Chasing Ghosts | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 26: Everything Has Consequences

''Come in, come in. They're just finishing up their game.''

Natasha chuckled when she saw the two kids at the dinner table, a Monopoly board between them. Both were too distracted by it to see the women enter. ''Oh no, she managed to rope him into Monopoly too?''

''She was wonderful. You have a beautiful girl,'' Paul's wife beamed, watching the kids. For some reason, Katya had to blush and met Natasha's eyes to see that she was caught off guard as well. Her eyes shone like she was proud, throwing a smile in the brunette's way.

''Hey Red,'' Natasha called out softly, using the nickname Katya rarely used for her anymore. When Maya looked up, Natasha beckoned her over. ''Come on. Put your shoes and your coat on.''

''But the game isn't finished,'' Maya complained with a pout, not moving a single muscle.

Natasha shook her head, a relaxed smile on her lips. ''Don't care. We need to drive back and you need to sleep. I can see your eyes drooping from here.''

Maya let out a sigh, starting to gather the stuff from the table and neatly putting it back in the box. ''Fine.'' It took her another lingering ten minutes to find her shoes and backpack and put her coat on. But then she stood between the two Russians by the front door, waving at Mason with red cheeks. ''Bye.'' Above her head, Natasha and Katya smirked at each other knowingly.

He gave a wave back, even though he stood only three feet away from her. ''Bye Maya. See you tomorrow.''

Nobody talked until they sat in the car and Katya started the engine. ''Did you have fun?'' 

That was either the right or wrong thing to ask, because Maya dove into an extended story about the afternoon. It lasted the whole car ride. And back home, she fell asleep immediately, tired out by the day.

Thursday

Katya woke up in the middle of the night, an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She looked around the barely lit room, finding nothing suspicious. But still, something told her she had to wake Natasha. Damn gut feeling.

''Babe,'' she whispered, softly touching her cheek. That was all it took to wake Natasha. Her eyes fluttered open, staying half closed as her eyes found her wife's. But the look in them caused her to fully wake up, alert now.

''What is wrong? Did you have a nightmare again?'' her beautiful raspy voice muttered back, ready to wrap Katya in her arms and whisper reassurances in her ear until she fell asleep. But Katya shook her head. A nightmare wasn't what plagued her.

''No, but something is wrong.'' She had no clue what exactly woke her up, or why her gut said something was wrong. But she knew it was. And Natasha always took her seriously, never waved away her worries or thought she was being dramatic.

''Do you want me to check downstairs?'' she offered, lifting an arm and pushing some of Katya's brown hair behind her ear. Her touch was so gentle that Katya's eyes wanted to close on their own accord.

Before she could answer, a door softly clicked open somewhere inside the house. Both their gazes snapped to their own door, first on high alert until they realized where it came from. Natasha relaxed, running her fingers over Katya's arm while keeping her eyes trained on the door to wait for the inevitable twisting of the doorhandle.

A couple soft footsteps later, said doorhandle was pushed down from the other side, and an hesitant face peeked in. When the girl saw they were already awake, she pushed the door open a bit more.

''Hi honey, what is wrong?'' Natasha whispered, the tiny nightlight in their room lighting up Maya's face just enough to see some leftover fear in her eyes. It was obvious why she was here.