The Underground

by pacejunkie

Concerned for Claire’s safety, Charlie leaves the camp, only to discover an island secret that could change everything.

Title: The Underground

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Concerned for Claire's safety, Charlie leaves the camp, only to discover an island secret that could change everything.

Characters: Charlie, Claire, Desmond, Hurley, Kate

Word Count: 5131

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, but if I did, Charlie would never die.

Author's Note: Dedicated to the belief that Charlie will live.

Charlie had only wanted to put things right before his death. Since Desmond's visions began he had taken to living each day like it was his last, hastening to settle his affairs.

One of those affairs was Sun.

He lived with the lie every day. It gnawed at him in the deepest places where he feared to look and where others were never allowed to tread. Most of the time he pretended that the act was perpetrated by someone else; he had to see Sun every day after all and not appear guilty, but his Catholic upbringing tugged at his conscience like a child begging for attention. He could die at any moment, and to die without confessing his sins was a sure fire one way ticket straight to hell. Charlie couldn't control every force in his life but he could control this.

He had confessed to her in secret, hoping to impress upon her good nature and make her understand what he had been going through at the time, what a mess he was after what Locke had done to him. She said nothing, a silence louder than a thousand screams, but simply stared at him as though Charlie had sat down in front of her and pulled off his face like a mask. Charlie wished she had gotten angry or hit him, anything but what he got. Rather than feel unburdened, he left feeling worse than he did before. He wasn't even worth her anger.

For her own reasons Sun chose to honour Charlie's request to keep his confession between them, but still he feared that Jin would find out. Because of this, Charlie's confession had in fact provided him with little real peace, so along with the spectre of death loomed the continued threat of exposure that haunted him day and night. Charlie didn't know which he feared more.

Then there was Claire.

He realized that each day he evaded the universe's final judgment upon him Charlie was becoming more of a danger to Claire and to Aaron. The deaths were growing both more frequent and more gruesome. Last week his head had been smashed against a reef by angry waves, this week a gust of gale force wind had cut a path through Claire's tent. Desmond had warned them with only seconds to spare, but the tent was flattened. The rest of the beach camp was untouched. No one could understand it.

They spent the rest of the day rebuilding. Through it all, as Charlie put the tent back up with shaking hands and a queasy stomach, he was being shored up by Claire's strength. Her optimism was unshakeable, and he couldn't understand that. Since Desmond had given Claire the news, not unlike being told that someone close to you had a terminal disease, Claire began appreciating every day, every moment, an island Pollyanna. She'd wake up each day smiling and say to Charlie, "You made it. One day at a time." She was an inspiration, taking him by the hand and walking him through his own life, getting him through.

With his background in faith, he should have been the one believing, but Charlie found when he reached inside, he had nothing to hold onto. So he held onto Claire, until one day, after Claire and Aaron were nearly crushed by a falling tree meant for him, he came to realize that he was being selfish. It wasn't fair of him to risk the lives of her and the baby; no matter how committed she promised to be or how good it made him feel.

If they had discussed it Charlie knew Claire would have talked him out of it, so he stayed quiet. That night, Charlie packed his shoulder bag and left, kissing Aaron on the head as he slept before departing. He didn't know where he would go; he just knew he needed to get far away from Claire and the beach, for everyone's safety. At least Sun would be relieved, he thought. Lately when Sun looked at him Charlie got the sense that she feared him.

SCENE BREAK

"Desmond," asked Claire, "have you seen Charlie?"

Under different circumstances, it would have been the perfect set up for a joke. Desmond "saw" Charlie all the time, falling victim to the cruel hand of fate in ways that were as varied as they were horrific, but he knew what Claire meant, and Desmond had long lost his sense of humour.

"Not today," he said, looking up at her as he sat in his tent. "Why?"

Claire looked around her and then lowered her voice, "You haven't had any visions or a clue as to where he might have gone?"

"No, Claire," Desmond repeated, tensing and pushing up to a stand. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know," she said. "We were getting by each day, I thought he was coping…But then I woke up this morning and he was gone. No one's seen him."

