Leipzig, Germany

Spring 2016

That Nina had been surprised when it had been Mr. Stark knocking on the door to her dorm room was an understatement. A classmate, someone from one of the study groups she was in, maybe, but Tony?

She'd already been unsettled enough, what with everything going on. Especially after her Aunt's news that first her mom had been arrested then managed to escape. Oh, and that she might or might not end up going rogue with Steve, who had definitely gone rogue in trying to protect the Winter Soldier. Well, one small, if mildly satisfying silver lining that had come out of that particular bit of news? She'd been right in her conclusions about Steve and his relationship to Bucky Barnes. He was Steve's oldest friend. The tv newscasters hadn't been grasping at straws in their report saying as much. And he had been the one her mom had been helping Steve to find. She'd managed to wheedle a sort-of-almost admission of that from Natasha when she'd finally been able to get in contact.

But satisfying as it had been to have her long-held suspicion confirmed, it certainly hadn't been enough to wholly distract her from everything else. Her conversation with Pietro shortly after she'd talked to Nat had made that perfectly clear. What from being barely able to keep her thoughts in any semblance of order and definitely being unable to keep from rambling out her stream of consciousness over everything from her mom's arrest to wondering if Pietro had known about Steve and the Winter Soldier, she had all but been a muddle-headed mess.

She'd even nearly blurted out her ridiculous notion that the Winter Soldier fit all the criteria she'd been told and had deduced about her father and his identity!

That had been a lucky catch. As much as she believed that Pietro wouldn't have laughed (probably) or thought her crazy even for what was obviously an outlandish and questionable jump of logic, it still wasn't a thought she was keen on sharing. It made her stomach feel funny to even think about it.

Thankfully, Pietro had taken the way she'd cut herself off from that thought to be from nothing more than her realizing she'd been rambling.

But then Mr. Stark had shown up.

And he'd asked for her help in trying to talk her mom and Steve out of whatever it was they were doing. Because what they were doing made no sense. Not really.

Oh, she got it, to some degree; Barnes was Steve's friend and Steve was nothing if not unfailingly loyal to his friends.

But Barnes was also the Winter Soldier! He'd killed people! He'd almost killed Natasha in Vienna barely a couple days before. He had killed King T'Challa's dad and eleven other people and hurt many, many more. He was, for lack of a better word, a...a villain...wasn't he? Mr. Stark had seemed fairly certain that all the evidence was clear on Barnes' responsibility. They even had video footage. Footage that Mr Stark and the JCTTF had already had analyzed for any tampering. But it honestly didn't entirely stop the whole situation from bothering Nina a bit. Steve wouldn't protect a supposed 'bad guy' without good reason. Neither would her mom. Heck, when she'd been The Ghost—even when she'd been cleaning up after the whole Ultron thing—even if she'd never explicitly admitted as much, her mom had even made the point of only hunting down 'bad guys'...save when she was blackmailed into going after others...and even then...

There was obviously more to what was going on. That much had been clear even before Nina had found herself facing down her mom, Steve and the rest of their team. The team that had grown to include Clint, the Twins and some other guy Nina didn't know...people Steve wouldn't have called in without good reason.

As to what that reason was?

Super soldiers? And something about a doctor getting to them? She thought that was what she heard Steve talking about through the earpiece Mr. Stark had given her. If that were true? Part of Nina couldn't help but think if there were evil super soldiers involved in whatever Steve and her mom were into, Mr. Stark should at least be listening to Steve and maybe even backing down instead of the other way around.

Because the Steve she knew wouldn't risk everything—especially not people he cared about—for nothing.

And neither would her mom.

It made it more difficult to stay mad at them all. Because she was mad. She was furious. At her mom, at Steve. At Clint for going along with whatever this was despite having Cooper, Lila and little Nate at home. At Pietro and Wanda for being reckless enough to go along with it and risk getting locked up...though, part of her couldn't even say she was surprised about Pietro...not that it lessened her ire at him. Wanda, though, she'd thought would have more sense...

...unless...

