bakerstreet | The Sentinel and Guides AU Meme

The Sentinel and Guides AU Meme

Sentinels and Guides are Known:
A Sentinel!AU Meme

There are special people in the world: Sentinels--whose five senses are incredibly enhanced, sometimes to the point of overwhelming and who can easily lose themselves in fugue states--and Guides, the empaths with the ability to ground a Sentinel and focus them. Meant to be the protectors of the Guides, for every Sentinel there exists a guide that is their perfect match. In some universes, when matches are made, a Sentinel and Guide form a soulbond to fill the feeling of emptiness.

How easy was it for you to find yours? How are Sentinels and Guides treated in your universe? Or maybe you're one of the normal, unremarkable people. Do you fear Sentinels and Guides? Despise them?

Rules
1) Post with your character/canon in the subject header.
2a) Choose whether your character is a Sentinel or a Guide
or
2b) If you don't know or don't care, just leave it blank!
3) Information about Sentinels and Guides can be found here and here. Information on 'The Sentinel' which this meme comes from can be found here.

4) All the tagging! Have fun 8D

Prompts
oo1. The Meeting:
How did you meet? Was it at an event organized specifically for finding your other half? By accident? Did you follow a mystical calling to them? Some other way?

oo2. The Bonding:
Do Sentinels and Guides in your universe soulbond? How does it go down? Is there a ceremony or do you just retreat to the bedroom?

oo3. Rejection:
Sometimes Sentinels or Guides propose a match but it's just not perfect. You don't feel the pull or maybe you think there is someone better or maybe you're already claimed. Maybe you were claimed and someone better came along?

oo4. Protection:
Sentinels are meant to protect Guides, any Guides, but it's even worse when they feel their Guide is in danger. They go feral; blind to anything but stopping and killing whoever threatened their Guide or the bond. Maybe someone attacked your Guide or you haven't bonded yet and you feel threatened or maybe you're the one doing the threatening. Whatever the reason, Sentinels in a feral state are dangerous and only their Guides can stop them.

oo5. Lost:
Sentinels often lose themselves in their senses. Either you're a Sentinel who has lost themselves or a Guide that has stumbled on one or a friend trying to draw them out. Unbonded Sentinels will find it hard to escape without a Guide. Or maybe you're bonded already which means you just need yours to come home.

006. Persecution:
Sometimes normal people or the government fear the power of Guides and Sentinels. Guides are empaths, feeling the emotions and sometimes passing thoughts of others and it can make people feel violated. Sentinels often have enhanced strength, which can make them dangerous. So they scorn them, hurt them or in the case of governments, regulate them.

oo7. Death:
Unbonded Sentinels and Guides eventually lose themselves to the empty cavern inside them. Torn apart from the inside by the feeling of something missing. Breaking the soulbond of a Sentinel and Guide is agonizing and horrifying, leading quickly to death for the remaining partner.

oo8. Old-School:
Guides used to be treated on the same level as slaves. Unable to work unless their Sentinel said. Not allowed out on their own. They used to wear collars and couldn't own land or inherit money. Maybe the old ways haven't completely fallen out of style.

oo9. Unbonded:
Nothing is worse than being an unbonded Guide or Sentinel. Always looking for your other half to fill that empty feeling but you probably have friends that aren't your match or who are trying to set you up with someone. Maybe you're skeptical about the whole love at first sight thing and haven't been looking.

o10. Wildcard: Some mish-mash of the above or anything else you can come up with!

Image from weheartit / original meme by

imadeamistake

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His own attention drifts to the smells from the table. Steve is starving. Super-soldier metabolism on top of bonding definitely is not helping there. He tells himself he's not going to die if he waits to eat and follows Tony silently towards the door.

Steve's pretty sure someone is watching them on a surveillance camera somewhere. He wouldn't be surprised if there are soldiers in the hallway on the other side of this door. It just depends on how much they want to keep them here.

He eyes the door and gently tries it. It's obviously locked. He wonders what it's actually made of or if it's solid on the inside. The least he can do is try. He shrugs at Tony and nudges his Guide out of his way. Here goes nothing, he hopes SHIELD doesn't mind some property damage. He takes hold of the handle and prepares to throw the whole weight of his shoulder against the lock.

