I didn't get any reviews last chapter. Little bummed, but ya know what? I'm still here and I'm still writing! Cause I absolutely love this story :) But If ya'll could spare the time to write a little somethin' something', I would be so grateful!
Oh! And a happy belated birthday to our very own Benjamin Linus, born December 19, 2014. His birthday could never be remembered in the series, but I made sure I did...ya know...because I have no life ;)
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0o0 Flashback 0o0
Ben and Annie walked through the long grass of the open plain. They were about a half an hour's walk from the village and coming ever closer to the pylon fence. Per Annie's request, Ben had agreed to walk her to the fence. Alex was on her hip and Ben was holding her other hand real tightly, as if he was afraid of letting her go.
It was deathly quiet, neither willing to speak, because Ben couldn't, and Annie was far too scared to. She was scared because she didn't know what could possibly be so wrong that she had to enter the jungle all on her own. She was scared because she didn't know what was going to happen at the village and to all of the people there. She couldn't help but want to grow wings and fly back and warn them of some great and impending danger. But she couldn't. Ben had said they couldn't. She didn't dare question him, not now, when he was so much more serious than he usually was.
They were finally there. The great iron barriers rose up in front of them, tall and proud in the beautiful summer day. It was sunny and warm and there was not a cloud in the sky. Annie couldn't help but think that it was inappropriate. The day should be dreary and gray, to match her mood. The sunny sky was not helping to brighten up her thoughts at all.
"Can't you and Alex come with me?"
Ben stopped walking. They were about two feet away from the fence. He shook his head and looked out into the jungle, refusing to look at her. "It's just not possible, Annie. I'm sorry."
"But, Ben...please tell me what's going on! I want to know!"
He chuckled bitterly. "Trust me, you really don't." He finally decided to look at her then. "It's better if you don't know."
She shook her head. "But-" Ben released her hand and she instantly felt cold. Finally accepting that he was firm in his resolve, as Benjamin Linus always was, she decided to stop pushing the issue. It was futile anyway. "When will you come and find me?"
"Soon," his reply was too curt and too strained, it frightened Annie. It made her heart constrict. Her heart hurt. "You have to be patient, Annie. And trust me."
She tried to smile but failed miserably. Far too many emotions were coursing through her veins as it was. "I do trust you. Always." She saw pain flash across Ben's face, but it was only for a second, so quick that she wondered if she had really seen it at all.
"Good. I'll take Alex now." He held out his hands and Annie handed him the baby. Once Alex was situated in one of his arms he looked back at Annie and her blood ran cold. His eyes were so hard, and yet they contained some kind of hidden warmth underneath. One of his hands rose up to brush back a rebellious lock of her hair. "Everything'll be okay. I'll see you soon."
Annie just nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, careful not to crush baby Alex. "Be careful," she whispered into his ear and then she kissed his cheek before drawing away.
"You too."
Then, Annie walked through the fence and into the jungle.
0o0 Flash to Present 0o0
"You might as well have just killed me, Ben. I died the day I thought you did." Annie refused to look at him after that. She hated the way he was making her feel. So angry. So conflicted. So enraged that she wished she could just kill him now. Childhood friends turned enemies. God, how she hated him.
"What do you mean?" His brows furrowed and she just looked at him.
"You're not serious?" When he didn't reply, she just scoffed. "You're thicker than I gave you credit for."
Ben frowned. "At least I saved you! At least I let you live!"
She smiled because he was getting just as angry as she. It made her feel so much less guilty that way. As long as Ben was angry, she could forget the side of him that had once been so...Ben. She could brand him as the ruthless, cold-blooded killer that he was.
"I was told that no one was to survive!" Ben continued. "Richard told me that everyone had to die. But I disobeyed to save you!"
She chuckled. "Look at you. So angry. I bet you actually think this anger is righteous, huh? You think that because you chose to save me that everything's alright." She was growing more and more hysterical by the second. "God! You actually think I should be thanking you for choosing to spare my life! Don't you?!"
