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.*･｡. EFF IT! .*･｡.
————DEAD CALM
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039.
TOTALLY SPIES.
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Why the hell was Sonny given this job?

She'd already risked her life going down that well and had come back up with who knew how many diseases. Why was it suddenly her job to go pawn the gold as well? And with JJ and Benji to help her, of all damn people.

How was this remotely fair?

    "Move."

    "Someone's in a bad mood," JJ said, raising his hands as Sonny pushed past him to get out the twinkie. Seven people pushed its capacity. It was sweaty.

    "Aren't you?" Sonny shot back at him.

   And he was.

   Actually, JJ was in as bad a mood as Sonny. Not because it bothered him — having to lie to pawn the gold. JJ spent most days lying his ass off without getting money in return, so the fact it was worth so much was just a plus. No, JJ was in a bad mood because Kiara had spent all morning melting the gold down, only for it to be a waste of time, because she'd done a terrible job. It was hardly even melted.

    "I'm not," Benji smiled.

   He followed JJ out the van and looked at the duo stood in front of him. They were frowning.

   Benji flushed, "...but I can be if that's the vibe."

    "You're weird," JJ told him. Sonny nodded. A moment of silence lapsed before the blonde boy shrugged. He didn't mind weird too much. He held up the half-molten stack of gold bars, face sour. "But, I'll forget about it if you can pawn this shit. I mean—" he glared at Kiara, "— one hell of a job melting it down, Dr Frankenstein."

Kiara scoffed.

"Like you coulda done better," she hissed.

Sonny rolled her eyes.

She knew that JJ couldn't do any better, since Kiara used a literal blowtorch, but he thought otherwise.

   Sonny didn't know how much that mattered though. Sure, they wanted to avoid suspicion, but it was already suspicious enough. Sarah had been right — seven teenagers, three from the Cut, pawning off half-molten bars of gold? It was totally suspicious. Wheat symbol or not.

"I could have," JJ said.

"Oh really?"

"I took a welding class," he got in her face.

"When?" Kiara frowned, stepping closer. They exchanged glares, "Literally when, dude?"

    "Seriously?" Sonny groaned quietly.

    "Hey," John B split them apart, hopping out the front seat and throwing an arm around JJ's shoulders. "Chill out, okay? You're all good, man."

    "Easy for you to say." JJ grunted. He adjusted his backpack and fumbled with the gold, hie hands tossing it up and down. Sonny squinted, he was going to drop it and she was going to kill him. "You're not the one that has to go pawn this piece of shit off."

    "Neither are you," Sonny snatched the gold.

   JJ shot her a look but let her take it from him, "How'd we get stuck with this job anyway?"

"'Cause we look like Totally Spies." Benji snickered. Sonny frowned. Actually, that was weirdly accurate. Three teenagers going undercover. Not to mention Sonny had a red vest on, JJ wore a hat that was green, and Benji donned a yellow over shirt. It wasn't even organised.

   She hated that.

    "'Cause you guys are the best liars," Pope corrected.

   Sonny, JJ and Benji looked at each other and shrugged. It wasn't far off, really. Somedays JJ didn't even remember how to tell the truth. Sonny had shown how good a liar she was to save their asses on multiple occasions, and Benji concocted an illness to skip work, lied about his car breaking down when he didn't even own one, and was now in the process of convincing his family that they'd been screwed over by their realtor and couldn't move into the Crain house anytime this year — not until the bitch was dead, anyway. Together, they actually made quite the trio.

Sonny's head tilted.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

With that thought in mind, she led the boys into the pawn shop. The remaining four followed them, keeping a distance as they strolled around the store.

Something about it felt familiar to Sonny, but she was sure she'd never been there. She'd remember that, right? Being in the only pawn shop the island had?

It wasn't like she'd ever needed to pawn anything.

Not until now, anyways.

