XL.   where you go, I go

      When Bridger got a knock on his front door, he counted the people on his head he expected to see on his way to answer. The first was JJ, the next could be Pope, maybe even Rafe (he was praying it wasn't) but when he saw Kiara carrying her stuff in her arms, he was surprised. "Kie."

"I, uh, never thought I'd be the one to knock on your door." She tried to joke but it was clear that she was upset. "My, uh, folks and I got into a fight and they kicked me out. . .so."

Bridger's eyes went wide. "Oh, shit. Um, c-come in." He stuttered and moved out of the way so that she could come in. She stepped inside his house and he closed the front door behind them. "Why did you guys fight."

"Oh, the usual. They think my life's coming to end because I'm a Pogue when they think I should be a Kook, I'm disrespecting them by not living up to their expectations, and, uh. . ." Kiara took a pause. "I pretty much told them I slept with Pope."

He choked on his breath. "Y-You did?" He asked and couldn't help but laugh. "Jesus, Carerra, you got balls."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I know. It's a curse sometimes. But, uh. . .I don't have any place to stay, so, I was hoping I could ask?" She hesitated.

"Oh, of course. Yeah. Absolutely." Bridger immediately nodded. "I have a shit ton of guest rooms. You can have whatever you like. It's just me, anyways."

That made her frown. "That must lonely."

He only shrugged. "Sometimes, but, I'm usually never here." He pointed to upstairs. "You can go look at the rooms. Do you have anything else?"

Kiara shook her head and her frown deepened. "No."

Bridger blinked a couple of times. "Oh." He eyed the handful of clothes she was still holding. "Come on." He jerked his head towards the stairs and he led her up them.

"Thank you. I, uh, don't really like asking for help." She said awkward and walked up the very long staircase.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. Glad I was your first option."

Out of all of the dumb ideas JJ could conjure up in his head, stealing an ambulance wasn't even in Bridger's top five, which then made him feel like an idiot. "Waitin' for a ride, sexy?" JJ hollered out the rolled down window when he stopped in front of his house.

Bridger felt his eye twitch as he climbed inside. He closed the door and stared at him with tight lips. "Jess, why do you have an ambulance?" He asked, expecting the worse.

"It's all apart of my plan, baby. I went to the jail earlier to see John B, and we talked all about it. He's gonna fake being sick and we're gonna meet him to pick his ass up and haul ass." JJ explained manically like it was his greatest idea ever.

Bridger only hummed. "Right. Okay. And, uh, whose ambulance is this?"

"Oh, uh, my Cousin Ricky's. He's an EMT. You haven't met him."

Again, another hum. "And, uh, does Ricky know you have his ambulance?"

There was a short pause. ". . .No."

Bridger closed his eyes tightly. "You're going to give me a heart attack. I'm having heart palpitations—"

"No, no, no, just trust me, B. This is gonna work." JJ quickly said and turned in his seat, laying one of his arms on the steering wheel. "Look, I know it sounds crazy. But I got a plan. I just need you to follow through with me. Please."

His stress levels were through the roof, but Bridger opened his eyes, although they were narrowed, and he blew air through his nose. "Okay. Fine. But if one thing even remotely starts to go South, we're out. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Course." JJ threw his hands up. "Whatever you say, darling."

Bridger rolled his eyes.

"There's, uh, another thing." He added and got up from the seat to climb into the back. He came back with a white EMT uniform. "You gotta look the part."

His partner gave him a bland look. "Are you serious?"

He only smirked.

Bridger huffed and ripped the uniform from his hands. "Jesus Lord, alright." He got up to go into the back and changed.

JJ chuckled as he watched. "I love you."

"Shut up and drive the stupid ambulance you stole."

Bridger sat anxiously in the passenger seat of the ambulance as JJ drove. It was almost eleven at night, the time they needed to get John B. He felt stressed out as he thought of the possibilities of the plan failing. "Came believe this shit's happening to us." He uttered.

