky before Steve was able to stop him. "I'm gonna take this lunatic out."
"Tony, wait," Steve called after him, looking around to see where the lion had gone.
The Hulk growled, angrily smashing a couple of bots. He must've been able to sense the way that the lion tackled his spirit bear. Natasha reached out to him, trying to calm him. Out of everyone, she had the best chance at calming him, since the Hulk and Bruce shared the same soul, just in different manifestations.
Tony's flight faltered when someone else's sickly green dog grabbed ahold of his snake. This man obviously had some 'friends' who were willing to help out, who may or may not have been able to see their spirits. Tony cried out in pain as he fell. Steve raced over and barely managed to catch Tony before he crashed to the ground.
"I've got you," Steve murmured, settling the armor down onto the ground. "It's okay, Tony."
"I didn't get hit," Tony gasped, looking panicked. There was a fear in his eyes that Steve wasn't used to seeing. "I didn't, Steve, what's—ahh!"
"Cobalt," Steve shouted, watching as his wolf turned its attention off of the huge lion and over to the dog. The wolf barred his teeth and growled as he chased down the smaller canine.
"Stop this," he shouted at the villain. No one hurt his team and got away with it. This man was going to have to be taught a lesson for hurting his friends, for trying to kill their spirits. "Let's keep this between you and me. One on one. We're the only ones that can see the souls. Quit attacking my friends, you coward."
The man laughed, grinning as he nodded. "Okay, we can do that." He whistle, and the dog dropped the snake, giving the other spirits a chance to get Scarlet out of the mess.
Cobalt stalked over to Steve's side, glaring at the blood lion that arched its back and snarled.
The lion raced forward, tackling Cobalt to the ground, leaving the canine and feline biting and snarling and snapping at one another, ripping into fur and spirits and God it hurt. Steve wanted to race into battle, too, to throw his shield at the man and pin him down and punch him until he understood that no one messed with his friends, his family, his loved ones, no one was allowed to hurt them and God that was a lot of pain—
The villain seemed to have underestimated the pain that he'd feel from it, as he dropped down onto his knees.
"You can't just mess with peoples' lives like this," Steve growled, biting back a wince as he dragged himself over towards the man. "You can't just try to kill a part of someone that most people don't even know about—"
Steve gasped in pain, vision swimming when he realized that the lion was really hurting Cobalt. He could feel the feline's teeth around his neck, though it was a weak grip, like the lion was ready to go down. It bit harder.
And then it was too much, and Steve collapsed, eyes rolling back in his head as he passed out.
The instant he felt that severe pain inside, Tony knew that something was wrong. He'd never felt such an indescribable pain before in his life—it wasn't like his insides were being ripped apart, but rather... something else, something intangible. He was being hurt in a way that he'd never felt before, a way that he'd never even been able to imagine and it was so much more than he'd been expecting. So when he fell, and Steve caught him, it felt like something had changed. Something was different.
Steve's words were comforting up until the ghost pain caused more spasms to course through his body, making him writhe in pain. Something was so terribly wrong. Steve brought him over to his teammates. Bucky and Clint kept him sitting up when Steve raced off to take the villain down on his own.
"He's crazy," Tony whispered, trying to take deep breaths. Deep breaths would help, especially now that the pain was going away.
"He's not, though," Bucky murmured, reaching towards the ground. Tony turned his head to see what might've been there. What he wasn't prepared to see was the silver cat that was rubbing its head against Bucky's hand, or the golden hawk that was pressed up against the cat's side.
"When did... where did... what?" Tony asked quietly, raising an eyebrow. No way, there was no way... He glanced over at Steve.
There was a huge blue wolf at his side.
"Shit," Tony whispered. "I'm going crazy too, aren't I?"
"You can see them?" Bucky asked excitedly. "When the lion attacked..."
Tony flinched a little when a snake started slithering up his suit. It wasn't until it got closer when Tony realized that this was his soul animal. It felt like it belonged to him as it curled around his neck. The vibrant red made him smile, and the bits of blue scales that were mixed in were a nice touch, too. Out of all the animals, he wasn't surprised that his was a snake.
