𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 bags in her hands, Kaci Flores walked over to the dock with everyone, where Pope and Kie were finally coming back from their late night out. The others weren't so sure why she felt the need to pack so heavily, but she told them that there was no way she was leaving again without every shoe she owned.
JJ was just happy that they were finally running away together. He knew this would always turn out to be their future - living up on a calm beach, far away from all the horrors of his childhood, as they raise their son together. He held Kaz up with one hand, the kid cuddled into his side, and he carried the baby bag over his other shoulder, his hand on Kaciʼs lower waist.
"Guys, don't tie up!" he called to Pope and Kie, who were preparing to park the boat beside the dock. "Stop!"
"What?" asked Kie, crossing her arms as JJ came running down the steps with Kaz on his hip.
"We're dipping." He held his hand out to help Kaci down the steps, and Luis, John B and Sarah came down right behind them.
"Wait, why?" asked Pope.
"What?" said Kie. "What are you talking about?"
JJ lifted Kaz higher up his side as they neared the edge of the dock, holding him tight in safety. The baby grinned at the sight of all his family, not having a clue what was going on. He threw out his arms when he saw his Auntie Tomato.
Kie smiled back to him, distracting herself for a moment, and took him out of JJʼs arms. Only once the baby was tucked into her side did she go back to sending her looks of clear confusion to the others.
"Where did you guys go?" questioned John B. "What happened last night?"
"We slept on the break," answered Pope simply, still holding onto the rope. "What's up?"
"Slept, right. Yeah," said JJ unbelievingly, jumping onto the boat and patting Pope on the shoulder. Kaz giggled, trying to join in on the conversation, and he playfully stuck his tongue out at him. "We were up all night."
Kaci yawned tiredly, and JJ threw his arms out at her to prove his point. Luis helpfully took a few bags from her arms, and the two siblings joined the others on the boat.
"We gotta get the hell out of here," John B stated urgently, he and Sarah being the last to hop aboard.
"Rafe knows we're here, so we have to leave, like, now," the girl hurriedly explained.
"Okay."
"Come on."
As everybody got ready to leave again, JJ found a corner to sit down on the boat. He pulled Kaci towards him, keeping his arms on her waist and taking away all her anxiety. He pressed a gentle kiss on her shoulder and promised, "We're gonna have a better life here."
Kaci rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not catching fish for the rest of my life."
"You'll love it," he assured her, brushing her hair to the other side so he could rest his chin on her shoulder. "We'll teach Kaz how to surf, raise him on a beach, teach him how to get a girlfirend -"
Kaci smacked him on the arm, turning around to face him with a glare. "He's not getting a girlfriend."
JJ shrugged. "Boyfriend, then. I don't care."
The girl rolled her eyes at him, not wanting to discuss her newbornʼs dating life anytime in the next seventeen years. She leaned back on JJ, finding a comfortable spot inbetween his legs.
Ever since the day she met the blonde boy, he'd always spoken about running away, living a life together off the grid. She never understood it until they had Kaz. All she wanted now was the best for her family, and what was best for them was to stay together. Always.
𖧷
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 they completely left their island again, the pouges took a stop outside the marsh to talk things over properly.
As expected, JJ was still very much for running away, and he even had Kaci on his side now, too. He paced around the logs the others sat on and tried his hardest to fill out all the energy he had from sleep deprivation, also trying to think about all their options. However, the only solution he ever had was Yucatan.
"Look, if Rafe and Barry know, it's only a matter of time," said Kie, finally breaking their silence as she bounced her nephew up and down on her knee, feeding him a bottle of milk.
"Before everyone knows," added Pope gravely.
JJ scoffed. "I told you," he said, still angry at the fact the guys almost got to his son. And the things they said about Kaci - it all pissed him off. "We should've just gone south, man."
"JJ, just stop it," John B tried calming him down.
"Why does no one ever listen?!" he shouted into his best friendʼs face. "They coulda hurt Kaz! He already killed Jordan!"
At the mention of her little brother, Kaci looked down at her hands, trying not to break off her neutral face. Luis rolled his shoulders back and stared at the sky, trying to push the memories of his brother dying away.
Sarah watched them, her stomach bubbling in guilt over it all. She knew it wasn't her fault, she knew she couldn't control her familyʼs actions, but her brother did that to her best friendʼs. Rafe killed Jordan, and she felt terrible for it. The Flores siblings were Sarahʼs family, and she felt sick to think that her own blood could hurt them in such ways.
