𝟎𝟓𝟒.         𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

the anchor            ────           bastille

☀︎ 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐲𝐧'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

𝖨 𝖣𝖨𝖣𝖭'𝖳 𝖦𝖤𝖳 𝖳𝖮 𝖱𝖤𝖲𝖯𝖮𝖭𝖣 𝖳𝖮 𝖩𝖩'𝖲 𝖰𝖴𝖤𝖲𝖳𝖨𝖮𝖭 as Pope, Kiara and John B safely arrived back at the container without being stabbed, shot or smacked. I pull off the grate, allowing our friends to climb through, but it's not just the three of them coming into the container.

No, there's a fourth person with them.

"Jesus Christ! I kill you, John B." Her accent is strong, unfamiliar to me, but John B seems to know her.

"Who is this?" I ask, watching as John B lifts himself in after the mystery girl.

"Juts relax, okay?" John B steps over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. JJ steps over to cover the grate once everyone has stepped in, but I'm disappointed to see that Sarah isn't climbing through.

"Who is she?" I ask, looking to the girl again. "What's going on, John B?"

"Hey, hey. Brooke, relax," John B utters, squeezing my shoulder. "Remember I told you about the girl we met in the Bahamas that saved us?"

"Uh..." I wrack my brain for the name. "Cleo, right?"

"Cleo." John B nods firmly. "She's gonna help us, alright?" He looks over at the mystery girl── Cleo from the Bahamas. "Cleo, this is my sister."

Cleo steps over to me, grasping my hand tightly. "Heard a lot about you." I can imagine she's heard a lot about me given that John B and Sarah spent ages trapped at sea with Cleo and her crew.

I shake her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Instead of introducing himself to Cleo, he looks to see that our friends have come back empty handed. "Did you guys seriously not grab anything, not one single gun?"

"We tr... we tried, okay? I got attacked."

"This is why I shouldn't gone with." Although, if he had gone, he and I wouldn't have had the moment. He wouldn't have asked me a question I've been longing to hear, and I wouldn't have nearly uttered the word.

"Let me get this straight." Cleo inserts herself into the middle of our group. "You five, with no weapons, decided you were gonna hijack this tramp steamer on your own?" I haven't got anything to say because, yes, that's exactly what we decided to do. "Do you have any idea who these people are? Eberhimi, if he catch you, he's gonna kill you. Dead. Cut off your fingers."

Well, she's a lot of fun, but she's very honest.

"Okay. What about waiting until we get to port? At least then, if something goes wrong we have a place to run," Kiara suggests.

"No, No, we can't do that."

"Why?"

"Because I've run this scenario over a thousand times in my head, and our best chances are on this ship. There's fifteen crew members and six of us──"

"Exactly."

"We wait till we get there, they'll trap us."

"We have no chance," I interject, not wanting to be a downpour, but I don't think we're as slick as we believe we are.

"No, B, there's something else." He pauses, peering over at me, and I stare up at him. His expression has changed, and I can sense that he's going to say something I am not going to like. What more could there be?

I narrow my eyes. "What?"

"Ward's alive."

No words leave my mouth. How can they? When somebody hears something like that, how can one speak? The man who killed our father is alive. How? I watched him explode on that freaking boat, so how can he possibly be alive? It's not possible. No.

"He's alive, and he's on this boat," John B clarifies, a sorry look in his eye, but it's not his fault. He has nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry that he had to see him alive just when we thought he was dead.

"He's..." My mouth feels dry. "He's alive."

I feel a hand graze my back, and I don't need to turn my head to know who's there.

John B nods, looking defeated. "Yeah."

"Are you serious?" JJ's tone is harsh while the hand on my back is soft.

"It was all a setup, blowing up the boat, the confession to Shoupe," John B speaks, looking at each of us. "Think about it. That was to clear Rafe's name." Yeah, now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Too much sense. I feel sick to my stomach. "And he does what? Goes to the Druthers. And what's on the Druthers?"

"Scuba," JJ forces out, sounding agitated.

John B hums. "Bingo."

"So, Ward's alive, huh?" JJ's knuckles drag across the small of my back, comforting me in a subtle, quiet way. "And he has the gold and the cross and Sarah," JJ adds, head shaking.

