Unchain Me

Summary: "I don't remember the island because there is no island to remember. None of those people exist; it's just you and me. And it always will be."

A/N: Combining two ideas. I'm not sure where I'm going with this but it'll probably only be a few chapters, depending if anyone likes it lol. I was just watching "…In Translation" & "Numbers" and I thought of a few scenarios that could happen when some characters are left out.

Disclaimer: If I owned Lost, Boone wouldn't have died, Sayid would never have spoken to Shannon, Sawyer would still be that sarcastic asshole who punched everyone that I loved so much, and Evangeline would only be shown every 3 to 4 episodes. Clearly, it's not mine.

Chapter One: What's Real

"It's all shallow and all so appealing

I'm up to my ankles and I'm drowning anyway

In a sea of

Sarcastic faces, familiar places

Everything looks quite the same here…"

"Only One" – Lifehouse

I opened my eyes. I was in a bath filled with warm water and rose petals, in the dark, and he was under me, kissing my neck. I blinked a few times and ran my hands through his hair, pulling his head to mine. I missed him like crazy, I missed this.

A few minutes later I pulled away from him, letting him kiss my neck again as I finally thought rationally. How was this possible? My eyes wildly scanned the room. He didn't notice my body tense up. Okay. I've been here before, so that much is okay. I used to live here. But this isn't a memory, because he'd never been here. I'm not drunk, and he doesn't taste like alcohol, which is weird because whenever we've been together in the last year or so, at least one of us is drunk. Usually it's me.

But what about the island? Had we been rescued, had we bought my old apartment in London? Had I blocked everything out somehow? Did he remember the island? "Hey," I said, putting a hand on his chest to stop him before leaning both my elbows on him. He blinked at me in confusion. I swallowed, unsure of what to say, also confused but for a different reason than him. "Okay, I… What's going on?"

He blinked a few more times, "Uh, what do you think, Shannon?"

I stared at him, and rubbed my forehead, "Sayid," I murmured, thinking maybe that would help him help me.

"Who?" he asked. I stared at him again. No way.

"Sayid," I said more firmly. "You know–from the island?"

"What island, Shan?" he asked, slightly irritated yet managing to sound like he thought I was crazy but humoring me, as he leaned his pretty head back onto the bathtub.

It was my turn to blink at him, "Are you saying… you don't remember?"

"Remember? Remember what, Shan?"

"Locke! Or Jack, or–or Claire, or Sawyer, or Charlie, or–or Sayid! Or anybody!" I said wildly.

"Shannon, I don't know those names. Were you dreaming?"

I glared at him, "No You know them! I can't believe this–you don't remember the island? How about that kid Walt? Or–or his dad Michael, or Kate, or that Korean couple? Or that guy, what's his name… Hurley? How could you not remember the island?"

He stared at me with those gorgeous eyes. Focus Shannon, focus. Island. Right. "Shan, I don't remember the island because there is no island to remember, at least not with those people… What did they look like?"

"Boone!" I cried, exasperated. He just looked at me, waiting for me to answer. I sighed. "Oh, whatever. Claire–she's pregnant, and she's Australian. Jack's a doctor, Sawyer's an asshole, and so is Kate when I think about it. Sayid, he's from Iraq and you never liked him, because he likes me. Locke, he's this creepy old guy who you keep leaving me for, and–"

"Okay, now I know it was a dream. If we were on an island, Shan, I'd never leave you."

"Yeah, well, you did. And it wasn't a dream, Boone."

"Fine," he grunted, "How exactly did we get on this 'island'?"

"We were on a plane. From Sydney to LA. And the plane crashed on Craphole Island in the middle of God-knows-where. We've been there for three weeks, nearly a month, how are you not remembering this?"

"Sydney, Sydney where?"

"Australia."

His body relaxed. I'd somehow managed to forget the positions we were in, so caught up in my disbelief. "Well, that settles it Shan. I've never been to Australia."

I stared at him, and said forcefully, "Yes. You. Have." He just stared right back at me. "You came to get me." I added as I remembered something else. "We must have been rescued, but… No, Boone, you… you died." My body shook as images flooded my memory and I choked out sobs.

He shook his head and wrapped his arms around me, "Shan. Dream, it was a dream. I'm right here, I'm okay. So are you. There was no island. None of those people exist; it's just you and me. And it always will be. I'm never leaving you."

He wiped the tears and water off my cheeks and I blinked back the rest of my tears, "You're okay," I repeated softly, staring into his beautiful eyes. I shook away the remnants of the island, the memories of the people I now had no choice but to class as my friends, and kissed him with all my strength.

