Lady Bird found herself avoiding the kid for the next couple of days. Not that it was exactly hard between how busy she was taking calls congratulating her on her victory and offers for team-ups or deals. Several villains were interested in what she had used to ruin the Alchemist’s projects. From what the Minions reported, the kid stayed in her room most of the time, only coming out to eat. She supposed she could’ve gone and told her about the recent development, but why make her worry when she stayed at the Nest anyways.

Then Sunday came and Lady Bird woke up with a jolt. She reached across Wayne to look at the time. Wayne groaned and covered his head with the pillow. Lady Bird kicked her legs to the side and slid off the bed. She threw on her robe that was laying on a nearby chair, tying it in a loose knot. She quickly put on her slippers and slipped on her mask. It didn’t match her fluffy robe or slippers, but she rarely left their room without it on.

“What’s the matter?” He asked with a loud yawn, a bit muffled by the pillow. “You aren’t usually in this much of a rush on Sunday morning.”

“The kid’s going to be getting ready for church and I haven’t told her about the Gemini hunters and how she can’t leave because they’ll be watching for her. I wouldn’t mind if one of the Minions was going with her, but she’ll just have her grandparents. Hardly enough protection.” She headed to the door with her slippers flopping as she walked. “She’ll probably hate me for it, seeing that I promised her I wouldn’t stop her from going when this started. But better that than her ending up getting hurt. They aren’t exactly known for being gentle.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

Lady Bird shook her head and opened the door. “No, I have to do this. It’s my fault for delaying so long. It’s better if she’s mad at me over you. Just go back to sleep.”

“You know I won’t,” he called as she closed the door.

The rest of the Nest was quiet as Lady Bird made her way down the hall. Most of the Minions had been out partying the night before, so they probably wouldn’t stir until later. The ones that bothered to get up didn’t emerge from their rooms right away.

She stopped by the break room and peeked in. Usually, the kid was eating breakfast around this time, something like cereal or toast. But today, she wasn’t in her usual spot. Terri was very much a creature of habit and the Minions tended to give up her spot if they were sitting in it and she entered the room. But today, she didn’t appear to be there. Maybe she’d already eaten or slept overslept a bit.

Lady Bird made a beeline for her room. Part of her worried she already left, but the guards would’ve let her know if that was the case. Besides, it was way too early for her grandparents to pick her up. Lady Bird didn’t know the details of the church she went to, but she knew the morning service wasn’t this early and her grandparents took her to lunch, not dinner.

Once she arrived at the crate, she knocked. The door swung open slightly when she did so, meaning it wasn’t shut all the way. Odd, the kid never left her door open, though she did leave it unlocked during the day. Lady Bird pulled it open a bit more.

“Hey kid, we need to chat a bit. You up?”

The light was off, but Lady Bird didn’t see her in there. She reached in and turned on the lamp that wasn’t too far from the door after feeling around to find the switch to it. Indeed, the crate contained no Terri. Had she slipped out without anyone noticing? Lady Bird’s hand went to her walkie talkie, only for her to realize that it was still back in her bedroom. She’d have to go back and get it to call anyone. She did notice that the kid’s phone and tablet were on the nightstand and she took those with her, so she probably hadn’t left. But the fact that she didn’t know where she was bothered Lady Bird. Yes, the kid was responsible, but accidents could happen even if she was being careful. Then Lady Bird would get blamed for it and she wouldn’t be able to withstand the wrath of Beretta.

As she headed back to her bedroom, she passed by the bathroom. Something made her pause. The light was on. The light was usually off unless...Lady Bird chided herself for being silly. The kid always spent a little extra time in the bathroom on Sundays to make sure she looked nice. She had probably just gotten up a bit earlier than usual.

“You’re slipping in your old age,” Lady Bird told herself with a shake of her head as she started walking again. “Don’t even see something right in front of your nose…”

Then came the sound that made her freeze in her tracks. She knew that sound very well. Then it happened again and Lady Bird sighed before going into the bathroom. How it hadn’t woken anyone else up, she didn’t know. She went to the only stall that had feet under and knocked on the door.

“Hey kid, you feeling all…?”

The wretch she received in reply told her that no, Terri wasn’t feeling all right. She couldn’t help but wonder how long she had been in there. She had been in there when she passed by earlier, though in this bathroom, it was hard to tell when someone was in it if they weren’t making much noise.

