Human (Natasha Romanoff x reader)

Chapter 4

WARNINGS: swearing; mentions of sexual assault; description of attempted suicide; suicidal thoughts; guns; explosions; murder; brief mention of kidnapping and psychological conditioning; and anxiety (let me know if I should add anything else! I might've missed something because this chapter got very dark)

S.H.I.E.L.D-Sanctioned Hotel Room; One Hour Later:
After the scene in the hallway, we promptly returned to the hotel where we were staying. We hadn't spoken, and I couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes. The past hour had been painfully awkward, to say the least. I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss一 about her. I didn't understand why I couldn't get her off of my mind, but I had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the warm feeling that bubbled in my chest whenever she laughed or smiled or一 God, I need a drink. "Hey, we got any whiskey?"

"There's probably some in the minibar. SHIELD is paying for everything, so grab me some vodka while you're in there." I opened the fridge and tossed her the small bottle of vodka, grabbing the whiskey for myself.
"We should map out the facility and get our plan straight," I said as I moved to the couch. She gave me a look that I couldn't quite decipher, but sat down next to me and reached for a file.

We had been at it for hours, but a solid plan was finally in place. We'll spend tomorrow prepping, and move in the next morning before the sun rises. It was simple recon, which meant it was a no-contact mission and we had to be stealthy. A quick walk-around of the perimeter, a scan of the interior, and a count of the heat signatures. If there weren't many guards, we would enter the facility to see exactly what they were doing inside, but only if we deemed it safe. I closed the file I was reading and tossed it on the coffee table. She picked up the files and locked them away. It was only 10pm, and neither of us ever got much sleep, so I suggested we watch a movie. She found some cheesy horror movie that had just started and put it on. "Move your lazy ass over, you're taking too much room."

I scoffed and said, "Oh, so now you don't wanna be close to me, huh? That's funny...last time we watched a movie, I woke up with you on top of me." She grumbled 'shut up' but I could tell she wasn't really annoyed. "My oh my, is that a blush I see, Red? You truly are infatuated with me, aren't you?" My sarcastic jab earned me a smack to the shoulder and I said, "You're a very violent person, Miss Romanoff."

About twenty minutes into the movie, I felt her lay her head on my shoulder. My muscles tensed up, but I quickly relaxed. There was something about her that made it so easy to forget my conditioning. Physical contact usually made me run for the hills, but with her, it felt so natural and so warm. I slid my body downward slightly so she would be more comfortable. My eyes had a mind of their own as they traveled across her porcelain skin, plump lips, and emerald eyes. I turned my attention back to the movie after I realized I was staring. I heard her mumble, "Is this okay?"

I cleared my throat and whispered, "Yeah... this is perfect."

HYDRA Facility, the Everglades; Two Days Later:
We left the hotel room at two in the morning while it was still dark outside. The sun comes up just after five, so we had a decent amount of time. We were about 200 yards away from the base, the lights just visible through the mangroves. We were using an inflatable boat, but we had to kill the motor a while back so we didn't alert the guards. The wind worked in our favor as we drifted toward the base. Romanoff was setting up our gear and I was using binoculars to check for trouble. "We all set, Red?"

"Yeah, we're good. I'm sending up the drone to count heat signatures now."

After a quick count, we knew that there were 8 guards stationed on four different entry points, so we decided we could get inside without alerting the base. We did a quick sweep of the perimeter and then moved toward the least busy entrance. We used a SHIELD-issued time-delaying grenade (why did nobody give me one of these before? So useful!) to freeze the guards in place. When they unfroze, they would have no idea that any time had passed. We used their keycards to unlock the door and snuck through. We had attached bodycams to our suits before entering, so all we had to do was walk around and the interior of the base would be recorded.