Title: Clearing the Air
Author: Winter Ashby (rosweldrmr)
Disclaimer: Flight 29 Down was created by Stan Rogow & D.J. MacHale, and is the property of Discovery Kids, of which I have no affiliation. This is for entertainment purposes only. I receive no monetary renumeration for this or any other fanfiction that I've written.
Rating: K+
Summary: This is a 'missing scene' from the Season 2 Finale. In a sense, this conversation is Eric & Nathan's attempt to 'Clear the Air' before the group splits up. (Eric & Nathan) Slashy Connotations.
Authors Notes: Be warned. This is NOT canon. Jackson & Mel and Nathan & Daley will NOT be getting together in this. In fact, no one will be getting together. Mainly, this is just a commentary on Nathan and Eric's relationship on the island, and what I think Eric really feels. If you find the idea of SLASH, or GAY-ness disgusting, then stop reading. Nothing happens, but the idea is there. So, consider yourself warned.
"So, that's it?" Nathan stood at the edge of the clearing. The waves were washing up on the beach in the moonlight behind him. His face was lit with the orange of the fire, and his arms were crossed as he watched Eric packing is bag.
"Yeah." Eric looked up momentarily. "That's it." He shoved a shirt into his bag and turned for the container of equipment. Nathan didn't say anything. He didn't even move. He just stood there, arms crossed and his hair blowing in the midnight breeze. "Don't look so surprised." Eric kept his eyes averted and reached for one of the knives. "You knew this was coming." Without his hat, Eric's dirty blonde hair picked up the orange glow of the fire, and the balls of his cheeks had a sun-kissed tint of red.
"No, I didn't." Nathan unfolded his arms and moved into the empty camp.
"Well, it was." Eric ignored Nathan's movement as he pushed the knife into his bag.
"You wouldn't even be going if it wasn't for Abby." Nathan moved around the fire and knelt in the sand. The fire was at his back, and his angled face was cast in shadows.
"Yeah, I would've." Eric kept his eyes down and moved his hands around in the dark on the shelter's unfinished platform.
"What?" Nathan's eyes got wide and he reached out and took Eric's shoulders in his hands. "Look at me."
Eric's eyes moved up slowly to meet Nathan's. "I was gonna leave before, but Lex caught me." He slowly pulled away, and out of Nathan's reach. "I can't stay here anymore."
"Why?" Nathan asked quietly. "Why do you really hate it here that much? Is it the water duty?" Nathan gave a half smile and Eric snorted.
"No, even though that sucks…" Eric smiled and shoved even more junk into his bag: a nail-clipper, a wad of paper, and a flat stone that Nathan had used when he tried to start the fire. "I don't hate it here." He looked up. "Things have just gotten too complicated here."
"How?"
"First you and Daley, then Jackson and Taylor and Mel." Eric looked back to his bag and sighed. "Then there was the raft –"
"That wasn't your fault. We all voted." Nathan insisted.
"But it was my idea, and you almost died." Eric wouldn't look Nathan in the eyes.
"But we didn't die." Nathan adjusted his position in the sand. "Me and Daley got back to shore okay."
"Yeah," Eric laughed without mirth, "no thanks to me." He reached behind him, and pulled a pair of boxers from the pile of clothes. "I nearly got you killed." He lowered his head and pushed the boxers into his bag.
"But you also saved me." Nathan tried to catch his eye, but Eric was still trying to thrust more clothes into the bag. "You're a charmed guy."
"Not when it comes to you." Eric said very quietly. "I mean look at the disaster with the raft, not to mention the plane rolling on your leg, or getting cut when we were trying to move the plane up the beach. It seems like every time you're around me…" Eric's voice drifted off.
Nathan looked shocked for a second, and stood uncomfortably. "W-where is everyone?" He asked quickly, changing the subject.
Eric looked relieved for the shift in the conversation. "Daley, Lex and Mel are asleep in the plane. But Abby won't sleep in it, so I think she's on the beach. And I don't know where Jackson and Taylor are. They went off a while ago and I haven't seen them since." Eric shoved even more clothes into his already over-stuffed bag.
"You're packing too much." Nathan made a move to reach for Eric. "Here –" But as soon as Nathan got close to him, Eric pulled away sharply.
