LXIII. if the world was ending

      They formed a plan. Dylan prayed that it would work, even though she had a funny feeling that it wouldn't, but she trusted JJ, oddly enough. He was insane but he was smart. She worked with that. Pope was also one of the smartest people she knew and if he thought it would work, then she agreed with him. The two of them stood at their positions, waiting for JJ to come and give them the signal.

"You ready for this, baby?" Pope asked her, holding up his fists.

Dylan fist bumped him then they interlocked their fingers. "Ready as I'll ever be," she answered with an unconfident sigh.

"It'll be alright." He assured her and kissed both of her hands. "And even if it isn't, then we die together."

Her eyes went wide and she took back on of her hands, using it to punch his shoulder. "Don't say that!" She whisper yelled, making him laugh.

"I'm just joking."

The way he smiled at her caused her to roll her eyes, but it made her smile back. Dylan knew it was the wrong time to focus on anything other than getting Kiara back, but she couldn't help but notice how good he was looking. "Did you eat some magical fruit on Poguelandia or something? You look really good."

Pope was shocked at her words but he quickly found his composure. "What, I didn't look good already?" He said back with a flirtatious smirk.

"Of course you did. You've always been my adorable Pope Heyward." She flirted back and put her hands on his burning cheeks, pinching them.

He scoffed and took her hands away, making her giggle.

JJ appeared from the staircase and he glared at them. "Really? You're flirting right now?" He whispered harshly.

The couple stepped away from each other. "Sorry." Dylan whispered and went back to her spot.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered and leaned close to Pope. "He's coming. Y'all ready?"

Pope quickly nodded. "Yeah." JJ ran up the stairs to the next level and he glanced at Dylan. "Remember the plan? You hit him in the legs. I'm gonna go for the gun." He recalled.

Dylan shook her head. "I never agreed to that."

He gave her a look. "What? What do you mean?"

"You automatically assumed I would want to go for the legs. I got a quick reach to grab the gun."

"Yeah, but you're short so it's easier to go for the legs."

Dylan pulled a hurt face. "That's discrimination, you know?" She shot back.

"What–How did we go from flirting to arguing?"

"I'm not arguing, babe. I'm stating facts!"

Pope was about to retaliate when he heard a voice. "Shh, he's coming!" He whispered and took her hand when he ran past her.

They sprinted to the next level of the abandoned hotet, right about John B and Sarah. She grabbed what looked like a metal rod from the ground. "I'm gonna hide over here!" She whispered to Pope, pointing to one of the walls.

"Okay, okay, I'm over here. Be careful." He whispered back and they ran to their spots.

Dylan ran around the corner of the wall and pressed her back to it, holding the metal rod close to her. She inhaled quiet breaths, her heart pounding, and she heard a crashing sound. Dylan quickly peered behind the wall and saw one of Singh's guards had fallen through the floor.

Pope came out from his spot and swung at the guard, chasing him to shoot off the gun he was holding. When it fell out of his hands, Dylan came out and sprinted toward the guard, crying out as she swung the stick and kicked his legs out from under him. "Pope, get the gun!"

"Stop! Freeze!" Another guard demanded and held his gun up at them.

Pope immediately stepped in front of her, both of their hands raised.

"Put it down."

He dropped the rod he was holding and kept his hands up. He heard her shaky breathing from behind him.

"Okay, I'm coming!" JJ yelled spastically, appearing at the worst time.

"Don't move! Hold it!" The guard pointed his gun at the blonde.

He froze where he was standing. JJ's eyes met Pope's and he nudged his head to the gun that was on the ground.

"Don't even think about it," the guard warned, sensing their plan.

Then, at the right moment, there was another battle cry and Cleo appeared behind the guard, hitting him on the back of the head with a sword. At the same time, John B came falling from the second level onto the other guard on the floor, holding him down until JJ grabbed the gun. "Hey, hey now, easy." He said and John B scrambled off the guard. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would take it nice and slow now. I think it's time for y'all to freeze. Pope, DJ, tie em up."

"Gladly." Dylan declared and took the rope, glaring at the guards.

JJ kept the gun pointed at them as the couple tied up the guards together. Dylan finished tying their hands while Cleo used the other set of rope to gag them.

