Nate had stayed away from his brother and friends, since his arguement with Kiara, he regretted what he said to her, as he knew it wasn't true. 

It was a day later as Kiara and JJ were now driving to the Maybank house. They pulled up outside of the front door. JJ sighed, and looked down. "Home sweet home." He said. 

Kiara saw his expression. "Do you want me to come? 'Cause I'll come." She told him.

He shook his head. "As much as Nate would like that, this'll only take a sec." JJ got out of the car, not noticing Kiara's worried expression. He looked back at her, causing her to feign a smile.

He entered the house. "Nate? Dad?" He called out. He walked further inside, making it to the living room. He saw his dad, fast asleep on the couch.

"He's been like that since I got back from my walk." He heard a voice from behind him. JJ turned to see his brother. "He's not waking up anytime soon, what a loss that is for us." He said sarcastically.

"You not coming with us?" JJ asked him.

Nate looked down. "Y'all don't need me. I'd just drag us down. You're better off."

JJ sighed. "Bro, you know that's not tru-"

"Yes, yes it is. I'm not smart, not exactly the best fighter." He took a breath. "And I hurt Kie." JJ looked at him sympathetically. "You don't need me." He walked back to his room, ignoring the calls of his brother.

He had been sat there for a few minutes when he heard a knock. "I'm not coming J." He told them.

"It's not JJ." He heard Kiara's voice. He stayed rooted to his bed.

"Nate, please let me in." He couldn't deny her. As much as he wanted to. He stood up and opened the door, seeing Kiara there, looking worried. They looked at each other. "Please come." She told him.

"You don't need me, I told JJ already." He responded.

"Yes we do. I promise you. We need you."

He sighed. "Kie, you're not gonna change my mind." He told her, looking down. "Please just go." He said, barely above a whisper. She still heard him.

"Fine, I'll go. But for what it's worth. I'd like you to be there." She told him, before she turned and left.

Those words played on his mind for a while. Despite all he had done, she still wanted him there. He still didn't believe they needed him. But she wanted him there. So he'd be there. At the very least, for Kiara.

---------

Nate turned the corner to the warehouse where The Phantom was being held. He heard voices coming from within, he knew one was Rafe, the other was less recognizable.

He walked into the building and heard gagging coming from the other side of the boat. He sprinted around the back of the boat to see Pope lying on the floor clutching his stomach.

JJ was getting repeatedly punched by Barry. Nate looked back up at Rafe and saw him choking Kiara.

"Where's John B, Kiara?" He shouted at her.

"I don't know!" She shouted back.

Nate was enraged. He saw red. He moved towards Rafe and grabbed his shoulders. Rafe dropped Kiara to the ground as she began coughing.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" He shouted at him before pushing him away. He ran at Rafe and tackled him to the ground. He threw a punch at Rafe's face, busting his lip.

Barry saw Rafe getting punched and went to help him. JJ swept his feet from under him, causing him to fall on his front and the gun to fly out of his hands.

"Pope get it!" JJ shouted at him. Pope was still hurt from Rafe's punch to the stomach, but he crawled towards the gun and picked it up.

"Get the fuck off me!" Rafe tried to shout, but Nate persisted. He punched him again. Rafe knew he had to start fighting back, he punched Nate in the side of his stomach, right where his bruises were.

Nate flinched at the pain, giving Rafe his opportunity. He pushed Nate off him, and stood up. He brushed the blood away from his lip, and smiled down at Nate. "You're in over your head Nate."

He started to kick him in the stomach, Nate lurching at every kick. Kiara saw this, and began crying harder than she already was. "Rafe... stop!" She said, through her coughs.

Nate was still on the ground, feeling more pain than he's ever felt. JJ threw Barry against the boat, and punched him across the face before throwing him on the ground.

"You alright Nate? You had enough yet?" Rafe jeered at him.

"Hey!?" JJ shouted at him. Pope got up, still holding the gun.

JJ ran at him and shoved him, forcing him to stop kicking his brother.

Pope held up the gun to him. "Woah, Pope. Put it down man." Rafe tried to reason with him.

"Get the fuck outta here." JJ pushed him away after Pope said that.

