MY PURPOSE - JOHN B ROUTLEDGE

CHAPTER SIX - HOMECOMING

Eleanor awoke to the hand of John B's on her shoulder. The pounding ache of her gunshot wound hit her like a brick as she took a couple of deep breaths.

John B smiled sadly. He would forever feel guilty for what happened "Here" He handed her the medication she needed as she thanked him.

Tucking her hair behind her ears she saw they were pulling up to shore "Where are we?" Eleanor asked.

"Charleston" John B smiled "We made it" And unbeknownst to them, the pogues had just made it to Charleston too.

Anchoring them to the sand, Eleanor grabbed the two gas tanks and handed them over to John B who set them down on the beach.

Wincing with every step, Eleanor managed to lift herself on the edge of the boat and swing her legs over. John B reached his hands out to her "You ready?"

She nodded, giving John B the signal as one hand went around her thighs and the other on her back to lower her down onto the sand. She grabbed his arm to stabilise herself before she was able to walk but just with a limp.

He then picked the gas tanks back up and they were on there way "Hey, listen, we're gonna get some gas, find a phone, and get out of here, all right?"

"How we gonna pay for the gas?"

"Don't worry about it" John B assured her "We'll figure it out"

She nodded, they always figured it out. From the beach, the two walked down a concrete path where they came across a restaurant that was full of Kooks from Charleston. But she had to admit, the food looked amazing.

"That looks so good. I'm starving" John B said "We gotta get some food. Follow my lead"

"Okay" Following behind John B who was coming up behind a waiter serving a rich looking couple before purposely bumping into him. Hard enough to make the drinks on the tray spill all over the man and woman.

Eleanor gasped as the two stayed in character whilst she caught sight of the wallet.

"I am so sorry" John B apologised, pretending to be in shock of what he had just done.

"Oh my god. Your shoes!" Eleanor pretended to mourn the woman's shoes even though she probably has another fifty at home "I am so sorry!"

"This is a $1,700 jacket!" The angry man shouted at John B.

"A hundred percent on me. I'm sorry, I bumped into him"

"Is there anything I could do?" Eleanor said in a nice, sweet voice to the woman whilst quickly but smoothly grabbing the leather wallet off the table and shoving into her back pocket of her shorts.

"No, I'm sorry. This is on me" John B said to the waiter "I bumped into him"

"You're saying you're gonna pay for it?"

"I don't have any money, I'm broke"

The man looked him up and down "Of course you don't. Pathetic!"

"Let me talk to a manager, okay?" The waiter said, trying to de-escalate the situation.

"I'm sorry" He started to walk away with Eleanor already behind him waiting to go.

"No need for name calling, sir. I'm sure you've got another five at home" She gave him a sarcastic smile as they walked away.

"Did you get it?" John B whispered.

"Get what?" She smirked "Wait, you mean this?" She pulled out the wallet.

"Oh my god" He sighed in relief.

Eleanor chuckled "Don't worry. I'll sugar mama you"

"I was hoping you'd say that"

"Honestly rich people. My family has money and we don't act like that. I'm literally drenched in blood and he's moaning about the tiniest stain on his jacket yet the world carry's on spinning" She laughed dryly.

They wandered around town until they came across a gas station that looked like it would fall down with a little bit of wind.

"All right" John B set the gas tanks down "How many hotdogs do you want?"

"Fifty? Hundred, I don't care" She passed him some money from the wallet as he walked into the shop whilst Eleanor began to fill the tanks. Her eyes stayed on alert for any threats. She might be injured but that doesn't stop her from putting up a good fight.

"Oh shit" The couple they had stole from was coming their way. Quickly finishing up with the tanks, she grabbed them and moved behind the pump so they wouldn't see her when John B came out the shop with the hotdogs whilst talking as loud as he possibly could.

"They ran out of the real deal" He said with his mouth full "They're vegan. What?"

"He's right there!" She whispered "Shut up! He's literally right-"

"Hey! You! Come here! Thieves! You stole my money! Come here"

"Fucking idiot" Eleanor mumbled. John B picked up the gas tanks as the two made a run for it with the man a few steps behind them.

"Hey, come here! Come here you!"

By some miracle the painkillers she'd taken had finally kicked in allowing her to run and keep up with John B. They were dodging corners, twisting and turning down various streets. It reminded her of the good times, back home and with the Pogues.

