Chapter 45

Leipzig, Germany

Spring 2016

Nadine turned to Steve, a wide-eyed, stricken look on her face that had him immediately frowning with concern.

"She's Enhanced…" Steve's gut clenched at how broken Nadine's question sounded. But it wasn't a question. Not really. He could see the truth in her wide, frightened eyes.

"Nadine," he murmured, faltering. What could he say?

Nina was…she was Enhanced…but not just Enhanced, Powered. He'd suspected Nina was more than an average girl almost since he'd first learned Nadine had a daughter—known since Sokovia—but this?

This was more than anything she'd inherited from either of her parents. He fought not to look to Bucky.

Bucky, who was looking between him, Nadine and Nina with an intent and painful mix of bewilderment and wary consideration before his features grew guarded, his haunted eyes starkly vivid on his pale face.

Steve should've known. Hell, looking back? He already had all but known. Not definitively, perhaps, but he'd known it was a possibility even if he hadn't consciously given it much thought. Or at least he should have.

The Maximoffs had informed him back on the way out from Seoul that it was a possibility, after all. But…he'd all but forgotten about it given the other revelation that had come crashing in on him in the course of that conversation, hadn't he…the one where he'd learned why Strucker had wanted Nina for his experiments.

He had let the revelation about Nina's paternity overshadow nearly everything else the Twins had revealed in the course of their explanation about Strucker's interest in Nina.

Including that he had, in fact, begun his experiments.

How could he have let himself forget about that?

Except he knew exactly why. And the reason—indirect though it may have been at the time—now stood on the other side of Nadine:

Because of Bucky and the revelation that he was Nina's father.

The idea that Nina might have come out of Sokovia with genuine powers of her own had fallen to the wayside, soon to be buried and effectively forgotten in the wake of everything else that had happened in the aftermath of the Ultron Fiasco. And life had gone on.

He'd barely even considered—no, he wasn't even sure he had truly considered at all that Nina…could she have been the one truly responsible for saving herself, Clint and Pietro from Ultron and the Quinjet that day? His stomach lurched at the idea…and the idea that he hadn't considered it then, already.

That he hadn't truly considered Wanda and Pietro's suspicion that Strucker's experiments had been successful on a third subject. On Nina.

Not until he was confronted with the inescapable reality that she had, indeed, developed powers of her own.

Powers he, that all of them, had just seen with their own eyes.

"Nadine, this doesn't change anything," he said carefully sparing a wary look toward Tony and his team of Avengers; for the moment they all mercifully seemed just as unsettled as he felt. He looked back to Nadine, fixing her with a sympathetic look, "she was already Enhanced." That they both knew Nina had been born that way and why went unsaid. It didn't need to be said.

It was the root behind Nadine's conviction that Nina couldn't sign the Accords; because of the very real fear that Nina's heritage could come to light.

That it sounded like Tony had bent the rules so that Nina didn't have to sign in order to come along as part of his plan to convince Nadine—and by extension, Steve too, no doubt—to back down was more of a relief than he could properly put into words at that moment. Not that he could exactly take the time to do so anyway. They already had enough to worry about.

Nadine already had enough to worry about…

"Not like this," she said with a pained, slow shake of her head. Her hands fisted, the expression in her eyes flickering between the cool detachment of her training and an almost wild fear. "It wasn't enough before to matter…but like this? I—I can't protect her if she has actual Powers!" Steve's stomach lurched unpleasantly; he knew the instant her fear and panic and anger got the best of her. He could almost see the click in her mind as pieces of a puzzle he wasn't privy to snapped into place. Instinctively he tensed, ready to step in.

To hold her back if necessary.

Eyes suddenly glinting furiously, Nadine glared at Clint before rounding on her sister, taking an aggressive step forward. Almost as one, Stark's Team was bristling, abruptly at the ready for an attack.

All save Natasha, who simply met Nadine's threatening glare with a knowing one of her own.

"You knew?!" Nadine accused harshly, betrayal colouring her cool tone. Steve winced as Nadine's own latent Russian accent threatened to surface. It was a warning bell if he ever heard one. And he wasn't the only one to hear it. At once Pietro and Nina froze, Nina's eyes blowing wide as she spun to fix her mom and her aunt with a bewildered look all her own. But Natasha didn't flinch even as Stark did next to her.