Unless there really was something much more dire going on...

All in all, it made Nina's stomach twist uncomfortably.

Especially since she was now in the middle of a battle because of it...technically fighting against her friends, her boyfriend...and her own mother.

But she steeled herself against that fact. They were breaking the law! And if standing with Mr. Stark, even fighting on his side, was what it took to help her mom, Pietro and the rest? If it kept them from being arrested? Nina's gut still quivered fearfully at the mere thought of what that would mean for them all...especially her mom. Surely, whatever reason they had for trying to protect Barnes would come out if they stood down and let the proper process take over. Why couldn't they just trust that Tony would do everything he could to help them! He'd done it for her. She'd very nearly refused back in her dorm because she knew that signing the Accords would be dangerous for her. But Mr. Stark has known it too, and he'd bent the rules for her.

"Because talking them down, bringing them in with us is the only way to keep them from being locked up...or worse," Tony had said, looking and sounding far more grave than Nina had ever seen him. It had shaken her, truthfully. She wasn't as good at deciphering minute facial and body language cues as Nat, her mom or even Wanda, but Nina liked to think she was good enough. She knew enough to know when someone wasn't being completely genuine with her, even if it was only instinct.

Tony Stark had been almost plaintively serious. "I'm down to my last couple cards," as he'd said in his familiar brisk, almost off-handed way, not quite concealing just how desperate he was despite his nonchalant expression, the stress he was under visible in the tightness around his eyes and the tension in his shoulders. And in the way his left hand trembled minutely. No one could fake all of that. Not that well, at least.

So she'd believed him.

Now she was wondering if that was a mistake...if Mr. Stark was making a huge mistake....

He'd said he would help her mom. She'd trusted him when he'd said that! She silently cursed her own naivety. She had stupidly assumed he meant he'd organize it so her mom would go free too. She should've known better.

Of course Tony wouldn't be able to keep her mom from being arrested! Even he didn't have that much influence. Her mom had said it herself; according to most of the world, Nadine—The Ghost was considered just as much a criminal as the Winter Soldier...and with good reason. Nina knew that, yet she'd let her fears get the better of her and she'd foolishly thought Mr. Stark meant he'd get her off just like he would with Steve and the rest.

But he still could just let her go...but that was rather a naïve thought too, wasn't it. Because she knew in her gut that her mom wouldn't run. Not this time.

It wasn't that simple...none of it was...

How could she ever have thought it could be?

She snarled silently, channelling her frustration, her anger at the whole situation—at herself—into fuelling the comforting, hazy warmth that lived in the centre of her chest, sending another concentrated burst free with a brusque wave of her palm.

Several metres away, Wanda's face was drawn with concentration as she poured her own powers into trying to break past Nina's Inhibiting fields. It was hard—harder than anything Nina had yet put her powers through—but she was holding Wanda back.

Barely.

Nina very nearly lost hold just moments ago when Wanda hurled a baggage truck her way, she'd been so stunned that she'd been able to stop it. It had actually looked like it was floating in midair!

Never had Nina held off anything that size before.

And because of that, she'd nearly lost her concentration out of pure shock followed quickly by a rather bubbly giddiness at the accomplishment. Even Wanda's concentration had broken for a moment as a look of proud astonishment had passed fleetingly over Wanda's face.

And she was rather sure she'd heard Pietro give a little impressed whoop despite his focus in distracting Vision.

She was rather proud of herself, to be honest.

Neither had she sustained a field with the strength and precision she'd been holding for so long before when she'd been facing off against Pietro. That had strained her nearly to the breaking point, her head beginning to feel light even as she forced herself to dodge and weave around her boyfriend, putting her more advanced hand-to-hand skills to use while simultaneously blocking his powers without hindering physical movement. Lucky thing too, or he might just have beaten her. A smug smirk threatened to break free at the thought. Even with his powers neutralized, Pietro was still fast and strong, not to mention brash to the point of reckless; that thought nearly had her scowl deepening even as her cheeks tried to warm. She was supposed to be focusing on Wanda.

