/Here it is. I'll come back for a few words at the end. ENJOY!

So, Naomi was wrong. She didn't think she was wrong; in fact, she was almost confident. That is, until they landed outside the base. And she couldn't leave her seat. Her legs wouldn't move. The starting line was behind her and she could not move. Fly, fly, fly, confidence, drive forward in my lane. Nothing.

Clint kneeled down in front of her. "Sometimes the fear doesn't go away, and we have to do it afraid. One step, then another."

Naomi stood up. She walked to the ramp of the Quinjet. She walked down the ramp. She walked to her gap in the circle of heroes. Naomi nodded when someone asked if she was okay. Naomi followed Natasha to the waterside of the concrete structure. While they waited for their signal, text appeared to Naomi via the coms.

"It's… giant," Clint whispered.

Natasha spoke beside her. "Descriptors, guys. What are you seeing?"

"Three… four tanks, probably four stories tall, full of-" Peter was cut off.

"-serum" Steve breathlessly exhaled.

Naomi spoke up, "There's tubing running from the building to the river out here."

"We have to destroy it."

"It's highly explosive, Mr. Bombs On Board; we can't just blow it up. The shockwave alone will kill all surrounding civilians," Rhodey chimed in.

"Bucky was one person, and they caused innumerable people pain and suffering through him. Imagine a whole city of brainwashed superhumans, where some may actually side with HYDRA willingly! We have to do this."

Sighing, Rhodey replied, "Cap's right. I'll send out a mandatory evacuation alert to nearby areas. You guys figure out how to detonate it safely and-" Gunfire cut him off.

Natasha reacted quickly as Naomi processed the dull, popping vibrations. Nat slipped into the building via the ajar door and pressed her back against a large crate. Naomi followed quickly behind.

"Pay attention to the coms and your surroundings. Here's where we stand tall and fight." With that, Natasha dashed into the fight, holding off the swarm of HYDRA soldiers that seemed to be coming from every open window and door.

"Don't let them get to the serum!" Steve shouted. "If they release it to the river, game over! Naomi! Show them some speed."

Her heart felt like it was going to vibrate out of her suit. She gave up on attempting to steady herself, though. Taking one last breath, Naomi thought, Lean into the adrenaline. Be alert. Be fast. Take out the bad guys. Bang.

A streak of light zipped through the warehouse, leaving a trail of fallen soldiers behind. Faster. Another row fell with various agonizing cries. Faster. Speeding up the stairs to an upper level, Naomi ran face to face into another agent who appeared to be more skilled than his comrades. Needing a second to recharge before another sprint, Naomi channeled her training with Natasha. Look at his feet. See how his shoulders are squared, Natasha's voice echoed in her head. Duck, then catch him off balance. One last kick to the chest to lay him out. Naomi stood over the body. Her fear was still loud, but something else was beginning to push it to the side until Peter's text filled her vision.

"Hey Naomi!" She frantically looked around before resting her gaze on a crowd of HYDRA thugs beating down on a body- on...Peter. "Remember those Men In Black thingies!? Now would be a great-" A particularly aggressive kick silenced the kid.

Naomi launched herself back down to the main floor, weaving in and out of Avengers and HYDRA before reaching Spider-Man. In one swift motion, Naomi grabbed Peter and deployed an expanding energy field that would electrocute the agents mere milliseconds after they had retreated. The gadget worked perfectly as Naomi watched from her slow-mo world.

Success only lasts for so long in a fight. Panicked words slowly appeared.

"What"

"Have"

"They"

"Done"

A spreading flame edged its way into her peripheral vision. Shut up fear. Okay, okay, get them away. That's the smallest tank, only partially full. Get them safe. Bang. One by one, Naomi ran faster than she ever had, dragging each member of her family to the most secure looking spot she could find. The Iron Man suit- which was luckily within reach of the ground- was glowing orange and mere inches from the flame by the time Naomi reached him. Naomi held the time warp as long as she could as she dashed towards the (hopefully) safe Avengers, positive they were all there.

Each Avenger stumbled, momentarily discombobulated until they registered Naomi, doubled over and panting in front of them. "Naomi," Steve signed in disbelief.

Peter was the first to slowly walk around the corner to the site of the explosion. The three other tanks were (somehow) still intact, but the HYDRA agents had been incinerated amidst the fire. All that remained were crumbling statues of where the enemy used to stand. It wasn't lost on any of them that they would've looked the exact same had Naomi not saved them.

Rhodey's voice broke the shocked silence. "Guys! Guys, are you okay?! Come in, Tony. I can see HYDRA vehicles approaching the building. I heard the boom; let me know that everyone is safe."