"I don't need your help." He moved the bag quickly and it hit against one of the polls of the shelter with a loud thud. "Oh man." Eric groaned as he watched the door of the plane with some apprehension.
"Eric –"
"Just leave me alone." He stood and swung the bag over his back.
"You can't leave with things like this." Nathan grabbed Eric by the arm and looked him right in the eyes.
Eric leaned in and lowered his voice. "Yes, I can." He made a move to pull away, but Nathan held firm. "Let go."
"No, not if you're just going to walk away." Eric pulled again and Nathan tightened his grip this time. "Eric, please."
"Please, what, Nathan? You attacked me because you thought I killed Lex's chicken. Ever since –" Eric stopped himself, and Nathan finally let go. But he didn't move away.
"I said I was sorry, and I meant it." Nathan apologized again.
"Yeah, but that doesn't change it, now does it? You don't trust me, even after I stayed with you on the beach when the tide was coming in and you were stuck. Even after I fixed the lighter, and figured out a new way to start fires… after everything that we've been through on this island, Daley says one thing –"
"Don't bring her into this." Nathan took a menacing step forward.
"But it's true. You and she were enemies. But then, all of a sudden, it's like you're her lap dog." Nathan looked angry, but Eric just kept on talking. "Ever since you fell in love with her, it's like no one else on this island matters." Eric looked just as dangerous in the firelight.
"That's not – You're wrong – I just… just…" Nathan stammered. "What do you care anyway?"
Eric's eyes widened and he took a self-conscious stop backwards. "I-I don't care."
Nathan looked skeptical. "Then how come every time I tried to talk to Daley over the past few weeks, you'd show up out of nowhere? You'd pop out of the plane, show up at camp, or come up with some crazy theory about me and Daley trying to take over the island together."
"What're you talking about?" Eric took another step backwards and his back hit the shelter. He had nowhere else to go.
"Tell me the truth, Eric." Nathan cornered him. "Do you like Daley, or something?"
"What?" Eric sounded legitimately confused. "Daley? That's ridiculous." Eric smirked and moved away to the far end of the shelter. He kept his back turned to Nathan. The bag was weighing heavy on his shoulder. "I don't like Daley, Nathan. I never have and I never will."
"Then why are you going?" Nathan spoke to Eric's back, and move forward a little.
"Because, I have to; I can't just sit around here and wait anymore. I can't just watch you and Daley settle in, like you're Robinson Crusoe. This isn't a movie, Nathan. It's real life. It's my life. And I need to do something. I need to get away from here." Eric still spoke with his back turned. "I need to get away from you." He whispered so quietly, his words were swallowed up by the crackle of the fire and the wind in the trees.
Nathan sighed and lowered his head.
"We're leaving in the morning." Eric spoke as the turned and finally faced Nathan.
"Then I guess, this is goodbye. For now." Nathan walked around the fire.
Eric let the strap of his bag fall from his shoulder and hit the sand. "Yeah, for now."
Nathan put his hand on Eric's shoulder and closed his eyes for a second. "Take care of yourself." Eric smiled, but he didn't look happy. In fact, if it was possible to smile, and look sad – then that's exactly how Eric looked. "Be careful, and come back soon.
Eric laid his own hand on top of Nathan's and squeezed it gently. "I will."
Nathan nodded and released Eric. He turned and went back to the edge of the clearing, toward the beach.
"Oh, and Nathan," Eric called before Nathan disappeared into the darkness, "take care of them, and yourself. You won't have my charm to save you anymore." This time, when Eric smiled, his eyes lit up like the usually did when he was thinking of something mischievous.
"Sure thing." Nathan laughed lightly and faded into the black.
Eric closed his eyes and buried his head in his palms. He stood like that for a long time as the fire cracked and popped. And it wasn't until a long time later; when the night seemed to have been silenced did he move. Eric lifted his head, and wiped his face dry. He laughed with a heartbreaking look on his face and lightly kicked his oversized bag.
"Goodbye Nathan." Eric said to the night.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it... or at least gave it a chance.
And just on a side note, to all my Anime and Roswell watchers: I have no explanation for this. I don't even have a good justification for writing this. I just love tweeny shows. And a little heads-up, you might be seeing some more of these left-fielder-shows coming in the future. I can't help myself.