Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started with a minor itch in the back of his throat and a low pressure in his skull. Then, he noticed Markus squinting more often and subtly wincing whenever he swallowed anything. He even cleared his throat more and more frequently as the day went on. He knew what this led to and immediately snuck to the bathroom in search of some Advil upon catching the symptoms. He’d have to tell Lieutenant Anderson to put the medicine in a more accessible place, and maybe give him the keys- picking the lock of the mirror cabinet was an easy fit but more of a hassle than he was really willing to deal with. He offered some of the Advil to Markus, who’d been with his nose in his math book for the last three hours already, and didn’t insist when his older foster brother refused. Maybe he’d have some later. 

He never did. 

The next morning, Connor was relieved he took at least something. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know what he’d feel like now if he hadn’t, considering he already felt like he’d lost a training session against Amanda right about now.

He launched the blanket off his bed with a miserable groan. Too hot. He turned to the clock by his bedside: 6:34 AM. He slept in. He sighed and heaved himself out of bed- too fast! He fell back on his mattress and clung to his head with both hands while the floor took its time before it finally slowed down and stopped swaying as much. When it was safe to do so, he lifted himself out of bed once again, this time making sure to hold himself on his side table for support. Before going down, he peeked at his foster sibling. Markus was fast asleep in his bed… Snoring, which in and on itself was unusual. Connor picked up the math book that had fallen on his face the night before and that he hadn’t bothered picking back up himself- His face was red, puffy and sweaty under there.

Connor grunted at the sorry sight. Markus had been stressing about a Math test for the entire week now. He’d laughed them off when Connor and Cole offered to help him, but it hadn’t felt genuine. He’d spent his days and nights working and never stopping even once, not even to see North… Not even so he could paint.Thinking back: no wonder he ended up sick too… Seeing what his face looked like: He’d probably gotten even sicker than Connor. With that observation made, Connor went out in search of the thermometer in the bathroom. He used it on himself, and it indicated in bright blue 100.6°. Not good. He went back up and slowly pushed the small machine in Markus’ ear since he clearly would not be taking care of himself. 101.9. Oh. Really not good.

“Con? What are you doing? And why are you still here?” Markus’ voice was rough as he yawned.

“We’re sick.” Markus lifted himself on his elbows, studying the younger kid, placing a hand on his forehead:

“You do feel hotter than normal. And you sound like you swallowed nails. I’ll tell Karine to call your school, you should stay here today.” Connor frowned at the older boy:

“I checked, and your fever is worse than mine. And you also look and sound worse.” Markus smiled down at him:

“I’m older than you, I’ll be fine. I can’t miss class. You go back to bed.”... Now Connor had spent enough time monitoring his colleagues in the past to know that Markus being fine because of his age was just a bold-faced lie. He also was well aware that directly calling him out on it wouldn't necessarily work. Instead, he asked:

“Why do you need to go?”

“I’ve math class. Everything we will learn today will be on the test tomorrow along with everything else since the beginning of the semester. Our teacher’s evil.”

“Evil?”

“I think he may be the devil in person.” He suspected Markus was merely joking, but still replied:

“I’m not sure the devil would work a low-paying job in a middle school just to give complicated math tests.”

“Heh, you dunno. Can’t be any more boring than being stuck in hell doing absolutely nothing, right?”

“I suppose not… But still, you can just ask your friends to bring you your homework after classes, yes? That’s what you did for North last time she was sick, isn't it?”

“I learn better when I see the teacher do things. Just reading won’t cut it. Plus, North is just a bad writer.”   

“But she’s not your only friend, right?... And your friends could reenact the lesson if that could help.” Markus tried to laugh but only made himself cough instead:

“I have great friends, but I don’t think they’d do that.”

“Then make them. You can’t go out with such a fever! It could be dangerous for your health. And you won’t learn anything efficiently if you’re too ill to focus… And even if you do, it’ll be all for nothing if you’re too ill to go tomorrow.”

“I won’t be, stop worrying about me, Con. I’ll be okay.” Markus usually was fairly reasonable: why was he being so obstinate?

