Kathryn would be almost as surprised as you to learn that she slept at the Château that night. First, she didn't want John B to be alone. She has some remnant of good in her, and he brings it out, what do you want her to say? Second, she needed to wear off the adrenaline and driving wouldn't help.

Especially if, according to JJ, she was 'the worst driver he's ever seen'.

However, she didn't plan that that would mean being stuck in the 'Twinkie' – the worst looking Mystery Machine she's ever seen, she can tell you this – as they drive her home. It would be much more bearable if they would just stop talking about Kie kissing him.

"John B have you never felt the touch of a woman before?" she ironises, peering from the back seats.

He shoves her head back. "Shut up, I have. Multiple women. Your mom included."

Kathryn makes a face, and even JJ shudders. "Dang, sorry for the trauma then," she mumbles.

"I don't understand why you don't at least try with Kiara," JJ says. "She clearly likes you."

Kathryn hums. She has the same impression. "Is it about that stupid rule we had as kids? 'No Pogues on Pogues macking'?"

John B scoffs. "Okay, first of all, it's not stupid."

"98% of friend groups end when they start sleeping with each other," JJ adds.

Kathryn frowns. "Where do you get those stats?"

"My ass."

"Wonderful," she hums in answer. "You don't think letting like, resentment and feelings fester in you is going to impact the group anyway?"

He stares at her. "John B we've got Shakespeare in the back."

"I'll shove King Lear so far up your stats–"

"Kids," John B says, glancing at them. "Play nice."

They both look away after JJ flips her off. Maybe it's their way of communicating now. Obscenities until someone caves, or one of the others gets fed up with their antics. Could be worse, she figures. At least it's not a screaming match to know which of them has the biggest anymore.

"Anyway," JJ continues. "Kie's like, 'Oh, John B.'" The high-pitched voice really sells it.

"Is that what she does?"

"She's sketching about you diving, then she kissed you, bro."

"To be fair he was risking his life," Kathryn reminds him.

"And she kissed me on the cheek. It's not like we were makin' out."

"Low-hanging fruit, bro. Don't pretend you don't notice. I see it in your eyes. You're like, 'I kinda like that,' and you start blushing and shit."

"I blush?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

John B turns to him with a smirk. "Wanna talk about blushing when you kinda like something?" JJ stops talking and looking smug. "I see it in your eyes."

Kathryn pokes her head between the two front seats with a sly smile. "If you're done thirsting over anyone with a pair of boobs, maybe we could talk about the elephant in the room." JJ stares at her. "The compass, idiot."

He hums and takes it, John B almost swerving to get it back from him. "Hey, don't–"

"I was just looking at it." He turns it around in his fingers, thoughtful. "I gotta admit, your father's compass in Scooter's boat, that's freaky."

Kathryn nods, before sighing, sitting back. "Poor Lana. She must be devastated."

If Kathryn didn't know Scooter all that much, she knew his wife. She used to bake biscuits around Christmas time and hand them out. Kathryn would exchange her chocolates for one, even if she didn't ask for it.

"Yeah, keep that thought, you're gonna need it," John B says.

She frowns. "What do you mean?"

"She's on our way to the Palace, might as well stop there and ask a couple questions."

"I'm not harassing a widow for your treasure hunt, JB."

"Why not?" JJ asks with a smirk. "She loves you, you're probably the only one she'll want to talk to."

Kathryn rolls her eyes. "We had a business going on, that's all. Chocolate for biscuits – chocolate is hardly proof of love."

The boys look at each other. "If you bring me your chocolate," John B begins, "I'd love you forever."

"Yeah that's because you think with your stomach first, and head second."

"Chocolate is as good as it gets," JJ continues. "Propose to me with one of those fake gold coins. I'd give up my life for chocolate."

"You'd give up your life for half a warm beer and weed." She sighs. "And a compass, apparently."

