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atths--twice · 8 months ago

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Germs and All

After attending a conference, Scully falls ill. Not wanting to be alone, and missing Mulder, she heads to his apartment.

I've been fighting through a cold the past few days. As a result, I've had extra time on my hands as I've been resting. Because of this, my mind wanders to MSR more than usual. I love stories where they take care of each other and so, I've written this little fic.

Hope you enjoy. 💓

Scully woke up, her mouth dry and nose stuffy. Groaning, she rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock before closing her eyes in the gray light. Opening her eyes again, she looked back at the clock as she drew in a breath.

11:30.

It was eleven thirty?

Sitting up, she looked around the room and then picked up her watch to be sure the time was correct.

11:30.

“Oh, God,” she whined softly as she fell back onto the pillows, sniffling deeply. “How is it so late?”

Rain hit the windows and she sighed as she sat up again and laid her watch back beside her half drunk cup of tea. Pushing herself up, she groaned again, her body aching.

Stumbling to the bathroom, she used the toilet, washed her hands and brushed her teeth. Staring at her reflection, she sighed and made a face before turning off the light and leaving the room.

Shivering, she grabbed the comforter off of the bed and wrapped it around herself as she groaned again and opened the bedroom door.

Pausing just past the doorway, she looked to her right and saw Mulder sitting on his couch, smiling at her.

“Hello,” he said and she frowned with another groan. “I take it you’re not feeling better.”

“It’s eleven thirty,” she complained and he nodded, glancing at his watch.

“Nearly quarter till twelve now,” he said and she whined.

“Why did you let me sleep so long?” she asked, kicking the comforter back from her feet as she walked over to him.

“Let you?” he asked with a chuckle, as she sat on the end of the couch with a huff and then laid down, her head resting against his thigh.

“I’m tired,” she complained, letting out a deep breath. “And my nose is stuffy.”

“I know,” he said, his fingers rubbing her head and running through her hair. “Well, about the stuffy nose anyway.”

“I slept all night. How am I still tired?” she whined and he chuckled again.

“You have a cold, Scully.”

“Mmmm,” she moaned with a frown. “This is all Skinner’s fault. I didn’t want to go to that stupid conference. He made me.”

“Hmm,” Mulder hummed, his fingers rubbing her neck.

“That feels good,” she whispered, her eyes closing.

“Skinner wasn’t sick,” he mused and she sighed heavily.

“No. But someone there was and I got it from them. You didn’t go, so you’re fine.”

“I won’t be in a couple of days, seeing as you brought all the germs with you. This place is ground zero now. The bedroom in particular is highly contaminated.”

“I know. I should’ve gone home,” she admitted with a nod. “I just…”

“I was just teasing,” he said, his thumb pressing firmer into her neck and causing her to moan. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Even though I’ve…” She sniffled deeply and let out a deep breath. “God. Even though I’ve brought the plague upon you?”

“It’s just a cold,” he said, laughing softly.

“Feels worse.”

“You say that every time you’re sick.”

“Because it does. It always does,” she whined, breathing through her mouth as her nose had become far too stuffy.

“I’ll get you some medicine,” he said, scratching her scalp lightly and moving gently from the couch. “You want anything to eat?” She moaned and shook her head. “Tea?” She shook her head again and he chuckled softly. “Okay, just the medicine.”

She nodded as she burrowed into the comforter, finding a more comfortable position.

A kiss was pressed to her temple and she smiled.

“Even full of germs, and wrapped like a mummy, you’re adorable,” he whispered, kissing her again before he left the room.

She smiled and then coughed, groaning as she shook her head. The comforter was pulled even closer and she took a stuffy breath.

“Hey,” Mulder said and she opened her eyes. “Here’s the medicine and some water. You need to sit up to take it and the cough syrup.”

“I hate cough syrup,” she grumbled and he hummed as he helped her sit up.

“I know,” he said, handing her the syringe in his hand.

“You like using this, don’t you?” she asked, putting the syringe in her mouth and pressing the plunger, swallowing the medicine quickly. Making a face, she took a sip of the water he offered.

