Whumptober Day 27 - Ransom

Whumptober day 27 - Ransom

For the 27th day of @whumptober2019​, another slightly lighter fill. Also available on Ao3.

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“You’re joking,” he said incredulously.

“Do we look like we’re joking?” Kidnapper 1 asked, and from what Tony had seen so far, he appeared to be the leader in this entire plan. He’d been the one to tell the others what to do and where to go.

He also looked the most serious about it all. Most of the others seemed a bit uncertain at best, and Tony didn’t think they had a lot of history when it came to criminal acts.

“Look, just… Consider, and I will tell you this only once, that this is a terrible idea that will get you imprisoned at best and maimed or killed at worst, and there is still time to go back, but not a lot of time, if you get my meaning.”

They did not get his meaning.

“Shut up,” Kidnapper 1 snarled, and actually made the mistake of hitting him, which kind of signed his death warrant.

Tony just rolled his eyes. “Your funeral, man,” he said, shrugging to the extent he could with his arms tied to the chair. He just figured it’d be nicer to warn these people, considering they were obviously amateurs, and give them a chance to change their minds before it was too late.

Behind Kidnapper 1, it appeared that the other three were kind of worried about his warning, however. It was Kidnapper 2 that ended up asking what they clearly all wanted to ask. “Ehm… Why is this a terrible idea?”

“Because he’s just trying to unsettle us,” Kidnapper 1 sneered. “Don’t listen to him - I’m getting the recording equipment. Stick to the plan.”

Such obvious amateurs. Tony kind of wanted to sigh, although he refrained. If these people would be willing to listen to him, all the better. “Stark Industries does not pay ransoms,” he explained to them.

“But you’re Tony Stark,” Kidnapper 3 argued. “They’ll want you back, right?”

“You send that message, it ends up with Pepper Potts, who will immediately alert the Avengers. There’s never gonna be any ransom - it’s not gonna take them all that long to figure out where I am and who’s holding me, and when I do, they’re going to come get me. That’s all that’s going to happen here.”

He meant it, too. Pepper knew better than to start paying ransoms, because once that started it wouldn’t end. But no doubt JARVIS had been looking for him ever since losing contact, and he had no doubts the others would be showing up soon.

Which he wouldn’t mind, really. He’d appreciate the help. But if he could get himself out of here before they could, it would be even better.

Kidnappers 2, 3 and 4 were whispering to one another, and while he couldn’t understand what they were saying, it was clear they were taking his warning a lot more seriously than Kidnapper 1 did. Which they should, because despite his reputation, he was definitely one of the more forgiving Avengers.

Okay, that was a lie, but he had no problems forgiving people who came after him. Go after his friends and all bets were off.

“And if we brought you back now?” It was Kidnapper 2, and while he didn’t sound entirely certain about this course of action, he was at least considering it.

“We all make mistakes,” Tony told them. “I’ll tell the others to play nice and let me deal with it myself, and we’ll take a look at why you chose to make this particular one and what can be done so you’re not tempted to try something like this again.” Because he had no illusions that these people were desperate for money, for whatever reason. He’d have to be careful about setting any kind of precedent, but on the other hand, if they showed that they’d be willing to be reasoned with…

And as for the Avengers, it didn’t seem like Kidnapper 1 was going to change his mind, so they wouldn’t be left completely empty-handed.

Which was how Tony Stark ended up showing right back up at the Tower, only a few bruises richer, with three little ducklings behind him. He could hear the way they swallowed as the attention of the Avengers was directed at them - it probably didn’t help that the others were already armed and looked ready to go out for a hunt of epic proportions.

“Not to worry guys, got everything solved,” he told them cheerily, which at least got him Steve’s attention. No doubt the others were listening as well, but they were also making sure to keep an eye on his former kidnappers.

“Are you alright?” Steve asked, assessing him carefully for anything obviously wrong.

Only the bruise on his cheek was instantly obvious, however, and he noticed the way Steve’s eyes kept returning to that. “Only some small bruises, nothing serious,” he shrugged it off. “Most of it was the other guy, anyway - which reminds me, would any of you be available to pick him up where we left him?”