No one really seems that thrilled by having Captain America show up as if it's no big deal. This isn't really how bondings work, now is it. Tony follows, pushing through the remains of the door, and smiles at the scrambling SHIELD agents and workers that seem confused as to what, exactly, they're mean to be doing right now.

Calling it in? Stopping them?

Tony presses a finger to his lips and grins. Shhh. That just confuses them even more before he jogs down the corridor after Steve.

He doesn't really know where he is. Just that this is pretty fun actually.

His Guide is a terrible influence, Steve decides, but he's not sure if it's for the better or for the worse. He tends towards doing the right thing and weighing all his options instead of jumping into the wind hoping for the best. Spontaneity isn't a bad thing, right?

He only nods at the agents in the area as he starts down the hall-way. Tony's scent follows him and he glances back to be sure that his Guide is actually there. The chances of them getting out of here are probably slim. Steve doesn't really want to hurt anyone. He just wants to go home.

Tony might think this is fun, but he definitely doesn't. It's too soon for them to be in public. Steve clings the bond like a lifeline. They might be official but he hasn't moved past other people being a threat.

No one had actually been thinking of the personality conflict when they had been paired. These days, it's all genetics and brain waves. If they match, it's all green lighted. Usually the chemicals work, the Guide is tied to the Sentinel before they even get to know if it's a good match or not and biology takes over because of the way Sentinels have been raised, trained to be. And Guides too, the ones delivered to the government when they first come of age at least.

So it's different, very different, for a Guide like Tony, who has been living in the real world for forty plus years and a Sentinel out of his time, who is use to Guides being people, to be thrown together and to have anything normal expected of them.

They're volatile.

And it's amazing.

Tony laughs right up until something large and black trenchcoated blocks their way. He isn't sure why but he pushes himself between Steve and the man, teeth baring.

Fury's amused. He hadn't been expecting that.

He's not laughing but he can feel the amusement from his Guide and that's good. A happy is Guide is good. Steve stops in his tracks when he sees Fury and the Director of SHIELD had never been part of this plan. He hadn't actually expected him to come to Steve.

Tony's reaction isn't what he'd expected. It goes against his instincts to protect the other man no matter what. Steve growls as he steps up next to his Guide and he shoots a thin-lipped look towards him. How's he supposed to protect him if he's throwing himself in harm's way.

"Director," Steve says curtly.

Tony has no idea why he's being protective either. Is he just reading too much of Steve's emotions? Is it that the bond hasn't really finished yet and he's getting mixed signals?

Steve is more than welcome to take the lead again. Tony doesn't mind looking over Steve's bicep, he really doesn't. It's just...difficult...to remember that he's a pair now.

"Captain. Mr. Stark. Shall we talk?"

"Uh. No. We're leaving. Call my PA. We'll set something up."

He frowns at the Director. He doesn't know what SHIELD's game is but orchestrating all of this makes him wary. It's so easy for groups of people to get power hungry.

Steve glances at his Guide as the man answers and he doesn't have much to add. Tony's got it covered pretty well. He's used to be around groups of people. The Commandos and Bucky, there had always been someone around. He'd been responsible for most of their direction too.

"We'd prefer to wait until tomorrow, Sir."

"Until Friday," Tony chimes in.

Fury smirks. "Tomorrow's Friday."

How much time have they missed? Tony scowls. "Okay, Monday then. You dragged me in here, we did what you wanted, now can I please go home and get good and fucked?"

Guides don't talk like that but Fury seems to find it hilarious. "By all means, gentlemen. But Captain. First thing on Monday--"

"Yes, I'll have him back and ready for school, Professor." Tony's done playing around here. Everyone's looking at them, waiting for Steve to control his Guide.

They're going to be sorely disappointed. Steve is surprisingly quiet for a bonded Sentinel but he's comfortable with his Guide having a voice; he would never want to change who he is.

The Friday thing is a surprise. It doesn't quite add up in his mind but he had gone at Tony for awhile and the other man smells like it, which is just fine by him.

"I'll be here, Sir," he drones dutifully, straightening to proper attention to say it. He's still not sure what Fury finds amusing about all of this. Steve's brow furrows as he tries to pair it with the conversation he'd heard through the door.

New York City. Times Square.

Tony's really not happy about any of this. He's a well known man, he's been on television a whole hell of a lot since he was rescued from the desert. People know him.

And now he's wearing rumbled, neutral clothing and wearing a collar with obvious bite marks on his neck.

