Notes: Oh yes, ladies. I am LOVING the fluff and the babies. :D :D :D :D

Chapter 2: No One Wants the Flu

It was flu season around the school, and while that meant K and Jean both were trying to keep the newborns away from the kids, somehow, it wasn't quite enough to keep things from spreading all the same.

Susie was the first of the Bishop girls to catch it, but almost as soon as Susie had gone from sneezing to the tossing-her-cookies stage of the bug, Katie had it too — which meant Hank and Logan were very busy with their respective girls asking for their dads to help them whenever they had to throw up again.

And then Barney got it… then Rachel came down with it… it was just a matter of the fact that Jean and K had taken the very-new babies to a totally different wing and more or less kicked everyone else out that kept them from the flu bug. It really was bad this year.

Clint tried to help as much as he could. Even though he was super grossed out, he could help with the non-puke parts of stuff. Like getting water and some crackers when the kids who were sick felt well enough to try and keep some down. Or sitting with Katie when she was just so miserable she started to cry and then felt worse because she got too snotty to breathe.

He was just headed downstairs to fill up several more water bottles when he ran into Hank headed up to check on his many patients — especially the little ones — and gave Hank a little smile. "Hey, Dr. Blue. Need any help?"

Hank smiled at Clint. "I see you're already doing your part, young man."

Clint nodded. "No one's feeling very good," he explained. "But I'm not puking, so… I'm getting water and crackers."

"A sensible arrangement," Hank couldn't help but laugh.

"Katie thinks she's dying," Clint said, rolling his eyes. "She's so dramatic."

Hank chuckled and shook his head. "She's too young to remember ever being this sick. I'm sure, to her, this is the worst she can ever remember feeling."

"Okay, that's true, I guess," Clint allowed.

"And how are you feeling?" Hank asked, waiting for Clint to fill up his water bottles so they could set about their task together. After all, he knew Clint still had a bit of an aversion to doctors, but if they spent some time taking care of his siblings, Hank hoped he could see the good side of medicine — helping others to feel better.

"I'm fine," Clint promised. "I don't have any sniffles, even. I guess it's 'cause I got the flu, like, three times last year, so the universe decided to give me a break," he joked.

Hank couldn't help but chuckle. "Ah, yes. Very scientific."

"Yeah, but I like it," Clint said, grinning up at him as he screwed the cap back on the last water bottle and the two of them headed up together.

Hank chuckled at that as he came upstairs to where Logan had Katie on his stomach as she curled up and miserable. Scott was close by with Rachel similarly pale and gross, while Barney clearly just wanted to be left alone. "My good assistant Mr. Barton has the water I assume you all asked for," Hank announced as he came in.

Barney waved Clint over. "I like having my own water boy."

"Oh, shut up, Barney, or I'll dump it on you," Clint warned.

"Oh, but you're such a great nursemaid…"

"Oops," Clint deadpanned as he dumped the entire water bottle into Barney's lap.

Rachel giggled from where she was tucked into Scott's arms. "You got wet."

"He sure did," Clint said, shooting a grin Rachel's way before he brought over her sippy cup of water.

"You know you have to refill that now, right?" Barney pointed out. "Seeing as I can't even sit up without almost passing out."

"Yeah, yeah," Clint said, waving his hand at Barney. "I'll get to you, princess."

"I'll puke all over you," Barney warned.

"Oh, I didn't know you could do it on command!"

"Shut up, Clint."

"Make me," Clint said, sticking his tongue out from way on the other side of the room.

"Boys," Logan said in a low tone. "Give it a rest."

"He started it," Clint argued. "I'm just trying to help and he's treating me like his personal servant!"

"Because you are," Barney insisted.

"If you catch it, he'll return the favor," Logan said. "So watch the kind of crap you pull."

Clint grinned easily and held his hands up. "Hey, I've been alright so far. Don't even have the sniffles, and I've been around all the sickos this whole time." He smiled at Hank. "I told Dr. Blue it's because I had the flu three times last year, and the universe decided to give me a break."

Susie wrinkled her nose at that. "That's not how being sick works. My Blue said it's 'cause of tiny things that get inside you!"

Hank nodded with a little smile Susie's way. "That's right. Tiny, microscopic bacteria and viruses that invade your body." He ran a hand over her head. "That fever is your body trying to burn them out. You're having quite the fight in there," he added as he tapped the very end of her nose — but lightly, since she was still miserable.

"Can't we let the boys do the battling?" Susie asked in a sigh. "I don't wanna."

"No," Katie mumbled, still curled into Logan. "Inna be a hero too."

"Don't worry, Katie; we won't leave you behind," Clint promised.

"Okay," she said, putting her head back down as she drifted off to sleep again. She had come down with it early, and she was finally starting to come out the other end — but that also meant that she was, frankly, exhausted and didn't want to move much.

The kids weren't much for talking, so once Hank had finished checking them all over and making sure that they were as comfortable as it was possible to be, he left them mostly to their own devices, though he did ask Logan once Katie was asleep again if he could talk to him, assigning Clint to help Scott look after all the younger kids and try not to get into too much trouble with Barney, if he could.

