Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

-If You Dare-

by CharliesHoodie

A/N: So, was the last chapter a cliff with a hanger or what? (I'm insane, I know. Cliff with a hanger.) Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

-The Jungle-

Kate quickly closed her eyes and opened them again the next second. She turned to run, but was instantly stopped by Charlie grabbing her arm and jerking her back around.

"Charlie, we have to run!" Kate screamed at him as the wisp of black smoke approached them quickly, flashing as if a lightening storm was going off inside it.

"No," Charlie told her, his voice shaking slightly. He had seen it before with Eko; he knew it would do nothing if they simply did not move. If they did move – he wasn't sure what would happen, but he was almost positive it would involve a few uprooted trees.

"Are you crazy!" she cried, trying to pull away. Charlie grabbed her upper arms from behind and turned her around to face the thing with him. "Don't run."

Kate felt a sob in her throat. Not because of the situation they were in, but because of all the people who had told her those same two words, and how she had never listened. And now look where she was.

In a matter of seconds, the monster was in front of them – flashing and churning it's dark smoke. Kate almost squeezed her eyes shut, but didn't when she saw a distorted face in the smoke.

"Tom?" Kate said in quiet alarm to herself, taking a step back in sudden fear and confusion.

But right after she said his name, his face disappeared into the smoke and more images of faces she didn't recognize came into view but suddenly flashed away as soon as they became clear.

Kate felt hot tears stream down her cheeks. She blinked them away, and when her eyes opened again, the only trace left of the monster ever being there was her fear.

Charlie instantly let go of her and she felt her legs give out suddenly. She fell to the ground, shaken and trembling as she wiped her eyes. It had only been his face, painted there like a picture, but it meant so much more to her than that.

Charlie looked shaken as well. His eyes had an alarmed look and he had drawn a little blood on his bottom lip from biting down too hard. Kate swallowed hard and looked up at him.

"What did you see?" she asked him.

Charlie shook his head, dismissing the thought. He extended a hand and pulled her up to her feet.

"Lets just go. We need to find them."

-The Beach-

Ana walked into her tent, pulling her hair into a messy bun and wiping sweat off the back of her tan neck. Her tent wasn't anything fancy like the other people on the beach. There hadn't been any fuselage left when the tail section got there, so her frame was wood loosely put together with a blue tarp stretched tightly across it. Some people got creative with their structures, but she didn't have time for that. And even if she did, she wouldn't want to get "creative."

Ana just wasn't that type of person. She had been a police officer, risking her life daily. Not an artist, where the only worry was getting enough money together to eat a little – not dying. She'd rather read an article than write fiction. Watch a play and be dreadfully bored than acting in it. Laugh at a stupid ballet than be in it.

Catch fugitives, not be one.

To her, fugitives were artistic and creative. After all, they were master escapees; hiding traces of wherever they had been. And that's why she didn't like them. That's why she didn't like Kate. And that's why she didn't get how Jack liked her.

Jack had some pride – he was a chief of surgery, came from a rich family and lived a pretty good life, as far as she could tell. Kate was nothing compared to him. So why did he absolutely love her? Or, the better question, why did everyone say he did?

Maybe he just didn't.

Ana shook her head and sat on a mat Hurley had woven for the tail section people once they had came. She lay down and was about to fall asleep before she saw a folded piece of paper next to her pillow. She quickly sat up again and briskly unfolded it.

She read through Kate's letter and Charlie's P.S. and snorted angrily. She was so close to just following them and pissing Kate off, but her nicer, more humane side knew she had to stay with these people and keep them from going absolutely insane without some person of authority.

She just hated how Kate was – never planning anything ahead of time, not telling people what they needed to be told.

Now Ana was at a place where she needed to tell people one thing or the other – the truth or a lie. And she wasn't certain which to pick.

-The Jungle-

Charlie and Kate walked in their anticipated direction, hoping they were right. They had been silent ever since the monster left them alone; they both knew the other one was questioning what they saw.

"You think we're all just insane?" Kate finally spoke up, trying to lighten her mood by letting out a half-hearted laugh.

