A/N: Well, hi. This would be my....second time at trying to write a F29Dwn Fanfic. Woot. Anyway, the basic idea for this is to actually try and form Flight 29 Down into something past a kiddie show, squeeze in some LOST and Lord of the Flies goodness. Yeah, and maybe some "Peeps" and "Midnighters" too because I'm a Scott Westerfield fan. I would put this under Crossovers, but since none of the actual characters are used in this--EXCEPT FOR THE FLIGHT 29 DOWN PEOPLE--I figured I shouldn't, since everyone else was an OC. Including the little critters I came up with....
But, before I give away too many spoilers (for those of you who actually care), here's your Fanfic. Hope you like it. Leave a review if you feel like it.
P.S. You can thank Beware of Dogs, aka Cujo, for helping me with this, along with Dally2. They were good at being betas, or whatever you'd like to call them. The walls I bounced my ideas off of? Of course, my morbid, little, psycho Cujo helped out with the creepier stuff that I have for later....
That I still haven't written up....whoops?
CHAPTER ONE: Charmed my A**!
Jackson's POV--
I winced, every SINGLE time our small, prop-engine plane hit turbulence. I grasped the pale tan leather seat arms tightly, my knuckles now bone-white in fear, sadly enough. I was probably going to leave half-moon shaped slashes in the leather.
Ian constantly moaning as we jostled around didn't help anything, either. Heck that was probably the worst thing. They'd strapped Ian down on a gurney in the FAR back of the plane, but his leg still hurt him when the plane jumped around. It made me sick to keep hearing his pained groans and grunts, and it bloody well freaked me out, too.
"Well, Hurricane Melissa sure seems to be a b*tch," Eric commented from his seat, across the aisle and next to Abby, who was staring out the window at the gun metal gray and charcoal-colored clouds--completely oblivious to the conversation in the plane itself.
"Eric!" Daley yelled quite loudly, giving him a reproachful look. She scowled at him, not exactly a pretty expression on her face. She didn't like the little weasel swearing in front of Lex.
I didn't like it either, but I winced at her high-pitched tone of voice. For whatever reason, I was getting a headache.
"What?" Eric asked her, slouching back in his seat and looking indifferent.
"Don't cuss in front of Lex," Daley snapped curtly, brushing some of her russet-colored hair out of her face, then placed her hands nervously back in her lap.
Her fingers were now tapping an anxious beat on her thighs, so I figured she was just nervous.
Oh, well. It wasn't MY problem anymore. There were adults now. I didn't usually trust adults, but right now I didn't care. I was dog tired, exhausted, etc.--you couldn't use enough words to explain how I felt. Plus, like I'd said, I had a headache—a killer headache, too. It felt like someone was grasping my head on both sides and trying to push my skull in.
***
I started to relax, finally, feeling an odd sensation of calm fall over me. I was half way into a doze, feeling sleep claim me when I felt someone tapping on my shoulder.
I opened one eye a crack, looking up at the person who had just ripped me out of my peace and given me back a monster-sized headache.
"What?!" I asked my voice grating and snappish. Then, I realized it was Lex. "Oh, sorry," I said, feeling sort of embarrassed for biting the small boy's head off, pretty much.
"It's okay," Lex assured me, his gaze somewhat worried, though.
I shifted, trying to get comfortable. My neck tensed as pain flashed through my forehead. "So, what did you need?" I asked him, now wide awake.
"Nothing much….but the pilot keeps talking to someone on the radio," Lex replied slowly, looking curiously at the closed off cockpit with his almost pitch-black eyes. Now that he mentioned it I did hear the pilot's voice and the low garble of static.
"Who do you think he's talking to?" he asked him curiously.
"I don't know, but....for some reason we seem to be going in circles," Lex replied quickly, sounding EXTREMELY confused.
"When there's a hurricane coming, we're flying in circles?" I asked dubiously, looking towards the cockpit myself now. W-T-H?!
"We're out of the path of Hurricane Melissa now; this is just the outer storms." Lex explained slowly, and then titled his head to the side. "That doesn't mean we should stay here, though. We're wasting jet fuel," he added, biting his lip in worry.
