The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 26

His thoughts were jarred away from Nadine as his SUV lurched, this time from the force of the mystery combatant leaping onto the back. Steve grit his teeth, thinking fast. And hauled on the steering wheel.

But no amount of swerving seemed to dislodge his cat-like passenger.

"I can't shake this guy," he grit out, glancing to his mirrors, taking note not only of the mystery combatant but the fleet of police cruisers and SUVs forming a veritable wall behind him. "Sam? Nadine? Tell me one of you is close."

"Right behind you," Sam piped up even as Nadine responded: "just coming up on the tunnel now, but there's a whole city's worth of police between me and you." Steve nodded absently even as he served again, sideswiping the police SUV that had come up beside his appropriated one. The move didn't result in the outcome he'd hoped; the police SUV just pulled back instead of spinning out and his unwanted passenger just seemed to cling that much tighter.

And a second wall of police vehicles was suddenly ahead, their flashing lights silhouetting Bucky as he abruptly changed directions and vaulted over a barrel barrier.

"Stay sharp," he warned, checking on his unwanted passenger a final time, "both of you. It's getting messy down here." And he sent his SUV crashing through the barrier. The truck shuddered at the impact but roared through. Around him, the police vehicles swerved and skidded, desperate to avoid crashing into each other.

And the cat-like Enhanced was still clinging to the back of his SUV.

"Sam," he called, about to ask if he was close. Only to falter as, ahead, Bucky snatched at an oncoming motorcycle, bodily wrenching it around and leaping astride it in an astonishingly agile move as its rider tumbled to the pavement. "Buck's on bike now, too," he updated tersely, hitting the gas again to close the distance between him and Bucky.

He wasn't quite sure if this was a good development or a bad one...

Likely bad, as he still hadn't shaken the Enhanced still attached to his truck.

And as the cat-like shadow that had been clinging to his SUV was suddenly darting across the roof and propelling himself toward Bucky? Definitely bad. Steve could only watch, heart in his throat, as Bucky fended off his attacker. It wasn't until he was thrown free and Bucky was steadying his bike that Steve felt like he could breathe again, only barely avoiding crashing into the tumbling Enhanced himself. And as he heard Sam confirm that he had them in sight? Steve very nearly let out a relieved breath.

They might just have a chance.

It was then that a hastily thrown charge to the roof of the tunnel detonated even as Sam flew past Steve, only barely pulling up to avoid crashing into the falling chunks of concrete. And the black-suited Enhanced used the abrupt change of speed to launch himself forward from his hold on Sam's leg, disappearing through the falling wall of rubble. But Steve barely noticed.

All he could do was react. He couldn't think, he couldn't panic, he couldn't plan. He just moved. Wrenching on the wheel and slamming on the brakes, he hauled the SUV around, leaping free from the hastily opened door a split-second before the SUV's momentum had it hurtling over the rubble to roll across the pavement like a toy bouncing along the floor.

Just in time to use his own momentum to charge into the black-suited Enhanced as he drew back to strike Bucky, wrenching himself around to heave the interloper bodily away from him and his friend.

As Steve angled himself between Bucky and the Enhanced, police vehicles roared in around them from all sides. Steve tensed, throwing out a hand in warning as Bucky straightened, taking in how their mystery adversary straightened with a predatory grace as over a dozen cars and SUVs screeched to a halt around them, hemming them in. Above, the tell-tale sound of the GSG-9 helicopter reached through the chaos as GSG-9 and Romanian SWAT forces poured out of vehicles, their weapons trained unerringly on Steve, Bucky and their mystery assailant.