The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 52

Eventually her turn to step onto the boarding ramp came and she was forced to turn her attention back to the lifeboat. The very place she didn't want to be. She wanted to be...Nina sighed. She didn't even really know. She looked out past the edge of the lifeboat, keeping right to avoid getting pulled along with the rest of the people boarding to the centre of the craft, determined to stay as close to the boarding ramp as possible.

Part of her wished she was out there, fighting alongside the people she cared about. Even if she wasn't fighting, just doing what her mom was doing, helping to ensure everyone else in the city was being safely evacuated. Anything but sitting on one of the lifeboats and waiting for something to happen. More than that, she hated not knowing what was going on, if everyone was okay. Especially her mom. She hated fighting with Nadine; they were all each other had. Her gut clenched with worry, anxiously waiting for her mom to reappear on the far side of the square no matter how irritated she still was at being treated like a helpless child.

Off to her left, off the bow of the lifeboat she was on, the other vessel was raising its ramp, obviously full up, to return to the Helicarrier. Her boat, meanwhile, wasn't full yet, and seemed to be the one designated to stay behind and wait for any stragglers her mom flushed out during her sweep. Not that there seemed to be anyone left.

The city seemed utterly abandoned. All that was left to do now was wait for the Avengers to return or for word to come that they were all clear to leave.

So, perched on the edge of the seat right next to the lifeboat's boarding ramp, Nina waited. It wasn't easy to do, though. It left her legs bouncing and twitching in her impatience, her hands white-knuckled and tangled in her lap.

What was taking so long?

Finally she caught sight of Black Widow and the man she presumed was Hawkeye driving toward the boat, the pair exchanging a few final words before parting ways as they abandoned the car. Natasha was quickly heading off in one direction while her teammate made his way to the lifeboat. Anxiously, Nina was sitting forward before he'd even set foot on the ramp.

"Hawkeye?" He paused, turning to her with a quizzical look before the expression cleared with a friendly grin.

"You're Nina, aren't you." It wasn't much of a question. Nina nodded.

"You had us all pretty worried, kid. Especially your mom." She winced.

"I didn't mean to—" Nina insisted, unable to help the way her shoulders began to curl defensively, "I'm sorry..." But he shook his head, chuckling.

"It's nothing to apologize for. It was nothing you did," he said in a casual, almost dismissive way that surprisingly helped ease the unhappy clenching in her stomach. He smiled kindly when she hazarded a glance up at him. "We're all just glad you're okay. I know your mo—"

"Is she okay?" she blurted, flushing faintly at interrupting him so abruptly in her impatience. But she needed to know. He merely grinned indulgently.

"Yeah, she's fine. More than fine, really. I'm sure she'll be here any minute; she's finishing a sweep for any strag—" but he didn't get to finish again. Right then, another young woman not far away was beginning to shout in panic, struggling against the Sokovian police officer trying to hold her back as she lunged for the ramp.

Barely sparing her a look of apology, Hawkeye was jumping in to help, grabbing at the girl's arms as he tried to talk her down enough to understand what she was saying.

A faint feeling of recognition niggled at Nina as she watched the exchange curiously. She could swear she'd seen the nearly hysterical blonde before, but she couldn't quite place where.