birds of a feather, obx

016. the runway

Rosie groans as she wakes up, rubbing her eyes and starting to adjust to the light. She looks up, frowning at the wooden ceiling. She slowly sits up and looks around her bedroom at the chateau. She frowns, not knowing how she got here. The last thing she remembers is talking to Ward.

She gets up and trudges out of her room and out to the living room. 

"JB?" She calls, looking in every room for him, but not finding him. She frowns, making her way outside. "JB?" She calls a little louder, looking around the yard.

She looks out and spots a lump on the dock. She makes her way down the walkway, speeding up when she recognizes her brother's sleeping figure.

She kneels next to him and starts poking him in the cheek.

"JB?" She calls, poking his cheek. "JB, wake up." John B's face scrunches up, lazily swatting at whatever's bugging him. "JB." She shakes his shoulder, starting to get impatient.

"Rosie?" John B mumbles, opening his eyes and lifting his head. "Rosie." He lets out a breath of relief. He quickly sits up and pulls her into a tight hug. Rosie lets out a quiet noise of shock at the unexpected contact, her cheek squished against her brother's chest. "Oh, thank God you're okay."

"Can't breathe." Rosie mumbles.

"Shit. Sorry." John B quickly lets go of her. "Holy, shit." He sighs. "You-- you weren't waking up, no matter how hard I tried. I only knew you weren't dead cause you were breathing. You-- you still had a pulse and everything."

"Ward gave me water. He really wanted me to drink it, he forced me to. I got really sleepy after that." Rosie tells him.

"He..." John B's rage fuels, mentally plotting the man's murder.

"He said... he said you shot him with a spear gun." Rosie says.

"I-- no. No, I didn't. I-- well, okay, I shot at him." John B says. Rosie's eyes widen. "But-- but he was trying to hurt me. I was doing it in self defense."

"Did he hurt you?" Rosie worriedly asks, her eyes flicking over his body to find any wound.

"No. No, no, no, I'm fine." John B promises. "C'mere." He pulls her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

"Why would he want to hurt you?" Rosie asks.

"Because I found something out that he didn't want me to. Plus, he wants me out of the way of the gold." John B says.

"Well, what'd you find out?" Rosie asks. John B freezes. "What? Did he kill someone or something?" She feels John B tense.

"Rosie--"

"Who'd he kill?" Rosie asks, fear swimming in her eyes.

John B takes a deep breath, looking down at his little sister. He doesn't want to tell her, but she's the only one who doesn't know. And if she has to find out, it should be from him.

"Dad." John B answers. "He killed dad."

"But dad drowned at sea." Rosie frowns.

"That's what they wanted us to think. But Ward did it. He killed our dad." John B states, his voice low and full of anger.

Rosie frowns, her eyes starting to tear up as she thinks of how her father could've possible died. Ward could've shot him or stabbed him or done anything, she doesn't know.

When he hears the first sniffle, John B tightens his grip around her, holding her close.

"Daddy's dead?" She asks through a sob.

John B doesn't say anything, kissing her on the head and hugging her while she cries.

+++

They're on the dock as John B informs them that Ward beat them to the gold. Rosie is sitting next to her brother, her legs dangling off the dock.