It took a lot of convincing. The Carrera's and the Heyward's were not thrilled at the idea of letting their respective children once again go on meaningless adventures, specifically to the mainland. While each teen managed to make it on the ferry, Pope and Cleo were unable to obtain Mr. Heyward's truck, and Kie and JJ? Well, they were quieter than normal. Dani wasn't necessarily surprised, she could only imagine the things the Carreras had said to JJ in an effort to keep Kie home. Kie had needed his support though, and no one objected.

The pogues sat around a small table, cramped with all six teens. The wind from the ferry whipped through their hair and the spray of the sea settled gently on their bodies.

JJ shifted his hat, placing it so that the bill was pointed behind him. They were barely even an hour into their trip before the blonde boy started scheming. It was just like old times. "Honestly, the hardest part is gonna be security, alright? So most of the guys are gonna be at the rail yard."

"Right. So, we're gonna need to find some place and guard it. Maybe a little further down the line, like a whistle-stop or something." Pope offered.

"Yeah."

Cleo shook her head, "You guys are getting ahead of yourselves per usual. We don't have a way to transport the cross. What you think? On JJ's motorcycle?"

JJ grasped the hat in his hands, spinning it gracefully between his fingers. "That's not my fault."

"Okay, other options."

Sarah stopped paying attention, leaning backward for a minute and instantaneously shooting forward at the sight of something. "Oh my God."

"Oh my God, what?" Cleo asked the blonde girl.

Pope, Cleo, and Kiara turned their attention in the direction Sarah had been looking, blocking JJ and Dani's view. Dani scrunched her nose, trying to see through the teens, but it was pointless, "Hey. Guys?"

No one bothered responding directly, Pope answering Dani's question with his own, "Is that Topper?"

Dani slunk in her seat, a breathy "Fuck" escaping her as she started to feel the panic rise in her. That was one thing about being gone for a month, Dani simply didn't care enough to feel anything, and the girl's total apathy had kept her from having one of her bad panic attacks. Unfortunately, being back in the Outer Banks had not only brought back the joy but the anxiety as well.

Kiara turned back to the table, rolling her eyes. "Why... is he everywhere?"

JJ didn't listen to the others chime in, his attention directly solely on the girl hiding in the seat beside him. She had gone pale and her breathing was shaky. JJ threw his hat on his head once again, not bothering with the placement. No, JJ's sole focus was on helping his friend to breathe.

The blonde sunk to one knee beside Dani, grasping her limp hand and running circles over the pad of her thumb with his own. "Hey, it's okay. We got you, okay?" JJ obviously disliked Topper, but he didn't really know why Dani would react in such a way. It didn't matter the reasons though, JJ was going to help Dani in whatever way possible.

It only took a few seconds for Dani to calm her troubled heart. Topper would likely never believe that Dani and Rafe were back together, especially upon spotting her with the pogues. He would have to be a special sort of thick, or uncaring and ignorant, to not spill Dani's whereabouts to Rafe. The girl had told the Cameron boy that she was going to stay at her own house for the night, in the safety of her own bed. If Rafe knew what she was really doing... It didn't matter. Dani could get through it, especially if JJ continued to lightly graze her fingers with his own, a simple, but yet extremely comforting, gesture.

Dani sat up a bit straighter, nodding, "I'm fine. I'm fine."

JJ said nothing as he stood up, slinking back into his casual stance. Yet, the blonde still didn't let go of Dani's hand.

"Perfect," Pope turned toward JJ, completely oblivious to the moment Dani and the blonde had. "Hey, Jayj."

"What?"

"I bet you Topper has a way to transport the cross."

JJ's shoulders tensed, his hand tightening around Dani's. The girl was likely not going to like what he was about to say. "Actually, Pope's right. He does have a rig."

"No," Sarah answered for the table. Even if she were oblivious to the too-silent girl sitting beside her, Sarah had her own reasons for saying no.

"Yes," JJ let his gaze drop to his feet. It felt like every word that had been said in the past minute was an epic betrayal.

"No. Absolutely not."

"Yes, come on. Sarah, you already got him whipped anyway, alright? So, why don't you just take one for the team."

"What would John B say?"

Pope ducked his head, his gaze swiveling across the Pogues. "I think John B will completely understand. Think about the circumstances. It's about treasure."

