The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 73

Upstate New York, USA

Summer 2015

One definite benefit to having the training she did was that, even in a facility as large as the new Avengers Compound, Natasha was pretty good at tracking people down. Not that it was a particularly tough task given the tools at hand; the new U.A. might not be J.A.R.V.I.S., but it was still undoubtedly indispensable on that front. It meant it didn't take long at all for Natasha to track down who she was looking for. Not that she was exactly hiding or anything.

In the nearly a week that Nadine had been gone so far, Natasha had barely seen Nina, her niece disappearing with the Twins for hours on end, usually reappearing in time for meals and to while away evenings in the common area working their way through the material Natasha and Nadine had decided would give them a good foundation for their impending 'Avenger Training.' So she figured it was about time she touched base with her adoptive niece. After all, her promise to Nadine aside, Natasha was rather invested in making sure Nina was doing okay herself.

Besides, one of Stark's people had come to her, asking that she track down Nina and the Twins. Something about uniforms.

Natasha was almost immediately frowning as she walked into the hanger, though, curiosity suddenly warring with concern when she spied Nina kneeling in the far corner by herself, the air around her wavering as though a curtain of heat and steam were rising around her. An uneasy suspicion that she hadn't actively thought about since Sokovia began wending its way back into her thoughts. Warily, she made her way over.

"Hey, kiddo." Nina looked up in surprise at the sound of Natasha's voice, the odd distortion around her disappearing. "What are you doing over here?" The girl swallowed thickly, trepidation clear in her eyes as she tried to find a way to explain. It was painfully obvious how unsettled she was at being caught out. And how anxious. And then it clicked for Natasha, the suspicion that had been lying dormant for the last couple weeks finally snapping into place.

Strucker's experiments had worked on Nina too.

Nina had powers.

But before she could say anything, with a flash of motion and a sharp gust, Pietro had appeared at Nina's side, lounged out casually beside her.

"Romanoff," he greeted lazily, though there was a keenness in his eyes that had Natasha eying him back just as closely, considering him.

He sat close to Nina, legs stretched out in front of him with ankles crossed casually, leaning back on his hands with one arm angled behind the willowy blonde so that she was nearly within an embrace. The message was clear even if he didn't realize he was giving it. Nina was scared and nervous about learning to control her powers and of having others discover she had them at all, and Pietro was protective of her because of it...well, that and the other reason...

"Relax, Romeo. I get it," she said dryly, earning a dull flush from Nina, "back off about the powers." She eyed the pair then, nearly laughing at the way they nervously glanced to each other.

"You're..." Nina hesitated, looking to Natasha warily, "you're not going to freak out?" Natasha couldn't help but scoff, causing Nina and Pietro's eyes both to go wide with surprise.

"More of the Avengers are Enhanced than not, Sweetie," she pointed out as she lowered herself down to sit, cross-legged, in front of the pair, "including me, I suppose, if we're being honest. So it's kind of par for the course in this place." Nina looked to Natasha in astonishment. She obviously hadn't known about Natasha's own brush with the Treatments Nadine had endured. Then again, until Nadine had confirmed it? Natasha had effectively been in a state of denial on the topic herself, unwilling to give credence to her own suspicions about precisely what she and her remaining groupmates had gone through in the Fall of '97. She grinned reassuringly at Nina. "Though, to be fair, you've arguably been Enhanced to some degree since the day you were born." She paused then, considering her niece for a moment before continuing.