Many thanks to my loyal reviewer, Kae Richa! Yep, you're in the thank you notes. Who else would be? :P I fully support the idea of watching Pacific Rim over Memorial Day weekend. I have a viewing every Independence Day, myself. Hopefully you liked the movie and it helped you to better get what was going on here. A lot of information also comes from the wiki, though I'm playing hard and fast with the timeline.

Chapter 7: eHarmony's Got Nothing On This

"Get busy living or get busy dying."

― Stephen King, Different Seasons

It was only after the repaired machinery was thoroughly tested for safety and extra surge protection built in that compatibility assessments restarted. There was a distinct lack of any Avengers for the first few rounds. Not that they were complaining.

When one of them finally was tested, it was Clint. The whole base seemed to hold its breath while he and Concepcion were tested. When they both came out of it undamaged, the tension snapped and it was almost normal again. Though Concepcion was exceedingly wary of Nat and Clint for a while, with every right to be.

Several matches were made outside of the Avengers, mostly cousins and siblings. Some were long term friends. There was a married couple who were paired up and deliriously happy about it.

The next time an Avenger was tested for compatibility, it was Nat and the woman she was paired with was carted off a blubbering wreck. After that, even Steve felt a little wary of the assassin. What could she have possibly experienced that was bad enough to drive a woman crazy?

Possibly the only good thing to come out of that incident was the idea for Nat and Clint to be paired up. They came out triumphant. "Sad to say, I'm off the market," the archer announced when they reappeared afterward.

Steve thought it was ridiculous that it took the scientists this long to try it.

A third recruit was wheeled away on a gurney after Tony's first try. "Didn't have the processing power," the genius said about the man, with a guilty little smile as he tapped his temple.

"I know how you feel," Steve told him sympathetically. Taffy's fate was still heavy on his heart.

It was like a lightbulb went off in Tony's head. The same look as he had after Coulson's death flashed across his face as he barged back into the lab without fanfare.

When Steve looked at Nat, her head was tilted to the side in consideration. "I can see it," she commented randomly.

Tony's head peeked out the door. "Come on, Spangles. Looks like we finally get to duke it out," he joked, though the look in his eyes was serious.

Suddenly, Steve knew what was going on. "No way," he protested, alarms ringing in his head, "I won't do it. I won't let you-" He was cut off by the irritated, elated genius.

"We're the best possible match for each other," Tony interrupted, "and they learned from what happened last week. The second one of us, probably you, shows distress, they're shutting it down." He grinned recklessly. "Come on Cap, live a little," he urged.

It was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Steve re-entered the lab anyways and took a seat on the right hand chair. Out of the corner he watched Tony settle into the left side, jealous of the calm the other man displayed.

"Due to both of your mental volatility, the moment we see any sign of distress in either of you, we're going to pull the plug," the head scientist, who it turns out was Dr Lightcap herself, told them firmly, "We've explicit instructions detailing a list of unpleasant things that'll be done to us if either of you are irreparably damaged that we have every wish to avoid. Are you ready?" She looked at them warily and excitedly.

"Absolutely," Tony answered with a confident smirk.

"Yes, ma'am," Steve answered more reluctantly.

"Five, four, three, two, one," another scientist counted down.

Memories rushed by and everything took the now familiar blue hue of the drift. In silence Steve watched his younger self pull himself through life by the fingernails, and got glimpses of Tony turning into the genius he was today. Fear pulled at the super soldier but he kept a tight lid on it.

Warm compassion seemed to wrap around him, a sweater on a cool night.

Project Rebirth came and went, but there was no reaction. Only the emotions changed, shock and anger and wonder as Dr Erskine was murdered and the villain apprehended.

Tony's time in Afghanistan was horrifying. This time it was Steve sending out waves of sympathy, sharing his own experiences soon after as he remembered first losing Bucky and then being encased in ice for seventy years.

As they adjusted to being in mental contact they instinctively began to share and prod at memories, controlling the flow rather than letting them pass by. When an unusually powerful memory would come up, like Stane's betrayal or Tony falling from that portal, the less affected of the two would gently coax the other into a less potent memory. When Steve found himself waking up in a tank of water that he could somehow breathe and panicking because he thought he was in the ice again, Tony led him to a memory of cave diving in the Maldives. An errant memory of the blackness of space was replaced with Steve and Bucky stargazing and making stupid plans to take over the world.

Though it seemed like their entire lives had passed again, it could only have been seconds.

Steve's eyes popped open and he smiled. Instead of just seeing his own overwhelming perceptions, he also saw the equations that Tony thought in. Angles and numbers littered every surface of the room, with or without words describing any other thoughts the genius had. And there were a lot of those. The speed of the other man's thoughts was astounding, the depth awe-inspiring.

Smug pride tickled at the captain from the other side of the neural bridge. Of course Tony was impressive. That is the basic unit of genius, you know.

"Mr Stark?" Even though Dr Lightcap was calling Tony, Steve tilted his head toward her as well.

"You rang, Doctor?" Tony replied once he got his words back.

"How are you feeling?" Dr Lightcap asked, concerned.

The reply came after an errant, flirtatious grin in Steve's direction. "A little surprised, very much like rubbing this in Spangles's face over there."

A blush took over Steve's face even as he insisted that his previous worry was valid.

Mischievously, Tony sent a mental image to the soldier.

