Title: Of the Interaction of Metals, Halls Without Time
Fandom: Sapphire and Steel - Characters: Steel, Lead
Rating: G Words: 813
Type: drama
Warnings: abandoned work - there's never going to be any more than this part
Spoilers: Assignment 1
Summary: Between assignments, the elements interact in the Halls Without Time.

Disclaimer: Only mine in my dreams. ^^ This story was written for free entertainment purposes only and may not be reproduced for profit or altered without permission.

Notes: Surprise, not a Smallville fic. ;p This is based on the short-lived British SF series, "Sapphire and Steel". I wrote this about eight years ago, in 2005, and I'd planned on eventually taking it into a Steel/Lead story, but whatever great plot idea I had back then, I've completely and totally forgotten. This section, though, is fairly complete as it is, and not a bad read (if I do say so myself). Makes me want to take out the dvds and watch them again. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to make a heck of a lot of sense to anybody who hasn't seen S&S. Oh well. ^^

Crossposted to Archive of Our Own.

Of the Interaction of Metals

Part 1 - Halls Without Time

/Don't you be goin' and getting' yourself cold without me./

/I won't./

Somewhere between the great burning hydrogen gas balls, between even, the clusters of fire and their non-flaming companions, in areas that /have not/ and /will not/ be touched with the expansion and contraction of the zone which contains all there is physically, somewhere in those areas, there is a point… no, /points/ for there is more than one, physically, though /they/ are in fact just /one/ (much as their inhabitants are),… the fact of the matter is, at certain spots in space, between the galaxies, there exists a point(s) where time does not exist.

Time, you see, is not fundamentally a part of the universe. It is an imposed structure to allow functionality, and in any system, there will be points where a cover does not fit so tightly. And at these points, those beings who exist outside the structure have made their home.

It is not a comfortable home, as humans would find it, for living without time, the elements are, and always will be. Which is not to say they are neverchanging – in fact, they change all the time, growing and learning, setting out into the wilds of the universe to return to rest between ventures – and living with themselves and all other elements, coexisting as they were, are, and will be.

Since the elements must deal with time, though they are outside of time, they have made some guidelines in their home to allow their ventures to have some structure that buffers the transition – like "elements should not talk to themselves in the halls about missions". Guidelines are not there to make elements' tasks harder, though, and it's not uncommon to see an older partner tutoring a younger one – where the elder partner has been out on many missions with their counterpoints, and at some point in the timelessness, seeks out the younger version of their partner to teach them better. Humans who live within the timestream would worry about 'paradoxes' with such happenings, but for the elements who live outside time, it was just another part of their living.

Take, for example, this instance of speech between an older Lead and a younger Steel:

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"Now look Steel, we're both metals, right?"

"Yes…"

"And as metals, we conduct stuff like electricity and temperature and such, right?"

"Well… some of us better than others."

(Lead gives a great booming laughter.) "And sure enough, you are Steel to the core. Smart and supple from the start.

"But to what I was sayin' – sometimes you're going to want to take something in, but not let it out, like, oh, say 'cold'."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"You'll figure out a use for it – believe me, ya will." (Lead's cheerful voice turns stern, but with an undercurrent of his humor that never seems to cease) "But you have to remember one thing, and promise me this: Don't ever go cold without your insulator with you."

"Why?" (Steel thinks for a moment as Lead watches him cheerfully) "I see… I'm a more refined metal, with a higher tensile strength… but if my molecules slow, I can drop to a very low core temperature… but then I'm more brittle, fragile. Without my molecules vibrating at their normal speed, I can be broken easily."

(Lead laughs) "Steel to the core, baby, Steel to the core." (He ruffles the sandy blonde hair affectionately.)

"So how do I get an insulator?"

(Lead has not stopped laughing, and this sets him off afresh) "Why that's me! Steel wrapped with Lead won't ever break and will stay warm forever."

"Of course. Since you are a softer metal, the same cold conductivity that would slow my molecules down and make them brittle, will pass through yours without effect. So if our molecules are connected, then I can release the cold through you without harm."

"Exactly, my friend; exactly." (Lead straightens from his slouched position) "Now, about that promise…"

"Is that how I die?" (Steel knew well that his self had stopped wandering through the halls at what was a relatively young age for an element, though old amongst the stars.)

"I don't know that, and you don't know that, youngster. The only one among us who might know that is Sapphire, and she'll never tell."

"Her older selves don't appear much in the halls either, like myself." (Steel reflects solemnly) "At least we'll die together, whatever happens."

(The older Lead chortles, as if at the greatest joke in the universe) "Time enough for such wonderings later, my lad; and you'll find out that even our halls change with the tide."

"We don't have either time or tides here, Lead."

"It's as I said, Steel. It's as I said."

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And we see from that exchange between two elements, how things are, in the halls without time.

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END

Yeah, sorry, there's probably not ever going to be a part two. But this section, hopefully, can stand on its own, for as little of it as there is.