This one is for Stef, who has continually delighted me with her amusing comments and intelligent insights. Thanks, friend.
"Dude!" Hurley decided to forego his more complicated thoughts and to concentrate on the amazing sight in front of him. He lunged forward and enfolded Jack in a warm, all encompassing embrace.
Jack, returned the hug wholeheartedly, he knew without a doubt that if the island had nefarious plans in store for Kate, Hurley had nothing to do with it. The central fact about Hurley was his guilelessness; he was utterly pure in heart.
"Where have you been? You just disappeared! We just assumed you were..well…uhh, dead." Hurley stood back and eyed Jack, looking at him carefully, all the way up, all the way down. Then he shook his head vigorously, "No, you're not."
Jack knew of Hurley's penchant for seeing people who were no longer alive and it was his turn to shake his head. "No, Hurley, I am not dead. It's a long story, one that I don't have time to tell. But Hurley, I'm going to need your help. It's very important and I need you to listen to me."
Hurley noticed for the first time the knife stuck into the belt loop at the side of Jack's waist, and the desperation on his face.
Hurley nodded, "Anything, anything, man."
"Kate's gone." Jack let the two syllables drop. They fell, desolate and heavy.
"Jack I know, she left, she took Claire back, it was months ago, she's okay."
"No, she's here, and she isn't. She's been here, she's the one who saved me, her and Rose and Bernard. But she's not here now, she disappeared." Jack put his hand on the other man's shoulder. Jack swallowed hard and thought about how best to go about this, how not to lose any more time. He gathered his words, husbanding them carefully, so that each one would convey exactly what was needed efficiently with no dross.
"Hurley, I have reason to think that Kate is gone somewhere that only the island knows about. I do not know how to find her without its help." At this juncture Jack raised his eyes to meet Hurley's kind countenance. "She's pregnant, she's alone and she could deliver at any time, especially if she's injured. I have to get to her." Jack lowered his head, a new wave of fear rolled through him as he thought of her, god knows where, in the heart of darkness, readying herself for delivery. He let the fear in, as he had learned to do so many years before and directed its energies elsewhere, into the next moment's efforts.
Hurley was gob smacked.
Jack, Kate? He thought that was all over. As the new Jacob, he knew things about the island and thus about the world that others were not privy to, but he didn't know everything. He had a lot to learn and a lot more to see. He had known that there had been a brief hope for Jack and Kate. There had been a glimmer of light. But it had diminished and he had thought that it had finally passed when Jack had died. Their opportunity had been lost.
Or had it?
Jack was disappointed that Hurley did not seem to know where she was, he had thought that maybe his role as Jacob would give him some extra insight or at least an inkling as to her whereabouts. "Hurley, are you on the island alone? Is anyone else left?" Jack urged Hurley back into active response.
"Ben's here with me Jack. He helps me out, or I help him. I can't quite figure out which way it goes."
"Take me to him." Jack knew that Hurley had nothing to do with Kate's disappearance; he would trust him with his life. But he didn't trust Ben. Could he still be making power plays for the island?"
In answer, Hurley started walking out of the grove; he motioned for Jack to follow him.
"Hey Jack, this is gonna take a few minutes. Is it okay if I say something to you while we're getting there?"
Jack nodded grimly, he hated to rush Hurley but he was very anxious to get to Ben as quickly as possible. "As long as we keep walking Hurley."
"You remember when you said that you weren't, you know, cut out for the whole being with Kate and having a dozen babies kind of stuff?"
Jack gave him an impatient twist of his head, it was neither a nod or a shake, more of a disbelieving tilt. God, not this again, Hurley was still doing this high school stuff? Here? Now?
Hurley completely ignored Jack's disdain. "I don't like to say things like this to you. I mean look at you."
Hurley stood back and took in Jack's commanding presence; his face was streaked with sweat and covered with scratches, as if he had been tearing through the jungle for hours. He had several long gashes on his arms and his eyes were almost feral. He was festooned with odd and dangerous paraphernalia. Was that a coping saw in his belt? Well whatever it was, it looked sharp and deadly.
