Arm Wrestling (Tony Stark/Natasha Romanoff, M)-Trade for SleepingPhlox

[Arc Reactor]

Written for @SleepingPhlox 

I love this ship so much. I'm going to try my hand at an allergic Tony for this one. Context: Tony and Natasha are on a road trip on their way to meet up with Steve at a rendezvous point for an undercover mission. This is pre-slash but will still have tooth rotting fluff, of course. This was also incredibly inspired by fufufu's recent road trip fic    Here you go... 

 

"What are you being so quiet for? You're not still mad that I beat you at arm wrestling, are you?" 

Normally, Tony Stark would be one to respond with an instantaneous quip or some sort of witty comment. Natasha didn't like to admit it, but she was waiting eagerly for the man's response after having teased him for losing to an impromptu arm wrestling match they had had at a rest stop earlier when they had stopped for food. But the billionaire stayed suspiciously silent and Natasha looked over from where she was driving to the man who was too busy looking--actually, it looked more as if he was frowning--out the window towards the beautiful field of flowers they were driving by. The road was clear and empty, but the van, which had been animated with Tony's rambling mouth for several hours, was now uncomfortably quiet.  

They were somewhere in Delaware and Steve had contacted Natasha, telling her that she and Tony had to drive down to South Carolina while staying undercover so that they could meet up before they all set off on the mission to wreck an illegal arms deal which was scheduled to occur sometime later in the week. They had to stay disguised so as not to raise suspicion because this wasn't just some amateur criminal... this was HYDRA. 

When they had all finalized who was going with who, Natasha had feigned annoyance at being paired up with Tony while Steve had quickly called Sam. To which the billionaire had said something along the lines of, "Oh please, I'm the best road trip partner out there. I got great music taste so you don't have to worry about having to listen to any of that old people crap those two morons listen to for 13 hours. Also, it's a known fact that senior citizens have trouble controlling their bladders so..." Natasha had hidden her small smirk as Steve had rolled his eyes and raised her eyebrows when Tony had winked at her. 

Up until that point, she had been having fun. Tony did have excellent taste in music and he was always one to keep up a conversation. She had responded with a few hums here and there, but mostly she had just listened. It was pleasing to hear this almost innocent, sweet side of Tony that no one ever got to see. It made him less superficial and more tangible. That was always something she could appreciate. 

But now, Tony was being strangely silent and Natasha had a feeling that the pills she had caught him ingesting back at the rest stop when he had thought she was in the bathroom, as well as the ridiculous amount of travel pack tissues he had purchased from the convenience store, had something to do with it. 

They were stopped at a red light when Natasha leaned back in her seat and looked back at Tony again. "Tony--" She started, tone much more gentle. 

"Could you roll up your window?" He asked hastily, not doing much but darting his eyes at her before turning to look out the window once more. 

"Why? There's a nice breeze and the flowers smell nice." She answered before adding teasingly. "Plus, I'm driving so I get to make the rules. Learn to appreciate nature, Tony." She didn't say "and me." 

Tony returned to his silent state before reaching up with a hand and swiping at his nose. She noticed his furrowed eyebrows as he went back to seemingly glare at the blooming field. 

The light turned green and Natasha pressed the gas once more, this time basking in the aforementioned night breeze just a little bit more. It was just after 10 PM and the temperature had cooled quite a bit, though the air was not chilly. The flowers really did smell nice and it right in the middle of Springtime. Her favorite season. The road stretched out before her, completely empty, so she sped up and rolled her window down even more. 

"I swear, Natashalie, I am going to re-engineer this stupid car so that I could roll up the goddamn windows whenever the hell I want with the press of a button." Tony grumbled before reaching up to scrub at his nose violently. Natasha didn't notice the pink flush his nose and eyes had taken on or the tiny tears which had gathered in the corner of his eyes. So the assassin, out of amusement, simply rolled down the window all the way, waiting for the billionaire's spiteful reaction. 

"HehNNGT!"

Oh. Whoops. Wrong reaction. 

"Did you just--?"

"HehINGT... Dammit Nat, you just had to trigger it." 

Natasha spared a glance at Tony who was now struggling to open up one of his fifty packs of travel tissues. There was evidence of an impending sneeze written all over his flushed face and he quickly brought a tissue up to stifle another one. "Trigger what?" She humored him, deciding that she was enjoying this dramatic turn of events. 

"HehISHHHoo... HeeeIKKSSHH! Ugh." 

"Trigger what, Tony?" She cooed and bit her lip to keep from giggling. Which is totally not something international assassin Natasha Romanoff would do because the handsome man sitting next to her was suffering from allergies. Nope. Not at all. 