With a soft cry of effort, Nina threw up another 'cushion'-like manifestation of her powers, catching another wave of cartons Wanda was lobbing her way, only to let them drop in order to throw up a 'shield' around herself as Wanda tried to sneak a darting, arrow-like nimbus around her diversion.

But honestly! Who kissed their opponent in the middle of a battle?! Sure, it had been barely more than the briefest of pecks, but still! Almost as bad was Pietro following it up with an off-handed comment about how cute she was when fighting. He'd earned himself an up-close look at the pavement for that one when she'd kicked his legs out from under him...not that it quite wiped his familiar crooked grin—that admittedly always managed to make her heart flutter, cliché as it sounded—from his face.

He was just so...so...

...arrogant...

...reckless...

...brash...

...idiotic...

...impossible...

...charming...

...endearing...

She huffed, shaking the thought free. And dammit if he wasn't pretty darn attractive in the middle of a fight, too... She had to force herself not to glance over to where he was darting around Vision, taking a page from Clint's book by keeping the synthezoid focused on phasing to prevent him doing anything else. There was something about men in uniforms...especially uniforms that showed off their toned, well-muscled forms to advantage... Nina scoffed irritably at herself, putting a little more force than was really necessary into neutralizing another scarlet wave that, had it made it past her own powers, would've easily bowled her over.

No matter whether he was serious or just looking to distract her—knowing Pietro and what his sparkling blue-green eyes had been saying, it was quite probably both—she'd still managed to hold him off, even push him back.

She'd been on the verge of beating him too. Save that, just as she'd been winding up to finish him off, Wanda had appeared to back her twin up. Mercifully, for Nina's sake, Vision has chosen that moment to back her up, allowing her to focus on Wanda.

And somehow from there, they'd split off again, Pietro harassing Vision while Nina was left to face his twin...her friend.

Her lips thinned even as a sharp, aching pang dug into her chest, the comforting haze threatening to falter with it.

She hated this...

But the thought wasn't allowed to linger. She couldn't afford for it to. Her aunt's and her mom's words about keeping her mind on the fight rang in her ears. And for good reason. Nina hissed in self-admonishment as she felt her field waver against the next wave of Wanda's attack in her split-second moment of distraction. She only managed to hold it by the tips of her fingers. It was enough, though. A few metres away, the corners of Wanda's mouth tightened into a frown. And internally Nina breathed a sigh of relief as the heartbeat it took for Wanda to re-evaluate allowed her just enough time to sink back into the comforting security of her own powers, letting them reassure her, bolster her.

And just in time. With a small cry of effort, Wanda snapped her arms up and around, lobbing another series of pointed blasts of psionic energy to batter against Nina's Inhibiting field. Nina grimaced. Her field was holding, Wanda's powers skittering and dispersing along it, searching and failing to find an opening, a weakness.

But it was draining. Slowly but surely, Nina could feel herself beginning to genuinely weaken and Wanda knew it. They had learned back when Nina had been training with them, when she'd been exploring her powers with the Twins' help, that against external influence—like when she was stopping objects or, more quickly still, when she was shielding against Wanda's powers—her energy drained faster than when simply neutralizing something or someone—as she had been doing with Pietro—within one of her fields. The determined expression on Wanda's face deepened, the knowledge plain in her dimly glowing eyes that she just needed to sustain her attack and outlast Nina.

And that, Nina knew, Wanda was more than capable of.

Something needed to change. She needed to find some way to get closer, to neutralize Wanda's powers; she knew she could take Wanda in a hand-to-hand fight, knowing full well that Pietro was the stronger with physical combat of the siblings.

If she could just change the dynamic of the fight, find some way to break the slowly shifting impasse between her and Wanda...

She needed a distraction.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed her mind, as though the fates or the universe or something heard her, one came.

And Nina didn't even have the wherewithal to wish she could take it back.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the bluish blur she knew was Pietro making another pass against Vision, slicing through the air almost too fast to see, though certainly not as fast as he was capable, these days—it seemed he was taking Nat and her mom's advice to heart and changing up his speeds during a fight, she noted absently—

Only for the thought to cut off as abruptly as her boyfriend's momentum as Vision's arm caught Pietro across the neck and shoulders with all the gentleness of an iron bar.

