DiNozzo hit the gas, pressing his foot down to the floor. "Brace yourselves!" he snapped as he wrenched the steering wheel to the side, forcing the car over the sidewalk and across the lawn toward the figure dressed all in black.

The figure holding the rifle noticed him too late. The car slammed into the man and flung him up over the hood. The windshield cracked as he hit it, a metal arm smashing through the glass and the fingers attempting to grab hold of something but failing as he flew up over the roof.

DiNozzo slammed on the brakes as shards of glass rained down on him and Rogers, jerking forward against his seatbelt. The car jolted to a halt, the bumper inches away from the side of Gibbs' house.

Bishop was already kicking open the car door, pistol drawn. Pivoting, she fired off two shots at the figure as he landed on the ground, quickly rising to his feet and revealing himself as the Ghost. One of Bishop's bullets struck him in his good shoulder and DiNozzo saw the slight wince ripple across his face in the darkness, but he otherwise didn't react. Instead, he just brought his automatic up at the NCIS agent.

"Bishop!" DiNozzo yelled, throwing himself out of the car. "Get down!" Already, he saw that his warning was too late, the Ghost would mow down Bishop and him as well....

Then the flash of metal caught DiNozzo's eye.

Rogers' iconic shield sliced through the air with a whirring sound, aimed right for the Ghost. The shield hit the rifle, knocking it out of the Ghost's hands. Without even missing a beat, the assassin snatched the shield out of the air, barely becoming unbalanced as he spun and hurled it back at the captain.

Rogers ducked down behind the car just in time. The shield whipped past over his head and the super soldier reached up, grasping the strap of the shield and flipping forward, going with the momentum of the object before twisting it to his own advantage, coming up with the shield in front of him and astonishment in his eyes.

Bishop and DiNozzo seized the moment of distraction to dive for cover, DiNozzo ducking behind the car while Bishop raced toward Gibbs' bullet-riddled front door. "Gibbs, don't shoot! It's Bishop!" she yelled as she kicked the door open and rolled inside. The Ghost sprayed the car with bullets as he backed away, seeking to put distance between himself and the shooters.

DiNozzo, pistol gripped tightly in hand, wondered where Kate was. Weren't Agent Sniper and the Ghost partners? Then, by that logic, shouldn't she be here, backing him up?

Shots came from inside the house, toward the Ghost, as DiNozzo poked up over the hood of the car and fired at the assassin. Lifting his metal arm, the Ghost blocked the bullets, sparks ricocheting from the steel grey metal.

Then DiNozzo saw movement by the side of Gibbs' house.

Someone stood in the shadows, watching them.

"Cap!" DiNozzo hissed, not taking his eyes off the shadow. He had a feeling about this. "Cover me!"

Rogers nodded, expression grim. "On your mark," he said.

"Now," DiNozzo ordered, and Rogers hurled himself over the car, propelling himself across the top as DiNozzo skirted around the hood. Holding his shield up in front of him, Rogers rushed the assassin as Bishop and Gibbs moved out of the door, DiNozzo racing toward the figure in the shadows.

It didn't move as he approached, and the feeling in DiNozzo's stomach was confirmed when he saw the shape of the sniper rifle slung across her back. It was Agent Sniper, watching and not interfering in the proceedings. Neither did she move to escape DiNozzo.

He hit her, hard, but her body just bended easily from the blow, absorbing DiNozzo's momentum as she went over backwards. Then he felt her muscles bunch, bend, and then somehow the world was spinning, his body slamming into the ground, and Sniper was sitting on his chest looking down at him.

Kate, not Sniper.

No, she was Sniper now.

Keep them straight, Tony. Kate is dead. Sniper is just some cruel mockery of her.

"What are you doing, Tony?"

It was hard to keep them straight, he reflected, when everything down to the annoyance in her tone and the inflection on her words was the same as the old Kate.

"What are you doing?" DiNozzo shot back, glaring up at her. "You're the one on the wrong side, Kate."

He saw it in her eyes, reflecting his own in their dark depths, that she knew exactly what was going on. She knew him, remembered him. DiNozzo felt even worse than if she had completely forgotten him. At least then, that would explain why she had been fighting against NCIS, explain the clinical coolness in her tone when she had addressed him after the fight on Ghost Street.

"What happened to you, Kate?" DiNozzo whispered, hands braced against her biceps. "Why are you doing this?" Kate's eyes bored into his and he wasn't sure if he was angry at her, or confused, or what. Everything was so jumbled and twisted, so broken. "Why?" he asked again.

Her eyes softened slightly, but DiNozzo saw confusion there as well. "I need to figure that out, Tony," Kate said quietly. "I need to go."

"Go to do what?" DiNozzo asked, then shoved up against her arms, knocking her off him and then rolling so that he sat on top of her, pinning her down with his knees holding down her arms.

Kate glowered at him. Everything in her face was so familiar, except for the band of metal covering her forehead and snaking into the hair over her temples, as if concealing that fatal bullet wound from sight. Reaching down, DiNozzo pulled her mask down to expose her full face, pain striking his heart. Even with her before his eyes, he could hardly believe she was his former partner, someone he had once wondered about. Someone who had once been close to him.