They finally came to the end of the alleyway. They were running across the road hopefully to lose the man behind them when a rusted grey pickup swerved around the corner and came speeding towards them.

"JB, look out!" Eleanor shouted, pushing him and her out of the way before they both came in contact with the ground. They were both coughing and panting when they managed to sit up.

She already had a broken rib and probably another one now. She took John B's hand to help her up as she narrowed her eyes at the speeding truck "What fucking maniacs!" Then it hit her "Wait. Is that..."

"Heyward?"

Eleanor smiled "Heyward's truck"

They were brought back to reality when that man had caught up to them. Grabbing the gas tanks, they began running after the truck. The truck drove on for a few more minutes before taking another last minute and reckless turn into an alleyway. JJ was definitely driving.

As they were running Eleanor could see fumes of smoke coming from the vehicle, this was their chance to finally catch up to them. Stopping at a corner, they couldn't believe it. It was them. The dark, brown hair, the long, curly hair, that shaggy blonde hair and that dirty, blonde hair only belonged to one girl with the last name Cameron. It couldn't be anyone else.

"Hey! JJ! Pope! Kie! Sarah!" Eleanor and John B shouted but they didn't hear them since they were being chased by some man too.

"Shit!" Eleanor couldn't believe the man was still chasing them all the way from the gas station.

"Come on. We gotta find them" He jumped onto a bike that was in the middle of the footpath and Eleanor got in the back with the gas tanks since it had a cart attached to it.

"How do you work this thing?" He muttered before he figured it out and they were pedalling away. The owner of the bike got up from the bench he was sat on and started running after them too. Now they had two men chasing them.

"Pope, Kie, JJ, Sarah!" Eleanor shouted, her head looking down each alleyway to try and spot them.

As they were about to pass another alleyway, four people came running out of it causing John B to slam on the brakes. JJ, Pope, Sarah and Kie had all came to a halt too. Eleanor and John B's eyes met each of theirs as their jaws dropped.

For those few seconds time had stopped. The world stopped spinning. The pogues were back together again. Time resumed.

"Get in! Get in!" The two shouted as Eleanor moved over so Kiara and Sarah could get in whilst Pope and JJ helped John B get the cart moving faster by pushing the back.

They had lost the two men, it was just the guy the Pogues had picked up. JJ took Eleanor's extended hand when he thought they had enough momentum as she pulled him up. Her hands were resting on his backpack to keep him from falling.

Pope continued to push the bike until he stumbled, tripping over his speed and rolling across the road. He quickly shot up and started to run again as Kiara leaned forward to grab his shirt and pull him up so he was stood like JJ.

The group cheered when the man fell and tripped over himself too. JJ and Eleanor turned around to flip the man off as they pedalled away. For that moment, they were free.

Once they got to the beach, they hopped the fence and ran to the boat. Pope and JJ pushed the boat off the sand once John B had filled the boat tank with fuel. He then started the engine.

The first thing Eleanor did was bring Sarah into a very strong hug then Kiara. The two returned them, laughing and smiling with joy. The girls were quick to give her a one over and they could tell how exhausted she was. The tan on her face had turned to sun poisoning. And when she stumbled in the sand, the two teens saw the bloody bandage and shorts at the right of her gut.

Sarah gasped as Kiara asked "El, what happened?!"

Eleanor looked down at her wound, taking a seat before going on to tell them how Rafe had shot her.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry, El" Sarah couldn't help but feel guilty. Her own brother had shot her best friend.

"It's not your fault, Sarah" She smiled at her, giving her a side hug.

JJ had now joined the conversation "Wait till I see him. I'll fuckin' kill him" He spat, ripping off his hat.

"Always my wingman, JJ" She leaned over as far as she could that didn't cause her much pain as the two did the Pogue handshake.

"So, do we get to find out now how you two survived that storm or what?" Kiara looked at the couple.

John B smiled over at Eleanor "We're just immortal at this point"

The Pogues smiled. John B and Eleanor told them about everything that happened during their little 'getaway.' Being picked up by a tug boat, almost being turned in before running and getting threatened. Then ended up working with the crew to do an armed robbery of the gold and it worked until it didn't. John B explained everything that happened when Eleanor got shot since her memory was quite hazy. Eleanor felt bad because she could tell how hard it was for him. Then she finished with telling them how they ended up in Charleston and why they were being chased.