“I do. I’m glad you gave it to me,” he said, smiling as he handed her two large liquid filled pills. “These should help too.”

She took them and placed them into her mouth, swallowing them with the rest of the water in the glass. Pouting, she handed the glass back to him and then coughed, turning her head to avoid coughing directly on him.

“I’ll get you some more water,” he said as she coughed again. She laid back down with a moan, cursing that stupid conference.

It had been monotonous, uninspiring, and lonely without Mulder with her. And then the last night there, she had felt the telltale signs of a cold brewing as her throat was scratchy when she swallowed.

Waking up to a stuffy nose and achy body, the flight home had been miserable. Hailing a cab, she had given the driver Mulder’s address, closing her eyes as she rested her head against the window.

When she had made her way to his door, her suitcase feeling exceptionally heavy and clumsy, she swayed as she knocked twice and waited.

His happy smile had vanished at the sight of her, concern quickly replacing it.

“I don’t feel so good,” she had said, pitching forward and falling into his arms.

“Aw, Scully,” he had whispered, pulling her and her bag inside.

He had brought her into his room, turned on the shower to warm up, and helped her undress.

While she had been in the shower, he had changed his sheets, found some clothes for her to wear, and made her some tea.

When she had dressed in one of his long sleeved shirts and a pair of cuffed sweatpants with the drawstring pulled as far as it could go, he had sat her down on his bed and blown her hair dry as she moaned repeatedly, her eyes closed.

When he had finished, he brushed her hair and kissed her on the forehead.

“Why don’t you lay down and I’ll go get you some medicine?” he had asked and she had nodded. “Come on, come and lay down.”

He had helped her up and led her to the other side of the bed, pulling back the covers and then tucking her in once she had laid down, her head pounding.

“I’ll be back soon. Rest.” He had kissed her head twice, ran a hand down her side, and whispered goodbye as he left.

He had woken her to take some medicine, sitting with her until she had fallen back to sleep, stroking her hair as he spoke quietly about his last couple of days without her.

She had woken throughout the night, his arm around her waist or fingers locked with her own, her nose stuffy and head still aching.

“Hey,” he said softly and she opened her eyes, looking up at him. “Do you want some more water? Luckily, I found a bendy straw so now you don’t have to sit up.”

“Hmm,” she hummed, nodding slightly. “I’ll have a little bit. Thank you.” He sat on the coffee table and held the glass and straw for her as she took a few sips.

“Feeling any better at all?” he asked and she sighed as she pulled back from the glass of water.

“Not at the moment,” she said, closing her eyes and sighing again.

“Well, hopefully that medicine will help soon. I brought over another box of tissues and a paper bag for the used ones. Do you need anything else?”

“No, not right now. Thank you,” she said, attempting to breathe through her nose and giving up to take a deep breath through her mouth. “I’m just so tired.”

“Rest, Scully,” he said, kissing her temple again, the glass of water set on the coffee table.

And she did, dozing in and out as he sat on the couch beside her, his fingers in her hair or resting on her shoulder. She heard baseball being announced, the crack of a bat, and organ music playing. Then she heard the dialogue of a movie as she turned over and sighed, the comforter tucked around her when she did.

“Thank you,” she breathed and he hummed as his fingers rubbed her scalp again and she fell back to sleep.

Her bladder woke her and she moaned as she stirred, extricating herself from her comforter cocoon.

“I ordered some food,” Mulder said as she stretched and rolled her neck. “Matzo ball and chicken noodle soup. Waiting for you, whenever you’re ready.”

“That sounds good,” she said, her voice hoarse. “Not sure how much I’ll be able to eat.”

“I know. But you haven’t eaten anything all day. You need something.”

“Okay. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

When she came out of the bedroom, she was wearing one of his hoodies, as she had lost the warmth of the comforter. She had also put on a pair of his thick socks and pulled her hair back into a small ponytail. Yawning, she padded to the dining room and sat down.

