CHAPTER SIX
❛ 𝚆𝙰𝚅𝙴 𝙾𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝚂 ❜

TO SAY THINGS ARE AWKWARD ABOARD THE HMS POGUE would be the understatement of the century. Silence, for once, feels heavy. Cassidy can hear mosquitoes buzzing near her ears, the steady thrum of the engine, the sound of waves and sea foam rocking against the boat.

Silence. And, as much as Cassidy usually appreciates it, she can't help but note she's never actually seen the Pogues keep quiet like this before. Pope is pointedly avoiding looking at her, instead fidgeting with the diving equipment. John B is intently steering the boat behind the wheel. Kiara is looking anywhere but her. But JJ, on the other hand, won't stop staring at her—though maybe glaring is a more apt descriptor. Cassidy can only guess he's one conversation away from tossing her overboard.

Cassidy looks away before JJ can see her rolling her eyes. She's not gonna let their attitude grate at her. She's not. But she can't help but feel they're being hypocritical. After all, isn't it JJ Maybank that's always declaring that you're supposed to do whatever it takes to stay afloat?

        This is Cassidy keeping herself afloat. This is her reaching for the life vest and strapping it around her before the ship sinks. She's going to get that money, and she's going to get her family the hell out of the south side.

        The engine quiets as John B stops the boat over what Cassidy supposes is where they found the sunken Grady White. She stands up and grabs the diving equipment from Pope's hands.

Kiara tilts her head, only looking at Pope. "Remind us, again, what good is a quarter-full tank gonna be?"

She rolls her shoulders. "I'll manage."

"Love it when a plan comes together," John B comments.

"I thought you said it was dangerous," Pope says, brows furrowed.

"Sounds fine to me." JJ shrugs, lips curling into a sneer. "She dives, we get whatever's down in the cargo hold. She drowns, then she's suddenly not our problem anymore. That's a win-win situation in my book."

Where Kiara would've normally shot a comment to defend her, she stays quiet. She's still not looking at Cassidy.

        This doesn't bother her. It doesn't.

Cassidy squints her eyes as she inspects the equipment. "These tanks belong to the Camerons," she says, brows furrowed.

JJ claps slowly, bobbing his head. "Congratulations, Liberato. For someone that's blackmailing us by knowing too much, you're surprisingly slow to catch up."

Cassidy jerks at that. She doesn't like that word. Blackmail. That's not what this is. This is... a favor. An agreement. Tit for tat. She clicks her tongue, narrowing her eyes at the blond. "You're getting something out of this too, you know. Not like I robbed you blind or anything."

"Might as well have," John B mutters bitterly.

The silence's back again with that, a thick blanket weighing over the boat. And while she's never been particularly comfortable around the Pogues, the air does feel different. Stifling.

Kiara's brown eyes finally turn to her. "You said you'd dive," she says dryly. "What are you waiting for?"

Cassidy clamps her jaw shut. She goes to remove her shirt, before Pope stops her. "Before you do—let me do some calculations real quick."

Cassidy looks away from Kiara, feeling the girl's glare burning onto the side of her cheek. She turns to Pope. "I'm gonna need time to make my safety stop."

"That boat's about thirty feet down," he murmurs to himself, scratching down numbers onto a napkin. "So it'll take about twenty-five minutes to get to that depth. Which means you'll need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet."

Cassidy checks the air compressor. "How much is that in meters?"

"Oh, brother," JJ groans.

        "How is it my fault that you guys don't use the metric system?" she shoots back, to which JJ kindly responds by flipping her off. "Oh, real mature."

"Can we focus?" Pope interrupts. "It'd be about nine meters down, three for the safety stop, for two minutes."

She nods, committing the numbers to memory. "Nine, three. Two minutes. Got it."

Kiara huffs. She stands up from her spot on the HMS Pogue, pulls off her shirt and—jumps?

        All four of them stare at the rippling water.

"Uh..." John B shares a look with the boys. His lips are parted, and Cassidy is tempted to tell him he'll swallow a bug if he keeps gaping like that.

"What was that about?" asks Pope.

JJ blinks. "I don't know. But I liked it. A lot."

"You three are disgusting."

The boys seemed to have forgotten Cassidy was there, as they all promptly clear their throats and turn to look away.

"Uh—yeah, uh," JJ coughs. "When you're down there, look for the cargo hold. Stick this inside, twist, and pull," he enunciates slowly, as if Cassidy won't grasp it. She yanks the key out of his hand. JJ shrugs as he turns to the other two Pogues. "My dad moved some weight back in the day."

