Whumptober Day 4 - Human Shield

Whumptober day 4 - Human Shield

My fourth fill for @whumptober2019​, where I decided to go the soft route. Also available on Ao3.

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It was unfair, Tony thought, how quickly the weather could turn.

When he'd left the Tower, it might have been somewhat cold, but the sun had been shining with few clouds in the sky. Now, not even two hours later, it was pouring. He honestly wouldn't even be surprised if it started hailing in a bit, considering how cold the rain already was.

On the bright side, at least he'd managed to find himself some cover so he wouldn't get soaked. On the not-so-bright side, he had no idea when it would stop raining. From the way the clouds looked, huge and heavy and dark, dark grey, he'd guess it could take a while.

Before he could start thinking of ways to get back to the Tower that would keep him as dry as possible, he frowned. Was that a sound?

Now that he was focusing on it, it became clearer. It sounded like whimpering of some sort, a soft squeaking sound that actually worried him.

Leaving the dubious safety of his shelter, he slowly approached. It didn't take long for his clothes to be soaked through, not with how hard it was raining, but he hardly felt it through his focus.

The sound wasn't loud, and the rain falling almost masked it completely, but now that he'd heard it, Tony could distinguish it easily. It seemed to come from a small nook between buildings, not even big enough to be called an alley.

At first, it looked like a trash bag. And, to be fair, it kept looking like a trash bag. Except the trash bag was moving slightly, and whining.

"Oh no," he whispered, approaching it hesitantly. The whimpering was a somewhat good sign, he supposed, but...

When he gently pulled at it, trying to see how to get the animal out of there safely, it just about fell off, revealing one tiny, muddy canine that he hoped was a regular dog puppy and not something more feral. "Oh, sweetheart," he muttered. The thing was clearly too young to be on its own, eyes not even opened yet, and he knew he had to get it out of the cold immediately if he wanted it to have any chance of surviving.

It was far too cold to the touch, and Tony quickly unzipped his jacket. Hopefully, his own body heat would be able to help a little, until he could truly warm it up.

Hunching over the poor creature to keep it safe from the icy rain, he set a steady pace towards the Tower, not even paying all that much attention to the weather anymore. He was already soaked through anyway - the best thing to do would be to get back as quickly as possible so he could warm the both of them up over there.

There was hardly anyone on the streets - even the people who had remembered to bring umbrellas were mostly sheltering instead of trying to brave the winds.

Tony cursed softly. The rain had been bad enough, and every drop already felt like a rock hitting him due to how cold he was, but he could see how the rain was slowly shifting into hail. The creature in his arms couldn’t wait until it stopped, though. Even with Tony using his body to both warm it up and protect it from getting even more soaked, he could feel how weak its struggles were getting, hear the way it whimpered softly.

Finally, he could see the Tower in the distance. “Only a little further, sweetheart,” he assured the (hopefully) dog in his arms. “Only a little longer and we’ll get you warm and fed.”

As soon as he made it into the lobby, he addressed one of JARVIS’ sensors. “J, start up a warm bath on my floor, and we need some very urgent supplies for a very young puppy - or at least, that’s what I think it is.”

“Yes, Sir,” JARVIS agreed immediately, voice following him as he quickly stepped into the elevator.

He was dripping all over the floor, and despite the fact that the Tower was significantly warmer than it had been outside, he still felt like he was freezing. Unfortunately, so did the puppy.

When he got to his own floor, he wasn’t entirely surprised to see that Bucky was there, looking concerned. “JARVIS said you were back,” he explained his presence. “Damn, doll, you look like you’re freezing.”

“Feel that way, too,” he admitted. “But I couldn’t wait out the weather.”

“I’d have come to pick you up, you know?”

“Roads were too congested - everyone’s taking a car right now. And I had to get this little one somewhere safe and warm, quickly.”

Apparently, JARVIS hadn’t informed Bucky of Tony’s recent find, and when he opened up his jacket to reveal the tiny animal, Bucky looked absolutely stunned. “Is that a puppy?” he asked, voice almost reverent.

