SMOKE SIGNALS / OUTERBANKS
ੈ✩‧₊˚ written by catie . . . © vqnillascented
chapter thirty five ━━  ' overboard '

BEFORE THE BOAT COULD EVEN come into the picture, they had to get out of this place. This fortress.

"They've got your friends?" Rafe asked yet again. "You're sure?"

"I saw the damn text message!" Alex snapped, her hands tangled in her hair. Dread was eating away at her stomach, listening to trucks full of armed guards drive off.

"I thought we were working together!" Rafe raised his hands at her tone.

She glared at him. "Doesn't mean I'm not gonna yell at you."

"Fine." He shook his head. "Well, this is good, right?"

"Oh, the men with guns heading for my friends, my boyfriend, and your sister? Oh yeah, that's just terrific." She stared at him. "What the hell Rafe?"

"I just meant with less of this guys here, we've got a better chance of sneaking out." He scoffed. "Also, boyfriend?"

She flashed him a tight-lipped smile. "You didn't exactly have the job requirements."

He ignored her. "Okay, here's what I'm thinking. Feel free to jump in if you have any ideas or ━"

"Oh, I will."

He shot her a glare. "I can jump the guard outside the door."

She laughed out loud at this. "That's your great idea? I thought you said you were done hurting people."

He waved her off. "This doesn't count."

"Oh boy."

"You have anything better?" He snapped.

She hung her head. "Still cooking."

"You're gonna distract him somehow. Pretend that you're hurt or something."

"Hurt?"

"Maybe you passed out from not eating or something, I don't know, but just lay out on the floor." He went on. "I'll hide behind the bathroom door and when we're being too quiet, he'll come in to check on us and while he's looking at you, I'll pounce on him."

Alex thought for a moment, mulling it over. "Fine, let's try it."

Moments later, she was sprawled out on the dirty bathroom floor, consciously slowing her breathing.

Rafe crouched behind the door, waiting, and she kept a good eye on him.

It only took their being quiet for two minutes before the guard came barging in. "What did you two do?"

Alex focused on looking unconscious.

When the guard came knocking the bathroom, kneeling down to check her pulse, Rafe sprang into action.

He jumped out from behind the door, slamming his elbow into the man's nose, forcing him backwards.

Another punch to the cheek sent the guard sprawling out on the floor, and once he was level with her, Alex took her cue.

She swung a leg over his back, sitting on him to hold him down. She pried his gun from his holster, tossing it off to Rafe, who quickly aimed it at the guard, commanding him not to move.

Next, Alex yanked his phone free from his back pocket, stuffing it into her waistband. Rafe kept the gun aimed with one hand, while grabbing one of the flowy sheer curtains off the rack.

"Tie his hands." He tossed the curtain to Alex. She caught it and secured the guards hands behind his back, guaranteeing he'd stay put.

Still, he squirmed under her. "You'll regret this." He growled.

"Don't make a sound, alright?" Rafe didn't falter.

Once satisfied that he truly wasn't able to move, Rafe and Alex made a beeline for the door, which had been left open in the scuffle.

"Give me that." Alex whispered, reaching for the gun.

Rafe jerked it back. "No way."

"I don't trust you with a gun, Rafe." She kept her hand extended.

With a sigh, he slapped it down in her palm, the plastic grip cold against her palm. "Do you even know how ━ "

"Yes." She cut him off harshly, the cool feeling on her hands starting to feel a lot more like warm blood. Her mothers blood. "Now, let's get out of here."

They slipped out into the hallway, Rafe leading them in the opposite way of the grand staircase, finding a back set of steps instead.

"Okay, you ready?" He paused at the bottom, hand on the door in front of them.

"Yeah." She adjusted her grip on the gun.

The door squeaked as he pushed it open. It lead into an entryway, which had another door, leading to their freedom, but they could see the many guards pacing around through the windows.

"Shit." Rafe glanced in both directions, eyes lighting up when he spotted another hall. "We can go this way."

As he went off, Alex hung back, slipping the gun into her waistband. Then, she pulled out the stolen phone, snapping a picture of the painting that Singh had referenced earlier, the one of the city of gold. She figured it would come in handy.

"Alex, come on!" Rafe hissed, waiting in the doorway for her.

She scrambled to follow after him, the two winding down the hall under they found a back door that was unguarded. They hid behind the bushes, listening to some men chattering around the corner, waiting for their green light to run.

"Can you see?" Rafe whispered, peering over the fence.

"Screw you and your tallness." Alex muttered, shoving past him so she could get a glimpse around the edge.

There were a few men loading up a truck with what looked like straw or branches of some kind. Most of them were just in regular clothes, Alex assumed they were workers, but there were a few armed guards watching over them.

"That truck is leaving." She breathed.

Rafe's eyes were on her. "Yeah?"

Slowly, she shifted her gaze to meet his, a smirk dancing on her face. "Let's catch a ride."

