Seventh Jump
Desmond was still staring over the ocean, only now he was at the port in Dover. He was standing on one of the jetties where a long line of sailing boats were being loaded with supplies, ready to embark upon Charles Widmore's solo race around the world. Penny was standing beside Desmond and his boat 'The Elizabeth'. She was holding his hand, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Why are you doing this?" Penny asked. "If you know you're going to end up stuck on that island then why are you going?"
Desmond considered her question for a moment. It was a fair enough question. Yet with a strange certainty he knew the answer.
"If I don't push that button every single one of us is dead."
Penny laughed, grimly. "So you're off to save the world, Desmond?"
He shrugged. "It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it."
Penny wiped her face with a handkerchief and glanced to the deck where Charlie was standing. He averted his eyes, pretending that he hadn't been watching their goodbye. He carried his guitar case down into the cabin.
"This is meant to be a solo boat race," she pointed out.
Desmond smirked and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm bringing a stowaway along with me. I reckon I can hide him in the wee cabinet under my bed. No one will notice him. He's only small."
Penny wasn't amused. She narrowed her eyes.
"You're taking him with you. Even though you've said that he is going to die on this island…you're still taking him along?!"
Desmond sighed. He knew the answer to this one too.
"Me and Charlie are in this together," he said simply. "I don't know why, but that's how it is. Besides…three years from now I am gonna need a musician to input a code so that we can send you a distress signal."
Penny snorted and started weeping once again.
"Three years!" she said through gritted teeth. "I want to come too, Des! I can't stand the thought of being without you for so long…"
He swallowed and shook his head firmly.
"If you come with us there'll be nobody there to pick up Charlie's transmission. This is our one chance, Pen! You've got to find the island before Naomi's boat. You have to get there first! Do you understand?"
"And what about Charlie?" she persisted. "Will you to be able to save him this time or are you leading him to his death again?"
Desmond sighed, heavily. "I don't know," he confessed. "That's the one piece of the puzzle I've always tried to change, but I…I don't know if I can. I think the universe wants him as a sacrifice or something...I don't know why. I've never understood it. But if it's possible for me to save him, I will."
Penny whimpered and wrapped her arms around him.
"I don't understand it either, love…" She whispered faintly, her tears falling on his shoulder, "…but I have faith in you."
Desmond held her tight. His eyes were welling up too. He glanced back onto the deck where Charlie was rigging the sail. The young Englishman noticed him crying and flashed him a sympathetic smile. Desmond buried his face in Penny's shoulder and sobbed. It was happening again. He was leaving his girl behind in England. He was taking his friend on a boat to the place of his death. These were the biggest mistakes of his life and it seemed like he was doomed to make them over and over again. But what choice did he have? If he didn't do these things the world would end. Desmond wept bitterly...because it felt like his world was ending anyway.
I can't do this again, he thought desperately to himself. I don't want to go to that bloody island! I want to stay here with them. Please don't make me go...
But there was no use in trying to hold onto this moment.
Desmond was already slipping away.
