So i know i said this at the beginning when i started this story but i totally changed the time line around and i apologize if that messes with you. I did not use everything from the show but I am trying to work in important ones that can help pull this story together.
After season 2 just came out i am currently seeing if i can work my original plan to keep going through season 2... so that's currently being revised as ideas come in so if you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know.
Hope you guys are still enjoying this.
All errors are mine... per usual :)
Next chapter I hope to introduce Barry and bring in Rafe's drug debt situation as well as what's in the case they found in the Grady White.
JJ POV
When I had finally cooled off the night before I came into the Chateau ready to crash. I wanted the night to go so differently. Rowyn and I had the Chateau to ourselves, it should have been one hell of a night… in a good way.
Rowyn wasn't in the main room when I entered and I could feel myself start to panic as I called her name. I noticed John B's door open and sighed when I saw her back to the door curled on her side. Sitting on the bed I took my boots and shirt off before rolling to pull her to me. I heard her take a shaky breath trying to hold herself together and it hurt to listen to her try and hold it in. Placing my lips to the back of her head I whispered to her trying to give her the comfort she needed.
When the sun rose that morning Rowyn was now curled at my side one of her hands rested on my chest. If this is how I could wake up every day from here on out, I would be a happy man. The morning progressed slowly as we waited for visiting hours at the hospital, and by 9 we were on the road picking Pope and Kie up. Both had been reprimanded pretty good by their parents, extra work, curfew the works. It had been weird seeing John B in a hospital bed, but we were able to joke about the nurses and sponge baths to lighten the mood. By noon we were kicked out so he could "rest" and we decided to spend the rest of our day at the beach catching a few waves. Ending our night at the Chateau with a message from John B to meet in the morning at The Wreck. We all started to relax feeling like everything was going to be fine.
"I'm sorry. You're staying where?" Kie commented the next morning as she moved around her family's restaurant setting up the tables before it opened.
"Tannyhill." John B stated looking up at Kie as she passed by him around the counter. She handed the tray off to Rowyn who took it and started placing different items on tables.
"So, you're like living with your girlfriend now?" Rowyn asked raising an eyebrow as she brought the tray back to the counter dropping it off and picking up drinks to pass around.
"And Ward is okay with that?" Kie added. Setting the tray down I grabbed one of the cups as Pope grabbed one for himself.
"Well yeah, it was his idea." He replied grimacing as he sat down, after a fall from that height he was lucky to be walking around two days later really.
"Two weeks ago Ward was telling Sarah to dump your ass." Rowyn commented jumping up on the counter behind us swinging her legs back and forth.
"Look, I am living there because Ward bailed me out okay." John B started to get defensive, "And it's way better than foster care, which by the way is exactly where I was about to go if Ward hadn't…"
"Hey, so like do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope interrupted him and all I could do was smirk.
"I don't know Pope," John B sighed and I could tell he was getting annoyed, which only made me want to add to the conversation.
"What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them right?" I asked grinning and I could hear Rowyn trying cover up her laugh with the drink in her hands which only made me smile more.
"How about a sweater-vest?" Pope added.
"Yep… uniform of the Kook you definitely need one of those." Rowyn added pointing to Pope then John B with her cup in hand.
"Okay can we focus a little please?" John B his irritation evident. "Sarah is going to meet us in the Marina in an hour so can we do this?"
"Yeah if we are going to do this I needs to happen now." Rowyn jumped off the counter to lean on the chair John B was sitting on. "I overheard Shoupe in town rallying people to search the marsh today, said something about starting around afternoon."
"Alright so lets do this thing." I clapped my hands together and there was a collective agreement from the group. Cleaning up we went out to get the HMS Pogue. We picked up Sarah and the scuba gear and headed into the marsh. The banter and conversation was light and easy, this is what summer was about, friends just having a good time. Rowyn with her legs over my lap laughing at something Sarah had said to Pope. Her smile was intoxicating and I had to catch myself as I got lost staring at her.
Finally we got to the area of the marsh where we found the boat a few days prior and started to go over the gear that Sarah grabbed.
"This is empty," Kie scowled looking at Sarah, "you took empty tanks?"
