Chapter Two

It was a cold, winterly day in LA, believe it or not. It was in January of the new year, 2005. Nervous feelings swarmed Jack as he parked his car in the parking lot of a small airport. The last time he was on a plane, it almost crashed. After finding his father in September in Sydney, the two boarded Oceanic Flight 815. Halfway through the flight, the pilot admitted he was turning around, heading back to Figi. On the way, there was some flying problems, but the pilot regained control much to everyone's relief. When the plane finally landed, it was clear the tail was about the snap off.

But it didn't crash, it landed safely in Figi, to combine another flight back to LAX. Jack remembered some of the people on the plane, like a man named Hurley who was overweight and said 'dude' too often. Jack and Hurley started talking, and Hurley said he had won the lottery once, but never got the cash- because he was too afraid it would ruin his life. Jack had a hunch not to believe what Hurley said. And there were other people too that caught his attention: there was a young couple, a long blonde haired woman and brown haired man carrying a young baby, obviously slightly premature. Then there was a Marshall on the plane, who didn't lay his eyes off of one person: a tall and grungy looking man, with straight blonde hair. He had a bad-ass look to him and a smirk every time the Marshall pushed him around.

All of that seemed so long ago, because Jack had moved on. He lived with his parents and kept his dad locked in his room so he couldn't escape and take off again. Jack was even considering putting his father in a nursing home. But it was too late. Before Christmas, his father drank himself to death with Jack's own alcohol. Jack could never forgive himself, yet never thank himself any more. His father was gone. The pressure was gone. Jack's life would have been better, right?

Jack thought so too, but soon realized his life was going no where but downhill. That was, until one day, a man named Richard Alpert came in to talk to him. Richard told Jack of a new place, a new job. One where people worked differently and Jack would have access to everything. A job that could somehow help mankind in the future, as Richard put it. Jack was interested, and decided to give it a try. As he started filling out paperwork, Jack noticed he was signing a lot of things to keep quiet and never talk to anyone outside of the town for months; the months he would stay there.

Pushing all of the thoughts rushing into his mind out, Jack stepped out of his car and closed his door, locking it with the click of a button. Walking over to the front, Jack saw Richard was waiting for him. He had seen Richard several times before to plan for the trip, making sure Jack was keeping quiet and physically prepared to work there. Richard waved hello and then greeted him, saying, "Jack! How are you? Ready to make the best decision of your life?"

Jack showed a friendly smile and shrugged, "I hope I already did." The two laughed lightly before Richard held a door open, motioning for Jack to go inside. "So, we've signed all the paperwork, know the basic plan and all we have left to do, is take off," Richard said as he led Jack through the empty and erie aiport. Jack turned back his head to glance at everything. Why was it empty? Why were there no planes?

Richard noticed his confusion and said with a calm and explaining voice, "We recently bought this place and are trying to expand more. We're trying to get more doctors and scientists like you, but it's hard when we're somewhere so- secluded."

Turning his head to the side for a second, Jack wondered what he meant by that. Getting the feeling they were almost at the end, Jack asked with squinted eyes, "What do you mean: secluded?"

Pushing his lips together as if he shouldn't have said something, Richard pointed to the window at the end of the hall. Jack only became more confused, but he stepped forward to glance out. All he saw was water and a dock. Jack opened his mouth to say something but Richard beat him to it, mentioning, "We're using a submarine to get there. It's the safest way."

Jack widened his eyes and then shook his head with the angst feeling of being puzzled. "I thought we were going to Portland." Jack suddenly looked to Richard, who's face seemed to never show extremes of emotion and always have a steady, strong look. Richard sighed and glanced away slightly before looking at Jack with a serious face, "Well, we're not exactly near Portland..."

Instead of laughing like it was a joke, Jack looked at Richard with a serious expression, angry even. "What do you mea-" Jack started to say before he was interrupted. "Jack, I can tell you, you'll be safe. I just can't tell you where we're going, which is why..." Richard paused and opened the side of his jacket, pulling out a small packet, "we want to have this. The ride is sort of hard on the first timers and if you slept the whole way, you'd be feeling well enough right to go into work."

Jack reached forward and snatched the packet out of Richard's hands, reading the label and then shaking his head. "You want to drug me?!"

Sighing, Richard remained calm and gently reminded Jack why he was there, why his people needed him. It took minutes of convincing, but Jack eventually caved in. Once Jack took the powder that would knock him out, Jack remembered blacking out.

Before he knew it, Jack was waking up with a dark red light around him. Scrambling to move, Jack realized he was strapped down and he couldn't speak. Jack let his head go back, sighing because he felt horrible. What was going on?

Soon a man appeared out of no where, "Hello, we're here. I'm Ethan, your new partner." The man smiled and had a kind look to him while he reached over and unstrapped Jack so he could be free. Jack looked at Ethan in a strange way, not knowing what was going on at all. Ethan nodded understandingly and said, "First time here? The drugs will wear off soon so you can speak... It'll take a while to get used to being here. It's like nothing you've ever seen before." Ethan grinned, almost like he was excited.

