Thanks for all the great reviews – I have taken your suggestion and hopefully this looks a lot better. – M2BL
Exodus 3.5
"That looks like it hurts – a lot." Claire touched Charlie's hand as he gingerly cleaned his cuts with a wet cloth.
"It's not too bad" He lied – it hurt like hell. His head throbbed from the gash on his forehead, but it was the smaller cuts caused by the falling rocks that stung the most. He dipped the cloth back into the water and squeezed. He looked over at Aaron lying peacefully in Claire's lap. The baby fussed a little but soon his eyes were sleepily closing. He had quite a day. Charlie placed the cloth back on his face and winced as he touched the area around the large wound. Claire looked at him with both worry and gratitude in her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes. Eyes you could lose yourself for eternity in them. He smiled as she cupped his face in her hand and gently caressed his bearded chin with her thumb.
"Have I told you thank you enough, Charlie?" She wanted to kiss his forehead and make the pain go away from the black scar, but she wasn't sure how he would interpret the gesture.
"Yes, Claire" he said sighing and talking her hand in his, "You've only told me a hundred times!" He squeezed her hand, "I told you I'd keep my promise, yeah?" When did it dawn on him that he loved her, he couldn't remember. It almost took him completely unawares, but when she looked at him with all the trust in the world in her eyes, he knew. He just knew. He would have done anything for her. He didn't even think twice about going after her child – he would get him back, no matter what. True, Sayid was the one who led the way, who knew where he was going, had more patience than he did when they found Danielle, but he knew he would never quit – ever – until the child was back in Claire's arms again. But, damn, the gunpowder hurt!
He was so tired, exhausted actually. So much had happened – the French woman had appeared, black smoke on the horizon, the raft launched, Jack and company went to go look for dynamite, Aaron kidnapped…. His head was spinning – too much, too much. Claire watched as Charlie's eyes tried to stay open, but eventually would close. He leaned against her shoulder and she could hear by his breathing that he was sound asleep. With one hand she shifted the baby to her right arm, cradling him in the crook, then with the other she guided Charlie's head to her lap. He settled his head into this soft pillow and wrapped his arm around her knees.
Claire stroked his hair and smiled, "Sleep my hero," she whispered, "You've earned it." Her eyes scanned the scene in the cave; everyone was both relieved and anxious at the same time. She sighed, please God let us be safe now, she prayed silently. She looked down at Charlie again, sleeping peacefully, and then something caught her eye by his feet. What was that sticking out of his bag?
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Charlie's first awareness was of the soft pillow under his head. Ummm nice, he thought. Then the pillow moved beneath his head. His eyes snapped open and for a second he forgot where he was. He slowly lifted his head and caught a glimpse of two bare feet curling their toes. He smiled and lay his head down again. I know exactly where I am, he thought, and he squeezed Claire a little tighter. He thought she was still asleep, but then he felt her fingers tickle his ear.
"So we're awake, are we?" He tried to sit up, but bumped into a small body suspended above his head. "Hey, careful! He doesn't need to be knocked about, ya know." Charlie turned his head to see Claire nursing Turnip-head, ah Aaron, above him. He pushed up and sideways, ducking under her arms and sat up straight next to her. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"Is it morning already?" He heard Claire giggle and kiss him gently on the cheek.
"I don't think I've seen you sleep like that in a long time," she said readjusting the nursing baby in her arm.
"I haven't had such a soft pillow for a long time, have I?" He gave her a sideways look and smiled. She smiled at him and pushed his arm playfully.
"Well I couldn't let you sleep on a rock, now could I?" He ran his fingers through his hair and stretched his arms.
"Are you hungry?" Claire asked as she took Aaron from under her shirt and held him over her shoulder to burp him.
"Famished" Charlie said looking around the cave.
"There's some fruit over there" she said tossing her head over her shoulder, "Can you bring me some too?"
