John sat in front, tossing the Loralite stone from hand to hand. Marina was in the back, her face still a little flushed from the small make out session they had had back there. A few seconds after they had stopped, Sam had approached with seemingly no idea what had just occurred with his phone blasting the radio saying that John and Henri were believed to be terrorists. They had booked it afterwards.
Sam looked over at John, saw the stone, and he brightened a little bit. "I have one of those!"
John looked at him eagerly. "What?"
"I got it from my dad's collection," Sam replied.
"Can you get it?"
"Yeah, definitely. Then what?"
"Then John and I get out of here." Marina finally joined the conversation. "John'll tell Sarah what's going on, and I'll get ahold of Savannah or Gibbs and we'll meet back up at the school."
"You're not leaving me behind!" Sam argued.
"We are, Sam," John snapped. "It's our job, not yours."
Sam looked stunned, but he stopped in front of a house that had a party going on. John got out, slamming the door behind him. Marina followed right behind him as they approached the door. They shoved through the kids there, ignoring comments.
"That's him!"
"Is that the agent girl?"
"What're they doing here?"
"I'll be on the roof," Marina whispered to John, and she took off up the stairs.
John nodded, looking around the floor. He saw Mark out of the corner of his eye talking into his phone, but he ignored him. He saw a flash of blond head for the kitchen, and he walked off after her.
When he got into the kitchen, Sarah was alone and leaning against the doorframe to the outside. John raised an eyebrow, jerking his head out to the living room. "That doesn't seem like your kind of crowd."
Sarah looked back at him, then shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure who my kind of crowd is right now."
"Sarah, I - " John started to explain, but she held up a hand angrily.
"John Smith," she stated, then let out a forced laugh. "I am such an idiot!" She shook her head. "All this time . . . and they're saying you and your dad are terrorists."
"Terrorists?" he asked, snorting incredulously.
Sarah's glare swung to him. "Tell me the truth!" she demanded. "Who the hell are you?"
He heard sirens start to go off outside, and he muttered under his breath. He pointed at Sarah. "Stay down here." He took off up the stairs, ignoring her calling his name.
He pushed through the couples upstairs, trying to find Marina. He found her sitting on the roof outside, talking into her phone. She hung up just as he climbed out the window next to her. "I told Gibbs to meet us at the school," she explained.
"Did you hear the sirens?" John asked.
Marina nodded, starting to get to her feet. "We do it the old fashioned way?"
John smirked, nodding. He bent his knees, then heard a familiar voice bellow behind him. "Smith!"
He turned, seeing Sheriff James about to dive through the window. Marina held out a hand to stop him from getting John, but he sent a sharp punch into her side. Marina stumbled, sliding on the shingles. "John!" she screamed, falling off of the roof.
A familiar scream was heard from down below, and John's eyes widened. "Marina!" he cried out, looking down at her hurtling down towards the ground.
His mind went on autopilot. He held a hand out, concentrating. Marina's fall stopped in midair, and the kids that had started going outside to see the commotion, stopped short. John jumped off the roof, landing right below her. He held out his arms, releasing his telekinetic grip, and Marina fell straight into his arms.
The kids were starting to get their phones out, no doubt going to get a video, and Sarah was right at the front. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking at the two in shock and surprise. "How?" she mouthed at them.
"Let's go," John told Marina, grabbing her arm. The two of them took off at a run for the wooded area behind the house. Footsteps pounded behind them, and Sarah caught up. "What are you two - ?" she started to ask, but they were interrupted by the sound of sirens.
Police cars began swarming from both sides. John and Marina stood back to back, hands outstretched. The lead cars were caught in their grips, and they spun sideways, stopping the other cars from getting close to them.
Marina grabbed Sarah's arm and followed John into the woods. When they were safe inside, Sarah grabbed both of them and turned them to face her. "What you two just did is not possible," she stated.
Marina gave Sarah a roll of film. "Here. I've gotten everything on this."
"We came to say goodbye," John added, taking Marina's hand and turning to go.
"No, wait!" Sarah cried, grabbing them. "This way's better. Come on. Please."
Knowing that it was not the best idea, Marina hesitated. But her friendship with Sarah won out, and she followed the older girl away.
***
Gibbs hung up the phone, and Savannah looked at him. "What did she want?" she asked.
"She's heading for the school," he replied. "There's something she needs to tell us."
"Really?" Savannah asked dryly. "I wonder what."
"Call DiNozzo, tell him that he, Kate, and McGee need to get their asses into a car and over there," he told her.
Savannah waved her hand, signaling she understood as she dialed the familiar number on her phone.
***
Sarah finished with the photos and hung them up in the dark room. She smiled as her gaze flew across the photos of Marina and John using their Legacies, and she grinned at Bernie Kosar. "These are amazing," she whispered.
"Hard to believe that it's true," Marina piped up from where she was by the window to outside. "But it's true."
Sarah swallowed, looking between her and John. "Can you show me?"
John raised an eyebrow at Marina. She sighed and nodded, pointing at the light fixtures. Electric bolts came from her outstretched finger and hit each light in a chain, turning them on full blast. John just raised one hand, igniting his Lumen.
Sarah gazed at their powers in awe. "Wow," she murmured.
The squeal of tires was heard, and Marina looked outside, and she stiffened. "John, you need to see this."
He walked over and his eyes widened when he saw the trucks with Mogadorians piling out of them. He pointed to a Mogadorian who was dragging a kicking teenager out of one. "Mark."
They continued looking, and then Mark's face slammed into the window. Marina let out a strangled scream, backing away quickly. John took her arm and they ducked down, and he beckoned Sarah over. "We're going to get out of this," he promised, sounding more confident than he felt. "You got that?"