"Heh... hih... HEHehhh..." Tony had been right on the tip of a sneeze. He had tilted his head back a little, scrunched his pink eyes and nose adorably, mouth parted and tissues inches away from his face. He had practically tipped over into sneezing, but it had escaped him within seconds, leaving him to only massage at his nostrils through his tissues in a violent manner. 

"This isn't just some way to get me to feel bad for you after you lost so bad at arm wrestling, now is it?" The redhead teased, chuckling a little. When Tony made a kind of pathetic sniffling noise, Natasha finally rolled the window up out of pity. "You never mentioned having--" she paused as she glanced back at him and slowly grew distracted at the delicious sneezy expression on his face as his large, brown eyes fluttered rapidly. 

"HahESSCCHHHeeuw!" He exploded, diving behind the tissues to muffle the booming sound. 

Natasha jumped a little. Only a little, okay? It was a loud noise, shut up. "Since when did you have hay--?"

"Don't say it." Tony snapped as his breath hitched, gearing up for another sneeze. Itchy tears spilled from his eyes in a stream and it was all Natasha could do to keep herself from reaching forward and brushing them away... 

"But your aller--"

"Nope... hih... HihISSCHH!.. hihSCHEUW!... hihAISCHoo! Christ!" Tony plucked more tissues out of his plastic packet before folding them over his nose and blowing fiercely. 

"Bless--"

"No." Tony glared at her from behind his tissues, but the redness in his eyes undermined the intensity of his gaze. 

"Tony, you're obviously having an allerg--"

"Uh uh." 

"Is it the poll--"

"AAAHhhh..." Tony clamped the tissue around his nose as the sneeze dissipated.  Natasha noticed that he had that habit, where he would be right there on the edge of a sneeze before it escaped him. And no, it was not because she was only slightly crushing on him a little. It was because she was a world class spy and that was her job. Yes. That was totally why. "Uhhh..." Tony moaned within the shield he had created in front of his face. "Oh... ohhh..." He massaged his nose slowly through the tissue and sniffed long and hard. "Oh my Gosh." He muttered, still sniffling. 

Natasha tried not to squirm in her seat and concentrate on driving instead. Through the light of her headlights, she saw a sign for a rest stop and immediately took the exit, ignoring Tony's questioning protests. "Because you not admitting that you have terrible hayfever while you sneeze your head off is not helping me to drive correctly." She said briskly with a wave of her hand. 

"Maybe you just suck at driving." Tony mumbled and Natasha knew he was smirking underneath the tissues. "aaaISSCHH!" 

"Bless." 

This time, instead of interrupting her, Tony muttered something under his breath, leaned his head back on the seat, and lowered the tissues. His nose was absolutely tinged pink and his sinuses looked a little swollen. 

Natasha pulled up to a regular hotel, one that she knew Tony would bitch about in the morning but at the moment, he was too sneezy to care. She quickly found the allergy pills he had hidden in the glovebox of the car and then she had him march up to the hotel room and ordered him to get some rest. 

He sneezed several times as all this happened, but once they were inside the hotel room, Tony had succumbed to a harsh hit of five that had even Natasha wincing a bit. "AAAIITTCHOO!... ESSCCHHOO!... Hih-ISSCHH!... Heh... heh... hehASCCHHOO! Heh..." The fifth sneeze refused to come and Tony was stuck, tissues hovering in front of his nose and his face set in the most exquisite pre-sneeze face ever. His eyelids were half closed, his mouth was parted, his eyes were streaming, and his nose was flaring. He made quiet whimpering and moans, begging for the sneeze to come. He looked strangely beautiful. "Come on." He whispered. "Hih... ih... heh.. hehhh..." 

Natasha wasn't aware she was staring at him with her mouth gaping and a little dry until she caught herself in the mirror. "Okay..." she breathed after watching him struggle for a bit more. "I think it's time you took an allergy pill and went to sleep."

He was still stuck in that position and, losing her patience, Natasha walked up to him briskly and tapped the bridge of his nose gently. 

It was enough. 

"IZZSSSCCHHHEUW!" Whew. Thanks, Nat." He said congestedly and a little nasally. 

"God bless." She said, a little breathless even though it was Tony who was suffering. The man promptly downed some benadryl after she threatened him with her knives and then curled up under the covers. 

"Hey Nat?" She heard him ask after spending some time on opposite beds. 

"Hmm?"

"I don't want this to sound weird or anything, but it's really cold and these peasant's sheets aren't really doing it for me so I was wondering if you could..." 