"Kate, with everything that's happened here…I would certainly say so," he joked, slowing down so she could walk next to him. "But seriously – what are the chances that we'd all be insane together?" he said with a slight smile. "I think this is all real."

Kate looked down, unsure of what she thought of the situation. It had felt real, that was for sure. Everything here felt real. Who was to say it wasn't real?

"Only years of scientific studies. And the occasional law of science and common human beliefs," Kate thought to herself with a grim smile.

She wanted so badly for it all to be a bad dream that she would wake from any second – or some very well designed prank. But deep inside, she knew it wasn't. Everything she felt and saw here was real.

"Charlie, we can't stop."

But Charlie had already thrown down his backpack in the small clearing and was wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Kate, it's pitch black outside and we'll just get lost."

"Jack and Sawyer are still out there!" she cried, pointing in the direction they were headed. But she had to admit that even with a flashlight, they wouldn't get too far.

"I know they are, and I want to find them just as much as you do, but we can't put ourselves in danger right now. What use are we going to be to them if we're lost…or worse?"

Kate knew he was right, but she couldn't help feeling bad about it. Reluctantly, she tossed her pack down on the ground next to Charlie's.

"We're going to head out right when the sun starts coming up," Charlie promised her, seeing the sadness in her eyes. He squeezed her hand gently, grabbed a flashlight, and went out in the woods to collect firewood.

Kate waited until the beam from Charlie's flashlight disappeared to dig in her bag for hers. Once she got a hold of it, she pulled it out and clicked the switch on.

The small, dark clearing spread out in front of her and she gasped slightly at its beauty. It reminded her of the woods back home that she used to play in. That was one thing she loved about the island – the naturalness of it didn't scare her at all.

Once Charlie got back, she took some of the branches and sticks from him and they made a small, arranged stack. Charlie put some dry grass and leaves around and on the pile and then lit the pile with a cigarette lighter.

Kate's eyes fixated on the lighter. It was a metallic blue, and she instantly knew it was Sawyer's.

"I don't smoke," Charlie told her, noticing that she was looking at it. "I don't do legal stuff," he tried to joke, but instantly feeling stupid.

"It's Sawyer's," Kate said, looking back up.

"Yeah, I got it out of his tent," Charlie said, pocketing it. "Figured it would be ok, since he isn't here to beat me up."

Kate smiled slightly and sat down on her blanket, huddling closer to the fire.

"Charlie?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the flames. "What did you see?"

Charlie fidgeted nervously and he absently snapped a twig. "Promise me you won't think I'm crazy?"

"Just wait till you hear about what I saw," she answered with a comforting smile.

Charlie relaxed slightly. "I saw people I knew – their faces." He shrugged. "I don't know what to make of it."

Mostly, he had seen Liam. But he also had recognized Lucy and his other band mates. There had been no explanation – no reason whatsoever.

"So did I," Kate answered, feeling relieved that she wasn't the only one who had seen these faces and images. They both shared comforting smiles.

"Here," Charlie said, digging around in his pack. He tossed a mango to Kate and grabbed one for himself. "I thought it would be easier to eat fruit than cook something on a fire."

Kate nodded in agreement and pulled one of Locke's hunting knives out of her pack. She carefully sliced the mango into thirds and then passed Charlie the knife. Charlie laughed.

"Thirds?" he said with a smile as he simply sliced down the middle of his.

Kate smiled back slightly and ate.

They ate together in silence. The whole time, Kate was thinking about Sawyer and Jack. Why was Sawyer with Jack in the first place?

Kate wiped juice off her mouth and tossed out the rest of her mango. "What do you think happened?" She asked Charlie.

Charlie swallowed his bite. "Obviously, the Others took them. I guess they were together, unless they went out of their way to get the other one if they specifically wanted both Sawyer and Jack."

Kate shook her head. "No, they were together. I think they wanted one or the other."

Charlie shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, really, who knows what's going on in their heads?"

"I just hope they're ok," Kate said, pulling her blanket over her shoulders and staring into the fire.

-The Beach-

Hurley took Libby's hand, a blush rising in his plump cheeks.

"Can I show you something?"