And his momentum combined with the immoveable force of Vision's arm had Pietro's upper body snapping back, sending him pitching wildly from his leap at the synthezoid toward the stack of crates behind Vision.

Nina froze, a horrible, swelling emptiness rising in her chest to press hard against her throat. And then something hard and cool was tightening to replace it. Her mouth suddenly tasting like bile, it took her a long moment to recognize the feeling.

Fear...dread...anger.

The furious, frightened cry was out of her mouth before Nina had even fully comprehended what had happened, before she could even think to consciously act, her powers were cresting like a wave to break from her outflung palm like a wavering, hazy-pale wall of solid energy. She acted on instinct. The need to protect the ones she cared about—her boyfriend—taking over, overwhelming all thought of teams and allegiances.

But she knew already it was too late.

Pietro impacted with sickening crash into the crates.

She didn't notice Wanda being bodily flung back and out of sight as she was caught by the edge of Nina's desperate field.

She didn't even register the concern on Vision's face as he looked down at the unconscious form of the boy she loved...

She just saw Pietro shift weakly, nearly hidden as he was under the debris from the crates he'd been hurtled into, before falling limply back.

And in a blink something in her shifted.

Nina's eyes snapped to Vision.

With a sharp gesture, her field surged forward to swamp Vision where he was gliding down toward Pietro...Pietro, where he lay, unconscious and vulnerable...hurt...too still...

Vision's eyes widened in alarm, darting to Nina, as he realized he couldn't move.

Only for them to narrow, his features contorting into a grimace of concentration as, slowly, he began to fight Nina's hold.

Clenching her teeth, a scowl of her own beginning to twist her lips, she fought to hold him, pouring everything she had into it.

It was harder than neutralizing Pietro. Harder even than holding off Wanda. Vision was strong and he was powerful; he was the keeper of the Stone that was the source of her powers, for heaven's sake.

But Nina held on. She needed to hold him back.

Time seemed to stand still as she locked her focus on keeping Vision trapped within the strongest field she could summon. It wavered and shimmered in the air around him like a mirage, like heat rising from scalding pavement; iridescent and ethereal as a delicate morning mist, yet as dense and heavy as wet concrete.

Around them, the battle didn't stop. It didn't even falter. Gingerly, Pietro came to, picking himself up carefully from the wreckage that had broken his fall only to stare wide-eyed at the battle of wills between Nina and Vision. But Nina barely noticed any of it, the movement in her peripheral vision being unconsciously dismissed in favour of maintaining her concentration. Her eyes were locked on Vision's, blue-grey silently warring with metallic blue as he slowly shifted within her Inhibiting field to face her. Her hands were beginning to tremble from the sheer force of will it took to maintain the field, her limbs starting to shake from the effort.

But still she held on. She had to—

She had to do the right thing.

Locked as she was in a battle of wills against Vision? It struck her. As much as she trusted Mr. Stark—he was her, well, not mentor exactly, but close enough to—and as much as she couldn't fight the feeling that he genuinely thought what he was doing was right? That he was doing the best that he could? That he was trying to protect the people he cared about just as she was?

He was wrong, here.

He was just too stubborn—or desperate, a small flicker of reason in the back of her mind corrected—to admit it.

Steve was right. There was more going on that either Mr. Stark wasn't admitting, or couldn't see. Something she had the unsettling feeling that Mr. Stark was struggling against just as she was. Something she knew her aunt saw too. Steve and her mom wouldn't be fighting like this—against their friends—unless they truly believed they had to.

Unless they truly believed there was something bigger, something worse out there.

And she believed them.

She...she believed them, trusted them, enough to go against Mr. Stark...against her friend, her mentor, her patron even...against the Accords...against the Law. Her gut twisted faintly with guilt and apprehension that she was making a mistake, but it was true. On this? Her trust in her mom and her trust in Steve was stronger than the trust and loyalty she felt toward Mr. Stark.