"You didn't?" Natasha countered calmly. But there was a thread of her own frustration there in her voice, a thread that Steve only barely caught. "You're the one who never wanted to talk about Nina being Enhanced, Nadine. How was I supposed to know what you did or didn't know? You shut me down any time I tried to bring it up." All at once, Steve was nearly tempted to take a step back as, between Nadine and Natasha, Nina's eyes grew wide and confused and angry, the normally warm blue-grey of her eyes sharpening to a steely-blue.

"You said you knew," she cried, whirling on Nadine, irritably shrugging off the hand Pietro tried to lay on her arm. "I came to you, to tell you, and you said you already knew!" Nadine froze, every shred of anger dissipating as her face paled again, her own eyes widening with distress.

"I—I thought…" but she faltered, her expression pained and utterly defeated. Nina's eyes flashed once more, revelation surfacing on her face as she suddenly understood what had happened.

"You thought I came to you about being born Enhanced? I don't care about whatever damn Enhancement you and my father gave me!" Nina snapped out furiously, her accent just as pronounced as the Twins' at this point, she was so agitated. Involuntarily, Steve's eyes flicked to Bucky. On Nadine's other side, the former HYDRA agent was watching Nina with almost the same intensity as Nadine, his features almost wholly unreadable.

Save for a startled, alarmed flicker the instant Nina mentioned her father. A flicker that disappeared so quickly, Steve wasn't entirely sure he'd seen it. But he was sure he saw the way Bucky's jaw had tightened; that tic he recognized. Shocked was too small a word for how Bucky was feeling in that moment. And as Bucky flicked a small glance to Steve? A small, desperately questioning glance? A glance that held the faintest gleam of accusation and hurt?

His gut churned uncomfortably. This was going wrong. This was all going horribly wrong. He could all but see the pieces coming together in Bucky's mind just as he could see that Nadine was a hair's breadth from losing control completely. Not to mention both sides were primed and ready for a fight…

And with each passing moment the doctor was racing closer and closer to Siberia.

Everything was falling apart.

Something Nina was oblivious to as she stared down her mother, the steel-blue eyes she'd inherited from her father fierce in her sweet face as they bored into Nadine, her voice sharp as she made what Nadine had misinterpreted inescapably clear:

"I have Powers, Mom."

Steve nearly winced in sympathy. For all that her voice was cool, there was a child-like vulnerability there that couldn't be denied. Across the way, Natasha caught his eye, a similarly distraught expression flitting across her guarded features at her niece's unspoken plea. A plea that her mother had heard easily.

Next to him, Nadine's head tilted, a soft, pained exhale sighing free.

"I don't care about the powers, solnyshko,' she said earnestly, her voice low and steady as she took a small, hesitating step toward her daughter. Steve doubted she'd spoken loud enough for anyone standing on Stark's side to hear. "I care about you…about keeping you safe. You are still my everything, Nina." Next to Nadine, Bucky twitched, tensing, a flicker of something Steve couldn't quite decipher surfacing in his eyes only to be swiftly hidden away again. What Bucky had heard in Nadine's assurance, he couldn't even begin to guess.

Nina, on the other hand…it seemed she'd heard exactly what she'd needed to hear. At Nadine's vehement reassurance, some of the tension in Nina's slender frame eased, relief flickering across her face. And before he could help himself, Steve inhaled slowly with a small measure of relief of his own.

Only for the unexpectedly tender moment to end, each and every one of them abruptly reminded the situation they currently stood in the middle of.

"For the record—I didn't actually know about the powers thing when I asked her along…" Had the situation not been so fraught, Steve might even have laughed at the simultaneously incredulous and scolding look Natasha shot at Tony. As it was, he stifled a groan at Tony's awful timing. Especially as, next to him, Nadine tensed once again, the nearly feral fury from before once again smoldering in her eyes as her face grew impassive.

And before Steve could do more than throw out a hand in warning, with a blur of motion Nadine's rifle was suddenly in her hands and snapping up to lock on Tony, her eyes once more flashing. Across the way, Tony's palm repulsors and Rhodes' guns were suddenly fixed on the blonde assassin while within their own line Clint had an arrow nocked with a swift motion even as a pair of scarlet whorls sprang to life in Wanda's hands. Across both lines, everyone else reflexively fell into ready stances. Out between the two teams, Pietro had angled himself between Nina and Stark, eying the billionaire darkly.

"Careful Stark," Nadine snapped, ignoring Nina's alarmed cry, "Or we'll see just how well your suit holds up against my bullets."

"Haven't we already established that you're not packing enough to take out the suit?" Tony countered, his usual irreverence surfacing to betray that Nadine had genuinely unnerved him, "you have already shot me, today." There was nothing soft or amused about the faint curl of Nadine's lips, her eyes growing hard and sharp.

