Special Agent Loki Laufeyson

Chapter 77

Gibbs fell back. For a moment, time was frozen as he stared at the face of Agent Sniper, revealed at long last.

Circular face, straight nose, light brown eyes, lips that so often lifted into a smirk when snapping back sarcastic comments at DiNozzo. A face that had indignantly watched him take over her case when they first met, a face that had solved many cases working alongside him, watched his back, questioned his assumptions on suspects and clues. She had held her ground, both against him and DiNozzo, multiple times, sticking to her gut and trusting her instincts. It had been her face who had haunted him, asking him why. Why it had to be her.

Because her face was the one that had ended up with a bullet flying through it.

He knew her face. Aside from the foreign strip of metal encircling her forehead, hiding the bullet wound from sight, it was the same face that he had seen on Ducky's autopsy table, lifeless and pale.

The gun in her hand brought her voice, sharp and vivid, searing through his mind. "No, I think I'm destined to shoot you."

The gun lifted, centered on his heart. Her words, spoken on Air Force One so many years ago, looked like they were about to be fulfilled. She had been right.

Gibbs couldn't move, couldn't think of anything to say besides one thing, one name, which came out slowly.

"Kate."

Former NCIS Special Agent Kate Todd paused for a fraction of a second before bringing her finger to bear on the trigger.

The sound of thrusters caught Gibbs' attention and Kate's eyes moved slightly. It was enough.

Loki dropped out of the sky as Stark zoomed past overhead, slamming his scepter into Kate's shoulder. Kate went with the motion, rolling to the side and coming up with her gun firing. Loki simply blocked the bullets as he charged at her, the scepter's stone gleaming in its blade.

Kate's sniper rifle flew to her hand in time to parry Loki's strike. The two fought across the rooftop, their skills evenly matched. Vibranium against alien metal clashed as Stark dropped out of the sky and shot a blast at the sniper. With a twist of her rifle, she managed to deflect the beam at Loki, who was hurled backwards by the sudden force, his scepter clattering to the ground nearby.

Dropping into a crouch, Kate jabbed her rifle at Stark's knees, knocking him slightly backwards, and then jammed her weapon up towards his helmet, striking him in the chin. Stark fired at her but she just barely dodged the blast and twirled her rifle to slam the butt into the underside of his helmet again, somehow managing to knock him more off balance.

Then, with a kick to the pelvis that would have made Gibbs proud had she not been an assassin and trying to kill his allies, Kate sent Stark crashing to the ground. With the familiar smirk crossing her face, Kate turned and ran towards the edge of the roof, swinging her rifle over her back.

As she reached the edge, she launched herself into space, somehow clearing the fifteen foot distance between their roof and the next, landing lightly on the opposite building and continuing her sprint. When she reached the end of that rooftop, she jumped off of it and down into the alleyway, disappearing from sight.

"Rogers," Loki groaned. "Sniper has escaped us...."

Stark sat up slowly, his helmet sliding back. "Ouch," he muttered. "Where'd she go?"

Gibbs was still staring in the direction she had disappeared in, still unable to believe it had been her. Kate had been killed. He had seen her shot, watched her eyes widen and the blood fly out of her head, and had witnessed her body crumple onto the ground. He had seen her body on Ducky's autopsy table. He had chased her killer down. He had gone to her funeral.

Kate Todd was dead.

But Agent Sniper was, without a doubt, Kate Todd. And she was certainly not dead.

"Gibbs?" he heard Loki ask. The Asgardian was kneeling beside him, head cocked quizzically. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Gibbs replied curtly, forcing himself to sit up and get to his feet. "I'm fine, Laufeyson."

Stark climbed to his feet as Loki rose. "They need us, Gibbs. The last of the Chitauri have assembled near the Navy Yard. We can finish them all off in one final blow."

Thor landed on the rooftop, denting the material beneath him from the force of his landing. "Stark, you take Agent Gibbs," he ordered. "Loki is coming with me."

Gibbs looked down at the mask, still gripped tightly in his hand. Throwing the disguise off to one side, he nodded to Stark. "Let's finish this."

/**/

Didn't see that coming!

Did Agent Sniper's identity surprise you? I know some people were hypothesizing that it was Ziva - but no! It's Kate!

I'm sorry, I've just been really excited to reveal that information for a long time now. So, what did you think???? I know, I know, she's "dead" - but this is Marvel. "No one's ever really gone."

And yeah, that's a Star Wars quote. 

Thanks for reading! Please, remember to vote and let me know what you thought!

Skylar Wittenborn