"I get it," John B told JJ, still trying to calm him down as he glanced back at Kaz, who stared at his father with such admiration. "I get it. I understand."
Before he could continue to rant, JJ followed his friendʼs eye, finding his baby watching him closely. He clenched his jaw and shook his head, not wanting to be angry where Kaz could see it, and retreated back to the logs, sitting inbetween Kaci and Kie, who were both fussing over the little one. He slid his hand into his baby mamaʼs, squeezing it and sending her a soft smile. He didn't mean to mention Jordan and upset her, he was just so angry at Rafe for hurting his family.
"I have an idea," Sarah spoke up, and everyone turned to her. She gulped nervously. "With me back, my dadʼs going to have to choose between me and Rafe."
Kaci and Luis were already shaking their heads at her idea, and the othersʼ eyes went wide.
"Sarah, Sarah -" John B tried to convince her otherwise, to remind her of the man her father was. The monster he really was behind all the pretend smiles.
"He's gonna choose me," she said firmly, voice cracking a little as she thought over all the events of the last month.
"Just please listen," John B said softly. "Ward keeps lying to you, Sarah."
The girlʼs face dropped a little, the memories of her being a little girl with her dad turning gray.
Kaci frowned sympathetically. Although she never had the greatest relationship with Mikel growing up, she still understood what Sarah was going through. It was hard to believe that the first man in your life was evil. To think that he could potentially hurt you. It was a tough pill to swallow. If it was easy, Kaci would've left the hotel the second Luis disappeared. She knew what happened to him from the very start - she just needed to hear the whole story first.
"Blueberry, after everything that's happened, he's not gonna -"
"No," Sarah cut her off, eyes starting to water as she lifted her head up to face her sister. "I know it sounds crazy -"
Kie shrugged. "Yeah, it does."
"I know!" It took her a few moments to get the right words, her heart feeling like a million pieces. She gulped, voice breaking at her next statement. "But he's my dad. And I know him, and I know he loves me."
Luis was the only one to agree with her, sitting beside the girl and nodding. "You do what feels right, kid," he said in a brotherly tone, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Anything happens, we'll be standing right behind you."
She smiled lightly at him, and looked around at the others, who still weren't convinced at all. "I'm just asking for two hours."
JJ sighed loudly in exasperation, throwing his arms up and slapping his legs. Kaci sent him a weird look, his expression reminding her of Chicken Little.
However, it was decided. The group went silent, and Sarah slowly rose from her log.
"Hey, I'll come with, just incase." The oldest of the group stood up, following after the girl he considered a little sister. "I'll wait out on the boat for you."
Kaci watched him walk away with desperate eyes. She didn't want him to go. Ward was a bad man, Rafe lived in that house, Mikel visited regularly - Luis wasn't safe there. None of them were. She had just lost Jordan; she couldn't lose her big brother, too. Not after all the time she spent searching for him. Not after already having to live with the pain of his death.
But Luis Flores was adamant to protect Sarah, and he turned back to his other sister with a confident nod, telling her he'd return later.
A horrid sense of anxiety hit Kaci in the stomach. He wasn't returning, and she knew it.
Seeing her dreaded look, JJ slowly wrapped his arms around the girl, kissing her on the head. "It's all gonna be alright," he promised softly. "We're all gonna be okay."
John B jogged towards the pair that were leaving to speak to Sarah for a moment.
𖧷
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 like an eternity, but was really half an hour, passed, and Kaci was still in JJʼs arms, who whispered sweet nothings and kissed her every few moments. Kaz had since fallen asleep on the lap of his aunt, the overwhelming heat of their island knocking him out cold.
"The tape, you heard it?" John B questioned through the silence.
During their time away from Kaci, John B and Sarah, the remaining three pouges were on a mission to clear the Routledge boyʼs name. Some woman had contacted Pope via letter whilst they were at school - that was why they were in Charleston that day. She had a tape that proved John B was innocent, but the only way she'd give it to him was if he have her ʼthe keyʼ in return. Unfortunately, Pope had no idea what ʼthe keyʼ was.
"Just a few seconds," answered Pope. "But it's definitely Gavin." He nodded, and John B relaxed slightly at the fact of somebody having proff of his innocence. "I think Ward and Mikel might have betrayed Limbrey like they did your dad."
Kaci often forgotten her dad was a part of all this, their main enemy always being Ward. Mikel was sneaky, but they all knew he was the one pulling most of the strings behind the operations. He stayed at the back, letting Ward be the one to put himself in danger, and if it weren't for him, Ward probably would've cracked and admitted to everything already.
