LXVIII. the look of love

      Not getting Heyward's truck hindered their plan in the slightest, but Dylan was happy they at least got his permission to even go on the hunt, along her own father's. Knowing that she had his full trust eased her mind, that he was on their side. She didn't have to lie anymore. The knowledge of this made her giddy and she smiled the whole way to the boat. "Ooh, fancy," she observed.

Her and Pope walked hand-in-hand down the dock, Cleo and Sarah trailing behind them. "Your chariot awaits, my lady," he spoke poshly and motioned his arm to the entrance.

"Why thank you, good sir."

Sarah smiled as the couple ran up the steps of the boat like a just married couple getting ready to go on their honeymoon. The group of friends traveled all the way to the top, the breeze blowing through Dylan's wild curls. She found them an empty table in the middle of everyone else drinking and eating their food. She sat on Pope's lap, her arms wrapped around his neck and they waited for Kiara and JJ to show up. "We should totally take a trip on one of these things someday," she brought up. Her eyes widened. "Ooh, we can go on a cruise to Mexico."

"Mexico? I was thinking Italy," Pope replied, loving the idea.

"Aww, I love that idea, too."

Kiara and JJ appeared on the top level deck. "We're here. We're here," she announced. He looked at Pope. "Did you get your dad's truck?"

"Nope." The boy answered.

"Nada," Dylan said after.

"What the hell do we do now? There's no way we can get the cross without transportation," Sarah sighed and leaned back in her chair.

JJ leaned against the table. "Honestly, the hard part is gonna be security, all right? Most of the guys are gonna be at the rail yard."

Pope nodded along. "Right. So we'll need to find some place and guard it, maybe a little further down the line, like a whistle-stop or something."

"You guys are getting ahead of yourselves per usual. We don't have a way to transport the Cross. What you think? On JJ's motorcycle?" Cleo said sarcastically.

"Yeah, she's right," Dylan muttered.

"That's not my fault."

"We're not saying it is, J."

"Okay, other options."

"Oh, my god," Sarah said and leaned up, covering her mouth, trying to hide herself.

They all turned and looked at her. "Sarah, what's wrong?" Dylan asked her.

"Oh, my god, what?"

She made the slightest motion the her side and all of them turned their gaze, seeing Topper standing by the bar, talking to someone. "Why am I not surprised?" Dylan voiced sarcastically.

"Is that Topper?" Pope voiced.

Kiara looked back at them. "Why is he literally everywhere?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"Perfect."

She gave Pope a weird look. "What do you mean perfect?" She asked skeptically.

"J-Just listen. Hey, Jayj. I bet Topper has a way to transport the cross," he said to JJ while smirking.

JJ realized he was right. "Actually, Pope's right. He does have a rig."

"No," Sarah and Dylan said in unison.

"Yes." Said the boys.

"We're not involving Topper Thornton into our buisness," Dylan snapped.

"DJ, lets me be honest, we really don't have much of a choice," JJ stated. "And Sarah, you already got him whipped anyway, alright? So why don't you just take one for the team?"

She scoffed. "Haven't we exploited enough females on this treasure hunt?"

"Baby, we hear you—"

"What would John B say?" Sarah bursted out.

"I think John B will completely understand. Think about the circumstances. It's about treasure." Pope finished.

"We can handle John B," Kiara stepped in. "Just talk to him."

Sarah still didn't look convinced. She looked at Dylan again. The girl gave up and nodded slightly. "It's worth a try," she muttered.

Eventually, Sarah gave in and she sighed. "Fine." She mumbled and stood up, walking in Topper's direction.

Dylan slid off Pope's lap and sat in her seat, crossing her arms. She glared at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked, tilting his head.

"Like what?"

"Pouting."

She scoffed. "I'm not pouting."

"You kind of are," JJ chimed in. She glared at him and he raised his hands. "Right. I'll shut up."

Pope smirked. "Awe, come on. I know what'll make you feel better," he said while standing up. He held out his hand. "Come on."

Dylan stared at him blankly. "No."

"Come on, D."

