The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 43

Leipzig, Germany

Spring 2016

In that moment, Steve wasn't entirely sure if he was more annoyed or amused.

Naturally, with his Enhanced speed on his side, Pietro was at loose ends waiting for everyone else to finish gearing up. If it weren't for Steve's reservations that Pietro would stick to any orders he gave, the Captain would've seen about sending him out on some manner of recon.

Unfortunately, it was Pietro...and since Pietro, however improved since his last mission out with the Avengers, still had an unfortunate habit of striking out on his own? He was far too brash for his own good, Steve couldn't help but lament. And the fact that, at speed, the Sokovian boy was virtually untouchable didn't help.

He really couldn't help but feel a great deal of sympathy and respect for Clint, that was for sure. Steve had a great deal of patience, but he wasn't even sure he'd have been able to keep his cool with Pietro the entire trip from the Compound.

And apparently, what little reserves of patience Pietro had once had were long gone. Even Steve's pointed suggestion that he 'warm up' by taking laps around the garage level they were on hadn't been enough to channel Pietro's anxious energy. Or distract him in the slightest. A blur and a few seconds later and he'd been back, lounging indolently against the side of the Beetle or flitting around the group of them where they were finishing getting into their gear, chattering and generally being his usual impertinent self.

At the moment, he was eying Bucky with an unabashedly curious expression that Steve was not entirely sure what to make of. Especially as he wasn't entirely certain if he'd gotten the hint Nadine seemed to have passed onto Wanda not to mention Nina. He knew they both knew about Nina's relationship to The Winter Soldier and had since that tense flight from Seoul back to the Avengers Tower during the Ultron Fiasco. He just wasn't sure if they'd both made the connection to Bucky. Wanda certainly had. Steve hadn't missed the way the Sokovian girl's eyes had widened when she'd seen Bucky or the way Nadine had silently warned her off. He knew she remembered the conversation on the Quinjet over a year ago, now, when Wanda had filled in the last blanks for him about why Strucker had been so fixated on Nina. He also knew from Nadine that their mission to Paris had likely told her more still. Pietro, on the other hand, intelligent as the kid was, didn't tend to pay quite as much attention to those sorts of details.

Whether or not he remembered the way Wanda did was uncertain. There seemed to be very little in the way of meaningful recognition when Pietro looked to Bucky, so far as Steve could tell. And Steve was fairly certain it would be plain on his face, were Pietro to remember what it meant about his relationship to Nina that Bucky and the Winter Soldier were one and the same.

So for the time being, at least, it didn't appear that Pietro had made the connection, yet. Steve was pretty sure Pietro hadn't realized Bucky was Nina's father.

Which was a small mercy.

Wanda was relatively good at keeping sensitive things to herself—she tended to internalize more than Pietro did, so it came far more naturally to her than her extroverted brother. Not to mention she was generally far more tactful and aware of such things. Pietro, on the other hand...

Steve bit back an exasperated sigh as he finished doing up his right boot, sparing Pietro an admonishing glance as he straightened that the boy either didn't see or ignored. Really, either was a possibility. Either way, Pietro seemed far more interested in his blatant assessment of Bucky, his arms crossed loosely over his chest, eyes narrowed thoughtfully and an impish quirk to his lips.

"So what is it you do, then," he finally said. There was little doubt he was asking Bucky. Bucky looked up to Pietro, a faint frown creasing his forehead.