Never in a Million Years |N.R|

|8| How are you?

When I finally woke up it was late evening, the small clock on the wall my only way of knowing. I had avoided another nightmare, which I was exceedingly grateful for. But as I rose to a sit I almost cried out in pain. My ribs and stomach were in agony, a lot more painful now that the bruises had had time to develop. In defeat I collapsed back down onto the bed and just stared up at the ceiling. Steve had really hurt me, and a big part of me knew that he'd meant to. This was just a reminder that he could take me out at any moment, since his night visits had stopped in the last few days. Maybe he'd decided that I'd got the message, or that it was too risky now that I was joining the team.

After an hour of just staring mindlessly the door to my cell buzzed open. I turned to look who had entered, not surprised to see that it was Natasha again, since she'd promised to return earlier. "How do you feel?" She questioned. I sat up before replying, clearly grimacing as I placed a hand to my side as I did so. "Fine" I replied, my tone short and sharp as I gritted my teeth again.

"Don't lie to me." She was annoying, I really couldn't hide anything from her.

"It's just my stomach. I'll be okay."

"Please can I see? I need to make sure it's nothing serious." I really didn't want to show her my injuries. I hadn't seen them myself but just from how they felt I knew my stomach would be black and blue.

"Okay." Natasha approached me slowly before placing her hands on the hem of my T-shirt.

"Is it okay if I lift your top up?" I swallowed thickly before nodding my head, immediately focusing my eyes anywhere but on her.

I somewhat recoiled when she lifted the fabric, the cold air of the room shocking my exposed skin. She ran her fingers over my ribs first, pressing down every now and then to which I hissed. "Sorry, I'm just checking that they're bruised and not broken." She then focused her attention on my stomach where Steve had landed that final kick. She used her hand to palpate it, and I winced when she did this at the very middle. But after not long she pulled my top back down to cover me up. "Your ribs and stomach are just badly bruised, nothing more. You got lucky Y/N."

"Thanks" I replied shyly, hoping that my cheeks hadn't flushed red at all.

"Why did you agree to fight him anyway?" I shrugged my shoulders at this, really having no idea as to why since it was utterly stupid. Natasha studied my face for a few seconds before changing subjects. "How does the rest of your body feel?"

"Fine." I regretted my answer the second I said it because all I was met with was a raised eyebrow, one that told me to elaborate. "My muscles are a little sore."

"Just a little?" She was teasing me, so in an effort to prove her wrong I stood up from the bed abruptly. A bad idea, a very bad idea. It felt like I'd torn every single muscle in my body and I couldn't hide my pain. "Ow" I groaned, basically falling back down onto the bed.

"Do you think you can walk?" What? Where was I going to be walking to?

"Yes. Where am I walking to?" I should've known she wouldn't answer my question.

"Come on." This time I gratefully accepted the hand she offered. Once she'd pulled me to my feet I began to slowly trail after her, every muscle in my body protesting each step.

After riding up a floor in the lift and walking along a few more corridors we came to a stop out inside an unlabelled room. I couldn't help but get nervous since I had no idea where I was and what I was going to have to do. Was this going to be a test? Another interrogation?

But my mind was totally put at ease when Natasha pushed open the door to reveal what looked like a large bedroom. She ushered me inside, and after hesitating for a few moments I finally obliged. The room was massive, dark and lacked much personalisation. "This is my room. You'll get one eventually, so long as you follow the rules and impress Director Fury, also Tony." Why had Natasha brought me to her room? Surely this alone was against the rules. I was confined to a cell a floor away for a reason after all. But Natasha seemed to pick up on my curiosity. "You can use my bath. Your muscles need to to relax if you want to have any chance of moving them tomorrow, and there's no way that's possible in that little shower of yours. There's fresh towels on the side by the sink and I'll grab you some of my clothes to wear." I couldn't really believe what was happening.