"JJ for the fucking eightieth time, I am driving this boat."

Danny sighed in aggravation and purposefully set his eyes on the water through the window.

They bickered about it when they went surfing last night, before they went to bed, as they boarded Heyward's boat, and just about every five minutes since.

JJ rolled his eyes and squeezed into the space between Danny and the wall. He stared at Danny's profile, and Danny had half the mind to elbow him in the stomach.

Kie was setting up the drone in the haul of the boat with Pope and John B, so there was no one else for Danny to focus on to keep a lid on his anger. He felt high-strung since he woke up, and none of this was helping him relax.

"You know, if you'd hit these waves at forty-five degrees—"

"Shut up!"

JJ chuckled. "I'm just saying. Try not to spear them so much."

Danny huffed indignantly and turned to face JJ. He took half a step forward, crowding JJ into the wall. "How about once you tell me what really went down on those deliveries, I'll finally let you drive."

JJ's mouth parted open and closed.

Part of the reason Danny was so fed up today was that JJ and Pope were hiding something from him. He could tell. And they wouldn't even acknowledge that they were hiding something. It made Danny seem like he was crazy.

Pope didn't have a plausible explanation as to where he got the scrape on his forehead. They kept sharing furtive glances, and nudges that weren't as discrete as they thought them to be. Offered evasive responses when Danny asked where they all went.

It hurt.

JJ's eyes flicked to the back of the boat, and then back to Danny. "I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered.

Danny smiled mockingly and nodded in dismissal. "Yeah, sure. All right."

JJ blinked harshly. He wet his lips and said, "I know you're mad but I— and he— I can't . . . and—"

JJ sighed and shook his head.

Silence encased the pair as they stared at each other. Danny broke away first with a frown. He took a step back and waved his hand lazily at the controls. "You drive. I'm—"

He shook his head and walked out of the cabin.

"Danny!"

He ignored it and walked over to Kie. He sunk down onto a random crate. He crossed his arms on top of the edge of the boat and rested his chin.

"Finally get on your nerves?" Kie asked offhandedly. She was coiling the tether around the reel cart. "I was about to toss him off the boat if he kept asking to drive."

"Don't say that," he whispered, hardly audible over the steadily growing wind.

Kie smiled and shook her head. "Mad at him, yet still his biggest defender. . ." she commented.

Danny pulled his hood over his head to help shield him from the wind. "I don't even really have a right to be angry. He doesn't have to tell me everything. He doesn't owe me."

Kie dropped the drone into the ocean and Danny stood and leaned over the side, watching it sink until it was out of sight.

"All right, JJ. Pin it here," John B yelled to JJ.

"Roger that! X marks the spot."

"All right, ladies and gentlemen," Danny said, a smile tugging on his lips. "To going full Kook."

John B analyzed the tracking GPS and continued to call orders to JJ. "JJ, we're right over it. Ten seconds northwest."

JJ repeated, "Got it! Ten seconds northwest."

"One hundred feet," Kie announced and guided the rope further into the ocean. "Mark it, Danny," she said and motioned with her head to the chalk.

He wordlessly drew a line on the side of the boat with the chalk.

Danny glanced over this shoulder when Pope gasped. John B crowded over Pope's shoulder looking at the screen. "What? What, what, what, what?"

"It's nothing," Pope said and shook his head.

John B groaned and dropped his chin to his chest.

"Sorry, I thought—"

"Don't do that to me, man," JJ yelled from the cabin.

Danny continued to mark the progress of the rope. The sky rumbled with thunder and Danny glanced around. The wind began to pick up its pace and the ship rocked a little harder.

"Mark," Kie repeated to Danny and then announced, "Four hundred feet!"

"The tide's turning," Danny said.

John B looked at his GPS. "Hey, JJ?" he said. "Ten seconds easy. South-southeast."

"Copy that!"

"JJ, 20 seconds mid-speed, all right? South."

"Copy that! Aye, aye," JJ shouted. "Danny, keep the tether out of the prop!"

Danny leaned over the side and helped Kie pull the rope to guide it. He noticed Kie's strain and said, "Switch, switch."

She nodded and they took each other's places. Danny guided the rope out of his hands and held it out as far as he could manage to keep its distance from the boat.