"Okay…wait, this one's a quarter full. It should be enough for one of us." Roe commented looking at a separate tank that was closest to her. I was standing leaning against the boat, squinting in the sun as we tried to figure out what we were gonna do.
"Love it when a plan comes together," Pope commented under his breath.
"So, who's going to dive?" Kie asked and we all just kind of looked at each other unsure.
"I mean I read about it…" Pope spoke up.
"Great, Pope read about it, so … someone's definitely going to die." Kie nodded rolling her eyes.
"I mean you put the thing in your mouth and you breath… how hard could it be?" I asked.
"Seriously?" Rowyn looked up at me and all I could do was shrug.
"If you come up to fast, nitrogen gets into your blood and you get the bends," Pope answered and all I could do was give him a smile before deciding to be a smart ass.
"Bends… like bend over and…" I said sticking my ass out and bending over. I could hear Rowyn groan in the background.
"The bends kill you." Pope answered matter of factly and all I could reply with was 'oh' as I stood up straight again.
"I'll go down." Rowyn raised her hands with a sigh and all I could do was stare at her as she stood. She turned to John B motioning to his current stated before continuing. "Look, you were about to say you'd do it, but you literally just fell several feet the other day so you're out. Quarter tank is plenty of time to go down and come back up."
"You sure about this?" I asked as I watched her pull her shirt over her head leaving her in her bikini. I help her put the tank on her back adjusting it so she was balanced.
"Yeah…" She nodded looking up at me and her eyes were sparkling against the sun. "Like you said, but the thing in my mouth and breath right." She winked at me and all I could do was shake my head and laugh.
Reaching into my pocket I pulled out a key I had put on a string handing it to her. "Look when you get down there find the cargo hold, put this in and twist and pull." I said showing her the motion with the key and she nodded repeating the 'twist, and pull' comment I made. She wrapped the keys cord around her wrist several times. "My dad used to pull weight back in the day."
"Who didn't" John B added from beside me.
"Keep an eye on this," Sarah stood handing Rowyn the handheld oxygen monitor.
"You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress." Pope added. She moved to sit on the end of the Pogue readjusting the oxygen tank before taking the goggles that were beside her and placing them on top of her head.
"Try and breath as little as possible." Kie said placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, think Zen, you know…" I said kneeling down beside her. As much as I wanted to know what was down there, part of me didn't want Rowyn going down with so little oxygen. If this didn't go right, it could be really bad for her… and I was not okay with losing her. Sensing my anxiety, she turned to face me before pulling the goggles on and placed her lips on mine smiling her hand warm from its place above my jaw.
"Diver down." Kie said and Rowyn placed the mouth piece in her mouth and secured her goggles on before twisting herself to fall back into the water. I watched as she slowly began to descend into the water and now we were just stuck waiting.
"Dude she'll be okay," John B clapped his hand on my shoulder and all I could do was nod taking a deep breath.
"Yeah, honestly, she was probably the best choice to go down. She has been diving for years." Sarah added, and I know it was meant to make me feel better but honestly it didn't. After a few minutes I could start to feel myself getting more and more worked up.
"Um guys." Pope called out and I felt a slight slap to my arm and I turned to see the deputy boat pulling up towards us.
"Shit, that's the cops." John B said and I looked between the water and the boat heading towards us.
"You have got to be kidding me." Pope murmured.
"Yeah that's the police" I nodded moving around to the other side of the wheel, leaning on the metal frame.
"Just act freakin' normal." Kie commented as her and Sarah sat back like they were tanning.
"Evening officers," Pope stated as they drove right up to us tossing a rope to John B.
"'Evening," It was Shoupe and Plumb. The last time I had seen Shoupe I was being placed in the back of his squad car outside Heywards.
"JJ tie this off," John B tossed me the line and I went over and tied their boat to ours.
"How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?" Shoupe commented putting a foot up on the edge of his boat eyeing all of us.
"No." Pope shook his head playing it off John B adding his own "Wow" to the end of his own commented 'No' looking to us as we all shrugged and shook our head acting oblivious.
"I didn't know that." Sarah commented looking at Kie shaking her head.
