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Here's another update for you guys!

Chapter 13: Making Preparations

The urge to simply raise his gun and shoot, had not once stopped pounding at the back of James's head. It would end the continuous journey through the jungle after the anonymous entity. He glanced at the boy who was still sleeping on his shoulder. James had a feeling Locke placed him there as leverage, but James was growing impatient.

"Do you read?" he suddenly asked Locke.

"Excuse me?" Locke paused and turned to him.

"Books. Do you read books?"

"Sure, who doesn't," Locke replied as he continued the trek while adjusting Ben on his shoulder. "I suppose you read a lot of them to little Ben here."

"Juliet did most of the reading," said James bitterly. He did not appreciate Locke's continued attempts to dig into his past. "Never read him my favorite though. Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. You know that one?"

"Nope. A little after my time."

"Well, here's how the story goes. It's about these two guys, George and Lennie. Lennie's kinda slow... causin' George problems... so George walks him into the woods and tells him to look out yonder and picture the pretty little house they're gonna live in some day. Then he shoots Lennie in the back of the head."

"Well that doesn't sound like a happy ending," Locke countered.

"It ain't." James raised the gun. It didn't matter that he still had Ben in his arms. He was certain Locke could drop like any normal man. The most that would happen to Ben, would be a bad stumble.

Locke slowly turned to face him, but showed no sign of surprise or anger.

"What's on your mind James?"

"I'm wonderin' what would happen to you if I put a bullet in your skull," he growled. He hoped it would be the same result as shooting an ordinary man.

"Why don't we find out?" Locke casually challenged.

"What are you?" It bothered him to see how care-free he was about the matter.

The real Locke had been unreadable, but this version of him was even more so. The fact that he was urging him to do it, made him all the more aware of how careful he needed to be.

"What I am is trapped. And I've been trapped for so long that I don't even remember what it feels like to be free. Maybe you can understand that. But before I was trapped, I was a man, James. Just like you."

"I'm having a hard time believing that," James growled. He despised the comparison.

"You can believe whatever you want, that's the truth. I know what it's like to feel joy... to feel pain, anger, fear... to experience betrayal. I know what it's like to lose someone you love. So if you wanna shoot me, shoot me. But you're so close, James. It would be such a shame to turn back now. Besides that, did you forget who I'm holding?" Locke dared to run a hand over Ben's head. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to him? Or have you already stopped caring about him?"

James stared daggers into the man's eyes. He kept trying to tell himself that he could still save the boy while killing Locke, but fear and doubt kept him at bay. Locke smiled at him, then turned and walked forward with James still holding the gun on him. After a moment he sighed and dropped it to his side.

James turned his glaring eyes on Ben, blaming him for his inability to kill Locke. Had he not been taken hostage, he was sure he'd have no trouble carrying his urge through. He knew it was probably just a minor excuse not to try anything. The situation was too risky, and as much as he wanted to deny it, he couldn't give up on watching out for his one-time son.

FLASH

James settled himself in the kitchen lounge and dropped his sack lunch on the table. He sighed as an hour's lunch break was never enough of a break for him. The long hours were starting to weigh him down. Nonetheless, he reached in for the sandwich he'd made earlier.

"Hey James!" called Henry from his place near the kitchen's counter. "Catch you for another round of poker?"

"I'll give you the heads up about it," James mumbled. Just before he was about to bite into his sandwich, his phone rang. He sighed and answered it. "Yeah."

"Hey, I hope I'm not, interrupting anything."

"Just lunch Freckles. Something I can do for you from here?"

"Well, I just wanted to remind you about Ben's birthday," Kate explained. "It's in four days."

"So?"

"So, you need to plan for it. Encourage Ben to invite his classmates. Get him-"

"No way, am I throwing a party for him. Nobody'll show up, cept maybe that girl he hangs around with. Plus I ain't got the money."

"That's why you need to encourage him to," Kate insisted. "And it doesn't have to be expensive. It'll be good for him. You've never done one for him before, and you've barely given him anything." Kate paused, giving James time to take it in. "Come on. You know Juliet would want you to."

James suppressed a growl. He hated it when she brought up Juliet in relation to Ben. After a minute he finally sighed.

"Fine. I'll talk to him about. But if he don't want it, we ain't doing it."

Kate was silent for a bit.

"I'll let you get back to lunch then."

