Red Burning Satin (Natasha Romanoff x Reader)

Chapter 1

UPDATE AS OF MAY 2024! This book is under major editing. Unedited chapters have been taken down and will be put back up once they've been rewritten.

All you could remember was blinding lights, words you could not understand flooding your ears from every direction and pain burning into your skin. The next thing you recall is lying wide awake on a stiff mattress, a glimmer of light streaked across your face and a dull ache pressing into each muscle of your body.

You sat up, rubbing your face as you took in your surroundings. You were on top of a simple, plain bed in between four grey walls with one door and a tiny window near the ceiling, giving you no clues or signs as to where you were. The material of the four walls surrounding you was like nothing you had ever seen, a stark contrast to the stone and wood of your home.

You slipped out of bed, taking cautious steps towards the door, turning the handle but it didn't budge. The initial fog that had clouded your thoughts began to clear and you suddenly realised the only parts of your brain at work were the biological areas, the cyborg additions to your body completely switched off. You took another step and moved your arm, frowning, your synthetic limbs functioning as normal. You couldn't understand why the rest of your cyborg body was working but your brain wasn't.

It was a strange sensation, trying to tap into something you had always had and functioned with but being met with complete darkness. Correction – from what you remember, you had always had your cyborg brain but your memories before the age of thirteen were non-existent. You had no memory of a time when you weren't a cyborg. It was a helpless feeling, stupid even – all the knowledge and uses of your synthetic brain being completely out of your reach. It made you wonder if you'd ever been without it at all and how you had coped.

You closed your eyes, revisiting your earlier task of trying to remember where you were and why, hoping that it was somewhere in your human memory. Vague visions began to form in your mind: sprinting towards a portal, wandering the streets of a mysterious country and then... Your mind was flooded with memories by the trigger. You remembered the flashes. The noise. The pain. This place was on a world that you had been thrown into, away from all that you knew. You had left your friends, your family, and your home all behind a kaleidoscope of colours as you were plunged into the portal. You were alone and now, half of your brain had been taken from you, including the memories that would answer all your questions. You couldn't even remember why you were on this planet.

There was a sudden click and the door opened, causing you to jump. You stepped back until your back collided with the wall, the metal of your leg sending a clang through the room. Your eyes grew wide and your heartbeat seemed to halt as a woman strode into the room, holding a tray in her hands. Her eyes churned with thousands of glistening pieces of jade, her gaze burning into yours, her soft, scarlet curls falling past her shoulders. 'Who was she?' you thought, 'Was she a threat to you?'

She spoke, the noise short and tender, a slight rasp accompanying her words. You frowned; the language she spoke was unfamiliar and foreign. You searched through your memories, trying to recall if you had ever encountered the language until you were reminded that you were missing a large chunk of them. She waited a few moments, her face like a blank piece of paper with no emotion present before speaking again. You shook your head, edging away from the wall slightly, your muscles releasing a small amount of tension. This woman did not appear to be a danger to you.

You cleared your throat and spoke in your language but as expected, the redhead's expression became sceptical, confirming that she couldn't understand you either. You repeated the same sentence twice, once in Greek and then again in Latin but her face didn't falter. She tried to do the same as you, repeating herself in a different language but the words sounded even more unidentifiable this time. You shook your head. It was clear that you shared no common ground in communication.