༄ 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗒－𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗋 ༄

"THERE SHE BE," JJ said in awe as he opened the garage door and laid eyes on the Phantom, Luke's most prized possession. "Hey, girl. A 1983 Formula 402 SR1. The Phantom." JJ praised the boat, Kiara clearly uninterested.

        Thalia had to admit, it was a nice boat. "The first boat to make the run to Bermuda in under 16 hours, Kie." the redhead spoke, helping JJ pull the protective sheets off the boat.

        "Forty years old! Forty. And still the fastest thing that Kildare's ever seen." JJ said brightly. He had always wanted to drive that boat.

        "It's kind of a junker." Kie said, unamused.

        Thalia and JJ stared at Kiara with identical expressions on their faces. "Really? She's right there, Kie. She can hear you." JJ said.

        Patting the side of the boat, Thalia spoke. "Let's just put it this way. You would not be smokin' weed right now if she never existed, okay?" Thalia didn't realize she referred to the boat as a 'she' until after she had already said it.

        "I just hope it runs." Kie said, her car ready to tow the Phantom to the dock.

        "Oh, no, she'll run all right. She's faster than any cutters the boys in blue got." JJ said confidently.

        At the sound of a motorcycle approaching, Thalia's face unintentionally lit up at the hope of Pope returning. She left Kie and JJ behind and moved towards the sound. "Pope. What took so long?" Thalia called out, not thinking enough to wonder how Pope knew where they were.

        It wasn't Pope. "Oh, hey, little cousin. What's goin' on?" Rafe appeared from behind the boat that JJ was hitching to Kie's car. "JJ?" Rafe asked, JJ's movements halting.

        "What are you doing here?" Thalia asked quickly, backing away from Rafe. She had seen him go crazy before, and she could tell he was on the verge on insanity.

        "How you guys doin'?" Rafe questioned, stepping onto the boat trailer to observe it. He was stoned, Thalia assumed.

        Thalia turned to move back to Kie and JJ, only to find Barry approaching from the other garage entrance, whistling. Thalia's breath stilled, her face full of terror. "Well, well... I've missed my number one customer, Little Red." Barry said with a laugh.

        JJ pushed Thalia behind him. "Not my problem." Thalia responded, trying to mask her fear.

        Barry raised a gun and cocked it, aiming it at JJ as he raised his arms. "See, don't think I forgot about me and you on the side of the road. I'm here because I want my motherfuckin' money!" Barry shouted, hitting JJ with the gun.

        "JJ! JJ!" Kiara yelled, both her and Thalia being dragged away from JJ and Barry by Rafe.

        "It's not you we want, Kie. Where's John B?" Rafe asked loudly as Thalia shoved his hands off of her.

        "I don't know!" Kiara screamed, slapping Rafe across the face.

        Thalia looked at Barry and JJ, her brother breathing heavily on the ground. "Rafe, go home. You're making everything worse." Thalia said, deciding that she had to remain completely calm.

        Rafe ignored Thalia as he bounced back from Kiara's slap. "I really wish you didn't do that." Rafe threatened manicaclly.

        "I know what you did." Kie said shakily, backing up as Rafe advanced towards her.

        "What? What did I do?" Rafe spoke, still moving at Kie.

        Thalia gently pushed Kiara out of Rafe's path. This was her fight, not Kie's. "You murdered Peterkin, Rafe. And Ward killed Big John." Thalia said smoothly, cringing as Barry continued kicking at a helpless JJ.

        When Rafe grabbed Thalia by the neck, Kie tried to hit his arm, but that only got her pushed away. "Don't you ever say those fucking words again." Rafe threatened. He wasn't hurting Thalia, though she made him think he was.

        "What? You gonna kill me, too?" Thalia taunted her cousin, a smile tugging on her lips.

        Rafe then squeezed Thalia's neck tighter, enough for her to feel it. Kie tried to go after Barry, but JJ wouldn't let her, and ended up with another punch to his face. "Where's John B, Thalia? Is he with Sarah?" Rafe asked, his sanity slipping away.

        Thalia shook her head. "I don't know, Rafe!" she yelled, Rafe's fingers pressing harshly into her skin.

        "Where's John B?" Rafe roared again.

        "I don't know!" Thalia shouted.

