"Where's your brother?" Steve asks, his arms crossed. Wanda gently puts down the barbell she's been lifting with her mind as telekinesis practice and shrugs.

"Sleeping, probably. He is running around too much lately. It tires him."

"It's eleven, he should be awake," Steve notes, brows furrowing. "FRIDAY, where's Pietro?"

"In bed," the AI responds. "I believe his body temperature is higher than what it normally is. I suggest waking him up."

"Maybe he's sick?"

"He has a high metabolism, he rarely gets sick. But when he does, it is very bad," Wanda puts in, looking worried. "I will come with you."

By the time they get up to Pietro's room, he is gone. Wanda mutters a Sokovian curse. "FRIDAY?"

"Mr. Maximoff is in the Avengers' common room."

Wanda and Steve hurry down to the commons, where they find Pietro huddled in an armchair shivering. "Pietro!" Wanda runs to him. "Are you alright?"

"I think I have a cold," he says miserably, sounding very stuffy. "I was going to go and tell you but I just want to sleep."

Steve sighs. "Alright, let's get you to the infirmary."

Pietro nods and sneezes violently. An uncontrollable blue blur whooshes past them and when Steve and Wanda turn around they find Pietro on the ground looking annoyed and miserable. "Every time I sneeze this happens," he groans, and curls up on the ground.

Steve tries not to laugh and manages to cover up his chuckle with a cough. Wanda glares at him. "It's kind of funny, okay?" he mutters, fighting a smile. "Super speed triggered by sneezing." Wanda keeps staring, bemused. Steve stops smiling and goes over and scoops the shorter Avenger up like a sack of potatoes. "Alright, let's get you to the infirmary."

"Where's Roadrunner?" Tony asks. He watches Steve walk over from Sam and Wanda sparring. The blonde sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"In the infirmary, sick. And very high-maintenance, I'll have you know."

Tony takes a sip of scotch and considers his options. He can pretend not to care and look like an asshole, or go and visit the kid and look like he's trying to help.

"I'll go visit him for a while. Call it generosity," he says. Steve blanches.

"Trust me, you're not going to want to go in there-"

"You can't scare me off, Capsicle," Tony scoffs. He strolls off.

"Give him orange juice and chicken soup," Steve calls after him. "Because he isn't listening to me," he adds on in a mutter.

In the infirmary, the only inhabited bed contains a pile of blankets. Tony frowns and moves closer. The blankets sneeze and move at superspeed to the other end of the bed and he jumps back.

An indiscernible mumble from under the bedclothes prompts Tony to cautiously lift up a corner. Pietro lies in a tangle of limbs, his cheeks unnaturally flushed and his hair sticking to his forehead.

"There's a slight possibility of you suffocating if you stay like that," Tony says, and tucks the blanket back from the boy's face a little awkwardly. "Stars 'n Stripes told me to give you something to eat. Soup sound good?"

"I'm not going to eat anything," Pietro grumbles, sniffling.

"You have fast metabolism, kid. You don't eat anything, you're gonna starve."

"I am already dying," Pietro whines. "I don't care."

"It's a cold, not cancer."

Pietro mutters something dark and burrows further within the blankets. "You can't force me, tin man."

"Okay, first of all, it's a gold-titanium alloy, not tin. And second of all-" He is interrupted by Pietro sneezing and shooting off the bed. "Sonuvabitch," Tony mutters, and cautiously makes his way to the heap on the floor, lifting up a corner of the blanket to assess the situation.

"Leave me here to die," Pietro moans, dragging out the vowels longer than necessary. Tony rolls his eyes.

"Please don't make me carry you to the bed."

There's no response. Tony sighs. "FRIDAY, put me on the intercom. Steve, I needsome help in here."

"I'm not coming back in there," Steve's voice comes from the intercom system. Tony sighs, exasperated already.

Thor bursts through the door suddenly, beaming. "I have heard you need a smidgen of help, Man of Iron!" he bellows cheerfully. "Allow me."

He tosses Pietro over his shoulder and dumps him on the bed. The younger Avenger complains and groans very loudly. Tony tries to back out of the room but Thor wraps an arm around his shoulder. "Come, friend. Let us provide this riddled young man with the proper nutrition."

Tony groans. "Can't we make Clint do it? Or Bruce...or Natasha? Or even the little witch?"

"Wanda is training. I would hate to interrupt the sharpening of such skills, no? Clint and Natasha, I believe, are on a mission in Cairo, and Bruce simply would not have the patience. Come with me, Man of Iron. We must care for the poor boy."

Tony groans again, louder, as Pietro yells something about his right to freedom in America in a very hoarse voice. It's going to be a long day, he can feel it.

A/N: pietro pls

also a response to America Liberty's review of the first chapter- thank you ! i appreciate it :) i'm generally going to keep this pretty fluffy and humorous but there might be some conflict later on.