* DISCLAIMER* I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE OUTER BANKS CHARACTERS OR PLOT. I ONLY CLAIM THE RIGHTS TO JOANNA AND HER FAMILY AND HER INVOLVEMENT IN THE PLOT AND STORY.
Jo is walking through her mom's trailer heading towards her room.
She opens the door and her eyes instantly go to one of her pictures of her and John B.
She feels tears start to pool in her eyes.
She quickly grabs the picture and a black dress that she needs and quickly leaves the room.
She stops when she sees her mom standing in the living room.
"What are you doing here?" Jackie asks.
Jo wipes the tears from her eye.
"I needed a dress for the funeral." Jo pushes past her mom.
"I'm sorry about your friend."
Jo stops by the door.
She looks back at her mom with a scoff.
"No, you aren't mom. You haven't given a shit about me in a long time."
She turns and pushes the door open.
She stops and turns back around to face her.
"You're supposed to be my mother and take care of me. I needed you that night and you were nowhere to be found. I can't keep expecting something from you that you won't give. Goodbye, Jackie."
Jo finally walks out the door and hears it slam behind her.
She then walks over to the Chateau where Pope is chopping into one of the trees with an axe.
Kie is holding a box filled with a bunch of stuff in memory of John B.
JJ has a flask and takes a long swig from it.
Jo places her dress down and grabs the flask from him.
"You need to slow down. You're gonna make yourself sick" Jo says in a monotone voice as she also takes a swig from it.
"I think I deserve the right to drink. Two of us are dead." JJ takes the flask back.
Jo grabs the blow torch and starts to heat a tire iron.
Once it is hot enough, she hands it to JJ who carves memory words for John B.
"To John B."
JJ raises his flask and takes a drink.
He wraps his arm around Jo and pulls her closer to him.
"And Sarah."
Kie and Jo share a sad look as they lock their eyes on one another.
Jo wraps her free around Kie.
Jo grabs the picture from her room and unties the hemp bracelet off of her wrist.
She places both of those items in the box.
They each took turns covering dirt over the box that they are burying under the tree.
*****************
Jo is standing beside her dad at Peterkin's funeral.
She stands still as she listens to the minister speak.
"Though she has now departed, let us honor her bravery and sacrifice in the line of duty. Through her memory, let us pursue what is just and right as we commit her body to the ground, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
Jo looks over to her left and sees Rafe standing with his family already watching her.
She spots the SBI guy watching the Camerons and wonders if they are onto them.
"We shall remember to uphold the ideas which she stood for."
She stands as they finish up the routine of a cop's funeral.
Once the minister says the service is over, Jo pushes past the crowd to get to her dad's car.
"Jo wait!"
An arm grabs her and pulls her around.
Rafe is standing in front of her holding onto her arm.
"I need to talk to you please." he tells her desperately.
Jo pulls her arm out of his grasp.
"Don't touch me."
She moves away from the crowd so they have privacy to talk and he follows her.
"I got nothing to say to you." she tells him.
"You don't mean that." he steps closer to her.
He reaches out and brushes her hair from her face.
She swats his hand away.
"I have to mean it Rafe! I can't be around you right now. So please just leave me alone." she tells him.
"I-I need you to reign in your friends. We can't have them screaming out accusations all the time." he tells her.
She gives him a look of disbelief.
"Are you kidding me? My friends have every right to be upset Rafe! You know what I can't do this with you."
She turns to walk away from him, but he grabs her arm and turns her back around.
"P-Please don't leave. You understand why I did it right? I was protecting my dad okay? But I need you to not hate me." Rafe practically begs.
"You need help. You're not okay-"
She gets cut off by the sound of Ward's voice.
"Rafe! Come on let's go." Ward shouts from the parked car.
"Go with your dad. We're done here."
Rafe keeps a hold of her arm.
"Rafe-"
He cuts her off.
"I need you. Please. Don't leave me like this."
Jo pulls her arm out of his grasp.
"Go home please."
She whispers to him before she turns and walks off to her dad's car where he's waiting for her.
***************************
Jo walks into the house behind her dad. She places her bag on the kitchen counter.
"What did Rafe say to you?" Buzz asks his daughter.
She gives him a strange look.
"Nothing, he just asked if I was okay." she lies.
"I don't want you around him anymore. He's nothing but trouble." he tells her.
"Yea no kidding." she mumbles to herself.
"But why are you saying he's trouble dad? Do you know something that I should know?" she asks.
He sighs and finally turns to look at her.
"I know that you kids got yourselves involved in something bigger than you and it cost John B and Sarah their lives. You have been spiraling down a bad path and if you don't get your focus back on your future you might end up like your friends and I won't have you do that. You need to do better, for your safety and others around you." Buzz lectures her.
