Special Agent 2: The Dark Soldier

Previously On Special Agent

"We had managed to pull fingerprints from the file on Agent Sniper –"

"Agent Sniper?" Fornell interrupted. "The assassin with the sniper rifle?"

Gibbs nodded as he gestured for Abby to continue.

"– and I ran them through AFIS. This morning when I went to check on them, the entire system just shut down. I was unable to access the website again."

"That information can't be lost," Fornell said. "AFIS must be brought back online."

"And it is!" Stark announced. "Don't worry, Agent...Agent, your little fingerprint analysis database is back online."

"What could make it fritz out like that?" DiNozzo asked as Fornell peered over Stark's shoulder as if to verify that it was indeed AFIS which the billionaire had salvaged.

"I don't know," McGee said. "I'm trying to trace the bug...." He trailed off as he frowned in confusion at his screen.

"What?" Abby asked, echoed by Fornell, Gibbs, Stark, Rogers, and DiNozzo.

"The bug is the fingerprint," McGee said bewilderedly. "The fingerprints are what initiated the crash."

"Why?" Fornell asked. "Who do the fingerprints belong to?"

"I don't know," McGee shrugged. "If I run the prints, we run the risk of crashing AFIS again."

"What were you running the prints against?" Gibbs asked, turning to Abby.

"Both the living and dead records," Abby said.

-

"We have almost nothing on her," the FBI agent said. "No fingerprints, no facial recognition, no real name. We call her Kate Sniper."

"Because of the gun," Gibbs said quietly. Fornell glanced over at him.

"Yes, because of the marine sniper rifle she carries. We don't know much else, but we have been able to connect her to various operations and assassinations."

Fornell zoomed in on the list, allowing Gibbs, the Avengers, and the agents to scan the names, places, and dates before continuing. "She seems more of an investigative sort, doing the stealing and research before her assassin buddy comes in to finish the job."

"Who's her partner?" Gibbs asked.

"We don't know," Fornell told him. "He's practically a ghost. Anyway, I've been able to connect her to multiple cases, none before 2008. She's very good, Gibbs. But I'm sure you're already aware of that."

"Do you know who she works for?" Romanoff asked, appearing very interested in the conversation.

Fornell shook his head. "We don't."

-

"You know, I'm starting to wonder why Fury didn't recruit Gibbs for the Avengers," Rogers remarked as Stark couldn't seem to find any words.

-

"I did recruit Gibbs," Fury said, standing in the squad room before the assembled Avengers and agents. Rogers had just asked him his question. "Or, at least, I tried to recruit him."

DiNozzo and McGee exchanged glances. "I don't know whether to be astonished or not," DiNozzo confessed. "I mean, on one hand, Gibbs could have been an Avenger, but on the other – well, why not?"

"He is Gibbs," McGee agreed.

"He turned you down?" Stark asked Fury.

Fury sighed. "Yes, he did."

"Why?" DiNozzo queried curiously.

"Did he know the stakes?" Rogers asked.

"I tried to recruit Gibbs long before Loki showed up," Fury corrected. "He told me no."

"Did he say why?" McGee inquired.

"He said he was already part of a team," Fury replied. "He also quoted your Rule 11 at me."

"When a case is done, walk away," DiNozzo and McGee both muttered, looking very confused.

"But how does that apply here?" DiNozzo asked.

Fury raised an eyebrow. "That is for Gibbs to tell you."

-

"The damage report from that blast of light finally came in," Barton said from Bishop's desk. "Struck a rural town in Virginia. They don't have a number of casualties yet, but they are estimating around forty right now."

-

Gibbs reached up again, grabbing at the mask on her face.

Sniper whipped back as soon as his fingers closed around the rim of her mask, sitting back as the strap holding the concealing cover snapped from the sudden force and the mask came off in Gibbs' hand.

-

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

"Kate."

-

Kate Todd was dead.

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

-

"The original six superheroes, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk, were joined by two new groups of up and coming heroes. The new Avengers from NCIS and ETCD have made a promising debut."

"Look at us," DiNozzo laughed. "We're Avengers now."

-

Fury sighed. "I just received a report back from one of my agents. Two of my STRIKE members were present in the area of the Photon Guard blast." He shook his head. "Connor and Mars were good agents. It's a shame."

-

"Consider yourselves official members of the Avengers," Rogers continued, ignoring Stark. He looked at Gibbs. "We will be calling on you again. Have no doubt of that."

Gibbs nodded. "We'll be ready for you, Captain."

-

"You are always welcome at NCIS," Gibbs said as he drew back. "You are one of my agents, and leaving to return to Asgard won't change that." As Loki's shoulders slumped slightly, he added, "Think of it as a temporary reassignment. It won't be forever. Like Thor and the Avengers."

"I will return," Loki promised.

"I'll hold you to that."

-

"Your badge will remain official," Vance told him. "Your position as an agent of NCIS is permanent, provided you obey the rules and keep your record clean."

-

I can try to be a better son, Loki thought. Perhaps I can once more try to be Loki Odinson. Odin may not have been the best father to me, but he was better than Laufey would have been. I deserve some of the blame, as well. My actions are not always worthy of my upbringing. I did know better.

-

"You have paid for your crimes on Midgard," Odin continued. "But you still owe a debt to the rest of the Nine Realms. You will accompany Thor, the Warriors Three, and Lady Sif in tending to the chaos that has consumed us since the breaking of the Bifrost cut us off from the Realms."