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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡
the bends

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・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Kyla went back to the bait shop to help set up for their treasure hunt later. She had been on the new boat with JJ, wringing her hands together as she thought about the ensuing mission.

She didn't like that JJ would be diving alone. He was the most experienced one, but just being one person in that kind of depth couldn't be safe. "Look, J, I've been thinking..." Kyla trailed off. JJ hummed in response, allowing her to go on. "I don't think you should dive by yourself.

"Why not?" JJ asked.

"Because it's not safe. So, that's why...I'm going to go with you," Kyla told him.

"What? It's 80 feet down in the dark and moving through structures. Even for experts, it's a hairball situation and you've never even dived before," JJ replied, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I have. I took a couple diving classes with Alex back at Davidson," Kyla told him, placing her hands on her hips.

JJ furrowed his brows. "Who's Alex?"

Kyla gave him a look. "JJ, you know who Alex is. I've talked about him before."

JJ tilted his head. "Oh, it's a him?" He questioned, a jealous tone making its way out of his mouth.

Kyla scoffed at him. "You can't be serious right now, He's Rhiannon's older brother, the redheads. I've told you about them before. They're a part of the friend group I have back at DC. And they're actually here right now, supposed to see me but I told them I had other plans to do first."

JJ racked his brain, realizing that she had told him about Rhiannon and Alex. "Wait, they're here right now? You didn't tell them about what we were doing right?" He asked and Kyla pursed her lips. "Right, Ky?"

"Look, I had to, okay?!" Kyla admitted and JJ looked down, sighing. "They already know everything that happened to us the last two years so I couldn't just lie. They're not gonna tell anyone, they don't know anybody here. Trust me." JJ then began to chuckle at her words. "What?"

"You really are more strait-laced than Pope," JJ said with a grin, recalling their conversation from before.

"Oh, shut up," Kyla said, shoving his shoulder back.

"Oh, what you gonna do? What you gonna do, Ky?" JJ teased, holding his arms out playfully.

Kyla scrunched her face up and tried running towards him, but he just grabbed her torso and lifted her up over his shoulder. "JJ! Put me down!"

"No can do, baby!" He yelled as he spun around, causing her to laugh and yelp at the same time. He then finally put her down, making her shove him once again. "Oh, c'mon."

"You shithead!" Kyla said, out of breath from all the screaming.

"You love me," he smirked.

She couldn't help but have a smile make its up to her face. "I do. Which is why I'm going with you. We've gotta save the farm and I really don't want to go crawling back to my parents."

JJ gave her a look. "You sure you're not gonna be scared?"

"Uh...yeah. I mean, I've overcome my fear of your motorbike, haven't I?" Kyla pointed out.

"Yeah, about that..." JJ trailed off.

"What?"

"We kinda had to give away the motorbike so we could given information about the wreck," JJ slowly told her, wincing.

"Are you kidding me?! Right as I got used to it?!" She exclaimed and he nodded in confirmation. "Damn it."

"Look, I didn't want to give it up but if it's in exchange for a buttload of cash...it's worth it," JJ told her before he grabbed some scuba gear, handing it to Kyla. "Here you go."

Kyla grabbed the scuba gear, not sure if she had thought this through all the way. "We can just think of this as a little date, yeah?"

"Yeah, a date 80 feet under the water in a shipwreck. Sounds pretty romantic to me," JJ replied sarcastically before they continued setting up the boat. A little while after, the rest of the Pogues started heading down the ramp toward the boat. "You all ready? All aboard!"

"All right, guys. Listen up," John B began. "We've got the nav points, and we've got the gear. We're in and out, all right. This is one night only. We slip down under. We stay under the radar. All right? JJ, you're going down. Sarah and Cleo—"

"I'm going down with him," Kyla cut him off.

"What? Ky, are you crazy?" Kiara immediately said, shaking her head. "You can't go down there."

"I can and I will. JJ needs a buddy," Kyla argued.

