Author's Notes: The second part of this fic is dedicated to the spirt and philosophy of the 'Save the Junkie, Save the World' campaign. This is what we were fighting for. This is why Lost has been ruined for many of us.


Part Two: The Vigil

Desmond and Juliet slipped through the flaps of Claire's tent. They had left Jin sitting with Charlie. The fisherman barely spoke two words of English, but he had a beautiful bedside manner. Charlie's head was tilted to the side, his glassy eyes watching as Jin spoke soothing words to him in gentle Korean.

Hurley had bundled Charlie up in every blanket they could find. Sawyer had given him two of their short supply of antibiotics. Sayid had examined his battered face and reported that neither his nose nor jaw were broken. Bernard noted that several of his teeth had been displaced, but he was certain he could fix them. Far more worrying was Charlie's fever and his laboured breathing.

Night had fallen, but Jack's group still hadn't returned to the camp. Desmond and Juliet wandered over to the fire where Sayid, Hurley, Bernard and Sawyer sat waiting for the verdict on Charlie's health.

"He has pneumonia…" Juliet told them, flatly.

Sayid sighed and bowed his head. Desmond paced before the fire, his muscles twitching with frustration. Hurley took a moment to absorb the news, then his face creased up and he burst into tears.

"This is my fault, man…" he sobbed, wretchedly. "First Libby, now Charlie…this always happens to the people that I care about. Fricking curse won't let up! You guys are gonna have to stay away from me."

"Hugo, don't take on so…" Sawyer muttered, irritably. "He's not dead yet! Come on, the guy's survived heroin withdrawal, being strung up from a tree…my guess is he'll shake this off like a bad cold."

"Remember where we are, son," said Bernard, placing a consoling arm around Hurley's shoulders. "This place has healing powers. If it can cure my Rose then it can make Charlie well again. Trust me, the island will save him."

"The island?!" Desmond spluttered, exasperated. "Brother, this place has been trying to kill Charlie for weeks! Lightning, arrows, rocks and floods…now that he is sick it will take the opportunity to finish him off! Just you wait..."

Hurley sniffled, tears streaming his cheeks. "So is this one of your visions, Desmond? Is Charlie really gonna die this time?"

Desmond sighed. "I'm sorry, brother. The universe just has a way of course correcting. I never stood a chance of saving your mate…"

Sayid rose to his feet, his brow wrinkled with confusion.

"What are you two talking about?" he asked.

Desmond and Hurley exchanged glances, realising they had said too much. Hurley's face hardened. He looked at Desmond expectantly.

"Tell them, dude!" he insisted.

Desmond winced. Suddenly all eyes were on him.

"Tell us what?" Bernard prompted.

Desmond swallowed. "Ever since the hatch imploded…I…I've been getting these flashes…these visions of things that happen in future. I know these visions are real. I've seen evidence of it. So has Hurley. Unless I do something to stop them, the visions always come true…" He sighed and shook his head. "Almost always these visions are about Charlie."

Sawyer raised his eyebrows. "You have visions…about Charlie?"

"Aye," said Desmond, annoyed by the cynicism in his voice.

Sawyer snorted. "Well…I knew there was something funny going on between you two. I figured it might be one of those British boarding school things..." He smiled conceitedly. "So…visions huh?"

"Visions of Charlie dying," Desmond explained, which was enough to wipe the smirk off Sawyer's face. "I have seen him die no less than five times now. For a while I was trying to save him, trying to stop fate from killing him. Then yesterday I told Charlie he would drown in that underwater station…but it would get everybody rescued." He glanced to Sayid. "That's why he took your mission, brother. He knew that he could do it. He wanted to save us all. He was prepared to give up his life for it. He would have died too if I hadn't fished him out of that room…"

Nobody spoke for a moment. Desmond could see that they were surprised. He had noticed Charlie was never treated with much regard by his campmates. They pushed him aside, snapped at him, talked down to him, ignored him...Desmond had done it himself. It was clear they never expected Charlie of all people would make such a heroic and important contribution to their rescue effort.

Bernard shook his head. "Charlie would have sacrificed himself for us?"

"Damn," said Sawyer. "I wouldn't have thought he had it in him."

"I can believe it," said Sayid. "Have you never noticed that scar on his forehead? I gave Charlie that scar. He had me pour gun-power into his wound and set it alight to stop the bleeding. He did this so he could rescue Claire's baby. If Charlie believed his death could ensure the safety of that girl and her child, then he would give his life without hesitation. Am I right, Desmond?"

Desmond nodded. Tears of bitterness welled in his eyes.

"He was tricked!" he hissed. "The universe was just tempting Charlie into his death with the promise that it would bring rescue. But that isn't the way of it! This girl, this Naomi…she's been lying to us! It's all a big scam! We're all trapped on this island, trapped here till we meet our fates!"

Desmond was storming around the campfire, waving his arms and yelling at the top of his voice. He felt like he was having an epiphany, but the others were looking at him like he was a raving madman.

"If Charlie dies tonight, then that's it! If he dies we can't change anything! So if it's your fate to die, if it's your fate to be cursed, if it's your fate to run away, if it is your fate to make mistakes, if it's your fate to take revenge or if it's your fate to be alone in this world…then you had all better make your peace and face up to it like he did. Because there'll be no use left in hoping!"

"Desmond, shut up!"

To everyone's surprise, Hurley got to his feet and slapped Desmond hard across the face. Desmond blinked and panted, reeling from the blow. Hurley glanced over his shoulder to Claire's tent, then turned back to Desmond with a stern look in his eyes. He wasn't crying anymore.

"I don't want Charlie hearing any of your doom talk, okay?" he explained, lowering his voice. "Whatever man! I don't care what you say. We can make our own luck. What we need is a little hope here."