"Yeah, but I wasn't aiming for those pretty lights on your faceplate, now, was I," she replied coolly. "Are those bulletproof?"

But before Stark could retort, a tingling, iridescent wave barrelled into each line, causing each and every member of the assembled teams to stumble back. Astonishment dawning as he straightened, Steve realized the heavy, hazy pulse of energy had come from Nina. Next to her, Pietro staggered, dazed from his proximity to Nina as she unleashed her powers to single-handedly back them all down.

"Stop this," she cried almost frantically, her eyes once more glinting with a pained mix of desperation and anger as she turned her glare from Tony back to Steve, Nadine and the rest of their Team. "Please, Mom," Nina pleaded, glancing around the rest of the Team before her, her gaze lingering for a split-second on Barnes, "Steve, Clint, Wanda—Pietro?" she turned to the boy next to her, clutching at his forearm before looking between Stark's team and Steve's. "Someone's going to get hurt if you don't all stop this!"

"Nina," Steve broke in wearily, finally finding his voice again, gut twisting. Dammit, he didn't want any of this anymore than she did.

But they didn't have a choice.

Why couldn't they get through to Tony?

Except he knew exactly why.

Tony was desperate. Trapped, even. Stuck between a wall and a hard place, as it were: Secretary Ross and his own promises. Facing down 'bad' and 'worse' and yet still fighting to try and get back something that could maybe be considered 'good.'

"Back. Down, Rogers," Tony interrupted decisively, all trace of irreverence gone, "and when the dust settles, we can all go home." Steve stiffened, his own resolve strengthening even as he felt a flash of pity for Tony.

He genuinely believed he could salvage this…or maybe it was just a desperate hope.

"And what about Ross?" Steve countered, his own voice hard. "The Accords?"

"You let me take care of that," Tony dismissed confidently, "I can handle Ross. Let's not make this any worse than it already is. We can all still come back from this, Cap. Back down while we can all still walk away." Steve sighed. If only it were that easy. Tony might be able to pull it off for most of them…but not all of them. The sharp look T'Challa sent Tony's way made that perfectly clear.

"And what about me?" Nadine countered coolly, rifle still held to her shoulder even if it was no longer aimed at Stark as she voiced Steve's fear. "Barnes? You can't tell me that you can make that go away too. I don't know about him, but I'm not interested in ending up in a box, either a cell or the other kind, and that's exactly where I'll be headed if I get brought in." Stark's suit shifted minutely in what Steve suspected was an outward sign of Tony's impatience.

"I'll fix it so you can make a deal," Tony offered shortly after a long moment, "Agent Ross is already open to it—"

"What?!" Nina blurted out, spinning to Tony as her eyes blew wide with horrified disbelief, "but you said—"

"Nina, I said I'd do what I cou—" Tony tried to reason over Nina's betrayed cry, unable to wholly hide the remorse plain in his voice.

"No, Stark," Nadine cut in sharply, silencing both Nina and Stark, "I know what a deal would entail. HYDRA backed me into a 'deal' years ago and I will not do it again. I will not be someone else's weapon ever again. I will be the only one dictating the work I do now."

Tony straightened, hands fisting. He looked to Steve.

"The answer's no, Tony," Steve said simply. "We can't back down."

Stark's helmet bowed, giving the distinct impression that he was struggling to hold back his disappointment and frustration by glaring at the tarmac beneath his feet. Steve sighed internally, hands unconsciously flexing in preparation for what he knew was coming next. He glanced to each of his teammates in turn, meeting one grim face after another—Lang with an odd sort of nervous confidence, Clint giving him a slight nod of acceptance, Wanda's eyes wide but determined, Sam with the same steadiness he'd come to rely on—silently conveying to them all that this was it. His gaze lingered longest as he met Bucky's resigned but mercifully focused gaze, guilt knotting painfully in his gut, not just for the secret he'd kept, but for dragging him into this when he'd already been through enough…and Nadine's, caught by the potent swirl of emotions in her pale eyes.

There was so much he wanted to say to her…

Inhaling deeply, he looked back to Tony, catching Pietro's gaze for a split-second—grimly pleased when the Sokovian boy edged closer to Nina as a result—as he steeled his resolve.

He had sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to this.

But Tony wasn't giving them any other option.

Slowly, Stark's helmet lifted, his glowing eyes fixing resolutely on Steve.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked sedately.

Steve only had one answer.

"We fight."

And he took the first step.