“Can you go get my phone and text my grandparents?” The kid asked with a groan afterward. “I don’t think I’m making it to church this morning.”

“Sure. When did all of this start?”

“About an hour ago, though I didn’t throw up then. But I nearly did. So I figured that I’d stay in here for a while. Turns out to be the right choice.”

Lady Bird nodded, though she knew the kid wouldn’t be able to see it. From what she could see on the floor, it didn’t look like she missed the toilet any, so clean up wouldn’t be that bad. Just cleaning the toilet well.

“I’ll go text them for you.”

As soon as she walked out of the bathroom, Number One handed her Terri’s cell phone. The man was already dressed for the day and looked like he had been up for a while. Lady Bird was used to him appearing seemingly from nowhere, but she was genuinely surprised to see him this time.

“Um, thank you Number One.” She shot off a quick message to the kid’s grandparents. He waited until she was finished to start speaking.

“I suggest you move her into someplace closer to a restroom. I am willing to give up my room for a day for her to use. I have a feeling that the infirmary will be too full.”

“What do you mean by…?” Someone wretching in the men’s restroom answered her question. Lady Bird sighed and handed the phone back to him.“Food poisoning?”

“I thought that Chinese they brought in last night seemed suspect, but at least twenty of the Minions plus Terri had some, including Medic. There’s already a few in the infirmary. Medic says all we can really do is see if it passes, make sure the ones who are sick stay hydrated, and to watch for any signs of anyone getting worse.”

“Good ol’ Medic. He’s always professional, even when sick.” She adjusted her mask slightly. Because of her rush earlier, it was slightly tucked in one area, rubbing against her skin. “But I don’t want you to give up your room. None of the other Minions want you to room with them after the Bedsheet Incident.”

“That only leaves your quarters then, Lady Bird. Are you sure you have room?”

“She can lay on the couch. We’ll spray it afterward. It’s just food poisoning, so it’s not like we’ll be at risk of catching anything.” Hopefully, Wayne agreed with the sentiment. He wasn’t used to anybody but them being in their quarters. “Tell the sick ones to get plenty of rest and the rest to keep away from the infirmary unless it’s an emergency.”

About that time, the kid came out of the bathroom. Her face was flushed and she looked like she was going to fall over at any moment. But she still held enough decorum to greet Number One as she usually did.

“I think I’m done for now.” She informed Lady Bird. “I’m going to go back to bed…”

“Yes, you are, but not your bed. You’ll be staying with me and Wayne until you feel a little better and that’s final.” She decided to leave no room for argument, not that Terri would argue in the first place. But her teenage tendencies could kick in when she wasn’t feeling well if her patience ran short. “Number One…”

“I’ll go fetch some of her things and bring them to your quarters.” He finished for her. Sometimes, she wasn’t sure why she bothered to say anything to him. Then he spoke to Terri. “You want your cell phone, computer, and tablet, right? Should I bring your headset too?”

“Not right now. The last thing I need to be doing is playing online when the room won’t stop moving.” She swayed some as she spoke. Lady Bird reached out and steadied her. She wasn’t surprised that getting sick took a lot out of her. The kid was pretty low energy to begin with.

Number One nodded before he left. Lady Bird helped Terri to their quarters. The kid made it there all right, but she collapsed onto the couch as soon as she was led to it. Wayne opened the bedroom door and peaked out.

“What going on?” he asked. “You were gone for a while. Did she not take it well?”

“No, I didn’t tell because I found her tossing her cookies in the bathroom.” Lady Bird stated as she entered the room and went to the closet. She dug through some things to find an old sheet the kid could use, one that wouldn’t be missed if she happened to through upon it. She didn’t even know where it came from. “Some Minions brought home bad Chinese last night and she had some of it. The infirmary’s full and the Medic says the only thing we can do is wait it out. So, the kid’s going to be staying in here so she has quiet and access to a bathroom. Is that all right?”

Wayne nodded before yawning a bit. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’m guessing our day out is canceled.”

Lady Bird had forgotten about that. Between tax season and planning the last operation, they hadn’t had a date night lately, so they decided they’d spend the day together. She looked over at the kid, who dozed on the couch.

