Disclaimer: I do not own Red vs. Blue, or the characters. They are the property of RoosterTeeth, etc.

Notes: This was requested by an anonymous reader from Tumblr. I would love to repeat my gratitude for this fic idea! This will be my first time writing for Church and I am really scared I may have butchered him. Though, since he's Epsilon!Church, he's a little easier to write for than, say, Alpha!Church. Also, Doc is making a first appearance in my stories, so apologies for butchering him too.

I'm Australian, so degrees are measured in celsius later.

There is the usual language warning, and I apologise for OOC. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: I Don't Feel Good

It was a typical morning in Blue base. Well, morning isn't quite the right word, it was the time for everyone to wake up.

As they usually were, the three Blue soldiers were in their civvies (except Epsilon) as they sat around the table, eating cereal, drinking coffee and yawning while scratching themselves. Wait. Three? But, there were four Blues these days! "Hey, where's Caboose?" Epsilon asked. He turned to Wash. "You told me that he was actually waking at the right time!"

"He has been," Wash responded. He had a sip of his coffee. "He said he wanted to make you proud of him for when you returned."

Tucker crossed his arms. "I think I heard something coming from his room. I didn't wanna bring it up because I figured he was jacking off."

A spurt of coffee over the table, and some choking. "What...what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Yeah, Tucker. It's Caboose. Like he'd do something you're well-known for," Epsilon agreed. He turned to the ex-Freelancer. "We should go check on him."

"Agreed."

"Fine, let's go," Tucker sighed as he rose to his feet.

They stood outside Caboose's room, and heard the sound of low moaning. "See? Sounds off, doesn't it?" Tucker asked.

"Not in the way you're thinking!" Epsilon responded. He pushed the door open. "Caboose! Get off your lazy ass and get down to the mess hall! We're gonna be fighting the Reds again today!"

More moaning. Caboose's cheeks were tinged with light pink, his skin shiny with sweat. He slowly opened his eyes. "Ch...Church...?" He smiled slightly.

"Caboose, why the hell are you still in bed?"

"I feel funny. I'm hot and sweaty..."

"Bow-chicka-bow-wow!" Tucker supplied.

"Not helping!" Wash and Epsilon yelled at the dark-skinned soldier.

"I feel like I will throw up..." Caboose added.

Epsilon stood firm. "Tucker, get him a bucket or something. Wash, go find Doc."

"He's over at Red base. If we want him, we'll have to surrender," Wash informed.

"I don't give a shit about that right now, we need Caboose to get back on his feet. Pander to Donut, he'll help."

The ex-Freelancer nodded and hurried out of the base.

Epsilon moved to Caboose's side. "Don't worry, buddy, we'll look after you today."

The ill blond tried smiling at Epsilon's rare show of compassion, but his stomach churned. "I'm gonna throw up, Church..."

"I got the bucket," Tucker panted as he ran into the room.

"Good, give it here." Epsilon accepted it and held it in front of Caboose, just in the nick of time.

"Doc! Donut! Come out here right now!" Wash yelled from outside Red base.

"Hey! Shut the fuck up, some of us are trying to sleep!" Grif could be heard screaming from inside.

"Donut! Doc! We need you two to come out here right now!"

"I said shut up!"

"I will open fire on the base if you do not get out here by the count of three! One!"

"Okay, okay! We're here now!" Donut cried as he and Doc, both in their civvies, emerged from the base. "What's going on?"

"We need Doc over at Blue base right now, Caboose is sick."

Doc crossed his arms. "I'm just the medic, not a doctor! Why am I always the one being called on?"

"Doc! This is serious!" He clenched his fists.

Donut put a hand on the medic's shoulder. "Go on. I'll tell Sarge when he gets up."

"You sure, Donut? I'm still scheduled to be here," Doc responded.

"Yeah, I'm sure. We're all in top health here. Well, as top-health as Grif can be anyway..."

"Alright, but I'll be back after checking on Caboose." He cast a glance to the man who'd once held him hostage. "After spending so much time with him, I can safely say I've never seen him so worried." He approached the former Freelancer. "You can put that gun away, you know I'm a pacifist. I'm not going to fight you off."

