Disclaimer: I don't own Lost.

What If?

Daniel stared at Charlotte, surprised at what she had just said. She wasn't going to go with him. He couldn't let her stay. He had to save her, but he knew there was only one way to convince her. He had to tell her everything.

"Charlotte, I need you to listen to me" He said seriously. His hands were on her shoulders, hoping that would prevent her from leaving.

"What is it?" She asked, staring up at him in surprise.

"You need to come with me, right now. If you don't…something's going to happen. Everyone that's on this Island, the Island itself, it's going to disappear" Daniel knew he sounded crazy.

"What, Daniel…" Charlotte began.

He interrupted her. He needed to get this out quickly. "Benjamin Linus, he's going to do something very soon at the Orchid. It's going to cause the Island to- -to disappear; no one will be able to find it. Everyone here is going to start traveling through time when that happens. Eventually, the time traveling will lead to…everyone's death" Daniel explained.

"What are you talking about? How do you know?" Charlotte looked as if she was partially convinced, but he had to keep going.

"Everyone here is going to die. That's why I was trying to get as many people off the Island as possible, but there's no time left. This group is the last one I'll be able to take. I - - I know because what the Orchid does is described in my journal. I know everyone's going to die because…I've experimented with time travel. That's why I'm not at Oxford anymore. I tested it on a friend of mine. I - -I thought it was safe. She…suffered the side-effects, though. The side-effects that Desmond was probably experiencing. They lead to death, if they're not countered. And there's no way to - -to save everyone that'll be left here" Daniel didn't want to look at Charlotte, but he had to see if he was getting through to her.

"Dan, I want to believe you. You've never lied to me before, but…" Charlotte looked torn, like she had no idea what she should do.

"Charlotte, please. Come with me. If nothing happens, you can come back here when I come to take the next group. I promise. I - -I just want to make sure you're safe. Please, Charlotte" Daniel begged.

He stared at her as she thought about it. Finally, she sighed. "Okay, I'll go. But if nothing happens, you're going to keep your promise, right?"

"Absolutely. Now let's go" Daniel grabbed her arm, and they both hurried to the raft.

Juliet approached him. "Daniel, I'm going to stay until everyone else gets off. I promised I would". Daniel balked at her words. "Relax. Everything's going to be fine"

"Right…relax" Daniel murmured. He nodded to Juliet, and addressed everyone waiting. "Okay, everyone. Let's get moving"

Charlotte sat in silence next to Daniel, who was getting the raft to travel at top speed. The other people were conversing excitedly, thrilled to be leaving the Island. "Come on. Come on" Daniel mumbled desperately. He felt someone grab his hand and entwine their fingers with his. He looked down at his hand, and then up at Charlotte. She smiled reassuringly, and Daniel felt himself grow calmer.

Soon after, he saw a large wave coming straight for the raft. There was no way to avoid it. "Everyone, hold on" Daniel shouted.

Daniel and Charlotte both grabbed onto the boat, but the other passengers weren't as fast. The wave threw everyone off. Since Daniel and Charlotte were both holding on, the raft continued forward, dragging them. The others landed in the water, and began to swim desperately to catch up.

Daniel had just reached up to shut off the motor when a bright light filled the air, practically blinding him. When the light disappeared, the Island was gone. "Bloody hell" Charlotte breathed.

The people that had been thrown off all managed to get outside of the radius, and they climbed back onto the raft. Everyone's bags were still there, as they had been secured with rope before the group left the Island. Daniel went to turn on the motor again when an explosion rocked the raft.

The group looked up to see the freighter up in smoke and flames, and a helicopter flying away from it, back towards where the Island was supposed to be. "Daniel, what are we supposed to do?" Charlotte asked. He looked at everyone, and he could tell they were scared.

"I - -I don't know" he admitted.

"Oh my God" a woman shrieked. She pointed, and the group saw the helicopter crash in the ocean. Daniel immediately started the motor and they sped over. They reached where the helicopter landed and saw Jack, Sun, Kate, Frank, the baby, Sayid, and Hurley on an emergency raft. Jack was giving CPR to a man. When the man sat up, coughing up water, he realized it was Desmond.

"Are you okay?" Daniel called out.

Jack sat up, a little surprised to see anyone else there. "We're all fine, but they people you brought on the first trip, they didn't make it. Jin didn't either" Daniel threw Jack a rope, and he used it to tie their rafts together.

"What are we going to do?" Kate asked.

"I don't know" Jack replied. He appeared a bit defeated.

"We wait" Desmond managed to say in between coughs.

"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked. "Are you saying that we stay here, in the middle of this bloody ocean, where there is no food and water? That's a great plan"

"Charlotte, calm down" Daniel said. "Fighting isn't going to solve anything"

"I called Penny when I was on your boat. She said that she had my coordinates, and that she was coming. So, we wait" Desmond explained.

They stayed until nightfall. Charlotte had relaxed, and she was leaning against Daniel, who was running his hands through her hair. They were talking about nothing really, just trying to keep themselves occupied, when Frank spotted a boat. He jumped up, waved, and shouted to get the people's attention, and the boat turned around and headed their way.

"We're going to have to lie" Jack announced, watching the boat's progress.

"Lie about what?" Sayid wanted to know.

"Everything. All of it. Everything that happened to us" Jack said.

An argument began to break out. Daniel, Charlotte, and Frank stared at each other in shock. When Jack explained his reasoning, they all fell silent. When the boat approached them, unfamiliar men began to speak in a strange language. Daniel caught the name Widmore, and he exchanged nervous glances with Charlotte.

A young woman emerged, and Desmond called out "Penny" as soon as he saw her.

He relaxed, but Charlotte was still tense. "Char, this is the person Desmond said was coming"

"I know, Dan. But, what's going to happen to us?" Charlotte asked.

"We'll be fine. We'll manage" Daniel reassured her.

Three Years Later

Daniel sat in his office at Oxford. A few months after he returned from the Island, he met with the people in charge. After a lot of convincing, they decided to rehire him. Ever since, he's been a physics professor there again. The majority of the professors he had worked with before were gone, and he enjoyed it that way. It was almost as if he was starting over. His memory had improved as well, thanks to Charlotte. He still had his bouts of forgetfulness, but they were nothing compared to before. Charlotte was also a professor at Oxford. She still traveled to exotic places, but it wasn't as much anymore, so she was able to teach in her spare time.

His grading was interrupted when Charlotte strolled in. "Dan, are you almost ready?"

"Just a second, Charlotte. I…just need to finish this" He glanced up, and went back to his grading.

She sat on the corner of his desk and waited patiently, watching his every movement. As soon as he had finished, she slid off the desk and walked over to his chair. He stood up and gave her a gentle kiss. "All right, let's go home"