Loki and Bishop took the elevator down to the autopsy room. It was a silent ride with just the two of them. Loki glanced over at Bishop several times before deciding to speak.

"You hate me."

Bishop humphed and didn't look at him. "How can I hate you? I don't even know you."

Loki smiled. "Still, you do. I can feel it." He still couldn't catch her eye. "Trust me, I know hatred. And I know all about concealing it."

"Still don't hate you," Bishop muttered.

Loki laughed. "So, what is your first name? Bishop seems an odd name for a Midgardian girl."

Now Bishop looked at him. It was just from the corner of her eye, but still, it was a start. "Eleanor, Eleanor Bishop. I go by Ellie."

"Eleanor," Loki tried. He liked it. "That is a beautiful name, Eleanor." He turned to face her and smiled. "Eleanor Bishop. Special Agent Eleanor Bishop. Eleanor...."

Bishop rolled her eyes and sighed, looking uncomfortable. "Let me clue you in, Loki. Rule 12 says never date your coworker, so I'm sorry to rain on your parade, but no. Just stop."

As the elevator doors began to open, Loki leaned over and whispered, "Who said I wanted to date you?"

Bishop glared at him as he continued, "But I'll forgive you. Hate and love are very close." He stepped off the elevator and glanced back at her. "Coming?"

"All right," Bishop muttered through clenched teeth. "Now I hate you."

Loki laughed. "That's better. Now come on. We have an autopsy to view."

Loki led the way into the autopsy room, taking in the steel tables, the trays of tools, the desk pushed into the corner with a lab. A large sink stood beside the door, and the body they had come to see was lying on a table in the center of the room. Jimmy was replacing their tools on one of the trays as Ducky sewed up the sliced open chest of the corpse, creating an upraised V that trailed from the shoulders down to a midpoint on the abdomen.

"It's such a pity you had to wind up down here," Ducky said, not turning to face them.

Loki stopped. Ducky had seemed like such a harmless old man upstairs, but maybe he shouldn't be underestimated.

"How is that?" he asked cautiously.

Ducky turned. "Ah, Eleanor, Mr. Laufeyson. I didn't hear you come in."

Loki looked at Bishop, but she didn't seem to notice anything wrong. Then again, she was a mortal, meaning his senses were that much more enhanced than hers. Perhaps she couldn't see the danger before them. "Then you weren't talking to us?"

"No, I wasn't," Ducky said, turning back to his work. "I'm almost finished here."

"Then who were you talking to?" Loki asked, brow furrowed.

"Petty Officer Samson," Ducky answered matter-of-factly as Loki and Bishop approached the table. "I was just lamenting over his untimely death."

Loki looked down at the corpse of the Marine. He didn't look like he was in any condition to be making conversation with the medical examiner.

"But he's dead," Loki pointed out.

Jimmy looked up at Loki. "We prefer them to be dead. It makes the autopsy easier."

"Nevertheless, I talk to all of my patients," Ducky replied. "And although Mr. Palmer put his point rather crudely, I must say it is that much more of a consolation when the patient is dead. I can't forget the unfortunate boy that woke up right before I began my work." He looked up at the two agents. "Where is Jethro?"

"Gibbs told us to meet him down here," Bishop answered.

"So, Ducky," Loki spoke up. "You examine the corpses of victims to discover the cause of death?"

Ducky nodded. "You are correct, Loki. We use our knowledge of human anatomy to find not only the cause of death, but the time as well, as well as other interesting tidbits about the person's life."

Jimmy pushed his glasses against the bridge of his nose. "Please excuse me, Loki, but...you said you fought the Avengers?"

"Yes, I did," Loki replied.

"I recall the origin story of one young Avenger in particular," Ducky said. "Now, have I ever told you the story of Captain America?"

"No, Dr. Mallard," Jimmy said respectfully.

"There was this young man who wanted so badly to serve his country that he agreed to be the subject of a certain science experiment. You see, this young man, Steve Rogers, wasn't fit enough to be drafted, so he received the experimental treatment and was transformed into a super soldier. He became known as Captain America."

"I know," Loki said. "I've fought him."

Jimmy looked interested. "Who won?"

"Who do you think?" Loki shot back. "I did, of course."

"Who won the confrontation between you and Iron Man?" Gibbs asked, entering the autopsy room suddenly.

Loki turned to him. "Which one?" he asked.

Gibbs gave him a look. "Either of them."

Loki allowed a half smile. "He did."

"What do you got for me, Ducky?" Gibbs asked, transferring his attention from the god of mischief to the medical examiner.

Ducky came around the table. "You see, Jethro, our Marine here was only killed by the substance found in his bloodstream, which Abby has for identification."

"How did he receive the substance?" Gibbs asked.

Ducky indicated the left upper arm. "He received an injection, right into his basilic vein. It was a very clean injection, no struggle involved. So he either received it voluntarily or he didn't know he was receiving it."

"How do you not know you're receiving a shot?" Bishop asked with a slight shudder.

Loki glanced over at her. "Easy. Just disguise it as something else, something normal. Then they will completely ignore it."

Bishop, Gibbs, Ducky, and Jimmy all looked at Loki quizzically. He raised his hands defensively with a bit of a laugh and said, "Hey, I never said I ever did it."

"Anything else, Ducky?" Gibbs asked.

"As you saw at the crime scene yesterday, his mouth was flecked with spittle, a side effect of whatever killed him," Ducky answered. "And the walls of the veins in his left upper arm and the superior vena cava were corroded, certainly the work of the injected substance." 

"Thanks," Gibbs answered. "Bishop, head back upstairs. Laufeyson, you're with me."

"Where are we going?" Loki asked as Gibbs led the way out of the autopsy room, heading towards the elevator.

"Abby's lab," he said shortly. "We need to figure out what that substance is."