/Thank you for being so amazingly patient! Please leave a review, and get ready for some trauma!

The Quinjet lacked its typical pre-mission banter from the Avengers. Having already prepped and coordinated, the heroes sat anxiously. Steve stood abruptly, grabbing Tony by his upper arm and dragged him to the side.

"How could you let her come? How could Clint let her come? Have you guys lost your minds?" From the moment the idea had arisen to when they boarded the jet, Steve had been shaking from both fear and anger.

Stark didn't meet his eyes, but responded quietly, "Clint thinks that she is going to stay on the jet with Banner."

"So you're lying now? Why am I not surprised?" Throwing his hands up in incredulous frustration, Steve took a step away.

"I'm not happy about it either, but you're the one who said we needed someone who could-"

Practically leaping back at Tony, Steve said, "Do not pin this on me. I know what I said, but-"

"-and that she would be perfect for it," Tony continued.

"That doesn't mean we actually do that and follow through! It means that this is the 'easy' way, but we find a different and safer solution. Natasha is almost her size and even faster; she should be doing this."

"We've gone over this a hundred times. Natasha needs to be on the other side accessing the main computer's files. Is that old-man brain of yours finally giving in? Steve, she agreed. She said she could do it."

"We've all said we can do things, that doesn't mean we should've done them or that we were properly prepared."

"But we're all still here, aren't we?" His calm and confident facade was slightly less concrete.

"She's a kid, Tony! Are you that daft?! You wouldn't throw Peter into a fight that you know he couldn't win- especially without being equipped." Steve was practically begging Tony with desperate eyes.

Tony clenched his jaw and with a determined look said, "She's going to be fine." He returned to his teammates.

As the team exited the plane in their assigned groups, Naomi waited for Clint to be out of sight, just as she was instructed. Before Bruce could turn around and realize what was happening, she was running down the ramp and around the corner to meet Tony.

Banner spoke to himself, "I bet I could sync up her headphones to the…" Spinning around in his chair, and beginning to sign music, Bruce's heart nearly reached his toes as it sank rapidly to his gut. "Nonononono ah geez Clint's gonna kill me." He ran his hands through his hair religiously, trying to calm his growing self hatred that threatened to take over.

Not wasting any time, Tony signed with his new vocabulary, "You remember it all?"

"Yes."

"Three minutes, go." His suit didn't make for the most fluent signing, but it did provide a convenient excuse for any mess-ups.

"I'm ready." With one last reassurance, Tony flew off to clear the way.

Watching through a crack in the sheet metal she hid behind, Naomi jiggled her knee in anticipation. Tony hadn't told her much: only her part in the operation. Get to the office on the left side, second story, third door. A filing cabinet is jammed under support beams in the corner. In the drawers, grab any folders labeled "BWVS Staff Project" or "бwvs скипетр план. He wouldn't tell her what was in them, and though she respected the secrecy of everything the Avengers did, Naomi's curiosity was gnawing at her. She felt bad lying to Clint after everything he'd done for her, but Rhodey had said be ready for her chance, and this was it. Her watch vibrated: go time.

As she ran through the rubble with as much speed as during her best track meets, the building around her matched what Tony had described to her- almost perfectly. The man had an eye for detail. She found the office with ease, only being temporarily interrupted when she dodged the airborne bad guy that someone had thrown her way.

The cabinet was not hard to locate, barely accessible via a small gap. Luckily, the drawer had fallen open during whatever explosion had landed it in its new position, and she was able to climb in and skim through the folders. Contrary to popular belief, being deaf didn't give Naomi super sight or smell or anything, but at least she was able to focus on scanning without the distraction of the frightening noises behind her.

After double checking that she had everything, Naomi tossed the folders through the gap which she entered through and wiggled out after them. She restrained herself from opening the tan paper dividers, but a picture slid out and caught her eye. She recognized him from her last day in Sokovia. Though only catching a glimpse, it was not a face she would ever forget. Naomi's breath quickened. She opened the folder and was met with a maniac looking Wanda Maximoff staring back at her. Though the papers were covered in Russian text and Hydra stamps, notes written in English were scribbled in the margins.

