Seaside
by The Kooks
Do you want to go to the seaside? But I'm just trying to love you Do you want to go to the seaside?
I'm not trying to say that everybody wants to go
I fell in love at the seaside
I handled my charm with time and slight of hand
In any kind of way
But I find it hard to love you girl
When you're far away
Away
I'm not trying to say that everybody wants to go
But I fell in love on the seaside
On the seaside
In the seaside
The Locke and the Key
Chapter Fourteen
The curtain of dark blue sky was rigged away to reveal a vivid, yellow sun. Four men were sitting on stones in the sand, positioned around each other like King Arthur's round table. The one farthest to the left, also the one most in charge, was recapping the plan to the other three.
Beside him sat a strong, middle-aged, Iraqi solider who had his hands folded across his stained, sleeveless shirt and had his head leaned in, listening intently. To his right, a well-built, quiet Scottish man sat hunched over the mango he was peeling with an old, blunt knife. Leaning over his shoulder, watching him more intently than the speaker, sat another Scottish man. His skinny frame poured over the silent Scot's body and watched him prepare his breakfast while listening to the leader speak.
"May I ask why they're being included in this conversation?" the Iraqi asked the leader.
The quiet one smirked and eyed the solider. "Was that supposed to hurt my feelings, brotha?"
The Scot next to him made a frustrated face at the Iraqi. He crossed his arms and let the shadows from the trees above him cast over his eyes.
"Tell him what you told me," the leader motioned to man who had just spoken.
The well-built Scot with curly, brown hair nodded. "Although the hatch was used to type in the code, I think it's possible that it was also used to communicate with other stations."
The leader allowed the other two some time to soak this in and then added, "Yes. If we can find one of the other hatches, we might be able to communicate with the rest of them."
Ben backed away from the computer screen with a worried look sewing his lips tight. He turned to Juliet and let out a sigh. An annoyed glance was exchanged between the two of them, but that was all.
"Well if Locke said that we were going to the same place as Eko, we must really be searching for him," Ewan theorized.
"Locke wouldn't lie to us, brotha," Desmond shook his head.
The two of them had been having this heated argument for quite sometime now. They were standing in the middle of the jungle, on their way to get freshened up before the journey to the Pearl Hatch.
"Yes, he would!" Ewan cried. "He's leading us to believe it was our idea--"
"My idea," Desmond corrected.
"Whatever. He's leading us to think that we really want to go on this journey and then he's gonna turn round and start chasing after Eko!" When Desmond didn't reply, he added, "Trust me. I've seen this kind of thing before."
"Oh, where?" Des raised an eyebrow. "In your movies?"
Ewan wrinkled his nose at his friend, not wanting to agree.
"Why don't you trust him?" Desmond found his words stomping all over his thoughts. He knew he really didn't trust John either.
"Why?" Ewan blurted. "Because he locked you in a bloody hatch and--"
"Calm down, Ewan," Desmond rested his hand on Ewan's shoulder.
Ewan leaned his head back in frustration and let out a long breath. Desmond apprehensively scooped him into a hug. He knew something had been frustrating Ewan lately, and the least he could do was comfort him. He wasn't quite bold enough to ask Ewan what was wrong, he just wanted to show that he cared.
Desmond could hear Ewan let out a somewhat relaxed breath. He had been quite surprised at his friend's sudden embrace. Ewan knew Desmond liked to stick to himself; he was a big fan of personal space, unlike Ewan.
The two of them stepped out of the hug and Desmond smiled warmly. "I'll go ask John, brotha. We'll settle this," he smirked teasingly.
Soon, Des was hunched over the water bin, talking to Locke. "Mind if I ask you a question, brotha?" he began.
"Go ahead," Locke didn't look up from the water bottle he was filling.
"Are we going to poke at a computer or to find your man Eko?"
"We'll be killing two birds with one stone," Locke replied. "Eko is heading towards the Pearl."
"That's quite a coincidence, brotha."
"Do not mistake coincidence for fate," John smiled and packed the water bottle in his backpack.
Desmond watched him curiously, wondering what he should report to Ewan.