        All of a sudden, Pope was hitting Rafe in the back with a metal pipe, and Thalia backed away, breathing heavily. "Don't touch her!" Pope shouted, going to swing at Rafe again.

        Rafe dodged the attack and hit Pope in the face, Thalia now standing with Kie, neither sure of what to do. Then, Pope was winning, punching Rafe twice, three times, five times. "Hey!" Barry shouted, cocking his gun again and abandoning JJ to help Rafe.

        From the ground, JJ grabbed Barry's ankle and tripped him, the gun falling away. "Kie! Kick it!" JJ yelled, and Kiara quickly kicked the gun away as Thalia slammed her shoe in Barry's face once, Kie and JJ taking care of him while she focused back on Pope.

        Rafe was covered in blood, unable to defend himself, and Pope wasn't letting up. "Pope. Pope, that's good! Stop!" Thalia voiced. This was her cousin. She couldn't let Pope kill him.

        JJ and Kie moved away from Barry. "Hey! He's had enough, dude." JJ said to Pope as the brunette struck Rafe against a tower of boxes.

        Pope then grabbed a rope and wrapped it around Rafe's neck, tying it tightly. Thalia's eyes widened in alarm. "Pope, he's good." Kiara said as Pope lifted Rafe up by the rope.

        "Snap out of it, man. Snap out of it, dude!" JJ tried, but Pope wasn't himself.

        "Pope! Pope, that's too much!" Thalia yelled, watching Rafe's face begin to turn purple from the tightness of the rope Pope was tugging on.

        "Dude, come on! Stop! Stop, dude!" JJ shouted, grabbing Pope from behind, trying to get him to release Rafe.

        "Pope! Get off!" Kie voiced, terror evident in the way she spoke.

        Thalia really thought Rafe was going to die at the hands of Pope. "Hey! Look at me!" Thalia shouted loudly, finally getting Pope's attention. Instantly, Pope released the hold he had on Rafe, hyperventilating. "It's okay." Thalia said, her eyes trailing from a regretful Pope to her cousin, coughing violently on the ground.

        "Shit. Oh, shit," JJ muttered, letting Pope go.

        Thalia knelt on the ground, reaching over and untying the rope from Rafe's neck. "Don't... Don't touch me." Rafe coughed, trying to push Thalia's hands away.

        She hit his arm. "You're the bitch who just tried to kill me." Thalia reminded Rafe, checking out his neck. He would be fine.

        "Okay, we gotta go. We gotta go." Kiara said quickly, grasping Thalia's arm and gently tugging her to her feet, away from Rafe.

        Kie, Thalia and JJ moved to the car. When Thalia noticed Pope wasn't with them, she turned around with a sigh, finding him staring at Rafe. "Pope. Get in the car." Thalia said firmly, and Pope obliged. They sat in the backseat, distance between them, looking out opposite windows.

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THUNDER WAS RUMBLING loudly by the time the four Pogues launched the Phantom at the dock, JJ and Thalia in the boat, checking everything out. "Dude, where is he?" Kiara said, trying to pace the stress away. John B still hadn't arrived, and Thalia's texts to Sarah weren't going through.

        "Give him a second. He'll be here." Pope said, having calmed down from his reign of terror.

        "He's coming. He'll be fine." JJ added, tossing Thalia the tarp that had been covering the control panel on the boat.

        When a cop car pulled close to the dock, everyone was on high alert. "JJ!" Kie said quickly.

        "Hey, yeah. Get back on the boat." JJ said in a rush.

        "Untie it, Kie." Thalia directed, about to turn the boat on.

        But it wasn't a police officer who got out of the car. It was John B. "Dude, what?" Thalia asked, confused, brows furrowed.

        "No way." JJ spoke as he saw his best friend get out of the car, closing the door behind him.

        "No effing way." Pope added in surprise.

        "I'm sorry." Kiara said, flabbergasted.

        JJ and Thalia got out of the boat. "You've gotta be kidding me." JJ muttered.

        "Shoupe let me take it for a spin." John B joked, moving towards his friends.

        "Okay. That's believable. I'll buy that for now." Kie said as she embraced John B with a smile.

        Thalia stepped off the boat, JJ remaining on the bow. "It wasn't easy, bro, but I got the Phantom for you, and she runs like she was made yesterday. You ready to go?" JJ held up the boat keys, tossing them to John B.