"Feed 2/day; leave jacket on; do not engage if hands are free."

"Key targets- Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers(?)"

Naomi lost all air at the last note. "Ulitsa Dubitskogo, 91," She knew that street. She used to cut through it on her way to the square with her mom when she was younger. She was right under our noses and we didn't even know. Naomi shook her head. Focus. You're not done.

Jogging out of the office, the fight seemed to have only ramped up outside. Everything looked slightly off from the new rubble, but she retraced her steps until she reached the bottom floor. She lived on the same street as my coach. She could've- Naomi was suddenly thrown through a window into a side room as papers scattered in the air around her. A shrill ringing rang in her ears- which she didn't think was possible.

The stray electromagnetic pulse from the thugs' weapons vibrated through Naomi's bones. Struggling to stand back up, she stumbled over the flat ground, her legs trying to support her. Her head spun with blackness almost blocking her eyesight. Every shallow breath felt useless as she collapsed to the ground, dragging herself out of sight and- hopefully- out of danger.

There was no one to call. Correction- no way to call. Where are they? How do I get to them? They don't even know I'm missing. They'll see me. They'll find me. For only the second time since she met the Avengers, Naomi couldn't restrain herself and began to sob.

How many of my friends passed her in the streets? How many saw the same horrors I did? How long was she there? How could someone be that cruel? How did we not see her? How did she know about me? I can't- I can't.

The last few guys were being taken care of as FRIDAY's voice filled Tony's helmet. "Incoming call from Dr. Banner, sir."

"FRIDAY, ask him if he knows that I'm busy?"

Bruce's voice responded instead of his A.I. "Do you know where she went? She was supposed to be with me, and I know I should've called earlier, but I was trying to keep my cool, and now who knows where she is and-"

"Hey, hey; Steve and I sent her to grab something. No worries, brother. She's okay."

Bruce sank back into the pilot's seat, breathing for the first time in ages. "You should've told me dude!"

"You wouldn't have let her go."

"Well… no, but that's a separate problem."

Ending the call, Tony removed his helmet and jogged to meet Steve, frantically speaking before they had fully met. "Banner says that Naomi isn't there. She should've been back by now."

"I'll take lower, you take upstairs. We'll find her, but you have to tell Clint." Rapidly scanning where Naomi was supposed to have tracked, Steve approached the broken window. About to continue on, a slight movement caught his eye. "Clint, get to the lower west side. I see her." Steve longed to approach her, but he couldn't cause any more pain today.

Clint whipped around the corner, spotting Naomi curled against an ammunition crate, surrounded by shattered glass. She stared at the ground in front of her, trembling. Though her eyes were open, they didn't see the smoking scene around her. Clint tried to get her attention, tapping her shoulder, but she was too far gone. They weren't in any immediate danger, so Clint sat down next to her, grunting as his knees whined due to the many years of hero-ing past his prime.

Tony and Steve turned the corner, stopping abruptly as they saw the shaken kid. "Is she okay?" Steve asked, concerned.

"I don't know; I think so. It's like she's somewhere else- I don't... I don't know what to do." Clint kept his eyes on Naomi, afraid that if he looked away, she would melt into the floor and be gone.

"Tony, you…" Steve paused, nervous about his next statement. "You- you saw us, right? When Wanda…"

"Yes," he replied abruptly, bottling any rising anxiety and revealing nothing.

"After the visions, the nightmares, I could barely comprehend what was happening around me- even after it was over. Clint, you said we looked-"

"You looked exactly like she does now: zombies, shells," Clint realized, dread eating away at his stomach.

"But she's on our side now; she wouldn't...Do we know if she had any encounter with Wanda previously? Before we found her?"

Tony shakily exhaled, "I hope not."