"Do you think Limbrey and your dad might have been working together?" asked Pope, looking inbetween both John B and Kaci.
"Mikel works with a lot of people," said the girl, rather than giving a straight answer. She'd never heard the name Limbrey in her life, but there was also a lot about her father she didn't know. She never had the relationship with him most had with their parents. Neither one of them knew a thing about the otherʼs life.
JJ squeezed her tighter, understanding the situation more than anybody could know. As bad as it sounded, JJ was grateful for the shitty parents he and Kaci were forced to have. If it weren't for the lack of love they received, they wouldn't have known the first thing about raising a kid themselves. It was because of the trauma that they knew to do the exact opposite of what their parents did. They were going to raise Kaz as the loved, little prince he was, and they were going to give him the world and stars beyond, no matter the cost of it.
John B shrugged in answer, turning around to stare at the water again. He lifted his head up slowly, eyes widening at the sight ahead. "Hey, there she is," he said, able to smile again now that he knew his girl was safe.
At his words, Kaciʼs head perked up, her whole digestive system dropping at the way he only mentioned Sarah. She couldn't see Luis. Why couldn't she see Luis?
Then, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, a body moved itself away from the back, and Luis waved towards his little sister as they came nearer to the land.
Kaci let out a shaky sigh of relief and smiled back at the two of them.
"Pineapple! Loo!" Kie called, hands in the air with a great smile.
"You made it!" said Pope, and they all started running at them.
Kaz woke up, being handed to his mom, and giggled, reaching up to try and pull at the strings of her hoodie.
"What happened?" John B called out to them.
Everybody helped Sarah and Luis tie up the boat, but neither one of them said a thing about their experience back on figure eight.
JJ stood beside the older boy, furrowing his eyebrows at the sight of the cuts on his knuckles.
"So, how'd it go?" John B asked again, standing beside Sarah.
She shrugged. "You guys were right," she stated, eyes watering as she sniffled. "It didn't work. Sorry."
"You've got nothing to apologise for, Blue," Kaci assured her, wrapping her arms around her best friend.
"Can someone please tell me when Kaci suddenly decided to be nice?" questioned Pope suddenly, going off topic and finally asking the question he'd been dying to for the last day.
Kaci laughed and smiled at him. "I've always been nice to you," she said.
"Yeah, but, like, you're even nice to John B now," he pointed out.
"No, she's not."
"No, I'm not."
"Oh."
Sarah chuckled at the conversation switch, dragging her sleeve across her sore nose, and gratefully smiled across at all her friends.
"Welp, then that settles it, guys," JJ spoke up with optimism, snatching the baby from his mom and pulling a funny face at Kaz. "Now, y'all need to load up in the paddy wagon and get the heck out of Doge right now."
"Right, you'll need supplies, and you'll have to split as soon as possible," added Pope with a nod.
"Guys, I think it's too late," stated Kie, eyes wide as she stared at the water ahead of them.
Everybody turned back, going quiet for a moment and freezing at the sound of sirens. Three boats full of armed cops were coming their way. For John B.
"They followed you here?" John B asked.
"No." Luis shook his head. "I made sure the coast was clear."
"Must've been your father."
"I told you not to hit him," Sarah sighed, looking up to Luis.
John B raised his brows. "You hit ward?" he asked, trying to hide his amusement for the sake of Sarah.
He shrugged. "Well, yeah - if my little sister comes crying to me about some douche treating her like crap, I'm not just gonna stand there and let it happen," Luis said simply.
Kaci bowed her head, vaguely remembering that one time with Rafe. JJ scrunched his face up, taking his words as a warning. Though, he was pretty sure he could take on Luis - not that he'd ever want to.
"We have to find another way outta here," said Pope urgently, gesturing back to the cop boats that were coming after them.
"STAY ON THE BEACH WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!"
Kaci rolled her eyes, cupping her hands together and called back, "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET SOMETHING DONE ABOUT THAT RECEDING HAIRLINE!"
"Kace, I love you, but now's not the time," John B told her.
She glanced back at the boats, the reality of John Bʼs accusations finally settling into the small group. He was wanted. For murder. The murder of a cop. A sheriff. He could be put away for the rest of his life. He could be fried on a chair.
JJ grabbed Kaciʼs hand, holding onto Kazʼs back with the other, and sprinted.
"Let's go!"
"Guys! Come on!"
"Shit!"
"We can't outrun them!"
"Just run!"
"Let's go! Let's go!"
