Kat and Pope scream some 'hi's to Max and Henry – Billy is unaccounted for – downstairs before they rush upstairs to the studio. They don't have time for small talks, or for the delicious smell of cheeseburgers coming from the kitchen. No, instead, they run and almost trip on themselves as Kathryn bursts into the room.

Kie is already there, waiting on a couch. In fact, Billy is next to her. They look like they were talking, and Billy is smirking. Oh? Oh, that's interesting.

Kathryn blinks. "I wanna ask."

"We don't have the time."

"No, but I really wanna ask."

Kie frowns at the pair. "Why are you in such a rush?"

"Why aren't you?" Kathryn asks back. "I sent a text to meet here and called you whores, that didn't scream urgency to you?"

"My phone's dead. Whores?"

She sighs. "Why is that the part people get hung up on?" Then, her eyebrow cinch together in confusion. "Wait, so, why are you here?"

A distant look clouds Kie's eyes as she looks down at her knees. "My mom snapped and I got booted."

Pope's jaw falls. "Wait, what?"

"It's not a big deal," she promises.

But Billy shakes her head. "Kiara showed up at our doorstep so I let her in. Max and Henry said she could stay."

Kathryn stops herself before saying that Billy always loved to rescue stray dogs. "Of course, yeah," she agrees. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," she says, but that doesn't convince her. "I'm gonna stay here a couple days, hang out with my friends. We have stuff to figure out anyway." She looks back up at the pair. "How did things go with you?"

Pope is suddenly hyper aware of the key in his pockets, as a rare smile graces Kathryn's face. "Well–"

"Pops was upset," he starts.

Kie can't help the smirk on her face. "Upset? After you left his truck in Charleston? What for?"

"Uh, you know, I'm actually trying to figure that out myself. I can't really see any reason..."

"Henry would have shot Kitty, I'm pretty sure."

Kathryn closes her mouth. "Yeah, no probably. But–"

"We asked him about the key, and he said that his grandmother had something like that. So, I went over to great-grandma's place, and, uh..."

"We got the key," Kathryn blurts out before he can. "Sorry. My synapses were closing and I was turning blue from holding my breath."

Pope rolls his eyes and gets it out of his pocket, handing it to the girls in front of him.

Kie stares at it, not believing her eyes. "Oh my god."

"Oh my god," Billy agrees.

And then the information reaches the brain, and Kie almost jumps away from the couch. "Holy shit guys!"

"We know!"

"This is exactly what we need to clear John B!"

"Yeah! And it literally fell on us! After Pope did."

"It came out the ceiling!" he adds.

Billy takes it, getting it closer to her face to inspect it. Kathryn expects Kie to make a remark, but nothing comes. She's definitely asking later.

The Donovan doesn't look up to see the mutinous look on her face. There are some engravings on it. "I think something's written on it."

"What?"

She hands it to Kathryn, who inspects it, thanking her lucky stars that she didn't forget her glasses. The engravings are too small to be read – it seems that they go through the key. If you were to just shine a light behind it...

"Turn the lights off."

"What?"

"Turn the lights off!"

Begrudgingly, Pope does as he's told. She hands the key to Kie, and refrains from noting the pun.

"Hold it, and don't move, okay?"

She sends her a dubious look. "Okay..."

Kathryn takes Pope's flashlight and stands behind the sofa. She shines it right in the key, where the engravings are. On the wall opposite them, the sentence becomes clear, read through the holes.

"Holy shit."

"I'm literally so smart."

"Holy shit!"

"Big brain time."

They settle down for half a second, Billy reading the words with a frown. "'Path to the tomb begins in the island room'. What does that mean?"

"I'm guessing it has something to do with Denmark Tanny," Pope lets out. "And an angel. 'Cause I... Remember, Kat? Limbrey said something about an angel and how the key led to the cross."

Kathryn clicks her fingers at him. "Right! Right before she tried to take us hostage, I remember that."

Billy blinks. "Excuse me?"

"Guys, this is insane," Kie breathes out. "Your freaking geniuses."

Kathryn smirks. "I have my moments."

"Kind of makes you wonder what the island room is."

"I'm more hung up on the abduction thing..."

She nods. "Yeah, we'll debrief that later. But I literally don't have a single clue about the island room." She blows out a breath. "But who cares, right? Honestly, I'm done with treasure hunting, and we're–" Her phone vibrates. She gets it out of her pocket and spares it a glance. Jay. "We're giving it to her anyway..." She stares at the text. "To exonerate – sorry, did that bitch just text me 'S.O.S.'?"

🐝

JJ's head hits the back of the ambulance. Listen, his plan was not the greatest, by any means. It objectively sucked ass. Stealing his cousin's ambulance and getting John B to fake appendicitis and then try to get him in said ambulance and bust him out – it clearly relied on too many what-ifs. It could so easily turn into a nightmare scenario.

Nightmare scenario; get caught red-handed, all but shoved in the back of said ambulance, and driven straight to jail with several police cars flanking the vehicle. One-way ticket to see Daddy dearest. JJ could scream himself hoarse if he had the chance.