We (amazingly) managed to roll over and now I was under him, still kissing him as the water sloshed over my face. It had been so long since I'd been in a bath. I pulled away for a second and looked at Boone, his eyes opened and he gave me his puppy dog look before his whole expression changed. His body tightened and his eyes slowly lost that color I adored so much and blazed red. He growled in a voice that wasn't his, "I'll teach you to do that to me. I saw what happened with you and Sayid, Shannon, I was watching you. What, did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"What–are you talking about?" I gasped, struggling as he pinned me against the bath. "We only kissed. That was it. And you said you didn't know Sayid! That it was a dream! Boone!" I cried.

"Why would I say that? I saw you, Shannon." He said calmly, his weight pressing onto me.

"So what!" I exploded. "It was just a kiss!"

His eyes turned a deeper red, ""You are such a bitch Shannon, I don't know why I put up with it, so guess what? I'm sick of this, I'm sick of it Shan." He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me underwater.

Oh God oh God oh God oh God, I thought as I slid under, what is he doing? This isn't Boone. Who is this freak and what happened to my Boone?

He won't kill me. Calm Shannon, calm. I wheezed for air and choked in a mouthful of water. Our bathwater. Gross. I struggled to come up for air but he wouldn't let me. He's not going to kill me. He can't. But apparently he could. I was starting to black out. I couldn't see, couldn't breathe, my heartbeat was erupting in my ears. "Boone!" I strained to cry but all that came out were a mouthful of bubbles.

I saw his eyes return to normal, his face look like his again. I saw him lift my lifeless body up in his arms. I heard him whisper, "Shannon? What… What have I done? Shannon, breathe…" I saw him try to do CPR, but he still hadn't gotten that right. I saw him, my savior, my killer, give up, I saw him clutch my body to his and I saw his body heave as he cried.

I sat up with a gasp. "What the hell was that?" I muttered angrily. I slumped back against my 'pillow'. Shit. His voice filled my head, "Shan. Dream, it was a dream." Yeah, yeah it was. I looked around my little shelter that was just about built. That I'd built all on my own–well, okay, with Sayid's help–because my good for nothing stepbrother was too busy traipsing through the forest with his little jungle buddy.

What was that? I wondered as I panted, still in fear. I abandoned that thought as I tried to get my breathing back to normal; the last thing I wanted was an asthma attack while I was alone. After my breathing was under control, and I'd convinced myself that it was only a dream, and that I was still on the island, I laid back and thought about it, remembering every detail.

"No, Boone, you… you died." My body shook as images flooded my memory and I choked out sobs.

That didn't make any sense. Just about everything else we'd talked about in the dream was true, and I could even make sense of him wanting to kill me. Well, sort of. But why would I say that he had died on this island? He hadn't died… Had he? I blinked a few times, and sat up. I hadn't seen him for days. But he'd talked to Sayid. Yeah. I relaxed, and retraced my steps that day. Locke said that he hadn't known where Boone was. How was that possible? I jumped out of my makeshift bed, and tore up the beach, in the dark, running to what used to be mine and Boone's place on the island till I'd 'moved out'.

Finally I got there. He'd put up some sort of plastic around it, so it kind of looked like my shelter. A crappier version. I tilted my head sceptically, and poked my way in. At first I thought it was empty, and my eyes widened, my breathing irregular, until I noticed he was bunched up along a side. I breathed a sigh of relief as I dropped onto my knees beside him, and brushed my fingers along the side of his face. I hadn't been this close to him for days, weeks. I tried to figure out whether he was cold, or if that was just my fingers. I ran my hand along his bare bicep, and found it freezing. He stirred in his sleep and I sighed in relief again. "Boone." I whispered.

His eyes opened and he raised a hand to rub them, "Shannon?" he asked, his voice thick from sleep. "Hey–what's going on–what time is it?"

I smiled sadly, "It's the middle of the night. I'm sorry I–I shouldn't have came." I moved to leave but he stopped me.

"Don't." He said, raising his arms behind his head. "Talk to me."

I sighed, and clicked my tongue in annoyance, but sat back down, "You don't want to hear me."

He looked away. "Yeah I do."

"No, you–Boone–" I moved his arm, turning him to face me. "You've been avoiding me for days. Like, a week, maybe more."

"So what?" he asked, his eyes flashing as he hoisted himself up onto his side. "What do you care?'

I glared at him, "Don't be stupid."

He flopped back onto his back, "Aaand now I'm stupid."

"No, you're being stupid. I'm not some uncaring, unfeeling bitch. I do have feelings, Boone."

"I know that, Shannon–" he tried to interrupt me.

"I guess you've gotten what you wanted," I said softly.

"And what would that be?" he asked, trying (and failing) to sound irritated.

I brought my knees up to my chest, wrapped my arms around them, rested my chin on top, and stared away from him, "You hurt me."

