──────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────────────

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗼

──────────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────────────

As Kiara drove the truck back to Goat Island, Cassie kept glancing back at JJ in the backseat. He had kept his eyes out the window, his lips pressed in a thin line.

"Are you sure you're okay, JJ?" The blonde spoke up, causing Kiara to give her a quick look since she had been driving.

JJ tore his gaze away from the window, meeting Cassie's blue eyes. They were like the sky. If that was the case, his eyes meeting her's would be the equivalent of the skyline meeting the ocean.

The two distinct features of the world come together to form an infinite convergence where the sky reflects off the ocean and although they may seem totally different when first looked at, they are both images of the same world that brought them together. More similar than they would have originally thought.

"Yeah. I'm good. Just glad I'm...done with him for good," he answered, his voice still a bit hoarse from being upset before.

"You and us both," she replied with a gentle smile.

JJ glanced down at her hand resting on the center console, wanting nothing than for her to reach out and take his hand in her's like she had been doing down the dock unbeknownst to the Carrera girl.

Cassie followed his gaze down to her hand before back up at his eyes, seeing the longing look. She would have loved to grab his hand as well, but not with Kiara in the car. It would give up their whole relationship just like that.

Perhaps she was still afraid to show her feelings, how she truly felt. All her friends viewed her as this independent, angry girl who didn't take shit from anyone. If she suddenly said that she was pretty much exclusive with JJ now, although not formally dating, then that would be exposing her vulnerable side.

And she didn't want that. Not yet. It was already hard enough to show JJ her vulnerable side, how was she supposed to show it to four other people?

She subtly shook her head at him, gesturing to Kiara with just her eyes. JJ nodded slowly and frowned, leaning back against his seat. Cassie pursed her lips before she turned back ahead, seeing that they were nearing the spot where John B crashed the Twinkie.

Kiara did a K-turn and started to back the truck up, honking the horn. She then stopped the car right before it could hit the deep water as Cassie rolled her window down.

"Look who it is. The tortoises. Just a couple hours late," Pope remarked as he, John B, and Sarah sat on top of the Twinkie. "Where the hell were you guys?" He questioned loudly as they the three of them got out of truck.

"Paternal complications," Kiara answered hesitantly, looking over at JJ.

"Luke was at the Château," JJ revealed.

"Oh, great! While you were having family time with your pops, John B got bit by a gator," Pope told them and Cassie's eyes widened, looking down at John B's leg to see the blood on his pants.

"Like, for real?" JJ asked.

"Does it look like we're joking?" Sarah gesturing to John B's bleeding leg.

"Yes, for real," Pope confirmed.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Kiara questioned, her eyes squinted.

"What happened? I got bit by a gator!" John exclaimed at the same time Pope yelled, "He got bit by a gator!"

"I dunno why I'm being yelled at because I put my ass on line!" Kiara yelled back as she pointed at her dad's truck.

"You're being yelled at because you guys had twenty minutes—"

"Okay, well we got here as fast as we could!"

"Yeah, and why the fuck would you go into gator infested waters?!" Cassie pointed out, gesturing out into the water.

"I'm sorry, where else is there to go?!" John B screamed at her before they all started to argue over one another.

"Shut up!" JJ suddenly bellowed, causing them to stop and look at the Maybank boy. "Seriously, guys, I can't take it anymore, all right? Everyone just cut it out for a second," he begged as he let out a laugh, leaning against a tree. "Look, I just helped my dad leave this island...for good. Like, he's not ever coming back. He's straight up like the Spanish. Just, Bon voyage."

Cassie and Kiara scrunched their faces up, looking at one another since that definitely didn't sound correct. "That's not the right language," Sarah whispered.

"All we got...And I know for a fact all I got is you guys, okay? You're it," he continued, his eyes scanning Cassie without meaning to when he finished his sentence. She felt her heart ache as she met his eyes before he looked away to continue talking.

"And I've come too close to losing you, all of you! I mean, shit, like you almost drowned and kidnapped," he said, pointing to Cassie. "Pope, you were also kidnapped. Sarah, you've been shot. John B, you were almost dinner for a freaking gator, bro. And Kie, well...nothing too crazy has happened to you yet but it probably will, sorry to break it to ya."

Kiara shrugged and nodded at that one, having to agree with him.

"So, this blaming each other is some Kook-ass bullshit, all right? We don't do that. Okay? We're Pogues." He then looked down, holding his hands up for a quick second. "Sorry, that was a lot right now. I didn't mean to..."

Pope and John B looked at each other and began to slowly clap. "Yeah, all right," JJ laughed, growing a bit embarrassed. The girls smiled and followed the two boys, clapping for JJ's heartfelt speech.