Hilariously, only Bruce didn’t immediately volunteer, and Tony gave the others the address where they’d left Kidnapper 1 tied to the same chair he’d been stuck in. Then he grudgingly allowed the other scientist to look him over ‘just in case’ while his former kidnappers waited in one of the smaller conference rooms for him to talk to them, monitored carefully by JARVIS.

And although he grumbled outwardly, he couldn’t help the smile breaking through.

He loved his family.

Whumptober days 17-20 - "Stay with me"; Muffled Scream; Asphyxiation; Trembling

A combination fill for @whumptober2019​, since I’ve been absent for a few days. It’s a bit longer, so I’ve added a read-more line. Be careful of the triggers that start showing up after that line - there’s some fairly graphic violence, including murder, in this story. Also available on Ao3.

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It happened so suddenly that there wasn’t anything to do. One moment, it was a regular day where they were calmly wandering the streets, discussing where they should go for dinner.

The next, there was a dart sticking out of Bucky’s neck and he was fading fast.

Reacting quickly, Tony made sure he didn’t hit the ground too roughly as he fell unconscious, pressing the alert button on the side of his watch at the same time. Considering the efficiency, it wasn’t likely to get them help in time, but at least the others would know something was up and hopefully manage to get something set up.

When the men got out of the van, they were wearing masks to make sure they were unrecognizable. But Tony knew that insignia, knew he couldn’t let HYDRA get Bucky back. Not like this.

So he fought, going at them with everything he had. It became clear that they weren’t after him, not at all - if he’d let them, they’d have dragged Bucky with them and left Tony right there on the street to look after them and worry. But he didn’t let that happen, using every single technique any of the other Avengers had ever taught him to make sure he did not get separated from Bucky.

In the end, realizing they needed to get away, they cursed and threw him into the van as well, into the same cage that had been intended for just Bucky.

It was a tight fit, and it left Tony unable to fight them any more as they locked it behind them, but at least he was still with Bucky. And as long as they were together, they could figure out some way to escape, hopefully.

(And if not, well, Tony wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if he’d just let them take Bucky.)

Even though he’d been prepared for it, it still hurt when they dragged him out of the cage, prepared as they were for his resistance and too many of them around to fight. He curled into himself as they kicked at him, trying to keep them from getting at his chest and face. Silently, he suspected some of them were getting in some revenge for some of the hits he’d managed earlier.

He knew there wouldn’t be anything he could do, not if they decided to drag him away. There might only have been five of them earlier, that had to deal with getting Bucky off the street as quickly as possible and that also had to contend with Tony’s fighting, but they had a lot more time and a lot more people now.

So he was grateful when he was dragged to the same room Bucky was, though they handcuffed him to the cot in there while they put Bucky’s unconscious body on the other side, where some special (and probably super-strength resistant) cuffs had been attached to the wall.

Unfortunately, they didn’t leave them alone. Instead, there were three men standing inside the door and no doubt some reserve outside.

It could have been anywhere between a few minutes to an hour before Bucky started stirring - considering his tension, Tony honestly couldn’t tell, and it wasn’t like it was really important anyway.

The moment Bucky opened his eyes, one of the men started speaking. “Желание… Ржавый…”

“No,” he groaned, shaking his head. It was obvious he was still affected by whatever they’d used to knock him out, since he barely even managed to struggle against the chains like he obviously wanted.

“Семнадцать…”

“Bucky, stay with me,” Tony implored, even though he knew it probably wouldn’t help. Not if they had the trigger words. “Stay with me, please.”

As much as he didn’t think it would help, clearly HYDRA thought differently. He grunted as one of them hit him, hard, making his head smack into the cot roughly. Then, before he could even try to get Bucky’s attention again, the other shoved a gag into his mouth.

“Рассвет…”

Though his words were muffled through the gag, Tony didn’t give up on trying to get Bucky’s attention, calling out his name. It seemed to be working when, rather than weakly struggling against the chains, Bucky looked at him instead, eyes pained.

