Avengers Stories //Oneshots//

Farmhouse Blues - Part 5 Finale

Here is the final chapter for the segment 'Farmhouse Blues' in this story! This is all I will be posting of this AU on THIS oneshot book. I'm not sure if there will be anymore, but if there is, you will find it on my story 'Honorary Barton' which is this story, but with better grammar. For now I will be taking a break from this universe. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Clint sprinted to the barn after listening to a few words from his panting son who was in almost hysterics. He didn't have to look to know Bruce and Natasha were on his tail, the couple filled with the same urgency he had to get to their comerades. Laura had stayed back to calm the kids, but was also getting some ice packs ready in case Tony's fever had risen too high.

The man hoped they wouldn't have to take Tony into the hospital. They were in hiding and it was extremely likely that news would break out if Tony Stark had been admitted to the hospital. That would make it incredibly easy for Ultron to find them.

He bursted into the barn, the door crashing into the wall with the force, and found the sight of Steve holding a seemingly unconcious Tony in his arms bridal style, jogging forward to meet them. Bruce slipped in front of him, medical bag in hand, and pressed a thermometer into Tony's ear. Clint and Natasha came forward, keeping room for Bruce to work. The dirty blonde got a full view of his prank buddy's situation and couldn't help the emotions swelling inside him.

Tony's face was pale and his eyes were closed. The only color was in his rosy cheeks and his brown hair was plastered black to his forehead with sweat. He was shivering despite the heat in the stuffy barn and his eyes were more sunken, the bruises under them looking deeper than they had been.

"What happened?" Natasha questioned Steve. The blonde opened his mouth to answer when the thermometer beeped rapidly, flashing bright red.

"104.1," Bruce reported grimly. "We need to get him back to bed and with a lot of ice. We might have to dunk him in a bath if it doesn't go down."

"That won't go over well. Tony hates water," Clint said, finally finding his voice as he tore his gaze from his friend. He locked eyes with Natasha briefly, having a silent conversation with her in a language only they understood. She nodded and ran out of the barn, sprinting toward the house.

All of them knew that Tony Stark had a fear of water that came from his three months capture in Afghanistan. The genius had confided in them after he was pulled into the pool during a team vacation when he refused to get in, none of them expecting the panic that followed. He trusted them with his fears, and it had made something In Clint a little more... protective, of him. He also hated Obadiah Stane impossibly more when he saw the effects on him, not just read about it.

Tony stirred a little as they began to move toward the house, causing the group to tense up and radiate with false hope that he might open his eyes, but he didn't. Clint reached out and pressed what he hoped was a comforting hand onto his forehead and watched as Tony's face screwed up for a moment, then relaxed. Steve's arms tensed, holding him a little closer to his body.

They made their way back to the house, moving slower than Clint liked but there wasn't much of a choice when Tony kept fidgeting and making a sound like a pitiful mewl, body burning up. They needed ice on him, and fluid in him. The archer didn't know how they were going to do the latter, considering the unconcious state.

It felt like forever before they got into the house and up the stairs. Laura was distracting Lila and Cooper in the boy's room, by the sounds of it, and Natasha was already in the guest bedroom that had come to be known as Tony's room. Two ice packs were already on the bed, the sheets pulled back, and Natasha holding more ice packs in her arms. Every bag was wrapped in a tea towel so the cold wouldn't touch bare skin.