Hello fellow Pogues and Kooks :)

I've been a fan of Outer Banks for quite a while now, but for some reason I haven't come around to writing any fanfiction yet. I've just binge watched both seasons (again (for the umpteenth time)), so I thought now's the time, and well, here we are.

Although the 'sup' moment from season 2 finale was incredibly sweet and made my heart very happy (spoiler alert in case anyone hasn't seen it yet - which you should), I do wish it was a tiny bit more dramatic. And by tiny I mean a lot, because who doesn't love a little rollercoaster of emotions. (I really hope it's nkt just me, otherwise this is going to get really awkward XD) And that's how this story happened. I hope you enjoy!

(Just a heads up - English is not my mother language and I'm writing this in the middle of the night, so this might end up being a disaster XD)

*cracks knuckles, pets cat, sips tea* Shall we begin?

Welcome to Poguelandia

It's pretty safe to say that JJ's day has taken an interesting turn.

For once (although JJ would beg to differ, because his plan are usually flawless) the whole 'let's get Sarah and the cross back' masterplan was going so well, until this random dude decided to show up with a fricking machete. Who does that?!

And then he and his machete decided to go for Kie, which clearly didn't sit well with JJ, so yeah… In JJ's defence, he really didn't have a choice but to try and fight the guy and the machete.

The only problem is the machete won.

Although, technically speaking, the wall won first, because as soon as the back of his head slammed against it, JJ's head went swimming.

But oh well, he's had worse, so he kept going. He had to make sure Kiara was safe. And then the machete won and the wall came in second. And JJ lost.

And everything went black.

Then there was something cold all around him. There was splashing and there was yelling. There was something about 'staying' and something about 'coming'. There was apologising and there was begging. There was something about John B and different versions of JJ's name were somewhere in there too.

But JJ wouldn't know that. JJ wouldn't know any of that.

The others would though. Kiara would. John B would. Pope, Sarah and Cleo would.

They would know exactly how close they came to losing one of them. And it would haunt them for years to come.

~ OBX ~

"JJ!" several terrified voices ring out across the water.

Kie thinks it might be the most beautiful thing she's ever heard. They made it. John B's here. They're safe. JJ's safe.

Sarah feels like everything's going too fast. It feels like the world's spinning out of control. She was dead and now she's not. She thought her dad was dead and now he's not. Pope was almost dead and now he's not... Rafe wasn't dead, but part of her wishes he was... JJ wasn't dead and now he might be.

Pope thinks he might be sick. The immediate joy he feels as soon as he spota his friends floating in the water is soon replaced with dread once he sees one of them isn't moving. "Oh my God" he says as soon as he lays eyes on them, rushing over to the front of the boat and leaning over to grab Kiara's hand.

John B feels like he might die. There's no other way to put it. The tables have turned. JJ might die and John B might die with him. "No, no, no. No! JJ! Come on!" He's running on pure adrenaline. Nothing else. There's no reason behind his actions. Only survival instincts. As soon as his hands touch the familiar fabric of JJ's tank, he's pulling. "I got you. I got you, Jay."

The next few seconds are a blur.

As soon as JJ and Kie are out of the water, everything stops for a second. It's almost as if the world stopped spinning with them.

No one knows what to do.

And then the world starts spinning again and all hell breaks loose.

"Uh… guys?!" Cleo says, nodding towards the deck of the ship, making Sarah look up too.

"Shit. We have to go!" Sarah warns, glancing from her friends (who are already supporting a nice collection of injuries) to her brother (who seems to be holding what looks a lot like a gun that could potentially inflict even more injuries) and back to her friends again.

"Sarah, get us out of here!" John B says, desperately shaking his best friend's motionless body.

The lifeboat jolts to life and speeds off into the unknown.

Everything's spinning.

It's spinning too fast.

"Kie, are you hurt?" John B asks giving her a onceover, concern etched in his voice. Her hands are shaking like crazy, but she doesn't seem to be bleeding anywhere, which he takes as a good sign. He wishes he could say the same about JJ.

"N-no. I don't think so" she confirms John B's observations, already crawling her way closer to JJ, desperate to help. "JJ… He-"

"Lay him flat" Pope says, interrupting Kie as he helps John B rearrange JJ's limp body so that he's lying on the floor of the boat, before gently tilting his head back.

"JJ! Come on, JJ, wake up!" Kie yells, shaking his shoulder forcefully.

"What happened?!" John B asks, glancing up at Kie briefly, before looking back down at JJ - pale, quiet, still. Not okay.