A small bowl of matzo ball soup had been placed at her spot, the spoon resting inside of it. She smiled at the sight of the cut up matzo ball, making it easier to eat. Glancing up, she watched him walk in with his own bowl of soup and a plate of sliced bread.

“You cut my matzo ball,” she said with a sniffle as she reached for her spoon.

“Yeah, I did,” he said, setting his stuff down and sitting beside her. “Easier and quicker for you to eat.”

“Thank you,” she said, filling her spoon with broth and a piece of matzo.

They sat in silence as they ate, Scully taking her time to eat as much of the soup as she could.

“I can’t taste any of this,” she said, shaking her head, leaving her spoon down in the bowl. “Not one bit, but I’m sure it’s really good.”

“It is,” he said and she nodded as she pushed the bowl from in front of her.

“I’ll take your word for it,” she said, watching him finish his bowl of soup. He smiled at her and she smiled back, suddenly overwhelmed with affection for him. “I love you.”

He stopped eating and stared at her, his smile growing.

“I know I’ve told you before, but I just wanted to say it again,” she said, sniffing and letting out a deep breath.

He set his spoon in his bowl and made to move towards her, his hands reaching out.

“No,” she said, putting up a hand. “Contagious, remember?”

“Ground zero, remember?” he asked, his hands now cradling her face as he smiled. “The damage has been done. Therefore, a kiss on the lips won’t cause any harm.”

“Hmm,” she hummed, closing her eyes as his lips met hers.

He kissed her gently, his thumbs slowly rubbing against her cheeks as she hummed again. Needing air, she pulled back slightly and drew in a breath, before his lips were on hers again.

“I love you too,” he whispered, kissing her one more time. Smiling as he pulled back, his thumbs stroking along her cheeks. “Germs and all.”

“Ha ha,” she said, opening her eyes and looking at him. “Ugh. I think I need to lay down.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, moving his hands from her face. “Let me clean this up and get you some more medicine. Then bed.”

She waited at the table for him as he quickly cleaned up. More cough syrup and pills were brought to her along with a glass of ice water. She took it all with only minimal complaints, thanking him with a nod.

“Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”

He led her through the apartment, turning the lights off behind them. He grabbed the comforter and followed her into his room.

She went into the bathroom, used the toilet, washed her hands, and brushed her teeth.

Mulder had put the comforter back on the bed and pulled back the covers on her side once again. Waiting while she laid down, he tucked her in and kissed her head.

“Be right back,” he said and she hummed as she closed her eyes.

When he finally laid down, she was nearly asleep, but she opened her eyes to look at him and give him a small smile.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” she whispered, closing her eyes as she reached for his hand.

“That’s why you came here, isn’t it?” he asked softly, kissing her knuckles. “Knowing you were ill? Wanting to be cared for?”

“Yes and no,” she said, moving closer to him.

“How’s that?” he asked and she opened her eyes again.

“I missed you. I wanted to see you,” she said, her eyes rolling back as she shut them again. “I didn’t plan on being sick. I just missed you.”

“I missed you too,” he whispered, pulling her close. “I’m glad you came over.”

“Germs and all?” she asked, her words slightly slurred.

“Yes. Germs and all,” he assured her, kissing her forehead and whispering his love for her as she fell asleep, held safely in his arms.

#the x files #xf fanfic #msr #sickfic #taking care of your partner #common cold #conference away #sleeping late #Sleeping on the couch #tired and achy #medication #chicken soup #matzo ball soup #season 7 #established relationship #comfort food #forehead kisses #gentle kisses #sleeping together

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goldenavenger02 · 4 months ago

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for your ‘bad things happen’ bingo, i’d love to see maybe katara (atla) w the common cold? i never see katara sickfics around, and she seems like a character who’d be very prone to overworking herself into illness !! (any caretaker is okay ^^)

<3, sunny

As much as he wanted to believe his words, as much as he wanted to blindly hope that Aang knew exactly what Katara had been talking about and could find it easily, he couldn't allow himself to do so.

