XVLIII. birds of a feather

Bridger was certain the Pogues were going to be angry when they arrived back at the creek, but it was the farthest thing from his mind at that point. All he cared about was JJ's wellbeing. He was silent the whole car ride back, but their hands never disconnected. Bridger rubbed his thumb on his palm, not saying a word, but he channeled all the love he had for him, hoping it would transfer.

Strangely enough, he felt a weight lift off his own chest. The words he said to JJ, the relief that he knew JJ felt after hearing it, it was all a reflecting of his own feelings. He feared his father for so long, feared what he might do if Bridger stood up to him the way he did at Midsummer. He feared what would happen if Dawson decided to come back. But he didn't have to be afraid anymore. He didn't have to be tethered to his father. JJ was his safe place and Bridger was his. They had each other. Neither of them needed to live in fear any longer.

When they finally arrived, Bridger saw Pope, John B, and Sarah sitting on top of the half sunken Twinkie. "Oh, speaking of the freaking devil. Look who it is. Just a couple hours late." Pope exclaimed as they got out of the truck. "Where the hell were you guys?"

"Parental complications." Kiara sighed.

"Luke was at the Chateau." JJ told him uncomfortably and went to get the winch.

"Oh, great! While you were having family time with your pops, John B got bit by a gator!"

Bridger scoffed. "Lay off him, Pope."

"What, like for real?"

"Does it look like we're joking?" Sarah exclaimed and motioned to John B's wrapped leg.

"Holy shit, John B. You fought a gator?" Bridger gasped.

"Not by choice." He groaned in response.

"What the hell happened?"

"Steve Irwin motherfucker."

"He/I got bit my a gator!" Both Pope and John B yelled aggressively.

"I don't know why I'm being yelled at. I just put my ass on the line!" Kiara yelled back at them.

"You said twenty minutes!"

"Hey, we tried getting here as fast as we could!" Bridger took up for her.

"Oh, yeah, great, great—"

"SHUT UP!" JJ screamed over their arguing. They all turned to him. "Seriously, guys, I can't take it anymore, all right? Everyone just cut it out for a sec."

Bridger went silent and he looked down at his shoes.

"Look, I just helped my dad leave this island for good. Like, he's not ever coming back. He's straight up like the Spanish, just Bon Voyage."

The Pogues shared the same odd look. Bridger sighed and closed his eyes. "So close." He whispered.

"That's French."

"That's not the right language."

"All we got, and I know for a fact all I got is you guys, okay? You're it." JJ continued. "And I've come too close to losing you, all of you!" He looked at Kiara. "I mean, shit, you almost drowned." Then he looked at Pope. "Pope, you were kidnapped. Sarah, you've been shot. John B, you were almost dinner for a freaking dinner." Lastly, he turned to Bridger, who was staring back at him with sadness. "And you, B, you've been through so much shit that if I think on it too hard, I'll start crying. So, I'm not gonna do that right now, but I love you so goddamn much that if anything were to happen to you, I'd go insane."

Bridger softly grinned.

"So, this blaming each other is some Kook-ass bullshit, alright? We don't do that. Okay? We're Pogues." There was a silence when he was done, and JJ threw his hands up. "Sorry, that was a lot right now."

Slowly, the other Pogues glanced at each other. They started clapping. JJ scoffed and flipped them all off, making Bridger laugh.

"That was the best freaking speech you've ever given," said John B. "Also, you should think about, like, a Rosetta Stone because your Spanish and French are flip-flopped."

Bridger nodded with a small hum. "Yeah, I was hoping you'd nail that part."

"We should Bon Voyage out of here." Sarah grinned amusingly.

JJ clicked his tongue. "You guys really know how to ruin a good moment."

Bridger walked up to him and cupped his face. "Good job, baby." He kissed him softly but quickly. "You've always had a way with words."

The blonde smiled sweetly.

The first thing Bridger observed when they walked into the church was that it was old. "I don't remember the last time I stepped foot in a church." He announced.

"You're telling Denmark Tanney decided to hide the cross here?" JJ asked disbelievingly.

"Everybody just spread out." Said Kiara. "Bridge, you guessed the church right. You have any ideas?"

Bridger stood in the middle of the church with his hands on his hips. He puffed out his cheeks in thought. "Uhh. . . yeah, I got nothing."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Wonderful."

He threw his hands up. "At least I somewhat got us to this point."

"Yes, you did. Good job, buddy." John B said and patted his back. "Okay, well, if I was a cross and wanted to be hidden in an old church, where would I hide?"

"The thing's like, huge, right? How the hell would he have hidden it in here?"