Libby was standing on the beach, brushing out her hair – wet and matted from swimming. She stopped brushing and turned to look at him.

"What are you showing me?"

Hurley quickly let go of her hand. "I…uh…I made a golf course up in the hills. I was going to see if you wanted to play a game…"

"I'm no good at golf…" Libby said with a shrug, turning back to brush her hair.

Hurley's shoulders slumped even more than they had been. He started to turn away, embarrassed.

"…But I'd like to learn," Libby finished. Hurley turned back around, relieved. She smiled at him and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Great, come with me," Hurley said, taking her hand again with confidence and leading her down the beach.

Just then Ana came out of her tent, arms crossed tightly over her chest and her eyebrows furrowed. She spotted Hurley and Libby walking away from the beach.

"Go back," she ordered, not even looking at them as she walked by briskly.

"Friendly," Libby said to Ana's back, edge in her usually light voice.

"I guess this is one of their official island meeting things," Hurley said with a sigh, leading Libby back to the main area of the beach.

"Ok, people," Ana's deep voice rang out, lined with irritancy.

A few people stopped to look at her, not used to having her talk to them.

"Hey, where's Jack?" someone asked her.

"That's what I'm going to tell you," Ana said.

This got everyone's attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around where Ana was.

Hurley and Libby walked over to where Sun and Claire stood. Claire was bouncing Aaron gently and talking to Sun in a hushed whisper at the same time.

"Dude, Claire, do you know where Charlie is?" Hurley asked.

Claire paused for a moment, and then shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Four people are missing," Sun said, her face marked with worry.

"Ana should know things, though," Libby said with a dismissing shrug.

Claire looked over at Ana and scowled. "What does she think she's doing? Doesn't she know what people think of her?"

Everyone around them fell silent when Ana started to speak, eagerly awaiting news of the people that were missing.

"Some of you might already know this, but Sawyer and Jack were taken," Ana announced. Most of the camp started talking loudly, their voices scared as they tried to get more information from Ana.

"Calm down!" Ana nearly screamed. "Charlie and…Kate went after them to find the Others' camp. No one needs to panic, all right? We're just going to-"

"We need to go after them!" someone called out.

Ana shook her head. "No. We're all staying here until I get some news. I'm not risking anyone's life."

"That's a change," Libby muttered under her breath, remembering the first forty-eight days.

-LOST-

A/N: I hope you liked it. Kiss is writing the next chapter, and I'm sure it will be awesome.

Review Responses for Chapter 1 (by CharliesHoodie):

jimmy-barnes-13: Thank you :-) It gets a lot better!

speckled girl: Thank you! I'm sure you'll like this story. We update every five days, since the story is still being written. We have up to 6 chapters right now.

Macdaddymom: You don't read much Charlie? o I guess it's good we have a lot of other characters! Thank you for the review!

meangenius: Thank you! Keep in mind that the reason chapter one seemed like it was written by one person was because it was! We write one chapter each, we don't write one chapter together. You probably knew that, I just misunderstood. Thank you for the kind review. I think you'll really enjoy the rest of the story.

Review Responses for Chapter 2 (by kissbangx3):

Macdaddymom: I can't say I blame you for worrying about Ana, I'd feel the same way. I appreciate all the praise and, of course, the review!

Ernil i Pheriannath: Sorry for the cliffie. This one wasn't nearly as bad. Thanks for the review!

xx-steph-xx-falco-xx: Sorry, we're not spoiling it by giving out the pairings yet, but keep reading and you'll find out! I'm glad you like it so far!

Spice of Life: Thanks, and here's your update!

meangenius: Yay, a long review! I'm hurt for Charlie that he's not your favorite, but I'm glad you said he had a great sense of humor. And I can't say I disagree about Sawyer… anyway, thanks, hope you like this chapter!

jimmy-barnes-13: Gotta love Charlie. Thanks for the review!

speckled girl: Yeah, I always liked the Charlie/Kate friendship in the show. I'm glad you do, too. Unfortunately there wasn't any Jack or Sawyer in this one, but you'll see them soon! Thanks for the review!

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