After recruiting on the beach, Locke had come up with a group of Sayid, Desmond, Ewan and two people Ewan had never bothered to talk to--Paolo and Nikki. John guided them through the woods all the way to a stream where they had met up with Eko. Now, he lead them back to the Pearl hatch and the plane where Eko's brother's body was buried. Ewan let out a sigh when they finally reached their destination.
He had been hiking silently alongside Desmond. Ewan had been too afraid to say a word--Desmond had seemed so quiet and troubled lately.
Ewan watched Desmond rush to help Sayid open the hatch door. The door seemed to be pounded into the grass so that it was on the exact same level. Ewan hurried to Desmond's side. He helped him lift up the door as best he could and then watched. Simply watched.
He watched the way Desmond's solemn expression melted into a grave one as he stared down into the dark hole. He saw a childish pout flicker in his golden brown eyes; it was only there for a moment, until Desmond pushed it back. He watched his fingers play with the grass as he channelled his nervous energy into its roots. Ewan knelt down beside him and stared into the hatch too.
Ewan wanted to say something. He did. He wanted to rub Desmond's back gently and tell him it was going to be alright. He wanted to play with his messy, dirty-brown hair and soothe him. And whisper that he would take care of Desmond, no matter what. He wanted to kiss his forehead and tell him he knew something was wrong. He wanted to say he knew what was wrong.
I'm troubling you, aren't I Desmond? I meant to be your friend, Des. I meant to help you out, to comfort you, and yet here I am-- a comparative burden on your heavy shoulders. I'm so sorry, Desmond. But I can't turn away now. There's still that urge inside of me that wants to help you-- you're just so alone!
Ewan bit his lip. He could not think this. He must not. He steered his mind away and thought about something else. He closed his eyes and bit his lip--harder. There it was, once again. The lock on his mouth. On his heart. On his feelings.
"Do you see anything now?" Sayid rubbed two wires together quickly.
Ewan leaned away from the bundle of wires and looked over at the nine televisions placed neatly in the Pearl Hatch. The ones that worked were still fuzzy, so Ewan nodded no.
"How 'bout now," Sayid said confidently.
Ewan leaned away again. He opened his mouth to reply with a weary, "No…" but instead he saw the television flicker to life. The particles settled and the screen portrayed an empty hatch.
"There's the computers," Paolo noted.
Ewan nodded nervously. He watched the television expectantly, waiting to see if anything else would show up.
Fuzz. Static. And then, creeping up from out of nowhere--a hand. Ewan's insides jumped and his eyebrows raised. Nikki let out a squeal and Locke's palm rose to his chin. The hand pulled the camera towards a face. Static. The black and white face with a mysterious eye patch glared at the camera and then quickly flicked it off. "Bloody hell…" Ewan was the first to speak.
"Guess he'll be expecting us," John said.
A few seconds of everyone staring at the screen blankly passed and a series of thunderous thumps were heard outside. Heads turned and looked up startlingly. Locke rushed for the ladder and hurried up to see what was going on. Sayid followed, loading his gun skilfully as he climbed. Desmond turned to follow the group, but Ewan pulled on his shirt sleeve. There was another, even louder thump.
He gazed up worriedly into Desmond's eyes. "Please don't go, I--"
Disgusted, Des tugged away from Ewan and climbed up the ladder. Nikki and Paolo raced in front of him and hurried outside. Ewan was left, his mouth open wide at his inability to finish his sentence. Reluctantly, he placed his hands on the rungs of the ladder and began his climb.
As for the beginning? Well, let's just say, I DON'T KNOW if Ben really has an all-seeing computer, but I thought it would be cool to see the losties from an others POV.
And yes, there IS a reason why this chapter is called the The Lock and the Key. And no, that reason is not because I couldn't think of anything else.
There will be one more chapter of actual material from the show until I start making up stuff just to fufill my boredom wishes. I will be away for a little while (during Thanksgiving) and won't be updating or replying to reviews. However, this does not mean STOP sending me reviews! How did you guys like the "semi-finale"? I thought it was brill.
One last quick announcement. I've started a Lost Role Playing Forum on fanfiction, so if you are into roleplaying or don't even know what it is--stop on by! There are only two of us RPing right now, but it is SOOO MUCH FUN! The Forum is called "A Wee Bit of RPG Anyone?" You can find it in the Lost forums or go to my profile and click "my forums". Ta ta for now, kids!