JJ glanced his way for a brief second. "Welcome to Pogue life, B."

"This isn't Pogue life, J. This is just really bad fucking luck."

"Maybe so." He nodded and turned down a road. "But we're Pogues. We can handle anything life throws at us, y'know?" JJ quickly smiled at him.

"Oh yeah. Life's thrown our relationship into a spiral, it's thrown John B and Sarah into nearly dying, and now it's thrown him into jail for a crime he didn't commit. What a wonderful life." He rambled sarcastically. "I mean out of all the people who should be in jail, John B?"

"Yeah, I'd always thought it'd be me first. Can't believe it hasn't happened yet."

Bridger stifled a laugh. "Yeah, you can say that again. You're a lucky son of a bitch."

JJ only shook his head. "Nah, it'll happen one day."

The tone in his voice made him frown. Bridger looked at him again. "What do you mean by that?"

His hands clutched tightly around the steering wheel. "I mean I'm a Maybank. It's kinda in the loop for me to end up like my pops." JJ replied with a harsh swallow.

The sudden shift in emotion startled him. "Why do you say that? Did somebody say that to you?" Bridger questioned, his voice raising.

"No, Bridge. It's the truth." He quickly said back and once again tightened his grip on the wheel.

Bridger shifted in the seat so that he was facing him. "Hey, you're nothing like your dad. Okay? Nothing. You're not anything like that piece of shit. You're a great person, J. Fuck what anybody on this island says."

When he pulled into the parking lot, JJ put the ambulance in park and leaned back in the seat. He stared at the building in front of him, his jaw shifting side to side. "I know you think that, but, you can't control fate, B." JJ turned his head to look at him. "I mean, look at me now. I'm on probation. I'm a foot in the door away from the slammer anyway."

"Stop talking like that. That's all of those asshole's voices in your head." Bridger reached over and slapped him on the head. He did it gently, but his anger was clear in the action. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. As long as you're with me, you're not gonna be anywhere near that place. And if you ever do, then fuck, I'll be right in there with ya."

JJ scoffed. "No, you won't."

His eyebrows raised. "Want a bet?"

The partner's locked eyes. JJ scanned his red, jaw clenched face and his eyes softened. "No, I don't want a bet." He replied softly.

Bridger nodded. "Alright then. C'mere." JJ leaned over and their lips met in the middle. Bridger held the end of his chin to keep him in place. "I love you, maniac."

"I know. I love you, too." JJ answered with a small half smile.

The pair sat in the ambulance, waiting impatiently for John B to call. "Waiting on your call, John B." JJ mumbled while staring at his phone.

"Jess, I don't think it's gonna happen." Bridger shook his head.

"Baby, it's gonna happen. I know it."

Then, a cop car pulled up behind them and the siren chirped. Immediately, Bridger's heart dropped. "Oh, shit. Of fuck." He panicked.

"Stay cool. Stay cool." JJ hissed at him and kept his composure.

The cop pulled up beside them and parked the car. "Man, I hate when he's slow like this, you know?" The cop said first.

"Tell me about it, man." JJ answered smoothly, chasing Bridger to give him the side eye.

"Hey, what happened to Ricky? He bang out?"

He leaned his arm on the door and exhaled. "Something like that."

One, three, Eddie. We got an unknown at KC Detention." The woman on the radio suddenly came through, and Bridger's heart rate spiked.

JJ quickly grabbed the radio. "Uh, yeah, ten-four. I'll be right there. Thank you so much. Over."

Oh, kill me now.

"You know the job, Fitz." JJ said to him then he looked at the cop. "Duty calls. We'll see you later, Officer. Uh, you have a good night, through, okay?"

As he started the engine, the cop stopped him. "Hold up."

"Ah, shit." Bridger muttered and looked out his own window.

"I got nothing to do. I'll pace you." The officer offered. He turned on the car and his blue lights.

The partners froze and slowly looked at each other. "Let's go get our boy." Bridger came up with.