“Печь…”

Unfortunately, HYDRA seemed to notice as much as well. Before Tony could even try to avoid it, a solid boot came down on his lower leg. He couldn’t help but scream into the gag as he could feel the bones breaking.

“Девять…”

His breathing came in gasps, made more difficult by the gag blocking his airways and his eyes and nose filling up due to the pain. He refused to cry, though, refused to give Goons One and Two the satisfaction. Instead, he clenched his teeth around the gag, trying his best to steady his breathing so he wouldn’t end up suffocating.

“Добросердечный…”

Bucky was trying to pull out his chains one more, except now it was to get to Tony. There was no doubt he could still hear the words the asshole was saying, but it wasn’t something he was focusing on anymore.

“Возвращение на Родину…”

It took everything Tony had not to whimper at the pain rushing through him in time with his heartbeat. Instead, stubbornly, he locked eyes with Bucky, saying everything he couldn’t through the gag in his mouth. You can do this. I’m here for you. Please stay with me. Don’t let them take you again. We can do this. I am not leaving you.

“Один…”

 Please, Bucky… Don’t leave me, either.

“Грузовой вагон…”

Considering how warm Bucky’s eyes usually were, it was eerie to see how flat they went the moment those final words were spoken. He wasn’t completely unfamiliar - the inquisitive look was still obviously there, though less curious and more analytical. His face had gone still as well, no emotion allowed to shine through anymore.

More than his broken leg, the broken look in Bucky’s eyes made Tony want to cry, and he trembled with the effort not to. It had taken so long to get him comfortable around the Avengers, to get him to trust that HYDRA wouldn’t just be able to get a hold on him again, and here they were.

And there was nothing Tony could do except hope that there was something of Bucky left, enough that it would make HYDRA lose their hold on him enough.

“Солдат?” It was the asshole that had been saying the trigger words out loud, not happy with being ignored.

Some of Tony’s hope died when Bucky - no, the Winter Soldier - instantly replied. “Я готов отвечать.” His voice was nearly as flat as his eyes, though Tony couldn’t help but notice how those gray eyes flicked back to him briefly before focusing once again on the guy that should be able to command him now.

Tony wanted to smack the smirk off the HYDRA asshole’s face, but had to settle for a glare that could have burned him alive.

“Very good,” Asshole said, grinning as he looked straight at Tony. He was fully confident he had Bucky under control now, as evidenced by the fact that he walked straight over to undo the cuffs. Disappointingly, Bucky did not spontaneously attack him, instead standing up slowly.

His normal grace was still obvious, though much like everything else, it seemed more calculated now. There was no unnecessary movement, no casual twitches, no tapping his thumb against his fingers the way Bucky usually did when standing still (or tapping his fingers against Tony’s hand when he was holding it).

“Now…” Tony really didn’t like the look in Asshole’s eyes as he looked down at him. “Break his other leg.”

He couldn’t help his slight flinch at that, no matter how much he didn’t want to show weakness. The broken leg was painful enough on its own, but the idea of Bucky being the one to break the other one…

For a few long moments, the Winter Soldier just looked at him, assessing. Then, just as calmly, he turned to his ‘handler’. “Нет.”

It felt like everyone in the room stopped breathing at that, tension rising quickly. Never before had the Winter Soldier outright refused, not like this, and it was clear HYDRA had no idea how to deal with it.

To be fair, neither did Tony, but since no one was breaking his other leg, he was fine riding this one out from the side.

“What!?” Tony honestly could have told Asshole that getting pissed at the Winter Soldier might not be the best idea when he didn’t seem to have full control of him, but clearly that hadn’t occurred to him. And Tony himself was too busy trying to breathe through his pain to be able to do all that much. “I said, break his other leg!”

Before any of them could even react, the Winter Soldier had moved, metal hand closing around Asshole’s neck.

Goons One and Two jumped into motion, but not nearly quick enough. The Soldier grabbed the gun from the guy’s belt, shooting both of them straight through the forehead before they’d even been able to aim their own guns.

