As they turned the final corner, Gibbs was the one who took the lead. They ran out onto the football field when Gibbs shouted "Down!"
John grabbed Marina, and the two of them dropped to their knees, Mog cannon blasts flying right over them. "There goes the exit," Tony commented.
John looked over his shoulder, making the decision. "Get her back to the tunnel!" he snapped at Sam. "Go!"
His best friend nodded, taking Sarah's arm and running back to the school entrance. "Kate, McGee, DiNozzo, you guys, too," Gibbs ordered.
"What?" McGee cried.
"We're staying if Savannah is!" Kate agreed.
More Mog cannons fired, and John raised a hand to block those oncoming blasts. He looked at Marina, raising a finger. She nodded, and both of them took off towards the Mogs. Blue Loric blasts came from the guns Gibbs and Savannah were firing, and in his peripheral vision, John saw the other three NCIS agents reluctantly pull back.
John flared up his hands, blasting the first Mogs, then saw a black blur drop into the ground before one Mog cried out, Marina slitting its throat. As she looked around, waiting for a new target, John saw a figure of nightmares striding towards them, but what made John grab him with his telekinesis furiously was the three Loric pendants hanging from its ammo bandolier.
A scream behind him and Gibbs's cry made him look back. Marina had been grabbed by a flying Mogadorian piken, and she was writhing furiously, trying to bring her knife up. Savannah was taking on other Mogs, and Gibbs was trying to get a shot on the piken, but he couldn't.
"Target practice," John muttered, turning away from the Mog commander, flaring his Lumen back up. He aimed up in the air, blasting some of the football lights, then the piken. Marina held out a hand, and the electricity lanced out around them, and as the piken roared, Marina stabbed it in the head. They fell towards the bleachers, and he saw Marina physically brace herself as they hit the bleachers.
"Four!"
John turned at Gibbs's shout, but it was too late. The Mog commander grasped John by the neck, lifting him up into the air. "Four, eh?" he murmured. "I think you have something I need." He jerked John, and he saw the Loralite fall from his pocket. Over by the bleachers, he saw Marina look up warily, but her eyes flared in anger when she saw John. Gibbs and Savannah were backing away. "We're going to kill the rest of you," the commander continued, drawing a wicked-bladed sword from its sheath. Marina got onto her knees, looking royally pissed off. "And we're going to take over," the Mog finished. "It'll be fantastic!"
John held up a hand, firing up his Lumen, aiming at the ammo on the bandolier. "You have no idea what I'm capable of," he growled.
The Mog raised his blade high, but Marina suddenly flew between them, propelled by her phasing, and he saw her hand rip the pendants from the Mog's bandolier, and she gripped John's shoulders, sending them flying backwards. As they did, John flared the Lumen to full strength and the ammo canisters exploded.
The moment they hit the ground, Marina hugged John extremely tightly, and they fell through the ground. The roar of flames was muffled now, and John hugged Marina back, leaning into her ear. "I'm glad you're alive," he whispered.
Marina buried her head in his shoulder. "I am, too," she whispered back, her voice muffled.
They stayed like that until the shock wave passed over.
***
When the explosion went off, Savannah was sure that John and Marina were dead.
She and Gibbs had run back to the tunnel in time to see Sam shoot one Mog dead and hear him say "I play a lot of Xbox before the Mog outside exploded. Everyone had had to drop down to the ground as the flames blew in the door's windows.
After a few minutes, Sarah was the first one to look up. She was staring in horror to outside, and as the NCIS agents sat up, they were doing the same. Savannah stood and pushed the doors open, surprised they had survived the shock wave.
Everyone followed suit, looking through the smoke, then they heard crunching, then John's voice. "I never knew it felt that weird going through the ground."
Marina's laugh rang out as the two emerged through the smoke, their forms starting to appear. Marina's hair was free from its braid, and she was at John's left shoulder, right behind him. Sarah sighed in relief and ran forward towards them, and Sam and Savannah followed suit. Marina and John hugged both of their friends, and as the NCIS agents gathered around, they all had a huge group hug.
It was during that that John grumbled, "do we really have to make sure Mark's all right?"
***
Mark blinked, slowly starting to wake up. The last thing he had remembered was the fact that he had been slammed into a window, to see the Nightshade girl with electricity sparking around her . . .
"Oh, good," a sarcastic voice said. "You're up."
Mark yelped, sitting up straight. He hit someone else's head, and that person recoiled. "Easy there, James," Smith's voice told him, and he came into view. "Hitting a window isn't really the best option for you after what's been going on."