"Shannon–"

"Really hurt me. And not just once. Over and over. And you knew what you were doing, that you were doing it, cause you did it on purpose." I sniffed. "Kinda like karma, right? Like… Planned karma."

"I didn't plan to hurt you, Shannon."

"Yeah. Sure." I wondered why in the hell I'd even brought it up. I hadn't even admitted to myself that he had hurt me, and now I was just telling him what he already knew, probably looking like such a loser, too. I moved, again, to leave. He reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me back down.

"Don't go," he said quietly, and then carefully added, "Maybe–maybe I was avoiding you on purpose, Shannon. But I never thought that it would hurt you. I just–I didn't–" he shook his head slightly, blinking, as if unable to explain it. "I guess I thought you wanted your alone time with Sayid."

I glared at him. "Don't make that decision for me. Why do you think I'd want to lose you just to have him?"

"Have you given me any reason to think anything else?"

"Oh, please, Boone! The only reason Sayid and I even started hanging out together was because you left me for Locke! I had to make friends with someone, didn't I?"

"Oh, right, friends," he scoffed. "Is that what you call it? Shit, Shannon, can I be your friend?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

His eyes narrowed, "I saw what happened with you and Sayid, Shannon. I was watching you. I saw you guys making out, and don't try to tell me that was friendly."

"I–It was just a–a kiss." Fear rose up through my back, up my throat. That was exactly what he said in my dream. "I saw what happened with you and Sayid, Shannon. I was watching you." It made me disconnect from myself, my eyes grew so wide and still sitting I backed away from him, scuffling into a corner.

He interrupted himself and asked gently, "Shannon? What's wrong?" He sat up and edged toward me, and I frantically realized I'd cornered myself. He placed a hand on my arm.

"D-d-don't touch me–leave me alone!" I stuttered, shaking.

"Shannon!" He said. "It's me, I'm not gonna hurt you, I don't want to hurt you. Talk to me." I looked away, and he said sharply, "Shannon!"

And I couldn't help it, the tears spilled as I turned away from him.

"Shannon!" he said again. "What did I do?" he asked pitifully, and his voice broke my heart.

I squeezed my eyes shut, then forced myself to turn towards him and pry them open. Unwillingly I looked into his eyes, which were that deep mixture of blue with a hint of green that I loved so much. And I relaxed a little. At least they weren't red. Dream, Shannon. Just a dream, I told myself, and I took in a deep breath. He wiped away my tears that had stopped flowing, and I let him take me into his arms. It was different to my dream, because in his arms now I felt safe. Like always.

Minutes passed, and he pulled away from me slightly, once I'd stopped shaking. "So, are you gonna tell me what that was about?" I looked away. "Shan?"

I swallowed, "I–I … It's really dumb." I said, my eyes downcast.

"I don't care."

And so, I relayed the whole dream to him.

He gave me that smirky half grin of his; "We were in a bathtub together, hey? Got some hidden desires, Shan?"

"Did you hear any of the rest?" I asked, annoyed.

"Yeah," he sighed, "It's weird. I've got no idea what that would mean."

"I don't want it analysed, I just–"

"Locke could tell you, though," he continued.

"I'm trying Boone… I'm trying to be close to you or whatever and all you're thinking about is Locke!" I half-yelled.

"Shan," he soothed, smoothing my hair, "Shh. I'm just… I'm trying not to think about it, okay? Because, that really freaks me out, I mean…" he shuddered, and I saw the pain in his eyes, "I mean I…" he swallowed, "I… I just can't describe it; I could never… never kill you. Hell, I can't live without you."

"Can't live with me either, right?" I asked sadly.

"No, I can do that. Can't share you, maybe."

I gave him a small smile. He pulled me close again, and whispered, "You're safe Shannon. In your dream, that wasn't me. So long as I'm around, you'll be fine."

"I know," I murmured, "I–I know. Th-thank you."

He lay down and pulled me down with him. "What are you doing?" I asked. He grabbed a blanket from the side and wrapped it around me.

"Going to sleep," he answered, lying next to me without any cover. I climbed on top of him, spreading the blanket over both of us, then settling my hands and head onto his chest.

"Night, Boone."

His voice contained confusion and amusement, "Night, Shan."

A/N: And that's that. A little neurotic, maybe. Review. Should I do more? Because I haven't written the idea that I got during "Numbers" yet. This chapter kind of sucks, because I didn't have any clue what I was writing, lol. And its short. But now I have a general idea, and next chapter will involve everyone else… There'll be more. If you want it. Tell me what you think.

Oh, and… Tell me if you want me to do any pairings other than Sayid/Shannon/Boone… Not sure if I can fit the others in but I can try :)

Review!