That was their half of their adventure. Now it was the Pogues' turn.

A number of things had happened in Outer Banks while they had been gone. Dom had ended up knocking Ward out that night during the storm and Leon had taken JJ in. Then Pope has received a letter from a woman who had claimed on having evidence to clear John B and Eleanor's names. They weren't sure how but Pope said it was true. That's the reason they were in Charleston. Except Pope said the woman was quite weird and didn't seem trustworthy at all. Apparently she was going on and on about some cross that he should have a key to. JJ, Kiara and Sarah added in that they tried to kidnap Pope and that's why they were running away from that guy.

They were now off to the chateau. As much as Eleanor wanted to see her family, she knew it wouldn't be tonight. So instead they agreed to have one night off and party at the chateau. They all deserved it.

With quick trip into town, they had beers ready to drink and the hot tub was in full swing. Eleanor and Kie were smoking a blunt whilst JJ was beatboxing and Pope was rapping with the beat.

"I never made good grades in school. When I get out, I act like a fool. They say I come in the party and cause a commotion. I'm smooth, yeah, call me lotion"

Eleanor chuckled, giving a round of applause for the two. Pope swam over to a laughing JJ and slumped over his shoulder with one arm wrapped around the blonde's neck.

"Get a room, boys!" Eleanor shouted, climbing out of the hot tub to put her cigarette out. He gave her the middle finger in reply.

The boys began to playfully wrestle as John B left the hot tub and followed Eleanor. He came up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist causing her to lean back into him with a lazy smile on her face.

John B laughed as he looked down at her "Ohh so you like me now"

Turning around in his arms, her hands came up to his hair and she pulled him closer before crashing her lips onto his.

"Oy! Get a room!" JJ shouted back.

Eleanor smiled into the kiss, lifting her left arm up to show JJ the middle finger whilst continuing to kiss John B like her life depended on it. Once they pulled away, Eleanor looked up at him.

"Does that give you an answer" She smirked "You might've been a dick back in Nassau but I think I've managed to forgive you"

"I am sorry, El, believe me. For everything that I did, I was reckless...a-and stupid and I didn't mean to do the shit I did" He sighed "Okay...I love you, baby, so much"

She smiled "I love you too"

The two boys were still play fighting as the couple turned around to see Pope leg sweep JJ. He stood up victoriously and cheered with his arms up in the air.

Eleanor cheered for him "When did you start to wrestle, Pope?"

"I dunno" Pope shrugged with a big grin on his face causing to Sarah to giggle "I'm done. I'm out of here"

"Did you have too many beers?" JJ said in some weird kind of accent that made Eleanor smile "You want a round two?"

"Yeah I think I'll take my losses" He replied back as Kiara looked at Eleanor with a smirk before going after Pope.

"Way to be discreet!" JJ shouted after them.

"I leave, and this is what happens" John B laughed.

"Are you blaming me?"

John B looked at the blonde "Just a little bit"

"You guys are the ones that died , okay? That was..."

Eleanor cut the blonde off "Literally one job, blondie. No Pogue-on-Pogue-macking"

"One job? El, okay, I got you your corona" He pointed at the beer bottle she was holding "Now it's my turn to have a ride in that monster of a car"

"I don't break promises JJ, who do you take me for?" She smiled before her eyes drifted to where John B was looking at the tree the Pogue's had created in memorial for him and Eleanor.

JJ walked over to him.

"It's a cute art project" John B sniffed, trying to keep in his tears "Killed the tree though"

JJ chuckled "Probably. Yeah. My bad"

Eleanor came up from behind John B and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. She looked at the memorial, and in that moment she felt like they had died and came back to life.

"I freaking missed you, guys" JJ brought them in a close embrace as they all fought back their tears.
After a long needed hug to make sure that everything happening in that moment was real, John B was the first to pull away as he looked over at his wife.

"I'm gonna go check on Sarah" He said referring to the blonde who was still in the hot tub drinking beers. Eleanor nodded, giving him another kiss on the lips before he walked off.

Eleanor finished the last of her beer while continuing to stare at the tree like it held the significance of life. She wished it did.

JJ took a deep breath before turning his head to look at the brunette "I gotta say El, I wasn't doing so great without you"

A few tears started to trickle down her face "Me neither, JJ. From the first day I saw you on the beach, I knew you were trouble just like me" She smiled "God, I love you blondie"

"I love you too, El" JJ hugged her once more just the two of them as she buried her face into his shoulder.

