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]

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."

[starspangledspandex]

His hand raised briefly to brush his fingers through the Guide's hair but he too was distracted by the location that came up on the map.

Steve shifted so he could peer at it closer and he took a deep breath, pressing his lips together. "I know that place."

[starkingenuity]

Tony tilted his head back, as much to get the blond's touch as to look up at him. He should have known more about Steve's past but their childhoods only came up briefly in conversation. Tony pressed his lips together before he sat up fully.

It clicked a moment later.

"There was an Army camp there. Okay. Grab those boots and let's go!" He wasn't being left behind.

[starspangledspandex]

He glanced down at Tony as he sat up, surprised that the older man knew that detail and nodded, "I'll meet you at the jet."

Steve didn't expect his Guide to know every singled detail of his life, just like he didn't know every moment of Tony's. What was more important was the future and securing their lives together.

"Let me know what you find, boys," Natasha told them. "Unless you want company."

[starkingenuity]

"I don't think we'll need a spy to break into some super secret spy base," Tony grinned. He didn't need help. And he wanted to see this out with Steve. And he was pretty sure he was feeling threatened by Romanoff.

She was unbonded. She was a Guide. He didn't want Stefe around her. Yes. It was a pointless worry but one he couldn't help.

He was pretty impressed by what they uncovered, I pressed by Steve's memory and by the fancy SHIELD frame work they passed through down the hall. "Dad was always so dramatic," he grinned. "Oh look. Elevator. Seems legit."

[starspangledspandex]

Natasha shrugged and walked off to do some digging of her own. Spy stuff. She wasn't after Steve. She knew he was taken and besides, they weren't the best fit anyway.

Steve barely considered that she was a Guide. He was pretty well caught up with his own. He didn't catch the jealousy either. Tony didn't have any reason to be jealous.

This was a trip down memory lane for sure and Steve paused to take it in, unable to help himself. The pictures on the wall definitely didn't help his mood either. It didn't feel like it was as long ago as it was.

"If you're already in a secret bunker, why hide the elevator?" He asked, walking up to it.

[starkingenuity]

"Why not? Extra security. Redundancy is important," Tony said, feeling as if he knew absolutely everything. That was always the problem with him. He didn't think too much, he just assumed he was always right and that got him into trouble.

Like...oh...now.

"This...is too advanced," he muttered, and he ought to know. "What was my dad--" No. Not his dad. This had none of Stark's flashiness.

[starspangledspandex]

"So this was put here later," he summarized as he eyed the keypad. It made more sense than SHIELD having another underground area. "Can you get this opened?"

[starkingenuity]

Tony gave Steve a look. "I'm going to give you the mandatory option to revoke that question," Tony said, cracking his knuckles as he sat down. Stupid idea. His one arm was still much too injured. That made typing diffcult and, unfortunately, there wasn't a vocal interface so--

It took time. It took too much time. Tony was wearing out, but he did, eventually, manage it.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve shrugged helplessly--how was he supposed to know? He wasn't revoking it either. He was still learning about technology here. His Guide would have to deal with it.

He hovered more while Tony worked, concerned the man was pushing himself and relieved when he was done.

"Are you okay?" He asked as they stepped into the elevator.

[starkingenuity]

"I'm always okay. I'm the world's most handsome cockroach. I'll survive anything and look good while-- Woah."

He had to cut himself off because that was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. The technology was astounding...not because of how advanced it was, but because Tony had never gotten to play with a working relic like this.

He took out his phone to take a selfie with it.

[starspangledspandex]

His forehead creased as he eyed the room and the console, he frowned even as he walked up to it. He heard the snick and gave his Guide a look--really?

Steve twisted to look around them again. This had to be it. Whatever 'it' happened to be. There was a place on the counter for a drive. He did recognize that.

"Do you have that drive?" He asked, pointing to it.

[starkingenuity]

"What?" Sorry/ He'd been in the moment. "Oh, yeah, here..." He pulled the thumb drive from his pocket and plugged it into the spot on the console slowly because--

"This is too old to have a USB drive," he muttered, feeling incredibly uncomfortable as the whirr of the object sprung caused the whole room to spring to life.

He got away from the console immediately, not to flee but to find the main cut off.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve wouldn't know but he would take Tony's word for it. He twisted around again, scanning the room as the lights started to click on and a face appeared on the screen. The camera scanned them both.

"Rogers, Steven, born 1918," the computer said and he knew that voice but that was impossible. He eyed the room again. Wasn't it? Was this some kind of recording? How could that be?

[starkingenuity]

"If you're going to cheat on JARVIS, it should at least be with a more handsome--" But the joke was cut off as Tony lifted his eyes to the image playing on the screen. He knew the face. Not many people his age didn't. He knew his history. He wasn't just a technological and mathmatical genius after all.

"You missed the date. July 4th. Really annoyingly patriotic but it is what it is." He ducked under the console to try to find the switch but it seemed to be hardwired into the floor.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve wasn't laughing at any joke. This man should be dead and by all rights, not within a SHIELD facility. Was this some kind or trick? One of those Skype set-ups made to look like Zola?

"Stark, Anthony, born May 29th, 1970," the voice added as the camera shifted.

"Who are you?" Steve demanded. "Who are you really?"

[starkingenuity]

"Now isn't the time to play war games," Tony said, referencing a movie that was both before and after Steve's time if you wanted to look at it chronologically from Steve's physical age or his actual one. He didn't bother to dwell on it. "We should probably get out of here."

The doors to the elevator slid shut and Tony sighed. "Really?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. "Damn it, Okay, new plan, we disable the elevator doors. Don't engage the crazy head in conversation, Cap."

[starspangledspandex]

A movie that he has, nonetheless, seen so that made him feel a little bit better about the reference.

Steve twisted, throwing his shield, but it was too late to stop the doors and he caught it to turn back to the face. He couldn't help it. They needed information and he might as well right?

"Arnim Zola has been dead for years," he told the face.

"Correction: look around you, I have never been more alive! In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving... on two hundred thousand feet of data banks! You are standing in my brain!"

"That's impossible," Steve said, frowning at the screen.

[starkingenuity]

"That's not hygenic," Tony complained, as if that was the largest problem here. "Besides, Zola was part of HYDRA and last time I looked, they went down with the war." And Steve's plane.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place. HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize was that if you tried to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, SHIELD was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew, a beautiful parasite inside SHIELD. For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crises, reaping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

"He talks more than I do," Tony countered and turned around to face the screen. "One thing I do know is that SHIELD would have stopped you. You've just been hanging out down here in storage."

[starspangledspandex]

He watched the images that flicked across the screen, trying to understand everything that was happening right now and he really didn't like what he was hearing. SHIELD was Hydra? No.

"Accidents will happen." The headline with Howard and Maria's death was obvious. Just as clear was Zola zooming in on a ghost. Bucky. "HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's New World Order will arise. We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life, a zero sum!"

Steve smashed in the screen. What else could he do?

[starkingenuity]

Tony decided to smash something too, just so that they were even. Zola laughed...and laughed...and laughed right up until that proximity warning in the quinjet went off through Tony's phone. He didn't look afraid, just--

Okay, yes he looked afraid.

He didn't have time to come to the conclusion that Steve did that Bucky killed his parents. He didn't have time for anything except to jump to his feet and put his hand on Steve's jaw to try to give him strength.

This was going to be bad.