Chapter Text
2003 - 2020
John B. Routledge
P4L
You stared at the impregnated wood that you, your friends and your boyfriend had made. Your cheeks were tear-stained and your eyes blurry from the new tears that were ready to fall. John B had died. Or at least that's what the police told you. How the hell were you supposed to move on from that? Your brother, he may not have been a blood brother, but he sure was the most brotherly figure you’ve ever had. The first person who ever called you friend, was now dead.
You sniffled and wiped a new tear that rolled down your cheek, trying to keep the thoughts away to prevent a mental breakdown right in front of everyone.
“To John B” your boyfriend said, extending his arm that was holding his alcohol flask.
You hated to admit, but JJ had developed a habit of bringing with him a full-with-alcohol flask ever since John B's passing. It wasn't something you liked to watch. You knew he liked booze as much as he loved sex, but this wasn't his normal thing to do. You tried to shake it off, everyone mourns their way right?
“And to Sarah” Kie said, holding a box in her hands. You knew that box had memories of both John B and Sarah.
JJ took a swig from the flask and handed it to you, which you grabbed and took a swig too, wincing inwardly at the strong taste of the whiskey.
“To our Pogues” you whispered, your eyes falling to the floor.
Kie put the wooden box in the hole in the dirt Pope had dug and covered it, putting some flowers on top of it.
You took a deep breath and tried to keep calm.
This was going to be way more harder than expected.
--------------------
You sighed getting out of your room, and found your mom on the couch watching TV. You grabbed a can of beer from the fridge and found that the only thing inside were a few beers left and a carton of milk that you were pretty sure was rank and had expired three months ago.
“The fridge’s almost empty” you said to your mom without even sparing a glance to her.
She chuckled a little. “That’s the most you’ve talked to me this past week” she said, and you felt bad but you didn’t want to show her that.
You just scoffed. “What did you expect? I like ignoring liars for starters” you said, opening the can of beer and downing half of it.
She let out a sigh. “You’re never going to forgive me, aren’t you?” your mom said, looking at you.
You opened your mouth to say something but closed it.
Your mother fiddled with her fingers, nervously. You hated that you had so much power over her to make her nervous.
“Where’s dad?” your voice was small.
She looked up, surprised you had even called him dad.
“He’s uh… he’s out of town. In the mainland” she said. “He called me. Asked how you been. You know? After what happened to Bird...”
“Were you planning on telling me that or ‘hiding out the truth’ like you always do?” you said with a sarcastic laugh.
“He called yesterday. You were out with your friends and you pretty much ignore every single text message I send you, Y/N” she said.
“Well, who’s fault is that?” you asked.
She sighed defeatedly.
“I’m done. I’m going to my room-” you said but you were interrupted by a knock on the door.
You walked up to it and opened it.
“JJ? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” you asked, checking the hour on the clock that was on the wall.
He looked pretty terrible. “Hey, babe. Can I- Can I come in?” he said, breathing heavily and running a hand over his hair.
“Yeah sure” you said.
You opened the door so that he could get inside your house. “Hey, Miss Y/L/N” he waved at your mother.
“Hey, JJ” she smiled kindly. “How have you been”
“Been better” he said honestly.
You scoffed and pushed him inside your room. “Bye” you said to your mom and shut the door of your room.
“What did you-”
You couldn’t finish because JJ had pinned you to the door and kissed you with force, enough to lift you off your feet. He held your waist while he devoured your mouth and turned your brain into mush, like he usually did. You pulled away and breathed heavily.
You put your hands on his hair and brushed it off. “What’s going on?” you murmured, brushing your finger over his bottom lip.
He let out a shaky breath, letting his forehead fall gently over yours. “I need this right now. Please”
You nodded and you let him carry you to the bed, where he took off your clothes and you did the same with his.
-------------------
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” you said, your stomach on the bed, naked, like him, propping your head on your hands while JJ stared at the ceiling with his hand on your back, caressing your skin. Your hand wandered to the abs of his stomach, rubbing the soft and newly-hickey-marked skin.
He sighed and wiped his face with his free hand. “I… I got fired from my job” he said.
Your eyebrows furrowed and put a hand on his cheek. “Oh JJ. What happened? Why did they fire you?”
He sat up furiously. “Kooks happened” he said with a humorless laugh. You sat up and caressed his back. “Topper, Kelce and other of his Kook friends started talking bullshit about John B, how they knew he killed Peterkin when they obviously weren't there. And it pissed me off” he explained. “And I threw a jar of water in Kelce’s face. He deserved it”
You let out a sigh. “J, I-”
“No, Y/N. I don’t need the disappointment speech, okay?” he said bitterly.