Pope scoffs. "Who didn't?"

"I didn't," Cassidy says.

John B clicks his tongue. "Big surprise there."

        Okay, maybe Cassidy liked the silence better.

        Kiara resurfaces from the water with a sharp inhale. She extends her hand up as John B pulls her back onto the boat.

Kiara purses her lips. "I tied my t-shirt to the anchor chain—it's where you need to make your safety stop."

        Cassidy pauses. Kiara still clearly mad at her—but this is a gesture, right? She wants to make sure she doesn't die. Or that she gets them their money.

        "...Thanks," Cassidy says hesitantly. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see the boys sharing a look. She ignores them in favor of checking the compressor. "Pope," she calls, making him straighten. "Nine meters, quarter tank. How much air would I need to decompress?"

Pope winces. "Unclear," he says unconvincingly. "Just... breathe as little as possible."

"That's comforting," she murmurs. Cassidy pulls her shirt over her head, and unzips her shorts. She adjusts the diving gear around her, making sure everything is in place. The weight of it feels... good. Familiar.

She's nearly ready to jump off when her hand reaches to touch the pendant of her pearl necklace. Usually, Cassidy wouldn't have an issue diving with it—God knows she's done it in the past. But the water is too murky for her taste, and if it slips off, there's no way she'll be able to get it back.

She opens the golden latch from around her neck, letting the necklace pool in her palm. It's one of the few things that survived the police raid on her house—mostly because she'd been wearing it at the time for her dad's arrest. It's an expensive necklace, with small pearls tied together with golden hooks, leading to a larger pearl pendant hanging from its center. It was a gift—one from Gwen. She rarely ever takes it off.

Cassidy inhales sharply as she hands it to Kiara—and quietly prays she won't throw it overboard out of spite. Kiara arches a brow. Cassidy can only meet her gaze evenly. "Just look after it," she says, before reluctantly adding, "...please."

JJ lets out a whistle. "Well, good news is if there's not smuggler money down there, we can at least pawn off the necklace."

Cassidy whips her head in his direction, glaring at the blond. "Keep your clepto hands off it or you're dead."

JJ laughs dryly. "Right. And you're gonna be the one that kills me? Be real."

Pope clears his throat, clasping his hands together. "Hey, if we get caught out here on the marsh, we're basically screwed, so..."

Cassidy rolls her eyes as her focus returns to Pope. "So, you're ditching me if the cops show up?"

"Absolutely," JJ nods a little too eagerly.

John B tilts his head and clicks his tongue twice. "Better get a move on."

Cassidy rolls her eyes. John B steps forward to help her with her visor. She's half tempted to swat his hand away, tell him she knows what to do. Then, when she's all set, he meets her gaze with a nod. "Diver down?" he asks.

Her brows twitch. "Uh... sure?"

John B nudges her into the water as both Pope and Kiara salute her—whether sarcastically or otherwise, Cassidy doesn't have the time to tell.

The cold splash of the water is instant. Even with her visor, everything is too murky—definitely not proper diving conditions. And as Cassidy starts diving further down, she can't help but wonder what they would've done if she hadn't caught them.

Cassidy has enough diving certifications to consider herself a pro. Still, getting to the sunken Grady White is... chilling. She realizes she hadn't truly pictured it, hadn't put enough thought into this. Someone could've died here. You're ransacking. She's not superstitious—not really. But if bad karma is a thing, what would happen if she stole from a drowned man?

Nothing, she tries to convince herself. You're already living in the slums like a Pogue. You've sunken as low as you can reach.

But the cold water around her only seems to drop in temperature as she reaches the boat. And, suddenly, Cassidy feels like she's nine again—scared that some inhuman creature is going to sneak up on her and drag her into the depths.

Quarter tank. Pick up the pace.

She swims under what was once a doorframe. Squinting, she finally locates the cargo hold JJ mentioned. Stick it. Twist. Pull. Inside, she only finds a bag. She doesn't think twice before grabbing it and starting to make her way up the rope. As promised, Kiara's yellow t-shirt is tied around the anchor chain for her safety stop.

But there's more people on the boat.

Cassidy narrows her eyes against the murky surface, and the blurry silhouette becomes a face. Shoupe.

Fuck her life.

She checks her compressor. Forty seconds. She looks back up, and flinches when she finds the police officer looking down into the waters. It's like Shoupe is staring right at her.

