Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own

-A Storm is Coming-

by kissbangx3

A/N: Don't mind her—last chapter was great, eh? Anyway, I hope you like this one!

-The Beach-

Not everyone was thrilled about Jack's return. "Not everyone" being John Locke, anyway. He was glad their doctor was all right, but he wasn't pleased that their secretive leader was back in the throne.

He hadn't said anything to Jack, but he'd noticed a few other people complaining about it. They never faced Jack with their questions, but they did seem to worry.

"We have to get them back," someone was saying. "They're killers. They're going to kill all of them."

"If they haven't already," added someone else. Locke couldn't agree more.

But before they could create any kind of plan, Jack himself walked up to them.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked calmly. Ana Lucia was next to him, not looking as cheerful but still looking a lot happier than she'd been when she was the unwanted leader.

"Still lost on an island," Hurley said grimly. "Not much has changed."

He hadn't talked much with Libby since Jack had returned. A few days had passed, and even though he approached her a few times, she felt distant with him. Hurley didn't know what was going on, and Libby didn't seem very eager to explain.

But as a crowd gathered around them, Libby also came. She didn't stand next to Hurley, but her eyes did meet his. He couldn't quite label her expression. Was it apologetic or was it still closed off?

As Locke confronted Jack about his dishonesty, Hurley left the crowd as quietly as possible and circled around to Libby.

"Hey, I really want to talk to you," he told her.

She looked nervous. "Uh, maybe another time," she said politely. "I really want to know what's going on…"

He shrugged. "Lies? Fights for leadership? Nothing important."

She bit her lip and turned to him. "Okay," she said with a sigh, "fine."

"Great," he said, a smile breaking onto his face. He didn't know what was going on with her, but he knew that he'd missed her.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

He frowned. "Okay, so… not to be forward or rude or anything, but, like, why have you been avoiding me?"

She blushed. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Isn't it kinda obvious? We went from seeing each other all the time to… like… not." How eloquent, he thought to himself, but Libby didn't seem to mind.

"I know," she said with a sigh. "It's just that—er—I really like spending time with you, you know? But we have so many different beliefs, and I just don't want to fight with you right now."

"Just because we have different beliefs doesn't mean we'll fight," he argued. "We've managed so far."

She frowned. "I know. I'm just…"

He shrugged again. "What?"

"I'm not sure about anything."

-Flashback, 8 Years Ago-

"4-8-15-16-23-42."

Libby felt her head swelling with a migraine. She knew she should be used to everything by now, but she still felt a wave of depression every morning she got up. She didn't belong here, and it was driving her insane.

"Dude, you're an idiot."

Finally, someone who knew what was going on. Libby glanced up to see a very overweight man who was cute in his own way. He was laughing and pointing, but she couldn't see who he was talking to. The man chanting the numbers didn't seem to notice; he simply repeated them over and over.

"Okay, Libby, here are your pills." Libby's doctor, Phoebe Reynolds, was smiling pleasantly down at her. "Go ahead and take them."

"Thanks," Libby lied as she accepted them. She hadn't taken the pills once in her life. As Phoebe left, Libby started to hide them, her eyes still on the man. But his head turned, his mouth still forming a smile, and he looked at her. She shuddered, not sure what to do, and before she could stop herself, she was shoving the pills down her mouth.

Libby wasn't sure why she had taken them, but she never wanted to be suspected of faking the insanity plea. She would love to get out of the asylum, but not in favor of jail. These people were insane, but not dangerous, really. They probably thought she was, but she didn't have anything to worry about.

From that day forward, Libby took her pills every day. A few days a month, the man would look over and notice her, but he never approached her, and she didn't dare, because the more time Libby spent taking pills and being told she was insane, the more insane she became.

-Present Day, The Beach-

"Libby, if there's something you're not telling me, you can trust me," Hurley said. "I mean, I found out Kate was an ex-con, and we're still pals."

Libby laughed. "Sorry. I've just been thinking more about my past lately, and when I do things like that, I mostly like keeping to myself."

He shrugged. "Nah, it's cool. But, I mean, if you ever wanted to talk to me about your past or whatever, that's cool too. Because the whole psychology thing is pretty awesome."

