Loki swerved into the parking spot next to Gibbs' car, jumping out of the vehicle as soon as it was parked. Gibbs, McGee, and Hailstohm were already out of the car, McGee and Gibbs with their guns drawn and wearing bulletproof vests and Hailstohm holding twin blades, Loki's illusion gone. She looked more intimidating in her original jotun form.

The park was relatively empty, except for the sight of Halo, hurling blue light at the playground equipment. Loki furrowed his brow as he drew his gun, DiNozzo and Bishop doing the same and also clad in protective vests, as he wondered why Halo was in the same place as Agent Sniper.

"Who's she?" Hailstohm asked in an undertone.

"That's Halo," McGee told her. "The one who burned down that neighborhood."

"Ah. So we want her dead."

"Yep. Or, you know, captured."

"I prefer dead."

"Where's Sniper?" DiNozzo murmured. "And why is Halo here?"

"Good evening, NCIS," Halo announced, turning almost lazily away from destroying the playground equipment. "Happy to see me?"

"No!" McGee answered. "You burned Norfolk!"

"Oh, come on," Halo complained, spreading her hands. "What, a girl can't have a little fun around here?"

"Not your idea of fun," Gibbs declared, the NCIS agents moving forward slowly, spreading out in a line. Hailstohm kept even with them, following Gibbs' lead, but the ice plates she had worn in Jotunheim were spreading across her leather tunic to provide her with armor. Loki had time to briefly reflect on how strange this line up was, the four mortal agents, the Asgardian, and the frost giantess, all bent on bringing Halo to justice.

Well, it looks stranger when it's us with the Avengers.

But still, the question of her presence at the park in the first place, so casually destroying the swing set by throwing bursts of blue light at it, nagged at him. Why was Halo here, where was her partner Flare, and why were they in the same location as the one Agent Sniper was reportedly at?

Halo turned to face the NCIS agents, arms thrown slightly back and palms open. Her entire body began to glow with her blue and red light, and the NCIS agents all opened fire simultaneously.

Five bullets sped toward the target, but the former SHIELD agent whipped into action, her aura shifting to red as the scarlet power lit up her fingers, deflecting the bullets away from her. Hailstohm charged forward, swords swinging up ready to attack.

Halo's aura took on a blue tinge as she stepped back into position, her left hand drawing back to her shoulder as she thrust her right hand forward, blue light flashing. The blast struck Hailstohm's crossed swords and she stood against their force for a long moment, leaning into the blue light. Then Halo thrust her left hand forward, blue light pouring forth from her palm and fingers and striking the warrior's blades, propelling her backwards.

Hailstohm flipped backwards and landed on one knee, one hand pressed into the damp grass while the other pointed a sword backwards. But before she could charge the enhanced woman again, Gibbs' voice snapped at her. "Stay down, Hailstohm!"

Hailstohm rose. "Agent Gibbs, she needs to die." And with that, she lunged forward, ice shooting from her fists straight for Halo.

"Whoa!" DiNozzo exclaimed. "Elsa!"

Halo raised her arms as she ducked back, crossing her forearms as her red aura glowed brighter. Her arms lit by the dark red, she managed to deflect most of Hailstohm's round of icicles but one slipped through her defenses and the former SHIELD agent was forced backward, her hand going to the now bloody scrape on her side from where the ice had impaled her.

"Oh, it's on, ice girl," she snarled, her red and blue glow becoming darker and more ominous.

The NCIS agents had moved closer, guns still up. Loki had holstered his and had summoned his daggers, ready to summon his magic. But before they could do anything or Hailstohm and Halo could attack each other again, Flare entered the park, the streetlamps sparking as he held his hands out to collect their power.

"What are they doing here?" McGee murmured. "Where's Sniper?"

Loki felt it before it happened. It was strange, a curling in his ear, a harsh, ancient voice. A flash of red, the thought of Bishop being shot, and that was all. It was enough.

This could be.

Lunging forward, Loki grabbed Bishop and knocked her to the ground, enfolding her in his arms to block her from the shot. Bishop gasped, eyes wide in shock, as the bullet whizzed through the air where she'd been standing.

DiNozzo, McGee, and Gibbs all ducked as more bullets streaked toward them, narrowly missing them. Turning to face the ambush, the NCIS agents saw two figures emerge from the trees, rifles in their hands.

Agent Sniper and her partner, the Ghost.

The Ghost had dark brown hair framing the mask and goggles shielding his face from their view, similar to the mask Sniper wore over the lower half of her face. He was clad in dark clothes, metal covering his left arm, a perfect red star positioned near the shoulder. Rifle in hand, he immediately began firing again at the NCIS agents, Sniper lifting her gun a moment later to join the barrage.