Hurley swallowed and did the brave thing. He told the truth. "But that's where you were dead wrong, man."
Here Hurley revealed his new authority and there was a gravity to his voice, its timber imparting a stir of significance. Jack noted it and looked up, paying careful attention to what Hurley said next.
"The whole movin' into a cave thing with Kate. Well Jack, you may not know it yet, but that's what you were born for."
It was Jack's turn to be surprised, the words reared him up and brought him to a complete halt. He turned toward Hurley but he was already moving on at full tilt, so Jack closed his mouth and followed.
Hurley trudged through the bamboo grove and out into a small meadow, he sat on a large boulder and waited for Ben.
Jack put his head down, he stood with his hands on his hips and waited. His impatience was mounting, he wanted nothing to do with the mysterious machinations of the island, but he knew that he would be forced to deal with it. He renewed his refusal to think about what he had been doing that morning. He once again deliberately cast aside the hope that he had had in the fuel, in the Cessna, the flight and what it meant, departure from all of this.
Jack took time to compose himself. He knew that his body had been tested throughout the day and he still had reserves, He was using these moments in the meadow to store up the energy and strength that he might need for his next challenge.
Jack's hands curled themselves into fists, he wanted badly right now to punch something, he supposed that was because Ben was coming.
Ben came into the meadow, looking as incongruous as he always did. He looked like a visiting accountant, assessing the various debits and credits of the island. All he was missing was a clip board.
He looked up, the only indication of surprise that he revealed was a slight widening of the eyes.
Jack could tell that Ben had taken in the sight of him and was tucking it away to put into the new algorithm that he was forming somewhere in the back of his mind, to factor into his current calculations. Somehow Jack always felt that everything for Ben had an algebraic component. He had an almost supernatural ability to reason. Ratiocination was his only true advantage, one that he played hard. The only time that Jack had ever seen Ben truly defeated was at the end, in the face of the island's dissolution.
Well if reason was the card that Ben played, Jack guessed that he himself was no slouch at that ploy. He was determined to match him logically, point for point. He had been trained in that area, his years of academia and surgical rigor had exercised his mind well. Jack looked at Ben again, measuring his body language; did he know something about Kate? Jack stayed quiet knowing that if he said anything that Ben would leap upon it, using Jack's words to his own advantage. To make new rabbit trails to hide behind and to force his will upon.
Jack would let Ben be the first to talk, he would let Ben draw out the first pawn.
"Jack, this is a surprise." Ben stayed about five feet away and looked him up and down, "you're looking better than the last time I saw you."
Jack swallowed his anger, he found Ben's cool demeanor to be infuriating. He knew that Ben was quite aware of his effect on him and was ready to pounce on it and to use his momentary lapse of emotional equilibrium to manipulate him in some way. So Jack forced himself to remain calm, he got right to the point, and moved out his queen.
"Where's Kate? What did you do with her Ben?" Jack said these words quietly and clearly, he didn't have time for Ben's games.
"It was time for her to go Jack, we all have to at some time. It was her turn. She never should have come to the island. Jack, you know that. You know that your work was done. Kate did what she always does. She interfered. She had to be stopped" Ben had his arms folded and he was resting them against his chest, he was utterly still and maddeningly composed.
Yes, Kate had interfered, Jack conceded that much.
Ben was trying to twist that, he was trying to make that sound like it had been wrong.
Kate had flown across the world at great cost to herself. She had faced almost certain death for him. Kate's interference had been performed out of love, not some distant, overarching farseeing kind of love. No, Kate's love had been intensely personal, her love had been just for him. She had interfered, just for him.
Jack swallowed hard, no one but Kate had ever focused so much of their heart's purpose toward him. He recalled that she had come back for him when he had stayed behind with the others. She had done this in spite of the fact that she knew that she might be killed. Kate had come back for him when he fought with whoever had taken over Locke's body on that cliff, she had saved him then.