"Pope, no–"

"Don't make me drag you off that chair," he stated while going for her hand.

"Pope," she groaned and he yanked on her hand. "Okay, okay, okay."

The others smirked and watched him twirl her, guiding them to the middle of the ship. They started to dance, the smallest of smiles appearing on her lips as he twirled her again. "Young love. Gotta love it," said Cleo.

JJ and Kiara glanced at each other for a millisecond.

"You're so dumb," Dylan giggled when he spun her around again, the two of them swaying side to side.

"And you're beautiful. Two things can be true at once," said Pope and he grabbed her other hand, the one that wasn't on his shoulder.

"Ooh, real smooth, Romeo."

Dylan still wasn't happy about Topper being apart of their hunt even when Sarah was able to convince him. She was sure that he would go back home and blab to his family and they would get caught, maybe even arrested. He was only helping them because of Sarah, which also made her angry because he couldn't seem to take the hint and leave her alone.

Eventually they made it to Wilmington and they walked through the rail station, the sky above them pitch black. "There's like a thousand trains here," Kiara observed as the stood on top of one of the tanks.

"Well, we know it's car 750x on the track to Raleigh," Pope observed.

"Yeah, so know we just gotta find it," said JJ.

"Oh yeah, cause that'll be easy," Dylan said sarcastically and shook her head.

"Yeah. And, uh, news flash, we're not getting out of here unnoticed with a faint cross," Kiara spoke logically.

"We won't have to," Pope claimed. "We can nab it somewhere further in the country. Just gotta figure out how to stop the train."

"Leave that to me." Said JJ.

Dylan narrowed her eyes. "Uhh, no."

"How you gonna do that?" Cleo asked him.

"I got an uncle up in New Bern, right? When he got tipsy, he'd just throw an old chain across the tracks just for shits and giggles and, uh, that old little chain would stop all the train traffic in Coastal Carolina," he explained to them nonchalantly.

"A chain?" Kiara voiced all of their skepticism.

"He's actually right. There's a low voltage current that runs across all rail tracks. Throw a chain on it, you close that circuit," Pope educated.

Dylan shook her head. "Okay, no offense, J, but I do not trust your ability to shut down an entire train system."

JJ pointed at her. "You need to have more faith in me, little lady."

Her left eye began to twitch.

"Well, we don't have a chain."

"No, but I bet Topper's dad has jumper cables in the truck," said Sarah. "Would that work?"

"Yo, what's going on? Are we doing this or what?" Topper yelled from the truck.

Dylan slowly looked back at JJ. "Actually, would you take him with you? But, y'know, push him in front of the train before you stop it?"

JJ laughed while Sarah scoffed, slapping her arm.

"You guys wait here while DJ and I head out. We'll send you guys a signal once we find it," Pope told them.

"Do we actually have a plan right now?" Sarah questioned.

"Apparently one that involves Topper Thornton helping us. Not exactly a plan I like." Dylan stated.

"I second that statement," Kiara declared and they began to walk along the tank.

Once they got to the end of the tank, they began to climb off. Pope jumped down and help out his hand, Dylan taking a hold of it and she helped Kiara down, seeing her behind her. "Alright, we're be back," Pope said and grabbed her hand again, dragging her away.

"Be safe! Don't get caught! JJ, don't die!" Dylan called out over her shoulder.

"No promises!" He yelled back.

"You have the number?" She asked him.

Pope held up the paper with the car number written on it. "Right here. As long as you'll hold the flashlight."

Dylan took the device he handed to her. "You got it, baby. I'm channeling my inner Emily Prentiss right now."

He grinned. "Does that make me Morgan?"

It made her smile. "That depends. Can you give me your best Morgan impression?"

Pope smiled and stopped in his tracks, turning to face her. He motioned for her to come closer with two fingers. Dylan started to giggle. "Okay, that's pretty good," she said and felt her face grow hot.

Remembering what they came for, the couple quickly continued their quest. They turned a corner of the train cars and Pope had her shine the light on the paper. "It's this track here," he said out loud. "Remember, it's car—"

"–750X," they said in union. "Yes, baby, I know. We got a ways to go. We're in the 2000s," Dylan said while observing the train cars.

