JADA HAD ENDED UP GOING WITH SMITH TO SEARCH FOR THE HELMET. Harcourt didn't think it would be a good idea making her and Adrian go with each other since she didn't want them to get distracted. Economos made the case of Jada trying to kill Smith, but Jada assured them that she wasn't trying to do that anymore and Smith actually vouched for her.

"So..." Jada began to say, not knowing how to word the sentence she was about to ask. "You've hooked up with men before?"

Smith glanced back at her, not knowing why she was deciding to ask this now. "Yeah, a few times. You know, a guy's gotta fuck," he answered with a shrug, poking around bushes with a stick to try and find his helmet.

"Right. So...when I walked in on you that time with that girl and Adrian, you guys were—"

"Having a threesome? Yeah," he finished for her.

"So, you and Adrian..." she trailed off, not knowing how to word what she was trying to say.

"What?! Oh, God, no! That's disgusting, I would never. We just took turns on the girl and watched, that's all," Smith explained.

"Oh. Good. Okay," Jada said with a nod, even though the watching part was still odd.

"Why? You don't want Adrian to be half-gay or something?" Smith asked her.

"Oh, no, I don't care about that. I just wanted to make sure that you two didn't get it on before we ever tried to have sex. I wouldn't know if it would be a good idea if I touched Adrian if you've also touched him before," Jada clarified with a head nod.

"I thought you didn't hate me anymore," he remarked.

"Oh, I don't. But that doesn't mean I can't still think you're disgusting," she told him and he rolled his eyes.

"Wait," Smith said, looking back at Jada with narrowed eyes. "You and Adrian still haven't done the donut and the hot dog?" he questioned, making Jada scoff at his words. "It's a genuine question!"

"And why would I tell you the answer to that?"

"Because I told you've I've fucked guys before. So, now you need to return the favor and tell me if you fucked Adrian before," he explained.

"Okay, can we not say the word 'fucked'? It's so graphic. And no, we haven't. We came close once but then he passed out because we were wasted," she revealed. Smith stopped walking and turned to face her slowly before he bursted out laughing. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, continuing to walk past him; ignoring him.

"Of course Adrian missed the chance of a lifetime, that dipshit! Once a Thimble, always a Thimble," Smith commented before he started searching again.

"I don't even know why I'm talking about this with you," Jada muttered under her breath, peering beneath leaves and bushes. "Hey, you see anything, yet?" Jada called out after a moment, but Smith didn't respond. "Chris?" she said, looking over her shoulder to see that he was frozen in place with a fearful expression on his face.

She stood up, following his gaze to nothing but a large tree. "Chris, are you okay?" she asked him slowly, walking in his field of vision.

"Shit," he said quickly before he began to pull out one of his weapons.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, holding her hand out.

"Getting my poison blow gun, fucko," he answered, making Jada's eyes widen.

"Why?" she said, not knowing what to do.

"You're metaphorical, douchewad. My gun is real," he responded. "I don't want the butterflies to hear."

"Metaphorical? What the fuck are you talking about?" she questioned with wide eyes.

"You didn't trick shit, you ballsack-looking fuck. I immediately went for my blow gun. I didn't think for a second about going for my gun!" he explained, getting his blow gun.

"Chris, are you high?" she asked loudly before he brought the blow gun up to his lips. She quickly dove out of the way just as he blew into the blow gun, sending the poisonous dart right at the tree where she once stood. Jada looked up at him from the ground, her mouth wide open in confusion.

"How you like that, huh?" Smith taunted. "Thanks for coming back, ghost...so I could kill your all over again."

Ghost? Jada thought, starting to stand up cautiously. Was he envisioning his dead father?

"Smith?" Harcourt called out, making the both of them look over at her. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"Why'd you try to shoot at me?" Jada asked slowly.

"What? I wasn't," he said, almost like he hadn't even seen Jada throughout that whole scenario. Jada furrowed her brows as she walked forward, hitting something with her foot.

She looked down, seeing something silver and shiny through the leaves. Her eyes widened as she picked it up from the ground, showing that she had found the helmet. "Holy shit," Harcourt breathed out, running over to her.

"Whoa," Smith said.

Harcourt took the helmet out of Jada's eyes and smiled, looking over at Smith. "I need you to do something else for me."

-♡-

By the time they had returned back to their stakeout place, the sun had already set because of how long it took to search for the helmet. Jada was still a little wary of Smith's mental state because he could have easily killed her if she didn't dive out of the way, but she didn't want to bring it up again in fear that he would do something stupid.

She had also reunited with Adrian again, who was proud of her for finding the helmet.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Economos questioned as Peacemaker tossed him clothes that came from the butterfly cop he killed.

