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

[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."

[starkingenuity]

Steve hadn't asked how she knew that Tony was off the market but he'd figure it out eventually. Tony had bonded. Steve couldn't accept. It was a difficult place to be. Unprecedented.

"He's not getting feedback from you," she pointed out almost blandly. "And he's sort of like a cockroach. Nothing can kill him. Sorry."

[starspangledspandex]

He found it was just easier to accept that she knew these things. He used to ask but now there didn't seem like much of a point. She knew and that was enough.

This was a difficult place for them both but that didn't make him less frustrated.

"He knows I wouldn't want him to risk his life," Steve replied stubbornly. "He doesn't need feedback to know that."

[starkingenuity]

"But he wants you to be happy-- And you know what? I think this is his way of trying to make you happy. He's pretty bad at it. You should yell at him when he wakes up."

She smiled up at Steve and gently nudged his arm.

"And he will wake up. He's going to need a lot of orange juice."

[starspangledspandex]

"He is bad at it," Steve agreed but he understood what she was saying anyway. Tony Stark had a reputation for only caring about himself for decades. People were shocked to hear he had a compatible bondmate. He spent years of his life having no one serious.

It stood to reason he would be bad at this. Steve would probably yell at him a little. He couldn't help it. He also understood she was here to be a distraction so he didn't do anything stupid or dangerous. He was a Sentinel with an injured Guide. It could be bad news even in the hospital.

"He better," Steve muttered, stopping in his pacing to stare down at the surgical suite.

[starkingenuity]

When the surgery was over and Tony had time to rest and wake up naturally, he didn't bother to open his eyes. He just reached out for Steve's hand. He couldn't sense him. Or feel him. But he knew that cologne. Cheap drug store but still all American and Tony had come to love it.

"Are you scowling? I'm not going to wake up if you are."

[starspangledspandex]

Once they put Tony in a room, Steve plopped down in a chair next to the bed and didn't move. His Guide slept for a long time which was understandable. It didn't deter him. Natasha brought him dinner and he did eat, flipping through the files she brought him. They didn't have a lot of information but he preferred to be caught up.

He took Tony's hand when it moved, hearing the shift in his breathing and his heart rate as he woke up.

"No," he replied, which was mostly true. The Sentinel was largely just concerned at this point but he wasn't necessarily smiling either. "And if you're talking you're already awake."

[starkingenuity]

"Mmmm." He sounded sleepy and warm, not sick or having been on the edge of death. Leave it to Tony Stark to figure out how to be so amazingly sexy in a hospital gown with an IV in his arm. "Stop being smart. You're blond. That's not how it's suppose to work."

He opened his eyes and turned to look at his Sentinel.

"Sorry. I thought we'd make it back to base so Banner could patch me up. The under-armor must have pinched a nerve so I couldn't feel how bad it was."

He hadn't been attempting to die after all.

"Damn you look good in that uniform. But you should change."

[starspangledspandex]

"Isn't it?" he raised an eyebrow, because yeah, he heard the stereotypes but he knew that Tony knew better than that. He knew it was just a joke so he was mildly amused but he was still unhappy that the man waited so long.

He shook his head, blue eyes meeting his Guide's, "JARVIS was telling you, wasn't he?"

Steve only glanced down at himself. He wasn't terribly worried about it right now.

[starkingenuity]

"Well yeah. Until I shut him off," Tony pointed out, thumb ghosting over Steve's knuckles. "I didn't want to be the cause of you missing something." Damn. He didn't really like the way he sounded there. It was so painfully needy and that just wasn't like him at all. "Wow, I've really been drinking the Kool-Aid."

No, he didn't understand why he was being so selfless. He'd done it once to stop the Chitauri but he really wasn't planning on doing it again.

He wasn't that dumb okay?

[starspangledspandex]

"Don't shut JARVIS off," he told him. "You made him to tell you these things for a reason. You need to let me make that judgement. This isn't the last time we're going to see that assassin. You being alive is more important to me."

It didn't sound needy to him not with what Natasha explained.

"It's the bond," he muttered. "I might not be able to feel it but you're still feeling the effects of it."

[starkingenuity]

This was news to Tony. He tried to sit up despite feeling dizzy. "What are you smoking and can I have some? Steve, we didn't--"

It all caught up with him a moment later and he groaned, pressing his fingertips against his eyelids.

