An Impossible Game - A Short Story

Chapter 2

Natasha isn't sure why she lets him text her or why she calls him at all. In fact, she's rather certain it's going to lead to more trouble for her. He's an American and even if he isn't exactly competing against her, it's close enough that Ivan will probably be upset. Still, she doesn't stop.

She has to delete their messages after every conversation, but it's worth it if it keeps Ivan from finding out. When, three months after their first phone call, Ivan still hasn't discovered her secret, she begins to think this might actually work out.

The days leading up to the Olympics are so busy that Natasha doesn't have time to text him. She still checks her phone when she can, but he must be just as busy because she doesn't receive any messages from him.

Leading up to the qualifiers, Ivan pushes them harder than ever, especially after seven of the Russian track and field competitors fail their drug tests. Natasha knows she should be worried—after all, seven of their teammates were just caught—but Ivan doesn't give them enough time to even think about it.

It's the day before the opening ceremony that Natasha finally receives a text from Steve for the first time in a very long time.

Are you free tonight? We're celebrating before the games.

If she asked Ivan, the answer would be no, she is not free. Luckily for Steve, she doesn't ask before slipping out of her room to meet him outside.

She's sore and she knows she should really be resting, but she hasn't seen Steve in person since the World Championships in April.

"Natasha!"

To her surprise, he's with a handful of his teammates. They don't look nearly as surprised to see her as she is to see them, so she masks her surprise and smiles. Unfortunately, Steve chooses that moment to pull her into a tight hug and it's so unexpected that she can't stop the way her eyes widen.

After pulling away from her, he quickly introduces his teammates but she doesn't remember any of their names. The rest of the evening is just as much of a blur as the quick introductions were.

When Natasha wakes up in the morning, she's worried she might be too tired to compete. Without any other choice, though, she follows her teammates through their morning routine and lets Ivan usher them all towards the gym.

Qualifiers are so nerve-wracking that Natasha isn't sure how she makes it through to the finals. Her teammates congratulate her and Steve sends her about a dozen proud texts that she, unfortunately, doesn't have the time to respond to. Nevertheless, he still invites her to the party that the Americans are throwing to celebrate their teammates that made it to the finals.

Just like the last time she had joined him, he pulls her into a tight hug and (thankfully) introduces her to everyone again. This time, she manages to remember a few names.

"I saw you at qualifiers," she tells Steve at some point. "You did really well."

"Not my best," he argues. Natasha rolls her eyes and rather than argue with him about it, she lets herself get lost in the party.

Unfortunately, finals are the next morning and Natasha has such a bad headache that she places 15th in her all-around competition.

As she walks off the floor, she catches Steve eye in the stands. He opens his mouth to say something, but Ivan pulls her into the locker room so abruptly she misses what he says.

"You are a disaster," he snarls in Russian. Natasha scowls. "We have programs in place so that Russia wins medals, yet you still fail us."

"It was just a bad round," she replies. It doesn't matter, though, because that was the finals and she can't change her score. "I'll do better."

"You will."

She finds Steve after that and neither of them sticks around to watch the remaining competitors.

* * * * *

Steve performs better than she's ever seen when his turn comes around. He places fifth in his all-around and gets a bronze medal for his vault. They celebrate with ice cream and yet another American party. When she gets gold on her uneven bars routine, they get even more ice cream and throw an even bigger party.

Even though the party is fun, she can't stop thinking back to the moment where Steve had met her right after her competition. Ivan had been pleased with her performance, but not proud. Steve, on the other hand, had been so proud he wouldn't stop telling the people they passed that she'd gotten gold.

"You should stop telling people," Natasha tells him. He's just told another one of his teammates about her medal and she's beginning to feel bad about it.

"Why? You did so well, Nat." He grins and the nickname makes her heart flutter. "I'm proud of you."

"The others did well too," she argues, "but they don't have a medal. It feels unfair."

It is, but she doesn't tell him why. Luckily for her, she doesn't have to because he stops telling everyone he meets and instead, sends her proud smiles every few minutes.

"You have him so whipped."

The voice makes her jump and when she turns to see who had spoken, she's at a loss. She knows the man is one of Steve's teammates, but she can't remember his name.

"Sam," he offers, nodding politely. "You looked a little confused."

"There are too many names to remember," she says, hoping it's a decent enough excuse that he forgives her.

Sam nods in agreement. "If I wasn't on the same team as a dozen of these fellas, I wouldn't know their names either."

It makes her feel a little better.

"Where'd Steve go?" Sam asks. Natasha shrugs. "Never seen him stray from your side since the moment we got here."

"He is nice like that."

Sam hums, but she doesn't think it's to agree with her. There's a look on his face that Natasha isn't familiar with, but Steve appears beside her before she can question his teammate.

"Sam." He sounds surprised and a bit nervous. "What are you doing?"

"Making friends," Sam replies with a grin. He nods at Natasha and she bits back a grin. "Lotta lovely people here."

Steve rolls his eyes and looks ready to argue, but Natasha grabs his attention before he can.

"Show me where the drinks are." It's been a long trip and now that she's officially done competing, she can allow herself to get as drunk as she wants. "I'm thirsty."

Steve doesn't drink half as much as she does, but they end up equally drunk. Apparently, he can't hold his alcohol very well and to Natasha, it's the funniest thing in the world.

"Tipsy," she teases in Russian. She can't remember the word in English, but if he asks, she'll tell him that she's just trying to teach him new words.

"You're the one that's tipsy."

Natasha blinks and turns towards Steve's friend. She's only sort of sure that his name was Bucky, but at the moment, she's more interested in how he knows Russian.

"Russian?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at him. It's close enough to what she had wanted to say that she doesn't try to correct herself.

"Yes, ma'am." Bucky smirks and Steve scowls. Natasha looks between them in confusion. "And I think you have had enough to drink."

"You do not decide."

She drinks even more after that and has to stay the night in the American side of the Olympic village. She shares a room with one of Steve's teammates—a girl named Maria who is nice and just as drunk as she is. In the morning, she joins the Team USA gymnastics team for breakfast and forgets all about Ivan until the end of the games.