"Go!"
"GO!"
Panting and exhausted, the pouges continued to push themselves further, leaving the beach and running through the woods, over twenty armed cops chasing after them.
JJ and Kaci stopped to check up on John B, trying to get him to the front, but he shook his head. "GO!" he roared at his friends, scared for his life.
They found a swamp, and Kaci didn't even complain about getting her feet dirty from the uncleaned water. JJ threw Kaz up onto his shoulders to prevent him from inhaling any of it.
Everyone continued to shout things to each other, out of breath and desperately trying to get away from the police, to get John B back into the clear.
"Stay where you are!" an angry officer called out to them, and Luis tugged on his little sisterʼs arm to stop her from snapping back.
The seven of them hurriedly climbed out of the swamp, getting John B in the middle of them, as they hid behind a tree, all of them coughing up the mucky water they'd swallowed on the way.
Kaciʼs stomach felt heavy as JJ held her against a tree, his whole body pressed on hers as he tried his hardest to keep them hidden. John B was right behind them, ducking down and making sure nobody could see him.
More sirens flew in around them, more cops fielding in to catch their killer on land.
"Shit," cursed JJ.
"We're trapped," said Pope. "They surrounded us."
"FREEZE!"
At all the loud noise and anxiety around him, Kaz started to cry, and his parents held him close between them. "Shh, shh," whispered JJ, kissing him on the head. "It's alright." But Kaz could feel the heavy beating of his dadʼs heart against his chest.
"What do we do?" panted Pope worriedly.
"There's no way we're getting out of this. We gotta make a stand." JJ passed the baby onto his mom, pulling something out of his pocket.
Kaciʼs eyes widened and she sent him a hard glare. "The gun?!" she asked incredulously. "I thought we got rid of that thing!"
JJ clenched his jaw, not backing down with this subject. "I'm protecting my family," he told her firmly.
John B glanced over to them, seeing the boy clean his weapon, and his face crumbled into guilt. If JJ did what he was planning on doing, he could lose everything. Kaci and Kaz - they were his everythings.
He shook his head finally, the shouts from the cops behind blurring through his ears, as he leaped in front of his friend, taking away the gun JJ held. There was no way he was letting him do it. John B wouldn't let JJ lose the only two things in the world that gave him any hope and want for life. From the very start, John B knew he was never going to let his friend lose Kaci and Kaz Flores.
"It's gonna be alright," he whispered. "Here we go."
A slow tear ran down Kaciʼs face as the interaction happened, and John B sent her a nod, telling her it was okay. The memory of John B at the midwifeʼs with her flashed through her mind, the memory of him holding her as she sobbed over Jordan - he was a good guy, and he didn't deserve any of this.
"GET THOSE HANDS UP NOW!"
JJ kicked mud over to gun to hide it and ran back to Kaci, hearing Kaz start crying out again. He held his son to his chest, tears falling down his face as he watched the cops approach his best friend, his brother.
"GET ON THE GROUND NOW! NICE AND EASY!"
"John B!" Shoupe called from behind the door of his car, aiming his gun at the teen boy. "Step out into the clearing! Get down! Do not move!"
"I'm surrendering!" John B told them all, hands in the air.
"Don't move!" Plumb ordered.
"Hands up, John B!" another cop said, although they already were.
"Alright, the rest of y'all stay right where you are. Keep your hands where I can see them."
JJ raised one hand, the other on the back of his son as he wailed into his chest, terrified of everything going on. Kaci obeyed, glaring at all the officers around them, having to force her feat to stay on the ground without striking out.
"Don't move!"
"Hey, listen, Shoupe, I wanna testify," the accused stated.
The sheriff nodded, stepping forward with his gun still aimed. "It's about time. Get down. Do not move a muscle. Everybody else, don't move."
"Don't move," Plumb echoed.
John Bʼs knees hit the floor and another officer leaped forwards to choke him and throw him off the hard ground, cracking his head open. John B laid there like a doll, not fighting back as he took constant blows to the head by a cop.
Kaci Flores couldn't remember much after that, but she did remember waking up in a cell opposite JJ with bloody knuckles. They were greeted by the others and Kaz outside of the station, who all looked just as much of a mess as they did.
Luis pulled his sister to the side as JJ greeted his son with a crushing, bear hug. "New plan," he said, knuckles still bruised from the punches he had thrown. "Wardʼs too hard to cross, we're taking Mikel down."
Authorʼs Note
i just published a sarah cameron fic if anybody wants to check it out.
love, tay </3