Avengers Sick-fics

Injuries of a Mission Gone Wrong - Reader/Natasha/Pepper

Set: after Avengers
For: playboyi

This is the longest fic I've ever written and it takes a minute to get started but I'm kinda proud of it. Also please take into account that I've never had the fortune of being in a relationship with a girl so... I tried my best to make it accurate.

Finally, I'm aware the thermometer's you stick in your mouth are long outdated but they're cute so I don't care.

———

It was all a disaster. A mission gone wrong, a teammate injured and her team unaware.

(Y/N) was always eager to prove her worth. As a newer member of the team, she felt she'd been added purely to ensure a more even fight against large numbers, rather than a member of the team in her own right.

With the world watching and media documenting, (Y/N) knew she always had to be at her best or they'd tear her down. The others were used to the media, or else confident in their own skills, and lacked the under-confidence (Y/N) hid so carefully behind a sculpted personality of fearlessness and humour.

It was when she got injured, that this proved an issue.

A small bomb and a larger cut led originally to a bit of bleeding and not too much else. (Y/N) carefully bandaged it when her team was out of sight and assumed it could heal on its own.

It did not.

Not two hours later, safely back on the Quinjet, a dull, but hot, pain pulsed just above (Y/N)'s right hip. She adjusted her position carefully and allowed herself to check that the Avengers weren't paying attention. None of them were and (Y/N) allowed herself a small smile. Small and gone before even watchful Natasha could notice it. And Natasha noticed everything about (Y/N).

It was three hours after that, when they arrived at the Tower, that (Y/N) began to have misgivings about her course of action. Maybe hiding her wound hadn't been the best idea after all. Nevertheless, (Y/N) was determined not to be perceived as weak, as less than her teammates. She didn't want Natasha to think less of her.

(Y/N) followed her team for a quick debrief, filled with scalding remarks from Nick Fury, before finally getting into her own room.

In her private en-suite, (Y/N) discovered that her wound was no longer bleeding, but a mess of dried blood and puss which had stuck to her bandage and made it difficult to take off, even after she'd run it under warm water.

And when it was wet, it burned.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, (Y/N) dressed the wound and re-bandaged it, hoping that would be enough. She slept on her left side, her right covered only by her pyjama top and a thick bandage (the last one had been bled right through) as her thick quilt was too heavy to have without causing a burning sensation throughout (Y/N)'s entire being.

She would've simply used a thinner blanket but chills wracked through her body and (Y/N) was far too cold to even consider sacrificing some of her warmth.

———

(Y/N) woke to Jarvis asking if she'd join the other Avengers for training. The young woman quickly agreed, despite the warmth emanating from her cut. It was a shock to realise she was in bed alone, as it had been a long time since she'd returned from a mission and slept without Pepper or Natasha nearby.

Probably for the best, she thought when she discovered she'd bled through her entire bandage and onto the sheets.

"Miss (Y/N), you seem to be running a fever, if you'd like, you can withdraw from training or I could call Miss Potts-"