One-Sided Friendship
SUMMARY: They said they weren't friends, but after a clue as to where they went, Sawyer wants to go out and find his...friends. Even if they don't think of him as a friend. During ...And Found, Sawyer/Michael friendship, along with Sawyer/Michael/Jin friendship. Switches from Michael's POV, to Sawyer's, and etc. Different end to '...And Found'.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. I wish I did come up with the idea for the best characters ever! Sawyer, Jin, and Michael...if you didn't know. Well, actually, I love Sawyer, Jin, Boone, Eko, then Michael, but you know what I mean!
Author's Note: I just watched '...And Found' for the first time, and I really enjoyed it. But it bothered me when Michael was talking to Libby, and said only Jin was his friend, not the 'redneck'. I know it's true, and I can see where he's coming from. I mean, it is Sawyer. And when Jin went after Michael, Sawyer didn't go. This just popped into my mind, and wouldn't leave me alone. It doesn't have too much of a plot, but I like it. I would make a bigger part for Jin in this, but since he doesn't speak/understand English, it makes it really hard.
Uh...this is a light PG, and it is only PG because of how Sawyer was treated by Ana, and two bad words.
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Michael followed Mr. Eko through the dense trees, with Jin behind. He didn't really want to leave without his boy, but the look on Jin's face and the words of wisdom and common since from Mr. Eko convinced him. He had grown close to Jin while building the raft, even through the memories of their many fights. Those three little words Jin told him while trying to convince him to go back had given him strength to keep going. 'You find Walt' Jin had said in cut-up English. And the pure determination and hope in Jin's accented voice had made Michael believe.
Mr. Eko stopped in front of them, putting up his hand. Jin knew that as the signal to be quiet, but apparently, Michael did not. "Hey Jin..."
Jin turned around, and put his finger to his lips in the international signal to be quiet. The serious look on Jin's face was enough to let Michael's question die in the air.
A voice drifted to them; a southern drawl very familiar. "Hey!"
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"Hey!" Sawyer shouted to Ana, who was quickening her pace on purpose. His chest was heaving from the exertion of walking, and he knew he couldn't take a faster pace. His whole wounded shoulder was tingling, and just starting to turn numb. He knew that wasn't good, but he would rather throw himself back into the pit than admit that to the Bitch Queen from Hell.
"Hey what!" Ana looked back, annoyed at stopping in the middle of Their jungle.
He tried to think of an excuse to use besides his weakness, while she slowly walked back to him, as the other tailies, including Libby and Bernard, stood around uneasily. He glanced at the guy next to him, who was keeping a wary eye on him. Better than nothing.
"Is it really necessary to have me guarded? I ain't gonna kill ya until I see you trip, princess."
She snorted, her dark eyes narrowing at his corny excuse. He silently kicked himself for not thinking of a better line.
"We don't want you skipping off like the two others, now do we cowboy?"
That made him continue forward, head down in defeat and thought. He couldn't help it. The conman who had ripped off too many couples to count was guilty. He remembered demanding them to fire the flare. He had brought the bad boat to them. He had let them take Walt, without giving enough of a fight. One simple shot, and he was down in the water, and out of that game for good. Jin had disappeared, and he had looked for him in the water, knowing that he was lost because of him. Jin had dove in to protect him. Protect the man who had not been the nicest to him. And he felt horrible about it. If he hadn't rushed Michael into firing the flare, the boat may have gone by, and Walt would still be with them on the raft, searching for someone to save them.
He didn't understand why he felt it now. He had stolen from the dead, and let the people of the island hate him. He had conned wives and husbands out of thousands, leaving messes behind that he never checked up on. He hadn't been attached to the women; they had been part of the job. But there were no jobs on this island, and he couldn't leave them after screwing them over. Could it be he was feeling guilty because these people have become his...friends? Sawyer nearly scoffed out loud at that thought. But he couldn't deny to himself that it may be true.
Sawyer shook his head, as if trying to shake the idea from his mind. The group started up again, watching the trees closely, when a shiny piece of gold caught his eye. Forgetting about his pain, and the need for quiet secrecy, he rushed forward, shouting something that even he couldn't understand.
Ana whipped around, her hand immediately going for her gun, as she put a finger to her lips. When she saw there were no "others" about to attack them, she angrily paced back to Sawyer, as he picked up a watch. "What the hell, 'Tex'!"
Sawyer waved the watch in front of her, babbling something about Michael, Jin, and a fight. "Shut up, hillbilly! You're going to draw Their attention!"
