Denial

Sarah sat on the roof of her house, listening to the cleanup crew's power tools, looking out across the water. This was her favorite spot and she had texted Topper to meet her there so she could share it with him, hoping to make up for the joke she'd pulled earlier today.

Topper climbed out the window carefully and made his way over to where Sarah sat.

"You're looking a little unstable there," she teased him as he sat next to her.

"Alright. It's worth it for this view right here," he told her, looking out teasingly.

"Oh you mean that?" She asked humorously.

"Oh you too. No you too," He smiled softly at her. They laughed. He really is sweet to her, she thinks. She just wishes he'd act that way towards everyone else too.

"Oh man," he breathes happily but then he gets serious, "Hey um, I heard you had a Pogue kinda sneaking around here this morning."

"Who told you that?" She asked, wondering how he could've known that.

"Oh it doesn't matter. Um, yeah it's just like, you gotta be careful. These Pogues are all just lowlives, I mean." Topper treads carefully, not wanting to give up Wheezie.

Sarah hates how snobby Topper sounds, "Don't say that Topper. You don't know them."

How can you judge someone you don't know so much?, she asked herself. They seemed okay to her, if a little rough around the edges. Except maybe JJ. She's a bit unsure about her after she pulled the gun.

"Oh okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that uh.. I'm sorry that they put a gun to my head," Topper responded, sounding the opposite of sorry. That would be fair, if Topper hadn't done what he did. "Do you know what that feels like?" He chuckled, humorouslessly.

"No, I dont, but to be fair Topper-" she started.

"They're dangerous," he cut in. But she wouldn't have it.

"-to be fair, you threw the first punch," she said bluntly.

"Oh. That's my bad. That's my- I deserved that," he said, completely taking her words wrong.

"I didn't say that," she argued.

"Shit," he mumbled at her, "You realize I'm just trying to protect you?"

"I know, and I appreciate that," she replied, " I get it."

"I don't think you're getting it," he argued, a jealous edge entering his tone. "You just gonna go hang out with them now?"

What the hell is he on about? "Topper, John B works here," she said plainly. "What do you want me to do?"

"John B. Yeah." He repeats, annoyed.

"What do you expect from me? Hand signals?" Sarah asked irritated, not understanding where this was coming from.

"I don't know. I'm sorry that I just, just care about you, he stressed and she's not even sure what he's arguing for. It's so stupid and he's jealous for no reason. She regrets inviting him up here now. She stands up and makes her way toward the window to go inside, not wanting to argue anymore.

"Yeah, just, you're just gonna walk way," Topper bites out at her turned back.

"Yeah I am. I can't deal with this," she shoots back, not bothering to look back.

She climbed through the window and stormed off to find somewhere to cool off. Sometimes, a lot of times if she's honest, she's not sure why she's with Topper. Sometime he can be so sweet, but his attitude towards people with less money really bothers her.

She shakes her head, as she pushes away thoughts of her complicated relationship, and instead decides she could use a snack and heads to the kitchen.

Meanwhile the Pogues had loaded into the Twinkie and were making their way toward, well, John B never actually said.

John B drove with Pope in the passenger seat, studying the compass, while Kie and JJ sat quietly in the back, letting themselves take a moment to collect themselves during what was turning out to be a very long and eventful day.

"I mean, it's obvious right?" John B said aloud. "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?"

JJ looked at the back of John B's head in disbelief. She doesn't know how to respond.

"Yeah, it's possible," Kie agreed carefully, but JJ could tell she was thinking the same thing she was.

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels," Pope said what they were secretly thinking out loud. Bless him.

"Pope?" John B started, offended.

JJ decided to try to ease the tension Pope's comment no doubt stirred in John B, and cut in before John B could talk. "You know how I process sad feels? Dank bugs and the stickiest of icky," she joked. "That's how I do it."

It didn't work. "I'm not concocting anything, okay?" John B snapped at Pope, offended, "My dad's trying to give me a message."

"If it helps you believe John B," Kie tried to backup Pope.

"Look I-I don't need a therapy session, okay? Look, I'm not trippin out," John B says stubbornly.

JJ is worried about him. "It's okay to trip bro." she said softly. She can't bring herself to look in the mirror where she knows John B is looking at her, hurt. She doesn't think this amount of denial was healthy and she's not sure feeding into it will help him.

"Look my dad is missing okay," he says firmly then his voice shakes as he continues, "Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish. And then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering."

JJ flinched, thinking of her mother, but she knows John B is just hurt and upset so he wasn't thinking. She stays silent, regretting her brief lapse of support. She should've backed him up, if only for him to find the truth for himself. It's just been a long day, and she's emotionally exhausted.

"It's been almost a year," Kie said softly, breaking JJ out of her thoughts. JJ wasn't about to make the same mistake again.

"Hey, he could've been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility," JJ said. John B met her gaze in the mirror where JJ apologized with her eyes and he silently forgave her.

Kie on the other hand, glared at JJ's retreat back to John B's side. She would always be on John B's side, JJ vowed to herself.

"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere," Pope said and she's not sure if he's being sarcastic or not, but she goes with it.

"Absolutely. Uh.. or Atlantis," she adds.

"JJ," Kie says exasperated, then turns back to John B. " Look, what do you think the message is?"

"Redfield," John B answered. "Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favorite place."

They were silent the rest of the drive as they contemplated that new piece of information.