"Go." He told him. "And stay off the cut." Pope added. Rafe turned and ran out.

Kie stood up and ran to Nate. "Nate? Nate!? Are you ok?" She asked him.

She leant down and held his head in her hands. "Nate please answer me." He still couldn't get his words out. He was just groaning. "Nate please?" He looked into her eyes.

"Ugh. Y-yep. I'm ok." He told her, and tried to smile. She laughed at his response, but was still concerned.

"You sure?" She asked him. He raised a hand to meet hers, against the side of his head. He then nodded. The two stared at each other, looking deep into each other's eyes.

JJ and Pope just glances at each other. "Ok, either y'all kiss, or we go. 'Cause John B still needs us." JJ told them. Their heads snapped to the side to look at their friends.

"Um, yeah, ok. Let's go." Kie said. She stood up and walked to the car.

JJ grabbed his brother by his hand, and slowly helped him up. "You alright, bro." He asked his brother.

"Yeah, let's go."

------

They had put The Phantom in the water, and were now waiting for John B. "Ok, where is he?" Kiara asked them.

"Give him a sec, he'll be here." Pope assured her.

"He's coming. He'll be fine." JJ followed up.

They heard the police sirens begin to get closer. They turned to see a squad car pulling up in front of them.

"JJ?" Kiara called out. 

"Alright. Get back on the boat." He told them.

"Shit."

The door to the car opened, and John B stepped out.

"Fuck off." Nate said, dumbfounded.

"No effing way."

"I'm sorry?"

The group couldn't believe what they were seeing. " Shoupe let me take it for a spin." He told them.

"Okay, that's believable." Kiara replied as she hugged him.

"Wasn't easy, bro. But we got the Phantom for ya. She runs like she was made yesterday."

JJ told him as he tossed him the keys. "You ready to go?"

"Where's Sarah?" John B asked them. They looked at each other confused.

"She's not with you?" Kiara asked him.

"No we got separated in the swamp. She said she was gonna meet me here." He told them.

"We haven't seen her, man." Nate told him.

"Ok well I'm not leaving without her." He responded. JJ was getting frustrated.

"John B, look at me. I know you feel bad for leaving, but there's no time, man. You got plenty of gas, you got plenty of food. Once you get around that point, it's a straight shot across the sound to dismal swamp, ok?" JJ directed him.

"Once you get there. Lay low, alright? Hang out for a couple weeks. And then go over land, across the border at Brownsville?" John B was still hoping Sarah would show.

"Hey! You got that?" JJ asked him, forcing him to pay attention.

"Yeah, yeah, Brownsville." JJ jumped out of the boat. "Alright, saddle up salt water cowboy, let's do this." He said to his best friend. John B got on the boat and turned to them.

"Hey, hey. I'm sorry, for basically... throwing us off a cliff with this whole treasure hunt thing." He apologized.

"Look, John B, yo. We were bound to run off a cliff at some point, right?" JJ said, earning a laugh from everyone.

"At least we did it together though. Pogue style." JJ said as he put his arms around Pope and Kiara. Nate was stood beside Kiara. She turned to him, and put an arm around his waist. John B then turned to Nate.

"Nate?" This caused the younger Maybank to look up at him. "Sorry, about the gun thing." He apologized to him.

Nate waved him off. "Ahh. I kinda deserved it." He told him, getting more laughs from everyone.

"Yes, you did." Kie said to him. Nate turned to her, and looked down.

She smiled, sympathetically, before turning to John B.

"Get outta here!" She told him.

"Yeah, see you in two months, down in Mexico." Pope followed up.

He started to walk to the wheel. "Hey, um. Tell Sarah I said goodbye, ok?" He asked them. They nodded in response. They said their goodbyes, and John B was off.

JJ and Pope turned away. Nate stayed, and looked out at the water. He winced in pain, still feeling the hits to his bruises.

Kiara walked to his side. "You ok?" She asked him, making him turn to face her. He looked back down, and nodded.

Kiara took this as he didn't want to talk, so she began to turn away.

"I'm sorry." She stopped in her tracks, and turned back.

"What?" She asked him.

