McGee's fingers flew across the keyboard as he wrote a new section of code for the Blackout Interface. Loki, Gibbs, and Sharon Carter stood guard, Loki continually glancing down at computer screen as the code scrolled past.

"You there yet?" he asked for the umpteenth time, his tone impatient.

McGee gritted his teeth. "Almost. Just...give me a second."

He continued to type, rewriting the code so as to sever Jacklin's connection to the Blackout satellite. He was almost there. Almost...almost....

McGee was so engrossed in the coding process, he barely noticed the three versions of Jacklin that suddenly appeared in the doorway, startling Sharon. Gibbs immediately opened fire, and Loki began to fire blasts of crimson energy at them.

And still, McGee carried on rewriting the code. It was the only way to stop all of this.

****

"Hill!" Wilson called, aiming his pistols at Flare and one of the three Jacklins, his wings spread in apprehension.

"I'm good," Hill groaned, grabbing at the railing with her other hand. She hauled herself up, falling over the railing onto the catwalk. Wilson flicked his gaze back to their opponents, running through their options in his head. Two of them against four assailants. Odds weren't great.

This is going to be fun, he thought grimly.

Firing at Flare, Wilson threw himself sideways off the catwalk, hoping to draw attention away from Hill so she could recover. Flare dropped into a half-crouch, arms up to block the bullets. The air felt charged with electricity, but Wilson noticed that the enhanced STRIKE agent wasn't doing his signature energy pull. That's right. He'd cripple the helicarrier if he drew too much of its power. Better for us.

Two of the Jacklins leapt off the struts, clambering toward the catwalk and Hill, who was now on her feet with her pistol drawn. She fired at Jacklin as she made her way toward the control panel, her expression grim and determined. The third Jacklin and Flare kept their focus on Wilson.

"We've got four on us," Wilson said into his comm. "McGee, where are you with that revised code?"

"Almost there!" McGee said desperately. "Just hold out a moment longer...."

Wilson wove through the metal struts, his wings retracting and twisting as necessary to keep from banging against the structure. He continued to fire at Flare and the Jacklin variants, Hill opening fire at the two focusing on her. Two of the Jacklins were hesitating to return fire, as if missing Hill meant striking the control array.

Wait....

Wilson snapped his wings in and grabbed onto a strut, a controlled blast from Flare shooting right past him. He needed to get to the catwalk, to the control array, as it would provide a shield nothing else could.

Hill had reached the target and was pressed against the metal, firing at the Jacklins. Wilson crawled down the strut, keeping his wings retracted. Flare was also migrating toward the catwalk, his eyes intent on the Falcon. Wilson waited a moment, gauging the distance, and then spun and jumped right at the enhanced agent.

Flare started in surprise as Wilson snapped his wings out and powered right at him. He lifted his arms but didn't have the time to draw any energy before Wilson slammed into him, knocking him off the strut. They fell toward the protective, transparent surface beneath them, grappling for the upper hand.

Wilson managed to land on top, slamming Flare's head back against the barrier. The agent's eyes unfocused for a moment, his arms falling back. He thought he was unconscious, then he saw his fingers twitch.

They bent inward and Wilson felt the air crackle.

But Flare wasn't blasting at him; no, he was sucking the electricity from Wilson's pack.

Wilson's wings twitched and folded inward as he heard metal screaming, screeching as the pieces twisted and rubbed against each other. Flare's eyes gleamed as the power flew to him, gathering in the palms of his hands. Wilson hurled himself backward, just barely managing to fall away from the enhanced agent. He tried to snap his wings back in, to save them from more damage, but they didn't respond. They couldn't.

"Disconnected!" he heard someone cheer in his ear, and it took Wilson a moment to realize it was McGee. "I've severed Jacklin's connection to the satellite!"

Within a moment, Wilson heard Hill cheer from up above. "Blade replaced!"