Without a word, she simply got up and traveled to his bed before settling down. "Better?" She asked, throwing an arm over his form and spooning him a little.

"Yeah." She startled at the confession, amazed that Tony would show such vulnerability.

She took it and stored that moment away long before the sound of his soft snores filled the air.

 

TBC? 

 

 

 

[fufufufu]

OMG, this was wonderful! I LOVE allergy fic and the teasing between the two of them was delightful.

[SleepingPhlox]

Okay I may be a little biased but I think this is your best fic yet!    I enjoyed the dynamic between Tony and Natasha and the bit where he kept interrupting her so she couldn't say "hayfever" or "allergies" was so him.  You've got their voices really well here! You hit on a number of little headcanons that I have which made this so great for me to read.  Also I am a huge sucker for people suffering from colds or allergies in small spaces like cars, omg.   Just so you know, this fic made me late for work!    I was reading this instead of getting ready like I should have been doing, I simply could not do anything until I had read the whole thing.  I am sorry I only got the time to comment on it now, it's kinda hard to hit the forum once I get to work.

12 hours ago, Arc Reactor said:

TBC?

Again I may be a little biased but OMG, YES!

[RiversD]

Ahh, this was very cute! I thought you did an awesome job of describing all Tony's pre-sneeze moments, and I liked that he was just about in control of himself before the first sneeze escaped, and then couldn't do anything to pull that control back.

Those were some verrry nice spellings, as well.

[Arc Reactor]

3 hours ago, SleepingPhlox said:

Okay I may be a little biased but I think this is your best fic yet!    I enjoyed the dynamic between Tony and Natasha and the bit where he kept interrupting her so she couldn't say "hayfever" or "allergies" was so him.  You've got their voices really well here! You hit on a number of little headcanons that I have which made this so great for me to read.  Also I am a huge sucker for people suffering from colds or allergies in small spaces like cars, omg.   Just so you know, this fic made me late for work!    I was reading this instead of getting ready like I should have been doing, I simply could not do anything until I had read the whole thing.  I am sorry I only got the time to comment on it now, it's kinda hard to hit the forum once I get to work.

Thank you so much for your kind comment! I absolutely loved writing this so much and sorry not sorry for making you late to work today 

I feel like Tony would definitely be one to full on deny having allergies even when he's sneezing his face off which just makes writing a sneezy Tony all the more fun. 

I think I might continue this... keep an eye out just in case  

7 hours ago, fufufufu said:

OMG, this was wonderful! I LOVE allergy fic and the teasing between the two of them was delightful.

I love allergy fics too! Especially when the character with the allergies just keeps denying that they have allergies despite sneezing their head off! Thank you for commenting, it made my day

Also, I LOVE your stories 

20 minutes ago, RiversD said:

Ahh, this was very cute! I thought you did an awesome job of describing all Tony's pre-sneeze moments, and I liked that he was just about in control of himself before the first sneeze escaped, and then couldn't do anything to pull that control back.

Those were some verrry nice spellings, as well.

Why thank you! Tony is always so controlled and restrained at times and it's nice to see him just absolutely vulnerable  

[iluvemojis]

I loved this!! Tony with the stuck sneezes is my favorite. This was such a great story

[Arc Reactor]

On 9/30/2017 at 11:23 AM, iluvemojis said:

I loved this!! Tony with the stuck sneezes is my favorite. This was such a great story

Thank you

Here's part 2... This is where things get a bit more heated... 

 

Part 2: 

"Nat?"

She hummed sleepily in response. Her face was buried in Tony's hair and she was completely content in the position she was in. Tony's body was warm and she was curled around him to preserve the heat. It was also incredibly satisfied to feel his chest rising and falling because of the hand she had splayed across his chest.

"Nat?" He strain-whispered again in the dark, interrupting her bliss once again. 

She groaned in annoyance and lifted her head. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the pitch black of the hotel room and she whined internally when Tony shifted so that he could lay on his back. Large doe eyes stared back at her pleadingly, as if he was a puppy asking for attention. Natasha propped her head up on her hand and lay on her side, looking down at his face. "What happened?" 

"I have a dilemma." 

"Does the dilemma involve us being attacked at this very moment?" She huffed. 

"No..."

"Does the dilemma involve anyone dying?" 

"No, but listen--"

"Does the dilemma involve Steve contacting us in any manner because they're either in trouble or they need our help?"

"Christ, no, but Natasha--"

"If the dilemma does not meet the above criteria, I'll be going back to sleep because it is 3 AM. Now turn back on your side again so I can spoon you." Whoa. She did not mean to say that out loud. 