"We're okay, just a little toasty," Tony finally replied. "Naomi got us out of there." She was still leaning heavily against the wall, violently shaking. Clint placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We've got to blow it now. The immediate area is evac-ed, and I alerted surrounding areas to get to the safest place they can and prepare for an earthquake. It's the best we can do," Rhodey warned.

"Redwing is picking up on the vehicles too. Y'all, there's a lot of them. Let's light it up. Tony?"

"Wait!" Naomi shouted. "Clint, the school. Who knows if they've even received the alert? This plan basically guarantees catastrophes in all surrounding areas- we have to help them."

"You're right. I'm not fast enough to get there in time. We can handle it here, you have to go to them." Naomi raised her hands to argue, but Clint continued, "We've done this before, I promise. We'll all clear the area, then Tony will set it off from the sky. Everyone will be safely away. Naomi, you're not that scared girl huddled in Sokovia anymore. Regardless of how things go, every single one of us is proud of you and has been changed by having you in our lives. You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. Chase them down, Silent Streak." The other Avengers had already spread to begin preparations.

"Winnie the Pooh, nice." Naomi stood up to leave, but paused. "Thank you, Clint."

Naomi took off running, but there was a new quiet. The primitive heckling of fear had faded. She just ran. Tony had informed her that the bomb would detonate two minutes after she left. Naomi reached the school with a minute to spare. She burst into the head office and intensely signed, "There will be a major and dangerous earthquake in less than 60 seconds! Alert the school to take cover!"

The administrator looked frightened, but shoved the camera to face Naomi and turned it on. It's crazy the authority a fancy superhero suit gives you. "Repeat your message!"

Naomi issued the warning again and it was streamed to televisions across the school. As soon as the message was issued, she sped off to remove as many people as possible from the building with the short time that remained. Luckily, the school was of a modest size and she cleared most areas before she felt the rumble of the shockwave approaching. At the last possible moment, Naomi retreated to the center of the soccer field with the students and teachers.

Woosh, the shockwave passed, throwing people to the ground. Quickly returning to her feet- something Steve stressed a lot during training- Naomi resumed her duty. "Are you okay? Is anyone hurt? Did everyone make it out?"

A silent chorus of "fine" and "we're okay" swept the crowd, along with the occasional, "that's Silent Streak".

Until Naomi reached a panicked teacher. "I'm missing a student! Where's Shay!? Has anybody seen Shay?!" She was surrounded by a small group of first graders- at the oldest. Spotting Naomi, she signed desperately, "Shay is still in there! In the library on the first floor!"

Naomi's legs ached as she stood up from her crouching position. Steve's instruction rang out around her: Find a way. Giving everything she had left, Naomi launched into her quantum speed and ran throughout the crumbling building. Collapsed concrete obstacles barely slowed her search as she vaulted over them. One tricky aspect of searching for a deaf person: shouting their name isn't very helpful.

The library. Shelves and books layed strewn across the room as if a tornado had whipped through, but rather than fear, a wave of determination washed over Naomi. She squatted, placed a hand on the ground, and scanned the room. Someone was in here with her. "I'm detecting a slight thumping noise in the room. I've highlighted the source area in your visual," TADASHI said. A bookcase leaning against a side wall was illuminated. Naomi slowly walked forward.

Pushing aside books, Naomi spotted a small figure in the very back of the makeshift cave. She placed a small light from her pocket in between them. "Shay? I'm Silent Streak. I'm here to bring you to your classmates," Naomi gently signed. The kid only shrunk back. Okay, here goes everything. Naomi slowly took off her hood and removed her mask. "Hi Shay. My name is Naomi. Did you hide under here to stay safe?"

Shay nodded.

"Wow, that was a really good idea! And you were hitting this shelf so someone could find you, right?"

"Yeah," she daintily signed.

"Do you know what your name sign means?" Shay scrunched her face in thought, but didn't reply. "Well this is the sign for BRAVERY, so your name means that you are super brave! Can you be brave for me again? Let's wiggle out of here and go back to your friends outside."

"Okay." Shay's eyes grew three sizes, as if she had just walked into a candy store. "You're deaf, just like me!"

Naomi sat there at a loss for words. This is it. My motivation. The thing that took the place of my fear. I love track and running. I love the Avengers. This kid though- I am strong for people like us.

"You're a superhero, just like me. Let's go home, Shay."

/ I am in awe of the wide-spread audience I have reached via this story. I mean truly, wow. As this is the end, I would like to ask once more that you leave a goodbye/wrap-up review. I hope you have enjoyed AGE U-L-T-R-O-N, and until next time, jersey09 out 3.