Special Agent 2: The Dark Soldier

Chapter 1

The car was on time.

Kate Todd smiled from her perch, where she peered at the approaching vehicle through her sniper's scope. She loved it when an op started out exactly as planned.

This particular street in DC was quiet, no one coming and going in the midafternoon sun. It had been planned that way. Kate massaged the trigger gently, waiting for the opportune moment to fire.

The comm in her ear suddenly came to life. "Snipes, you in position?"

The corner of Kate's mouth quirked up. "Ready and waiting, Barnes."

"It's your shot," Barnes told her. She could hear that certain undertone running through his voice, where his voice didn't sound so...dead. She only heard that note when he addressed her, either in person or over the comm, when it was only the two of them. A note of comradeship, trust, loyalty...whatever. Kate always referred to it as the sound of life.

She was all he had, after years of killing. He was all she had, after being designated for the super-agent program.

Kate focused her mind on the task at hand and peered through her scope. The driver's side door was opening.

The Navy captain stepped out of the car, dressed in his official, freshly pressed uniform. He shut the door and locked the car. Glancing over at the old building that served as a drop point, he tucked his keys into his pocket.

"When you're ready," Barnes said into her ear.

"That'd be now," Kate murmured, positioning the captain between her crosshairs. Gently, she squeezed the trigger.

The sniper bullet shot from the barrel, flying down from her rifle straight into the captain's forehead. Within a second, he had collapsed to the ground, the back of his head blowing out from the force of the bullet. Blood covered the hood of his car and dotted the ground.

An oddly satisfying feeling crept over Kate as she tapped her forehead absently. The metal band underneath her fingertips still caught her unawares, at times, despite it having been in place since a sniper bullet had torn through her own head, back in 2005.

Perhaps that was why she got such a kick out of doing it to others.

Ari, her killer, was dead now. She knew that, had heard it shortly after she had been awoken, brought back to life as one of HYDRA's "super agents." He, too, had been shot. Kate called that justice.

Lifting up her rifle, she slung it over her back and headed to the fire escape ladder. She climbed down the faded red rungs, jumping down the last two stories to the ground. She landed in a crouch in time to see Barnes striding out from his position within the building, machine gun cradled in his arms as he approached the captain's body. He knelt beside him and searched through the corpse's pockets as Kate rose and came over to the car.

Barnes pulled a USB drive from the captain's pocket as Kate smashed the driver's side window with the butt of her sniper rifle. Reaching inside, she unlocked the car door and then slipped into the car.

"Is it there?" Barnes asked, his voice louder in her earpiece than it was through his mask. It had been orchestrated that way, to allow them to still communicate during ops that involved more civilians than this one did.

Kate grasped the laptop bag, checking to ensure the computer was within, and slid out of the car. "Got it."

"Let's clear out."

Standing, Barnes and Kate turned, shooting out the two cameras in the area overlooking the murder. The black Sudan that pulled up alongside the captain's car stopped and the Winter Soldier and Agent Sniper jumped inside. Agent Sivil floored it as soon as the door shut, speeding away from the scene of the murder.

"You got it?" he asked in his Spanish accent, glancing back at them. Kate's handler may be shorter than average, but he made up for it through his muscular frame. He wouldn't go down without a fight, with a gun or without. His black hair was slicked off his dark forehead, and while his nondescript black clothes didn't mark him as a HYDRA operative, it certainly did fit his character.

"Yes," Barnes replied. "The USB drive and the laptop."

"Good work," Sivil said. "Now let's get you back to base."

/**/

Ahh! First chapter is finally up! What did you think? Of Kate and Bucky's teamwork? Excited to see what happens next?

I can't wait to start releasing the other chapters reintroducing the NCIS team and Loki....

Also, on another note, the first book, Special Agent Loki Laufeyson, just got nominated in the Fiction Awards for Best Plot Twist, Best Plot, Best Supporting Character (with Tony DiNozzo), and Best Antogonist (for Agent Sniper)!

Thank you so much, I_of_the_Fandom!

So if you want to help support the first Special Agent, you can go and nominate the book too! It would make my day if you did!

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/220008921-the-fiction-awards-2020-nominations-open

Also, a question: I'm thinking of starting a writer's discord (to talk about Marvel, books, Special Agent, Loki, NCIS, etc.) and I'm trying to see how much interest there is before starting it. So, let me know if you'd want to join it!

Thank you so much for reading! Leave a vote and a comment, let me know what you think!

Skylar Wittenborn