Fifteen seconds.

Cassidy evens her breath as the man finally backs away from the edge of the boat with agonizing slowness. She takes one deep breath as the timer starts beeping. Even with her lungs burning, she doesn't dare move until she can hear another engine speeding away.

Cassidy resurfaces with a gasp. Standing against the edge of the boat, all four Pogues let out sounds of relief. She peels off the diving mask as Pope and Kiara outstretch their hands to help her back up.

"Oh my god, don't do that," Kiara exhales, searching Cassidy's face with surprising worry. "You scared the shit out of me."

"How'd it go down there?" Pope asks.

John B reaches for her elbow to haul her up onto the boat. "D'you find anything?"

"Did I find anything?" Oddly enough, there's no snark in her question—rather, a cautious sort of excitement. Cassidy raises the bag with the metal container inside, making John B holler.

The exhilaration spreads quickly over the HMS Pogue. JJ shouts and Kiara grins. Pope actually goes to hug Cassidy before immediately backing away upon realizing who he's about to hug—but Cassidy loops her arms around his neck and embraces him anyway. Because just then it really hits her—she's got the key to all her problems in her hand. Enough money to at least get her out of the glorified shed her family's been staying in.

It all ends today.

"Hey, guys?" Kiara says, excitement draining from her voice. "Guys, bogey, two o'clock."

"What?"

        "Do you recognize that boat?" Pope asks.

        Cassidy shakes her head. "Don't look at me. I don't usually go for swims on this side of the island."

Kiara stands up slowly, brows pinched together warily. "What are they doing here? The marsh is closed."

"I don't know, but let's not stick around to find out."

"JJ, get the bowline," John B says.

"Yeah."

"Should we wait on 'em?" Pope asks.

Cassidy squints against the tangerine sky. An odd, unwelcome feeling replaces the thrill from mere seconds ago. Dread. She can't seem to shake it off.

"Come on, let's go," she says.

"Go get the stern," John B orders, urgency bleeding into his words. "Go!"

JJ hurries over to the bow of the boat, hurriedly pulling up the rope. "Guys, don't wait for me. Go."

Kiara drums her fingers against her thigh. She turns to John B. "Let's go!"

"Pull out the stern," Cassidy urges.

"I don't like this," John B mutters.

"Are they coming for us?"

A pang of worry hits Cassidy. If cops catch her at the scene of a sunken ship surrounded by people from the wrong side of the island, she can kiss her old life goodbye. There's no way they'd would let her walk away. But then a different sort of worry creeps up her spine—cops were just here. And that's not their boat.

"Maybe they're fishing," Pope suggests hopefully.

"At this hour?" Cassidy questions.

Finally, JJ yanks up the anchor. He whips his head around, hissing a quick, "Go, go, go, go!"

"Go into the marsh!" Pope exclaims.

Cassidy's heart starts skipping a few beats. She tries to force her body to relax. "Act natural, just act natural."

But the urgency is Kiara's voice is only crescendoing. "Hey, guys? They're following us."

"This can't be good."

"Dude, you gotta go faster."

"I'm going, I'm going!"

"Why are they following us?" Cassidy asks with a growing panic. She turns her head around, wet hair whipping against her face as she tries to get a better look at the two men on the boat. She squints her eyes, and her heart drops to her gut. "Oh my god, is that a gun?"

"What—"

BANG.

"Holy shit!" Kiara yelps.

Cassidy's heart is hammering against her ears in a wild frenzy. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.

Pope ducks beside her. "Oh my god, we're gonna die."

JJ stands up beside her to get a better look of the shooter. Cassidy's eyes grow wide as her instinct kicks in. She reaches for JJ's arm and yanks down hard. Whether it's the adrenaline or the fact that JJ didn't have a solid stance to begin with, she somehow manages to bring him down onto the floor.

"Are you insane?" she demands, voice tight with fear. Another shot rings out, and Cassidy flinches. "Where is your fucking survival instinct?Keep your head flat on the floor now." Somewhere in the back of her head, Cassidy registers the fact that it takes being shot at for JJ to lose his tongue. She takes advantage of his momentary loss of words to reach for his head and push it down.

"Shit," Kiara hisses, standing up. She scrambles for a fishing net left astray in the middle of the boat.

"Kiara, oh my god—get down!"

BANG.

This time, Cassidy screams. Whoever's on the boat behind them fires again. Kiara is still up despite John B yelling at her to get down.