All attention went to Steve when he cried out in pain. The lion was biting the wolf's neck, and the wolf had gone way too still. He didn't even need to tell his snake to go save the wolf. All of the animals rushed forward, ripping the lion off of the wolf. The snake curled up around the spirit-wound, and Tony could feel the mourning pain of his snake.
Steve couldn't be dead. No, this wasn't happening.
Bucky had already run off, over to Steve's side, while the Hulk had charged the villain. Natasha had barely managed to keep him from smashing the guy, who already looked scared enough. He must not have realized just how hurt his own spirit was going to get. It probably didn't even need the punch that Natasha gave the man to knock him out.
Tony managed to stumble out of the Iron Man suit. Only, he knew that Steve was okay, but the wolf—he'd heard Steve call him Cobalt... He looked injured. The genius brushed a hand across the spirit wolf's fur, and he couldn't hide the cry of relief when the wolf whined at him.
"What the hell?" Tony heard Clint murmur, and when he glanced over, he watched as the archer stroked the feathers of the hawk that had landed on his arm.
"Clint," Bucky snapped, catching the archer's attention. He raced over to help Bucky lift Steve up, since the blond was still unconscious. Tony looked over to where Natasha was, with the villain unconscious on the ground and Bruce kneeling beside her. She had one hand on his shoulder, the other reaching out towards the pale purple fox, while Bruce was patting the pure white deer's snout.
"Where did these... animals come from?" Bruce asked, watching as the deer wandered over towards Tony. The other animals scurried over, and the deer knelt down. That's when Tony realized what was happening. Clint and Bucky were bringing Steve over to the van to get him home, and they couldn’t just leave Cobalt there... Tony helped the little spirit animals that had scurried over as they draped the injured wolf across the deer's back.
"They've always been here," Bucky replied, waving Tony over. "We're going back. S.H.I.E.L.D. can handle this guy, keep him locked up."
They all piled into the van, while Clint grabbed the driver’s seat. Tony carded his fingers through Steve's hair, wishing that he'd wake up.
The instant he was awake, Steve gasped and sat up quickly, looking around. What happened? Where was he? He honestly shouldn't have been surprised to see his entire team gathered around him, looking relieved that he was alright. Steve glanced around, eyes searching for Cobalt, since the big wolf wasn't on the end of his bed as usual. Clint and Bruce seemed to realize that as they both moved to either side, so that Steve could see the wolf that was resting on the couch, with all of the other animals curled up around him.
Steve smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He'd thought for a moment that the lion had killed Cobalt.
"Are you still in pain?" Tony asked. That's when Steve noticed the way that the brunet was gripping his hand. He couldn't help but smile at him.
"No, I'm fine... what happened?" Steve asked. His head hurt, yes, but there was something inside that really hurt, too. It was a pain he'd felt before, since it hurt a lot more when one could see the spirits than when one couldn't.
"The lion was hurting Cobalt," Bucky explained. "It must've been too much, because you passed out. S.H.I.E.L.D. arrested the guy, everything's fine again. And as you can see, Cobalt's... going to be fine."
Steve nodded, relaxing back against the pillows behind him. Everything was going to be fine. That is, until he realized something. He gasped. "Wait! You can see him?"
Bucky looked like he'd been trying not to grin the entire time, but now he wasn't trying to fight it anymore. "When the lion grabbed Silver... I can see them. You're not crazy, Steve—though I never thought you were crazy, mind you."
Clint's hawk landed on the archer's shoulder, while the other, smaller animals scurried over. The archer moved, giving Cobalt a chance to jump up onto the bed.
"I wish I could've seen these guys before now," Clint mumbled, stroking his hawk's feathers. He could see them too?