***
Lex's POV--
It was so weird! I mean, even Jackson, who was always pretty calm, seemed slightly worried. His dull blue eyes were unusually bright with worry and his jaw was set, his whole face tense. We didn't want to crash TWICE after all, so it wasn't too big of a deal that he was freaking out a little….
"Can we go and talk to the pilot?" Jackson asked me curiously, running one hand uneasily through his bronze-colored hair.
"No, it's not allowed. No passengers are supposed to go into the cockpit." I replied slowly, explaining it as I was thinking about it.
Jackson briefly shook his head a little, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Well, I guess let's just wait it out. If anything starts to happen....well, I bet you could get away with sneaking up there once. You're a kid--they'll just think you're cute and dumb and that you don't know that you're not supposed to." Jackson said, but I could tell he felt guilty about thinking up a plan that would include me in it. I didn't see why. I could do just as much as THEM, maybe more.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much. I just wanted to talk with someone about it." I said, even though that wasn't the whole truth.
Oh, well. It didn't really matter too much, now did it....? I kept glancing nervously at the altimeter, anyway. Our speed and altitude weren't right....not for how we should have been flying....
***
Melissa's POV (20 minutes later)--
I was just relaxing in the seat I was in. I managed to get stuck next to....take a wild guess? Yes, Taylor….of all people....
Of course, right before we'd gotten rescued things had gotten better....but it was still seriously awkward. She had chosen to start talking about couture and all sorts of stuff about fashion and style I didn't know about or CARE to know about, to break up the awkward silence.
"So, yeah, it was TERR-I-BLE! The girl totally looked like a mermaid OUT of water. It was awful, and the designer even used polyester! Polyester!" she ranted. I just felt confused. What the heck was she even talking about....? She was looking down at one of her old, out-of-date teen girl magazines (that I'd only tried to read once before realizing they were barely below Playboy when it came to having any worth whatsoever). I nodded, smiling weakly at her. Jeeez, this was so not what I wanted to do for hours at a time....
I couldn't WAIT until we got to Hawaii, so we could switch planes....
Then, maybe I could get a seat next to Jackson, or....Nathan. Either, or. Or anyone else. I wanted to sit next to Jackson and I knew Nathan wanted to sit next to Daley, but anyone would be better than Taylor and her blabber mouth.
Oh, wait. I take that back. Eric looked like he'd rather be doing anything then sitting next to Abby, who seemed to be currently mumbling to herself. She'd been acting really weird recently....like for the past hour or so....
Well, more bizarre than normal, at least.
I reached over the aisle and poked Eric in the arm. "Hey, what's up?" I asked him. He shrugged his narrow shoulders.
"Nothing much." he replied honestly, and then sighed with frustration.
"I can't wait to get home. And I'm never getting on a plane after this—never, ever. I'll DRIVE wherever I want to go....even if it takes days, I don't want to deal with this again." he ground out, his hands fidgeting against his arm rests as he snuck a peek at the cockpit.
"It freaks me out to know my life is in the hands of two people." he muttered, mostly to himself.
Great, we were all getting cabin fever....Eric never acted like that, never so nervous and serious….normally he'd just start cracking jokes or pulling pranks when he got antsy….
***
Jackson's POV--
I was now tapping my foot nervously, my leg twitching.
I had put in the ear buds to my mp3 player and I was currently listening to The Bravery. Which was more or less classic rock, and I only had one of their songs. I wasn't exactly positive I liked their sound or not. Plus, I'd listened to this song so many times I was starting to get annoyed with it.
But, I was trying to focus on the almost repetitive lyrics and not my pounding headache, yet I just couldn't. I finally turned the music off. The fast beat was making my headache worse, of course.
Sometimes, I just didn't think before I did something.
I looked around my seat, which squeaked noisily beneath me, hoping to talk with Melissa. She was sitting in the seats behind me, with Taylor directly behind me and her to my left. I had gotten the window seat, of course. Right now, the blind was down. I couldn't face the ugly, almost purple, black clouds that lurked just on the horizon. They were going away, but every silvery flash of lightning made me jump.