"Dad I know okay. My friends just died! I dont need you lecturing me right now!"
She starts to cry and he pulls her into a hug.
"I know. I'm sorry. Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest. You have school in the morning. You need to be rested for that."
She nods her head and heads upstairs.
When she opens her door, she lets out a small gasp at seeing JJ sitting on her bed.
He has a flask in his hand and he is visibly upset.
"Hey."
She greets him as she quickly closes the door.
She sees that he is still in his work uniform.
"What's wrong?" she asks as she quickly sits down beside him on her bed.
"I just miss him so much."
He starts to breathe heavily and he grabs his chest.
"I- I-I ca-ca-can't br-bre-breathe."
JJ holds his chest freaking out.
She grabs his face to get his attention.
"You're having a panic attack. I need you to try to breathe through your nose and focus on something." She says to him calmly.
"I- I can-can-t John- John B-"
He continues to freak out.
She finally grabs his face and slams her lips onto his.
He starts to calm down and finally kisses her back.
She finally pulls away, but keeps her hands on his face.
His breathing finally stabilizes and she lets him go.
She grabs a bottle of water from her nightstand and hands it to him.
He takes a drink and then hands it back to her.
"Come here."
She slides up the bed so her back is against the pillows and headboard.
He follows and lays his head on her lap.
She wraps her arm around him and runs her fingers through his hair to calm him down.
"What happened baby?" she asks him.
"I just miss him so much Jo. I can't believe he's gone." He sobs softly.
"I know I miss him too so much."
She tries to brush away her tears.
"I don't know how much more of this shit I can take." he mumbles.
"I know baby. I know. Just get some sleep. I'll be right here with you." she tells him gently.
Jo feels JJ's body finally relax as he falls asleep beside her.
She turns on her tv and lays back against the pillows and falls asleep beside her boyfriend.
********************
The next day, the friends ride to school together in Kie's parent's car.
Kie parks the car and Jo gets out from the back seat.
She sees JJ take a quick swig from his flask and reaches over and grabs it so she can take a swig as well.
"Guys come on chill out with that." Kie lectures.
"If I black out, just don't mind me."
JJ comments as he reaches for Jo's hand and interlocks their fingers together.
"That's not funny." Kie retorts back.
They start to walk through the crowd and they can hear the other students talking about them.
"That's them."
"I wasn't sure they would show up."
"I heard they got arrested."
"That doesn't surprise me at all."
"You think they had something to do with it?"
They stop in front of a small memorial that the other students have made for John B.
Jo feels her chest tightening and JJ squeezing her hand slightly.
"I feel like people are staring." Kie says to them.
Jo looks around at the other students watching them.
"That's because they are Kie." JJ comments.
"If you all have something to say or to run your mouths, you can say it to our faces!" Jo shouts at the crowd.
A girl steps forward to face Jo.
"Yea I have something to say. You guys are criminals who were involved in the sheriff's murder and you'll go down just like John B."
Jo lunges at the girl, but Kie and JJ hold her back.
"Shut your mouth Crystal! You have no idea what you're talking about you bitch!"
JJ grabs Jo's hand as Kie grabs Pope's arm.
"We have to stick together you guys." Kie says as they walk into the school with everyone still watching them and talking.
****************************
The friends make their way to Mr. Sunn's history class.
Pope and Kie sit down next to each other and Jo sits behind Pope and JJ sits across from Jo.
Mr. Sunn starts talking about Diocletian and the Roman empire, but Jo is instead drawing in her notebook.
She is drawing little hearts with JJ's name on them.
She lifts her notebook to show him and he gives her a loving smile in return.
Her phone vibrates in her pocket and she reaches into her hoodie pocket for it.
Another phone dings and she looks to see Pope quickly grab at his phone.
Mr. Sunn turns around from the blackboard.
"Whose phone was that? Nobody?"
Jo locks eyes with JJ, then looks to Kie and Pope who also seem to have gotten a text message.
"Now to recap, who was Diocletian? An ex-slave who became the ruler of the Roman Empire."
Jo looks at her phone and looks back at her friends.
"Did you get it?" Kie mouths to her.
She nods her head.
JJ slides out of his seat and moves over so he's on the ground beside Pope and Jo.
They open the text messages at the same time.
Jo's eyes widen when a picture of John B and Sarah downloads onto the phone.
She lets out a small surprised gasp.
JJ stands up quickly and rushes out of the room.
Jo grabs her messenger bag and follows behind him.
Jo meets JJ out in the hallway and she quickly grabs his hand when she notices that he's starting to have another panic attack.
Pope and Kie meet them out in the hallway.
"Come on. We have to go to the courtyard." Kie states.
They start rushing towards the door and JJ trips and falls over a mop and bucket sitting in the hall.