You straddled his legs, so that he could look you in the eye. “I wasn’t going to say that, and I’m not disappointed. I’m angry at them but not at you. You jeopardized your own job just to defend our friend’s honor. And that’s impressive. I honestly would’ve done worse than emptying just a jar in Kelce’s face” you said, making him laugh. “I’m sad you lost your job, but… in the end you didn’t let anyone step on you and I’m proud of that. That was the most Pogue thing you’ve ever done in your life” you smiled at him.
He kissed you, his hands running all over you. You kissed him back, your hands tangling in his hair.
“I love you” he said once he pulled away. “I don’t know what I’d do without you”
“I love you too” you responded with a smile and kissed him again. You pulled away. “How about we-” he interrupted you with a little kiss, “go for… round two, daddy? ”
His eyes widened and he smirked. “Oh you are in deep trouble, baby girl”
He grabbed you and turned you so that he was pinning you against your mattress, making you yelp in surprise.
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Summer time was over.
School was beginning.
And everyone was just not in the right state of mind to start school. The worst one out of the four of you was JJ, who had arrived at School with the flask in hand, drunk, or tipsy enough to have chosen to stay at home.
The four of you got out of Kie’s car and JJ took another swig from his alcohol.
“Hey, chill out” Kiara said.
“If I black out, just don’t remind me” JJ said.
You rolled your eyes. “Can you give me the flask? That’s not funny” you said, swinging the strap of your school bag on your shoulder. He sighed defeatedly and let the flask fall in your hand. "Thank you" you said, putting it inside your jacket pocket.
You could hear the whispers from your school mates.
It’s them.
There they are.
God, they look terrible.
I heard they got arrested. It wouldn't surprise me.
Poor guys.
You sighed irritatedly. You found a rock painted with John B’s name on it, full of pictures and flowers in memory.
“I feel like people are staring at us” Kie said ironically.
“Let me handle that” you said, licking your fingers and giving the middle finger to everyone watching. “What are you looking at?” you said, looking at a group of younger kids who quickly turned around. “Yeah play dumb you motherfu-”
“Y/N, come on. It’s not worth it” Pope said, grabbing your shoulders and making you head to the entrance of the school.
“Hey, hey. We gotta stick together” Kie said, making you all stop in your tracks. Kie extended her hand for Pope to take and you felt JJ’s hand slip with yours. You smiled at him and wrapped your hand with Kiara’s arm, walking inside the school.
History class was just starting and you were too busy texting JJ in the middle of the class.
Your phone vibrates along with other three, which was suspicious.
New message from: Unknown Number
Your eyebrows furrowed. Who the fuck was 'Unknown number'?
“Who’s phone is that? Nobody?” the professor asked. He made a whip with his head, signaling the big ass sign that said: NO PHONE ZONE , in big caps. “You will be tested”
“Did you get it?” Kie asked.
“Yeah” you said.
You heard JJ slipping in between Pope, Kie and your desks. You all opened it at the same time and saw the same picture. A photo of Sarah and John B in what seemed a windy place.
You looked at each other and you couldn't help it.
“Holy freaking shit” you said, out loud without meaning to. The professor stopped talking and everyone’s head whipped to look at you. JJ grabbed your hand quickly and exited the classroom.
Pope raised his hand while Kie grabbed her backpack and headed to where you and JJ had gone. “Uh, can I be excused to help them in the bathroom?” he said while grabbing his things.
“Family emergency!” she said. “We can go to the courtyard” she said once they were out of the classroom, running along with the three of you.
“God, whoo!” JJ whopped before he stumbled with the janitor’s cleaning bucket, falling square to the floor.
You sighed, grabbing him up. “Dude, I told you you were too drunk for this shit”
“Hey!” the janitor said.
“Shit”
Once you were in the courtyard, you all started to panic.
“Is that even possible? I mean Shoupe said that they didn't make it. He said that” Kie explained, her voice quivering.
Pope sighed behind her. “Okay but… I think we’re overreacting cause we can’t rule out a possibility that this could be some kind of weird, cruel hoax” he said wisely.
You stood silent, and felt a hand on your back, which you knew immediately was your boyfriend’s.
“Kie, ask him” you said, unable to do it.
“What if it’s actually him, though?” JJ asked.
“Then I don’t know, okay? I don't know” Pope said, stressed out.
Kie: WTF Is this you?
You felt JJ tug you with him to rest his back against the brick wall. You bit your lip nervously waiting for his answer.
“He responded?” Pope asked.
“He’s typing” you said.
Unknown: is JJ there?
You looked up at him, who met your glance.
JJ: I’m here Bree
You all waited for the answer until your phones pinged.
Unknown: Did you pimp my short board?
You felt laughter and tears coming at the same time.
“It’s him” you felt JJ say behind you.
“It’s him” you said.
