Outside of the Pentagon

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

Natasha knew Loki was in the warehouse as soon as she stepped inside.

She swallowed, raising her empty hands in the air. "Loki?" she whispered.

There was a sound behind her, and she felt movement approach her. "Arms out."

Natasha whimpered but obeyed, stretching her arms out. She felt Loki’s hands probe her body, taking the guns out of their holsters and finding the knife in her boot. Finally, he withdrew and stepped back. "You found out about Mariana."

It wasn’t a question. Natasha turned to face Loki, who was standing in his battle gear without his helmet. Luckily, his staff wasn’t in sight. "Yes," Natasha replied, dropping her arms to her sides. "Our forensic scientist found out. It was a blood test."

"Amazing work of the Midgardians," Loki commented to himself. He then looked at Natasha. "The test itself."

Natasha reached into her back pocket and withdrew the blood test. "Can I go now?"

"Not until I finish with it," Loki replied, taking the paper from her. "You might as well take a seat or something."

Natasha simply sat down on the floor, crisscrossing her legs Indian style. Loki looked the test over, then seethed and tossed it back at her. "I can’t believe it."

Natasha shrugged. "I would take you to see her myself, but you probably wouldn’t even make it halfway past the door."

"Really?" Loki asked, cocking his head at her. "Why is that?"

Natasha smirked. "I wouldn’t stop anyone from putting a bullet through your head."

Loki’s eyes narrowed, and Natasha keeled backwards, feeling a sudden head warp throughout her body. She gasped in pain, then started to hyperventilate as the heat continued to happen. All of a sudden, it cut short, and she glared at Loki.

He was watching her with interest, then looked around. "That’s once. It didn’t take much to activate the gamma radiation inside of you. One more time, and I might just make it kill you." He looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes scanning her entire body. "Or maybe just knock you out."

Natasha didn’t have a comment to that.

***

The Pentagon

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

He ran a hand through his hair one more time, reviewing the e-mail he’d gotten from one of his teammates an hour ago. He couldn’t believe the results.

There was gamma radiation somewhere in Washington D.C., and it was an amazing amount of it, too.

He just needed to figure out where.

A sudden flashing caught his eye: he turned to see a blue and white ME van pull up to the warehouse just outside of the Pentagon’s borders. Peeling in behind it were two black Chargers. He frowned. They were federal government-issued cars.

Standing, he called the FBI again. Once again, his contact there picked up. "You again?"

"Is that the FBI on the borders?" he questioned.

"No," his contact replied. "Why?"

"Government-issued cars are at the warehouse across from the Pentagon," he replied. "It’s not the FBI?"

He could hear the sigh from the other line. "Cap, you know that."

The Captain shook his head. "Something isn’t right."

"When has anything been right since New York?" his contact quipped, then hung up.

The Captain put his phone back in its cradle, sitting down and going back to his computer. Whatever was wrong, he was sure the feds could handle it.

***

Outside of the Pentagon

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

Gibbs slammed the car’s door closed, looking behind him as Ziva and Tony exited their car as well. Ducky and Jimmy got out of the ME van with McGee coming out of the back end. "Be careful in there, Jethro," Ducky advised him.

Gibbs nodded. "Thanks, Duck."

He drew his gun and approached the warehouse, his team falling into step behind him. "Plan of attack, boss?" Tony asked.

Gibbs shook his head. "Find Natasha. If the bastard does anything to get in our way, shoot him up."

"With pleasure," Ziva replied.

***

Natasha watched as Loki’s head suddenly shot up, his eyes gorging into her face. "What are they here for?"

Natasha’s eyes widened. "Who?"

"The cars that just pulled up outside," Loki snapped, holding out his hand. His scepter suddenly appeared, and he pointed it straight at her. "Government issued. ME van. With the NCIS logo on it."

Natasha’s jaw dropped. Surely they hadn’t told . . . "I never even told them where I was!"

Loki sneered, walking straight up to her and pulling her to her feet. "They knew somehow!" His eyes suddenly went to her arm. "What’s in it?"

Natasha started to shake. She knew what he had sensed. "What’s what?"

He snarled, pushing her onto her knees as he pulled her left arm behind her back. She screamed in pain, hoping at least someone would hear her. Loki’s scepter slashed at the place just below her wrist, and she yelped in shock. The microchip hidden under her skin fell out into his hand, and he held it up, his mouth in a tight smile. "So. So."

He held it up for her to see. "You were part of the Phantom Eight."

"Actually, it was the Phantom Eleven, if you included me, Clint, and Maria," Natasha corrected, then winced. She had just given away her position.

