hi-hi!! welcome in to day 25 of my sicktember with blue series! with this specific fic the lovely @bookbat1937 helped me out with actually coming up with the idea\how to interpret the prompt so lets get a round of applause for her!! I hope you all love it <3
Steve Rogers wasn't supposed to get sick anymore
That'd been one of the few perks of Erskine's serum: the weak lungs, the rattling coughs, the endless colds, fevers, and chest infections, gone. For years they were gone, until one morning, they weren't
He woke up coughing so hard the bedframe shuddered, his chest burning like sandpaper, his skin was hot and clammy, his hair was damp with sweat. By the time he'd staggered into the common room, wrapped in a blanket, the team froze like he'd just stumbled out of a war zone.
"Cap?" Sam's voice was wary "you look like hell"
Steve tried to wave him off "I'm fine" his voice cracked halfway through the word, dissolving into another cough that left him hunched, bracing on his knees
Bruce was at his side in a second, thermometer already in hand "102" he muttered, after a beat his frown deepened "That shouldn't be possible with the serum"
"Tylenol" Nat said fast, heading to the kitchen "start simple"
Two tablets later Steve was no better, his fever still holding steady, cough rattling through his chest, wheezing like he was back at twenty, sickly and small
"Nyquil?" Sam said, digging through the cupboard "knocks me flat every time"
Steve swallowed, wincing at the taste, and still lay there restless and miserable an hour later
"I can make him something" Tony offered, eyes on his tablet "Custom nanotech humidifier, maybe an IV drip-"
"Or you could try not to poison him" Nat cut in
Steve groaned under the blanket "Really, I'm fine"
"No. you're not" Bruce said, firm
Through all of this, Bucky leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching, his expression didn't change as the others argued over brands of medicine and dosages, didn't flinch when Steve coughed so hard his chest seized or when his husband curled up against the cushions, miserable
He'd seen this before. Too many times, the serum had erased it for decades but Bucky remembered what it looked like when Steve Rogers got sick..
..And he knew exactly how to fix it
"I know what he needs" Bucky said finally pushing off the wall
Tony narrowed his eyes "And what, pray tell, does the Winter Soldier recommend? Ice baths? motor oil?"
Bucky ignored him, heading to the kitchen "Hot toddy"
Sam made a face "Man you're not serious"
"It's medicine" Bucky said simply, pulling a mug down from the cupboard, he filled it with hot water, reached for the bottle of whiskey they kept above the fridge, grabbed a lemon from the bowl on the counter, honey followed
Bruce hovered near the couch frowning "Alcohols not
recommended-"
"It worked every time" Bucky cut in, firm "Back then it was all we had, and it worked"
The team exchanged uneasy glances
"Buck-" Nat started, but stopped when she saw the way he was clenching his jaw
Bucky carried the mug back into the room, crouched by the couch and touched Steve's shoulder "Stevie. Hey"
Steve cracked his eyes open, glassy from his fever
"Drink this" Bucky said, slipping an arm behind his shoulder and pressing the mug into his hands
Steve didn't even question it, he sipped, coughing once at the heat, but he kept drinking, by the time he'd finished half, his shoullders had loosened, his breathing less ragged, he slumped into Buckys side, eyes heavy
Bucky took the mug away, set it on the table and pulled the blanket higher around him "Knew it would be"
The room was quiet except for Steve’s slowing breaths
“…you’ve got to be kidding me” Sam muttered
Tony gestured vaguely at the mug “That’s not medicine. That’s a cocktail. Rogers just got knocked out by whiskey and honey”
Bucky didn’t even look at them, he kept his hand in Steve’s hair, slow and steady “worked then, works now”
Steve shifted closer in his sleep, curling into Bucky’s chest like it was the most natural thing in the world