It had been years since her death, almost ten years ago since he had laughed and talked with her, since it had been him, Kate, McGee, and Gibbs working on cases. So much had changed since then, it felt like. Ziva had taken Kate's desk and then Bishop had received it from her. Jenny Shepherd had taken the director's chair over from Tom Morrow and Vance had received it later from her. And then Loki had arrived, unexpectedly turning into a damn good agent and one of the best friends DiNozzo had ever had.

But yet here he was again, face to face with Kate, almost like nothing had changed and yet everything had.

"You have no idea what they did to me," Kate hissed. "You have no idea what I went through, Tony."

DiNozzo wanted to tell her watching her die wasn't easy, either, but he felt that might come out a touch insensitive. "That's no reason to try and kill us." He winced as soon as he had said it.

Kate's eyes hardened but there was a flash of pain within their depths, gone almost before DiNozzo noticed it. Striking up with her leg, she knocked him off balance and managed to flip him over and get on top of him, her knee pressing into his throat.

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead," she told him quietly. She increased the pressure against his windpipe and then suddenly, it lessened. "Know that, Tony."

Then she jumped off him, racing away into the darkness. Tony shoved himself up onto his elbows and watched her vault effortlessly over a fence before vanishing from sight. A glance back toward the fight revealed the Ghost taking off as well, chased by bullets from Bishop's and Gibbs' guns, Rogers hurling his shield after the assassin.

Turning, the Ghost caught the shield, glaring back at them before hurling it back at Rogers, catching him off guard and sending him sliding backward as the object struck him in the abdomen. Then the Ghost vanished into the night, blending in with the shadows.

If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Know that, Tony.

What had happened to Kate, to turn her into Sniper? And why was she working for the enemy?

****

Gibbs stood in the observation room, staring into the operating room at the unconscious Fury on the cold metal table, an oxygen mask shielding his face. Maria Hill stood beside him, her arms crossed and brow furrowed. As Deputy Director of SHIELD, she might just get a temporary promotion if the operation didn't go well.

Gibbs already knew it didn't look well. But if anyone would make it out of this, it would be Fury.

Rogers, Bishop, and DiNozzo were also there, sweaty and tired from their fight with the Ghost. Sniper hadn't actively joined the fight after leaving Gibbs' basement and he wondered what her next move would be. Her loyalty to her employer was wavering; why else would she have spared Gibbs when she obviously had orders to shoot?

The door slammed open and Romanoff raced into the room, her eyes wide and face pale. She came up beside DiNozzo and swallowed as she saw Fury lying on the table. DiNozzo stepped away from her as she brushed against him, his expression anguished, turmoil in his eyes.

Silence reigned among the group as they watched, no one wishing to speak. It was like if they held their breath, Fury would survive.

Then the monitor showing Fury's vitals displayed the dropping red line, flat lining, and the doctors moved quickly, calling out to each other as they set the defibrillator against Fury's chest and attempted to revive him.

Nothing.

Nick Fury was pronounced dead minutes later.

Hill turned to look at Gibbs, her eyes hard. Without speaking, she took his hand and folded something into it, giving him a grim look before leaving the room.

When Gibbs pulled back his fingers, he saw a small USB drive sitting in the palm of his hand.

****

Loki and McGee entered the bare, white room, glancing at the small group of people assembled around Fury's body. Gibbs, Rogers, Romanoff, DiNozzo, and Bishop were all there, Fury's body covered with a white sheet, his face exposed.

When Bishop had called Loki about Fury's death, he had left NCIS immediately, leaving Carpenter and Fornell in charge as he drove to the hospital. He had found McGee in the lobby, having arrived the minute before in response to a similar call from Gibbs. A nurse had escorted them down to the room where they now stood, staring at Fury's body.

Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, was dead.

That was an almost incomprehensible turn of events.

"This isn't happening," Romanoff said flatly, looking down at Fury. Her expression was distant, the pain in her eyes muted, her arms crossed stiffly over her chest. Her entire body was tense, ready to fight or run.

"It was the Ghost," Rogers said quietly, from where he stood by the wall. "Agent Sniper's partner. I didn't see her there, though." He glanced at DiNozzo, who was leaning against the window. The NCIS agent stirred but said nothing.

Bishop turned and saw Loki and McGee, standing in the doorway. She walked over to them, wordlessly wrapping her arms around Loki and laying her head on his chest. He placed his arms around her, glad she was still alive. He would trade Fury for her any day.

The thought that he would so willingly do that unsettled him a little.

Gibbs, sitting on a chair's armrest, glanced down at the box of Fury's personal possessions perched on the seat, his hand resting on the edge. As Loki watched, he dipped his hand into the box and within a moment withdrew it again, concealing something square in the palm of his hand. Loki furrowed his brow but said nothing.

"What now?" McGee asked, glancing around the silent room, looking worried.

"We catch this bastard," Gibbs said, standing. "And we make him pay."

/**/

I'm so, so sorry for the late update! My homework and the novellas I'm writing for the ONC have taken up a lot of my free time, but I will be doing my best to try and update Dark Soldier! My midterms are wrapping up, so I should be able to do some regular updates for a while (hopefully).

What do you think? About DiNozzo confronting Kate and Fury's death? We're in deep Winter Soldier territory now.

Skylar Wittenborn