"All right, y'all, let me see those mugs." JJ said and started taking pictures of the guards. "This is going to your boss man. C'mon smile. For the record, they thought this plan wasn't going to work."

Dylan raised herself to her feet and stood by Sarah.

"All right, just send that to your boss. Time for stage three: hostage swap. We're gonna give your boss a little ring-a-ling, so hang tight." JJ continued and started to call Singh.

She eyed the tied up guards and then Pope, whom was holding the gun at the them. Her stomach twisted and turned while in deep thought. The plan was working so far but knowing them, they were never that lucky for this long.

"Mr. Portis. Do you have Ms. Carrera's friends?" Singh's voice came through on the speaker.

J paused, suddenly not being able to talk. Dylan quickly shared a look with Sarah. "J," John B whispered and he took the phone. "Yeah," he answered shakily. "Yeah, we. . .we found them."

Pause. Dylan's eyes widened. "Keep going!" She whispered and rolled her finger.

"Listen, my name is John Booker Routledge. We have your men tied up and they're in for a really. . ."

She closed her eyes and sighed, shaking her head.

Cleo whacked him on the arm.

". . .really, really harsh time if you don't give us Kiara back right now. Like right now. And I mean that."

"Kill them."

"Oh, my God." Dylan exhaled quietly and touched one of her hands to her forehead.

The statement caused the guards to jerk against the ropes.

"What? John B said, not expecting that response.

"Kill them," Singh repeated. "Go ahead and kill them, John Booker Routledge. It doesn't matter to me, you know. Just know that if you do, the hotel is surrounded, you know. All of you inside will die."

"What the fuck," Dylan whispered, looking and feeling stressed.

Sarah rushed to check outside and she saw a handful of guards making their way to the hotel. "We gotta go. We gotta go right now!"

Her fight or flight mode switched on and Dylan started running. She zoomed past the guards and made her way out of the room, careful not to bump into any of them as they all scrambled. John B stopped them when he saw the mountain of guards heading through the front. "Uh, balcony. Balcony! So bad, so bad!"

"Go back to the main entrance!" JJ yelled when they got to the middle of the hallway.

"Hold this." Pope instructed and passed him the gun.

Dylan's eyes widened. "Pope, what are you about to do?" She asked in a panic. She saw that where he was looking was the abandoned elevator shaft.

Instead of answering, Pope grunted and moved the metal door out of the way.

"Gotta be a better option, right?" John B voiced.

All of the Pogues peered down the elevator shift. Dylan almost lost her breath. "That's a drop." Said Pope.

"This is like the Hawk's Nest part two. I'm not doing this, Pope."

"No, we're not doing this." Dylan instantly denied, knowing what Pope was thinking.

"I think we need to think about this from a risk-reward perspective," the brainiac stated.

"I'm thinking of more risks than rewards! There are no rewards in this situation!"

"How about you go first and cushion my fall?" JJ came up with.

"How about no?" Both Dylan and Pope answered.

"Yeah, whatever. Forget this shit." Said Cleo and she pushed through the three of them.

"Cleo!" Dylan yelled as she grunted and jumped, grabbing ahold of the cable. Then, Sarah did the same thing. "No, Sarah!"

"No! No! No, Sarah!" Yelled John B.

Both of the girls started climbing down the cable. "DJ, come on!" Sarah yelled at her.

"Come on down, baby girl!" Cleo yelled as well.

Dylan trembled as she watched. "DJ, come on, you got this girl." JJ encouraged her.

"It's alright, D. We'll be right behind you." Pope added.

Her eyes were wide and she looked at them all like they were crazy. But ultimately, it was either this or risk being killed by Singh's guards. "Fuck it." She gave in and jumped, grabbing onto the cable and she held on with all her might.

"Good job, DJ!" Said John B.

"Okay. You go first, all right?"

"What? No. You go!"

"Clear the next floor! Go!" One of the guards was heard.

"Stop arguing and just fucking come down!" Dylan shouted at the guys while still panicking.

"Yep. Yep. We're coming." Pope quickly responded back. He and JJ looked at each other. "Same time." They said in unison.

From far below, Dylan felt a force and she looked up, seeing the boys climb down.

