Title: Recon Mission
Summary: SANA. Sequel to 'My Girl'. Sawyer goes out on a recon mission, leaving Ana by herself at the camp and they both think about what they mean to each other.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Author Notes: What is the number of strings on a guitar? The number of points on the Star of David? The amount of points for a touchdown? That's right, six! And here is my sixth story of the undefined series of Sananess. I decided in this one that it should have some mention of the other people on the island, including the Others. This is the after effect of an Others' attack. And it's not so good. This is more about how they cope with not being together when they need each other the most...
And since this has blown up into such a huge thing, its split into three parts. Ana's point of view, Sawyer's point of view and the reunion of the oh-so-hot couple...
Part 1
Ana opened her eyes slowly and wondered why there was a stain on the ceiling. She hadn't noticed it before, hell she never really had looked at the ceiling properly, but there it was. She squinted slightly as she studied it. It wasn't like she had anything else to do, and she realised how sad it was that the only way she could pass time was observing stains.
Since Sawyer was out getting a medical check up she couldn't even depend on the Southerner for entertainment. So she spent her morning watching the ceiling and wondering when exactly Sawyer would be returning. Damn bed rest, Jack had said that she needed to stay in bed for at least one day straight if she wanted to heal any time soon. She usually didn't bother with that, but unless she wanted to crawl her way around it would be kind of pointless. Plus, she had to wait until Sawyer got back with her crutches.
When Sawyer finally did return she was starting to seriously consider crawling, screw dignity. She was planning how she would manage to drag herself inch by inch along the floor to be able to get outside and cure the boredom that was well on its way to killing her.
"Hey Muchacha, you're awake." He said, dropping the crutches off next to her before sitting down on the other side.
"You're back." Ana was more than a little relieved at this and it showed on her face and in her voice as she sat up, scratching the back of her head as she tried to shake the lethargy out of her joints.
"Yeah, the doc poked and prodded me for a while before giving me the green light. I think he just likes to see me squirm." Sawyer complained and Ana patted him on the uninjured hand as comfortingly as she could. His other arm was in a sling and he shifted uncomfortably in it, obviously not loving the experience of having his arm wrapped up in material.
Seeing her eyebrow raise questioningly, he shrugged and replied, "Itchy."
The one word reply sounded like it came from a toddler, and made Ana smirk. Then her earlier thoughts flooded back and the smirk disappeared, replaced by an inquisitive look. Sawyer noticed the change and readied himself for a Q & A session.
"Why did they do it? I mean, I don't get it. They don't attack unless they take someone and they didn't..." Ana trailed off as she saw Sawyer's face fall. Oh god... Ana swallowed and knew that she wasn't going to like what would happen next, "Unless they did." Sawyer looked back up at her and grimaced, his eyes betraying the pain that she had revealed.
"Aaron." He swallowed and tried to muster as much inner strength as possible before he went on, the look on Jack's face as he told him was burned into his mind. The anger, the hopelessness, exactly what he was feeling right now as he continued, his jaw clenching, "They took Aaron."
Ana's eyes widened at this and she felt her stomach drop. Oh god, not Aaron. Not Claire's... Then she remembered the intense, almost animal howl that had been emitted not long after she had re awoken on the beach yesterday. And with that the thoughts that had screamed through her head back then came rushing back to her. Not everyone's okay. We're one of the lucky ones. When that thought first came to her she had concentrated on the fact that it'd been the first time she'd ever referred to herself as part of a 'we', but now she started to thing about the people who hadn't been as lucky as she and Sawyer had been.
After all, they still had each other. But Claire... Ana knew what it felt like to lose an unborn child. But to have a baby taken by those bastards... If it had been her, she would have grabbed all available arsenal and gone charging through to jungle looking for a bloodbath. She would track down the bastard who had dared lay a hand on her son and tear him limb from limb. Then she would scoop her son into her arms and still feel as if only a fraction of her vengeance quota was filled.
Luckily, Claire was a little more patient and tactical when it came to vengeance. Even so, she was still a mother who had lost her son and quite the formidable opponent. Even after a few calming words from Charlie (who was now apparently her official 'Peanut butter bringer', a dirty connotation if Ana ever heard one), and possibly some anger release via yelling, she turned into a silent ball of rage and retreated to her own corner. Within the hour, she had turned into a silent, broody ball of fury, completely opposite to the Claire Ana had known.
