Hey Y'all! This is my first LOST fic ever, so please don't be too cruel..;)!
anyways, this story is going to be a series and will hopefully get better as it goes along! ;) (really I don't know if this is good or not, please tell me!)
Note: There are some hints of Sawyer/Charlie slash in there, but it could be taken as non-slash(what ever the word is) it just depends on how you interpret it.
ENJOY!!!!
The sun glared down upon the castaways of the tropical island. Sweat and body odor filled the still air. It seemed like the wind would never blow again. Most of the people had taken to the shade of the jungle, despite the ever looming danger of the unknown that filled the "Magical forest." Charlie, though, decided to take his chances in the water. The ocean was an irresistible aqua blue, the clearest the water had been since they had been there.
Charlie, who only had his boxers on, was wading in the water, as he could not swim to save his or anyone's life, which had been proved only a couple of days before when that woman had drowned. He had been too late. He wondered to himself if he should have gone anyways just to try, maybe he would have been a hero, maybe Jack wouldn't have glared at him with such a deep malice. He didn't know, but he really did care. It wasn't his problem anymore.
He looked back to the beach as he felt someone was watching him, only to see Claire. She smiled and waved at him like a mother would when her child first learns how to swim. Charlie, deciding to ignore the worried expression on her face, smiled back before he plunged himself into the icy water.
Charlie came back up quickly, brushing his hands through his tangled hair, and looked to the beach again. Claire had taken a seat now beneath a large palm tree for shade. Charlie could tell that she was going to watch him, but for what reason, was still a mystery to him. Maybe she was worrying about him because he had been acting so strange. Well it was hard not to act strange when his drugs had been taken away and was slowly starting to go through withdrawel. He shook more now and sweated even in the cold dead of the night. He guessed that she had noticed this.
The tide began to increase, a signal for him to head back to the beach as he did not want to be pulled or drowned by a bloody wave. He started to wade back to the beach when he felt a tug on his leg. He thought this strange and looked down to see what was happening. His eyes grew large with terror and began to panic when he saw a hand wrapped around his ankle. He tried to get out of its grip, but it wouldn't let go. He pulled himself forward, but only about a foot before he was pulled under.
Charlie thrashed frantically, causing a disturbance in the surface water, hoping the Claire would notice. She did. Charlie could hear her screams from under the water, but that didn't matter right now, what mattered was getting out of this thing's grip. He looked down again and saw a body, a woman's body pulling Charlie closer. With each frantic movement that Charlie made, the woman would just drag him closer.
Charlie could feel his heart racing when he got a good look at this woman. Her body was pale as the white sand that lay at the bottom of the ocean; her eyes were a dulled blue that sent chills down his spine. What did she want from him?
The tugging stopped and Charlie was now face to face with the ghastly woman. "You're the one who left me here. You're the one who let me die." A chilling voice echoed through the water. Charlie was now shaking out of fear, when he saw that it was the woman who was talking. "Now you're going to die the same way I did." Her grip tightened, causing Charlie to yell out in pain, filling is mouth with the sea salty water.
He tried to reach the surface with an even fiercer stroke, but soon found himself drifting off into a tiredness that he had never known. He was dying, he could feel it. His head felt like it was going to explode from the lack of air. His eyes began to dim and fading, but before he fell into darkness, he felt strong arms wrapping around his waist and pulling him. Then everything went dark.
Sawyer kicked his feet up on the airline seat that he had claimed earlier to watch everyone through the jungle brush as they passed by, but now he was watching a new person with his full attention. Charlie. Charlie had been out in the water for a while now, which didn't surprise Sawyer as it was an unusually hot day, and he was actually looking real.
To Sawyer, Charlie was always faking how he felt, as though he didn't want anyone to see the real Charlie. He always talked about his D-list band that no one really cared about or giving cheeky smiles that Sawyer detected were forced. Now, though, Charlie, half naked and trembling from the cool water's touch, had never seemed so human. Sawyer smiled, it wasn't like he himself had been completely open to everyone either, who the Hell was he kidding.
He watched as Charlie began to make his way to the beach and laughed when the Brit had tripped. It was cute somehow. Then, without warning, Charlie was pulled into the water.
"What the Hell?" Sawyer muttered. He watched to see if the smaller man would emerge from the water, but he didn't. "Damn!" Sawyer ran onto the beach only to be greeted by Claire's ungodly screams. "Sawyer, you have to save him! He can't swim!"
