Avengers Sick-fics

Just Take a Break! - Avengers/Reader

"You can't just go on a mission when you're unwell, (Y/N), you need to-" Steve stopped talking as tears began to roll down (Y/N)'s cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before anyone could say anything else, and added desperately, "I'll work harder."

"No, that's the whole issue here, (Y/N). You work too hard, you've made yourself sick. Just, relax, okay?" Clint's voice was hazy and he tried to put the thermometer in (Y/N)'s mouth again but she refused. He gave up, electing to try later and forced her into one of the uncomfortable Quinjet beds where she burrowed under the blankets and soon fell asleep.

"That's going to be a problem," Bruce said at last, when they knew the youngest Avenger was asleep.

———

The ride on the Quinjet was uncomfortable and hazy. (Y/N)'s sleep was broken, often as a result of Clint telling Tony and Steve off for telling (Y/N) she was in trouble. However, the snatches of conversation the youngest Avenger did hear only convinced her that she was getting in more trouble.

She resolved to keep working once they got back to the tower and in the meantime... maybe she'd sleep just a little.

They arrived in New York City early in the morning, before the sun had risen and all the Avengers moved sleepily to the bedrooms, except Thor and Natasha who took the sleeping (Y/N) to her room. Natasha dressed her in pyjamas and then slipped off to her own room to sleep a little.

(Y/N) woke at 8 am and snuck down to the labs to begin analysing the data they'd collected. Within minutes, the numbers were swimming in front of her. Jarvis had been trying to remove her from the lab but she'd muted him and had continued working.

At 8:45 am, Tony arrived looking both harassed and worried. (Y/N) had just begun considering going back to bed when he arrived but her fever addled mind concluded that Tony had arrived to work on the data so she'd fall behind if she went to sleep now.

"Kitchen. Now," Tony snapped, grabbing her shoulder.

(Y/N) started. "W-why? Tony, I said I'm fine- let me work!" They arrived in the kitchen despite (Y/N)'s protests and Tony showed her to the couch.

"Stay there," Tony said and something in his voice convinced (Y/N) that it'd be in her best interests to do as he said.

Until she reminded herself that he'd said she was in trouble yesterday.

She was sitting tense and petrified when Tony returned with a mug of warm, sweet tea and he knew he'd done something wrong. He pressed it into her hands and asked Jarvis for her temperature. The answer of 39.7°C was not reassuring. Making an effort to use a calmer tone, Tony asked (Y/N) to stay on the couch, maybe pull up a blanket seeing how she was shivering, while he found her some fever reducers.

When he returned, however, the younger woman had disappeared. Jarvis said she'd used her override to prevent him from telling Tony she'd gone and to prevent him from knowing where.

———

(Y/N) was sleeping in her own room and it was Bruce who found her. Tony had assumed she'd go straight back to the lab and was yet to check her rooms. Woken by nightmares, the doctor had decided to check on the unwell Avenger and found her shivering under blankets in a superheated room.

"Jarvis. Heat off. Any idea why she's sick?" He asked as he strode into the room and began removing most of the blankets. Where she found them, Bruce didn't know.

"I believe her illness is the result of a combination of factors. Exhaustion and stress at the forefront of these issues, preventing her from effectively dealing with the virus," the AI replied. Bruce was sure the AI had turned on the air conditioning too, as he felt the temperature dropping by the minute.