Turns out, anyway, Melissa was already talking avidly with Eric.
Eric seemed sort of serious, for once--fidgety, but serious. Obviously the fact they were in a plane, in a storm, AGAIN was making them all seriously on edge.
I frowned a little, though. Why was she talking to him, anyway? It wasn't like they were friends, not really, and he'd blackmailed her so often on the island--treated her horribly in general. So why were they talking....? Jeeez, I was sure acting nosy, huh? That wasn't my usual….
"Hey, Jackson!" Taylor said, loudly.
I jumped at Taylor's high-pitched voice. "Hey...." I said slowly, looking sideways at the girl for a minute.
Her long, light blonde hair was hanging past her shoulders in tight, wild curls but her blue eyes were oddly dull, almost gray--not bright blue and excited-looking like they usually were. She had gotten her tan, like she'd wanted, too. Yes, he did remember that pointless comment for the fact it HAD been so totally pointless. But, why I was noting everything about her....no clue why I was doing that....maybe I was that out of it from this headache....
"So, what are you doing?" she asked me, sounding quite hyper (or stir-crazy; either, or). "I'm reading a Seventeen magazine. It's boring, though, since it was published two months ago." she told me, not giving me a chance to respond and sounding just as excited as ever--even if it didn't reach her eyes (which was odd in my opinion).
"Well, I was listening to music." I stated calmly, now looking at Melissa again and the way she talked with Eric of all people. Her eyes were bright, shiny, and her hands were moving in quick gestures, backing up her words.
Why was she talking to him?!
Oh, cr*p. That sounded really bad. Like, I was possessive of her....she could talk with him, I just didn't have to like it, though. Okay, that still sounded possessive....
"Hey!" Taylor said loudly, almost yelling in my ear.
"What?!" I asked, my voice showing how surprised I was.
"I just asked you what song you were listening to and you totally spaced out." Taylor responded, arching one eyebrow at me--a look on her face that showed she was curious about why I had stopped listening to her.
"Um….well, I was listening to The Bravery's "Honest Mistake"." I stated.
She looked at me like I was crazy. "I thought you like rap music and screamo." she said, almost sounding accusing.
I almost rolled my eyes at her. She was so smart, yet she continued to act like a dumb*ss. Why was that? Wait....maybe I should just stop asking myself rhetorical questions.
"Well, I do like rap and hard rock. The Bravery is hard rock." I explained slowly. I pointedly didn't call hard rock screamo. That was just rude....
"No it isn't. It sounds like an '80s band and it looks like an '80s band. They wear, like, all black and leather....and, like, eyeliner. They look more emo than you!" Taylor responded.
I frowned. "I'm not emo. Emo is short for emotional and I'm not emotional." I said curtly. Plus, when the heck had she listened to The Bravery? Wait, why did I wonder--she must've hijacked my mp3 player again....
She just giggled. "I was just pulling your leg...." she said slowly, now sounding like she was talking to someone that was pretty dense. "You know, being sarcastic?"
I scowled at her. "I know what sarcasm is." I told her.
"Well, someone's in a bad mood...." she commented.
Melissa and Eric were still talking. I had the feeling this was going to be a looong trip....the last hour had already been stressful enough....
***
Daley's POV--
I frowned slightly, my fingers still tapping a nervous beat—now on the armrests which I was almost gripping for dear life between taps.
Something was wrong. I just felt it. I wasn't sure why I felt like that, but I did. I looked around hesitantly, to see if I could spot the problem. Some of my russet-colored hair fell in my eyes and I sighed, blowing it away. I should have never cut my hair, now it was always getting in my face....
Nathan and I were in the front, to the left and a little back from the thick, black velvet drape that kept the cockpit separate from the rest of the plane.
Nathan had the window seat, but he had put down the blind self-consciously, seeming almost nervous to look out at the darkening clouds.
Across from me, were Jackson and Lex.