"The guy jumped us. He came out of nowhere. He- He had a machete. He was gonna hit me, but JJ, he- He jumped in and I- He was gone. I looked over the edge and he was floating in the water. Face down. So I jumped after him." Kie keeps shaking the whole time, more and more tears streaming down her face by the second. "I'm so sorry, JJ. I should've done something. I shouldn't have let him- He could be dying because of me. I'm so sorry-"

"Kie! Don't. This isn't your fault, okay? None of it" John B interrupts her before she can go down the drain of blaming herself.

He knows where that road leads.

"He's not breathing" Pope says from where he's hunched over JJ. He's silently begging for someone else to take over being 'the responsible adult one', so he can freak out in peace. "No pulse" he adds once his fingers fail to find any sort of thumping on the side of JJ's neck.

Not okay. Definitely not okay.

"John B…"

"I know, Pope! I know." John B might watch JJ die today. A part od him might die today. "How long has he been out?" he asks Kie, who's the only one who actually knows what happened.

"I don't know. A few minutes at least."

"Shit" John B swears. Bad. Very very bad. "Alright, who knows CPR?"

It's gonna take a while befkre those words stop ringing in the back of his head.

"You do the chest compressions, I'll do the breaths" Pope odders, already leaning forward, pinching JJ's nose and blowing twice.

1, 2, 3, 4, staying alive, staying alive, 9, 10, 11, 12, staying alive, staying alive.

When John B gets to 30, Pope blows another two breaths into JJ's mouth, making his chest rise and drop.

Nothing happens.

"Go again!"

1, 2, 3, 4, staying alive, staying alive...

"I'm tired" John B says after he gets to 30 again. "Switch with me."

They keep going for what feels like an eternity, although it must only be a couple of minutes. Just as Pope's about to start the fourth round of compressions, JJ's body jerks, water spilling out of the corner of his mouth.

"JJ!" Kie exclaims as John B turns his head to the side, so that he can cough the water out.

"Oh, thank God" Pope and Sarah whisper at the same time.

There's a pulse. He's breathing. Better than bad.

"That's it, buddy. Cough it out." John B encourages, rubbing his hand on JJ's chest. "There you go. Cough it out."

He keeps coughing for what feels like forever, before he finally inhales somewhat normally.

The world seems to stop again as they wait for him to breathe again. And he does. He keeps breathing. And so does everyone else. They keep breathing.

"It's okay, JJ, it's okay. You're with me. You're safe. I promise. Just breathe." John B whispers straight into JJ's ear, still holding his head to the side so the water he inhaled can spill out.

"Uh-oh" Pope says, his big relieved smile suddenly exchanged for an uneasy expression once again.

"What?"

"His pupils are blown."

John B doesn't need to ask what that means. He's well aware of the fact that 'dilated pupils' are one of the red flags when it comes to getting hit in the head.

"Did he take anything?" Pope asks, referring to JJ's affection for smoking blunts on a daily basis, which could be the (not-as-bad-as-a-head-injury) reason behind dilated pupils. Although to be fair, he's guessing they aren't that lucky, and John B seems to agree with his opinion, because he immediately shakes his head.

"Not that I know of. JJ, can you look at me?" He goes back to stroking JJ's hair, hoping to drag him back to the land of the living. He would do anything to hear one of JJ's sarcastic and unnecessarily funny remarks right now. "I know it's too bright, buddy, but I need you to open your eyes and look at me just for a sec. Come on, Jay."

Once he doesn't get a response, he gently ruffles his wet, salty and bloody blonde strands, before letting his hands travel down towards his closed eyes. He keeps a monologue of soothing words going the whole time as he gently pulls his eyelids open one by one. JJ doesn't flinch, although John B isn't entirely sure whether that has more to do with the careful combination of precautions he's trying to take in order not to spook him (even though he's panicking big time, and being obnoxiously loud and fast sounds very appropriate and tempting right now) or the fact that he's barely conscious. If he had to bet, he'd go with the second explanation.

"Yeah, that's not good…" he says as soon as he lays eyes on the way too black and not nearly blue enough hazy eyes.

"JJ, you awake, buddy? Can you tell me your full name?" Pope asks, gently shaking JJ, who seems to be drifting off again. "Can you hear me, JJ? Do you know who I am?" Nothing. "JJ, do you know who this is?" he tries again, pointing his finger towards John B, growing desperate to get any sort of response from him. JJ's eyes flutter, before his face scrunches up in pain, his head lolls to the side and he goes completely limp. "Damn it. He's out again. Concussion?" Pope asks John B, knowing he's seen his fair share of 'JJ concussions' over the years – courtesy of Luke, the Kooks and JJ's recklessness.

