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

Chapter Six

Paradise Senior High

"John! Annalise!" 

He turned away from talking to Marina as he heard someone call his name. He smiled when he saw Sam come running up. "Hey, Sam," he greeted him. 

"Heard you pulled quite the stunt yesterday," Sam commented. 

John blinked. How much does he know? he wondered. "Stupid prank with flashlights," he lied quickly. "That class . . . " 

"Boring as hell?" Marina supplied. 

John snorted and nodded. "With a capital." 

Marina turned and started turning the dial on her locker. "That's pretty much what gym is like." 

"And about Mark," Sam started as he, too, began to unlock his. John started, too. "He doesn't like anyone around Sarah, so if I were you, I'd - " 

He cut off when there was a sudden splat when he opened his locker, and gobs of red paint flew right at him. John opened his locker next, and managed to throw his arm up in time so his arm got the most paint on it. Marina, after hearing what she did, turned her head quickly so the paint splattered into her hair and not on her face, and some on her jacket. 

John's face turned red and he slammed his locker shut without even bothering to look to see what caused the paint. "You all right?" he asked Marina. 

She was rummaging through her locker, her teeth gritted as laughs of other students began filling the hall. "If I find out who did this . . . " 

John looked down at his feet, not trusting himself to even look up. He turned to look at Sam and saw him rummaging even more ferociously through his locker than Marina was. He pulled out something, trying to wipe the paint off of it, but wasn't succeeding. 

Howls of laughter came from behind them, and John knew who it was without turning. "Mark," he seethed. 

He saw Marina stiffen considerably. "What happened?" he whispered. 

Marina pulled something out of her locker, too, and he saw that it was a photo album with a picture of her, Gibbs, Tony, Kate, and Savannah on the front. It was coated in paint. She clenched her fist so hard that her entire hand turned white. "That bastard," she whispered, the venom in her voice making John almost pity the guy. 

Almost, he reminded himself when he saw Mark throw a smirk at Sam as he and his gang walked by. Sam dropped whatever it was he was holding and launched himself at Mark. "Stop making fun of me!" he shouted angrily. 

Mark just simply shoved Sam back towards the lockers. John got to him first and caught Sam just before he slammed into the lockers, and Marina threw a punch hard at Mark, catching him across the face. "I'm getting sick and tired of you," she snarled at him, grabbing him by the shoulders and thrusting him hard into the wall. "So give me an answer here." 

She shifted her shoulders back a little bit, her jacket shifting so that John could just barely see the muzzle of the gun she had strapped to her arm. "If I had a weapon on me here and now, why shouldn't I give you hell?" 

The entire hall went silent at that. Mark didn't even look fazed. He looked right at her. "There are certain things that a quarterback needs, Ramaya," he whispered so only he, Marina, and John could hear. "Strength, definitely. And speed. That's also needed." He smirked even more. "But what he really needs is an intuition. A feeling when things start heading south." He shook his head. "I should've listened to it the first day I met you." 

Marina glared at him. "There are certain other things a girl needs, too," she told him. "A bitchy personality hits the top." 

She stepped back, folding her arms. "I know I can beat you any day of the week. And I know that if I can, John would be able to kill you. So you might want to get out of here so we're not tempted."