"No. I'll do it. You've barely dived before," Kiara argued back.

"I took classes at DC, I'll be fine!" Kyla said and before Kiara could argue even more, Kyla grabbed her sisters arm and moved her a couple inches away from the group. "Just let me do this, Kie. I promise, I'll be fine. I just can't let him do it alone," she whispered to her sister.

Kiara took in a deep breath before sighing. "Fine. But if anything, and I mean anything, seems fishy, you're out of there, all right?"

"Yes, I promise," Kyla nodded before the sisters turned back to the group.

"Okay, so JJ and Ky go down," John B began again. "Me and Pope stay up. Sarah and Cleo, you guys drive out to the lighthouse by the Coast Guard base. Stand watch. Do this right, we're home by midnight."

"Clock's tickin'," JJ commented.

"Fun, fun, fun."

"Just like old times."

Sarah kissed John B goodbye before they all stepped on the boat, leaving Sarah and Cleo on the dock. "Later, y'all," JJ said as he began to drive the boat off.

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," Cleo warned.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Once they finally made it to the location, the sun had gone down and they could barely see anything. "John B, we're in Coast Guard territory now," Pope told him. "Should be about 20 yards. One o'clock. Okay, that's close enough. Hey, slow her down. We're at the drop site now."

JJ slowed the boat down and Kyla started to take her clothes off, revealing her swimsuit underneath. There had been goosebumps on her skin, from the slight breeze and also from nerves as well. She just hoped they would be in and out.

"JJ, what's our depth?" John B asked.

JJ looked at the monitor. "Seventy-eight."

"Okay. Ready?" John B said to Pope.

"Here we go. Switch out. You guys get ready. John B, you keep us in position." Pope moved over to help Kyla get the scuba suit on, zipping up the back for her. "Hey, are you sure you're good to do this?" He asked her quietly.

"Gotta get out of my comfort zone sometime, right?" Kyla said back, sucking in a breath.

"I'm not sure this is the right time to do that..." Pope trailed off.

"Yeah, me either," she agreed honestly.

"Honestly, it's kind of like surfing The Point, you know? We're upstream, and the rip is just gonna...take us out," JJ compared to try to make it seem better and they all just went along with it.

JJ then grabbed a speargun, placing it in front of him. "Uh, is that really necessary?" Kiara asked, not sure if she would want her sister down there with a speargun.

"Yeah, yeah, I mean, reef, fish—"

"And the man in the gray suit," JJ cut in.

"That too."

"Don't forget your safety stop, all right? Fifteen feet for three minutes," Pope reminded them. "Hear that, JJ? Fifteen feet, three minutes."

"Copy that," the blonde said.

"Or what?" Kyla asked.

"The bends, remember? Nitrogen in the blood, excruciating pain, death, et cetera, et cetera," Pope said like it wasn't a big deal and JJ gave him a look. "She should know. It's part of it."

JJ just sighed to himself before looking back down at his girlfriend. "Hey, you good?"

"Ask me that after?" Kyla responded and JJ pursed his lips, helping her up. "Oh, we're going?"

"Yup. Let's do it," JJ said, getting ready to dive.

"Okay, okay," Kyla said to herself, trying to calm her nerves. They sat on the edge of the boat, getting their masks and goggles on. "Diver down," she breathed out.

"Diver...down," JJ repeated slowly, the both of them smiling a bit.

"Ky, be careful, okay?" Kiara said before they could jump in.

Kyla nodded at her sister before she looked at JJ. He then proceeded to nod at her before the both of them fell back into the water, hitting it and turning their flashlights on to try to see in the darkness.

JJ waved to Kyla to follow him down, making sure to stick close to one another. They continued to swim deeper in the water before they saw the front of the ship. Kyla pointed at it, knowing they had to swim further to get to the location of where the amulet would be.

Once they found the captain's quarters, they opened up the doors and swam inside. They took a look around before JJ found the head frame. He began hitting it, trying to break through it before a piece fell away.

