The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 3

Upstate New York, USA

Fall 2015

"That's enough for today," Nadine called out, and the sounds of sparring that had been echoing around the training area tapered off into chatter as the room began to clear. Pausing to exchange a one armed hug, she waved Nina off after the Twins, the pair of them already following the former S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel out of the training centre. Nadine couldn't help but grin after them as they passed through the sliding doors heading out to the corridor.

Even though her eyes narrowed as Pietro reached out to grab Nina's hand just as they turned the corner out of sight. Something Pietro noticed, causing Nadine to smirk internally as he defiantly lifted his chin but still quickened his pace, not quite able to hide a nervous swallow at her impassive scrutiny. Nadine restrained a chuckle. It really was too easy, sometimes.

They were all three of them making remarkable progress. It was certainly taking some work to get the Twins to disengage from their powers for the duration of her sessions, but it was something Nadine believed was necessary. But once she'd gotten them both to agree that learning to fight properly and effectively without their powers would be valuable—Pietro had been particularly stubborn on that front—they'd both really gotten into the sessions. Pietro's competitive side had certainly come out, and Nadine was pleased with how Wanda's self-confidence seemed to be getting a healthy boost as she improved. Especially in weapons training.

And, not that Nadine was surprised, but Nina was doing pretty well herself. But then, she'd always seemed to enjoy whatever sort of hand-to-hand training Nadine had suggested over the years.

Though it didn't come out often, Nina did have a competitive side and this sort of training was a good outlet for it. It didn't hurt either that she was good. Her face off against Strucker's mercenaries in Vienna had been proof enough of that alone, not to mention her history with martial arts growing up. What little of Nadine and Barnes' Enhancement she'd inherited certainly manifested on the sparring mats. Nina was quick, stronger than she looked and clever enough to take advantage of it. She had good reflexes and she had a dash of daring that often appeared when her adrenaline was pumping or when her emotions ran high.

This training was good for her, Nadine had to admit. All of it, not just the hand-to-hand training. Nadine hadn't seen Nina's eyes light up like they had during some of Natasha's problem-solving exercises since...well, since before Prague. Nina was gaining her own confidence back every time she proved herself capable of passing every one of Natasha or Nadine's tests, every time she proved she wasn't helpless. Not that anyone, Nadine especially, had considered her anything but capable. By all accounts, Nina had held her own remarkably well that day in Vienna, and she'd kept her head in Sokovia when many others would not have held up to the strain done half so well.

But Nadine wasn't blind. That she hadn't been able to fight off Strucker's goons altogether had shaken Nina. Just as it bothered her that she hadn't done more to stand up to Strucker or Ultron. Not that any of it was her fault; arguably she'd made the smart decision to keep her head down, especially with Ultron. But that didn't mean it hadn't worn at Nina's confidence.

So training was a good thing. It was helping her face her insecurities and work through her lingering frustrations from what she'd gone through.

And perhaps she was just being overly optimistic, but Nadine was also fairly certain that Nina was finally starting to admit to herself that this, a life among the Avengers, wasn't exactly what she wanted. Oh, Nadine was fairly sure Nina wouldn't want to leave it behind anymore—feelings of 'belonging' were hard to fight, after all—but she was convinced Nina didn't want to be immersed in it either.