The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 23

Novi Grad, Sokovia

Spring 2015

"Hello, Katerina," Nadine said, her voice low and darkly pleased. Katerina grinned just as menacingly.

"Nadya. This has been a long time coming; ready to die for real this time?"

"I'm not the one who's going to die, Zhirova," Nadine said calmly back, forcing her body to stay loose as the dark-eyed woman began to circle.

Eyes not leaving the other woman for an instant, Nadine pulled the comm from her ear and tossed it aside, ignoring Natasha's sudden cry of warning through the earpiece as the redhead realized what was happening. She wasn't interested in having the Avengers in her head for this fight. Nadine fought back a snarl as she shifted, matching Katerina's movements, testing her as she was being tested. "You gave Strucker my daughter." Katerina's grin widened, but she ignored the accusation.

"They almost destroyed me because of you." The dark-eyed woman lashed out with a hard kick, just barely missing Nadine. "They moved up my Graduation because of you; then they told me to find you. And if I failed?" The blonde assassin was already twisting out of the way, turning to grab at her old groupmate's ankle and wrenching Katerina off balance.

But Katerina recovered quickly, shifting her weight so that she was taking advantage of Nadine's move. The first swing Nadine managed to dodge, but the other woman adjusted, managing to land a hard, close-quarter kick to Nadine's side that nearly had her crumpling from the force. But, knowing that to do otherwise was likely to get her killed, she forcibly shoved the pain as far away as she could. The Treatments may not have worked on Katerina, but there was no denying that she was a powerful woman who knew how to make the most of the strength she had. As her breath gusted out of her, Nadine jerked instinctively away from yet another strike from the other woman, just barely redirecting the blow before she caught her opponent hard across the face with her elbow. Katerina cried out in surprise as her lip split, her expression darkening as she probed the bleeding wound with careful fingers.

"It was the last test, you know, finding you," Katerina snarled, lunging forward. "I almost managed it too; I almost had you outside Kiev." Nadine blocked the violent sequence of punches, slashes and kicks Katerina rained down on her, forcing the blonde to stagger back. She gasped in pained surprise as Katerina managed to pay her back for her lip, opening up a gash along Nadine's cheekbone. "They'd have made me Black Widow if I'd caught you, you know. You were the best, after all, until Romanoff caught Madame B's eye." Nadine couldn't help but laugh at the declaration. It was enough to startle the dark-eyed assassin, giving Nadine a chance to regroup, an opportunity she took full advantage of as she caught hold of and twisted Katerina's wrist, jerking the other woman off balance and giving herself enough time to properly settle herself before lunging. Rage flashed in Katerina's eyes as the tables turned on her, suddenly struggling to hold her own as Nadine was now the one on the offensive.

"She had Madame B's eye even before I left, Zhirova. I was never going to be Black Widow; you certainly were not, even if you had found me." She was goading her former groupmate and Katerina knew it. A brittle, jagged smile pulled at Katerina's mouth as she forced herself to ignore Nadine's taunts.

"If I hadn't found HYDRA when I did, they probably would have killed me, you know. Keeping tabs on you wasn't enough; they wanted you dead, and I hadn't delivered. You were their star pupil; I was never supposed to live to Graduation, no matter that I deserved it. And I did, just as I deserved the place I carved out for myself, working for HYDRA's Inner Circle before they were stroked off and Strucker inherited me." The jagged grin became a smug glower.