Disclaimer: I don't own Lost
Sayid has the gun on the kid, but will he use it?
Chapter 12
Sayid's finger slowly moved down to touch the trigger. All that was left to do, was pull. But he was prevented from doing so. He froze as he sensed the silent sound of a gun pointed at the back of his head. It was closer than the gun he had pointed at the child. Sayid didn't need to turn around to know who had managed to quietly sneak up on him.
"Don't even think about it," James warned in a dark tone.
Sayid removed his finger from the trigger, but he didn't remove his eyes from the boy.
"This was not meant to be personal," Sayid explained calmly.
"Guess what, it is, to me," Jame argued. "Drop the gun, and back away nice and slow."
"You wouldn't kill me here would you?" Sayid questioned. He made no such movement to lower his weapon. "In front of him?"
"Not unless I had reason to."
The sound of footsteps kept both men from doing anything.
"What's going, James...Sayid?"
Sayid slowly turned to look at Juliet. She was understandably shocked by the situation.
"Oh my god!," she gasped as she hurried up to the bed and scooped the boy into her arms. Sayid noticed the boy barely roused. He also noticed the gentle way Juliet was supporting him, which made it clear how attatched she had become to Ben.
Juliet left the room with the boy, without so much as a backwards glance. With his target taken away, Sayid finally lowered the gun to his side.
"Alright, you've got me. Now what?"
James growled and pushed the metal into the back of his neck.
"Get moving," he ordered.
Sayid simply headed in the direction of the living room. As he moved, he heard the front door open and close. He was certain Juliet had taken Ben someplace safe.
"After all I did to save your ass, this is the thanks I get?" James growled.
"A mistake on your part, perhaps," Sayid pointed out. "But my intensions were to help all of us."
"Shut up! You did this for you, and you know it."
When they reached the livingroom, James forced Sayid to face him against a wall. It was here that Sayid took notice of the few pictures of his young enemy on the walls and shelves. Afterwards he turned his eyes back on James.
"Sawyer, why are you raising him?"
"Well ain't that a nice thing to ask before you die," James remarked.
"Why?" Sayid asked after a moment. James studied him for any sign of a trick. He didn't have to explain, but if there was a chance it would diffuse the situation, he would take it.
"Wasn't my idea. It was Juliet's, since his mother died while she was delivering him. So there you go, the short version of it."
"Regardless of Juliet's feelings, Benjamin Linus will never be her son."
James found himself tansfixed by his words, and he didn't understand why that was. They were simply the same words he often told her.
"Unlike you, she clearly thought raising him was better than blowing his brains out."
Sayid shut his eyes for a moment, as if his comment pained him.
"I know you probably won't believe me, but I was sorry to have to do this to a child."
"You're right, I don't believe you," James sneered. "You have the nerve to break into my house, and threaten to kill my kid. You think you can get away with that? Horace trusted my decision to trust you, and you blew it. There's no saving you now Muhammad."
Rather than reacting to the consequences he was stating, Sayid was instead reacting to the fact that James had just referred to Ben as his kid.
"He's not your kid. He is a liar, a manipulator, and a murderer," Sayid pointed out angrily.
"Well right now, he's only three," James countered.
Somehow Sayid precieved a chance for escape. He grabbed James's hand and redirected the gun away from him. As the men struggled, the weapon went off, firing a few shots into the ceiling and even into the walls. Sayid snuck in a punch to James's side. James retaliated by ramming him into the wall. The gun fell out of Sayid's hand. Neither bothered to retrieve it as they resorted to fist power.
James got in a few shots, but Sayid was able to drive him onto the floor. He delivered several stronger hits to his face, leaving James bloodied up. When Sayid saw he had knocked the wind out of him, he quickly located the gun and pointed it down at his form. James's glaring eyes met Sayid's dark ones. Though Sayid had the upperhand, he was out of breath. James didn't seem to be effected the same way, but the gun and Sayid's weight kept him lying on the floor.
