chapter thirteen
we gotta get kie

The pogues managed to get out of the Chateau, covered in soot and now sat in front of the Chateau on the grass the next morning. Athena's head rested against JJ's arm as they all watched the remnants of the Chateau burn.

"Could've been a faulty electrical wire." Pope suggested.

"Place was all wood." Kie stated. "A tinderbox."

"Thing just went up." Cleo added. "Boom."

"I guess it really was a piece of shit." Athena let out a small sigh. "Our piece of shit."

"Verdict's in, bro. Whoever's up there, does not like you." JJ told the boy. Sarah looked up, sending him a look that made JJ move the hand that was playing with the end of Athena's hair and place it on John B's shoulder. "Sorry."

JJ exhaled, throwing his empty beer bottle into the rubble. It wasn't long before they all got up and moved down the dock. Athena stood in front of Sage, the brunette plaiting Athena's hair out of boredom.

"Sarah, when did you say the pilot was getting in?" John B asked.

"Probably like an hour?" Sarah told him, although she seemed unsure. "I mean, once he's here, my dad says we can leave whenever we want."

"Okay, well, as much as I would love to ghost my parents again, I can't." Pope spoke up.

"Pop, we're talking El Dorado here. Can you just slip out the back maybe?" JJ wondered.

"Great advice." Kie commented.

"It always worked for me. How to avoid unpleasant circumstances 101. If there's a problem, you don't wanna face it, turn that face and keister around and walk the other way." JJ said, turning to face Pope.

"I'm not doing that, okay?" Pope commented, jumping off the wood where he was sat.

"I just want you to be there, dog." JJ sighed.

"I'm gonna be there. I'll meet you at the airstrip in an hour?" Pope informed him.

"Yeah, we'll see you there." John B told him.

"One hour, Pope. Not a second later." JJ warned, hugging the boy for just a single second.

"Bromance." Athena smiled.

Cleo followed after Pope, the two going to tell the Heywards they were off on their little treasure hunt. JJ squinted, looking over at the rest of them. "I'm gonna take a stroll back to the shack. For old times sack. I always wanted to go to South America. Great surf, cheap weed. See you guys on the tarmac."

"I guess I'll go pack some stuff and break the news to my parents." Kie stated as JJ walked off, sending Athena a smile as he did.

"Yeah, I gotta give Dorota a heads up." Athena agreed.

"I'll join you, gotta tell my parents too." Sage sighed.

The two walked up the dock, separating when Athena grabbed JJ's wrist. "Hey, Jayj, wait."

"What's up?" The blond turned to look at her.

"You were gonna say something last night, I just wanted to know what." Athena stated awkwardly before she shrugged. "Because I'm a nosey bitch and wanna know."

"You're not a bitch." JJ reassured her. They shared a look. "Just nosey."

"I'm still nosey though." Athena spoke at the same time, them both sharing a laugh. "So...?"

"You know what?" JJ squinted slightly. "I'll tell you on the plane."

"Don't do that." Athena shook her head.

"Be there." JJ pointed a finger in her direction. He walked off, leaving her alone. Athena shook her head with a small laugh, rolling her eyes and walking back towards Dorota's lodge.

Athena arrived to see Dorota on the phone sat on the porch, a smile on her face that Athena had never seen before. She assumed that Dorota was on the phone with his fiancé, she was always good at reading people, and the look of love in Dorota's eyes she'd be surprised is Dorota was on the phone with anyone else.

"Oh, honey, Athena's here, I have to go." Dorota stated upon noticing the blonde. She hung up the phone after a quick 'I love you', looking up at Athena in concern. "What happened?"

"The Chateau set on fire, with us all inside." Athena told her. "We're okay, um, but I have some exciting news."

"What?" Dorota stood up, following Athena inside.

"So you heard what Pope said yesterday, well Sarah managed to get Ward to give us his plane, we're all meeting on the airstrip in less than an hour. We might actually find El Dorado." Athena explained as she walked to her bedroom. She grabbed her backpack off of the floor, shoving some clothes in it along with some essentials.

"That's incredible." Dorota stated with a smile.

"I'll be back soon." Athena smiled, hugging the woman.

"Stay safe." Dorota ordered.

"I always am." Athena commented, walking back towards the front door.

"Oh and Athena." The blonde turned back to face Dorota. "Get your prince charming back."

Athena let a smile spread across her face. "I'll try."

