Zafona's Notes:
Heya guys! This is the first SCP-Object story that matsu and I started writing about. Matsu wrote the start up story for this SCP universe, it's called To Secure Contain and Protect. It explains what the SCP are and the general foundation of this universe. This one in particular is Avengers. There will be crossovers into the series Supernatural and possibly other things, if we decide to AU the shit out of everything lol
This is an Alternate Universe for every fandom that we use, you don't necessarily need to have seen every show and/or movie used to enjoy it :) The universe is continuous, what happens in this story can and probably will be mentioned later in other stories. If it's titled SCP it's part of this verse ;)
SCP-087
To Secure, Contain, and Protect: The SCP Foundation is an international organization responsible for the safe capture and containment of extra-dimensional, extra-terrestrial, and supernatural entities. The Foundation contains and researches these anomalies for the protection of civilization as we know it. There are three levels of SPC objects, classified based on their potential threat as follows: Safe, Euclid, and Keter. SCP personnel are carefully trained and selected, and submitted to regular and extensive psychological testing.
Item #: SCP-087
Object Class: Euclid
Tony Stark dragged his hands through his hair for the twentieth time in the hour. Of all the cases to be assigned to first, they considered this to be taking it easy? He was stationed at Research Site-23, a facility built around the SCP-087 object. The nature of SCP-087 was such that moving it was an impossibility. As such SCP-087 had been cornered off, a janitorial door consistent with the design of the building serving as its disguise. Tony looked over his assignment again, "It's a stairwell in a university basement. That's it." At face value, that's all it was. The armed guards were a little off-putting, but overall 087 hadn't proven to be all that dangerous.
He went through the assignment again. In total there had been four exploration missions conducted by Dr. Banner and his colleagues. Tony himself had access to three of the exploration logs, what happened to the fourth, he wasn't sure. What the exploration logs did reveal was that while SCP-087 appeared to be nothing more than a bottomless staircase, it did contain specimen SCP-087-1. This specimen had been encountered on every exploration, and was typically the cause of cessation for the mission. Analyses of the video stream from the D-class participants in the stairwell indicate that specimen SCP-087-1 is mobile, as it appeared at different levels in the explorations. It is also known to close in on explorers once seen. The specimen is only described as a humanoid face with no visible pupils, nostrils or mouth.
The origin of SCP-087, like nearly all SCPs, is unknown. It is an unlit platform staircase. Stairs descend 13 steps before reaching a semicircular platform 3 meters in diameter. Descent direction turns 180 degrees on each platform. A light source is required for exploration, as there are no lighting fixtures or windows present. Lighting sources brighter than 75 watts have proven ineffective, the nature of the shadows contained in SCP-087 seem unnatural or supernatural in origin, and dispel any lights of a brighter wattage.
The exploration of SCP-087 had been disbanded after Exploration-IV. Tony found that the data file for this record was redacted, and he lacked the overseer level clearance required to view it. He sighed and closed the folder. He would be meeting with Dr. Banner tomorrow morning at oh-eight-hundred hours to discuss the recommencement of research on specimen SCP-087.
Tony Stark was a new member of the Foundation, and as his first assignment he was tasked with the reboot of SCP-087 at Research Site-23, formerly known as Containment Site-56. He would be assisting Dr. Bruce Banner in the exploration of the stairwell by personally accompanying a small task force into the stairwell, with enough provisions to last them approximately twenty-one days. Tony himself held a Ph.D. in physics and engineering, and would be the specialist on the force. His primary responsibility would be to remain in constant communication with Dr. Banner, and provide sound observations and analyses of incidents incurred in the duration of the exploration. The remaining two spots on the task force were to be filled by one D-class personnel, and one armed SCP personnel with level 3 clearance.
Tony flipped through the folders, grabbing the personnel file for the other two members.
