The cabin was quiet as morning approached, the sky beginning to lighten. McGee was sleeping in the corner, curled around his closed laptop. Torres slumped against the wall across from him, his chest rising and falling slowly. Rogers lay on the ground by the fireplace, resting on his back, his eyes closed. Gibbs didn't know if he was sleeping or merely mulling over what Kate had said earlier, about her partner being his former best friend.

Gibbs stood by the side of the window, watching the darkness slowly drain out of the sky while being careful not to move before the glass, in case the cabin was being watched. Kate sat by the door, her sniper rifle resting across her knees as she ran her fingers over the smooth surface.

Looking at her, sitting there, Gibbs could still barely believe she was alive. For almost ten years, he had thought Kate was dead, only to learn that she had never truly died, that day. Instead, she had been working for HYDRA as Agent Sniper, working as an assassin and as a tracker.

"What is it, Gibbs?" Kate said quietly, her eyes flickering up to him. "I can tell you want to ask me something."

"Did you know?" Gibbs asked. "Did you know what had happened to you?"

Kate grimaced. "Not in the beginning. Everything was hazy then, during the enhancement process. When my brain cleared, I was no longer Kate Todd. She was someone I knew, but not someone I was. I knew I used to work for NCIS, but my knowledge was clinical, and there was a wall between me and the memories. I knew about them, but I didn't know them."

Kate sighed, glancing down at the rough floorboards. "I was one of the first super-agents, but I wasn't fit for infiltration, due to the fact that Kate Todd was reported dead. So I worked as a tracker and as an assassin where needed. Dr. Aadland, the scientist behind INTEL's programs, used a memory blocker during enhancement, which produced the distance between me and my past life. It made Kate Todd and Agent Sniper two different people. I knew I had been Kate, but then, I was Sniper – a better, stronger version of Kate Todd." She glanced up at Gibbs, her expression solemn. "And I was Sniper up until you pulled my mask off."

"Why were you working with Leopard and Sharpe?" Gibbs asked.

"It was a test," Kate said quietly. "Aadland wanted Kate Todd to die, so only Sniper would remain. I almost did it, too, but...Loki took the bullet for you and all of a sudden, I was Kate again, jumping in front of you on that rooftop. And that rattled me, to the point where, when you pulled off my mask and recognized me and I was prevented from shooting you again – I couldn't finish the job. Aadland determined that completely eliminating Kate Todd was impossible, so he kept me working other jobs. I was never to be concerned with NCIS again – until I shot Captain Morris."

"Why did you work for them?" Gibbs asked.

"At first, I was told what I was doing would save people," Kate said softly, her gaze growing distant. "Then I realized it wasn't, but it was too late. I was...a monster. I was their monster. I was stuck. At one point...I returned to NCIS, looked down on the squad room through the skylight. And I saw Ziva David, sitting in my desk, taking my place. There was no going back. My former life was gone. All I had left was Barnes."

"What happened to Barnes?" Rogers' voice came quietly from the empty fireplace, the super soldier sitting up and looking over at them.

"I don't know much," Kate admitted. "I don't know his file or anything, but I do know him. At least, the version of himself INTEL allowed. We worked together as partners for years." She rubbed her finger over the vibranium coating the stock of her rifle. "He was all I had. And I was all he remembered."

Rogers furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Barnes was memory-wiped, in between missions," Kate told him. "He doesn't remember the past, or much of his various missions. The memory blocker used on me simply disassociated myself from the past, made me view it like it belonged to someone else, but in Barnes, they erased his past. The only thing he was allowed to remember was...me."

"But you were able to come back," Rogers pointed out.

"I had more freedom of mind in the first place than Barnes did," Kate reminded him. "I always did. I'm back now because I can't let what's about to happen, happen. I don't know if anything else would have driven me back. But Barnes – HYDRA has marked him with a permanent brand. They're probably already wiping me from his mind, so that he will have no qualms in...in killing me, when it comes down to that."

****

As the sun rose, Gibbs, Rogers, Torres, and Kate planned out their next steps while McGee worked on decrypting the SHIELD files. Torres went over the details of the super-agent plan, outlining the four phases.

"The first phase introduces super-agents into the US federal agencies, and several other large organizations such as the NYPD," he explained. "I also know that we have agents planted in several foreign agencies, as well, but I wasn't read into all the details. Since Kate was reported dead, she wasn't able to actively participate in the infiltration, although I know Ari initially wanted her to be the mole inside NCIS. But she could help in other aspects, such as mining intelligence and aiding in the elimination of certain targets. Because of that, I didn't need to know all the details."

"I do have a question," McGee asked from the corner, looking up. "It's a bit off topic, but I just...I need to know. Why did you work for Sharpe and Leopard, Kate?"