"Probably" John B responds, already trying to come up with a plan that involves getting JJ the help he needs and is at least somewhat doable given the circumstances, which are by no means ideal. "He only hit him once?" he asks, turning his attention back to Kie, who's still sitting right next to JJ, cradling one of his cold, limp hands next to her chest.

"Um… No, it was at least two times. They fought for a little bit. He hit it on the wall first and then the machete…"

She doesn't get to finish her thought, before Pope's running his hands through JJ's hair – not in a comforting way but looking for any other possible signs of trauma.

"Yeah, there's a bump on the back of his head too" he says, looking at his thankfully bloodless hand.

"Damn it, JJ" John B curses. "Anything else we should be worried about? Ribs…?"

"I don't- I don't think so… I don't know, John B, it all happened so fast-"

"It's okay, Kie. He's gonna be okay" he says, trying his best to calm her down, even though he's just about ready to lose his mind himself. One of his hands automatically starts going over every single one of JJ's ribs in a practiced motion, checking for any possible breaks. Even thinking about how used to this he is by now and how 'normal' searching for broken ribs has become makes him sick to his stomach. "He's tough. He'll be laughing in our faces and mocking us for being worried in no time." Once he's finished with the ribs, he runs his hands over the rest of his body, relieved nothing seems to shift unnaturally under his touch. "Nothing's broken as far as I can tell."

"So it's just this head then" Pope grimaces.

"Yeah... Just the head." He would honestly prefer broken bones to brain injuries right now though. (At least he knows how to fix those.) Preferably neither.

"What do we do?" Sarah asks, unsure what the least stupid decision might be in this case. Half of her wants to drive straight back to the ship, attempt to steal a radio and call for help, but the other half is telling her that it would be a death sentence – especially considering that their personal bodyguard, who is willing to fight a gorilla, is currently out of commission and in need of a doctor.

"Get us to that island over there" John B decides after taking in exactly how royally screwed they are. "We probably stand a better chance there than we would stranded in the middle of the ocean."

Sarah gives him a knowing smile (her stomach doing flips at the memory of them almost getting stranded when the Phantom sunk), before driving straight towards the island on the horizon.

Pope doesn't say anything, too preoccupied with the fact that JJ still seems way too drowsy for his liking. Especially by 'JJ standards' , which are: (1) JJ is never ever still. Not even if he's halfway dead. Seriously, that boy spends 99% of his life jumping from roofs or out of car windows, while simultaneously getting into fights with Kooks and running away from cops for a living. Point is – he probably couldn't stay still for two minutes to save his life. (2) JJ is never quiet. Actually, let's rephrase that. He's obnoxiously loud most of the time. (Apart from when he has one of his encounters with Luke, which tend to either make him shut down and stop talking for an entire day or start cracking even more jokes than usual.) Speaking of jokes - (3) JJ is always sarcastic. As in always. Without exception.

Those are the rules of JJ. If one of those things is off, you know something's seriously wrong and JJ must either be dead or dying. And right now, all three of those things seem to be way off.

Sure, Pope's seen JJ severely injured before, but the fact that they're miles and miles away from land (and therefore doctors) makes everything seem even worse than it is.

They all know how lucky they are that most of them made it off the ship in one piece, and they all know that their 'independent variable' could've been hurt way worse, but seeing his pale-looking more-dead-than-alive unconscious body doesn't make it any easier to intentionally drive towards an unknown and possibly deserted island.

Everyone settles into an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, before they are interrupted by a groan.

"JJ? You awake?" John B asks, gently rubbing JJ's chest again. Nothing happens the first couple of tries, making him think that JJ's still passed out, but after the third try, JJ finally lets out a small groan again. "Can you hear me, JJ? Come on, give me something before all of my hair turns grey." JJ still doesn't seem to acknowledge the words being said, so John B and Pope share a concerned look.

"He's really out of it" John B frowns.

"Yeah, I have a bad feeling about this" Pope agrees, successfully making everyone feel even worse. "Come on, we gotta turn him on his side" he whispers just loud enough for John B to hear him. He's tried his best not to touch JJ unless he absolutely needed to up till now, because he knows touching him without a warning might make things escalate to a whole new level, and the last thing JJ needs right now is to feel like he's in danger.

Sure, he knows that JJ trusts him on a good day. He knows JJ feels at least somewhat safe when he's around him – on a good day. But a concussed and vulnerable JJ on a not-so-goo day… Let's just say letting John B do the touching and moving is definitely their safest bet.

