Sentinel

Tony curls up next to Bucky on his couch, gently feeling out his stomach wound with his magic. It had healed well thanks to his extra help but he had been worried, especially since Bucky volunteered himself to go to the Court with him, Rhodey, and his mom. He had wondered about that given his recently attacked status but apparently Bucky was a reckless idiot.

“I don’t know why you’re so worried, guardians are built for this sort of thing,” Bucky tells him, pressing his lips into Tony’s hair.

“First off no you aren’t, if you were there’d be no reason for you to train for years to gain the skill you have. Also why are you so fond of throwing yourself into danger? Seriously, it’s disturbing,” Tony tells him matter-of-factly.

Bucky snorts, “you’re one to talk. You’ve told me how your magic works for you, how it works for Charles too. You really shouldn’t be using it and yet you go ahead with reckless abandon. I don’t see why you’re so fond of literally driving yourself insane.”

“Uh excuse you I do it with a purpose. You were hurt and also I don’t like when people act like I’m Howard,” he says. Never mind when things tip a little too far over the edge like they had earlier in the week. He’d been arguing, something he seemed to be doing a lot of recently, and his natural charisma made the words stand out to people like Rhodey said, even if they didn’t buy what he was selling. But Hammer had a way of getting on Tony’s nerves and he sort of snapped on the guy. He didn’t really want to think of what he would have done without Charles around to snap him out of it almost immediately. Not that it mattered given that the kind of compulsion Tony tapped into had made Hammer see some shit and now he was intent on avoiding Tony.

The dark side of the kind of mind control Charles had or so Charles said. It was what he had used on his brother when he finally snapped, but unlike Charles he hadn’t heard voices afterwards. He still had no idea how to do the telepathy thing but to be fair Charles couldn’t heal for shit. They’ve tried teaching each other but it was slow going and difficult but they did learn that Tony absolutely had an affinity for healing mental health problems, which came in handy when Rhodey decided it was a good idea to explore Tony’s thunderous mood post-Hammer. Charles had looked some shocked when he watched the stormy mood go from Tony’s aura to Rhodey’s. Rhodey had brought up a theory that he was sucking up Tony’s insanity but he had dismissed it because that wasn’t how the bond worked; it only ever went one way so why would something from Tony go to him?

Charles suspected it was because of the nature of the magic they used but had no real answers aside from definitive proof that Rhodey was definitely sucking up Tony’s mental health issues. The good news was that Tony, unbeknownst to him, had been healing it out when he was trying to heal the black that dominated Rhodey’s aura. He told Tony the one day at the feeders that he had put him in a better mood but he dismissed that too because he couldn’t heal bad moods. It never occurred to him that Rhodey had been in more than a bad mood and it probably didn’t occur to Rhodey either given his usual mental stability. Tony was now doing his best to use the magic less but it called to him. Charles said the same thing though he’s done better with it in later years. Tony hoped he got better because his creepy guardian still had his eye on Tony and he didn’t like it.

“We do what we do with a purpose too, regardless of what we’re socialized to think,” Bucky tells him, snapping Tony out of his thoughts. Of course he’d add that last bit and Tony rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, but I get real pay off. You got your arm ripped off,” he points out.

“You get insane. Have you and Charles found anything on what element you guys are even using?” he asks.

Tony shakes his head, “no. We know we’re tapping into something we just don’t know what.” It was irritating both him and Charles because they were both researchers and evidence based thinkers. They had all the evidence they just couldn’t find the damn name for it.

“Maybe some weird way to use air, it’s associated with the mind,” Bucky says.

“But not with healing, which is my primary ability. That would be more associated with earth but earth users can’t heal people. And auras aren’t associated with anything.” They’ve been over and over the elements and at this point they thought they were working some other element altogether. That would make more sense but there are only four of the damn things.

“Hmm,” Bucky says quietly, “well maybe we should just ignore all of that and just enjoy our time together.”

Tony is super on board with that so he drops all thoughts of Rhodey, insanity, and strange elemental power from his mind and focuses on Bucky. Not that it’s hard considering how attractive he is. Bucky grins at him, pressing a kiss to his lips and Tony melts into it. How Bucky even found the time to perfect his kissing skills Tony didn’t know but there were all those rumors about him being a bit of a player when he was in school. Tony found it hard to believe now that he was older. He pulls back for a moment and looks at Bucky’s ever-present bun. “Seriously, I want to know the logistics of how you manage to put your hair up with one hand every day,” he says and Bucky makes an offended noise.