"Why- Why is it closed?" John B asked clearing his throat.
"Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down." Shoupe explained eyeing each of us cautiously. "Seen anything?"
"No." I shook my head trying to not think of Rowyn currently under the water slowly running out of air. The group around me added their own confirmation that was had not seen any boats and I could see Kie starting to get twitchy at the bow of the boat, sneaking peaks over her shoulder. Shoupe did not seem to be completely convinced but nodded his head.
"I'm gonna check your little boat out." He stated and stood up straight motioning at the boat and I inwardly cursed.
"Um yeah. Hop aboard." Pope said stepping aside as Shoupe stepped onto the Pogue saying a thank you. He began looking around the small boat and I made eye contact with John B and Pope who both seemed to be thinking the same thing. Shaking my headed a little they were both feeling the same fear I was.
"Uh- you got a few more of these?" Shoupe asked lifting a life vest, that was laying on the floor of the boat, up.
"Yeah. Of course. There uh… there in the hold." John B said with a strained look pointing to the spot where Kie and Sarah sat.
"Show him." Kie said standing up followed by Sarah, hoping to end the search and get the police off our boat.
"Yeah. Okay." I said pulling my hat of quickly and replacing it as I moved to open the compartment and revealing the other life jackets. "Here we go." And he seemed to accept it nodding his head, before heading towards the tip of the bow putting his sunglasses back over his eyes as he looked at the water. Sarah anxiously started biting her nails watching as Shoupe searched the water. The sun was on the horizon casting a glare onto the water giving us the cover we needed and protecting Rowyn from being caught, but she was definitely out of air at this point.
"Alright" Shoupe said after a long pause turning to walk back to his boat.
"All right." Pope, John B. and I said with small smiles and nervous chuckles.
"Beautiful day isn't it." Shoupe added and we were all anxious to get him on his way.
"Sure is." Kie nodded as Pope untied the line from their boat to ours.
"Let us know if you seen anything on your way out"
"Will do. Will do." I said nodding giving a small wave. "We'll be gone soon sir."
"Yes you will." He stated and we all stayed in our position watching them leave before we quickly turned around towards the spot that Rowyn had gone under.
"She's definitely out of air." Pope stated and I set my jaw wondering how long I had to wait before I jumped in to find her. Just as I was about to jump in, clothes and all, bubbles emerged and Rowyn came bursting through the surface of the water.
Rowyn POV
My lungs were on fire. The black spots started to creep on the corner of my vision as I waited for the second boat to leave. I tried to calm the pounding in my chest and my urge to try and suck in air. Finally the other boat was leaving and I pushed myself to the surface. The moment my head was through the I yanked the mouth piece from my mouth and took in a large gulp of air coughing. Through the pounding in my head I heard several voices from the boat calling my name. I brought my hand up and gave them and 'OK' motion before pulling the mask off my face, still trying to pull enough oxygen into my lung to keep them from burning.
"Did you find anything?" Pope asked as I made my way to the back of the boat still unable to formulate any words.
"Hey you good?" JJ asked leaning over the back to meet me.
"Just… Just take the .. the damn bag." I said, each word hurt but I was able to lift the black bag I had carried with me up enough for him to grab and pull into the boat.
"Holy shit!" Kie said as the bag landed on the floor of the boat with a thud. JJ reached down as I started to climb the ladder and pulled me the rest of the way into the boat, sitting me at the stern stripping the tank off my back.
"You did it!" Sarah celebrated.
"That's my girl!" John B added whooping with the others. I smiled but closed my eyes trying to stop the spinning from lack of air.
"Hey. Deep breaths." JJ's calm voice filtered to my ears. It was quiet compared to the celebrating that was happening behind him, but I could hear it clearly as his hands cupped my face and I opened my eyes to have him be the only thing in my vision. His blue eyes fully focused on me, his eyebrows pinched together in a scowl. After a few deep breaths I started to feel my lungs slowly begin to stop seizing with every breath and I nodded at him.
"Thanks" I whispered and he leaned down his forehead pressed to mine.
"Roe you okay?" Sarah asked coming over to me as JJ helped me stand his hand staying on my back as I moved forward.