When he texted Kat, he wasn't sure she'd answer, or see his messages. To be fair, he was almost sure that she had blocked him, and if it stung, she was in her right. There's no logic behind the fact that she's the only person he could bear to call for help. But she was. And he needed it.

It became clear – as his head hit the back of the ambulance – that she wouldn't come. That he was all alone. He wished the hand rubbing his chest wasn't his, that it was light-brown with red nail-polish and that a hummed melody ghosted over his ears. She had tried to talk him out of it, to tell him to go home and think over it and calm down, but no. No, he had let frustration walk all over him, and now he was going to jail. Like he was always supposed to.

He was going to jail, and it was all his fault. Because that's the only thing that was meant to be for him, isn't it? No warm eyes and perfect smile. Only a cell. Just like Plumb said.

Just like his dad.

A bright red Fiat 500 slams the breaks in front of the ambulance. For a second, everything shakes and JJ is sent against a wall, before he realises that the vehicle has stopped. He checks his phone.

Right there, under KD ❤️❤️❤️, is a single text message.

'gotcha'.

He can hear her voice as the man driving the ambulance screams at her to move out the way. "My bad!" she says. "I'm new to the whole driving left thing..."

He screams at her some more, but JJ is already out the side door, running like all hell broke loose.

He runs through some woods, for what feels like hours, according to his lungs, until he sees Kat's car, right out of the woods.

Kathryn walks out of the car. "Pope, take the wheel."

"What? I don't know if I should drive your car–"

"Just take the wheel!"

Kathryn climbs in the back, opening the door to JJ who bursts in, panting as he settles back against the seat, slamming the door shut.

"Go. Go! Go!"

"Okay!" Pope cries out, driving off as prudent as he can, what with the owner in the back, more than ready to kill him if something happens to her car.

In a split second, Kathryn is grabbing JJ by the shoulders, shaking him like a tree. Her eyes are wide and worry swims in her brown eyes. She's speaking to him, but JJ can't hear a word she's saying.

She came. She actually took her car and drove it in front of a moving vehicle, after he fucked up so bad. He's not sure if it makes him feel better or worse, but right now, the only thing he needs is the pressure of her hands on his shoulders.

"...not even gonna ask," Kie says from the front seat.

"I am! I am gonna ask!" Kathryn immediately cries out. "What the fuck?"

JJ regains composure, and sniffs as he tries to master his breathing. "Look, I busted the wrong guy out of jail. Sue me."

Her eye twitches. "Yes! Yes, they're gonna! Did they see your face? If they saw your face, so help me god, JJ–"

"They didn't, I'm pretty sure!"

She pushes him roughly into his seat, scoffing. Her ears are ringing and she's pretty sure her blood-pressure is through the roof. "Genuinely, what is wrong with you?"

His eyes drift off, and he shrugs. "Well, I'm gonna end up in jail anyway, so..."

"So what?" she shrieks. "So nothing. You're not ending up in jail. Who said that? Tell me who said that." She searches his gaze, leaning forward to catch it, but he keeps avoiding her. "JJ, tell me who."

"Don't tell her," Pope says.

"I don't feel like covering some more illegal shit today," Kie adds.

Kathryn glowers at them. "I wouldn't get caught." She wouldn't. And if she did, well, it was probably worth it.

But JJ closes his eyes and rests his head on his seat. "Doesn't matter."

He had tried to call Kathryn, after Plumb said that, right as he was walking out from visiting John B. After she took him to see his dad, to prove her point.

Kathryn had hung up. And he deserved it.

"Why are you here anyway?" he asks.

She stares at him like he just turned purple and grew another limb on his forehead. "What?"

His voice quiets down. "I said some... messed up shit." His eyes open to look at her baffled face. "I didn't mean it. I just... I was frustrated, you know? You didn't deserve that."

She keeps on staring like she did back then, as he settles back, closing his eyes again. She can't wrap her head around what he's saying. Did he really think that breaking her heart would make it stop beating for him? Harder, sure, but Kathryn never liked it easy.

"You could tell me to eat shit and die and I'd still show up if you needed someone to drive around with." He doesn't say anything. "Next time, just don't pick an ambulance, please."

She expects him to laugh. At the very least, to crack a smile. Open his eyes, anything. But for a while, he just lays there. She looks out the window, ignoring her friends' eyes, following them from the rearview mirror.

He's not sure what to say. What to do, to make her understand how grateful he is. How much it means to him that if anyone would turn their backs on him, she wouldn't. It mattered more than any of his friends, and the thought struck him like lightning.

He can't believe he'd been so thick. Thick enough to let her go and let her believe that he wouldn't wait forever for her. But he would. He will. Not because she wants to – but because he has to. Even if it's just as friends. That's okay too.

"Hey, KD..."

Kathryn turns to him, tiling her head. "Yeah?"

He thinks of a thousand different ways to explain it. To tell her that there's no other way. That's always how the book ends. With Kat and JJ.

So he pauses, then says, "You're my best friend."

And she knew what it was.

Author's Note: Imagine the three of them getting in the car in a hurry and bluetooth connects and the bridge to Out Of The Woods just started blasting