Chapter Text
There was no sound other than the roar of an engine. Six teenagers stood covered in mud, sweat, tears, and blood. The pilot opened the door of the plane and Sarah let go of John B’s hand for the first time in hours. Stepping up to the man, she told him quietly to take them all home to Kildare. She felt a familiar form behind her and was relieved to have his steady presence when she told the man no, there would be no reason to return… or wait… for Ward.
John B turned to the others and nodded. JJ lifted the bag of gold and Kiara followed, moving together towards the steps leading to the private jet. Pope and Cleo only a few paces behind. They settled into their seats, exhausted, broken, and brilliantly alive. And then they waited.
The Pogues spoke quietly on the flight, not about the gold, or family, or their troubles. They talked about the island. Charleston. The Break. Things that were familiar and safe. No one was entirely sure what was going to happen next, and they kept their future bottled away, safe from the despair of the present.
As they neared OBX, Sarah moved to the front of the cabin and asked the pilot if there was any way to land without alerting the authorities who may have an interest in their presence in North Carolina. He promised to be discreet, and she thanked him for his time and for getting them home safely.
She walked back to her seat, but turned at the last minute and stood in front of John B. He didn’t smile. Just stared up at her with soft eyes and opened his arms. She eased into his lap and laid her head against his chest, praying that the sound of his heart would lift her from the shadows.
She knew, deep down, that her father loved her, but it was incredibly flawed. Mixed with power and greed. And in the dark of the plane, she wasn’t sure how to feel about his death. It was the second time she’d lost him in less than a year, the second time she grieved for him. And a very small part of her was terrified that he would show up again one day and try to steal her away from the man she was pressed against. She held John B tighter with that thought and smiled when he returned the pressure on her shoulder, her hip. She let out a sound smaller than a whimper and fell into a restless sleep.
John B tightened his grip on Sarah as she drifted away. Her body twitched against him, and he felt as though her nightmares were sinking into his own memories. He could see her father’s face, twisted in despair as she walked into the muzzle of the gun. John B had been so angry with Sarah just a day before, so caught up in his own mess of a situation he never bothered to worry about her. Where she was, what she needed. He forgot, and the world kept moving.
It’s not that she wasn’t on his mind. She always was. But he hadn’t realized that the life he and JJ had been living, one without parents, where you have to scrounge for yourself, was new to Sarah. She could handle it, but they had always worked as a team, and he left her alone.
They had both experienced more loss in the last few months than most people do in a lifetime. The five kids who had run out of the Crain house on a treasure hunt had inadvertently stumbled into the real world and John B had led them there, charging recklessly into the breach, never stopping to look back at what he was leaving behind.
When their feet finally touched the ground again, John B let out a breath of relief and started to walk towards the Cut. He stopped abruptly remembering his home was in ashes. He stood in silence, unable to move in any direction, unsure of what was next. Sarah walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his chest, kissing his shoulder.
“I have somewhere we can go.” Then turning to the others, “Come on everyone”.
She explained on the way how Ward had given her the Condo, the credit card, and the small amount of faith that she could ask him for a ride to South America. John B wasn’t sure, still weary of anything Ward was giving them, but he had no other ideas. In the end, exhaustion won out over anxiety.
Figure Eight was eerie, as they walked slowly in the dark, moving away from the road, conscious of the streetlamps. They were silent as they slunk past the mansions and moved towards a new place to crash. They walked through the front door of the condo quietly, flipping the lights on, squinting in shock. They stopped abruptly in front of the door, Sarah and John B turned to look at their friends, and for the first time since leaving South America a small smile came across JJ’s face.
“Okay, it’s not full Kook, but were getting there.” He muttered walking into the kitchen looking around at their accommodations. Plain, classic, with just a touch of beach-front tacky that the Tourons loved.
A small breath was let out amongst the group of friends as JJ dropped the bag of gold on the kitchen island, the loud clunk echoing throughout the room was an unreal reminder of the weight of their excursion. They looked at each other, apprehensively, unsure of what to do next.