D-Class Personnel: Steve Rogers
Sentence: Life Imprisonment
Every D-Class personnel were selected from condemned inmate populations. The nature of the position was experimental, and many personnel in the past had lost their lives while research was performed on SCPs. Placement in D-Class was usually voluntary, and a deal of some sort was typically struck between the Foundation and the inmate to assure their cooperation. Tony wondered what Steve's deal was. The files never focused on the crime, just the length of imprisonment. Death row inmates were preferred, followed by those sentenced to life. Tony couldn't say that he was thrilled to be working with a D-class personnel, but that wasn't his decision to make. It was highly unusual that a D-class would even come into contact with regular personnel at all, as they were typically greatly restricted in their mobility and interactions.
From what Tony knew, anyone who signed up for the Foundation's D-class had their history more or less erased. They entered service with the intentions of clearing their names, or getting a full pardon. They were housed on Foundation containment Sectors in prison-like dormitories. D-class personnel were prohibited from interacting with other D-classes if they weren't assigned to the same SCP that they were, they had curfews, and were required to submit to polygraph testing daily, and eighteen hundred hours.
That was another one of Tony's duties on the task force: administering the polygraph test to Steve in the stairwell wouldn't be at all feasible, and Tony was responsible for declaring the man reasonably responsible to continue. The rules of the foundation were strict, and if Steve were to ever miss a polygraph test, he would be subject to immediate termination under normal conditions. And termination of D-class personnel was not pretty. Tony shuddered to think that he might be responsible for the death of a teammate, but that's why they were recruited from criminals: they were expendable.
The second task force member was a level 3 clearance SCP personnel by the name of Bucky Barnes. His file was fairly nondescript, a young man of average build, good health, and normal psychological screenings. He was trained in security, and would be armed throughout the duration of their excursion. They were exploring a stairwell- what in the world could have happened on Exploration-IV that they'd need an armed security officer to accompany them? It made Tony a little uncomfortable, but he had known that when he'd joined the Foundation.
Tony closed the files and slumped in his seat, tomorrow would be a long day, and he'd need his rest.
Morning came and almost went. Tony's phone alarm was rendered useless as the phone's audio settings remained on 'vibrate only.' The device crawled slowly across the desk's surface as the first alarm rang, and then the first missed call, and the second, before it fell to its untimely demise. The clatter that erupted as the phone broke apart on the floor woke Tony abruptly. The man sat straight in his chair, his mind whirring to life as he unconsciously wiped the saliva from his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes drifted to the empty space on the desk where his phone should be, and then to the wall clock instead: nine am.
"CRAP!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet and subsequently crushing his phone back underfoot. "Crap, crap, crap!" Tony dropped down and scooped up the pieces of his damaged phone and quickly popped the battery back into its place. While his android rebooted he quickly gathered up the folders and stray files into a neat(ish) pile. He checked the phone's display, just the two missed calls. One was his overseer, and the other was Dr. Banner himself. "I'm so fired," Tony groaned, smacking his phone to his forehead.
He rushed about his study, collecting his clothes and affects and a quick breakfast bar. His jacket was half way over his shoulder with the oatmeal bar protruding from his mouth as he descended the four flights of stairs and hit 'redial.'
"Dr. Stark," the Overseer's bland voice droned over the speaker, "I'm very unimpressed. You were hired by the good word of many of my finest men, and so far I'm not seeing it."
"I'm so sorry," Tony replied around a mouthful of oatmeal, "It was my-"
"I don't want excuses," the Overseer cut him off, "I need you to head over to Area 12's housing level and collect personnel D-09857 from his quarters."
"You mean Rogers?" Tony asked to clarify. If he was late, shouldn't the inmate already be at Banner's lab?
"Who else? Now get going, the override code is 279852. That should give you access to his dorm." The line went dead as soon as Tony confirmed the information.
Tony sped the entire distance between his study and Area 12, the whole trip he concerned himself more with what kind of person this Steve Rogers might be than the mission he was currently late for. He was given the clearance code for the man's dorm, and he wasn't an armed personnel. Tony supposed that the staff put a fair deal of trust in the inmate not to harm anyone. Or it was a test, or maybe Tony would be escorted once he was on the premises. Or it could simply be that the Overseer was using an unofficial punishment tactic for being late on his first mission.