In the meantime, he was still choking Asshole, who was starting to look increasingly purple as he tried to grab at the Soldier’s metal arm. It had no effect, its strength far too much for a regular human to be able to do anything against it, and slowly his struggles grew weaker.

Tony couldn’t say he felt any regret when Asshole joined Goons One and Two on the floor. He wasn’t too sure what to do about the Winter Soldier, though, who appraised him carefully before approaching.

He tried to still his trembling as much as possible - the Soldier had said no, had refused to listen to the guy who’d just recited all of his code words, and had just taken all of them no. After being told to hurt Tony. So he tried to remind himself as much as possible that the Soldier, despite everything else, had just refused to hurt him.

The Soldier was astonishingly gentle as he took the gag out of Tony’s mouth, kneeling down so they were at almost the same height. Then, without saying a word, he looked down at the cuffs keeping Tony tied to the cot and yanked, ripping them loose from the cot without hurting Tony’s wrists.

Before he could even start to think of what to say or do, the Soldier himself spoke up, sounding far more hesitant than he had before.. “Лучик?”

He couldn’t help his blush at that. Being called a ray of sunshine by the Winter Soldier was about the last thing he’d been expecting. “What’s up, Winter Wonderland?” he asked, trying for casual. The fact that he sounded like his throat had been sandpapered probably didn’t help, but he thought he pulled it off admirably.

And when the Soldier said “я готов отвечать” again, it sounded less strained and more like he was choosing to let Tony be the one to decide.

It was the biggest show of trust Tony could’ve ever imagined, and he was determined not to let the Soldier down. Not after what he’d just done for Tony, after making his own decision and turning away from HYDRA for Tony. And when they got back to the rest of the Avengers, they were going to figure this entire thing out, Tony and Bucky and the Soldier together.

They’d figure it out.

Whumptober day 21 - Laced Drink

For the twenty-first fill for @whumptober2019, a pre-WinterIron college AU where the Avengers are all friends. Please be careful if the subject bothers you. Also available on Ao3.

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Initially, they hadn't been too sure about Tony Stark.

They knew of him, of course - everyone on campus did. But the things they'd heard weren't generally good, and then there were the pictures...

But then he'd ended up taking one of the same business classes as Phil and Natasha's friend Pepper, and to their collective astonishment, a few weeks later she ended up bringing him to one of their gatherings.

As hesitant as they all were, they tried to keep an open mind - if Pepper liked him, then he couldn’t be too bad, right?

And he wasn’t. He really, really wasn’t. In contrast with everything they’d heard about him, he ended up being nice, and funny, and incredibly sweet. It was an effort to make sure he didn’t pay for everything, and every single time he responded as though they were some kind of saints for not making him pay. Even his intelligence, which had been rumored to be a lot thanks to his father’s money, was more than obvious.

All of them were somewhat disturbed with the difference between the rumors and the actual kind of person Tony was. It wasn’t hard to tell that the things that were said about him, both behind his back and to his face, affected Tony negatively.

Whenever people responded negatively to him, there was an almost imperceptible flinch. He acted like he brushed it off, but he was always quieter for the rest of the day, more withdrawn.

That, combined with the fact that he was actually a little younger than them despite working on his second doctorate, left the entire group rather protective of him. And it wasn’t even like they needed to do all that much - Bucky, Natasha and Pepper had glares that would chase even the most persistent idiots away, and the disappointed looks of Steve and Phil were legendary. Besides that, a lot of people were rather hesitant about messing with the combined muscle mass of Bucky, Steve, Thor, Sam and Clint, let alone the murderous vibes Natasha could give off.

No, most people had learned better than to mess with Tony, and it seemed to do him a world of good. His smiles were larger and more genuine, and the vibrant look in his eyes was honestly a reward on its own.

Which was why they weren’t prepared for the party.

Despite having grown closer, none of them had asked about the pictures. They guessed it might have to do with Tony being affectionate with those he cared about, and honestly desperate enough for kindness that he’d go a little further than he should. And perhaps that was part of it in some cases, but certainly not all of them.

