Please read the following author's note:

Hey all! Firstly, I hope you are going to enjoy the following story, which is meant to be quite long with many chapters. The story is also set in the end of the second season, so there will be spoilers for those of you, who haven't seen those episodes. (If you don't want to know anything of it, TURN BACK NOW.) For the purpose of the plot, the story is set in the timeline, when Daley and Nathan both know each other's feelings, and Melissa has confronted Jackson about Taylor. Abby has not made her second comeback yet. I have not yet decided how far I will take the romance, but there is definitely strong hints of pairings Melissa/Jackson and Daley/Nathan.

Also, as this story deals with drugs and the criminality related to it, I want to make absolute sure, that I personally think that using, selling and trafficking drugs are serious and dangerous criminal activities.

And lastly, I hope you will review all your opinions and suggestions to me. Every review is welcome and will help me write better! Thank you. And now, on with the story…

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DESPERATE MEASURES


Chapter 1: Storm is Coming

Wind was picking up speed. It grabbed hold of the drying clothes, and sent them swinging wildly in their self-made clothesline. It also played with the mobile roof of their new shelter, but Daley was pleased to see that its structure seemed to hold against the sudden gusts of wind. It surprised her, how good she felt about their camp. She let her gaze go over everything they had scraped up together to resemble some kind of home: the new shelter designed by her brilliant little brother, the roaring fire they had succeed to create without any matches or lighter, the huge wreckage of the plane they had managed to drag from the beach. The plane was the centre of their camp now, as it was the centre of their lives here. They had been devastated, when the last storm had swept it away, along with half of their gear. The tide had brought it back to them later, and they had truly shown their survival skills by starting everything from scratch - again. Daley felt immensely proud, and not just about the camp, which she was certain could hold against another storm. She was also proud of them all; they had done all this together, managing to but all their misgivings and quarrels aside for the common good. She was confident that all their efforts had also brought them closer together, helped them to understand each other better.

She looked at the people gathered around the camp; Lex and Nathan were deep in some kind of discussion, and she grinned at the sight of the two of them together. Nathan was good with Lex, being earnest with him instead of patronizing. She was glad that also Jackson and Melissa seemed to get along well with Lex. At the moment though, they didn't seem to pay any heed to her brother, or anybody else for that matter. Daley frowned as she looked at the pair. Melissa was drawing circles to the ash around the fire with a stick, never raising her head from the ground. Jackson was sitting silently inside the shelter, his gaze avoiding both Melissa and Taylor. And Taylor was unusually tight lipped as well, having withdrawn inside the plane some time ago. What was going on with the three of them? Daley couldn't deny anymore the tension that had taken hold of the camp. She sighed. And just as things were going so well. Something had clearly happened between Melissa, Jackson and Taylor, something she had managed to miss. Why hadn't she seen this earlier? She was the elected leader, and it was her responsibility to keep everything going smoothly. It seemed that new relationship problems were already arising, just as she thought they had steered to clear waters on all fronts.

She felt herself blush, when she thought of her own relationship problems. They might have been solved, but it didn't make her feelings any easier to handle. She quickly glanced towards Nathan, who was still occupied with Lex. She admitted that lately she had been too involved with him to notice anything else. Ever since Melissa had blurted out that Nathan had feelings for her, she had been on an emotional rollercoaster ride. First trying to avoid the whole issue by avoiding him, then lying to him that she didn't feel the same way, and finally confessing that yes, she liked him. Of course she liked him. How could she not? Daley thought that they had both been relieved, when their true feelings were finally known, but also nervous as to where to go from there. She had told him that it would be wrong to do anything about it here, in this island, where the balance between all of them was so fragile and ready to break at any moment. And she had been right. One had to only look at the three sulking figures to realise that here relationships were a minefield, where you could not only blow yourself up, but the whole camp.