He's not prepared for this, not prepared for every Sentinel to pause to look at him. Tony doesn't panic but...he wants to. He wants to very, very badly.

"Steve--" He's been calling the Sentinel by his title until now. "Get me out of here."

Steve really hates Times Square. So far this century it is paired with a ridiculous amount of bad memories and it's hell on a Sentinel anyway. There are way too many sights and sounds and people. He'd hoped that meant there would be fewer around which doesn't seem to be the case.

Every Sentinel that turns their way draws his attention. He possessively holds a hand on Tony's elbow. His and his face says it too.

"I'm trying," he murmurs. What's the fastest way? He doesn't even know where they're going. A cab should be safe, right?

Tony pulls his arm from Steve's grasp, likely bruising himself. It's a little too possessive. To Tony, it was more than important that he try so very hard not to look like--

Well, what he happens to be. Guide. Owned. Tony pulls the collar from his neck in broad day light, and anyone already looking, scenting the air at the newly bonded Guide and Sentinel, almost look like they've been brutalized.

He backs up into Steve's chest and shoves the collar into his suit jacket.

"Just follow me," he growls, stalking forward, head down, as he heads into a little corner gift shop.

He can't help himself. The possessiveness is pure instinct when faced with other pairs and the scattering of unbonded Sentinels. Steve doesn't like all the looking that's going on right now. It's too soon. They shouldn't be out and about like this.

Again, he cares less about the collar. Steve had already said as much. He'd been surprised that the other man had even wanted him to put it on. He's fine with him taking it off now even if the rest of the world apparently thinks that it's the end of the world.

"Where are we going?" he asks as he follows right on Tony's heel into the shop.

"I don't know." But thank God for Steve's old fashioned mindset. Tony's independence is more important to him than anything else. Being with Steve isn't exactly suffocating but the way that they're looked at is.

And if anyone got any of that on camera...

Shit.

In the back of the shop, Tony rubs a hand over his heart and tries his best to think this through.

Phone. He takes an I Heart New York pen from a display and writes a number on Steve's hand.

"Call that. Ask for Pepper. Get her to send the jet."

There are a number of confusing things going on once they reach the back of the store. Steve's brow furrowing as he stares at Tony. He lets his hand be taken and written on but he frowns.

"Why aren't you calling?" he's confused because Tony knows what he's doing and who he's supposed to be talking to. Steve is just kind of existing and they won't know about the bond on the other end of things yet. Will they? He guesses word travels kind of fast now.

Wait. Pause. Steve tilts his head even as he digs his phone out of his pocket. "You want her to send a jet to Times Square?"

Oh Steve. It actually makes him laugh. He looks up into blue eyes that just seem as lost and confused as he is...and what the hell? He tugs him down into a kiss. Soft but still open mouthed.

"They know me. I'm on TV a whole hell of a lot. I can't... Go out there. Yet."

He's not ready.

Perhaps that Sentinel and Guide that visited them in their bonding bed realized this.

Weak.

Tony is weak.

This century is strange. He's still confused but he kisses his Guide anyway because that's what Tony wants. Steve realizes what the other man means and he tries not to be hurt by it. He'd already known this life isn't what his Guide had wanted and that he'd avoided it as long as possible.

It still feels like he's ashamed of their bond which is a little painful but Steve can deal. He knows it's hard for him to understand because seventy years ago there hadn't been this kind of stigma surrounding Guides.

"So if I tell her to send a jet she'll know what I mean?" he frowns, already dialing the number on his hand and listening to it ring.

He nods. "She'll be able to lock into my biometrics. A car will come to take us to my airstrip on Long Island." Don't be surprised, Steve, that Tony has an air strip on Long Island!

Trying to get himself together after Steve asks to use the phone and his blue eyes and blond hair and obvious Sentinel qualifications make the store owner reluctant to say no to him, Tony runs a hand back through his hair. His focus should be on Steve, but let's face it.

He's arrogant.

He's too self aware. Tony thinks of himself and his reputation first.

After Steve is through with the call, a car ought to arrive in ten or fifteen minutes. And thank God for that. People are already calling in the story about the Guide that ripped off his collar.

Steve returns the nod and borrows the phone, talking briefly but firmly to the first person on the line. The woman, Pepper, has a lot of questions that he politely brushes aside and says he'll let Tony explain. He's not about to be the one to break the news to one of his Guide's friends when he doesn't even know her.

