Sentinel/Guide AU for starkingenuity

[starspangledspandex]

Things have been going remarkably well between them. Even if the beginning was somewhat rocky, their compatibility was obvious and not just to them. Steve was old-fashioned and though his instincts made it clear what they wanted, he did things the "right" way. There were dates and gifts and just general wooing. They talked about it and they were ready.

He smiled at Tony, watching him as he worked and couldn't stand it anymore. "Tonight," he said, then added, for clarity, "We should bond tonight."

Maybe not the most romantic proposal but he figured he shouldn't smother Tony in it anyway or the man would get sick of it. No the rarity made it special.

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[starkingenuity]

And there went his strength. Tony grinned, still sweating, and sank to his knees between Steve's thighs, pulling the blond's head with him so that they could press their foreheads together. His long lashed eyelids fluttered shut and he held onto Steve with all of his might.

FitzSimmons creeped up on them from both sides, speaking again like one person. "So... It's really very interesting. He didn't call at all. No Guide reflex, nothing. Which is.. Which is pretty strange. Strange? No, Fitz, it's more like impossible. But he didn't do it!"

They dissolved into an argument with each other and left Tony to breathe a sigh of relief. "You're bad for my health."

[starspangledspandex]

The Sentinel's hands were shaking, just a little, as he came out of the fugue. They were very rare so it was always disorienting to return to himself. He wasn't even hearing FitzSimmons as they jabbered. He was just trying to focus on Tony so he would stay out of the fugue.

He smiled weakly, "We can't... all be perfect."

[starkingenuity]

"Maybe you can't, but at least you have an image of perfection in front of you," Tony teased as he leaned up to kiss slack lips. "But now is not the time for hero worship. You have to pick up the slack, soldier. It looks like we have some more work to do."

He was going to be staying. Banner could try to throw him out but it wasn't happening. In fact, while Steve rested and regained his strength, Tony was going to march on up there and tell the other scientist that he was being brought into the super special science corp or he was going to take all of his toys and go home.

[starspangledspandex]

He laughed lightly, though it was brief, and gently tried to return the kiss. It wasn't terribly well done but Tony understood. He closed his eyes and nodded, because they were going to knock out as many things as they could.

Steve wasn't particularly fond of that last test. It felt too much like actually being tortured.

"I need a couple hours," he told him which his Guide knew anyway. So, with Tony's help, Steve made it to a cot that was basically set up in a closet but it was quiet and he was exhausted, so it took almost no time for him to fall asleep.

He was unaware of the discussion going on in the science lab. Ultimately it was Bruce that acquiesced so long as Tony didn't try to interrupt any of the tests. They needed the results, no matter how unpleasant the tests could be.

[starkingenuity]

Sometimes a little pain was necessary. Tony understood that and wasn't about to say otherwise. It was hard watching them torture Steve, though, but each test yielded new results, each test brought them closer to figuring out what was wrong.

And that was when Fury was killed.

Steve was on a rest day, building his energy back up, when they heard the news about the car accident, about the way that the streets had burned in DC. Tony was stunned, but he and Fury hadn't had the best relationship.

Even so, he was the Director...and he brought Steve and Tony together.

[starspangledspandex]

It was hard doing this day in and day out, though it was easier with his Guide here. He was doing this for Tony, for them, for that completion they both deserved. Having him here to hold him and soothe him made all the difference in the world.

Of course they were interrupted. Nothing ever went their way.

"Suit up," he said, eyes apologetic. "This will have to wait. We have to find whoever is responsible for this."

[starkingenuity]

Tony had a way of looking lost and vulnerable and about to shoot your dick off at the same time. His eyes watered as he nodded, lips pressed together. "I haven't seen those boots in weeks," he said as if complaining. Standing, he sprinted back towards where his armor was. It would take him less time than Steve to get ready...

His Sentinel basically had to pour himself into that uniform of his.

Not that Tony minded. And FitzSimmons didn't seem to mind either as they watched him flex his muscles until that tight navy blue uniform vacu-sucked itself to his chest. "Careful," Tony said, striding towards the Sentinel. "This one is mine, kids. Can I give you a lift, Cap?"

[starspangledspandex]

By the time Tony was back with the suit, he was bending over to tie those boots up. He was well aware of the stares from the other two but he was used to it. He appreciated that the strike team was professional about working with him and even though there were the occasional off-handed jokes they all understood that he was taken.

