Title: Five Ways It Didn't Go
Rated: R, language
Characters: Sawyer, Michael, Walt, Jin
Spoilers: don't read this unless you've seen the finale. Total spoilage.
Notes: Ya know something? Michael is fun to write. I'm gonna have to write him more.

i.

"Where are you going?"

Sawyer turned his head, looking down at Claire sitting in the sand. "Boat needs a new mast."

"Oh," she said, standing. "You're not going with Jack for the dynamite?"

Sawyer shakes his head. "Won't get back in time to set sail, Mamacita."

She grins, bending over and picking up the baby, walking over to Sawyer. "We're gonna miss you."

Sawyer takes a step back. "What?"

"We're gonna miss you," she said, laughing at his shocked face. "You're like a walking talking lullaby for him."

He laughs. "That's just the accent."

"No," she says, shaking her head. "It's you. Babies know, you know." She smiles and shrugs. "They kind of know better than us sometimes."

He steps forward and sticks his finger out, smiling when the baby wraps his little hand around it. "I guess I won't be all that glad to get rid of you either, Claire."

Claire laughed. "You're all bark and very little bite, Sawyer," she said. "That's what he knows."

He looks at her and sighs. "You're too sweet for your own good, you know that right?"

She grins and shrugs. "Go on then," she said, shooing him away. "Go cut down a new mast for the boat."

ii.

"Hey, Dude, where ya been?"

"Where's it look like I've been," Sawyer snarled, looking pointedly to the bamboo in his hands.

"Right," Hurley said, nodding. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you something."

Sawyer sighs and stops hacking at the bamboo. "Everyone wants to say something to me today," he says, lowering himself to the ground, reaching up to wipe at the sweat on his forehead.

"Dude. You're leaving."

Sawyer laughed. "No shit?"

Hurley sighed. "So I wanted to tell you something."

"What's that," Sawyer asked, crossing his legs and frowning when Hurley lowered himself to the ground as well.

"So, like..." Hurley frowns and looks away. "I guess I just wanted to tell you bye? Cause. You're leaving and all."

Sawyer laughs and leans back. "Okay."

"And, also... you're not that bad," Hurley said, looking at him. "I mean. You pretend to be. And you're kind of a dick. But. You're also kind of not."

Sawyer looks at him and nods, unable to keep the small smile from peaking through. "You're not so bad either, kid."

iii.

"So he gave you a gun?"

Sawyer looks up, frowning into the sunlight. "Yeah."

"Guess he trusts you."

Sawyer laughs. "Something like that."

Sayid squats before him, leveling a gaze at him. "You see what you can do when you put your mind to it? You can accomplish things that are actually helpful to other people."

Sawyer rolls his eyes. "Doin' this for me, Ahab."

Sayid grins for the first time in a while. Funny that it should be Sawyer that put it there. "No you're not."

Sawyer sighed. "What do you want, Sayid?"

"To say goodbye," he said, standing up and nodding at him. "And wish you luck."

Sawyer watches as he starts to go and then stands himself. "Sayid."

Sayid turns to look at him. "Yes?"

Sawyer looks down and clears his throat. "Those names I call you? I never meant them."

Sayid laughs and shakes his head, turning to go. "I know."

iv.

"God, Sawyer, the one time I want to find you."

Sawyer shifts the weight of the bamboo to the other shoulder. "What's that, Sticks?"

Shannon's smile flits quickly over her face and then is gone. "You're always annoying everyone, around when no one wants you to be. But the one time I want to find you, I can't."

Sawyer stems the knee jerk reaction to the insult and bites his tongue. "What did you need?"

"I wanted to give you this," she said, stepping forward and holding out her hand. "You might be out there a while."

He reaches forward and takes it from her hands, grinning down at it. "First about bunnies, now about dolphins?"

"It's my favorite book," she said softly, looking down. "Boone, um. He used to read it to me when I was sick."

Sawyer looks at her and holds the book back. "Keep it."

"The Island of the Blue Dolphins is a really good book, Sawyer. You should read it." Shannon shakes her head. She looks away and shrugs. "Besides. I can't even look at it."

He nods and stuffs it into his back pocket. "Watership Down is in the brown suitcase. Take it." He pauses and smiles at her. "And anything else you want."

v.

He steps to the edge of the boat, taking the green bottle out of Charlie's hand. "All set?"

Charlie nods. "You want to put anything in it?"

Sawyer laughs. "I'm on the boat, genius. I can just say it."

Charlie nods. "Yeah. True."

Sawyer rolls his eyes. "Bye, Charlie."

"Take care, eh," Charlie said, nodding at him and grinning. "I'd hate to hear you died trying to save us."

Sawyer shook his head. "Who said I'm trying to save you? I'm savin' my own hide."

"Whatever, mate," Charlie said, stepping closer. "And you might want to know. Kate asked about you."

Sawyer held his breath. "Yeah?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. When they were leaving. Guess she wanted to say bye."

Sawyer nodded, looking down, his hand tightening on the bottle full of messages. "Alright."

"You wanna write a note and give it to me," Charlie asked. "We've got other bottles. Sort of a reverse kind of thing?"

Sawyer looked at him as though he'd lost his mind. "No."

"Alright then," Charlie said, nodding and stepping back again. "So good luck, again."

Sawyer smiled. "You too. Take care of your woman and her son."

Charlie's smile widened. "Not even a question, man."