The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 33

Berlin, Germany

Spring 2016

So far everything seemed to be going, if not precisely according to plan, at least decidedly in their favour. As agreed, a couple hours after they parted ways, Sharon and Nadine rendezvoused at the business complex the JCCTF agent had chosen, slipping into the car in the carefully chosen corner of the lot Nadine had cased; minimal camera coverage, good sightlines and easy access to exit points were a must when evading notice, after all, and Nadine was more than well-practiced at effortlessly taking note and taking advantage of such things. No sooner had Sharon shut the door behind her, and Nadine was pulling smoothly away.

Not drawing too much attention while still making a clean, quick departure? Child's play.

Then it was just a matter of waiting. That part Nadine had been less than enthusiastic about, recognition of their limited alternate options aside.

She'd already spent more than enough time waiting, today. Waiting for the right moment to make her escape back in the JCTC. Waiting for the time to pass and Sharon to rendezvous.

Time spent alone with nothing but her own conflicted thoughts to keep her company. Thoughts that she hadn't entirely been able to subdue and properly compartmentalize. Thoughts that she'd grudgingly allowed that she needed to examine and try to deal with.

Well, at least one small benefit had ultimately come of that. She'd had more than enough time to finally process everything that had happened since she'd first seen Barnes lying on the pavement and had successfully—mostly—reconciled herself to everything that had happened at the JCTC. She had come to terms with how things had fallen out, even coming to see that it wasn't as bad a development as she'd feared. After all, if she and Nat had been able to subdue Barnes, he would've ended up back in custody. As it stood? Right this moment, she was seeing the situation as, on some level, a blessing in disguise. Though fugitives, she was free, as was Barnes and Steve and Sam. They had a chance now that they didn't once they'd all be caught in Bucharest.

Not that the conclusion sat entirely right with her.

But dwelling over it was less than helpful, so though she didn't entirely dismiss the feeling, she had carefully hidden away her unease, her training demanding she present the picture of calm composure; she knew better than to ignore instincts of that nature.

Not that her projected calm had been easy to maintain once Sharon had handed her a small red-leather book. She didn't even have to say anything for Nadine to know what it was, barely hearing the younger woman explain she'd found it hidden beneath the table debris down in the chamber where Barnes had been held and slipped away with it before anyone else had noticed it was there. Nor did she even need to open the deceptively soft, supple binding. If anything, the chill that had run up Nadine's spine the instant she saw Sharon slip it from the interior pocket of her vest—like cold, trembling fingers danced their way up her vertebra to prod at the back of her mind—had been clue enough.

It was the book used to activate Barnes' programming.

The single black star embossed on the cover gave it away.

She'd forced herself to at least flip through it once she'd taken it with shaking fingers, the pages flashing by as she did setting her stomach to twisting and churning from the merest glimpses alone. It was a record of how the Winter Soldier had been created and how to control him. A manual, in effect.

It was horrific.

And Nadine couldn't bring herself to truly read it. Not yet...if ever. She could barely breathe at the thought, feeling physically ill just from holding it in her hands. Part of her desperately wanted to destroy it. But no matter the strength of that urge, she restrained it. It might still have some use, after all. It might very well be the key to undoing what had been done to Barnes, and that was a potential benefit she couldn't bear to risk losing. Not even with the simultaneous risk its continued existence posed. What mattered now was that it was safe in her possession. No one would use it on Barnes while she had it.