"I'd love to" he said getting on his feet. He started over to the back of the cave. He stopped and turned toward her, "Jack come back yet?"
She shook her head, "No, haven't seen any of them since yesterday."
Charlie thought about this for a second and headed back towards the back of the cave. He looked around the cave. Everyone was still sleeping or in the process of getting up. He saw Shannon lying comfortably on Sayid's chest sleeping as he was propped up against the cave wall. Sayid opened his eyes and looked at Charlie. There was an unspoken acknowledgement between the two of them.
"How's your head?" Sayid said in a low voice. Shannon shifted her head on his chest; his hand lightly stroked her hair.
"Hurts" Charlie said gently touching the wound on his forehead.
Sayid smiled and nodded his head, "I'm not surprised" he said pointing at Charlie, "It's going to leave quite a scar."
Charlie nodded and smiled wryly, "War wound, eh?"
Charlie continued across the cave and saw the fruit piled up on a rock. He grabbed a couple of pieces and a bottle of water and headed back to Claire. What a beautiful picture, he thought as he looked at her with the sleeping baby in her arms. And they're all mine, but he ended the thought and shook his head, no not mine, not yet.
"Here you go" he said handing Claire the piece of fruit, "and water – you must be thirsty."
"Thanks, Charlie" she said taking the fruit, tucking it under her arm and grasping the water bottle. "We can share, Ok?"
"Sure" he said smiling. He sat down beside her and felt something push against his foot. His bag was lying on the ground where he had left it the night before. Bollocks! The Virgin Mary statuette was protruding out of the top of the bag. Charlie looked back at Claire and then took a sweeping glance around the cave. Had anyone seen it? Had Sayid? He slowing lowered his hand down to the top of the statuette and gently pushed it back into the bag. He grabbed for the zipper and just as he was pulling on it, Claire touched his arm.
"What's that?" she looked at him gesturing towards the bag.
"What's what?"
"That!"
Charlie pursed his lips and pushed the bag underneath his leg. "Just something I found in the jungle – nothing really…"
"It looks like a doll…" she started to get up and move towards the bag.
Charlie stood up quickly and shouldered the bag, "Just a piece of wreckage that was lying on the ground" he put his hands on her shoulders, "You want to go for a walk down to the beach?"
"What about the Others?" she tried to figure out what was going on behind his manner.
"There are no Others."
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"So now what?" Jack stared down the dark shaft that was now revealed with the removal of the hatch. He looked at Locke who was also looking down the dark hole. Minutes before they had rigged dynamite to blow the hatch off, now each looked at the other for some answers. Kate and Hurley slowly crept up to where the two men were standing.
"Dude…" Hurley peeked over Jack's shoulder, "Ah…is that what you were expecting?" Jack continued staring into the shaft. "Cause that doesn't look too inviting…"
"You see the broken rungs?" Locke pointed down the shaft to Jack.
"You think we should go down there, don't you?" Jack said looking at Locke.
The older man's face was a mixture of excitement and awe. Locke nodded, "That's why we're here, Jack." He looked around the surrounding area, "We're going to need some rope."
"I don't think we brought any" Jack said looking at Kate and Hurley with a questioning look.
"Nope, not me" answered Hurley.
"I think I can make it down there without it" said Kate trying to come around Jack's side to see the opening fully.
Jack shook his head "Not this time, Kate."
Kate started to protest and Jack grabbed her by the shoulders "We need rope – I need you to go back to the caves to get it." He looked hard into her eyes "Can you do that for me? Please?"
"We're running out of time, Jack!" Locke insisted.
"We're going to have to make time, John." Jack shot a look at Locke, "We can't get down there any other way." He looked back at Kate "Please?" Kate nodded reluctantly and turned to leave.
"Need some company?" Hurley wanted to get away from the hatch as soon as he could. "Cause you shouldn't be walking in the dark alone, right? You don't know who…or what is out there.."
