Natasha was sitting on the living room couch, slowly drinking some coffee, when her phone rang.  She glanced at it, not sure who would be calling so early on a Saturday morning, and picked it up immediately when she saw Pepper's name.  Steve was out on a run, but she'd been up for nearly five hours. After a particularly horrible nightmare around 2:00 AM, she hadn't been able to sleep and resorted to reading in the living room.

"Hey, Pepper,"  she greeted. "What's up?"

"Hey, Natasha,"  Pepper replied. There was shuffling on the other end of the line and Pepper mumbled something Natasha couldn't understand.  "I'm sorry, but Morgan has the flu and Tony and I are in meetings all day. If I sent a jet out to the Compound, could you come stay with Morgan for the day?"

"Of course,"  Natasha replied immediately.  She closed her book and set it on the coffee table.

"Thank you so much!"  Pepper said, sounding relieved.  Natasha smiled to herself at the idea of spending all day with her niece.  "The jet's on its way and should be there in about half an hour."

"Alright,"  Natasha said.  She said goodbye and hung up before draining the rest of her coffee and heading up to the bedroom.  She changed out of her robe and pyjamas, pulling on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. She walked back downstairs at the same time Steve came back from his run.

"Going somewhere?"  Steve asked, watching as she grabbed the key to her motorcycle.

"Morgan's sick and Pepper needs me to watch her for the day,"  Natasha told him. It'd been three days since they'd last seen Tony and Pepper and a full week since she'd seen Morgan.

"Do you want me to join you?"  Steve asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.  Natasha shook her head then stretched to kiss his jaw.

"Enjoy your day off,"  she told him. "Spend some time with Sam or hide away in the house, just enjoy yourself.  I'll text you once I know what time I'll be back."

"Alright,"  Steve said. She tried to walk away, but Steve pulled her back to him and kissed her full on the lips.  She tasted like coffee and even though they kept the kiss short and sweet, he only pulled away when he felt her hands on his face gently push him back.  "I love you," he told her, kissing her cheek.

"I love you too,"  she smiled. He let her go, watching as she stepped into the garage and walked towards her motorcycle.  When the door shut and he could no longer see her, he went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day.  After he was dressed, he called Sam up then made himself breakfast.

* * *

When Natasha landed on Stark Tower, she was greeted by Tony in a suit.  She raised an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes, saying something about it being a professional meeting and Pepper hiding all his other clothes.  Pepper sent him downstairs to get Happy while she briefed Natasha on how Morgan was doing.

"She's asleep right now, but it probably won't be for long,"  she said. Morgan had a fever and was sleeping fitfully, according to her.  There was flu medicine on the counter and soup on the stove cooking. "We'll be back around 9:30 tonight.  I know it's late, but we have an after-hours meeting in Berlin and can't get back before then."

"Don't worry about it,"  Natasha assured her. Pepper grabbed her purse and Natasha walked with her to the elevator.

"Good luck,"  Pepper said. Natasha waved as the elevator doors closed then went to check on Morgan.  Just like Pepper had said, she was asleep in her room. She was covered in only a sheet and was curled around a stuffed bunny.  Natasha smiled and left the room, leaving the door open so she would hear Morgan if she called.

* * *

"Auntie Nat,"  Morgan cried. Natasha walked into her room to see Morgan sitting up on her bed, tears streaming down her red face and her blankets all on the floor.

"What's wrong, baby?"  Natasha asked, sitting on the bed.  It was the fourth time Morgan had woken up and her fever was still as high as before.

"I can't sleep,"  she said between sobs.  She crawled onto Natasha's lap and Natasha wrapped her arms around her, pressing her cheek to the top of Morgan's head.  Morgan's whole body was burning, but she was shivering as if she was cold. Natasha kissed her head then gently put her hands on Morgan's face.  She kissed all of Morgan's small tears until she was just hiccupping and no longer crying.

"Do you want some more soup?"  Natasha asked. Morgan shook her head then hid her face in Natasha's chest.  "Are you cold?" Morgan nodded and Natasha sighed. She moved further on the bed and leaned against the headrest.  Morgan laid on her chest, clutching her stuffed bunny and continuing to shiver. Natasha reached for the nearest blanket and pulled it over them.  It didn't take long before Morgan was hot and wanted the blanket off.

"I want to sleep,"  she whimpered, tears beginning down her cheeks once again.

"How about you go take a cool bath,"  Natasha said, picking up Morgan, bunny, and all.  She carried the four year old into the bathroom and filled the tub with cool water.  While the tub filled, she helped Morgan pull off her sticky pyjamas and set her stuffed bunny on the sink counter.  Morgan climbed into the bathtub and Natasha brought some toys over for her to play with.

While Morgan played with the boats and rubber ducks, Natasha scrubbed her clean.  She washed Morgan's dark hair then laid her back in the tub to rinse it out. Morgan didn't seem to mind the fact that the water wasn't warm and Natasha was willing to let her stay in the tub for as long as she wanted.  The last time she had watched a sick kid was when Lila Barton had the flu. Laura had told her cool baths could bring down a fever and after checking with FRIDAY, it seemed to be working with Morgan.

"Auntie Nat?"  Morgan asked, looking up from her toys and over at Natasha.  "Can I have some more soup?"

"Of course,"  Natasha answered.  She put her phone on the sink counter and grabbed a towel to dry Morgan with.  She drained the tub and rubbed Morgan dry with the pink Sleeping Beauty towel.  Once she was dry, Natasha carried her into her bedroom and found some new pyjamas. Morgan happily got dressed then went to find her bunny while Natasha heated up some soup.

"Yummy!"  Morgan said, eating the soup quickly.  After finishing the soup, Morgan settled down on Natasha's lap in the living room.  Natasha had FRIDAY turn on a movie for them and Morgan managed to stay awake for half of it.  Natasha didn't bother moving her back to her bedroom and contented herself to work on a few things on her tablet while Morgan slept on her chest.  Her fever had gone down quickly after the cool bath and she was almost back to normal.

Morgan slept for the rest of the evening.  When she finally woke up, it was because Natasha was laying her on her bed.  She grumbled, latching onto Natasha and trying to pull her down with her. Natasha smiled and gently pried Morgan's hands off of her.

"No,"  Morgan whined.

"I have to go home,"  Natasha whispered, not wanting to pull Morgan out of her sleepy state.  "Uncle Steve misses me and Mommy and Daddy are home now."

"Mommy and Daddy?"  Morgan repeated sleepily.  Natasha nodded and pulled away from Morgan.  She kissed Morgan's cheek then quietly left her room, leaving Morgan to sleep off the rest of her flu.

"Thanks again, Natasha,"  Pepper said. Natasha brushed her off; she didn't mind taking care of Morgan.  She rather enjoyed the little girl.

"It wasn't a problem at all,"  she assured her. She got back on the Stark Industries jet and flew back to the Compound.  By the time they landed around 10:30 PM, it was dark outside. Natasha climbed on her motorcycle and hurried home.