Title: The End
Rating: K+
Summary: They'd known each other so long, but as he watched her and made the choice that would change his life, he realized how much he didn't know this woman. Based on the scene in 'Enter 77' where Mikhail makes the choice to shoot Ms. Klugh. With flashbacks.
Mikhail thought he had the upper hand, knew he had the upper hand, once he had their man, Locke, at gunpoint…He never expected what happened next.
"Out here!" Locke called loudly.
His heart sank and seemed to stop momentarily when he saw her, a gun to her head, as Sayid and Kate pushed her out ahead of them. At that moment, he knew it was the end, but refused to face that fact. He couldn't. Not yet. He had never been one to just give up and he wouldn't do it now. How had they found her? Had she let herself be found? If so, why? Questions raced around in his mind, but he had no time to ask, no time for answers. Still, he had to keep his head. He had to act normally, or this would end badly.
"This is simple. Send her over to me and I will release him, and we will go our separate ways."
"Don't listen to him." Locke warned.
"Shut your mouth." Mikhail snapped. This had to work. He wasn't going to allow this to end.
"If he was going to kill me, he would have already."
"Shut your mouth!" He said, his voice raised even more this time.
Mikhail knew that the fear or at least the nervousness in his tone, in his eyes was apparent, but he was past that. All he cared about, was getting rid of these people and getting Bea back. That was when he thought something confusing. Something he wasn't sure about…Something that scared him.
'Why did he suddenly care so much? How had it happened?'
(Flashback)
Mikhail walked into The Flame, looking around awkwardly. He'd been working on the island a long time, but he had never been there. Why had they called him there suddenly? Was he changing jobs? An even better question was, why wasn't anyone there to meet him as he had been directed?
Just then, a young African-American woman walked into the room he was in from what he supposed was the kitchen. She looked a bit stern, professional was the word, but looked almost cheerful nonetheless.
"Hello, Mikhail. My name is Beatrice Klugh."
He smiled back charmingly. He wasn't sure what had drawn him to her so immediately, or why he was, but it happened...He was. He couldn't help it. Still, he forced himself to be just as professional as she was. This was a job, not a vacation.
"Hello." He replied in his thick Russian accent. "You know my name already, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Mikhail Bukunin."
"Hi, Mikhail. You can call me Bea." She held out her hand. "Let me show you what you'll be doing here." She said, her voice calm and collected, though she couldn't hide a tiny smile as he grasped her hand.
(End of Flashback)
"Listen to me." Sayid said calmly.
"Sayid, do not let her go." Locke said firmly.
"I will execute him." Mikhail threatened, fearing that they knew how worried he was.
"He's not gonna do it!"
"Be quiet, John!" The Iraqi commanded. He was not going to let one of theirs die.
I'm the only thing keeping him alive.
"I swear to you..." Mikhail continued, pressing the gun further into Locke.
"Mikhail." Her voice immediately got his attention.
"Calm down everyone!" Sayid shouted.
"Mikhail!" Ms. Klugh yelled.
Bea began speaking in Russian and Mikhail knew that she was serious. That she would tell him what to do. She knew what to do. Finally, he looked at her, trusting her completely to show him the right thing to do, to direct him…just as she always had.
(Flashback)
"I do not know what to do! You never told me-"
"Do not enter 77."
"What?"
"Do not enter it, Mikhail." She said sharply, staring at the 7 flashing on the screen. "Didn't you watch the video? I thought you were told that you were the guard?"
"Kelvin left."
"What?"
"He told me to watch the computer."
"And you opened the program?"
"I was…how you say…curious." He smirked.
"You aren't to take over the program. It's very dangerous." She said sternly, though she smiled herself. It quickly disappeared as she remembered the situation.
"You have twenty seconds to stop it."
"Why don't you-"
"I want you to do it, Mikhail."
"Then what do I do?"
"Press the backspace button and then escape, twice. After that, enter the numbers 8 and 15. It will shut the program down immediately."
He did as he was told, and as the screen went black, he smiled softly at Bea. "Did I do it?"
"Yes, you did it."
"What next?"
"Wait here until Kelvin gets back. When he does, tell him that he is being reassigned and you are to take over his job." She said, perfectly calm as normal.
"What? Why am I-"
"Because you follow orders and don't leave your post…unless directed." She smiled a little.
He nodded with somewhat of a proud grin. "Thank you."
(End of Flashback)
"Mikhail. Mikhail! You know what to do."
He listened to her hurried Russian words and his heart seemed to sink even further. The ever-calm woman was frantic, pleading even, and that scared him. He couldn't do what he knew she was asking.
"We still have another way." He said in his native tongue that was so easy for him to slip into.
"Sayid." Locke shouted.
"I'll handle this John."
"John." Kate put in.
"We cannot risk it. You know the conditions." Ms. Klugh said piercingly in Russian.
"There is another way." He nearly begged. He'd never felt so vulnerable in his life. Why?
"They captured us. We will not let them to get into the territory."
"Don't let her talk to him!" John yelled.
"You know what to do. That's an order."
"Mikhail!" Sayid interrupted.
"We still have another way!" Mikhail pleaded.
"Stop!" Sayid tried again, but knew it was to no avail.
"Just do it, Mikhail!" Bea commanded.
She was more serious than he had ever seen her in his life. She was usually very professional, but this time, even more so, and seeing as she was his authority, and in the army would've been his commanding officer, he felt compelled to obey. Though he at one point, thought he couldn't bring himself to do so.
(Flashback)
Mikhail watched one of the men walk away, and they were alone. He gently slipped his arm around Bea's waist, pulling her slightly closer, until their faces were almost touching. She tipped her chin slightly to look into his eyes and smiled, but pulled away.
"You know that we can't, Mikhail."
"Why not?"
"We're here to do a job. That's more important than our feelings."
"So you admit over these past months you've
developed feelings as well?"
"It doesn't matter what I've developed or not."
"But you know you feel it."
"Stop it, Mikhail."
She looked away, releasing herself from his touch completely when she felt her face turned by his gentle but rough and callused hands, and his soft lips crush hers. Without thinking, she kissed back for a moment, before breaking away. She took a deep breath and stared at his chest, refusing to meet his eyes.
"We can do it." He grinned, his finger grazing her dark cheek.
(End of Flashback)
Mikhail pushed Locke out of the way and pointed the gun at Bea's chest. He sighed, looking into her eyes sorrowfully and spoke in his native language once again.
"Forgive me." He said quietly, before pulling trigger and watching her body fall to the ground.
That was when he realized that the whole time, it was inevitable. It was the end.
FinisA/n: That was my first 'Others only' fic besides my fic about Ben called 'Ben's Beginning'. If you liked this, please try that one. You can find it in my profile. Please review and tell me what you liked about it. Was it in character? Was it believable? What were your favorite lines? REVIEW!