No Tears | NR

Chapter 43

Quinjet, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

The flight had been silent for the most part. Most of the Avengers on the quinjet had already been in big battles before and had experience with these moments before the battle began, but that didn't take away from the fact, that this was going to be the biggest fight yet, even for them.

Some were better at hiding their anxiety than others. Bruce was standing next to Natasha and was restless. He was fidgeting with his fingers and didn't seem to be able to look at anyone. Wanda was busy looking after Vision, who was still clearly in pain. Steve was focused on giving Sam directions where he had to go. Natasha was impossible to read. She still wore her stoic, cold mask and hadn't spoken a word to Yara since Edinborough. Yara didn't mind, because she knew that Natasha had more important things to deal with at the moment. But she still hoped that they would get a chance to talk before the battle began.

Yara had sat in the back of the jet until Sam made a comment about them crashing if Steve was wrong. Intrigued, she moved towards the front of the plane just in time to see that they were flying straight into a row of trees that were part of a forest. She knew that Steve knew what he was doing and yet, she still half expected them to crash, but they didn't. The trees turned out to be a disguise that gave way through a force field to a city that looked somewhat out of place in the middle of green hills and waterfalls. At the same time, however, it strangely seemed to fit in perfectly with its surroundings.

They passed over a lake as they continued flying towards the city. Overall, the city didn't really look too different from any other city that Yara had seen, but she still suspected that there was something special about this place.

Sam set the quinjet down on a landing spot in an open area in the middle of the city. It seemed like they had been expected by the city's inhabitants. The Avengers and Yara made their way down the ramp at the back of the jet where they were met by a group of women in red uniforms and a man in a black robe. The women were the king's personal bodyguards called the "Dora Milaje". They were flanked by guards.

Yara quickly recognized the man at the front. There wasn't much known about him and even if there was, Yara hadn't been interested enough to try and find out more. Still, she remembered that he had been part of the airport fight in Germany about two years ago. He was the king of an African country called Wakanda. Yara didn't know much about this country either, but she was fairly certain that it wasn't supposed to look like this. As far as she knew, Wakanda was poor. It seemed, however, that there was more to this place than the rest of the world knew.

Steve and Natasha led the group of Avengers as they made their way over to King T'Challa. Yara followed in the back. Steve shook the king's hand and Yara tried to hear if they were saying anything, but she got distracted by Bruce who bowed before T'Challa.

"We don't do that here", the Wakandan king stopped him.

Yara felt a little sorry for the scientist. She hadn't even thought about particular gestures and things that they may have to do, since T'Challa is a king. She just generally followed the lead of everyone else around her and did what they do. Still, a silent chuckle escaped her when she watched Bruce awkwardly stand up straight again.

As they all made their way toward the building that they had landed in front of, Bruce explained to T'Challa what kind of attack they had to expect. In return, the King of Wakanda told the Avengers who would be helping them in the battle. As he was doing so, Yara noticed someone approach them. He looked vaguely familiar although Yara couldn't quite place him.

It was only when that man spoke up to finish T'Challa's sentence that she finally connected the dots and remembered who he was. This was Steve's old friend who had been brainwashed by Hydra and who had been part of the conflict that caused the Avengers to break up. Yara couldn't quite remember his name, but she knew that Steve called him "Bucky".