The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 35

Berlin, Germany

Spring 2016

"So you managed to make it out alright." Nadine glanced up at the sound of Sam's voice, sparing the former paratrooper a wry grin and a raised brow as she slid her rifle case into the trunk of the Beetle after the duffle holding her gear. He huffed out a laugh. "Obviously," he corrected almost immediately. Nadine couldn't help but snicker.

"Obviously," she repeated, no hiding the teasing in her own voice. Sam smiled. Only for his features to grow serious.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

Nadine blinked, a faint frown creasing her brow. "I'm fine, why?"

Sam shrugged, unconsciously nodding toward the Beetle next to them.

Where Barnes still sat.

"You know," he continued, "after what happened at the JCTC?" Realization dawned, and Nadine inhaled slowly. "I saw the aftermath, Ryker," Sam said, his expression grim as he fixed her with a blatantly assessing look, "and I saw you in the cafeteria and I heard what went down; you went through a window." Nadine met his eye, her lip quirking.

"I did. And?"

"Damn...and you're okay?"

"I'm here, aren't I?" she replied wryly, not that it wholly detracted from her sincerity as she reassured her friend. She was admittedly still rather sore from the whole episode, but that wasn't important. She wasn't interested in making any of them worry about her. "I'm fine. Thanks in part to Sharon, believe it or not."

With a small smile, Nadine turned, heading back for Sharon's car. Sam hesitated, vaguely startled, for a moment before falling into step beside her.

"Seriously? That's it?" Nadine was nearly tempted to roll her eyes in exasperation at his incredulity. She shrugged.

"I might have to kick Barnes' ass for throwing me through said window, but otherwise? I'm fine, Wilson."

Sam grinned, his serious expression easing with relief. Nadine shook her head fondly, looking away from the former paratrooper and back to the other car and the pair standing next to the open trunk.

She was only barely able to keep herself from faltering.

Nadine hadn't been able to keep herself from sagging with relief when she'd caught sight of Steve, Sam and Barnes within the vintage Beetle as it approached the rendezvous site. She'd thought she'd been prepared for a strong wave of relief at seeing them all, safe and whole. She hadn't. Not for how powerful it had been. Especially when Steve ducked out of the small car.

Steve.

Steve she had studiously avoided thinking about as much as possible during her introspection while waiting for Sharon. She had already spent more than enough time dwelling on their relationship and her problematic yet undeniably growing feelings for the man. There was nothing new, no new angles to consider. So there had been no point in torturing herself further. Reconciling what had happened in regard to Barnes—that she hadn't been able to stop his capture or her own despite being more than capable, how fighting him again had threatened a nearly deadly flashback at precisely the wrong time, and so on—had been the priority. Everything else had been compartmentalized away as her training and the situation had demanded. The way it should have been all along, really.

Not that she'd been entirely successful in burying away the fear that something had happened to the Captain; no matter what she did, no matter what mental tricks she'd employed, her sister's word from their run through the JCTC hadn't stopped echoing in her ears.