─☼☼☼─

-THE POGUES-

"𝘾𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙊𝙉, 𝙅𝙅!" Kiara cried, her body jostled as the small lifeboat crashed through the waves that had almost pulled her and JJ under not minutes earlier. "J! Please. Please!"

Tears streamed down her face as she shook the boy in front of her, begging him to open his eyes. "Please!"

"Wake up." John B pleaded, steering the boat, but eyes focused on his best friend instead of the waters ahead.

A cough sputtered from JJ's lips, each of them on edge as they watched water spew from his mouth, coughed up from his lungs.

His eyes opened, landing on Kiara who had let out a large sigh of relief as she slumped against the side of the boat, exhausted from keeping JJ afloat.

"There you go!" John B encouraged as JJ turned, coughing up more water. "Cough it up, baby!"

Each of them were wearing smiles now, greeting JJ as his eyes began to adjust to the sun overhead. 

When he looked at Kiara, she couldn't help the grin that splintered her features. "Hi." She breathed, the relief dripping from her voice. 

JJ matched her grin, "'Sup?"

A laugh flew from Kiara's lips as she pulled him toward her in a tight hug, almost not wanting to let go. 

"What the hell happened?" JJ wondered, gingerly touching at the wound on his head. 

"Blunt end of a machete." Kiara answered, reaching over to dab the blood with a scrap of clothing. 

JJ's eyes widened slightly. "A machete?"

"The blunt end." Kiara assured. 

"Next time, duck." Cleo instructed, a teasing smile on her features. 

As the banter continued, Kiara, for the first time since her and JJ had been pulled onto that lifeboat, looked around. She surveyed the relieved expressions on the faces of all of her friends. 

But there was someone missing. 

There should have been seven people on that boat...but somehow there was only six. 

All the relief she had been feeling over JJ's gaining of consciousness was gone, pulled under the waves. 

"Where's my sister?" Her voice cut through the teasing laughs that were floating through the air.

Everyone stilled for a moment, Sarah and John B, Pope and Cleo all sharing an exchange of nervous looks. But no one answered Kiara, it was as if no one could bear to. 

"Where's Charlotte?" She repeated, this time more firmly. 

JJ sat up, wincing as he looked around the boat in similar fashion to the way Kiara had. In his slightly hazed state, he hoped that he was dreaming, that Charlotte was just hidden behind the others and she wasn't actually missing. 

But she wasn't there. 

John B pushed a lump down in his throat, "Kie─"

"Where the fuck is she, John B?" 

Kiara's voice was no longer quiet, no longer hesitant. 

Now, it was full of fear, full of anger. 

Pope was the one to answer her, not John B. 

"She was with us on the upper deck." He explained, glancing over at Cleo. "They cornered us so we had to make a run for it. She hesitated...didn't follow us right away. By the time we had climbed into the lifeboat, there was no sign of her. "

A breath of air fell from Kiara's mouth, knocked from her lungs as she felt herself collapse slightly. "So you just left her there?" She demanded, throat closing in on itself. 

JJ moved toward where John B was controlling the motor. "We have to go back for her."

"We can't." John B argued, the words seeming to physically hurt him as he spoke them. 

"What the fuck do you mean we can't?" JJ argued, face reddening in anger. "This is Charley we're talking about here? We are not leaving her behind with him."

John B looked to his best friend, face strained with sorrow. "Look, man. We can't go back there, alright? They'll kill us all."

A humourless laugh fell from Kiara's lips as she shook her head. "So we'll just let them kill my sister instead, right? 

"Don't." John B warned, voice hovering dangerously. "Do not make it sound like this is something I want to do. You know I love Charley as much as anyone...but going back there is a death sentence for every single one of us."

Sarah, who had been rather quiet since the revelation of Charlotte's absence had been made, finally spoke. Her eyes were trained on the Coastal Adventure that was getting smaller and smaller as they moved further into the ocean. "My brother won't hurt her." She declared, finally breaking her gaze away from the cargo ship where her entire family currently resided. 

JJ's face clouded with an incredulous expression. "Sarah, need I remind you that he tried to kill you...his own sister?"

A shiver ran through her body at the mention of what her brother had done to her. "It's not the same." She argued, voice wavering slightly. "Rafe saw me as a threat."

"He'll see her as one too!" Kiara argued desperately, hoping to convince them to turn around and save her sister. "Charlotte has actively and openly opposed him, more than once. Helping us try to take the cross could be his last straw with her."

"No." Sarah assured, shaking her head as she pushed away the lump that seemed to have had formed in her throat. Leaving Charlotte was destroying her, almost as much as it was Kiara. She loved the older girl like she was her own sister. But she agreed with John B, knew that if they turned around they were all dead. 

But she also full heartedly believed that Rafe wouldn't hurt Charlotte. That's why she could bear with the decision to continue on. The only reason. 

"He's never loved anyone as much as he loves Charlotte." She explained to the group of them, mostly to JJ and Kiara who still looked ready to jump overboard and swim back to the cargo. "Even when he was miserable to the rest of us...she always put a smile on his face. Reminded him of the person he could be."

And it was true. 

Ever since their mother died, Rafe had been an entirely different person. 

As he grew older, it only got worse. 

He and Ward clashed more, he feel deeper into the Kook lifestyle, embodying all that it was, and he resented his little sisters more and more. 

But then he and Charlotte started dating, and once again, Sarah saw a glimpse of the boy her big brother used to be. He smiled more, laughed more. 

The relationship the two siblings had would never be as it was when they were young, but that was the closest they had been in years. All because of Charlotte. 

Stealing a glance at John B, Sarah wore a sad smile as she spoke again. "Charlotte is his weakness. She always has been...and always will be."

John B met her gaze, giving a small nod. "She's his obsession."

Kiara let out a small noise as she dropped her head into her hands, a quiet cry coming from lips. 

"She stayed behind for a reason." Pope reminded her softly. "Charley knows what she's doing...she knows how to handle Rafe."

"Well what about Ward?" JJ pressed. "He doesn't care about Charlotte."

Sarah cast a glance toward the ship once again, heart clenching at the mention of her father. "Rafe would kill my father before he let anything happen to Charlotte."

"Hold on," Cleo clarified, "You're saying your brother has tried to kill you, would kill your father, but won't hurt Charlotte?"

"Yeah." John B breathed, voice shaking slightly. "That's exactly what she's saying."

Cleo shook her head. "You Americans are whack as shit."

Looking up, Kiara wiped the tears from her cheeks, beginning to come to terms with everything everyone was saying. "You really think she'll be okay?"

She hated nothing more than leaving her sister behind...but was beginning to realize that John B was right. They had no choice. 

"I'm positive." Sarah promised. 

And she was.

─☼☼☼─

-an-

less than one week until season 3 AND we just got a season 4 renewal!!!! 

this will be the last chapter before the new chapters for season 3 eeeek. 

i wanted to write this one to justify the pogues leaving charley behind. so now we know that they had no idea that she had been shot, and really had no other choice but to carry on to poguelandia without her and without knowing what really happened to her  :(

okey see you in a few days!! 

-maddy xoxox