She laughed. "What, sitting around while people complain about their lives? Yeah, how admirable."

"No, I mean it," he said. "Okay, don't get freaked out, but I was in a mental hospital for a while, and the psychologists really helped me out."

She stiffened. This was the perfect time to tell him. But could she?

"What?" he asked, sensing her discomfort. "It doesn't freak you out, does it? Because I'm totally sane now."

"No, it's nothing," she said quickly, but she wasn't fooling herself. It was everything.

-The Others' Hatch-

Adie was back. Despite recent events, this caused Charlie to blabber.

"I have a theory," he announced.

"Oh, yippee, storytime," Sawyer muttered. But Adie was there, and as she gave him a harsh glare, he shut up. Kate just sat in exhaustion.

"My theory," Charlie continued, "is that you, Adie Carolton, are actually a good person with a pure soul."

Adie snorted. She wasn't the snorting type, but she couldn't help it. "'Pure soul?'" she repeated. "Charlie, no offense, but aren't you the drug addict?"

He sighed. "I'm bloody recovering!" he nearly shouted. "Bollocks, you're all stereotypical lunatics."

Kate chuckled to herself. "The accent really helps the cause," she joked.

Charlie glared at her but turned to Adie as she spoke. "What made you think I didn't have a pure soul in the first place?" she asked quietly.

"Uh, how's about your 'family,' freak?" Sawyer spat.

Adie didn't say anything; Charlie did. "All I'm saying is, you could do a lot of good if you stopped following everything they said," he said. "Sawyer and Kate, they don't have as much hope as I do. But I am quite a faithful person. I'm an empath. I can read your mind, you know."

"Huh," Adie said, nodding, trying not to laugh. "Okay. What am I thinking right now?"

"Why the hell's this pop junkie flirting with me when I'm holding him hostage?" Sawyer suggested bitterly.

"Maybe Charlie's right?" Charlie asked hopefully.

"I'm thinking…" She stopped for dramatic effect. "I'm thirsty. Be right back."

Kate rolled her eyes as Adie left. "See, Charlie? Nothing's changed."

But Adie hadn't ever been so light and humorous, and Charlie could tell she was definitely changing. He was bringing a new side out of her, and he hoped it was enough to change her ways.

-The Beach-

"I'm going after them," Locke said. There was a crowd without Jack, and some of them looked interested, but no one said anything.

"You're serious?" Sun finally asked with a mixture of relief and angst. She quickly translated for Jin, who also looked surprised.

"Yes," Locke replied. "I have my own stash of three guns that Sawyer never took, so two of you are welcome to join me, if you have the nerve to stand up to Jack."

Everyone looked nervous and anxious. A few murmurs were heard, but as he had expected, no one had the nerve to say anything.

Finally someone spoke up—a younger man, probably only twenty or twenty-one. "Uh, no one ever really cared, but I was in the army for a year," he said nervously. "I never saw battle, but I learned everything. We learned how to bear guns."

"Are you saying you want to come?" Locke asked bluntly.

He shrugged. "I guess. I mean, Jack seems to be a good leader, but this isn't something he can just decide on his own."

Locke smiled in approval. "I'm glad you feel that way. What's your name?"

"Trent," he replied shakily. "Trent Adams."

"Okay, Trent," Locke said, nodding. "Anyone else like to come?"

After a second, everyone heard soft Korean mumblings. Finally Sun spoke.

"Jin would like to go," she said. Her voice was sad and rugged, but she knew that after everything that had happened, the best thing she could do was let him. She wanted to go herself, but with a growing child in her, she wouldn't let herself.

"Really?" Locke asked, not looking at all prejudiced and actually excited. "Forgive me, but he hasn't seemed to care much so far."

More Korean mutters were heard, and Sun spoke again. "He doesn't. He lets you people do what you want for the most part, and he does not interfere. But he says Sawyer would do the same for him." Her English was accented, but she spoke it perfectly.

Locke smiled. "That's the spirit. Well, I'm out of guns, so unless you want to smooth-talk Jack into it…"

"Smooth-talk me into what?" Jack asked as he walked over to them. Ana Lucia wasn't with him now, but he seemed like he'd just been going over something important with her.

No one said anything.

"What's going on, John?" Jack demanded.

