𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 - jj maybank

- 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐨

JJ tapped John B on the shoulder, ears perking up at the sound of her cussing. John B chuckled, shaking his head. Neither one said anything, not wanting to face the wrath of Kaci.

"Well, don't y'all just sit here whining about it," Heyward scolded, pointing a finger at them. "Figure it out!"

"No." Pope shook his head. "I'm just gonna give the key to that lady. I...it's definitely not worth —"

"No, no, no. Did I raise you to back from from a fight, boy?"

"No, sir."

Heyward nodded. "Well, alright," he said softly, and gestured back to the key. "Now, I...I didn't think about it before. I admit that. But now..." He pointed to his head. "Now. I'm interested. Well, did they say why they wanted it?"

"Something about an old cross," Pope told him. "I think it might be some kind of lost treasure."

Mikel furrowed his brows, taking a step forward, his presence powerful as he stood up with perfect posture and a dry cleaned suit with no creases. He didn't fit in in this scene, and he definitely didn't match the others, as they slumped around looking like they hadn't showered in days. Which they hadn't.

"Wait," the Flores man spoke up for the first time, stealing everybodyʼs attention. He locked his eyes on Pope. "Who did you say this woman was, again?"

"Um..." Pope couldn't lie, bad guy or not, Mikel Flores scared the shit out of him. He had a big reputation, and was one of the most powerful men on the island. Plus, he was Kaciʼs dad, and she was scary enough with only half his genes. "Miss Limbrey?"

Mikel nodded, and everybody waited for him to speak again. Kaci pursed her lips, not sure what to do, and JJ kept looking back at her, unsure if they hated Mikel or liked him. His head was practically spinning at this point, so he just focused his attention on Kaz, who was currently trying to wiggle out of his arms to climb onto John B.

"Yes, Carla was friends with Marie," Mikel finally said, and Kaci furrowed her brows, not having any memory of the woman. "They had a fallout just before we had Jordan, but I remember her. She had some disease, she said, and she hated Ward."

Kaci shrugged, trying to find any relevance this had to their previous conversation. "Anything about the key?" she asked, eyebrows slightly raised in sassiness.

Mikel shook his head. "No, not from what I remember, but she was obsessed with some cross."

John B patted the man on his shoulder, feeling his embarrassment, but Mikel shrugged him off.

JJ still had mixed feelings, glancing back to Kaci every so often to read from her. But, as usual, her face didn't say much.

"You know who you should talk to?" Heyward asked, going back to their conversation as he looked up at Pope. He held up the key again. "Your great-grandmother, Mee-maw."

John B nodded towards them. "We gotta get some gas in old Twinkie, but we can go first thing tomorrow," he said, and all the teens started to murmur in agreement.

"Whoo!" JJ whistled, jumping with a burst of energy as he shook a giggling Kaz in his arms. "Road trip!"

"JJ, it's thirty minutes away," Kie told him, shaking her head.

The boy shrugged. "Kaz can't tell the time yet."

"I bet he can tell it better than you," said Kaci as JJ caught up to her, snaking his free arm around her waist.

"Careful, you're going to drop the baby."

"Sorry, Princess, I'm just excited." He kissed her on the temple with a grin.

Before they could leave, Mikel spoke up, pausing the couple and their kid. "Hey, Kaci, Mayb — JJ."

The two turned around, Kaci with her usual neutral look that mirrored Mikelʼs almost identically, and JJ still had no idea if they liked him or not. Kaz didn't know who he was.

"Do you guys want to stay around for dinner?" he offered, not used to asking things like this, not used to being intimate with his family. It wasn't the way he was raised, it wasn't the way he believed the world was supposed to be. But, if this experience taught him anything, if losing his wife and two of his children taught him anything, it was to take care of the people he loved. To show them that they were loved by him. "The hotel's empty for a couple of nights, so the cooks are all ours?"

Kaci turned up to face JJ, who shrugged, never making their decisions for them.

"Maybe another day," said Kaci, voice pretty distant, as she bearly knew the man standing in front of her. "Kaz is due a nap soon."

Mikel seemed to deflate a little at her words, and JJ sent him an apologetic look before walking off to join the others with Kaci, hand still by her waist.

"Just keep working on her," Heyward advised once all the kids were gone. Mikel turned to him with a hopeful expression. "Kaci's a tough cookie, but she cracks around some." He nodded towards the distance, where the girl could be seen laughing and playing a game of slaps with John B.

Mikel nodded. "Thank you."

"Anytime, man — she's a strong kid."

"The strongest."

Authorʼs Note
jj and kaciʼs little moment at the beginning was cute, ig. i feel a lil bad for mikel but his redemption is starting at least. ngl i was supposed to kill him off and give kaci a load of trauma, but i wanted to leave her alone for a little while and work on her personal relationships.
love, tay </3