An Impossible Game - A Short Story

Chapter 3

Steve travels to Europe twice in the following year: first to meet Natasha in Russia and second for the World Championships in London.

It's his first time in Russia and when she meets him in the airport, he knows he'll be coming back very soon. If he didn't know better, he would say she had been bouncing eagerly up until the very moment he rounded the corner. She had spotted him first, but Steve had noticed her a split second later. Unfortunately, it wasn't soon enough to set down his bag before she was crashing into his arms.

"You are here!" 

She's still bouncing in his arms and Steve's pretty sure her face has to hurt from smiling so wide.

"I told you I was coming," he teases, picking his bag up from where he had dropped it. "Did you think I lied?"

"I didn't think you would make it."

She grabs his free hand and pulls him out of the airport before he can reply.

When they arrive at her small apartment, she shows him where he can put his bag and then points out the makeshift bed she had created for him that morning. He's tired enough that he almost takes her up on her offer to take a nap, but he doesn't want to miss out on a single day with her.

"Show me the city," he says instead.

It's the right thing to say because Natasha lights up and soon they're on their way outside.

He stays for two weeks before he has to go back to the States. Even though Natasha shows him everything she can, he's still sad to go. He has a sinking suspicion that it has nothing to do with the city and everything to do with her. The only reason he actually gets on the plane is because he knows she'll call him as soon as he's back home.

She doesn't. The flight is long so he thinks maybe she forgot when he was supposed to land, but she never calls him. He texts her nonetheless, letting her know that he made it back safely and is looking forward to visiting again.

It's days before he receives a response.

Call me

Suddenly, he's terrified. He's in the middle of game night with a few of his teammates—Bucky and Sam included—but he dashes out of the room without a word. The phone doesn't finish ringing even once before she picks up.

"Steve?"

"Natasha, holy—Are you alright? What's wrong?"

He knows something wrong because her voice is a little softer than normal. Plus, the fact that she hadn't texted him until now makes a pit form in his stomach. 

"Your friend that speaks Russian," Natasha says over the phone, "is he with you?"

Her accent is thicker than he's ever heard it before and the pit in his stomach grows.

"Yeah," Steve says softly, already turning around to search out Bucky. "Are you okay?"

"It is not—easy to say."

Steve yanks Bucky out of his seat without an explanation and hauls him out of the room. His teammates shout in protest and Bucky swats at him, but Steve doesn't stop. When they're away from the others, he puts his phone on speaker.

"I found him," he tells her, glancing up at Bucky. "Now what's wrong?"

He knew that she'd speak Russian, but he still feels a bit left out when she rushes into it. Bucky frowns immediately but Steve only picks up a few words. He'd been trying to learn the language for almost a year now, but it's difficult to understand when Natasha speaks so fast.