Certainly stronger than her loyalty to the Accords. She hadn't come with Tony for the Accords, she'd come with for him and for her mom...and Steve, and Sam...and, once she'd learned they had joined too, the Twins...Clint...

But she wasn't so sure Mr Stark was right, anymore; that whatever it was her mom and Steve were up to wasn't worth the risk... It felt the opposite, in fact. Like it very much was worth defying the Accords if the Accords were refusing to act. Especially given the quickly hidden, veiled uncertainty she had glimpsed in her Aunt's eyes the longer Steve and her mom had argued with Mr. Stark.

No, it was time for her to stand up too. To stand with her mom, Steve and their Team.

She shifted her stance, blinking back another wave of tremors that threatened to wrack her body, to loosen her hold. She was beginning to feel light-headed from the strain of holding Vision back. She'd lost track of time, of how long he'd been fighting against her field. It could've been seconds. Minutes.

It felt like hours.

He was slowly, painfully slowly edging his way closer to her, forcing her to shift her Inhibiting field with him.

And her hold was beginning to falter. A pained whimper tremored in the back of her throat from the strain, her vision beginning to blur and spot. Distantly, she knew she was dangerously close to passing out. Within the wavering, shimmering boundary of her field, it seemed Vision had sensed the same thing, his face contorting further with determination as he redoubled his efforts.

She needed to do something.

And then it hit her.

With a cry, she dropped her field and dove out of the way.

Once more, Vision's eyes widened in surprise. But it was the only reaction he had time for. So much of his energy and focus had been on fighting to break free of her Inhibiting field, to get to her, that the instant Nina had dropped it, there was nothing restraining the sythezoid.

And he shot forward, hurtling past Nina to smash into the pavement, leaving a deep, crater-like gouge in his wake.

Panting hard, Nina could only fall back, staring sightlessly at the sky as she struggled to catch her breath. She just needed a moment...

But she that wasn't likely to happen. Overhead, Sam and Rhodey were each still in dogged pursuit of the other, while around her, she could once again hear the sounds of crashes and even the odd explosion punctuating the sounds of the ongoing battle. With a groan, she rolled to her side, managing to sit up despite how weak she suddenly felt. Only to see the result of her gambit against Vision directly in front of her.

Her stomach lurched sickeningly.

Several metres away, Vision was unmoving within his crater; she blinked in surprise and fear...she had expected him to phase...she swallowed thickly, guilt and horror rising in her throat.

Oh God, what if she'd seriously hurt him...

And she was suddenly struck with the need to know if everyone else was okay. Her Mom, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Wanda...

"Pietro," she breathed, the sound little more than a pained gasp as she twisted, trembling limbs forgotten, looking desperately toward the crating where he'd landed.

He wasn't there.

A gusting breath burst free in her relief and Nina nearly sagged back onto the pavement. In her ear, the rest of Stark's Team were still chattering and calling out to one another, the influx of sound feeding the dull ache she was beginning to feel behind her eyes. With a strangled gasp, she plucked out her earpiece, struggling for a moment as it caught in her hair in her urgency to get it out of her ear. She nearly sighed in relief as the voices echoing in her head suddenly cut off. She tossed it aside, feeling unaccountably lighter...despite having just betrayed her mentor...her aunt...

Only to find herself caught in a solid, familiar embrace. A hiccupping sound reminiscent of a sob caught in her throat as she clung to Pietro, burrowing into his arms.

"You're okay," she gasped, the words more an affirmation than anything else. A scoffing chuckle vibrated in his chest as he kissed her hairline.

"Of course I am," he dismissed, his brash grin clear in his voice, "if I can survive getting shot, it'll take more than a little fall to hurt me, yeah?" He drew back, the very grin she'd anticipated coming into view. She couldn't help but groan with exasperation.