Yeah Kate interfered; she always interfered, for him. In Jack's mind, logic, had no answer for this. There was no piece on the board to play against this move, it was time for a gambit.
Jack leapt forward and lunged at Ben, he grabbed him by the collar and pinned him to the ground and began pummeling him with his fists. Every blow was a clear answer to Ben's cold and infuriating narration of Kate's fate. Jack was so angry that he couldn't see, couldn't hear and couldn't even begin to imagine how he would ever stop until Ben was dead.
Hurley spread his legs and grabbed Jack by the shoulders and pulled at him until his greater weight toppled Jack by the force of leverage. Ben took the opportunity to roll over, shielding his face from further damage.
Jack whipped himself out of Hurleys' arms and leaned over Ben's cowering figure. "You will tell me where she is. You will tell me now or Ben, I swear I will kill you, I don't care if you are Jacob's right hand man or if you're Jacob. It isn't her turn." Jack said these last words bitterly, if it had been his turn before, Kate had seen to it that it hadn't been. And now he would see to it that it wasn't hers."
Ben responded as he always did when he was threatened physically, he was frightened and he kept his head shielded but Jack could tell that he was searching for a way out, a new lie that would give him an advantage in whatever new circumstances might arise.
Hurley spoke to Ben, "Did you know that Kate was on the island? Did you know that Jack was alive?"
Ben nodded at Hurley, it was impossible even for Ben to lie to him.
Hurley shook his head, he seemed at a loss. "You know that vital information would have changed everything. What were you thinking Ben?" Hurley seemed to grow larger somehow with each word. He had deliberately worn his role as Jacob lightly until now. At this time he began to discard the cloak of his unassuming personality that had been obscuring his powers.
"Ben, you knew what was in store for Kate and Jack. You knew what could have been and what ought to have happened from the very beginning. You comprehended the great loss that this place suffered at the end, when Jack died. You knew these things because I told them to you. And after all of that, you didn't consider it necessary to tell me that Jack was alive and that Kate was here? That was not cool, not cool at all"
At this point Hurley pulled out a small pitch pipe and blew into it, a faint, almost indecipherable sound came out, high and clear and sweet.
The color drained from Ben's face.
Jack looked over at Ben and noted that for the first time Ben revealed true fear. He looked confused and terrified, he couldn't decide what his next move would be. He couldn't seem to decide whether to be conciliatory or defiant.
Ben was checkmated.
Hurley dismissed Ben as a now unimportant encumbrance, and stood up from the rock that he had been sitting on. To Jack, Hurley seemed taller. Jack remembered handing the bottle of spring water to him. He remembered Hurley saying, "that's it?" his comment had briefly deflated the impossible pressure that had been mounting in Jack's spirit as he had approached the grotto. Hurley had provided a gentleness that Jack had needed. At this moment as well, Hurley provided exactly what was necessay, but it was not the soft nudge of his gentle nature, it was the commanding force of his new role as Jacob.
Hurley turned to Jack and waved in the direction of the beach. He seemed to have made a decision. "Jack, come with me."
Kate roused herself, she shook her head and tried to clear the sleep that had taken her so quickly. The hot, heavy air of the dense jungle had caused her to feel faint. She needed to find water as soon as possible.
Kate peered across the horizon again, there was no sight to be seen of the ship. Perhaps it had been a dream.
But no, there were specks in the water, darker areas that did not appear to be reflections of light or cloud shadows. They were objects. They almost looked like flotsam, cast across the surface of the water. Kate waited as it made its way to the shore.
Kate thought she heard a cry, a clear clarion call. It pierced the air for one brief moment. It sounded like a child's cry, it came from the water, just beyond the shore.
Kate braced herself onto her arms in what had become a familiar gesture, she lifted herself up and walked out into the sea.