And Steve thought his face could get no more red. He managed somehow, when he realized that all the times he had pleasured himself to thoughts of Tony were on full display. The subject of all his fantasies, dirty and otherwise, was able to see them all. Steve wanted to crawl into a hole and light himself on fire.

A wave of heat from Tony took him by surprise. Oh. Oh!

Well that worry was all for nothing, Steve realized. He couldn't help the goofy grin that split his face even as Dr Lightcap asked if he was alright. "Yes, yes, just, uh, memories," he fibbed.

Teasing shock came his way. Captain America just told a lie!

A concept of Tony's lips getting zipped shut was sent back.

"I think we've found a pair," Dr Lightcap said with obvious delight and a look over the chairs at the other scientists.

"I don't think I've ever seen so strong of a mental link," one said, awe in her voice.

"Not even Romanoff and Barton," another added.

"You can shut it down safely though," Dr Lightcap requested.

There was an affirmative response. "Disconnection in five, four…"

Before it happened, Steve reached out and gave the mental equivalent of a touch to the face.

In response, he got what felt like a squeeze of his hand.

Being alone in his mind felt foreign. Steve reeled, overwhelmed by the cold loneliness after having such a bright presence with him.

There was a hint of shock, but it faded fast.

"Everything alright, boys?" Dr Lightcap asked, visually examining them as she noted things down on a clipboard.

Steve nodded. "Life feels a little fast now," he admitted. How he had gotten used to the speed of Tony's mind so quickly, he wasn't sure.

"Everything seems a little dimmer and fuzzier, but I'm getting used to it again," Tony agreed.

"Could you both explain?" Dr Lightcap requested.

Immediately Tony began talking. "It was like we were both perceiving things, but only the best data was being used and the rest was going in the recycle bin," he explained, "So it was mainly Dorito's senses being used, and his are superpowered, so using my own again make me feel like I'm wrapped up in cotton wool. I can assume that things feel fast to him because I process faster, so it's like a permanent adrenaline rush in terms of perception." Of course, he would turn it into a roundabout self compliment.

From the noises Dr Lightcap made as she jotted it all down, it made sense to her. "Alright, I think we're done with you in here," she told them with a bright smile, "You should go to medical, just in case we didn't catch something." She released them from the electronics and then went back to convene with the other scientists.

"Dorito?" Steve asked as he pushed himself to his feet. He had to steady himself on the chair, but the lightheadedness faded fast.

"Well yeah. You saw the internet memes back home, right?" Tony answered with an exhilarated laugh. He too reeled, getting used to having a body again, but recovered quickly.

Still nervous, Steve offered a hand. It was his first time showing affection for another man openly and still felt like a delicious risk.

With a big grin, Tony took it. His hand was cool and calloused and everything Steve ever hoped for.

They walked out the door like that, hand in hand.

The moment the remaining group saw them, there was a chorus of cheers. Concepcion launched herself at them with a squeal, while the rest patted backs. In a corner, Clint collected money from dejected classmates with a cackle.

"Betting on us, really?" Steve asked, more amused than irritated. That would probably come later. It was impossible to be anything other than elated right now.

"Of course," Clint called as he counted his winnings, "How could I pass up easy money?"

With a mischievous little smile Nat added, "Most of it was riding on who would get brain damaged. I think most of the money was on Steve because of your twisted mind, Tony." The gleam in her pale green eyes was teasing.

The men traded looks and Tony gave the lot of them an unimpressed sniff.

To get him to smile, Steve sang out, "I'm not that innocent."

It worked. They walked to the medical bay with Tony laughing himself to tears and left even Nat shell shocked behind them.

The tests were negative for brain damage and any other kind of injury beyond slight shock. "With how intense Dr Lightcap said your connection was, that's normal," the doctor assured them cheerfully, "I'm completely comfortable discharging you with perfect health." He signed their forms and sent them to the dorm to rest for the day.

Of course, Steve eventually got on the other Avengers' asses about placing bets on such a serious thing. Not so shocked, he included Tony in that berating after he found the man collecting a huge pile of cash.

The innocent smile he got in return was unconvincing. "But we need the money," Tony reasoned.

When he remembered their chat and near kiss on the road, Steve left it well enough alone. There were different ways of dealing with changes and Tony's seemed to be finding new ways of providing for 'his' people.

It made his chest flutter to be one of those.

After that, training only got tougher. Of those who started out, only Concepcion was left who the Avengers were very good friends with. When half the remaining class was cut after simulator failures, they closed ranks and became almost family. Even Bryan.

The training types were combined into a real battle simulation and somehow, some way, Steve and Tony conquered faster than ever before. With Steve's tactical mind and Tony's instinct for the unexpected, as well as Steve's enhanced senses and Tony's knowledge of physics, they made a formidable fighting force.

Nat and Clint had always seemed to share a brain, but when they were rigged up to the machine they were one in a way Steve hadn't previously thought possible. While in the sim, and later the jaeger, Tony jokingly called them Clintasha.

In return, Clint came up with the moniker 'Stony' and everyone else took it up faster than Steve or Tony could stop it.

It probably had to do with them being a team even before academy, Steve thought as they sat through a performance review near the end of the third semester. They were used to functioning as a unit and accounting for each other's strengths and weaknesses. The shock with which the higher ups reacted to their teamwork was immensely satisfying.

There were a few more cuts during the combined sim training, leaving only ten pilot pairs to finish the academy. That included Concepcion and Bryan; Clint and Natasha; and Steve and Tony.