"What are you gonna do? Shoot me?" James demanded. Sayid merely stared down at him. "You ain't gonna make it a mile."
"I don't want to shoot you James. I want to leave."
"You ain't going nowhere."
Despite the situation, James desired nothing more than to stay in control, even though it was clear it had slipped in favor of what had become his enemy. For the first time, James didn't know what to do. Sayid had been one of his people long before the Dharma folks replaced him. He had no problem turning him in, but he wasn't sure he could take it further.
"I'm afraid I am," Sayid countered calmly. "I'm sorry about this."
Rather than getting hit with a bullet, James was hit with the side of his gun.
It didn't take long for James to regain consciousness. James took a moment to regain his senses and cough up some of the blood. He ran a shaky hand across his brow as the events tortured his mind. He looked all around, expecting to see Sayid, but he wasn't surprised to see that he was gone. He had not killed him. If the situation was reversed, he wasn't sure he'd be able to pull the trigger either. But considering what he nearly accomplished, James believed he could push himself to fire at an old friend. He could not spend too much time mulling it over as he had to get to a walkie. He hurried to the bedroom and grabbed the walkie and his uniform.
"Phil!" he shouted. "Phil get your lazy ass up."
"LaFleur? What's going-"
"We got a problem," James interrupted. "I need you to get the security unit in gear. Our new recruit Sayid just broke into my house, with a gun."
"What! where is he now?" Phil demanded.
"He took off! Just get the others, and hurry!"
James threw the walkie aside as he made to get dressed. Right now, he didn't feel worthy of wearing the security uniform, and he was certain he'd hear Horace say so when he confronted him. Still if he could fix the problem, not only to save his job, but the compound as well, he would try. He unlocked another gun from a hidden compartment in his closet, then left the house.
Outside, he saw a few men from the security unit running across the grounds. Heading in his direction was Phil.
"LaFleur! Where did he go?"
He could see right away that Phil was ready for blood as he had a shotgun in his hands. He didn't question why it happened. James understood Phil had been waiting for Sayid to turn, when he hadn't seen it coming at all.
"I don't know."
"You just let him get away!" he shouted angrily. It was the only time Phil dared to raise his voice at him.
"He had a gun on me, and he knocked me out."
The other men came running up to them with their guns at the ready.
"Fan out! Cover the perimeter!" Phil ordered. James didn't bother to reprimand him for taking control. Clearly Phil was seeing him as too much of a failure to take command. "You see anything, send word. And if you see him, kill him."
Phil's dark eyes were on James when he said the last part, causing him to feel the weight of what had happened all the more. The men spread out. Phil granted James one last glare before heading off himself. James was left standing, alone, until Jin came running up to him.
"James. What happened?"
"Exactly what I said happened," he said bitterly. "Sayid broke into my house."
"But why?"
James found he couldn't answer right away.
"He came to kill Ben."
Jin's first reaction was shock. Then after a moment, it shifted.
"I can't believe he would..."
"Yeah I know. So much for moving on from the past," James said slowly. "Listen, you head out there and see if you can find him. But don't kill him."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Call me, and we'll figure things out from there. Alright now go."
Jin nodded and hurried off. James turned to the houses. Many of them were still dark, which meant the inhabitants were still sleeping, unaware of the current danger on site. Still there were some with lights on, and James knew Juliet had taken Ben to one of them.
He hurried towards one of the houses, while praying that Sayid had really fled the compound, and that he was not lurking in the darkness ready to strike his family a second time.
Okay, I know some of you were hoping Sayid popped Ben, and I had considered that, but there are reasons why it couldn't be so. For the main reason, Sayid would have killed Ben. Unlike in the series where he shot an older version in the chest, little Ben's chances of survival would have been practically zero. I think the chances are like 5% or something. And even if he didn't die, it would have started a storyline that may or may not need to happen right now.
Yeah it would have added to the drama, but that doesn't mean there won't be other dramatic situations he'll fall into. The little Ben series is far from being over.
So, Sayid didn't kill Ben. Does that change everyone's safety?