Lex was in the seat closest to me, so I could reach out and hold his hand, if I wanted to (I had the faint feeling I'd planned it that way, subconsciously). Jackson was in the seat next to the window (his blind was also down) and he kept feeling his head, his movements careful and almost gentle, like his head was throbbing painfully—and, it probably was.
I grinned at him apologetically, even though I knew that he having a headache wasn't my fault. At least, I hoped it wasn't.
He just grimaced in response, eyes closing tightly as he leaned back in his chair—jaw muscles twitching as he kept his mouth closed forcefully.
Wow. Maybe he had a migraine, or something. It wasn't like him to show pain….
"What's up?" Nathan asked me, gently breaking me out of my categorizing the rest of the seating arrangements.
"Nothing, I was just making sure everything was okay," I replied quickly. He frowned a little, his brown eyes slightly worried. He kissed my forehead, surprising me, and then leaned back in his own seat, his tight brown curls bouncing on his head as he leaned back. I was immediately remembering calling him "Poodle Head" when we were in second grade. That almost brought a smile to my face, but my mouth stayed in a thin line.
"You're okay….there's nothing to worry about. Everyone else is okay, too." he murmured soothingly, taking one of my hands in his; gently prying me off of the leather armrest I was holding in a death grip.
I shook my head slightly. "Jackson has a headache," I stated, pointing at him.
Jackson noticed me pointing at him and looked at me with an expression that said "What?!"….well, his headache was definitely making him p….moody. I was trying to keep myself from swearing in front of Lex, just like Abby and Eric had started doing (Captain Russell also had a foul mouth, I bet you didn't see that one coming—yes, I am being sarcastic), well, you know, they hadn't stopped cussing in front of Lex, they just were cussing in front of Lex….unlike me.
So….basically….instead of thinking pissy I thought moody--which was odd, since I didn't really have to not think bad words, but I did anyway….maybe I was just going crazy. Because, I swear, I wasn't even this stressed on the island as I was being in this death trap of a plane. That probably showed how nuts I was going, because I really shouldn't be so stressed out—maybe I was starting to be claustrophobic....
Dang, I couldn't stop rambling. Even in my own mind. Wasn't that a sign of insanity? Okay, now I was being dramatic.
"Oh. Well, I'm sure he'll be fine," Nathan said, but I could tell his face was slightly troubled. I knew he was unsure of himself and I telling him he was wrong didn't really help anything.
"I know…. I just worry about them, you know? They're like my family, now--almost closer than my real one." I told him quietly, sighing softly as I eyed Lex discretely.
"What do you mean?" Nathan asked me quietly, his eyebrows rising up almost into his bushy mane of hair.
"I mean….well, Lex and I are close. But, my father and I aren't…. I love Lex's Mom, but she'll never be my Mom. We sort of b*tt heads." I explained quietly.
"Oh….that's no good. Not good at all." Nathan stated softly. He gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder, his mocha-colored skin stark against my white dress shirt, but it was dirty and stained from my time on the island….so, off-white dress shirt.
"Be very luck your family's so close." I warned him, leaning against him hesitantly.
"I am, trust me," he promised, "scout's honor."
I burst out laughing, unable to help myself—the stress suddenly gone at Nathan's happy-go-lucky nature got the best of me.
"Well, I'm lucky enough to even have a family, I guess....and such a great little bro...." I stated, glancing sideways at both Jackson and Lex.
***
Lex's POV--
I unbuckled my seatbelt and hesitantly got out of my seat, Daley and Jackson both shooting me odd looks. No one else seemed to notice me.
I kind of wanted to see the sky, see how bad the storm was and maybe try to tell how close we really were to the water. I walked down the aisle and poked Eric's shoulder.
"Can I come by?" I asked hesitantly. He shrugged, looking kind of annoyed at me for breaking up his conversation with Melissa.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he muttered quietly, moving his long legs aside to let me pass by him. I looked out the window, Abby's window, the only one without the shade down--except Taylor's, which she kept opening and closing while looking bored out of her mind.
I didn't feel like dealing with her right now, she'd want to know what was happening. She was smarter than she acted.
"What?"