Once he arrived on site at Area 12 Tony realized just how strict the Foundation was with their D-class personnel. Anyone found outside of their quarters wore a mask so they would not recognize any other D-class. There were no common areas, as interaction between D personnel was actively condemned. Tony walked along the neatly labelled halls until he found the dormitory labelled '09857.' He took a deep breath to steady himself, and punched the clearance code into the keypad next to the airlock door.
The door swished open with hardly a sound, granting Tony access to the rooms beyond. There was a small hall with an adjoining closet as an entrance, and beyond that there were the basic amenities: a kitchenette, living room, and bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. Tony let himself in, taking a good look at his surroundings as he went. Tony peered into the living room, looking for signs of occupancy. What he found nearly floored him. The man in the center of the room was in his early to mid twenties and in peak physical condition. He was working on a set of push-ups, and if Tony would have wagered a guess from the numbers mouthed by the man, he was somewhere in the two hundreds. The man was shirtless and perfectly toned, covered in a sheen of sweat as his muscled pulled and flexed, lifting the bulk of his weight over and over again.
Tony cleared his throat to get the man's attention.
Blue eyes shot up to see him, slightly alarmed though that calmed down mostly. It was never good when someone entered your room, especially not when they didn't call into the space to draw you closer. Steve had also immediately noticed the lack of armed guards and told himself that this was the personnel meant to take him on the mission. Steve stopped what he was doing and lifted himself up, grabbing a nearby towel to dry himself off a little, the whole while keeping eye contact with the much smaller man standing before him.
"Hi," Tony said lamely, at a complete loss of words in the face of such physical prowess.
Steve looked the other man over, breaking their gaze to get a better feel for the physical capabilities of his new partner. "Hi." He finally said after looking back to Tony's face, noting the large brown eyes seemed to be nervous as hell. "You're late." He started walking to where his bed and dresser were kept; most of his living area was a wide open space, no sense in wasting materials for a criminal who wouldn't get visitors anyway. "I was starting to think the mission had been cancelled." He was aware that since the head of the mission was present now he didn't have time for a shower. He settled for wetting the towel and quickly wiping up what he thought would be uncomfortable and vying for a layer or two of deodorant.
"Uhh, yeah," Tony tapped the display on his phone, only to realize that the battery had fallen out in his pocket without its backing. "Dammit," he cursed again, "because this crap always happens." He dug around in his pocket and retrieved the battery and rebooted his phone for the second time that morning. "Sorry about that," he muttered quickly, still fussing with his phone. Tony looked up and caught a glimpse of the sculpted man towelling off, and diverted his eyes back to his phone, finally making note of the time: quarter to ten in the morning. He would be over two hours late by the time he made it to Banner's.
Steve Rogers was a very well kept man for a criminal. His body was free of hair other than the obvious combed style on top of his head and the eyebrows on his face. He took care of his body and his living space. Everything was clean, organized and by no means resembled some of the cells the other D-class personnel had. He didn't smell other than the slight musk from working out for the last few hours, and even then it wasn't the kind of thing you have to cover your nose about. He pulled on a white t-shirt that seemed to be a generally D-class shirt, peeling it over his swollen muscles and forcing it down his damp torso.
"You're new, aren't you?" Steve asked after a moment, finding the right pair of pants, ones that were clean and that he hadn't spent the last few hours sweating in. On that thought, he decided to find new underwear as well.
"Relatively new," Tony replied, attempting to be discreet as he chanced a glance or two the other man's way. If all went according to plan, he'd be stuck in a stairwell with this guy for the next three weeks, with time reserved for one-on-one psychological assessments. 'His head isn't what I'd like to get into...' Tony could've slapped himself for thinking it. He was new, as Steve was so kind to point out, and those sorts of thoughts were nothing short of unprofessional.
