Chapter 425 - A visitor

Natasha brought her car to a stop before parking and switching it off.

Natasha stayed in her car for a while when her phone buzzed and she checked her notifications to see that Pete had sent her a text that gave her a go ahead.

Natasha stayed silent for a while when her phone rang and she quickly picked it up when she saw that it was Jean that was calling.

"Natasha my dad has been sentenced already!" came Jean's more than shocked voice from the other side of the line.

"I know Jean, my friend Pete just called to tell me" said Natasha as she sighed.

"This is unreal, this is unbelievable?? How could that happen just like that??" asked Jean as she was horrified.

"I don't know what to tell you Jean, I am just as shocked as you are" replied Natasha.

"Well this is nonsense, so you're telling me that the justice system can be this quick?? why doesn't this happen all the time then??!" asked Jean as she was clearly irritated by this.

"I asked myself the same question" said Natasha.

"How could he be trialed and sentenced on the same day? It seems like they were planning this, it doesn't make sense how quickly all of this went on" said Jean as she sighed.

"I agree with you, but Romanoff didn't really help his case though... I was told that he refused to get a lawyer, and he pleaded guilty to everything" said Natasha as she sighed.

"This is..." said Jean as she took a pause, she didn't know what to say at all, she had still expected to meet Romanoff at the station today, but once she got there, she was told that he had already been transferred to the regional prison, she was beyond shocked when she heard that.

It took her a few minutes to register and process what she had just heard.

"I know it's hard... I can only imagine how bad you feel" said Natasha.

"I feel terrible, I mean I had already come to terms with him going to jail, but for him to go to the big house so soon... I don't even think that he was ready for that himself" said Jean as she sighed and Natasha could say nothing.

"What's his sentence?" asked Jean as she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"65 years..." replied Natasha soflty.

"Well I'm actually surprised that it isn't more..." said Jean.

"Well there wasn't more evidence to condemn him even more" said Natasha.

"I want to see him though, do you think that I can go see him?" asked Jean.

"Actually since he's just been transferred to the prison, he's not allowed any visitors, but I asked Pete for a favour, and he told me that I can go see him, maybe I can ask if you can see him as well" said Natasha.

"Thanks Natasha, that would be great if you could do that for me" said Jean.

"I can't make any promises that he would say yes though" said Natasha.

"It's alright, if he says yes, then fine, if he says no, then it's okay, I'm actually on my way to work right now, and I'm running a bit late, I guess that I have to wait a while before I can see him again" said Jean sadly.

"Don't worry Jean I will see what I can do" said Natasha.

"Thanks Natasha, I'll call you later" said Jean.

"Bye" replied Natasha as Jean ended the call and Natasha quickly texted Pete before getting out of her car and proceeding to walk into the prison.

...

Romanoff was quietly sleeping on his not so new bed in his new sleeping area.

In reality, he was just resting his eyes, and thinking... thinking about many things, if he was to compare today with the other days in his life, he would say that today was the worst day of his life, even worse than the day he had lost his eye.

Romanoff just decided to stop thinking about it that way, after all, he better get used to his new setting and surroundings, these four solid cement walls would now be his home for the remainder of his life, well at least he had a shower and a toilet in here right in the corner of the cell.

Sure they had natural long life in his family, but he wasn't sure he would live through this.

Well at least on the bright side he was considered a very highly dangerous criminal, so his cell was left all to himself.

Romanoff was still in nothing but pure silence when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching on the concrete floors until finally stopping in front of his cell.

Romanoff didn't bother moving at all, even though the warden started to his the bars of his cell with his black baton.

"Hey wake up, you have a visitor" said the warden as he looked like he had no time for this at all.

Romanoff opened his one good eye and stared lazily at the warden.

"As much as I know, I am not allowed any visitors just yet" replied Romanoff, he had no intention of leaving the confines of his cell any time soon, he had still had many things to think about.

"Well the rules changed, don't make me repeat myself, get up" said the warden as he opened the door to the cell and Romanoff lazily stood up, he was sure that it was maybe Dians who had come to see him.

The warden walked into the cell and handcuffed Romanoff as he handled him roughly and pushed him out of the cell.

"Watch it boy, I'm not your age mate" said Romanoff in a cold tone as he looked at the young warden that was unnecessarily being rough with him.

"Yeah well people of your age shouldn't be in here" replied the warden with a scoff as he pushed Romanoff forward harder and Romanoff cracked his jaw in irritation being very quiet, he didn't want to go into solitary confinement just yet, he had only just gotten here.

Romanoff just kept silent as the warden led him past the other prisoner's cells through the halls of the prison into the very empty visiting room.