“If that is what you’re thinking about while kissing me I am not doing a good job,” he says.

“Don’t take offense, I think of weird things no matter what I’m doing,” he tells Bucky, grinning as Bucky presses him back into the couch and kisses him in earnest.

*

Tony is headed back to the dorm feeling lightheaded and dopey in a good way when he runs into Loki. It wasn’t entirely unexpected though he did find it odd that he was out this early in the morning. Well, night. The sun had just dropped fully, meaning classes would start in an hour or so but most students didn’t get up until right at this moment. It had been the reason Tony had been at Bucky’s at this time, no one was around to see him walk back because they’d only just be hitting snooze on their alarms. “Oh, hey Loki-” the rest of his response is cut off when he notices just how pale Loki is. Unnaturally pale. And he hadn’t heard Loki approach…

He was almost afraid to actually look at Loki’s eyes but some kind of morbid curiosity draws his gaze up and not for the first time Tony curses his shortness. Most Moroi were all and slim but he got hit with a stray short gene. Now he was particularly annoyed with it because he didn’t want to feel small, not when he noticed the red in Loki’s eyes. He swallows hard and hopes to hell that his bond with Rhodey was awake enough to feel the ice cold terror that just hit his mind. He wonders briefly if Rhodey would hear him if he outright called for him. Maybe.

Rhodey, Rhodey,Rhodey! He calls in his mind, feeling rather like a fool for it given that he had no idea if this was working. “I thought wards kept Strigoi out,” he says, sounding distant to his own ears.

Loki laughs, “they can’t do much if we’re already in. Not that it would matter either way, I made sure the wards were down before I killed some poor guardian who didn’t see it coming.”

“You would have had to incapacitate them first, they’re pretty nasty when provoked,” Tony says. He had no idea why he was talking, why Loki was responding.

RhodeyRhodeyRhodey he chants in his mind, hoping to hell his best friend heard him.

“I hope you know that bond of yours can’t save you, Tony. There’s no way Rhodey could get all this way in time and he isn’t armed with a charmed silver stake like the rest of the guardians on the school property. I was hoping that you might join me given that it would make my job here easier but sadly you’re as brainwashed as everyone else, hating Strigoi because they aren’t like you,” he says almost sadly. It was disturbing.

“Strigoi are unnatural,” Tony says, stepping back when Loki steps forward.

“Strigoi are strong and Moroi are weak, you were bound to all die anyways. Dhampirs have merit but unfortunately they aren’t very fond of us. You might as well accept your death, Tony, because I’m going to kill you.” Loki takes another step forward and he steps back again.

“Then you’re doing an awful lot of talking instead of getting to the point. Are you going to bore me to death?” he asks, cursing his snarky nature when Loki’s too pale hand reaches out to grab him. Tony braces himself, prepared to die at any moment but on a stroke of luck he’s shoved out of the way.

He expects Rhodey because he’s been calling to him for the last few minutes but it isn’t, it’s Bucky. Loki tries to hit him but Bucky is fast and he dodges it easily. He tries to swipe Loki with his stake but all he does is leave a scratch because Loki leaned back too fast. He still snarls in pain though and lunges for Bucky. Bucky dodges but he isn’t as lucky as last time and Loki clips him, almost knocking him off balance but he rights himself quickly. Loki seems to realize this is a losing battle because he lunges for Tony instead. Tony does the only thing he can think of and he throws up his hands but to his intense surprise this actually stops Loki. He’s frozen there with Tony watching him in shock.

Telekinesis his mind supplies. It was possible, or he and Charles thought it was possible from their research but neither one of them had been able to do anything other than give themselves a headache trying to use it. Bucky stares at him, frozen because he doesn’t know what’s happening either and Tony prides himself on breaking that stoic guardian training of his. Except he had to do something with Loki and he could feel his control on him slipping so he considers his options. He could throw Loki back at Bucky but that’s just rude, he could throw Loki elsewhere and hope he didn’t try and eat Tony before Bucky gets to him or…

Tony flings his arms up and lets go of the magic as soon as Loki is sufficiently high in the air. He continues to fly up and Bucky’s eyes don’t leave him. “The fuck was that, Stark?” he asks.

