════ ⋆★⋆ ════
(S1 E3)
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
Rock music plays on the Twinkie's radio as the Pogues pull into the lot of the Carrera's restaurant, The Wreck. They make their way inside, jokingly shoving each other and horsing around.
"Stealing drones makes you hungry." JJ nods, adding, "What I would do to a beer and shrimp and grits right now." Pope and Parker scrunch up their noses in disgust. "It would not be pretty." Parker laughs, knowing for a fact that the raven-haired boy was right.
Kiara sighs as they enter the restaurant, making her way towards her dad as the rest of the Pogues sit down at one of the tables, still messing around. They talk for a short while before Mr. Carrera glances over at them and sighs. He shakes his head, exasperated, muttering harshly at Kiara.
They seem to get into a mini argument before Mr. Carrera relents, announcing, "Well, I- I got- I gotta throw it out. Might as well take it." Kiara thanks him enthusiastically, and he gives her a smile. Parker waves at him, calling out, "Thank you, Mr. C!" He nods, shooting her a tight-lipped smile.
Kiara brings it out the food for them, and JJ stands up to try to grab it. Parker grabs the back of his shirt and yanks him back down, muttering "no fucking manners", under her breath.
Kiara lays it out, and JJ excitedly exclaims, "Oh! Oh, yes!" They quickly dig in, and Parker continuously snatches bits and pieces of food from JJ's hands.
At some point, Kiara pulls John B up and begins to dance with her. Parker glances over at Pope to gage his reaction, trying to prove her theory to herself. When she sees the jealous look on his face, she knows that he is definitely into Kiara.
She puts her hands on her head, realizing how many problems this could create for them in the future. Life just couldn't be easy for them, could it.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
The next day, they head down to the Chatêau's dock to test out the drone. Kiara and John B jump into the water with it, and Pope, JJ, and Parker stay on land to monitor the camera.
JJ tries to tap the keyboard, asking, "What's this?" but Pope slaps his hand away, exasperatedly muttering, "Don't touch that. I'm trying to work out this thing." Pope punches a few keys, making the drone seemingly move forward.
JJ bends over with his hands on his knees, basically breathing down Pope's neck. "God bless geeks, Pope. Truly, man. What would we do without you to control the drones?" John B and Kiara surface, trying to catch their breath. Pope rolls his eyes, ready to correct the blonde boy.
"It's not a drone, it's an ROV." JJ waves him off, exclaiming, "Shut up. Shut up. It's too early for that right now." Parker shoves Pope slightly, moving towards the end of the dock so she can confer with the two in the water.
John B pants while treading water. "Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim." JJ looks to the side, frustrated. "It's such bullshit. Why do we have to do that?" Pope gets up from his perch, making the siblings shift to the side to make room for him.
"Well, there is maritime salvage law. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up." JJ shakes his head slightly, trying to get his point across. "I know. I know. It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro." Parker nods, adding, "He's right. None of us, except maybe Kiester, have the money for one, and her parents definitely aren't paying for us."
John B shrugs as best he can from in the water before saying, "Well, as soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp." Kiara scoffs, letting out a breathy chuckle while looking at the brunette boy. "How do you know all of that?"
John B gives her a look as if the answer is obvious before responding, "'Cause my dad said it, like, a million times." Kiara tilts her head to the side, thinking about it for a second, before saying, "Yeah, that's fair."
Pope takes a look at the tether in the black box at his feet. "This tether is, like, really long. In the wrong weather, it could get pushed around." John B glances around from the water before stating, "Then we'll go at dead calm." Parker looks up, hearing thunder. She catches sight of dark grey clouds rolling in.
Kiara hoists herself up the ladder, saying, "At slack tide?" Parker helps her the rest of the way up before contributing. "We just gotta sit around waiting for the right weather. And just looking at that, today is not that day." Thunder rumbles again, and John B swims towards the ladder and climbs out of the water.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
Parker had decided to stay with John B at the Chatêau instead of going with her brother and Pope to Heyward's, which now resulted in her sitting next to said brunette boy under the roof of the hut in the backyard.
