The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 51

Novi Grad, Sokovia

Spring 2015

She knew she'd been told in no uncertain terms that she had to stay on the Quinjet, but Nina couldn't fight the feeling that she had to do something. She couldn't just sit back while the people she cared about risked their lives to try and stop Ultron; her mom, the Twins, even Black Widow. She just couldn't do it! She'd already done enough sitting as Ultron's hostage.

So, even knowing her mother would be furious, no sooner had Nadine disappeared into the narrow streets of Novi Grad then Nina was following.

Only to find herself staring out at a veritable battlefield. Immediately she was choking back a cry of alarm as debris hurtled through the air around her, diving for cover behind a particularly large scattering of rubble. The central square of Novi Grad was strewn with cars, chunks of buildings and the lifeless bodies of Ultron's sentries. People were darting this way and that, a few, straggling civilians desperately trying to reach shelter while members of the city's police force tried to fight back as best they could. Gunshots echoed through the air, one particularly loud and powerful sounding set carrying above the others, nearly causing her ears to ring with the report. But the sentries seemed to be paying little real attention to most of what was going on around them.

The sentries were far more interested in the Avengers scattered throughout the square. Off across the expanse, heading deeper into the city, Hulk was roaring and smashing his way through any sentry that dared go up against him. The massive Avenger even seemed to be almost gleeful as he chased down any that tried to flee from his crushing fists.

Nearer to the edge of the chunk of city they were all trapped on was Black Widow, darting and leaping around the robots attacking her almost too quickly for Nina to follow. It felt almost surreal, watching the lone female Avenger and her teammates fighting in the flesh. She certainly couldn't help the anxious sense of amazement and fear as she watched the woman who apparently should have been her Aunt going up against robots that virtually dwarfed her in size. But there was no doubt that the redhead was perfectly capable of going up against Ultron's sentries on her own, her Widow's Bites and electrified batons proving more than effective against the aggressive robots. But even though part of her wanted to focus on the Avenger she'd come to know personally—that still felt like part of a dream, knowing that she could say she knew Black Widow—she couldn't quite manage it. Not when there was an Avenger fighting fiercely barely a few feet away from where Nina had taken cover.

There was no mistaking who he was. Even if she'd never seen a picture or a video of him, she'd have recognized him from the descriptions she'd heard alone. His distinctive star and ring-painted shield? Red, white and blue uniform? She was only feet away from Captain America. And she was not ashamed to admit she was a little star-struck. Though, the attacking sentries also barely a few feet away had that feeling fading fast, freezing Nina in her tracks.

Her heart in her throat, Nina could only watch in a mix of awe and terror as Captain America made short work of the Ultron sentries coming at him. But more and more kept coming, beginning to overwhelm the supersoldier through sheer numbers alone. But there was no one close. None of his teammates were nearby to back him up.

Besides, all of his teammates were dealing with their own onslaught of sentries.

With a pained grunt, a sentry landed heavily on the Captain's back as he was finishing up with another pair of them, the machine's weight and momentum nearly bowling him over. Unconsciously, Nina's fingers closed around a thick piece of rebar protruding from the rubble as she ducked down behind the heap of debris as a chunk from one of its fellows came flying toward her, eyes still locked anxiously on Captain Rogers. Her knuckles quickly went white from the pressure as she clung to the iron wreckage, her racing heart trying desperately to leap into her throat as the Captain struggled against the sentry latched onto his back even as he was fending off another with a hard impact from his shield. As the sentry in front of him collapsed in a lifeless heap, he was immediately trying to dislodge the one clinging to him, grimacing as the robot's arms tightened as he twisted in an effort to shake it off.