JJ is going to die. He's aware that he's thought that quite a lot these past few days, but he really, actually, is going to now. And it's not even square groupers, or drowning in the ocean, or even his dad – though, that might come sooner than later – but a dog. The dog from the salvage yard, that JJ had seen one or twice, and that most likely had rabies.

The dog that he couldn't outrun.

"Sit! Sit!"

Of course, the dog listening to him would have been too good to be true. At least he saw the others getting out of here, so he knows they're safe. He saw Kat with Kie, and she couldn't have been stupid enough to turn back for him. Trust her survival instincts for that.

Speaking of turning, JJ takes a sharp turn and climbs onto one of the boats in the salvage yard, ditching the dog and hiding behind one of the side-walls, crouching down to stay out of sight in case the guard comes up to the boat.

And even if he does, he has a plan. The guy knows his dad, he knows what he did to JJ. He didn't say anything to the police, sure, but JJ didn't want him to either. No one ever had. There was no need to get the cops involved, on top of everything. It would just make things worse, and he doesn't need that. He needs to be as discreet as possible.

Arguably, this isn't discreet at all.

"What's that, huh? What's that, Tebow?" JJ freezes when he hears the guard's voice. "What you got, huh? What you got?"

What you got – JJ's ass, that's what he's got. It's okay, his plan is foolproof, he'll be out of there in no time, and with no fine. That's how he does it. He just has to get his chin to wobble and his eyes to water, and he'll be out...

"Sir," says a voice he knows all too well, unwavering despite the underlying stress JJ can hear.

And god, he's the one who freezes. She can't be here. She can't have come back for him, come on. What happened to being smart? She came back for him, and now he's going to have to talk about his dad, in front of her. After their fight and him telling her she could've said something, urging her to stay and share, and the double standards are enough to make anyone mad, so Kat? Bye. That's not fair, they just made up! That's not how he wanted to tell her.

She's going to flip. She's going to scream at him. And fuck, she'll be right too. He's given her so much shit for not coming clean about leaving, he's yelled at her about the secrets she keeps from them... And he's going to reveal his, like that.

Kat being mad is scary on its own. Kat being mad and right is not going to be good.

"You, miss, we're gonna have to talk later," the guard tells her. "Now whoever's up there better come on out!"

JJ knows he has to, but he's a bit more reluctant now, go figure out why.

"I can explain!"

"Shut up! I mean it." Yeah, no, he can't let him talk to Kat like that. He has to do something, right now. "Don't make me go up there and get your ass!"

"Wait, Bobby," he calls out, resolute. "Don't shoot. It's me, JJ."

He stands up, and his eyes immediately settle on Kat, standing there at a safe distance from the guard, blankly looking ahead, probably blaming someone for this funny trick of fate. Little does she know...

Bobby doesn't seem to remember him, though. "Luke's kid," he clarifies.

His eyes lock on Kat's, and she looks like she's about to murder someone. Him or Bobby, he's not sure the victim is named yet. But it's definitely about to be. The dog barking and the man with a gun seem a lot less intimidating to JJ right now.

"What are you doin' here with Rafe's... girl?"

JJ's jaw sets, and for a second, self preservation goes out the window. As does common sense. He wants to get down there and make him swallow his tongue.

But Kat doesn't see it that way. "Speaking of, actually." She almost jumps in front of the shotgun. "Rafe sent me."

JJ tries to convince himself that this has nothing to do with anything and the way she so convincingly plays this role is enough to make him sick. She hates Rafe. She does. Why is he getting tricked by this?

The man lowers his shotgun. "You and Rafe?"

"Yeah, it's a dare. He said I'd never get in, and you know, I just... want to impress him."

A million questions circle JJ's brain as she speaks. Even if she hates him, how can she be so convincing? On what grounds could this work? Of course, there were rumors about Rafe and Kat. Rumors he always dismissed, rumors he fought people over.

If at least half of them were true, that would explain why she could use them against the man.

That would explain why she wouldn't let JJ in. Why she pushed them all away after Christmas, why she said that they weren't good enough for her. Because she had found better.

The guard is still dubious, at least more than JJ is. "Why bring Luke's kid here?"

Kat smiles. "Well, you know his dad."

JJ's stomach feels like a stone as her words work their ways to his brain. It isn't the first time someone compared him to his dad. Hell, it's not the first time one of his friends did it. But it's the first time Kat does, and it feels worse.

He knows that he is like his dad. He knows that he'll end up just like him. And maybe Kat does too, and he wished that didn't make him feel like his first ploy wasn't as bad anymore.

The man raises his weapon again. "I don't buy that."

When JJ speaks, he's not sure he's pretending the tears in his voice. "Look, we didn't want to, okay! My dad made me."