JJ smirked. "Hell yeah." He turned on the ambulance and followed the officer.

When they arrived at the detention center, JJ quickly passed Bridger a hat. "Put this on and stay cool." He whispered.

"Me? I am cool. Cool as a cucumber." Bridger slightly panicked and put the hat his head.

They got past security with their breath held and JJ slowly drove the ambulance to the transfer bay. "You sure John B knows the plan?" He asked one more time.

"B, yes, I told you. Acute appendicitis, eleven p.m, then we're outty." JJ recited his plan.

Bridger narrowed his eyes at him. "How do you even know what appendicitis is?"

"Fight grade algebra final, baby."

He backed the ambulance up and met the nurse by the door. He patted the side of the door. "All right, load him up." JJ said loudly.

The nurse just looked at him. "You gonna get your patient here chief?" She questioned.

Bridger closed his eyes. "Oh my god." He mumbled and got out of his seat.

"Yeah. Right on. Yeah, I'm gonna get my patient."

"Well, come on then."

Bridger got out of the ambulance and circled around the front. "Apologies, ma'am. It's been a long day." He put on a charming smile.

"Where's Ricky?"

"Ricky? Uh, food poisoning." JJ came up with. "You know, uh, Ming Dynasty off of Highway 25? Them egg rolls, dude. Now, they'll bet ya. They'll get you good. Ain't that right, Fitz?"

Bridger's eyes widened slightly. "Oh yeah. Absolutely." He laughed awkwardly. "Doesn't, uh, set very will in me." He patted his stomach and cringed internally.

JJ circled the keys around his finger. "So, uh, where's the patient at?" He questioned.

"Patient fell out. No LOC, but he's orthostatic. Stage 4 lymphoma." The nurse explained to them. "He's been in and out of chemo for the last three months."

The mentions of cancer made Bridger's heart feel heavy. "Oh, yeah. I'm very familiar with that." He thought of his mom. He watched the officer wheel out of the patient and he could've killed JJ when he saw that the person was in fact, not John B Routledge.

JJ visibly panicked. "Uh, is that the only patient tonight there, ma'am?"

"Why? You two wanna take more than one tonight?" The woman laughed.

"Oh, we definitely we would if we had to." Bridger played along and put his hand over his heart. "It's very important to us that they're safe." He went to help them load the patient into the ambulance.

"I was just, uh, thinking my partner and I were called in because the patient had appendicitis. No? Okay."

"This is our only patient."

"Of course. Of course." Bridger quickly nodded with a smile, desperate to get them out of the situation.

The nurse looked skeptical of them. "Where did the two of you say you work?" She questioned, and looked at Bridger because he was the closest.

If he could curl into a ball right there and die, Bridger was sure that's the path he would take. "Uhhh, well—"

"Dare County, ma'am." JJ quickly answered and he put his hand backwards on his head. "The both of us."

"I worked over there. Never seen you."

"Well that's cause, y'know, I just moved up in the ranks so fast." JJ patted Bridger on the back. "That's, uh, he Fitz and I became partners, cause we moved so fast together. But, uh, I would love to sit and chat, but we gotta get moving, all right? We gotta get our patient to the hospital. Fitz?"

"Right. Yeah. 100%." Bridger quickly said, his voice cracking, and he moved on his feet to go and open the back doors.

"JJ, is that you?" The patient groggily asked JJ.

He squeezed his eyes so tight, he got a headache.

"He's delusional as shit."

With shaking hands, Bridger stuck the key in the hole and twisted it open. "There we go. Alright, let's load him up." He patted the door. As they got the patient into the ambulance, Bridger sent JJ the deadliest glare he could conjure up.

Bridger sat in the back of the ambulance with JJ as the officer drove. His leg was bouncing uncontrollably and he was trying not to have a panic attack. He popped all of his fingers until they couldn't anymore.

"Be advised, a 10-63 in progress. I repeat, a 10-63 in progress. Do you copy?" The woman on the radio cut in.

