No Tears | NR

Chapter 48

Birnin Zana, Wakanda

Natasha had finally managed to get Yara to an infirmary. The brunette had lost enough energy during her attempts to move forward on her own to not be able to protest. Natasha had had to carry her most of the way. Yara had fallen asleep before they had arrived. The Avenger had left the brunette there to make herself useful but not before warning the nurses that Yara may try to escape when she woke up. For the next few hours, she was busy helping the Wakandans extinguish fires, clean up the battlefield, and return fallen fighters to the city alongside the Avengers who were left. They worked quickly and by the time the sun set, there wasn't much left to do. It was dark when Steve basically forced Natasha to stop and rest. The other Avengers had left a while ago and most of the Wakandans had dispersed as well.

The blonde woman wanted to check up on Yara before she was going to get some sleep. She was relieved to find the brunette right where she had left the woman. But that relief was soon replaced with concern and then annoyance when she noticed the straps that were keeping Yara down on the bed. She had a fairly good guess why the brunette was strapped to the bed.

"Try to leave?"

Yara had begun to stir and now slowly opened her eyes, trying to find the person who had said that. A look of confusion found its way onto her face when she tried to move her arm, but couldn't get very far. She looked down at her wrists while she continued pulling at the straps. Suddenly, her head shot up. She looked up at Natasha with such terror in her eyes that the Avenger had to keep herself from leaping towards her and attempting to rip the straps off the table.

Natasha had been so caught up with everything that had happened that day that she had forgotten about Yara's past. She should have realized earlier that tying her down like this was not a good idea.

The Avenger didn't waste another second. She instantly left Yara to find someone who would give her the key to unlock the straps. Not a few seconds after she had turned her back on the brunette she heard a loud crash behind her. Afraid to see what had happened, she whipped around and returned to the bed where she had left Yara, only to find that the bed was empty. Pieces from the straps were dangling down from the bed's sides, angrily swinging back and forth.

It took Natasha a few long moments to find the brunette. She was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms tightly wrapped around them. Her body was shivering violently and her forehead was resting on top of her knees.

Natasha had no idea how the brunette had managed to break out of the straps but that was a question for later. Right now, all that mattered was calming Yara down.

The Avenger knelt down in front of the brunette but refrained from touching the woman. She was worried about how Yara would respond to that.

"Hey, Yara."

When the brunette didn't react, Natasha called out her name again, but louder.

"Yara! Come on. Yara. Listen to me. They're gone. You're not with Hydra anymore."

She didn't know what to say. Yara was still not responding.

"Yara! Look at me!", she finally yelled, finding herself running out of other options. She regretted yelling at Yara instantly, but at least she finally got a response from Yara.

"No, stay away!"

Yara's voice was harsh and desperate. Natasha was confused and taken aback by the brunette's reaction.

"Please. Stay away", Yara repeated in a softer, pleading tone.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to -", Natasha's voice broke at the end. She tried to suppress her tears but some still managed to find their way out and down her cheeks. This day had without a doubt been one of the hardest ones in her life and it was not getting any easier.