"Sharpe used to be SHIELD," Kate answered. "He reached out to...some seamier contacts when he came back to earth. They put him in touch with INTEL, who agreed to loan them my services. Sharpe...he quickly came to view Gibbs as a threat, for some reason, and I was ordered to kill him. The mission was deemed a failure in my record."

McGee nodded and looked back to his computer screen.

"We're on the cusp of the second phase," Torres continued. "Where the agents will be activated. From what I was read into, this phase is heavily connected to Project Insight and Operation Blackout. HYDRA will have control of all federal agencies. The third and fourth phases are more ambiguous. I don't know the details."

"How do we stop them?" Rogers asked.

"HYDRA has continued operating under the principle 'Cut off one head and two more will take its place,'" Torres said grimly. "We have to attack the root this time. SHIELD is currently protecting HYDRA, unknowingly to many of them. Insight is the biggest example of that. Many working on the project are unaware that they are aiding and abetting HYDRA's takeover. Insight must be stopped first." He glanced at McGee. "For that, we'll need more data."

"I got something," McGee said suddenly, sitting up straighter. "A location of something, I'm not sure what. But it was heavily encrypted, so I assume it's important."

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"That's odd," McGee said, frowning. "It's at the Bradendale Mall." He met Gibbs' eyes. "Where we first fought Halo and Flare."

There was silence for a moment as they all looked at each other. Then Kate murmured, "There's no such thing as coincidence," and Gibbs agreed.

"Ghost Street is also mentioned several times," McGee said grimly, meeting Gibbs' gaze. "It sounds like it more important than just the Winter Soldier's haunt."

****

One moment, we're all on the same side. The next, Fury is dead, they've all been branded enemies of the state, and no one reads me into what the hell is going on.

Romanoff sighed as she sat on the couch in Gibbs' living room, cleaning her pistol. She knew there were agents watching his house, but they were all currently unaware she was inside.

I need to know where they went.

The television was turned on low, playing some news show. It had been on an old westerns channel, but Romanoff had tired of that quickly. At least, listening to the news, she might be able to glean something useful.

Rogers, Gibbs, and the NCIS agents were in the wind, along with Loki, Thor, and Hailstohm. Romanoff had to wonder what had happened to make them suddenly all enemies, to put them at the top of SHIELD's wanted list. It had to be bad if Pierce himself had ordered their capture, right after Fury's death, too.

She was supposed to be hunting them down, but Director Vance had proved very unhelpful in her search. Romanoff had gotten the hint that he would make their job as difficult as possible. Either he was in on it, or didn't believe his agents were guilty.

Romanoff didn't believe it either, but she had a job to do, regardless.

"You lie and kill, in the service of liars and killers."

Loki's words from two years ago rose, unbidden, to her mind. Despite the fact that he was an enemy of SHIELD, the words had still bit at her, then as now.

"Can you really wipe out that much red?"

Romanoff always responded yes to the troubling thought, but now it gave her pause. Even with Loki's aid during the Battle of DC five months ago and with him being considered reformed, she still thought he should have been executed instead. Agent Gibbs should have shot him while he had the chance, she would vehemently think, but now, thinking back to her reverse interrogation of Loki on the Helicarrier, she had to wonder what happened to her, if Loki was denied a second chance.

"He killed eighty people in two days."

"And how many people have you killed, Agent Romanoff? I think you're in no position to judge him."

Romanoff scowled. There is a difference. I am better than him. He committed more atrocities than I did. He was more dangerous than I was.

But part of her wondered if there really was such a difference between the two of them.

The screen of her phone, resting on the coffee table, lit up, signaling an incoming call. Frowning, Romanoff picked it up and answered it quietly. "Hello?"

"Is this Agent Romanoff?" The voice was female and unfamiliar.

"Who is this?"

"Jane Foster."

Thor's girlfriend. "Yes, this is Agent Romanoff. Where did you get this number?"

"Thor gave it to me," Jane said. "He told me you could be trusted, just in case. I'm not sure who to tell about this, especially regarding...the declaration earlier, but I thought you might want to know that my equipment picked up a disturbance. This disturbance measures on the same scale as an Einstein-Rosen Bridge – like the Bifrost Bridge."

Romanoff tilted her head. "Are you saying you may have a possible location on...the fugitives?"

"Maybe," Jane replied. "It's in a forest in Virginia. I can send you the address."

"Do so," Romanoff told her. "Then I want you to pack up some of your equipment and go to Ghost Street. Wait there for further instructions."

****

Arvolt stared at the realm of Asgard, gripping the Orb in his hand. They were so close to the decadent mereling realm, where the presence of the Aether beckoned to them. They were so close to seizing the ancient weapon, to resurrecting the City of the Darkness.

There was something odd about its beckoning, however, something Arvolt couldn't quite figure out. Different, from what he had been expecting. Weaker, more conflicted. Nevertheless, it was the Aether and so Arvolt would retrieve it.

And the ancient relic encased in the Orb would allow him to do so.