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“Yep. I’m really an alien.”
Fornell rolled his eyes, “Pull the other leg.”
“Seriously, Fornell. There’s an entire prophecy supposedly about my life and Gibbs and how we were fated to come about.”
“Didn’t you just say the bells weren’t about fate and destiny?”
“They aren’t. That doesn’t mean that Gibbs and my relationship wasn’t fated.”
“That’s not even the worst of it, Tobias.” Gibbs interrupted.
“Oh hell.”
Tony elbowed Gibbs for purposefully riling Fornell up. “We think you’re part of the prophecy as well.”
“What? How? I’m definitely not an alien.”
“So far the only alien in the prophecies is me.”
“I need proof.”
Tony sighed and had Gibbs pull out his copy of the prophecy. He shifted through the prophecies until he found the one that talked about the Dark Wanderer.
“This is Gibbs’ copy. It’s not to leave the house.” Tony’s tone of voice brooked no argument and Fornell took the piece of paper with a touch of trepidation. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know anymore.
The dark wanderer will be lost in a dark place when he is found. It is a place that can trap even the strongest of minds. A child will lead him out. Only once he has escaped the dark place can he see the light and help the Cat King on his path.
After reading it over, Fornell frowned, “This could be anyone, DiNozzo.”
“It could be, but it’s probably you.”
“You don’t really believe this do you, Jethro?”
Gibbs shrugged. “I have some really compelling proof.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I trust you’ll keep it to yourself.”
Fornell chuckled darkly. “No one would believe me even if I didn’t.”
“Have we found anything new that would point to what we should be doing next?” Tony asked the room at large.
“Wait. Before you get into any of that. What dark place exactly do you think I’m in?”
Tony shrugged. “Who knows. For all we know it hasn’t happened, yet, but you’re one of the few people we know with a current child.”
“I’m really not sure I’m a good fit for this guys.” Fornell frowned.
“Well no one is going to force you to participate, but even if you’re not the dark wanderer we could use your help in making sure this doesn’t get out.” Gibbs pointed out.
Fornell thought about that for a bit before nodding in agreement. “I can do that.”
“Good.”
After that, they pulled out Gibbs’ copies of the prophecies and spread them around on the coffee table to brainstorm what they could mean. In total, they had ten prophecies. First, there were the ones from the Cat Kingdom about the Cat King.
When the Human King and the Cat King join, the widow will reveal herself. The sorceress will test their bond. The wizard, the dark wanderer, the shadow, and the brain will also walk their own paths. If the tests are passed, a new era of peace between the Cat Kingdom and the Human Kingdom will arise. Should the tests be failed, darkness will descend upon all the kingdoms and it will be many ages before mankind and cats alike recover. Seek the wise one when you are ready for your journey.
A warning will be issued. Family ties will be tested. Hold strong to your faith. The wise man will provide guidance as needed, but he will not know the path the Cat King and Human King must walk.
The enemies will not be known. They will hide. They will find. The obvious ones will be a trap. Look deeper. The brain's help will be needed to discover their histories. They are hidden deeper than the wizard realizes.
The sorceress is not the only one who will test the Cat King. The Human King will provide great support to the Cat King as they discover their abilities. Do not let the sorceress blind you to the other plots going on. Focus on the evidence.
Then there were prophecies for each of the widow, the wizard, the dark wanderer, the shadow, the brain, and the wise men. Fornell hung around just long enough to look at the collection of prophecies that they had and shake his head. “There’s no way anyone will ever make heads or tales of these. If you think these are going to help or provide beneficence, you will be sadly mistaken.
With that parting warning, Fornell turned and left, leaving the rest of the group staring at each other wondering if Fornell was right. Maybe the prophecies didn’t have the answers and they were going about this all wrong.
Before the others could question things too much, Abby piped up, “Fornell is clearly the dark wanderer. The reason he says the prophecies won’t help is because he’s lost in the dark. You can’t listen to him.”
“But Abigail. We must consider all options,” Ducky pointed out.
Abby shook her head stubbornly. “I know he’s wrong on this. Don’t listen to him.”
“How can you be so sure, Abby?” Tim questioned.
“Just look at all the progress we’ve made in interpreting them already. Fornell is probably working with Senior and Ziva.”
Tony shook his head, “Come on, Abby. He’s a Feeb, but he’s not that bad.”
“I hope you’re right, Tony.”
“If I wasn’t, Gibbs would have dumped him when he made the mistake of dating Diane. You know he doesn’t suffer fools well.”
Abby nodded thoughtfully. “So it’s looking more and more like Fornell is the dark wanderer, but we better explore other options as well, just in case.”
“Like who?” Tony frowned.
“I don’t know. Maybe someone from Gibbs’ past?”
Tony stared thoughtfully at Gibbs, “You think that’s a possibility, Gibbs?”
“Well there is one other guy I know that has a kid, but he’s not even in the same state as us, right now.”
“Maybe we’re supposed to go on an adventure to meet this guy.” Abby bounced up and down excitedly.
“I don’t think so, Abbs. No way is Jenny going to let us get away with that, right now.”
“But it’s fate, Gibbs. She can’t stop us.”
Tony rolled his eyes at Abby’s wishful thinking. After that, the night started wrapping up and everyone went home, leaving Tony and Gibbs by themselves again.