Big Finishes:

"Last I heard," Michael said, "Claire wasn't dead."

"Claire," Jin said, "on the Island." He pointed from the direction each of them had come from.

Charlie shook his head. "No, no, I saw her!"

"Relax, Charlie," Mr. Eko said, "we have all been here. She is not here, or someone would have seen her."

"Like we could miss hearing that baby cry," Shannon said, in a failed attempt to lighten to mood.

"Uh… the baby's not with her," Michael said, quietly.

"What?"

"It's okay, Charlie!" Libby said, now taking her turn to try and calm him down. "Neither of them are here, which means they're okay."

"Were they rescued?" he asked, looking around. "Desmond said they'd be rescued!"

"Who's Desmond?" asked Boone. "Is he one of them?"

"No. Well, yes. …No, no." Charlie shook his head, frustrated. "Are you sure she's not here?"

"Yes," Nikki said. "Positive."

Libby pulled a chair out from one of the tables and Charlie gratefully sat. "I'm dead and I still can't run," he smiled, catching his breath.

"How'd you die?" Shannon asked, carefully.

Charlie sighed. "I drowned. I went down into one of their stations, the underwater one, the Looking Glass…"

"Stations?" Boone asked.

"Like I told you about," Shannon explained, quietly.

"Oh, right. The hatches."

"Anyways, I was down there trying to un-jam this signal so Jack could make a call for help. But just after I did it I had a grenade thrown at the window and all the water came in," he said with a shrug. "And that was my big finish."

"You wanna hear about big finishes?" Nikki asked, raising an eyebrow. "You buried us alive."

"What?"

Nikki nodded. "We were paralysed. You thought we were dead."

Charlie sat for a moment, sorting through this. "But…"

"It doesn't matter now," Paulo said quickly. He turned back to Ana Lucia. "We should go back."

"You're going in that house?" asked Charlie.

Ana Lucia nodded. "Yeah. We're gunna see if we can't-"

The door burst open and people spilled out. A ton of people. Cooks and waiters took their spots behind trays and counters. People filled in the tables and children ran along the lawn.

The group didn't move, unsure of what to do.

"Can they see us?" whispered Arzt.

"I don't think so," said Boone, looking around.

Danielle smirked. "It's the party. They're here."

Charlie looked the house up and down. "Guys… where are we?"

AN: I had to throw in that classic Charlie line :) Anyhow, so did Charlie really see Claire? And have you figured out where they all are yet, or, more importantly, who will be there? Who won't? Lol, read on!