Jack had dreamed again. He hated that dream, not so much for the content, although God knew it was terrible, but because it confused him.
It was a violent dream, sort of. Well, he percieved his dream-self's actions as violent at least. Not gory or bloody, just...done out of anger. Jack didn't like to do things out of anger, he adhered to the old adage 'think before you act'.
Except it never seemed like his dream-self was thinking. The dream brought about lots of questions.
Why would he be angry?
Why would he allow that anger to control him?
Why would he react in a such a way to that anger?
Why would he be spanking Sawyer in a dream?
Jack sat on the beach with his back against the tree. He closed his eyes and inhaled the ocean scent. It was almost calming and the near rhythmic sound of the waves crashing against the shore added to the effect. Jack liked being calm, it allowed him to collect his thoughts and focus on the problem.
The dream started out with him dragging Sawyer. How he was dragging Sawyer he didn't know, the dream was fractured as dreams generally are. Then he was sitting on something and Sawyer was face down over his knee. He began spanking the other man and the dream usually ended after that.
He couldn't really remember the spanking itself. Just the sensation of anger. The feeling of being really pissed off.
Jack leaned his head back and lightly bumped it against the tree a few times in a vain hope that it would help him think. It was just all so damn confusing!
The doctor's thoughts were interrupted by shouts coming a little ways down from the beach. From the sounds of it, it sounded like a fight. Hurridly getting to his feet Jack rushed to the scene, half annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted, half glad.
It was a fight. Between Charlie and Sawyer. Sayid was holding back Sawyer from further beating the boy into a bloody pulp while Kate and Hurley were simultaneously holding back Charlie and trying to get a good look at his black eye. Briefly wondering if God was out for his sanity Jack joined in the fray, acting out his part as leader and keeper of the peace.
"Stop it! Stop it! What is going..."
"He called her a trick! That sonofa..." Charlie snarled and lunged in Sawyer's general direction. The lunge gave him enough force to break out of Hurley's grasp and he tripped and sprawled face first in the sand.
Sawyer smirked. "Don't go defendin' her loverboy. Someone might think you like the cheap li'l trick."
It had taken Jack, Hurley, and Micheal to hold Charlie back. Meanwhile Kate yelled at Sawyer, who yelled at Charlie, who yelled at his three captors. In short, there was a great deal of noise that only ended when Sayid punched Sawyer in the nose and Jack dragged Charlie off to the caves.
He chose the caves for a few reasons. First, it was morning and most people would be gone about their business, giving the two men some privacy. Second it had a source of fresh water, which would do to was away the sand and cool the injured eye. Third, and this was mostly psychological, it was a familiar place and that would serve to calm the boy down and allow Jack to do his work as a doctor.
"He called her a trick Jack." Charlie sniffled a little and Jack felt his heart go out to the young rocker. "He called her a cheap trick."
"What were you doing with him anyway?" Jack asked softly and he used a wet rag to wash off the sand.
"I wanted to know if he had any airline peanuts." Charlie reached to rub his eye.
"Don't touch it!" Jack ordered. He paused for a moment. "Airline peanuts?"
"Y'know, those little snacks they give you on the flights? I wanted some for Claire and I thought he might have some." Charlie wiped his sleeve across his nose and looked for all the world like a little boy. A little boy who was hurt in more ways than one.
After ordering Charlie to stay in the caves and not get into anymore trouble/fights/screaming matches Jack made his way out into the jungle. He wasn't looking for Sawyer, he was trying to think.
His earlier monolouge about the dream came to his mind and he groaned. While he couldn't deny that beating the crap out of Sawyer had it's appeal, spanking is not the way he would go about it. Setting himself down at the foot of a lush tree he inhaled and exhaled a few times to calm down and focus.
"You alright?" Locke's voice forced him from his inner musings.
"Locke...yeah, I'm fine." Jack took a few moredeep breaths. "Just...thinking."
"A good pastime." Locke held up a previeously unnoticed dead boar. "You mind if I start skinnin'?"
"No." Locke nodded and for a while the two enjoyed eachother's simple existince and the rare quiet of the jungle. Jack relaxed and Locke appeared to do the same. "Locke?"
"Hmm?"
"You know anything about dreams?"