"Whatcha thinkin' Muchacha?" Sawyer asked, the twinkle in his eyes telling her that he knew she was planning to gear up. And that he had every intention of joining her.
"I'm thinking..." She sighed as the pain shooting up her leg reminded her of the impossibility of her going Rambo on those sons of bitches, "I'm thinking that you should gather up a hunting party and go after the Munchkin. Give those bastards a good bashin' while you're at it. For me." She gestured to her leg and the crutches lying next to her and Sawyer's shoulders sagged as he realised that he wouldn't have the Latina firecracker by his side. But when he looked back up at her his grin was firmly in place, even if it was slightly forced.
"For you." He echoed before leaning down to give her a brief kiss. Then he was off to tell other enraged individuals that they were going off to rescue the Australian's boy on a half cocked mission that would probably turn out wrong or fail knowing their luck.
She realised that he had probably just been waiting for her permission, because violence was the only response he knew. The only response that they both knew. God knows what would happen if they ever had children and someone tried to take him or her away. Then she wondered where the hell that thought had come from. Since when did she think about her and Sawyer having children? Oh Jesus, had she been domesticated? By Sawyer?
Oh. God.
She needed to get out of here, a sudden attack of claustrophobia made itself known to her and she grabbed the crutches and struggled to get up, clinging to parts off the wall in the process. Then she swung herself via the crutches to the outside world and took in a much needed breath of fresh air. Looking out at the sea she found herself somewhat calmed from her panic attack earlier.
"You okay?" She turned to see Libby step out of the shadows of the trees, an understanding face set firmly in place. The psychiatrist mode was obviously up and running.
"Does it matter what I say? I mean, if I say 'yes' you'll shrink me, and if I say 'no' you'll shrink me anyways cos you'll think I'm lying." Ana snorted at the irony of what she thought was a shrink's logic.
"Would you be?" Libby asked, unflinching at Ana's hostility towards her job. After all, she was used to it.
"Would I be what?"
"Lying." Libby clarified and Ana, not ready for the question, remained silent for a moment, thinking it over.
"I dunno." She finally replied, shrugging. Realising that the topic was as unclear to Ana as it was to herself, Libby changed the subject.
"How's your leg?" She asked and Ana looked down at it.
"Still there, so I'm not counting that as a loss." Ana replied and something crossed her face. Libby caught a glimpse of it and had seen it enough times to identify it. It was guilt. Something popular among many people, especially her patients from before the Island Adventure.
"What would you count as a loss?" Libby asked, prodding gently. Ana sneered at her and the professional tone that came so automatically to her.
"Actually losing something." She replied, with a smartass tone and Libby knew immediately what was on her mind. What can I say? Libby is the insightful one.
"What happened to Aaron wasn't your fault." Libby assured her and Ana saw the intensity in her eyes and knew Libby believed it. Too bad she didn't feel the same way.
"Maybe if I hadn't passed out at the first sign off trouble I would've been able to help. I could have saved him." Ana said, bitterly.
"What do you remember before you passed out?" Libby asked curiously and Ana shrugged.
"I remember Sawyer going up to the front to help Jack hand the guns out and..." She trailed off, frowning slightly as she tried to remember what happened next, but it just skipped to her lying on the beach with Sawyer and Jack's faces looking down at her with worried expressions. Libby sighed and started to relay her own memories of the event to the confused Latina.
"They had explosives, Molotov cocktails probably. The first one went off right behind you, you're lucky you didn't lose a limb. You took the brunt of the explosion, saved a lot of people. You went flying and landed on your leg at the wrong angle, breaking it. Sawyer ran after you, yelling, but before he could reach you someone stepped in his way. One of the Others, armed with a bowie knife. Then everything was chaos. People were running around screaming, guys were involved in their own fights, guns were going off..."
"And in all that chaos, Aaron was stolen." Ana Lucia finished and Libby nodded.
"Claire didn't let go without a fight though. Scratched him up pretty good." Libby said, professionalism slipping for a moment to show her pride at Claire's fight to the end.
"Atta girl." Ana chuckled, glad that the Australian had gotten some of her own payback. Libby nodded and grinned in agreement.
"Charlie wasn't too happy with her going with him today though." Libby said and Ana raised an eyebrow. Maternal instincts aside, she didn't think Claire was the type to don weapons and charge off into the jungle. And she could only imagine what the alpha males had to say about that, probably a whole lot of huff and puff and macho show. Well, except maybe Sawyer. He would understand the overwhelming need for vengeance. And the fact that it needed to be done by her hands.