"Right. Come on, bud, lay on your side. I'm gonna help you turn, okay?" John B announces gently, carefully pulling one of JJ's shoulders towards himself and scooting him back, so that his back is resting against the side of the lifeboat. He keeps one of his hands on JJ's shoulder to hopefully provide him a sense of safety, while the other one automatically goes up to his face. He lets his hand rest on his cheek for a few seconds, before he's brought back to reality by the wheezing sound of JJ's breathing.

"Can you breathe okay?" he asks, gently tilting his head back a little to open his airway. "JJ. Does breathing hurt at all?"

It takes a little more poking and encouraging, but John B is eventually rewarded with the smallest head shake the world has ever seen.

"Good" John B exhales in relief. "That's really good. Just keep taking nice deep breaths, okay? And tell me if breathing starts to feel weird" he adds as an afterthought.

He can still vividly remember the time JJ nearly drowned a few years back when they went surfing during a storm. Big John was on one of his unexplained trips, so JJ had been staying at the Chateau. John B thought the worst part was over once he successfully dragged a shaken up drowsy JJ back to the Chateau to warm up. Turns out secondary drowning and pneumonia can be just as bad and dangerous as inhaling water. The memory of JJ choking in the middle of the kitchen still sends shivers down his spine. Nearly gave him a heart attack that day.

He's not a particularly religious guy, but right now he's definitely praying that this is not gonna be a repeat of that. He hopes to never have to see JJ that sick again.

He's brought back from his thoughts by Pope bending JJ's arm and leg, so that he's lying in the recovery position.

Would you look at that? Useful knowledge they learned in school. Well, useful knowledge Pope learned in school. It's a good thing at least one of them pays attention in health class.

"You're gonna save our lives someday" John B blurts out before he can stop himself.

"Gonna?" Pope asks incredulously. "JJ over here has me convinced he's a cat. You know, nine lives 'n all."

"Oh, we're way past nine" John B adds with a smirk, making everyone chuckle.

"We should seriously try to get him a little more awake though" Pope says. "I don't like how quiet he is. Seems... unnatural."

"Tell me about it... You think I can annoy him to the point he wakes up?"

"Yeah, we're not doing that" Pope says with an eye roll. "You should just talk to him. If he's gonna be able to hear anyone, it's gonna be you."

Pope says it as if it's the most obvious thing. It's not like the Pogues play favourites, it's just that JJ and John B have that special bond that comes so effortlessly to the two of them, but is (as of right now) completely unreachable to anyone else.

"JJ. You with me, man?" John B tries. "Come on , bud, I know you're like a sloth who loves sleeping, but do you think you could wake up for a minute so we can talk? I promise I'll let you go back to sleep soon." He's talking in a voice he only ever uses with JJ. Calm and soft, soothing. Almost as if it could fix everything. In a way it probably can. At least in JJ's world.

They've seen John B talk JJ down from a suicide mission in this voice. They've seen him coax JJ into breathing right again when he was having one of his panic attacks. They've seen him use this voice when treating unexplained injuries that seemingly appeared on JJ's body overnight.

It's the 'JJ whisperer' voice.

"JJ? Can you hear me? I'm getting seriously worried about you and your bad ideas over here... Come on, JJ. Are you gonna make me get all sappy? Because I will. And it's gonna be really bad and ugly and embarrassing. Might make you wanna puke. And you know you hate puking."

JJ's slightly bluish lips form a half smile that doesn't quite reach his whole face, but it's good enough for John B.

"There you go. I knew you were listening" John B says, drawing circles on JJ's cheek with his thumb. "Don't go back to sleep yet, okay? You gotta look at my beautiful face first, okay? Think you can do that?"

JJ's eyes stay closed, and John B can feel Pope and Kie shift uncomfortably, probably biting their heads off with worry just like he is.

"What's up with your eyes, bud? Did you send them on vacation or something? Alright, how about talking? Can you talk?"

JJ shrugs with the shoulder that isn't currently smushed underneath all of his dead weight, wincing immediately after.

Well, that's progress, John B thinks.

"Okay, so that's a TBD on the talking. Do you think you could at least try to open your eyes?"

JJ slowly licks his lips, grimacing as the salty water meets his taste buds.

"D'n w'nna… Dizzy."

"He speaks!" John B exclaims a little too loudly for JJ's mushed brain, making him wince again, while earning an elbow in the ribs from Pope and a death glare from Kie.

He mouths an apology, before continuing his motivational speech. "It's nice to hear your voice again, buddy. I was beginning to miss your constant bickering."

JJ hums quietly, still not attempting to open his eyes.

"Does anything other than your head hurt? And don't even bother trying to lie to me, cuz you're getting pretty close to winning a wincing contest over here" he adds as soon as he sees JJ begin to shrug.

