Last night was a blur. A blur that smelled of smoke, and burnt wood, and that still brought heat everytime she thought about it. But at least, a blur that they got out of, so Kathryn cannot think of complaining.

The Pogues are sitting in front of what used to be the Château, and is now basically just the burnt corpse of a house. Kathryn used to play hide and seek there. She used to make pancakes for John B, there.

There was barely anything left, the beams still burning, falling to the ground as she puts a hand on John B's arm.

"Could've been a faulty electrical wire," Pope says.

They're covered in soot, and ashes, but everyone is fine, which is more than she can say for the Château. God, she loved this place. It wasn't fair.

"Place was all wood," Kie lets out. "A tinderbox."

"Thing just went up," Cleo adds. "Boom."

Kathryn shuts her eyes. "As if we didn't have enough on our plate, you know?"

JJ hums. "Verdict's in, man. Whoever's up there? Does not like you." Sarah sends him a look. "Sorry."

Billy sighs a little, looking at John B from behind Kathryn. "You can always crash at the Palace when you guys come back... until we rebuild it."

He hangs his head in defeat, but doesn't say anything. What more can be said? His childhood home just went up in flames. The place where his friends regrouped, gone. With it, his clothes, his pictures, all his stuff. Every little memory was gone with the smoke.

There was nothing to be said. And they still had to move forward. They were going to South America, today. They should already be on their way, really.

The group relocates to the docks, cleaning the soot out with salt water, as best as they can. They don't exactly have anything else to work with, so...

Once they're sort of clean, John B turns to his girlfriend. "Sarah, when did you say the pilot was getting in?"

"Probably like an hour? I mean, once he's here, my dad says we can leave whenever we want."

"Nice of him," Kathryn scoffs. "He gives us time to disappoint our own parents."

She still has no idea what she's going to say to Henry and Max. Edward, she has it covered, she wagers he actually wants her to go. Her uncles? They aren't going to be so happy. And Kathryn can't even pretend they don't have a say in it... Just that she won't listen.

Just because she doesn't have to do anything with her damage doesn't mean she can't be there for her friends. And in this case, she's also doing it to save herself from abduction. A fourth time. Four is an ugly number anyway, she'd rather leave it at three.

"Yeah, as much as I would love to ghost my parents again, I can't," Pope agrees.

"Pope, we're talking El Dorado here," JJ reminds him. "Can you like, just slip out the back maybe?"

"Great advice," Kie ironises.

"I mean, it always works for me. How to avoid unpleasant circumstances one-oh-one. If there's a problem, you don't wanna face it, turn that face and keister around and walk the other way."

Kathryn snorts. "Yeah, that worked so well for us before. By the way, what happened to my dad's boat?"

JJ makes a face at her. "That was unnecessary. I'm just spitballing here."

Billy winces. "Maybe... don't?"

"And besides, I'm not doing that, okay?" Pope tells him.

The blond sighs. "I just want you to be there, dog."

"I'm gonna be there. I'll meet you at the airstrip in an hour?"

"Yeah," John B nods. "We'll see you there."

"One hour, Pope," JJ warns him. "Not a second later."

"As if you'd leave without any one of us." JJ glowers at Kathryn. "What?"

"Don't go around sapping my authority, how are we meant to educate them?"

She throws her arms up in the air. "We're not mom and dad!" Shaking her head, she turns to Cleo. "You should probably talk to Heyward. From what I've heard, he's sweet on you."

Cleo smirks. "Yes, mama."

She rolls her eyes as they leave, Billy giggling silently next to her. "It's not funny."

"It's a bit funny." JJ tries his best to hide his smile, which just means he fails miserably.

Kie sighs loudly. "I guess I'll go pack some stuff and break the news to my parents."

If Henry and Max are forces to be reckoned with... Well, Mike and Anna Carrera might just be worse. In the sense that they're trying to send her to some wilderness camp named Kitty Hawk, which... no. It's so bad, she heard Caroline talk about it, so.

Kathryn winces. "You going to be okay?"

Kie manages to smile at her. "Yes, mom."

"I'm going to hurt you."

"Daddy's gonna–"

Her eye twitches when she looks back at JJ. "Don't call yourself that."

He grins as he goes on. "Daddy's gonna take a stroll back to the shack. For old time's sake." His smile falters as he walks away. "I always wanted to go to South America. Great surf, cheap weed... See you guys on the tarmac."

Kathryn watches as he leaves, taken back to the bathroom, last night. He was going to say something to her, wasn't he? Something swells in her chest. She has a feeling she really wants to hear it, before she goes out there and ruins every shot she has at being allowed outside when she comes back.