****

Sparks of blue danced before Bishop's eyes, her vision too blurry to make out anything else. But the sparks were intense, like fireworks but all-blinding, all-encompassing. Her flesh felt like it was on fire, particularly her chest, and she found it hard to move at all.

She blinked, wincing at the cobalt sparks of light, and her vision sharpened slightly, allowing her to make out a blue figure on the catwalk ahead of her. Then suddenly, everything clicked into place and she remembered what happened.

Replacing the blade. The blast of blue light.

Halo.

Bishop gingerly felt her chest, feeling the burned bulletproof vest. It had taken the brunt of the blow – meaning she wasn't dead.

That's the second time she's hit me. That thought made her angry, and the NCIS agent shoved herself up, wincing with the pain. Her vision continued to sharpen and she could see that the blue figure on the catwalk was actually Hailstohm, fighting off Halo and Jacklin with twin ice swords.

Getting to her feet, Bishop picked up her rifle and aimed it at Jacklin, waiting for a moment until she was mostly certain she wouldn't hit the frost giantess. When Hailstohm shifted to the side to block one of Halo's blasts, her sword shimmering in the light, Bishop fired.

The bullet struck the unsuspecting Jacklin in the forehead. He staggered backward, his form flickering black, and then crumpled to the metal floor and vanished.

Halo started, her gaze swinging to find Bishop. "You were supposed to be dead!" she growled.

"Well, guess what? I'm not."

And then Hailstohm struck the distracted Halo with a blast of ice powerful enough to send her flying off the catwalk and crashing through the transparent barrier.

****

DiNozzo aimed his rifle at the Winter Soldier as he lowered his arm, still gripping the shield. Then he noticed the three identical clones of Jacklin, standing behind Captain America's old pal. The NCIS agent didn't move his rifle, his one knee resting against the cold metal of the catwalk.

"Bucky, don't do this," Rogers warned from behind DiNozzo. "You don't have to do this."

"This is my life," Bucky said, his face emotionless, and then he hurled the shield to the side.

It struck the side of the barrier, bouncing back as DiNozzo, utilizing the split second the assassin was distracted, shifted his rifle ever so slightly and fired.

He had known he'd never hit the Winter Soldier; wouldn't be able to, for he'd be expecting that. But one of the Jacklin variants – that was a target he could hit.

The bullet blew through the chest of Jacklin, causing the figure to stagger backward and collapse with a curse before disintegrating. DiNozzo adjusted his aim, firing off another round at the second Jacklin, but this one caught the shot in his forearm, not even flinching, and charged at the agent.

"Crap!" DiNozzo yelped, diving to the side. Flinging the rifle over his shoulder, he grasped the handrail as he flipped over the edge of the catwalk, just like he was scaling a fence. Somehow, he didn't even know how, he managed to twist his body so that he slid back onto the catwalk under the railing, slidetackling one of the Jacklins. "Take that!"

Jacklin staggered back into the railing, the other remaining variant turning on DiNozzo. The Winter Soldier was currently engaged in vicious hand to hand combat with Rogers on the other end of the catwalk, near the control panel. Without waiting to think, DiNozzo charged forward, tucking his head to the side as he drove his shoulder into Jacklin's waist. The variant stumbled backward, striking the railing and teetering off balance. But before the agent could finish him off, the other Jacklin, who had regained his own balance, dealt him a devastating blow to the back of the head.

DiNozzo's vision swam as he fell. Dazed, he attempted to stand and was knocked down again. A steel-toed boot connected with his ribs and he groaned, feeling things shift. A hollow pain filled his abdomen, ricocheting from the blow.

"Tony!" Rogers yelled, but his voice sounded distant and small. DiNozzo tried to shake the daze out of his head, but as soon as he moved it, pain flared up and blocked out everything else.

This is it. I'm done for, aren't I?

Then he heard, from far away, a rifle fire. A thud followed that sound and a spat curse drifted to his ringing ears. Then a hand was on his shoulder and another on his side, helping him up.

"Tony. Tony, are you okay?"