He was pouring over the coordinates while the blonde girl took off her shirt and threw it in his face, leaving her in swim trunks and a sports bra. Suddenly, the two of them hear a familiar voice, making them both jump in surprise.
"It's your turn." Parker whips her head around, catching sight of the beautiful blonde that fills her dreams. John B just looks slightly annoyed and confused, still pulling Parker's shirt off of his head. "Uh, for what?"
Sarah goes to stand across from the taller girl, giving her a shy smile which Parker immediately returns. Sarah then turns back towards the brunette boy, folding her arms over her chest. "To ask me what I'm doing here. Not you Parker, you didn't do anything."
John B leans back with a faux amused look on his face, deciding to humor the girl in front of him, if only for the sake of his best friend's crush on her. "What are you doing here?" Sarah unfolds her arms and leans forward slightly, donning an angry expression.
"I didn't get a chance to respond the other day after you spat in my face and yelled at me, and you stormed off like a child. Thank you for trying to help there, Parker. So, first of all, I'm not a liar. I don't know how Ward found out about the scuba gear, but I swear it was not me. I'm not the reason Parker got fired." John B shrugs his shoulders in response, giving a very disbelieving, "Okay."
Sarah nods in acceptance, pushing herself off of the wall so that she can walk away. "That's all. Good talk," She then walks a couple of feet before seemingly remembering something, and throwing two bags at the seated duo. "Your favorite."
Parker glances at the bag of salt and vinegar chips in her hand before she gets up and jogs to catch up with the shorter blonde.
"Hey! Princess, wait up!" Parker puts her hands on her knees as Sarah stops right by the side of the Chatêau. When she finally catches her breath, she gives the Cameron girl an apologetic look. "I am so sorry about Johnny. He's out of control, and we have a lot of shit going on right now, and he doesn't-" Sarah puts her hand up, interrupting the taller blonde.
"It's okay. It's also not your fault, so you shouldn't be apologizing for him. I can think of a way that you can make it up to me, though." Parker nods enthusiastically. "Let me have a chip and your phone."
The Maybank girl opens the back of chips and holds it out to Sarah, who takes it so that Parker can fish her phone out of her pocket. She unlocks it and hands it over, very confused. Sarah just smiles to herself and puts her number into the contacts before giving it back.
"Text me!" Sarah yells over her shoulder as she walks away, leaving Parker standing there, dumbstruck. She wanders back over to John B, who is grinning to himself.
"What the fuck are you smiling at, dipshit?" John B glances at his best friend with a teasing look. "Nothin'," He doesn't say anything for a second, and then he pounces on Parker, pretending to lay kisses all over her face and making his voice higher as he says, "Oh, text me, Parker! Please, thank you for defending me against the big bad John B!"
Parker shoves him away, muttering, "Fucking idiot." John B continues to laugh to himself, leaving his best friend to her thoughts of the Kook Princess.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
The rest of the Pogues join up with the duo later that day, Pope sporting some nasty injuries from some Kooks that he was jumped by on his delivery.
They finished out the day lounging around in some hammocks, with JJ and Parker leaning on each other and sharing a vape. Pope sits up slightly, glancing over at John B.
"You really think it's out there? Like, no bullshit?" John B nods vigorously. "My father thought it was."
Pope looks at him for a second longer, trying to dig deeper. "But do you?" John B has to think about it for a second. "After hearing his voice on that tape... I think I do."
Pope shrugs, leaning back. "Only one way to find out." He sticks his hand out so that they can do the Pogue handshake.
Kiara sits up slightly and looks around at her friends. "Look, we're gonna find it, you know? Even JJ believes." Parker looks over at her brother with faux shock, sarcastically saying, "Oh my god, Jayje, do you really believe?"
JJ nods seriously. "Totally." He then pauses, thinking about something. "Wait. Are we talking about five mil?" All of the Pogues chime in immediately, correcting, "Five hundred mil."