"Thanks for rubbing that in," Kiara comments.

"So he's just gonna get away with everything again, huh? Not happening." The boys look determined, of course they do, but I'm unsure on what they're going to do to stop Ward because he'll just keep on getting away with it. "We're not watching this movie again, right, Pope? You said we need the win. And with her," JJ points over to Cleo, our new member of the crew. "...we're going to the bridge, and we're gonna take it right now. You with me?"

Pope grins, liking that idea. "Let's do it, but I wanna be the one to take that bridge."

JJ laughs, stepping away from my side to slap his hand over Pope's. "That's what I'm talking about."

Cleo begins to chuckle behind Pope, her head shaking like she can't believe what she's hearing. "He's gonna take the bridge?" She jabs a finger in Pope's direction, scoffing. "He couldn't even take me."

I can't bite back the laugh that rips out of me, but I do look away when Pope glares at me. He then looks back to Cleo, disagreeing with her. "First of all, I was going easy on you."

"I went easy on you," Cleo snipes.

I love her.

"Shut up──"

"Relax, all of you." John B steps up, not wanting any kind of fight to break out while we're stuck in this tin can.

JJ's arm brushes mine as he turns, facing Cleo. "If you're really with us, if we use that knife, we can go up into the bridge, hold it up against the captain's neck, then we go on the intercom and make him tell the rest of the crew to meet up in the forward hull," JJ explains, and we each listen, and the plan really doesn't sound all that bad. "Once they're in the same place, bam, we lock them in there, and we take back what's ours."

Did he just give us a solid plan?

"I like it. It could work."

"Are you with us, then?" JJ asks Cleo, hoping to hear that word I'm supposed to tell him.

"No," she bites out, and that actually surprises me. I assumed she'd be with us on this. She turns her head to John B. "This is stupid."

"Stupid things have good outcomes all the time," I say, quoting the only guy who has ever said that in regard to something as stupid as this.

JJ grins, glancing down at me. "That they do."

Before anyone can say another word, something── or somebody── hits the side of the container we're standing in. "Alright, let's open these things up!"

"They're checking the containers," I realise, finding that we are on the verge of being caught because there's nowhere to run to now.

Cleo steps away from us, reaching out for the grate so she can get out. "What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, she shushes us, pulling off the grate and handing it off to Kiara before she lifts herself out. We just stand and stare, not fighting her on it, but concerned that she could either tell this guards that we're here or tell them to look elsewhere. I'm unsure how this is going to go, if I'm being honest.

Kiara places the covering back over the hole once Cleo is out of sight, and we just listen.

"Macias!"

"She's gonna tell them. Shit!"

"Hold up!" Cleo calls, and I squeeze my eyes shut, afraid that we're about to be caught, but then she says, "This one's clear, sir."

I release a breath, relieved.

Guess she is on board with our insane plan after all. We should probably welcome her into our crew officially.

"Are you sure?"

"Went through it inch by inch," Cleo tells the guards, continuing on with this lie. "Nothing but tubing and plastics in there."

"What if the stowaway had been in there?"

"Well, he wasn't, so... Come on, man. We have work to do," Cleo shouts. "Move your bumper, man."

"Okay, shes on our side. That's good." Yeah, that is good, and it isn't bad to have another person on our side after all, right? Too many people hate us, so it actually feels pretty good to have somebody leaning towards us instead of the bad guys.

"Okay, Pope, you're up. We'll wait for your signal, okay?"

Cleo whistles from outside the container and Pope pulls off the grate covering the opening, pulling himself through to meet Cleo, and we listen as he thanks her on all our behalf's. "Thanks for that, by the way," he speaks. "Look, I don't know why you did that, but I'm not gonna argue. Why'd you do that?"

"Not for charity," she answers bluntly. "Just figure I'm better off with you guys than with Eberhimi."

"Right."

"And now you guys owe me a cut of that treasure," she tells, and I huff out a laugh. She definitely deserves a little something, I agree. Gotta hand it to her, she's determined.

"That's fair."

"Alright. How 'bout we take over this fort, chief?"

"Um... Can I borrow your knife?" Pope asks, but we all know that answer is gonna be no. I love Pope, but I wouldn't give him a knife either, no offence.

"I got a better idea. Come on."

