She was falling.

And falling.

And falling.

And she could still feel Tyler's arm around her neck but she could also feel him slipping and the air was rushing past her so fast and the tears on her face were drying and-

CRASH!

And then she hit the water.

And she couldn't feel her own body anymore, let alone Tyler's.

She was plunging down into the water, and it was freezing, and her head was going into overdrive, and she was getting water in her mouth and she knew this couldn't be good.

Yet when she broke she surface, spitting water and thrashing about, only one word came out her mouth. One name.

"TYLER!"

She could hear John B in the distance. And Pope and Sarah and even Cleo. They were all shouting from the lifeboat which was about ten metres away. Yet she didn't care about them, not yet.

Because as she blinked water from her eyes and her surroundings came back into focus, she saw him.

Tyler.

He was floating face up from her, not two metres away. Yet his eyes were closed, and his body was motionless.

"Shit-" tore from her mouth as she thrashed wildly and swam over to him, shouting. "Tyler? Tyler, wake up!"

"Elora, get him in here!" She could hear Sarah shout.

"Elle, what happened?" Pope exclaimed.

Elora knew it was the decision, so as John B drove the lifeboat over, she did the best she could to swim towards it with her freezing limbs.

"T-Tyler," she said again, as soon as they got to her, feeling the tears coming again. "Tyler, he- Rafe-"

She didn't do any work in getting Tyler inside, nor herself. The four inside the lifeboat lifted the blonde boy in first, lying him down. Then they hauled Elora in, as well, her teeth chattering like mad.

"Rafe, he- he caught us," she said, body shaking as she explained. "Tyler fought him and- and he-"

"It's fine, you're alright now," Sarah said immediately, squeezing her shoulder. "Where's JJ and Kie?"

"D-don't know," Elora said. "We split up a-after the cro-"

She stopped talking and her eyes went wide as she finally laid eyes on Tyler. 

All the colour in his face had drained during the fall, and he'd passed out. He looked worse than ever, the blood on his face all washed into his hair and the bruises fully formed.

"Tyler!" She shouted, scrambling over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders and shaking him rather roughly due to the shivers wracking her body. "Tyler, wake up! Wake up!"

"Go round the boat!" She heard Sarah instruct John B behind her. "They've got to be here somewhere!"

"Tyler! Ty, wake up!" Elora shouted.

"Tyler!" Sarah joined in, coming to rest beside her. "Tyler, please!"

"Come on, Ty!" Pope added, looking down at the boy he'd now call his brother, motionless in the boat.

But it was Elora that was more desperate than ever. If Tyler didn't wake up, she didn't know what she'd do. He was everything to her. And just as she was finally ready to admit that, he was fading away.

However, as the motor revved and the boat began to move again, his eyes fluttered.

"Tyler?" Elora gasped out, as Sarah and Pope and Cleo all looked at him in shock.

Tyler opened his eyes slightly more, that heavenly colour of blue being put on show to the world.

"H-hi," he choked slightly, looking around at them all. "This welcoming party for me?"

Cleo laughed. Pope grinned. Sarah gasped a cry of relief. John B looked round with a small smile.

But none of them were even close to reacting as much as Elora did.

She let out a surprised chuckle, eyes completely locked on his as she murmured. "Hell yeah."

Then, without hesitation, although their friends were watching, although his lip was busted, although they weren't out of danger yet, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

She didn't miss Sarah's surprised little gasp, or Pope's small laugh, but she didn't really care as she pulled away from Tyler, asking. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I think so," Tyler told her. "I mean, my head's throbbing a bit, but-"

"JAYJ! JJ, STAY WITH ME!"

"That's them!"

"JJ! KIE!"

Elora's head snapped up at that and her eyes widened in shock.

Because Kie and JJ were in the water, and as far as she could see JJ was unconscious, Kie trying with all her might to keep them afloat.

"JJ!"

When they got closer it was undeniable. JJ was completely out of it, and Kie was almost going under as she held him

"Come on! Come on!" Pope panted as they neared them, Kie lifting JJ slightly so Pope and John B could haul him into the boat.

"Kie, here!" Elora shouted, offering her own hand to Kie and pulling her up. "Okay, that's us! Go, go, go!"

As they drove away, she didn't miss turning round to see what was happening on the boat.

Her heart chilled as she saw what they were doing. The cross was halfway up the side of the boat, and on board just about the whole crew was helping pull it up. Rafe was at the fore, instructing them.

Clearly, Pope's mission to dump it in the ocean hadn't been successful.

And it didn't help that JJ was still unconscious and-

"No! No, no, no, no-" John B repeated over and over as the engine of the boat stuttered out. "We're stalling out!"

"No, JB-"

"Are you serious? We're sitting ducks!"

"We gotta go!"

"Guys!" Sarah's worried shout made them all turn. "Rafe has a gun!"