She knows them, knows DiNozzo and Gibbs. She was once Agent Todd.

Hailstohm thrust out her hand, icicles shooting from her fingers and knocking a lot of the bullets off course as the agents sought cover behind trees, the melted playground equipment, and park benches, whatever was close enough to offer some semblance of cover.

Loki grabbed Bishop' arm and shielded her as the two ran toward the playground, diving behind the slide, which now lay on its side, disconnected from the rest of the set. Peering up over the rim, he glanced at their opponents.

Is it too much to hope they'll fight each other instead of us?

But instead of firing at the enhanced, Sniper and Ghost gave Halo and Flare a brief nod, which the former SHIELD agents received with grins of satisfaction. "Well, that's a wrap," Halo commented with a laugh.

"Not yet," Flare said, his skin beginning to emit sparks of electricity. "One more take, and we should be all set."

DiNozzo, crouched behind a tree, frowned, looking grumpy someone was alluding to film beside himself.

"They're on the same team," Loki whispered to Bishop. "They're allies."

"We've got a pretty strong team here ourselves," Bishop whispered back. "Avengers and NCIS agents, not to mention Queen Elsa of Arendelle deciding to join us."

Loki frowned. "Who?"

Gibbs began firing at the group and they snapped to attention as DiNozzo, McGee, Loki, and Bishop all opened fire as well. Hailstohm, who had taken cover behind a tree, had only one of her swords now, the other having transformed into a short javelin.

"Enough of this," Loki snarled, shoving himself up. "Stay here," he told Bishop, and jumped over the downed slide, streaking toward Halo, Flare, Sniper, and Ghost.

Hailstohm also was moving, hurling her javelin at Halo. The former SHIELD agent threw up her arms, crossing her wrists as her palms glowed violently, managing to deflect the javelin as Flare stepped into an offensive position, skin emitting sparks of electricity.

Both Sniper and Ghost started firing at Loki, but the bullets didn't harm him, just striking his skin and falling to the ground. Loki knew he would have painful bruises later, but later was not his concern.

Attention was now on the Asgardian and the jotun as they approached the group, the bullets barely leaving a dent on Hailstohm. Halo sent a burst of blue light at them but Hailstohm deflected it with ice and Loki used his magic to slam the light back at its castor. Halo barely avoided getting struck by her own blast.

Then Flare snapped out his arm and cords of white light shot from his fingers, filling the air with a screech as they slammed into Loki and Hailstohm.

They were flipped head over heels by the blast, Loki feeling the electric shock shooting through his body. It wasn't as severe as Thor's lightning blasts, but it was painful nevertheless, making his mouth dry as the pain rushed through him.

While Loki and Hailstohm had held the attention of the four enhanced individuals, Gibbs had charged out from his cover and was now fighting with Ghost, the soldier holding a dagger against the former Marine's pocket knife. DiNozzo had rushed out of cover and tackled Flare, Bishop and McGee having ceased their fire due to their friends being in the line of fire. Now they were advancing, guns still out, looking for the perfect shot.

Loki shoved himself onto his feet as Hailstohm, enraged, charged Halo. Loki, meanwhile, turned to Agent Sniper, who was currently setting her aim on Bishop.

He felt it again, the rush of warning flooding through him, the feared reality lying before his eyes. "No!" he screamed, racing toward Sniper, gathering his magic and the strange crimson power to him in order to save Bishop and stop the assassin.

Dammit.

The voice rang in his head, but it wasn't his. No, it sounded more like Agent Sniper's.

Not this again. No matter, I'm not running now.

What is happening? Loki thought. Why is she speaking in my head?

A startled voice replied in his own head. Why are you speaking in mine, you idiot?

Then Loki reached out and telekinetically shoved at the bullet she had just fired, sending it spinning away from Bishop. It veered toward Gibbs and the Ghost, the bullet striking Gibbs in the ribs and knocking him to the ground.

The power inside him swept up with his anger. Let us loose, he heard, and thrust out his hand at the Ghost, seeking to kill him and stop him from killing Gibbs before they could get him to the hospital. He imagined the power strangling the assassin, the soldier feeling all the rage and pain Loki felt swirling up inside him, threatening to make his vision go black.

The scarlet tendrils never reached the Ghost.

With a rapidity Loki did not expect, Sniper ran and hurled herself in the way of Loki's magic, taking the blow. But the red power didn't cast her backwards, like it had Halo, or kill her, like Loki had envisioned happening to Ghost.

The red power seemed to absorb into Sniper, momentarily, then was repelled and Loki was frozen, staring at her as she stared back. Both of them were caught in a frozen moment, the crimson enveloping them and connecting them, preventing them from moving or doing anything.