"What? No. Listen first--"

"Tony--"

"Natashaaaa." He whined, shaking her arm a little to get her to listen. 

"I will stick my Widow's bite on your neck till morning if you don't let me go to sleep right now." She hadn't meant to use such a harsh tone, but the small amount of hurt in those huge, huge eyes softened her heart just the tiniest bit. He kept staring up at her with that sad look in his eyes and Natasha just could not resist. She sighed and then spoke in a much gentler tone. "Okay, stop it with that face. What is it?"

Tony smirked immediately and Natasha wanted to punch him in the face. "Knew that would work."

She narrowed her eyes. "You conniving little-- I'm going back to sleep." 

"No, no, no, no, no. Wait. Please. I just..." He averted his gaze and frowned at the ceiling, his eyes tearing up a little. His breath caught, then he exhaled slowly and looked at her once more. He gestured to his face. "I can't sneeze." 

"Isn't that a good thing?" Natasha asked slowly as she was aware of the fact that Tony is incapable of stopping once he is knee deep in a sneezing fit. Half of her wanted to see him so vulnerable and so utterly messy and out of it again, but the other half of her didn't want him to suffer too much. Also, she was pretty tired. And they had a long way to drive in the morning. Something Tony might not be doing a whole lot of because of the whole hayfever situation. 

"Yeah sure, but not when I've been needing to sneeze for like, I don't know, the past hour and nothing is happening. It's driving me absolutely crazy, Natasha." He sounded the tiniest bit desperate and there was a tear threatening to roll down his cheek from his irritated eyes. 

"You woke me up because you needed to sneeze." She flat lined. "Take another allergy pill or something." 

He went back to staring at the ceiling, except this time, his nostrils flared, his mouth parted and his eyes closed. Natasha never got tired of his pre-sneeze faces. The awkward situation where Tony was lingering on the verge of a sneeze while Natasha stared at him lasted for several uncomfortable seconds. She didn't know if she made things better or worse when she sifted a hand through his soft hair and whispered, "Come on, you can do it." 

Ten seconds later, he relaxed but it was paired with a frustrated groan. "It's not coming." He sniffed. "The allergy pills are why this is happening. It stops me from sneezing from it doesn't stop the... t-the tick...tickle Hih--" Tony raised his elbow to cover his face, but once again, nothing happened. "Dammit. I can't stand this." He sniffed again and reached for a tissue. "Ugh." He looked back at her with even more teary eyes. "Help." He squeaked. 

Natasha sucked her teeth. Not at him but for him. Regardless of the fact that it was in the middle of the night, she still felt bad for him. Poor thing couldn't even sleep. "This has been going on for an hour, you said?" 

He nodded, before groaning pathetically again.

"Okay sit up." She propped some pillows behind him and let him rest against the headboard. She stayed in her position and rested her hand against his strong arm. "How do you need me to... help you?" The situation was strange in and of itself, but watching Tony struggle was a little too heart wrenching to watch. And even then, she was an ex-assassin and a spy and he was a billionaire who frequently flew around in a metal suit. Everything about them was strange. 

"Just--" He reached for her hand and placed it on the bridge of his nose. "Do what you did before." 

She held her breath for a second, mostly because they were so close now. Natasha bit her lip softly before sitting up a little herself so that she could wriggle the bridge of Tony's nose. She watched as his eyes watered up and tears began streaming. He furrowed his brows as his breath began to hitch. "Heh... heh... hih...keep doing that, yeah. Ri--hh--Righhht there... oh... ohh."  

Natasha would never admit that her mouth went dry at his moans.

This went on for several moments and Natasha began to yawn. "You feeling anything yet?" She mumbled sleepily, still watching Tony struggle. 

"Yeahhh I am, but I'm not--hih--getting anywhere." He sniffed once, then sniffed again, harder. 

She thought about it for a moment before deciding that she was threatening enough to keep this moment from ever being mentioned again, anyway. So why the hell not? "Okay. I know a faster way. Hand me one of your tissues." He complied and she quickly twisted one of the ends into a screw. From where she was, it was too difficult to do anything the correct way, so she looked him over quickly before meeting his chocolate brown gaze. "Is it okay if I..." She gestured at his lap and he stared at her for a second, blinking, and she grew frustrated. "Look, the only way this is going to work is if I straddl--" 

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead." He said hastily, scrunching up his nose in irritation. "Just help me."