I looked down and saw Abby looking up at me, where I was almost leaned over her--staring almost hypnotized at the rolling clouds, or water. I couldn't decide if they were storm clouds or the rolling, frothy ocean I knew was roaring under us.
I saw lightning flash and I stepped back.
"Nothing, just looking out," I squeaked out.
Abby rolled her dark brown eyes. "Whatever. Just make it fast, Squirt."
I gulped. "Okay." I said, and then looked out for another minute.
She just sighed. Luckily, she wasn't mumbling to herself anymore--something that had freaked me out and unsettled me a lot. But, her eyes were kind of watery--like she'd been about to....cry?
I just shook myself, before going back--stalking down the aisle and back to my seat, next to Jackson. No way was Abby about to cry. She was Abby, after all.
***
Melissa's POV--
I let out a strangled sigh as the plane jerked around, jumping violently to the left. My hands were together in my lap, fingers intertwined so tightly that it was almost to the point that it hurt. Taylor had gone silent beside me, still looking down at the magazine, but blankly now, her face paled.
I heard Ian moan loudly and Jackson fidget in his seat, but other than that the plane was almost deathly quiet. I just stared ahead at Lex's tan leather headrest, not really seeing it and shaking a little.
"Mel? You all right?"
I turned my head to see Eric looking at me with a concerned look on his face, frowning a little with his hat covering one eye after the plane had jostled around. He still had that oddly serious feel to him, which freaked me out pretty badly.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just scared." I said through my clenched teeth.
He nodded, in understanding, and then fixed his hat, so it laid properly on his head, covering up his messy, dirty blond hair.
"Good thing I'm charmed, right?" Eric asked finally, a familiar grin on his face even though the strain was still there.
I rolled my eyes. "I think the hat's lucky, Eric."
He shrugged his shoulders again, and then took his hat off before handing it to me. "There, then you wear it and nothing bad can happen to you then."
I blinked at him, but took the hat from him. "Um, okay then."
I placed it on my head and brushed some of my raven-colored hair off my shoulder.
"Better?" he asked.
"Not really, but thanks I guess." I replied hesitantly, still weirded out.
"Yeah, well, just don't lose it. I only have one lucky hat." he said, smirking at me as he leaned back in his seat, probably going to rest. Yep, there went the arm over his eyes. Huh.
Still, that was weird--real weird.
***
Jackson's POV--
I looked over my seat and blinked twice, seeing Melissa wearing Eric's tow-colored straw hat. What the heck?! I looked at Eric and saw he was all reclined on his chair, one arm draped lazily across his face to block out the lights. I almost growled. I had a headache and now Eric was....
Wait, why did I care what Eric did? If Mel wanted to wear his hat how was that my problem? Or, why should it upset me? Maybe I'd just finally convinced her I was a bad guy....?
But, Eric was hardly better--he was a schemer and he was always hurting her feelings. Maybe he wasn't as bad as me, but potentially....
Okay, I was probably just jealous. Yeah. That was just wonderful, right? A sudden surge of jealousy on top of a massive headache.
Dang, where did they keep aspirin around here?!
I sighed and unbuckled my seat belt. I slipped past Lex, who had returned to his seat after looking out Abby's window, and walked up to the front. I asked one of the ladies, whose purpose being on the plane I didn't know or care about, where I might find something to help with my headache.
She just smiled at me brightly, white teeth flashing oddly in the overhead lights, like I'd made her day (weirdo), and told me to go to the bathroom in the back of the plane. I shrugged and went on back, charging past the other seats.
I ripped open the mirror-covered door to the medicine cabinet over the sink, it swinging open hard enough it hit the wall kind of loudly. I winced, my head pounding now. I grabbed a bottle of aspirin before booking it back to my seat. I was about to squeeze back into the aisle again when the plane hit worse turbulence, making my feet almost come off the carpeted floor. I hissed quietly, trying to get into my seat as fast as possible.
Lex looked up at me with worry then brought his knees up to his chest, letting me get through.
I plopped down in my seat and buckled up quickly, feeling anxious. I opened the bottle and popped one of the pills, before dry swallowing it easily. Practice made perfect, unfortunately.
