Vertigo (Book Three of The Avengers Reports)

Chapter Eleven (Picture of the Chitauri)

City Streets

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

DiNozzo was pretty sure that four Special Agents just wandering around in the streets of Washington D.C. looked pretty suspicious. The fact that no one even looked at them made it even weirder. Ziva was sitting at a Starbucks nearby, and Borin was hanging out by the newspaper stand across the street. Further down, McGee was - of course - window shopping by Apple. DiNozzo was down the opposite street, just acting like he was on a walk.

There was a click from the earwig in his ear. "Everyone here?" Steve asked.

That was their cues. "Two, standing by," Thor's voice replied.

"Four, standing by," Bruce put in.

"Five, standing by."

"Six, standing by."

"Seven, standing by." Out of the corner of his eye, DiNozzo saw Loki walking casually through New York in a green dress shirt with a black suit jacket over it, black dress pants, and shoes. He looked like he fit in perfectly with the others on their way home from work. The only thing different was the gold walking stick he carried that had a blue gem on it. DiNozzo grinned. He sure was a master of deception.

"Eight, standing by." That was Maria.

"Nine, standing by."

"Ten, standing by." DiNozzo looked up on top of one of the rooftop buildings. He could see Gibbs patrolling on top of it. Right across from him was Clint. No one seemed to notice as the archer's bow sprang to full length.

"Eleven, standing by," Borin reported, seeming to talk to herself as she leaned in to examine a newspaper better.

"Twelve, standing by," DiNozzo put in, looking down at his phone as if he was reading off a message.

Ziva raised her coffee cup up to her mouth. "Thirteen, standing by," she said, then took a sip.

McGee looked down at the notepad he was carrying. As he did, he put in, "Fourteen, standing by."

"Fifteen, standing by," Ducky's English accented voice put in.

"Sixteen, standing by," Abby finished.

There were a few beeps, and DiNozzo chuckled. "Seventeen's standing by, too," Abby added.

"I'll go talk to the Chitauri," Loki told them. "The sooner this gets over with, the sooner . . . it gets over with."

"Good luck, brother," Thor told him.

"Look . . . I may not be with them, but we still are not brothers!"

DiNozzo snickered. "Does he say that a lot?"

"Trust me," Clint muttered, "he does."

 ***

Natasha slowly came to, trying to blink away the darkness she kept seeing. It took her a while to realize that it was dark where she was looking. She frowned, turning her head this way and that as she sat up from where she was on the floor.

She realized then that her hands were tied with rope behind her back. She closed her eyes remembering what happened. Great. I was attacked by Chitauri.

There were soft footsteps, then a voice from her nightmares spoke: "Enjoying yourself, Agent Romanoff?"

"Boone," she breathed in fear, struggling more than ever to get out of the ropes around her wrists.