"Shit," sawyer cursed under his breath. It was true, Charlie couldn't swim. How could he forget?! "Don't worry sweet cheeks, I'll get him," Sawyer said as reassuringly as possible.
Sawyer tore his shirt off and made a mad dash into the water, diving in as soon as it was deep enough. He opened his eyes and looked around frantically. 'Where is he?'
Then Sawyer heard a thrashing noise coming from somewhere about twenty feet away. He turned his head and saw the young rocker struggling to go to the surface, like he was held back by something. Then, as soon as Sawyer saw Charlie moving, he saw that Charlie was still. 'DAMN!'
Sawyer speed through water like a torpedo towards the still man, wrapped his arms around Charlie's slim waist, and literally pulled Charlie to the surface. Sawyer kept a firm grip and swam furiously back to the beach, which now had a whole horde of people nervously watching him. Why did the big groups come at the wrong time and never do anything to help?
Sawyer carried the bassist onto the beach, demanding, "Get out of the way! Let him breathe!" He gently laid the younger man onto the warm sand of the beach like a mother putting her child down to rest. Sawyer looked over Charlie's motionless body and cussed.
"Where the Hell is Jack?" Sawyer cried. No one answered. It figured, after Jack had gone into that jungle a couple of days ago, anyone barely saw him, he was always off doing stuff to 'better the camp'. "Does anyone know?" still no answer. "Well, then, I guess I'll just have to play doctor."
Sawyer dropped down and checked Charlie's pulse, and breathing. There was none. Sawyer took his hands and began to pushed and Charlie's pale chest, hoping to get a response. "Come on, come on..."
Sawyer pushed harder and harder with each set he did, until he was almost certain that he would break a rib or something if he didn't stop. Sawyer closed his eyes, trying to ignore the crying and yells of the on-lookers, and took a deep breath. It now hit him that Charlie's life was in his hands and he didn't know if he could keep holding it in his own, unsure hands.
'No,' Sawyer thought, 'you are not going to lose him. Keep going, you'll see.'
Sawyer nodded to the voice and pushed again and again and then by some miracle, Charlie opened his eyes.
People rushed past Charlie as he stood in the middle of the Sydney International Airport, no one seemed to see him, like he was invisible. There was chaos all around him. News reporters and camera crews gathered around a man who, apparently saying something very important.
"At approximately 11:30 am, Flight 111 has reportedly gone down. We do not know if there were any survivors or where the plane crash, but we have contacted the families of all that were aboard...."
Charlie turned around at the sound of a small girl crying. "Where is Uncle Charlie?" His eyes widened. There, just behind him, was Liam, his wife, and his daughter.
Liam rubbed his forehead, trying not to let the building tears fall, replied, "I don't know honey, but we'll find out."
Charlie wanted to yell out that he was there in front of them, but thought better of it. If they couldn't see him, then they probably couldn't hear him either. Instead, he settled with brushing the wisps of blonde hair out of his niece's cherubic face. She shivered at his touch and turned to see who had done it, but, to her, no one was there.
A man in a suit walked up to Liam and shook his hand. "You must one of the families. My name is Almon Young, if you will follow me Mr....?"
"Pace," Liam replied, "My brother was on the plane."
"First of all, just let me say how sorry I am for the grief and worry this must be causing you,"-Charlie snorted at that-"and let me assure you we are doing the best to find the plane and the passengers."
"Thank you," Liam whispered.
Mr. Young gave a sympathetic smile. "Now sir, if you would come with me."
Liam looked back at his wife and daughter and asked, "What about them?"
"I am sorry Mr. Pace, but I don't think that your daughter should be exposed to the drama of this situation, if you know what I mean." Liam looked at his wife once more and received a nod from her as she bounced the little girl up and down. Liam turned and followed Mr. Young into his office with Charlie floating behind them.
"Please have a seat Mr. Pace," Mr. Young said pointing at a chair in front of his desk. Mr. Young pulled out a stack of paper with a long list of names, addresses, and other information. "Mr. Pace, what was your brother's name?"
"Charlie, Charlie Pace."
Mr. Young skimmed through the pages and stopped when he found what he was looking for. "Mr. Charlie Pace of Manchester, England, is that your brother?"
"Yes, sir," Liam whispered, closing his eyes.
"Alright then, I'll just need you to identify him with a picture that we have on the computer data base," Mr. Young said matter-of-factly. "We keep a copy of everyone's passport when they pass through."
