The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 17

Vienna, Austria

Spring 2015

Even as she pulled her headphones out, keys already in her hand, Nina was tugging her phone from her pocket to check—again—for any missed messages or calls.

Still nothing.

Not that there realistically would have been anything anyway.

When her mom had texted her the night before, she had said it might be a couple days. And when she said that, it usually was a couple days before Nina heard from her again. It was the way things were with her mom. But that never stopped Nina from hoping to hear from her anyway. She couldn't help it. Nina and her mom were all the other had. It had been that way for as long as she could remember. No matter that Nadine always insisted there was nothing to worry about, Nina couldn't help but worry.

And it was always the worst in the first twenty-four hours.

With a sigh she tucked her phone back into the back pocket of her jeans—again—before letting herself into the front foyer of the apartment building she and her mom had lived in for the past several years.

For the longest time, Nina had believed they would never stay in the same place for long. The pair of them had moved around Europe every year or so, bouncing around wherever her mom found work. It wasn't until Nadine had made the decision to open up her dance studio that they had finally settled down. Not that Nina's mom ever really seemed settled. She was always moving around, taking trips and travelling for work. Her mom was a restless soul, Nina had decided, no matter that she never really seemed happy about it. She was always happiest when she came home to Nina and the little life they'd made in Vienna.

But as much as Nina liked living in one place, part of her had begun to miss the excitement of moving around too. She'd never really been one to connect deeply with kids her own age. She'd just never felt like she belonged among them, even before she reached her angsty teenaged years. It was probably, in part at least, because of all the moving when she'd been young, which certainly hadn't helped. It wasn't like she wasn't capable of making friends. She just never seemed to really connect with any of the kids she grew even marginally close to. She was certainly far more naturally friendly and easy-going than her mom. In her whole life, she wasn't sure she'd ever really noticed Nadine having any actual 'friends'. Colleagues, maybe, friendly acquaintances, but no close friends. Not even any boyfriends. Her mom was, when left to her own devices, a very private and solitary person. But then in a blink she could be the most personable, charming and friendly person Nina had ever met.

She supposed her own ability to 'turn on' her own friendliness whether she wanted to be personable or not was something she'd inherited from Nadine, or at least picked up. As easygoing and friendly as Nina could be herself, she still preferred solitude or her mom's company. It was normal for her.

It was safe.

Her mom made her feel safe. It was an odd feeling that had followed her around ever since she was a child. She only ever felt truly safe around her mom. Even capable as she was of taking care of herself—Nadine had made absolutely certain of that early on—it was a feeling that never entirely diminished save when she was with her mom. Perhaps it came from the fact that her mom had been the only real constant in her life. Who knew?

As she reached the floor their apartment was on, Nina was already flicking through her keys for the right one to unlock the front door, letting her backpack fall from her shoulder to the crook of her elbow as she put the key in the lock, her other hand reaching around to pull out her phone again.