JJ's beginning to look a little bit annoyed, but obediently replaces the shrug with a verbal response. If you can count his slurring as a verbal response that is.

"C'nt f'l 'nythin'."

That makes John B's blood run cold. He didn't even consider a possible spinal injury, but seeing that JJ fell overboard (which must've been at least a 12 foot drop) and he hasn't actually seen him move since... Plus the wasn't exactly gentle when he was dragging JJ out of the water either. No, no, no. He's not even gonna let himself go there. He has to be okay.

"Can you feel me touching your arm?" he asks, running one of his hands up and down JJ's arm, waiting for him to nod. "Good, that's really good, JJ. What about your legs?" he asks, repeating the same process. "Thank God" he whispers once he receives his confirmation. He can't help but bury his face in his hands for a few seconds, desperately trying to compose himself.

Pope must sense that his emotions are threatening to overflow, because he immediately jumps in and takes over.

"I got him, JB" he whispers patting his shoulder, before speaking to JJ as softly as he can, carefully making his presence known before doing anything. "Hey, buddy. It's Pope."

"Hi, P'pe" JJ slurs, making Pope wince briefly, though he can't help but let out a small chuckle. It's crazy how different JJ's personality is whenever he's... like this. Kinda adorable really. You know, as adorable as an injured friend can be.

"Hi. How you doing, bud?"

"M'kay."

"Yeah? That's nice to hear. How's your head?"

"N't f'n" JJ says after some consideration.

"Not fun?" Pope asks in confusion, earning a head shake. "I'm sorry, buddy. So I'm guessing you opening your eyes anytime soon is still out of the question?"

"Mmm."

"Okay, that's fine. Can you squeeze my hand as hard as you can then?" It takes a moment before JJ's fingers weakly curl around his with barely any strength behind them. "Come on, a little harder. I can take it." JJ (who's been surprisingly compliant this far) seems to give up and simply lets his hand drop. "Alright, alright. Now kick me." JJ's face scrunches in confusion at Pope's request. "Yeah, you heard me. I'm giving you permission to kick me as hard as you can. I won't even fight back. Come on, that's a once in a lifetime opportunity. The offer won't stand forever."

JJ seems to consider it for a moment, before coming to the conclusion that any sort of movement would take up way too much energy he doesn't have at the moment.

"Y're weird. Lem'me sl'p."

"Not before you kick me."

JJ (who would gladly punch Pope in the face just about now if he weren't so incredibly tired) tries to gather up every ounce of energy left in his body and successfully drags his leg a few inches away from Pope, before he stops, panting at the exertion.

"L'ter."

"Okay, okay, fine. You can kick me later. Go back to sleep" Pope gives in, rubbing a comforting hand on JJ's shoulder, before letting John B (who seems to have successfully calmed down) take his place again.

John B immediately grabs hold of one of JJ's hands again, noting how cold it is. He whispers something that sounds a lot like 'you're safe' and 'I'll take care of you' in JJ's ear, before doing a quiet run-down of JJ's injuries with Pope.

The girls have moved over to the back of the boat at some point, not wanting to make JJ feel crowded - well, as much as they could anyway. It is a pretty small boat.

Cleo has taken over driving the boat, whereas Sarah has her arms wrapped around Kie, who doesn't seem to be shaking as much anymore, although a few tears still run down her cheeks every now and then. Who could blame her?

All of a sudden, JJ jumps, successfully startling everyone in the process.

His disoriented and unfocused eyes snap open, darting all over the place, seemingly looking for something.

"What?! What is it, JJ? What's wrong?" John B asks frantically, fully convinced that something horrible must be happening. "Talk to me."

JJ's hands latch on to John B's with enough strength to leave a bruise, but John B doesn't seem to mind.

"It's okay, JJ, calm down. Everything's okay. You're not on the ship anymore. You're with me. Noone can hurt you" John B whispers, mistakingly guessing that the reason behind this abrupt awakening is the combination of a concussion and a lifetime of fear - as in JJ's fear for his own life.

JJ starts mumbling something incoherent, eyes blinking slowly and sluggishly, the panic draining JJ's energy much faster than it should.

"What's that, buddy?" John B asks, leaning closer so he can hear better and hopefully desifer whatever JJ's trying to say. "JJ, I have no idea what you're saying. You gotta slow down, take some slow deep breaths and tell me again, okay? Come on, take a deep breath" he says, moving a little, so that he's in JJ's direct line of sight, although he's not entirely sure JJ can actually see anything other than a whole bunch of blurriness. "There you go. One more time, come on. Good, keep going, JJ. Again."

