The ride over to the nightclub was silent, and the silence was driving DiNozzo crazy. But what, exactly, did you say to a girl who was an assassin - ahem, former Russian assassin - who was also an Avenger and didn't seem to like you too much?
Well. She'd warm up to him.
"Why are we going to this nightclub?" Romanoff finally asked, breaking the tense silence. DiNozzo breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Because Gibbs believes in being thorough," he answered, glancing over at her in the shotgun seat.
"Wasn't Gibbs thorough the first time around?" she queried, turning to look at him. She brushed a strand of her red hair out of her face.
"Yes, he was," DiNozzo replied. "But we have new information now. If Leopard killed Samson, if she had the scepter there, or if any of Samson's newfound ETCD buddies had gone with him, we might be able to get witnesses placing them there."
Romanoff tilted her head in acknowledgement of the point. "So, ETCD is military, correct?"
"Yes," DiNozzo affirmed. "Colonel Rhodes is scared of aliens, so he decided to start his own world-saving group. It's like the Avengers, but military style."
"I can't believe Loki isn't rotting in the Asgardian dungeons right now," Romanoff muttered, cutting her eyes across at DiNozzo, gauging his reaction. DiNozzo was about to respond with some joking comment and then realized he was being baited.
She was testing him.
So DiNozzo concocted a new answer.
"I think people should have second chances," he stated firmly, glancing over at her before taking the exit leading to the nightclub. "You never know, maybe they'll save the world. But you won't know, unless you give them a second chance."
When Romanoff looked out her window, DiNozzo inwardly grinned. He didn't know her full story, but somewhere along the line, someone had to have given her a second chance for her to go from being an enemy to an ally.
"Is that what you do with all the criminals you catch?" she asked wryly. "Give them second chances so they can save the world?"
"No, those scumbags get to rot," DiNozzo clarified. "Second chances are like David Bowie and Freddie Mercury teaming up. They don't come around much."
"So, do you like working with Loki?" Romanoff queried.
"Yeah," DiNozzo answered, surprised to find that his answer was actually the truth. "He's cool, once you get to know him. Besides, he saved my life."
"He saved your life?" Romanoff questioned skeptically.
"Well, yeah," DiNozzo responded. "I mean, he injured me in the process, but when you weigh a knife in the leg against total disintegration, the balance actually comes out in his favor."
"He's playing a game," Romanoff said. "Agent DiNozzo -"
"Call me Tony."
With a sigh, she continued, "Tony, Loki only saved your life to maintain his cover."
"His cover as what?" DiNozzo asked.
"As an NCIS special agent."
"That's actually what he is, now."
"Not for long. I promise you."
DiNozzo looked at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Loki is a war criminal," Romanoff pointed out. "And I don't think he's changed that quickly. Isn't it convenient that he happens to be working for the very team that's dealing with the case concerning his scepter?"
DiNozzo lifted an eyebrow, but he could see her point. Rule 39. There's no such thing as coincidences. But all he said was, "Yeah, right."
Romanoff rolled her eyes. "Tony, you'll have to trust me. I've fought him before -"
"I'm going to have to trust you?" DiNozzo repeated. "Ah, Natasha, why should I -"
Natasha stuck her arm out, pressing her wrist against his throat. "Watch your step there, Tony."
"Why should I?" Tony challenged, glancing over at her and trying to look like she wasn't affecting his air supply. "Maybe I don't want to watch my step."
Romanoff just looked at him, the hint of a smirk on her lips. "Oh, you will. You will."
****
The owner of the nightclub wasn't happy to see NCIS again, but he called out the bartender who had been working the night Samson was murdered so the two agents could speak to him. He was the only witness who had really seen the couple that night, which Tony thought was sort of odd. But the footage McGhee had run had shown that indeed, none of the other staff had even gone near Samson and Leopard.
DiNozzo pulled out his phone, with the pictures ready. The bartender again confirmed that Leopard and Samson had been together that night, but he shook his head when shown the image of the scepter.
