A Different Place and Time – Ch. 10
Authors Note: So I know this chapter took a long time…and I know it's on the shorter side…but it is the set up for what is to come next. Barring any crazy twists that I haven't yet foreseen, Chapter 11 will be the last chapter! So hold on tight…it's the beginning of the end!
"We're all walking a fine line and I'm
Walking towards you, and I
Hope that I'm right in thinking, I'll never walk alone
I'm always running from something
Now I'm running towards you
It may not be the right thing, but it's what I want to do
I'll be biding my time, and I'll be
Watching my step, 'cause I don't want to
Be starting something here that I might live to regret
'Cause I have learnt my lesson
And I have learnt it well
There are some things in this life best left for time to tell
I believe I could safely lay my life down in your hands
I believe that's what I'd do if you gave me half the chance
In a different time, in a different place
I could see myself with you
And in a different time and a different place
I believe you could see yourself there too"
Different Time, Different Place ~Julia Fordham
2007
Hurley noticed that the orchid station looked the same as it had three years earlier when he had made the same trek with Locke and Ben. Although rundown and overgrown, the structure retained a natural beauty that anyone could appreciate. Hurley looked over and saw Miles kicking around rocks and poking at the plants…'almost anyone' he thought.
"So like, what are we going to do now that we're here dude?" Hurley asked.
"I'm going to use the special energy of the island to bring us back to 1977." Richard replied simply. "Your friends are there and they are in trouble. We need help them and get them back to where they belong."
"But when Ben went down there he like, moved the island. Are you going to move the island too?"
"No," Richard replied. "I'm simply going to take us back in time."
"More flashes?" Jin asked.
"Just one." Richard replied.
"And what are we supposed to do when we get there?" Sun asked.
"You'll know." Bram replied.
"What is it with you people?" Miles interjected. "Can't you just give us a straight answer?"
"It's not something that can be explained." Ilana responded. "You all were brought to the island for a specific reason. The lives you had been living before coming here were often marred with trouble, secrets, bad choices and bad experiences. The island brought you here so that you could have a second chance. In return, now you have to help the island."
"Help the island do what?" Miles asked.
"Continue existing." Richard replied.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Jin questioned.
"It can't be explained." Ilana responded. "You'll just know."
Miles, Jin, Sun and Hurley looked at the other three like they were crazy.
"Please," Ilana continued. "Just trust us. We will protect you."
"Yeah right." Miles muttered.
"All right this is how it's going to work." Richard said, ending the conversation. "The four of you will follow Bram and Ilana over to the well. I will go down into the Orchid station and turn the wheel. After the flash you must all stay exactly where you are. Do not move from the spot you end up in until I rejoin you. Is that clear?"
The four nodded their heads.
"You may see things or hear things that would cause you to want to move or help," Richard continued. "But you must stay where you are. Bram and Ilana will keep you safe from harm, please do whatever they say until I return."
With that Richard entered the Orchid and the rest of the group moved toward the well. Jin placed his arm around Sun's shoulders, knowing she was worried about what was to come.
"We'll get through this." He whispered in her ear.
She smiled and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I love you," she whispered back.
Upon reaching the well, they did the only thing they could do…they waited.
1977
Sayid tightened his grip around Ben's neck and pushed the steel tip of the gun forcefully into his temple.
"You just won't die, will you?" He spat at Ben, and then proceeded to shove him to his knees. Placing the gun against the back of his neck, he prepared to shoot him.
"Any last words?" Sayid asked.
"Sayid wait!" Juliet protested as she struggled to stand up. "What…" She paused, not knowing what exactly was happening. "How did you get here, and what are you doing? We thought you were dead."
"Oh I'm very much alive Juliet." Sayid responded. "And I'm here to fulfill my purpose once and for all."
"What purpose is that?" She asked.
"To kill Benjamin Linus."
Ben just shook his head and laughed, which only seemed to enrage Sayid further. He pulled the trigger, which caused Ben to jump, but the gun jammed.
Ben laughed again. "You can't kill me." He said. "Any more than I can kill you. We're past all that now. Only the island can control who lives or who dies."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sayid asked, faltering slightly now that the gun posed no threat.