Once they were out of earshot, Hank took a deep breath and turned to Logan, who still had a sleeping little girl in his arms even in the hallway. "I think it's possible Clint may be coming into his mutation," he explained. "But it's not… quite clear. He still has a bruise from last week, and he has that proclivity for bandages..."

"I thought you said he wasn't a mutant," Logan said.

"I said he wasn't a mutant," Hank said slowly, "not that he doesn't have an X-gene. I admit, I didn't see it until after Mr. Sinister's studies, but…."

"But it's in the wrong spot to be active, isn't it?" Logan asked, then looked entirely unamused when Hank looked surprised at his answer. "I do pay attention."

Hank smirked at that and then nodded. "Well, that was what I'd assumed initially, but there is something, perhaps a muted expression of the gene…" He let out a sigh and leveled with Logan. "To be honest, I wouldn't have even considered it, but Clint did mention Sinister's surprise and interest when he was awake sooner than the others…"

"You think he did something to him?"

"I think either he did something or the X-gene is expressing sporadically," Hank said. "I'm not sure. This is the first case like this I've seen, and I'm not entirely clear on what might be natural for his… condition."

"So what do you think he's doin', Hank? Healin'?"

"In some degree, yes," Hank admitted. "He still gets injured, but he's yet to have an infection, any little cold, for months now, and this is by far one of the worst flu seasons we've seen."

"What are the chances that he'd have a healin' mutation and be adopted by a healer before that was expressed?" Logan's tone was entirely unamused.

"I know," Hank said. "That's why I wanted to speak with you about it. And yet if Mr. Sinister did change something, I would, to be frank, expect more… dramatic results. Not to mention Clint would have needed far more attention after his last visit, medically speaking. That is not a simple operation."

"So either he's doin' somethin' on his own, got a boost from Sinister, or Sinister tried to do somethin' and screwed it up," Logan summarized.

Hank nodded. "And of all of those options, I think we can be sure this is not the last of Mr. Sinister's interest in Clint."

"Uh-huh," Logan agreed quietly as Katie shifted in her sleep. "Not exactly surprised."

"Neither am I, though I am disappointed," Hank said. "And angry, of course. If I had my way, that excuse for a doctor would never see another lab again."

"Pretty sure we're fightin' an uphill battle there, Hank."

"I'm well-aware," Hank said, then took off his glasses for a moment to wipe them off. "Now, I may be wrong. It may simply be that Clint has had an extraordinary run of luck lately. But if you and K could both keep an eye on him…"

"Always do," Logan said quietly a moment before Katie finally opened her eyes with a little frown for Hank.

Hank smiled and gently ruffled Katie's hair. "Am I interrupting time with your father?" he teased, chuckling more when she nodded and buried herself back into Logan. "Well, then. It seems I'm dismissed."

Katie giggled but didn't pick her head back up until Hank was gone, and then she smiled up at Logan. "Hi!" she said brightly, just to prove she'd been waiting for alone time.

"Hey," Logan said. "You look like you're feelin' better."

Katie nodded. "I'm really hungry," she said. "Like there's nothin' in my tummy."

"There's probably not," Logan agreed. "Feel like tryin' some crackers first or you wanna go for broke?"

"I want cookies," Katie said, giving Logan her best doe eyes.

"Don't know where that falls on the scale," he said. "But if you get sick, get one of the boys."

"Imma get Clint," Katie said with a troublemaking look. "Since Barney's already sick."

"And Clint dumped a bottle of water on 'im," Logan said.

But at that, Katie started to giggle. "Uh-huh. It was really funny," she said. "His eyes got so big!"

"Pretty sure it was cold, too."

"Uh-huh and he put it in his lap," Katie giggled.

"That's really not nice," Logan told her as he started to carry her down the hall.

Katie leaned forward. "Mom says that's where you can hurt mean boys," she said seriously.

"Yeah, mean boys, not just pickin' at your brothers."

"Well…." Katie tipped her head to the side. "Yeah. So are you gonna get 'im in trouble?"

"Nope," Logan said, shaking his head lightly. "They'll figure it out between 'em."

"I dunno," Katie said as she snuggled into him. "Mom says boys're slow and that's how come Barney doesn't know Susie likes him."

Logan smirked at that and readjusted how she was settled in. "Some of 'em are slow. Not all of 'em."

"I dunno," Katie said, one eye closed. "I think Mr. Forge is real slow 'cause Miss Storm keeps giving him gooey faces and he's just…" She gave Logan a look. "Miss Jean says she knows they're in love so it's stupid they're not in love!"

"He's not slow," Logan said. "He's just not ready to make a production out of it."

Katie rolled her eyes. "When I get big, I'm gonna find my K and be like you and just carry 'em off!"

"You're gonna carry them off?" Logan asked with one eyebrow raised before he reached up and squeezed her upper arm. "Better start workin' out."

Katie giggled and shook her head at him. "I'm little right now," she said. "But not when I'm bigger!"

"You think I got this strong overnight?" Logan asked with a smirk.

"Maaaaaybe," Katie giggled, then yawned and giggled at herself. "I'm still tired," she said, laying her head back down. "I got real sick."

"You sure did," Logan agreed, wrapping an arm around her back to give her a little hug before they got to the kitchen.