He coaches JJ through his (still horrible sounding) wheezy breaths, which never quite reach a normal rate before JJ tries speaking again.

"Kie -kay?

This time John B immediately knows what JJ's asking (and he silently smacks himself over the head for not figuring it out sooner). He should've known Kie would've been one of the first things on his mind. Sure, JJ wasn't exactly coherent at the moment, but he should've known better. JJ's like a German shepherd puppy - he runs on protective instincts.

John B silently curses himself again. He knows JJ. He should've made sure to mention Kie at least a couple of times when he was first waking up in case he could understand what he was saying, before he got himself all worked up about it.

Next time.

He makes a mental note to mention something in the lines of 'Kie's okay' every single time JJ wakes up over the next few days, before letting out a small (only partially forced) chuckle and patting JJ's shoulder.

"Yeah, she's okay. She's right here" he says, motioning for Kie (who's already crawling her way over anyway) to come closer. "Here, you can hold her hand."

He gently peals JJ's strong fingers off his wrist (ignoring the red marks they leave from squeezing so hard) and guides his hand in the direction of Kie's awaiting hands.

As soon as JJ feels the soft familiar hands, his eyes stop their frantic whereabouts and he melts back into the floor of the boat.

"Hi" Kie whispers gently, already planting soft kisses onto JJ's cold fingers.

He blinks a few times, his eyes slowly travelling up until they reach her warm brown eyes. And then the JJ they know and love makes a quick reappearance, even if just for a minute.

"Sup?"

He has the biggest grin plastered on his bloody face, making everyone burst out laughing.

The weight on their shoulders seems to lift in an instance, making everyone breathe a little easier.

Kie's already all over JJ (who doesn't seem to mind her attention at all), so John B decides to leave him in her capable hands and carefully sneaks his way to the end of the boat to plant a kiss on Sarah's cheek. (He continues to make sure JJ isn't looking for him though, not quite used to not being the one JJ needs.).

"You okay?" Sarah asks softly, returning the kiss.

"Yeah, you?" he asks, nodding.

"I'm just glad everyone's okay."

He gives her knee a knowing squeeze, before looking around the boat.

"Lifeboats should have some sort of emergency kits, right?"

Pope, who's been having a quiet conversation with Cleo, seems to catch on pretty quickly and joins John B's treasure hunt.

"Found it" Sarah announces triumphantly, pulling a small black bag from underneath one of the benches.

"Do we have anything useful?" Pope asks, hopeful they're gonna find something to help JJ feel at least a little bit better.

"Um… We have some bandages, saltines…" she responds, rummaging through the bag. "One bottle of water..." The 'which is not nearly enough for six people' goes unsaid. "There's like a small shiny thing in here…"

"Yes! Space blanket! Give it to me" Pope exclaims as soon as she pulls it out of the bag and tosses it over.

"There's a normal blanket too" Sarah adds, throwing the second blanket over to Pope, nearly hitting him in the face. "Sorry, I was on the math team too" she says with an apologetic look.

"Come on, Jayje, let's get you out of these wet clothes" Kiara says, gently tugging at the bottom of his shirt.

"If you w'nted t' get me naked, y' could've jus' asked" he slurs with a ridiculous smirk, trying his best to help her (although he doesn't exactly succeed).

"JJ, that is not how you hit on a girl" Sarah says with an exaggerated gasp and a look of utter shock plastered on her face. (She's actually relieved that he's slowly returning back to the hilarious Casanova she's grown to love - not that she'd say that out loud.) "We need to get you and John B some lessons."

"Sign me up too" Pope volunteers, unwrapping the incredibly noisy space blanket, making sure to shove the plastic wrapping into one of his pockets, so it doesn't get blown into the ocean. (Kiara would probably bite his head off and throw him overboard to go and find it if it did.)

"D' you think y' c'ld poss'bly be 'ny loud'r?" JJ complains, the look on his face screaming 'I'm in pain' loud and clear.

"Just get your clothes off, JJ" Pope snaps back, no actual anger behind his words.

"Which side goes out?" John B asks, already trying to wiggle JJ out of the wet socks and shoes, deciding to leave his pants be for now to save at least some of his dignity since there are three beautiful girls present (although in all honesty he seems to be doing a magnificent job at embarrassing himself with his commentary thanks to his concussed brain).

"Silver one in, gold one out" Pope explains. "Although we should wrap him in the normal blanket first."

They make quick work of wrapping JJ up like a burrito, successfully dodging JJ's uncoordinated limbs in the process. (The only one who loses his patience for a second is John B, after the side of his face accidentally catches one of JJ's fists, and he hisses something in the lines of 'For God's sake, just let us do all the work, JJ.')