She also has a feeling a lot has been put behind them. And she's not going to look back at it. She had been angry, when she thought that she'd never forgive JJ. As if he hadn't been forgiven before he even said anything.

That was always how they rolled. Kathryn would never offer absolution, but JJ was always pardoned.

"We should go, too," Billy says, watching JJ leave. "Maybe if we speak to Henry and Max together, it'll be less..." She hesitates. "Bloody?"

Kathryn presses her lips together. "Wonderful. I'm so excited."

Still, she waves at John B and Sarah, and goes to leave. She trusts the latter to take care of her best friend, properly, this time. She did get him out of jail. And she apologised, and John B forgave her. And Kathryn may be a little mean, but she'd always liked Sarah.

She doesn't have time to dwell on it anyway. On top of having to prepare herself for the bloodshed that awaits her at home, JJ is waiting for her at the end of the docks. Apparently, she's not the only one who wants to talk.

He'd said 'I'm...' last night. And he had already apologised by then. So what was he, if he wasn't sorry? The thought sends her heart in a frenzy.

Billy smiles. "You know, I'll just wait for you by the car. Let mom and dad talk."

"Wilhelmina Donovan..." she hisses at her.

"I love you lots."

The girl saunters away, tapping JJ on the back as she goes.

Kathryn walks up to him, wringing her hands. She's not sure why she's nervous. It's JJ. When has she been nervous about JJ?

No, she doesn't want answers to that question.

JJ leans against the wooden rail as she catches up to him, watching Billy walk away, skipping. "You think we're raising her well?"

She groans. "I've told you before. We're not mom and dad, we're the weird aunt and uncle, if anything."

He's dead serious when he answers. "We can't have children of our own? That's sad."

"No, we can't, because I'm pretty sure someone stole your balls." He chokes on his laughter. "Look. Last night, after I... tweaked. You were saying something...?" He fights back a smile. Her gut catches on fire. "And I get the feeling I want to hear it without you breaking up with me in the same breath."

If JJ wasn't going to say what she thinks he was going to say, this is beyond awkward. But no. No, the bastard's lips are tugging up despite himself, and his blue eyes twinkle with mischief, and Kathryn knows she's right.

"I'll tell you what." He bites his lip. "I'll tell you on the plane."

She laughs, the sound that haunts his dreams. "Is that how it is?"

"Yeah. Just to make sure you get on," he shrugs. "You know, you look kinda scared–"

She huffs, wagging her finger at him as he walks backwards, away from her. "You're a little bitch, you know that?"

He smirks. "Kiss me about it." She gapes. "Later, KD, geez, not in front of the children."

Kathryn's cheeks burn, fumbling for her words. He always loved to leave her speechless. "Bet," she lets out, not trusting herself for a full sentence. "I'll hold you to that, Jay."

He chuckles. "I'm sure you will."

They're walking in opposite directions by now, but neither one of them wants to look away. "Real mature of you, stalling. Guessing I was right about someone stealing your balls."

"Nah, you know I do the stealing here, baby, that's my job." He clicks his tongue at her. "You'll never guess what I stole from you."

She turns beet red. "You're a sap!"

"You're blushing!"

Maybe there was some good to this.

🍓

This was hell.

Billy and Kathryn have been waiting in the car for more than ten minutes. "What if we tell them that you're practically an adult?" Billy proposes.

"I'm sixteen," she reminds her. "Just because you're all seventeen now doesn't mean I am." She knew that being born in December would end up biting her in the ass. "What if I never ask for anything ever again?"

Billy stares at her. "Well, I wouldn't say a bold faced lie will win them over." She blows out a breath. "How about trying to win them over with your academics? Just say you'll use that for your future Master's thesis."

Kathryn groans. "No! I'm studying myth, legend and history in New England, not South America." She hits her forehead on her steering wheel. "They're going to kill us. Or lock us up."

"Or both..."

They still get out of the car, sighing. "I can't believe I'm doing this to them again."

Billy shakes her head. "No, that's nothing like the island," she promises. "At least now they know where you are."

She tilts her head at her, locking the car. "Risking my life?"

Her friend answers something, she's sure, because from the corner of her eyes, she can see her mouth moving. She's too focused on the car pulling up. On the man getting out, gesturing at someone at the door.

On the 'Kitty Hawk' design on the van he was driving.

This is because she thought about it earlier, isn't it? Like Chekhov's gun, but with her thoughts. She's going to shoot herself with it, without being dramatic.