After a little glancing around, trying to figure out why she felt like she'd been here before, she pursed her lips and tried her best to quickly shake the funny feeling off. After all, they were there for a reason. Sonny had a job to do — albeit one that she didn't really want, but a job all the same. She had to sell that gold like her life depended on it. Which, in a way, it kind of did. They'd almost died for it a whole bunch of times and she had a feeling that wasn't quite over.

"Can I help you?" A voice asked.

Sonny plastered on a confident smile and approached the lady standing by the cash register.

"Hi," she greeted, elbows on the counter.

The lady arched a brow, "Hi."

"We saw your sign," Benji smiled as he walked up behind Sonny, JJ in tow. "You buy gold, right?"

"Oh good," the cashier's voice was flat. She clearly didn't want to be there, especially with the three teenagers stood in front of her. "You can read."

Benji didn't let it bother him, "Sure can, ma'am."

"And it's a good thing, too." JJ piped up, moving to stand on one side of Sonny while Benji stood on the other. "'Cause we've been looking for somewhere to sell our nugget for days. Ain't that right, guys?"

Sonny and Benji nodded.

"You three?" The woman didn't seem too convinced. She didn't hide it when she gave them a once over, looking them up and down. They didn't seem like the kind of kids to have gold with them. JJ looked scruffy, face still bruised, and Benji and Sonny always dressed fairly casually considering the two actually had money. The one hint of riches were the designer sunglasses on Sonny's head. The woman's eyes stayed on the item for a moment. "You have gold?"

"Damn right," JJ said.

Sonny hummed, "A whole lot of it, too."

"Hope you've got enough cash in there," Benji gestured to the cash register next to her. He winked, "'Cause we're about to blow your mind."

The woman debated it, then gave a heavy sigh, "I ain't got much mind left to blow. Have at it."

Sonny didn't need to be told twice.

She slammed the gold on the table, bang in the middle, a small smirk on her face when the lady's eyes widened. They waited for a minute, giving her a bit of time to process. Not everyday you saw that much gold around here. Or anywhere, really, come to think of it.

JJ smiled, "How about them gold apples?"

The cashier laughed.

"That ain't real," she said.

Sonny made a face at her, "Not real?"

"It can't be."

JJ bristled, "Listen here, lady—"

"It's okay, guys." Benji cut in, cool and calm. "It's only fair the nice lady has her doubts," he slid it towards her. "But she might wanna feel how heavy it is, first."

After staring at them skeptically, the woman decided that she had nothing to lose. She went to take the gold, thinking that it would be easy, but her eyes went wide as the stack of bars weighed down her wrist. The trio simply smiled at her.

She didn't seem to like being proved wrong. Sonny didn't blame her, neither did she most of the time.

"Heavy, right?" JJ asked.

"You should get some light on that," Sonny mused as the woman slid on her glasses.

"Spray-painted tungsten," the lady guessed.

"Spray-painted tungsten?"

She nodded.

"We look like idiots to you?" Sonny deadpanned.

   Her words gained her an irritated glare, but Sonny wasn't too easily deterred. In fact, in life, Sonny Penbrook probably wasn't deterred enough. Not by death, not by lying, and definitely not by grumpy cashiers in pawn shops— whether that would come back to bite her in the ass eventually, Sonny wasn't sure. She didn't really care about that though.

   JJ drummed his fingers on the counter.

    "Why don't you see how soft it is?" He asked, shrugging casually. "Give it a try."

    "You mind?"

    "Not at all, ma'am." Benji told her. She picked up a small hammer and chisel, giving the gold a tap. Frowning, the lady then pushed her index finger against it, feeling the density of its surface. "How's that feeling?"

    "Would ya look at that," JJ muttered.

    "Hold your horses," the cashier grunted. Clearly it wasn't her favourite thing, to be shown up by three cocky teens, but she didn't give up. "Ain't got to the acid test yet."

    "Ooh," JJ grinned.

   Benji matched his eagerness, "The acid test, huh?"

    "My favourite," Sonny joined in, leaning in closer. "I love watching shit corrode. Cathartic."