Jack showed a grave look while he sat up, not knowing what to do. Ethan picked up a bag of his and waved good bye, "I'll see ya later, Jack. We have a lot of good work to do." Jack continued to stare at Ethan while he walked out. How did he know his name? Jack rolled his eyes into the back of his head, rubbing his forehead while he tried to catch up to date. He slowly slid off the cot he was laying on and stepped on metal floor. The sub...

Finally, he was getting back to normal, realizing where he was, in the submarine; here in the place he'd be for the next few months 'helping humanity'. Jack looked to his left and then the right, noticing very rare and odd looking buttons. Before he could read or inspect them, a man made a grunt noise and then caught his attention. Jack looked up to see a man with a slight beard. Standing up straight, Jack stared at the man, wondering if the man would yell or even speak to him. Suddenly, the man said, "You can get out right there... Just climb."

Jack turned to see a ladder. A little guilty of being nosey, Jack failed to thank the man or glance back at him. Instead, Jack waked forward, grabbing both sides of the ladder and stepping up. Soon he could hear birds, smell sea water and see a clear blue sky up above him. Jack soon surfaced and was stunned to see a tropical scene around him. Only having seconds to look over at the trees and brush, a man with bug eyes broke the peaceful silence by saying something. "Dr. Shephard! Boy, are we glad to see you!"

Standing up once he got out, Jack was starting to get annoyed with everyone knowing who he was. The man wore a peach colored shirt and the wind made ripples in his clothes as he stood on a dock that led into what seemed like the island. "My name is Benjamin Linus, and I am glad you are going to be working for me."

Hours later, Jack was seated in what seemed like a city hall, empty and wide with windows. It was odd, because he i was /i on an island. But there was a town, a small village in the center of it, it seemed. Within the past hours, Jack was showed around. He saw the courtyard that laid in between houses that real people lived in. It was almost like a community. There were only adults in the small town, from what Jack could see. Ben, who introduced himself as the leader of the group of people, explained that he was born there and over time, they created a village there. Some people came to work and then stayed, never wanting to go home. Some people, Ben said, were destined to stay there, not being allowed to leave.

There were times when Jack thought that the whole idea of a group of people living on a random island was not very wise, but Ben assured that it was. The only problem was, there was a mysterious sickness showing up. It started as a fever, but it soon went away. However, that virus would cause other problems. One of which had to deal with the spine. That's why they came to Jack. Ben only briefly described it, but Jack's impression was that the fever or virus somehow eventually attacked people's spines, either with a tumor or shutting down the spinal cord down all together- which led to death if untreatable. And from what Ben said, their 'advances' weren't high tech enough to save the people who became paralyzed, which meant they'd die.

As Jack heard doors behind him open, he began to see people flood the room, taking seats as if they were going to a meeting or speech of some sort. Most of them noticed Jack, who was new, and they started whispering and spreading gossip. Jack was seated at the front, where Ben told him to wait while people came in. Eventually, the room was full and Ben quieted people down by stepping on the small stage before them.

"Ahem, is this on?" Ben asked into the speaker and then let out a sigh with a smile, "Hello, everyone. I'm sure you must be wondering why I called this meeting, but I must say, it's very important." Ben widened his eyes, scanning the room. There must had been at least 50 people in all. Ben was proud that he could have such a place, such a small clan enough to run on his own. Hopefully things would stay for the better, hopefully things would stay under control.

"As some you may know, the submarine came back from its trip today. The people who left are now back with us, safe and out of harm. But- we have a new resident for the time being, and his name is Jack, Jack Shephard."

Jack felt his face blush when he could feel everyone's eyes staring at him, either welcoming or like that guy in the sub- glaring. "Jack," Ben said in a demanding voice even, "would you mind coming up here?"

Sitting up, Jack was wondering what to do, so he stood and slowly stepped over to the stage and walked up, stopping right next to Ben. Ben smiled and then gleamed over at the rest of his people, "This man, is who we've been waiting for, this man, it going to save us. He's going to fix our problem."

Ben motioned for Jack to take the floor as people began applauding Jack. Whispering to just introduce himself, Ben then stepped off and stood at the side, watching as Jack stood in front of the community of people. Grunting into the mike, Jack let out a small laugh and then looked at the sea of people in front of him. Soon it became quiet; dead quiet. He was feeling odd since he was getting nervous only over a few dozen people. "Hi, I'm- I'm Jack. I'm a spinal surgeon from Los Angeles... I- I hope to help you guys, in some way." Jack stopped speaking, feeling as if the crowd hated him. He briefly looked over the faces, seeing only a few people who were older than their fifties. The youngest seemed to be in their teens, watching him with steady eyes. Was there something he forgot to say?

Jack smiled lightly and then stepped back, suddenly being swarmed with the sound of clapping and hollering. Out of no where these people were excited about him being here?