Locke stopped skinning. "Not much. I never really thoughtflying through platoons of orange penguins really meant much anyway. Just a way for your brain to entertain itself." He turned his attention back to the boar. "'Course, I do know a little bit about why people act the way they do."
Jack nodded. "What if...someone beat up someone else."
"I'd say he didn't like him."
"What if it was more complex than that?" Jack probed. "What if there was a real reason behind it?" As far as he could tell there was no reason behind the dream, but it didn't hurt to ask.
"Well, there are plenty of reasons. Sometimes people hit eachother to win an argument. Sometimes to punish."
"Punish." The word flew out of his mouth before Jack could think.
"Like a parent forcing their kid to behave." Locke shrugged. Jack nodded and looked in the direction of the camp and the older man continued. "'Course, sometimes it's whoever's in charge wanting someone else to behave."
"Well, if the someone else doesn't want to behave you might have trouble forcing them in some circumstances." Circumstances like being stuck on a island, Jack thought.
"True. But sometimes you have to go through that trouble, in order to keep everyone safe." Locke held up the bloody boar skin and inspected it critically. "I should have gone after a bigger boar." He glanced over at the doctor. "Y'know, you can analyze people all you want, but sometimes all a person needs is to get the crap beat out of them once or twice and to know the person beating them is doing it for their own good."
Jack gave another silent nod. "I think I understand what you're saying."
"Well, that's good. I wasn't intending on repeating it."
Jack gave a brief smile before turning and making his way toward the beach.
It was a mostlydeserted beach,as manyof the island's inhabitants had gone about their merry ways and in the half hour after the fight things had calmed down significantly. Hurley and Jin were wading in shallow water, trying to catch fish. Granted, in Hurley's case it was more trying than catching, but Jin was patiently breaking the language barrier and there was some communication on the right technique to get the slippery critters into a make-shift net.
Walt was fetch with his dog. Shannon and some other Barbie doll survivor were sunning themselves.
Sayid was leaning against a rock, eyeing Sawyer's tent warily. He wasn't doing anything, just watching. He barely noticed when Jack walked upand crouched downbeside him.
"Has he done anything else?" He asked it in a low voice, not wanting the tent's occupant to hear him.
Sayid shook his head. "He left. I'm waiting for Charlie."
Jack blinked and felt a massive headache coming on. "Why would Charlie..."
"Hurley couldn't find you so he came to me to tell me Charlie had left the caves." Sayid stood up and dusted the sand off his cargo pants. "I figured that if he couldn't find Sawyer in the jungle he would eventually come back and check here again."
"'Here again?'"
"I assume he checked here once before, before going out in the jungle." Sayid explained.
"He went out in the jungle." Jack repeated lamely.
"Yes."
"Jungle."
"Yes."
"Dammit!"
"Yes." Sayid pointed North. "He went that way. I wanted to goafter for him however, Kate wisely suggested we leave him alone." Sayid paused before adding: "Besides, it's not very likely he could find Sawyer."
Jack nodded. "Still, we should probably find them." Sayid gave a nod and together the two of them trod off in the dense, wild jungle. As he stepped in a rather slimeymud puddle Jack thought that even if he didn't end up spanking Sawyer (and he really didn't want to), that he just might end up smacking Charlie.
End Chapter One.
Author's notes- Okay, well...that was interesting. My apologies for lack of action and a seriously OOC Jack. I love the guy, really I do. But there will be no denial that he is hard to write. I will try to do better in the next chapter and I ask you all to please be patient.
Readers' poll- Who should Jack beat the hell out of? Sawyer or Charlie? Either one would have an interesting psychological reaction to it.
Sawyer- Jack would be asserting himself as a leader and as an equal who can hold his own. Sawyer would find himself grudgeingly respecting the man and if not outwardly showing it, at least not going out of his way to cause more trouble.
Charlie- I can't help it, Charlie seems very young to me. If Jack spanks him or even smacks him upside the head it would strengthen the older brother/younger brother thing they seem to have going. It would give Charlie the parental figure he seems to have missed out on in life.
It would also be good for Jack as it would show him that he can stand by his words as a leader. It might also be good for him to work out the pms I have him suffering from.
Lost belongs to Mr. Abrams and ABC. I do not figure in that equation.