He returns to Tony's side when he's done. Steve likes that the other man is self-aware. Again, he doesn't want some kind of pet that silently and dutifully follows him around. It's not what a Guide is supposed to be. He doesn't care what this century thinks about it.

The people freaking out about the collar thing doesn't phase him. Steve is nothing but supportive. He does hope nobody decides to throw a fit directly at them. He's not sure if he could handle an obvious threat to his Guide right now.

"Shouldn't be too long."

He can't smell Steve like the Sentinel can smell him, but his presence is still calming. Tony allows the little touches but doesn't return them, making jokes about souvenirs instead because it's easier to focus on inanimate objects than on what's going on between them at the moment. That bond is tugging, and as the Guide, he can almost feel it loosening.

They left the bed too early. No. He's been distracted. His mind has been helplessly shifting every which way when he really needs to just focus on the bond.

When the car shows up, Tony practically shoves Steve instead of it and climbs right into his lap in the back of the limo.

He's not losing this. It's the best thing that's ever happened to him.

Steve is completely distracted by Tony. He can smell his Guide and his own scent from the bonding clinging to the other man every time he moves. Tony is animated and everywhere but he can't stop his hands from brushing at the man's hair or purposefully brushing their shoulders together.

He just smiles and occasionally chuckles at the jokes, blue eyes fond and bright as he watches his Guide. The longer they wait the more restless Steve becomes. He can feel the bond slipping out from between them and every part of him is craving to reaffirm it already, to make it more solid.

It's a relief when the car arrives and if Tony hadn't sat in his lap he probably would have dragged him there himself. Steve's hands slide up his Guide's side and he draws him down to kiss him firmly, shifting just as quickly to nuzzle at his neck.

Thank God Steve's on board. Tony isn't really sure what he might have done if everything was on him. Knitting their souls together takes a lot of effort when he has to set his mind to it and it's not just coming naturally in bonding heat. He undoes the buttons on their shirts to press more skin together. In Manhattan traffic, it will take at least half an hour to get out of the city. Limos aren't really known for being as maneuverable as taxi cabs after all so quick lane changes to get out of slow traffic just isn't an option.

"Tell me the things you like. Or think you might like."

None of this is necessary but he happens to like Steve's voice. It's fairly reassuring to him actually. He licks at the underside of Steve's jaw when blue eyes lift towards him.

Confused? Embarrassed? Tony grins when the bond tells him the answer. Good. It's mending.

He doesn't care how long it takes now that they're out of the watchful eyes of the general public. There's no real threat here and he glances past Tony to the driver but he settles back against the seat without protest.

The request makes him pull back, puzzled as he stares at Tony and tries to figure out what he means. Does he mean in general or... something more private? Just the thought of which has him ducking his head a little. He's not sure that's an area he wants to be voicing what he likes out loud.

"What kind of things?" At least asking for clarification is still talking right?

"Any kind of thing." Tony leaves the safety of Steve's lap for just one moment to put up the screen between them and the normal, human driver. He's paid well not to talk about Stark or any business he might overhear but that doesn't mean he has to overhear at all.

Tony stays where he is, on the far side of the limo. He cracks open a bottle of water and drinks it. They haven't eaten in over a day, which was why the breakfast they'd had was so important to get through. They needed strength. They need it now too.

"What do you like to eat? What are your hobbies? How do you like to be touched? I can figure it out by trial and error but I'd rather you talk to me."

He barely wants to let him go, his hands lingering on the other man as long as they as they can as he leaves, but he does. It's not like he's leaving the car and talking is good. He appreciates the privacy from the driver and watches Tony drink his water.

Steve shifts and he raises an eyebrow because apparently the other man just wants to know everything. "Alright, so long as you tell me yours." It takes him a minute to start because it's not easy to decide.

"Well, I'm pretty fond of food in general. Never really had much as a kid and then the Depression meant plenty of things were rationed," he shakes his head because he's on a tangent. "I like heartier meals. Can't go wrong with most meats and potatoes, or stew. For dessert, I love apple pie." Which probably sounds hilarious and cliche because he's Captain America but he doesn't care.

He scratches his head, "I don't have much in the way of hobbies. I like to read. I'm somewhat of an artist"--that's probably a little modest--"I was in art school before the war started."

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