Disclaimer: I do not own Lost.
Chapter 4
Daniel was distracted, so he did not realize they had arrived at the barracks until he almost walked into Sawyer. The only reason he didn't is because Jin reached out and stopped him in time. After gathering his bearings, he looked at what the rest of the group was staring at. There, directly in front of them, were the barracks. They looked as if they had just been recently built. There were many people moving about, and no one was paying them any attention. Suddenly, a man turned and looked directly at them.
"Son of a bitch" Sawyer whispered in shock.
"What is it now?" Miles asked dryly.
"That's the guy from the Dharma videos" Sawyer replied. He looked as if he wanted to say more, but he fell silent when the man began to approach them.
"Wow, someone can shut you up, Sawyer. I never thought I'd see the day" Juliet smirked.
"Shut up" Sawyer shot back.
The man approached the group, and surveyed them. "Hello, I am Dr. Pierre Chang. I have a feeling that we have a lot to discuss. Come with me" Without waiting for a response, Chang turned and walked away. The five exchanged glances, and continued after him. Daniel was looking at everything around him, searching for two things. He was trying to see what year it was, and he was also looking for a young Charlotte. He could not find either, and his heart sunk.
Chang led them to a clearing where no one was around. He gestured for them to sit, and then he sat as well. He surveyed them again and spoke. "Again, I am Dr. Pierre Chang. I am a scientist here. We are part of an organization known as the Dharma Initiative. We live here on this island so we can carry out our experiments without the influence of the outside world. Now, I would like to know who you are and how you got on this island"
Juliet spoke, jumping in before Sawyer could say a word. "We were on a sailing trip, and we got caught in a storm. Our boat broke apart, and we swam to shore. We decided to explore to see if we could find anyone to help us. We eventually came across tire tracks, and we decided to follow them. My name is Juliet Stevens"
Sawyer glanced at Juliet, annoyed that she had spoke before he could. "Name's Sawyer Jones"
Jin had been following the conversation intently. He spoke up hesitantly "I…Jin Park"
"He don't speak English too well" Sawyer said.
"Miles Young" Miles gave a short wave in greeting.
Chang turned towards Daniel. "And you?"
Daniel was pacing, studying his surroundings and not paying attention to the conversation. Sawyer sighed in frustration "Hey Danny Boy, the Doc here wants to know your name"
Daniel turned to everyone, startled. "Sorry. I was just…" he looked at everyone, and trailed off, not wanting to go into an in depth explanation. "Never mind. I'm Daniel Matthews"
"Where are you guys from? What do you do? Juliet?" Chang asked.
"I'm a nurse and I'm from Florida. Miami, specifically" Juliet responded calmly.
"Sawyer?" he question simply, not showing any emotion.
"I'm from all over. I'm a construction worker, so I go where I can find work" Sawyer drawled. He had made himself comfortable, leaning against a tree.
"What about you, Miles?" Chang turned his calm gaze towards Miles, catching him off guard.
"Oh. I'm an accountant, and I'm from California" Miles said quickly.
"All right. I'm guessing Jin's from…Korea?" Chang shot a questioning glance at Jin.
Jin nodded in response "Businessman"
"I'm from Massachusetts, and I'm a…physicist" he spoke, not meeting anyone's eye and pacing around the small clearing.
"We've noticed he don't have very good people skills" Sawyer said, studying Daniel as if he were expecting a reaction. He was disappointed. Daniel was ignoring what was going on around him.
Juliet sighed, shooting him a concerned glance. "Is there something wrong with him?" Chang asked quietly.
"I don't think so" Juliet responded, thinking quickly. "His girlfriend was on the boat with us, but we don't think she made it" She stuck to their story, but threw in enough truth so Daniel's actions would be easily explained.
Chang nodded. "I'm sure you all want to get home, but organizing ways off here are extremely difficult. Would you mind staying here for awhile until we decide what we should do?"
