Whumptober Day 15 - Scars

Whumptober day 15 - Scars

My fifteenth fill for @whumptober2019​, involving the Avengers acting as a (dysfunctional) family and having a game night like no other. Also available on Ao3.

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It happened because of Bucky, to be honest. Bucky, his laundry list of issues, and his insecurities about his arm and (possibly even more so) the scarring around his shoulder.

His knock-off serum had taken care of all of his other scars, but this one was so bad, as well as constantly agitated by the metal arm, that it simply didn't heal. And it had become more than obvious that it was a source of discomfort for him, in a team that seemed relatively flawless.

Of course, Steve's serum meant that he had no scars to show. Natasha's knock-off of a knock-off meant that only the bad ones remained, which was why she had about three scars overall, and by now they all knew about them. Thor, as an Asgardian with a golden apple in him to keep him fit and flawless, had no true scars either. Bruce had lost all of his scars when he got the Hulk and, since he pretty much transformed the moment he got injured (or right before), gained no new ones either.

That still left three human members on the team, though. And together, they'd come up with a 'game' of sorts.

JARVIS had scanned all of their bodies for scars. They were allowed to take ones out of the equation that they didn't want to discuss, and Tony's Arc Reactor and its scarring were obvious and well-known enough that it was immediately disqualified. But other than that, there was a complete registry of their scars.

All of the others then got to see the registry and images of the particular scars, upon which they placed their bets. They guessed whether it was an accidental or violent cause for one point. Then there was a more specific cause that, if they got it right, counted for two points. Finally, they could guess a more complete backstory for it that could earn them three points if they got it correct, though everyone estimated that would be fairly rare, considering all of their lives.

Because he had the least scars, they'd started with Sam. Out of them all, he'd lived the most regular life so far, meaning it wasn't the most interesting round. Natasha, who was extremely good at guessing logical causes of injuries, beat all of them. It wasn't the most exciting round, but it was a good way of getting into the game, and it was obvious to see that Bucky was starting to relax a bit.

Then there was Clint, who had some interesting scars. Hilariously enough, Tony actually got the most points during this round because he'd guessed the most ridiculous backstories. And because this was Clint, they often turned out to be correct, to the amused horror of the others.

Finally, it was Tony's turn, and the others quickly found out that his scars were a bit of a minefield. The one that looked distinctly like a bullet wound had been caused by an engineering accident. The weirdly shaped one that everyone had guessed had been an engineering accident because what else could it be? had turned out to be from when he was kidnapped as a teenager and they'd tried to get information about SI from him.

He was telling them about one of his bigger scars, one that honestly looked like he'd been stabbed somehow, but which was apparently the result of one of his and Rhodey's adventures at MIT. Honestly, after this entire game, all of the other Avengers were more than convinced that, however well Rhodes pretended to be the one in possession of the single brain cell the two shared, there was no way either of them had more than half a brain cell during their entire time at MIT, and that half brain cell was used to pass their classes and nothing more.

Suddenly, just as Tony was detailing how they'd thought blowing up their experiment would somehow prove their theory, the unexpected happened. Hoped for, of course, but the sudden sound of Bucky's laughter still managed to surprise them all in the best way.

Tony grinned, though he didn't stop retelling the story. And if he added a few embellishments, well, who would blame him? If it made Bucky laugh like that, he'd make up a comedy routine if he had to. There'd been more than enough sadness in the guy's life - he deserved to be smiling.

Whumptober day 5 - Gunpoint

My somewhat more angsty fill for the fifth day of @whumptober2019​, also available on Ao3.

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It all went south far quicker than anyone saw coming.

One moment, they were dancing and chatting with various people of varying levels of interest. The next, someone had crashed through the door, pulled out a gun, and shot one of the speakers, yelling for silence.

"Get people out of here," Tony softly whispered to Pepper, who had been his dance partner. Subtly, he maneuvered himself so even if the guy started randomly shooting, he'd be hit before she was.

"Tony."

"Don't worry," he told her, knowing it would be completely useless. And from the look on her face, she knew he knew.

He couldn't just let this guy start hurting people, though. Especially since these people were civilians, and he'd never been great at standing by.

As Pepper carefully started maneuvering people towards the doors leading to the terrace outside, trying to make sure the shooter didn't notice, Tony moved himself in his general direction. Whoever he was, he was looking through around searchingly, obviously looking for someone.