"I'm leading a search party into the jungle," Locke finally said. "Only three people including myself. We're going to try to rescue our friends."

Jack looked appalled and, more importantly, shocked. "John, I already said—"

"No one elected you," Trent interrupted. "Look, Jack, I respect you, and I admit we need you. You're a great doctor, and for the most part a good leader. But the three of us want our friends back, and that's our choice, not yours."

Jack stared at him for a second before raising his hands in defeat. "Fine. Go. But I'm not giving you the guns, and neither is Ana, so you'll be defenseless."

"Taken care of," Locke said shortly.

Jin said something to Sun, and she asked, "When are you leaving?"

Locke smiled. "Now."

He led the two others to his tent (the one he had put up near Claire's), where he handed each of them a gun. He loaded one himself, and they began their march into the jungle.

-The Others' Hatch-

"Is your thirst quenched?" Charlie asked energetically when she returned.

"Sure," she said awkwardly.

"Something tells me you haven't seen the Gatorade commercials," he said in disappointment. "That's okay—all in good time, my dear. All you have to do is untie me, and you'll see all the commercials you want."

She laughed. "So you've sunken to bribery? That's an all-time low."

"Get a room," Sawyer whined, but Kate found everything amusing.

"I have a question," Charlie said. "What if someone comes to look for us?"

Sawyer snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious," Charlie said. "What if someone comes to look for us, despite what Jack ordered, which was probably against that? Are you just going to kidnap them and then kidnap all of us until your hatch is lined with crash survivors?"

"We have needed some new decorations," Adie joked, but she could tell none of them were in the mood. She shrugged instead. "I don't know," she finally said. "I mean, they don't really tell me what's going on. They just tell me what to do, and I do it."

"See?" Charlie asked. "See? If you joined us, the noble crashers, you would be in on everything."

"Liar," Sawyer muttered. "Doc don't tell us anything anymore."

Charlie scowled at him and changed the subject. "Do you guys have a record player here?" he asked hopefully. "Because we do, but it's mostly just classical stuff—you know good if you want to play piano, but not if you're suffering piano withdrawals."

"You sure that's not just the heroin?" Kate teased. Charlie scowled at her, too.

"I do," Adie said, "but they don't know it. I hide the records and the player behind the cereal no one eats. But we can't use it."

"Then why do you have it?" Sawyer snapped.

She shrugged. "For whenever I'm alone."

"Which is…?" Charlie asked.

She sighed. "Now, I guess." And she went out to get it.

-The Beach-

"What?" Ana Lucia demanded. "They did what?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "And I think we should follow them. I mean, I don't know what other choice we have. Do you?"

She gulped. She didn't want to go back on her word, and she didn't want to have to go out there again, but she honestly didn't want John, Jin, or whoever that other guy was to die. "Okay," she sighed, "we will. But just us. And you should properly put Sayid in charge. Everyone listens to you."

He sensed a bit of irritation in that sentence, but he ignored it. He told Sayid the plan. He was mortified at the thought of all that trouble gain, but he agreed nonetheless. Ana Lucia and Jack grabbed their guns, loaded them, and set foot into the jungle.

-The Others' Hatch-

"Adie! What the hell is this?"

Adie's head shot up when she saw her supervisor and almost, slight friend, Peter, walk in. His eyes were squinted in annoyance at the loud music coming from the record player, an old eighties song he'd never heard of but Charlie was nodding away to.

"Uh, sorry, sir," Adie mumbled, rushing to turn it off. "I just figured they could use some music to loosen them up."

"You're slacking off," he countered. "Get rid of that thing. And get out here—they'll be fine. We have a worse problem on our hands."

"What is it?" she asked, looking worried. Charlie, Kate, and Sawyer also listened intently.

"It's… their… their people," he said urgently and almost inaudibly. "I don't know! Just get your ass out there!"

He left, and Adie started to follow. Before she reached the door, however, Charlie spoke.

"That's your family, huh?"

But before she could reply, a piercing sound was heard. It was all too familiar to them at this point: a gun shot.

-LOST-

A/N: Bum, bum, bum! Sorry to leave such a cliffie, but CH is taking it from here, so it'll be worth the wait! Hope you enjoyed, and R&R!

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