“Found it near where I was sheltering, in a trash bag,” he explained, grimacing. As the two of them were speaking, he kept moving to the bathroom. Not only was he more likely to get ill the longer he stayed in his soaking clothes, but the animal really needed to warm up quickly.

While he would usually prefer a shower over a bath, he hoped this would make it easier to get the animal clean and back to a better temperature.

“I have taken the liberty of alerting a veterinarian, who will also bring the supplies for your find,” JARVIS informed him.

“Good job, J.” Tony started to take off his clothes, only to find that it was quite difficult to do so with only one arm available. Still, he didn’t want to set the puppy down.

Of course, he wasn’t alone anymore. “Here, doll, let me help,” Bucky offered, holding out his arms. Considering he ran at a higher temperature than normal humans, Tony hoped it would help warm the creature up.

Quickly divesting himself of his clothes, he sat down in the bathtub. It wasn’t quite the high temperature he usually preferred, but he guessed JARVIS had done that on purpose - even now, it felt like thousands of pinpricks on his chilled skin. He didn’t have too much time to worry about it, though, instead turning back to Bucky and holding out his own arms.

“I’ll go make sure to get some towels warmed up,” Bucky offered, blushing when Tony smiled at him with infinite gratitude.

“You’re amazing, Snowflake,” he softly told his boyfriend.

With an adoring smile, Bucky leaned down to give him a brief kiss. “So are you, doll. A real hero,” he only half-joked. “Wish I could stay, but I better make sure you and your rescue can get warmed up quickly.” Then, he headed off, grabbing four towels to throw into the dryer so they would be warm when Tony got out of the bath.

Ever-so-gently, he washed the mud off the puppy, revealing snow-white fur. Fortunately it had been warmed up by his own body heat, so it didn’t seem to mind the water as much as Tony had. “There you go, sweetheart,” he told it softly. The whining had grown less, though he knew it was probably hungry. Who knew how long it had been out there before he’d found it?

Despite the fact that it was probably starving and feeling completely awful, it lied trustingly in Tony’s hand, and he could feel himself falling in love.

When Bucky came back, carrying the warm towels, he smiled when he saw the look on Tony’s face. “So… We’re keeping it, aren’t we?” His voice was soft and utterly non-judgmental, and from the look in his eyes, Tony guessed he didn’t mind at all.

He looked back down at the tiny animal, now wrapped in one of the warm towels and squeaking softly. “Yeah… Yeah, I think we are.”

Whumptober day 8 - Stab Wound

My eight fill for @whumptober2019​, where Bucky is a doctor and Tony is a little less rich and famous. Also available on Ao3.

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By now, Bucky had been a doctor for a while, and he had plenty of experience being professional.

Which didn't explain the instant rush of attraction he felt when he saw his newest patient. True, Bucky was pansexual. Also true, his patient was undeniably gorgeous. But there were boundaries, and he’d never once had a problem with them.

Until Anthony Stark was brought in on a stretcher, bleeding from a stab wound to his arm and still looking bright and lively.

Just as quickly as his feelings appeared, they were crushed when he was immediately followed in by a beautiful redhead that was obviously beyond worried about him. The brief hope of the slightest family resemblance was quickly dashed, and the way the two of them spoke to one another made their mutual fondness more than clear.

“I’m just saying it won’t take more than a few stitches,” Mr. Stark was saying, smiling reassuringly at his companion.

“And I’m saying you’re staying here until they say you’re safe to go and not a moment sooner,” she replied instantly, looking sternly down at him. Then, her attention turned to Bucky. “You’ll take good care of him, won’t you?”

Pushing his personal issues aside, Bucky nodded at her, trying for his best and most professional smile. “Certainly ma’am. I’m Dr. Barnes, and I’ll be taking care of Mr. Stark for the evening.”

“Good luck on that,” she told him wryly, casting an amused look at the man in question. “He’s never liked hospitals.”