"Where is Fujikawa!?" he called out, and the threatening tone of his voice made it clear this was the person he was here to find.

Before anyone else could say anything - since Tony was pretty sure Rumiko Fujikawa was one of the people Pepper was currently trying to usher out of the room as quickly as possible and her father had not been on the guest list for tonight - he broke through the crowd.

"Afraid Ms. Fujikawa couldn't make it tonight. Would you like to leave a message?" He kept his tone as easygoing as possible.

Predictably, the gun was immediately aimed at him. The look in the guy’s eyes worried Tony - if he had to guess, he’d say this guy felt like he had nothing to lose. And often, those people were the most dangerous.

“Where is she?” he hissed out.

Little by little, Tony got closer to the guy, blocking as much of the room from his sight as possible. “Like I said, she couldn’t make it tonight.”

“You’re lying,” he screamed, and he fired a shot at the ceiling before aiming his gun straight at Tony once more. “I know she’s here. Now where. Is. She!?”

“Not. Here.” The longer he could keep this guy focused on him, the more time the police or, hopefully, the rest of the Avengers had to get there. Mentally, Tony noted to himself that he should really get working on getting himself into a suit someway quicker than bringing the suitcase version, or at least a way to bring some part of the suit with him.

He saw the moment the guy made his decision - the way his eyes went flat and cold, rather than the manic look that had been in them. Still, there wasn’t anything he could do, not unless he wanted to risk everyone standing behind him. Despite the way he’d slowly been moving closer, he was nowhere near close enough to keep the guy from pulling the trigger, let alone getting the gun off him.

So he couldn’t say he was surprised when the guy fired at him, and he couldn’t help but brace himself for the impact. Not that it ever helped.

Steve's shield came flying past the exact moment Tony felt the bullet hit him.

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 11 - Stitches

My eleventh fill for @whumptober2019​, with some lovely Science Bros content, also available on Ao3.

A bit of a warning - I’ll be pretty busy up until Wednesday, so it’s possible fills might be shorter during those days. No certainty ever, but just to make sure expectations aren’t too high :P

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"Brucie-bear?"

It was weird seeing Tony this hesitant, lingering at the door to the lab he'd provided for Bruce instead of waltzing in and owning the room.

That weirdness, as well as the fact that none of the Avengers had quite gotten over their protectiveness of Tony after the latest kidnapping attempt, was why Bruce instantly put down his tablet to give Tony all of his attention.

"What's up, Tony?"

He was glad he had when he noticed the way Tony was holding his side, where one of his largest wounds was.

Now concerned, Bruce slowly walked towards him. He had enough experience with Tony to know that too quick an approach could scare him off, however much he coated it in 'never mind, nothing's wrong', but the fact that Tony had approached him like this in the first place did mean something was wrong.

"I ehm... It's my stitches." Then, he lifted his hand slightly, and Bruce could see there was some blood on his hand. "Some of them tore."

Back when they hadn't known one another as well, he might've reacted with annoyance, might've asked Tony if he'd tried to do too much again even though he'd been told to rest and recover.

Now, he remained as calm as possible, heading for his suture kit instead of directly for Tony. "The Hulk room would probably be best for this?” It had been set up to be comfortable and peaceful, though the comfort was Bruce’s first concern. His friend was hardly at ease with receiving medical treatment, after all, and the fact that he’d voluntarily approached Bruce could already be counted as a miracle.

Tony remained silent as he sat down, seeming more downtrodden than Bruce had seen him before.

As Bruce set out his supplies, he tried to assess if anything was severely wrong. The dark circles under Tony’s eyes weren’t much darker than usual, though he did look a little pale and his eyes seemed a little dull.

“May I ask what happened?” he asked calmly, lifting up Tony’s shirt gently and exposing the wound. It looked like only a few of the stitches had been ripped, but the cut was big enough that it was still bleeding quite a bit. Bruce grabbed a few bandages and some disinfectant.

“It… I slept a bit restlessly,” Tony admitted, which Bruce took to mean he’d had a nightmare. He carefully kept his eyes averted to keep Tony talking. It took some time, but he had patience aplenty, and work to keep him busy. If he was willing to tell, he would continue eventually.

Finally, just as Bruce had nearly resigned himself to the thought that Tony seemed to prefer to keep it to himself, he spoke up. His voice was quiet, and Bruce had to strain a little to hear it, but he didn’t mind. “Not much, just… Kinda got reminded of… previous experiences. With people trying to abduct me.” He trailed off after that, but it was enough.