As JJ did that, Kyla took a look around and noticed something looked out of a place. There was a speargun on the floor, clashing against the green and brown ship. "J, come here," she called out, her voice muffled from the oxygen mask. He swam over to her and she pointed at the speargun. "Look." JJ looked at it and then back at Ky in confusion. "I don't know."

All of a sudden, a man sprang out toward Ky, grabbing her and pushing her down. "Ky!" JJ yelled as the man tried grabbing Ky. JJ quickly swam over, hitting the guy with the speargun and cutting a part of his arm. The man groaned, trying to grab the speargun out of JJ's hand and pulling out a knife.

They then began scrambling through the water as Kyla fumbled to her oxygen mask on, noticing that the man had pushed JJ out of the room. "No! Kyla!" She heard him yell outside as he banged on the door.

"Shit, JJ!" Kyla yelled, trying to figure another way out. But then she felt the man grabbed at her leg, pulling her back. "Get off me, you fucker!" She screamed, but it was no use. He ripped the oxygen mask off and cut the cable, stealing the tank off her back before pushing her away.

Kyla quickly held her breath, swimming toward where JJ was as he continued to try breaking inside. She felt her chest start to close up and she prayed that she would be able to make it out in time before she drowned.

As she was able to get closer, JJ was able to break through the door and place his oxygen mask on Kyla's mouth so she could breath. JJ's monitor then started beeping. "We gotta go. We gotta go now. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Come on."

They made their way out of the captain's quarters, swimming back to the surface before they finally made it. JJ started to cough as Kyla heaved, trying to catch her breath. "Are you okay?" JJ asked.

"Yeah. I think so!" Kyla responded. "That was so close!"

"I know. Who the hell was that down there?" JJ questioned.

"Where's John B?" Kyla then realized, looking around and trying to find the boat. "Wait, there!"

They both began yelling for John B, trying to grab their attention through the fog. They seemed to have found them since the boat had came closer to them. "Pope, get the ladder. Get the ladder!" JJ instructed.

"Ky, give me your stuff. Wait, where's your BCP?" John B asked once he noticed the tank was gone.

"It's gone," she answered.

"What? What do you mean, it's gone?" Pope inquired frantically.

"I mean, it's gone!" Kyla said again as Pope helped her onto the boat.

"Pope, there was a guy that tried to kill us!" JJ told them.

"What?!" Kiara exclaimed, reaching over to Kyla to make sure she was okay after hearing that.

"There was a boat. We saw a boat out here, too. They were armed. All right? We need to get out of here now," Pope told them as he helped JJ onto the boat.

"No, you don't understand. There's a guy down there right now—"

"There's a boat. We just saw it pass!" Pope repeated again and JJ's eyes widened. Pope then quickly brought the ladder up and John B sped the boat away, trying to get out of there as fast as possible.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," Kyla kept repeating to herself, holding her head in her hands as she felt her stomach and head begin to the hurt. "What the hell?"

"Ky, are you okay? What's going on?" Kiara questioned, sitting down next to her and rubbing her back.

"I'm-I'm fine," Kyla told her sister, shutting her eyes and trying to take deep breaths.

They then finally made it back to the dock, Sarah and Cleo running down to check on them. "Okay, what the hell happened?" John B asked once they were safe.

"Someone tried to kill us," Kyla told them through labored breaths, feeling sicker by the second.

"What? Why would someone try to kill you? That doesn't make any sense," Pope shook his head.

"Okay, obviously, they were going after the same thing we were, right?" John B realized.

"That amulet was worth something. That old man is keeping some secret," Cleo spoke up, placing her hand in the side of JJ's face to make sure he was okay since he had been breathing heavily just like Kyla. "Then someone else is waiting down there? I knew that story was bunk."

"Guys, I-I don't feel good," Kyla spoke up, placing a hand on her stomach.

"Your stomach?" Kiara questioned.

"Y-Yes..."