Cassidy can feel her chest rising and falling at an erratic pace, airways tightening. She reaches for somebody's hand beside her and squeezes tight. Her throat closes up. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.

One last shot rings out, before Cassidy sees Kiara throwing the net into the ocean. The other boat jerks back in the water, unable to keep moving forward. Then, miraculously, John B books it out of there, leaving the other two men in the dust.

JJ hollers loudly, jumping onto his feet. "Whoo! Yeah!"

But Cassidy stays ducked with her back against the driving console. Her heart still beats erratically, and she struggles in getting it to settle.

"Are you okay?"

Cassidy's head whips to the side, finding Pope's concerned gaze searching her face. Cassidy blinks at him, mouth dry. Her eyes dip from his and down onto her hand—her hand that's still tightly holding onto his.

Cassidy jerks away like he's burned her, embarrassment crawling up her cheeks. "I'm fine," she says stiffly, clearing her throat.

Cassidy stands up a little too quickly, eager to get Pope's eyes off her blushing panicked face. She tries to be casual in looking at the others, praying none of them caught on her near panic attack. It's just her luck that the other three are too caught up in their cheering and celebrating.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

THE SUN HAS LONG SINCE SET by the time they finally dock the boat at John B's. The sky still holds the last remnants on light, but it's fading quickly—which means the faster they do this, the better.

Cassidy's heart is still beating quickly—this time, from pure anticipation.

Kiara stands beside her as John B kneels to open the bag on the docks. She nudges her shoulder against Cassidy's excitedly. "Oh, God. What do you think it is?"

"Gotta be money, right?" John B says.

"That or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to mid-mils!" JJ exclaims.

"Maybe jewels. Blood diamonds," Cassidy suggests, albeit a little too eagerly.

Pope huffs. "Can we please just open the bag?" he demands exasperatedly.

All four of them blink at Pope. John B grins. "Wow, Pope. That's a rare outburst of emotion."

"Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation. Open the bag."

"Jeez," JJ whistles.

"We almost died over this."

"Please be diamonds, please be diamonds," she whispers. Her hopes have already gotten away from her—she's already mentally making a plan on how to sell the gemstones, who'd give her the best deal. She knows her mom used to be in contact with high-end jewelers. Surely—

The canister clangs loudly as John B flips it, revealing a rusted and worthless compass.

Cassidy's shoulders slump. There's no way. There has to be something else.

Pope groans loudly. "Oh, wow. Yup. That's about right. Good job, everybody. We found a compass."

Cassidy reaches for the metal container in hopes of finding something that somehow would've gotten stuck inside. Nothing.

"Filho da puta," Cassidy cusses, the words feeling raw in her throat. "This is useless." Cassidy doesn't believe in fate or God or destiny—but this feels unnecessarily cruel. It's like she can hear someone up above laughing at her. The hope in her chest withers into dust. "We dodged bullets for this?"

This was supposed to be life-changing. It was supposed to be her ticket out of the slums—her fix-all solution. Frustration, grief, anger, defeat—they all thunder in her heart. Her knees want to give out beneath her.

This was supposed to change everything.

JJ nudges John B. His voice sounds just as defeated. "Dude, what? It's not worth anything."

But John B is staring at the compass, his grip tight around it. His face looks haunted—haunted, but with the barest of smiles tilting up his lips.

"This was my father's."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A/N.

hello!!!! it's definitely been a while and this update has been dragging me for SO LONG but!!!! i finally finished exam season (and my third year of university????? oh my god?????) so i FINALLY have some (stress) free time to write!!!!

i've definitely missed cassie and her bitch ass snark 😁 the amount of walls she has up is UNHEALTHY but i can't wait to see how the pogues start to progressively get past them 🤭

anyways!!!!! FINALLY DONE WITH EPISODE ONE??? only took six chapters 😵‍💫🙂 but!!! things really will pick up from here on <3 i've also been thinking about it and after the absolute shit show that was that last season of obx (refused to finish watching it) i've decided that this fic will either be solely on season 1 or maybe seasons 1 and 2. yeah :)

LASTLY!!!! i hadn't updated in so long that i hadn't had the chance to thank my lovely friend tiishas for the beautiful gorgeous prettiest cover EVER featuring my liberward babes <3 genuinely don't have words to explain the utter RUSH i get from seeing them together in the cover 🥹

[ Started: June 15th, 2024 ]
[ Posted: December 13th, 2024 ]

( word count: 3.3k )