Nobody liked the S.H.I.E.L.D meetings. So when Fury announced everyone should meet in the conference room at 11:00am 'prompt' for an 'urgent' meeting, it was no surprise nobody was very eager…

Steve was the first to arrive. Even though he hated these meetings as much as the rest of the team he was far too polite to arrive any later than the designated time. Plus, he really didn't like the idea of getting on the wrong side of Fury. He knocked before entering and slipped into a seat close to the door at 10:57am. Coulson greeted him politely and Steve returned the salutation but he noticed a look of slight distress creeping onto the normally neutral man's face. That was not a good sign.

The next to arrive was Banner. He entered in a similar fashion to the Captain and proceeded to sit across the table from Steve. Fury eyed him sternly and pushed papers in his direction that Steve had previously not noticed; they glanced at each other for a brief second before Bruce levelled out the papers on the desk and began reading.

Clint and Natasha arrived simultaneously, which wasn't a surprise since nobody ever seemed to see them apart. Natasha entered the room first, looking her usual professional self. Clint followed, not looking as much. He had a burrito and was trying, but failing, to bite into it without spraying sauce all over the carpet. Natasha turned to glare at him and without a word, Clint obediently wrapped up his burrito and put it in his pocket.

Next to walk, or more accurately stride, through the door was Thor. His face was beaming like usual and he seemed mightily pleased with himself as always. He greeted the assembly loudly, wishing them all 'pleasant days' and apologizing for his 'regrettable tardiness as he had been unfortunately caught up with a bag of pop tarts and the time had lost its track.' He sat down next to Bruce, satisfied that he had not been ridiculed for his lateness, and crossed his arms, the smile not leaving his face.

Everyone waited in a slightly awkward silence for about ten minutes. Bruce was still engrossed in his notes, his expression slowly getting more and more miserable with every new page. Steve was twiddling his thumbs and glancing at Bruce with concern every 30 seconds, hoping that they could start this meeting already so he could know what was going on and why everyone in-the-know seemed so worried. Thor was now laid back on his chair, his feet stretched under the table and his arms behind his head. He sensed a slight tension but thought nothing of it since most of the meetings started like this, even if it was just that time when Tony hacked into the system and set the company's screensaver as Phil and Steve photoshopped as Romeo and Juliet or that time Tony announced at a press conference that Captain America was actually Canadian.

Clint was still debating whether he would risk nibbling some of his burrito without being either brutally decapitated or skinned by Natasha when Tony sauntered in, 25 minutes late.
"Only 25 minutes late, I'm impressed," Coulson muttered and he was being genuine. It was normally an hour into the meeting before Tony even considered turning up and it was usually followed by a very long and tiresome video call between Fury and Tony debating the 'pros' and 'cons' of having the meeting and 'was it really important enough for him to go?' This usually ended with Fury stringing together as many curse words as he could at him before Tony would cut him off mid-sentence, deciding after ten minutes he might as well go just to see how furious Fury would actually be on a scale from 9.99-10.