Desmond reached for his rifle. "He shouldn't be alone. If something happens and I can't find him, I won't be able to prevent it." Desmond shouldered the rifle and led the way, "Come with me, we'll look together."

They were nearly to the tree line when they saw Hurley. Desmond knew he and Charlie had been spending a bit of time together. It had seemed to do wonders for Charlie's spirits, so he understood when Claire took one last stab and turned to him.

"Hurley, do you know where Charlie is?" she asked.

"I thought he'd be with you," said Hurley.

"No," said Claire. "No one knows where he is."

"Oh, are you worried because of that death thing?" he asked.

Desmond wasn't surprised that he knew. This was too much for one person to bear, and it would make sense that Charlie would confide in Hurley. Charlie needed all the friends around him that he could gather right now.

"Why don't you come with us to look for him?" Desmond asked.

Hurley took the request seriously, understanding the implications with his unique insight. "Sure thing, dude," he said.

They walked aimlessly for an hour. Without a trail Desmond had no idea where he was going. He was following nothing but his senses which at the moment were duller than the edge of a coin. Claire looked at the ground while Hurley kept his eyes on the trees. Occasionally they called out Charlie's name. The search was as useless as it felt until suddenly Desmond froze. He was there. Charlie. Standing right in front of them, or at least he seemed to be.

He was under attack. One minute he was standing and the next he was on the ground, being dragged by one leg. Desmond concentrated, trying to see if it was a man or an animal, but it was neither. It was smoke. Charlie was screaming, but only Desmond heard it. His mind's eye searched the scene for landmarks and then he turned and ran with Hurley and Claire following behind.

"Desmond, what is it?" yelled Claire, anguish in her voice. "What did you see?"

Desmond didn't want to tell her. If he got there in time she would never have to know. They can all walk back to the beach together and pretend it never happened. Telling her the thing that had killed Eko was assaulting her friend would serve no purpose. Desmond was through causing pain. He ignored her question and ran.

When he arrived he nearly tripped over the bag. Charlie's black shoulder bag was right where Desmond had seen it, where he knew it would be, after the thing threw Charlie down and dragged him to his death.

Desmond stumbled and collapsed onto it, out of breath. He picked up the bag and heard a gasp over his shoulder and he knew Claire recognized it. Desmond clutched the bag and cursed himself silently.

"Dude," whispered Hurley, "no way."

"What?" said Claire, confused. She knelt down beside Desmond. "Where is he?"

Desmond looked at her. "I'm sorry Claire," he said. "We're too late. He's gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?" she asked.

"It was the black smoke," Desmond explained. "It had him. I saw it."

Claire paled and then turned her head to survey the ground around her. "If he's dead than where is he?"

"He could be anywhere," he said. "He was dragged off and disappeared. There's no way he could have survived. I'm not seeing anything anymore. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Claire sat back, jaw hanging open. They all knew it was coming and yet the irony was it seemed so sudden. Desmond supposed nothing ever really prepared you for death.

"Maybe we should head back to camp," said Hurley. "We should tell the others."

Claire shook her head and stood, "No. I want to keep looking."

"Claire…" said Desmond.

"He could be out here somewhere hurt or lost," she argued. "We don't know that he's dead."

"It happened right here," Desmond told her, holding Charlie's bag. "If he were alive he'd be nearby. We can make a large circle and look but I'm not sensing him anywhere. I heard him scream and saw him fall somehow and then he was just gone. There are cliffs all around here. I don't think we're going to find anything Claire."

Claire shifted her weight and looked around her again, looking as though she wanted to argue but was unable to muster a response. After a moment Desmond turned to the direction of camp and Claire and Hurley followed.

SCENE BREAK

His head hurt, and his back. The ground felt like solid rock with a jagged surface that hit every pressure point. He moaned and rolled, trying to find a position that didn't ache. When he failed to find one he opened his eyes.

He was in a tunnel, like a mineshaft, walls carved from the earth. There was a small amount of light coming from down the shaft, giving Charlie just enough sight to assess his condition.

