September 22, 2004

Mick was in Josef's office when they heard the news. They weren't paying much attention to the TV because Josef was telling Mick that Benny would be back tomorrow. Benny was one of Josef's driver/bodyguards. He had been a surfer dude in his teens and 20's and had just begun to go to seed in his 30's which may have been a reason for being turned before the human rot really set in. He was an easy-going, somewhat foul-mouthed Aussie and proud of it. Benny had been Down Under for a month to visit his family who knew he was a vampire. The breaking news announcement informed Josef and Mick that Oceanic Flight 815 was lost, presumably in the ocean. A search was underway.

"Benny won't be back tomorrow," Josef said regretfully.

"He'll probably be all right," Mick said. "Unless there was fire or the plane blew up."

Benny called Josef from Fiji a week later. "Guess who the tide brought in. Can you send me a new ID?" He gave Josef the combination to a hidden safe in his apartment. "Overnight it, please. I'd like to get back on the grid."

"Do you need funds?"

"Nah, I can sleep on the beach for a couple of days."

Josef suppressed a shudder. "Go to the Cousteau Resort. I'll arrange a bungalow and clothes for you." Josef called the resort and his pilot, and then he called Mick. "Want to go to Fiji?"

Mick was quick. "You heard from Benny?"

"He asked me to send him an ID. I thought I'd take it instead."

"Sure, I'll ride along. I just finished a case."

Josef went to Benny's apartment then picked up Mick. They were in the air an hour later. At the resort Benny was glad to see them but not particularly surprised. Coming himself was the kind of thing Josef would do. He had the money to indulge his whims. Besides being a trusted and valuable employee, Benny was a good guy. He was wearing the outfit Josef had ordered for him from the exclusive resort shop.

"Buh-buh-buh-Benny and the jet," Mick said by way of greeting.

Benny stared at him. "Swear to God," he said shaking his head in disgust, "When the bloody plane was going down my first thought was when that bastard St. John hears about it he's going to make bad puns about Benny and the jet."

"It's a gift," Mick said modestly.

"I'd rather have a fugly sweater knitted by me mum. Which, by the way, is lost with my luggage."

"Do I need to leave and let you boys have the room?" Josef asked.

"I don't swing that way and I don't think Mick does either," Benny replied. "But hell, I haven't had sex for a week. I'm willing to try it." Benny and Mick laughed at Josef.

"Someday I'm going to learn not to set you off," Josef said. "Does your mother know you're all right?"

"I called her before I called you. I'm a good son. Mostly. For a vampire."

"So what happened on the plane?"

"We suddenly lost power and went down. The tail broke off, people were falling out. I was in the mid-section. It crashed on a beach. The nose fell in the jungle."

"You crashed on an island? There's been nothing on the news yet."

"I was glad to leave that bloody island. Weird shit was happening."

"Weird how?"

"What with being a vampire, I don't use the word monster loosely but I think there's a fuckin' monster on that island. Maybe it's like Jurassic Park, some extinct creature lives there. Or maybe the island is a military installation and they're experimenting. Aliens, Area 51." Benny loved science fiction and horror movies.

"More likely it's an uninhabited island off the shipping lanes and it will take a while to find the survivors. There are survivors? You didn't have to make use of them?"

"There were more than 40 on the beach. Maybe some people survived from the tail. It fell in the water but it was close to land. I didn't feed off the survivors, there were plenty of dead bodies. But by the third day they were getting a little ripe and no sign of rescue so I figured I was better off taking my chances in the water. The survivors were going to burn the remains so I had to leave anyway. Someone would have noticed pretty fuckin' fast if I started feeding on survivors. I swam out and let the current take me."

They decided to head back to L.A. instead of spending time on Fiji. There was little news about the lost flight until two months later when it was announced that the plane was found intact with bodies aboard in a deep trench near Bali. Benny watched in disbelief. "This is all wrong. I knew there was weird shit happening. This is some kind of cover-up."

Josef used his connections to get inside information but there was nothing about the plane crashing on an island. He got bios of the passengers and he, Benny and Mick went through them. Benny didn't know many names but he recognized faces.

"Jack Shephard, the doctor, yeah. He was there helping everybody. I stay away from human doctors. Kate Austen is a felon? I wouldn't have guessed that. This guy, James Ford, would have been my pick. He may not have been in a Marshall's custody but he's no Sunday school teacher. Claire Littleton is in the pudding club, looked ready to pop. John Locke wasn't in a wheelchair. He had a suitcase full of knives. When I left he was organizing a boar hunt. Rose Henderson, nice older lady, but I didn't see her husband. Shannon Rutherford and Boone Carlyle – couple of snotty rich kids. The girl, anyway. The boy seemed decent. On the other hand, I don't mind a little bitchiness when it comes in a package like Shannon. The lottery winner! He was there, big fat guy but good-hearted. He was watching out for the knocked-up sheila. Charlie Pace was hanging around her, too. I'm glad he made it. 'You all everybody'," Benny sang in a very creditable imitation of Drive Shaft's one true hit. "Sayid Jarrah, the bad-ass Iraqi. The Korean couple was there. I don't think they speak English. Michael and Walter Dawson made it. And a dog. I think it belonged to the kid."

A month later the Oceanic 6 returned to civilization. Once again Benny watched the press conference in disbelief. "This is bloody nuts, mate! None of that happened. And that's not the felon's baby. I saw her in her underwear and she wasn't six months pregnant. It must be Claire's baby. If she died giving birth, why not say so? The Korean woman's husband didn't go down with the plane. Charlie Pace may have drowned and Boone Carlyle could have got hurt and died but it didn't happen like they said. And where's everybody else? There were almost 50 people alive when I left. There wasn't another vampire on the flight. I always take a walk through the plane when I fly. Sniff out the competition."

There were no answers and once again the furor died down and the crash of Flight 815 was forgotten, to be remembered only briefly when one of the Oceanic 6 made the news. They were a troubled group. Kate Austen endured a public trial. Sun Kwon quarreled with her father and took over his company. Sayid Jarrah's wife was killed and he disappeared from the public eye. Hugo Reyes suffered a breakdown and returned to a psychiatric facility. Jack Shephard destroyed his reputation with pills and alcohol.

Benny, Josef and Mick discussed the mystery occasionally over the years but gave it up eventually. Actually, Mick hadn't had much to say about it for several months. He had other things on his mind. It was 2007 and Beth had re-entered his life.