It took John B a few moments to realize that his friends were waiting, as they always were, for him to lead them to their next undertaking. And he had no words. His father died, Ward died, they all almost died. He looked amongst his friends. First at Pope, who stood tall and firm, next to Cleo, covered in sweat. Then he looked at Kie and JJ, mud streaked across their faces, standing closer to each other than he’d ever seen them. He glanced down at his own hands, still covered in his father’s blood. Finally, his gaze turned to Sarah. The most beautiful thing he had ever seen, even with her cheeks streaked with tears. He reached up to her face, letting his fingers run through her hair full of dirt and sand, and smiled when Sarah leaned into his palm.
“Showers”. He said finally. He glanced at his friends as he grabbed Sarah’s hand and walked towards the bedroom. They deserved a little peace before figuring out what was next. He started the water in the shower and felt it was the right temperature. Turning to Sarah, he kissed her softly before saying, “Ladies first” and walked out of the bathroom, giving her privacy.
When the door closed behind him, John B took a deep breath and finally allowed himself to feel the crushing agony of what had happened. He let out a gasp as he remembered his father’s face, turning ashen as he lost more and more blood. His father calling Sarah over, putting his hand in hers, and slowly letting go of the little life he had left. John B felt it when his heart stopped beating. There was a ringing in his ears as he covered his face, his head. It took him a moment to realize he was on the floor, sobbing.
Anger swelled in his chest. His father watched Singh point a gun at his head, at his chest, and hadn’t said anything to save him. As if his life didn’t matter.
A year ago, the only thing John B wanted in the world was to know that his father was alive, out there looking for him. Now he wished he had stayed dead. He wished the illusion of his father was still present in his mind, instead of the reality he had to face. His anger slowly turned into despair leaking out of him onto the floor.
Eventually he breathed. And he breathed again. And at his third breath he straightened his legs, wiped his eyes, and walked out into the living room to see his friends.
JJ was sitting on the island stool drumming his fingers against the marble. Pope and Cleo had figured out the couch was a pull out and were setting it up with pillows and blankets, where they found them, John B could only guess. He looked around the room again, “Where’s Kie?”
JJ looked up at him, “She’s in the shower. Did you know this place has two bathrooms man? I don't understand rich people.”
“Yeah, but its helpful when there are six people coming back from South America, all desperately in need of a shower." John B said the exhaustion clear on his face.
JJ considered the point for a second, “Yeah…. That’s when you’d need it.”
He walked over to his best friend. “Listen man,” John B looked up at the ceiling trying to hold back the tears that he knew were close to falling, “I am so sorry about your dad.” JJ started to clench his jaw, breathing in deeply through his nose.
“He was a great man, and he loved you so much.”
John B nodded, his chin trembling, and hugged his best friend.
“He loved you too Jage” John B told him. Knowing it with all his heart. John B had seen a side of his father he still couldn’t reckon with, but this was true. He clasped his brother by the back of the neck, patting him on his arm.
JJ nodded and broke away from his friend’s grasp, needing to move, to shake away whatever emotion was threatening to break free.
Pope walked up to John B and gave him a hug, he didn’t say anything, accept that he loved him, before walking away to sit next to Cleo.
“Has anyone seen Sarah’s bag? I need to get her clean clothes.” John B stated, moving towards the front door where they had dropped their things. He grabbed his own bag from the ground, found Sarah’s behind Pope’s and took them back into the bedroom.
Sarah stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a white towel. He could tell she had been crying. He walked over to hold her, and then stepped back. He was filthy, and she was finally clean.
She let out a little laugh at his hesitance and stood on her tip toes to kiss him lightly on the side of his mouth. “Go clean up, and then hold me.” John B nodded, gave a small salute, and went to do just that.
Cleo showered after Kiara, leaving the three friends together in the living room. They talked quietly about John B and Sarah, about Big John and Ward. They knew their friends were hurting. They knew they didn’t know how to help them.
The gold, of course, was on their minds. Looking back on the past several months, they had finally won. Finished what they started when the HMS Pogue hit a sandbar and flipped JJ forward into the marsh. But no one mentioned their triumph.