Natasha narrowed her eyes, waiting for the snarky joke or the teasing tone, but it didn't come. Much like his sneeze. So, with a swift and expert like move, she swung her legs around him and straddled his lap. Their faces were now inches away from each other. Before he could open his mouth to say something stupid and ruin the moment, she stuck the screwed up end of the tissue in one of his nostrils and then slowly moved it around in an effort to find his sweet spot. 

His breath immediately cracked and his eyes rolled up in his head while they watered up with fresh tears of irritation. "Ah... ahhhh...." The sounds were turning high pitched at the ends and it took all of Natasha's self control to stop herself from moving her hips. "Al--Almos---almost there... hih... hehhhh...." 

"If you sneeze on me, I will make sure no one will ever find your body." Natasha murmured, working the tissue in further and tickling every nose hair. 

"Oh... ohhh... I need to... I'm gonna.... heh... heh... hih... I'm gonna sn--sneeze..." 

Natasha,  receiving the message, quickly removed herself from the man's lap as he brought up the crook of his elbow, face contorting and breath hitching uncontrollably. "AAAIITTSSHHOOO!" 

The sneeze was incredibly loud despite Tony's best efforts to muffle it. And messy.  She sighed and watched the debacle unravel as Tony stayed buried in his elbow for more. 

"HEHESSCH!...HAIIISCHoo!... Hah... ehh... HuhASSCH!... HISH-SHUEW!" 

Tony kept his face buried and reached for the pack of tissues. He gave a hearty, honking blow before leaning back with his eyes closed. "Ugh. I hate everything." He groaned. 

Natasha helped the genius settle back down onto the pillows. "Bless you." She whispered while he rubbed his nose. He moaned in response. "Feeling better?" 

"Somewhat. *sniff* I don't need to sneeze anymore at the moment, but--you know--no guarantees for later." They lied in silence for a bit before Tony interrupted again. "Sorry, Nat. For making you deal with this. Usually this stuff doesn't really get this bad but I don't know what... HehISCH!... HehISSHHoo! God, sorry. I swear, if I sneeze again..." 

"Hey, bless you. It's okay. It's normal. They're just aller--"

Tony stuck his fingers in his ears. She scoffed. What a child. 

"I'm going back to sleep. See you in the morning, Sneezy." She went back under the covers. 

A couple seconds later, she felt him turn on his side. "You okay?" She mumbled. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. You were saying something about spooning earlier?" 

She did not blush when he said that. Not at all. 

She didn't put her arm back around him or curl up against his body either. Absolutely not. 

Shut up. 

 

 

[Shikee12.haley]

Please continue this is rather good to read plus it's quite comical 

5 hours ago, Arc Reactor said:

If you sneeze on me, I will make sure no one will ever find your body." Natasha murmured, working the tissue in further and tickling every nose hair. 

Oh Nat so threatening 

[iluvemojis]

15 hours ago, Arc Reactor said:

Heh... heh... hih...keep doing that, yeah. Ri--hh--Righhht there... oh... ohh."  

Wow. 

15 hours ago, Arc Reactor said:

Yeah, yeah, go ahead." He said hastily, scrunching up his nose in irritation. "Just help me."

This was adorable!!

15 hours ago, Arc Reactor said:

Oh... ohhh... I need to... I'm gonna.... heh... heh... hih... I'm gonna sn--sneeze..." 

Natasha,  receiving the message, quickly removed herself from the man's lap as he brought up the crook of his elbow, face contorting and breath hitching uncontrollably. "AAAIITTSSHHOOO!" 

The sneeze was incredibly loud despite Tony's best efforts to muffle it. And messy.  She sighed and watched the debacle unravel as Tony stayed buried in his elbow for more. 

"HEHESSCH!...HAIIISCHoo!... Hah... ehh... HuhASSCH!... HISH-SHUEW!" 

I loved this part. 

 

You write the characters so well!! I can't believe you actually topped the first part, but you somehow did. 

[Arc Reactor]

On 10/2/2017 at 6:00 AM, Shikee12.haley said:

Please continue this is rather good to read plus it's quite comical 

Here you are: Part 3

On 10/2/2017 at 4:02 PM, iluvemojis said:

You write the characters so well!! I can't believe you actually topped the first part, but you somehow did. 

thank you! here's part 3 if you're interested  

 

Part 3:

"You're not driving." Natasha squinted at Tony's sad, puppy dog eyes after she gave her order and decided that she was not going to fall for his manipulation. 

"Oh come on, Nat. The pollen levels are lower today, I checked! I barely sneezed this morning and I took the antihistamines." 