He picked up his shield and nestled it in place, then turned toward his Guide. "Fastest way to travel," he agreed, stepping forward to latch on to Tony. "Just not through the roof?"

[starkingenuity]

"For the record, I already made a hole up there so it's probably okay if I just go through it again--" The scientists were giving him the high sign so he laughed and told them to quickly open the window then.

His precision moving through tight spaces was pretty remarkable. There might have been some clapping from Fitz too. Through the earpiece, Tony laughed.

"Does it ever get old? The hero worship? Don't answer, we're going to come close to the sound barrier so you are going to want to concentrate on not blowing out your super sonic eardrums."

This was not the time to be joking, but they hit the scene of the crime in less then two minutes. It was their first public debut since the incident with the hospital.

Media was having a field day.

[starspangledspandex]

He just shook his head and settled against the armor, keeping his hands out of the way of things that wouldn't feel very good. It was something they had perfected over their time together.

Yes, it did get old. Little kids? Okay, that was perfectly fine. The media? Not so much. He was already well and truly over it before he had even spoken to them today.

For now, he ignored them. They would want a statement but the Sentinel was more concerned with trying to figure out who killed their mentor. He was brought security footage by agent and he zoomed in on the assassin. Took down a car and barely even hesitated. Watched as he took off the car door no trouble too, not what he would consider normal.

"Strong, metal arm," he muttered to Tony. "Probably a Sentinel, maybe enhanced."

[starkingenuity]

"Hear that, J? I need anti-sentinel coding directed to the joints of the armor."

"Already working on it, Sir." JARVIS confirmed, turning the blue HUD red. It was better to have the battle HUD up just in case, even if they were just doing sweeps.

Above the street, Tony scanned as far as he could see. There were all sorts of road blocks set up, the White House was on lockdown, but there were too many people on the streets.

"Did they get any biometric readings on the arm? What even is DC doing? This is why they should have kept the defense contract with me."

The assassin seemed to have melded away into nothing.

By the time Tony landed, Steve had been joined by the Black Widow. Tony flipped his mask as he headed towards them. "We have to trace his communication. I believe that's more of a job for a spy than a mechanic," Tony joked but Natasha looked devastated.

That was her second handler in a year, dead.

[starspangledspandex]

On the ground, they found some evidence, but not a lot. Ballistics gave a preliminary report but largely, they didn't have a lot to go on. This assassin seemed to be a ghost in the wind. Steve didn't like it. He didn't like having an unknown enemy in the shadows.

None of the cameras in the area were set up for biometrics. They were run of the mill security. Steve watched several angles but there was nothing new in them. There was no way to identify the man besides his arm and it was fair to assume he wasn't walking down a street somewhere with such an obvious identifier.

The Sentinel gave his Guide a look that told him to be a little more sensitive. "We'll find out who did this," he told Natasha. "You knew Fury better than either of us. We'll need you in on it."

[starkingenuity]

Funny how the empath didn't have a whole lot of empathy here. But he nodded, flipping down the face plate again. "I'll meet you two there." He took off, leaving some of the loose asphalt disturbed in his wake.

Natasha gave Steve a partially grateful look. "Don't you have somewhere else to be," she questioned because top secret things were her forte and she knew about the Gene therapy. "I can handle this."

[starspangledspandex]

Tony didn't have a lot of empathy for people when he was focused on something, particularly not when it was affecting his Sentinel. Steve was sure he felt more than he gave away but he was used to hiding it behind a mask.

"I don't know how long it will take," he said, frowning slightly as he watched Iron Man zip away from them. Steve didn't even question how she knew. There was no point. He should probably wait on Tony but there was always the chance something else would come up. "I'll join when I'm finished. If you need me sooner, let me know."

[starkingenuity]

No one expected Steve to be back so quickly, but everyone was pleased to see him. As much as there was a general malaise about Fury, they had work to do. Their Super Sentinel was top priority. It had less to do with his happiness and more to do with his mortality without a Guide.

The testing started again and they took advantage of Tony not being present to do some more controversial tests.

It probably couldn't come at a worse time as a certain robot armed man was primed to visit a certain engineer over a thumb drive.