Kate smiled "Sure, but we need to go now!" Hurley nodded, shouldered his pack and followed Kate down the path to the caves.
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"What did you mean 'the numbers are bad'?" Kate turned her head over her shoulder and looked back at Hurley who was trudging behind her on the path to the caves.
"Huh?"
"You kept shouting 'the numbers are bad', what does that mean? What numbers?"
Hurley looked at the ground in front of him. What do I say, he thought, how can I tell her about the curse? Will she think I'm crazy? What were the numbers doing on the hatch?
"Ah, there were numbers on the hatch…"
Kate looked back at him again, "Okay…"
"Did you see them?" Hurley asked.
Kate shook her head, "No, why?"
"Because I've seen those numbers before….on the French woman's notes…and…"
Kate stopped and looked at him puzzled. "And what?"
Hurley pulled up next to her, but avoided making eye contact. "It's just that I've seen them before." He looked back and then forward up the path, "We better get going; they're going to wonder where we are." He pulled ahead of Kate and started walking a little faster down the path.
Kate looked after him trying to figure out what had just happened. She looked back down path then went forward to catch up with Hurley.
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His first thought was, hey, I'm not dead. He was breathing and felt himself being pulled. He involuntarily shivered at the cold of the water and tried to push the hair out of his eyes with his hand. "Son of a bitch!" God that hurt!
Jin looked over his shoulder to find Sawyer gasping for air and screaming. "Awww – what the …" Jin continued to swim as hard as he could, pulling the Southerner towards the remains of the raft. He saw Michael floundering in the water, one hand clutching at some floating bamboo. He was still shouting for Walt, but the boy was long gone. As he neared the debris, he saw that there was still enough of the raft to keep it floating. The fires were starting to die down, but smoke still filled the air.
Michael saw Jin coming closer and reached out a hand to him. "Here – come closer!" he shouted to the Korean, struggling with his burden. "Gotcha!" Jin felt Michael's hand grab his and pull him towards the still bound pontoons of bamboo. Jin pulled Sawyer's arm behind him and guided it to the bamboo. He released his arm only when he was sure that Sawyer had a grip on the wood.
"What the hell happened?" Sawyer grabbed the pontoon with his right arm and faced the distraught Michael.
"They took him!" Michael looked back into the dark ocean, "They took Walt!"
"Why?" questioned Sawyer, wincing at the pain in his left shoulder, "Did they say why?" The warmth of his blood intermingled with the cold, salt water. Michael wearily shook his head.
"No, no they didn't say a damn thing."
Jin shouted to Michael in Korean gesturing to Sawyer and the remains of the raft. "Yeah, Ok, we need to get out of this water." He dragged himself on top of the pontoon and pulled Jin up next to him. They both took an arm on Sawyer and tried to lift him onto the bamboo.
"Hey, you want to watch it! I've been shot, remember?" Sawyer sucked air quickly between his teeth as a searing pain went through his arm as they lifted him. Michael and Jin continued to pull him up until he flopped on his stomach on the deck, gasping in pain.
Michael looked around to assess the damage; small fires were still burning on several pieces of the wreckage, the mast was gone, along with the sail – there was a large hole in the cabin, but it still stood on the damaged decking – the pontoons were barely holding on to the fuselage remains and the rudder was no where in sight. He stood on the remaining decking and strained his eyes out into the dark sea again. They took him, he told himself, they took him. Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes – why? Why? I'll get him back, he wiped the tears from his face – I will get him back!
Jin was gathering as much of the wreckage as possible, stamping out the fires and pulling the still existing ropes to the pontoons. He shouted to Michael to help, but he was trying to wrap a piece of his shirt around Sawyer's wound.
Michael tightened the knot and Sawyer cried out in pain
"You wanna tie that a little tighter, Chief?"
"We need to stop the bleeding, man – So shut the hell up!" Sawyer glared at Michael as he finished tying off the bandage.