"Right..." Steve wasn't really sure he cared but making a noise or saying something in general was the polite thing to do. He stripped off his pants and underwear; you learn to have no pride as a D-class man. He grabbed the towel, wetting it again and making sure to quickly wipe the lasting sweat away before pulling the clean garments on, not bothering to look up and check Tony's discomfort. "Anyway, I'm sure you know but I'm Steve Rogers, nice to meet you."
Tony gawked, he couldn't help it. 'Alright, Houston, we have a visual.' Was the entire trip going to be like this? No, of course not –there are no showers in stairwells. Well, that was an unpleasant thought. Three weeks suddenly felt like a long time. "Yes," Tony replied quickly, trying desperately to cover his gawking, and hoping that the larger –much larger- man hadn't noticed. "Yes, I read your file. My name's Tony Stark, it is a pleasure to meet you." Tony extended his hand to shake Steve's.
Steve took it firmly, feeling out the strength of Tony's shake. It was always a minor detail about a person, the way they shook your hand. Was it a challenge, did they try to show you how strong they were, did they not care, was it weak, or was it purposefully weak? There were more questions and the answers each told him something new. Tony's handshake was decidedly pleasant though firm, as in he'd had something to prove at one point but not to Steve. A smile crossed the blonde's face and he nodded, "Alright, Mr. Stark, I suggest we get going."
Before they walked out of the room Steve picked up the mask he was meant to wear, a nearly emotionless thing with eye holes, a curve for his nose and a drawn on mouth, flat and straight across, a little too wide to be normal. The thing originally had been blank with just the eyes but Steve had added little things, the mouth was one, he'd painted realistic eyebrows onto it, aged lines around the eyes and nose. It even had the most realistically painted tear tracks down the cheeks. The face that had been painted onto the mask looked nothing like Steve's; in fact it was far creepier to look at than the other masks anyone else wore. Steve wasn't the only one to decorate his mask but his was the most human looking so far.
Tony regarded the mask for a moment, and felt a chill run down his spine. He was in way over his head. For the Foundation, he could do. For science, he could do. But spending nearly a month in a hole away from all forms of jurisdiction with this behemoth of a man, who for all Tony knew was a serial killer and hot as fuck, he could not do. He remembered in passing that D-class had limited interactions, not with other D-class, and rarely with personnel with level 4 security clearance like Tony. Most often, they were thrown at SCPs. Most often, they died within months of joining the Foundation. Tony wondered how long Steve had been around.
The ride to the site was quiet at best, at least in Steve's case. He wasn't allowed to know the location of SCP-087 and thusly had been blindfolded as soon as he'd stepped outside, the guards waiting out there insisting that they do it because they'd been trained. Steve wanted to crack a joke about how they were trained in the most skilled art of blindfolding but decided to not aggravate anyone on his first trip out in months. He really wanted to see the outdoors but didn't want to risk lifting the cloth and getting shot. So instead he sat quietly listening to the sounds of the car. Tony's car, which seemed odd to Steve, he thought there'd be more people accompanying since this mission required a D-class personnel in the first place.
Tony wanted to say something, to get to know the man a little better before diving off into the great unknown with him. He was going to be responsible for Steve's psych assessments, and he had nothing to go on. No previous assessment had been disclosed to him yet, and he hadn't the faintest of what was normal for the other man. "So, what do you normally think about?" A lame question, but it was as close as Tony could think to get to a personal conversation.
Steve looked up though he couldn't see, a little surprised by the question. He'd never really been asked that, in that way anyway. Tony was new so it could be that he didn't know what he was doing or it could just be that this was how he operated. He'd be administering the psych tests, Steve knew that much, so was it his way of trying to get inside his head? Regardless, Steve didn't see the point in not cooperating. "Family, home, what I want to draw next, when my next SCP visit will be or which one." He shrugged and laid his head back against the soft cushion of the seat's headrest. He licked his lips, pink tongue dragging over the soft flesh to wet them and he laughed bitterly, "Food. I think about food a lot. Most D-class, or me anyway, not sure about the others, get the same portions of food regardless of their body's needs. I'm hungry probably 90% of the time. So food's a big one."