"This is his watch. He's nearby, we have to go look for them." Sawyer ranted to a confused and pissed off Ana, and Libby and Bernard, who had joined the scene.
Libby, the ever-working psychiatrist, tried to calm down Sawyer. "What are you talking about?"
"This watch," Sawyer emphasized his point by shaking it in her direction, "belonged to Jin. Michael found this, and Chewy beat him up to try and get it back. Then, on the raft, Jin gave it to Michael. That means he's here! Somewhere close! I have to go help! We have to go find my friends!"
"We have to keep moving! Don't you get it! We're in THEIR jungle!" Ana shouted at him, waving the gun around, and trying to make everyone keep going.
Libby ignored Ana's outburst, and tried to talk some sense into Sawyer. "I was with Michael before he ran off. He doesn't think of you as a friend. He probably wouldn't do it if your roles were reversed."
Sawyer seemed to falter at her words, and deep down he knew they were true. He hadn't wanted to become friends with anyone, and this is how it should be. But inside himself, Sawyer knew that if he called anyone on this island 'friends', it would probably be those two on the raft, who he had spent time with before the 'rescue boat'. His 'friends', who he had actually told a little of his past to, and who had helped save him when he got shot. For once, he wasn't going to be selfish and self-centered. "Well, it doesn't matter. Our roles aren't reversed, and I don't care if he doesn't think of me as a friend. He's my friend, and I'm going to help them!"
Sawyer started into the brush where he had found the watch, glancing around trying to find tracks, even though he knew he couldn't track from his experience with a revengeful boar. And for the first time in a LONG time, Sawyer felt good about himself.
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Michael listened to the conversation between Sawyer and the tailies, as did Eko. Jin, of course, didn't understand much of it, but from Jin's face, he understood 'friends' and 'watch', and sort of got the idea of the conversation. At the end, Michael actually felt bad. He remembered the scene Libby had been talking about very well.
"Sorry Michael." Libby said out of the blue.
"Sorry about what?" Michael asked, half heartedly.
"You know, about throwing you and your friends into the pit."
Michael chuckled, muttering, "friends..."
"What?" Michael saw the confused look Libby gave him, and explained.
"Just never thought of them like that. I guess one of them is my friend."
Libby smiled knowingly, and chuckled, "I'm guessing not the redneck?"
Michael laughed along with her, and answered, "Yeah, not the redneck."
Michael didn't expect that Sawyer even cared the he was gone, or that Jin had gone after him. But apparently, he did. He saw through the leaves just how much Libby saying Sawyer wasn't Michael's friend hurt Sawyer, though he tried to cover it up. Then Michael was totally surprised when Sawyer said that Michael and Jin were his friends, and he didn't care if they wouldn't do the same thing for him.
Michael didn't get much time to think about it, because Eko took the lead again, and made his way into the group of tailies. Sighing, Michael followed, with the ever present and silent Jin behind him.
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Sawyer stopped looking as he heard the bushes rustle, and he quickly backed up to Ana's side, which already had the gun out, and pointing at the noise. A second later, Eko came out, trudging up to them as if he hadn't left. Eko shared a small smile with Ana, as Sawyer looked behind Eko for his friends. A minute later, Michael came out of the leaves, his orange shirt popping against all of the green, then Jin stepped out. Ana made an impatient noise, then suggested that they started walking again. Sawyer fell in step with Michael and Jin as they all started walking again.
"Hey, glad you're back." Sawyer muttered, trying to cover up the sincerity of that statement by saying it gruffly.
"Good to be back." Michael answered back, trying hard not to smile.
Sawyer gave him a suspicious look, and asked, "Um...just how much did you hear as you were hiding back there?"
"We weren't hiding! We were standing still." Michael shared a secret smile with Sawyer, but then quickly turned serious. "Well, I heard some of it, man..."
Sawyer tensed up, waiting for the inevitable hurtful thing, like, "How can you care", or something to that affect. Michael stopped in his tracks, looking Sawyer straight in the eye. "If our roles had been reversed, I would have done the same thing. That's just what friends do." And Sawyer shared a true smile with Michael as he figured out what Michael had just said. And Jin, with his broken English, got the gist of it, and smiled with them, even though he still wasn't exactly sure what was going on.
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Fluffy or what! I know, pretty out of character, but I hope it wasn't THAT bad! I actually thought it was sweet! And I know, it was cliché, but it worked! And I tried really hard to put as much Jin in it as I could. 'Cause this isn't just about Sawyer and Michael being friends, it's all three of them!