From somewhere behind her, Sonny could hear Kiara let out a slight laugh. She quickly cleared her throat, trying her best not to raise extra suspicion while the cashier took out a pipette and dropped a small amount of acid on the gold. JJ, Sonny and Benji awaited the result patiently, though they'd zero doubt what the verdict would be.

The cashier sighed.

"Well, it ain't plated..." she muttered.

They nodded.

"...and it ain't painted..."

"Just like we said," JJ pointed at it, "Ma'am I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long."

Sonny's brows knitted briefly and she quickly glanced over at Benji from her corner of her eye. He looked confused too. Was that even a real saying?

    "It looks like somebody tried to melt it down," the lady's eyes narrowed on them. The trio paused, only for a second, but it felt like forever to them.

   Just as Sonny was about to spin some bullshit about them having a right not to disclose that, JJ cleared his throat, shot the woman a grin and started to ramble. Benji watched, his brow quirking slightly.

    "Well my girlfriend here," JJ snaked an arm around Sonny's waist, pulling her into his side. She stumbled a bit, body rigid in her shock, and tried not to let her eyes widen. What the fuck was going on? "She's from the nice side of the island, you know what I mean?" He didn't wait for a response from the cashier and continued, "Her mom had all this jewellery lying around the house and she thought it was best to... to melt it down, to consolidate it. Kooks, am I right?"

   The cashier peered between them.

   In one breath, Sonny hoped she was wise enough to know that they weren't a couple.

   ...but they did need her to take the gold...

   Sonny grit her teeth, forcing herself to lean into JJ's side a little bit. He was warm, she noticed, and he smelled like pine and weed and a hint of Axe body spray.

   The lady hummed.

    "Seven pounds?"

   JJ pinched Sonny's side.

   She wanted to hit him, but forced the urge down.

    "She has a lot of earrings," she said.

   The woman glanced at her sunglasses again. She thought for a moment, deciding how believable a story it was. Sonny and Benji didn't know what to say. Fortunately (or maybe it wasn't so fortunate), JJ was on it.

    "Okay— to be honest, ma'am..." he acted sad, "It's really hard for her to watch her mom fall apart with Alzheimer's."

Alzheimer's? She was going to kill him.

But that would have to wait.

Noticing the woman's prying gaze, Sonny bit down on her tongue until her eyes started to water. She blinked rapidly, as though trying to hold back tears, and even threw in a sniffle. From beside her, JJ had to fight to mask his surprise. He had no idea she could turn on the waterworks, especially when he had thrown her a curveball. But apparently Sonny Penbrook was still full of surprises — even after days of them.

   Who the hell even was this chick? And why was he starting to think she was a total mastermind?

   JJ tugged her closer, if that was possible, and held the back of her head, guiding it to rest on his collarbone, "Me and my brother are just helping out."

   The cashier inspected the two boys.

    "Brother?"

   Benji smiled at her awkwardly, "Adoptive."

    "Hm," she hummed, unsure. But when she turned back to Sonny, who was forcing out scarily convincing whimpers, she sighed quietly. "Gimme a minute."

As the cashier walked away, ducking through a door with a STAFF ONLY sign nailed above it, Sonny's hand travelled JJ's back to yank on his hair. He groaned as his head jerked back at the sudden force.

    "What gives?!" He hissed.

   Sonny pointed a finger in his face.

    "Alzheimers? Seriously?"

    "It worked, didn't it?" JJ rubbed the back his head, letting her take a step away from him.

Benji shrugged, "He makes a point."

"Thanks bro," JJ winked at him.

"Don't do that," Benji said, but he couldn't help but smile. JJ Maybank had that effect on people, it appeared. Benji was about to say something else but stopped, nudging Sonny. She shot him a frown, already annoyed. He ignored it. "Look sad again, she's coming back."

As Sonny plastered on a troubled expression, JJ placed his hand on her hip and tugged her back into position. His hold was as gentle as ever. It still surprised her.