"Jay!"
Jo reaches down and helps JJ up.
"Come on!"
They quickly run out the door.
"Is this even possible?" Kie quickly asks as they crowd around a table outside.
"Shoupe said that they didn't make it. He told us that to our faces." Jo states.
"Ok, I think that we're overreacting, cause we can't rule out the possibility that this could all be some kind of weird, cruel hoax." Pope comments.
Jo glances up at JJ to see he has his hand on his chest again.
"Jay."
Jo quickly replaces his hand with hers.
"Just calm breaths. Focus on the sound of my voice." she tells him.
"I'm gonna message back." Kie tells them.
"What if it's actually them though?" JJ finally says.
Jo pulls up the phone to watch the group chat.
She reads Kie's message, 'WTF Is this you??'
"Did he say anything?" Pope asks.
"He's typing." Jo says.
The number messages back.
'Is JJ there?'
Jo watches from her seat next to JJ as he types back a response.
'I'm here Bree.' JJ types.
The number messages back instantly.
'Did you pimp my short board?'
Jo covers her mouth as she lets out a sigh of relief.
JJ starts to chuckle with happiness.
"It's him."
JJ starts to cry in relief.
"It's him." Kie agrees.
"Oh my god!"
Jo jumps up and quickly pulls Kie into a hug as JJ hugs Pope.
Jo feels tears run down her face knowing that her best friends are really alive.
Jo turns to face JJ who gives her a big smile.
She grabs his face and pulls him into a kiss.
He wraps his arms tightly around her and kisses her back.
He hollers in excitement as he spins her around.
"Whoo!"
Their phones ding again with another message.
"Laying super low in Nassau." Kie reads.
Jo keeps her arm around JJ's neck as they turn their attention to Kie.
"How the hell did they get to the Bahamas?" Jo asks.
"You can't kill a Pogue dude." JJ laughs.
"Especially John B." Pope comments.
Another message comes through the phone.
'Can you clear my name? Wanna come home.'
"Hell yea we'll clear your name boy!" JJ exclaims.
Their phones ding again.
Jo looks at her phone first.
"Be in touch. P4L." she reads out loud.
She looks up at all of her friends who have smiles on their faces.
"P4L baby!"
JJ grabs her up again and spins her around.
"Holy shit!" Kie exclaims.
The four friends hug each other in happiness.
*********************
After school, the friends head to the Wreck. "I never doubted for a second." JJ exclaims as he wraps his arm around Jo's shoulder.
"You are such a moron. But I love you anyway."
She gives him a quick peck on the lips.
He grins widely at her.
"You guys are sickly gross. Cut it out." Pope comments.
They walk closer to the dock so they have some privacy to talk to each other.
"So are we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ questions.
"You have to have a passport to get to the Bahamas and you don't have one." Jo states.
"Yea there is no way we're gonna be able to make it down there." Pope backs up Jo.
"John B is gonna get nabbed sooner or later. So if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it like yesterday." Kie states.
"I'll tell you guys how we do it." JJ inputs.
"So you have it all planned out?" Pope doesn't look so convinced.
"Oh God. This outta be good." Jo mumbles.
"As a matter of fact I do. We kidnap Rafe." he tells them.
Jo gives him a dumbfounded look.
"You are out of your damn mind." Jo exclaims.
"Listen, we kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait til he starts squawking." JJ tells them his plan.
"That is literally one of the most stupidest plans you have ever had." Jo tells him.
"Yea, torture is also a war crime." Kie comments.
"Yea, how exactly do you plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony." Pope lectures.
"Alright, first of all, you guys are no fun. I've been dying to get a gun in Rafe's mouth for a long time. And secondly, I don't hear any of you guys coming up with something." JJ argues.
"All we need is a material witness. We saw Ward's plane fly over our heads with the gold inside of it." Pope starts.
"Ok, that means someone else flew the plane out because Ward sure didn't." Jo states.
"Exactly, that means, someone else was on that tarmac and saw Peterkin get murdered." Pope brainstorms.
"We just need to find whoever that was, and get them to confess on the record somehow." Jo finishes with excitement.
"How do we do that?" Kie asks.
"With a little light espionage." Pope tells them.
"A little ghost recon." JJ says.
"Let's do this thing." Jo laughs.
***************************
They pile in Kie's car and head for the North side of the island.
"So did we figure out how we're going to do this?" Jo asks from the back seat.
Pope nods his head.
"I think I figured it out. I just have to tickle his wire." Pope tells them.
"Tickle the what?" Kie asks.
"Uh, I mean if that's what you're into these days man." JJ jokes.
"Shut up. No I plant my phone in his car, and then we listen in on the AirPods." Pope tells them.
He holds the phone out toward Kie.
"Say something." he says.
