No Tears | NR

Chapter 41

Quinjet over Europe

"We should be there in five minutes", Yara told Natasha who was in one of the two seats behind her.

The sun was setting and it was getting dark outside. They had been flying for almost a day and crossed a few timezones on their way here.

The Avenger was busy getting as much information as possible on the attack in New York. The American city seemed to be a popular place for aliens. This time, a huge spaceship in the shape of a gigantic donut had landed there and destroyed parts of the city, before it had left. It appeared that a man named Dr. Stephen Strange had been their target since they left as soon as they had the strangely dressed man.

Natasha had heard about him before. He used to be a wealthy, arrogant surgeon who got into a car accident. The resulting injuries prevented him from working. After that, he was sighted in some weird locations, but there wasn't much information on him after that accident.

Tony Stark aka Ironman was on board that spaceship as well. Regardless of their fallout before she had left, Natasha was still a little worried about him. He was still her friend and he was up against a bunch of aliens without any help aside from Dr. Strange, as far as she could tell.

The attack had happened right before she had received a call from Steve Rogers or Captain America, as most of the world knew him. He hadn't told her much except for what she needed to know at that time. He would explain more to her and Yara who he didn't know about yet, once they met him. All, he had said, was that he needed her and that it was urgent. He had added that she should also check the news.

Natasha set the tablet down when she felt the quinjet land. She had offered to teach Yara how to fly the aircraft, but the woman had figured it out by herself very quickly without any assistance and she was good at it too.

Natasha got out of her seat and walked to the back of the jet. Yara followed not much later but she stayed behind when the ramp went down and Natasha went outside. She wanted to let the Avenger meet her friends alone without her to avoid any awkwardness on her part. The brunette also found herself getting anxious and started playing with the hem of her shirt.

She was about to meet Captain America which wouldn't usually be something that would make her stress out. She didn't generally care much about titles or fame and that wasn't what was making her anxious right now. What was really stressing her out was the fact that Steve Rogers was from the same time that she was from. He had been born around the same time and was about as old as she was.

She knew that their stories were completely different and the Captain hadn't been conscious for 70 years. Still, she couldn't help but compare herself to the man who was basically a walking legend. There was this nagging feeling that she had failed because she hadn't used her past and her circumstances to become a better person. It was something that had weighed down on her for a very long time.

All she could do now was try to be better. And that was exactly what she planned to do.

Yara was so caught up with her thoughts that she didn't hear Natasha call her name at first. Once she did, she walked down the ramp and stopped next to the blonde woman who had turned around to watch her. Two men stood behind Natasha and Yara could feel their eyes on her.

"You OK?", Natasha wanted to know in a quiet voice.

Yara nodded in response but stayed quiet. She used to like uncomfortable situations, but that had changed at some point during the last two years. Now, having three people watching her intently just made her want to squirm and disappear. Or maybe she just didn't like being the center of attention.

"Hello, I'm Steve Rogers", the taller of the two men spoke up. He stuck out his hand for her to shake it which Yara did quickly. "Call me Steve."

"Yara Krieger. You can just call me Yara", she replied with a firm voice. He nodded in response and let go of her hand.