“You know… Amanda says that your body’s your best weapon. Like all weapons, if you take care of it, it’ll take care of you... Unlike others, however: if you don’t care for it as you should: it can and will kill you for it. That’s why you should take care of it as best you can any time you get the chance to do it. Your fever is nearly 102° already, and you could make it worse by going out. Surely a mere standardized test is not worth the trouble!”

“Well… For once, Amanda’s right.” Connor defiantly sniffed.

“She always is.”

“But I’m still going. I promise I’ll call dad or even Karine if anything’s off, okay? So, stop mother-henning me and go back to sleep, you look like you’re about to fall over.” Right. Mrs Kyle was here. And he was getting nowhere like this. Plus, his head was seriously starting to hurt from all the talking. Instead of arguing further, he walked right around his older sibling and went to the trapdoor, down to the living room where Mrs Kyle and the others were having breakfast. Mrs Kyle immediately got up and sped towards him- she appeared displeased:

“Connor? What are you doing in PJs still? Your bus is coming soon!”

“ Connor .” He ignored the strained voice above him:

“Markus and I are ill, Mrs Kyle. We both have a relatively high fever and I was wondering if you would allow us to stay here for the day?” He explained.

“God damn it, Connor!”

“You… You do look pretty bad. Markus?”

“I’m okay!” His voice cracked.

“Let me be the judge of that, will you? Come down here.” Markus grumbled on his way down, pouting. Connor got to witness one of the rare times Cole was both wide awake on a school morning and frowning, already waiting by Karine for the boy to reach them. As soon as Markus step foot in the living room, Karine had her hands on him. Connor felt obliged to specify:

“His fever is almost 102°.” 

“Connor!”

“Yeesh. I can believe that. I’m calling your school. Cole?”

“M’ callin’ dad.” Cole cut in, already going to fetch a phone.

“Thanks.”

“Guys!”

“Markus! Don’t you start! You’re not going, that’s final.”

“Come on! Are you serious?”

“Don’t you scream like that! Especially not now, you’ll make your throat worse. Now go to your room!” Markus recoiled as if he'd been slapped- Connor understood why, of course. Mrs. Kyle didn't usually yell at him. Usually she understood where he was coming from and was understanding towards him. Not this time however. 

For the first time since Connor was first introduced to this family, Markus glared at him before dashing back up towards their shared room. Connor... Wasn't sure how to take this. Why was Markus so upset? Before he could ask, Cole had a hand on his shoulder while the other was holding his phone- probably to call the Lieutenant. Connor wasn't sure why Cole was doing this either, but he was learning not to ask why the people here seemed to bother the Lieutenant at the first unexpected thing.

"Don't worry Connor, he'll calm down. Just go back to bed and don't worry about anything, you'll be okay."

"I'm aware. Thank you, Cole." He just hoped Markus would cease being so unreasonable.

Chapter Text

Markus was still being unreasonable an hour later. His incessant grumbling made it impossible for Connor to properly rest or to even focus on his own work, so instead he went out of his way to take care of the both of them. At the moment, that meant he was in the process of making two cups of hot cocoa with Sumo by his side. He was just turning on the stove to warm the milk when a series of sneezes escaped him before he could even think about stopping it. The sound of socked feet coming closer was the only warning he had before a voice surprised him:

"You know, I thought you were acting a bit too well-behaved this morning." Mrs. Kyle grunted from the doorway behind him. Undeterred, Connor replied with a barely concealed yawn:

"Amanda says I need to know how to care for myself. I'm doing this right now, that way I'm not causing you trouble, Mrs. Kyle. I don't understand what you're implying." She sighed and- Connor dodged the hand trying to grab his shoulder. Wow, when did she get next to him? He needed to get ahold of himself- that was bad. Wait, she was talking now:

"For the last time: It's Karine. And Connor, I'm paid to be here and make sure you and your siblings are taken care of. You guys are not causing me trouble- I mean- you definitely are, but taking care of you isn't what's bothering me. I'd rather you stay in bed today where I know where to find you rather than have you wander around the house being a little trouble-maker. At least while you're sick. Can you do that? Just this one time? For me?"