They’d honestly been having a great time, dancing as a group and separately. Tony was practically bouncing between all of them, vibrant and smiling, and even Bruce was smiling, despite not usually being too comfortable in crowded places. Every once in a while, one of them would break off to dance with someone else for a bit before drifting back to the others. It was honestly one of the most fun parties any of them had ever been to.

And then Tony started acting weird.

Bucky was the first one to notice the way he seemed less energetic than before. His first thought was honestly that someone might have said something, since that tended to bring Tony down, but he’d been smiling not five minutes ago and had been dancing with Clint and Thor since then.

Natasha was the second to notice, if only because she became aware of Bucky focusing on Tony with a frown. The fact that she stopped dancing with her meant Pepper noticed as well, and now it was the three of them watching Tony.

Next to notice was Thor, which made sense, since it happened when Tony stumbled straight into him. “Sorry, sorry,” he mumbled, shaking his head a bit as if to wake himself up.

By now, they were all moving closer to him, either having noticed how unsteady he was or having noticed the others watching.

“Tony?” It was Pepper who spoke, Bucky moving right next to Tony in case his swaying led to him nearly falling over again. Looking into his eyes, they were duller than they should be, the usual spark of intelligence replaced with exhausted confusion.

“Pep?” He shook his head again, but his eyes wouldn’t quite focus. He swayed against Bucky, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders to steady him. “Wha’s wrong?”

Her face carefully neutral, Natasha moved to stand in front of him. She held up a hand. “Can you give me a high five? First left, then right, please.”

He tried, but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated. Bucky could feel how much Tony was leaning into him by now, to the point where he wasn’t sure if Tony would be able to stay upright on his own.

Bucky shared a look with Natasha, but before they could decide on how to go about dealing with this, two people showed up next to them.

Both of them had brown hair, the man’s a little lighter than the woman’s. She was the one who spoke up, the smile on her face just the slightest bit off. “Is your friend alright? He looks rather tired, doesn’t he?” she asked sympathetically. “If you want, we can take him to one of the rooms to sleep it off - that way, you can go ahead and keep enjoying the party.”

The guy started moving before she was even finished talking, reaching out as if to grab Tony, and the glare Bucky sent him could have cracked a rock straight through the middle. “I’ve got him,” he stated, voice making it more than clear that he wasn’t letting go.

“Just trying to help.” He’d raised his hands upon seeing the glare on Bucky’s face. “Thought he might be more comfortable upstairs - give him some time to sleep off the alcohol, you know?”

Before Bucky could let his fist get acquainted with the guy’s face, Natasha spoke up. Her fake smile was far more realistic, though Bucky knew her well enough to notice the calculating glint in her eyes. “Thank you for your assistance,” she told them, her voice smooth. “And you are?”

The look the two of them shared was almost too quick to see - almost. “Sally and Tom,” the woman lied to their faces. “Are you sure you don’t want us to just take him somewhere? Wouldn’t want this to ruin your evening, after all, since you seemed to be having a great time out there, and it’s no problem for us to take him.”

Pepper cut in then, a smile on her face that was just a little too sharp. “Thank you, but it’s not nearly as much fun when we’re not all together, you see?”

They shared another quick look, before apparently coming to a decision. “Alright, just trying to be nice,” she told them, holding up her hands defensively. “No need to get all upset about it - not our fault your friend drank a little more than he could handle.”

“I just bet it isn’t,” Natasha told them kindly. By now, the others had more than gotten the implication of what was going on and had just about surrounded Tony and Bucky in a protective wall.

Although her eyes narrowed slightly, ‘Sally’ let the comment slide, walking off with a shrug. ‘Tom’ walked after her, though he did look back at them one more time - by then, Thor had maneuvered his impressive bulk in front of where Tony was leaning heavily into Bucky, so the guy turned back around soon enough, whispering furiously with ‘Sally’.

“I’m going to take them down,” Pepper informed them matter-of-factly. “I am going to find out who they are, and I will make their lives a living hell.”