The blonde walked out of the house with one final wave, making her way towards Sage's house on Figure Eight. She swung her backpack onto her shoulder, bouncing up to Sage's front door and knocking on it three times. Sage opened the door with a large smile on her face.

"How's it going?" Athena asked her.

"It's good." Sage nodded, moving to the side to allow Athena to step inside. Her parents rushed to greet the girl, Sage's mother stepping forward with an apologetic smile on her face.

"Athena, I am so sorry about the things I said." She apologised. "You're a good kid, you always have been. I was just angry and didn't want to admit I was in the wrong."

"It's okay." Athena smiled with a small shrug. "We better get going."

"Keep our baby safe Athena." Sage's father spoke up.

Athena looked at him then to Mrs Hartman before turning and smiling at Sage. "Of course."

"And you stay safe too." Sage's mother added.

"Yeah." Athena held her hand out to Sage. "You ready Hartman?"

"As I'll ever be, Mars." Sage took a hold of Athena's outstretched hand. "Let's go before they get worried."

The duo walked out of Sage's house and down the road towards the airstrip. Sage turned to Athena with a small sigh. "We have to walk the entire way."

"Unfortunately I still don't have a car." Athena stated.

"Neither do I," Sage said.

"What rubbish kooks we are." Athena commented making them both laugh softly. They walked in comfortable silence for most of the way there, only casual chatter between them as they made their way to the airstrip. When they arrived, they noticed everyone except Kie there waiting for them impatiently.

"Y'all waiting for us." Athena called. "Sorry we took so long, some of us have no way of transport other than our legs." Athena hugged JJ, the boy being the closest to them before she moved to wrap her arms around Pope with a smile. "Your dad let you come with us."

"Cleo managed to convince him. Was a bit scared I'd have to bring you in to help." Pope commented.

"This is why we're the best pogues." Athena stated, turning and fist-bumping Cleo who stood behind her.

"Hey, where's, uh... where's Kie?" Pope asked.

"I don't know." Sarah replied.

"She's not with us." Athena told them.

"It's gotta be her parents, dude. They're been up her ass." Sarah explained.

"They must've said she couldn't come." Pope stated. "We're gonna have to do this without her."

"Absolutely not." Athena disagreed. "But guys what if her parents did something worse than just saying she couldn't come."

"Give me the keys." Sage suddenly demanded, ignoring Athena's statement.

"No, dude. No, no, no, no, no."

"Give me the keys." Sage said firmly.

"It doesn't seem like a good idea, Sage." John B told her.

"Look. We need Kie, no pogue left behind. And her parents like me, I can get in her house and get her out. Okay?" Sage explained, placing her hands on John B's shoulders. "Plus... I owe her. I need her. Give me the keys."

"Oh." John B breathed out.

"Do not make that face. Give me the keys." Sage repeated.

"Okay. Well, yeah, you owe her, right? You need her." John B held the keys up. Sage grabbed them. "I get it. I just appreciate the honesty. Okay? Hurry back."

"Hurry. Hurry." Sarah told the girl.

"Just give me an hour." Sage turned and make her way towards the Twinkie, JJ following.

"Woah, JJ. Where are you going?" Athena stopped him. JJ turned, the two standing only a few inches apart.

"I gotta go with her, she can't go alone." JJ furrowed his eyebrows like it was obvious what he was doing. "Sage is right, no pogue left behind. I gotta help her get Kie back because I know you need her."

"Okay." Athena nodded, looking over at Sage, who sat in the driver's seat already. "Go get our girl back. Stay safe."

"Only for you." JJ had a dopey smile on his face.

Athena laughed softly, looking up at him for a moment. She stared at his face before grabbing his hand, taking one of the rings on it that she had always joked about stealing because it was her favourite. She placed it on her finger. "But I'm taking this, as collateral so you come back."

JJ nodded, turning and running towards the Twinkie. He jumped through the passenger window making all of them sigh at his actions.

"That door opens bro!" Pope shouted.

"Feather, feather, feather the throttle, you know?" John B called to Sage, who started the engine and drove off quickly. "You have 59 minutes guys!"

It wasn't long until John B was shouting through the phone to JJ and Sage. They argued for a few minutes before John B put his phone back in the pocket.

"Yo, what's going on?" Pope asked from where he sat at the door of the jet. "What'd they say?"

"I'm gonna kill him." John B stated.

"They took her didn't they." Athena had a moment of realisation as she paused her pacing. "They sent her to the wilderness camp." John B let out a sigh, his lack of answer telling her all she needed to know. Athena began walking backwards. "We gotta go get her."

