Natasha takes the photo back, holding it close to her chest with as much reference as her father's family would hold a Qu'ran.
I'm sorry, Nat, Steve says and there's a flicker of a smile in response. It means something, coming from him.
"Um. I'm...not great with dates for back then," she replies once he clarifies his question. "But very soon after the war. The academy was in Moscow, Alexei was stationed at the Air Force base close by. We went out while I was studying. We didn't get married until a couple years later, when the Red Room was shut down. Then the Red Room came back, Alexei's plane crashed, and, oh look, I have transfer orders back to Moscow."
Her voice is dry as grave dust, and her thumb runs down the edge of the photo-frame protectively.
"My original point was that the Red Room...at some point, I don't know when, they went into my head, and took everything and everyone I loved out. They replaced it with something pretty and fake. Certainly didn't involve a murdered husband. And sometimes, even now, I wake up. And I can't tell which memories are real."
no subject
I'm sorry, Nat, Steve says and there's a flicker of a smile in response. It means something, coming from him.
"Um. I'm...not great with dates for back then," she replies once he clarifies his question. "But very soon after the war. The academy was in Moscow, Alexei was stationed at the Air Force base close by. We went out while I was studying. We didn't get married until a couple years later, when the Red Room was shut down. Then the Red Room came back, Alexei's plane crashed, and, oh look, I have transfer orders back to Moscow."
Her voice is dry as grave dust, and her thumb runs down the edge of the photo-frame protectively.
"My original point was that the Red Room...at some point, I don't know when, they went into my head, and took everything and everyone I loved out. They replaced it with something pretty and fake. Certainly didn't involve a murdered husband. And sometimes, even now, I wake up. And I can't tell which memories are real."