“We,” Natasha corrected, face and voice both so neutral that it was scary.

“For now, we will be taking Tony back somewhere safe,” Bucky interrupted. The fact that Tony’s eyes were still open was the only indication that he wasn’t unconscious, and Bucky was honestly worried about him. “Where we will keep an eye on him to make sure he’s alright.”

Fortunately, all of them agreed. He honestly preferred for all of them to be there to keep Tony safe. And if it had the added benefit of not being overheard while planning someone’s downfall while also allowing Bucky to be there to plan right along with them, well…

No one hurt their friends.

hii! idk if you still remember that werewolf!bucky moodboard you did for the tony stark bingo but, do you still plan to write a story for it? bc im still in love with that idea but no problem if you dont! i love all your winteriron fics :)

Hi Nonny ^_^

Thank you very much for the ask! I do remember that moodboard - the only disadvantage is that there’s currently a pile of… well, quite a few WIPs and ideas and events that I’m working on. So while it’s still the idea to write a story for that one day,  I’m afraid I cannot give any guarantees as to when that will be.

Have a lovely day!

“Higher, faster, further, baby.”

As we said in our closing message at the end of this year’s auction, that was our mantra coming into MTH 2019, and we certainly carried it off with your help.

Last year, we had 236 creators and 354 auctions… This year, we zipped past that with a tremendous turnout that went beyond our expectations: 324 “Marvel”-ous creators came forward to offer 522 auctions.

Last year, we raised $19,262.52, a mindblowing number we’re still trying to wrap our heads around… This year, we’re excited to announce that together, we raised:

That’s about $8,000 more than the MTH 2018 total 😮💖🎉

We’re going to channel Luke Cage here and exclaim, “SWEET CHRISTMAS!”

Considering just how successful MTH was in its inaugural year, we were unsure whether we could get close to those numbers again, let alone top them. Suffice to say, we were blown away at every single step, from creator registration all the way to donation processing.

We told ourselves we would be happy with any amount, especially if we miraculously matched our total last year, so we were shocked speechless when we hit it days before the auction ended. Then the total kept growing, with no sign of stopping or slowing down, as the donations kept pouring in. Surely it would stop at 20k? 22k?! A few of us, emboldened by the “higher, faster, further” theme this year, dared to wish for the impossible: 25k. We all knocked on wood and referred to this figure in vague terms (“the number we won’t mention,” “the number that must not be named,” etc.).

It was a remarkable experience, and we often found ourselves at a loss for words (we had to resort to heart emojis, keyboard bashing, and exclamation points many a time in our mod chat). We’ve been impatient to share the results with you, not just because of how incredible the final count is but because of how we got there. Each and every one of you was instrumental to our success, and we appreciate your contributions so very much.

Creators, we couldn’t have started this auction without you all. We loved seeing so many of last year’s creators sign up again and were pleasantly surprised by how many new faces showed up to the party.

Bidders, as crazy as it sounds, most of the donations were small ones. It just goes to show how much of an impact you can have when you’re part of something bigger than yourself. Each donation has a ripple effect, and with enough ripples, that can cause a wave. You matter, and you can make a difference.

We also owe our success to our wonderful signal boosters. There can’t be an auction without any participants, and thanks to everyone spreading our posts around and encouraging their fandom friends to sign up and/or bid, we reached hundreds of incredible creators and bidders.

Thank you all. We’re so touched by the massive number of people who donated above and beyond their pledged amount, creators who took on multiple auctions and offered up multiple winner slots, and bidders who accepted their second-place wins with such eagerness! We also had people make donations in the spirit of MTH even though they didn’t win an auction, which was beyond generous.

We’ve already seen how our donations are changing the world for the better. To name a few examples:

Your donations to Rainbow Railroad had the double their impact as donations to the organization will be matched from November 1 until December 31.

Flippable helped turn the deep red Virginia into blue this election for the first time in 26 years, an extremely important victory for the Democrats that will have tremendous influence on how things may go in the U.S.A.

