Nick was feeling completely fine which still didn't explain why agent Carter was looking at him as if something was wrong with him.
"Is there something wrong, agent ?" he asked, lacking the patience to wait for her to tell him what was on her mind.
"Are you feeling alright Nick ? You look a bit pale."
"Yes, I'm alright. Now if you can excuse me, I have work to do." he got up and walked out of the office, immediately forgetting about her words.
Three hours later and he was already cursing her in his mind for always being right, because he was starting to feel unwell and was afraid that it was going to get worse throughout the day.
Nick wasn't a child, his immunity system was well enough that it prevented him from easily getting sick, but unfortunately he wasn't immune to catching the common cold, which seemed to be the case. And as the mature, grown up he was, he refused to take the hint and continued working because he thought he could out stubborn his cold.
He was wrong.
The next day instead of the symptoms lessening, they increased, he woke up with a headache, a runny nose and his throat was sore. He contemplated taking a day off so he could rest, but he liked to believe that he was tougher than he looked, that's why he went to work.
Things went downhill from there.
He couldn't concentrate, one moment he was shivering from cold the next he was sweating, his muscles and joints hurt and he was starting to experience dizzy spells.
Thankfully he wore his glasses that hid his bloodshot eyes that helped him with hiding his symptoms and keeping his reputation as a strong agent intact.
"Agent Fury, can I have a word with you ?" echoed in the hallway and he knew that whichever mask he was wearing wasn't going to work on agent Carter.
"Of course, agent."
She dragged him into her office and gave him a look that he only had seen directed at new agents who thought they got away with something.
"What ?"
"You have the answer Nick, why are you at work when you are clearly not feeling well ?"
"It's nothing."
"I'm certain that it's nothing, which is why it won't bother you if I do this ?" quicker than he expected her to be, she reached forward and took off his glasses before he could even react.
Immediately he winced when the light from the window hit his eyes causing his headache to skyrocket. He reached for the glasses with half closed eyes, scowling at agent Carter's amused smile.
Thankfully she returned the glasses to him without resistance, but she had already proven her point which placed him in a worse situation than he imagined.
"Alright, what's the verdict?" he let out a defeated sigh which only made her smile grow.
"Two days off.." he opened his mouth to complain only to close it when she held her hand up in a sign to not even bother starting.
"Two days off and absolutely no work during those days, including reading papers and doing those reports you enjoy."
"Can I at least get something to prevent me from dying out of boredom ?"
"No."
"You're too cruel agent, how about only one day off and I'll owe you a favor ?" he was actually good at bargaining, but at the current state he wasn't even close to the agent's level, so it was obvious that he would have a hard time convincing her about anything.
The offer seemed to intrigue her and for a second Nick thought that she would agree, but once again she surprised him.
"I'm afraid this time I'd have to decline your offer. Now you're dismissed, you may go home. See you after two days, agent." was her reply after which she simply guided him towards the door and gently pushed him outside.
He went to his house with the comforting thought that he didn't lose to the agent, he simply picked his battles and this was one he chose to lose. Then he prepared himself a bowl of warm soup, took some medicine and laid down to rest, when his head hit the pillow he realized that he was more tired than he wanted to admit to himself. Before he knew ,he had fallen asleep, he woke up a few hours later, disoriented and drenched in sweat. He repeated the process but this time with a cup of tea and he fell asleep once again. That was the first day, the second day his boring rest was interrupted by a knock on the door, he managed to push the papers he had been reading under the bed before he went to open the door.
"Uncle Nick!" greeted him and Nick had to blink a couple of times to make sure that he wasn't imagining things.
Tony and agent Carter were standing on the doorstep, wide grins on their faces,carrying bags with what Nick assumed to be food.
"Tony ? What are you doing here kid ? Did the mean agent kidnap you ?" at his words the boy giggled and shook his head.
"No, uncle Nick, aunt Peggy said that you're sick, so we came to visit you and help you. Jarvis says that a warm bowl of homemade soup can heal anything. He made one for you."
"That's nice of Jarvis to do, thank him when you go back. Now get in before you catch a cold as well." he raised his gaze to glare at Carter for bringing the kid along even though seeing him certainly improved his mood, then Tony wrapped his arms around his waist as an attempt for a hug.
"Tony…" he mumbled, taken by surprise by how affectionate was the kid towards him,
"I don't want for you to catch a cold as well, who then will look after me, huh ?" he joked.
Tony raised his head to look at him and smiled,
"I already caught it, so now I'm...I'm immune, right aunt Peggy ?"
"That's right, darling. Now step aside Nick, I'm going to warm up Jarvis' soup, it will fix you up right away." and she continued walking towards the kitchen as if she was the owner of the place.
Nick shook his head in disbelief, then he crouched down until he was low enough so he could properly see Tony.
"Well look at you, you've grown since the last time I saw you."
"Really ?"
"Yeah, pretty soon you'll be as big and strong as me."
"As big as Cap ?" the hope to become like his idol still hadn't completely left him.
"Better, believe me kid, you'll be better than the captain." at the kid's confused expression he added,
"And you know why ?" he got a shake for an answer.
"Because you're the smartest and bravest boy I've ever met and one day you'll become a hero that everyone will love and admire."
"Really ?"
"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you and if people think otherwise I'll kick their asses, I'll bring Jarvis too, he'll whack them with a spoon." that made the kid laugh so hard, tears were falling from his eyes.
"Now let's go and see what your aunt Peggy is doing, I don't want her to accidentally set my kitchen on fire." he ruffled the kid's messy hair, took one of his hands and together they went into the kitchen.
Jarvis' famous soup was indeed a medicine of its own, it was perfectly balanced and it did more for him than anything he tried making.
Tony never left his side, he found Goose and together they kept him company, the ungrateful cat was taking more space than it needed, the kid was attempting to build something with his help much to Carter's amusement who was trying to beat them in a word game they made up on the spot.
When she noticed that Nick was barely keeping his eyes open, she didn't let him pretend for long, she simply told Tony that they should leave. The kid refused to leave, claiming that Nick read him bedtime stories all the time and that it was his time to return the favor.
Nick didn't even try resisting the urge to hug the kid, he simply pulled him into a gentle embrace and pressed a kiss on the top of the kid's head.
"Alright then, tell me a good one kid, don't want to have nightmares when I fall asleep."
"This one is a good one." he said with seriousness that made him look more adorable than serious and started talking.
Surprisingly the kid's voice managed to lull him to sleep, the last thing he remembered before he fell asleep was a kiss on the cheek and a quiet,
"Sweet dreams, uncle Nick."