Elora's head whipped round fast to see Rafe, stood up on the edge of the Coastal Venture, gun in hand, pointed directly at them.

"John B, we need to go!"

"Please, wake up!" Kie was shaking JJ, who was lying next to Tyler, trying to get him to wake.

"We gotta get moving or he'll shoot at us!" Elora shouted.

And it was then that John B got the engine going, just before Rafe shot.

And as they drove away, she couldn't help but feel some of the tension in her heart ease.

They didn't have the cross, sure. And one of their number was unconscious. But they did have each other.

As they drove off into the sun, she turned her attention to Kie, who was begging JJ to wake up, to stay with her.

She couldn't help but wonder if that was what she had looked like, with Tyler. If maybe Kie felt the same way about JJ that she felt about him.

But now wasn't the right time for that, as she asked the brunette girl. "What happened?"

"He got hit by the blunt end of a machete!" Kie yelled back in anguish. "Wake up!"

"You gotta wake up, Jayj!"

"JJ!"

"JJ, wake up!"

And then, like a miracle, JJ awoke. He choked slightly, his eyes shooting open and his body hunching over.

The Pogues all took a breath of relief, all smiling and chuckling slightly, JJ and Tyler both lying beneath them.

And even though John B and Pope and Sarah and Elora were uttering things, absolutely bemused, he only had eyes for Kie.

"Hi," the girl said, her eyes shining, her whole body relaxing as she looked down at him.

He only replied with one word. "Sup?"

The laughter than broke from Kie's and the rest of them's mouths was enough to break any further tension as the girl hugged the boy as gently as she could.

"Just always looking for attention," John B joked.

"Whatever it takes, right?" JJ joked, looking sideways. "You alright, Ty? You look even worse than me?"

"I'm doing great, JJ," Tyler joked back, completing a lazy Pogue handshake with him. "Never better."

"Next time, you duck and you stay out of fights," Cleo pointed to JJ and then to Tyler, both of whom chuckled.

Pope sighed, casting a glance over to the Coastal Venture, where they could see the workers taking the cross up onto the ship, safe and sound once more.

"This shit ain't over," he said wisely.

They all shook their heads, John B leading them, as always, and saying their final words before they got out of there for good. "No, it ain't."

𔓘𔓘𔓘

It took a while for them to reach land.

And when they reached land, they certainly did not reach civilisation.

But they did reach a pretty decently big island, with palm trees and a beach and a huge cliff.

They'd lost a lot, sure, but they'd also gained. Their friendships and relationships had got stronger than ever, what with Sarah and John B and now Elora and Tyler. They'd also got Cleo, who was already appearing to be a useful and amazing addition.

Elora knew this as she, Kie, Sarah and her sat next to each other on the rocks, watching the four boys (Tyler and JJ had had some time to recover) haul the boat in.

"JJ, Ty, you two alright there?" Pope asked as they finally managed to get it in, walking back up to the girls on the rocks.

"Yup, still a little dizzy though," JJ shrugged.

"I'm doing alright," sighed Tyler. "I'll need food soon though otherwise I'm gonna collapse."

"Okay, anybody else know where we're at?" JJ asked.

"Deserted beach. Unknown island," Pope said wisely, as they all sat down.

"Alright, I'll take that as a no."

Tyler sighed. "Plan A, huh, Pope? That went well."

"This is the lowest we can go," Pope announced. "We literally have nothing else to lose! The cross? Gone. The gold? Gone."

"Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we got beat up, I'd say we're at a dollar fifty," JJ shrugged.

"That's more than I got on me," said Kie wisely.

"Well, I got nothing," Elora said.

"That somehow doesn't make me feel better," Sarah sighed.

They were looking for someone to step up, to inspire them. And John B was going to do just that.

"Yeah, you're right. But I mean, we've..." he sighed. "We've had some good stuff happen, right?"

"Name something," Pope challenged.

"Um... uh, the boiler room," sighed John B, looking at Cleo. "What? I mean, if the boiler didn't explode, I wouldn't have got away from Rafe. Couldn't have gotten the Zodiac and gotten us out of here."

"That wasn't luck," Cleo replied. "That thing was gonna blow the second I stopped feeding it."

"Stealing my thunder, Cleo, um..." JB was back to the drawing board. "Okay. Pope, you're related to Denmark Tanny. That's crazy-"

"And I lost all his inheritance," Pope replied.

John B bit his lip.

"You know what?" He stood up, facing all of them. "Guys, this is it! This is the Pogue life. We are in the Carribean, and it's our own little slice of paradise! With my best friends, my family."

He let this land for a second, seeing what they were going to think of it. And Elle was all in.

"You know, uh..." she smiled slightly, standing up and coming beside him. "I could go for that. I mean, I wouldn't wanna do this with anyone else, and there's not exactly many prospects for me back home. So why not? We're at rock bottom and the only way to go from there is up, right?"