The National Women’s Law Center won its lawsuit against the Trump administration regarding personal beliefs dictating patient care.

Not to mention that our good deeds haven’t gone unnoticed thanks to bidders who gave us a shoutout this year. The president of RAINN knows about MTH and gave one of our winners a personal thank you for participating and helping raise money for their organization, and BBRF somehow found out about us and emailed us personally as well.

We’re sure that in the months and years to come, we’ll see even more wonderful results.

In addition to the astounding amount of money we were able to raise for charity, MTH was successful in other ways. We strove to be as inclusive as possible, determined to make this event a fandom-wide effort. Considering that the auctions covered over 400 platonic and romantic relationships (if we include “all ships/gen”-inclusive relationships, this number is even higher) across 29 universes within the Marvel multiverse, up from 242 and 19, respectively), we can safely say that we accomplished our goal.

This spirit of inclusion also applies to our charities. Every one of our 30 supported charities received donations. We’re in awe of your commitment to supporting all our creators and charities and thrilled that you spread all the love around, bidders!

Here’s our breakdown of the donations (click to enlarge the image):

We’ve also listed the amount raised per charity on our List of Organizations page.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for helping us turn our second Marvel Trumps Hate auction into such an incredible experience. We cherish every single message of love and support that we received and continue to receive on our Discord server and through DMs, Tumblr messages, emails, tweets, etc. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with all of the 2019 Marvel Trumps Hate fills, follow us and/or check out the “mth 2019” tag on our Tumblr. You’ll also be able to find works posted on AO3 in our Marvel Trumps Hate 2019 collection and links to fills in our Discord server, which you can join to brainstorm prompts, chat about fills, and find out about other fandom events.

Thank you once again to everyone who volunteered their services, time, money, and platforms to spread the word.

We can’t wait to see all of your fanworks over the coming year!

Lots of love and gratitude, Your 2019 MTH mods

Whumptober day 29 - Numb

Today’s @whumptober2019​ fill involves the friendship between Tony and Rhodey when the latter comes to find his friend after his parents have died. It’s also available on Ao3.

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When Jim found him, he was just… sitting. Staring.

“I’m so sorry, man,” he told his best friend, hesitantly sitting down next to him. Tony was usually very touchy and affectionate, like the younger brother he’d never had, but considering the situation, he wasn’t sure what to do.

“It’s… Thank you.” Even Tony’s voice sounded more distant than usual.

For a long while, the two of them just sat in silence. As much as Jim wanted to be there for him, he wasn’t quite sure how to. So he just stayed, hoping it would help at least a little.

Eventually, Tony spoke up, his voice even. “Is it normal to just… not really feel anything?” He breathed, briefly looking over to Jim before going back to staring out the window again, where a thin layer of snow was covering the landscape. “I mean, somewhere in the back of my mind, I know I should be… feeling. Grieving. But it all just feels numb.”

Jim grimaced a little. The only experience with death he could remember, if vaguely, was when his grandfather had died, and that had been over ten years ago. And while he’d liked the man well enough, eleven was not an age where he’d entirely comprehended everything going on.

But he couldn’t even try to imagine losing either of his parents, let alone both of them at the same time. His mind retreated from the very thought as if burnt.

He guessed Tony’s mind might be doing something similar to that, no matter how strained his relationship with his father might have been. “I can’t say if it’s normal or not,” he confessed, “but I can’t say I blame you.”

Silence fell again and, hoping he was doing the right thing, Jim reached out and grabbed Tony’s hand. He’d worried that Tony might pull away, that it might be too much at the moment, but instead he intertwined his fingers with Jim’s and held on.

No doubt that it would all hit, and that Tony would get emotional. It might take a few hours, or a few days… maybe even a few weeks, or months, or even years. But Jim was determined to be there for his friend no matter how long it took, and no matter in what kind of way his grief would express itself.

There was no doubt in his mind Tony would do the exact same for him, had been no doubt that they would be there for one another ever since the day they’d met one another.

More than friends, they were family.