JJ hugged you and you hugged him back, feeling him lift you off the floor. He then went to hug Pope and you hugged Kiara. After a couple of long, hellish weeks, you finally felt happiness rush inside your body.
“Yeah!” JJ couldn't help but scream.
Unknown: Laying super low in Nassau
“How the hell did they get to the Bahamas?” You wondered out loud.
“You can’t kill a Pogue, dude” JJ said, way too happy, making your heart swell at his smile.
“Especially John B” Pope said, making you laugh.
Unknown: Can you clear my name? Wanna come home
“Hell yeah, we’ll clear your name, boy” JJ said.
Unknown: Be in touch, P4L
“P4L, man, that’s what I’m talking about” JJ said excitedly, getting on top of the table. “P4L, baby, whoo!”
“Holy shit!” you said without believing what was happening.
The four of you shared a long hug that gave you hope, for the first time since the storm.
-------------------
You all later went to The Wreck, Kiara’s parents restaurant.
“I never doubted them” you said.
“I owe you five bucks” Kiara laughed.
“You do”
The voice of Kiara’s mother startled the four of you.
“Kiara! I need those setups done by five” she reminded your friend.
Kiara sighed. “There are other people that work here”
“None of’em my children” Anna yelled back at her.
“I feel that, on a deep emotional level, I understand that” Pope said, sitting on a wooden bench.
“So we’re going to the Bahamas, or what?” JJ asked.
You sat down and rolled your eyes. “Babe, there’s no way we’re going to the Bahamas”
“John B is gonna get nabbed sooner or later” Kie said. “So if we’re gonna clear his name, we need to have done it, like, yesterday”
JJ walked up to where you were sitting with a puzzled face. “I’ll tell you how we do it”
“Oh so you have a plan now?” you asked him.
He stopped in his tracks and smirked at you. “As a matter of fact, I do” he said and sat down next to you. “We kidnap Rafe”
You snorted. “Wow” you smiled at his occurrence.
“I’m sorry what?” Pope asked.
“We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick the gun in his mouth and just wait till he starts squawking” he said simply. “And I have a pair of handcuffs, you know, babe, the ones we use when you get all freaky--” JJ said, looking at you and you hit his shoulder.
“We sure as hell don’t want to know that” Pope said.
“You know, torture’s a war crime” Kie reminded him.
“Yeah, so how exactly do you plan on clearing John B’s name from a prison cell?” you asked.
“Cause that’s a felony” Pope said, nodding his head, agreeing with you.
“Alright well, what do you guys got then?” JJ asked. “I was just trying to keep it simple. You know, one stop, and we’re done”
“Your plan is amazing, I’ll be down for that anytime. You know me. But we need to clear his name legally because that’s what clearing a name basically is” you said wisely.
“All we need is a material witness” Pope said. “We saw Ward’s plane fly right over our heads with the gold inside of it. He didn’t fly it. If somebody else flew, they were on the tarmac. They saw Peterkin get murdered. We just have to find whoever that was and get them to confess on record.”
“That’s good, that's good” you said.
“How do we do that?” Kie asked.
“A little light espionage” Pope shrugged.
“A little ghost recon” JJ said, putting on his cap backwards.
You smiled at the boys and stuck your hand out. “Woogity-woogity?” you asked.
“Give me some woogity, baby!” JJ exclaimed.
-----------------
You got in Kie’s car again and drove to where Pope’s witness lived.
“If this guy flew planes for Ward, he’s gotta be pretty tight-lipped” Pope said.
“So then direct approach gets my vote” JJ said, clicking the gun.
“JJ! No!” you said.
“Not the gun” Kie said.
“We gotta keep this simple guys or we’ll never get John B off” JJ defended himself.
Pope looked at him. “Or we just tickle the wire”
“What?” Kie asked.
“Pope you do realize we never follow your nerd boy metaphors, right?” you asked.
“We tickle the wire, which means--” he said, showing an airpods case. “I plant my phone in his car and then we listen in on your Airpods. Say something”
He brought the phone close to Kiara's mouth. “Something”
Pope heard what she said in his ears and smiled. “Okay, we have audio”
“I’m preferring JJ’s kidnapping idea. Sounds more fun” You said, shrugging.
“See?” the blonde said.
You reached the witness’s house and Kiara stopped the car.
“All right, honk or uh… yell or something if you see anything suspicious” Pope said, getting out of the car.
“Don’t do anything dangerous” Kiara reminded him.
“Come on, I’m not JJ” he said, getting out of the car.
“Thank you Pope” JJ said, making you laugh.
Once Pope was gone you sighed against JJ’s chest. “So… Kie. How’s it been going with Pope and all?”
“It’s good” she said.
“In the bedroom is he kind of freaky because, you know, Pope?” JJ asked, with a smirk. You snorted at his question.