All the moving around makes JJ's head swim again, black spots and yellow stars dancing all around him.

He must black out for a minute or two (maybe three), because next thing he knows, the lifeboat hitting the sand jolts him awake, and he goes flying. Or at least that's what it feels like to him.

"Hey, hey, relax. Everything's fine" he hears Kie whisper and he's pretty sure he can hear a less-well-known female voice apologising.

The splitting headache makes him groan involuntarily, which earns him some more soft and warm words from Kie (which makes his heart beat a thousand beats per minute for some reason), who he is (he just noticed) currently using as a pillow.

"Y'r c'mf'rtable" he slurs, a little hirrified by the fact that he doesn't seem to have a filter. Not that he normally tries to be careful about what he says, but still.

If Kie finds his words inappropriate, she doesn't say anything, which JJ appreciates.

There's a little more tugging and pulling, combined with Kie hushing him, before the lifeboat finally stops trying to launch into space. Thank God for that.

"How you feeling, JJ?" John B says, suddenly crunching directly in front of his face. (But it's okay, because John B is safety.)

"Dizzy."

"I bet. How about we get you out of this boat? Do you think you can walk or am I gonna have to practice my glamorous 'try not to hit your bride's head on the doorframe' entrance walk?"

"M y'r bride?"

"Yes" John B deadpans, relieved that JJ seem alive enough to joke. "Now answer the question, you dork."

"N' do'r."

"I can still try to slam your head into a palm tree if you'd like" John B offers with a smirk, already helping him sit up. Suddenly, the warm blanket's gone, making JJ shiver. "Come on, up you go" John B says, hooking his arms underneath JJ's armpits and dragging him to his feet.

JJ's world turns into darkness for a minute, his head falling to the side and successfully landing on John B's shoulder (which sends daggers through his brain, but it's still much better than actually trying to hold his head up).

"You good? Staying conscious or are you gonna pass out on me?" John B checks, trying to read the slightly green look on JJ's face. "You gonna be sick?"

He barely manages to move his foot out of the splash zone just in time to see JJ double over and gag.

"Okay, okay, get it all out, buddy" he says, rubbing JJ's back while simultaneously trying not to drop him on his face (which is a bit of a hassle considering JJ is almost as tall as him, definitely not the lightest person in the world and his legs have decided to stop working).

"Gross" JJ groans, spitting on the floor to get the nasty aftertaste out of his mouth. "Sorry. "

"Don't apologise, JJ. It's not your fault. You done?"

"F'r now."

John B carefully readjusts his grip, one of his strong arms supporting his back and the other one holding his hand. He waits until JJ seems to look a little less green, before he gently nudges him to start walking.

They successfully step over the side of the boat, only to nearly topple over as soon as they reach the sand.

"Woah" John B curses, trying to prevent JJ from slumping to the floor ungracefully. "You're gonna have to do a little more walking than that, bud."

"C'n y' tell th' w'rld t' stop spinnin'? I'd like t' get off now."

"Aren't you enjoying the free roller-coaster ride?" John B chuckles, using one of his feet to slightly kick one of JJ's heels to try and remind him how to walk before they both turn into a pile of limbs on the floor. "Use your legs, JJ. One foot in front of the other."

Under different circumstances it would honestly look comical. A groggy JJ stumbling like a toddler who just barely learned how to walk, and John B holding on for dear life while trying not to laugh.

They make it about 10 steps, before JJ seems to give up on the idea of moving and lets his legs turn into jello.

"No, no, no. We gotta walk a little further, so we can get you out of the sun, okay?" John B encourages as Pope rushes over and slides JJ's other other arm over his shoulders.

"Pops'cle… w'rm."

"You're warm and you want a popsicle?!" John B asks, royally confused. He shoots a concerned look to the other human crutch, who seems just as lost as he is.

"'m a pops'cle. Sand's warm."

"Ooh, gotcha" John B says, barely able too keep himself from bursting out laughing. (Pope isn't as successful at self control, so he looses the battle.) "Come on, human popsicle, we' re gonna sit under that beautiful palm tree over there."

It's not a glamorous red carpet walk by any means, bur eventually they make it to the shade a litte further up the beach.

Pope let's John B sit down against the palm tree first, before he gently lowers JJ to the ground, so that he's propped up again John B's chest.

"Are you guys gonna be okay for a minute? I'm gonna go get the emeegency kit and blankets" Pope offers, walking back towards the lifeboat once John B waves him off.