"Okay, 700 feet!" Danny yelled over the rising thunder.

"JJ, hold it steady!" John B said.

"Mark," he told Kie and then yelled, "Okay, 900!"

"JJ, we'll turtle in this storm," John B said as he watched the GPS. "Crank it north by northwest! Ten seconds!"

Danny nearly lost his balance as he strained to keep hold of the tether in the current. "We're gonna lose it," he said. "There's too much current." His hands were beginning to burn from the friction.

"South, southwest, JJ! Hard! Half speed. Steady at this bearing, JJ!"

"Pope, anything?" Kie asked.

John B added, "Come on, man. What do you see?"

"Nothin'. A whole lot of nothin'," Pope said.

"You should be right above it, brother," John B said and leaned over to look at the monitor.

"960," Danny said. "970! 980!"

"I'm at the bottom! I'm at the bottom!" Pope said.

"Okay, steady here, JJ!" John B called. "Steady here. Quarter speed, all right?"

"Anything?" Danny asked.

"You should be seeing something, man," John B said and searched the monitor.

"I know, I know! Wait, wait," Pope whispered and leaned closer to the screen. The image changed and he gasped."Oh, good, God."

JJ looked at the group. "See anything?"

"It's the Royal Merchant," John B muttered in astonishment.

Danny whooped and picked Kie up. He spun her around and she cheered. "I'm buying you a diamond ring," he told her.

"I am not marrying you," she deadpanned as he set her down.

"Oh, come on," he teased. "Think of how cute our kids would be."

She shook her head and pushed his puppy-dogged eyes away. He laughed and walked to Pope to look at the ship.

Pope passed the length of the ship.

"Shouldn't it be beeping?" Danny asked.

The ship looked decrepit and rotten. Half of it was missing, the wooden beams long past broken.

Pope spent ten minutes passing over the entire length of the ship and back. Nothing was happening. Each time, Danny's spirits fell deeper.

"Look, just— just pull the drone up," John B said in defeat. He sat back in his seat with a dejected frown.

"Look, we can do another pass. Recharge the battery," Pope offered, still looking at the screen. "We can—we can go back down."

"We've done it three times. There's nothing there," JJ said.

"Shut up!" Kie yelled.

"What? It's true!"

"The gold could be buried. We don't know," she argued.

"If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B said. "Somebody beat us to it."

"Or it was never there," JJ muttered.

Danny frowned. He tugged on Kie's sweatshirt sleeve and they worked on reeling in the drone. Kie packed it away and Danny walked to the cabin. He closed the door and quietly cleared his throat to steady his resolve.

JJ's back was to him, busy taking them to land in the reckless sea.

Danny slowly stepped to the controls. He took a seat and remained quiet.

When the water calmed and JJ stole a glance at him, Danny finally said, "I'm sorry I got angry with you. You don't have to tell me anything, and I shouldn't expect you to. I never should have tried to force you to, either. It's shitty of me, and I'm sorry I put you in that position."

Danny turned his head and stared at JJ. The boy was looking to the sea, but Danny was watching him try and fight off a smile.

JJ met his eyes and then shook his head. He turned Danny's chin with his fingers, and muttered, "Don't look at me like that."

"What?" Danny asked. He leaned closer to JJ. "Like what?"

At JJ's prolonged silence, Danny goaded, "Like the most beautiful man I've ever laid eyes on? Get used to it, babe. You've got eyes blue enough to enrapture anyone's heart."

"You're so annoying. It's astonishing, really."

Danny winked and blew him a kiss.

After a beat, Danny asked quietly, "Are we good?"

JJ faced him immediately, his brows furrowed. "Yeah, Danny. We never weren't," he said earnestly.

Danny smiled brightly and slung his arm over JJ's shoulder. He tugged the boy closer and gave him a squeeze. Like music to his ears, JJ's light laughs filled his head and made his heart swell.

***

Danny's phone rang as they docked. He was happy for a distraction. Morale was low among his friends now that their gold hunt was over. John B left immediately in the Pogue, Kie with him. JJ lingered in the haul, waiting to get dropped off with Pope.

He hopped onto the dock and pulled his phone out. Danny smiled when he saw Lou's name.

"Hey, Lou," he answered.