Kie turned around and wiggled her eyebrows. “Why are you guys asking me this?”
“We’re curious girl, we’re your friends” You said.
“Just spitballing here” JJ shrugged.
“You don’t need to spitball” she said. “We can sit in silence”
“Or you and I could make out” JJ said, looking at you.
You were about to kiss him until Kie yelled. “Not in my car, please. At least not again”
You and JJ groaned and resumed your seat. Pope got inside the car panting.
“Okay, phase one is completed” he said.
“Great”
--------------------
The night fell and the next plan was to call Gavin, the witness, and get him to know that you knew what really happened on the airstrip.
“Why does she get to tickle?” JJ asked.
“Cause she’s the best, JJ” Pope said, handing you Kiara’s phone.
“Should I do an accent?” you asked.
“Definitely disguise your voice” Pope said.
“Disguise my voice, how, like, how do you want me to talk?” you said in a very good english accent.
“Not like that, babe” JJ said.
“Yeah, no” Kie said.
“Batman” Pope said.
“Batman?” you said, mimicking Batman’s low voice. Pope nodded.
“Spot-on, let’s do it” JJ said.
“ Hello? ” Gavin’s voice sounded through the phone.
“Hello-” you said with a batman voice but it was not easy. “No, I can’t do it” you whispered to your friends.
“Just talk” Kie said.
“Is Gavin there?” you asked.
“ This is Gavin, who’s this? Hello?”
“I know what happened on the tarmac” you said firmly, and then a silence was heard.
He laughed and cleared his throat. “Uh, who’s this? ”
“It was Rafe Cameron” you said. “But you already knew that, and you lied about it”
“ Okay, who’s this? ”
“We’re gonna prove it” you said firmly.
“You’re gonna tell me who this is right now”
“You could’ve saved her, Gavin, and you didn’t. And you’re not getting away with this” you said, the anger rising in your veins.
“Listen to me! Who’s this?”
You quickly hung up the phone. “How was that?”
“Yeah, I was scared. Good job” JJ said.
“All right, let’s tickle the wire. Phase two completed” Pope said. “Now we wait and listen”
You saw Gavin getting out of his house and getting inside his car.
“Fuck, here he comes” you said and everyone lowered their heads.
He got out of the driveway and drove away.
“Great, he didn’t see us” JJ said.
“Let’s go. Come on, go, go, go, go” Pope said, while Kie turned the engine on. “My seat belt” Pope said, struggling with it.
“Are you seriously buckling up right now?” JJ asked.
“Yes, I am”
“You don’t need it right now!” you said as Kie sped off, following Gavin.
You all looked at Pope while he gave the information.
“He’s calling Ward” he said.
“Great, I'm sure we scared the shit out of him" You said, pretty convinced.
Gavin started talking about renegotiating something, and then Pope said that Gavin has got the gun that Rafe used to kill Sheriff Peterkin.
“I think he’s trying to use it as extortion, as leverage” he said.
The car suddenly pulled over and Kie panicked.
“Wait, he’s pulling over!” she yelled.
“Shit, he’s panicking” Pope said.
“Do I pull behind him?” Kie asked.
“No, go around the block” the three of you said at the same time.
“We’re gonna lose him”
“Kie, go” you said.
“I can't hear anything. Shit. I’m losing the signal, I can’t hear anything.” Pope cursed.
When Kie turned to the next street, there were people working in construction, blocking the way.
“What the hell is this?” Your boyfriend asked.
“Stop, turn around now” Pope said.
“Pull in here and back up” JJ said.
“Okay, I'm gonna back up”
Suddenly a tractor from the construction was going backwards and blocked the way for Kie’s car to get back up.
“No, hey! What the fuck are you doing?” you yelled through the window.
JJ got out of the car, furiously. “Hey! We were about to back up” he said.
“Yeah, man. Get out of the way” You said.
“You literally had to do it now?” JJ asked. Suddenly Pope ran out of the car. “Hey, hey!”
“Pope? Where the fuck are you going?” you asked, following him.
“We gotta know where they’re meeting” Pope said.
“Kie, J, come on” you said and they all followed you, with the construction workers yelling at you.
You all ran inside Kook’s property and yelled at Pope to slow down. Pope suddenly jumped a fence and you tried to follow the same pace as him.
“Sean? Oh this is where you live, you Kook” JJ said, looking at one of the kook guys in a pool.
When you reached Pope, you breathed heavily and slumped next to JJ who quickly grabbed you. Pope had a look on his face that was described in pure shock.
“What-- what did you hear? God, I need new lungs” you groaned.
“He’s meeting Ward right now” Pope said.
That gave you enough energy to recompose yourself. “Shit, where?” you asked.
“We gotta go”
“Okay come on” Kie said.
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