LOST - Insight of an OC Other with close ties to Ben, Richard and Ethan.
Italics represent flashback.
A small breeze ruffled her dark hair, her blue eyes embedded in his brown ones. Whenever Jasabel was in Richard's company, she felt as if she were a cautious raven opposite a hawk who was ready to strike but willing to play first. The game of choice between Jasabel and Richard, was checkers, she the red pieces, he the black. It had been this way for some time.
"You seem different of late Jasabel." Richard stated, though the air with which he spoke it, hinted an inquiry.
Jasabel stifled a laugh. "That's a bit funny, coming from you Mr. Immortal." she retorted, making a move. Richard breathed the laugh, Jasabel had suffocated, taking two of her checkers then looking at her expectantly for an actual response. Jasabel traced the edge of the table thoughtfully. "It's just strange without Juliet." she explained in a half-truth. Richard continued to laugh, prompting Jasabel to add. "What?"
A smirk twisting on his lips, Richard merely eyed her a moment. "Forgive me, but it's not Juliet's company you miss." he said as Jasabel's hand jumped across the board.
A sixteen year-old Jasabel bound the starchy material around her knuckles multiple times, biting back a grin. For the first time she could recall, Ben was in attendance, standing beside Richard in the nook of the doorway. Jasabel's gaze shifted to Ethan standing a few feet from her, pacing like a lion ready to devour its meal. "Can I count on you not to be a show-off for the boss, Ethan?" she asked, flicking her braid past her shoulder.
The makings of a smile, made his face twitch. "I don't show off." Ethan replied evenly.
Jasabel squinted at him in a playful manner. "You lie." she accused, taking a defensive stance. Ethan's smile broke free.
Jasabel scrutinized Richard to the best of her ability. Judging from the upturn of his lips, he was amused by her effort. Jasabel exhaled in an effort to show a sign of weakness. She'd already lost the game, she always lost to Richard. "It's been nearly two months now since Ethan's death. I've talked myself hoarse with Harper. Believe it or not, I've made peace." she announced.
It took a moment for Richard to respond, merely blinking his long eyelashes at her. "You make a poor liar Bel." Richard finally informed, clearing the board.
"If I weren't do you think Ben would've entrusted me to babysit Alex?" Jasabel retorted.
"I suppose not." Ben greeted, startling her. "Hello Jasabel. I seem to have caught you at a good time. I'd like a word in private, if you don't mind." Ben didn't wait for a response, but as he turned around his gaze meshed with Richard.
Jasabel swallowed hard, having noticed the glance exchanged, brief though it was. Jasabel remained still, studying Richard's likewise immobile face. "Until next time Bel." Richard said, smiling as he got to his feet.
Jasabel nodded, muttering softly. "See you." Glancing over her shoulder at Ben's retreating back, Jasabel felt a memory wrap itself around her.
At twenty years old, Jasabel considered herself a master tracker. In the past, she had spent a lot of time trailing Richard to no avail. Tonight, she was determined to follow Ben to the inexplicable 'cabin'. However it was proving to be a trickier feat than she had anticipated. The further they trekked the more difficult it became for Jasabel to keep pace with Ben without compromising herself.
Ben had sensed Jasabel's looming presence long ago, but had strung her along in an effort to gauge her willpower. Finally, he stopped short and faced her. "I must say Jasabel, your commitment to a resolution is commendable." Ben announced as Jasabel tried to duck behind a shrub. "Shame you're not applying it to the assignment you were given. Why is that, what do you hope to accomplish by tailing me?" he pressed as a Jasabel sheepishly stood straight.
"You're going to see Jacob." Jasabel stated simply.
"I am. But unless you stop following me Jasabel, you and I will be walking in circles all night." Ben replied evenly. Jasabel immediately believed him, though she didn't know why.
"Beside you and Richard, will anyone ever be able to talk to Jacob?" Jasabel asked.
"That isn't for me to decide. I won't fault you for your curious nature Jasabel, it was the best trait your father possessed. Though Revere knew when to call it a night...were he alive, he'd be half-way to his home by now." Ben answered.
Silence crowded the massive gap between Ben and Jasabel, broken only by a particularly loud group of crickets. "..Goodnight Ben." Jasabel said, though the determined gleam hadn't faded from her eyes.
"Goodnight." Ben dismissed, with a ping of approval.
When Jasabel returned to the housing complex, she passed by Richard seated at a picnic table with a board of checkers alined in front of him. She paused, as she often did when she caught sight of Richard.
"Evening Bel. Would you like to play?" he offered.
"Don't you have something more important to do?" Jasabel asked with a beckoning laugh.