Saywer looked over at Jin balancing his way around the deck and then up at Michael – "So now what?"
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The sky was lightening when Kate and Hurley arrived at the caves. Vincent barked at their arrival and Shannon looked up from her place on Sayid's chest.
"What's going on? Vincent – what's the matter?"
The yellow dog wagged his tail and ran across the cave to Hurley.
"Hey dude – glad to see me?" The large man patted the dog on the head and eased himself out of his backpack. "Man, what a night!"
Kate looked at him with a expectant look "We're not done yet, Hurley" laying her hand on his chest. "We still have to get the rope, remember?"
"Oh, yeah, the rope…why don't you take care of that, okay, cause I'm not really looking forward to going back to that hatch."
"What hatch? What are you talking about?" Shannon raised herself to a sitting position and pushed herself up with her arms.
Hurley shot a look at Sayid who was standing behind Shannon. The Iraqi winced at the revelation and looked back from Hurley to Shannon.
"It's a place where Jack and Locke think we can be safe" he clasped her face in his hands "Your brother and Locke found it many weeks ago"
Shannon's face clouded at the thought of Boone "Why didn't he say anything about it to me?" She questioned the man she was growing to love.
"They didn't want to raise false hope." He kissed her forehead and held her close to him.
"Yeah, well.." Hurley sighed as he sat down on the floor of the cave "They blew it open, and there's like this tunnel or shaft thingy that they want to climb down"
Kate looked at Hurley and then walked over to where the supplies where –she was sure she had seen rope there.
"They're going down there?" Sayid was stunned "Inside this hatch that no one knows who it belongs to or what could possibly be inside?"
Hurley nodded his head "Dude, it's pretty radical what they want to do" he lifted his hands out palms up, "But what are you gonna do – Locke's pretty much insisting on it."
Sayid shook his head "Fools."
Kate came up to them with a round of rope over her shoulder "Well, fools or not – they're going down shaft." She looked at Hurley "Are you sure you don't want to come?"
"Absolutely" he answered quickly.
"I'm coming."
Shannon looked at Sayid as he grabbed his pack.
"But you just got back – you can't just go off again – you don't know what's out there!"
She pleaded with him, but he was determined. He gently laid his hand on her face, "I'll be alright," he said reassuring her, "Don't worry – I'll be back soon." He gave her a soft kiss and turned to follow Kate who was already on her way down the path. Sayid gave a look back at Shannon, who was hugging herself for comfort, and then disappeared into the brush.
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"Beautiful sunrise, yeah?"
Charlie looked over at Claire as they sat on the beach watching the sky turn yellow and orange. Claire smiled and nodded her head. Little Aaron was asleep in her lap and she pulled the blanket up more around his neck. The baby slept peacefully, showing no sign of the horror he had suffered the night before. Charlie squeezed Claire's hand that he was holding between them. While he appeared calm, his mind was racing from one thought to the next. What happens now, he wondered. His thoughts drifted to the drugs inside his bag. Why did I take it, he questioned himself, the urge, the craving was still there. He remembered the unbelievable ecstasy he used to have when the heroin hit his system. It would calm the demons in his head and his body, which he badly needed. Too many things had gone wrong in his life and the only thing that took the pain away was the little packet he always kept handy. But that was before – before the crash, before the island, before Claire. He turned his head and watched her cuddle the small bundle in her lap. Yeah, before Claire.
Charlie scanned the beach and looked at all the abandoned tents and shelters. Had it only been yesterday when we launched the raft? I wonder if anybody's seen them yet. Could we be rescued soon? A thousand questions bounced around Charlie's head. The wound on his forehead throbbed and he squinted as the light in his eyes only made the pain worse. His hand absently went to his bag and his fingers felt the outline of the Madonna. This would make all the pain go away, he thought, a smile slightly formed on his lips; gone – all gone.
"What are you smiling about, Charlie?" Claire was studying is face as he stared with closed eyes at the sea.
