Because yes, the government can be stupid but so can anybody. Just keep trying to make things better…
For a few days things went fairly smoothly.
Thor and Dr. Banner had started to commiserate over the fact that Robin wasn't eating. Pepper even made chocolate chip cookies. Robin wouldn't eat them. Tony was incredulous. "What kind of kid won't eat fresh baked chocolate chip cookies?"
Refusing to let him leave the table until his plate was clear? Robin was happy to sit in front food for hours. He had a captive audience. He started telling knock knock jokes. He prattled on about elephants. Bruce was rather surprised when the child spelled out pi in peas to the fourteenth decimal place. He ran out of peas and Thor ran out of patience letting Robin be excused from the table.
Forcing the child to eat had resulted in a mess to clean up.
"Is he ill?" Thor asked Bruce.
"Sort of," Dr. Banner tried to explain. "A lot has happened to him. His mind and body aren't coping well."
The day before they were due to head out, Director Fury contacted them cancelling the mission. The two guards who had been stationed in Robin's hospital room were showing flu like symptoms.
"Seriously?" protested Stark. "There's been something going round since before Robin got here."
Natasha sneezed and Clint coughed.
"The lot of you are quarantined," snapped Fury. "This is not something we can mess around with."
Dr. Banner took charge of things reluctantly. HAZMAT suited Shield agents swarmed the building. There were a few glass walled isolation rooms in the basement of the tower. Clint and Natasha were ordered into one. Thor had no idea what was going on, so Tony explained to Robin why he was being put in the next room while Dr. Banner coordinated with the Shield disease and infection control team.
Natasha wanted to hit something. Clint was drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair in annoyance. Robin standing wide eyed holding his bear and his laughing puppy quilt backed into a corner of his new fish bowl room while stern HAZMAT suited soldiers, set up high tech equipment. He glanced over at Clint and Natasha looking terrified.
"This is ridiculous. All this over a simple cold?" protested Natasha.
Clint sighed, "At least they didn't insist on the entire team in containment rooms; only the kid, and anyone with symptoms. The kid is healthy though."
"He did throw up at lunch," offered Natasha.
"Thor was trying to force feed him beef stew," protested Clint. "It was cold by then too. Have you ever been force fed cold beef stew?"
Eventually Dr. Banner came accompanied by a Shield doctor. Protocol forced him to suit up in a HAZMAT suit and go through decontamination before entering the isolation rooms. He went to Natasha and Clint first.
"I'll need blood samples and swabs and we'll be doing a full physical," he explained. "I don't want this going on longer than necessary. I've put Robin in his own room because I think this illness is local and just as we may not have defenses against something from his home dimension, we don't know how resistant his immune system will be to something from our dimension."
"This strikes me as horse poop. The dimensions are similar enough that a higher order being such as a human still looks, acts and talks like a human and we are concerned that single cell organisms are so drastically different as to be a world wide threat?" Natasha spat.
"Are you seriously going to drain this much blood from the boy? Freaking vampire," complained Clint after all the blood samples had been taken.
Bruce and the Shield doctor finished up, then moved on to Robin. Robin cooperated silently.
"Tony said he talked to you. Do you know what's going on?" Bruce asked the child who looked terrified.
Robin nodded.
By the time all of the blood samples had been taken Robin was pale and swaying slightly. Bruce completed the physical trying to keep things light and playful. Robin's blood pressure was low, his heartbeat was fast and he was shivering.
"Robin?" spoke Dr. Banner kindly. "I need you to eat and drink something, especially after all the blood tests. If you don't, I'm going to have to start poking you with needles." Bruce wasn't comfortable explaining with words like hypovolemia or acute stress reaction, which he was starting to see signs of in the child.
Robin obediently reached for the drink box beside the bed. He'd been utterly silent during the entire examination. As Bruce was about to leave Robin spoke in the softest of voices. "I saw Zombie Apocalypse seven times with Kid Flash. It's his favorite movie. Am I really patient zero because I'm not from here? Are Clint and Natasha going to die? Is everybody going to die?"
Bruce whipped around so fast he almost dropped the samples he was carrying. "I'm going to kill that idiot Stark," he muttered. He could feel himself going green so he backed out of the room as fast as he could. Someone else would have to sort this out.
"STARK!"
Tony looked up from the logistics problem he was working on. When Bruce Banner sounded that annoyed, you paid attention. In fact, everyone in the vicinity paid attention. The Captain and Thor who'd been nearby, skidded into the room.
Green veins traced all along Bruce's hands and face.
"Come on Bruce," tried Steve, "a cup of tea; a little meditation?"
"You want me to calm down, let me yell at him for a bit!" Banner snapped out.
"What happened?" asked Steve carefully.
"AT WHAT POINT DID IT SEEM A GOOD IDEA TO TELL A CHILD ALREADY TRAUMATIZED BY INTERDIMENSIONAL ABANDONMENT AND DRASTIC PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TRANSFORMATION THAT HE WAS PATIENT ZERO CAUSING THE NEXT ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE?!"
