The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 24

Vienna, Austria

Spring 2016

"You weren't kidding when you said you'd already been looking for him."

Nadine looked up to Steve at the comment, quirking a brow at him even as she failed to entirely hide an amused grin.

"You doubted," she challenged lightly. He grinned back, faintly abashed.

"No, not really." He nodded absently back over his shoulder toward the bulletin boards Nadine still had lining the wall of her Workshop. "It's just something else to see it." She looked over, eyes tracing the familiar webs of carefully organized clues and intel she'd been building for years. She nodded, chuckling softly. She was willing to give him that. The boards were impressive, especially when one knew they showed only a fraction—the highlights—of her work.

"Yeah. He certainly hasn't made it easy." She sighed, grin fading as her gaze skimmed across the boards before dropping back to the keypad she was programming. "We're so close, Steve..." she murmured.

"I know," he agreed softly. She looked up to him.

"We need to talk about next steps," she said softly. "With the JCTTF on him now too? We—"

"Sharon will tell us what she can," Steve assured her, the confidence in his voice making her stomach squirm. "We'll go from there."

"But what if she doesn't get a chance," Nadine challenged, an anxious pressure beginning to swell in her chest. "She might not have time to give us a warning if they do manage to find him. We need to find him first." Steve didn't argue, simply watching her work as he mulled over her warning.

"Then we find him," he finally said. Nadine let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Had it really meant that much to her to hear he trusted her judgement over Sharon Carter's?

Apparently.

Her stomach flipped happily. Especially as he edged closer. It took far more effort than she was comfortable with not to get distracted by his proximity.

"Nadine." She paused from validating Sam and Steve's fingerprints with her security system, looking up to Steve. He was still watching her, his eyes serious as they fixed solely on her. "Why did you tell Sharon?" He didn't need to elaborate. She knew exactly what he meant.

She probably shouldn't have. She knew that too. But at the same time, she'd recognized the way Sharon had been looking at her as Nadine had shared her links to both Barnes and Natasha; she had foolishly made herself a puzzle to the CIA agent, and there was little question Sharon would've started digging as soon as they all parted ways. To not tell her would've only forestalled the inevitable.

It would've only been a matter of time before Sharon made the connection that she was The Ghost.

"Because she was going to figure it out anyway," she answered softly, "and telling her keeps her from searching and tipping anyone off." Understanding flashed in his eyes. She knew he'd get it. As she turned her attention back to task yet again, the corner of her lip quirked fondly before she could help it. Only for her sure taps on the screen to falter as he seemed to edge closer still.

"Thank you for this," he said softly then. "All of this." Her heart was trying to pound, but she fought against it. This wasn't going to go where her subconscious wanted it to go. She smiled wanly back without letting herself look up to him, forcing herself to focus on reprogramming the keypad instead of on things that weren't going to happen. Things that couldn't happen. With a small smile, she raised the tablet she was using to connect with her Workshop's keypad.