"Copy." The officer said into his radio.

"Continue with the patient onto the hospital. We have buck up on the way. Do you copy?"

"I read. Ten-four."

Bridger slowly looked at JJ, his partner mouthing It's okay. "Officer, everything good up there?"

The cop only slid the clear door shut on them.

"Officer?"

"Why the hell do I let you talk me into doing this stupid shit?" Bridger hissed under his breath.

"I thought the plan was clear!" JJ hissed back. "We gotta get outta here."

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

"Okay, okay, uh. . ." The blonde hesitated and started trying to undo the back latch on the door.

Bridger's eyes widened when he heard police sirens and then the police cars started following them. "Oh boy, here we go."

"Here, here, I'll text Kie." JJ said and he took out his phone.

"That's the one smart thing you've said all night."

He glared at him for a split second and texted her. More police cars came down the street and followed them. "Shit!" He let out.

Bridger watched him become scared, the veins in arms intensified as he squeezed his fists. He swallowed deeply and looked at the police cars following them. They were stuck. He watched JJ sit on the floor and press his back to the door, and he took off his hat. When he started to cry, Bridger immediately dropped to his knees in front of him. "Hey, hey, hey, look at me." He cupped his face and lifted it so that their eyes met. "We're gonna be alright. We're gonna stay calm and wait for Kiara. Okay?"

"We're not getting out of this one, baby." JJ whimpered and clenched his jaw.

"Don't say that. Don't say that. Have confidence. It's what you do best." Bridger continued and rubbed his thumbs along his cheeks. "It's okay, baby. Just have faith."

Like the gods were watching over them, Kiara suddenly appeared and she stopped right dead in the middle of the street, stopping the ambulance. The impact caused Bridger to launch forward and slam into the door. "Ow, shit!"

"MOVE! Get out of the way!" The officer yelled at her.

Realizing her plan, JJ scrambled to his feet and pushed open the back door. "Yes! Bridger, come on. Hurry!"

Recovering, Bridger immediately followed him out and the pair sprinted as fast as they could into the woods as Kiara and Pope stalled the officer. "Don't look back! Don't look back!" He yelled and dodged the low hanging branches he came encounter with.

"We're gonna circle. We're gonna circle!" JJ yelled at him and they quickly made their way around the woods to meet them.

Seeing them, Pope opened the back door. Bridger dived in first and JJ immediately after. "Go! Go! Go!" Pope urged the driver.

Kiara stepped on the gas and sped off. Bridger leaned his head against the car window and let out the loudest gasps he could produce.

"I'm seriously not even gonna ask."

"You really shouldn't." Bridger exhaled deeply.

"Look, we busted the wrong guy out of jail. Sue me." JJ said through a deep breath and he leaned back in his seat.

"WHAT?"

"Y'now, there's a chance they very well might!" Bridger seethed while glaring at him. "You're so goddamn lucky I'm in so deep in this relationship cause I would've killed you and ended up in those police cars!"

"At least I was trying!" JJ argued.

"Why are you always doing such stupid shit? And why the hell do you help him?" Kiara criticized and looked at them through her mirror.

"Well, I'm gonna end up in jail anyways, so. . . So why does it matter?"

Everything went quiet. Bridger continued with his deep breathing and he looked at JJ, his anger slowly going away. He ultimately reached for his hand and held onto it tightly. "It's okay. It's okay." He muttered and gasped for another breath.

"You guys okay?" Pope asked the two of them.

"Yeah. Just a doozy of a day." JJ replied somberly.

"Bridge, are you okay?" Kiara asked him in a soft voice.

"Oh, besides being an accomplice in basically a kidnapping and petty theft situation, I'm grand." Bridger responded sarcastically. He lifted JJ's hand that was in his and kissed his palm. "I was just kidding, I would never try and kill you. Physically, anyway."

The corner of JJ's lips turned up into a faint smile. "Thanks, Fitz."