Kie certainly did not pick up on Sarah, or Dani's hesitations, adding her own voice to the mix, "We can handle John B. Just talk to him."

Sarah nodded, still hesitant to agree. The blonde girl looked at her quiet friend, waiting for Dani to say something relevant to the conversation. "Dani? Thoughts?"

Dani barely raised in her seat, trying to appear confident. "I... I think that it's the only plan we've got."

Sarah could've rolled her eyes, annoyed with her friend for picking a different side, but she didn't. Instead, the blonde girl slightly puffed a breath and nodded, resigning herself to the bubbly, kook girl she once was. She was the same girl who had befriended Dani, who existed before the pogues.

Sarah waited until the sun had started to set, allowing for the perfect mood lighting.

The pogues couldn't hear what the two blonde exes said to each other, but they watched with hopeful, anticipating eyes. Cleo and Dani stood at one edge of the lower deck, letting the mist of the water cool their faces in a way the early evening breeze could not do. The two girls were completely out of Topper and Sarah's sight, only barely visible to Pope, JJ, and Kie, who acted as a sort of middle-man. The three pogues were situated so that they could see Dani and Cleo as well as Topper and Sarah.

At some point, Sarah must have made eye contact with JJ. Dani only watched in amusement as the boy started flailing his arms wildly, egging on Sarah Cameron.

Only a few minutes later JJ lifted his thumbs to the sky. Mission complete apparently?

JJ scooched along the deck, coming to stand by Dani's side as she stared at the water below her. "You decide what you're saying to Topper, yet?"

Dani lightly shook her head, that wave of anxiety she was desperately trying to keep at bay washing over her again. "I think..." Dani cleared her throat. "I think I'm going to have to say, for now, that I've been with you guys this past month. That's what Topper will believe for now anyway. Any news that Rafe and I are back together... I'll deal with that later. Topper has a certain, uh, affinity, for keeping secrets until it's the perfect time to weaponize them."

JJ watched Dani with disappointed eyes, but he nodded along nevertheless.

The pogues only waited another two hours before they were creeping along the empty, dark trainyard in Wilmington. Topper had kept miraculously quiet upon seeing JJ, Kie, Pope, Dani, and the newbie Cleo, and he had remained so as four of the hitchhikers had so eagerly piled into his truck - Kie and JJ chose to wing it on JJ's dirtbike-motorcycle-danger-mobile. Whatever Sarah had said to the boy had clearly worked, Topper was willing to help.

Sarah sighed at the hundreds of train cars sitting along the quiet tracks in front of her. She, along with the rest of the pogues, could see an abundance of metal boxes as they stood atop one of the train cars which sat toward the outside of the plethora of tracks.

"Well, there's like 1,000 trains here," Kie announced. She obviously decided that there was no way they were going to find what they were looking for.

Pope shook his head, trying to remain undoubtedly optimistic. "Well, we know it's car 750X on the track to Raleigh."

"Yeah, so now we just gotta find it."

"Well, news flash. We're not getting out of here unnoticed with a giant cross."

Dani lightly jabbed Kiara's side, the brunette really needed to remain positive.

"We won't have to. We can nab it somewhere further in the country. Just gotta figure out how to stop the train."

Kie smiled. It was bright, obviously a forced response in an effort to satisfy Dani. "Right."

JJ let a lopsided, determined grin fall on his face. "Leave that to me."

Everyone raised an eyebrow. Was JJ really the best person to... You know what, never mind. Positivity.

Cleo leaned forward, looking at the sea of trains below her. "How you gonna do that?"

"I got an uncle up in New Bern, right? When he got tipsy, he'd just throw an old chain across the tracks, just for shits and giggles. And that old little chain would stop all the train traffic in coastal Carolina."

Kie dropped the pained smile from her face. She was back to the disbelief in an instant. "A chain?"

Pope sighed, "He's actually right. There's a low-voltage current that runs across all rail tracks. Throw a chain on it, you close that circuit."

Dani picked up on Pope's train of thought. Her own voice was exponentially quieter than the others as she finished the idea, "The chain would read as another train. Crossing lights come down..."

"The science is actually pretty sound."

JJ beamed at Pope and Dani. "Science. I knew my science."

Kie lifted a hand in the air, her head jerking around as she twisted her lips up in annoyance.

Pope continued to speak, an anxious edge sharpening his words, "Well, we don't have a chain."

