Budapest » [Clintasha]

Chapter Twenty-Four: Infidelity

I continued to check back at James' quarters for the days and nights to come. And every night I departed disappointed. Days passed in the blink of an eye, and the weeks skipped by just as fast. And somewhere along the line, those weeks blurred into months that dragged on by without an appearance.

But all that time, holding faith in the appearance of my partner in crime, thoughts of another plagued me.

Alexi Shostakov.

He knew more than he let on.

There was something about the way our eyes would meet in a crowded debriefing room: it was a fleeting taunt of 'I know something you don't know'. His smile held secrets that his lips would never betray, that much I knew from the arrogance of his smirk. And the confidence in his posture told me that all the cards were in his hands.

He was just waiting for the opportune moment to spill his heart out. Like anyone with a secret, he was yearning to tell it - and I was going to prize it out of him eventually.

Being one of two remaining Black Widows, I had presidency over some. But Alexi was integrated into the ranks much higher and seemed to evoke the political prowess of a general. Though he was warm enough to me, when he stepped into a room most looked like they had caught a chill.

He knew so much more.

And he didn't keep it a secret to me.

It was after an emotionally challenging mission of exposing myself to yet another gluttonous Soviet traitor, Alexi and I were left alone, changing. The sheer indignity of same-sex changing rooms still makes me itch under my skin with rage: it just shows how little value I held as a recruit of the Red Room.

We changed back to back; neither daring to glimpse at the other immodestly. But even then, there were reflective places in the changing rooms that would've revealed all if you looked at the right angle.

But he was unusually polite - he didn't sneak a glance. And I checked diligently in the reflective metal of the lockers.

Once I was re-dressed in civvies, I made to leave. But I thought I'd dignify him with a figment of my gratitude. Stopping in the doorway, I peered over my shoulder; "Alexi?"

He raised his head and stood up straight from where he was digging through his duffle bag for his colloquials. "Natalie?" An expression of realisation bloomed on his face as he felt the cool air on his bare chest. He snatched up a shirt and scrunched it over his bare chest. A rosy hue blossomed on his cheeks and crawled down his neck; endearing, to say the least.

I couldn't help the small smile that inched its way onto my features at his chaste behaviour. "Thank you..." And for a second I showed him the side of sincerity which hardly anyone got to see.

"What on earth for?" He quickly threw on his military button up, his fingers struggling with the fiddly brass buttons as he raced to cover himself. I could see the blush spreading down across his collarbones and chest.

The innocence in his voice was refreshing. He'd genuinely not thought it was a big deal he'd shown me some respect. My smile broadened until teeth were on show - the grin felt wrong on my face. The grin felt ugly. "For not trying to look," I insinuated.And with a feeling of warmth glowing in the pit of my belly, I set on my way to visit James.

I paced the corridors after what had been a gruelling and gruesome mission feeling not so bad. It's funny how the smallest of kind deeds can augment a bad day. 'Every cloud has a silver lining', or so they say.

But as always in my life, the spark of happiness was doused before it could grow.

When I arrived at James' quarters, the door was, for once, unlocked. Not only that, but slightly ajar. I was cynically circumspect; it could've been room searches. And as I approached, from the sounds within it was clear that the room was not empty.