"Yeah, are you sure Denmark hid the cross here, Pope?" JJ agreed and questioned him. "Like, are we at the right church?"

"It's gotta be here somewhere." Pope stated while standing at the alter.

"Okay, well, it said the cross would be at Freedman's alter." Bridger brought up and went to stand by him. He awkwardly motioned to the middle of the church. "This is the alter. What else would he have meant?"

"What if we have to push a secret button, or, like, okay, like a-a certain chord, and then all of a sudden the ground beneath us reveals the catacombs or something on which we stand?" JJ visualized while standing next to the piano.

Bridger pinched his brows together. "Okay, Mikey Walsh. We're not in the Goonies."

Kiara rolled her eyes. "It's not an escape room."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that." JJ muttered and walked away from the piano.

"It's gotta be here!" Pope raged in frustration.

"I agree with them. I can't see where they'd hide a faint cross here." Said John B.

"What if there's a possibility they got to it before we did?"

"No, no." Pope immediately shook his head at Bridger's claim. "There's no way he would see us up on a freaking goose chase that would lead us to a church that had nothing!"

John B shook his head. "Yes, I get it. I don't know what else to tell you, man."

"The clues led us here. The cross is in this church." Pope stood his ground.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Bridger said and held up his hands. "We'll figure it out, man."

"We just gotta think about this logically, all right?" John B added. "Where else would you hide a seven foot tall cross made of gold?"

"Okay, well," said Bridger and he scratched behind his ear. "If it's not down," he pointed at the floor. "Then it's gotta be up." He pointed to the ceiling.

There was a sudden silence.

He turned around and saw Pope staring at the ceiling. "What?"

"You're on a roll today, sweetheart." JJ smiled widely.

He followed all of their eyes and looked up at the ceiling. He squinted and realized the wooden posts were in the shape of crosses. "Holy Hell. No pun intended."

Pope took off to climb up the wall. "Hey, no!" Yelled JJ.

"Uhhh, Pope, I don't think that's a good idea." Said Bridger.

"Yo! This church's got to be at least two hundred years old."

"He's right, Pope. It's too dangerous."

Pope ignored them and crawled to the top of the wooden posts.

"Pope!" Yelled Kiara.

"You're scaring the hell out of me, dude." Bridger held his chest as he watched him.

Pope knocked on one of the posts. "Okay, this one's solid wood. I'm gonna try the other beam." He told them all.

"Pope, that's rotten as shit right there, okay?" Said JJ.

"That's wood, buddy." Bridger added.

"It had to be here. I know it." Pope declared and tried to stand in the beam.

He felt a jolt of fear. "Pope, be careful!"

"Bro, just watch out for that giant wasps nest right above your head."

"Just move slow, okay? Nice and easy."

"If you fall, I'll try to catch you."

As he moved on the beam, pieces of wood started falling. "Whoa, hey!" Hollered JJ.

"Look, it's hallow!" Pope observed. "Go get me a crowbar!"

Sarah quickly went to retrieve the crowbar. "What are you gonna do, Pope? I don't want this whole entire church collapsing on top of us. Bridger and I aren't even married yet."

Sarah came running back into the church. "Hey, Pope." She called out and got ready to throw him the crowbar.

"Everybody watch your head." Said John B and they backed up.

She threw Pope the crowbar and he caught it with ease.

"Okay buddy, just please watch out for that wasp nests." Bridger pointed out and scratched the back of his neck.

He started hitting the wooden post and more wood fell on them. "Cover your eyes!" Bridger encouraged and put his arms over his head.

Soon, there was a glimmer of gold caught in the light. Pope finished tearing down the wood and the cross was revealed.

Bridger's jaw dropped. "Oh, my god."

"It's here." Sarah giggled.

JJ smiled big. "You did it buddy."

"Holy shit!"

"We did it!"

"We're fucking golden, baby!" Bridger hollered and went into a group hug with JJ and John B. "Pope, I'm so proud of you, dude!"

"We did it! We did it!" Pope cheered and then a wasp stung him. "Okay, they're stinging. Ow!"

He dropped the crowbar and Bridger immediately moved out of the way. "Whoa, now!"

Pope started to swat at the wasps surrounding him and he lost his balance. He fell and gripped onto the wooden beam, and he screamed.

"Pope, hold on!" Kiara screamed.

"Holy fuck!" Bridger panicked.

"Cushions!" Yelled Sarah.

Immediately, they spread out and went to grab cushions. "Hold on, Pope. We're coming!" Bridger shouted.

"I can't hold on! I'm slipping!" Pope hollered when he felt his grip start to loosen.