He looked back at her. "I'm sorry, for everything. For how I've acted, for leaving. For what I said to you on the boat. And for saying that what happened between us didn't matter. 'Cause it did, more than you'll probably ever know. I just got scared. And I know that that's dumb. So I'm sorry, I just want us to be friends again." He told her honestly. He turned back to the water.

Kiara couldn't believe it. He was sorry. She walked around to his front. Making him look away.

"Nate? Please?" She said to him.

He looked back into her eyes. They stared at each other for a second, before Kiara began to close the gap.

Nate leaned in too, and after what seemed like forever, their lips came together. They stayed that way for a few seconds before they pulled away. Nate knew now he had to tell her.

"I love you." He said, honestly. She was caught completely off guard by this, and before she had a chance to respond, sirens sounded behind them.

"Hey guys, uh, sorry to break up the party but we gotta go." JJ told them.

They walked a few steps, before the police cars stopped them. Shoupe and the FBI agents got out of the cars.

"Guys?" Kiara called out.

"Move!" The agents called to them.

"Guys, hands!" Kiara called to them.

"He's gone, goddamnit! Ratcher have your guys stand down." Shoupe shouted.

"Let me talk to these kids."

"Where the hell is he!? Nate, JJ, I see you're living up to your name. Pope, how about you? This isn't a fucking game! You can do the right thing right now, where'd he go?" Shoupe asked them.

They didn't say anything and were loaded into the police cars.

The three boys get taken out of Shoupe's cop car, as Kie was let out of a different car by Plumb, she came to the boys' side right away as they're escorted to a tent by Plumb.

"Right to your left here." Shoupe tells them as Plumb pointed to the chairs. "Right here." She says and Pope took his seat first. "Sit down, don't move." Shoupe says as Kie and Nate sat down together and JJ sat next to his brother and Pope sat on the end next to JJ.

"We got a lot to talk about. Keep an eye on these kids." Shoupe tells the SBI cop standing nearby who now stands in front of them, holding a gun in his arms.

"Blockade is up at the marsh and Masonboro and all other inlets from Shem Creek to Breach Inlet. I want eyes on all coastal access point, people. Let's get this guy." A man in the other tent announced.

Nate looks at Kie to his right who's was already looking at him with a worried look, their hands meet between their thighs and Nate interlocked their fingers. Kie glanced down at their hands and then back at Nate.

After a few minutes of them all being in the tent, Shoupe walks into the tent. They all immediately got up so they stood up as well. "Did you find them?" Pope asked, standing in front of Shoupe and the other two deputies with Nate as Kie and JJ stand behind them.

Shoupe shakes his head, "No."

Nate and JJ both share a confused look, as Nate spoke up. "So, they got away?" he asked.

Nate waited for his answer. "We, uh... we lost them." Shoupe glanced between the three boys before looking at Pope. "I'm sorry." He then apologized.

"You lost them? What do you mean you lost them? Like, they're gone? What are you talking about?" Pope asked worriedly.

"They took an open boat into a tropical depression, Pope." Shoupe explains.

"So, they're dead?" Kie asked the officer.

He looks at her, looking down, "we don't know." He answers her.

"What do you mean you don't know?! You drove them straight to the storm!" Nate raised his voice.

"Are you kidding me? Come here!" JJ shouted, grabbing Shoupe. "I'm gonna kill you!" He yelled.

"JJ, stop!" Kie says as tears were falling down her face.

"I'm gonna kill you, you bastard!" Nate yelled in Shoupe face as he turned to him.

"He didn't kill anyone, and you know it!" Pope says from beside Nate. 

"We're still looking for him, alright?" Shoupe tries to calm them down.

"It's all your fault!" Nate yelled in his face as Kie grabs his forearm.

"Guys, guys, stop. Please, just stop." Kiara cried as Nate turns his head to look at her, who was now crying, he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back.

Just a second later, Kiara's parents come through to the tent, she quickly embraced them, aswell as Pope's parents they also come through the tent and went straight to their son.

JJ and Nate both embraced each other until Pope's parents gestures for the brothers to come and join their hug. Nate felt a hand on his shoulder to see Kie standing there, he pulled her close by her waist, he puts his chin on the top of her forehead as she sobs into his shoulder. He kissed the top of her hairline.