[starspangledspandex]

He knew his Guide wouldn't like some of the tests. Steve didn't like some of them but they needed to be done so they could exhaust all of their options. They made him uncomfortable. One or two of them made his skin crawl. He only hoped it was going to give them some answers.

Steve was shaking off the last one when the call from Natasha came in. Shooter spotted and he was going after the Sentinel's Guide.

No one questioned him walking out and taking the first jet he could find. He trusted Tony to handle himself but he didn't trust other people and certainly not other Sentinels.

[starkingenuity]

Thankfully the armor did it's job. The man coming at him, however, was relentless, even as he fled. Tony gave chase, but by that point one of his arms was completely dead, the suit crushed at the shoulder and elbow. He couldn't get his repulsor to work, which made flying an exercise in stupidity.

Luckily, he could send everything the mask recorded to Steve's plane and while he wouldn't stop his chase, it would let his Sentinel know that he wasn't on the verge of being killed.

Even if he kind of was, slamming through a window when the assassin deflected him with his arm. The mask fell away as Tony tried to extract himself from the steel and glass.

He didn't recognize Bucky Barnes for who he was. He also didn't care.

"Damn it! He's getting away!"

[starspangledspandex]

The Sentinel was watching from the plane and no, it wasn't really helping him as well as Tony would think. He might be encased in the metal suit but it was pretty obvious the man he was going up against was stronger than Iron Man.

He was also wearing a face that Steve knew very well. It was impossible. It couldn't be him but yet...

"Bucky?" He whispered through the comm, rewinding to see that face again and it had to be. He would know that face anywhere. He couldn't let him get out of here

[starkingenuity]

"Still Tony," Tony muttered. Had he been able to read minds, he would have been annoyed that Steve thought he was weaker than this person... He wasn't. Iron Man wasn't. It was just that damned arm. A scan of it told him it was vibranium and that threw him more for a loop than the name did.

Steve hadn't been too far away for his testing and so Tony was able to get a visual a few minutes later.

He ignored the fact that his ruined gauntlet was filling with blood thanks to the suit clamping his real arm and tried to fly-walk towards the gangplank that was lowered.

"When you said Bucky," Tony said, flipping up the face plate, "did you mean guy from the Army Bucky?"

[starspangledspandex]

The arm was a powerful weapon. That was easy enough to see. Tony was powerful in other ways but it was obvious the assassin--Bucky--was capable of defending himself.

He could ignore the blood all he wanted but the Sentinel could smell it and he scanned Tony, frowning deeply as he stepped forward. "Are you injured?" he demanded, blue eyes concerned and worried. He was shaken from seeing his friend's face and it was noticeable but his Guide was more important.

[starkingenuity]

"What? Who cares," Tony said, shifting away so that he could try to keep his Sentinel from getting too overly protective. "We don't have time for this." Even if they probably should make it. Tony was injured. He couldn't continue to go after Bucky in this condition.

He was just too stubborn.

[starspangledspandex]

"I do," Steve replied immediately, taking a step or two toward his Guide. He knew when the older man was evading his concern. He wanted to go after Bucky but he suspected it wouldn't be the last time they saw the assassin. With Natasha's help they might be able to come up with a plan to counter him.

He paused, briefly to listen and shook his head, "He's already in the wind. How bad is it?"

[starkingenuity]

Tony glanced at his shoulder and sighed. "I would shrug but I can't. J? Any answers for our concerned citizen?"

The AI was quick to answer. "The damage to your left arm is extensive though pressure in the armor has stopped blood flow. I would and have been advising you to seek medical attention, sir."

Tony made a 'well then' sort of face. He was as for once that they weren't bonded right now. Steve wouldn't handle that too well.

[starspangledspandex]

"You need a doctor," the Sentinel confirmed. "I can smell the blood, Tony."

He'll usher the man properly into the jet and have JARVIS set a course. Steve sits down heavily, staring at Tony for a long moment, before he brings up the assassin's face from the video.

"I'd know that face anywhere," he told Tony. "It has to be Bucky."

[starkingenuity]

"I believe you," Tony said immediately. Steve didn't have to convince him of much these days. They had fallen into a good pattern together. They were steady. "Weirder things have happened. Like you."

He grinned but he was starting to sweat. He just couldn't take off the armor without bleeding out.