starspangledspandex | Sentinel/Guide AU for starkingenuity

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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From:

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."

From:

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.

From:

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."

From:

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?

From:

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.

From:

starspangledspandex

His attention shifted briefly toward his Guide. It was only a second or two before he was twisting in the room again and he spotted the grate. He yanked Tony toward it, opening it to shove his Guide in the opening first, because some kind of protection was better than nothing.

Steve dropped down, raising his shield on his arm above them to protect them both as the world exploded and he grunted, snarling with the effort it was taking to keep the rocks off their heads. There wasn't anything else he could do but hope it was enough.

From:

starkingenuity

Tony could feel the heat. He was really tired of being exploded and beaten and ruined and tossed around. All he wanted was to bond and be happy and have a perfect, beautiful life with someone. Was that so hard? Was that impossible to obtain? He'd give all -- err, most -- of his money away just to have that.

Tony threw his face against Steve's chest as the pressure built up around him.

He didn't quite go unconscious, but he really wish he could.

From:

starspangledspandex

His Sentinel was straining with the effort it was taking to protect them both but this was what he was supposed to do. He needed to protect his Guide. It was ingrained in his instincts. He would sacrifice himself to do it too though he certainly hoped it wouldn't come to that here.

Steve's chest heaved even as Tony leaned against him and he had his head tilted down, but he couldn't exactly see how the man was doing. He could hear his heart beating even over the building collapsing so he could tell that he was at least alive, which was his goal here.

After things stopped falling above them, he shoved upward, hoping that he would be able to get them out of this.

From:

starkingenuity

"Did we die?" Tony asked as he was pulled up, his injured arm feeling utterly useless as it hung limply to the ground while his Sentinel fished him out of the hole. He didn't bother to open his eyes, not when he could smell the dust and hear the quiet moaning of levels upon levels of destroyed concrete laying in rubble around them.

Surprisingly, he was mostly knocked out but otherwise unhurt. Steve's body had completely, one hundred percent protected him.

It wasn't until he heard the sound of approaching quinjets (shit) that Tony bothered to open his eyes. People were searching for them. HYDRA in SHIELD clothing. Why?

From:

starspangledspandex

"No," his Sentinel replied shortly. It was better all around if he didn't talk right now. After that disaster, his senses were screaming at him and he was on the verge of a major fugue, one he was only fighting off thanks to the idea of getting Tony to safety. Guide first. Protect, protect, protect.

His eyes flicked toward the jets and he frowned deeply. If SHEILD was Hydra, then they needed to go. Someone launched a strike against them and he wasn't terribly fond of fighting them in the condition he was currently in.

Steve hauled Tony up into his arm. He could move faster carrying him then trying to figure out whether the man could walk right now. "Don't fidget," he ordered, because his steps already weren't the steadiest, but they would get better. "I know a place we can go."

From:

starkingenuity

Tony wasn't going to say it, but between the armor and Steve's arms, he felt more secure with the Captain holding him. Everything felt good and right with the world and he laid his head on Steve's shoulder even as the world was sort of going to shit around them.

He shouldn't be so content. He knew that. But God help him, there was no other way to be honest with himself.

Tony was not entirely sure how they got to the house they did when Steve put him down and the tall man that answered the door reaked of Guide.

But in a good way.

He had been bound and had lost his Sentinel. Tony could smell it on him.

He was the first to offer a nod to the other man, but Sam arched his eyebrows at Steve. "Might as well come in before you explain what sort of hell you've brought to me doorstep."

From:

starspangledspandex

Steve met Sam on his runs and he wasn't interested in the man as a Guide but he was funny, personable, they shared similar experiences. It was nice to learn of the existence of the VA meetings the man led even if he rarely attended.

All and all, they got along and he was the first person outside of SHIELD that he had made friends with which was a big deal.

The Sentinel wobbled slightly as he stepped into the house, his eyes working on glazing over and he shook his head slightly, pointing to Tony to explain.

From:

starkingenuity

"Let me get him someplace to lay down," Tony said, not quite begging. Sam led the way to the bedroom and Tony was there to help Steve with his shirt and his boots, I lacing them slowly. Sam didn't stay around to watch that.

After his partner was killed, he didn't enjoy seeing the camaraderie between Sentinels and Guides.

Tony kissed Steve softly before he went out to sit with Sam over coffee. There was a lot of talking to do. And not just about SHIELD. Or HYDRA.

It was easy to speak with bonded or once bonded Guides with what he was going through, he found. And those meetings at the VA Sam went through taught him how to deal with Tony's position as well.

He'd suffered a trauma. More than one from the sound of it.

Steve could sleep for as long as he wanted.

From:

starspangledspandex

He followed Tony because it seemed like the thing to do and he sat heavily on the bed, blinking slowly. Steve largely just watched as his Guide undressed him.

Safe, they were safe.

Steve shrugged off his top and managed to get all his limbs to cooperate to lay down. He leaned briefly into the the kiss but he was pretty out of it. It wouldn't take him long to drift off.

He would be out for awhile too. It took a lot out of him to get them this far. He would still be bleary when he woke up though he immediately sat up, listening for Tony. It was a relief when he heard him talking to Sam.

He stood up and stepped into the bathroom to wipe himself off before he went to find Tony.

From:

starkingenuity

Tony's glance at Steve was appreciative. He hadn't really looked at men the same way that he looked at women, but he wasn't blind. That broad chest, those muscles, that tight waist-- Tony was more than attracted to him. If Sam hadn't been there... Well not much would have been done for a few long moments. He knew better than to start anything sexual given than he was prone to try to go back into bonding heat.