I don't know how long we wait, but it really doesn't feel like long, because before we have any time to get prepared for what we're about to do, we hear the captain of the ship speaking through the intercom, indicating that our boy genius and new friend have done it.

"Attention, all passengers, all crew, report to the tween forward hull. That's an order. Repeat. All hands and all passengers report to the tween forward hull immediately."

"They took the bridge. They did it."

JJ grins, hand squeezing my shoulder. "That's our boy."

We each make our way out of the container, no longer afraid of being caught as they're all about to be locked up by us. Before we rush off, the four of us come to stand in a circle. "Okay, we split up," JJ begins, and that sounds like the better idea. "Once they're in the hull, Brooke and I will lock them inside."

John B nods, eyes shifting to me for a second before falling to Kiara. "Me and Kie will find Sarah and get the lifeboat," John B continues.

"We'll meet you, load the cross, and get outta here," I say, nodding over at my brother who looks... concerned, I guess. Being split up, even on the same ship, away from him isn't ideal, but he knows I'm safe with JJ.

JJ steps away first, ready to rush off. "Let's roll."

"Hey." JJ turns, looking to us as John B snatches my hand. "Be safe, okay? No getting shot. No getting stabbed." He sighs, bringing his eyes over to JJ who stares at him, his jaw locked. I watch their silent interaction, trying to figure out how they're communicating right now. "No dying."

JJ's eyes drop, but he nods, and before I can question the odd interaction between them, John B looks back down at me. "Be safe, okay?"

I smile, squeezing my brother's hand. "You be safe," I insist, peering over at Kiara. "Both of you. Get Sarah and stay clear of Ward, alright? No getting shot. No getting stabbed," I repeat, hoping this isn't the last time I get to look at my brother and best friend.

With a final goodbye, we split up.

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𝖩𝖮𝖧𝖭 𝖡 𝖶𝖠𝖭𝖳𝖲 𝖬𝖤 𝖳𝖮 𝖡𝖤 𝖢𝖠𝖱𝖤𝖥𝖴𝖫，𝖸𝖤𝖲，𝖡𝖴𝖳 𝖧𝖤 𝖧𝖠𝖲 𝖳𝖮 𝖪𝖭𝖮𝖶 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖨 𝖠𝖬 𝖦𝖮𝖨𝖭𝖦 𝖳𝖮 𝖯𝖱𝖮𝖳𝖤𝖢𝖳 𝖩𝖩 𝖡𝖤𝖥𝖮𝖱𝖤 𝖬𝖸𝖲𝖤𝖫𝖥．I wouldn't just protect him, of course, but he's here with me right now, so I have this great need to keep him safe before myself. Although, I think we're going to be okay. Most, if not all, of the crew are in the hull, and once we have them locked in, we'll be able to get off this ship easily.

I just hope things run smoothly for everybody else, and for us, but I think we're the safest out of everybody. Our job isn't too hard, not in any way. Pope and Cleo have to get the cross which isn't going to be easy, and John B and Kiara need to find Sarah without being caught by Ward which isn't the funnest job in the world.

JJ and I are pressed against the wall with me leaning forward to count how many of the crew walk into the hull.

"Psst." I glance at JJ. "How many?" I lift three fingers up, counting the first few who step into the hull, completely obvious to our presence not so far away.

I continue to lift my fingers as I count the crew members that walk in, talking and chattering to one another. They don't know why they need to be down here, but nobody can deny the captain's orders. What they don't know is that they're about to get locked in here for as long as it takes us to get off this damn ship.

My eyes fall on Rose and Wheezie Cameron, counting them. I don't see Ward, and we need him locked down here. I also don't see Rafe which is just fucking annoying because I'd love to see him locked up.

I need Ward and Rafe locked up so they won't get to John B and stop him from getting to Sarah, but I don't imagine they'll be coming down here.

"That's all the crew," I whisper to JJ.

"Except Ward. We need Ward." JJ's right. We do need Ward, and we need Rafe, but there's no way they're coming down, I just know it. We don't have any time to waste though, so we need to make a move regardless.

No. We need to lock everybody up now.

"We can't wait," I say, silently apologising to my brother for not trapping Ward and Rafe in here too, but he's going to be fine.

