No Tears | NR

Chapter 47

Birnin Zana, Wakanda

"You're alive", were the first words Natasha spoke and they were barely more than a whisper. Yara had half-expected a sarcastic remark and was surprised by the Avenger's serious tone. Somehow, the brunette suspected that there was more to her statement than she knew.

"Barely", the Yara breathed. She didn't have the strength to talk properly. "You?"

Natasha nodded and Yara only now noticed the tears that were staining the Avenger's cheeks.

She felt Natasha's fingers softly touch the side of her face.

There was a burning question that Yara needed to ask, but at the same time, she dreaded the answer. Nevertheless, after a few seconds, to form the words, she quietly managed to get the question out in one go. "We lost, didn't we?"

Natasha didn't answer, but she didn't have to. Yara had already suspected that much. Still, seeing Natasha confirm it felt like a blow. She closed her eyes to process that information. They lost. Billions of people died. And who knew about other planets. And what about the others; the Avengers and the Wakandans?

"Yelena?"

Natasha shook her head and a tear dropped from her chin onto Yara's forehead. The brunette kept her eyes closed. She felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest. She's gone. So many people are gone. She had failed.

"Yara?"

Natasha's worried voice caused the brunette to open her eyes which had the Avenger sigh in relief.

"We need to get you checked out", Natasha stated softly.

Yara shook her head slowly, rolling it from one side to the other with Natasha's fingers still stroking her lightly. She was slowly but steadily regaining her strength. "No", Yara groaned. She wanted more time alone with Natasha to process everything. "Not yet."

The Avenger nodded softly. "You want to sit up?"

Yara groaned her confirmation. Natasha sat down on the floor and carefully slipped one arm around Yara's shoulders, supporting her head as well as she could. She looped her other arm around the woman's front and carefully lifted Yara's back up from the floor. The Avenger leaned Yara with her back against her front and held her in a secure embrace. The brunette's head was lying on Natasha's shoulder and the blonde Avenger could feel Yara's chest rising and falling in her arms. At least she knew, that Yara was still alive.

The warmth of Yara's body pressed against hers and the relief of finally finding the brunette alive and holding her in her arms made tears well up in Natasha's eyes again. Right now, she wanted to forget everything around them and just feel this moment.

"I told you to be careful", the blonde scolded the woman in her arms, but her tone didn't suggest that she was angry or disappointed but rather worried and maybe even a little sarcastic.

Yara smirked sadly in response but didn't have the head or the strength to think of a witty comeback. Instead, she opted to stay quiet and try to process everything. She figured that it shouldn't take that long since she had fought in a World War. So many lives had been lost in that war and she had seen so many people die, but despite that experience, she could still not wrap her head around the fact that they had lost today.

Natasha was struggling too. She did her best to hide her thoughts and feelings and keep them to herself, but even the famous Black Widow had her limits. Her eyes wouldn't stop burning and tears found their way down her cheek every once in a while. She wouldn't allow herself to break down. The years away from the Red Room had been good for her, but some things were hard to shake. The habit of not showing any vulnerability was one of those things that had stuck, mostly. Getting away from S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and the rest of the world for a while had helped her with that, even though she had found herself missing her friends more than she had expected. She was also beginning to suspect that Yara had played a big part in helping her overcome some of those things that had stuck with her from the Red Room.