Red Burning Satin (Natasha Romanoff x Reader)

Chapter 3

At some point, Natasha checked her phone screen and her face fell.

"What is it?" you asked. You didn't realise how close together you had been until you felt a wave of cold over you as she stood up, stepping away from you.

"It's morning, I have to leave. I'll get into trouble if I'm caught here. I'm sorry." Your smile faded, the muscles in your face aching from overuse. You nodded in understanding.

"There's no need to apologise. I can't thank you enough for being here." You tried to find the words to express your gratitude, to describe how you felt. "It's been..." lonely. All the friends you had were lost, you had no one except her. "Hard. This was nice." Really nice.

There was a long pause before she replied in a hushed voice, "It was nice for me too." She walked towards the door, stopping just before turning the handle. You thought about the possibility of escaping with her aid but quickly dismissed the idea. Your friendship was not enough for her to betray S.H.I.E.L.D. and if you were going to prove yourself trustworthy to them, you had to comply with their commands. You hesitated for a moment.

"You will come back, right?" You thought it might be too much of an ask.

"Of course, I will," she said. Your heart swelled in your chest. "Goodnight Isaroka."

"Goodnight," you said, your emotions much different to the last time she had turned her back on you.

Every day for the rest of the week, you were brought out for questioning and each time, you would give Fury the same answer: You couldn't tell him what planet you were from. So every day, you would be sent back to your cell for another twenty-four hours. Food was served three times a day on a tray and a new prisoner's jumpsuit was delivered to your cell every other day. The only room other than your cell you could access was the bathroom. To pass the time, you would play games with the aid of your cyborg brain, walk laps around the room to keep your body moving or drag out daily tasks like showering so that they took three times as long as they should.

You found that everything in your day would lead up to when Natasha would visit, the streak of light visible in your window giving you a good indication of her arrival – she always came when it was a hazy grey. When she visited, you'd talk until she had to leave in the early hours of the morning. After a few days, she started bringing books with her to show you and teach you more about Earth. Each book portrayed the unique landscapes of Earth, your favourite being the jungles that didn't exist on your planet.

The pictures in her books depicted tropical utopias with rushing waters cascading off cliffs, emerald-rich leaves dripping with translucent, gleaming raindrops, sunset-dipped leaves of hibiscuses blushing in the heat of the sun and electric blue palms. Other books had illustrations of woods with tall trees, their leaves parakeet-green and bark carved with smooth, dirt-riddled grooves that told stories only the wind could read. To find the heart you had to trek down winding, blemished paths that resurfaced from the cover of trees when its follower reached the tranquil lakes far, far away from civilization. Even though your planet had forests, you didn't have what Earthens called 'photos' and no one in your tribe had been able to paint the forests they had seen.

You were a bit embarrassed by your reactions at first; you were so excited and awestruck by each photo and description you were shown. You expected Natasha to judge you but she didn't, instead watching you with a slight shine in her eyes, listening intently to every word you said. She was patient with you and answered your questions to the best of her ability, explaining even simple, boring details. When you grew tired of learning about Earth, Natasha would show you how to play Earthen games, which entertained you until she had to leave. When she wasn't there, she still consumed your day through your thoughts, your memories together replaying in your mind as you looked forward to the approaching evening.