JJ nods, tilting his head and pushing me to step out first. I follow his silent orders, rushing forward and charging at the door. Using the little strength I have, I pull on the heavy door and slam it shut, trapping the crew inside. I hear people crash into the door on the other side, but I ignore them as I press down on the door, feeling it start to give way with the pressure from the other side.

JJ is behind me, pressing his body weight into my back and pushing us into the metal door. One hand grabs the handle, the other hand presses beside my waist. With our combined weight── mostly his── the door clicks, and JJ reaches out to turn the lock quickly, trapping them.

JJ then pulls himself away from me, looking to the other door. "Come on!" He rushes away first, heading for the other door before the crew can get there, and I follow after him.

Just as a few crew members come barreling to the door, we close it, once again pushing ourselves against it and pressing it shut. JJ locks it, and now they are completely locked in. I feel my body slump into the door, relieved that we managed to lock the entire crew in one space.

I turn to him, laughing softly. "Go us, right?"

I lift my hand, and he claps his over mine. "Go us, Sunshine." He laughs, intertwining our fingers and shaking our arms.

His hand leaves mine but his touch doesn't leave, it never really does. He drapes his arm over my shoulders, pulling me away from the clashing and banging coming from inside the hull as they scream for somebody to get them out.

Yeah, enjoy being locked up, assholes.

I wish we didn't have to lock up Wheezie as she seems like the most genuine one in that fucked-up mess of a family, but I'm afraid she got caught in the mix. Can't choose your family, I'm afraid, you're just born with them.

We head for the cross, knowing where it was. From the hull, we move down the ladders and to where the cross is hidden inside its box. Once the lid is yanked off, we pull away the delicate cloth it's wrapped around, giving Pope easy enough access to pick it up.

It's as beautiful as ever.

"There she is," JJ utters, again looking at the cross in a way he's never looked at me.

I breathe out a laugh, placing a hand on the gold, still finding it unbelievable that this is all gold, and I'm touching it.

I then look over at JJ, knowing exactly what he dreams of doing. "Surf trip?"

His lips lift, his head bobs in a nod, and we do the famous Pogue handshake over the golden cross. "Surf trip, Sunny."

I hear a clicking noise above us, alerting our attention to the ceiling which has been opened by Pope and Cleo so he can lift the cross out with the crane he's sitting upon.

I cheer, waving exactly at Pope and Cleo. "Whoo!" JJ claps his hands, just as ecstatic as the rest of us. "That's what I'm talking about! Let's go!"

"The time where people do shit to us and we just sit back and take it is over."

"Whoo!" I laugh, feeling this win in the way Pope cheers with us. "That's my boy."

Give Pope a win. He deserves it.

"Let's get this done, Pope!"

"Hell yeah!"

Using the hook of the crane, we begin to tie the cross up, needing to be tightly attached to the crane so it doesn't slip out of our touch until we need it to. I know this cross is heavy, but I hope this damn hook can lift its weight because we need it out of here.

The six of us couldn't lift us, but this crane surely will, right?

"Okay! Lift her up, Pope!"

Pope follows our orders once the cross appears to be safely tied to the hook of the crane. "Slow. Slowly!" It's moving, that's a good sign, but it could fall at any second, that's what I'm afraid of.

"Bring her in the middle," JJ instructs, watching as the cross comes to stand on its end, now out of the crate it was locked in.

"Okay, that's good," I say, watching as it seems to be going directly up the centre and out of the ship. It's going very, very well so far, that's good, and a little worrying as things don't usually go this well for us.

And, of course, I spoke too soon.

Pope pulls a little too hard on the handle which has the cross shooting in the opposite direction. "Whoa! Pope!" It's no longer centred which is not what we need, and it's instead barrelling in our direction, about to knock into us. "Whoa, whoa!"

"No! Too far!" I scream, praying he can hear me. I know Cleo is standing just above us, ready to assist when the cross is at her level, so I hear her yelling to him too. "It's too far! Pope!"

The cross crashes into a pile of cargo and boxes, and I feel a hand yank me back as the cross swings back to us. We move out of the way, watching as it falls back into the middle where it needs to be. "Sorry!" Pope yells. "My bad!"

"Your other middle!"

"There's only one middle," I yell at JJ.

