A/N: Right, this occurred to me last night, and I just had to write it. Basically, this is my idea about how it could be if the bomb really did reset everything and there wasn't ever a plane crash. This is how some of the characters lives would go, still connected in little ways. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Things would be different if I owned Lost. Very different

It was 9.00am and Jack Sheppard was getting ready for work, and having his first drink of the day – mixed with orange juice of course. He had to keep his… habit hidden now. After all, he didn't want to freak his sister out. Jack sighed. His dad had brought nothing but misery to him when he was alive. It was only when he died and at his funeral that he gave Jack a little bit of sunshine – his half sister and nephew. Who were now living with him, she was low on cash and after-all, he did have the room. He hadn't found any-one after Sarah. Hadn't wanted to either – or perhaps that was the alcohol talking.

Jack made his way across the kitchen, moving his nephew's toys and his sisters' boyfriend's guitar out of his path. He was low on cash as well, the boyfriend, and often hung out at his house, but Jack knew that he loved his sister, so wasn't too bothered. He turned on the TV, flicking to the news and the sound of the latest story filled the kitchen; a criminal who'd finally been caught and prosecuted after killing their father. Jack laughed bitterly; he could understand why someone would want to do that. He jerked his head up at the mention of the name though. Katherine Austen. Why'd he know her name? He saw the mug-shot of the woman fill the screen and froze. He knew that face. He was sure of it. The brown hair, the green eyes, the shape of her lips…

Jack was woken from his trance by the sound of the phone.

"Hey Jack, it's me. I'm in town with the boys, is there anything you need? I know you probably won't have time after work."

Jack turned off the TV and grabbed his jacket, preparing to leave for the hospital.

"I'm fine Claire. I'll see you later."

"Claire, you alright?"

"I'm fine, sorry Charlie. Jack just sounded a bit weird…"

Charlie Pace looked dubiously at his girlfriend Claire, and then down at the little baby in his arms.

"Uncle Jack's always a bit weird isn't he, little guy?"

Claire chuckled slightly and looked around the department store they were in, looking for the baby section. She spotted it and headed towards it, dragging her son and boyfriend behind her.

"Ok Charlie, we need to get some new trousers for Aaron. He's growing so fast!"

"Right, well, you do that then, and me and Aaron will go check out… other things."

Claire laughed as she watched Charlie's rapidly receding form head towards the video game section, still clutching Aaron close to his chest. She then looked through the tiny baby clothes, in search of some suitable for her son, almost bumping into another woman.

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Claire smiled at the stranger who holding a tiny little baby girl close to her chest. "She's beautiful!"

"Thank-you, she's only two weeks old, but I already feel like I've bought more than I ever have before!"

"You better get used to it! My little one's less than a year but he's growing so fast! I'm Claire by the way."

"I'm Nadia, and this is Amira. My husband's around here some-where… ah, here he is!"

An Iraqi man came up to them and put his hand out for Claire to shake.

"Sayid Jarrah, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Claire froze, looking at the man's face. She'd never met him before, but he was… familiar. She shook his hand anyway, still staring in confusion at his face.

"Hey Claire, we're back!"

Charlie's voice shook her back to the present.

"Hey Charlie. Nadia, Sayid, this is my boyfriend Charlie and my son Aaron."

"It's a pleasure" said Sayid, shaking Charlie's hand as well, his eyes lingering on his face as if searching for recognition like Claire had.

"Yeah, you too mate."

"Anyway, we have to be off, it was lovely meeting you, Claire, Charlie" Nadia smiled and turned to leave, Sayid with her looking over his shoulder back at them.

Claire and Charlie stood watching them leave.

"Well, he was a bit weird. Did you see the way he was looking at me?!"

"I know, I feel like I know him from some-where… what do you think?"

"Nah... He probably just recognises me. I am a bloody rock god you know!"

Charlie smirked as Claire playfully swatted his arm.

"Don't swear in front of Aaron!"