"No, but I bet Topper's dad has jumper cables in the truck. Would that work?"

"Yeah."

From below where the teens stood on top of the railcar, a grating voice yelled up at them. Topper looked frustrated as he spoke, "Yo, what's going on? Are we doing this or what?"

Cleo rolled her eyes. It was clear in the first few seconds of meeting Topper that the two would not really get along well. "Alright. You all wait here, me and Pope will go look for it and send a signal once we find it."

Sarah looked at the group in awe. "Do we actually have a plan right now?"

JJ nodded, his eyes still glowing from his scientific revelation. "Think we do."

"That's impressive." Sarah held a hand to JJ. The two blonde teens did a brief little pogue shake.

Pope gestured toward the end of the car, where a rusted ladder was attached at the side. "Let's not jinx it while we're ahead. Come on."

"Nobody ever listens to me," Cleo said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

The pogues were determined. Pope and Cleo scaled down the ladder with ease, too excited and infatuated with their plan to worry about something like tetanus. The other teens watched, hearts beating fast and excited anticipation melting their bones with the faintest of touches.

The teens crouched on the top of the train car had a hard time sitting still. Sarah anxiously wrung her hands together, waiting mere minutes before she could take it no longer. "What's taking so long?"

JJ shifted from one foot to the other. His voice was the most faint whisper, "Pope. Come on."

Before they could let their anxieties turn to full panic, Dani caught a shadowed motion out of the corner of her eye. The girl lightly tapped Sarah's shoulder, creating a domino effect as Sarah, then JJ, then Kie caught on. "Hey..."

Pope climbed toward the top of a railcar about 50 feet away, directing a flashlight at the pogues and frantically switching the light on and off. It was the signal they'd been waiting for.

JJ laughed breathily, holding his thumbs in the air as he had done earlier for Sarah.

Kie nodded, standing and inching toward the rusted ladder. "That's it. We're green."

A train horn blasted in the distance, stopping the four teens in their tracks.

"What's happening?"

"You hear that?"

A cacophonous rush of nerves made Dani's extremities tingle.

"Train's moving. Train's moving." JJ bounced on his toes, panic starting to fill his voice.

Dani could only watch as Pope still barely lingered on his railcar's ladder. He toppled slightly at the sudden movement of the train.

"Shit. Shit!"

Sarah and Kie wasted no time, finding the ladder with ease and climbing back to earth.

Dani hesitated, but JJ expected it. Her stillness only remained for seconds before the blonde grasped Dani's hand and pulled her behind him, the pair following Sarah and Kie to the ground below.

The train bellowed again. The horn was loud, loud enough to draw attention.

Dani, JJ, and Kie hung back as Sarah approached Topper. She moved swiftly as the two had an indistinct conversation. Though Dani could certainly tell the kook boy was becoming a bit agitated.

With every ounce of strength and friendship in her Dani pushed forward, passing Topper with a light brush against his shoulder as she went to help Sarah with the jumper cables.

Topper whirled around, catching Dani's gaze, and then Kie and JJ who had miraculously, yet undoubtedly, followed behind the small girl. "Hey, I just wanna make sure everyone here is okay with ending up in federal prison."

JJ smiled. "Uh, if it gets to that. Yeah. I'll do it for Pope." The blonde swung a leg over his two-wheeled vehicle, waiting for a passenger.

Kie and Dani made brief eye contact. Dani didn't necessarily want to ride on the back of the danger-mobile deathtrap, not because she didn't trust JJ, it was just... a little too much of a gamble, but Kie had a pleading look in her eyes. Perhaps three separate rides on JJ's bike in one day was three too many for the brunette as well. Dani hadn't necessarily picked up on that vibe, but if Kie needed a break then...

Dani sighed, resigning herself to the absolute psychotic decision of getting on the back of an open-aired, looming-death-vehicle. "I gotcha J." The girl swung a leg over the bike, easing onto the bike behind JJ as she had seen Kie do earlier. JJ watched Dani with curious eyes but said nothing, simply letting the girl put her fate in his hands.

Dani was hesitant at first, afraid to wrap her arms around JJ, afraid that she'd squeeze him too tight in her fear. JJ simply pursed his lips and guided Dani's hands around his waist, "You're going to need to hold on, Burton, or else I can't guarantee you won't fall."