Ben tried to move, but the ropes were far too tight. "Just...Calm. Down." He actually looked mildly nervous. Annie looked down to see that she was standing now and that she had unknowingly raised the rifle and pointed it straight at him.
She grinned and set the rifle up against a tree. "Don't tell me to calm down, Benjamin. I've spent twenty years in this jungle. Alone. I hear whispers and I think I'm going mad. Do you think I'm mad?" Ben refused to answer. "Do you?!" She screamed so loud that he actually jumped.
"One couldn't blame you if you were," came his quiet response.
She laughed, loud and clear. "That's right, Ben. And you wanna know something?" She walked up to him and knelt down so close that she was mere inches away from his face. "I hate you," she whispered in a seething voice. "I've spent years in this jungle learning what real hatred is. And you, Ben...I hate you most of all." He was staring back at her, refusing to give in and look away. It only made her more angry. That she should be so unhinged, and he still remain so calm and collected. But instead of showing her anger, she just smirked. "For twenty years I've been waiting for you to come back. In the beginning it was so that we could finally be reunited. But now...twenty years I have spent, waiting, being patient, for the opportunity that we could cross paths again. So that I could kill you."
Ben's eyes widened as she just looked back at him.
0o0 Flashback 0o0
Annie found the tree after only a few minutes of walking. She strode up to it and sat down, removing the canteen of water and the small pack filled with food from her shoulder. She took a big gulp of the water and removed an Apollo bar from the pack. She nibbled on the chocolate and sat up against the soggy surface of the tree. The jungle was a humid mess. She desperately wanted to walk, to somehow get away from all of the humidity. But Ben had told her to sit and wait. And so she did, counting the minutes until he would emerge through the underbrush and find her again.
But afternoon gave into evening, and evening into a deep, dark night. And there was still no Ben. Annie tried not to worry. Perhaps whatever he was doing was taking longer than he had expected. Whatever he was doing? Hell, Annie was worried.
The night was cold. She huddled up to keep warm.
The morning came. The hot and sticky morning. The sun rose high in the sky. Ben still didn't come. Doubt began to rise in Annie's chest, but she refused to acknowledge it. He would come. She just knew it.
But eventually Annie had to return to the world of the living. She had to think long and hard. Two days had come and gone and he still wasn't there. Three days passed. Annie barely left the tree. She watched eagerly all around her, waiting to see him. She knew her whole face would light up when she finally did.
Four days later, and there was still no sign of him or Alex. Annie couldn't believe it, but the truth was right there before her eyes.
Ben wasn't coming. Something had happened.
0o0 Flash to Present 0o0
"Kill me?" Ben echoed her last words. "Then, why haven't you already?"
"Eager, are we?"
He shook his head. "No. Just curious. If you hate me so much, why not get it over and done with?"
Annie leaned in even closer. She pulled a knife out of her belt and Ben flinched. She smirked. "Where-" she wrapped her arms around his back. He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact of the blade, but she surprised him. "-would be the fun in that?" He felt the binding around his wrist snap and go limp. She had cut him loose.
Faster than lightning, Annie moved out of his reach, but Ben wouldn't have done anything anyway, he was far too stunned by the turn of events.
"I just wanted you to know, Benjamin, that I'm alive. I wanted you to know and fear."
"I don't fear very easily." He brought his arms in front of himself and began rubbing his chafed wrists.
She smirked. "I know. I'm letting you go this time." She grabbed her rifle. "The next time, though, I won't be so merciful. Next time-" she pointed the rifle at him "-I will kill you. I swear it." Ben stood up and just listened to her, his face growing pale. She moved the gun closer to his face and he backed up a step. "Now, get the hell outta here!"
Ben didn't waste any time. He turned and he ran.
Annie just smiled and laughed manically as she watched him. "Until next time, Benjamin!" Her laugh followed him all the way back to the barracks.
Something Ben had feared for so long had finally happened.
His past had come back to haunt him. And she was mad. Absolutely, terrifyingly mad.
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If ya'll could spare the time to write a little somethin' something', I would be so grateful! They make me upload faster too! ;)