        Looking around, Thalia's face fell. "Where's Sarah?" Thalia asked. The plan was for Sarah and John B to leave the island, and Sarah wasn't there.

        "She's not here?" John B asked quickly.

        "Where is she?" Thalia questioned once more, tension rising through her body.

        "We got separated in the swamp. She said she'd meet me here." John B said, stepping towards the boat.

        "No, we haven't seen her." Pope shook his head, eyes falling on Thalia.

        John B moved over to Pope.. "Okay, well, I'm not leaving without her." he said firmly.

        JJ sighed. "John B, look at me. I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You've got plenty of gas, plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to Dismal Swamp, okay? Once you get there, lay low, all right? Hang out for a couple of weeks and then go overland, cross the border at Brownsville, you got that? Brownsville. You... Hey! You got that?" JJ instructed, John B distracted by the absence of his girlfriend.

        He nodded when JJ tapped his face. "Yeah, yeah. Brownsville." there was more thunder, indicative of how massive this new storm was.

        "All right. Saddle her up, saltwater cowboy. Let's do this." JJ hopped off the boat and John B got on.

        John B stopped JJ and Pope from pushing the boat away from the dock. "Hey. Hey. I'm sorry for basically... throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing." he said, tears in his eyes.

        "Hey, John B, yo... we were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right? I got a sister out of it." JJ looked down at Thalia, and she smiled lightly as the group laughed softly.

        "Thanks for stealing the scuba gear. Giving me friends again." Thalia said to John B. If it wasn't for him, she would probably be alone in her room, high off her ass, nothing left to live for. She had friends, she was a Pogue.

        John B nodded tearfully. "Anytime." he said, holding onto the straps of his backpack.

        JJ smiled. "At least we did it together, though. Pogue style." he placed his arms around Kie, Thalia and Pope.

        "Pogue style." John B said, reminiscing over the best summer of their lives.

        "Get out of here! Please." Kie said, ushering John B away.

        "Now. We'll see you in two months, down in Mexico." Pope pointed towards the water,

        "Love you." JJ said.

        "Good luck, treasure hunter." Thalia added with a light smile.

        John B turned around as more thunder rolled over Kildare. "Hey, wait... wait a second. Tell Sarah I said goodbye, okay?" he asked through tears.

        Thalia nodded. "Don't worry about her. She'll be okay." the redhead promised.

        "Don't forget. Cross the border at Brownsville, okay?" JJ reminded John B, and he nodded, settling at the control panel of the boat. They all pushed the boat off the dock, and watched as John B drove off into the sunset, where he would be safe.

        The Pogues watched him go, unsure of what to do now. Thalia knew she had to talk to Pope, so she tugged him further down the dock, JJ and Kie walking away to give them space. "I'm really sorry–" Pope began, thinking that Thalia was about to yell at him for almost killing Rafe.

        Instead, she shut him up with a delicate kiss. "You're a lover, not a fighter. Remember that." Thalia said softly, staring up into his big brown eyes.

        Pope smiled, drawing Thalia into his arms, holding her neck while she gripped his waist. Pope placed a kiss on the top of Thalia's head as she melted into him, the side of her head pressed into his chest. "Hey, guys, I'm sorry to ruin the party, but, uh, we gotta go right now." JJ said suddenly, and Thalia broke apart from Pope, turning to see a bunch of cop cars pulling up to the dock.

        Shoupe got out of a black SUV, making a beeline for the Pogues. Kie and Thalia remained where they were, lifting their hands, while Pope and JJ stood motionless. "Guys." Thalia warned the two as an SBI agent raised his gun at them.

        "Hands up! Hands up!" the agent said quickly, moving towards the boys as JJ raised his hands.

        "Pope, hands." Thalia said quickly, and Pope listened.

        "We're too late. He's gone. God damn it! Bratcher, have your guys stand down," Shoupe instructed, angry at failing to get John B again. "Let me talk to these kids. All right, where the hell is he? Where the hell is he?" Shoupe shouted, but the Pogues weren't interested in talking, "JJ? I see you and your sister are livin' up to your names. Pope, how about you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing now! Where'd he go?" they wouldn't get to John B, so the Pogues didn't speak.

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