Mark blinked, seeing that his face and clothes were sooty. As his gaze swept over his fellow schoolmates, plus Nightshade's friend, he saw various scrapes and bruises, but Smith and Nightshade were the worst ones off. "What happened to you guys?"
"You're welcome for saving your sorry ass," Nightshade replied, folding her arms. "So a 'thank you' would be pretty nice."
"School's going to have to be reconstructed," Goode added unhelpfully. "At least you won't be coming here soon."
"You make it sound like you're leaving," Mark muttered.
"That's just it," Smith told him. "Marina, Savannah, the NCIS team, and I are leaving tomorrow. We can't stay."
"NCIS is going to be working its butt off looking for us," Nightshade added. "So are the police, but if you say a word to your dad about what's going on . . . "
Mark nodded. "I won't. You have my word."
Nightshade didn't look for a second like she believed it before one of the agents came in. "Marina, come on," he said, looking over at Mark with distaste. DiNozzo. "Cars are ready."
Nightshade stood, kissing Smith's cheek before leaving. "So . . . you and Nightshade?" he asked Smith casually.
The guy rolled his eyes, but he smirked and nodded. That made all of them laugh.
Maybe they'd all be all right.
***
John shut the car door he, Sam, Sarah, and Mark had driven down in, looking around the cemetery. The NCIS team stood waiting, and as they walked over, he noticed that they were gathered around Tony's iPhone, listening to the news.
Marina looked up as they all approached. "We're the talk of the town. Now they're calling our team terrorists."
"Let's hope some day that changes," John replied, taking his Loralite stone from his pocket. He had recovered it from the ground last night.
Savannah took out the stone Sam had thrown her, eyeing it curiously. Gibbs stepped forward, holding a hand out for the stone. Savannah handed it over, and he in turn put it in Marina's hand. "Put the two together," he instructed them.
John took a shaky breath and turned to face Marina. She did the same. "You know, Henri did say Lorics love only once," he told her.
Marina smiled. "I know it."
That had been pretty much the answer he had been hoping for. He smiled back, holding up the rock he held. "For Lorien."
She did the same. "For Lorien."
They pressed the stones together, and it started to shudder in their hands. On one side, the many swirl of crescents appeared as the number four, and in the other, the whirlwind of dots formed the number seven. Images flashed through John's head, and he caught a glimpse of South America and Spain before they disappeared, and the united Loralite stone disintegrated in their hands.
"Well, that didn't do much," McGee commented.
"No," John whispered, looking at Marina. "Did you - ?"
"Yeah, you saw them, too," she replied, sounding breathless. "We know where to go."
Gibbs headed for one of the cars. "Sam, you're coming with us. Your father was obviously involved with this, so you're coming with."
Sam's face split in a grin. Savannah glared at him, then told him, "But if you mess up, I'm gonna shoot you."
"I believe you," Sam replied hurriedly.
Mark stepped forward, looking a little sheepish. "Hope you're headed east," he told them.
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Mark cleared his throat. "Because I told my dad you're headed south."
Sarah smiled, and so did everyone else. John held out a hand. "Keep an eye out here for us, OK?"
Mark shook it. "I'll do that." He hesitated, then reached into his backpack and held out Henri's Loric knife. "And if it means anything . . . I'm sorry about your guardian."
John swallowed, taking the knife. "Thanks."
Marina stepped up to Sarah. "Keep doing your photography."
Sarah hugged her. "I will. Good luck."
There was a sharp bark, and a beagle limped across the cemetery towards them. Gibbs, McGee, and Tony started chuckling as John and Kate grinned. Marina ran over to Bernie Kosar, picking him up and hefting him into her arms. "And you're coming too."
Gibbs and Tony slid into one car, and McGee, Sam, and Kate got into another. John grabbed Marina's arm before she left. As she turned to him, John leaned down and kissed her softly, and she kissed him back. "I love you," he whispered.
She smiled, opening the car door with Gibbs and Tony. "I love you, too."
John grinned, getting in with Kate, McGee, and Sam. Kate looked back, smirking. "Gibbs is probably going to kill you now," she stated.
John leaned back. "Y'know, Kate?" He waved to Sarah and Mark, who waved right back. "I've been through hell and back recently."
He thought about Henri and the Mogs, and how much danger Sam, Sarah, Mark, Tony, Kate, and McGee could be in. Then he thought about what he had seen from the Loralite: Spain and South America. He knew that something was coming up, and only the Garde could face it. He and Marina were two of them.
He looked back at Kate, smirking. "Let him try."