    "So I talked to my boss."

   Benji nodded, "And?"

    "And, uh..." the cashier forced a cough, reaching into the cash register and pulled out a wad of cash. She placed it on the counter. "This is what I can do."

    "Fifty thousand?" JJ asked, "You think we walked in here not knowin' the spot price?"

    "All due respect, ma'am," Benji agreed with him. He sent the woman a disbelieving look. She didn't look so proud that she had given such a low offer. "But we know for a fact this is worth a hundred and forty,"

    "Minimum," Sonny added with a scowl.

   JJ poked her arm.

    "Well sweetie, you in a pawnshop." The woman retorted, "This ain't Zurich. I look Swiss to you?"

   Watery eyes squinted, Sonny peered at John B. Fifty wasn't enough. They both knew it. She straightened her back, done with fake tears. Sob stories were over. This was business now. And Sonny knew business. She'd watched Kooks haggle more than a dozen times. "Ninety, or we walk."

    "Oh, yeah?" The cashier laughed, "Walk where?"

    "I'm sure there's plenty of pawn shops on the mainland who'd die for this," Sonny retorted, watching her face drop just at the idea. "They'd give us a damn lot more than you want to, anyways."

    "...seventy," the lady offered.

   Sonny scoffed, "What is this? Daylight robbery?"

    "Half price," she reasoned. "And, um..." she lowered her voice, "I don't ask questions about where you three got this."

   Sonny looked back at John B.

   He was smiling.

    "Pleasure doing business," she said.

    "We're gonna need that in large denominations, please." JJ added. The cashier huffed.

    "Well, here's the snag." Her words made them frown. She shrugged at them, "I don't have that much denominated. Not here anyway," she leant against the counter, "I can write you up a cashier's check."

    "No, ma'am. We want the cold hard," JJ said.

   She went to object, but Benji interrupted. "That's what the sign says, right? Cash for gold? I mean, we already established I can read," he watched her frown.

    "That's what we expect," Sonny told her, "And we want it in cold hard, so why don't you go find it?"

   There was a tense silence.

    "Well, I have to send you to our warehouse. I have all the money there," the cashier finally caved. "And I'll give you an extra grand for those nice sunglasses you got there. Do we still got a deal, sweetie?"

Sonny almost laughed in her face.

Maybe she wasn't majorly materialistic, but she loved these sunglasses. They were her favourite pair and not just because they were the perfect shape, colour and blocked out the light better than any other pair she had. They meant more to her than that. They were the first birthday gift she ever got from Natasha and Ed. Her first real birthday gift, like, ever. And no one knew that apart from Sonny.

    "They're not for sale," she denied. "Even if they were, I'd need more than a grand."

    "Fine," the woman said. "Two."

   Sonny frowned, "They're worth five, at least."

    "I'll give you three, max." She replied, watching Sonny's eyes roll. "And I won't tell your boyfriend, here, about the lil' incident you had last summer."

   That made Sonny pause. How did she know about...?

She could feel JJ and Benji's eyes bore into the side of her face but she didn't turn to look at them. Instead, she pressed her lips together and glared at the woman hard.

    "Three fifty," she bartered.

    "Three twenty-five."

   Sonny squinted.

    "Three fifty," she repeated. The lady looked pissed but she didn't argue, so Sonny placed them on the counter. "Where's this warehouse, lady?"

————

    "So they keep money out here?"

    "That's what she said," Benji shrugged, leaning back. He found it tricky with the limited space and his leg brushed up against Pope's by accident. They both flushed.

JJ snorted, "That's what she said."

"Stop," Sonny muttered, kicking his shin.

She was still irritated about her sunglasses, not to mention the stunt he pulled earlier, the whole well my girlfriend here crap— even though it had kinda worked. He was quick on his feet, she'd give him that, but it was minus points for getting handsy and touching her waist and head. She didn't care how gentle he had been with her, or the fact he smelled nicer than she'd expected. Not even a little.