"It's funny." Ana said, causing Libby to look at her questioningly. Ana made eye contact and then continued, "You actually haven't psychoanalysed me yet." Libby chuckled at this.
"I'm not on the clock all the time, Ana. Even shrinks need breaks." Libby smirked at her and Ana joined in with her, chuckling light heartedly.
"Right. Speaking of which, how's Hurley?" Ana asked, winking. Libby tried to figure out how the two subjects were connected but she gave up after a few guesses.
"He's good. How's Sawyer?" Libby returned the question in the same tone as Ana, playing along with the tag team boyfriend game.
"Well he's off being a hero while I'm stuck at home with a war wound. My feelings toward him are more bitter and jealous at the moment." Ana replied and Libby nodded knowingly, the wise look returning to her face.
"You wish it was you out there, fighting for your life." Libby stated and Ana gave her a 'what can you do?' shrug and grimace.
"At least it'd give me something to do." Ana said, her voice carrying an undercurrent of worry for Sawyer. She would feel a hell of a lot better if she could keep an eye on that man, especially since he was heading into enemy territory. Libby picked up on this and patted Ana's hand sympathetically.
"He's fine, he can take care of himself." Libby comforted her and Ana sighed heavily, her thoughts weighing down heavy on her mind.
"God I hope so." She whispered, as the wind whipped her words away and carried them out to the ocean in front of her.
Part 2
Sawyer tightened his grip on his gun and wished, not for the first time, that he had Ana by his side. He knew it was selfish, but he thought it anyways. She would be helpful at a time like this, if not to bail him out, to at least bounce smartass comments off of, y'know lighten the mood and all. The people he was with at the moment weren't exactly the best at that, the Others aside. There was Claire who looked like she was on the brink of exploding and going all crazy mother on them, Charlie who was looking at Claire with worry, Kate who couldn't keep her eyes off Jack (damn typical woman), Jack who was being the 'brave' leader by facing off with the Other's alpha male, and Sayid who was sizing up the competition but didn't look like he was going to do anything till an opportunity presented itself and Sawyer guessed that that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Then there were the stony faced Others with guns that were trained on them. Because, as had happened so many times before, the Others had been several steps ahead of them and they were in something like a trap. Something exactly like a trap, in fact.
He watched Beardy and the Doc trade wit and rolled his eyes at this. Damn typical braniacs. He didn't want the last thing he heard before dying to be the two know-it-alls trading words of wisdom and thinly veiled threats. He didn't see the point to putting the spin on the threats. If you wanted to threaten a man then just threaten him. Don't pretend like you're being polite or smart or something else cos it was so damn pointless.
God he wished Ana was here. Damn the need to have both legs functional to be fully mobile. Hell, he was starting to wish that he'd piggy backed her here.
He contemplated informing Jack that he now had the muzzle of a gun pressing into his back but the urge passed a moment later. Like Jack could do anything more about it than he could do, no point in highlighting his current predicament for all to know. It was strange, since none of the Others were as close as the person behind him was but he shrugged it off.
"Drop the gun." The person who had a .45 buried in the small of his back ordered and Sawyer did so, letting out a sigh as he did. This was great. Just great.
Then something occurred to him as the person behind him began to bend down to pick up the gun he'd dropped. Sawyer sighed as he thrust his elbow backwards, colliding it with the Other's nose and breaking it. This made Kate turn to him at the sickening crunch, her eyes wide as he grabbed the Other, using them as a shield with his arm across their throat and their gun against their temple. Okay, maybe the lack of emotion freaked her out, but what was he meant to do? Set off a smoke signal?
There were several clicks as guns were pointed at Sawyer and the safeties were released.
"You might want to call off your boys," Sawyer drawled, "I get mighty nervous when a dozen guns are pointed at me. Never know what I might do." Sawyer said, tightening his grip on the gun. He hoped that Beardy wouldn't just laugh in his face, shrug, and say that he didn't particularly care if Sawyer pulled the trigger or not.
But luckily he wasn't as heartless and cruel as Sawyer thought. Beardy gave a slight nod and there was another round of clicks as the guns were lowered again. That was when he realised his hostage wasn't exactly of the male persuasion. In fact, she was very much female. He felt his stomach drop as he felt her take in shuddering breaths, which told him that she was either already crying, or about to.