"Hey! I'm the one who kept you fro—" but her indignant objection was swallowed as his lips crashed into hers, kissing her soundly as his hands tunnelled into her hair. Nina eagerly kissed him back, her arms snaking out to hold tight around his neck. She could swear she sensed each and every anxious fear he'd been struggling to keep carefully masked with his brash façade, and even as her brain began to switch off at the feel of his mouth against hers, his arms around her, she was quite sure she was similarly conveying her own terror and her own relief in kind.

His eyes were sparkling despite the lingering worry within them as he drew back, his lips quirking. "So you've finally joined the right side now, eh?" He teased, head jerking in Vision's direction.

She smacked him on the chest, pushing her laughing boyfriend back with an indignant huff. She ignored the smile that was trying to tug at her own lips.

"I was trying—" but she was once again cut off, her only warning the faint quirk of Pietro's head as he listened to something through his earpiece.

The next thing she knew, Nina was being set carefully on her feet next to Steve, her head spinning faintly. With an exasperated sound of protest, she smacked Pietro reprovingly on the chest again. He chuckled, not even trying to avoid it; he knew he deserved it, she grumbled to herself.

"You're supposed to warn me," she scolded half-heartedly even as she unconsciously leaned against him, gripping his sleeve tightly. The light-headedness hadn't quite gone away just yet.

"Nina?" She looked to Steve, guilt fluttering in her gut at the worried expression on his face. "You're okay?" She nodded slowly, careful not to make herself any dizzier than she already felt; mercifully, the feeling was beginning to fade, but she wasn't about to risk making it worse.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered softly. A small, relieved grin tugged at Steve's lips even as his head tilted faintly. His grin grew, softening minutely. Nina blinked, catching the shift. Okay, what had she missed...

"Yes, Nadine," Steve said, meeting Nina's eye as she realized her mom had been speaking through his earpiece; the unconscious expression suddenly made sense, "I've got Nina. She's here with me, Buck and Pietro." Nina swallowed thickly, forcing back the lingering resentment and frustration directed at her mom as it tried to resurface. Now was not the time...besides, relief quickly grew to overshadow her irritation.

Right that second, she was just glad her mom was okay.

Steve glanced around the boarding stairs he, Nina and Pietro were sheltered behind as another distant explosion sounded. Nina couldn't help but flinch, edging closer to Steve as she caught sight of the corresponding flash and puff of smoke that had impacted against Iron Man just beyond...

It was then that she finally took notice of the man standing beyond Steve, sheltering behind a generator barely a few feet away.

Barnes. The Winter Soldier.

And he was watching her and Steve with vibrant, unreadable eyes. Nina shifted uneasily, an odd, tight feeling rising in her chest as she met his strangely familiar gaze.

The moment was broken, though, as Steve stepped out from behind the stairs, his mouth parting in astonishment. It was not hard to figure out what had stunned him.

Peering out after him, Nina gaped even as, behind her, Pietro laughed. Across from them, Barnes too stepped warily out from behind his generator, just as transfixed as the rest of them by the sudden appearance of a...

...a giant? Where the— It took a moment for Nina to place him as the new member she'd spotted among Steve's Team before the fighting had started. Not that it did her much good...she was far too shocked to do more than absently recognize him. She was too busy watching, wide-eyed as a suddenly very small-looking Rhodes struggled in...in Giant-Man's grip.

"I guess that's the signal," Steve murmured, startling Nina enough that she jumped. Next to her, Barnes' head tilted in absent agreement even as Steve's 'Captain' persona took over.

"Maximoff," Steve instructed briskly, not even sparing him a glance as he edged further out, carefully surveying the area out beyond where they stood. "Get Ryker to the Quinjet; Nadine? Break in and warm it up. We'll need to get out of here fast." Looking anxiously between Steve and Nina, Pietro nevertheless nodded sharply.

And ducking in to lay a quick kiss on her cheek, he was gone in a flash. Steve turned, looking seriously to her then. And Nina knew he'd seen the way she'd been leaning against Pietro, bristling involuntarily at the serious, concerned look on his face. Undoubtedly she was paler than usual too; she was more than well aware that going up against Vision had taken more out of her than she would've liked. She clenched her fists, hoping her hands hadn't been trembling still. Before he could ask the question she could see on his face, her chin lifted fractionally.