As the night went on, the Pogues enjoyed their time together when they saw Pope and Kiara going by on the HMS Pogue.

"Oh! All right" JJ said as Sarah and Eleanor waved with big smiles on their faces.

"Have a good time!" Sarah yelled.

"Be responsible kids!" Eleanor shouted afterwards.

"There he goes" JJ looked at JB "He jacked your boat, dude"

"Pope's poking on the Pogue" John B spoke at the same time Sarah wolf whistled.

"You should probably-" John B cut him off by placing his hand over the boys mouth while Eleanor got up from her seat. The sound of gravel shifting and a car door being slammed was heard. The four froze as their eyes looked into the darkness. The chickens started clucking and fluttering, something wasn't right.

"Wait, wait, wait" John B said "What was that?"

JJ looked at him funny "Your chickens?"

Eleanor shook her head "No, I heard it too. That was the sound of a car door slamming"

Grabbing Sarah's hand, she looked over at her husband "JB, we need to go"

"Up the tree" He whispered before turning to JJ "Kill the fire"

Pouring some water over the flames, the four made their way to the tree. JJ was the first to climb up then helping Sarah up too. John B was the next after Sarah then finally Eleanor. Her gun shot wound was throbbing by the time she was straddling some branch.

It was Rafe Cameron and the local drug dealer, Barry who had gone into the Chateau whilst Rafe looked around the yard. Barry came back a few minutes later, kicking the door open and smashing a beer bottle in frustration.

"Anything?" Rafe called out to him.

"No, ain't shit in there, bro"

"They were obviously just here based off the smoke"

That started them arguing as Eleanor took a deep breath as she rested her head against the branch. She felt sick for Sarah as that was her brother down there acting like a raging psychopath.

"P4L" Barry laughed at the memorial carved into the tree "So your sister's a Pogue for life, huh, Rafe? Now who would've thought?"

Eleanor looked up at Sarah as she mouthed to her to stay quiet. She wanted to kill both of them for even mentioning Sarah's name. They didn't deserve to say it. Rafe didn't deserve to have her as a sister.

There was a moment of silence before Rafe shouted "Shit!" Aiming his gun at the tree, he began to shoot maniacally while even Barry tried to calm him down. Several bullets missed them by an inch as they all had to duck to not get shot.

"Rafe! Chill your shit! Chill out!!" Barry yelled "You're gonna get our asses busted, dawg! Let's bounce. Let's bounce. Let's go!" He ran to the car with Rafe following quickly behind.

The four teens made sure they were gone before carefully climbing down the tree. They were now sitting ducks waiting for Pope and Kie.

-----

"Finally. Guys! Hey, don't tie up!" JJ called out to Kiara and Pope.

It was finally the next morning and their getaway had arrived.

"What? Why?" Kie questioned.

"We're dipping" JJ said quickly.

"Wait, why?" Pope asked.

"What? What are you talking about?"

John B with his arm around Eleanor's waist and hers around his shoulder for support, came hurrying down the stairs after JJ and Sarah.

"What happened last night? Where were you?" John B asked.

"We slept on the break. What's up?" Pope replied.

"Slept, right. Yeah" Eleanor smiled at the two of them "Lucky you, we were up all night"

"We gotta get the hell out of here" John B spoke.

"Rafe knows we're here, so we have to leave, like, now" Sarah explained.

The Pogues soon left on the boat and didn't tie up until they found a secluded spot to hold up for the time being. Eleanor tucked her hair behind her ears before they all sat down on the grass to come up with some sort of plan.

"Look, if Rafe and Barry know, it's only a matter of time" Sarah muttered.

"Before everyone knows" Pope finished off.

"I told you. We should've just gone south, man" JJ shouted "Why does no one ever listen?"

"I have an idea" Sarah spoke up "With me back, my dad's going to have to choose between me and Rafe. He's gonna choose me"

"Sarah..." Eleanor looked over at her "I know he's your dad but he's never been your dad. He keeps lying to you and he always will"

Kie nodded "El's right. He's never gonna agree after all that's happened"

"No. I...I know it sounds crazy. I know! But he's my dad" Her voice softened like she was about to cry "And I know him and I know he loves me. I'm just asking for two hours. That's all..."