"Okay, okay, let's turn here."

They turned to the left. The pair continued to read the numbers on all the train cars until they were finally in the 700s track. "720. . .730. . ." Pope said to himself and then paused. "Hold on. DJ, light."

Dylan quickly shined her light on the train car he was looking at. "750x, baby. This is our car." He said loudly and she smiled.

"Yes!"

"I'll climb up and tell the other Pogues," he said and stepped up on the ladder. She gave him the flashlight.

"Be careful, please."

"I got it baby, don't worry."

Dylan looked around her to make sure nobody was coming. She brought her numb nail between her teeth. Suddenly, she heard a loud buzzing sound and she looked ahead of her, seeing the brakes on the train cars move. "Shit. Pope, the train's moving!"

"DJ, get on! Hurry!"

She quickly stepped on the ladder and pulled herself up. "Are you okay?" She yelled.

"I'm fine, D. Just hang on!" Pope yelled back.

As the train began to move, Dylan shifted herself on the train car. Being careful not to fall, she found a way to move to the back of the train car, Pope hanging on to the one opposite of her. "Maybe we shouldn't tell our dads this part!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!"

At that point, Dylan wished she had tied her hair back. The faster the train moved on the tracks, the more harsh the wind got and her hair blew in her face and into her mouth. She wondered how the hell she got to this point in her life. Not too long ago, she was a girl getting ready to apply for colleges, a girl ready to embark on her journey of wanting to be a homicide detective. She never missed a day of school, let alone sneak off to a different state. Dylan's whole life was set up for her, now she was a girl risking her life on a treasure hunt, trying to retrieve something they always end up losing. She was illegally hanging onto a moving train with her boyfriend to get a cross they most likely would end up losing again.

How the hell did she let it get this far?

"Do you think JJ's plan worked?"

"On a scale of one to never gonna happen, probably not gonna happen."

Soon, the train brakes screeched on the tracks and Dylan jolted forward. "The train's stopping. They did it!" Pope yelled.

Her eyes widened when she felt the train start to slow down. "Okay, maybe I do need to have more faith in him."

"Come on," he told her and began shuffling his feet along the train cart.

Dylan carefully reached her leg across until her foot was planted on the base. Then, she quickly jumped over and held on tight to keep from falling. The pair continued to shuffle along the side of the train cart and they held on until the train came to a full stop.

Pope jumped off and held out his hand, Dylan taking it and jumping off as well. "I almost broke my arm," he complained and rolled his shoulder back.

"Oh, that was nothing. Try having to swim twelve laps back and forth," she said and popped her knuckles.

"Thank you, again, for the reminder that you're way more athletic than I am."

"Aww, it's okay, my love. You can be the brains and I'll be the brawn."

He chuckled. "How honoring." That stopped in front of the cart where the cross was held. "Think you can pick the lock?"

"I can sure as hell try," Dylan answered and held out her hand. "Can I have your pocket knife, please."

Pope scrambled his hand in his pocket and pulled out his small pocket knife. He handed it to her.

"Thank you," she muttered. "Light, please." Once he shined the light on the lock, Dylan switched the blade open and started poking at the bottom of the lock, though it was still hard because of how dark it was outside. Her hand started to shake from anticipation.

"I don't mean to rush you baby, but, we gotta hurry," he told her.

"I know, I know. I'm trying."

"Hey!" Said a firm voice and a shining light pointed in their direction.

Dylan froze. "Shit."

"Stay right there!"

"Shit. Shit!" Pope cursed to himself and took the knife from her hand, quickly putting it back into his pocket. "Don't panic."

"I'm not panicking!" She whisper yelled even though she was indeed panicking on the inside.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" The train mechanic ordered as he marched up to them, still shining the light in their faces.

"Sir, I'm so sorry, it's not what it looks like," Pope quickly said with his hands raised. "I know it looks like we're criminals, but that's not our intention. I promise you, sir."

"What are you doing here? It's very dangerous to be up here." There man demanded again.

