Two letters

"You're joking right?" asked Natasha, the disbelief in her tone evident. She refused to believe such a bold statement made by Agent Dians.

"I wished I was Natasha, I really do, but I'm not joking at all. Romanoff is dead." said Dians with a sigh. This was a low blow, a really low blow to him and his boys. He felt seriously enraged and annoyed that something as serious as this could have happened right under their noses.

"But that's impossible...he can't be dead just like that? How?" asked Natasha, she was not going to lie that this affected her. To be exact, it baffled her more than saddened her.

"I don't know as well. All I know is that when the warden went to wake up everyone, he did not come out of his cell and when he was checked on, he was lying there lifeless on the bed." said Dians, he did not know why he was giving Natasha the specific details, maybe he needed someone to help him figure this out, because he certainly found it hard to believe that this was true.

"But how could he have been killed in a highly protected prison?" asked Natasha, it just made no sense to her.

"It beats me, from all we know no one entered the cells, especially not his...I am suspecting foul play here...it seems that he poisoned himself." said Dians as Natasha frowned.

"I doubt that, Romanoff is not the kind of man to do that, poisoning yourself if cowardly and I am sure he feels that way, or at least felt that way." said Natasha strongly. If there was something she knew about Romanoff it was that he was no coward, he would never take the easy way out, for no reason at all.

"Hmm...you're really sure about that?" asked Dians.

"Positive." replied Natasha.

"Then you're certain that he didn't just kill himself and he was killed by someone else?" asked Dians.

"Yes, I am, because...it makes no sense...why is it that when you finally have Igor in custody, Romanoff suddenly shows up dead?" asked Natasha.

"You know, I was asking myself the same question...It just makes no sense at all...except there's something I don't know, which I believe is possible." said Dians.

"Well his body is currently undergoing an autopsy, we need to get to the bottom of this." said Dians as Natasha sighed, still unable to accept that Romanoff was actually dead...just like that? It felt unreal. She never thought that he would be a man to give up so easily by killing himself, it just did not sound like something he would do at all.

"Now, to the true reason I called. Among his belongings left in the cell, there were two letters, one was addressed to me and the other to you." said Dians.

"Really?" asked Natasha in disbelief. Warning bells started to ring in her ears.

"Yes, in the one addressed to me, he expressed his wishes to be buried in the south ground cemetery, and he wishes to be buried tomorrow before noon, which is rather specific." said Dians as Natasha frowned.

"He said that he betrayed his country and will never have the honour to be buried there, so he would rather be buried here." said Dians.

"And what did his letter to me say?" asked Natasha.

"Nothing much, he said that he was sorry for all the things he did to you, which he did not explain, but what caught me off guard was that he said he wanted you to be present at his funeral tomorrow. That is is final wish from you." said Dians.

"I see..." said Natasha.

"I have no other choice than to bury his body tomorrow, my superiors will not be happy with this at all. Until we find out what exactly happened, none of the prisoners are safe among themselves." said Dians.

"That is a very serious issue I am sure." said Natasha.

"Will you be attending his funeral?" asked Dians.

"Not at all, I have no intention of going there...we're not even really related, I see no reason to respect his wishes." replied Natasha.

"Hmmm...alright then." said Dians his tone sceptical.

"Well Agent Dians, I really have to get going now, thank you for informing me, I am still shocked by the news, but what can we do? He's already dead." said Natasha.

"Right you are... take care Natasha." said Dians.

"Thank you, and the same to you." said Natasha as Dians ended the call.

As soon as Dians ended the call Natasha quickly searched through her phone for a number as she hastily dialed it.

She waited in impatience as the call rang. She was hoping that the person would pick up soon and to her relief, she did.

"Oh Hi Natasha, what a surprise." came Jean's cheerful voice from the other side of the line.

"Hi Jean, I wish I could say the same, but I'm calling because something very serious happened." said Natasha as she went straight to the point.

"What happened?" asked Jean in worry.

"Have you heard?" asked Natasha as she treaded softly, she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news.

"Heard what?" asked Jean in confusion mixed with worry.

"Oh Jean, I'm so sorry but...Romanoff was found dead in his cell this morning." said Natasha, her tone filled with condolences.

"That's impossible, that can't be true, I just went to visit him last week." said Jean in denial as she shook her head.

"I know, I feel the same way, but it's true, Agent Dians called me and he's the one that informed me that Romanoff is gone. The funeral is going to be tomorrow." said Natasha as she expected to hear Jean crying but to her surprise Jean began to laugh.

"Oh my lord, goodness, my dad is really something else now." said Jean as she laughed and Natasha was surprised.

"You don't believe he's actually dead do you?" asked Natasha.

"What do you think?" asked Jean as she laughed.

"This is Romanoff we're talking about, my dad isn't the type of man to just die that soon and peacefully, especially not with everything he's done in his life." said Jean.

"I thought so too, but Agent Dians sounded really convinced." said Natasha.

"I would be too, but the last time I visited him he seemed really weird, and I mean weirder than usual, he kept on talking in parables and I couldn't understand, but one thing I remember was that he started to talk about death and funerals and he explicitly told me that when his funeral came, I should not attend it." said Jean.

"At the time I just thought that he was joking, but now I know that it was a warning." said Jean as Natasha scoffed.

"I knew it, that man planned this entire thing." said Natasha as she rolled her eyes and sighed in relief.

"It seems that he did." said Jean.

"Have you received any strange calls or texts today?" asked Natasha.

"Not at all...knowing my dad, he's not even going to contact me until he's done with whatever it is that he's involved in." said Jean as Natasha hummed in agreement.

"So are you going to the funeral tomorrow?" asked Jean.

"Well before I wasn't, but now I am going... I want to see what sort of game Romanoff is playing. Why does he choose to do this now after everything?" asked Natasha.

"Alright then, I wish you luck, and be safe." said Jean, by now she was used to her father and what he could and could not do.

"Thanks Jean, and you too." said Natasha as she smiled.

"So what do you think he did to make everyone so convinced that he's truly dead?" asked Jean.

"I have no idea Jean, seriously it baffles me, he managed to fool even the best of the best." said Natasha with a sigh.

"But then again, a part of me can't help but feel like we are giving Romanoff too much credit...what if he's not fooling everyone? What if he's actually dead?" asked Natasha.

"Then I would feel like an awfully terrible daughter, gosh, I really think that he just planned his escape." said Jean.

"But he made real funeral demands and everything, and he even talked about his wishes to be buried here since he betrayed his country." said Natasha, she could not lie that this was not affecting her, she felt like it could be true.

"Then we just have to wait and see... and if we're wrong about him faking this, then he has no one to blame but himself for making us think like this." said Jean as she shook her head.

"That father of mine can make things so complicated for no reason." said Jean as Natasha laughed.

"Tell me about it." said Natasha.

"I have to get back to work now Natasha, talk to you later." said Jean as she smiled.

"Talk to you later." said Natasha as she smiled and Jean ended the call.