"I still can't be too careful. Now, let's go." Wash turned to leave.

Doc followed after him.

Epsilon handed Tucker the bucket. "Empty that, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure." Tucker gagged slightly as he accepted the full bucket and held it out as far as his arm allowed as he carried it out of the room.

Caboose lay back, letting out some whimpers. "I do not like this, Church..."

"Nobody likes being sick." He ran his hand over Caboose's damp hair in a brotherly manner. "But, once Doc has a look at ya, we'll know what to do to help you."

"I do not want him to look at me, he does not like me..."

"We need someone with at least a little medical know-how to examine your condition."

"Okay. If you say so, Church..."

He continued stroking Caboose's hair to try to comfort the ill sim trooper.

"Hey, we're here," Wash announced as he led Doc into the room.

"Thank god." Epsilon turned to the medic. "Okay, Doc, examine Caboose thoroughly."

"Yeah, I got it." He approached the bed. "I'll need you guys to leave the room. What symptoms has he shown so far?"

Tucker returned with a cleaned-out bucket. "He threw up a lot while Wash went to get you. Fever, pains...you know, that sort of stuff."

"Understood. Now, I need to be alone with the patient so I can conduct an examination."

Tucker sat the bucket by the bed, then followed Wash out of the room.

Caboose held Epsilon's wrist. "Don't go..."

Epsilon sighed. "I've gotta go for now. But, I'll be back in very soon."

"Okay..."

Another sigh. "Doc, are you sure it needs to be just you and Caboose in here?"

"I know you've been gone for a while and it's just a few days after you'd returned, but I really do need to be alone with Caboose," Doc replied. "I'll be thorough but quick."

"Alright then." He turned to Caboose. "Hear that? It won't be long, and then I'll be back."

"Okay, Church..." He let go and watched as Epsilon left the room.

"Now then, Caboose, tell me about your symptoms." He touched his hand to the Private's forehead. "Definitely fever..."

"Reckon Caboose will be alright? I mean, Doc's just a medic. He treated his gunshot wound by rubbing aloe vera on his neck and allowing the toe to fall off!" Tucker pointed out.

"He what? When was Caboose shot in the foot?" Wash asked. It happened before he'd been sent to speak with the sim troopers who'd dealt with A.I..

"In order to get Doc to stay, I shot Caboose in the foot," Epsilon shrugged.

"And you hit?"

"Oh, fuck you."

"Anyway. Back to the topic at hand," Tucker spoke.

"Right. Well, Doc isn't that bad. I'd had to deal with him for a prolonged amount of time, and aside from his talks about feelings and peace not war, he seems a bit more legit than what you claim," Wash commented with a shrug.

"Well, he won't be staying after the examination. So, we'll all have to pitch in to look after Caboose while he's sick. Doc and Donut might help inform the Reds that we can't fight at the moment," Epsilon stated.

"Alright. We might need a schedule. We don't know how long the illness will last, so we'll have shifts in looking after him. We'll have you go first, Epsilon, just because you've been away for so long, and chances are your very presence will help him recover quicker. Tucker can follow, then I'll cover the last shift. Those who are not in the room with Caboose will take care of other duties out here."

"Good plan, Wash."

"For now, we can only wait until Doc lets us know what's wrong."

Doc came out and noticed that the other three Blues were displaying anxiety. He could even notice it in Epsilon just from his posture alone. "The good news is that it's not fatal. His fever will drop if you do whatever you can to help. The nausea will pass, and once the fever has broken, the pains will subside. All he needs is rest."

Three sighs. "We'll do what we can to help him," Epsilon commented softly.

"I know you will. You might all act like you hate one another, but you guys are strong allies when the time calls for it. Now then, I'd better get back to Red base before Sarge opens fire. I keep telling him that firing his shotgun is not the best way to relieve his anger, but he never listens. I'll come back after slumber time and see how Caboose's recovery is coming along." He made his way out of the base.

"Doc!" Wash called.

He paused in his footsteps. "Yeah, Wash?"

"Thanks. For checking on Caboose."

"Sure thing. Well, see ya." He continued on his way out.

"Right, let's go take care of Caboose."