“I think I’m telekinetic,” he says more out of shock than anything.

“What are you doing still sitting there, run damnit!” Bucky yells at him just as Loki hits the ground again. Only now he’s pissed and Tony wastes no time in listening to Bucky and he gets up, scrambling a little before he starts running. Loki snarls and goes after him but in his haste he forgets to watch the deadly guy with the stake and Bucky steps into his path, expertly slamming the stake into Loki’s chest.

Tony pauses and considers things for a second now that he’s in the clear. “Jesus Tony keep running, did he not say he broke the wards? I’m pretty sure he didn’t do it for fun, get the fuck back to your dorm!” Bucky shrieks at him. He goes to turn to run off again but he reconsiders, running towards Bucky and all but slamming himself into him, ignoring dead Loki at his feet. He’d consider the crazy ass nightmares he was going to have about this later.

“Thanks for saving my life. Please don’t die,” he tells Bucky, pressing a hard kiss to his lips and running off before he gets eaten.

He isn’t really watching where he’s going when he runs, literally, into Rhodey. “Jesus man, what is going on!” he yells, catching Tony’s flailing fists long before they connect to him. Better to be safe than sorry Tony had figured, not that he would have been effective against Strigoi lingering around if Rhodey managed to catch him.

“Loki went Strigoi, Bucky killed him, pretty sure there’s more on the way,” he breaths out and Rhodey curses.

“Wait, why were you so close to the guardian building?” he asks, frowning. “You know what, who cares, you need to get back to your dorm I already did some yelling at the guardians when I took off and I’m sure Bucky had some like… guardian code words or something to use. Now go,” he tells Tony, prodding him in the direction of his dorm.

But Rhodey doesn’t look like he’s headed back to his dorm. “Um, what are you doing?” he asks and Rhodey rolls his eyes, shoving him forward.

“Making sure your dumb ass gets back to your dorm now get moving,” he tells Tony, pushing him again and he has no choice but to go. Rhodey all but throws him through the door when they get to the dorm and takes off again yelling at the attendant to make sure Tony stayed inside.

“What’s going on?” someone says, looking frightened. Peter Parker, Tony thinks the kid’s name is. Pepper used to tutor him in English.

“Strigoi,” he breaths out, “Strigoi on campus!”

For a moment he can’t believe his eyes when the group takes a collective step away from him before he rolls his eyes. “The Strigoi isn’t me you stupid fuckers, it was Loki before he got staked but there are more! Go hide or something!” he yells.

*

Peggy surveys the area looking for anything amiss. The alert went out twenty minutes ago and her guardians had confirmed that there were indeed more Strigoi at the schools edge- one managed to get in an estimated number too and her mind was boggled. Fifty Strigoi. And that was what that particular guardian could see. She had people at the Moroi dorms, people at the outer edges of the school, people making sure the novices didn’t play hero, and now she was trying to decide what to do with herself.

There were plenty of places she could be useful; it was just a matter of where she’d be the most useful. “Take me with you,” Maria says, almost managing to sneak up on Peggy.

“The hell I will, I don’t even know how you got here but you are going back to the guest quarters immediately,” she tells her, tone final. It worked on her guardians and it worked on the novices but this is Maria Stark. The woman was stubborn as a mule and she had no intention of going anywhere. She was going to have to rethink things and fast.

“No, you’re taking me with you and we’re going to the elementary school, there are always less guardians there because you’d have to get through this campus to get to that one. I don’t think the Strigoi would have qualms going around though so lets go. You have no time to argue,” Maria says, voice hard and determined.

She wasn’t wrong so Peggy starts jogging. “This is not the time to prove a political point,” she tells Maria as they head to the elementary school campus.

