Taxodium distichum - Secret Santa for Winged (Avengers, F) Part 1/2

[VividBubbles!]

Hey, Winged! So, as I'm sure you've already concluded, I was your Secret Santa this year! I'm not completely done, which is why I'm posting it in parts. Sorry! (Luckily I didn't have to ask Junia for an extension because Part One is over 1000 words.)

Anyway, this is the first female fic I've ever written, so I was a little out of my comfort zone, but I had a lot of fun writing it! Sorry for the lack of sneezes (those will come in Part Two) and for Natasha's OOCness! I realized like half way through writing this that I don't have a great grasp on her character, but I tried!

I hope you like it!! And I'll try to get Part Two out ASAP!

***

The warehouse is going to be a problem.

Natasha knows this as soon as the aerial reports come in. The Hydra compound sits in the center of a 20 acre plot, its only connection to the outside world being a thin dirt road shrouded in darkness by the dense forest. It only rises two stories high, but has at least five sub-levels. In total, the building probably only takes up approximately .5% of the 20 acres. The rest of the plot is covered in swampland.

Natasha has always hated Louisiana. The state is hot and humid; the air contains a staleness that makes the atmosphere heavy. It weighs her down, forms the lump in her throat and the gnawing hole in her stomach that she gets whenever she's in a crowd.

Louisiana is also one of the primary homes of her ridiculously specific allergy to Taxodium distichum, otherwise known as bald cypress, a deciduous conifer that populates much of the southern United States, and, more specifically, it's swamplands.

Natasha can feel the allergic itch of the cypress' pollen settle in her sinuses as soon as she and Steve are airdropped. They've been placed approximately half a mile east from the main road and a mile north of the Hydra warehouse. Their mission is to destroy the compound, as it stores and ships nearly one-sixth of Hydra's weapons, and to collect any data available on the location of Loki's scepter and other Hydra bases.

Thor is to work reconnaissance; he's their eyes-in-the-sky and backup in case anything goes wrong. Tony is to disarm Hydra's security systems, and then search the computer systems for any useful data. Clint is the getaway; he is to remain high above the clouds to avoid triggering Hydra's security systems and is therefore unavailable until they are disarmed. Bruce had been left at Avengers Tower. His latest transformation had been particularly straining and he's still weak from the change. Natasha's just happy that he's finally getting some rest.

That just leaves Steve and herself to infiltrate the warehouse, taking out as many Hydra operatives as possible, and set the eight explosive charges that would disintegrate it, leaving nothing behind but a large pit full of smoking ash and rubble. Easy, if they weren't in Louisiana. In the swamp. With goddamn bald cypress trees.

But she's Natasha Romanoff, she's the Black Widow, and she isn't going to let something as trivial as an allergy affect her mission. So as she trudges into the swamp lands, Captain America at her side, she steels herself against the itch in her nose, slowly traveling up from the tip into her sinuses and back down again as she breathes. She hates Louisiana.

***

"Hhh-nhggxtt."

She and Steve are approximately a fourth of a mile away from their destination when she finally succumbs to the irritating urge, turning into her shoulder and holding in the sneeze so that it comes out barely audible.

"Bless you."

She glances toward Steve out of the corner of her eye, surprised although she shouldn't be. He's a super soldier, of course he also has advanced senses, including hearing.

"Thank you," she replies. She wants to rub her nose, try to calm the tickle a bit, but she fights the impulse. She has already drawn enough unwanted attention from Steve.

She and Steve meet with Tony, who had been dropped off farther away from the base to keep Hydra's sensors from detecting his suit, just outside the compound.

"Alright, guys. Let's make this short and simple. In and out. No distractions like last time. Okay, Tony?" Steve says over the comlink.

"No problem. Easy peasy, Cap."

Tony's reply is a bit sarcastic, but Natasha knows it's only to irritate Steve.

"JARVIS, what's the completion percentage on the security disarming process?"

"97 percent, sir. The disarmament should be complete in 3... 2... 1... Disarmament complete."

"Thank you, JARVIS," Tony says before turning to her and Steve. "Alright, team, lets go."

***

Natasha doesn't know how, but even inside the warehouse her nose still buzzes with the urge to sneeze, her nostrils squirm with irritation. She's split off from Tony and Steve, so she can finally scrub at her afflicted appendage without the worry of unwanted attention, but the movement and pressure seem to only aggravate the tickle even farther.

She raises cupped hands to her face, squeezing her quivering nostrils shut with her index fingers. Her breath shudders along with the rhythm of the tickle until finally her head flinches forward, eyes forced shut and forehead pinched, face frozen between the moment of desperation and relief. The sneeze comes out completely silent. And so does the second. And the third.

The tickle dissipates after the third sneeze, still present but less pressing. She needs to sniff, but refuses to do so, as she knows it will only push her nose over the edge once again. As she moves through the corridors, setting the first two of her four explosive charges in what Tony calculated to be foundational weak points in the building, she breathes only through her mouth.

***

Her first encounter with a Hydra operative is swift and uneventful. She catches him off guard, sending a calculated blow to his head that knocks him unconscious immediately. He makes no noise.

She stores the man in the nearest room, which is, as Natasha is relieved to discover, empty. The mission had been planned to occur on a day that the base would be mostly inactive, but her many years as a SHIELD agent have taught her to assume nothing.

"How's it coming, you guys?" Tony's voice buzzes over the comlink.

"Setting my third charge now in Sector 7. Moving on to my fourth in Sector 12," she replies.

"I'm on my fourth charge as well," Steve chimes in.

Tony congratulates them, and she can hear the smirk in his voice as he makes a sarcastic remark about how well this mission is going compared to some of their previous ones. Unfortunately, he has spoken too soon.

Edited January 3, 2016 by VividBubbles!

[Winged]

AHHHH I saw the title of this and got SO EXCITED!!! Oh man, Merry Christmas to me indeed

I love this so much. Having Natasha on a mission and trying so super hard to not give in to her body's weaknesses is just the best thing ever. You're doing a beautiful job writing her sneezes, and the tickles too. And I don't think you're OOC! Natasha is a tricky one to write and I think you're doing great

Can't wait for part two! Thanks for this <3

[darkness-is-the-light]

Despite the fact this isn't even my Secret Santa, I was extremely excited to see this story. After reading this, I am definitely ready for part two, the suspense is just the final puzzle piece to be placed in its correct alignment. Natasha is fairly difficult (I would never attempt to write her), but you did a wonderful with the knowledge that you have of her character. The fetish just makes it even better.