He knows that he makes it a bit too real, man, he definitely does, because now memories of his father are filling his head, and he actually has to ground himself to not have a panic attack. It would be easy enough if nothing had transpired before it happened. Now, he felt like disappearing for a good, long while.

He won't look at Kat to see the words hitting her. He doesn't care, not after what she said.

"Don't you lie," Bobby says, threatening.

"He told me Captain Leo kept his cutting torch." JJ breathes out shakily. "You know, after he got fired... He said if I didn't get it for him, he was gonna... he was gonna hit me again."

JJ looks back at Kat. She knows. The look of pain and betrayal in her eyes could match his, he figures. Kat blinks away tears. JJ can't help stare at her.

"Son of a bitch!" the guard scoffs.

Yeah, that's one way to put it.

"KD only tried to help me, because she worries about me, doesn't she?" At least, enough to use my dad against me. "I'm sorry," he sobs.

The eyes of the man settle on Kat, who is not as intimidating as before. "Come on down," he sighs. "I almost killed you!"

"I know."

JJ climbs down the ladder. Kat stays where she is, and JJ thanks her for it, because this whole act would have been for nothing. He's too angry. Betrayed. They both are.

"I'll just come up with somethin'," says JJ. "Tell him I couldn't find it."

The man, sympathy written all over his face, lets them go. That's the least he can do for them. "Mm-hm. All right."

When they walk away, Kat's glowing anger almost blinds him, but he doesn't care, because he's just as angry in his own right. If she wants to spit out insults, she can, but nothing will be as bad as what she just said.

Somewhere, he is sorry that he dumped it on her. More predominantly, JJ doesn't care, because he's just like his dad, and she was bound to get hurt at some point, wasn't she?

She walks further away from him, stomping really, thoughts probably rushing to her mind, and the only thing he finds to say, as an eye for an eye, is "What was that about Rafe?"

She doesn't look back. "Don't."

Oh? Oh? She doesn't want him to use that against her, does she? "Rafe's girl, uh?"

"Don't you dare."

He can't believe her. "Seriously?" She seems surprised that he'd raise his voice at her, as if she didn't know that he was like his dad. "I don't get to know after what you pulled?" She doesn't say anything, staring at him. "My dad? You used my friggin' dad!"

She shakes her head, as if blown away that he'd share the same feelings as her. "Cry me a fucking river!" she cries out, hurt and pain laced in her voice. "I – I went too far, I get that, but I can't believe you. You kept going on and on about how you didn't trust me, you guys basically forced me into telling you what happened, and I fucking find out that you kept this from me?"

There it is, the dread double standards and unfairness that always sent her down a spiral until she was crying and rocking on the floor – at least when she was a kid. Now, she just stared emotionlessly. Like she's angry, but she doesn't really care. She's just angry for the sake of it. It drives him insane.

"What happened to not forcing secrets out of people? Was that just another lie?" he fires back.

"It's not the same," she says, irate. "It's nowhere near the same. You said it like it was the fucking morning news, I was forced to tell you."

She sounds resentful. She sounds... Like she wants retribution, like she wants him to hurt as bad as she does. "So that's what it was, uh." He stares, seething. "You used my dad to get back at me?"

She huffs. "Are you kidding me? I didn't know he was that much of a cunt!"

Like it makes it better! "That doesn't change fucking anything!" He takes a deep breath, trying to keep this under control when it so clearly keeps slipping out of his fingers. "How would you feel if I told Bobby you're just like your mother?"

Her lip twitches. "Is that what you think?" No. Never in a million years, but if it makes her hurt half as much as he does, he'll take it.

"Guys–"

"Stay out of this!" They scream back at John B, unsure of when he got here.

JJ wants to say it back at her. He wants to lie and throw it in her face like she did, because if it wasn't fair on him, it won't be on her. He wants to prove her right, that yeah, they aren't good enough for her, they're bad news, and she'll get hurt, and she'll deserve it.

"Say it," she almost begs. "Go on."

He's aware that he's making a mistake. It won't stop him. He's already made many mistakes before, mistakes that had him compared to his father, and he'll just add this one to the tally.

"Well, you know your mom. Using people to get what you want, call me insane but that seems pretty on brand for both of you."

Kat swallows thickly. She seems surprised, despite asking for it. There are tears in her eyes, and JJ would take it back immediately if he wasn't so angry and hurt.

"Take me home," she tells John B.

He steps forward. "Kat–"

"I'm out," she says, before looking back, arms stretched out. "That's what you wanted, right, JJ? I'm out."

JJ was always bound to ruin this too.

Author's Note: That boy is so whipped i cannot, bYE

Editor's Note: I changed the order of chapters and the a/n are mismatched but it's too funny to fix