"That wasn't exactly the wording I used. We did talk about zombie movies… how would you explain what's going on?" protested Tony backing away.
Steve threw his hands in the air and backed up. "Tony, if you're really that much of an idiot, you're on your own for this one." Steve dragged Thor away.
"What has Tony Stark done?" asked Thor. His cultural background was so different he had no idea what anyone was talking about.
"Not here, I'll explain later, once we've given Bruce a little extra space," explained Steve.
"How does this concern my son?" repeated Thor.
The yelling went on for a long time. Some smashing was involved.
Steve and Thor went down to the isolation rooms in the basement. Robin was asleep, tangled in his blanket under the hospital bed.
Thor went to go in the room and the Captain corrected him explaining that there was an illness everyone was trying to control and he couldn't go in the room for now.
"He must stay in there all alone, by himself?" asked Thor incredulous.
Steve pushed the intercom on Clint and Natasha's room. "Do you know why he's sleeping under the bed?"
"He's terrified and he thinks that by hiding, no one will figure out he just spent the last hour crying himself to sleep," replied Natasha coldly. "Clint and I are locked in by the way and the intercom doesn't work between patient rooms. And Jarvis won't respond because these rooms were designed for hostiles."
Black Widow looked murderous. She had not enjoyed watching the child cry inconsolably while being unable to do anything about it.
Steve pushed the intercom again, "Tony showed a lapse in judgment," he explained trying to be political. "As if this situation wasn't scary enough with the HAZMAT suits and the glass rooms, Tony thought adding Zombie Apocalypse references would help things make sense to a young child. According to Bruce who I believe is still yelling at Tony, Robin thinks you and everyone else are going to die and it's all his fault."
Clint, who'd been listening, started laughing. "This is got to hit the history books for the worst over reaction to a case of the sniffles ever! Tony wonders why people flinch every time he opens his mouth. Why is Bruce going along with this? I don't get it."
"I'm pretty sure he figured if we weren't seen to be cooperating with a potentially realistic concern, Shield would step in and take Robin by force the moment we let our guard down. I think he was expecting a few simple tests and then the whole issue dropped," Steve guessed.
Natasha wanted to know what the most severe symptom anyone directly involved had displayed.
"Bruce was arguing with them earlier because every symptom parallels the bug the city's been fighting all summer. Apparently if your lab results confirm that theory and Robin's lab results are clean, this whole thing gets dropped but until then they want to careful," Steve explained. It wasn't exactly an answer to Natasha's question but it was all of the Intel he had.
"How long will the lab tests take and are we really trusting Shield to give honest results?" asked Clint.
"Bruce is duplicating every lab test independently to keep them honest," explained Steve. "You'll have to ask Bruce about the time frame. I don't know."
Thor had been listening and had his arms crossed still looking a little confused but starting to look impatient. He grabbed Captain America by the arm a little roughly. "You will explain this to me. I want to know what a zombie is. Why we have allowed Shield soldiers to incarcerate my son. Why he has been crying and thinks everyone is going to die. Why the soldiers are garbed so oddly. You will explain it now. I do not care if you were busy." Thor dragged Captain America off else where. The Captain wasn't really resisting but it certainly didn't look as if this conversation was one he was looking forward too.
"Do the Asgard even get sick?" Clint asked Natasha sneezing then honking his nose on a tissue.
"Don't look at me," Natasha protested. "I'm with Thor on this one. I've got no idea why any of this is going on. We should be looking into the stolen nuclear materials. If some idiot decides to blow us all to kingdom come because they didn't want the Avengers to go to work with a slight head cold, I reserve the right to gut Fury."
Tony stopped by around midnight to change the controls in the isolation ward so everyone could speak freely without one sided intercom codes. He added a projection interface for Jarvis the A.I. in both rooms.
Robin again, woke at five in the morning. It was dark and quiet. Clint and Natasha were sleeping and the HAZMAT suited soldiers were absent at the moment. He crawled out and stood in the center of the room as far away from everything as he could get. He felt so incredibly alone and powerless.
He closed his eyes and into the darkness started to sing.
Natasha and Clint woke. Tony had modified the intercom so they could hear and talk to the child by default. If they wanted privacy, they could turn the intercom off.
"What's he singing?" asked Natasha quietly. The song was beautiful but haunting.
"Not sure. It's Romani though," Clint answered just as quietly.
They stayed quiet because the little guy probably didn't realize anyone could hear him. When he'd fallen asleep, the rooms had been sound proofed.
The elevator dinged and Thor came heading to Robin's door with a determined expression on his face.
"You can't go in there," protested Natasha.
Thor came over to their isolation cell, a dark and broody glower on his face. "You do not understand," he spat out. "That," he growled pointing to Robin, "is a prayer. I have lived for millennia and I know a prayer when I hear one."
"He is praying to you?" asked Natasha confused for a moment.
"Of course not." Thor stated as if the very idea was foolish but he looked pained for a moment. "But, he is mine and I will answer."
