Avengers Imagines (Part One)

Natasha Romanoff X Reader - Cell Block Tango

A/N - This chapter is based on the song 'Cell Block Tango' from Chicago. I absolutely adore this song and love to put on a bit of a performance of it in the privacy of my own company. I hope you all enjoy it.

T/W: This chapter details abuse and violence. Please do not read if this will negatively effect you. 

There was never a time in your life when you had expected to end up in jail. Sure, you weren't exactly a saint, but you weren't a criminal. You had been reminding yourself that from the moment the police officer had slapped the cuffs on your wrists and wrangled you into the back of the car. 

"Hey," you turned over on your bunk, your eyes finding a woman leaning against the bars of your cell, smiling in at you. "You're Y/N, right?" 

You stayed quiet for a moment, your eyes lingering on her for just a second. "Who wants to know?" you uttered, hearing her let out a small snort of laughter. 

"I'm Nat. I think you know a friend of mine." You stood from your bunk, moving to sit on the edge of your desk, surveying her as you went. "Tony Stark tells me that you definitely aren't the murder in cold blood type." 

Tony. Of course. You'd met when you were both in high school, both suffering through the other kids in your gifted and talented groups. He had been the only reason you hadn't gone completely mad in those classes, and yet you hadn't seen him in years. "Do you believe him?"

Nat shrugged. "Verdict's still out on that one. He usually has a pretty good instinct for this sort of thing, but they clearly had enough evidence on you to send you down-"

"Do you want me to clear it up for you?" you uttered, running your tongue over your teeth. "It's not exactly a long story, and I do have a lifetime to whittle away." 

You saw Nat's smile fade for just a second as you fixed her with a glare, your comment hanging in the air. "Go ahead." 

"Charlie was an abusive prick. Was never happy unless he was in absolute control of everything. I haven't seen Tony since we met, because he vetted my friends. I could see the girls, but only for activities he deemed appropriate, but my male friends were cut off." You paused, swallowing around the lump in your throat. "He'd been out drinking with a couple of his friends after work and I'd stayed in to get dinner ready. Turns out, one of his friends had made some stupid comment about how he'd seen me talking to some guy in the street. He came home all angry and he just kept yelling about how I was a no good slut, accusing me of being unfaithful. Nothing unusual, really. A pretty regular Friday night. But then he grabbed me by the throat. I thought he was going to kill me." 

You stopped talking quite suddenly, lifting your hand to wipe away a few stray tears that had managed to escape. "As I said, nothing new there. I spent most of my marriage assuming he'd be the one to kill me," you continued. "But it's like something suddenly clicked in me. I didn't want to die, and I definitely didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd finished me off. So I grabbed the knife from the kitchen counter and I fucking stabbed him in the neck. Everyone denies it, but I'm sure most sane women would have done the same in my position." 

"It was self-defence, then?" she uttered, looking a little more distressed by your story than you had been expecting.

You shrugged slightly. "Didn't make any difference to the judge," you murmured. "And I'm still going to rot in here for the rest of my life." 

Nat blinked at you, frustration painting her features. "No, you're not," she bit out. "That bastard had it coming, and you gave him what he deserved." She paused for a moment, her eyes fixing on you for just a second before moving on to survey the rest of your cell. "Tony will get you a good lawyer and we'll get you out of here as soon as possible, okay?" 

"Thank you." You blinked away the last of your tears, offering her a weak smile. "You're the first person who's ever believed me." 

Your comment knocked the air out of Nat's lungs, and her expression softened as she poked her hand through the bars. You shifted forward slightly, letting her take your hand in hers and give it a gentle squeeze. "As I said, Tony's a pretty good judge of character." She paused for a moment. "I'll come back and see you properly next time they have visiting hours," she added, releasing your hand and taking a step back. "Keep your head up, we'll have you out of here soon."

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