"We're just trying to get to the next town over. That's it. We're tryna – We're running away from home," Pope came up with and he missed the way her eyes widened at him.

"You know what? I'm not buying it. I'm sorry, I'm calling for backup."

"No, no, sir, he's telling the truth. We're not lying." Dylan quickly followed along, her own hands raised, and she tried to keep her voice from sounding shaky.

"Yes. Sir, please, I see that you're married," he continued, seeing the ring on the man's finger. "Sir, please. We're in love. That's all we're trying to do. We're just trying to get married and we can't do it here, o-o-our parents don't approve—"

Her eyes widened at him again.

"They told us it's a bad idea, that we're too young, but. . ." Pope paused his story and he looked at her, his mouth gaped. "I-I've known her my whole life. Sir, she's–she's my best friend. She's my fiancé. She's the love of my life."

Dylan's eyes softened. Remembering that the man was still standing there, she quickly lowered her hands and grabbed one of his. "It's true, sir," she told the man. She wrapped her other hand around Pope's arm. "We're young, I know, but I love him for more than anything. He's everything to me."

The couple looked at each other again. "We're can't get married in this town, but I love her. Sir, I love her so much," Pope went on and he glanced at her again. "I-I-I can't imagine living in a world where I don't get to make her my wife. That's a life I don't want to live. If you just let us get over to the next town, we're gonna find a priest who will marry us, and we can start a new life together. Just me and her. The life we've always wanted since we were kids."

To the man who didn't know them, it was hard story to believe, but to Dylan, it was hard for her not to burst into tears right then and there. Maybe it would've made it more believable, even. But she smiled lightly and rested her forehead on his shoulder, her heart warming every inch of her body.

"Yes, I. . .I can see that love," the man said, handing her to lift her head back up. "Hoping the rails, it's illegal, okay? But. . ." He looked behind him. "I can't stop what I don't see."

Dylan visibly relaxed.

"So, listen, just go, okay?"

The couple looked at each other and smiled big.

"Thank you. Sir, what's your name?"

"It's Jimmy."

"Jimmy. That's what we'll name our first child," Pope said and he ignored the slight bewilderment that appeared on her face. "Thank you so much, Jimmy."

"You just made me the happiest girl in the world," Dylan told him, still faking a smile. "Thank you, sir."

They continued to smile until Jimmy walked away completely, his flashlight no longer illuminating their presence. When they were in the clear, Pope quickly handed her the switch blade again. "Okay, go, go, go."

She rapidly twisted the end of the blade into the key hole, wiggling it around until she heard a click. "Ha! Okay, I got it!"

"Yes! Good job, baby." He praised and rubbed her shoulders.

"Careful," Dylan said when he twisted the latch on the door.

Together, the two of them forcefully slid open the car door. The crates became visible to them. "Okay, it's gotta be in here somewhere," Pope whispered and turned the flashlight back on. He felt a force and suddenly, he was turned around. She stood in front of him. "D, what's wrong–" he was cut off by her grabbing his face and she pulled him into her, pressing her lips harshly against this. Pope's eyes widened in shock and he ever so slightly put his hands on the base of her hips, sinking into the kiss. When she pulled away, he stood there frozen. "What was that for?"

Dylan smiled at him. "Yes."

"Y-Yes, what?"

"Yes, I'll marry you one day, Pope Heyward," she confirmed, her smile growing bigger and her dimples were on display.

Blinking rapidly, Pope released a laugh and he squeezed her hips. "That's good to know," he said sheepishly, feeling his cheeks heat up.

She giggled and dropped her hands from his face. They hoisted themselves into the train car. "By the way, if we ever have a kid together, his name won't be Jimmy. It'll be Alexander."

Pope turned to her again, his untied raised slightly. "My middle name? W-Why?"

She half smiled. "Well, Braxton's named after my dad's middle name. My dad's named after his father's middle name. It's kind of a family tradition," she explained. "Thought I'd continue it on into my own family someday."

"Of course," Pope said softly and grinned. "I like it. Alexander. . .something Heyward."

Dylan laughed.