Chapter Text
The mission was a success. Steve had led the team in defeating another threat to public safety. It had been a fairly simple mission, but Steve was tired. His muscles felt achy and his head was throbbing. He did take several hits to his head, but the serum would take care of it if he had a concussion. Making his way into the conference room for the debrief, he opted to sit instead of standing with his arms crossed by the door.
Natasha’s eyebrow quirked upwards when Steve sat down heavily. She placed her hand on his arm, “You need medical?”
Steve shook his head, regretting it and immediately pushing the heel of his palm into his eye socket. “Took a few headshots. Serum will take care of it in a couple of hours.” Natasha seemed unconvinced but dropped it when the meeting started.
As the debrief progressed, Steve was also starting to doubt the capabilities of the serum. His headache had progressed to dizziness with black patches spotting his vision. When the meeting was over he waited until everyone had cleared out before standing. When he did he swayed dangerously and braced himself on the table. Seconds later he felt Natasha’s hand around his waist, the other swinging his arm over her shoulder.
“Na-sha,” He slurred. “‘M fine.”
She ignored him and started pulling him out of the room. Clint spotted them in the hallway and was quick to support him from the other side. “What happened?”
“Don’t know yet. His head hurts and he’s slurring his words. And clearly, he’s not stable on his feet.”
“No doctors,” Steve muttered.
“Little too late for that, buddy.” Clint had to adjust his grip as Steve’s knees buckled. “Let’s just get him to the ground. FRIDAY, alert Bruce.”
Right away, Agent Barton.
They laid him down, resting his head on Natasha’s outstretched legs. She carded her fingers through his sweat-soaked hair. “Clint, he’s burning up.” Clint reached up to feel his head, surprised by just how warm he was. “Help me get his uniform off. It’ll cool him down.” Steve was still semi-conscious, but not present enough to resist when Clint and Natasha began undoing the latches on his uniform and pulling it off his sticky skin.
They had just gotten him down to his boxers when Bruce walked in. “What happened?” Natasha summarized for him. “FRIDAY, I need a temperature check.”
104.7 Dr. Banner.
“Shit, we gotta cool him down.”
“What’s wrong with him?” Clint was worried.
“I don’t know yet, but I can’t let that fever cook his brain anymore. FRIDAY, run a cool bath for him and alert Bucky. I have a feeling this isn’t going to go well.”
Natasha continued to run her hands through Steve’s hair as Bruce continued his assessment. He needed to run tests, but that could come later. His fever was the most pressing concern.
Bucky came in at a clip pace a few minutes later, eyes quickly scanning the scene. He knelt down next to Natasha and placed a hand on Steve’s face, trying to get his eyes to focus on him. “Hey, Stevie. Not feeling so good?” Steve groaned and leaned into the coolness of Bucky’s vibranium arm. “Still a sickly kid under all those muscles, huh?” He let out a breathy laugh, turning his attention to Bruce. “Cool bath?” Bruce nodded. “Alright, let’s go, Stevie.” He stood and hoisted Steve up. Steve leaned heavily against Bucky’s chest. “You gonna use your legs or do I gotta carry you?” Steve groaned again and Bucky rolled his eyes playfully. “Such a baby.” He scooped Steve up and made his way to the elevator with Bruce close on his tail.
“You know where to find us if you need us,” Nat called after them as the elevator doors closed.
“Any theories, doc?”
“Well with the serum he shouldn’t be able to get sick like this. Not unless there was a mutation. Could be poison, but I don’t know how it would’ve gotten into his system.” Bucky hummed in response. “I’ll run some tests when we get his temp down.”
The elevator doors opened and Bucky made his way to Steve’s room. He gently began to lower Steve into the water. Steve, who had been previously quiet and relatively still began screaming and thrashing when his skin touched the water. Bucky lifted him away from the water and Steve clung to his chest, shivering violently. “I-I can’t…” He had started crying. “Ice. I can’t go b-back in.” Bucky sighed and pulled a towel from the rack. With Bruce’s help, they wrapped him in it and set Steve on the floor, leaning against the wall. Bucky started shucking his clothes.
“What’re you doing?” Bruce looked at him confused.
“I’m getting in with him.” Bucky shrugged like it was the obvious solution. He picked Steve back up and stepped into the tub. Slowly, he sank down with Steve in his arms. Once again Steve screamed and writhed but Bucky held him firmly in place. Bruce monitored his vitals closely as panic wracked his body. Bucky seemed unperturbed by the chaos, holding Steve tight with one arm wrapped around his chest and the other around his stomach. His legs locked around Steve's, preventing him from kicking. Even in his sickly state, Steve was strong, but he tired quickly. Bucky held him as he sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” in his ear. Eventually, Steve settled and Bruce was able to add ice incrementally to cool him down. When his temperature was back to a non-threatening level, Bucky helped Steve out of the tub and Bruce grabbed some loose-fitting pajamas to dress Steve in.
“Let’s get him downstairs,” Bruce suggested.
“Tired,” Steve mumbled.
“I know, bud. You can sleep down in the medbay.”
“You gotta let him run some tests on you so you can feel better,” Steve whined. “Come on, don’t be a punk. I’ll be there with you the whole time.” That seemed to satisfy Steve and Bucky lifted him, now fully dressed off the bathroom counter. Not long after they started moving, Steve started to snore against Bucky’s neck. “He’s still warm, Bruce.”
“I can try some fever reducers when we get downstairs, but they probably won’t do much with his metabolism.”
“Worth a shot.”
“True. I can also take a blood sample and start running some tests. Tony and I might be able to whip up a modified medication. Maybe even get the kid to help. I swear he’s smarter than both of us combined.”
Bucky laughed. “He reminds me a lot of Stevie when we were kids. Bright-eyed and nervous, but ready to take on the world.” Bruce nodded as they rounded the corner and entered the medbay. Bucky laid Steve down, careful not to wake him and Bruce got started on his tests. Something told them both it was going to be a long night.