Special Agent Loki Laufeyson

Chapter 6

Loki was honestly impressed with Abby's lab. It was filled with mortal scientific tools, most of which Loki had no idea what they were either called or did, but it was still quite impressive.

Abby was standing at a table in the middle of the room, tapping away at her keyboard. She glanced up as Gibbs and Loki entered the lab and turned around. "Good, you're here." She looked Loki up and down. "The new guy ain't so hard on the eyes, isn't he, Gibbs?"

"I wouldn't know," Gibbs responded with a slight smile, walking up to her. "What do you got, Abs?"

Abby flung her hands up in frustration. "Nothing, Gibbs! That's what I've got!"

Loki glanced at the screen hanging up on the wall, displaying a picture of a makeup of molecules. He frowned and walked closer, past the table to stand before the plasma screen.

"You still can't identify the substance?" Gibbs asked in disbelief.

Abby folded her arms across her chest. "No! Something's hinky here, Gibbs."

"I'd say," Gibbs remarked as Abby clicked something on her keyboard. Loki jumped as the image on the screen zoomed in closer.

"This is unlike any drug I've ever seen, Gibbs. Technically, it's not a drug, natural or manmade. It's a poison. I just can't tell which type of poison."

"Could it be a combination of several different things?" Gibbs asked as Loki thoughtfully examined the image.

Abby shook her head. "No way. I'd be able to identify the components. This has never been seen before." She slammed her fist on the table. "All I know is that the compound was mixed with water before being injected into Petty Officer Samson's bloodstream. I can't figure anything else out about it."

"This guy must be good," Gibbs observed.

"More than good," Abby said. "I'm good, and this beats me. This guy would have to be a genius or something."

"Or alien," Loki interjected, striding over to where Abby and Gibbs were standing. "Where is this substance?"

Abby looked at Gibbs, who nodded. "Right here," she said, picking up a small, glass container. "It's a sample of the blood.

Loki snatched the container from her grip and held it up, examining it from all sides. Gibbs and Abby watched him as he studied the mixture. Then he glanced back up to the image of the molecular structure on the screen.

"Can you give me an image of it?" he asked.

"Actually, yes," Abby answered, stepping back over to her keyboard. "I've isolated all the components of it, so just give me a moment to recreate a visual image of it."

Loki set down the container as another image flashed up onto the screen. This was of a powdered substance, tan in color with streaks of grey tracing through the compound.

"I know what it is," Loki said, glancing at the other two. "I know what killed Petty Officer Samson."

Abby and Gibbs stared at him in shock. "You do?" they both asked simultaneously.

Loki inwardly grinned. He had a feeling that seeing Agent Gibbs shocked was not something that happened very often. And Abby looked cute when she was amazed. "Yes, I do."

"What is it?" Abby demanded.

"It's Chitauri dust," Loki explained. "Or, at least, that is the name outsiders use. The Chitauri have another name for it, something in some foreign language, but...my boss called it Chitauri dust."

"What does it do?" Abby asked. "And what are Chitauri?"

"Oh, yes. I forgot you don't know about them. The army I commanded in New York was made up of Chitauri. The dust is used to poison people. Most Chitauri anoint their weapons with it, but I have found a little sprinkling on a meal, or in a drink, will do the trick much better."

Abby looked at the dust. "Man."

"How would the assassin have gotten a hold of this?" Gibbs asked.

Loki opened his mouth to answer, but a piercing pain split his skull.

You can't hide, Asgardian.

Loki doubled over, hands pressed to his head as he heard the voice of the being who had been directing his New York invasion, known only as the Other. The threats should he fail came rushing back to him, spoken both by the Other and by his boss, the dreadful Titan known as Thanos. And then the Other spoke again.

He will find you. This is a warning, Asgardian; next time it will be him who punishes you.