Chapter 2-Fever
By: MysticFantasy
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Clint and Tony ran faster than they thought possible. They burst through the door and the loud cries were now perfectly clear.
"James." Clint exclaimed as they rushed to the crib. He reached in and picked up the crying infant. "What's wrong little guy?"
"Sirs, it appears that young James has a fever." Jarvis informed.
"How bad is it Jarvis?" Tony asked as Clint failed in trying to sooth the babies cries.
"His fever is 101.3 sir." Jarvis answered.
"Steve and Natasha are still on that mission in Europe. They can't answer any calls from us." Clint said, adjusting James to recling against his shoulder and patting his back gently.
"Jarvis, get Bruce on the phone. Tell him that James is sick and we need his help. Also, look up the best, quickest and safest ways to bring down a babies fever." Tony instructed.
"Right away sir." Jarvis replied.
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Bruce walked into the nursery room with Thor right behind him.
"Bruce!" Tony exclaimed. "Thank heaven you're here!"
"What is wrong with the little one?" Thor asked looking at the baby with conerned eyes.
"He's sick." Clint answered. "He's got a fever. Came out of nowhere."
"Have you checked his temperature?" Bruce asked quickly putting his glasses on and carefully took the crying child.
"Jarvis said that it's almost 102." Tony answered. "But that was a little before we got you on the phone."
"Do you have a rectal thermometer?" Bruce asked.
"A what?" Tony questioned.
"I can take the liberty of ordering one for you Dr. Banner." Jarvis offered.
"Go ahead and do that Jarvis." Bruce said. "Are you able to get an accurate reading on James' temperature right now?"
"I am sir and his temperature is currently 101.9." the AI answered.
"It's not too high but we still need to bring it down." Bruce said. "Can someone fill his baby bath with lukewarm water?"
"I'm on it." Clint said and quickly went into the bathroom that was part of the nursery.
"Jarvis, make sure to order five of those baby thermometers along with the same amount of other baby medical items. All the kinds of thermometers, medicine, the works." Tony ordered.
"Yes sir."
"Bath's ready Bruce." Clint announced as he carried the small bathtub into the room and placed it on top of the medium height dresser.
"How will this help him?" Thor asked as Clint helped Bruce get James ready for the bath.
"The water is cool enough that it can help lower his fever." Tony explained as he watched Bruce carefully place James in the tub of water.
His cries lowered to small whimpers and nearly faded completely when Clint showed James his favorite bath toy. A small yellow tug boat.
"How did this illness befall him?" Thor asked.
"Could just be a normal fever that showed up out of nowhere." Bruce answered. "He doesn't seem to be getting sick. When was the last time he ate?"
"Regular lunch time." Clint answered. "Natasha knows if we're off by a minute to give him his bottle and she always has our a**es if that happens."
"She's a good mother." Bruce said with a small smile. "Did he have his whole bottle?"
"Majority of it. Maybe three fourths of it."
"Has he been coughing, sneezing, sleeping more, anything that he normally doesn't do?"
"He did stay asleep longer when he took his nap."
"Hm. I think it might be a regular cold. Shouldn't take long to overcome it."
"Sirs, James' temperature is now 101.4." Jarvis announced.
"Good. It's helping." Clint sighed with relief and looked stunned when the toy was snatched from his hand.
"Kid learns fast." Tony mused.
"Definatly Natasha's son." Clint added with a smirk. "Imagine when he's older."
"He'll take a few pointers from me and learn how to sneak the ladies home." Tony mused and chuckled when James splashed the water.
"You better be prepared to see the end of Natasha's gun." Clint said.
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Clint smiled as he watched Thor hold a stuffed toy sheep toward James and playfully pulled it back when the child reached for it.
James gurggled happily, ignoring the steam blowing in his direction from the humidifier that Bruce set up in order to help keep his airways clear even though they were clear to begin with.
Thor was telling James tales of his battles in Asgard while the infant was seated in Clint's lap. Tony was sitting Indian style on the floor next to the chair the archer was sitting in and Bruce was sitting on another chair across from the three.
"Sirs, Captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff have returned and are on their way to the nursery." Jarvis announced.
As soon as the AI finished his announcment the group heard rushed footsteps before the door suddenly flew open. Steve and Natasha walked in, still dressed in their uniforms, and their eyes went straight to their son who had managed to grab the toy sheep from Thor.
The men slowly stood as Natasha hurried over to Clint and carefully took her son in her arms.
"What happened?" Steve asked.
"He ran a bit of a fever." Bruce answered. "Tony and Clint called me right away and I got here as soon as possible. We made James comfortable, found out what was wrong and managed to bring his fever down. It'll be completely gone by morning. He doesn't have anything else that we need to worry about. He'll be fine."
"Thank you Bruce." Steve said with a grateful smile. "All of you. Thank you for taking care of James."
"Well, as bird brain pointed out earlier, I don't want to be on the recieving end of Natasha's gun." Tony said.
"Then you should be glad that I'm very grateful of how well all of you took care of my son." Natasha said and placed a kiss on her babies forehead.
"Yes. I get to live another day." Tony mused playfully as he walked out of the nursery.
"We shall leave you with your son. I am sure that you have been most worried about him while you were away." Thor said.
"You have no idea Thor." Steve said.
The thunder god gave him a smile before leaving the room.
"Let me know if you need me for anything." Bruce said.
"Thanks again Bruce."
The doctor left and Clint was about to leave when Natasha called him.
"Clint."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." she said. "For taking care of our baby."
Clint smiled and looked at James.
"How could I say no to a face like that?"