John B pulls into the backyard of the Grubbs' house. They get out of the Twinkie, and Kathryn makes a face. The garden is, putting it nicely, a huge mess. It looks like nobody had taken care of it in a very, very, very long time.

"Know what this house looks like? Whoever lives here smokes too much weed."

"Have some pity," Kathryn says, walking between John B and JJ towards the house. "She just lost her husband–"

There's some clattering, glass shattering and a crash.

They all stop dead in their tracks, looking at each other. They can hear men screaming and Lana's voice, a faint, panicked sound. It becomes clear that there's fighting going on.

A shadow passes on JJ's face, and Kathryn would almost say that's he's scared. "Maybe we should come back, it's a little too soon," he says, beginning to walk back to the van.

"No, no, shut up. Shut up, JJ."

There are screams again. "We should call the police," she tells them, whispering.

But John B keeps moving forward, and they follow, trying to hold him back.

There's a particularly loud crash, and they all jump. She gets closer to JJ, the two of them wanting to go away.

"Okay, John B–"

"The cops..."

"Shut up, we're not calling the cops. Come on. Come on."

The screams and crashes get louder as they step closer, Kathryn following John B closely as they approach a window. JJ catches a glimpse of a man passing by it, and darts forward, pushing them against the wall of the house.

Kathryn is pressed against the two boys, eyes wide and her heart in her throat. Too close. Danger. She's gonna die again. She can feel it. It's everywhere, creeping up on her.

"Get off," she says through gritted teeth.

He does, and they stand pressed flush against the wood of the house. John B looks at them and puts a finger against his mouth, telling them to shut up.

Something thumps against the wall, from the inside. Judging by the groans of pain, it's gotta be a person.

"The compass wasn't in the boat! Where is it, Lana?"

JJ and Kathryn look over at John B with wide eyes. "Don't listen," JJ mutters.

There's another hit against the wall, and paint falls on them, on their hair.

"Is that paint?"

"Yes it's paint," Kathryn hisses back to JJ. "Shut it." Who the fuck cares about paint they're going to die.

"Let's get the hell outta here, man."

Hearing that the men were going to leave, John B steps slowly towards the corner of the house.

"We should just go," JJ reasons. "He's got smuggler..."

"Shut up."

"...smuggler written all over him."

Kathryn holds John B back. "If JJ's the voice of reason, maybe we should listen."

He considers them, before deciding against logic and poking his head out. He quickly stumbles backwards, sending Kathryn into JJ as the men escape the house.

They watch, staying carefully hidden as they get in a boat. It looks all too familiar.

Kathryn's eyes widened, heart hammering in her chest. "Those were the guys that shot at us yesterday. That's–"

One of them turns his head towards them, and John B pushes Kathryn back, pressing them against the wall. For a handful of seconds, she feels the ice spreading through her veins. John B lets go of her when they leave, but it's too late. Her body is certain that death is coming, and has accepted it. She won't move.

She shuts her eyes tightly, sounds muffled around her as she stands there, muscles aching from how tensed up she is, still. Her heart hammering is the only thing she can hear, and she wonders if it's going to stop every other beating. Her breath shortens. She waits for death.

"...kay?" She hears faintly. "Hey, Kat?"

"She's freaking me out."

"Just – shut up. Kat? Are you okay?"

Her eyes snap open. She takes a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. The ice recedes and the fire comes back. She pushes past the boys with a snarl, shame turning to anger. "What are you staring at? Let's go."

She leaves them behind and presses forward, legs trembling still. She hates it. She hates it, she hates having panic attacks, she hates people seeing her. If she gets angry, that's all they'll remember – that she was a cunt who screamed her head off because they were being nice. Not the weakness, just the rage.

The inside of the house is turned upside-down. Chairs are upturned, curtains are ripped and her stuff is lying across the floor. There's some shards of glass here and there, but no sign of the owner.

"Miss Lana?" Kathryn calls out softly.

There's a small sob, and she sees her, lying against the bathroom wall, next to the broken sink. Kathryn approaches, crouches next to her and slowly puts her hand on her shoulder. Lana jumps, shocked out of her panicked daze.

