Special Agent 2: The Dark Soldier

Chapter 38

"Here he is," Bishop said, turning the picture around and pushing it toward Gibbs and McGee. "That's the assassin we fought on the Gauntlet."

"Tony's right," McGee frowned, peering at the drawing. "I have seen that guy before. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't put my finger on it."

Gibbs stared at the picture for a long moment. "The Jacklin case," he stated. "That is Captain Hayden Jacklin."

"Jacklin?" DiNozzo repeated. "That was the cold case, right?"

Gibbs looked back at the picture, narrowing his eyes.

"Dead body, boss?"

Gibbs looked up at DiNozzo as he snapped his phone shut, who had already reached for the strap of his backpack in anticipation of a new case. McGee and Ziva David were also looking at him curiously, waiting for confirmation.

"In a way," Gibbs answered. "Grab your gear."

"Yes!" DiNozzo enthused, pumping his fist.

"Tony!" Ziva rebuked, giving him a glare. The Mossad officer's brown hair was slicked back into a tight, stern bun. "Someone died."

"Ziva, our whole job rests on the basis of someone dying," Tony retorted, smirking. "Besides, I'm bored. It's about time we had a new case." He slung his backpack over his shoulder as he rose.

"Where are we going, Boss?" McGee asked, standing.

"Ex-Marine Captain Hayden Jacklin's apartment."

Ziva frowned. "Ex-Marine? I thought you said there was no such thing as a former Marine."

"He was dishonorably discharged last year," Gibbs said, grabbing his gun holster from his desk drawer. "NCIS has been specifically asked to investigate his disappearance."

"Wait," DiNozzo said, furrowing his brow. "I thought he was dead."

"I never said that, DiNozzo," Gibbs said, striding toward the elevator as his team fell in behind him. "But someone has a strong suspicion he's dead."

The memory cleared, leaving Gibbs glaring at the drawing of Hayden Jacklin, the man whose disappearance and presumed death had become an NCIS cold case, one Gibbs had been unable to solve. And now he showed up, seven years later, enhanced by SHIELD and part of the overarching plan of Project Insight.

Hayden Jacklin.

"Cold case?" Bishop echoed. "I'm guessing this is when Ziva worked with you."

McGee nodded. "This was years ago. 2008, I think. We never found out what happened to him. We had a pool of blood at the crime scene, but no sign of the body. And then what small leads we had just...ran out."

"Jacklin used to be a Marine, until he was dishonorably discharged," Gibbs told them, glancing at Loki and Bishop. Loki was resting his hands against the back of Bishop's chair, his expression pensive. Whether he was pondering over the assassin, Project Insight, or something else, Gibbs didn't know. The god of mischief had seemed to have a lot on his mind lately.

"Then why did NCIS investigate his disappearance?" Bishop asked, echoing Ziva's inquiry from seven years ago.

"Vance asked us to, didn't he?" DiNozzo asked, looking at Gibbs. "You never did tell us why, though."

"Because Fury requested it," Gibbs said sharply. "Fury requested that NCIS investigate Jacklin's disappearance. He had a suspicion Jacklin was dead."

Silence fell as the group digested his statement. Fury had known about Jacklin. He would have had to. Jacklin was a part of Operation Blackout, which fell under the wings of Project Insight. He had given NCIS the case to make sure Jacklin was perceived as dead.