Ben stood up; gun still in hand "It simply means it's not up to you anymore." He said, looking from Sayid to Juliet.
But Juliet wasn't looking at him, instead he watched as a huge smile spread over her face.
Sawyer, Jack and Kate had circled through the trees and were getting ready to ambush Ben from behind when Sayid appeared out of nowhere. The three watched as he forced Ben to his knees and prepared to shoot him. Kate shot forward, with intentions of stopping him but Jack held her back.
"Just wait." He whispered. "Let's see what happens."
"We can't just let him shoot him." She protested.
Jack just stared at her for a second. "Why not?" he asked clearly confused.
Kate started to speak but realized she didn't have an answer to that question, so she just shook her head.
They all crouched down and watched as Sayid attempted to shoot Ben and were stunned when the gun jammed. As Ben started laughing, Sawyer had seen enough.
"That's it." He growled. "Time to move in."
Despite their hushed protests he moved forward. He crept as quietly as he could but a twig snapping on the ground under his foot grabbed Juliet's attention—Ben and Sayid however, continued arguing. He wanted to warn her to keep quiet but he couldn't help but smile at her. He'd seen her just that morning, but after the harrowing day they'd all had, it felt like it had been much longer than that. Sensing Kate and Jack were behind him he stepped out into the clearing and listened to the sweet sound of Juliet's voice as she whispered his name.
2007
The group didn't have to wait long. Only moments after reaching the well, it started. The ground began to shake and a noise, quiet at first, slowly began to grow louder. It pierced their skulls, causing everyone to cover their ears. The light overtook them all at once. Blinding white. And then they were falling…
1977
"James" Juliet whispered, half thinking he was a figment of her imagination, but as Jack and Kate walked up behind him, relief flooded through her. She didn't realize how hard it had been to keep things together until she caught site of them.
Hearing Juliet's whisper Ben turned and watched as the trio entered the clearing. Sawyer immediately moved forward towards Juliet, but before he could reach her, Ben's cold, calculating voice stopped him.
"Well hello James." He said. "Made it here quick didn't you." Jack and Kate aimed their guns at Ben, causing him to quickly surrender his by placing it on the ground.
"Had some help gettin' here." Sawyer spat as he continued towards her. "A little bug eyed kid couldn't wait to tell me where to find you." He said, nodding towards Juliet. She nodded back, signaling all was okay.
"I know." He said, shaking his head. "I always did have a thing for you." He said turning to look at Juliet, watching as Sawyer strategically placed himself between him and her. "I would have done anything to help you, so long as it made you like me. But you never really did like me, did you Juliet." He asked, rhetorically.
"You…you remember?" Juliet asked, reaching forward to grab the hand that Sawyer had placed behind his back. She knew in her mind it was possible, but the implications of his memories of knowing her as a child put a whole new perspective on the sequence of her life on the island.
"Of course I remember Juliet." He said. "Why do you think I went to so much trouble to bring you here?" He asked, pausing dramatically. "To keep you here." He added.
She shuddered and automatically took a step toward Sawyer, thinking about the conversation they'd had in a different place and time where that statement had been followed by 'you're mine'.
"I lost you once." He reminisced. "And it took me years to find you again. So this time around I had to make sure that I didn't lose you again."
"What do you mean you had to make sure?" Jack asked, not really understanding what Ben was talking about.
"Why do you think I moved the island?" Ben asked. "You all know now that it was Locke who was supposed to move it. But I did instead." He paused. "It was the only way to get you back here—to change the timeline."
"Change the timeline?" Kate questioned.
"Last time I watched you all die." Ben stated simply. The five looked at him like he was crazy.
"This is ridiculous. I don't want to hear anymore." Sayid said.
Sawyer, Kate and Jack looked at Sayid, truly noticing him for the first time.
"Sayid?" Jack questioned, much like Juliet had only moments ago. "How did you…" But Jack never finished; instead they were overtaken by a deafening noise and a bright white light…
As quickly as it began it was over. Juliet slowly uncovered her eyes and looked around. Everyone else was in a similar state, with either their eyes or their ears covered. She did a mental head count to make sure that everyone was still there. She moved from one to the next—James, Jack, Kate, Ben, Sayid, Locke. She blinked and he smiled. Locke?
TBC