The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 55

Somewhere over the Atlantic

Spring 2015

For the first time in what felt like an age, Nadine felt like she could breathe freely, easily. Like the weight of her fear and guilt and worry weren't trying to crush her into the ground.

And it was all because Nina lay, safe and alive, on the infirmary bed next to her, her daughter's hand clutched tightly in hers.

Sure, there were still moments where her chest would clench and she'd fear it was all a cruel dream, but then Nina would make a sound in her sleep or her fingers would flex beneath Nadine's and the feeling would ease. A measure of fear still twisted deep in her stomach—Nina was still hurt for all that she was safe, after all, and she hadn't woken up yet—but it was manageable thanks to the knowledge that her daughter was recovering.

Barely a few feet away, the Maximoff girl still lay curled against her twin, virtually lost to the world. She hadn't moved since she'd lain down next to him. Nadine had actually feared for the girl, that something had been irrevocably broken inside her, when the medic had first led her into the infirmary; she'd been virtually comatose. Save for the faintest of perplexed creases between her brows, the vague blankness of her expression had reminded Nadine eerily of what the girl had done to the Avengers in Johannesburg. She'd worn virtually the same lost, even anguished, vacant look as they'd had.

At least, until she'd seen her brother.

The instant the girl had laid eyes on Pietro it was as though something had snapped back into place. Colour had begun seeping back into her dirt-streaked cheeks and her eyes seemed to come back to life. She'd inched tentatively to his side, as though unable or even reluctant to believe what she was seeing. Her features had been so wary, as though she'd feared it was some sort of cruel delusion.

But then, with shaking hands, she'd reached out to touch his cheek...tears had genuinely sprung to Nadine's eyes at the indescribable relief in the small, hiccupping sigh that had escaped from the girl.

Then, without so much as another sound, she'd laid down next to him, silent sobs shuddering through her as she cuddled against her twin as though the proximity was a crucial to her as oxygen. And perhaps on some level it was.

The bond between twins was a mysterious and sacred thing, after all, and at times beyond rational explanation.

The infirmary around them was quiet beyond the gentle hum and steady beeps from the monitors, the efficient S.H.I.E.L.D. medics having finished setting the infirmary to rights and retreated into offices or out elsewhere on the ship. Without the medics, the only occupants were the Maximoff Twins, Nadine, Natasha and Nina. Initially, the worst of the injured from Novi Grad had been brought to the ship's designated infirmary, everyone else funnelling through the mess hall-turned-overflow-infirmary to get a brief once-over by the Helicarrier's medics and the odd doctor from the city.

But once the city had fallen and had been vaporized by Stark and Thor, the worst off had been collected and airlifted away. Not long after, the civilians had been similarly ferried away as well, the lifeboats returning them to solid ground.

Leaving only the Avengers and their allies to occupy the Helicarrier and its glass-enclosed infirmary. Nadine was perfectly content with that. The urgency and noise that came with a bustling rescue operation had only grated on her already frayed nerves. The quiet was a godsend.

For as long as it lasted, at least.

Not long after the Novi Grad refugees had disembarked, Barton had dropped in to check on Nina, Nadine and the Twins, relating what had happened to Nina and Pietro as best he knew; he hadn't seen much, having been ducking away from the Quinjet's bullets right as the two of them had rushed forward to shield them. Once she'd exhausted her questions for him about the incident, after he'd updated her on what else had been going on since the city had been destroyed, he'd informed Nadine that Fury was giving them a lift back Stateside. Apparently Stark had been working on outfitting a secondary facility for the Avengers for the last several months already; Fury was going to drop them off there even though it wasn't quite done yet. Briefly she contemplated asking to be dropped off in Vienna with Nina, but Nadine couldn't quite summon the will to do so. She didn't have the energy or the heart to disappear just now. She was tired of running, of fighting. She was tired of being everything but Nina's mother. She was tired of being the Ghost. Just now, all she wanted to do was reassure herself that her daughter and her sister were alright.