Romanoff looked around and he could not hide his surprise when he saw Natasha and he shook his head.

"You have ten minutes, I'm not going to uncuff you, make it snappy pops" said the warden as he set Romanoff down on the chair and he walked away.

"What are you doing here devochka (girl)?" asked Romanoff as he was a little bit displeased that she was here.

Natasha on the other hand did not say anything for a while, she just stared at him, obviously lost in nothing but thought, Romanoff was sure that she thought he was pathetic in this situation.

Natasha just felt sad right now, looking at Romanoff, he seemed tired, there was no trace of the cheeky playfulness he often displayed, sitting here and looked at Romanoff through the glass partition between them made her realize how real this was.

"Did you just come here to stare at me or what?" asked Romanoff.

"How are you?" asked Natasha in a genuinely concerned tone which surprised Romanoff, she had never used that tone with him before, her voice was always solid and stubborn, but right now, she sounded worried and sad.

"I am fine Natasha, it is just another day" replied Romanoff as he smiled.

"This prison is actually very nice if I am being honest, back home I would have been severely bitten by mosquitos here" said Romanoff non chalantly.

"And besides, I look good in orange, don't you agree?" asked Romanoff as he winked with a cheeky expression on his face and Natasha scoffed.

She knew that he was only trying to lighten the mood, but she couldn't help but still be worried.

"Can you be serious for once?" asked Natasha.

"Oh but I am serious, I am even considering getting an orange eyepatch to complete the look" said Romanoff as he chuckled and Natasha scoffed.

"Your jokes aren't funny Romanoff, you do realize that you are in a serious situation right?" asked Natasha.

"That I do devochka (girl), now tell me what you are doing here, I told you not to worry about me" said Romanoff as Natasha scoffed at him.

"You really are flattering yourself, who said that I am worried about you?" asked Natasha as Romanoff just smiled.

"Well you don't have to worry, this is the last time that I am coming to see you" said Natasha as Romanoff just remained smiling.

"Understandable, but I know that you will miss seeing me Natasha" replied Romanoff as Natasha frowned.

"You can't just play around like this is a game, why didn't you get a lawyer? And why did you plead guilty to everything?" asked Natasha as she didn't get it.

"Aren't you a skillfully trained agent? you have fought in countless battles and yet you didn't fight when it actually mattered" said Natasha.

"You see Natasha, you get tired of fighting after doing it for nearly all your life" replied Romanoff plainly as Natasha kept silent.

"I did what I did to keep those that I care about out of danger" said Romanoff.

"Jeanie will be fine, she's a tough girl, and you, well you said it yourself, this is the last time that you would be seeing your uncle" said Romanoff.

"You are not my uncle, we aren't even related at all" replied Natasha in irritation.

"If you say so, but if I tell the truth, it is comfortable here, that bastard Igor might still be running around free, but it's only a matter of time before he gets caught as well" said Romanoff with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"So that's it, you are going to spend the rest of your sorry life in here?" asked Natasha.

"What else can be done?" asked Romanoff as Natasha scored and stood up in anger, she had offered him her help earlier, but now it was too late.

"You are a coward and your loyalty has gotten you nowhere" she said as she looked at him obviously irritated.

"There is nothing wrong with being a coward sometimes Natasha, cowardice can save in certain situations" replied Romanoff with a smile.

"I am done with this, have fun rotting in jail Romanoff, because you are right, you do deserve it" said Natasha as Romanoff continued smiling.

"Who said anything about be rotting in jail?" asked Romanoff as the angry look on Natasha's face was replaced with one of confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Natasha as something told her that Romanoff's calm attitude was fake and that he was actually planning something dangerous, he was Romanoff after all, he was highly dangerous, and definitely not to be trusted in most cases.

"Bog okhranyayet tekh, kto zabotitsya o svoyey bezopasnosti (God keeps those safe who keep themselves safe)" said Romanoff as Natasha frowned.

"Sud'ba vsegda budet sud'boy, svobodnyy budet svobodnym, a plennik ostanetsya plennikom (Fate will always be fate, the free will be free and the captive will remain captive.)" said Romanoff as Natasha did not miss the underlying meaning in his words, she just didn't know what he meant by that.

"Chto vy planiruyete? (What are you planning?)" asked Natasha as Romanoff just smiled.

"That's it time's up, time for you to get back to your cell" said the warden as he walked to Romanoff and Romanoff stood up gladly and smiled at Natasha.

"See you soon devochka (girl)" said Romanoff as he turned around and went his way as the warden followed closely behind him, leaving Natasha pondering on what exactly he was planning.