"Something." Kie speaks into the phone.
"We have audio." Pope says as Kie pulls up to a house.
"There's his house right there." Jo says.
"Ok, Jo come with me as a lookout." Pope tells her.
"Sounds like a plan. Honk the horn or yell if you see anything suspicious." Jo says.
JJ grabs her hand.
"I dont like this. But be careful." he tells her.
She gives him a smile.
She follows Pope outside and runs towards the car.
She looks around and doesn't see anything.
She watches as he puts the phone under the seat.
"Come on. Let's go." she whispers.
They quickly run back to the car.
Once they get back in Pope and Jo high-five each other.
"Phase one is complete." Pope tells them.
Jo looks between JJ and Kie who seem to be looking awkward.
"Are you two ok?" Jo asks.
"Your boyfriend asks weird questions." Kie tells Jo.
"What did you do JJ?" Jo asks accusingly.
"I just asked a simple question. It's not my fault that Kie made it weird." JJ defends himself.
"Whatever. Let's just get this thing done." Jo says.
"So why is gonna make the phone call?" Pope asks.
"I'll do it." Kie volunteers.
"Sounds like a plan to me." JJ says.
"Should I do an accent?" Kie asks.
"You should definitely disguise your voice." Pope tells her.
"How would you like me to talk?" She asks in a fake English accent.
Jo shows a face of disgust.
"No definitely not that." Jo says.
"Like Batman." Pope tells her.
"Batman." Kie talks in a deep voice.
"There you go. Spot on." Pope tells her.
Jo shakes her head.
"Here goes nothing." she mumbles.
Kie grabs the phone and dials the number.
She puts it on speaker as it rings.
"Hello?" Gavin's voice is heard through the phone.
"Hello." Kie speaks into the phone in a deep voice.
Jo mouths 'no' at Kie.
"Is Gavin there?" Kie speaks in her normal voice.
"This is Gavin. Who is this?" he speaks through the phone.
"I know what happened on the tarmac. It was Rafe Cameron, but you already knew that, and you lied about it." Kie tells him on the phone.
"Okay, who is this?" Gavin asks sounding nervous.
"We know what you did and we're gonna prove it." Kie speaks.
"You're gonna tell me who this is now!" Gavin speaks.
"You could have saved her Gavin and you didn't. And you're not getting away with this."
Kie quickly hangs up the phone.
"Good job, very believable." Jo comments.
"Yea I was totally scared." JJ says.
"Alright, we tickled the wire. Phase two is complete." Pope informs them.
They sit and wait until Gavin gets in his car.
"Okay he's on the move." Jo observes.
Kie starts the car and slowly starts to follow behind him.
Pope has his Air Pods in his ears listening.
"He's talking to Ward." Pope informs them.
"What's he saying?" Jo asks.
"Get closer I can't hear." Pope tells Kie.
She speeds up a bit.
"He's talking about negotiating something. Renegotiating. " Pope says.
Pope continues to listen.
"Gavin has the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin."
Jo's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp.
"Oh my God." Jo breathes out.
"Holy shit!"
"I think he's trying to use it as extortion, as leverage." Pope states.
"Oh shit, he's pulling over. What do I do?" Kie asks panicking.
"Just go around the block!" Pope and JJ exclaim.
They pass by Gavin's car.
"I can't hear anything now!" Pope exclaims.
Kie turns down the next block.
There is a roadblock ahead.
"Shit!"
"Turn around!"
"Pull in here and back up." JJ tells her.
Before Kie can back the car up, a big forklift blocks the path.
"We were about to back up!" Jo yells out the window to the workers.
Pope opens the door and runs from the car.
"Where are you going?" Kie shouts to him.
"We gotta know where they're meeting!" Pope shouts to them.
"We're following behind him right?" JJ asks as he opens the door for Jo.
"Let's go!"
"You can't leave the car here!" A worker shouts to them.
"I'm sorry! I'll be back for it!" Kie shouts back.
They follow Pope through a backyard.
"Go!"
"Pope!"
"Come on!"
Pope jumps over a fence.
Jo slows down as she runs out of breath.
"Why are we always running?" JJ grabs Jo's hand.
"Come on babe." Jo groans, but follows behind JJ and climbs over the fence.
JJ holds his arms up and helps her down.
They run through the yard and see four teens swimming in the pool.
"Sean? Ah, this is where you live, you kook!" JJ laughs.
"Holy shit, Jo, Kie looking good!" The boys in the pool shout to the girls.
JJ flips them off.
They find Pope standing by the bushes and Gavin's car is across the street.
Pope turns to face them and he looks shocked.
"What happened?"
"What did you hear?"
Pope takes the earpieces out of his ears.
"He's meeting Ward right now. We have to go!"
They run back to the car.