Chapter One

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was sanding the bottom of his boat when he heard his cell phone ring. He got out from under the boat and answered it. "Director Gibbs, NCIS." The voice on the other end replied, "Director Gibbs, I am Director Fury of SHIELD. We have a project for you. Are you interested?" Gibbs set down the sandpaper in his other hand. "Definitely. Director Fury, when should we meet?" Director Fury hesitated only for a second. "Can you stop by SHIELD immediately? It is an urgent matter." "Of course, Director Fury. Give me an hour." "Sure thing." With that, he hung up. Gibbs flipped his cell phone shut and went up the stairs to change back into his suit. This wasn't a casual matter.

Gibbs arrived at SHIELD headquarters ten minutes early. He walked up to the secretary. She glanced up as he said, "Director Gibbs, NCIS. I have an appointment with Director Fury." She replied, "Right this way sir," and led him down a short hallway to the office. When he walked in, Director Fury was reading from a file. He glanced up as Gibbs came in. "Director Gibbs, I presume?" Gibbs held out his hand. "Call me Gibbs." Director Fury shook his hand. "Then you may call me Fury. So, about this project. Care to sit?" Gibbs sat in a polished wooden chair across the desk from Fury. Fury looked at him for a few seconds, then began. "I cannot reveal the details of his project until you agree to be a part of it. All I can tell you is that it is similar to the Avengers Initiative." That piqued Gibbs' interest. "So you need to agree and sign this," Fury gestured to a sheet of paper on the corner of his desk "before we can begin." Gibbs took the paper and read it thoroughly. It was a basic confidentiality contract, but more strict. This project was high-up. It stated that if he needed assistance, he could only go to Director Fury for help. No one else could know. Gibbs grabbed the pen offered and signed, sliding the contract back over to Fury. Fury smiled. "I had hoped you would take this project. Here is the folder containing the details." He handed him a slim folder. Gibbs skimmed through it, eyebrows raising higher and higher. Finally he looked up. "Okay, so you're telling me that I am to use the gathered team to take down Derek Descourades, a man who can shift species as he wishes, and is planning to take control of the universe, and he has also succeeded on conquering the planet Alanora?" Fury nodded. "That is exactly what I'm telling you." He then slid over another slender folder. "This is all our knowledge on Alanora." Fury stood and went over to the file cabinet. "I'm sorry, Director Gibbs, but I have a meeting that requires my presence in five minutes. Can I have my second-in-command make your arrangements?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Arrangements?" Fury faced him. "Yes, Director, arrangements. You will not be safe in your home while working on this project. She will give you the folders and get you to the safe house." Gibbs nodded in agreement. "That will be fine." "Good. A car is waiting outside for you to go to your home and pack for an extended time." "What about my team?" Fury blinked. "Well, of course. Your branch of the NCIS will be temporarily shut down, and your agents moved to assist the Los Angeles branch." Gibbs wasn't satisfied with the branch being shut down, but didn't say a word. He followed Fury out, and got into the waiting car.

Six hours later, Gibbs was getting off a plane in rural New York. A bunker loomed before him. At least, it looked like a bunker. It had three floors, was made completely of dull gray metal, and had only one visible door. Fury's second-in-command led him inside and showed him the house. Then he was left to read the files given to him. He had been given a large stack to go along with his two initial ones. He opened the first file and started reading.

Gibbs woke at seven in the morning to find that he'd fallen asleep at the desk, reading. He went down to the kitchen, had breakfast, then continued studying the files. Once he was finished, he pulled out a piece of paper containing ten phone numbers. He picked up the office's phone and started calling them one by one.