Coulson emerged from the communications room within a few minutes. "Where's Romanoff?" he asked, but before anyone could reply she walked back in past the elevators and resumed her seat. Her face was impassive. Coulson's gaze rested on her for a few moments, then he said, "I've got the go-ahead to launch a full scale attack. Director Fury wants that place cleaned out, and all biological weapons neutralized. I'll be leading the team that meets with Heberden. We'll take the case with fake bullets in it, but the real objective is to bring him in. Alive if possible." He glanced across the table. "Stark, you'll be backing us up. The meeting point is just on the other side of the island, so you'll still be able to cover the compound if necessary." Stark nodded. He'd pretty much figured he'd be suiting up for this one. "The other team will lead the force to take down the compound," Coulson continued. "All defenses neutralized, all weapons destroyed or impounded. There'll be forces in reserve to deal with the cleanup, and HazMat teams where necessary."

For a few seconds there was silence, but the expression on Gibbs's face suggested he was expecting more. Finally, he asked, "What about Barton?"

Coulson glanced away. He'd been expecting this to come up eventually and he had a feeling that Gibbs wasn't going to like the answer. Finally he said, "Barton takes care of himself."

He was right. Gibbs looked extremely unimpressed. "There's no plan to get him out?"

Coulson started to respond, but Romanoff cut across him. "No. He never has an extraction plan." Her face was a tense mask, her tone expressionless. But after that brief conversation, Ziva understood exactly how much it was costing her to say that.

Gibbs glanced disbelievingly between Coulson and Romanoff. Finally he said, "This time he does." There was something in his tone that indicated that this was not up for discussion. "Agents DiNozzo and David will be with me on this."

Coulson hesitated for a moment, but he could see there was no point in debating the point. "Right. Romanoff, you're with me, and..."

"No." She said it calmly, as if merely disagreeing with a minor detail, but she met Coulson's startled gaze with more than a hint of challenge.

"Natasha, I appreciate how you..."

"I will be on Gibbs's team for the extraction."

Her tone was final, and eventually Coulson nodded. He looked over at Gibbs. "Agent Romanoff is on your team. I'll take Agent David on mine."

Gibbs looked questioningly at Ziva, who nodded. Having seen Romanoff in action on the first mission, Ziva knew that the other woman would give the extraction plan a better chance of succeeding.

Suddenly the screen at the head of the table flicked to a communications channel, and McGee's face appeared.

"Looks like there's a second shipment of weapons headed for New York," he said without preamble. "They've got a ship about a hundred miles out from port, it's giving trace readings of the same radiation signature as the bullets."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. can handle that," Coulson said. Gibbs nodded. "McGee, you're coordinating this one. Tell them what they need to know."

"On it, boss." McGee's face vanished, and Coulson turned back to the rest of the team. "We have less than forty-five minutes to be at the rendezvous point. Agent David, I'll brief you as we go. Agent Gibbs, I suggest you do the same. Motolinia will be your pilot. My people will handle the rest of the attack on the compound. Oh, and Agent Gibbs..." Gibbs paused in the act of turning towards the elevators, and Coulson said, "Get him out in one piece." Gibbs nodded.

As the meeting finally broke up, Natasha said, "Dr Banner?" Bruce gave her his characteristic half-smile. He had a feeling he knew what was coming. "We could really use your support on this." Bruce sighed to himself. He knew what Natasha was asking, and while he'd rather not let the 'other guy' out to play, he couldn't refuse her. He nodded. "We'll be there," he said quietly.

When Ziva walked into the armoury, Romanoff was already there, and it looked as if she was going in well-armed. She glanced up only briefly, then went back to her preparations, but as Ziva got her own weapons from the locker assigned to her, Natasha said, "Why is Gibbs doing this?" Ziva was more than a little surprised by the question, but Natasha went on, "Coulson was right, Clint can take care of himself. He... we never have extraction plans. Gibbs hasn't questioned S.H.I.E.L.D. procedures until now. Why over this?"

"Gibbs never leaves anyone behind," Ziva said simply. She looked away as she added, "He pulled me out of a situation in North Africa once, when everyone else thought I was dead. He won't leave without Clint."

After a moment, Natasha nodded. "That's all I need to know."

The teams that assembled, yet again, in the aircraft hangar, were tense and quiet. The feeling was very different from the previous raid – then, they'd just been tasked with getting a sample of ammunition. This time, they knew what they were up against. They all carried detectors programmed to recognize the virus that was stored within the compound, and everyone would be wearing a respirator. HazMat teams were going in with them, ready to start decontaminating personnel if necessary. They were tasked with stopping these lunatics, before they had the chance to unleash their nightmare on the world. And they were going back for one of their own.

Coulson's team left first. Stark was to take a different route, and be waiting out of sight when the meeting with Heberden took place, ready to provide backup. They were expecting the cult leader to have heavy protection.

Then Gibbs led his team onto their quinjet. He'd already outlined their plan of attack. Their first objective was to take out the compound's communications centre, which had been pinpointed for them by tracing the signal from Heberden's video link, and the operation would have to be fast and quiet; they all knew what the man had threatened to do if they attempted a rescue.

As the pilot prepared to take off, Gibbs glanced around at his team. He knew DiNozzo's skills, and he had no doubts about Romanoff. But Banner? Well, in theory, he knew why the man was here... but knowing what he was on an intellectual level didn't completely reconcile him to accepting that the soft-spoken scientist was the most dangerous member of his team. He turned to look at Romanoff. Coulson had briefed him about the situation there; she had more to lose than the rest of them, although you'd never know it to see her calm, unhurried movements as she performed her final check on her sidearms. When it was done, she looked up and met his gaze; her expression didn't change, but Gibbs nodded slightly, and after a moment, Romanoff returned the gesture.

Then the quinjet engines started up, and the team readied themselves for what was to come.

A/N: Responding to the comment stating that Banner isn't the most dangerous person on Gibbs's team: We (the readers) know that, but for Gibbs, who has either only heard about Hulk, or possibly seen him in videos of the Battle of New York, it's not unlikely that he might believe that should be the case.