Work Text:
It couldn't have been more obvious that (Y/N), of all the Avengers, worked the hardest. The youngest Avenger worried constantly that she would fall behind or be kicked out if she stopped working hard. She worried that her age would make them see her as not good enough, or her comparatively scrawny frame would make them think she was weak.
So (Y/N) worked, all the time, so they could never think she was useless, and she still worried about being the weak link in the team.
Not that any of the Avengers had ever thought she wasn't enough.
———
There was a mission. A simple in and out, that could easily go badly, but in theory, could be the easiest mission ever. (Y/N), Tony and Bruce were to enter a new Hydra lab they'd located and simultaneously hack into the system using a newly liberated password from a previous mission. If they all did their jobs properly, no one would even know they'd ever entered the base.
But just in case, Thor and Clint were to guard Bruce, Natasha would have Tony and Steve would guard (Y/N). Because nothing ever went right for the Avengers.
So they arrived at the base and (Y/N) felt a little off balance and her throat was a little sore but they needed her so she didn't mention it. She ran with Steve to their location, her lungs burning and feeling like her muscles were ripping and finally got to the computer. She plugged in her USB and got to work.
Tony and Bruce were sharing intel but (Y/N) was just trying to get through her own station, working slower than usual in an attempt to make fewer mistakes as she made her way through the system. Still, she made a mistake, setting off an alarm before Bruce had an opportunity to right it. (Y/N) forced herself to up her speed and ignore the headache blooming behind her eyes.
She sniffled and in the background, heard Steve grunting as the hydra agents shot at his shield from a safe distance. He was protecting the doorway, no doubt thinking she'd be there to help in a moment.
"Done!" (Y/N) gasped at last and entered in her code at the same time as Bruce and Tony. She sniffled a little then turned to Steve.
The movement was too fast and the room spun. (Y/N)'s legs went weak and she grasped the console in an attempt to regain her already precarious balance.
"(Y/N), we need to go," Steve's voice filtered in through both her comms and behind her.
"Yep. I just-," (Y/N)'s legs crumpled further and she leaned more heavily on the console.
"Shit- guys I need help. Something's wrong with (Y/N). Clint, do you think you can make it to me to help her out?" Steve asked, his worried face filling (Y/N)'s entire view. All (Y/N) could think about, though, was how she was suddenly sitting down, despite lacking any memory of the event occurring.
Clint arrived and after a series of blurry tunnels and faded gunshots, (Y/N) found herself back in the Quinjet. Clint was in front of her, holding a piece of glass.
"Open your mouth (Y/N). I need to see your fever," he said. (Y/N), however, was unfocused on Clint and was more concerned by the fact that the entire ship was quiet, all of them looking to her.
"Am I in trouble?" She asked quietly, afraid to break the silence.
"N-"
"Yes." Steve and Tony's voices interrupted Clint's.
"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.
And, apparently, so did (Y/N). She groaned and rolled over, muttering something about Jarvis as she curled further into herself. Heavy bruises under her eyes were a stark contrast to her pale skin and Bruce was concerned that none of the Avengers had seen this coming sooner.
With Jarvis' reassurance, Bruce left (Y/N)'s room to allow the youngest Avenger to get a little more sleep. He also revoked all her powers over Jarvis, including any overrides. So, three hours later, it was Steve who was alerted to (Y/N) slipping out of her room to the living room in an attempt to avoid resting.
———
"Sir?" The disembodied English voice had a way of unnerving the First Avenger and his pencil slipped on his latest sketch - the Hulk wearing a white nurses dress and a cap with a red plus on it.
"Yeah?" He replied, distractedly searching for his rubber.
"Miss (L/N) has entered the living room. I'm to advise you to persuade her to return to her bed."
Steve muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a swear word before setting off with a brisk stride towards the kitchen. (Y/N) was leaning on the countertop with a half-full glass of water to her left and a tablet in her hand. She appeared to be working.
"(Y/N)? What are you doing?" Steve asked, feigning ignorance.