His arms were raked up and down with fresh, bleeding scrapes that stung. He reached up and touched an abrasion on his chin. His muscles felt like tenderized meat. That thing that grabbed him must have dragged him for twenty metres until the ground beneath him vanished. He remembered the sensation of his heartbeat hitching as he realized he was falling, and then nothing. Now he didn't know where he was, but the area above his head was as solid as the ground below.

He took another breath and stood. He was sore, but nothing felt broken, that was a relief. Charlie was mostly relieved he wasn't dead. Despite his circumstances, whatever they were, he was still plugging along.

At the end of the shaft was a large cavern of a room. Charlie looked around and listened for signs of life before proceeding to make his way in. The room appeared empty, apart from a wall of monitors, a control panel and a chair. Charlie walked up to the monitors, most of which had been turned on and were transmitting. Broadcasting were various locations on the island; unidentifiable bits of jungle mostly and one shot of an empty beach.

Then Charlie looked at another monitor and noticed the tents of his campmates. Looking closer, he realized the camera was focused on the tent that he and Claire shared. He turned the nearest dial and the camera zoomed in. He saw her. Claire was sitting in her chair, clutching his bag with both hands. It was only then that Charlie remembered that he had lost it; it had been thrown from his shoulder when the black smoke knocked him down. Now Claire had it and she was crying into the satchel like a pillow.

Charlie watched, feeling a bit ashamed both for invading her privacy and for having left like he did. Once again he made her cry without meaning to, when he was only trying to save her and Aaron. Charlie frowned, and inspected the dials before him to see what they could be for. There was a microphone, and rows of switches with labels like "Soul Capture" and "Cerberus Release". Charlie didn't understand, but before he could investigate further he sensed a presence behind him, casting a shadow on the panel. He started to turn, but before he could something hard struck him and the blackness returned.

SCENE BREAK

When they had returned to the beach, Claire had gone straight to her tent while Desmond and Hurley told the others. Aaron was still with Sun and Jin. Claire didn't have the energy to retrieve him, so instead she sat with Charlie's bag, took in his scent from the fabric and cried. After a while Claire tried to write in her diary but her hand shook and her tears kept clouding her sight until she gave up.

At sunset Kate came to her tent.

"Are you okay?" her friend asked her.

Claire wiped at her cheeks. "Yeah," she said.

Kate sat down alongside her. "Hurley suggested we hold some kind of memorial service, for some closure. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

Claire shook her head furiously. "No. Absolutely not."

"Claire," Kate began gently, "Desmond told us what happened."

"Well did he also tell you that we couldn't find him?" she said. "That there was no body? Charlie's not dead. I don't believe it."

Kate looked at her with sympathy. "I think this is just a normal part of the grieving process. You need time."

Claire's expression hardened with resolve. "I don't need time, Kate. I need help. I promised Charlie I wasn't going to give up on him, and I'm not going back on that promise. He's out there somewhere. I'm going back out to find him."

Kate was alarmed. "Are you sure that's the best decision Claire? Whatever's out there could get you next. Have you thought of Aaron?"

"Of course I have," snapped Claire. "Don't you think I've thought of nothing else? Of how Aaron is going to grow up without a father figure like I did? I told Charlie we'd get through this together. I can't abandon him. I can't do that to Aaron."

She rose and threw Charlie's bag over her own shoulder, causing Kate to rise as well.

"If you're determined to go, I'll go with you," she said.

"Thank you," said Claire. "The memorial service can wait."

SCENE BREAK

This time, when Charlie woke his hands were tied. He was in a small storage room, filled mostly with empty shelving and some linens and towels. He felt something wet on the side of his face, swiped at it and came away with a crimson smear. Struggling upright, he raised his bound hands to one of the shelves, pulled down a towel and pressed it to the wound on his pounding head.

The door opened and a man appeared at the threshold. Charlie sat up and leaned back into the corner.

"Nice hospitality you've got here," said Charlie.

"Hello Charlie," said the man with a heavy foreign accent. "My name is Rufus."