“Makes sense,” Bruce admitted. If he was honest, he didn’t have much experience himself, and it made it difficult to know what to say in order to help. So, instead of trying to lie his way through it, he simply offered up a supportive smile. “If there’s anything I can do to help, I hope you know you can let me know and I’ll do my best.”

It seemed like it was the right thing to say, because Tony returned his smile gratefully. “This… This is actually already helping. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Bruce promised, meaning it. For Tony, he’d try his utmost best.

Whumptober day 9 - Shackled

My ninth fill for @whumptober2019​, keeping with the AUs and going supernatural for it. Also available on Ao3.

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The illegal trade of supernatural creatures had been becoming more popular lately. Tony had been aware of it, of course, and had tried his best to help prevent it as much as possible.

And now here he was, chained up along with an entire room full of cages filled with other creatures.

He hated himself.

All of them were here because of him, suffering, because of him. And while Tony felt like he deserved to be here because of that, none of them did.

It had sounded so reasonable when Obie had suggested it. A way for creatures to look normal, to be able to walk the streets with everyone else without receiving any weird looks from humans. To be free.

While Tony had gotten very good at his humanoid transformation, he would admit that there was no way to pretend to be completely ‘normal’, and it did sound good. So he’d looked into it, and had eventually been able to invent a metal that made supernatural creatures human, for all intents and purposes. They lost anything that made them inherently supernatural - including strength and gifts.

He’d thought it brilliant. Finally, there was a way for all of them to blend in without trouble. It didn’t matter what the metal was shaped like - rings, necklaces, bracelets… There had even been a few belly rings and earrings.

This… was not what he’d had in mind when making it.

But it was his fault, there was no doubt about it. The shackles on his wrists, as well as those of every other person in the room, made that more than clear.

There was no way of telling what kinds of creatures they all were - with the shackles, they all looked like regular humans, and had the same amount of strength. And Tony was the one responsible for it.

As tempting as it was, though, he wouldn’t bow his head, wouldn’t give in to despair and self-hatred. Instead, he’d get them all out of here, and then he would undo all of it even if it cost him his life. He’d get Obie, he’d undo his inventions, he’d make things right.

For now, though, he needed to free them all.

There wasn’t a lot to work with, and he didn’t have any of his usual draconic abilities. For years, he’d wondered if Howard had been right, and all of his so-called genius was just part of his supernatural heritage. Now, that heritage forcibly locked away behind his own invention, he knew for certain that he hadn’t been - it was all part of Tony himself.

“What are you doing?” the person in the cell next to him asked as he started to fiddle with his cuffs and the few things he’d managed to gather up over his time as a captive.

“Getting out,” he muttered, focusing mostly on what he was doing.

It appeared that their conversation had drawn the attention of others as well, because Tony was becoming increasingly aware of the eyes aimed at him. “Don’t you think we’ve tried?” another asked, doubtful.

Most of them had been here far longer than Tony had been, he was aware. Three weeks might have seemed like a long time, but they hadn’t yet brought in anyone else. He knew, from overhearing them, that they were gearing up for a big auction sometime soon. It had probably been the reason Obie had wanted to get rid of him now, so he’d be as far away as possible as soon as possible.

Too bad Obie had underestimated him severely.

The cuffs hissed as he poured the compound on them, heating up to a temperature that was painful on Tony’s currently human skin. As soon as they were off, though, no burn would remain, and so he could suffer through it.

“Did you just…?” he heard a murmur from one of the others.

He gritted his teeth, paying them no attention. Only a little more and he’d be out, and there would be no way for them to capture him ever again. The only reason Obie had managed this time was the fact that Tony himself had put on the necklace first, locking away the draconic powers that would allow him to resist any metal being placed on him without his consent. He would not be making that mistake again.

With a final, agonizing burn, the cuffs fell off.

Tony grinned, baring his fangs. He was only barely humanoid anymore, covered in red and gold scales and with his tail and wings both out.

They would suffer.

“Wait, please don’t leave us here!” he could hear some of the others calling out as he easily broke through his cell - he might have been weak as a human, but the bars were no match for draconic strength.

Although he knew they wouldn’t believe it, he tried to assure them all with an “I’ll be right back, don’t worry”. That was alright, though. They didn’t need to believe him. They would see. And once he was done with the people that had trapped all of them, he would be back and able to take the time to set them all free, without being interrupted.

He would make this right.

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.