As the rest of his team fell into step behind him, across the way, Tony's team was doing the same, advancing without any sign of stopping.

Well, Steve wasn't planning on stopping either.

Another few steps and he was breaking into an easy jog, his team keeping pace. A few more and they had all broken into a full out run, Tony's team matching them step for step.

Between the two lines, Nina was looking anxiously between each team, her open face impossibly conflicted. But then her jaw set and her hands rose, palms out and flat as the air around her began to shimmer.

But as Steve braced himself for the wave of thick, hazy energy he knew was coming, mouth opening to call out a warning to his teammates, Pietro was lunging for Nina. Arms wrapping tight around her, he pitched himself back, rolling them out of the path of the oncoming charge.

As Nina's shimmering powers dissipated in her struggle to free herself from Pietro's hold, Stark and Rhodes were taking to the air. Almost simultaneously, Steve caught a glimpse of Sam's wings unfurling out of the corner of his eye as he did the same, followed closely by a scarlet glow as Wanda too propelled herself skyward.

The world narrowed to the steady thrum of his pulse and his pounding footsteps as the metres between him and them disappeared.

Twelve strides. Ten. Seven. Four. One.

And the Avengers clashed.

Iron Man's fist slammed into Steve's shield hard enough that his arm shuddered, pain prickling across his shoulders. But Steve was already moving, ducking out of the way of Tony's follow up strike even as he drew back for an answering one of his own. Reeling back as Steve's punch impacted on his helmet with a dull clang, Tony grunted as Nadine abruptly leapt onto his back, wrenching his head further back, her features cool and focused. Swinging herself around him thanks to the arm she had hooked around his neck, Nadine took full advantage of her momentum to further unbalance Stark, forcing him to twist awkwardly lest he lose balance and topple over completely. It was a fleeting distraction Steve took full advantage of to take stock of the rest of his team.

Overhead, Sam was leading Rhodes on a merry chase while Clint did his best to keep Vision busy, sending arrow after arrow flying, forcing Vision to concentrate on phasing lest one actually hit home. Spider-Man was once more swinging overhead, though it was taking every ounce of agility he possessed to keep from crashing into the scarlet-cloaked vehicles, crates and other detritus Wanda was sending hurtling toward him.

Natasha, on the other hand, seemed to be making short work of Lang, his shrinking abilities the only thing on his side that let him even come close to landing a proper hit on the redheaded Avenger. And further down the line still, Nina was still facing off against Pietro, taking full advantage of her ability to neutralize his Enhancement and give herself an edge thanks to her more advanced hand-to-hand skills. Still, it was pretty clear to Steve even from a split-second glance that both of them were pulling their punches, determined to stop the other but not wanting for a moment to risk actually injuring them…not to mention that it seemed, despite his indignation at not being able to easily take the match, Pietro was enjoying himself, his brash grin barely faltering even as he rolled back to his feet after a particularly hard hit from Nina.

But he was barely able to spare T'Challa and Bucky's fight—intense and even desperate to a degree no one else's could quite measure up to, sending a lurch of fear through Steve given how unsettled Bucky had to be thanks to whatever he'd concluded about Nina—little more than a concerned glance before Nadine was throwing the pieces of her ruined rifle right at Tony's face before launching herself around to slam a two-footed kick into his side as his hands rose to bat the rifle fragments away. It was a move that was suddenly propelling Tony directly at Steve. A move Tony managed to turn to his advantage at the last moment, adjusting just enough that his shoulder slammed into Steve, nearly toppling him back.

And then they were trading punches again, both Tony and Steve weaving and dodging, landing and deflecting hits with forces that would stagger anyone else. But Tony's suit could easily withstand Steve's Enhanced strength just as Steve could endure just about anything Tony could throw at him, absorbing blows with little more than pained grunts before paying them right back with reverberating clangs as he made effective use of his shield against the red and gold suited Avenger.

Steve wasn't allowed a spare breath, much less a moment to think. He just acted, instinct and muscle memory taking over as he refused to give an inch to Tony.

At least, until a particularly hard hit of his shield against the jaw of Tony's helmet sent the billionaire staggering back. Steve nearly staggered himself at the moment of reprieve as Clint chose that moment to further distract Tony with an exploding arrow to the chest, sending Tony toppling back to crash hard into the pavement.

But Steve wasn't one to stand idle in a lull, immediately taking advantage of what was likely to be, at most, a few heartbeats of peace before Tony renewed his attack. Even as he once again spared an assessing glance at each of his teammates he was searching for options. For a way out. There had to be one!

