Avengers Family

Vaccine

Saibest2000 recommended this Tumblr post (username was cut off so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this):

"I like to think about the Avengers and what they would be like under quarantine, and then I realize that quarantine wouldn't last that long. Not because of the arguing and fighting, of course that would happen. But because after a week, the rest of them would have driven Tony to the brink of a mental breakdown that he just locks himself for a few hours and be just emerges shouted "Alright, quarantine's over, I cured it, get the hell out of my building." And he just jabs them with a vaccine he perfected."

Tony slumped over his workbench in defeat. The continuous thumping had finally driven him mad. Somehow, even with his rock music blaring, the sounds of two super soldiers and their endless energy was audible.

Just two weeks ago, the Avengers had gathered in New York for a intense mission, and afterwards, Tony had allowed them to crash at his tower for post-mission recovery and relaxation. They all had floors available, but typically they dispersed to their own homes across the world in times of peace. Their mission had been so deep undercover in an underground HYDRA base, that when they returned, they had not kept up with the news - NYC was on lockdown.

It was strict lockdown. Driving was limited for emergency vehicles. People were encouraged to stay inside to prevent air pollution from exacerbating respiratory conditions. No one was leaving unless they had a valid reason.

Of course, Tony could've used his power and influence to fly them home in private planes, but Pepper had encouraged the team to not set a bad example: enough people were being stupid and reckless already - they didn't need another excuse. So Tony invited them for an extended stay. They'd spent large amounts of time together before in missions and even during the pre- and post-mission periods. Why not?

Tony cringed as something crashed seemingly right above him. He had been wrong. There were so many reasons why not. The most pertinent being that Steve and Bucky were like untrained puppies. At their apartment in DC, they ran laps around the city and worked out in special government training. Here, they couldn't go outside because they didn't want to role model dangerous behavior or attract large crowds.

So they found creative ways to work out in the tower. Tony offered them a treadmill and some free weights, but they immediately grew bored. Soon enough their were makeshift obstacle courses and parkour set-ups throughout the tower.

And they weren't just one or two hours - they were long and sometimes multiple times a day. Tony pinched the top of his nose remembering, wishing he hadn't invited a military boot camp into his home.

And that was just a fraction of the noise.

There was the constant music from Clint trying to perfect Tik Tok dances that Peter showed him, and noise from Clint mentoring Peter in "circus business" as he called it.

Peter had already been webbing all over the hallways and the common rooms. With Clint's instruction, it became a modified trapeze. Juggling was harder because his hands were sticking. It was hard to be mad at the kid because he was so excited, but damn, was it annoying to walk into the kitchen half awake and see a teenage boy swing past you, narrowly missing your head.

Even though they lived together, Sam would wear his wings and extend them to knock someone in the name of social distancing. He thought it was hilarious. Tony, with an imprint on his shoulder, did not.

Bruce was probably the smartest of them all. After watching the news, and all the idiots protesting the stay at home orders, he took to meditating in his room to keep from Hulking out.

Clint's hair had been dyed purple in a drunk accident that happened sometime between 3 and 4 in the morning because time didn't seem to exist anymore.

Tony swore that Natasha and Bucky were going to kill him by causing a heart attack because of the way they were acting. Natasha testing her new makeup and disguise skills as well as finding undiscovered hiding holes around corners. Bucky learned to detach most of his arm and control it remotely. Peter admitted you nearly peeing himself the first time he saw it race past him to grab a soda from the fridge while the man himself remained planted in his room watching TV.

And even watching the TV wasn't that simple. There was a lot of screaming at the TV. And Steve was hooked on documentaries that made him furious. It always started with "you'd think by now..." and continue on for hours about systemic racism or the illusion of choice in capitalism or pedagogical masking or the environment or treatment of the LBGTQIA+ community or whatever else he'd learned that day.

And often the screen was filled with Peter against some obscure background zooming in from another part of the tower for the game "guess what floor I'm on." It was extremely difficult given that he could stick himself to walls and ceilings at weird angles. Also he kept giving Tony scares by going outside on the 90th floor.

It wasn't all bad. He'd definitely bonded with the team members a bit. It was sweet to see Sam so soft and kind while teaching Natasha to cook and bake - something the Red Room has not valued. Or the way Bucky and Peter got along fantastically. Bruce was a soothing person to be around and Clint provided comic relief, when the pranks weren't directed at him.

Tony now knew, through an accidentally run in with the super soliders at 2am, that Steve and Bucky got nightmares and panicked too. Recently, Bucky had been extra stressed because of the remanent memories about worrying if Steve would survive the influenza epidemic. It was a weight off all of their shoulders to talk about some of their issues. And Tony was able to recommend people and places to get help.

Clint helped Tony and Peter with a project that required placing robots in the air ducts and they all had fun working together.

But the last straw was when Tony caught Clint, entirely naked, on his balcony because Peter had lowered him down "spy style" but the webbing has caught to his clothes and ripped them.

"Let me in."

"That's it!" Tony flung open the glass balcony door, and then stomped down to the  lab.

Everyone in the kitchen saw him, but they just shrugged, not wanting to get in the middle of that mess.

In several hours, the group was lounging around eating pizza. Tony finally emerged from his lab, hair frazzled and covered in stains.

"The hermit has emerged. Watch carefully now as he crawls out of his cave for food - it's a rare occasion" Clint mimicked documentary narrators while looking straight at Tony.

"You need to get out of my building. Go to a restaurant or park or movie or whatever. I'll pay for your hotel rooms."

"Are you okay?" Natasha glanced at Tony, questioning expression apparent on her face. "We're in quarantine - we can't do any of that."

"Not anymore. I cured it."

"You what?" Steve asked, just as Clint yelped in pain because Tony stuck him with the needle.

"You're now virus free. There's a vaccine on the way too. I've already commissioned government regulators to review and labs to mass produce it and I've funded the cost for every American to get one. Pandemic over." Tony grabbed a new syringe from a tray and filled it. "We're a good team but you need to get the hell out of my personal space."

"Shit." Peter offered up his arm. "Is this because we replaced all the pictures of you and Pepper with pictures of Pepper and that one vigilante man from Florida? The one who claimed he had the superpower to listen to Mother Nature through the wind but was actually just tripping. Or is it because Bucky and Steve keep smoking weed in the house? Or because Natasha uses your shower because it has nicer settings? Or-"

Sam clasped his hand over Peter's mouth "Christ kid. What the hell are you doing?"

Tony's jaw dropped. He was speechless. "My shower? Weed?" He spun around to see Pepper kissing an impressive photoshop of "nature man".

When he turned back around, all of the Avengers were making a mad dash to the stairs.

Clint saluted him. "Bye man. Thanks for the place to stay. Had a blast. See you next time the word's in danger."

Tony just flopped on the couch and got the first uninterrupted sleep he's had in a while.