"This." She sounded distracted and Steve managed to get a glimpse of the Avenger's skin. It was far too pale and he could see beads of sweat forming. (Y/N)'s glazed eyes didn't seem to be absorbing any of the content on the tablet either.
"You should be resting."
(Y/N)'s head whipped around to face the blond, her eyes much clearer than they had been a second ago, "what? No, not you too! Steve, I said I'm fine! I need to finish this!"
"And I'm saying you're not fine. As captain of the Avengers, I am ordering you to rest. You can lie on the couch if you'd like to watch television, but I won't have you standing or working any longer," he replied gruffly.
(Y/N) wilted under the command and Steve took the tablet out of her now lax grip. He guided the young woman to the couch with one hand on her back to propel her and worried that she felt much thinner than he remembered her to be.
(Y/N) settled under the blanket Steve placed on top of her and lamely took the tablets he held out when he ordered her to. It seemed that pulling rank worked quite well on (Y/N), even though it made Steve uncomfortable.
He left the younger woman to watch TV while he went to make her some soup. It was what his mother always did so he felt obligated to repeat the treatment for his newest recruit.
It was about 40 minutes later when Steve returned to the living room, only to find that Jarvis had turned off the TV and (Y/N) appeared to be dead asleep.
Natasha and Thor entered the room not a minute later and saw Steve's vaguely confused and uncomfortable posture. Both Avengers went silent at once and Steve shrugged at them.
"You have no idea of the lengths I went to for her to go to sleep," he said quietly. Natasha grinned and Thor allowed a sad smile to slip onto his face.
"Why is she so reluctant to rest?" He asked and unfortunately, Thor was a little louder than Steve and (Y/N) stirred, her eyes opening to display dilated pupils and a glazed look.
"Wha'?"
Natasha shrugged as Thor looked from her to Steve guiltily, "why are you so reluctant to rest?"
"You'll kick me off Aven'ers if I don' keep up," (Y/N) responded, her words slurred and mind delirious.
"We would never!" Steve cried, his voice conveying both his shock and offence.
"You migh'"
"(Y/N) we'll discuss this when you're well but I promise we would never remove you from this team. You're far too special to us," Natasha said, appearing by Steve's side and in the young woman's field of view.
(Y/N) looked as sceptical as one could look while delirious and only in partial control of their features.
"You are the glue that holds this team together!" Thor announced from behind her. (Y/N) jumped a little but nodded anyway (although it seemed like more of an attempt to appease the Avengers rather than because she agreed), her eyes struggling to stay open.
"Sleep a little, (Y/N/N), we'll be here when you wake."
And indeed, when (Y/N) woke over twelve hours later, Bruce and Tony were by her side, arguing over something on a computer. She pulled herself up and found a damp cloth as it fell off her forehead.
"Your fever broke," Bruce said, immediately focused on (Y/N) rather than whatever he and Tony had been so absorbed in not a minute earlier.
(Y/N) nodded.
"Natasha said you thought we'd kick you out of the Avengers," Tony said and (Y/N)'s eyes went wide.
"No! No, I didn't say that!"
"You thought it. And you deliriously said it."
(Y/N) swore and looked guiltily away from two scientists. After a pause, she looked up and asked, "would you?"
"Would we what?" Bruce asked.
"Dump me."
"No! (Y/N) we don't keep you around because you're able to work hard! We keep you because we like you and because you make the Avengers better! You're only let down is that you work too hard and you make yourself sick!" Bruce exclaimed.
"I do not!"
"What would you say happened here then?" Tony replied, looking simultaneously worried and pleased to have caught her out.
(Y/N) gave him a guilty smile. "I got sick?"
Tony rolled his eyes and Bruce allowed a concerned, and somewhat upset, smile to grace his features. "You work too hard and you rest too little, (Y/N/N). We just want you to recover at the moment, ok? We'd never remove you from our team."
"You're too precious to us," Tony grinned and leapt onto (Y/N) to hug her playfully.