"Yes, thank you Elle!" John B smiled, looking back at the others. "Look, and while you guys were complaining about every little thing... JJ?"

"Hmm?" His best friend raised his eyebrows.

"I was looking at those burly lefts," John B smirked, pointing over at the waves.

A smile grew on JJ's face and he turned back to the boy in front of him. "There's some slabs out there."

"Just a few.'

"Kie, you see that? I know you'll wanna get out there," Elora smiled.

"No boards," the brunette rebutted.

"Well, we can make some!" Elora shrugged. "And until then we can bodysurf, it'll be fine!"

"Pope? Come on, man!" John B worked on one of their other friends.

"Well, there's nobody around," Pope shrugged. "We could squat here for a bit."

"Tyler...?" Elora asked, a small smile building on her face and a blush on her cheeks.

"Hanging with the best people ever on our own little island?" Tyler scoffed. "Yes, please."

Elora grinned.

"Poguelandia," JJ said, turning all their attention to him as he put on a horrible English accent. "I christen thee Poguelandia!" He reverted back to his normal accent and shrugged. "I like the ring of it, I'm gonna make a flag. It's gonna have a chicken on it, with a coconut bra, smoking a J... in crocs."

Elora snorted with the others girls as Kie sighed. "I could use a J right now."

"Can we vote on this?" Sarah asked.

"Shall we get to work?" Pope asked JB, who nodded.

"Let's get to work!" He turned to the last person on the list, making sure she was in. "Sarah. Till death do us part?"

She smiled up at him, love and happiness and freedom reflected in her eyes. "Till death do us part."

He pulled her up, and Pope did the same with Cleo. "Welcome to the Pogues."

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Here's to going full Pogue!" Elora said, dancing about as Tyler hauled his body up to join her, wrapping his arms around her and causing a squeal of laughter to escape her.

"Full Pogue," he grinned into her ear. "We don't need anything else but this, do we?"

"Nah, man. All I need's a mouth and middle finger," smirked Elora, before looking up at him and adding. "And you."

He grinned back at her, this meaning more to him than she'd ever know.

And it was there, in Tyler's arms in her soaked clothes, split knuckles and matted hair, that Elora Easton truly felt like she'd found her home.

'My dad had this quote from Euripides. It's one of the only things I can remember him saying, besides me being an angel.

"The ocean washes away all the evil men too."

But I'm not sure that's true.'

Back in Kildare at that moment, missing posters of Kiara were plastered all around. Heyward barely left the house most days, buried in his shame and grief inside.

Shoupe was announcing news on the six 'missing teens' outside the courthouse. He was finally giving a shit about them. Too bad they weren't around to see it.

'I don't think the ocean washes away anything.

If anything, the ocean makes you remember.'

And as the Pogues began to build their life on Poguelandia, she realised that was true. Even if it was just the first night, as they all laughed around a fire Tyler and Elora had made, cooking fish JJ and Kie had hunted with skewers John B and Sarah had crafted, sitting on logs Cleo and Pope had hauled.

They were having fun.

They were at rock bottom, but they were still having fun, as they talked and laughed and hugged and recounted stupid memories from the past.

'And I'm gonna remember that.

Because it's like carrying a little piece of him with me.

Screw the cross. And the gold.

If I can have my father, my friends and my boyfriend in one place... then that's really all I need, isn't it?

You don't need to answer that. Because it is.

I know that now.'

𔓘𔓘𔓘

Bang.

Bang, bang.

Carla Limbrey's crutches made a loud sound as they banged against the door. She wasn't hiding her impatience as the door slid open and a man with dark skin and dreadlocks was revealed.

She held up a letter in her weathered hands, flipping it round to reveal the wheat symbol.

The man said no words, instead opting to lead the way into the house.

Limbrey, however, said something as she hobbled inside. "How is he?"

The man replied evasively.  "Half dead for a long time."

The house wasn't large, and it was full. It had lots of things inside it. There was a knife on the table, and maps and books. Around, on the walls, there were more maps, with notes of various longitudes and latitudes stuck to them.

Limbrey gave them a cursory glance before moving on.

She hobbled outside, which is where she saw him.

He was sat at a table, facing away from her. His brown hair and beard was unkempt, his glasses slightly askew. He was working on something she couldn't quite see, but it didn't stop her from saying. "You wrote to me. About the shroud."

The man nodded slightly. "I know where it is," he growled. "I can help you. But only..." he turned to face her, his face finally becoming visible. "If you help my son."

Limbrey nodded, saying nothing more.

But then something else happened.

Or someone.

And this someone was someone not even Limbrey had expected.

She came round the corner slowly, her face coming out the shadows. A gasp escaped Limbrey's lips. She had red hair, and blue eyes. Her mouth was drawn and her hands were clenched. She looked at Limbrey indifferently, but the three words she spoke were firm.

"And my daughter."