Ben clapped as well while he nudged in front of Jack, saying that dinner would be in the common area as a group to eat for the night. People already started going out and Ben smiled to look back at Jack, his bug eyes staring up at Jack. "Feel free to get to know people, Jack. I'd suggest that you do."

Later on, Jack was looking up at a large gazebo with lights and food displayed underneath. Dinner. Great, now people would turn bi-polar on him all night, Jack couldn't wait. By the time he grabbed some food and took a seat at a large table, his nerves were already gone. People came up to him, very friendly and even acted like they all knew him for years. Jack got countless pats on the backs from guys and quick embraces from women. Getting no hard or pushy questions, Jack was actually having a good time.

But Jack was feeling a little crowded, so he excused himself from the table and group of people greeting him. Jack walked off the gazebo and common area, rounding around by going near the side of a house. He didn't know where he was going, mainly cause it was night time. After a few minutes of standing around in silence, Jack sighed and then turned to go back; only, he didn't know where to go.

Jack stumbled through a few feet of brush, making sound and grunting while he trekked through. As he came out, Jack was shocked to see someone right in front of him, a woman. She was stopped, obviously distracted from what Jack was doing. She had a curious look on her face and seemed to be staring at Jack's awkward position. Straightening up, Jack was a little confused. He was no where near the party. So far he couldn't even hear it. The fact that it was dark and the woman was alone, Jack wondered if she was doing the same thing he was doing, just 'getting away'.

About to say something, Jack fully stepped out of the brush, tugging on his suit that he was wearing so it wasn't neat looking. But the woman said something first, in a soothing voice that seemed to ask a question she knew the answer to, "Lost?"

Jack let out a small chuckle, looking at the ground and then taking in a deep breath while he nodded slightly. The woman couldn't help but laugh mildly at the way he admitted it. She raised a hand to her face and tucked a long strand of curly brown hair behind her ear. Jack could feel her eyes on him, even though it was night time. He could tell she was staring him down, almost like every other person on the island. But something about her was different, instead of being obvious about watching him, she was more secretive about what she was observing.

To get her eyes back up on him, Jack asked, "You going back to the party?"

The woman fluttered back up to his attention and continued to stare with a emotionless face that seemed to look right through with him. Replying to his question, the woman turned her head to the side and shook it, "Nah- I'm- doing something else at the moment."

Since the woman seemed sad to say that, Jack said with a small laugh, "I wish I was too." Hearing that, the woman also caught herself laughing, showing a gentle smile that caused Jack's face to turn red.

The two stood in silence while they both let their smiles fade to nothing. Soon the woman tilted her head and asked in a questioning voice, "Are you the doctor?"

Jack bit his lip and then quickly answered with a yes, wondering why she didn't really know. "Were you not at the meeting?"

To answer his rightful question, the woman shook her head again, showing an embarrassed half smile, "I don't really do social things around here. Not what I do."

Jack didn't take her words seriously but played along, raising his eyebrows and subtly tucking his hands into his pockets, "Then what i do /i you do?"

The woman grinned, like she knew something Jack didn't. "Well, I don't know if I could explain, it's a little- hard to grasp."

Not able to hide a flirting smirk, Jack bit his bottom lip lightly before saying, "Try me."

Glancing down, obviously blushing, the woman soon nodded, ready to explain what her words meant. But braking their conversation, Ben's voice could be heard to their far left. "Jack?"

Both Jack and the woman looked over, almost sharing a moment of disappointment. The two of them knew Ben had barged in on them, but there wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Um, I should go," the woman said, turning away from where Ben was coming from and quickly walking away, leaving Jack by himself.

As Ben came over with a curious look, Jack stood still, watching Ben stop in front of him. "Where have you been, people have been asking for you?"

Jack sighed and then shrugged, "I needed a brake."

Ben nodded his head and then said, "So do I, all the time." Ben then started to lead Jack back to the party.

Not able to put the thought of meeting that woman out of his mind, Jack decided to ask, "Did you see that woman I was talking to?"

Staring ahead as if he didn't hear him, Ben quietly admitted, "Yes," in a deep and dark tone. Jack seemed to ignore it, because he was too busy realizing that his conversation with her was just as real as anyone else's. People on the island were too concerned about asking who he was and who they were, but with the woman he just met, they had an actual conversation- before it was interrupted.

"Do you know who she is?" Jack asked once the party started going into view.

Ben raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Jack. Almost in a disgusted voice, Ben said, " Her?" Ben shook his head and said in a mysterious voice that creeped Jack out, "Oh, don't worry, she's no one. "

Jack was about to ask what he meant, why he said no one, but he was soon bombarded with another list of people, asking more information out of him.

When the night ended, Jack was showed his new house. He was advised there were cameras in certain rooms and that he shouldn't try and escape, because it wasn't safe with 'wild animals' running around in the jungle near by. Jack listened to why he told to do and stayed inside, peeking out his window while he watched the rest of the town slowly settle down. Doors closed, lights shut off and soon all that could be heard were the crickets and insects buzzing around outside. Jack laid down in bed and closed his eyes. What the heck did he get himself into?