Speaking of blowing things up, where was Eric? Daley realised that she hadn't seen him for awhile, and a quick look confirmed that he was not in the camp or in the vicinity of it. She hoped he wasn't getting into any trouble. From the very beginning, Eric had made her feel annoyed and slightly uneasy. As she came to know him better, she realised that he could be charming and clever and funny and even occasionally do the right thing, but still the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach had stayed. Perhaps she felt that way, not because she didn't trust him, but because she couldn't control him. It irked her that he could do whatever came to his head, without a second thought. She had tried to ignore her own feelings, ashamed of feeling that way about one who was part of their group. And however surprising Eric could be, there was now a certain predictability in his actions. Right now, a safe bet was that he was in the bunker he had taken almost a morbid fascination with. Daley didn't even want to guess what he was doing in there; she hoped he hadn't gone crazy and started doing drugs. She couldn't fathom what was so great about the place. Personally, it gave her the creeps. She had not gone back there after the day they had found it, and sometimes she thought it would have been better, if they had not stumbled across it at all…

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It had been a week ago, and they had all been busy fixing their damaged camp, when Lex had run from the jungle screaming something incoherently. Daley's heart had almost stopped as she first thought that something had happened to her brother, who had left the camp earlier with Eric to collect material to their new shelter. Soon she had realised that Lex wasn't hurt or scared, but so exited that the normally so well spoken boy couldn't form an intelligent sentence.

"Easy Lex, take a breath. What's the matter?"

"Found - it was right there - come to see!"

The breathless boy had been so exited they had all thought that perhaps the rescuers had finally come, or the others had returned from their journey to the other side of the island. Their hopes had been soon dashed, when Lex had explained that he and Eric had found some old structure in the jungle, and he wanted them all to come see it. Curious, they had followed him. Lex had lead them about five kilometres to the south, where they had found Eric sitting at a fallen tree trunk, waiting for them. There was a little mound covered with vegetation, but other than that, there was nothing they hadn't seen before, just the familiar green tropical jungle.

"So where is it?" "Is this it?" "Eric what's going on?" "Did I walk here for nothing?"

"Patience people!" Eric had laughed and rounded the mound - and disappeared. Amazed, they had followed him and discovered that the mound was actually made of concrete, and formed a shelter that was partly inside the ground.

"What on earth is this?"

Lex, as usual, had had his answers ready. "It's an old second world war bunker. And there are still some things inside, look."

They had all crawled inside the murky bunker, where the air was surprisingly cool. Their skins had turned to gooseflesh.

"Yuck! This place is in need of some serious cleaning." Taylor had been right. The bunker was filled with moss, cobwebs and dead insects. Lex had picked up a rusty helmet, but had put it soon back. The place had a strange atmosphere, and they had felt that they were somehow intruding.

"Let's go outside." Daley had been ready to leave the place, when Lex's sharp eyes had made a new discovery.

"Look, there is a door!" And so there had been. Covered with an ivy like plant, the wooden door had been almost invisible. It had taken no great show of force to open it, as the wood was almost eaten away by mould. Carefully they had peaked into the darkness, and Jackson had been the first one to go through the door.

"It's ok, it's just another room." They had hesitantly followed his voice. The room had been in the same kind of condition as the first one, but there had been one big difference: it was not empty. In the far corner of the room, there had been a large dark shape. For a moment they had all been ready to bolt out of the door, but the shape hadn't moved, and finally Jackson had went to examine it. It had turned out to be just a plastic covering.

"What's under it?"

"Let's see." And Jackson had ripped the cover off, the rest of them peaking over his shoulder.

"What's that?" "I hope it's something eatable."

"I think…" Jackson hadn't finished his sentence, but had kept examining the brown packages, each of them the size of a brick, all neatly piled up against the wall.

"Do you know what they are?"

"Well, nothing we can eat that's for sure. I think they're drugs." There had been an astonished silence after Jackson's revelation.

"From the world war two?" Melissa had voiced the question they had been all thinking.

"Not likely. Which means someone has brought them here after it." Another silence as they had pondered the implications of that possibility. Further search of the room revealed empty tin cans, definitely from their era, and damp matches. Their moods had been lifted though, when they had discovered a half full canister of fuel oil.

"Someone has been using this place as a storage space for the drugs."

"What if they come back?" There had been fear in Lex's voice and Daley had quickly reassured him that whoever had left the drugs in the bunker, was not probably going back any time soon, if ever. "This place hasn't clearly been touched in years."

They had took the matches and the fuel canister, and had left everything else as it had been. Back in the sunshine and heat they had all felt better, more confident. They had left the bunker and got back to building their camp, and no one had talked about the drugs since.

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"Catch it!" Lex's voice pulled her from her reminiscence back to present time. A green fabric was spinning in the air, flying away from the camp. It took a moment for Daley to recognise it as her favourite shirt. She jumped to her feet, but Nathan was quicker; he was already up and running and soon had the shirt in his hands. She just had to grin.

"Here." Nathan handed the shirt back to her, smiling.