Next thing she knew, they were sprinted along the bushes, chasing after the truck that was speeding away. Finally, the brush came to an end, and they shoved around the corner to continue their chase down the drive.

Alex got there first, latching onto the metal grate in the back, hauling herself into the pile of hay. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized she wasn't alone back there.

A man sat atop the straw, eyes wide as he took her in. "No, no, no." He clambered to his feet, heading right for her. Panic seized her limbs. There was nowhere to go. She could jump back onto the road ━ flinging herself off a moving vehicle wasn't a new situation for her ━ but then how would they get out? This truck was their only hope.

Suddenly, Rafe was in the straw with her, ramming the man into the back window, away from Alex. The man pushed back, and the two toppled to the ground. Rafe got a solid punch to the man's face, but it was when he reared back for a second one that Alex reached for him.

He ignored her attempts to stop him, grabbing fistfuls of the man's shirt instead. Hoisting him up over the edge of the truck bed ━ Rafe let him go.

Alex's gasp was lost in the wind as the man flew from the truck, landing on the ground several feet away with a loud thud.

She raised her eyes to meet Rafe's, finding his pupils wide and frantic. He was panting, trying to catch his breath, sweat beading on his forehead.

"You good?" She asked, her hands twitching towards the gun still in her waistband.

But he just nodded, still heaving, before taking a seat amongst the hay. "I'm good."

"Did you have to freaking kill that guy?" She threw a glance back over her shoulder.

"He's not dead." Rafe scoffed. "Now, get down. We're almost at the exit."

Remembering the search dogs from her arrival, Alex inhaled sharply before pinning herself to the straw with Rafe. He grabbed a hold of the green tarp piled in the corner, pulling it over the two of them, hiding them even better.

Alex squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the truck roll to a stop underneath her.

"Good?" She heard the driver ask.

"All good." Somebody responded. "Let them through."

Still, she didn't let out the breath she was holding until the truck had been driving again for several minutes.

Rafe shoved the tarp off of them, and Alex tried not to gulp down the fresh air too greedily. They leaned against the back window, now covered by the tarp, their hearts still racing, adrenaline still pumping.

"We make a good team, huh?" She could hear the smile in his voice before she even looked at him.

"We're alive. For now. So, not bad, no." She brushed her sweaty hair off her forehead. God, she missed showers.

"Okay, so my boat ━"

She snorted. "Oh, yes, your boat. How could I ever forget?"

"I can get us there, then I can give you a ride, drop you wherever." He explained. "Somewhere safe. One thing though, I'm not helping your friends. Or my sister. I can't trust them, okay?"

The rest of that sentence didn't have to be spoken.

But I trust you.

She watched him for a moment. "I shot my mother."

His head snapped in her direction. "What?"

"You know, since we're being truthful and everything." She shrugged. "I shot her. On the Coastal Venture. Didn't you see?"

"She locked herself in her cabin for the rest of the trip." He shook his head. "She got off without the rest of us noticing, so, God knows where she is now."

Alex fought back a shiver. "That's...unnerving."

A pause. Then, "I could try to track her down for you."

Her brow pinched. "Why would you do that?"

"I figure I owe you a favor. A few favors. After everything."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Anything you want."

She thought for a moment, silence hanging between them. "Give my dad a proper burial. I don't need his..." She swallowed, a pang firing through her chest. "Just give him a headstone, okay?"

"Okay, yeah. I can do that."

Even as she stared down at the hay, pulling apart one of the pieces with her fingers, she could feel him watching her. Strangely, she realized that she wasn't afraid of him.

Salt water nipped at her nose and stung her eyes with its pungent tartness. The breeze whipped her hair back from her face as she stood on the dock, watching Rafe untie his boat from the cleat.

A strange, uncomfortable feeling was writhing around in her gut. She hadn't been nervous around him in the truck, and come to think of it, she hadn't been when they were in the room either. The whole situation that she had made was out of self preservation, not out of fear.

She hated that she wasn't afraid of him. She hated that she was glad he was here, that she wasn't alone right now, in this strange place with nowhere to go.

Her instincts were telling her to run. Run before he got her guard down too much.

"Okay," He called to her, returning to her side of the boat. "I think we should have enough juice to get us to Saint Lucia, no problem." He waved to the deck. "Come on up, let's get going."

She didn't move.

"What?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't tell me your getting cold feet, Alex. We gotta get out of here."

That's exactly what was happening. She couldn't let him know she was afraid, so, she took ahold of the ladder and hauled herself onto the deck. It took her a moment to get her sea legs under her, but as soon as she did, she started to take in her surroundings, get a scope of the boat. Just in case.

"Can you help with the bowline?" Rafe asked, ducking into the steering center for a moment.

Slowly, Alex approached the stern, heading for the final rope keeping them in place. The anxious twisting behind her ribs only tightened as she walked.

Squatting down in front of the rope, she brushed her fingers over it before pausing.

She couldn't trust him. She couldn't let herself trust him.

Her heart was in her throat as she called over her shoulder. "Rafe, it's stuck!"