Even as he searched, Natasha threw Lang bodily to the ground, spinning to lock eyes with Steve. But just as Steve tensed, automatically shifting his weight to prepare for her attack, Nadine was running in. And Steve's heart nearly leapt to his throat.

After almost a year of watching them spar, he knew they were evenly matched. Almost perfectly matched. When the sister assassins fought, every move was smooth and fast and efficient; powerful punches flowing seamlessly into deflections and then into spinning lunges with the grace of a dance. Even in training, neither of them ever pulled their punches.

Today was no different.

Especially not with Nadine's lingering ire at her sister fueling her attack.

Dropping, the blonde assassin all but slid the last few feet toward her sister, hooking her elbow around Natasha's ankle and nearly toppling her face-first into the tarmac. But Natasha spun around in a twisting roll, easily finding her feet to twist herself around and swing a hard hit up toward Nadine's ribs. A hit Nadine barely deflected only for Natasha to twist again and latch onto Nadine's arm in a move that would flip Nadine over her back. Luckily Nadine recognized what she was doing a split-second before her sister could enact it, pushing off from the ground just as Natasha bent and turned, propelling herself across Natasha's back and landing lightly on her feet, gripping her sister's wrist tightly back and using her momentum to pull Nat off-balance and directly into a wide kick to the side. With a grunt, Natasha tumbled to the pavement, only barely rolling back to her feet.

It was a fight of a little more than a moment.

Almost as soon as Natasha found her feet again, she was snatching her batons free just in time to block a sharp downward stroke of Clint's bow, turning it away with a grimace.

And Nadine was darting off once again.

Off beyond, Nina had finally shaken off Pietro, and was heading for Wanda, the air once more beginning to waver around her. A heartbeat later and her powers flared as Wanda's did, surging out in a hazy wave to crash into one of Wanda's scarlet-cloaked baggage trucks. In a blink, the scarlet nimbus dissipated and the truck seemed to slow in mid-air, the sight disconcertingly reminiscent of the vehicle sinking through water before stilling several feet off the ground, caught as it was in the hold—stasis, even—of Nina's powers.

But tempted as he was to gape at the display of just how powerful Nina was, Steve didn't have that option. Bucky was still locked against T'Challa, though Steve caught a glimpse of pale grey darting their way, while Sam was still engaged with Rhodes, his far more agile wings providing challenge enough against War Machine's more powerful suit. Pietro, back on his feet and freed from Nina's Inhibiting hold, as he'd called it, was pushing himself hard as he turned his attention to keeping Vision busy, what with Clint occupied with Natasha.

And Tony—Steve nearly swore as Tony surged off the pavement after Sam. But just at that moment, a panicked, angry cry from across the pavement had him spinning instinctively. Just in time to see a wave of iridescent energy freezing Vision in mid-air above a shattered stack of crates. Crates that didn't quite entirely conceal a worryingly still form dressed in charcoal grey and blue half-buried in the wreckage.

It wasn't hard to put together what happened.

Vision had thrown off Pietro and Nina had acted instinctively.

And now Vision and Nina were locked in a battle of wills, the synthezoid struggling against the hold of Nina's powers, mirrored determined scowls fixed on both their faces.

Steve's breath caught.

Nina had effectively changed sides.

They might have a chance…

Now they just needed an opening.

But Steve's thought was cut short as, at that moment, a blur of red and blue was swinging toward him. Inhaling deeply in an effort to push back his impatience to refocus, he drew back his shield and threw.

The fight wasn't over yet.

A/N: And there is Part II of the Airport Battle! Thanks for reading!

I know I said it already (and say it often, though not as often as deserved) but my reviewers are the best! To my surprise, we reached 1350 Reviews last chapter, with the wonderful TheJewellersHand leaving the magical one this time around!

So I hope all you lovely Signed-In Reviewers last week loved your Sneak Peek of this week's chapter! I just wish I could've sent them to all of you last week, but sadly not everyone was signed in…

Anyway, I really do mean it when I say I am grateful beyond words for all my amazing reviewers. You may be few, but you are mighty and your encouragement and support really is what keeps me going!

So keep those wonderful Reviews coming! There's still lots more to come!

See you all next time!

Guest Reviews:

Jag: Lol! No worries. I figured that's what you meant. ;D And you're not wrong. It's certainly not good… hahaha! Thanks for reviewing!

Jo: Our Nina certainly has a mind of her own…and there's no doubt that she's determined to protect those she cares about. Never fear, though, we'll be getting a little more insight into what she was thinking. ;) Thanks for reviewing!