"Thanks for catching it. It's my favourite." Daley smiled; something was fluttering inside her.

"Yeah, I know." He was still smiling. We are so pathetic. Daley blushed and immediately felt furious with herself, thinking that they were giving everyone at the camp a good show. But as she glanced around her, she found that no one was watching their exchange. Lex was gathering the rest of the clothes from the clothesline, and the three others were still moping.

"The wind is getting stronger. The storm must be heading to our way." Nathan sounded worried and Daley turned back to face him.

"You're right. I just hope it's not as strong as the last one. We should start preparing for it." She was already thinking about all possible worst case scenarios they might have to deal with, when Nathan's voice reminded her about the missing member of their group.

"Should we go look for Eric?"

Daley was torn. She wanted to find him so they all could be together and she wouldn't have to worry, but on the other hand, she thought he probably would notice the change in the weather and head back to camp by himself. Before she could decide, Melissa's voice settled the matter.

"I'll go look for him." Melissa had risen from her sitting position and was looking at Daley.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I could use a little walk before being cooped up inside the plane. Never know how long the storm will last." Melissa sounded eager to leave and Daley didn't want to stop her. Jackson had turned to look at them, but didn't say anything.

"Alright, but if you don't find him soon, come back." Daley watched as Melissa walked away from the camp. She felt anxious, but couldn't really understand why. Storms always passed, and she was certain that their camp could hold against the one coming. But will we hold against it? She didn't liked her thought.

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For the moment, Jason Cole was almost a happy man. They were nearing the island, and although the weather was fast turning to sour, Jin had assured him that they would be safely in the little bay before the storm could hit them with full force. He didn't doubt Jin's word; the man had been after all a fisherman all his life and knew these waters better than most men, which was the main reason he had once again hired Jin to this job. That, and the small fishing boat the man owned. The waves beat against the battered hull of the ship, and a view drops of water sprayed to his face. He didn't mind all the rocking and lurching motions, having gotten used to boating ever since he was little. No, he had always liked fast boats, and deep sea fishing was one of his favourite hobbies, when he could afford it. There had been a small lull in his hobby, for obvious reasons, but he intended to pick it up again soon, with a brand new, very fast boat. He grinned, but a furious yell behind him dampened his mood, reminding him why he was almost a happy man.

Larry clearly minded the motions of the boat, as the man staggered next to Cole, stumbling and cursing. The man looked seasick, and Cole had to repress the smirk that threatened to take over his face. Larry grabbed the railing with both hands, trying at the same time look as if he didn't mind the growing waves all around them.

"We're going to be caught in this storm!" He yelled, and Cole sighed. How many times did he have to say this?

"We will be in the island before that!"

"How do you know!"

"Because Jin says." Cole put a warning note to his voice. If Larry questioned one more time his or Jin's competence, the man would find out that they could very well do this without him. Miraculously, the man took the hint and let go of the topic. Cole was relieved, but it didn't change his mood. He had begun to regret hiring the man the minute they had left the harbour. It was not the fact that Larry had no sea legs or that he was seriously starting to annoy the rest of them; no, it was the fact that he didn't trust the man. Of course, he hadn't had many options. The people he had once worked with in this business had either died or got arrested while he had slaved his sentence in the prison. Only Jin had agreed to come on board, and as he really needed some muscle power, Larry, a guy who had gotten out at the same time he had, hadn't seemed a bad choice. Now Cole wished he had taken a little more time looking, and not settling on Larry, but he hadn't had the time to wait. No, he most certainly had no time to wait.

His arrest had been an unexpected event that had thrown all his fine plans into disarray. Cole had been forced to leave the drugs to the island, along with his other precious package. His bad luck had not ended there, for he had also owned a debt to some very dangerous people, and that debt had collected quite high interests from every month he had been behind bars. The only reason he was still walking was his assurances to his creditors that the debt would be paid in full, a week from his getting out of the prison. His consolation had been the knowledge that he really had the means to pay the debt off; the only thing he had to do, was to pick it up from its hiding place, and then he would be in clear waters, with still enough money to live nicely till the next gig. So far everything had gone smoothly, minus the issue with Larry, and Cole fully intended it to continue that way. The storm was a minor inconvenience that they could weather on the island. Cole welt his good mood return. Whatever could go wrong?

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I hope you enjoyed! Please review what you thought of it. Is it worth continuing?

In the next chapter we see what Eric is doing, and what Jackson is really thinking, also our band of thugs set their foot on the island…