Anything is possible anything is possible anything is possible anything is possible anything is possible.

The rant raced through Loki's head and through Sniper's, he could tell. Their minds were linked for the moment and he saw her mind and she saw his.

He saw her dedication to the Ghost, her discontent, and her slight hesitation toward DiNozzo, McGee, and Gibbs. She felt remorse, sorrow, seeing Gibbs on the ground, but that was past and this was now and Barnes was now, he was all she had.

Barnes?

Likewise, she saw inside him, his love for Bishop, his horror at having injured Gibbs, his close connection with every member of the NCIS team, his dislike but grudging respect for Hailstohm, and his anger at her.

You actually love Eleanor Bishop? That poor girl.

Distant shouts and a flash of blue light disconnected the two, the red magic receding back into Loki and Sniper as they collapsed, and Loki glanced up and over to see Fornell leading a team of FBI agents toward them, all with bulletproof vests and rifles aimed at the enhanced. They were shouting orders but Loki couldn't understand a thing.

The Ghost was gone. Loki caught a glimpse – or a flash – of him supporting Sniper, holding her up, carrying her, not saying anything but the silence meant as much as words to her, and then the image was gone, as soon as it had arrived, out of nowhere and into nowhere.

Halo and Flare put up more a fight, flinging light and electricity at the agents, but then they, too, were gone and Fornell was yelling at someone to "call 911, dammit!" and people were rushing around, Loki still dazed and confused.

Then one thought burst through the haze surrounding his mind. Gibbs.

With that, he bolted to his feet, turning toward where his mentor had fallen. Bishop and McGee were kneeling by Gibbs, obscuring Loki's view. He didn't see DiNozzo. FBI agents were canvassing the ground as Loki stumbled over to Gibbs, hoping against hope he was all right.

Loki collapsed to his knees beside Gibbs, eyes scanning for the injury. The bullet had struck his ribs, puncturing through the bulletproof vest, and there was a lot of blood on the ground. The grass was drowning in it.

Bishop and McGee were both pale, both trying to apply pressure to the wound, Fornell was hurling curses around at the "too slow EMTs," and Gibbs was dying. Loki felt it, felt it in his stomach as his breathing quickened.

He had done this. He had done this. He had done this.

My fault. My fault. My fault.

Gibbs is dying because of me.

Loki knew, instinctively, that there was no time to get him to a hospital, no time to even get him to Asgard. Gibbs would die, here in this park, all because Loki hurled a bullet into his side trying to save Bishop.

No.

I won't let him die.

"Move," Loki told Bishop and McGee, his voice so flat and emotionless he didn't believe it was his. The other two agents looked at him and then scooted back, allowing Loki to move forward until he was beside Gibbs.

Gently, he placed his hand on the wound, fingers inside it, ignoring Bishop's gasp and McGee's question of "What the hell are you doing?" and closed his eyes. Anything is possible, right?

I can make anything possible.

The red power came to his fingers, entering the wound as Loki concentrated. Remove the bullet save Gibbs remove the bullet save Gibbs remove the bullet save Gibbs remove the bullet save Gibbs.

Everything around Loki seemed to stop as he worked to change the reality lying before him. He felt his power draining, felt sweat trickling down his brow and stinging his eyes, but he didn't stop. He had to save Gibbs, had to undo his mistake. I can't lose the only family I have.

Then the bullet was in his hand, hard and slick with blood. One glance at Gibbs' side showed the wound closed, gone, like it never existed.

Hands on Loki's shoulders sent him flying backward into the damp grass as several people in uniforms moved past, carefully loading Gibbs onto a stretcher, carting him into the back of the ambulance. Loki felt Bishop grasp his hand, squeeze it, murmur his name, and Loki turned to her, pulling her toward him and holding her tightly.

"Loki!" Loki looked up, expecting Fornell, but saw DiNozzo, bloodied and tired. "We're following in the car. The FBI will finish up here. Let's go."

Loki nodded, wearily, and released Bishop, dragging himself to his feet. A strong hand grasped his arm and helped him, and he glanced over to see Hailstohm helping him up, her expression solemn. As soon as he was on his feet, arm around Bishop comfortingly, Hailstohm released him and helped McGee up. The five, all bunched together, turned and headed for the cars, ignoring the bustle of the FBI all around them, the ambulance siren ringing in their ears like an eerie mourning bell.

/**/

....

Yeah. That was a...that was a chapter, all right. Sorry I didn't get this up last weekend; it took me a lot longer to write than I had expected. But here it is, and what do you think? About the fight, Hailstohm being called Elsa, and about Gibbs getting shot? (I'm sure there are some strong feelings over the last bit.)

Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it, at least up until things went off the track there for a bit. 

Skylar Wittenborn