It was JJ who said what they needed to hear, when Cleo stepped out of the shower.
“Let’s just sleep. We can deal with whatever comes next when it comes.”
Pope looked at him with a sigh of relief, tapping his hand on his shoulder, he moved towards the open bathroom. JJ glanced at Kie who nodded in agreement then moved towards where Cleo now sat. JJ turned away from the girls who were now embraced and walked up to the main bedroom. He knocked lightly on the door and heard his best friend tell him to come in.
He pushed open the door and found John B and Sarah cuddled on the bed. John B was wearing boxer shorts and nothing else. Sarah was in one of John B’s old T-shirts. His head was on Sarah’s stomach, and she was running her fingers through his hair.
“Sorry y’all, just wondering if I could use the shower?”
“Of course, man”
Sarah smiled and told him where the towels were and went back to stroking John B’s hair. JJ gestured at them in thanks, quickly showered and walked back into the main room. Pope and Cleo were already on the pull out asleep. Kiara was in the kitchen, stretching up to get a glass from a cupboard. He walked behind her and helped her get it down, grabbing a glass for himself as well.
He wasn’t sure of her yet, of how he should be with her after everything that had gone down at Kitty Hawk, but when he looked at her, he noticed a similar uncertainty in her eyes, and felt, at least in this, they were together.
They were each taking a large sip of water when he looked at the kitchen island and saw the backpack full of gold. They stopped and looked at each other.
“We should probably put that somewhere safe” Kiara whispered.
JJ smiled crookedly, “It really tells you how tired John B and Pope were that they left this up to us to figure out.”
“Oh yeah, huge mistake” Kiara agreed, tucking her hair behind her ears, “We might lose that just walking around the condo”.
“You’re pretty responsible” JJ smirked looking at her. “I’ll let you take it.”
Kiara reached for the gold, sliding the bag off the island and jerked as it fell to her feet, almost smashing her toes.
“Holy shit that’s heavy” she winced shaking her hand out as the strap had wrenched her arm down.
JJ grabbed the bag, “Alright I’ll take it.” He said laughing slightly “I didn’t realize how weak you were Kie. Were gonna have to work on that if you’re going to be mining gold with us.”
He walked into the second bedroom and opened the closet door. It was empty except for a few hangers. He shrugged and set the bag on the floor. He closed the door and glanced at Kie.
“That’ll be safe in there for a few hours, right?”
She looked uncertain, glancing around the room for something to secure the door, coming up empty.
“I guess it’ll have to be”.
JJ stood there, his hands starting to tingle with anxiety. “When has that ever worked out for us?”
“Never” She smiled. “But it’s bound to happen sooner or later.”
He nodded in agreement and then glanced towards the bed, suddenly feeling awkward. He looked at Kie, standing in a Kitty Hawk T-Shirt, twisting her rings around her fingers.
“So, I can sleep on the floor in front of the closet door, you know keep everything safe. You take the bed.”
She laughed at him lightly, showing her own nervousness. Then she looked at him and he watched her face become sure of something. A steady gaze of certainty.
“Or we can both take the bed. You and I have slept next to each other dozens of times without thinking it was strange”. she said, tilting the right side of her mouth up in a slight smile.
He looked back at her seriously, “It not that it’s strange Kie. It’s just that its….”
“Different?”. She filled his silence with a shrug.
“Yeah”.
“Okay,” she agreed leaning her head back. “But can we deal with how it is different tomorrow? Cause I am exhausted, and I won’t be able to sleep if you are uncomfortable on the floor.” She bit her lip glancing up at him, and he could see her losing some of the confidence she had shown seconds before.
A little smile came across his face, hoping to break the tension he said, “Well, if it will help you sleep.” And he jumped in the air and landed on the bed.
She laughed and jumped after him landing horizontally over his body. He grabbed her into his embrace, like he had done a thousand times before. She pulled back and smiled at him, and for the first time since they had gotten off the island, he felt like he could breathe. They fell asleep quickly, exhaustion sweeping over them like a wave, the condo quiet except for the light breathing of six teenagers.