Charlie winced, wiping the blood from his face with the towel as he listened. "Do you have a last name, Rufus or is that like Bono?"

Rufus remained silent, his expression fixed.

"Right," said Charlie. "Well, how about some water then, if you wouldn't mind that is?"

For a moment Charlie thought the man would continue to stand there, but after a beat he turned and closed the door again. He returned minutes later with a small bottle that he opened and placed between Charlie's bound hands.

"Cheers," he sneered. Rufus waited while he drained half the bottle, then Charlie asked, "So, what is this place?"

"It is the control center for the island security system," he said. "I am in charge of operating it."

"You do fine work," Charlie said, stretching out his arms and displaying his bruises. "Did you kill Eko with that thing?"

Rufus shook his head. "You do not understand. I do not kill. I operate the security system called Cerberus. I locate the individual and scan them, what happens after that is not my decision. It is Cerberus' choice whether to kill."

"How does a machine make a choice?" asked Charlie.

Rufus smiled for the first time like a proud parent. "Cerberus is a sophisticated artificial intelligence that determines whether the person it is confronted with is a threat."

"Well it didn't kill me," Charlie pointed out, "therefore I must not be a threat. So how about you let me go?"

"You, Mr. Pace are here for a different purpose," he responded. "The others at the beach believe you are dead, but Claire still has hope. Very soon she will come looking for you and she will leave her child in the care of another. Without its mother, the child will be most vulnerable. You are very valuable to us indeed."

Charlie felt alarm for the first time at Rufus' final words, but he swallowed it and kept his poker face on.

"You must be off your head if you think I'm helping you," he said.

Rufus smirked, "I will return when it is time."

The man switched off the light and locked the door. Charlie sat in the dark, knowing he would sooner die than help this man get to Claire and Aaron. What he wanted to do was warn her, if he could only figure out how.

SCENE BREAK

The crack of light from the open door made him flinch. Charlie didn't know how much time had gone by but he had been struggling to keep awake. He squinted and looked up at Rufus.

"Is it time for tea already?" Charlie asked.

Without a word Rufus yanked him up by the arm and brought him to the control room. Once again Charlie saw the monitors. He scanned the images quickly for Claire, but her tent was empty.

Untying his hands, Rufus pushed Charlie down into the chair and tied them again from behind. Charlie watched as Rufus flipped switches and turned dials, trying to learn how the system worked. When he was finished, Rufus zoomed in on the center monitor and that was when Claire appeared. She was in the jungle, and she seemed alone. When a bit of movement caught his attention on the monitor adjacent, Charlie saw Kate, searching another part of the jungle. For the moment they were separated.

Rufus switched on the microphone. "Talk to her," he instructed. "Tell her anything you wish."

Charlie swallowed. As badly as he wanted Claire to know he was all right, he knew he was being used as bait. This seemed like an opportunity to get help, to tell her it was a trap, but in truth it only spelled danger. Claire would go after him no matter what he said and if he said too much, Rufus would shut the system down anyway. He sat tight-lipped.

"Very well," said Rufus, switching the microphone off again.

Rufus reached over and pressed a button labeled "Image Scan" and stepped back. A harsh white light flashed in Charlie's face, temporarily blinding him. When he adjusted he saw that he was bathed in the light as his likeness was copied and uploaded. He squirmed in his seat. A minute later it stopped.

With the press of another button to send the image Charlie watched the monitor and suddenly there he was, in the jungle with Claire. He stood and faced her from across the clearing where she stood. Charlie looked away in regret.

"Charlie?" said Claire to the form before her.

No Claire, don't, he thought desperately as he turned back at the sound of her voice. Leave now.

She came closer, but was unable to close the distance fully because Charlie's image moved away with each step she took, luring her deeper into the jungle.

"Charlie wait! Where are you going?" she called.

Charlie's heart ached. He lowered his head and cried from his seat, tears landing in his lap. Claire had begun to follow and he couldn't stop her, chasing after what she thought was him, because she refused to accept that he was dead. He wondered when his image would change to reveal the pillar of smoke that would devour her whole, but he was afraid to look.