“He’s right here, thank you very much,” he huffed, eyes narrowed. Bucky wanted to smack himself when the phrase ‘offended kitten’ popped into his head. He was a professional.

“Of course, Mr. Stark,” he nodded. The full force of his patient’s eyes hit him, and it took everything he had to pretend to be unaffected. “Let’s have a look, shall we? See if we need to send this through to our radiology department to see if anything vital was hit, or if you were right and a couple of stitches will do the trick.”

“I swear, I could’ve just gone home and put a band-aid on it,” Mr. Stark shrugged.

Bucky wasn’t too surprised to see his partner puff up with anger. “You got stabbed, Tony,” she hissed. “That requires a little more than a band-aid.”

“It was a light stabbing?” he tried, wilting a little in the face of her obvious rage.

Telling a woman she sounded like a balloon furiously deflating was likely to get him killed, which was why Bucky made a note to himself never to mention the thought crossing his mind in that moment. “I am going to get myself something to drink, and you are going to let this nice doctor take care of you, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear,” was the immediate reply. Despite his laconic treatment of his wound, Mr. Stark was clearly not foolish enough to treat his partner the same way.

“Honestly,” she muttered, stalking out on heels so high Bucky rather worried about her ankles.

“Sorry about that,” Mr. Stark spoke up once she was far enough away that she couldn’t hear him. “I tried telling her it wasn’t so bad, but she insisted on coming to the hospital.”

“How about you let me be the judge of that, huh?” Bucky said with a grin he only partially had to force as he turned his attention to the wound. As much as he was disappointed that nothing could come of his feelings, the byplay of the two of them arguing couldn’t help but amuse him. (And if he kind of wanted to banter with Mr. Stark the same way, well, that was really not something he should be thinking about.)

Only a few minutes ago, Bucky had mused over the way Mr. Stark’s attention had just about stunned him. It had nothing on the grin now on that gorgeous face, however, or the way his brown eyes seemed to glow with an inner light. “I suppose you did study for this,” the man joked.

“Years,” he managed to joke back in return. “Multiple years of blood, sweat, tears and study debt to tell you that you need a little more than a band-aid for this.”

“Aww,” he pouted, and that shouldn’t be so attractive on a full-grown man. “Only a little though, right?”

He shouldn’t be flirting with a taken man, Bucky knew, but it was hard to resist when the taken man was this attractive. “So eager to get out of here, Mr. Stark?”

“Like Pepper said - I’m not too fond of hospitals,” he admitted with a half-shrug. Then, he grinned at Bucky again, making his heart rate go up a little more than was entirely comfortable. “Though if all doctors were this handsome, they wouldn’t be half as bad.”

And that was outright flirting, wasn’t it? Except he should be with the woman he came in with - Pepper, he’d called her. Which meant he shouldn’t be flirting with Bucky, and if he did, he was not the kind of guy Bucky should want to be flirting with.

Some of his thought process must’ve shown on his face, because Mr. Stark grimaced. “Sorry, I’ve been told I can be too much. Don’t mind me, just… thought you seemed interested, no biggie if you’re not. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he rambled, seeming dejected more than anything.

Really, Bucky should just finish doing his job and let it go. But he found he couldn’t. “It’s not that… I just thought that you and your companion were…”

“Oh.” Brown eyes opened wide in realization. “You thought Pepper and I are… No, no, we’re friends, and colleagues, but we’re not together,” he explained, and it was odd how utterly relieved Bucky felt at that.

And while he still had some stitches to do, once Tony Stark wasn’t his patient anymore… Well, he’d be free to ask him out then, wasn’t he? “Well then, I am afraid I do have to inform you that a relationship between a doctor and his patient is not allowed,” Bucky told him, continuing immediately when he noticed a faint hint of sadness on his face. “After those stitches are in, though…”

The smile he got in return made him worry he’d need a doctor of his own if he were to start a relationship with Tony Stark.

He thought that would be worth it, though.

I'm gonna need about 10000 more words of the unconscious fill. Like.. what the hell happens when Bucky wakes up?