Charlie laughed at his girlfriend's indignant expression, and with his spare hand linked his fingers with hers as they walked out of the store.

Sayid Jarrah was driving with his beautiful wife in the passenger seat and gorgeous baby girl in the back and smiled to himself. Nadia was gazing out the window when she suddenly turned to him.

"Sayid! A Mr Clucks! Let's stop."

"I thought that your chicken cravings would wear off once you actually had the baby…"

"Well… maybe I just realised I like chicken… Just pull in!"

Sayid laughed and pulled the car into the small area acting as a car park in front of the fried chicken restaurant.

"What do you want, I'll get it, and you stay in here with Amira."

"Uhm… double chicken bucket with extra sauce please."

Sayid raised his eye-brows at Nadia.

"I have had the baby but I've still got a lot of hormones going round my body…"

Sayid rushed out of the car as Nadia glared at him. He entered the takeout and ordered his food. While he was waiting he paced around the waiting area before walking straight into a very large guy who spilt the extra sauce down his top.

"Whoa, sorry dude! Ah man, I got sauce on you! I'm sorry, that's a hard one to get out, believe me, I know."

Sayid stopped dabbing at his shirt and looked up at the sound of the large guy's voice. His curly hair was some-what familiar… and the way he called him dude, that sounded very familiar, but he was sure no-one had called him that before.

"Are you alright dude? You're looking at me a bit weird… I'm Hurley by the way."

"I'm fine thank-you Hurley… I'm Sayid. You just look a bit familiar is all."

Hurley looked down and scratched the back of his head.

"Urhm… yeah, I get that a lot… here's your order dude. Sorry again"

Sayid took his bag of chicken and watched as Hurley hurried off, and shook his head as he walked back to the car.

"Thank-you Sayid!" Nadia beamed "Are you alright? You look a bit… confused."

"I'm fine. Just saw this big guy in the shop. He looked really familiar."

"Did you say big guy? Maybe he's that one who was on the news a while ago… you know, the one who one the lottery. Apparently he still works at Mr Clucks for some reason. He must really love chicken!"

Sayid drove the car back onto the road.

"Yeah… I guess that's how I know him."

Hugo "Hurley" Reyes was on his break and sat at one of the plastic table and chair sets in Mr Clucks, opposite a blonde haired woman. His boss, almost as bad as his old boss Randy, came up to him.

"Hugo, I don't care how much your worth, your due back on shift in five minutes. No more slacking off for your girlfriend" He sneered and looked at the blonde woman before walking off.

"Why are you working here Hurley? I mean, you get treated terribly which you really don't deserve. And you don't exactly need the money, do you?"

Hurley looked at the woman opposite him before replying. "Dude, I have everything! Tons of money, a great house, a beautiful girlfriend…" Hurley smiled at the woman "I mean, even my dad's back. For real this time! I need to have something that sucks to prove I'm not making it up. Plus, you've gotta love having a boyfriend who can get you reduced price chicken, right Libs?"

Libby laughed and squeezed his hand.

"I certainly do love being with you. Not for the free chicken though…"

"REYES! Back to work!" Called his boss and Hurley sighed before getting up to head back to work, bumping into a guy in a wheel chair on the way.

"Whoa dude, sorry, I dunno what's wrong with me today!" Hurley moved out of the way to let the bald man pass. There was certainly something weird about the guy, he looked at Hurley like he already knew him. He hoped it wasn't because he'd seen him on the news about the whole lottery thing.

"Don't worry Hugo, I'm fine."

Hurley's eyes widened.

"Dude! How do you know my name?!"

"It's written on your name badge."

"Oh right… yeah. Sorry, you just kinda seem familiar… do we know each other or something?"

The man smiled at him. "I don't believe so Hugo. My name's Locke though. John Locke. And I'll have a chicken selection box please."

"Right… Right. One box coming up."