"I can keep up," she said tightly, lifting a hand and willing a small, wavering field to materialize behind her, "and I'm not helpless." Steve's lips thinned, but he nodded sharply despite the reluctance on his face. He looked past her.

"Buck?" Nina started to turn, but whatever Steve had asked without words, Barnes had obviously answered, because the Captain was already moving, taking point as he broke cover. After a moment, he glanced back, waving her and Barnes forward. Sparing a glance at the dark-haired man who was suddenly urging her forward, his brow furrowed with...worry? She wasn't quite sure. She barely spared it any thought, though, darting out after Steve, Barnes falling into step beside her.

Around them was sheer chaos. Even as they broke cover, Giant-Man was kicking a bus toward T'Challa like it was no more than a toy, the Wakandan only barely avoiding being crushed by Vision's timely intervention. Nina very nearly choked as a gasp of fear and an exhale of relief that she hadn't seriously hurt Vision bubbled up in her throat. Above, Sam and Stark were still darting about in pursuit of the other.

But almost the instant she and Barnes broke cover themselves, a flash from the corner of her eye had her head snapping around. And a shout burst from her throat.

"Look out!"

And she reacted. Twisting, she shoved at Barnes' shoulder, forcing him to check his stride even as she skidded to a stop, her hands flying out instinctively as her powers surged, hot and desperate, in her chest.

The air wavered, dense and misty-pale to catch the truck careening toward them, halting it mid-air; another split-second and a few steps more and it would've crushed them both. Nina gasped, her vision once more threatening to blur and darken as what little was left of her strength began to fail. With a soft cry of effort, she held on just long enough for the truck to slow to a stop before she let go, her legs nearly giving way beneath her as the truck fell straight down with a screeching, metallic crash mere feet away.

Wavering, she glanced around, catching the startled eye of Barnes where he stood, tense and anxious and astonished behind her. A small, tentative grin tugged at the corner of her lips. A grin he slowly answered with a sharp nod of thanks, already holding out a hand to her in gesture for them to keep moving.

Only for Giant-Man to choose that moment to break the wing off the plane next to him, swinging it around and very nearly catching Iron Man as it crashed into the pavement, fragmenting in a billowing gout of flame. Nina spun at the sound, her eyes widening.

There wasn't enough time to draw breath enough to cry out.

She didn't even have time to process the arms yanking her back or the large, solid body curling itself around her before a chunk of flaming engine impacted into the tarmac just on the other side of the truck with enough force to send it, Nina and her protector flying back.

The next thing she knew, she was blinking, dazed, looking up at the sky around a dark shoulder and a gleaming metal arm. Her fingers were clutching so tight to the jacket she was curled against, she dimly realized it was beginning to hurt.

Panic surged through her, trying to send another rush of adrenaline through her system.

But Nina had nothing left. Exhaustion more profound than anything she'd known before—even after Ultron's Quinjet attack in Sokovia—suddenly pulled heavily at every muscle in her body, making it hard to move, hard to breathe. Darkness crept in to feather at the edges of her vision. But fighting it did nothing. Her limbs only twitched weakly, her body utterly incapable of matching her will to keep going.

Of its own volition, her body was refusing to obey her, unable to push on any further, pulling her blurry thoughts and struggling will with it. And after a moment—an eternity, a heartbeat—she surrendered, almost relieved. Why did she even want to stay awake, anyway...

She was so tired...but she blinked blearily, trying to focus regardless, a small, panicking part of her insisting she needed to stay awake...to keep moving...that it was too dangerous to lose consciousness now...she needed to help...to make sure everyone was alright...

But it was too much, and her exhaustion rose up to claim her as her depleted powers seemed to hum softly, comfortingly deep in the centre of her chest.

They seemed to tell her she was safe...

And the last thing she knew before she slipped into unconsciousness was an oddly familiar set of steel-blue eyes meeting hers.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

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