No one spoke after that so Sarah took it as her queue to get up and walk down to the water "Sarah" Eleanor stopped her "Be safe all right and we'll see you back here in two hours?"

The girl nodded "Two hours" The brunette brought her in for a quick hug before Sarah left the dock. Now all they had to do was wait. Again.

JJ was pissed off to say the least as he paced up and down the sand "Ya know what? El, I can't believe you're agreeing to this! This is stupid! We're sitting ducks here!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" She looked at him incredulously "I know what's at stake here, JJ. Me and John B in orange jump suits and handcuffs. I know!" John B looked down at his feet, grabbing the girls hand in his "But we owe this to Sarah, she left her entire family behind for us. I think we can give her two hours"

-----

"Sarah!" Eleanor shouted, jumping out of John B's arms when she saw Sarah pull up in the boat.

"You made it" Pope smiled as they all ran down to greet her.

"What happened?" John B asked.

"You guys were right. It didn't work" She shrugged "Sorry"

"Then that settles it, guys. Now, y'all need to load up in the paddy wagon and get the heck out of dodge right now" JJ pointed to the HMS Pogue as Eleanor sighed.

"Right, you'll need supplies, and you'll have to split as soon as possible" Pope agreed.

"Guys, I think it's too late" Kie said as sirens wailed in the distance. Three police boats and one FBI boat were hurtling towards them.

"Fuck" Eleanor muttered "Ward had them on fucking speed dial"

"We gotta find another way out of here" Pope said as they gathered all their bags.

They all started running. The pain was a lot but Eleanor knew she could handle it as they bolted across the sand and through some water before getting to more of the forest part of the island.

The cops were now on foot and so would her uncles with their guns loaded and ready to shoot and one thing Luke Hobbs never did was miss. They ended up at another pool of water but this was much bigger as Pope and Kie dragged themselves through it.

"I got you" JJ muttered, grabbing her hand and helping her into the water with John B behind them. Halfway there and they all started to swim. JJ and John B stay at either side of her to help her move quicker with how much pain she was in. Soon enough, they were at shore and running again but this time they had water weight slowing them down.

"Behind the tree!" John B yelled. They all took cover as Eleanor gasped for air. Broken ribs and the pain from her abdomen to her leg was not a good mix. They couldn't run anymore.

"We're not getting out of this. We gotta make a stand" JJ declared. Taking out his gun and drying it off with his bandana. John B stepped forward and grabbed the gun. JJ tried to fight him but he managed to grab the gun out of his hands and drop it onto the ground.

"It's gonna be alright" He told the blonde, patting his cheek before looking at Eleanor who nodded and walked over to him. They had no where else to go. JJ covered the gun with dirt as the couple stepped out into the clearing.

"We're surrendering, Shoupe!" John B shouted.

"Hands in the air!"

"Don't move!"

The two complied. Eleanor could've cried when she saw Hobbs, Brian and Deckard all pointing their weapons at her.

"Eleanor, you hurt?" She heard Brian ask her. He was looking at her blood stained shorts and her bandage that definitely needed changing by now. She shook her head.

"Let's get medics at the doors when we arrive" Brian said into his radio.

"Hey, listen, Shoupe, we wanna testify"

"It's about time. Get down. Do not move a muscle. Everybody else, don't move" Shoupe told him and John B listened to every word he said.

"Eleanor, get down on your knees. Interlace your fingers behind your head" Deckard instructed as he handcuffed her before carefully standing her up and that's when it all happened so quickly.

A cop called Thomas looked like he was going to handcuff John B before grabbing him round the chest and slamming him onto the ground as every officer watched. Shoupe called out to make him stop but he was just too angry.

"John B!" Eleanor cried from Deckards arms, Brian and Hobbs either side of her "This is in on you, Shoupe! If you just did your fucking job in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess!"

Eleanor was hyperventilating at this point "El, I need you calm down, all right? You're gonna be okay. Both of you" Brian told her. They soon started to move her but she wasn't having any of it.  

"Uncle Deck just let me go" She pleaded "Fuck Shoupe, how much is he paying you, huh?! You fucking bastard! Peterkin would be ashamed of you! All of you!" She yelled before she was placed into the back of a black SUV. FBI money and all.

Eleanor's vision was getting hazy as her back hit the leather seats and the door slammed shut. She could faintly see the outline of Hobbs running over to stop Thomas before passing out because of the pain.