“I mean, she is sixteen. I think kids know how to take care of themselves at that age.” Lady Bird certainly did and when she was much sicker than Terri was at the moment. “Number One can check on her once and a while, make sure she’s doing all right.”

Wayne didn’t look very convinced as he grabbed his clothes from the closet and started to get dressed. “Birdie, she is our responsibility as long as she’s living here. We can’t just dump her off on Number One all the time.”

“We aren’t.” She assured him as she grabbed some of her more casual clothes. “She’d feel bad if we didn’t go because of her. This isn’t going to count against us. It’s like leaving a kid with a babysitter. Besides, she’s not our kid.”

“I know. I just don’t like the thought of leaving her when she’s sick. Number One is a very capable man, but he hardly makes a good nursemaid.”

“Stop worrying for once.” She gave him a peck on the check. “She’ll be fine. Let’s go enjoy ourselves. If it worries you too much, you can text Number One for updates."

Wayne nodded, but she could tell he wasn't entirely keen on the idea. Once they got out, he would probably relax some. And it looked like the kid was probably going to sleep most of the day. Everything would be fine.

--

Lady Bird sighed as Wayne's phone buzzed with another text message, no doubt from Number One. He was sending them a status report every twenty minutes. As she suspected, she was mostly sleeping when she didn't have to rush to the restroom. Wayne put down his fork and picked up the phone.

“Terri rushed to the restroom, but because she hasn’t eaten anything, nothing came up.” He reported as he put his phone face down once again. “Birdie, I would feel better if we skipped the movie. Maybe we can go later today, once she stops throwing up so often.”

Wayne did have a point. It wasn’t as though they had brought the tickets yet and it would be hard to sneak into the theater with her mask on. They had a policy against masks of any type every since a masked villain with a flair for vintage movies took the whole theater hostage for three days and it took a whole team of heroes to take her down. The movie theater that allowed masks was a good drive away. Normally, she wouldn’t mind but with everything that happened after the Alchemist, she wanted to stay nearby in case of retaliation. And even if they didn’t go to the movies, they could spend the day together, which was what she wanted in the first place.

“Why don’t we pick up a movie to rent? There’s plenty we missed when it was in theaters.” Lady Bird suggested as she looked for a server to flag down so they could get their check. “And check with Number One to see if we need to pick up anything on our way back.”

Wayne smiled and nodded. Lady Bird knew she wouldn’t have felt guilty for leaving the kid in the care of Number One for a few more hours, but she didn’t want to do anything that would make him feel guilty. That wouldn’t be fair to him, especially seeing how many things he already overlooked for her sake. Like the fact that she grew impatient and grabbed a passing server, demanding the check from them. They were out in the next ten minutes, though Wayne gave her a look in the car.

--

They arrived back at the Nest after dropping by the store for a movie, a bunch of ginger ale, more disinfectants, and lots of air fresheners. The kid was awake and on her computer, watching a video. Though judging by the glazed look, she wasn’t absorbing any of the contents of the video. Wayne handed her a ginger ale.

“How are you feeling?”

“I think it’s passing through me. After that last time, I haven’t felt ill. Just...empty.”

“Here, eat a few crackers and see if you can keep them down.” Lady Bird tossed a package of saltine crackers onto the couch. “Try not to get too many crumbs on the couch if you can. Anything else? We’re heading to the movie room to watch something.” It wouldn’t be the first private screening she and Wayne did.

“No, though I think my grandparents will drop some jello off for me, Number One said he would take care of that. And Lady Bird? Next time I’m sick, can you have someone else take care of me?”

“Don’t like Number One’s bedside manners?”

She shook her head. “No, but he woke me up every time he came in here. It’s a miracle I got any rest.”

“All right, next time, someone else can babysit you.” She patted the back of the couch near where Terri was sitting. “Let us know if you need anything. Or Number One. Just anyone you can get ahold of really.”

Terri gave her a thumbs up and went back to the video. At least she seemed to be feeling better than she had that morning. Maybe getting that all out of her system and some rest was what she needed. Hopefully, it would hold for the rest of the sick Minions too. And what she needed to tell her could wait until tomorrow, once she felt better. Lady Bird had a feeling that if she told her about the Gemini Hunters now, the kid wouldn’t remember it.