Kate's voice. Kate's voice, drifting from far away. DiNozzo managed to turn his head to look at her, her gaze concerned. How she had gotten there, he didn't know, didn't care. It only mattered that she was here.

"You're hurt," she said decidedly. "Go sit by the door, Tony. Stay there. You're in no condition to fight."

DiNozzo wanted to argue, but he had no ground to stand on. So he nodded mutely.

****

After making Tony sit by the door leading onto the catwalk, his rifle across his lap, Kate turned. Rogers and Barnes were still fighting, neither gaining an advantage. She had killed one of the Jacklins, and the other one she had knocked over the railing. But unfortunately, the last one wasn't dead – he had grabbed onto one of the struts and was making his way back up toward the catwalk.

But Kate's gaze was inevitably drawn back to Barnes.

Anything is possible. Anything is possible. Come on, let this be possible.

"Barnes!" Kate yelled, hurrying down the catwalk. "Barnes!"

Barnes hesitated, just enough for Rogers' punch to catch him in the face and send him staggering backward.

Kate raced forward. "I got him!" she yelled to Rogers, and the captain turned to the control panel, activating it so he could replace the blade. Barnes shook his head and when he looked at Kate, she saw nothing in his eyes.

"Barnes," she said, her voice lowering. "It's me, okay? It's me, Sniper. Remember me, Barnes? I'm your partner." And you're my everything.

"McGee, it's done," Rogers said softly behind her, and Barnes' blank expression twisted into a scowl.

He lunged forward, toward Rogers, but Kate blocked him, slamming the butt of her rifle into him. She ducked under his fist and stepped into his reach, twisting her rifle to slam it upward into his chin. Her heart broke as she saw his head snap upward, his eyes grow slightly dazed as he staggered backward, but she had to keep him focused on her.

"Remember!" Kate yelled. "Barnes, remember me. I'm Sniper. Your Snipes. Remember me, please!"

Jacklin, meanwhile, had now reached the catwalk and was now fighting with Rogers. Kate could feel the helicarrier deck slope under her feet, angling downward toward the river. We're going down, she realized, and found that thought very ironic. That was a line from the song which had been playing on the radio the day Ari had shot her, the song she had heard driving into work.

We're going down, down, in an earlier round. And sugar, we're going down swinging. I'll be your number one with a bullet. A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it.

Come on, Barnes, you're my number one. Please.

In her peripheral vision, Kate saw the blur of blue as Hailstohm somehow appeared on the catwalk. "We're going down!" she shouted, grabbing DiNozzo and blasting out the barrier surrounding them. Wrapping her arm securely around the still dazed agent, the frost giantess jumped out through the gap in the barrier.

"Captain!" she heard, and Sam Wilson flew in. "We need to get out!"

"A little busy!" Rogers returned shortly, his attention still trained on Jacklin.

In answer to that, Wilson fired at the soldier and managed to catch him in the arm. Jacklin staggered back and Wilson swooped in, grabbing Rogers. "No time!"

"Agent Todd!" Rogers yelled, just as the helicarrier lurched again and threw Barnes, Kate, and Jacklin off the catwalk.

Kate slammed into the barrier, feeling it crack beneath her. Barnes landed beside her, instantly snapping to and rolling until he sat on top of her, his eyes wild. His fist was up, to hit her, and probably to end up killing her.

"Barnes," Kate croaked, her ability to breathe hampered by his sitting on her. "Barnes, please." Crimson flared at the corner of her eyes and she poured all the remainder of her energy into convincing him that remembering her, despite the memory wipe, was possible. Remembering her was necessary. Like breathing. You never truly forgot it. You couldn't, or you would die. Barnes would die, if he forgot her.

The red faded from her eyes and she just saw Barnes, gazing down at her in consternation and confusion. "Snipes," he said faintly.

Then the ship hit the water and everything went black.

/**/

Sorry this chapter is so late! Hope you enjoyed it, though!

Skylar Wittenborn