Parker lays back, JJ following closely behind. "I'm gonna dream about shipwrecks." Kiara chuckles at that, and there is silence for a second before JJ calls out, "Good night, Bird!" Parker can practically feel John B's eye roll, and he responds, "Good night, bird shit!"
She laughs, and JJ elbows her in the stomach making her double over slightly. They shove each other for a bit before finally settling down. Parker shuts her eyes and falls asleep almost immediately, dreaming of treasure and Sarah Cameron.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
The next day, the Pogues get on a boat and make their way towards the coordinates. The weather continues to pick up as they try to stay over the exact spot.
"All right, JJ. Pin it here." John B yells over the wind towards the blonde manning the wheel. "Roger that! X marks the spot. All right, ladies and gentlemen. To going full Kook." Parker lets out a whoop from where she is standing and trying to help Pope with the controls.
"All right, JJ, we're right over it. Ten seconds northwest." JJ repeats back the instructions, turning the helm in that direction. Parker looks at the screen, relaying the information to her friends. "One hundred feet." Pope suddenly gasps, which makes Kiara, John B, and Parker crowd around him trying to see the screen. "What? What, what, what, what, what, what?"
A large fish swims past the camera, making Pope shrug and say, "It's nothing." The group groans, each of them speaking their frustrations towards the raven-haired boy. He tries to apologize, but none of them are having it.
After a short while, Pope begins to lower the ROV deeper. "And to quote the Hobbit, 'Down, down, to Goblin Town. Down, down, you go my lad.'" Parker laughs slightly, shoving his head and muttering good naturedly, "Nerd." Kiara continues to watch the line, calling out the depth as Parker had moved to assist Pope more thoroughly.
The sky rumbles, and Parker looks nervously at the water. "The tide's turning." The monitor beeps, making John B send course corrections to JJ. The boat keeps getting pushed further and further off-course, making John B have to relay new directions constantly.
Pope snaps something at Kiara, and the tensions in the boat continue to rise. The tether gets past 700 feet, 800 feet, 900...
The boat starts to rock violently, and JJ tries to keep them as in place as he can. "JJ, we'll turtle in this storm." Kiara continues to watch the tether nervously, "920!" John B frantically yells even more instructions to his best friend, but Kiara begins to get nervous. "There's too much current! We're gonna lose it!"
John B gives one last ditch attempt at getting them in the right spot, and JJ cranks the wheel hard. The monitor whirs and beeps, letting them know that they should be right above it. They look at the screen, but they can't see any sign of anything, let alone a shipwreck.
Kiara continues to let out the tether, until they finally reach the bottom. John B calls for JJ to hold it steady at quarter speed, before turning to Pope. "You should be seeing something, man." Pope and Parker exasperatedly hit keys on the monitor, and Pope exclaims, "I know, I know!" He then spots something, which makes him take a step back.
"Wait, wait. Oh, good God." Parker stares at the screen in shock before crying out, "Oh, holy shit!" JJ tries to see the screen from where he is, asking, "See anything?" John B runs his hands through his hair, elated and disbelieving. "It's the Royal Merchant."
They begin to celebrate, but their happiness is cut down as soon as Pope moves the ROV throughout the boat, and nothing is there. John B sighs, "It's not there. Look, just-- just pull the drone up." Parker pats him on the back, and the sky rumbles once again.
Pope tries to come up with a solution, saying, "Look, we can do another pass. Recharge the battery. We can-- we can go back down." JJ just shakes his head, beginning to move the boat. "We've done it three times. There's nothing there." Kiara suddenly explodes, yelling, "Shut up!"
JJ shrugs, muttering, "What? It's true!" Kiara shakes her head trying to come up with another explanation. "The gold could be buried. We don't know." John B just sighs, turning away from the monitor. "If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay? Somebody beat us to it. Or it was never there."
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
A/N: Alright, alright, alright! Hope y'all like this chapter, and hope y'all are ready for some Sarker! It's gonna happen super soon, guys! I swear. John B gonna be hardcore third wheeling, but happily so.
Don't forget to vote and comment what you thought!