Tony glanced across at the other man, wishing he'd missed that small action of his tongue. He swallowed hard, trying to ignore the extremely unprofessional thoughts lingering in the corners of his mind. "Unfortunately, I don't think our rations will be anything spectacular." Tony chuckled. Steve was blindfolded, and Tony took the opportunity to surprise the man –he wouldn't notice a detour. "What do you usually draw? I didn't know you were allowed hobbies," Tony asked conversationally as he pulled into a diner parking lot.
Steve made a face about the rations but shrugged it off, "Whatever comes to mind, masks I saw, guards I saw, when I go out with people like you I try to remember their faces though I don't always get those right. I draw people I remember, things I remember, events." He paused and wondered why they were no longer moving though figured it was part of the mission.
"Hold that thought, I'll be right back." Tony hopped out of the car, undoubtedly confusing the man in the back seat. He was only faintly aware that he was responsible for Steve's detainment while off Foundation property, but his impression of the man so far was one of cooperation, and not of a hostile inmate, and the responsibility slipped his mind.
The blonde fidgeted a little, very slight and almost unnoticeable but still there. He nodded and tapped his fingers along his knee, his mind racing with what this could possibly be. What he did notice was the smell of food on the breeze as Tony had hopped out the door. His stomach grumbled and his mouth watered at the smell, a soft whine escaping him as he wished he could find the source of the smell. Tony was probably grabbing breakfast; he'd gotten up late after all.
Tony returned in a few short minutes and opened Steve's passenger door. He pulled Steve's blindfold off and held out a brown paper bag for the man, "Two double bacon cheese burgers and a larger fry." Tony smiled broadly. He didn't know why he did it, but it seemed necessary to him to get it. After all, Steve may very well die on this mission.
Those blue eyes were huge when the blindfold came off, the man half expecting to see a rifle next. D-class personnel were supposed to remain blindfolded until they reached the site, they weren't allowed to know where it was, the removal of the blindfold usually meant termination. Steve's heart raced for a moment but Tony's words registered in his head and he shakily took the bag from him. "Thank you," he sat back with the meal and knew he should say more but he was too busy digging in to really say anything else aside from a possible choke as he ate too fast.
Dr. Banner was waiting at Site-23, standing outside of it with his equipment, ready to hand it over to the man in charge of the action team. He gave Tony a tired smile when he saw him, "Dr. Stark," he reached forward to shake the man's hand.
"Dr. Banner," Tony shook his fellow scientist's hand, "I'm so sorry about the time, I was up late looking over the personnel files and the previous Exploration records. I must've gotten carried away." Tony quickly collected the electronic equipment pieces he'd be carrying, leaving the heavier bags of rations and supplies for the other two personnel.
"It's alright," Bruce smiled at him, "I'm not as difficult to deal with as some." He then moved to Steve as the man removed his blindfold, with permission of course, replacing it with the mask from before. "Mr. Rogers," He reached to shake Steve's then, surprising the larger man but Steve returned it anyway.
"Dr. Banner."
"Right, well now that you're here, your armed escort has been waiting a while." Bruce motioned toward the man known as Bucky Barnes. "Mr. Barnes, your team has arrived."
Bucky pushed himself off the side of his jeep from his relaxed position, "About damn time." He held a toothpick between his lips and shifted it over from one side of his mouth to the other as he spoke. He was a young man of around 25, taller and well built, a good physique for a runner. "Sgt. Bucky Barnes, nice to finally meet you Dr. Stark, Mr. Rogers," Mask or no mask, Bucky had read the objectives, read the name, and he would never mistake those blue eyes. When Bucky moved to shake Steve's hand he exchanged a quick glance with the man, and a hushed 'shh', an action that went unnoticed by the scientists reviewing their equipment and procedures.