"Not at all, Doc" Sawyer chuckled. "I thought we wouldn't survive to see any sort of civilization, so seeing these houses makes me happy"
"We have a few empty houses. The five of you can stay in one of them. I'll take you there now, and I'll send someone to bring you food and clothes later on today. Follow me" Chang got up, and began to walk out of the clearing. Jin walked over to Daniel to gesture to him that they were leaving, and the group walked back into the sea of houses until Chang stopped at one near the edge of the community. "You can stay here. I will see you again when we have come to a decision about how we should deal with your situation" Chang let them in the house, and then left.
Sawyer immediately went to explore the rest of the house, and returned momentarily. "All right, here's the deal. There are three bedrooms and one bathroom. How should we do the sleeping thing?"
"How many beds in each room?" Miles asked.
"One room has one, the other has two" Sawyer replied.
Juliet jumped into the conversation "I can have the room with one bed. You guys can decide who's sharing with who"
Sawyer smirked. "I'll take Jinbo. Genghis and Whiz Kid can have the other"
Later, Jin, Sawyer, Juliet, and Miles were sitting in the kitchen, sorting through everything that a woman had just dropped off for them. Daniel was sitting in the living room, reading Charlotte's letter for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was recently written, but it looked worn already. After he finished reading, he looked at the sea of houses surrounding him. Charlotte hadn't even been born yet. He had gotten the date from the woman who had visited. It was April 2, 1979. She would not be born for another three months. He knew, though, that she had spent the first few years of her life here, and that she had lived in one of the houses that he had seen. Daniel shook his head, and decided to join everyone in the kitchen. He was almost at the doorway when he heard his name.
"I'm really worried about Daniel" Juliet sighed, setting down something.
"He'll be fine" Sawyer said. "All we have to do is give him a decent puzzle to solve and he'll be as good as new in no time"
"I don't think it's that simple, Sawyer" Miles added his opinion. "He loved her"
"What?" Sawyer and Juliet said together.
"He loved her. He told that Richard guy when he asked how he could be sure Daniel wouldn't blow up the Island. At first, I thought that he was lying. Charlotte did, too. After he left, he told Charlotte that he meant it. Daniel was never able to lie to her" Miles said.
"Well, if he loved her then he might just jump into Crazytown" Sawyer responded.
"You mean have a breakdown?" Juliet asked, obviously concerned.
"Yeah. He wasn't very stable to begin with…" Sawyer responded. Daniel had heard enough, and walked away.
The next morning, Pierre Chang knocked on the door. Once everyone had gathered in the living room, he began to speak. "Hello. I trust your first night here was satisfactory" The five nodded, and he continued. "Now, if it is all right with you we would like to employ you here for an indefinite amount of time. We have a need for someone experienced in healthcare. We have a doctor, but he needs help. There are too many people here for one person to be able to attend to them all. Juliet, since you're a nurse, we could definitely use you. Daniel, you are a physicist. We have recently discovered something that might be of great interest to you. Jin and Sawyer, you could help with the construction that is going on here. We are building research stations, and we could always use extra help. Miles, since you're an accountant you can help keep track of our finances. Would you like to stay here?"
The group exchanged glances, then nodded.
"Ok, you will all start your jobs next week, except for Jin. Jin, we are bringing a person here to teach you how to speak English. She will be here next week as well. Do you understand?"Chang asked.
Jin nodded "Yes".
A week had passed. The people were all given time off to welcome the new recruits. Daniel was standing with the rest of his group, but he was not paying attention to their conversation. Lately, this was normal for him. In the group of new arrivals, he spotted a woman with long red hair before he turned away, not wanting another reminder of Charlotte. He tried to pay attention the conversation that the others were having, but coming in during the middle of it made things difficult.
A man named Horace Goodspeed walked over to the group with two people following him. One was the red-haired woman, and the other was a man. Both looked vaguely familiar. The woman was visibly pregnant.
Horace greeted the group, and then began introductions. "Everyone, this is James and Jeanette Staples. Jin, Jeanette is going to be responsible for teaching you English"
With those words, Daniel's earlier assumptions were confirmed. He knew why they looked familiar. The man and woman were Charlotte's parents, and he was willing to bet anything that in a few short months they'd have a little girl named Charlotte.