"Yeah. Just ran out of air." I nodded.
"Cops showed up." Pope said working to move the gear out of the way so we had room to sit.
"Seriously?" I raised my eyebrow surprised turning to look at JJ who just shrugged.
"Yeah but we took care of them." He said with a smug look on his face that made me roll my eyes and smile.
"Hey guys," Kie called from the front of the boat catching our attention. "Bogey, two o'clock." We all turned following her gaze to find a white speed boat heading towards us. It was holding a quick pace and didn't seem to be slowing down.
"What are they doing here?" Pope asked. "The marsh is closed."
"Let's not stick around and find out," JJ said moving around me.
"JJ get the bow line." John B commanded as the boat got closer. He nodded and started pulling on anchor at the front of the boat.
"Should we wait for them?" Pope asked.
"Are you kidding me?" I rolled my eyes. Followed by John B telling him to get the stern line.
"Guys, don't wait for me. Go." JJ said as he pulled the line harder and John B put the boat into forward turning down into the marsh. Once he got the anchor up he joined me on John B's right his hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me and the boat had turned as well following us.
"There following us!" Sarah called and I could here the panic in her voice.
"Dude you gotta go faster." JJ was telling John B who was muttering that he was going as fast as he could. Then there was a loud crack and I felt JJ tug me to the floor trying to cover me. The men in the boat were shooting at us now. I could see Pope from my spot under JJ and he was cursing covering his head. JJ reached over trying to pull John B lower telling him to get down as another shot went off.
Looking around Kie met my eyes and I followed her gaze to the fishing net at the back of the stern. "Shit." I said under my breath and nodded pulling reluctantly away from JJ, who tried to reach out to pull me back.
"Pope move." Kie said as she moved past him and I followed her trying to stay low grabbing the net. We worked smoothly untangling the net as another shot went out and Kie let out a small yell and tried to ignore the shaking of my hands as I ripped at the net to get it untangled. With her on one end and me on the other, our eyes met in agreeance as we threw the net over the back of the boat, right in line of the oncoming one. Ducking down as another shot went off, I moved back to JJ who was cursing at my stupidity.
The boat hit the net at full speed and sputtered to a stop as the engine and rudder became tangled with the net causing the boat to stall.
"Holy Shit!" I said looking at Kie with a large smile.
"Whoo Hoo!" JJ yelled as we all slowly stood back up keeping an eye on the boat fading from view as we got away.
"That's what I'm talking about!" John B yelled and we rode back the Chateau. Once we reached the dock the sun was just escaping below the horizon and the dusk color started to invade our vision. Jumping from the boat I helped the boys tie the boat to the dock before going further up the dock before stopping leaning on the railing as Sarah and Kie joined me. JJ dumped the duffle bag with a thunk on the wooden floor.
"What do you think it is?" JJ asked, his excitement contagious. This was the most excitement that had happened on the marsh in a long time and we could all feel the tides changing for us. In that bag could change everything.
"Could be a couple of keys with street value." John B said kneeling down to the bag.
"Oh yeah could be in the low to mid mils man." JJ added.
"Can we just open it!" Pope exclaimed and we all stared at the unexpected outburst from Pope.
"Wow Pope." I laughed moving to pat his shoulder.
"Look we almost died for this okay." He sighed and I just nodded at him drawing my attention back to John B who was now unzipping the bag. Two things were inside. A large airtight case that was padlocked on the front, and a heavy medal canister. After examining the case and realizing it would take more than muscle to open it John B moved to the canister twisting the top off of it. The excitement that was in the air deflated the moment a cold object fell into John B's hand.
"It's a compass…" I said a little underwhelmed
"Wow. Great. Good job." JJ sounded just as disappointed. I was about to comment about the overall experience when I noticed John B had gone quiet.
"John B?" Sarah questioned, picking up on the same thing I had noticed. She came to kneel in front of him. JJ, Pope and Kie had all moved closer now.
"Dude, what?" JJ asked putting a hand on his shoulder.
"This… this was my dads." He said. It was quiet but we all heard it and we all felt our breath leave our lungs at the revelation.