No Tears | NR

Chapter 9

Budapest, Hungary

Yara had never been to Hungary's capital before, but she liked the few parts of the city that she had seen so far. Beautiful, old buildings made up most of the city center. She had also caught a glimpse of an impressive, majestic castle from the bus that they were on.

Natasha hadn't really explained where they were going, but that's how most of the trip had been. They had taken a bus from the train station. It was obvious that the Avenger had been here before. She knew her way around the city.

Yara had lost all feeling for the time during their long trip and didn't know how long they had been on the bus until Natasha finally got up and signaled to the brunette to follow her. They got out on the outskirts of the city center. Most of the buildings here looked like they were built at least a century ago.

The redhead didn't wait for Yara when she started walking along the street. The brunette caught back up with her quickly and together they made their way to the wooden front door of an apartment in a typical, slightly rundown building in Budapest. Yara was surprised that there was an elevator. She didn't really trust it. Nevertheless, she followed Natasha into it. Once the elevator stopped and the door opened, they stepped out and walked up to a pair of tall, wooden doors. The Avenger had grabbed a hidden gun on their way there. She was picking the doors' lock when a muffled voice sounded from inside.

"I know you're out there."

The redhead froze for a moment and then moved her arm to grab the pistole which she had tucked into the back of her pants.

"I know you know I'm out here", the Avenger responded.

She gave Yara a look, trying to tell her to wait here. The brunette nodded and Natasha stepped into the apartment, pushing one of the double doors open. She held the gun out in front of her and carefully continued walking further into the apartment and closing the door with her leg behind herself on the way. For the next minute or so, Yara could only hear two muffled voices talking to each other. One was Natasha's. The other one she didn't recognize.

"Then why are you skulking around like it's a minefield?", the unknown speaker wanted to know.

"'Cause I don't know if I can trust you."

Yara thought that she had heard the other person chuckle, but it was barely audible so she wasn't sure.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing."

The voices were getting quieter and more difficult to hear and understand. Therefore, she wasn't sure what Natasha and the other person had said before she suddenly heard loud noises originating from inside the apartment. It sounded like someone was fighting. Yara had to suppress the urge to run inside and check out what was happening. She doubted that the trained assassin needed her help in a fight, not that she didn't know how to fight. She had received extensive training in various martial arts and the use of weapons throughout her life. But Natasha was an assassin who had been trained to fight for all of her life and Yara suspected that the redheaded Avenger was a better fighter than her.

The fight seems to have been a short one because the noise stopped soon again. After she hadn't heard any other loud noises coming from inside the apartment for a while, Yara finally decided that she didn't want to wait in front of the door anymore. She figured that the fight was over so she might as well come in now.

Yara opened the door and walked into the apartment. She followed the two voices she could hear, one of which was Natasha's.

"...no body left to check", was all Yara could understand of what Natasha said.

"You're forgetting Dreykov's daughter", the other voice responded with an accent that Yara hadn't noticed before. It sounded Russian.

There was a sudden silence. At first, Yara thought that they had heard her footsteps, but then there was a loud bang from an explosion. Dust and smoke clouded her vision. She slammed her back against the wall next to her, trying to find a place to hide. The brunette moved along the wall and turned around a corner where she noticed another figure that was seeking cover behind a short part of a wall next to a door. The blonde woman and Yara made eye contact.

"I'm with Romanoff", was all Yara whispered, trying to make the blonde understand that she was with them. She had already correctly concluded that the blonde had to be the other person that Natasha had been talking to.

The woman with the Russian accent just stared at her with piercing eyes for a moment and then moved to glance around the corner. Yara followed her example and saw two silhouettes fall down from the ceiling. They had guns with laser sights that drew red lines through the thick air. The blonde suddenly started sprinting across the hallway. Yara followed her, not wanting to get caught by the people with guns. The woman in front of her was slammed into the wall by another person who Yara didn't recognize as Natasha right away. She couldn't stop in time and collided with the redhead. 

"Good. You're here", was all Natasha said to acknowledge Yara's presence once they recognized each other.

The latter didn't answer.

More explosions went off. The blonde and the redhead ran off with Yara following in pursuit. The two women who were leading the way fought every attacker off on their way out of the apartment, clearing the way for Yara. Together, they sprinted dodging bullets as best as they could. There were more shooters in the building's central courtyard and staircase, leaving a narrow passage through the building as their only option. The three of them made their way onto a greyish roof, running up on one side and sliding down on the other one.

They got to a big metal pipe that was wider than each of them and started somewhere below them, ending ways above their heads. The Natasha and the blonde fighter held onto it, wrapping their arms around the cool metal. Yara squeezed in between them and pulled out a bolt that had been keeping the pipe in place

They pushed off the ground and caused the pipe to slowly tilt away from the roof they had just been on, picking up speed.

A woman in a black suit who had followed them up onto the roof jumped after them. Natasha caught her hand and tried to hold on to her, but the woman grabbed a knife and looked like she cut her hand, slipping out of Natasha's grip. She fell down, landing in shallow water.

A few seconds later, the pipe hit a wall and threw the three women against the building's side. Yara and the blonde crashed through a window and into a wall right behind it. The computer scientist shook her head, noticing early signs of a headache, and ran to the window, checking what had happened to Natasha. She saw the redhead's small figure on the ground leaning over slightly and holding her stomach but miraculously on her feet.

Yara and the blonde woman needed another moment to be steady on their feet again. Then they tried to find a way down to Natasha as quickly as they could. Yara noticed that the other woman had pulled out a bundle of vials with something red in them. She was holding one of them in her other hand. The brunette recognized them as the glowing red thing that Natasha had been staring at that night in Norway.

They finally made it out of the building and found Natasha on her knees next to the woman in the black suit who had fallen earlier. The woman was dead. The Avenger stared at the lifeless body in disbelief.

Yara followed the blonde woman as she slowly stepped towards Natasha. She stopped in front of her and pushed the single vial in her left hand back into the bundle. Then she looked up at Natasha asking, "Do you believe me now?"

The redhead had finally lifted her head and looked up at the blonde.

"How many others?"

"Enough."

With that, the blonde turned around and ran away. Yara followed her with Natasha behind her.

AN:

And another chapter is done. I am not quite sure how I feel about this one yet. I am surprised that I am still fairly on time with my updates. I hope it will stay that way.