    "I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive," Sarah said as she turned in the passenger seat.

    "'Cause you're rich," JJ shrugged.

   Sonny frowned. She hadn't heard of it either. Neither had Kiara. And judging by everyone else's faces, they weren't the only ones. No one had heard of Resurrection Drive, though Benji hadn't been around long so he didn't really count. Still, the whole thing was kind of weird: a mystery warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. Why did a small pawn shop in the OBX have a warehouse? How? And why the hell did it seem so familiar to Sonny? She still couldn't figure that out. It was starting to really bug her.

    "You've never heard of it either," Kiara told JJ.

   Sarah sighed, "Thank you."

"There's nothing but weeds back here," Benji peered out the window, his nose scrunched. Pope nodded in agreement, an unsettling feeling in his stomach.

"Alright," JJ rolled his eyes at them. Sonny couldn't tell if he actually thought this was leading somewhere or if he was playing devil's advocate on purpose, just to be difficult. That sounded like JJ Maybank. "Just 'cause it's just weeds doesn't mean that it's, like—"

He was cut off by sirens behind them.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Cops?" Kiara's eyes went wide, "Out here?"

Sonny whipped around, peering out the back window. She felt her eyes narrow.

"That's not a cop car," she muttered.

Benji was the only one who heard. He gave her a confused look as everybody else started to flail around as John B slowly pulled over, wondering why they had been stopped and what they possibly could've done.

"Stash that," Pope told JJ.

"Chill, guys." JJ muttered, wrapping the gold up. He threw it in his bag and groaned, "I hate cops."

"I'm sure they hate you too," Sonny remarked.

He shot her a look but Sonny still had her eyes on the back window. The car looked familiar too, but she still couldn't put her finger on it. She only looked away when John B asked his blonde friend if he had the gun.

"No! Okay?" JJ grunted quietly, "You all told me to leave it back at the chateau."

"Thank god," Sarah exhaled.

"Okay... please, everything else in your bag," Kiara said.

"I am! I am!"

"How much weed do you have, bro?"

"Hurry up, JJ!"

"I am!" JJ lifted the seat and shoved his bag inside. It was hardly the best hiding spot but decent enough considering it was all they had. There weren't many other places to stash a pile of gold in the twinkie.

"He's walking up," Benji whispered.

"It's fine, act natural." John B told them, turning his head to glance out his window, "Dude probably has nothing better to do other than just—"

There was a loud click. Sarah let out a gasp.

Sonny didn't blame her. She might've done the same had she not frozen in her spot.

"Sir..." John B murmured, his eyes wide as he stared at the gun pointed through the window.

It was aligned right between his eyes.

"Why don't I go ahead and see them hands in the air?" A voice demanded. It was slightly muffled. Sonny assumed that the guy had something covering his face. "All y'all's hands up in the air now! You," he aimed his gun closer in John B's face, "Out of the car! Let's go! Move!"

The silence was palpable as John B gulped, sliding out the front seat and onto the street, hands still in the air. He made sure his face was as neutral as possible.

"Let 'em out!"

John B didn't move.

"What'chu waitin' on? What'chu waitin' on?! Let 'em out, man!" The guy yelled, "Hurry!"

With no other choice, John B calmly walked his way to the side door of the twinkie. He slid it across, trying not to make any sudden movements, and ground his teeth to hold back a shout when the man shoved his gun into the van. Everybody flinched, putting their hands above their heads. "All y'all! Go on! Out the car! Let's go! Let's go!"

Sarah moved first.

"There you go, pretty girl." He coaxed, gun in her face as she slipped put from the passenger seat and beside John B on the street. Pope and Benji followed. "Here we go, get out the car! Let's move! Hurry up!"

Kiara was next, which left JJ and Sonny.

JJ looked at her, fists clenched, almost asking permission to lunge for the guy. They both knew better, though. He had the power here. He had the gun.

"Out!"