"Didn't see that thing," he said with a frown. "What even is that?"
"Classified," Romanoff said smoothly. "Can you tell us anything about what happened that night? Anything out of place?"
The bartender shrugged. "I told NCIS everything I know. I noticed that they were together, but after that, I didn't pay much attention. I was too busy, you know?"
"Did you see any of these people in the nightclub that night?" DiNozzo asked, holding out his screen to display the pictures of the rest of the ETCD recruits.
The bartender narrowed his eyes at the first picture, that of Navy SEAL Artemis Drift. "Yeah, actually. She was there that night." And as Tony showed the pictures of Crook McCallan, Zied Ranger, and Kendra Cook, the bartender kept nodding his head. "They were all here."
"Were they with Samson or Leopard, at all?" Romanoff queried.
"I didn't notice," the bartender said. "I tend not to notice, you know?"
****
"Well, at least we got a lead," DiNozzo said as they headed back to the car.
"Hopefully," Romanoff acknowledged. "Can you show me where his body was found?"
Tony nodded and led the way behind the nightclub. He pointed to the large, reeking dumpster. "Samson's body was found right out in front of the dumpster. No marks on him. He was poisoned."
Romanoff squatted down and glanced around. "Did you pull the camera footage?"
Annoyed that she thought they hadn't already done that, DiNozzo nodded. "Yes, we did, and ran it. Nothing. No Leopard, no Samson, until six o'clock in the morning when all of a sudden, he just appears on the tape."
With a frown, the former assassin straightened. "That's odd."
"Tell me about it," DiNozzo muttered, looking at the camera peering into the alleyway. He was starting to get a feeling, like something was beginning to make sense, only he couldn't put his finger on it. He walked closer to the camera and craned his neck to look up at it.
"What?" Romanoff asked, coming up behind him. "What are you looking at?"
Tony pointed up at the device. "We need to bag that camera. It's evidence."
"Don't you already have the footage?" she queried, brow furrowed.
"Yeah," DiNozzo said. "But both McGhee and Abby told me nothing was erased from the tape. In fact, they swore it up and down. But what if the missing footage wasn't erased from the tape?"
Romanoff caught on. "What if the camera was tampered with directly?" she breathed, finishing his thought. "All right, hold still."
"What?" DiNozzo said, twisting as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "What are you doing?"
"Hold still," she hissed, boosting herself up onto his shoulders. "I'm taking the camera."
"Not without gloves, you don't," DiNozzo insisted, quickly stepping away from the camera so she couldn't contaminate it. But with her added weight on his shoulders, the movement was too fast and both agents toppled over.
"Look what you did," Romanoff accused, springing to her feet. "I almost had it."
"What I did?" DiNozzo shot back, indignant. "You were the one about to touch evidence without gloves. No; we get the kit from the car and then we bag it. Otherwise, Gibbs would have killed you."
"I wish him good luck in trying," she retorted as Tony stood.
"Gibbs knows a few tricks," DiNozzo muttered. He laid a hand on her shoulder and grinned at her. "I'm sure you'd never -"
With a move DiNozzo didn't see coming, Romanoff grabbed his hand and flipped him back onto the pavement.
"I know a few tricks, too, Tony," she remarked, heading back to the car.
Tony laughed softly until she was out of earshot, and then he groaned, gingerly placing a hand on his ribs. "Oh, that hurt."
/**/
It's about time DiNozzo got to narrate. I can't believe I haven't had him narrate yet. What'd you think of DiNozzo and Black Widow working together. Their camaraderie?
This week, I'm going to ask you guys about Director Vance: what do you think of him? Once again, he's one of those characters who hasn't popped up that much, but what do you think of what you've seen of him?
If you are planning on nominating Special Agent for the Fiction Awards 2019 and haven't gotten around to it, it closes tomorrow! https://www.wattpad.com/story/184629964-the-fiction-awards-2019
Thanks for reading, and I hope you comment and vote. Let me know what you think of the story, how you're enjoying it. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Skylar Wittenborn