Work Text:
The fact that they could still get sick was absolute bullshit.
Joe sat next to a restless Nicky, laying flat on his back in their bed, face pale and body burning. His head kept tossing and turning, falling in and out of nightmares brought upon by his high fever.
Joe did what he could to keep Nicky from completely overheating, but every trick in the book (including some of Nile’s own family tricks) failed miserably. He just kept on with his fever.
Hopefully it would burn out in a few hours. A day at most. That was usually how long he would be down for when he gets sick, though it had been years for all of them at this point.
With a groan, Nicky slipped into semi-consciousness. Joe leaned over his love to check on his again.
As it would soon turn out, not the best idea.
You see, Joe was wearing a beanie that at one point probably belonged to Booker (or Booker stole it from him and he stole it back - different people, different stories). And Nicky...
Nicky was having nightmares of Merrick’s lab.
The beanie reminded his fever-addled mind of Booker. Booker had betrayed them and got them locked up and medically tortured for two days. Booker was not in Nicky’s good book at the moment. Nicky wasn’t exactly seeing things straight. And he was a trained warrior.
He may have had a fever tipping dangerously towards 104 degrees Fahrenheit, but he still could throw a punch.
Which is exactly how Joe ended up on the floor with a quickly healing broken nose. Quickly he pushed himself back up to his feet, only to get kicked in the chest.
“Nicolo!” His cry earned him a kick to the head. He was getting well acquainted with the floor today.
Slurred sounds, not remotely in any language they’d ever learned, came out of Nicky’s mouth. The only words that actually made sense were “Booker” and “traitor” and “beanie”.
Joe blinked. His husband thought he was Booker? Wait a moment… He pulled the damn beanie off of his head and went back to his love. “Nico?”
The sick man almost immediately calmed down and looked more restful.
He hated when Nico was so sick.