JJ reluctantly moved, "We're broke, man—"

"Shut the hell up!" The guy snapped, forcing the barrel of the gun into his chest. JJ stumbled.

"Alright! Just relax!"

"Shut up!"

"Chill!" JJ yelled back.

"I'll blow your damn head off!"

Pope and Benji grabbed JJ's shirt, yanking him away as his face turned red. The last thing they needed right now was for him to explode. The minute he kicked off, they were dead. It wasn't his fault, but it was true.

The man turned back to the van, where Sonny had yet to move an inch. She was still sat there, hands up, staring at his half-hidden side profile with a glare.

"Get out the car!"

She didn't. Not fully. Sonny just moved close enough to see him, to really see him, and although she couldn't make out his face properly, it seemed she didn't need to. Because, as the two locked eyes for the first time, everything finally made sense to her. The accent, the skull bandana, the car, the fake siren, the pawn shop — every piece locked into place. Sonny's stomach churned because holy shit. She knew this dude, almost too well, and he just so happened to know her too.

It was Barry.

Just Sonny's fucking luck.

"Sonny fucking Penbrook," he drawled out, a hoarse laugh following. He didn't sound surprised. "Man... I been waiting a whole damn year to finally get my hands on you, mama."

She grit her teeth and swallowed hard.

"Yeah?" She sounded more confident than she felt, "Guess I'm in popular demand lately."

"And still a total bitch," he chuckled. There was no actual humour in it. Everyone watched the conversation unfold. "It's been a while since the three of us hung out, huh? But I know you got sick of Cameron, didn't ya?"

Cameron?

The others glanced at Sarah.

She shrugged helplessly, not knowing what was going on. It wasn't her fault. She really was clueless. Sonny almost felt bad for putting her in that predicament. But then she glared back at Barry and acted as fearless as ever.

"Nah," Sonny sneered, "I got sick of you."

"Funny," Barry muttered. He swung back around, aiming the gun at the Pogues. "Lay down! In the ditch! Lay down in the ditch! On your knees, now!"

Once they were down, he turned back to Sonny.

"Get me the gold, bitch."

   The gold?

It was a set up. The whole damn thing. One huge ploy. The bitch took her sunglasses and ratted them out!

Sonny pursed her lips. Her eyes went to the group now on the ground, watching the girls shake and quiver while John B and Pope tried to comfort them quietly. Benji's focus was still on JJ, whose fists were clenched as he held his head, trying his hardest not to lash out.

Her back straightened, "And if I don't?"

"Well," Barry moved closer and pressed his gun up against her head, "I think you know that."

She let out a breath.

Maybe she was asking to be shot at this point, but she still didn't budge. Sonny couldn't. Move? And let Barry have the gold? Not a fucking chance.

It didn't belong to him. It belonged to John B. Sonny had gone down that scummy well and hauled it back up for him. Not for Barry to jack them and take it for himself. No way. It wasn't happening, not if Sonny had anything to say about it and boy, she did. She had a lot to say, actually. But as his gun bumped her forehead again, Sonny found it hard to get any words out. She suddenly couldn't speak. Sonny could hardly even think, she just stared at him.

Barry hummed.

"You gon' disappoint me again, Penbrook?"

Her jaw clenched tightly.

    "You're the only disappointment here," she said.

"Oh, we playin' now?" He asked her. "Get me the fuckin' gold, or I swear to fuckin' god—"

    "Fuck you," she hissed.

   Barry scoffed, "I bet Cameron already did!"

"Hey!" JJ warned from his spot on the ground, lifting his head to glare at the guy. His defence took Sonny aback. She hadn't expected it. Neither had JJ, honestly. Nor Barry, who whipped around with dark eyes.

"You got somethin' to say?!" He yelled, pointing the gun towards JJ. Sonny's eyes widened.

"Stop!" She finally found her voice again. Barry looked at her, but he didn't move the gun. His eyes were thoughtful, as though he had figured something out before she had. There was a short silence, "Just stop, okay?"