"That explains the extended heat... Damn it." Well. At least Steve didn't have to worry. Tony wasn't on the market any more.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve stood, intending on keeping Tony from getting up if he tried. He wasn't thrilled with him even sitting up but he compromised and shifted to adjust the bed so it was sitting somewhat upright. This way Tony would have a little support.

Just because he wasn't on the market, didn't mean his Sentinel instincts would understand it. He hoped it helped but he was going to doubt it. If he couldn't feel the bond, it didn't technically exist for him right?

[starkingenuity]

Tony was thinking the same thing, honestly. If he was bonded to Steve but Steve was not bonded to him, there was a whole mess of disconnects. He took his Sentinel's hand after the fussing, eyelashes growing more and more wet as his lips pressed together to keep them from trembling. He felt on the verge of breakdown and ended up covering his face with the other hand.

Steve was still in danger. All of the worst issues with bonding were pressing on him without any of the benefit. And what if Steve managed to bond to someone else? It was theoretically possible once he learned how to bond.

Yes it was unrealistic, but that didn't stop him from getting emotional. There was no other outlet to dump it.

[starspangledspandex]

It was going to be a mess either way. Steve already knew that and it made him angry more than anything. This was supposed to be happy. They should be planning a ceremony or a honeymoon or whatever people did nowadays.

He gave the older man a sad sorry look when the tears started to form. Steve shifted to gingerly sit on the edge of the bed and raised a hand to Tony's face, gently drawing his hand away so he could wipe the tears away himself.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," Steve says earnestly and honestly. "It's you or no one; it always has been. As soon as we know how, it'll be a done deal."

[starkingenuity]

Though Tony knew that no one had the loyalty that Steve did, he couldn't keep himself from tearing up or leaning into the wider chest. Being an empath sucked and nothing could tell Tony otherwise. It was why he was generally so sarcastic. It helped him survive in his life.

"Don't go telling people I'm being that time of the month emotional," Tony tried to laugh it off. "It's the blood loss. It makes you loopy."

But he was glad Steve was with him for now.

If this didn't work out in their favor, he was going to have to drop an engagement ring at the bottom of a glass of champagne soon.

[starspangledspandex]

"I'm sure it does," Steve agreed amicably, willing to let his Guide write it off if that was what he needed to feel better about it. He added, "I won't say a word. I promise."

He also drew the man into a careful hug. He didn't want to hurt Tony's arm but he thought it was something they both needed right now.

[starkingenuity]

Tony was strong again in no time. A little rest and a little bit of poor cell regeneration therapy had given him boost enough to be able to get him out of the hospital and Steve back to base.

The wonder twins and Banner were no closer to figuring out how to fix Steve and so they took more blood and even did a spinal tap... There had to be secrets somewhere and they could test Gene therapy on the cells extracted.

And that freed Steve up for a visit from Natasha and her little thumb drive.

[starspangledspandex]

He was as patient as he could be. It was difficult but it was better now that Tony was awake and talking. Steve did finally change out of his uniform and came back to play guard dog for his Guide.

Spinal taps were not fun. This was what Steve learned from that experience. Of course, he didn't know that he expected any differently. It was a needle being put in his spine. He just hoped it wasn't pointless.

"What's on it?" He asked, when he saw the thumb drive.

"I don't know," she said. "It's SHIELD's but the encryption is strange."

[starkingenuity]

It was frustrating to watch Steve in pain. It was worse to listen to him cry out like that. Tony was somber during most of the test but he looked so expectedly at FitzSimmons for immediate answers that Banner told him to stay with the Captain for a little while just to get him out of the room.

He overheard the encryption part of what Widow was saying and immediately perked up, despite still recovering from trauma and blood loss. One arm was useless but that didn't mean he couldn't work on something!

"Give it here."

[starspangledspandex]

He was still sore but he knew it would fade. Steve just wasn't volunteering for another one unless it was absolutely critical. There weren't many things that made him actually cry out in pain.

Steve didn't protest as Natasha handed his Guide the drive. Why would he? It was always good to have the best and as far as technology was concerned, Tony was the best.

He did, however, hover because he could and he didn't have anything better to do.

[starkingenuity]

Tony was grateful for something to do. He might only have the use of one arm but he could hack without using any. JARVIS could be guided with his voice and once he was at work on the sequencing, all he had to do was sit back and rest his head on Steve's stomach and breathe him in--

And be immediately interrupted by JARVIS' findings.

Tony frowned. "Is this a joke?"

There was a location for somewhere in New Jersey.

"This is the armpit of America."