Beyond

Where There's Smoke

Fireworks danced through the night sky.

A celebration that was bitter sweet.

Glowing eyes watched the party, watched the way it rippled through the timeline.

Then a spark.

With all these possibilities opened now, it linked so much more than just those around, those close by.

It linked those far beyond the reaches of time and space itself.

And now it was time to let the universe play its game, to let it reform and join and link as it pleased.

And so now, it would.

A smile came to his face as he watched a small scene playing out before him.

"A present," Loki said gently as he pushed the two lines closer, "for you and your mortal friends, brother."

~~~

Lance's eyes flickered open.

The strange thing about waking up somewhere you weren't only a few moments before was that you became incredibly confused.

They had been fighting Haggar.

Again.

It was always Haggar now.

She had opened some strange portal claiming that in one universe somewhere she must have the life she craved.

Lance wasn't so sure.

But one moment he was there, on board Haggar's ship, the next he was falling.

Falling!

Lance flailed about managing to turn to see the ground steadily approaching.

That was going to hurt incredibly so.

"This is not good!" Lance said tapping the side of his helmet. "Guys? Anyone there?"

His jet pack came to life but he was still falling too fast.

"Oh come on!" Lance could feel his frustration and fear growing.

Pain would be the last thing he would feel. What a pleasant way to go.

Lance grimaced at his own thoughts, there had to be something he could-

His suit suddenly shifted, the plates changing shape, his boots adjusted and he wobbled as he stabilised mid fall.

He wasn't falling.

"Okay." Lance frowned. "Now this is messed up."

His helmet cleared and came through with glowing blue lines. It told him where he was.

It was impossible.

Earth.

His feet landed on the ground in the middle of a field. There wasn't a building in sight.

"Hello?" Lance frowned.

Something must have happened to his suit. Someone must have done this.

Was this Pidge's doing?

"Hello Lance," the helmet answered. It was a woman's voice and he flinched like an idiot, "you activated the Blue Lion protocol."

"I beg your pardon?" Lance said again turning to try and figure out where he was.

"Welcome back Lance." The voice explained before falling silent.

The helmet opened and Lance could hear the hum of crickets, could smell the dirt like it had rained recently.

"Okay, where am I?" Lance demanded his hands shifting to his hips.

"You are on earth, you are 1,000 miles from base," the woman answered, "would you like to return?"

"Yes?" Lance frowned.

The helmet snapped back into place and suddenly he was launched into the sky.

He didn't want to fight it, but at the same time his gut was rolling with anxiety.

This wasn't possible.

"Okay, stop I wanna walk!" He shouted hoping something might happen.

He would like to wake up now.

Finally coming into view was a building. It was huge and on the top was a large symbol.

Lance's breath caught in his throat as his armour began its descent to land just outside the building.

Then it retreated back to its usual form.

Luke it had never happened.

"This is so weird." Lance whispered looking up and around the building. "Hello?" He called again as he stepped forward. "Anyone here?"

A swirl of red power tangled around him and he locked up, fear gripping his chest as he was lifted off his feet and into the air.

Floating towards him was-

"Wanda?" Lance frowned, the name burst into his mind and suddenly he had a mighty headache.

He flinched back eyes rolling as darkness consumed him.

"Lance?"

"Lance please wake up."

Lance's eyes fluttered open, he felt dizzy.

But kneeling over him was Wanda.

"Hey, Wanda." He smiled weakly, he felt shaky. "What happened?"

Wanda stared at him, her glowing eyes wide and confused. As she took ahold of his arm to help him up.

"I thought you were an intruder." She admitted tilting her head in the way she always had. "Why are you here?"

"No idea." Lance admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was in a fight, got blasted through the portal ended up falling from the sky, apparently I like falling from the sky a lot."

"You..." Wanda frowned her grip tightening on her arm. "You remember me?"

Lance blinked. "Of course I remember you, why wouldn't I?"

"Dr Strange said that you would forget us and never be allowed to return." She explained tilting her head the other way. "This doesn't make sense."

"Why don't I remember this conversation?" Lance asked following her as they began walking.

"Because you were dead." Wanda stared firmly. "You died in Wakanda."

And now Lance was even more confused. "I didn't die, I went back with the paladins to my universe."

"You died Lance." Wanda said firmly. Her glowing hand pressed against his chest and Lance's mind flashed back.

He could see himself lying on the ground in Hunk's arms. He watched Dr Strange fix his body and then send them home.

His eyes burned and his chest ached.

He had died.

He had actually died.

"I..." He blinked, the vision slowly fading.

"Lance?"

"I thought it was a dream." Lance whispered as Wanda's hand pulled back. "I overheard Allura and Shiro talking and... And I thought... No wonder they were acting so weird around me."

"I'm sorry Lance." Wanda whispered. "Why are you here?"

Lance shrugged trying to clear the shake from his body. "I have no idea, but I owe Tony one. The adjustments he made to my suit saved me from having an unpleasant landing."

Wanda smiled. "I think we need you here right now."

Lance didn't know if he liked the sound of that. That meant something was wrong.

"Whats happened?" He found himself asking before he could catch it.