The Joining of Four and Seven (I Am Number Four/NCIS Crossover)

Epilogue

Mark looked at Sarah, confused. "Warning about what?" 

"Mark . . . " Marina started crying. "Kate's dead." 

That's all Mark needed to hear. "I'll get right on it." 

The two of them hung up. Sarah looked at Mark worriedly. "What happened?" 

Mark shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Kate's been killed." 

Sarah's hands flew to her mouth, and she started crying, too, as Mark started dialing the number of his father.

***

"These terrorists are someone to watch out for," she finished reading. "If anyone sees them, call the police immediately." 

"We've found them," the woman said in awe. "We've found another of the Lorics." 

The girl looked up. "Which one is it? Smith, Nightshade, Starlight, or all of them?" 

The woman shook her head. "I don't know. I really don't. But we need to be ready when they come for us." 

The girl nodded. "I understand." 

She looked down at the necklace she always wore: a psychedelic swirl of dots of different sizes. She then looked at the scars on her left ankle, before looking up at her guardian. 

As thunder cracked suddenly outside, she added in a deadly voice, "I'm ready."

***

OPD came a few hours later. 

They found Kate's body by the side of the road, her eyes closed, her NCIS badge at her side. They took her, and in a few other minutes, news stations came with cameras everywhere. 

Marina and John watched from the trees, Marina crying silently as she leaned against John, his arms wrapped protectively around her. "I hope they don't take this the wrong way," she whispered. 

John shook his head. "They won't." 

Slowly, they walked away, back to where their cars and Savannah's motorcycle were waiting a few miles off. 

It was time to get moving.

***

Mark and Sarah pulled up to the scene approximately ten minutes later. 

Mark looked down at the place Kate laid, and he shook his head. "I can't believe someone would do this," he muttered. 

"There are cruel people out there," Sarah murmured. "It's just . . . Kate dead . . . " 

Something crunched under his foot. Curious, Mark bent down to pick up the piece of paper he had stepped on. He unfolded it, then began to read. 

"'Mark, Sarah, if you're reading this, then burn it immediately after you have. We don't know who'll be next, but Kate was the warning. Someone's following us, and they could be on to you. Both of you, be careful. It's for the best.'" 

He looked down at the bottom and smiled. 

There, as if a signature, were two familiar signs. One of them was the symbol of NCIS. 

The other was two combined: one of psychedelic crescents, the other of three swirls of dots from a center point. 

"But they're safe," he told Sarah, showing her the note. "That's what counts."

***

"I missed the numbers. I hit one of the agents." 

"Which one?" 

"The woman." 

The one of mixed blood waited on the other end of the line. He had been hired for this job while working with Al Qaeda, right under his father's nose. His employer replied. "You have to find the numbers." 

"I was planning on going after the other agents first." 

"Why?" 

He smirked, looking at the two teenagers that left the scene. He then looked back at his sniper's rifle. He remembered the looks of grief on each face. 

He lived off of those looks. 

He looked back to the scene, and Ari Haswari gave his answer, smirking even wider. 

"Why not?"

***

And so ends the story. 

Poor Kate, still killed by Ari. Puts a damper in their plans, but she had to die. And Ari's working with the Mogs . . . not good. 

So, let's have a poll . . . should Ziva be in Spain helping the next Garde and learn that her brother is, in fact, compromised, OR should it be the usual way, and she's trying to prove her bother's innocence and run into the group?