Steve looked around at all of his friends, watching the way that each and every one of them interacted with their soul animal. They could all see the colorful spirits. He grinned, hugging the wolf as he rested his head against Steve's chest. Gold flew over, settling on his shoulder. Scarlet slithered over and curled around his neck. Amethyst settled down beside Cobalt's head, licking his head-fur. Snow pushed Bucky to the side so that he could get closer, and Steve could reach a hand out to pat his head. Silver leapt off of Bucky's shoulder, flopping down on top of Cobalt. Steve grinned, surrounded by all of the animals. It felt like a different level of closeness to his friends—he was literally holding their spirits in his hands.
"I know that this probably isn't the time or place to be asking you a bunch of questions about the animals, but I have to ask... What's with the multiple colors? I mean, it's cool, but I would've guessed that they would've been one color," Tony mumbled, gesturing to Silver.
By now, Silver's gold patches had expanded, and turned a very lovely ivory around the edges. The smoky color was just about gone by now. The cat purred, rolling over onto his back, tail flicking. He definitely loved the attention.
"That's, uh... that's what happens when two souls bond," Steve explained. "You know, when two people love each other... When it's strong enough, which sometimes can take years, the two will eventually be the same color, a mix of the two previous." He gestured to the feathered ivory outline around Silver's patches. "Silver's already got the start of an ivory coloring," Steve said, stroking Gold's feathers before he stretched out the bird's wing. "And of course, Gold has the same."
Clint smirked and batted his eyelashes at Bucky, who put an arm around his waist. He couldn't hide his grin.
"So then, like, smaller patches or colors are the beginning of something?" Tony asked. "Mutually?"
Steve nodded. "Yeah, like Amethyst and Snow."
The vixen hopped up onto the deer's back, rubbing her cheek against the patch of pale purple on his neck. Bruce's face flushed, and Natasha had a smirk on her face. Steve could see that she was glad to know.
"What about... the snake?" Tony asked. "What do you call him?"
"Scarlet," Steve mumbled. "It's easier to just call them by their color than try to come up with names for everyone's souls... And what about him? He's okay, isn't he? I thought Cobalt got that sick dog off of him."
"He did, and he's fine. He's just got... patches," Tony said, shrugging.
Steve glanced to the side, looking eye to eye with the snake that was curled up on his shoulder. It wasn't until now when he noticed the dark blue scales that were on the snake's skin. He quickly looked back over at Cobalt, who lifted his head and looked at Steve. There was a patch of red fur on his chest, and another one on his chin. His tail started wagging when Steve noticed the fur.
"So that's a mutual thing, right?" Tony asked, and when he turned back to look at the genius, he found that he was a lot closer than before. "So you wouldn’t be mad if I..."
Steve cut him off, leaning forward to kiss him. God, he'd been hoping to notice those beautiful colors blending together. He'd been waiting for this moment for so long. He'd dreamt of the way that Tony's lips might taste, about the way that the sweet, pure violet might feel. And God did it feel good, as good as he'd hoped, as he wrapped his arms around Tony, and Scarlet wrapped around Cobalt.
When Steve pulled back, he was met with wide eyes.
"So you wouldn't be mad after all," Tony mused. "Good to know that I could've been doing that for weeks now."
"I don't even know when it changed... Scarlet and Cobalt have always been separate," Steve whispered. "I've never seen their colors blend..."
"They've been like this at least all day today, because the moment I could see them, they looked like this," Tony said shrugging. "Sure it hasn't been longer? I mean, I've only had a crush on you since... well, when I was a kid it was just 'Captain America.' So technically I've had a crush on Steve Rogers since I met you. I just, uh, thought you... wouldn't be interested, seeing that I'm a man, and so are you, and..."
"Obviously people from the forties can be gay," Bucky said, amused. He smirked when Gold landed on his shoulder and nuzzled against his head. Clint scooped Silver up into his arms, while the cat purred loudly.
"Obviously," Tony whispered, leaning in for another kiss as Scarlet coiled up in Cobalt's fur, just underneath his chin. When Steve closed his eyes, all he could see was violet.