Special Agent Loki Laufeyson

Chapter 45

The Avengers and NCIS all assembled down in the squad room for Gibbs to hand out assignments. Most of the superheroes looked astonished by the fact that Fury had placed them under Gibbs. But the NCIS team – including Loki – was all very pleased by this turn of events.

"Each Avenger will work with at least one NCIS agent," Gibbs told them. "This way, we make sure none of you bungle this case."

Stark rolled his eyes and muttered something that didn't sound very complimentary.

DiNozzo slapped Stark in the back of the head. "Hey! Listen up, probie!"

Stark looked at DiNozzo in astonishment before he took a step away, pointing at the agent warningly. "Don't touch me," he said clearly.

"Banner," Gibbs said, turning to the man who hosted the Hulk. "You're a scientist, right?"

"Yes," Banner answered cautiously. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because you can work in the lab with Abby, our forensic scientist," Gibbs said, telling him the floor she was on.

"Who-who is Abby?" Banner asked.

"Don't worry," Loki assured him. "You'll love her."

"Then I'm sure I won't," Banner muttered, hunching his shoulders as he walked towards the elevators.

"All right," Gibbs said. "Listen up. We got five Avengers now, and five NCIS agents. Each of you big shots will be working under one of us, to make sure nobody messes up. Not you with the case, or us with that scepter."

"Not it!" Barton shouted.

They all stared at him. "Not it for what?" Bishop asked.

"Being Loki's partner," Barton exclaimed.

"Not it!" all the other Avengers shouted.

Gibbs glared at them. "You'll work with who I tell you to work with," he snapped. "Agent Romanoff, you'll be assigned to Special Agent Tony DiNozzo."

DiNozzo smiled at Romanoff. "Today's your lucky day, Miss Romanoff."

"Call me that again," she purred. "And I'll kill you."

"Ooh," DiNozzo laughed, grinning.

McGhee and Loki exchanged a look and rolled their eyes.

"Stark," Gibbs said. "You'll be working with Special Agent Timothy McGhee."

McGhee paled and Loki laughed.

"Agent Barton, you're with Special Agent Eleanor Bishop."

Now Loki paled and frowned.

"Captain Rogers is with me, and Thor is with Loki."

Loki felt his shoulders slump slightly and Thor huffed in exasperation. "I said 'not it' before Natasha did," he complained.

Gibbs glared at them. "You'll work with your partner and be fine with it!" he shouted.

Both the Avengers and the NCIS team stared at Gibbs in surprise. The former Marine met the eyes of each person in turn before he spoke again. "We've got three different locations we need to investigate: the nightclub where Samson was murdered, Leopard's apartment, and the Lunar Project headquarters. Three teams. We'll split into three teams. And unless I tell you otherwise, you stick with your partner."

"Why doesn't Bruce have a partner?" Stark grumbled.

"He does," Gibbs retorted. "He's working with Abby, helping her through a mountain of forensic work."

Rogers glanced at the rest of his Avengers and then stepped toward Gibbs. "We agree," he said with a nod. "We'll do whatever it takes to ensure everyone is safe from that scepter."

Gibbs looked at Rogers and felt this was a man he could respect. Provided Captain America kept his unruly and problematic team in order.

He ran through the facts of the case quickly, to catch the Avengers up, only leaving out Loki's flashbacks. Then he assigned the teams.

"Team one will take the nightclub," Gibbs said. "DiNozzo, you head that team. Take Romanoff and look through the nightclub again, try to find any clues we might have missed, and look for connections to Samson's ETCD teammates. Got it?"

"On it, Boss," DiNozzo said. "Come on, Natasha."

"Try not to kill him," Barton murmured to her.

Romanoff rolled her eyes and followed DiNozzo to the elevator.

"The second team will take the apartment," Gibbs said. "Bishop will head that team, with Loki right below her. Search the apartment and look for any clues as to where Leopard is now and what her plans are with that scepter."

"Right," Loki said. "We can do that."

"Can we, though?" Thor asked Barton skeptically.

"You will," Gibbs told them. "Go."

The four took off for the elevator. Loki and Bishop led the four, Loki whispering something in her ear that caused her to shrug and twitch away from him, but Gibbs just caught the glimpse of the smile on her face. DiNozzo was right; she was warming up to the god of mischief in quite a different way than the rest of the agents were.

Rule 12 pricked the back of Gibbs' mind and he tilted his head. Rule 12 stated that one of his agents should never date a coworker. Although Loki and Bishop weren't anywhere near that stage...maybe they'd never reach it. But the rule bit at him.

Rule 51, he thought. Sometimes, you're wrong.

Rule 12 wasn't what Loki needed right now.

But maybe Bishop was.

Stark waved his hand in front of Gibbs' face, bringing him back to the present. "You conveniently forgot the last team," he said.

"No, I didn't," Gibbs said. "The four of us are going to the Lunar Project to figure out exactly what is going on there."

"Gibbs!" Vance called from upstairs. "Dr. Stephen Strange has acquiesced to come to D.C. to help...our problem. See if you can have everything ready for him when he arrives, if you can. He didn't sound too happy about having to come here."

"I don't care," Gibbs said. "As long as he does his job."

Stark and Rogers exchanged a glance as McGhee grabbed his gear and started for the elevator. Gibbs looked at the two Avengers and jerked his head after McGhee. "Are you coming or not?"

"We're coming," Rogers said. "We're coming."

"You know we're going to regret this, right?" Stark asked Rogers.

Rogers just looked at him. "We'll regret it even more when Clare Leopard rules the world."

"True," Stark acknowledged. "Well, let's go get her."

"Hey!" Gibbs shouted from the elevator door. "Get over here!"

"Coming!" Stark called. "Coming."

Rogers and Stark ran over to the elevator and jumped inside just as the door was closing. Gibbs just looked at them and then sighed.

This was going to be one heck of a day.

/**/

I think Agent Gibbs did a good job of reining in the Avengers...but we'll see if it lasts. Meanwhile, we get to progress (hopefully) with the case! 

So what did you think? I don't even know where to begin with what just happened - so just tell me what you thought of the camaraderie. And what did you think of Gibbs' reflection on Rule 12?

Thanks again for reading this book; remember to comment and vote!

Skylar Wittenborn