"Well-done," Pope said with a nod.

"I gotta be honest. That was the best freaking speech you have ever given," John B complimented. "Also, you should think about, like, a Rosetta Stone because you're Spanish and French are flip-flopped."

JJ held up two middle fingers towards all of them before he looked at Cassie, sharing a secret grin with her.

"We should bon voyage out of here," Sarah suggested, pointing to Kiara's truck.

"All right, let's get this damn Twinkie out of here!"

After the Pogues were able to pull the Twinkie out of the alligator-infested water using Kiara's dad's truck and the winch that JJ got ahold of, they drove both the Twinkie and Kiara's truck to the church.

They opened up the creaky doors and looked inside, seeing how old and run down it looked. It was clear it had been abandoned a long time ago with no one checking in on it recently.

"Okay, you're telling me Denmark Tanny decided to hide the cross here?" JJ asked, not believing he would hide the cross in something that looked like this when the cross was supposed to look the exact opposite of this rickety church. Pope hummed in confirmation.

"Okay, everybody, just spread out," Kiara instructed and they fanned out, looking around the place even though there wasn't that many hiding spots for a giant-ass cross.

"Okay, well, if I was a cross and wanted to be hidden in an old church, where would I hide?" John B thought aloud as they looked around.

"Are you sure that Denmark hid the cross here, Pope?" JJ questioned. "Like, are we at the right church?"

"Of course it's the right church. Why would he hide the cross in some random ass church that had nothing to do with him?" Cassie replied before her eyes widened, holding up a finger. "Unless that's what Denmark wanted us to think."

"No," Pope deadpanned and she slumped her shoulders, frowning. "It's gotta be here somewhere, guys."

"What if we have to push, like, a secret button or, like, play, like a...a certain chord," JJ looked at the old piano, "and then, all of a sudden, the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?" He guessed in complete seriousness.

"How about we try to find obvious clues?" John B recommended.

"It's not an escape room," Kiara told him, getting fed up with his stupidity.

Cassie looked at the boy with her lips pursed. "I think you've been watching too many action movies. And here I thought you liked rom-coms," she pointed out.

"Rom-coms?" He repeated before he shook his head, laughing nonchalantly. "Rom-co — I don't like rom-coms, guys," he tried to tell the others.

"He totally does," Cassie whispered to Sarah behind her hand, making the two of them giggle.

"It's gotta be in here!" Pope snapped, making the girls quiet down.

"Sorry. I'm sorry," JJ whispered, looking over at Cassie who just shrugged and shook her head at him to let him know it was okay.

Pope huffed in frustration as he continued searching the church's walls. "Come on!"

"Look, I-I can't see where they'd hide a giant cross in here," John B told Pope truthfully.

"No, no. There's no way. There's no way he would set us up on a fricking goose chase that would lead us to a church that has nothing in it!" Pope explained exasperatedly.

"Yes, I get it! I don't know what to tell you, man," the Routledge boy replied, holding his arms out.

"The clues led us here. The cross is in this church," Pope went on before he sat down on one of the benches, slumping over with the spyglass in his hands.

"Pope, it'll be all right," John B said as Kiara sat down next to the sulking boy. "We've had setbacks in the past, and we figured it out. We're gonna find it."

"He's right," Kiara told Pope, who looked down at the spyglass and started to use it.

"Look, we've just gotta think about this logically, all right?" John B continued. "All right? Where else would you hide a seven-foot-tall cross made of gold?"

Pope slowly lowered the spyglass from his eye, staring up at the ceiling. "What?" JJ piped up once he noticed the look on the Heyward boy's face.

Cassie followed his gaze as Pope slowly got up and she noticed the wooden beams near the ceiling and the way they were placed.

They looked to be about seven or eight feet and...

Cross-shaped.

"Holy shit," Cassie cursed, her eyes widening.

"Oh, my God," Kiara breathed out, realizing it too. "Look at that."

Pope immediately made his way over to the wall since there was gaps in it, starting to climb it.

"Pope!" Sarah called out.

"Hey, yo!" JJ yelled at him.

"Now Pope's climbing the wall," John B narrated.

"Spider-Pope, Spider-Pope, does whatever a spider can..." Cassie started to sing, watching as Pope continued to climb.

"Cece, what are you, JJ now?" Kiara questioned her in disbelief.

"Don't insult me like that," Cassie shot back, although only to pretend she was offended.

"Hey!" JJ took real offense instead and she gave him a knowing look. He blinked, understanding that she only meant it to hide their relationship. "Oh, oh, like...oh."

"Dipshit," the blonde girl muttered, shaking her head at him.