Pope furrowed his brows before he quickly went over to JJ. "Hey, man, did you take your safety stop?"

"I'm gonna say it one more time. Someone was trying to kill us. We did not make the—"

"Shit, they have the bends. We need to get them to the hospital now!" Pope told them and all of a sudden, Kyla was being picked up by her sister and John B.

"Am I gonna die?" Kyla weakly asked.

"No, no, you're not gonna die. Nice and easy. You've just got a couple bubbles in your blood right now," John B tried to explain.

"I've got bubbles in my blood?" Kyla repeated, trying to make sense of it but her mind was too jumbled.

"You're gonna be fine," John B told her as they made their way to the Twinkie.

They quickly put Kyla and JJ in the back before John B pressed down on the gas pedal, trying to make it to the hospital. "Go, John B!" They all urged as JJ and Kyla were having trouble breathing.

Kyla laid back against the wall, grabbing onto her stomach before she moved her other hand to JJ's. She weakly grasped onto and it weakly squeezed, trying to comfort her in both their time of pain.

"Who was down there with you guys?" Pope questioned as John B raced down the road.

"No idea, Pope," JJ answered. "But...y'all are not gonna believe this." The blonde slowly pulled out a rag, handing it to Sarah.

"What is that?" Cleo asked as Sarah quickly opened it up, revealing the amulet.

"You found it?"

"Oh shit. That's the thing he was looking for!" Cleo exclaimed.

"Holy shit. Holy shit, why didn't you tell us sooner?" John B questioned.

"I was too busy dying," JJ retorted through the pain, grasping Kyla's hand harder.

"You a rock star, girl!" Cleo exclaimed as Kyla kept on holding her stomach, hearing all their cheers.

"Fifty K," JJ breathed out.

"Thank God," Kyla winced. Kiara tried rubbing her sister's back to try to help her, but nothing was stopping the searing pain she was feeling.

John B continued to speed down the road before they made it to the hospital, bringing them inside and getting them help. They were both immediately put into a hyperbaric chamber, groaning and wincing in pain until they started to calm down.

Once their labored breathing had stopped and their pain had died down, JJ spoke up, "Ky?" Kyla hummed in response. "We almost died. I should've never let you go down there."

"If I didn't go down there, you wouldn't have made it out," Kyla pointed out. "I saved you."

"Okay, I saved you, too," JJ argued softly.

Kyla looked over at him. "You did."

"Thank God."

"You know, I thought we wouldn't be doing this treasure hunting shit again. I thought life couldn't be as brutal as it was, but somehow...it still is and I'm almost 20 fucking years old," Kyla wondered aloud. "I thought that when I stopped being 17 that things would change. Guess I was wrong."

"Yeah, it's just us against the world. Well, maybe the universe at this point," JJ agreed.

"Romeo and Juliet," Kyla compared just like she did on Poguelandia.

"But we're winning. We are," he assured her.

"Yeah, you're right. Tara hasn't come back and killed us," Kyla said, letting out a low chuckle.

JJ laughed. "If that bitch ever comes back, I'm making sure she stays the hell away from you,"

They both laughed with one another, starting to feel a bit better about the whole situation before Kyla thought of an idea. "You know, we're in here for 12 hours." JJ hummed, a smirk growing on his face. "Wanna make up for the lost time together while I was away?"

JJ raised his brows. "College changed you...but I think I like it," he said flirtatiously before he leaned in for a kiss.

The PA system stopped him though, prompting Kyla to look out the window and place a pillow in front of it so the doctors couldn't see them any longer...

authors note
this chapter is kinda long, oops
not sure if u guys like longer chapters
or not but i didn't want to split it up.
also, to clarify, in s4, sarah mentioned
being 19 years old so im making all
the pogues 19 and kyla just on the verge
of turning 20 since shes supposed to be
about a year older than them!!! also as
you can see, kyla is clearly branching out
of her comfort zone a lot more than she did
in the previous seasons! jj is right...college
and almost dying a million times kinda
changed her...