“I’m not trying to prove a political point, I’m trying to make myself useful,” Maria tells her. Than the point was to herself but Peggy doesn’t say that. Maria had come to her some months ago, shortly after Howard died, and asked her to teach her how to fight. Maria did not like being a helpless woman and Peggy couldn’t fault her for that. But Moroi were hardly meant for battle and Maria would probably never be able to handle Strigoi the way Peggy could not that it had deterred Maria. Peggy had to admit she was impressed with Maria’s ability to learn and in the short space of a few months she was almost as good as her worst novices. That was more than a feat considering those novices trained for years to gain that skill and Maria almost had them beat. She still wasn’t as strong as she’d need to be though and her endurance was lacking. But she was good and she was determined to be better. Peggy was curious to see if it would really pay off in the end.

A flash of movement to her left catches her eye but the Strigoi is on fire before she can even react. Maria has it burnt to a crisp within seconds. “Don’t do that again,” Peggy tells her, adopting her Teacher Voice. “You’ll burn your magic out too quick if you do that and you’re relying on that to save both our asses,” she explains and they set off again.

When they get to the elementary campus Peggy is absolutely stunned not that she lets it distract her for long. She counts at least twenty five Strigoi as she launches herself at the nearest Strigoi, prepared to kill. Maria lights the ground at its feet aflame and it jumps back, yelling but leaving its chest wide open. Peggy stakes it without a second thought and moves on quickly. “Good thinking,” she yells at Maria, who repeats the action on a new Strigoi.

They work like that for some time before some guardian Peggy vaguely recognizes asks what Maria is doing there. She lets loose a ball of flame right in front of a Strigoi’s chest and it throws it’s arms back, giving Peggy the opening she’d been struggling to get for the last few minutes. “That!” Peggy yells as she stakes it. She moves on quickly, Maria shadowing her easily. Peggy kicks a Strigoi away from another guardian who had been struggling to take on two at a time and Maria lights a ball of flame to it’s left, causing it to jump out of the way in surprise. It doesn’t give Peggy the perfect opening but she takes it anyways, jamming the stake in awkwardly and forcing her weight into it to compensate for the awkward angle.

The Strigoi falls and Peggy is all but thrown aside by a new Strigoi, the one that had been battling it out with the guardian she kicked its buddy away from. That guardian was now limp on the ground, dead most likely. Peggy doesn’t pay too much attention as she dodges a kick from the Strigoi and gets to her feet faster than the Strigoi probably thought she was capable of. Maria lights it on fire and Peggy sighs, staking it as the Strigoi continues to flame. “Really?” she asks as a new Strigoi sneaks up behind Maria.

She turns with more than enough time and shoots a flame at it and it neatly dodges. It’s been watching, Peggy guesses, and she starts to plan her next move. “Maria Stark,” the Strigoi says, grinning at her, “I knew Howard.”

“Good,” Maria snarls, shooting another flame at it as it moves in to attack her. It flits back with enough grace that Peggy thinks it’s been trained. Certainly wasn’t a Dhampir before turning and it wasn’t tall or thin enough to have been a Moroi. It must have been human when it turned then, a rarity for Strigoi. “When you go to hell tell him I told him to fuck himself,” she says, shooting another flame at it.

It jumps back like it had been the last couple times but it hadn’t seen Peggy lurking in the background so it’s surprised when her stake hits home. “Can you leave the battle banter at home!” Peggy snaps at Maria. People thought Tony was like his father but they didn’t know Maria well enough to know he was like her through and through. He just acted like Howard sometimes.

“He started it,” Maria says in her own defense and Peggy rolls her eyes, moving on to the next Strigoi. They continue like that until Peggy is looking around for the next threat intently, wondering where it was.

“They’re all dead,” a guardian tells her and she looks around again. So they were and so were a few guardians. She feels a sharp pain in her heart but she doesn’t let it affect her thinking. She had no time for that. “Most of those are yours too, and hers,” the guardian tells her, pointing at Maria.

Maria kicks a near by Strigoi, “good,” she snarls. Peggy doesn’t think too much about how Maria had something to prove, how she had only joined in because she felt helpless with Howard and wanted to prove she could kill him over and over again now that she had some training.

“You guys keep this area under control, we’re going back to the main campus,” Peggy tells the guardian and she goes to move off but thinks better of it. “Oh, and grab a Moroi with an affinity for fire. You’ve seen how useful they are,” she tells him and she moves off, Maria on her heels.