They all began shouting things at him to get him to stop, like saying how the church was old and it wasn't safe. But ignored them as he kept on climbing, determined to reach the top.

Once he had, he banged on the beam. "All right, this one's solid wood. I'm gonna try the other beam."

"Pope, that's rotten as shit right there, okay?" JJ warned him as Pope moved over to the other beam. Pope banged on it again. "Pope, I hate to break it to you, but that's wood."

"No, no, no! It has to be here. I know it," Pope said before he started to stand up, gripping the beam that stood straight up.

"Bro, just look out for that giant wasp nest right above your head," JJ cautioned him and Pope looked up at it, noticing the wasps that were flying around it.

"Hey, just-just move slow, all right? Nice and easy, all right?" John B instructed.

"Bees sense fear, so don't be afraid," Cassie told him.

"He can't just not be afraid," Kiara pointed out, making a face.

"Look, I'm trying here!"

Pope tried to place his foot on a piece of wood, but it snapped off and fell below, causing all of them to move away and shout at him. He then noticed something on the beam from the piece that had fallen off. "Look. It's hollow," he said. "Go get me a crowbar!"

"I'll be right back," Sarah said before she quickly rushed out of the church, going to get the crowbar Pope asked for.

"What are you gonna do, Pope? I don't want this entire church to collapse on top of us. That's all I'm saying," JJ spoke, holding his arms out.

"Yeah, I'm trying not to end up like the Wicked Witch of the East," Cassie shrugged and JJ gave her a weird look. "Don't tell me you haven't seen The Wizard of Oz." He shook his head. "Not even Wicked?"

"Never been to Broadway."

She gaped. "Oh, my God, I'm taking you once this shit is over with," Cassie said before the others all gave her a weird look. "Uh, because I know it'll be torturous for him, of course," she quickly added and JJ resisted the urge to laugh.

Kiara and John B shared a look before they hummed and shrugged.

"Sarah!" Pope exclaimed once the Cameron girl walked back in with the crowbar in her hand.

"Hey. Pope," Sarah said, jogging right below him.

"Throw it," he told her.

"Okay," she said, getting ready to throw it.

"Oh, for real?" Kiara voiced, stepping back with the others.

"Everybody watch your heads, all right?" John B warned before Sarah threw the crossbar up at Pope.

Pope caught it and cheered, "Got it!" and Sarah laughed proudly.

"Not bad," Kiara complimented as JJ began to clap.

"Looks like the mathlete has upgraded to athlete," Cassie quipped and Pope chuckled a little, looking down at the crossbar in his hand.

"Hey, Pope, Pope, there's the wasp's nest right up there, okay? Just move slow, all right?" John B pointed out once more.

"Got it," Pope answered before he began hitting the wooden beam, making pieces fall down onto the floor.

"Hey, uh..." Sarah trailed off.

As he kept going, they began to notice something inside of the beam.

"What is that?" Sarah whispered.

"Do you guys see that?" John B asked, pointing up at it.

Cassie blinked in disbelief as she noticed the gold of the cross hidden in the beam, the light from outside slightly reflecting off of it.

"Wait, holy shit."

"It's here. Oh, my God."

"You did it buddy."

"Oh, what is that?"

"It's real! Oh, my God!"

"Holy shit! Holy shit!"

They then all began to cheer, bringing each other into their arms as Pope screamed exhilaratingly, prompting them all to get loud and louder.

Pope chipped away the last piece of wood, revealing the Cross of Santo Domingo in all its glory.

"This is unbelievable!"

"I thought you were crazy!"

"We did it! We did it!"

"Can I get a woogity?!"

"Okay, they're stinging now. Ow!" Pope yelled, dropping the crowbar onto the ground right next to them.

"Take it easy!" JJ shouted as he dodged the crowbar.

"Ow!" Pope said again as he tried swinging at the wasp, only for him to lose his balance and fall off the beam. He quickly grabbed onto the bottom beam, hanging on for dear life.

"Wait!" Sarah shouted.

"Pope!" Cassie cried out.

"Cushions!" John B thought up fast and, Cassie, Sarah, and JJ all ran over to grab the cushions.

"Move the pews! Move these!" Kiara said as she and John B pushed the pews away.

"John B!"

"Pope, hold on!"

"I can't hold!" Pope screamed.

They all began to toss the cushions underneath the boy as fast as they could, not knowing how much longer Pope would be able to hold on for.

"I can't hang on!" Pope groaned. "I'm slipping, guys."

They all shrieked when Pope came flying down, landing on all the cushions that they set out underneath him. Once he fell, they gasped and rushed over to him, making sure he was okay.

