Only my beginning: Natasha Romanoff x fem reader

Relieve the Tension

Natasha POV:

I woke in a sweat after having another nightmare about the Red Room. The usual. Looking at my clock I saw that it was 4.37 am.

"Might as well get up." I groaned to myself before walking into my bathroom to get ready. Slipping into leggings and an oversized t-shirt I made my way to my door before tripping over something. I look down in surprise to see a pair of black boots. Y/N's. My mind flashed back to the events that only took place 5 hours ago, where I picked up her boots for her but forgot to give them back. Deciding to deal with it now, I picked them up and walked up to the next floor to put the boots outside her door. When I got there I found her door open. Unsure what to make of this, I gently knocked on the door which swung further open and I stepped inside to find her room empty, apart from the many boxes that were scattered around. Leaving her boots on the side, I set off to find her, curious as to why she wasn't fast asleep like everyone else.

Walking past the kitchen I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge when I saw a light coming from one of Tony's many labs. I chuckled realising that this must be where Y/N is: the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, whatever tree that may be. I found it sweet how both Tony and Pepper took her under their wings despite her being a full-grown adult like me. As I approached the open door, I saw a figure hunched over a table with headphones in, swaying her hips slightly. The scene was too entrancing that I didn't want to disturb her, but clearly Tony, via his computer, had other plans.

"Good morning, Miss Natasha," J.A.R.V.I.S. said over the speakers, causing Y/N to spin around to where I was standing. The shock was soon replaced with a smile as she saw my hands up in surrender walking towards her.

"Couldn't sleep" was all I said but that seemed to be enough explanation for her as she turned back around and sat at her desk.

Pointing at her scribbles she sighed; "Tony is trying to have me chemically recreate vibranium, just in case the Wakandans ever run out, which is kinda hard to believe, but I had a dream about it so had to come down and figure it out."

"You dreamt about it?" I asked, curious about how her mind works. Like always, she shrugged the question away, clearly trying to put the attention off her, but in doing so I saw a twinge of pain cross her face. Seeing my concern grow she shook her head and said;

"Just some muscles cramps. Get them all the time at work. They go away eventually." She rolled her head around in a circle trying to rid her neck of the strain but was clearly unsuccessful.

Y/N POV:

I had just lied to Natasha. They weren't just muscle cramps. I don't know what they were but they certainly didn't just go away that easily. I would normally have to dose myself up on aspirin to rid myself of the pain, but it always clouded my mind so I couldn't work.

Soon enough, she was walking closer and closer to me until I felt her cold hands around my neck. I froze, unsure of what was happening, was she about to strangle me?? My irrational fear soon dissipated as her hands started moving in a circular motion up and down my neck and shoulders. She was giving me a massage.

"I can help. One time Fury had me go undercover as a masseuse so I learnt the ropes pretty quickly," she explained as I let out a deep breath as I felt the pain decreasing.

"So this is why they keep you around then? I bet all the boys love getting a massage from you." I sighed as she kneads deep into my shoulder.

"Actually, no. I find a massage to be a quite intimate moment and those boys would just take the piss out of me anyways."

Realising she had just said the I word she slowly released her hands and sat down next to me placing them in her lap. That was the second time she had her hands on body today, something I rather enjoyed realising. I turned my chair inwards so that our knees were touching and looked into her eyes about to thank her when she shrugged her shoulders saying; "Just needed to relieve the tension."

Seeing that she was about to leave, I placed my hand on her knee, stopping her, and made sure she held my eye contact as I said, once again, "Thank-you."

Natasha POV:

There were those words again. Those two words that to anyone else would mean practically nothing, but from her, lit a fire inside me. Perhaps it was the way she said as a whisper, letting you know that the words were only for you, or that it was because those were the first words she said to me. Either way, I sat and let the fire dwindle down into a warm fuzz as I reached out and squeezed her hand that was still on my knee. Turning back to her table, breaking the moment and feeling her hand slip off my knee, I asked;

"So, what did you figure out? And what is all this stuff?"

She turned her head in my direction, her eyes glinting in anticipation, "Do you really want to know?"

I nodded profusely, eager to listen to anything that came out of her mouth.

"Well, over here we have a mass spectrometer, oh and here we have an -" she said, getting excited about her work. While listening, I found myself enjoying her presence, how she used her hands so much to explain her thoughts, and how she kept glancing back at me for assurance that I was listening and understanding. She had a gentle way of speaking but I could tell that it was powered by a passion that simmered just out of reach, hiding either subconsciously, or exactly where she put it. After she felt she had sufficiently explained her work and I had just about understood, she sat back down looking eager at me to say something.

"So... the electrons are the most important thing?" I managed to say without making a fool of myself.

"Yes! Natasha, that's exactly it." She said, beaming at me, causing me to smile back at her.

"I can't fathom how you keep all that information in your head. Mine would explode."

"What I can't understand is how you can fight so well!" I titled my head questionably, wondering how she knew how I fought.

Abashed, she started to explain. "After you left me last night, I may have asked J.A.R.V.IS. about you, and being a computer he gave me a lot of information, including one of your training videos. I mean seriously, you move so quickly and lightly! And you look beautiful while doing it."

Y/N POV:

I had been meaning to return the compliment she paid me last night, and to my satisfaction, I saw a blush develop as she looked down into her lap.

"Well, funny you mention J.A.R.V.I.S, I actually looked you up last night as well." My smile dropped as she said this sentence, knowing what was coming.

"Why didn't you mention you were valedictorian at Harvard! And why didn't you mention the fact you were born in England?"

Recovering from my horror I forced a laugh which then became genuine as I watched Natasha's astonishment grow.

"I thought the accent was a big giveaway!? But I guess, in your defence," I said winking her way, "my accent has faded slightly after being in the States for a while. And besides, being valedictorian put an insane amount of pressure on me that really did some damage so I prefer to not really think about it."

Giving me a sympathetic smile, she seemed to mull this over for a bit until the silence was broken when she heard my stomach rumble. Glancing at the clock, reading 6.28 am, she jumped up and grabbed my hand, pulling me to the kitchen.

"Come on, let's make some breakfast. You're gonna need to fuel up for training today."

"Training?" I shrieked catching the attention of Tony who was sat with a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

Natasha giggled, "You got to show me your thing, so I get to show you mine. Isn't that a fair deal?" Turning to Tony with open arms Natasha signalled to him to agree with her, to which he did.

"Y/N, I think that's a great idea, you know, get your blood flowing to your brain so you can keep working on our project. But, really Nat, you've never been interested in my work before?" Tony finished, looking confused and secretly hurt.

"Well, Tony, you're just not as interesting as Y/N." Natasha smiled as she walked over to the cupboard to get out some pancake mix.