Thank you so much for your message! I’m really glad to hear that you liked it ^_^

As for what happens, well… Bucky is Not Amused. Tony needed him, and he couldn’t be there for him like he’d promised because they’d made him unable to? Yeah, he gets rather pissed off. And maybe Natasha isn’t the only one off to decimate them (because Clint has hot chocolate, and Pepper and Rhodey have companionship, and Bucky really doesn’t need all that long to wreak utter destruction upon those that have angered him).

Edit: might add on more later, not sure yet though. Though clearly Bucky’s reaction is something that would be a good addition ^_^

I got interviewed by The Daily Fandom about my fandom experience!! It was an amazing experience, and I hope it might be able to help some others, in whatever way <3

We talked to Eirlyssa, a fanfiction writer and author, about their process, their love of FFs and fandom, and how they deal with backlash. #behindtheminds #eirlyssa #fanfic #fanfiction #winteriron https://thedailyfandom.com/behind-the-minds-of-fanfiction-writers-interview-with-eirlyssa/?feed_id=22329

Whumptober day 13 - Adrenaline

My thirteenth fill for @whumptober2019​. A short one this time, but hopefully still enjoyable. It’s also available on Ao3.

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Living with the Avengers was honestly going to kill him one day. His heart was not gonna be able to take the constant adrenaline rush from various causes and just beat straight out of his chest.

Both Natasha and Clint were assassins, and often moved too quietly for Tony to hear them coming, meaning they’d just about given him heart attacks by sneaking up on him. He wanted to think it was accidental, but he wasn’t sure there was a lot about that that they did accidentally, and he hadn’t missed their playful smirks.

Then there was Thor, who had no concept of an indoor voice (or, alternately, pretended not to). Which meant that Tony could be going about his life peacefully, only to be startled into a heart attack by the so-called God of Thunder suddenly and very loudly threatening the toaster with dismemberment for somehow toasting his beloved pop-tarts wrong.

Bruce was peaceful overall, and not much given to excitement. Hulk was more so, but Tony had to admit he didn’t share the others’ hesitance when it came to Big Green. No, Bruce was more likely to kill him with exciting science, the thrill of a new breakthrough enough to make Tony’s heart beat faster every time.

In theory, Steve shouldn’t have been a problem. Now that they’d stopped arguing, conversations were far easier, more amicable and less stressful. It was Howard’s fault, really, the way Tony kept wanting to prove himself, to be good enough in front of Steve somehow, even though he knew the man himself was probably unaware of Tony’s issues.

So yeah, they were likely to end up killing him one day, and he’d already made note with JARVIS that he wanted it on his gravestone that it was all their fault, preferably in a witty matter. ‘I told you I had heart problems’ was currently his first choice.

But as he looked around at where they were all gathered in front of the television, trying to get the most correct answers on the quiz, he had to admit it was more than worth it.

Whumptober day 14 - Tear-stained

My fourteenth fill for @whumptober2019​. It’s another WinterIron AU, this time one where they are younger. Be careful though, there’s some mentions of Howard being an abusive parent. It’s also available on Ao3 if you prefer that.

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The first thing he noticed was that Tony had been crying. His eyes were red-rimmed and his cheeks were still wet. Not to mention that his lips were all nearly bitten through, which was one of Tony's unfortunate tendencies when he was feeling bad.

The second thing, and that really pissed Bucky off, was the bruise that was starting to grow on Tony's cheek.

Part of him wanted to snarl, wanted to insist Tony tell him what had happened and who had done this so he could destroy them. But he knew that wasn't what Tony needed right now, and it wasn't like he couldn't guess who'd hit him.

"C'mon in," he told his boyfriend as calmly as he could, stepping back. He knew Tony had probably noticed his barely contained rage, but there was only so much he could do.

"Thanks," Tony mumbled, head held down as he entered Bucky's apartment.

Wordlessly, Bucky headed to the freezer and grabbed one of the cold packs he sometimes used after boxing. He hoped it'd help with the physical pain at least.