He fell just in time on the all of the cushions they piled under him. "Pope, are you okay?" Kiara gasped and they all ran up to him.

Before Pope said anything, his eyes widened when he saw the cross starting to fall and he quickly rolled over before it could crush him. The large cross plummeted to the floor of the church, shaking it.

Bridger fell to the floor and leaned against the pew. "Holy fucking shit!" He gasped loudly. He grasped his chest, checking if it was still beating.

"Pope, are you okay?" Kiara repeated while breathing heavily.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just, uh, give me like one second to, like, catch my breath." He struggled.

"You did it, Pope." John B stated as he stared at the cross in amazement.

Dropping his hand from his chest, Bridger stood up and was practically mesmerized by the piece of art in front of him. The gold detailing, the feeling of it. "This is amazing."

"Pope, she's beautiful." JJ smiled in a daze.

"I've never seen anything like it." Said Sarah.

John B eyed the key hole. "Well, here's why Limbrey wanted the key so bad."

"How much do you think she's worth? Like, if we melted her own bones, I'm talking like high billions." JJ expressed his excitement.

"Melt her?" John B responded in disbelief. "No, no, this belongs in a museum."

"So no one sees her?"

Bridger furrowed his brows. "Where everyone can see her."

"Are you kidding me? No!" He exclaimed.

"Hey! It's my ancestor's cross." Pope cut into the conversation.

Bridger pointed at him. "Yes. Absolutely." He went by his side and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Pope's the only one who gets a say."

He nodded and patted his chest. "Thanks, buddy."

JJ gave in and nodded. "Right, okay. All right. All right."

"This is bigger than money, and the world's gotta know the truth."

"And if we don't get this shit out of here before Limbrey gets here, nobody's gonna know. So saddle up." John B clapped.

"Good point, JB." Bridger confirmed and let go of Pope.

All of them gripped onto a different part of the cross. "John B, you're gonna pull, all right? Pull down." JJ instructed.

"I'm gonna pull down. You guys pull up." John B nodded. "Ready? One, two, three."

All at once, the Pogues attempted to lift the cross. Bridger grunted loudly, somehow not expecting it to be as heavy as it was. "Holy shit."

"Who's not lifting right now?" JJ questioned.

"Ow, okay, okay. I'm feeling pressure here!" Bridger grunted again as he tried to keep his side lifted.

"Okay, guys. I can't. I can't." Pope started to pant and lower the cross.

"No, no, Pope, wait!"

"No, no, no, no!"

"Pope! Hang in there! No, no, no."

Pope let go of the cross and they all dropped it because of the weight. "Dammit, yo! You almost dropped it on my foot!" JJ yelled at Sarah.

"Cause I'm the only one lifting!" She shouted back.

Bridger rolled his shoulders back. "I think I pulled a muscle." He winced.

"Okay, okay, okay!" John B exclaimed. "Listen, we'll make a sling, like a little—"

"Yeah, and then we'll put it on the tail hitch." JJ agreed him with.

"Guys, it weights, like, a thousand pounds." Bridger reminded them.

"Guys! I'm not okay. I'm not okay." Pope announced and held his chest.

They turned their attention to him. Bridger noticed how sweaty his becoming and how hard it was for him to breathe. "Pope, what's wrong?"

"I can't—" he started gasping.

"He's having an allergic reaction." Said Kiara.

Pope collapsed and they all rushed forward to grab him. "Guys, we can't breathe. He needs a shot!" Bridger said loudly and grabbed a hold of his arms.

"JJ, try and hide it." John B ordered and they all grabbed him.

"How the hell am I supposed to hide a seven foot cross?" JJ yelled as they carried Pope out.

"Just figure it out. And hurry!" Bridger shouted over his shoulder.

"JJ, we gotta go!" Kiara hollered.

"Open the door! Open the door!" He instructed and Sarah quickly opened the back door. "Kiara, other side!"

Listening, she ran around the back of the truck and climbed inside the backseat. The two of them helped each other out Pope into the back. "Elevate his legs."

JJ came running out of the church and he sprinted to the truck. "Pope, what do you need buddy?" He hollered and got behind the wheel.

"He needs a shot!" Bridger yelled back and raised Pope's legs so that they were out the window.

"Where are we even going?" Sarah asked while holding onto the seat for dear life at his fast driving.

"My cousin Ricky's house. He can help us." JJ responded and stepped on gas harder.

Bridger's eyes went wide. "What makes you think he wants anything to do with you after you hijacked his ambulance?"

"We gotta try something, Bridger!" The blonde argued and tightened his grip around the steering wheel.