I stole a glance over at Mel again, seeing her doodling on a piece of paper with a red pen--drawing something I couldn't see. Huh. That hat was still on her head, cocked forward. I frowned. I wouldn't doubt that she'd get head-lice, or something. Eric almost never showered. Why else did everyone think the boys' tent had smelled so raunchy?
Oh, well. What could I do, honestly? If I told her to give it back she'd ask why, then what would I say? I suddenly have the urge to protect you from all mankind because I'm hopelessly jealous of what I can't--shouldn't--have?
That didn't even make sense to me.
***
Lex's POV--
I sighed quietly, looking between Jackson, who looked awful, his fists clenched and his teeth smashed together, like he was really hurting. I was pretty sure the average headache wouldn't get to Jackson that much, or even a migraine, so what was going on with him? I frowned a little, then he shot me a "what?" look, not exactly mean but he seemed just plain annoyed. I just shrugged and looked away, not wanting to get into a long conversation with him right now. I didn't exactly have time--well, sort of. I was busy looking between the altimeter and trying to figure out why the stats on it showed that we were flying lower and lower, and going slower, like we were landing and who the pilot was talking to.
All I made out was static, though, and maybe we were already landing in Hawaii? It was going to be a two-legged trip, but that didn't make any sense....we'd been flying in circles and we'd only been up in the air for a few hours.
There was no way.
I finally just heaved another sigh and just looked around. I saw Abby, now stoic and silent, and Eric lounging in his chair, dozing. I couldn't see Melissa or Taylor, since I was too short and I was buckled into my seat, but I could see Daley and Nathan.
Ugh. He had his arm wrapped around her. Eeew, eeew, eeew. I thought I was done with all the teenager drama, but I just realized I lived with Daley. I was going to have to spend time around her and her boyfriend, or whatever Nathan was to her, doing stuff. Like holding hands and kissing, or worse (what was worse I wasn't sure, but I heard other people talking about it a lot). I shuddered a little.
I did NOT need to think about that.
Note to self: stay away from Daley when Nathan was over....
Well, or spy and make sure Nathan didn't hurt her or anything. He wasn't a bad guy, but he was way too hands-on and easily excitable. He might, like, accidentally do it somehow.
***
Melissa's POV--
I hummed softly, just a mindless tune. I think I knew it, but I wasn't sure. Something on the radio at home--well, a month ago. I finished my drawing, just curling filigree in the shape of a lily, or some sort of flower--nothing really complex, just a doodle. Embarrassingly enough, it had Jackson's name worked into it. I felt like an immature twelve year old with a crush on some TV star. Oh, well....
It wasn't like I could help it, I really liked Jackson. A lot.
I huffed quietly as Eric's hat fell into my eyes again. I shoved it back up on my head, and the static making my hair go a little frizzy. Ugh. But, it wasn't like I could give it back. It might hurt Eric's feelings, and I didn't want to do that.
Oh, well, at least it was comfortable....somewhat comfortable, at least. Just, really loose on my head, too big for me in some way.
I glanced over at Taylor and saw her reading a book, which I hadn't seen her with before and had a title I didn't care to notice. It had small print and no pictures, but it was thin. I almost rolled my eyes. Well, at least she was actually reading. That was out of the ordinary, but at least it was....okay.
At least she wasn't flirting with Jackson, again.
Suddenly, the plane lurched again and I just felt mad. Why weren't they flying it better? Ian was hurting because of it, and Captain Russell was mumbling something about World War Two, fairies, and dachshunds.
I didn't want to know....
All I needed to know was the fact his fever had spiked up, very shortly after they'd gotten on the plane, which just added to their troubles. One of their rescuers, a younger black man with a buzz cut, was forced to restrain him, his arm muscles bunching as Captain Russell tried to make another dash for the cockpit.
Jeez....
How could this leg of the flight get any worse?
The next minute, I wished I hadn't tempted fate like that....
R AND R?
Annnd....
P.P.S. I was dared to make Jackson listen to MY music and for Lex to have slightly perverted thoughts. Sorry. *grins cheekily*