Not when there were Fire Nation soldiers still trying to find them

Sokka knew that something was wrong when he woke up and the makeshift campsite was silent despite the fact that the sun was high enough to be nearing midday.

Katara and Aang had still been awake when he turned in the night before, eagerly using the full moon shining above them to train their strengthened waterbending, but the moonlight made his heart ache in a way that he wasn't comfortable with Aang witnessing; it didn't surprise Sokka that he was still asleep against Appa's soft leg.

What was surprising was the fact that Katara was still asleep; even if she had been awake until the early morning hours, she still would have gotten up before him in order to pack away her things and start on breakfast so they could continue their journey as soon as Appa was ready to go.

Sokka got out of his sleeping bag to investigate, not bothering to roll it up and walked the few steps to where his sister laid asleep; she looked peaceful to the eye, but it didn't take long for him to catch onto the slight shiver under the bedroll and the way her face was pinched even in sleep.

He knew she was feverish before he gently brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and rested his palm against her forehead, but he hated being right about this.

She wasn't overly feverish which was only a small relief as he stood back up; he wouldn't be able to do much until she was awake and could actually voice just how sick she was, but he could at least use the last of their arctic hen to make some soup.

Sokka quickly started a fire from the remnants of the one last night, grabbed the large soup pot and filled it with water and some salt before sending up a quick, "Tui and La, keep me from burning this" as he put the last of the hen in to boil.

…

Aang woke up twenty minutes later, probably from the smell of the soup that was now on a low simmer if Sokka had a guess, and immediately punctured the silence by asking, "why are you cooking?"

"Katara's got a fever."

"Is she okay?"

"I think so, but I'm letting her sleep," Sokka tried to reassure the very clear panic in Aang's eyes, even though his own heartbeat had filled with the same agonizing beats when he had woken up to the odd silence, "between the late night waterbending and doing stuff all day, I'm not surprised she got sick."

"Oh."

His quiet response was full of guilt, but before he could do anything to comfort the twelve year old, a series of hard coughs rang out that could only be from Katara.

Sokka didn't hesitate to scramble over and lift her by the armpits so she was sitting before firmly rubbing her back; he had memories of both his father and gran-gran doing the same to him in the midst of coughing fits, but as she let out the last few weak coughs and leaned heavily against his chest, he looked up to see Aang's gray eyes filled with concern.

"Katara? Are you okay?"

"Aang?" She whispered hoarsely, wincing as she made eye contact with Sokka, her blue eyes watery and red around the edges, "Sokka?"

"Yeah, it's us," Sokka assured her as he pressed his palm to her forehead, relieved that the heat plaguing her hadn't risen, "you're sick."

"I can tell," Katara said around a sniffle with a dryness in her tone that even had Sokka smiling for a brief moment before worry overtook him, "we aren't near any markets, right?"

"Yeah, we're pretty far out," Sokka confirmed, knowing that their plan for that day was to get to a village or town to restock on supplies, "I'm using the last of the hen and vegetables to make some soup, but we're really low on a lot of things."

"We should head out then, after we eat lun-" Katara started, only to be hit with another rough fit of coughing.

"Katara, I don't think the altitude is gonna help with this," Sokka explained while firmly rubbing her back again, "you need to rest and get better."

"I can see if I can find more frogs." Aang offered, but he shuddered at the memory of sucking on frozen frogs whilst in the midst of delirium and shook his head before providing an explanation as Katara's coughing died out again.

"This isn't the same virus, I don't think that'll work."

"What about echinacea?" Katara suggested, her voice growing more hoarse with every cough that fought its way out of her lungs.

"What about it?" Sokka pressed, not even sure if he was fully aware what she was pondering about and if her stuffy nose was causing her to sound different to the point where she was saying something else.

"That one plant that gran-gran has so many cans of, that she makes ointments out of," Katara stopped to pull in a deep sniffle before adding, "but it can also be made into tea to help sickness. We're in between the North Pole and Omashu, it should grow around here."