"Here. Coffee," Sam said, getting up to fetch the cup just to give the pair a few minutes.

Tony immediately set his hand on Steve's arm, eyes scanning for extra bruises. "Not to boost your ego but you were amazing."

From:

starspangledspandex

He smiled at Sam's offer of coffee but he was busy examining his Guide for any major injuries. He looked tired and well, like he was in an explosion, but all in all it was still just his arm that seemed injured. It was a major relief to the Sentinel.

Steve smiled lightly, still exhausted, and said, "Well I'm glad you think so. I didn't have a lot of options."

From:

starkingenuity

There was little Tony wanted more than to curl up with Steve and hide, but that was not the sort of person either of them was. "What's the next move? We're in trouble if that was SHIELD. They're going to disgrace and discredit you."

And probably him too. They might make their failure to bond something of a spectacle too.

Tony looked down at the wide hands in Steve's lap.

"Banner and the Wonder Twins-- We have to get to them."

From:

starspangledspandex

"We can't go home," he tells him, shaking his head slightly. "They'll be waiting for us. They'll have it under surveillance."

Steve hesitates, then stands to flip on Sam's television to the news and he's as unsurprised as Tony to find their names being smeared across the news. He's the one painted in the worst light. The older man is there too but he imagines that Stark Industries's PR department is doing what they can to minimize damage in that department.

...and besides, it's nothing new that Tony Stark is doing something out of line. Captain America though? Oh boy, is that a story. Their bond, thankfully, isn't mentioned in any of the footage that they watch before Steve turns it off.

"That's our first move," he tells him. "Natasha is more likely to come and find us. Banner... they're going to have him watched, Tony and I don't know if setting the Hulk off is a great move. It might be better to keep him on the sidelines."

From:

starkingenuity

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled very slowly. Shit. "You're right. When did that become a thing?" he teased just before Sam came back into the room with the paper. Their faces were all over the front page. None of this boded well.

So were they just suppose to wait here for Natasha? That seemed unreasonable. There was an assassin out there. There were infiltrators into SHIELD.

And Steve had a testing regimen to get them fully bonded!

"I really hate this," Tony frowned. "I don't have my armor... They'll be watching my bank accounts--"

Sam cleared his throat. "I want in. Whatever is going on out there-- Count me in."

From:

starspangledspandex

He doesn't necessarily mean wait here for her but he expects her to show up at some point. She might even show up with other people on their side. He has no idea. He does know that they shouldn't stay in one place for too long. It's just asking for Hydra to find them.

"I know, me too," the Sentinel says, because he much prefers when Tony has the armor, even if his arm is injured right now.

Steve turns to Sam with a frown. "It's going to be dangerous."

From:

starkingenuity

Sometimes it still surprised Tony that people were actually willing to help out. He was so use to doing everything but himself-- Even with Steve, sometimes, he forgot that he could team up.

He was quiet as Sam agreed to join them, no matter the danger. It was for a good cause. For a friend. He and Steve shared this moment that Tony equated with some sort of armed forced solidarity and then stood as the door shut behind him.

"Always have to look after you boys," a familiar voice said and Tony instantly relaxed.

From:

starspangledspandex

Sam shrugs slightly, "Captain America needs my help. I think that's a good enough reason."

Steve smiles, nodding, relieved that he has found a friend so loyal. He's also glad that Tony isn't freaking out about Sam's existence. He's sure he's mentioned him but sometimes the details kind of disappear. He's certainly never meant to hide him or that he's a Guide.

He turns as the door shuts and he smiles again, "You're late."

From:

starkingenuity

Tony had never been jealous of other Guides before. It was that lack of a complete bond that put him on edge. Someone else could come along and scoop Steve up. Like Natasha. Sam was safer. Sam had lost his Sentinel. It was extremely rare for bonded Guides to rebond. Perhaps that was another reason Tony was scared. He could have no one else. He wanted no one else.

Tony slipped his hand into the other's without thinking. He felt a little foolish but he was giving off mental warning to the spy. His Sentinel. His.

Wisely, Natasha kept her distance. Unwisely she decided to mention that Tony was going to be a liability and should lay low here.

From:

starspangledspandex

Steve glanced briefly at Tony when he slipped their hands together and he caught his Guide glaring daggers at Natasha. Did he feel threatened by her? He frowned slightly and then decided it was probably just instinct. Their bond was still broken and no amount of words would probably reassure the man.

He listened to the quick rundown of what was going on. Project Insight was a Hydra ploy. It made a hell of a lot more sense with that information. It also needed to be stopped.

"She's right," Steve murmured, knowing that Tony was going to protest, but what could he do without the armor?

From:

starkingenuity

"I'm a liability?" Tony arched an eyebrow up at Steve, knowing he wasn't being fair with his outrageous levels of sensitivity at the moment. That did not mean he wasn't hurting... Most of that was because of his injured arm, however.

"You're hurt," Sam said, taking Tony by the good arm. Yes, the other Guide protested He didn't really like to be touched. "But you can be our eyes. That stuff they say about you on the news...that's true right?"

Tony wasn't sure if he was being placated, but Sam had a point. He couldn't do a lot of tinkering, but he had JARVIS in his back pocket. Literally. He could provide the other three with information. "Do you have scotch?"

Sam glanced at Steve. "Some--"

"Fine. I'll do it. Go have fun storming the castle."