Sarah nodded, and so did Marina. "Then let's move it," he ordered.
The three of them burst out of the dark room and took off at a run through the halls. John actually thought they would make it outside, but three Mogs appeared in front of them, pointing Loric cannons at them. John turned to look behind them, but three more Mogs appeared behind them. He cursed, then lit his hands up as Marina's hands sparked. If they were going down, they were going down with a fight. And, John thought numbly, they probably were going down.
That was before the doors exploded behind the three Mogs in front of them. (A/N: From here on is the video clip!) Marina pulled Sarah down to avoid shrapnel, and John turned to see the new attacker.
Black booted feet strode across the floor, and John looked up into Savannah's harsh brown eyes. She cocked the Loric cannon she was manning, then swung it up and let off two simultaneous shots. The Mogs ducked to avoid them, and Marina and Sarah pulled off to an opposite side of them. The Mogs began firing back at Savannah, forcing her to the side as well. That revealed Kate and McGee where she had previously been, who each had one knee planted on the floor, and they had perfect shots of their new targets. They fired off several rounds - where do they get all of these Loric guns? John wondered absently - and took down two of the six.
The firing hesitated at the thought of facing off against people who were possibly even better shots, and Savannah took full advantage of the distraction, doing a forward somersault to the other side of the hallway, and the guns started tracking her. She leaned against the lockers, breathing heavily, and that was when John noticed something was wrong.
Marina was gone.
He looked around the corner, trying to find her, then whipped back to cover Sarah as blasts went past them. Kate and McGee were now ducking to avoid blasts, then there was a sharp cry of warning from one of the Mogs. Tony and Gibbs advanced from behind, firing steadily and taking two of them down. Then a black blur dropped through the ceiling, and Marina wrapped her legs around one Mog's neck, bringing him to the ground. She raised the knife she clutched, bringing it down rather aggressively into its heart. It exploded, and John cried out her name as the remaining Mog approached from behind.
Marina looked, then phased through the floor. The Mog skidded to a halt, and even Gibbs stopped, seeing what she had just done. "What's with her now?" he heard Tony mutter under his breath.
A few seconds later, she rose up from the bottom of the floor a few feet behind the Mog, then slid across the floor on her knees, slashing her knife through the remaining Mog's knee. He roared out in pain, bringing his gun up to bear, but Marina just gave a smirk and phased through the wall she slid through.
Savannah now had her eyes wide open, and Gibbs and Tony looked through the windows to try and find Savannah. The Mog raised his gun, aiming for Gibbs's back. "Gibbs!" he shouted in warning.
Gibbs heard. He turned, but John realized that even if he had the chance, the Mog would be able to keep on him no matter what.
The Mog smirked, probably thinking about how he was close to killing one of the Cêpans, but there was another blur of black. Marina dug her knife through the Mog's abdomen, and he gasped, arching up. A sharp "bang" was heard, and the Mog disintegrated. (A/N: End video.)
Marina panted, putting the Loric gun she now had in her waistband, turning to the NCIS agents and her best friend. "Great timing as usual."
"You stubborn Seven!" Savannah started ranting as she emerged from behind the lockers. "Of all of the stupidest things - " She cut off when Marina hugged her extremely hard. She hugged her back. "Well, I guess you can do that."
John grinned, then saw Gibbs shaking his head. "I should've known when I saw Bernie Kosar," he chuckled, holding out a hand to John. "Which number are you?"
"Just my luck," John sighed, shaking firmly. "I'm Four."
"Henri's your Cêpan?" Tony assumed, loading a new round of bullets into his gun.
John winced. "He's dead."
Tony pretty much dropped his weapon. "What?" Kate gasped.
"A video of me getting Three's scar had to be erased from the source," Marina explained as John swallowed and looked away. "John asked me and Sam to help. We were getting out in the truck when a Mog stabbed through the windshield, aiming for John." She cleared her throat, looking down. "Henri took it instead."
The sound of snarls fill the air, and Gibbs snaps out of his daze. "The Mogs have all exits covered. We'll need to fight to get out."
Marina looked at John and raised an eyebrow. "Are you game?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah," John agreed.
Sarah cleared her throat. "There's a hallway past the gym that leads out onto the football field."
Gibbs nodded. "Let's move it."
***
Later, Marina realized, it was probably a good thing Sarah had come with them. An endless stream of Mogadorians continued coming through the school, and it was Sarah who knew alternate routes to show the.
They ran into a freaked out Sam a little bit later, who kept shouting "Holy shit!" every chance he got.
"Hey, hey, Sam!" John shouted, holding his hands up. "Calm down, buddy."
"Mogs," Sam panted, pointing the way he had come. "Everywhere. And your dog . . . there's this huge monster . . . and take your stupid rock." He tossed a matching Loralite right at them. Savannah reached out and caught it easily.
The eight of them stared at Sam, and John got onto what he thought was the most important. "Bernie Kosar?" he prompted.
"I swear I'm going mad," Sam moaned in reply.
Marina's eyes widened when she remembered Gibbs's words: "I should've known when I saw Bernie Kosar." Gibbs noticed her, then nodded. "Yeah, Bernie Kosar."
"What about him?" John asked.
"He's a Chimæra," Marina explained. "A shape-shifter."
There were vague roars from the far side of the building. "That explains why there's a dragon-ish creature that looked like BK is now fighting one of the Mogs' pets," Sam commented.
"It's this way," Sarah told them, grabbing John's hand and pulling him away. "Come on!"
As they started to run, Marina halted by a fallen Mog, picking up its cannon, and tossed it to a startled Sam. "Redeem yourself from the border."
Sam nodded, gripping the cannon tighter. John wrapped an arm around Marina's waist, and they continued on.