It's fallen back into the middle, and it's now being pulled up at a steadier speed. Pope doesn't pull too harshly, and it starts to move up towards Cleo. "Hey!" Cleo calls. "Send it up, Pope. You got it."

"Did John B get the lifeboat?" I ask Cleo who I know can see down below at the water. John B should, if all has gone to plan, be in the lifeboat with Kiara and Sarah.

"I don't see him," she answers, and I feel my heart tighten in my chest. He isn't on the lifeboat. Something could have happened to him, and he could be fucking dying. I need to find him.

But I stay where I am, watching the cross as it gets lifted out of its crate, heading out of the hold. Cleo was then able to snatch the rope that we attached to the cross, pulling it towards her and away from the hold entirely.

The cross is safe now. It's in their hands.

"Let's go help John B load it up on the lifeboat," JJ says, pushing his hand into mine and leading me away. I follow him willingly, needing to find my brother fast and now. He could be in danger, but again, as his twin, I'd feel like I'd know if he was truly in danger.

We head back to the main deck, knowing we were safe to search for John B, Sarah and Kiara as none of the crew were out of the hull just yet. The only creeps that were lurking around were Rafe and Ward, but we'd be able to handle them... I hope. I really hope they're all okay. I need them to be okay.

JJ is dragging me along, his hand squeezing mine tightly as we turn the corner. My front crashes into JJ's back. "What──" I peer past his arm, spotting a guard who we had missed. How the fuck did we miss him? He's not locked up, he's right here. Great!

"Of course. There's more of you." I watch as the guard pulls out a machete. My eyes widen, fingers squeezing at JJ's as I know we don't have any weapon other than our fists. "Get down on your knees."

Seriously? What is it with men asking me to get down on my knees?

"I don't get on my knees for no──"

"Not the time, Sunny." JJ yanks me down as the man comes swinging, waving his machete in our direction, but thanks to JJ, we miss this swipe.

With his hand leaving mine, JJ punches his fist into the guard's stomach. He stumbles, giving me ample opportunity to rush forward and press his arm holding the machete into the wall. JJ charges forward, knocking his fist into the side of his face instead. With another jab, the guard slips and falls to the ground, and I take it upon myself to check over the railing.

Where is my brother? "John B!" I scream, hoping for some kind of response, but I don't hear anything, and I don't see a lifeboat. "John B!"

I look over my shoulder, spotting the guard who has now risen from the ground, the machete still tight in his hand. Instead of calling out for my brother, I go to help JJ as he attempts to attack the guard. He misses, his fist grabbed and twisted by the guard who then punches him.

JJ slips, hitting the ground, and the guard turns his attention back to me. He swings the machete, and I lean back, just missing the blade as it slices through the air. I kick my leg out, hitting his ankle, but he doesn't go down. Instead, he tries to attack me again. "Brooke!"

His arm is yanked back before he swings the machete again. He's pulled back from me, but only for a second as the guard's elbow hits JJ's stomach, pushing him into the wall. "JJ!"

No way am I letting him get hurt.

The guard turns on JJ who is pressed against the wall, and I drag myself forward, fully intent on killing this guy before he hurts him. "JJ!" I dig my nails into the guard's arm, pulling as hard as I can to yank that machete from him. "Get off him!"

JJ punches his stomach, attempting to hurt him, but he doesn't even make any kind of move. He just grunts and fights against me, but I keep digging my fingers into arm, needing him to get away from my best friend.

I stumble back, tripping over my feet, but I somehow bring this guard back with me. My back crashes into the railing, and my hands loosen on his arms, giving him the chance to fight.

In one swift movement, the guard swings his machete, forcing JJ back and away from getting to me as he swings the machete in my direction. I don't have time to react as I didn't see it coming, and before I realise what's happening, a sharp pain slices across my head as I stumble back, barreling back and over the rail.

My eyes come to a close, the whole world appearing to turn dark as the pain throbs and pulsates in my head. All the noise I previously heard disappears, and now the world is dark and silent to me.

I can only feel.

I feel wind passing through my body as my body plummets. It falls. It drops.

Down. Down. Down.

Right into the water.

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❀ soph speaks

if you remember from my unedited story,, i had brooke fall over the edge and i didn't wanna change that

however, this time you're gonna see jj's reaction

thankyou for reading :)