"Okay, but how are we gonna get-"

"I'll go find it," Aang cut him off as he stood, "Katara, what does it look like?"

"It's a pink flower with an orange center."

"Okay, I'll be back soon." Aang insisted and Sokka wanted to tell him to wait a second, that he shouldn't go alone, but at the same time, they needed to get those flowers for Katara and that unwavering look of guilt and worry in Aang's eyes had him staying silent as he pulled out his glider and flew off.

"It's gonna be okay, Katara." Sokka insisted as he gently helped her lay back down so he could get her a serving of the soup.

"I know. I trust Aang."

Sokka paused for a moment to swallow down his worry before walking back towards her with the steaming bowl, kneeling down beside her before pressing the bowl into her feverish palms, "I trust him too."

As much as he wanted to believe his words, as much as he wanted to blindly hope that Aang knew exactly what Katara had been talking about and could find it easily, he couldn't allow himself to do so.

Not when there were Fire Nation soldiers still trying to find them and definitely not when his sister was this sick., even if his only choice was to place his full trust in Aang, he still made sure that his boomerang was at the ready after Katara had fallen back into a fevered sleep.

…

Hours passed; Sokka dumped the soup after spoon feeding Katara two more bowls of broth, making sure Appa and Momo got enough and managing to stomach his own alongside the worry that had settled deeply in his gut, knowing that it wouldn't keep.

He was thankful that they had chosen a spot near a river so he could continue to wet the rag that was very slowly lowering Katara's fever.

When the sun began to dip and be replaced by Yue's soft glow, he could have sworn that he heard Katara mumble something about missing their mother but her eyes were shut when he turned to look at her and tried not to focus on her flushed cheeks so he just added, "I miss her too," before turning away again.

Every rustle under the setting sun had Sokka flinching and grabbing his boomerang, only for him to let out various sighs that ranged from relief to annoyance when Momo or some other creature would poke its head out of the bushes.

But as the last few rays of sunshine started to disappear and he knew that it was growing less likely for the Fire Nation to launch an attack, that was when he was met with the familiar woosh that could only belong to Aang's glider.

"There you are!" Sokka exclaimed as soon as Aang's feet touched the ground, only to notice the large satchel tossed over his shoulder that he knew for a fact didn't belong to any of them, "what is that?"

"I couldn't find any echinacea in the fields, so I flew to a nearby town. One of the healers there gave me a tin of tea along with some food," Aang stopped rambling to pass Sokka the tin of tea leaves, "where's the teapot?"

Sokka wordlessly passed over the teapot, allowing Aang to start brewing it before taking a look in the satchel that was full of various nuts, dried and fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and some bread.

"Did you have to pay this healer all of our money or something?"

"No, he just said that it's best for sick people to eat consistently and wanted to make sure we could do that."

Sokka swallowed; it had been awhile since they had been the recipient of that much unwavering kindness from strangers.

"Sokka?" A hoarse voice cut through his thoughts, forcing him to look up at Katara propping herself up on her wrist while coughing into her other elbow.

"Hey, I'm right here," he insisted, standing up and walking towards her before sitting beside her and resting his hand on top of hers, "Aang's back, he's working on that tea that's supposed to help you and the healer he found gave us enough food to last us a couple of weeks, so now you have to get better."

"Is that an order?" Despite the congestion in her voice, her tone still had that teasing nature to it that felt like a weight being removed from Sokka's chest.

"Yep, you don't get a choice," he insisted, pulling her into a quick hug, "that's my role as the team leader."

"Who made YOU the team leader?"

Despite the coughs interspersed with her laughter as the two of them argued the pros and cons of all five of them being the team leader, Sokka couldn't even find himself actually being angry at any of hers and Aang's good-natured insults, finding himself looking up at the moonlight and whispering quietly enough that neither of them could hear him over their giggles.

"Thank you, Yue."

#my writing #fic #angst #atla #avatar the last airbender #bad things happen bingo #common cold #atla sokka #katara #aang #sickfic #family #protective sokka #sick katara #minor grief

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