She knows that look. "It's okay," she reassures her. "They're gone."

The boys arrive after her, and assess the scene. John B immediately kneels next to Kathryn, but JJ steps back.

He knows that look too.

He puts a hand on her shoulder. "KD, she's tweaking."

She shrugs his hand off. "I know, I have eyes." She turns back to Lana. "Do you need a doctor? Do you want to see one?"

She sobs, unable to answer. Kathryn tries to sooth her, rubbing her back, shushing softly, but nothing seems to help.

"Let's call the sheriff's department," says John B, walking towards the phone line.

Lana panics even more, panting. "No no no – no cops please."

Kathryn pauses for a second. She gets that first instinct – she knows firsthand that cops make it worse, you can trust her on that – but in this case? Lana must have done something not entirely legal.

"Mhm," JJ hums. "That's not good. Come on, guys. Let's just go."

He tries to make Kathryn stand but she pushes him away. "Don't touch me." She can't bear anyone touching her, not right now.

"You shouldn't be here," Lana sobs out.

JJ nods. "That's enough for me. Come on."

Kathryn turns sharply towards him. "If you want to go, JJ, go. We're not holding you back."

He stares at her, as if she was out of her mind. "I'm not leaving you here. Either of you."

She frowns back at him, before turning back to Lana. She resumes her soothing gesture, to no avail.

John B, crouched next to her, inches forward. "What do you know about these guys?" Kathryn sends him a look. Clearly, Lana is in no state to answer.

"They were looking for something," Lana cries out.

He fishes for something in his pocket. "Does it have anything to do with this?" He shows her the compass, and she immediately stops sobbing, stunned. "Do you know anything about this? This is my father's, and Scooter had it. Why?"

She shakes her head frantically. This isn't a panic attack anymore, she's fully freaking out, rocking back and forth. Whatever the compass represents, she's scared shitless of it. "Scooter didn't have it, okay? Don't tell anyone you have it."

"Why?" Kathryn softly asks.

JJ grabs her arm, ready to yank her out of there, but she doesn't move.

"They can't know that you have that! You've gotta get out of here!"

Kathryn finally stands up, JJ keeping her arm in his hands. She doesn't shrug it off. In the midst of things, it's almost... cooling. Grounding her.

"What do you know about the compass?" John B tries to scream louder than her. She's shrieking for them to get out.

Realising that he won't get any more out of her, John B slowly stands up. JJ and him are halfway out of the house, when Kathryn turns around.

She sends Lana a timid smile. "Be careful, Lana."

She doesn't answer for a handful of seconds. "If you know what's good for you, don't stick your nose in this. Last time a Darcy did that..." JJ and John B share a look.

She doesn't end her sentence, but that's enough for Kathryn. She stomps out of the house before she screams herself hoarse. Her dad died in a stupid, completely avoidable shipwreck. He got cocky. Kept saying he'd find the unfindable, and drove himself mad with it.

She makes her way back to the van, and waits for the boys to get inside. They sit silently for a while, not starting the engine.

Her dad died, the end. That's all there is to it. Lana is just saying that to convince her to back down – it has the exact opposite effect. Kathryn never wanted to know more about the compass then she does now.

She lets out a sigh. "You idiots are in way over your heads now."

John B sends her a look in the rear view mirror. "What makes you think you're not in on this too?"

"Common sense, I'm pretty sure I had that."

"Not anymore," JJ admits, slightly out of breath, and completely freaked out.

She tilts her head to the side. "Are you saying I'm in? Glad to know I didn't risk my life twice for nothing."

It still hasn't made its way to her brain. She revels in the bliss – she knows the aftershock is going to be a bitch. But, still.

Thrilled to know she's officially on a hit list.

Author's Note: I love them okay, they're PURE

Editor's Note: I feel like I'm constantly beefing with my old self but please please PLEASE grow a pair of eyes