Then he grabbed one of his softest blankets and sat down next to his boyfriend, wrapping the both of them up.

With a soft whine that always made Bucky want to take on the world if it meant no one else would ever be able to hurt him, Tony curled trustingly into him.

For a few minutes, the two of them just breathed together.

Bucky could feel the exact moment Tony's tears started up again, his chest slowly getting wet as Tony's breathing became quicker, interspersed with the occasional hiccup. "I just don't get it," he whimpered, sounding absolutely desolate. "He wants me to build weapons, and they have to be great. But then I do and he hates it. And I just..."

"It's not fair," Bucky agreed, stroking Tony's hair the way he knew would soothe him. "He's not fair."

Of course, he could guess exactly what Howard's problem was. He demanded that Tony be good enough, and smart enough, and worthy enough to be his son and heir. But on the other hand, Tony was all of that and far more, and the man couldn't stand knowing how much better than him Tony was.

And in the end, Tony was the one suffering for it.

As much as he wished there was something he could do, Bucky knew there wasn’t a thing he could do. Not against Howard Stark, of all people. Nothing legal, at least. So instead all he could do was sit on his couch, holding his boyfriend as he cried and hoping it would help him feel at least a little bit better.

Finally, Tony’s breathing started to ease up again. His breaths still hitched every once in a while, but he had relaxed some. “Thank you,” he sighed, hoarse.

“Anytime, doll,” Bucky reassured him. “Wish it wasn’t necessary, but I’ll always be there for you if you need me.”

When Tony raised his head to smile at him, Bucky noticed that the bruise had become even clearer. The cold pack did seem to have helped with the swelling, though. And despite the puffy eyes and the red nose and the bruise on his cheek, he was still the most gorgeous person Bucky had ever seen.

“I love you,” Tony admitted quietly, eyes soft as he looked up at Bucky and a faint smile on his face.

“And I love you, doll.” As gently as possible, Bucky stroked a hand over Tony’s injured cheek, pressing his lips against the bruise tenderly. “So very much. I wish I could take you away from all of this, keep you safe…”

“You do,” Tony insisted. “I’m so much safer with you.”

“Except when you have to go back.” Most of the time, Tony’s parents didn’t care where he was, so Tony spent most of his time at Bucky’s apartment. It kept him out of the way of most of the incidental violence, and the moments where Howard was drunk and looking for someone to help get rid of his frustration.

It was moments like tonight, where Howard demanded Tony’s presence and proof of an invention, that he simply couldn’t do a thing against.

After all of the stories Tony had told him of people trying to arrange for intervention of some kind, after which they disappeared from his life and nothing ever happened, Bucky knew better than to try. At least this way, he could be there for all of the other moments.

He didn’t like wishing that someone would die, but when it came to Howard? He couldn’t even feel guilty.

In his arms, Tony yawned.

“How about we go to bed?” he suggested.

“Yeah, that… that sounds lovely,” Tony agreed. Now that he was cried out and the emotions had faded a little, the exhaustion hit twice as hard. It was something Bucky was familiar with as well. He just hoped Tony would be able to sleep without his bruise bothering him too much, let alone nightmares.

Considering the exhaustion, they both made quick work of preparing for bed. The only thing Bucky did take time for was to gently rub a bruise cream on Tony’s cheek - the good it would do, both for the pain and for the healing, was worth the extra time investment.

Then they were in bed together, Tony curled up tightly in Bucky’s arms like he preferred. And like Bucky preferred, too, if he had to be honest. This way, he felt like he could keep Tony safe from everything that would try to hurt him, keep him sheltered and protected.

Tension he hadn’t even been aware of disappeared as he felt the way Tony snuggled into his arms, warm and trusting. He honestly wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.

“I love you, sweetheart,” he whispered into Tony’s hair, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“And I love you, so much,” Tony muttered into his chest. “So much.” Bucky could feel the way Tony pressed a kiss of his own over his heart, and warmth filled him.

Forever.