"Huh? What?" His eyes popped open and he turned towards her. "Nothing, luv, nothing really.." He took his hand off the bag and put it in his lap "Just wondering about the raft and how soon it will be until we get rescued."
She smiled and put her hand on his knee "The sooner the better if it's up to me" Her smile beamed as she squeezed her hand "then we can go home."
"What, Australia?" he questioned, wrinkling the skin between his eyes in a bemused look.
"No" she said softly, "Our home."
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Locke looked around impatiently. He needed to go down there, now!
Jack was sitting on a nearby log with his chin in his hand, observing Locke and pondering the future. A Locke problem, he had told Kate, we're going to have a Locke problem. He was still trying to process all that Locke had told him about destiny, about the island. Yes, he knew the island was different. After all there was the polar bear…and of course the monster. But destiny, fate – he couldn't wrap his head around it. And what about the Others? Weren't they supposed to come after sundown? Had they come? Did they find the caves? He worried about the rest of his survivors – yes, his survivors – he was their leader and they were his responsibility. He looked back up at Locke again and what he saw made him cringe.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jack shouted at Locke.
The older man was starting down the ladder inside the shaft. Jack made is way quickly over to the opening.
"I have to see what's down there, Jack" Locke jerked Jack's hand off his arm.
"We need to wait for the rope – we don't know how far the ladder goes down there!" Jack re-grabbed Locke's arm.
"We can't wait – you can stay here, but I have to go." Locke started down the ladder.
"John, stop!" But Locke's head was already level with the top of the hatch.
"It'll be alright, Jack" Locke looked up, trying to reassure him, "It'll be alright." He continued down the ladder.
Jack's face was a mixture of fury and frustration. Damn him, he thought. "I'm coming with you!" His voice echoed down the chamber. The beam from Locke's flashlight was becoming faint. "Locke!" There was no response. "LOCKE!"
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"Now what?" Michael echoed Sawyer's question. He brought his hand up to his mouth and closed his eyes in exhaustion and frustration, "Now we find my son!"
"In the dark? On half a raft?" Sawyer looked up at Michael in amazement, "You might want to think about that again, Captain!"
Jin came up beside Michael showing him the salvaged pieces of the transceiver and radar equipment.
"This tub ain't goin' nowhere until we can see what the hell we're doin'" Sawyer scanned the horizon. "Look, it's gonna be light soon – let's wait until then, Ok?"
Michael's face showed his frustration and pain. He looked at Jin and saw he understood what was being said – if not the words, at least the tone of the conversation.
Michael turned and stared out into the dark, "Ok, we'll wait" he said in a low voice, "but only until we can see." He kicked a piece of loose bamboo and then sat down with his head in his hands "I'm coming, Walt" he said under his breath, "I'm coming.."
Small waves hit the edge of the wreckage with soft plops against the low rumble of the constant sea. Jin could see the slight glints of sunlight starting to peek out on the horizon. With the rising of the sun the damage to their once proud raft was horribly evident. Half of the cabin made out of the fuselage was gone, the pontoons of bamboo were barely holding on to the patchwork of decking, the mast and the sail were nowhere to be seen. Several pieces of bamboo were floating near the raft as were some of their supplies – the fruit in the nets and – amazingly – the bottle holding the notes of the survivors. Sawyer stirred at the light hitting his eyes and winced in pain as he tried to sit up. He rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath as he tried to stand.
Michael was still sitting on the deck, staring out to where he last saw his son. All night Michael kept running the attack over in his head. I should have stopped them, he thought, I should have done more – I should have saved him. He dropped his head in weary anguish. Only the sound of Jin's voice brought him back to reality.
"Michael" Jin put his hand on Michael's shoulder, "We – go – back, yes?" His halting English made its point.
Michael looked up at the Korean's concerned face and nodded his head; "Yes" he said softly, "We go back."
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