"No." John B replied.

"No, what do you mean no?" Athena spun to face him angrily. "Kie has been taken to some coocoo camp and we're supposed to just sit here while she's at a place that is going to hurt her. No, because she is my best friend and you're best, my boyfriend and another one of our closest friends has gone to save her and I'm supposed to just sit her and wait before we go and save your dumbass of a dad who almost got us killed by the way when we went to find him. I don't give a shit about treasure if they get hurt John B so I'm going to help them. Right now."

At this point, Athena was in John B's face, anger flooding through her veins at his lack of action to help their friends. She spun on her heels, walking away from the boy and back the way she had come from earlier.

"He's not your boyfriend." John B stated.

Athena turned, glaring at the boy. "Excuse me?"

"JJ." John B confirmed. "He's not your boyfriend."

Athena missed the panicked look sent from John B to the rest of the pogues as he silently begged for help. She stared at the boy for a few moments before nodding slowly. "Right."

"Athena." Sarah called softly.

"Don't even." Athena snapped, looking over at her sister. "All right so JJ isn't my boyfriend, no. But guess what JB. Sarah isn't your wife either, that piece of dirty bandana around her neck that has never been washed and will probably give her a rash in the next two months isn't a ring, it isn't a marriage certificate. Neither of you took a little walk and got married, okay? So I am sick of the John B and Sarah couple shit, okay? JJ isn't my boyfriend but Kie is still my best friend."

She looked around, both Sarah and John B now looking anywhere but her. Pope made eye contact with her, sending her a pleading look that Athena hesitated at.

"Come on Blondie, we gotta stay here. JJ's got it, remember you trust him... and Sage." Cleo told her. The two shared a look, holding eye contact for a few moments. Athena let out a small sigh.

"Okay, I'll stay here." Athena agreed, walking over and standing next to Cleo with an angry look on her face.

It wasn't long after that another car pulled onto the airstrip. Athena rolled her eyes when she watched Topper get out of the car. He walked closer to the group, Sarah getting up and standing in front of him as John B stood slightly behind her.

"Hey Sarah." Topper greeted. "What are you doing? You just seeing John B off or what?"

"I'm sorry I, uh... I didn't call." Sarah told him. "I meant to call you last night."

"Oh, you meant to call me last night?" Topper repeated sarcastically. "Okay. No, it's all good. I was actually asking around myself and heard your dad's plane was here. And I was like, 'Oh, that's... that's interesting'. Yeah. So are you leaving with him? Are you leaving with him? Yes or no, Sarah."

Sarah nodded.

Topper scoffed. "You're just... you're just a f—a damn liar, Sarah Cameron. You've always been a liar. After everything we've been through? This... this is what you're gonna do to me? I'm done. Okay? You literally just promised John B would go away, you'd stay here with me. I can't keep doing this to myself anymore, man."

"Hey, Top." Pope called, gesturing to his own eye. "You got a little something right here, man."

"Why don't you shut up? How about that?" Topper took a step towards John B, who stood next to Sarah. "And oh, buddy, John B, you better be glad I didn't swing back at you at the Wreck cause I think you know what would've happened."

"I'm not taking the bait, Top." John B shook his head. "You're right. You would've kicked my ass."

"I, um, heard they're remodelling the Chateau." Topper had a smug look on his face that made Athena move from where she was over to his car without anyone noticing. "That's tough, man. How'd that happen?"

"What did you just say?" John B asked. "No, Topper, what'd you just say?"

"Hey, you guys have a nice life, all right?" Topper bid them goodbye, walking over and getting in his car as Athena appeared next to John B.

"That's what you call a kook?" Cleo questioned.

"Oh yeah. Big time." Pope nodded.

"It's fine, I stabbed a pin into his back tire, I give him less than a few miles before he's stranded." Athena told the group. They all sent her smiles as she shrugged. "He's the worst but I can't do a lot here."

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
just angry athena once more only
listening to pope and cleo since they
stay 🔛🔝
like 15 of you guys wanted this so here
we go!
14 votes for this love so that will be up soon
and 10 for sweet creature so that will also be
up
i will upload one more because i love you all so
these are the ones that also got a few votes
— anyone else, modern family
— summer love, conrad fisher
— illicit affairs, james potter
— back to december, matt sturniolo
— the one, pope heyward
HAPPY VOTING AGAIN 🤭