The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 42

Seoul, Korea

Spring 2015

With a final, grinding screech the train stopped.

And Steve felt like he was allowed to breathe again. It was one disaster averted. Not that it felt like they were making any real headway in that department. Not in the slightest. They might have the Cradle, and they might still be alive—winning the battle, as it were—but they were far from winning the war.

And now Ultron had Nat. Silently Steve cursed, helpless anger threatening his composure in concert with a sudden, crushing wave of fear for his friend's safety.

Who knew what Ultron would do to her.

Especially considering how they had just thwarted his plans for acquiring a new body...a very, very advanced and powerful new body.

He was not going to be pleased. Ultron was going to be furious.

No, he was going to be vengeful.

Steve groaned, his hand fisting to pound lightly on the console as he forcibly reined in his emotions. They needed to stay focused. He needed to stay focused—as though that wasn't hard enough already, right now—and he needed to stay as objective as he could. And so far, he'd been failing. Badly.

Why had he convinced himself that ordering Nadine to sit out was the best plan!

This was all on him, and he knew it. He'd let his emotions make him irrational and convince him it was logic. He punched the console more forcefully, cracking the plastic and further mangling the already contorted metal panel underneath.

They needed to find Ultron and stop him. And to do that, they needed to find his base. That was the mission, now. That was the priority. As much as he wanted to find Nat—and Nina, because no only did no one deserve to be at Ultron's mercy, but he had promised to help get the girl back; something he was still determined to do despite everything going on with her mother—they had to focus on the big picture.

And hopefully, in dealing with the bigger problem, finding Nat would come along with it. Hopefully, in finding Ultron's base, they'd find Nat and Nina too; two birds, one stone. Hopefully Nadine was still up to the task on her own. Even as angry as he was with the blonde assassin, Steve was still practical enough to know they still needed her. He was practical enough to know she was their way to Ultron.

And that wasn't even counting the way he'd been starting to feel toward her personally. The way he'd been coming to count her as a friend.

As much as the dark, irrational part of him felt that he'd gone easy on her when Ultron had revealed what she'd done, the rest of him was hoping that his behaviour toward her hadn't completely pushed her away.

She'd been stung by the things he'd said, by his decision to force her out of the mission. He knew it. She hadn't been able to hide it completely. And at the time he'd been grimly pleased. Now? He was afraid he'd burned that bridge.

He was afraid he'd burned her.

Would she still be in New York when he managed to rendezvous with the Team? Or would she break away to find her daughter on her own, believing that her secret had turned them against her? He knew she didn't trust easily—he couldn't help but think the why was now abundantly clear—and he knew he'd all but shattered that trust with his reaction. And he had no idea how to fix it.

Why would she stay after the reception her secret had received, Steve couldn't help but think bitterly. And the part of him that knew he'd overstepped wouldn't exactly blame her.