"Dylan, are you alright?" Sarah asked, seeing as she was by herself.

"I'm good, Sare." She responded shakily.

"You doin' good, girlie." Cleo encouraged her and they finally reached the bottom.

"Guess I can add elevator climbing to my college resume." Dylan said fearfully and was relieved to see the bottom. She jumped down and stood with the girls.

"Come on, guys!" Cleo called out to the boys.

"Where's John B?" Sarah yelled when she didn't see him with them.

"John B, hurry up man!" JJ's voice echoed from above.

"JB, please hurry!" Dylan yelled desperately.

"John B! John B!"

"Come on, hurry!"

She saw John B jump and grab onto the cable and shimmy his way down. When she saw and heard gun shots, Dylan screamed. "Hurry! Hurry!" She said fearfully.

The gunfire caused John B to release the cable and he came falling down, taking Pope and JJ with him. The girls quickly moved out of the way as John B fell onto the metal floor.

"Holy shit, JB. Are you okay?" Dylan quickly asked.

He only responded with a painful grunt.

"We gotta go!" Cleo yelled again.

The other boys finally made their way down and they jumped off the cable. "Let's got!" Said Pope and he grabbed Dylan's outstretched hand.

Once all of them were out of the elevator shaft, the Pogues sprinted down the hallway. They ran out of the old hotel and followed Cleo into a path. She quickly stopped them when she saw a guard.

"One second. Hold on." John B whispered incoherently and he tip toed to the edge of the brick wall. He threw a glass bottle down to distract the guard.

Dylan held her breath as she followed her friends down the walkway and they ran down the path away from the hotel.

Following the plan, the Pogues ran to where the horse tracks were. Following Cleo's lead, Dylan ran through the gate and sprinted past all the people tending to the horses, which she would have been excited about if she wasn't so afraid of dying in that moment.

"Go, go, go, go, go!" John B urged them all.

"Hey, boy, come!" Cleo yelled at them when she saw that they were still running by the stables.

"Oh shit," said Dylan.

"That way! That way!" JJ yelled.

They ran across to the other side of the stables. "She knows where she's going?" John B asked while panting.

"No clue." Pope answered.

Dylan stopped running and put her hands on her hips, taking deep breaths. John B and Sarah peered through the fence. "They coming?" Cleo asked.

He shook his head. "I don't see anything."

"So what's the plan now? What's our plan B?" Asked JJ. "We just kicked the hornet's next. We gotta think of something quick."

"JJ, calm down." Pope told him.

"Calm down, Pope?" The blonde repeated and stood in front of him. "We do something to their guys, they're gonna do something to Kie."

"Yeah, you should have thought about that, huh?" Dylan threw at him with a glare. "We told you what would happen!"

"You're blaming me?" JJ directed and pointed at himself.

"It was your idea!" Both her and Sarah responded.

"Yeah, I know that was my idea, okay?"

Cleo quickly shushed them.

"My bad! That one's on me! Why did we leave that island?"

Dylan closed her eyes for a second and brought her hands to the sides of her head, feeling a headache come on.

"Ooh, ooh, wait, wait, I got something. What if I offer myself up as a hostage?" They looked at him like he was insane. "No. Hear me out, hear me out, what if I got inside the walls, did the Trojan horse type of thing?"

Pope shook his head. "No, no."

"That's how the wars are won!"

"That's not how a Trojan horse even works!"

"Okay, fine, what do you got? Both of you." The blonde looked between him and Dylan. "This is usually where you two come up with something, all right?"

"JJ, I don't know." Dylan emphasized, putting her hands on her hips again. "If I could magically appear at the house where they have her, I would, but I can't. Whatever we decide is going to put all of us in danger."

There was a silence. JJ didn't know how to respond but he looked scared as shit. He paced back and forth anxiously, thinking of a plan in his brain.

She sighed heavily and turned around, facing Pope, her face fallen and solemn. He opened one of his arms and she walked into him. Pope wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head as a way of saying everything would be okay.

