Sergeant Calhoun swayed slightly on her feet, blinking hard in a vain attempt to dispel what had to be lingering sleep-fog. She was bone-tired in a way days without sleep had never left her, her armor felt stuffy and far too heavy, her limbs were stiff and her every joint and muscle and fiber ached in deep, dull throbs.

A low groan escaped before she could stop it, and the nearest soldiers turned to stare at her.

She could barely muster the energy to glare back; even squinting hurt.

"What're you daisies looking at?" she grumbled. Her voice was rough in a way outside its usual slight raspiness, and she scowled again as Kohut stepped forward.

"Everything all right, Sarge?"

"Fine," she snapped back. "Just... be ready, opening in five minutes."

"All right." Kohut shrugged slightly. "Just tell him that."

"Tell me what, Tammy Jean?"

She bit her lip and suppressed another groan, turning slowly to face Felix. Of course he chose today to make one of his morning stopovers; he was standing just inside the game's entrance with a tray of steaming fresh muffins and a quizzical expression. After a moment he passed the muffins to Kohut (who began dutifully handing them out) and took Calhoun's hand, tugging gently until she reluctantly knelt.

"Hm." He peeled off his other glove to lay a bare palm against her cheek, and she winced at how cold his touch felt. "I take it this's never happened to any of you before." He smiled sympathetically as he put his glove back on. "Little fritzes happen sometimes - twenty-four hour bug, really."

"One day, huh?" Calhoun got back to her feet, only slightly off-balance; really, the floor was swaying a lot more than she was. "That's fine. Just fine. Little shooting ought to get my mind off it."

Felix wasn't listening. He had already turned to Kohut.

"How much would it affect gameplay if you took her lead role for a day?"

"What?" Calhoun yelped, putting a hand to the wall for balance. "No one said anything about-"

"Not too much," Kohut said, carefully not looking at his superior. "Gamers'll probably think it's a random selection or something."

"Dammit Kohut, I-"

"And y'know the script?"

"Fix-it..."

"Like it was my own." Kohut still wasn't looking at her; she resorted to silently fuming and planning exactly what she was going to tell the both of them when they finally shut up.

"Good. Guess convincin' her's the thing."

"Well I'm glad you remembered I have a say in this," Calhoun grumbled as Felix turned to her. "And you're not gonna convince me. This is my duty. No stupid bug's keeping me from it - not a Cy-bug and not this twenty-four hour bull."

"Well, ma'am, there is that." Felix nodded. "And I don't doubt you can still do it. But, Tammy Jean - bugs aside, what's your duty in this game?"

"To get players to the top of that tower."

"So they can earn a medal. Yes ma'am. So... you'd say you're in service to your player when quarter alerts go up?"

"Well... yeah."

"And to serve th'player, it's best for you t'be at your best?"

"I... well..." She scowled again. "Damn it Fix-it. Fine. I'll report to the infirmary and-"

"Now now, ma'am - sorry t'interrupt - but Hero's Duty... well, it's an awful noisy game. So why don't you come on back to Niceland an' get some real rest?"

"And you playing nursemaid between quarter alerts, is that it?" Calhoun stared down at Felix, who only smiled in response to the question; after a moment she sighed, nodding once. "Okay. Fine, Niceland it is."

He took her by the hand to lead her out, and behind them the Marines fell into line under Kohut.

"Gonna put her up in your room, Fix-it?" one called.

"Oh, no sir," Felix replied. "Can't have gameplay disturbing her every quarter alert. I'll ask Ralph to let her bunk awhile."

This time, she didn't bother trying to suppress her groan.

Ralph turned out to be both accomodating and smart enough to let the situation pass without comment; he'd merely waved them in with a remark something like 'my home is your home' and then headed out to his stump for the day. His home was, despite the rickety exterior, surprisingly comfortable, and once her armor was off Calhoun sank gratefully into the marshmallowlike bed.

Given how close he was to the Cavity Queen, chances were good it was marshmallow. At least it wasn't sticky.

"All right, honeybadger," Felix crooned, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I've got soup here, an' tea with lots a'honey - figured you'd like it sweet like your coffee."

"And my men," she mumbled. She didn't realized she'd said it aloud until Felix blushed and grinned, and she buried herself in the tea to hide her own blush. "S'good."

"Good. Now eat up, the warm'll help with the aches." He leaned in to kiss her forehead, and she smiled a bit in response. "I've got a quarter alert, but I'll be back real soon."

She nodded, picking up her spoon to start in on the soup. The warmth did make her feel better, and once she was finished she settled in to sleep.

It was a mercifully slow day; while Calhoun ended up sleeping through most of it, when she woke Felix was nearly always there - greeting her with a fresh cup of tea or lightly stroking her hair as he read or fussily pulling the blankets up around her.

She barely heard him telling Ralph to let Vanellope know what was going on, though she was more awake a few hours later when the Cavity Queen herself came by with a Get Well Cake. It turned out to be molten fudge; like with the soup, the heat of it soothed her and the rich buttery chocolate further improved her mood.

After the cake she went back to sleep again, with Felix once more running gentle fingers over her hair.

The next time she woke Felix was asleep beside her, her vision was sharp and clear, and the aches were entirely gone.

Twenty-four hours.

Calhoun couldn't quite suppress a grin as she got up and stretched - nothing like feeling like herself again - and then leaned over Felix, butting her forehead against his.

"Morning sunshine."

He blinked awake immediately, grinning up at her as he rubbed sleepily at one eye.

"Mornin' honeybadger. Didn't a day a' rest do a world a' good?"

"According to you, I'd have been fine in twenty-four hours anyway." She straightened up, giving him a measuring look before smiling again. "But thanks for the bedside manner, Fix-it."

"Anytime y'need it, ma'am." He hopped from his perch, offering a hand. "Up to meetin' Ralph an' Vanellope for breakfast?"

She nodded, taking his hand.

"Sure, I think I'm up for that. Pancakes before I go make sure the boys know I haven't gone soft over this."

Felix chuckled, nodding as they headed out.

"Oh, no fear of that ma'am. They all know no bug's gonna stop you."

"You got that right."

She gave his hand a squeeze, and they headed out into the pre-opening bustle.