Who is trying to send her to that sectarian wilderness camp? Henry and Max would never, Edward would rather die. If Caroline shows up, she's biting things.

She processes what's going at the speed of light. First, she's not seeing South America. They're going to try to take her away. If they're here, they may not be the only team on the island. Recruiting might be happening at the same time. Kie's parents talked about Kitty Hawk.

Kathryn can either climb back into her car and run them over. Or...

"Bills," she says, voice low as the man walks to them. "Take my keys. Go warn Kie."

"What?" Billy looks around, confused. "Warn her about what?"

"Kitty Hawk is getting new students today. Make sure she doesn't go home, you got me?"

No, she doesn't. She stares at the man walking up to them. "Who's that?"

"Kitty Hawk," she snaps. They don't have time for that. She throws the keys at her. "Look, just do as I ask, okay? And tell JJ."

Billy is stressing out. "Tell him what?"

"That apparently everyone wants a piece of me, and four's an ugly number!"

Kathryn all but shoves Billy in the driver seat, closing the door. Billy drives off, a bit too quick to Kathryn's tastes as it is still her car. Luckily for her, she's quite busy at the moment.

She thinks being abducted three times has made her more chill about the ordeal. And Kitty Hawk is no Singh, or Rafe. Or Caroline. Surely she can manage the few hours before a certain someone comes up with a god awful plan to get her out. She fully trusts him on that, not a single doubt in her mind.

"Hey, Kathryn Elizabeth."

"Eat a dick."

She never said she was going to make it easy for them.

Kathryn hurries up the stairs, hoping that Henry or Max is home, but knowing that this it's a Thursday, and her uncle is at work, and his fiancé is buying supplies for his bakery. Not to mention her dad's vanishing act, aside from the occasional text.

She's toast.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want to talk to you," the man calls after her.

Do people not hear themselves talk?

She reaches the door. It's locked. Okay. She fumbles for her keys. The door opens.

The man behind it is at least a foot taller than her, and looks nothing like either one of her uncles.

"Oh, that's great. Chip and Dale are here."

Chip doesn't seem to find her funny. "Look. This can go one of two ways."

She makes a face. "Can you at least be inventive? This is my fourth time, I'd love to spice things up."

As if to answer her, Dale walks up behind her, and grabs her by the arms. Kathryn thrashes against his grip, but she already knows she's ending the day in Kitty Hawk, so it's half-hearted at best. Even when she tries to bite him, she doesn't draw blood.

Dale scowls, though. His grip on her tightens until it hurts.

"I'm sorry, Kathryn Elizabeth. I don't have a choice."

The British accent has never been more loathed. Caroline steps forward, behind the man. Of course. Kathryn doesn't have a lot of choice when it comes to abduction, and it seems like history wants to repeat itself.

Caroline looks... Well, to be honest, she looks awful. Her mother is always well-kept, but her make-up is smudged, her hair is a mess, and her mouth looks like a crimson wound on her face.

"You do have a choice," Kathryn says, the unfairness of it all bubbling against her skin. "You just keep making the wrong one."

"I'm trying to help you," she says through gritted teeth. "That doesn't change."

"Maybe it should!"

The man carries her away before she can swing at her, holding onto the fence, screaming at her all the while as they shove her in their pretty Kitty Hawk truck. 'Kitty,' uh. That's irony right there.

In the truck, she puts her legs up against the window, laying down. She can guess that they're taking aback at her sudden change in behaviour, but really Kathryn has seen this before.

Of course Caroline would try to send her to a wilderness camp. She preaches every other day that the Pogues are a bad influence on her, that JJ is the absolute worst, blah, blah, blah. Kathryn may be going to the place, but she was not staying. If push comes to shove, she escaped Singh. She's sure a few guidance counsellors aren't going to be too hard.

Chip sucks his teeth. "We understand how frustrated you must feel, Kathryn Elizabeth."

She hums. "Sounds like you're more pissed than me."

He lets out a heavy sigh. "Is there anything you would like to share with us? This is a safe space."

Kathryn smiles. She grins, even. All teeth, staring at the ceiling of the truck. Yeah. Yeah, there's something she'd like to voice, right about now.

"My boyfriend's really against this."

Author's Note: THE FIRST DRAFT OF MY THESIS? HANDED IN! JJKAT? CALLED EACH OTHER KD AND JAY!!! Can't even hear any critics over the sound of how SO BACK we are ...

Also I have a bad news and a little gift

Here's the little gift <33

https://youtu.be/kFFEUt-p3MA

Book 3 ends in 10 chapters