JJ already seems to be deep in another one of his head-injury-induced space-outs, drifting in and out of consciousness.

He's so used to not letting himself crash when he's injured (thank you, Luke) that he keeps jerking awake even though Luke is nowhere near him.

John B's heart aches at the sight of his best friend - the strongest person he knows - so vulnerable.

He seems a little less out of it than he did before, which is good, but he's still shivering and much more quiet than his normal self.

"You'd m'ke a g'd p'llow" JJ whisperers after a while, wiggling himself even closer to John B.

"Thank you. I'm glad you noticed. I might make it a profession."

JJ chuckles, immediately regretting it and tensing up once he makes his headache spike to inimmaginabile heights again.

It obviously doesn't go unnoticed by John B.

"How bad is it? Scale of 1 to 10."

"Q."

John B rolls his eyes at JJ's failed attempt to avoid answering the question. Apparently this is his sarcastic way of admitting the pain is off the charts without actually saying it.

"So your brain's having a heavy metal party?"

"D'dn't 'nvite m'."

"Now that's just rude. You should always invote the host. Everyone knows that." He pauses for a second, trying to read JJ's body language. "You sure nothing else hurts?" he eyes JJ quizzically.

JJ doesn't respond right away, making John B think he's not gonna respond at all.

"Chest hurts" he eventually admits, making John B wince.

"Yeah.. that would be the CPR. Sorry about that."

"Oh" JJ says after a while, taking in exactly what went on 'while he was sleeping'.

"Yeah… oh."

JJ carefully blinks one of his eyes open to look at John B, to which he responds with a genuine smile.

"I'm okay, JJ. I'm just… worried."

"I'm 'kay, Bree."

"No you're not" John B says with a chuckle. "But you will be." I'll make sure of it.

"Thank you" JJ whispers after a while and John B knows there's so much more behind those words than anyone could ever imagine. So much more pain. So much more fear. So much more trust. And so much more love.

"Sleep, JJ" he whispers, letting a tear of relief slide down his cheek and drop on the sand. "We're gonna practice how to duck when you're feeling a bit better."

"Kay" JJ whispers, letting his eyes slip closed, before requesting something that always makes him feel at home. "Talk."

So John B does. He keeps talking about anything that comes to mind. He keeps going even after JJ's breaths even out and stop sounding so wheezy. He keeps talking even when the fingers that were squeezing his pants relax their grip. He only stops when Pope returns a while later.

"How's he doing?" he asks quietly, giving JJ a once-over.

Before John B has a chance to respond, JJ speaks up.

"Penguin."

Pope's face scrunchea up comically, while John B rolls his eyes with a grin.

"I thought you were asleep, Mumble."

"Why on Earth are we talking in Happy Feet references?" Pope asks. "I swear you two get weirder and weirder every time."

"I'm Mumble. M' cold."

"Yeah, no kidding" John B says, squeezing JJ a little tighter and rubbing his arms. "Think about that next time you decide to go for a swim in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

"Atlantic" Pope says, tucking the blanket around both JJ and John B, so that they can share bkdy heat. Both of them look up at him at the exact same time with the exact same confused expression, so he elaborates. "It's the Atlantic Ocean. And penguins don't get cold. You boys really need to start paying attention in geography. Sort out your countries and oceans."

"N'xt y'r."

"But you're right about one thing, JJ. You are Mumble, because you have way too much energy for your own good."

"Wh're exactly in the P'cific Oc'n r' we?"

"Atlantic Ocean. Deserted beach, unknown island" Pope supplies, impressed by how bad JJ's attention span is. Even worse than normal.

"No idea pretty much" John B concludes. "Screw the gold and the cross, we have our own private island now!"

"Talk about going full Kook" Pope laughs.

And then JJ's brain joins the party again, and well...

"Bienvenue!"

Someone, get this poor boy a dictionary.

"I hate to break it to you, JJ, but that's still not Spanish" Pope says, interrupting John B's uncontrollable laughing.

"Well, neither is Poguelandia."

The end.

That ended up being way longer than anticipated. Oops XD

I hope you enjoyed reading this 'slightly exaggerated version' of the season 2 finale. I reeeally enjoyed writing it, so I'd love to write some more stories about our beloved Pogues (and Kooks). What do you guys think?

Prompts are always welcome, so if you have any requests or ideas you'd like to see me write, please let me know. I can't promise to make them happen quickly, because school usually has other plans for me, but I'll try my best.

I love reading your feedback on my stories (as does everyone) about as much as the Pogues love each other, so if you feel like leaving me a review, it will be greatly appreciated :)

Thank you for reading and I wish you all the best!

P4L