Mr. Young typed up something on his computer and then turned the screen for Liam to see. There in front of him was the unmistakable picture of Charlie. He was defiantly high when this was taken as his eyes were glazed and distant and he had one of those cheeky smiles that he gave when he had just taken a hit. "Yeah," Liam whispered, "That's him."
"Right then," Mr. Young nodded. He took a piece of paper and put a check mark by Charlie's name. "I am sure that you have questions that need to be answered. I am the only person in this place that will tell you what you need truthfully."
Liam looked like he was thinking of a way to word something that was on his mind. "Tell me, what is the reality that my brother is going to be found?"
"To tell you the truth, sir," Mr. Young began, "very slim. It is true that we are doing our best to track them down, but so far we haven't found anything. You see, we have tracking devices in all of our planes under the pilot's seat and they can only be deactivated if they are turned off by the pilot. The tracking device in Flight 111 was turned off somehow. Without it on, our chances of finding them are very slim," he sighed, "As for finding your brother and the rest alive, I would doubt it, but there is a slight chance that he could be alive, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. I'm sorry."
Liam blinked a couple of times, as though to let everything sink in. He slowly closed his eyes one more time with the realization of what had just been said. "So Charlie is gone," Liam muttered heartbroken. He rubbed his temples and could feel the hot tears brim his eye lashes and drift down his cheek. He started to sob and the other man quietly got up.
"I am sorry for your loss." Mr. Young closed the door softly behind him.
Liam wiped his eyes and took a deep breath. He stared up at the picture that still loomed on the screen in front of him. "I am so sorry baby brother. You were right; I never looked out for you like I should have. I was the older brother, the one who was supposed to look out for you, and what did I do? I got you dragged into a bloody mess. I am such a git." Liam swallowed down the rest of his tears. "I promised you that when you had too much, we'd pull out, but I just kept pushing and pushing. That is why you were the way you were. I should of made you stay with me, gotten you help. Then you wouldn't be dead, you wouldn't be gone forever. I failed you and I am so sorry."
Liam began to cry again, a strangely heart-breaking sight for Charlie. Usually, he would feel indifferent about it. Liam had never shown understanding towards him, so why should Charlie of shown pity towards Liam? This, though, shattered what was left of Charlie's tainted heart. Liam was crying for Charlie, something that he had never seen before. Liam really did love him.
Charlie felt the whole world stop around him. Liam loved him. That was all he ever wanted and now he had it or at least knew it. Charlie closed his eyes, trying to keep the building tears back, but it was useless. He wiped a tear from his deep, blue eyes and stepped forward.
Charlie reached out a hand, wiping a tear from his brother's eye. "Don't fret," he soothed, "I was a bloody mess before you touched me. I forgive you; I'm just sorry for being a prick for the last couple of years."
Liam looked up with fear and surprise in his blazing blue eyes. Charlie stared back at him, realizing that Liam had heard and seen him. The two brothers just stared at each other, both unsure if this was real or not.
"Charlie?" Liam whispered. Suddenly, everything around Charlie became misty, like everything was being erased. Everything was whirling around him and he could feel himself being tugged back, but to where, he didn't know.
With Charlie's last seconds, he called out to his brother. "Liam!"
Charlie jerked open his eyes and breathed with long, deep gasps, which were the only things he could hear. The sun was blinding, it made him feel sick. He rolled to his side and let a horrible mixture of bile and ocean water escape his mouth.
A distant murmur of voices filled his ears, and then it slowly started to build until it had reached his climax. He ignored this and closed his eyes. He felt so tired. A gentle nudge on his shoulder made him come back to the real world for a while.
He opened his eyes to see Sawyer and Claire sitting next to him. "Where the bloody Hell am I?" His memories of just a few moments ago flashed before his eyes and he tried to sit up. "The cockpit, where is the cockpit..."
"Charlie!" Claire cried. She pulled him into a hug, pressing him against her pregnant stomach, making him still. "Oh my God, I thought you were dead!" Charlie could feel her tears drop on his head. He shivered slightly and turned to look at Sawyer. His face had relief written all over it, replacing the usual smirk.
"Sawyer, I have to find the pilot's chair...." Charlie whispered.
"Shush kid," Sawyer consoled, thinking that Charlie was delirious, "you need to rest."
Charlie tried to pull free from Claire's hug, but was too weak. A wave of sleep washed over his heavy eyes. "The tracking device...I've got to find it..." he muttered as he fell into a deep sleep.
Review if you like, review if you don't like. everyone needs a little critisizm sometime!