His head was still down when he heard Claire calling for Kate. Charlie looked up again to see Kate running and Claire turning towards her. With Kate's appearance Rufus reached over and terminated the image of Charlie. When Claire turned back it was gone. She tried to tell Kate what she had seen but the woman seemed skeptical. Charlie let out his breath in relief when Kate led Claire back to camp.

Furious, Rufus untied Charlie's hands from the chair and quickly rebound them. Pulling him along, he brought Charlie back to the storage closet and threw him down to the floor. Without his hands to break his fall Charlie slammed into the concrete with his shoulder.

"We will try this again, and next time I will be assured of your cooperation," Rufus threatened.

"It doesn't matter what you do to me," said Charlie. "You may as well kill me because I'm as good as dead anyway."

Rufus laughed a sound that was sickening. "The universe isn't out to kill you Charlie. Don't you think we knew you would leave the camp if you thought you were putting Claire and her baby in danger? Claire would never have gone out into the jungle alone otherwise. You've played your part beautifully up to now, and you will continue to do so."

The room was darkened again and the door slammed shut. He didn't want to give Rufus the satisfaction but once he was alone, Charlie groaned in pain. He tried to rotate his shoulder and then realized that the rope around his wrists was now much looser.

SCENE BREAK

"Desmond!" Claire was yelling as she ran towards him with Kate in tow.

He went in her direction to meet her halfway. "What is it Claire?" he asked.

"It's Charlie, I saw him in the jungle," she said.

"You mean you found his body?" Desmond asked.

"No, I saw Charlie. He was standing there in the jungle, looking at me. Something seemed wrong, he looked injured and he wouldn't talk to me but it was Charlie, I know it."

Desmond glanced over at Kate for her reaction. The woman's face bore lines of deep concern.

"Did you see him Kate?" he asked her.

Kate shook her head. "We'd split up to search a wider area. I heard Claire calling for me and came over but by the time I got there he was gone. I didn't see anything."

"Desmond you have to believe me," Claire pleaded. "I know what I saw. I need you to go back out there with me. He's alive and he needs our help, I'm sure of it now."

"What if it's a trap Claire?" Kate suggested. "Shannon saw Walt in the jungle right before she died. We've all seen things out there. I don't think it's safe."

Claire turned to respond. "If there's even a chance that Charlie's still alive we have to find him. Looking at him there, it felt as if…as if he was in trouble but he was holding back, trying to protect me."

Kate exhaled, "Well that certainly sounds like Charlie."

Desmond was convinced that it was worth a try. He returned to his tent and retrieved his rifle. Kate led the way back to the spot where Claire had last seen Charlie.

SCENE BREAK

He stood in the dark, beside the door, waiting. The frayed rope was coiled around his fists. Charlie pulled the slack taut and tensed when he heard the footsteps.

As soon as the door opened, Charlie went at him from behind, bringing the rope around Rufus' neck and pulling with all his strength. The man was caught off guard and lost his balance. The two fell down together with Charlie on top, still choking him. He held on until Rufus stopped struggling and lay still.

Charlie pushed himself up, panting. His hands burned from the rope. He reached down to the prone body and felt for a pulse. Rufus was still alive. Charlie locked him in the storage room and went out to the monitors.

The first thing Charlie did was search for a way out, but the walls were solid rock and the tunnel through which he had entered led to a dead end. With no clear means of escape, he returned to the control station.

Desmond, Claire and Kate appeared on the central monitor, out in the jungle. Charlie watched them as they searched the spot where his image had last appeared. Now was the chance to really warn them, if he could figure out how to get his image to stand still and not lead them to danger. He remembered Rufus describing Cerberus as having a mind of its own. It was a risk to activate the system and turn it loose on his friends, but it was the only way he could communicate with them. With a silent prayer, Charlie hit the send image button and switched on the microphone.

SCENE BREAK

They chose not to separate this time, but came straight for the spot where Claire had seen Charlie. Then they waited. Suddenly there he was, standing on the other side of some low bushes.