"You're gonna love this one, kid," he said without preamble. "Meet me at the south side of the Marina."

"I'll be there," he said and hung up. He spun on his heel and waved goodbye to his friends.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Pope asked. He leaned against the entrance of the cabin and looked upon Danny with furrowed eyebrows. JJ peered at him in question, too.

Danny turned around and shrugged. "Lou needs me. I'll see you guys later." He waved a final goodbye and jogged up the dock.

He continued along the rows of shops in the Marina. "Morning Ms. Everlane," he said to the old lady sweeping in front of her shop.

She paused and wiped her hand over her forehead as Danny passed by. "It's one o'clock."

Danny chuckled and continued along. "Always lovely, Ms. Everlane."

Soon enough he made it to Lou, who leaned his shoulder against his truck and crossed his arms.

"No way," Danny said in shock. "I've always wanted to raise a sunken boat!"

He stared at the only piece of machinery he hasn't used in practice. It rested on the cargo carrier attached to the pick-up truck. "Whose boat sunk?" Danny asked. "Did they crash it? I thought you already got the ones from Aggie."

Lou walked around and opened the driver's door. Danny followed his lead and sat in the passenger's seat.

"Dr. Thorton called about a sunken Malibu 24-MXZ."

Danny's laughter was immediate. He clutched his stomach as they drove closer to the salvage site. "What an idiot. Oh, I can't wait to see his face!"

"This is a job," Lou reminded as he slowed the vehicle on their approach. "Get your giggles out now."

Danny did just that. He imagined how pissed Topper's face was and then laughed some more. When Lou pounded the side of the truck, Danny sobered up and hopped out.

Lou unloaded the industrial forklift and drove it to the edge of the dock. "You're up kid," he said and slapped Danny's back as he passed.

Danny climbed up and sat in the control seat. He thought back on his training a few months ago and got to work. It took a few times to connect it to the boat, but once he did, he slowly raised it from the water.

"Oh, I wish they could see this," Danny whispered in glee. Water poured down from the boat. So much money wasted. Danny shook his head.

He hovered the boat above the water, waiting for a majority of the excess water to drain. He looked out to the side and saw Lou with Topper and Dr. Thorton. Danny couldn't help himself and hopped out. He walked closer to the group.

He leaned on a post a few feet behind them and listened silently.

"Boat like this don't just sink, Dr. Thornton," Lou said.

Dr. Thorton crossed her arms and stood stiffly. Danny noticed the sizable gap between her and Topper. "How much is this gonna cost me?"

"Ah, submerged 24 hours, so you're lookin' at 25, 30K."

"And insurance won't cover it?"

Lou chuckled to himself and rubbed his scruff. "No. Not for operator error. Plug wasn't in there."

Dr. Thorton turned her stare on Topper.

He rose his hands and looked between his mother and Lou. "Well, why—why you lookin' at me?"

"Why do you think?"

"I did not forget to put the plug in, Mom. It's been sitting in the water a week."

"I thought that when you turned sixteen, you'd take more responsibility for your actions."

"Mom, I did not do this! Are you kidding me? You think I'm that stupid? Why is this my fault?"

She sighed and said firmly, "Because it usually is."

Danny winced.

Lou motioned for Dr. Thorton to follow him up the dock, presumably to speak about what to do next. Lou sent Danny a pointed look before he turned.

Danny replied with a hardly reassuring thumbs up. He eyed Topper's clothes and fought away his grimace.

Topper swore to himself and glared at his boat. He noticed Danny after a few seconds after, and muttered "Oh, great."

"'m sorry, man," Danny said, referring to his mom's words. "Maybe it did get loose, who knows? We can run tests at the shop."

Topper shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Cut the shit, dude."

Danny furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

He took a step toward Danny and pointed at his boat. "That wasn't an accident."

"Okay. . .? Why would you—"

"I didn't! It was your geek friend Pope."

Danny laughed. "Oh, that was good. Pope, yeah right."

"I'm dead serious," Topper retorted sharply.

Danny looked at him in confusion. Topper meant it, and Danny was wholly bewildered. Danny shifted his weight and tried to wrap his head around it. Finally, he asked, "Help me understand, Topper. What happened? Why in the world would he do this?"

Topper scoffed. "You really don't know, do you?"