He poked his head out of the doorway. "What do you mean it's stuck."

She pretended to pull on the rope. "I mean, it's stuck, I can't get it!"

With a huff, he stomped out to join her. "Do I have to do everything?"

She stepped back to give him the room to tug on it. This was her chance. Once they  were out to sea, she was trapped with him. What if he tried something?

He got the bowline undone, rising back to his full height, only to find himself staring into the barrel of a gun.

"What the fuck?" His voice spluttered out in a mix between a gasp and a laugh. "Alex, what's this?"

The safety clicked as she turned it off.

Any humor that had been in his expression was gone. "Whoa, hold on, what are you doing?"

She took a breath. "Give me the keys."

"No!" He slapped a hand over his pocket for good measure. "What the hell is going on, are you insane?"

Her finger brush against the trigger. "Hand me the keys, and then get off the boat."

"Alex." His eyes looked so sad. "I thought you trusted me."

"I can't, Rafe. For my own good." She tightened her grip on the weapon. "Keys."

Slowly, he reached into his jeans pocket. The keys rattled as he tossed them at her feet.

"Now get off." She whispered, her chin threatening to wobble. She didn't want to be here again, gun aimed at somebody who used to mean something to her.

She wasn't sure she could pull the trigger this time.

Keeping his eyes on her and the gun, he swung his leg over the metal railing, hanging half on the boat and half over the ocean.

"You're gonna regret this." His eyes were fire as they met hers one last time.

Her throat was burning. "I already do."

With this, he jumped from the boat, landing in the water with a splash.

Alex didn't waste another moment, snatching up the keys with her free hand and sprinting to the control room.

She tossed the gun onto the seat behind her, her hands slick with sweat. Her mother's blood.

The engine came to life as just one turn of the keys, and soon, she was pulling away from the docks, heading out into open water.

The anxiety was lifted from her insides, replaced now with sinking, heavy, regret. She glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of Rafe climbing back onto shore.

She had made the right choice. Rafe wasn't a person she could trust. He was a bad person, who did bad things, who only looked out for himself. She knew this. She needed to know this.

For a minute there, he had almost gotten her to believe that he could be better.

Her damp hands trembled as she steered the boat, attempting to flee from her regret.

Alex clung to land, never getting more than fifty feet from land, keeping an eye on the shoreline as she circled the island.

Her friends were here somewhere, she knew it.

It didn't take long at all to spot a familiar, comforting mop of blond hair.

She couldn't have docked fast enough, tying just enough ropes off to keep the boat from drifting away before running for the ladder.

Her boots made a loud thud when she jumped onto the dock. The noise quickly grabbed JJ's attention.

"Oh my God." His breath rushed out of his lungs.

She sprinted over to him, relief nearly making her knees buckle. Before she could fall, he caught her up in his arms, squeezing her tightly against him.

She was home.

"I'm so freaking glad you're okay, you have no idea." He gasped, holding her so close with no sign of letting go anytime soon.

"You wouldn't believe the shit that just went down." She managed to slip from his suffocating, yet warm, hug, but he couldn't fully let her go, keeping one hand on her waist and one cupping her cheek.

"Tell me all about it, okay? Every detail." He brushed her hair out of her face. "But later. There are some people I think might be happy to see you too."

He stepped aside, revealing the rest of the group just down the dock. They all wore expressions of shock, frozen in place. Sarah was the first to move, wrapping Alex up in another constrictive embrace.

"Holy shit, holy shit." She laughed, clutching Alex tight.

"Holy shit." Alex giggled with her, feeling another set of arms join the hug.

"Jesus, I thought you were a goner." Pope said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Alex scoffed, despite the fact that she couldn't stop smiling, not as Kiara, Cleo, John B added themselves to the huddle as well. JJ's hands slipping around her signaled that the hug was complete. She was truly safe.

They stayed like that for a long moment, relief flooding over them like the warm sunlight. When they finally separated, the other started to notice the boat.

"Where did you find that?" Kiara guffawed.

"Long, long story." Alex shook her head, swallowing back the remains of her regret.

"Well, we've got a long, long boat ride home." JJ said, starting for the boat.

They all followed after him, taking turns climbing the ladder then absorbing the sheer massiveness of the boat. Alex was still grinning like a fool as they boarded. It felt good to be back.

catie speaks!

just finished obx season 4...y'all what the hell was that 😃

updating this fic cause i figured we all need some happiness

no spoilers here!!! all that i'll say is if anybody is wondering if i'm changing the ending of 4...

consider it changed.

i have a CRAZY plot line already picked out and there will be PLENTLY of angst (obviously, it's me) but no, i will not be keeping that ending the same 😚

ANYWAYS back to this season, how are we feeling??? alex betraying rafe??? payback or
mistake??

any thoughts? theories?

thank you so much for reading! i hope you liked it!! please vote and comment if you enjoyed, and follow to be notified when i update! love you alllll 😘

virtual hugs,
catie!