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.

Comments

[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.

[starspangledspandex]

"I don't want it to be him," Steve said quietly. "If it is, I left him to die in the cold and he was captured. If he's alive, he was experimented on."

His Guide could grin at his joke but Steve just felt horribly guilty and he couldn't bring himself to smile at it. His Guide was also seriously injured so he wasn't doing so good today.

He eyed Tony again, "Are you doing okay?"

[starkingenuity]

"You didn't leave him behind." Steve told him about Bucky. They shared so many things. So many stories. It had made Tony feel more connected to him and he hoped his own stories gave Steve a similar connection. It certainly helped now to know the history. "No one survives that."

Which made it so much worse if Bucky really was alive. Tony would have to survey the area of the fall to see if such a thing was even possible or if this was a look alike.

[starspangledspandex]

"He did," Steve said and maybe nobody did, but the one person that had, was his closest friend. "I don't know how. Maybe something Zola did? He was pretty out of it when I rescued him."

For Steve it hadn't been decades since losing Bucky. It only felt like a handful of years. It was one of the reasons he talked about it with Tony. But yes, also the connection thing. It was a good way to prepare for the bond that Steve was failing to give his Guide.

"I should have went back," he said. "He deserved to be buried."

[starkingenuity]

Tony sighed at his Sentinel. "When you're dead, you're dead. Or you're in heaven. Or whatever it is you believe. Bury people is for the living. No one deserves anything when they are gone, okay? Beating yourself up is going to cloud your judgement. They could have purposefully made this person look like your former bestie to mess with you."

He wanted Steve to focus or... Well it wasn't like he could stop him, as injured as he was.

"And right now none of that matters because he will be coming after is. He's an assassin."

[starspangledspandex]

The Sentinel knew burials were for mostly for the living but that didn't make it feel right. Plenty of soldiers' bodies made it back to their families. It was just the thing to do.

However, Tony was right. He would be coming for them.

"We can't take him out until we know for sure," he said, which was probably a given, but he wanted to make sure that was what happened. It would make this difficult but they would manage.

[starkingenuity]

"I'm not into taking out my Sentinel's potential Besties." Tony was going pale but he manually turned off JARVIS' transmission so that a certain AI couldn't tell Steve how bad off he was.

The sentinel couldn't tell and he was doing him a favor right now. Steve had to focus on the mission.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do much by the time that they were landing. He was pretty much out for the count, only able to keep his seat because he was belted in.

[starspangledspandex]

Why was that even a word? Steve made a face at his Guide and started relaying information to Natasha, down to the fact that he was positive the assassin was his childhood friend. It made him feel better that she didn't even blink an eye. She just promised that they would bring him in alive.

Luckily SHIELD was prepared to deal with this sort of advanced medical care. Helen Cho might only be a consult but she was one of the best in the field which meant as soon as Steve relayed the urgency, she was brought in.

Of course, not telling the Sentinel how bad it was didn't help Tony in the slightest. When he turned and saw that Tony wasn't getting up, along with how pale his face was, Steve was alarmed.

"Tony?" he demanded, closing the distance between them as the jet ramp descended. "Status report, now."

[starkingenuity]

At least Steve had an override. Jarvis told the blond that Tony's heart rate was low. His blood pressure was extremely low. His breathing as shallow. "He will need a transfusion," Jarvis confirmed as Tony's eyelashes fluttered against his neck once he fell out of his chair and into Steve's arms.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he lied. "Just get a someone out to help me."

[starspangledspandex]

None of those things were good. Steve might not be a doctor but he knew that much. The Sentinel pressed his lips together, scowling at his Guide and he glanced up toward the nurses and doctor approaching them.

"Tony, can you safely remove any of the armor?" he asked. He was strong but he wasn't sure he could dead-lift Tony and the armor. It would take a considerable amount of effort and either way the man would still have to come out of it. He just didn't want him to bleed out right here if the armor was saving him. "JARVIS?"

[starkingenuity]

"I will need someone to be prepared to apply pressure," JARVIS confirmed. "I can quickly release all connections of the suit at once. It's a fail safe," he explained and waited for Steve to say he was ready before he caused the suit to zip open.

There was a lot of blood, enough that the doctors running towards them gasped as they struggled to get Tony onto the stretcher.

But that's what happened when you severed something as important as one of the main arteries in the arm. It was sort of amazing that he wasn't dead already.

[starspangledspandex]

He shifted enough to grab a spare shirt and gave JARVIS the go ahead, immediately wrapping a large hand around the wound with the shirt. Steve appreciated that the suit had a fail safe but he did not appreciate his Guide lying to him about his condition. No one wanted to deal with an alarmed Sentinel.

Steve helped get Tony on the stretcher, keeping his hand tightly pressed around the Guide's arm and he walked with them--the amount of pressure he could apply was considerably more than the rest of them--until they were in one of the emergency surgical suites. At which point one of the nurses took over and Helen Cho shooed the Sentinel up into one of the viewing ones.

The Sentinel paced, restless, as they started pumping blood and fluids into his Guide. Repairing an artery wasn't easy work but they were the best for a reason. However, that didn't especially make Steve feel any better about this. He hated waiting and he hated that he had to rely on other people to help his Guide.

[starkingenuity]

All leads to Bucky had come up as minimal and as they were all just in the hospital looking after Fury's body, Natasha had not been too far away. The Winter Soldier could wait.

She appeared out of no where at the back of the observation theater and then at Steve's left elbow.

"It doesn't seem like it now, Cap, but he was trying to help you." She looked down as they worked in the Guide without looking up at the blond. "He was putting you first. That's what we do when we bond. And he's bonded with you. You just haven't with him. Don't be angry."

[starspangledspandex]

He knew she was there even as he kept up his restless prowling. She seemed to make a point of being loud enough for him to hear which he appreciated.

"There's still a fine line," he growled. "It's one thing to put me first and another to nearly kill himself doing it. He can't do this to me. I've lost everyone. I can't lose him."