Natasha crossed her arms against her chest and stood defiantly in his way as he tried to get past her and into the driver's seat. "I heard you stifle ten in the shower. I'm not an idiot, Tony." 

He sucked his teeth. "You counted?" She couldn't help but roll her eyes. Noticing small details was just part of her nature, okay? "The steam from the warm water was making my nose tickle. Jeez. I'm perfectly fine now and perfectly capable of--" He paused abruptly and frowned. Natasha almost laughed out loud at the distinct wrinkling of his nose. 

"Yes?" She goaded. 

Tony huffed and his gaze softened when he successful staved off the obvious sneeze. "Perfectly capable of driving." He finished with a definite sniff. 

"Uh huh." She deadpanned, smirking with amusement when Tony suddenly inhaled sharply, the tickle back with a vengeance, and brought the back of his hand up to his nose.

"IZZSCHoo!" 

"Oh yes, so perfectly capable." She drawled, leaning back on the car as Tony glared at her through watering eyes. 

"That was a fluke goddamn... ih... it... HehASCH!" 

"Of course it was. You definitely won't cause an accident when you have a spontaneous sneezing fit on the road." 

"ESSH!... HihISSHeuw!" Tony bent at the waist for the last one, his cheeks now flushed a deep crimson. 

"He's the best driver! Allergies wouldn't get in the way of his exceptional skills, now would they? I guess I should just let him take the wheel--"

"You know what, Romanoff?" Tony finally managed a little wearily as he sniffed himself back into control. "You win. I give up. Just dri---hih... at'TTCHHew!" 

Natasha's satisfaction at having said the word 'allergies' successfully disappeared and her amused expression fell a little when he went around the car to the other side and entered the passenger seat, grumbling to himself a little. When they were both situated inside the car, she looked over at his miserable, allergic self and tentatively laid a hand on his arm. "Bless you." She said softly. 

He dabbed at his eyes with a tissue from his pocket. "You're gonna get tired of saying that pretty soon." 

"In all the years I've known you, I have never seen you suffer from hayfever this bad. Actually, I've never seen you have an allergic reaction ever. So why now?" 

He snuffled into the tissues in his hands before glancing towards her curious gaze. "I do have symptoms but it's not really noticeable. Usually I sneeze like once or twice but mostly it's just my eyes which get irritated. But it really comes down to location. It doesn't affect me too much in New York but you put me in a place surrounded by flowers and grass and fields, I sneeze my head off." 

Natasha hummed in response, feeling bad for the man beside her, and started the car. Another car pulled out of the parking lot behind them and she kept her eye on it, but it turned away a few streets later. She relaxed slightly, but something still seemed a little off. 

After the debacle from the day before, she made sure to keep all the windows shut tight when they got back on the highway that was surrounded by fields upon fields of flowers and tall grass that seemed to sway in the wind. The sight of Tony groaning and then reaching up to rub at his eyes almost instantaneously pulled at her heartstrings a little. 

"I swear, I am going to sue Claritin." He grumbled as he began to sniff frequently again and moan under his breath. The tissues went back around his nose to massage his nostrils slow and hard. "Hih'ETsschew!" 

"Bless you." Natasha said a little absentmindedly as she glared at the rearview mirror. The same car from the hotel was a couple cars behind them. "Why didn't you buy Benadryl instead?" She asked as he launched forward with another loud sneeze. 

"They make me conk out and we're kind of in the middle of a mission if you didn't notice." He shot back at her, a little frustrated as he tried desperately to clean himself up. 

"Did you notice that we're being followed?" She cooed, looking over at him and meeting his widening, chocolate brown gaze.   

"HehINNGXXT!... Great! That's exactly what I needed right now." He blew his nose and the tickle seemed to subside obediently for the time being. His eyelashes still fluttered with irritation, however. "So what's the game plan?" 

Natasha always loved when Tony would change from his charming, flamboyant, sexy--um... funny self to all business and superhero-like as if someone flipped a switch. 

"We just have to shake them off." She answered coolly, keeping a focused eye on the car behind them. "Ready?"

But Tony was too busy swiping two fingers underneath his flaring nostrils. 

"I'll take that as a yes." Natasha chuckled just as Tony pitched forward in a desperate "ASSHHeew!" 

 

TBC

 

 

[SleepingPhlox]

Oh!  Things have just started to get interesting.  I am intrigued to find out who the other car could possibly be!.

 

Also this:

16 hours ago, Arc Reactor said:

"Bless you." She said softly. 

He dabbed at his eyes with a tissue from his pocket. "You're gonna get tired of saying that pretty soon." 