"Damn," He muttered to himself and leaned forward and whispered discreetly, "You ok girl?" He felt her tense slightly and then nod slightly, sniffing. Well, that was better than nothing. He turned his attention back to Beardy, who was looking at him like he was about to snap and kill whoever he had captured. He could use that to his advantage.
"Listen up, you're gonna let us go."
"Or?" Beardy prompted, playing with the line that would be the difference between Sawyer backing down or killing off his crony. Sawyer growled in frustration, this man liked to play with fire so chances were he was going to get burned. But not today, not that Sawyer was going to let him know that.
"Or I blow this girl's head off." He replied and felt her panic, so he squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Thankfully he was a good enough actor to look like he was telling the truth, yet also be able to reassure the hostage whose neck he had his arm around. A skill picked up in his many travels as a Lady killer. He saw the fear that entered Beardy's eyes and felt the glow of victory was over him. Damn, this was sweet. Beardy nodded again and all Others' present, including the ones who had Claire, Kate and Sayid in their crosshairs, stepped back. They walked out of the clearing in a single file, Jack shooting a look at Sawyer as he passed him which he knew meant 'Don't do anything stupid', to which he rolled his eyes in response.
After their footfalls were no longer audible from the clearing Sawyer decided to get down to business. Shooting Beardy a look, he made it clear that he wasn't done yet, they still had another issue to work through.
"You took someone of ours. And if ya don't give him back, I might have to even out the numbers." Sawyer said, his expression dead serious as he gestured to the hostage with the gun he'd taken from her. He wasn't screwing around now, there was no way he was leaving without the little boy who had been stolen.
Beardy's eyes flickered across to the face of Sawyer's hostage and Sawyer saw the defeat creep in, his shoulders sagging and his eyes dropping. It was something that clearly hadn't been seen before by the Others, given the glances to each other and the general unease which made them shift slightly on their feet.
"Don't." The Other that Sawyer had by the neck choked out the word pleadingly. At first Sawyer wasn't sure who she was talking to, but given the torn look on Beardy's face, chances were she was trying to convince him not to hand Aaron back over. Sawyer's fingers tightened, anger searing through him at the nerve of the Other who was willing to lose her life to keep the little boy from his mother. She whimpered as his fingertips dug into her shoulder and he took a breath, trying to keep his emotions on a leash. At least, for now.
"You don't wanna be talking right now." Sawyer's tone warned her as he growled into her ear, his tone biting and making her wince.
"You aren't taking my father back." She said, trying to be tough but her voice wavered, showing the fear that she was trying to conceal. This made Sawyer do a double take. Unless her father was somehow a little baby boy through some freak of nature, they weren't talking about the same person. Then he remembered how 'Henry Gale' had escaped not too long ago and it clicked. She thought he was after Henry again...
"What're you on about girl? I want Aaron back!" He hissed back and she remained silent. Looks like she don't know everything that's going on around here, he thought.
"Is that... Is that Claire's baby?" She asked quietly and he grunted, acknowledging the fact that that was exactly who he was talking about. He felt her take in a quick breath, as if someone had hit her across the face. Hard.
"You promised!" She was now yelling at Beardy, who looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but with much more dire consequences.
"We had to! You know what this is worth to us." Beardy tried to plead with the younger girl with a tone that told Sawyer it had been a topic of much debate in the past.
"No! There are other ways." She argued and Sawyer had a feeling that she would have the same sort of expression that Ana got whenever they argued over which side they would sleep on, that pissed self righteous look. In response Beardy just shook his head sadly, his eyes sympathising.
"We've tried, we've tried them all Alex. You know that." He said, quietly trying to calm her down while explaining the impossibility of the situation. Sawyer thought that either he was a brilliant actor, or this was the truth. At the moment he was leaning more towards the first answer, but the second one was still a possibility.
"I know but-" Alex sighed heavily and Sawyer felt her give up and slump back into him. He took that as his cue to re enter the conversation.
"Listen, as interesting as this might be, I'm kinda hopin' to get the kid, and go back to the beach without a hassle. I'm missing my hero's welcome." Sawyer joked, but he really was beginning to miss the beach. Or more specifically, Ana Lucia. Beardy's gaze went from Alex to Sawyer and Sawyer felt the full force of the tension that had been bubbling between the Other's 'leader' and his hostage.