Steve's heart pounded as he shook the man's hand, so glad that he'd put the mask back on because the recognition would have been so obvious. He did his best to keep his eyes as neutral as possible though those had always been the most expressive part of him. He couldn't help as they watered slightly; the sight of Bucky Barnes was almost more than he could handle at that moment. "Nice to meet you too." He said in a steady monotone, keeping up with the charade.
Bruce in the meantime handed Tony the things he might need, all the equipment was top of the line and tested so nothing should go wrong, or so that's how they perceived it. "You're fairly late so I apologize, you'll need to head in pretty soon. I hope you've prepared yourself."
"Right, right, absolutely," Tony quickly took stock of the testing equipment. "I trust this all works, it's the best of the best so we shouldn't need to test it. And I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Tony felt a little bad for being late –he had wanted to discuss the previous explorations with Dr. Banner before going in, find out just what was in Exploration-IV and why it cancelled the investigation until now. No point mourning lost time. "Steve! Bucky! Grab these supplies, we're going in."
"Sir, yes sir," Bucky drawled sarcastically. He gave Steve a quick elbow jab to the side before heading over to collect his share of the load.
Steve hefted his portion and followed suit, wondering partially when he should take the mask off. 'Inside I'd bet.' He answered his own question, remaining silent in his steps behind Bucky.
Tony checked over the more basic equipment again, he had a 75 watt flood lamp with a 24 hour battery life and extras batteries in one of the bags. He was also given a handheld camcorder fitted with a transmission stream and an audio headset for communication with Dr. Banner in the control room. Bucky was to take point, armed and a good shot. Tony's position was second in line, which allowed him to keep safe and still have a good vantage point to see past Bucky and relay the information to Dr. Banner. Steve was stationed in the back. The task force took their first steps into the stairwell, onto the top platform.
"Shit, this is dark," Bucky commented, trying to peer down the staircase. Only 9 steps down were visible, even with the aid of the flood lamp, and he couldn't see the next platform.
The blonde pulled off his mask and tucked it away in one of the bags, leaning over to peer down. "It really is..."
Bucky spared a glance Steve's way, trying to appear as though this was his first impression of the blonde haired man. It had been years since he'd seen Steve, and his time in prison and with the Foundation had worked wondrous changes in his friend. Bucky only hoped that Steve hadn't changed too much on the inside.
Tony nodded his agreement, a nervous churning in his gut made him feel a little queasy, "Dr. Banner, are the comms working?"
Bruce smiled and in the friendliest tone answered, "Yes they are, Mr. Stark. We had time to double and triple check the equipment this morning, nothing should go wrong with it."
"Good. I have a quick question, how far do you think this will transmit? If we're heading down stairs for ten days straight without a relay, won't we lose contact?" Tony hadn't considered it before now, before staring down into this dark abyss. SCP-087 wasn't even an average stairwell –it was extra dimensional. They were fortunate that their headsets even worked in there at all.
"There's no telling how far the transmission will reach, but you should be prepared in the case of a communications blackout." Banner replied just as calmly, he really was a great person to have on the other line.
"Understood," Tony looked at Steve and Bucky, feeling mildly self conscious and very small for a moment, "Shall we?" The team descended the first flight of stairs -13 steps in total.
"Well that's not foreboding," said Bucky once he reached the landing. "13, and I didn't think SCPs were suspicious."
"They're not," Tony commented absently, "we are." He took a quick scan of the area and relayed what he saw to Dr. Banner over the headset, "It's a semicircular platform. It looks to be made of concrete, with no distinct markings. It matches the descriptions found in the first Exploration file."
"Understood, carry on." Bruce's voice was still clear as a bell.
"It's superstitious." Steve said after the communication was over, "SCPs or people or otherwise, the world you're looking for is superstitious."
Bucky shot Steve a humorous but flat expression, "Thanks for that professor."
Steve returned the look with a wide smile and lifted his eyebrow as if to say 'I win'.