Upstaging Illusion

Chapter Three

"I'm sorry if you thought I was ignoring you on the trip back," Desmond bowed his head. He continued walking by Ewan's side as the headed to the water for a swim. It had been Ewan's idea to swim in the first place and Desmond had just nodded and smiled. Now, Desmond was regretting his inability to speak up and say no.

Ewan's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something. "I--no. No, that's not…"

"You're very talkative, you know," Desmond raised his head a bit. "I suppose I was just tired of the questions, brotha." He laughed and began to take longer strides.

"Mmm," Ewan pondered over what Desmond meant. Should he stop asking questions then, or did Desmond find it amusing? He stopped at where the water barely touched his toes and took off his shoes and shirt. He tossed them to the side and began un-buckling his belt.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Desmond asked tentatively. He was already on his way to the water, his bare back in the sun and the edges of his jeans damp.

"Swimming," Ewan replied innocently. He continued undressing until he was down to his boxers. Then he ran into the water and dove in.

Desmond laughed at the sight of him, smiling in the bright, fresh air and salty waves. He imagined Ewan liked the water, but Des couldn't say the same for himself after that boat accident three years ago. He slowly walked in up to his knees but then stopped and stared into the glassy, green sea.

"What?" Ewan joked. "You scared?"

Desmond shook his head no and continued in until the water was up to his waist. Ewan swam to meet him. "You okay, Des?"

"Yep."

Ewan dove under the water, splashing Desmond in the face as he did. He emerged shaking his spiky hair dry. Desmond smiled. He wouldn't dare go under the waves like Ewan, he was too afraid they would wash him back to shore.

Ewan asked, "Didn't your family ever go to the lake?"

"Yeah…" Desmond looked away.

"This one time," Ewan began. "When I was like eight, we went to Loch Ness." He said "Loch Ness" in a funny voice that made the two of them chuckle. "And my brother, Colin--well I was so bloody terrified to go in 'cause all the legends and shite--and so Colin shoved me in the lake! It was horrible!"

"So…" Desmond concluded. "You don't like lakes?"

"Oceans, lakes… not really," Ewan grinned, realising his mistake in saying this.

"Then why are we swimmin', brotha?"

"I thought you liked swimming!" Ewan laughed. "You're always telling me how you were in a marathon or something."

"I told you about that once. And it was a race around the world, not a marathon. And marathons don't involve swimming anyway."

"They don't?"

Desmond shook his head.

"Race round the world, eh? Was that the one for your girl?"

"Penny."

"Same thing."

"Yes, that was the er… race for Penny."

Ewan smiled. "Who knows, Des. Maybe she's still looking for you. Right now."

"Hmm…" Des watched as Ewan gazed out at the vast sea.

Suddenly, Ewan raised his arm and pointed at something. "Hey, is that… is that a boat?"

Now, Desmond was interested. He swam around Ewan so that he could see what the actor was pointing at. It did indeed look like a boat skimming across the water. "Yeah…" Desmond frowned.

Ewan turned back and looked at Des. "Well who the hell do you think that is?" he asked.

Scratching his head as he thought, Desmond replied, "I don't know."

Ewan reached up his arms and smoothed his hands across his hair. Then he rested his hands on the back of his head. He thought aloud, "Hmm… the Others maybe. Aw shite that'd be bad… what if.." He suddenly nudged Desmond's shoulder and giggled, "What if it's Penny heroically crossing the seas to save you?"

Desmond smiled. "Unless Penny has short, greasy hair and a southern accent, I'd say that's Sawyer, brotha."

"What?" Ewan did a double-take, making sure Desmond was right. Sawyer, Kate and an unconscious man, who was probably Jack, were rowing their way to the island. Ewan looked back at Des, "Do you think we should go out to meet them?" Desmond replied with a shrug and Ewan began wading out.

Soon, he had reached the boat, his fingers clamped onto the side for support and his legs kicking. "Sawyer!" he smiled. "Kate!" He looked toward the back of the boat. "Is Jack alright?"

Sawyer's smirk quickly changed into a serious glare. "That's not Jack," he said.

"What?"

"It's not Jack, dumbass," he said. "It's some kid we picked up named Karl."

"Oh," Ewan looked wearily back at Desmond who was already out of the water and drying himself off.

"You checking him out, pretty-boy?" Sawyer smirked at his own joke.

Ewan frowned as the boat slowed down and he helped them drag it on to shore. Once he had helped Kate and Karl out of the boat, the four of them were hovering round Karl, trying to wake him up.

Kate suggested, "Ewan, Desmond, why don't you go get help. Get Locke or Eko or someone."

"Er… yeah," Ewan began backing away towards his clothes. "I'll go get Locke." He slipped one leg into his pants.

Desmond gritted his teeth. "I'll go too, I suppose…" he muttered.

"Hurry," Kate warned.

With this, Ewan forgot about his shoes and shirt and raced into the jungle after Desmond. He hoped that this bloke Karl would be alright.


Lost is back! I really liked the new episode, but I can't wait for the Valentines Day episode. You know they made the Desmond-centric episode air on Valentine's Day for a reason... ME!

I am really not sure how to spell Carl/Karl's name. (One of the mysteries of Lost.) I usually call him by "Carl/Karl", but it didn't seem right here. So I spelt it with a K because that's how my friend spells it.

Well this is more like a mini chapter because nothing really happened, but there was some nice fluff and stuff. Don't worry, I'm sure the next episode will give me plenty of ideas for chapters!!

-Got Scots?