"Give him the child, Tom." Came a voice to the side of Sawyer. Sawyer turned to see none other but 'Henry Gale' step out from behind the trees except he was somewhat different, now he held himself differently. More confidently. Beardy, or Tom, bowed his head to Henry and Sawyer could almost see the power transfer to Henry. Then a woman with a dark complexion stepped forward, holding a bundle of blankets.
Sawyer stepped forward, knowing a how these things worked. They both made their way to the middle of the clearing, Sawyer feeling the eyes around him follow him as he stepped forward gradually, Alex leading the way. When they reached each other the woman offered the baby forward and Sawyer took him gently, putting the gun into the back of his jeans and letting go of the girl. He cradled Aaron to him and wondered why the girl hadn't gone running back into the arms of her 'father' as so many others would have. Instead she stayed by Sawyer's side.
She turned to him and he winced at what he'd done to her nose. She vaguely gestured him to step forward and he did, with her shadowing his steps. After a few steps, and a glance back, he realised that she had in fact placed herself in between himself and the guns. This made him smile slightly, not all the Others were evil after all.
When they reached the edge of the clearing Sawyer turned to thank her, but she cut him off, pressing something into his hands.
"Be careful." She whispered, eyes wide, and he nodded before turning and sprinting his way back to the beach, holding Aaron close to his chest.
When he reached the group who had begun the walk back with heavy hearts, he offered Claire a large grin and handed her Aaron. It was a tear filled reunion which left Sawyer on the brink of saying 'Aw shucks'. Then they all continued to make their way back to the beach, happy that for once their mission against the Others had been a success.
Part 3
Ana was still sitting on the beach when they got back, and if Libby hadn't been there to distract her with small talk she had a sneaking suspicion that she would have gone crazy with the whole sitting still and waiting around thing. She was thankful to Libby who seemed to understand that Ana desperately needed to just take her mind off Sawyer's absence, and actually succeeded in distracting her quite well by drawing her into conversation - making her smirk and chuckle in no time.
Then there were several shouts which caught their attention. Libby got up, offering Ana Lucia a hand which she took, and then they went up the beach to where all the commotion was. They took their time, Ana struggling slightly with manoeuvring the crutches through the sand. When they got there they saw the group that had set out earlier, surrounded by the people who had remained behind.
Claire was in the centre of it all, holding Aaron to her and beaming. Charlie had his arm around her, looking just as happy, and fielded most of the questions, as if he was her manager. Kate and Jack had their arms around each other, looking on with matching smiles and looked like a married couple, what with the way that they were answering questions together and finishing each other's sentences. It looked like some sort of maniacally happy collage.
Then there was Sawyer. He was standing off to the side, leaning against a tree, with a proud grin on his face. Ana would've expected him to be right in the thick of it, getting all the praise he could, puffing out his chest and telling stories of exaggerated bravery. Even if he hadn't been the one who had been the hero of the moment. As she watched him act humble as people patted him on the shoulder before going over to welcome Aaron back to the beach.
Ana felt her heart tighten in her chest as his gaze fixed on her. His smirk pulled sideways and turned into a goofy, lopsided grin as he started walking over to her, making his way through the crowd. He stood in front of her and Ana felt the rest of the world melt away as they looked into each other's eyes and silently reconnected with each other.
"Hi." Ana said and Sawyer's grin increased slightly, his eyes twinkling.
"Hey, Chica." He replied and she rolled her eyes.
"Next time, I'm coming." She said in a no nonsense tone and he nodded, not arguing like Ana had thought he would.
"Damn right you are." He replied, dead set.
"Can't cope without me?" She asked, mocking his seriousness in regards to her attendance in future missions.
"And don't ya know it." Sawyer joked and winked at her, making her chuckle. His eyes went down to her injured leg and concern came onto his face, "How's your leg?" He asked and once again she rolled her eyes.
"You go on some crazy recon mission and you're worried about me and my bung leg?" Ana asked, raising an eyebrow, Sawyer sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Well..." His blue eyes connected with Ana's brown and this time they both felt their hearts constrict, something that neither of them had really felt before, "Yeah."
And that was when Ana leaned up and kissed him. Sawyer could have been hallucinating, but he could've sworn that her lips moved against his to say 'I love you' and his lips moved right back to reply.
"I love you too."