"No!" Danny yelled. "No one has been telling me anything. And I'm usually the person who can fix it. So, tell me why you think he did it, Topper, and I will fix it."

Topper swallowed and glanced at his boat. "Rafe jumped him on the golf course."

Danny's features went slack and he clenched his jaw.

"Hey," Toper said and took a step back. "Don't get mad at me. I didn't do it."

Danny took a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Ignoring the fact that you didn't stop him, why do you think Pope sunk your boat?"

Topper scoffed. "I just told you why."

It made sense, the more Danny thought about it. The level of secrecy that Pope and JJ dedicated to this incident pans out.

Danny shook his head. "Okay, okay, okay," he said lowly. He glanced out onto the water and then back at Topper. "If you really think Pope did it," Danny said. "Then I'll pay for this, okay?"

Topper's face scrunched in confusion.

"No," Danny interrupted before Topper could speak. "Listen. I will pay for this, and you leave him alone and forget about it. Okay? It's done."

Topper took a moment to process his offer. "Why?"

Danny shrugged. "Who cares about why. Do we have a deal?"

Topper stared at him and then offered a slight nod of his chin. He looked at his boat and then Danny wordlessly. He turned around to leave.

"Hey," Danny said.

Topper turned halfway.

Danny stared him down and raised his chin. "You break this deal, and there will be consequences, Topper. Believe me."

Danny watched Topper walk the length of the dock. He turned his attention to the boat and muttered, "What the hell did you do, Pope?"

***

Danny sunk deeper into the leather cushions of Lou's couch at the shop.

It was a nice enough office: leather couch with a coffee table, large mahogany desk with a matching shelving that held the only framed photo in Lou's office. It was a picture of Danny and Lou deep sea fishing.

"Eat up, kid. You begged for the pizza."

Danny sat up and grabbed another slice and waved it in Lou's direction. He took a bite and returned to his slouching.

Between lazy bites, Danny said, "I'm gonna need a few more hours. A lot more hours, actually."

When he heard Lou snort, he turned his head from staring at the light fixtures and over to Lou, who had his feet propped on his desk and was looking at Danny with a raised brow.

"You're already practically a full-time employee."

"Well, how about a real full-time employee with overtime?" he proposed hopefully.

Lou's blank expression never wavered.

Danny sighed and took another bite.

Lou shifted and sat up. He leaned his elbows on the desk and slid his empty plate off to the side. "You tell me why, and I'll think about it."

Working his jaw, Danny debated it. Pope and JJ swore each other to secrecy. But Lou could help him. Danny thought it over and eventually said after a drawn out sigh, "I told Topper I'd pay for his boat."

His boss nodded along, waiting for more information. Danny knew him well enough to continue without prompting.

"He said Pope sunk it. I told him I'd pay for it if he didn't do anything about it."

"Can he keep that deal?"

Danny finished his pizza and interlocked his fingers, resting them on his stomach. "I hope."

"Why are you doing this, Danny?"

"Because I have to."

With the silence and feeling Lou's burning gaze, Danny clarified, "Because no one else will look out for them."

"And you think you have to?"

"Yes," he answered instantly.

Lou hummed and silence filled the office.

Danny closed his eyes. If he had the means to fix it, then he would. He wouldn't let Pope ruin his life over some stupid mistake where he let his emotions cloud his judgment. Other people would get second chances, and Danny will make sure that Pope gets one too.

"Who looks out for you?"

Danny opened his eyes and tilted his head toward Lou. The man stared at him thoughtfully.

Danny shrugged almost imperceptibly. He's never needed anyone to watch his back. He could handle it.

Lou slowly shook his head and tossed his plate in the trash can beside his desk. He turned around and grabbed a planner from his shelf and dropped it on his desk. He opened it, flipped to the correct page, and penciled notations in.

"You've got the morning shift Friday."

A smile split across Danny's face. "Thanks, Lou."

He huffed. "You're working with Brennan. You won't be thanking me then," Lou said in amusement.

Danny groaned and let his body fall to the side and connect with the couch. He placed the throw pillow over his ear to drown out Lou's chuckles.

*****

Thank for reading : )
Any scenes you guys want to possibly see? I have some pre written, but I want to know if there's anything you want.

Let me know!

Xo
R