"And that was how they found you." Loki paced back and forth. "I should kill you here and now."

"You wouldn’t be that big of an idiot, would you?" Natasha huffed, thinking she could get away with that.

She was wrong.

Loki whirled at her, pointing his scepter right at her heart. "Your friends are scattered, and the others unaware of what is going on," he sneered, the tip of the scepter glowing blue. "What was it your friend Sciuto said? You have three months to live?"

Natasha swallowed.

"My dear Black Widow, that time is about to decrease dramatically."

From then on, Natasha couldn’t even see. She was blacking out, heat warping around her body, and she was screaming until she couldn’t scream again. All that she saw before she fell into darkness was the vague image that Loki was turning away from her and towards the doorway.

***

NCIS Navy Yard

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

The photo was taken from a professional, Abby could tell. Natasha was smiling with two other women and a man, all of them in black. For some reason, all three women were in catsuits, but one – with chocolate hair and the same-colored eyes – had a white lab coat on over hers. The man was just wearing a black T-shirt, jacket, and black jeans.

Abby could also tell that he was a soldier.

She gently peeled the back off of the photo, and a slip of paper fell into her hand. She turned it over to see a typed note on it:

Abby,

If you’re reading this, then something terrible has happened to me, and I’ve trusted you with this secret. The two women – Agent Maria Hill and Scientist Jane Foster – are not who you need to find. The man – Agent Clint Barton – is. He’s one of them.

The other four men you need to find are the only others that can help me. Steve’s in your area, so is Clint. Bruce is who knows where in the world. Thor’s not from around here, so good luck finding him, and Tony . . . well, he’s probably at a night club somewhere.

Find the five men, Abby. And find it before whenever it is I’m supposed to die. If you don’t find them, I’m out of time.

After all, we took out the party in New York City a few years ago.

Natasha

Abby let the piece of paper fall onto her desk in shock. New York? Taking out the party?

She knew why that sounded so familiar. But it couldn’t be . . .

Quickly, she began typing fast and furiously on her keyboard. The results popped up –

And her jaw dropped when she saw the familiar picture illuminate the screen. She hadn’t been wrong. That was when there had been the massive alien attack that almost leveled New York City.

It was also when a group known only as the Avengers had shown up and destroyed them all. Five men and one woman.

And she knew who that woman was.

She leaned back in her seat, feeling a little dizzy. Natasha Romanoff was not just an NCIS agent.

She was also the Black Widow of the Avengers and an agent of SHIELD.

Abby started to pull up new search tabs. If Natasha had been serious about what needed to get done, she needed to work quickly.

***

A Hospital in the City

Washington DC, Capitol of the United States of America

Gibbs looked down at Natasha from where he was standing in her hospital room. The young Russian woman looked horrible. Her fiery red hair had lost its previous shine, and it stood out sharply against her chalk white face.

Quite simply, she looked like death.

When he heard the door open, he looked up to see Vance enter, looking down at his fallen agent. "What happened?" he asked finally.

Gibbs shook his head. "I’m not even sure, Director. All that we know was that she faced off against some opponent and was horribly outmatched. She was knocked out cold when we reached her."

"And now she’s in a coma," Vance concluded, "and we’re waiting for her to wake up."

Gibbs swallowed, nodding. "I should’ve figured she had been hiding something."

The door to the room opened again, and both men looked to see one of the doctors enter. "We think we know what’s keeping her like this," she told them.

"Who’re you?" Vance asked.

The woman raised an eyebrow coolly behind her glasses. "Shelby Cross," she replied.

"Agent Gibbs," Gibbs introduced himself, then nodded at the Director. "Director Vance."

"I’m sorry about Agent Romanoff," Dr. Cross told them both as she turned to the monitor by Natasha’s bed.

"You said you know why this happened?" Vance asked.

Dr. Cross nodded, pulling up a blood test. "There were no visible signs of combat on her?"

Gibbs shook his head. "No, ma’am."

"Then I know." Dr. Cross turned the screen towards Vance. "She shouldn’t have been out in the field."

Vance narrowed his eyes. "Gamma poisoning?"

Dr. Cross nodded. "The woman is a dead agent walking."

"She won’t be walking for long," Gibbs murmured. He looked up at her sharply. "Do you have a cure?"

Dr. Cross shook her head. "Unless we come up with something on the fly, and soon, then I don’t know what we can do for her. I’m so sorry."

***

So we have a problem. Natasha's lying in the hospital in a coma while Loki's still out there somewhere. And there might be a problem since now Abby knows that Natasha is officially the Black Widow. Who can guess what's gonna happen?