Claire touched Desmond's arm and pointed. They remained still and silent, careful not to spook him away as if he were a deer. This time he wasn't walking away, but stood perfectly still like a mannequin. They waited until Charlie began to speak.

"Claire," he said. "Listen to me. I'm all right but I'm trapped. You need to go back for Aaron. They're coming for him and he's in danger. Go back to the beach, all of you."

"Charlie where are you?" Claire asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Somewhere underground I think, but don't worry. I'll find my own way out. You have to protect Aaron."

Claire looked at Desmond, torn, her eyes begging for guidance.

"I don't want to leave him," she said.

"Go back with Kate," said Desmond. "Tell Sawyer to stand guard over Aaron and I'll look for Charlie."

"Come on Claire," said Kate, and as they turned back to Charlie one last time, the image was gone.

SCENE BREAK

Charlie exhaled as he switched off the microphone, confident that he had done all he could. He stayed in the chair for a few moments, watching, making sure they were heeding his advice. He was about to return to the task of looking for a way out when a voice sounded in his head.

"I'm afraid you shouldn't have done that," said Rufus, "because now you have outlived your usefulness."

Charlie felt something cold and hard connect with his face and knock him out of the chair. Rufus threw himself down and pinned Charlie to the ground, holding an iron bar across his throat. Charlie grabbed the bar with both hands and the two struggled with it, trying to wrestle control. Rufus let go of the bar with one hand and punched Charlie in the jaw, trying to pull the bar free. Instead of pulling, Charlie used Rufus' own force and pushed back, striking him in the head with the weapon. The manoeuvre only made Rufus angrier and he lunged back and attacked again. Charlie felt his strength draining, his arm muscles screaming for release. Suddenly Rufus grabbed Charlie by the neck and raised the bar high to bring it back down in one crushing blow.

Charlie raised his arms to cover his face when he heard a loud blast. Rufus' eyes went wide and the bar fell from his open hand, hitting the floor with a clang. At the same time his body came down on top of Charlie, knocking what little wind he had left right out of him. He didn't know what had happened until a pair of hands came down and pulled the corpse off of him.

Desmond tossed Rufus aside; gunshot wound dead center in his back. He turned to Charlie and offered him a hand.

"Are you all right, brother?" he asked.

Charlie caught his breath and smiled.

SCENE BREAK

It was a plain cross made from sticks; the same kind that bore the names of the rest of the dead in the island cemetery, only this one marked no grave, and the name etched into the wood was his own.

Charlie sat on the hill, hands dug deep into the pockets of his sweatshirt, staring at the memorial in grim fascination. In all the excitement, no one had bothered to take it down and now Charlie was transfixed by it. He tried to imagine what it would feel like to be lying beneath the ground, but then he realized that if he actually were dead he would feel nothing at all. Pain is for the living.

A short while later Claire joined him. Charlie turned to her and smiled so she wouldn't think he was brooding again, despite the macabre scene. He thought back to how happy she had been to see him when he and Desmond had returned to the beach earlier that day. Claire had looked at him speechless, touching his face gently, careful to mind the cuts and bruises, making sure he was really there this time and not some illusion. He felt as though he had truly returned from the dead.

Charlie had smiled at her and said, "One day at a time."

She laughed and they embraced like they never had before, each of them afraid to let go.

Now they sat where the memorial stood, both of them respectful of the fact that with this last incident Charlie had come closer to death than he had since this nightmare began. Charlie prayed that what Rufus had told him had been the truth; that the course correcting universe was really an elaborate plot that ended with Rufus' own death. It would set Charlie and Desmond free of the torment they had both been living under.

"This is so strange," Charlie remarked, as he gazed at the cross. "I feel like a ghost haunting my own grave."

Claire took his hand and squeezed it. "You're alive," she said. "I never gave up hope."

He reached over and pulled the stick out of the ground, holding it aloft like a testament.

"This is not my destiny," he declared, dropping it down.

Charlie put his arms around Claire and pulled her in close, whispering against her lips before they met. "My destiny is with you."