John Locke sat in a hotel lobby waiting for his girlfriend Helen who'd he recently reconciled with. He smiled as he saw her emerging from the lift and rushing over to him.

"John! Hey, I've got to quickly sort out some payments for the hotel, I won't be long."

"Sure thing, see you in minute."

John watched her walk over to the desk and his smile widened. He was so happy that he'd found her again, and she'd accepted him back into her life. As she talked to the man own the desk John looked around the lobby, spotting a man in a black suit by the window intently watching some people in car outside. The man looked down at his watch and tapped the face of it, before looking up and around before settling his eyes on John, and walking over to him.

"Excuse me, I don't suppose you have the time?"

John looked up at the man before replying. "It's half past two."

Then man smiled slightly. "Thank-you." And headed to the exit.

"I wouldn't go out there yet if I were you. It's going to rain."

The man looked back at John, right before the skies opened.

"That's certainly impressive…"

"John. John Locke."

"Well, thank-you John Locke. Unfortunately, I will just have to get wet."

The man turned around to leave again.

"Wait, what's your name?"

The man looked round and raised his eye-brows, but answered anyway.

"I'm Benjamin Linus."

Benjamin Linus smiled slightly as the sun emerged from behind the clouds. He liked it when there was a quick rainfall before the sun came out. It felt like it cleansed him, washing him clean of the blood of his last victim, and then the sun made everything new again. He sighed as he looked through the windows of shops. He was wondering around the high-street while he waited for his watch to be repaired. If something like that happened again; if he was late again, then he probably wouldn't get away with it. He'd only just managed to catch up with the man he was meant to be following before he left the alleyway, but luckily just in time to shoot him. No, he couldn't slip up again.

He was just walking past an electrical shop when a flash of gold caught his eye. He looked through the glass and saw a beautiful woman. She had big bright blue eyes and long blonde hair which stopped half-way down her back. Her small frame swung as she turned to look at one of the televisions that the shop assistant was pointing at and Ben followed her with his eyes. The man she was with obviously said something funny because she cracked up with laughter, making her even more beautiful.

She looked so familiar, like someone he knew, but couldn't put his finger on. Or at least someone he should know. He felt a strange possessiveness over her. He didn't know her, but somehow, somehow she was his. Suddenly she looked up at him, making eye contact with him, and he swore she knew. But then the man next to her tugged at her arm, saying her name. Ben couldn't hear through the glass, but could tell by the shape of his words.

Juliet.

Juliet Burke looked at the stranger through the window. He was looking at her, and something about the intensity of his gaze, the way he was watching her, sent shivers down her spine. She felt frozen to the spot until the man next to her touched her arm.

"Juliet" She tore her gaze away from the window and looked at her companion. "Jules, are you alright? That bug-eyed weirdo, do you know him or something? He's looking at you. Want me to tell him where to go?"

"No James, he's just a little weird that's all. Let' go"

Juliet turned around to leave, but stopped when she realised James wasn't following her, instead watching one of the TVs.

"Come on James, I know you want us to get a new TV, but we can come back tomorrow. We have to babysit Julian for Rachel tonight, remember?"

James looked up from the news channel he was watching.

"I know, it's just that woman on the news… she look familiar to you?"

Juliet scrutinised the mug-shot of the woman on the screen. "I don't think so. She just has one of those faces. Killing her father though. I mean, can you imagine?"

James looked up at Juliet.

"You're right Jules, let's go. We can get a TV tomorrow. I just want our place to be perfect, you know?"

Juliet put her arms around James' neck and hugged him.

"I know. And it will be. I love you."

James smiled down at the woman in arms and kissed her.

"I love you back."

A/N: Phew, that took a while. I probably should have split it into chapters, but it just didn't seem that substantial on it's own, you know? Anyway, I hope you liked this story and pleeeeease review? Pleeeeeeease? Even if you didn't like it. I'm thinking of doing a second one with the characters I missed like Sun, Jin, Daniel, Desmond… if you have any ideas please let me know. xxx