"Oh," Barry laughed loudly, "Oh, you like the pretty boys, don't ya Penbrook?"

Sonny just glared at him.

"Alright. You get me the gold and you won't have to clean pretty boy's brains off the side of the street," Barry bartered, resting the barrel on JJ's hat. "Deal?"

Jesus, if he didn't have a gun she'd kill him.

What kind of deal was that, anyway? Sonny wasn't dumb. She knew he wouldn't shoot JJ. He probably knew she knew that, too. He wasn't a killer. But this wasn't about that. It was about power. About payback. It was about testing each other, seeing how far they would go.

It wasn't about the gold anymore.

This was about Sonny, Barry and Rafe Cameron; this was about her mistake last summer.

She couldn't let JJ pay for it.

"Fine," Sonny finally spat out.

Barry was pleased, "Good to know you still smart."

Sonny tried not to roll her eyes. While he made sure that Pope and Benji stayed down on the ground, her eyes briefly found John B's. She tried to show him she was sorry, that she had tried, but there was no disappointment on his face. Only approval. A little thanks, maybe. For not risking JJ's life. For giving him a chance. She didn't really understand, but when he nodded discretely, like he wanted her to get the gold, she chose not to question it.

Barry had already turned back to watch her, so she slowly turned and took her time routing through the van. It would test his patience, but she didn't care.

"Hurry," he hissed.

After a minute or so of acting stupid, Sonny finally raised the seat and routed through JJ's bag. She retrieved the gold, unwrapping it, and reluctantly stepped out the van. Sonny's brows knotted when he snatched it from her hands, holding her tongue. She couldn't snap at him. Not when he still had the gun aimed at JJ.

"Shit," he gazed at it with hungry eyes.

"Business slow?"

Barry ignored her.

"Must be if you're jacking people now," Sonny provoked him. He looked at her, still clutching the gold.

"Jacking people? Aw— Penbrook, that an offer?" He winked, "You're cute and shit. I'll jack ya."

JJ made a strangled noise, almost a whimper.

"Looks like I got competition," Barry mused as they both watched JJ writhe, desperately holding back any yell, scream or shout. He wanted to jump up swinging. They could see it, even with his face in the dirt. Barry tapped him on the head with the gun, "Down boy."

   Sonny glared.

    "Now I think it's time we finally hashed our shit out, don't you?" Barry asked Sonny, aiming the gun at her head again. Like a game of back and forth. He jutted his chin to his car, "Go on. In the car, Penbrook."

    "Or what?" She dared, "Gonna shoot me?"

"Don't tempt me," he tapped her head with the gun. She reeled away. "Car. Now."

   Barry wouldn't shoot her.

   Rough her up a little? Maybe. But shoot? No. Barry didn't have the balls, she didn't think. He was up to so much illegal shit, he wouldn't risk a murder charge.

   Even then, he looked pissed, and she'd been avoiding him way too long. So, with one final glance at the Pogues, Sonny let out a sigh and trekked over to his car, dragging her shoes along the dirt road. John B wasn't there.

    "Sonny!"

    "No! Stop!"

    "Sonny!"

    "Shut up!" Barry warned the teens, "Unless you want your brains blown out all over this road, don't move your god damn heads, okay? Shut up!"

They all went silent again.

Sonny kept walking. Barry followed her, not having noticed the group was missing a member.

Barry threw open the passenger door and shoved her in. It made her head bump awkwardly on the seat and she shot the guy a scowl, but he just ignored it and slammed the door. He then clambered into the driver's seat and propped his gun up in the footwell, too entranced by the gold to even notice John B lying on the back seats. But Sonny did.

She waited for the boy to pounce, looping his arms around Barry's neck and yanking hard, before she made her move to grab the gun. But Barry fought.

His fist caught John B's cheek and he lurched for the gun, a hand pushing at Sonny's face. Her teeth champed around his finger and she held the gun tighter.