Kate hung up, leaving James with a twisting feeling in his stomach. Ben had had birthdays, but not birthday parties. James never bothered to set them up considering that Ben never asked for them and was, apparently, an outcast in school. Still, James never sought a reason to cater to him. He knew there was no guarantee that a party would give Ben reasons to become expectant.

James shook his head at the idea, but he couldn't deny that if it wasn't Kate making the call, it would have been Juliet.

FLASH

A dark stone ceiling greeted Kate when she opened her eyes. It was quickly blocked by a familiar and concerned face.

"Kate, are you alright?"

She blinked several times before her sight cleared.

"Jack?" she asked uncertainly. She turned her head and took in her surroundings which was made up of stone pillars. Not too far away from her, she noticed a large pool filled with unclean water. "W-where are we?"

"A temple. The Others, brought us here," Jack explained.

Kate slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position. Jack didn't hesitate to help her.

"Are you sure you're alright? How's your head? You've been out for a while."

"I'm fine Jack."

"Kate...so you're not dead." She looked up to see Miles heading towards her from the other side of the pool.

"What are we doing here?"

"I don't know," Miles admitted. "They just, dragged us here."

She looked around to get a better view of the temple and the few people wandering around within. They were definitely 'Others', but there were also the familiar faces of Jin and Hurley a few feet away from them. They were both leaning over Sayid who was lying still on a mat.

"Is Sayid...?" Kate couldn't finish the question. She could see it clearly.

"Yeah," Jack muttered as he bowed his head. "They, tried to save him. Then I tried to."

He shook his head, and Kate knew he was blaming himself for yet another loss. Regardless, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. He'd only been trying to help them, but it had backfired in the way that lost lives. Though they were back in their right time, she wasn't sure if his plan had been worth it.

"So what now?" Kate cautiously asked.

"I don't know," Jack confessed. "Miles told me what you guys were doing."

At Jack's words, Kate shakily got to her feet. With the shock of seeing the temple, and Jack and the others, she had forgotten that she and Miles had been trying to track down Ben.

"We have to find him," she insisted.

"I hate to say it, but, he's a lost cause," said Miles.

"No he isn't."

"Kate, maybe you should rest," Jack advised.

"No. He's out there somewhere, and so is James. I have to make sure they're alright."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible right now."

They turned to see one of the Others heading their way. He was a skinny, shaggy haired man with glasses. Kate wasted no time in confronting him.

"And why not?"

"We can't let you leave," he said affirmatively.

FLASH

Ben chewed his sandwich silently as he observed the other kids eating their lunches in the cafeteria. For the moment, he was alone, which he often preferred. Rarely did he look to anyone else, except when it came to Annie.

"Hey."

He looked up to see the only person willing to settle down with him at lunch.

"Hey," he greeted back. He didn't know why, but he suddenly found himself feeling nervous.

All day, he had been thinking about a topic his dad had brought up with him the previous night. His birthday was coming up, and out of nowhere his dad had laid out the idea of throwing a party. Naturally Ben turned it down, but his dad kept insisting it would be good for him. The thing that actually made him think about it was that he mentioned his mom would have wanted him to do it.

"Something wrong?"

"No," Ben lied.

"Come one, I know you. Something's on your mind, so you might as well tell me."

He knew it was useless to hide things from her. Ben took another cautious bite of his sandwich and swallowed before answering.

"My birthday's coming up."

"I know. I got you something before didn't I?" she said with a knowing smile.

"Yeah well, my dad thinks I should invite people," he said quietly. "Have a party."

He didn't look at her when he said it, but when silence met his ears, he glanced at her. Annie looked at him as if she was in shock.

"You? Throw a...party?" she questioned. "I was barely able to drag you to mine's."

"I know. I'm not doing it."

"No you should," she insisted. She laid a hand on his arm and smiled warmly at him. "It'll be good for you. It's better than having them with just your dad isn't it?"

In response Ben shrugged. The idea of being surrounded by multiple people often left him feeling uncomfortable. He liked having things to himself, and he didn't necessarily like celebrating his birthday.

"I...have them with you too," he muttered.

"Yeah, and this time you can have them with more people. I'll help you."

Looks like the party's a go! Thanks to some encouragement from Annie. So maybe there's hope for Sawyer and Ben's bond. Be sure to review to get your invite to Ben's birthday party next time. It's gonna be big!