"Don't you?" Richard said, his knowledge of the answer shining clearly on his face.
His clear teal eyes bore into her blue ones. Ben knew he was stifling her with the weight of his stare, yet, like all women, she craved attention. Jasabel didn't desire it from him, but Ben acculturated her lonesomeness currently outweighed her unease. Ben forced a smile, and the corners of Jasabel's lips tweaked into a grimace. "Do you know why I wished to speak to you, Jasabel?" he asked.
"I haven't the faintest notion Ben." Jasabel responded truthfully. Her gaze shifted to the leather-bound book, situated beside Ben's arm. "This can't be about my journal...can it?"
"Why can't it?" Ben asked with a tilt of his head.
Prolonged interaction with Ben, always left Jasabel feeling parched. She wasn't sure if it was the vacancy of his eyes despite his vast intellect, or the natural wavering of his voice emitting from his emotionless mug. "I've done nothing to inspire you to snoop into my affairs." she said softly. "I do as I'm told when I'm told; I don't question, I don't disobey."
"True, you save such wonderment for your companion." Ben agreed, sliding her journal into his left palm and putting his glasses on with his free hand. "Though you've made great strides to remain unspecific. I daresay you even pride yourself on it."
"What is this about Ben?" Jasabel asked, trying to ignore her mounting anxiety. She didn't consider herself a meek person, but under Ben's scrutiny Jasabel felt two inches tall. Keeping his eyes trained on her a moment, Ben opened the journal then began to page through it. "...There's nothing that will interest you." she persisted, growing irritable.
"You underestimate your worth as a wordsmith, Jasabel." Ben argued, without raising his head. The silence that followed, made Jasabel's mind began to race to the rhythm of her heartbeat. Ben knew the exact page he wanted, but he drew out locating it. In truth, Ben considered Jasabel an encumbrance and thus enjoyed making her squirm. Clearing his throat, Ben began to read aloud. " 'I thought keeping this journal, carefully worded and scarcely detailed though it must be, would help. Keep me sane, keep time pushing forward even when it feels at a stand still. Perhaps that was only wishful thinking. Day in, day out, it's the same. I feel stir-crazy. I miss sparring with Ethan. Genuinely, I miss Ethan himself. I wish I could right the wrong that befell him. I often think of the missed opportunities of the past and the current ones presented to me almost on a daily basis."
Jasabel summoned her courage. "No." she interrupted, causing Ben to pause and peer up at her from his glasses.
"No what?" he questioned sportingly.
"No, I do not intend to take revenge on Charlie Pace or any of the survivors." Jasabel said stoically. "I was just rambling."
"Oh? Then you're going to have to explain this singular passage to me. 'I guess it didn't work.'.." Ben slowly set the journal down. "That same line shows up three separate times in your journal." he mused, pocketing his glasses. "You've had your rebellious moments in the past Jasabel, but you've never failed an assignment. No task, no matter how daunting. Your swiftness to adapt is part of what makes you invaluable Jasabel."
His compliment was a rouse, to get Jasabel to put her guard down. Knowing this, she flashed a brief smile and thanked him, prolonging her indecision. "...In a moment of weakness and temporary insanity, I had hoped to put a curse on Charlie." Jasabel confessed. Somehow, someway, Ben would've found out. It was even possible he already knew, and was merely testing her.
"How?" Ben asked, seemingly unsurprised.
"Charlie would tape up his fingers during his heroin withdrawl, as means of a distraction. When he was tempted to relapse, he started doing it again for a spell. I wrapped his discarded tape around a figure I crafted.."
"You made a voodoo doll."
Jasabel nodded and once again basking in how pitifully futile her attempt was, felt a smile tug at her lips. "I tried baking it in the microwave, tossing it in the waterfall, I even shot a damn arrow at it once. Nothing. I ended up tying a brick around it and throwing it in the ocean." she responded.
"That was a very unconventional mean to closure Jasabel." Ben stated.
"I know. I'm sorry Ben." Jasabel said
"Harper was under the impression that you had moved on. Should I tell her to re-evaluate you?" Ben responded, though he had already made up his mind not to.
"There's no need to do so ahead of schedule." Jasabel replied.
"Very well." Ben dismissed, sliding her journal to her side of the table. Jasabel opened her mouth to object but Ben continued. "It would be a mistake for you to stop writing Jasabel. It does you good. Speaking of, I may have a new assignment for you, perhaps it'll be a better fit for a restless soul such as yourself."
Weariness curtained Jasabel, but she struggled to keep her face unchanged. "What did you have in mind?" she asked.