Natasha explained the containment protocols and watched as Thor pulled on a HAZMAT suit. She breathed a sigh of relief as Thor picked Robin up in his strong arms, went to a chair and sat with the small boy cradled him his lap and began to explain what kind of an idiot Tony Stark was and what was really going on.
Natasha and Clint turned away to give them some privacy.
Thor never got sick and could decontaminate himself by lightening bolt. The world had grown dependent on the Avengers. Having them all out of commission caused problems. The Avengers and Shield together petitioned Thor to cover the missions that could not wait until after the quarantine was lifted. Tony would help by running the Ironman suit on remote. Thor reluctantly asked Natasha and Clint to keep an eye on his son for him. They were going to be stuck in the fish bowl room right next to Robin for a week to ten days.
Robin was frustrated with himself. Batman would be disappointed in his detective skills and his intelligence. He should have read the situation better. He should have investigated more. Witnesses weren't always reliable. Tony had warned him when they first met that everyone thought he was an idiot. Batman didn't do helpless. Robin didn't do helpless either. He had to be stronger and smarter than this. Robin pushed the furniture clear and began training. After his first few practice routines, Natasha started calling out corrections and suggestions.
"All your forms are non-lethal?" asked Natasha. This was better than the shivering mess the child had been yesterday. The martial arts were advanced but it was like watching someone who'd lost a limb or suffered a stroke. He was relearning, adjusting.
Robin bowed as if to a sensei. "Yes Miss Romanoff."
Natasha nodded. The thought of the sweet little guy killing made her feel sick.
"You need to eat, not just drink Robin," Dr. Banner re-iterated at lunch. "Why are you covered in sweat? Are you running a fever?"
"He's healthy," Clint called out. "He's been running around a lot." The kid was burning some serious calories with his martial arts. Clint pondered the problem then sent an email up to Miss. Potts with a grin. I'm smarter than a five year old, thought Clint.
Robin kept at it all day, intensely focused. When he just didn't stop after hours and hours, Natasha started to look uncomfortable.
At supper time, Robin's plate contained 3 juice boxes in addition to his dinner. Clint smirked when he noticed the boy polished off all three even if he didn't touch his dinner.
"What did you do?" Natasha asked Clint in a whisper.
Clint shut down the intercom system so they could talk privately for a few moments. "You remember when Pepper went all crazy for over raw foods and smoothies? Well I figure, if he's getting the nutrition he needs, everyone can worry about how to settle him enough to accept cheeseburgers later. He's never refused a drink box."
Natasha liked it. Unfortunately sleep brought Natasha nightmares from her past. Robin dressed in her old training suit. She ordered him to kill the other Avengers. He coldly followed orders.
He'd been so intense, so controlled when training the day before. It bothered her.
Clint woke and looked at her. "What are you doing up at 2:30 in the morning downloading pop songs from kid's movies?"
"Go back to sleep or I'll eviscerate you."
"Okay, violent much? Pardon me for asking," chuckled Clint.
"Bad dreams okay. I'm taking care of it."
The next morning Robin cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy listening to Natasha. "You have a new warm up and cool down for me?"
Natasha set Clint to work clearing their furniture while she explained. "You're not, relaxed or loose enough." There was no way she was admitting her own nightmares. "So, for warm up and cool down we're trying something new. I'll demonstrate and you follow."
"Yes Miss Romanoff," Robin bowed formally.
When Captain America came down to check on the patients his jaw dropped. Was the notorious, deadly Black Widow, assassin of the Avengers, dancing hip-hop to Disney tunes with the kid?
Clint was in the corner bound and gagged but laughing like an idiot.
The kid was having fun. He looked happy. He looked five in a good way. And, even taking into account the occasional death glare the Black Widow kept throwing Clint, she looked happy too.
Thor phoned often. Robin would happily chat with him.
Clint saw what Natasha hinted at and stopped poking fun. The child was so intense most of the time. Robin was given a brightly wrapped package the next day. "Hey Robbie, bud?" Clint called out. "Wanna learn some old Romani songs for fun. I've got this circus friend. His name is Pipindorio, he's Rom too and he plays a wicked violin. He'll teach you over the net if you'd like." Clint assumed Batman was Romani and traditional music might bring back comforting memories of home?
Robin was so proud of himself. He didn't cry. He just smiled and said, "Thank you Mr. Barton."
Mr. Stark stayed away. At Bruce/Hulk and Thor's "suggestion" he was using the free time caused by the quarantine, to work on the Tesseract Transmitter. Bruce was helping some. When I finish this, everyone will have to admit I'm not an idiot, thought Stark. He was in denial that he might be feeling any guilt over how badly he'd traumatized Robin. The kid would have no way home without me. I'm awesome.
(Steve had forced Tony to watch footage of Robin, after Tony's less than stellar attempt at explaining the quarantine. Tony might not admit to feeling guilty but he was throwing a lot of time and money into the Tesseract all of a sudden, for someone who wasn't feeling guilty.)