"The only way for us to get the helmet inside of the barn is by one of us going in undercover. They're gonna notice Adebayo and me with these injuries," Harcourt explained to him.

"Cool. I'll do it," Adrian volunteered.

"You can't do it, man. Goff knows what we look like," Smith told him.

"I'll wear a funny nose," Adrian suggested.

"That won't help," Jada told him softly.

"John, you're the only one," Harcourt said.

"I don't even want to be here. And why are these wet?" Economos questioned.

"I washed them in the creek," Smith answered.

"Why?"

"One of things us warriors seldom talk about is how often people shit themselves when they die. It's a touch of gray in the white cloud of kicking ass," he revealed, making Jada grimace.

"So, now, you want me to risk my life while wearing diarrhea pants?" Economos asked incredulously.

"Hey, nobody said anything about diarrhea. I said it was shit," Smith corrected him.

"Was it diarrhea?"

"Yes, it was."

"John, you can do this. Just act like they act. Don't show any expression," Adebayo explained.

"Yeah, like Harcourt," Smith added.

"Eat my dick, Schwarze-never," Harcourt insulted.

"Ugh, fine, then act like Reyes before she got all soft with Adrian," Smith resorted to.

"¿Qué?" Jada said, arching her brow at him before she glanced at Adrian, who just seemed happy to be there. Jada let a grin flow to her face, looking away to try and stop herself.

"See!" Smith pointed out, which then made her roll her eyes.

"They're aliens. Do they even speak English?" Economos said, getting back on topic.

"They retain the memories of the bodies they've taken over. So, they seem to primarily use English when communicating," Harcourt explained.

"Fuck. Fine," Economos muttered before he began to put on the clothes. "Would you look away?"

"Happily," Adebayo commented.

Jada walked over to Adrian and grabbed his gloved hand, pulling him up from where he sat before she began to guide him somewhere. "Where are we going?" he asked giddily. "OMG, are you finding a secret sex place?"

She scoffed. "Don't get too excited," she told him, even though that didn't seem half bad. She then found a log for them both to sit on, giving Economos some time to change. "I just wanted to talk," she told him.

"About what?" Adrian asked.

She let out a quiet sigh. "If this whole thing goes south...I just wanted to say that I'm glad I met you," she began. "And that I'm also glad I met Vigilante in that alleyway who helped me those guys."

"Wait, but I am Vigilante," he whispered to her like it was some sort of secret.

"Exactly," she replied with a smile.

"Oh. Ohhhhhh. Awww," he cooed, making Jada chuckle. "You know, I'll never forget the moment I laid eyes on you."

"Really? Describe it to me," she told him.

"Well, I watched you walk into Fennel Fields, a sour look on your face. And I thought, 'Why is the prettiest woman here looking the most bitter? It had to be because she doesn't have a someone to make her happy, of course!'" he said aloud, making her laugh even more. "So I made it my goal to try and make you happy."

She slowly stopped a laughing, a look of awe on her face. "Adrian...I...I didn't know you were trying to do that," she responded quietly, her face getting red out of embarrassment. "That's, like, the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"Oh, pshh, no. You're just saying that," he said, being humble.

"No, really. You're one of the best people I have ever met. And I am so mad at myself for almost losing you because of my stupid trust issues," she stated.

"They're not stupid. You're not stupid. You're...smart, beautiful, badass. You're perfect," he complimented, glancing down at her lips.

She smiled warmly, also looking down at his lips. She slowly started to lean in, closing her eyes. Their lips were just about to touch before: "Hey! John's ready." Jada stopped, a sigh escaping from her lips as she opened her eyes. "Oh, shit. Did I interrupt something?" Adebayo asked behind them.

She glanced up at Adrian, who wore a disappointed expression on his face since they didn't get to kiss. "Yeah, maybe," she called back at Adebayo, getting up from the log.

"Oops. Do you want me to leave and then you guys can redo it?" Adebayo asked, pointing back over her shoulder.

"Uh — No, that's...weird," Jada told her and Adebayo nodded slowly, walking back to where she came from. She then looked back at Adrian, grabbing his hand and pulling him up from the log. "I'll guess we'll have to save that until after this is over."

"Aw, man."

"Oh, come on, it'll be like a reward."

Sorry about that last part 😁😁 I love making everyone mad!!!!

Also I just want to say that I love Chris and Jada's new dynamic. I had this planned out for a while that after she got over the whole Rick thing, that she and Chris would actually vibe well with each other while also bicker at the same time. So I like how that's going. Lmk if you agree!!