With that, Hurley marched away from the campfire. They watched him as he made his way over to the framework of the church that Charlie and Eko had been building. He stood under the crossbeams and laced his hands together, bowing his head in prayer. After a moment, Bernard wandered over and started praying alongside him. The rest of them stood silence until Jin emerged from the tent and said the words "Err...Charlie…sleep". Juliet nodded and went to check on her patient.

Desmond rubbed his aching jaw. He watched as Sayid walked over to his tent, took out his prayer mat and found a quiet spot beneath the trees. Sawyer went to rummage through his book collection. He put on his glasses and came back to read before the campfire. Desmond glanced at the small leather volume in his hands. It was the New Testament. Sawyer shrugged.

"I just hadn't gotten around to reading this one yet," he reasoned, trying to mask his embarrassment.

Desmond nodded his head, acceptingly.

"Stick with it, brother. You may find it enlightening."

Sawyer frowned. "What are you…a monk?"

Desmond smiled, but he didn't answer him. He wandered down to the shoreline and sat staring over the ocean. He didn't feel the need to put his hands together or get down on his knees. Ever since the hatch implosion, his thoughts had been a constant prayer. Every day, Desmond prayed for God to let him leave this island. He prayed to be given another chance with Penny. He prayed for Charlie's life to be spared and he prayed for the flashes to stop.

Every single day Desmond prayed for these same things. Either God wasn't listening or God simply didn't care.

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Desmond felt a hand pressing his shoulder. He shook himself and rubbed his eyes, realising that he had fallen asleep over his knees. He looked around to see that the sun was beginning to lift above the horizon. It was cool shadowy morning time. He raised his head to see Juliet standing over him.

"His fever's broken..." she told him.

Desmond flinched, his heart catching in his chest. "Does that mean he'll be alright, sister?"

"I don't know," Juliet said, bluntly. "He's still very weak. The chill isn't helping. If he goes into sepsis, there won't be anything I can do. But he has a fighting chance. He's awake, if you want to talk to him."

Desmond nodded and wandered over to Claire's tent. On his way he noticed that the others were still sitting up in their private corners of the beach, looking solemn and reflective. Jin had joined Hurley and Bernard in their silent vigil under the frame of the church. Sayid was kneeling on his mat, staring vacantly into the distance, lost inside dark thoughts. Sawyer had stopped reading and was sat pinching the bridge of his nose. The Bible was lying open in his lap.

Desmond stepped through the flaps of Claire's tent. Charlie was lying under a mound of blankets. His bloodshot eyes watched the shadow play on the tarpaulin. The black hood of his sweatshirt was pulled up around his head. His pale skin glistened as though he were made of snow and melting from the world.

"Charlie…mate…" Desmond knelt down by his bedside. "I need to talk to you. I've had another one of my flashes…"

Charlie frowned at him. "What was it this time?"

Desmond smiled, whimsically.

"I saw you standing on the deck of a boat. Claire is with you, holding your hand. You're carrying little Aaron against your chest. He's tugging at your ears with his wee fingers. You and Claire are staring off into the distance. And you're smiling because…you can see the boat is coming into land."

Charlie returned his smile. "So then what happens?"

"That's it, brother," he answered. "That's the whole vision."

Charlie rolled his eyes and coughed a few times.

"Des…you're a really lousy liar." His voice was rasping, heavy with exhaustion. "Like you ever see anything nice happening to me."

Desmond sighed and tipped his head.

"Just because I didn't see it…that doesn't mean it can't happen, Charlie. If rescue comes then you could still be a part of it."

"I'm dying, Desmond…" Charlie said, simply. And it was clear from his tone that this was no longer something Charlie believed because of the prophecies. This is something that Charlie knew in his heart, in his very bones. "I won't be rescued, because I am going to die."

Charlie's face tensed and his eyes pooled with tears.

"I had a chance to make it…meaningful. One chance to give my worthless bloody life some purpose. I could have died rescuing my friends. I could have died getting Claire and Aaron to a safe place…all I ever wanted to do was protect them. If I have to die then I wanted it to be for that reason. Why did you have to change it? Why did you take that away from me, brother?"

Charlie was really crying now. Desmond hadn't seen him like this before. He hadn't cried when Desmond first told him about his visions. He hadn't cried when Desmond kept coming back to him with more flashes and more deaths. He had kept a brave face through it all. He hadn't complained. Even now it wasn't his death that was upsetting him. He was upset for the people he wanted to save.

Desmond reached out and took his hand. He had wanted to take Charlie's hand and speak to him when he was underwater in the coms room. There was no glass separating them now. Desmond took a deep breath.

"Brother…" he began, haltingly. "What if I told you that there was a way for you to save every human soul on this island…by living."

Charlie swallowed, his tears slowing as he listened.

"Your friends have been awake all night. They've been saying prayers…prayers for you and for themselves. If you die, brother…we're all as bloody doomed as you are. We're nothing but prisoners of fate. Your friends don't want to believe that, Charlie. They want to believe that you will live. They want to believe that the universe does not have power over you or over them. They want to believe that they are free. They want to believe there is hope in the world..."

Desmond exhaled, shaking his head. He hadn't realised the enormity of their situation until now. It was true though. Everything depended on this.

"So what I'm asking, brother, is…can you save us?" His voice was serious and imploring. "Can you save us all?"

Desmond shivered inside. Charlie had that look in his eyes again. The look that he had given Desmond when he had asked him where he could find the switch. People often underestimated Charlie, but if you gave him a purpose...if you just showed him the respect to entrust him with a mission...then he would see it through. Desmond smiled. He trusted that Charlie would see this through…

…or else he would die trying.