Dani blinked slowly, her eyes resembled a deer in the headlights and her voice was tight, "Please god don't crash."

JJ laughed with uncomfortable ease. If Dani were not slightly frozen in terror she would take the opportunity to punch JJ in the shoulder. "Just hold on as tight as you need to, B. No need for fear."

Dani gulped down her terror, squeezing JJ's core tight and only letting herself feel a little bit of the gnawing guilt. JJ kicked the kickstand up, balancing easily on the bike.

JJ revved the engine slightly before he took off. He accelerated faster than Dani anticipated and the girl gasped lightly as her hair fanned behind her in the wind.

JJ and Dani led the way, exiting the trainyard with such ferocity that Dani couldn't help a smile. It was a rebellious smile, wild and free.

Dani and JJ veered from the path, allowing Topper, Kie, and Sarah to go on. They each had their own mission to complete.

JJ came to a gentle stop beside a tree. He let Dani clamor off the bike, her bones jelly from the unusual, new activity before he dropped it to the ground.

"This should be far enough."

"Alright."

Dani grasped the jumper cables from her backpack, handing them to JJ as she still didn't trust herself to move properly. JJ took off in a run, instantly tripping over his feet. Fortunately for the blonde boy, his bones weren't jelly from the shock of the motorcycle ride and he was able to reach the train crossing right as the lights started flashing and a faint bell started dinging.

Dani finally managed to push herself toward the railroad crossing, her feeling returning, tingling. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Alright? Oh God, you can hear it coming. Let's fry this sucker."

Dani crossed the tracks, standing opposite JJ as he crouched beside the signal pole and began attaching the jumper cables where they needed to go.

"Alright."

"Okay, now, all you have to do..."

"...is change the current. Yes, I got you."

JJ crossed the tracks, coming to stand beside Dani so he could attach the other ends of the jumper cables. "Let's go."

"Don't get electrocuted, please."

"Yeah, no promises with that. Three. Two. One. And red."

Dani lifted her eyes to the signal pole, waiting for the green warning light to turn red in warning. "Moment of truth."

JJ's voice dropped to a whisper, "Come on, man. Come on. Come on."

Dani felt the nervousness rise in her throat, this was supposed to be working.

JJ paced, voicing the same thoughts that were running through Dani's mind. "Okay. That's what he would do. You said it too. That's literally what my... So then it'd change red. Oh my God! Think, think, think. Okay, what if I blockaded the track? That's what I could do. Maybe put a tree?"

Dani crouched down, staring at the cables in front of her. The panic that crept through her slowly eased up, amusement taking over. "Uh, hey. The train touches both sides of the track." The girl picked up the extension cord, moving one end so that both sides of the train tracks were covered, the current complete. Dani turned her eyes to the pole again, purely willing the light to change. "Come on. Come on. I don't have a plan B."

It took a few moments but the light finally changed, illuminating the ground with a slight red glow.

"Yes, yes! Yes."

"That's what I'm talking about!"

Dani whirled to JJ, high-fiving her friend.

"You're a genius."

Dani blushed slightly, "Science! Besides, all you."

"I mean... I was gonna do that."

Dani pushed JJ's shoulder lightly.

It was a nice thing, to be comfortable with some to the point of light teasing.

"Now. We wait."

Dani turned her attention toward the track, shuffling over behind the tree that hid JJ's bike. JJ followed the two waiting in comfortable silence for the train to come to a stop at the spot they determined.

"It's gonna work. It's gonna work."

The train approached and the sound of breaks squealed in the night. It worked, JJ and Dani had successfully completed the circuit, triggering the train to stop right where they needed it to.

"She's slowing down."

"We got brakes, dude."

Dani and JJ waited in the silence, ready to serve as a distraction, ready to aid in getting the cross. Simply, the pair was ready to do whatever it was they needed.

Car headlights flashed through the trees, prompting JJ and Dani to back up quickly. Uh oh.

"Burton. Back up. Back up."

"Shh!"

The pair sunk back into the trees, still watching the scene play out in front of them.

"Shit."

"No, no, no. That's not part of the plan."

The car happened to be a control truck, an official train authority vehicle. Two men exited the truck, approaching the train quicker than Dani or JJ could think. There was no plan.

The train workers moved quickly, instantly noticing the jumper cables and removing them from the track. In only a matter of seconds, the train's warning lights