The sun was going down and they were all exhausted but Dylan couldn't seem to sleep. Her mind was racing as well as her heart. Everything she thought of in her head to her Kiara back, it didn't work. They were out number, out weaponed, out smarted. Whoever this Singh guy was, he was dangerous, more dangerous than anybody they'd encountered so far. But she wouldn't give up, not on Kiara or any of them. They were family.

She sat at the entrance way of the stable, watching the horses in their stables and listening to them neigh. Horses were always one of her favorite animals even they there wasn't any in Kildare. Seeing them should have made her excited but all she felt was scared.

From the corner of her eye, she saw JJ come and sit beside her. They were both quiet for what seemed like a couple minutes. "I'm sorry about the last couple of days," he started. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings about your pops and I'm sorry for being a dick towards you."

Dylan glanced his way, her eyes spaced out from exhaustion. "It's alright, JJ." She said quietly to not disturb the others.

"No, it's not." He said instantly and met her gaze. "You're my best friend. You're my sister. You don't deserve to be tested that way. I'm just. . ." JJ paused and licked his lips, looking defeated. "I have to keep all of you guys safe. You're all I have. I don't have anyone to go back to. No family. You guys are my family—"

"Hey," she said softly when his voice picked up. Dylan touched a soft hand to her heart. "I'm your family. My family is your family, JJ. That's not going to change no matter what happens. My family loves you so much. You always have us to come home to."

JJ's blue eyes fill with tears. "I always said that if anything happened to any of you guys, it would be my worst nightmare. And now it's happening to Kie, and. . ."

When he lost his words, Dylan shifted closer to him so that their shoulders were touching. "I understand, JJ. You're always the first person to immediately want to be the rescuer. That's what we all love about you. And I know what's happening with Kie is driving you crazy because you love her."

The way she said it caused JJ looked at her again, startled that time. "W-What?"

She cracked a grin. "You think I don't recognize the way you've been acting since she got taken? How extra worried you've been? When I thought Pope was dying, I swear to you it felt like my world was ending. A life without him in it isn't worth living to me. He's my best friend." Dylan nudged his shoulder gently. "You don't how to outright say you love someone to love someone, JJ."

The blonde still looked startled by the statement. "DJ. . ." He paused again, the words getting lost in translation. JJ sat there in silence, pondering what she was saying, wondering if it made any sense. Dylan knew him better than almost anyone. Her and John B. It was always them against the world. She could read him like a book, even the parts of him he tried so hard to hide. He never felt the way she was describing before, not until now. JJ met her eyes again, both of them tried, and he looked conflicted, confused, like he needed the answers. "How did you know? Y'know, with Pope. How did you know?"

She smiled again. Dylan looked over her shoulder, seeing Pope asleep on the floor, one of his arms under his head and the other almost covering his face. "Because I would kill for him. I would die for him."

"I would die for all of you."

"I know," she whispered, nodding a little. Dylan thought of something else. "Does she know you?"

JJ's brows furrowed.

"Do you know her? Do you guys know each other inside and out? Know each other's fears, strengths and weaknesses? If the world ended tomorrow, who would you want standing next to you? The last face you'd want to see before it all ended? Because I know you, JJ. You're scared to love somebody because you've never been showed love properly."

His eyes began to gleam again.

"But you have one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen in my life, a heart with so much love to give and receive. I know that there's things you want in life, things that the Outer Banks can't give you. Does she want those things too?" Dylan continued and she studied his expression. "Because that's how I knew. What I want for me, what I want my life to look like, who I want to share it with, it's Pope. It's always been Pope."

There was silence again. JJ, who spaced out for a minute, stifled a laugh and he rubbed his eyes. "God damn, Jennings. You're good."

Dylan giggled quietly and rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and there was an immediate wave of exhaustion. "Ugh," she mumbled and raised her head again. "I'm gonna see how many minutes of sleep I can get."

JJ cracked a smile. He looked over his shoulder and watched her walk over to Pope. Dylan dropped to her knees and brushed her hand against his arm. Pope held open his arm without opening his eyes and she slipped under it, cozying up beside him. JJ felt his heart sink to his stomach, thinking about her words even more now and if they were true or not. But she was right about one thing. He didn't know how to love. He didn't know how to go about it correctly. All JJ knew was that if anything happened to any of them, he would surely go insane. To him, that was the best kind of love he could give and receive.