But they were so preoccupied on Pope's wellbeing that they didn't even realize that the cross began to fall down right after him.

"Guys!" Pope warned as he rolled out of the way, causing them all to back up and watch as the cross landed right where they just were. They panted heavily, blinking in realization that they all could have just been crushed.

"Pope, are you okay?" Kiara immediately asked.

"Pope, you good?" JJ added as he made his way over to him, placing his hands on him to make sure he was okay.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just give me, like, one second to, like, catch my breath," Pope told them breathlessly from the ground, twitching a bit.

"You did it, Pope," John B then said, staring at the cross that had punctured the wooden floor and was now sticking straight up. "Wow."

"Pope, she's...she's beautiful," JJ told him, caressing the cross with his hands.

"I've never seen anything like it," Sarah pointed out.

"Man, the detail's insane."

"How did they even make this?" Cassie questioned, looking at Kiara who shook her head with wide eyes.

"Well, here's why Limbrey wanted that key so bad," John B said, running his finger over a keyhole that was on the cross.

"Whoa. Good find. How much do you think she's worth?" JJ inquired. "Like, if we-if we melted her old bones down, dude, I'm talking like high billions."

"This belongs in a — No! This belongs in a museum," John B spoke over JJ.

"What? So no one sees her?"

"In a museum where everyone sees it."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Hey!" Pope called out once he had got up and sat on one of the pews, causing them to look over at him. "It's my ancestors' cross!"

"Right, okay. All right, all right. Well..."

"This is bigger than money, and the world's gotta know the truth," Pope continued and they all nodded along in agreement. Even though they had been in search for gold this whole time, when Pope found out he was a Tanny, everything had changed.

People needed to know the history that people tried to erase.

"Yes. If we don't get this shit outta here before Limbrey gets here, nobody's gonna know. So saddle up," John B directed before they all made their way over to the large cross, getting ready to pick it up.

"Wait, hold, hold on. John B, you're gonna pull, all right? Pull down," JJ told him as he crouched below John B.

"I'm gonna pull down. You guys pull up. Ready? One, two, three."

"JJ, watch your foot," Cassie groaned as they put all of their strength to lift the cross out of the ground, causing them all to grunt at how heavy it was.

Once they were able to get it out of the ground, they tried lifting it up to balance it in the middle and make it easier to carry, but all of their limbs started to shake from the immense weight.

"Who's-who's not lifting right now?" JJ complained in a strained voice. "Sarah, are you seriously—"

"I'm lifting!"

"It doesn't feel like it!"

"JJ, give her a break. She was shot!" Cassie reminded him.

"Not in the arm!"

"JJ!"

"I'm lifting!" Sarah reiterated.

"Move forward, people," Kiara urged.

"Okay, guys. I can't, I can't," Pope groaned. They all began to shout at him to hang on, but it was no use. He let go of his end, causing it the cross slam back down on the floor. They all panted heavily from the weight being off of them, placing their hands on their knees.

"Damn it, yo! You almost dropped it on my foot!" JJ yelled at Sarah.

"'Cause I'm the only one lifting it!" Sarah argued back.

"Oh, you sure—!"

John B cut in, "Okay, okay, okay, okay! Listen, we'll make, like, a sling, like a little—"

"Yeah, yeah, and then we'll put it on the tail hitch," JJ finished his idea for him as Cassie turned her attention toward Pope, seeing the way he was breathing erratically.

"Yes!"

"Guys! Guy, guys, I'm not okay. I'm not okay," Pope called out as he sat on the pew with his head back, making them all start to walk over to him.

"Pope?" Cassie voiced, looking at him in concern.

"Your eye, it looks all puffy," Kiara pointed out.

"Yo, yo, bro. You good? You don't look too good, bro," JJ rambled as he looked down at his best friend.

"I can't—" Pope took in a deep breath, trying to breathe normally but it wasn't working.

"He's having an allergic reaction," Kiara realized.

"Oh, fuck," Cassie cursed.

"Was it the wasps?" Sarah queried.

"What else would it be?!" Cassie raised her voice since she was now anxious for Pope.

"I'm sorry!" Sarah yelled back, also worried for the boy.

"How many times did you get stung?" Kiara questioned in concern.

Suddenly, Pope's eyes rolled back as he took another strained breath and he fell back against the pew.

authors note!
hey sorry this took a little longer
than my usual schedule of posting
chapters. i just got a new job that i
was working at today so my schedule
of posting may be a little different now
depending on the shifts i work. dw
i still plan on updating as much as i
can but just wanted to let yall know since
i usually try to post around the same times
every day. hope u guys enjoyed this chapter!