"Tony?"
The man in question groaned and took another gulp of the weird chlorophyll drink. The arc was removed, thankfully, and according to the doctors Pepper had forced him to continuously go to, he should be fine as long as he rested.
The thing is, he hadn’t had time to rest. With Ultron, he had been stressed and working non stop, and the pain in his chest had only grown, as had his fever.
Someone called for him again as he finished the weird green goop.
He recognised the voice now that it was closer. Clint. Did he really want Clint to see him like this?
"Tones? You alright?"
He jumped as the voice was suddenly right beside him.
"I'm alright I'm fine." He mumbled as he waved Clint's hand off of his shoulder and moved to another machine, almost tripping over a table on his way.
"You sure? What are you drunk or something?"
Clint picked up the now empty bottle of goop and examined it carefully, bringing it up to his nose and smelling for traces of alcohol. He immediately brought it back down, wrinkling his nose at the strange smell.
"What is this?"
Tony glanced behind him at the archer and shrugged.
"It's chlorophyll, it's s'pposed to help"
He vaguely registered the archers frown but ignored him as he walked over.
"What's it supposed to help with?" Clint asked with a frown.
Tony placed both hands on the table to steady himself, Clint's hands were ready to catch him if he fell.
"D'palladium in d'arc.."
His eyes drooped and Clint jumped closer, eyes wide.
Clint stared at the billionaire, he was usually so witty and composed that seeing him mumble his words and trip over everything was understandably concerning. Tony's knees buckled and Clint fell forward to catch him.
"I thought the arc was gone?"
Tony looked up at him in a daze, waiting for his eyes to focus.
"T's but d'poisonin' never wen away"
”The what?”
Clint tilted his head slightly. Poisoning? Why didn't Stark tell anyone? He shook his head and wrapped one of Tony's arms around his shoulders.
"Friday, can you get Nat?" Clint said to the ceiling, eyes flickering anxiously over his friends body to see if there was anything he was missing.
He waited for a moment, wondering if the AI would listen to anyone but Tony. He jumped as he heard the robotic reply.
"I'm afraid Ms Romanoff is away. Would you like me to call her?"
"No, no it's fine. I got this."
He hesitated for a second. "Is there anyone else?"
"Mr Odinson is currently off-world, Ms Potts is in a meeting, Mr Rogers is visiting Ms Carter, Mr Wilson is at the VA, Ms Maximoff and The Vision are at a restaurant and Dr Banner is at a lecture."
Clint grumbled under his breath. Convenient. He began to pull Tony towards to door, trying to persevere but stopping every time a groan came from the genius's mouth.
About 15 minutes later, they made it to the sitting room. He lay Tony down carefully onto the couch and went to get more of the green goop and a blanket.
"Okay" Clint said and he returned, but then frowned and stopped.
Tony was shivering, head low and eyes closed. Clint tilted his head slightly and pressed the back of his hand against Tony’s forehead.
“Shit, you’re burning up” Clint murmured, mostly to himself. He sighed and kicked the blanket under the couch. He placed the green drink on the floor beside him and placed a pillow behind Tony’s back.
Clint had kids. He knew how to deal with a fever. But he had never dealt with a grown man with a fever before.
Tony lay back against the back of the couch, hands shaking but still trying to hold his head high.
”It’s alright…” Clint said quietly, pushing a bit of hair out of Tony’s face then getting to his feet. “I’m gonna get a wet cloth, I’ll be right back”
Tony had no reaction other than groaning and leaning his head back. Clint took that as an ‘okay’ and went to the kitchen again.
He returned with a damp cloth and placed it on Tony’s head, pulling up a chair to sit with him while the fever hopefully died down.
“Alright, Tony,” He mumbled under his breath to the mostly out of it man. Clint helped Tony lay down on the couch, ignoring his annoyed groans at being moved. “I’ve got you, but you owe me.”
Tony fell asleep quickly, shifting onto his side and letting his eyes close. Once he did, Clint sighed and put his head in his hands for a moment.
He was worried. Tony was usually so put together, so cocky and defensive that it was unnerving to see him still and shaking.
Once the shivering eventually died down, and the heat radiating off of Tony had lessened, Clint lay the blanket over his sleeping form and let himself fall asleep in the chair.
When he woke up, he was pleasantly surprised to see that it had been two hours. Two hours that both he and Tony had slept through. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately, so that was good.
He sighed and leaned forward, removing the cloth from Tony’s forehead and letting it drop to the floor, then brushing some hair out of Tony’s face.
He almost jerked away when Tony’s eyes opened, but he forced himself to stay.
”Morning,” He said quietly, watching as Tony took in the situation “Your fever broke”
Tony sighed and closed his eyes again, nodding a little and leaning slightly into Clint’s hand.
“Do you want me to go?” Clint asked in a gentle voice, not being too soft though, since he didn’t want to freak Tony out.
”No,” Tony’s voice was rough and hoarse and he coughed to try clear it up. “Never would’ve pinned you for a nurse, Barton”
Clint scoffed in amusement and removed his hand, leaning back in his chair. “A ‘thank you’ would be nice”
”It probably would be” Tony replied, keeping his eyes closed and shifting to get more comfortable.
Clint smiled, then gently tapped his foot against Tony’s ankle.
”Go back to sleep, you need to sleep off the apparent poisoning that you have” He let a little bit of warning creep into his tone, as if to say ‘We’re talking about this later’
Tony pulled a face, but let his face smooth out and very quickly fell asleep again. Clint brought the blanket up to his chin, then leaned his head back and fell asleep once more.