"Nice of you to join us Mr Stark," Fury added as Tony proceeded to sit a seat down from Steve.
"Always a pleasure."
"Now everyone is present, I can tell you all why we're here." Fury began but he paused to look at Bruce, "You got anything from those notes Banner?"
Bruce looked up from the papers and glanced at Fury like a rabbit caught in headlights; He hadn't heard a word the man had just said.
"Talk to me Banner."
"It's … It's not looking good."
"What's 'not looking good'?" Steve instantly questioned as he leaned forward anxiously, extremely desperate for some information.
"Yeah what actually is going on?" Tony enquired; for once he wasn't actually up to date.
Natasha remained silent. Clint stopped daydreaming about his burrito. Thor leaned forward now, more aware of the tension and ready to assist in any way he could.
"I wish I could answer that but right now, we're not 100% sure." Fury answered.
"It could be Malaria but it's different. I've seen something like it when I was… travelling but it's more aggressive and there seems to be something else to it. Something I've never seen before…" Bruce began mumbling.
"I don't see the problem. Malaria is practically unheard of in New York, what's the issue?" Tony interrupted.
"That's precisely the problem Tony, it's not meant to be here, which means something's up."
"Ok wait, hold up, since when was it Avenger policy to look into the spread of disease?"
"Since 74 S.H.I.E.L.D agents have been contaminated this last week." Coulson stated matter-of-factly.
"Still, what can we do? Fair enough Bruce can give you some advice but medicine is not my forte and I seriously doubt Thor or Steve here could help in the slightest when it comes to medical science." This comment received irritated glances from both Steve and Thor who were not particularly fond of constantly being considered stupid by Tony.
Fury spoke up first, "Whatever your scientific know-how, all of you need to get your ass down to the infirmary next week for some malaria tablets."
Steve shot a confused glance in the direction of Coulson and Fury, when did he ever need vaccinations or tablets? Nothing worked on his immune system anyway.
Bruce met his gaze and instantly understood, "This malaria is stronger than any we've ever seen and extremely deadly, even though you're practically immune Captain, there's no harm giving you the tablets, just in case."
"Wait, wait, a week? If this is as bad an epidemic as you're making out, why are you leaving it so long?" Tony added curiously.
"Because we don't actually have the tablets yet and if you've been listening at all you would have realised this is a more aggressive form of the illness, meaning we need a more aggressive prevention which Bruce here is working on." Fury glanced at Bruce as if acknowledging him to speak.
"See, this is the issue. I don't actually have the technology… or the money to complete these tablets. I was thinking a higher funding from S.H.I.E.L.D or failing that…"
Tony got the hint, "Hey wait, as much as I love being the humanitarian, who dragged me into this?"
Coulson opened up a file he'd been drumming his fingers on for the past couple of minutes, he'd been expecting Tony to throw the 'who says I should be involved?' card and he was prepared.
"You did." Coulson began, pausing for a second to read the expression on Tony's face, "When you joined the Avengers and therefore S.H.I.E.L.D you signed a contract which I'm sure you read through thoroughly. Paragraph 3 Section ii under 'Health and Safety' and I quote. '… If said illnesses do spread throughout the S.H.I.E.L.D organisation or any of the Avengers and no other option is valid, I will provide assistance both financially and scientifically towards cures and preventions.'"
"You guys are officially my favourite people," Clint spoke up from the back, a smirk on his face.
"You know something, Barton..." Tony began but then he stopped and turned to Coulson, "Ok, as much as I love and believe you, can I see this for myself?"
Coulson slid the file across the table.
Tony scanned the text, desperate for an exit clause or a loop hole or something, somewhere but nothing, damn these sneaky little spies know what they're doing, "Right, shit, Ok, I guess I'm in. I'll provide the machinery, whatever my dear Brucie here requires, but I'm leaving my involvement at that."
"That's all I can ask," Coulson replied smugly.

"Right, as for the rest of you, Bruce and Tony will be making the tablets and I want you all down at the infirmary on Monday morning first thing. You will all be given the correct dosages regarding your … sizes and hopefully that should be enough to keep you from sick leave. Any issues after that will be dealt with in our next meeting and you will all receive daily check-ups by Banner to see how you're all getting on."

Natasha and Clint nodded in unison and got up to leave; they had been given their orders and took that as a signal they were no longer required. Steve and Thor were unsure whether or not to follow whilst Tony was already half way to the door. Bruce was still seated, rereading the first page of his notes.
"Rogers, Thor, you can go, make sure you're present on Monday or I will have both your asses on a platter, understood."
Neither of them understood the reference at all of course but they nodded and proceeded to leave.

"Stark, get ordering whatever equipment necessary and get it all set up today and then get some sleep, you and Banner start tomorrow morning."
Tony rolled his eyes but nodded at the three remaining members of the group, he stood by the door for a few more seconds, letting Steve and Thor through and followed them out, letting the door shut behind them.