That one sentence that he says say SO much in so few words.  He knows he has a lot more sneezing to do, he's resigned himself to it, he's actually admitting it...oh, it's just great.

[AngelEyes]

Ooooh. The game's afoot!

[Arc Reactor]

On 10/22/2017 at 1:14 PM, SkeletalPhlox said:

He knows he has a lot more sneezing to do, he's resigned himself to it, he's actually admitting it...oh, it's just great.

Part of me feels bad for him but most of me loves to make Tony suffer and be sneezy

On 10/23/2017 at 6:36 PM, DevilsGaze said:

Ooooh. The game's afoot!

that it is  

 

Here's Part 3! Time to find out who is following them...

Natasha spent around twenty minutes driving around in circles, taking random exits and turning onto random roads. She weaved in and out of cars, but the same sedan which had pulled out with them at the hotel stayed at their tail. She had a sneaking suspicion and it had been nagging at her, but the second she lost them for a second and they returned near two minutes later, her notion was confirmed. 

Their car had a tracker on it. 

"Tony?" Her eyes darted between the rearview mirror to the man sitting beside her. He too was keeping a sharp eye on the car behind them, albeit his were leaking allergic tears and was a little red rimmed. "This car has a tracker on it. That's why they keep finding us every time we shake them off. Someone must have put it there overnight at the hotel. Whoever it is probably stayed there with us last night."

The genius wiped at his nose with a tissue before turning towards her. "Do you think it's possible that they're HYDRA? That they found out that we're coming to ih...intercept them...hih..." Tony staved off the sneeze by rubbing at his nose violently. "Should we contact Steve and Sam?" He asked afterwards, still glaring at the ever following sedan. 

Natasha took the exit into a rural area. There were lots of empty space and up ahead, there was a body of water. Some sort of lake, maybe. There was no one around for miles and there was plenty of tall grass beside the lake to hide in and move quickly so that she and Tony could escape. Perfect. I really am a genius. She thought smugly in your head. 

"There is a malicious glint in your eyes and I need context. Now." Tony squinted his eyes at her as she spotted the car a couple hundred feet behind them. She sped up towards the lake. 

"Gather up whatever you need. We're getting rid of this car. Take the phones and don't worry about food." She pressed on the gas harder. The car behind them sped up simultaneously. "Do you know how to swim?" She added. 

"What---"

But before Tony could finish his exclamation of outrage, Natasha swerved, snapping the steering wheel towards the right expertly, plunging the car straight into the lake. 

"NATASHA WHAT THE FUCK?" Tony roared as they were surrounded by freezing cold water. His chest deflated and inflated rapidly, as if he was hyperventilating. 

Oh...Natasha had forgotten that Tony was slightly scared of water due to his time in Afghanistan. Water boarding was not something people forgot about too quickly. 

"Hey, hey, hey." She knew they had to work quick before whoever it was in the other car caught up to them or they drowned. Natasha gingerly placed a hand on Tony's arm. "Look at me. Just follow my lead, everything's going to be fine."

"You plunged us into a lake! Are you fucking crazy?" 

Natasha tried to refrain from rolling her eyes. Well how the hell else was she supposed to be an ex-assassin/Avenger/spy? 

She went straight to business. There was no more time to lose. "Do you have the phones?" She asked, snapping him back to attention. 

"In my pocket. All three." He said a little breathlessly as he snapped his seatbelt off and tried desperately to scramble away from the rising water. 

Natasha didn't know whether to feel guilty or sympathetic. 

Instead, she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of her door, which she had kicked open before the front of the car went completely under. They swam together and Tony held onto her tightly, as if afraid she would leave him to the wolves. Half of her was warmed that he didn't want her to leave and half of her was annoyed at him for thinking that she would ever betray him like that. 

Eventually, they crawled onto land and dove behind the tall grass, making sure to crouch down so that they were completely covered. The other car pulled up to the side of the lake just as Natasha and Tony hid. 

Natasha had to keep from gasping and instead, clenched her fists and set her jaw when she saw just who it was who had followed them. "Rumlow." 

Ever since she , Sam, and Steve had collapsed SHIELD the year before, Brock Rumlow had been on the loose. He had been caught under a tumbling building and had since then been presumed to be dead. 

But there he was. Natasha recognized him even under the terribly burnt and scarred skin. He had another HYDRA goon beside him. This one walked out with a gun in his hands. 

"Did they drown?" She strained her ears to listen to Rumlow bark. 

"I don't know, sir." His partner responded, gun still cocked. "They might have escaped. You know how sneaky that redhead bitch is." 

"What about the guy with her?"