    "You bitch!" Barry yelled.

   She let out a cry when he thrust the gun into her nose, her head flying back to slam against the window.

    "Fuck you!" John B sneered at him.

   As he smacked Barry twice, Sonny ripped the gun from his grubby little hands and shoved the door open. She practically fell out onto the street but managed to stay on her feet, trying to make as much space between her and his car as possible. It was go-time, "Got it!"

   JJ didn't listen to anything else. He staggered up and ran at the car, grabbing Barry by the shirt collar as John B stumbled out the back seats. His knuckles kissed Barry's cheek in a swift motion, followed by John B's in the same spot. Barry flailed, a hand managing to smack JJ's already bruised temple. He fell, letting go of Barry's shirt, so Kiara swooped in and thumped his nose. Barry easily threw her aside.

   Pope swung then Benji, his fist to the mouth sending Barry straight to the ground.

    "Screw you!" Sarah shrieked.

   She gripped onto the car door and slammed it into Barry's side. Once, twice, and a third for good measure. He groaned and grunted, but they weren't done. Sonny took the gun and shot him a mean look.

    "Hash this out!" She smashed it into his head like she was playing baseball and the force sent him back against the car, a trail of scarlet seeping down from his temple.

    "Son of a bitch!" Kiara swore at him.

   John B crouched and ripped the bandana away from his face. JJ nearly jumped him again.

    "I know this piece of shit!"

    "He's a basehead," John B nodded, looking up at Sonny. She quickly looked away.

    "He knows my brother," Sarah murmured.

    JJ snatched the gun away from Sonny's hands, teeth grit. It wasn't hard to tell that he was trying to avoid her stare. Sonny had a bad feeling that she knew why.

    "He sells coke to my dad!"

   There it was.

   She stared at him for a moment longer, swallowing a harsh lump in her throat. Was that why Luke had looked so familiar? Not because he was JJ's father but because he spent the weekends scoring coke from Barry? From Rafe?

   From Sonny?

   She felt sick. Though it might've been the ache at the back of her head and the bridge of her nose.

    "Listen! I coulda hurt any single on of y'all!" Barry panted harshly. He spat out some blood and then pointed a hand at Sonny, "Imma kill you, first—!"

   JJ cut him off by sending the end of the gun into his chest and kicking him onto his side.

   Kiara gasped, "JJ!"

    "Chill out, man!" Pope tried.

   He gripped the gun harder, hands shaky, debating striking him again. Like instinct, his troubled blue eyes flickered over to find Sonny's dark ones.

   The blood beneath her nose nearly sent him over the edge, but he just about managed to stop himself when he saw that look in her eyes. Because, even though he was angry with her for having some kind of feud with a basehead — and angrier that he even felt angry in the first place —, she still managed to convince him that Barry wasn't worth it. Because, for some ungodly reason that he couldn't understand, Sonny's opinion suddenly mattered to him in that moment. He wasn't sure he liked that very much.

   So JJ shoved the gun into Pope's chest and yanked Barry's wallet from his pocket. He snatched out his ID and dropped the wallet, reading over the address.

    "Let's just go," Benji tried to reason.

   John B nodded, "Dude..."

    "We got one last stop," JJ pushed him away.

   He stormed back to the twinkie, the others following him reluctantly. Sonny hesitated.

    "Penbrook."

   She slowly turned to look at Barry.

    "You gonna regret this," he threatened through his coughs and splutters. All she did was blink. "I swear to god, I'll get you this time. I'll get you!"

    "That's what you said last summer," she shrugged. Barry's bruised face twisted with anger as she walked away, following John B, who had thrown Barry's keys into the distance while he waited for her to catch up.

    "I'm gonna remember this shit!" Barry yelled as JJ started the twinkie up, "You can't hide from me! I know exactly who y'all are! You're all gonna see me again! Penbrook? Penbrook!"

Sonny slammed the door shut.

"Penbrook!"

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

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