"You needn't worry, Ma'am. I wasn't intending on being a nuisance to you today. I've already been through this before, so I can take care of myself just fine. I know exactly what I should do in case I'm ill." She frowned. Connor wasn't sure why she was annoyed by him so often, but yet again: she was. He was about to add something when a new voice cut in:

"And that's 'cause you know what to do when you're sick that you're going to drop whatever you're doing right now and come watch a movie with me, right Connor? Can we stay in the living room, Karine?" Karine visibly relaxed at Markus' arrival. He didn't look nor sound much better, but she still looked ecstatic at seeing him out of bed and down here with them. Connor was perplexed enough to allow it when Markus herded him away from the kitchen.

"Sure- just stay there. What movie will you watch?" Markus' voice sounded raspier than it had been mere seconds before when he asked:

"I dunno. What would you like to watch, Connor?"

"... Finding Nemo?" He never did get to watch that movie until the end since he got there. Plus, Markus seemed to favour cartoons over the animal documentaries Connor liked, so surely he would like this one, wouldn't he? Markus hummed, having the both of them sit down on the couch. Sumo followed them, dropping over the both of them with a snort.

"I was making us something to drink, though- can't I finish that first?" Markus easily hooked an arm around his shoulders, pinning him there.

"No, Karine'll do that. If I'm stuck on bed rest, then so are you."

"My fever is still lesser than yours." he managed through a coughing fit.

"But it's still a fever. Stop being a brat and stay there, Connor." Connor crossed his arms, grunting:

"Now you're just being hypocritical..."

"Says you." Markus laughed at him, already picking his book back up. While Karine was looking for the remote, Connor leaned over Markus' shoulder. He was pretty sure he'd seen exercices like these before, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make heads or tails of what he was seeing. It wasn't helping that his vision was blurring every single time he tried to focus a little too hard on the writings.By the time Karine had the TV turned on, he was persuaded it was all in vain, so instead he asked:

"Does this mean you're no longer upset with me?" Without looking up from his book, Markus ruffled Connor's hair, grinning when Connor immediately lifted a hand to bat him away.

"You're still a snitch, and I'm still blaming you if I fail tomorrow, but no. I'm not too mad. I probably would've done the same had the roles been reversed anyways." Connor didn't point out how Markus technically admitted to also being "a snitch", reluctent to potentially sour his foster brother's relatively better mood. Instead he allowed his fingers to run through Sumo's fur while he stared at Karine as she looked for Finding Nemo on the streaming service.

His eyes flew open when a blanket was wrapped around both Markus and himself. He wasn't sure when the chocolate appeared in front of them or when the movie started but both had to have happened at some point... When did he even doze off? He hated being ill.

"Sorry Connor, you can go back to sleep." He shook his head, one hand rubbing at his eyes while the other went to tug the blanket a bit higher around himself. 

"I'm alright." He promised, but Karine was already gone by the time he said it. Beside him, Markus was now using the book as a small desk to draw on. Huh. As far as Connor could tell, he'd just started too, the lines still too messy for the boy to guess what Markus was trying to sketch out exactly. When he attempted to have a closer look, Markus pulled away:

"It's for you. I'll show you when it's done." He explained. Connor tilted his head, staring on- he didn't remember Markus drawing for him before... When it became obvious the older boy wouldn't make anything clearer, Connor sniffed, lifting his own mug of hot chocolate in his hands and focusing back on the movie instead. Only when he turned away did he hear the pencil scratching against paper once again.

Morning after that was relatively calm. Despite his best efforts, Connor drifted on and out of consciousness for hours, only fully waking when Karine had them take medicines around mid-morning. By the time that happened, Finding Nemo was already over and Markus had put on the new sequel to that old Princess and The Frog Movie Disney made years prior. Apparently, that one was one of Markus' favourite, although Connor couldn't really see the appeal.

Then Karine woke them up again around noon. Apparently, she had to leave during the afternoon and someone else was going to take care of them for the rest of the day, although she didn't know who that was. One of the Lieutenant's own colleagues, most likely. She just wanted them to be awake long enough to say hi and possibly eat something.

Connor was in the middle of fighting to stay awake when they heard a knock at the door.