"It looked like Tony Stark, sir. Iron man. Playboy, billionaire or whatever. They're probably on a mission together." 

Rumlow scoffed. "Either that or Stark finally found a way into her panties. He's always pining after the deadly ones." He laughed maliciously.

Natasha growled. How dare he? If she didn't have the amount of self-control and check over her emotions as she did, she would have stabbed Rumlow several times just for the disgusting things he had said. Not to mention all the creative ways she would kill him just for existing. 

She had the control, yes. But Tony... 

The man in question was crouched beside her, completely soaking wet. He had a finger under his quivering, red nostrils and his half closed eyes were absolutely streaming. His head was tilted back and his mouth was parted. He was whimpering softly a little and his brows were furrowed tight, as if it absolutely pained him to hold in the impending explosion. 

In another world where they weren't in the situation they were in right at the moment, Natasha would have enjoyed this tiny, sadistic moment where Tony looked so adorable in an effort to hold back the sneeze. But they were in a compromised position. If Tony sneezed too loud or if he sneezed at all, Rumlow would hear. The place was all too quiet. "Hih...ih...hihhh...." His breath hitched quietly and desperately as his nose begged for release. 

"Tony," she mouthed, scooting a little closer to him. "Don't sneeze." 

"I'm trying." He mouthed back before switching the digit beneath his finger to clamping his nose shut with his thumb and forefinger. His eyes snapped shut simultaneously as well and a fear tears squeezed out. Natasha's breath quickened in worry. Rumlow was still standing by the lake and watching the car fully sink into the lake and they couldn't move until he had driven away. But at the same time, she had no idea how long Tony could hold the consequences of his allergies back for.     

So she did the one thing she thought she would never get vulnerable enough to do. She comforted her teammate. Slowly, she guided his head into her shoulder, pressing his face against her body hard. "It's okay." She whispered and stroked a hand through his soft hair. "Just a little longer. He'll be gone soon." Natasha scooted even closer to him so that their bodies were practically huddled together. "Shh.." 

It felt a little strange, sure. But it also felt so right. They were so incredibly close to each other. Tony had practically melted under her touch despite his suffering and Natasha wished that she could stay in this moment, holding him, for the rest of forever. 

Once the car had completely submerged, Rumlow and his goon went back to their car right after scanning the area once more. A couple more seconds passed before Natasha heard the engine start and the whir of the wheels as the HYDRA puppets drove away. 

She waited until the sound completely faded and there was nothing but the sound of the grass rippling in the wind. Slowly, she lifted Tony's head back up from her shoulder. 

"Hih--aa'iiiSSSHHHUUEW!" The gust of spray hit her chest and she froze, a little short-breathed from Tony's roaring expulsion. He turned his head as his breath immediately hitched again in anticipation of another one. 

"So--heh--sorry--hih, ih---sorry, Nat--IZZZSSCCHOO!" 

Oh dear. Natasha leaned back a little in her own soaking wet clothes to give him some space as he tried to work past a frantic fit. 

"HISSCHoo!... aaaaERTTSSHHeuw!...HehASCHH!...HihESSCHOO!" 

Tony shook his head, face a complete allergic mess. He was panting and a little out of breath, but his nose still quivered like a bunny's and his eyelashes still fluttered. He was completely and utterly overwhelmed. Natasha's heart sunk as she watched him fan his hands in front of his face in a desperate attempt to get rid of the allergens pestering his tortured, chapped nostrils. 

"ASSH!" He propelled forward again violently. "AttSSHHEUW!" 

"Jeez." Natasha couldn't help but say a little disbelievingly. Tony couldn't seem to stop. "Bless you." 

"I can't..." Tony gasped, shaking his head. "IZZSCH!...I can't stop sne--hih...hihh..." 

"Okay, up we go." Natasha said, lifting them both up to their feet. 

"AAHHK-SHHHEUW!" Tony exploded out of her grip, aiming the spray to the ground. 

Natasha tsked in pity and grabbed onto him again, putting her arm around his waist and holding him closely. "Let's walk along the road till we can buy some new clothes, find some allergy meds for you and some tissues for you to blow your nose, okay? We definitely need a--"

"H'ISSHu!" 

"--form of transportation. We should try and contact Steve and Sam too." 

With that, the two of them set off down the road. 

Natasha held Tony tightly and this time, when she saw those allergic tears spill down his cheeks, she stopped them so that she could brush them away. 

It didn't feel wrong when she leaned in to kiss him tenderly either, letting him know that she was there and she was not going to let go.  

He stilled. Then kissed her back.