NCIS Navy Yard

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

"What is it you want?"

Abby took a deep breath. Finally. There was finally a chance she could do something here. "I need to talk to you in person. I wouldn’t trust anything over the phone lines."

"Why not?"

Abby put her head in her available hand. "Something’s happened here. Something that I think you might want to know."

"You’re a part of NCIS, right?"

Abby narrowed her eyes. "How did you know?"

She heard the man’s sarcastic snort. "Ms. Sciuto, your address popped up after you sent the first message."

She gritted her teeth. So much for being the freakishly-amazing forensics scientist. "Yes, I’m with NCIS."

"Fornell’s on his way over, if that’s what you want. I heard one of your agents got himself into a bit of trouble."

Abby stiffened. "It’s herself."

The man on the other end cut himself off abruptly. "Oh. A woman?"

Abby swallowed and nodded. "Someone very important."

"Does this have to do with why you’re calling?"

Abby nodded. "Yes," she whispered.

"All right. Where do you want me to meet you?"

Abby thought for a few minutes. "Well . . . how much do you like Starbucks?"

***

Starbucks

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

Abby pushed open the door to Starbucks, looking at her watch. Ten minutes had gone by since she had talked to . . . whichever Avenger she had talked to.

She smiled to herself, walking over to where the napkins and straws were. It was funny: she had talked to one of the Avengers, and she hadn’t even gotten his name. Then again, she was going to find out soon.

She looked up at the menu, then snorted and shook her head. Starbucks caffeine would never keep her running the rest of the day. From her bag, she took a rather large cup of Caf-Pow and started looking for sugar packets.

"Hey!" one of the workers called to her. "No outside drinks allowed."

Abby snorted, looking at him. "I come here all the time, and I’m fine!"

"Do you ever come in here with one of those?" he retorted.

Abby could tell her face was burning. People from the chairs were starting to stare. "Yes," she replied hotly. "No one’s ever told me off before!"

The worker had come out from behind the counter. "Look, if you don’t get out of here now – "

Abby snorted. "What? You’re gonna beat me up?"

The worker swung his fist right at her when out of nowhere, another hand caught his wrist and flipped him right into the wall. The worker sputtered and started to get to his feet, but suddenly a knife was pointed right at his throat.

Abby scrambled away, her jaw dropping when she recognized the man that had probably just saved her life. Light brown hair, blue eyes, and obviously a warrior.

It was the same man from the photograph with Natasha and the other two women.

"Let’s put it this way," the man told the worker, his voice in a whisper so only Abby and the worker could hear. She was startled. It was the same voice from when she talked to the Avenger on the phone. "You’re going to get out of here right now and never come back. If you try to find and hurt this woman again, you’re not going to get away alive. Got it?"

The worker swallowed. "Yes, sir."

He scrambled to get out of there when the man called out again. "And buddy?"

The worker turned, swallowing. The man smirked, holding up an FBI badge. "It’s agent."

The worker really busted out of there after that.

Abby turned, swallowing, to look at her savior. He was smiling tightly, shaking his head. "You wanted some of these?" he asked casually, tossing her a few sugar packets.

"Yes," she managed, catching them and opening her Caf-Pow cup. "Thanks."

The man waved his hand, putting his badge away. "Don’t mention it." He ordered a cup of coffee, then looked at Abby. "I’m assuming you’re the one that I talked to over the phone, correct?"

Abby nodded. "Abby Sciuto. I’m NCIS’s chief forensic scientist."

"Clint Barton," the man introduced himself, holding a hand out. Abby shook it. "I’m sorry about the agent you lost."

"She’s not dead yet," Abby replied, sitting down by one of the windows. Clint got his coffee, then sat down next to her. "She’s just in a coma."

Clint was silent. "What does this have to do with me?"

Abby hesitated, then reached down into her bag. "There was a case that we were working on. She knew who the killer was and went to confront him."

"For what good it was."

Abby smirked. I know why he was Nat’s friend. "Well, it also led me to you."

Clint raised an eyebrow, putting down his coffee. "Really?"

"Really." Abby withdrew Natasha’s photograph from her bag and handed it over to him. "Because specifically before she went to confront the guy, she told me to find the photograph I didn’t recognize. This was it."

Clint took the photo. He looked at it for a quick second, and he visibly stiffened. He handed it back to Abby, and there was a new look in his eyes: worry. "One of the girls."

Abby nodded. "Natasha."

Clint's eyes widened. He gripped the edge of the table, looking at her. "What was the case?"

Abby brought out her laptop and started tapping away at the keys. "Two Navy SEALs were killed onboard the USS Blackhawk. Gibbs – my and Natasha’s boss – brought the team out there. Natasha was abducted when she went after someone she thought she recognized. The team found blood around where she was, but there was no mark on her whatsoever except for minor bruising."

Clint nodded, listening. "It could have been her abductor’s."

"That’s what I figured." Abby pulled up the file she was looking for. "After a while, the Medical Examiner brought up a blood sample he thought I should scan. I did, and there was a huge amount of gamma radiation in the blood. Something wasn’t right. I ran whose blood it was."

"It was Natasha’s."

Abby looked up at Clint to see him staring at her with something she was very afraid of. "This man is going to die, isn’t he?" she asked slowly.

"If I get my hands on him, he doesn’t stand a chance," Clint spat out in reply.

Abby let out a laugh, and he started, then looked at her. "What, you don’t believe me?" he asked.

Abby shook her head, still smiling. "Oh, I believe you. You just reminded me of Gibbs for a second."

"I’ll take that as a good thing."

"It is."

"Did she tell you who it was?"

Abby pulled up another photo. "Well, I was pulling files from Natasha’s computer and found these."

She showed it to Clint, and he seethed, his face draining of color. "Damn."

Abby looked back at the photo. The man that was showing up had black hair slicked back with emerald eyes. He was dressed in what appeared to be black, green, and gold armor with a gold spear. "I didn’t know who he was."

"You don’t have to," Clint snapped, standing up with his coffee. "I do."

"Who?" Abby asked worriedly, packing everything up.

"He’s not from around here," Clint replied, looking around. "Do you have any place we could talk some more without anybody listening?"

"We could always try back at NCIS," Abby replied slowly, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Clint shook his head, taking her arm and walking her out of the store. "Not good enough." They started walking towards a black Charger that was parked along the sidewalk. "We’re heading towards the Pentagon."

Abby stopped, looking at Clint. "The Pentagon? Who’s there that we can trust?"

"Oh, you can trust him," Clint assured her, turning to look at her. "Captain Steve Rogers. Or as the Avengers like to call him, Captain America."

***

Yay! First chapter's on! Abby officially has Clint on her side, and he is helping her gather up all of the other Avengers! Cap will officially be in the next chapter, and who's going to come after that?? GUESS! And comment. And review. And all of that fun stuff. Bye!