Chapter 25: Never Simple Never Easy

Mia's mouth fell open; rain spilling down her cheeks mimicking tears she would have cried if she wasn't so exhausted from carrying Sawyer. Her eyes were focused on Shannon, looking so frail, dead, in Sayid's muscled arms. She looked even younger than she was; she looked just a child. The stricken expression of horror and heartache on Sayid's face didn't move as he lowered Shannon's lifeless form to the ground, stood to his feet, removed a gun from his waistband and aimed it right at Ana-Lucia.

"Sayid! No!" Michael lowered his section of Sawyer's stretcher and ran out to try and stop their angered friend, but Eko got to him first; tackling him to the mud.

Mia gestured to Jin to lower Sawyer to the ground. She didn't know where to go, to Sayid, to Shannon, to Ana; who looked shocked and rooted to the spot in disbelief. Her show of emotion didn't last long, however, and she cracked Sayid over the back of the head with the butt of her gun, knocking him out cold, and snatching his weapon up out of the dirt.

"Hey!" Michael, who had been approaching Ana, suddenly backed off, arms raised as Ana pointed both guns at him, and then at Mia, then Bernard; everyone.

"Nobody move!" Her eyes were wild and dangerous; she was at her very edge. "Don't move! Any of you! Nobody move!"

Everyone stayed still, Mia glanced to her feet, Sawyer's head was right by her boot, and she resisted the urge to kneel down and feel his forehead to see if perhaps the rain beating down had lessened it slightly. Instead, she waited. She knew better than to rattle someone who was already at their limits. Her mind clicked back into SRF mode.

She had an injured man who was in desperate need of help, a dead young woman, and a highly emotional policewoman with two weapons who was frazzled enough to turn the guns on her own group. Now was not the time to be hasty, or try to be a hero. She had to go with what Ana said; Ana had the control.

"Does he have anything else on him?" Ana asked Eko, pointing one gun at Michael and one at Bernard; who looked as though she'd slapped him across the face.

Eko looked at her, confused. "What?"

"Him!" She yelled down at Sayid's unconscious body. "He just had a gun to your neck! Check to see if he has anything else on him!"

Eko, who was taking the same passive approach as Mia, knelt down to check Sayid for more weapons.

"Hey," Michael said softly, taking a daring step forwards. "Put that down."

"Michael," Mia mumbled loudly, wanting to reach out and pull him to a stop.

"Stop!" Ana pointed a gun at him.

"Are you crazy? Don't point that at me!" Michael's already weathered brow creased in anger.

"I said stop!" Ana bellowed; aiming her gun up to the sky and pulling the trigger; the sound reverberated through the dripping jungle trees and silenced everyone. "Everyone get back!"

"Ana!" Bernard cried.

"Get back!" She pointed the gun to Bernard.

Libby took a brave step towards her fatigued friend. "Ana."

"NOW!"

"ANA!" Libby yelled firmly. Her voice seemed to cut through Ana's tough skin; having some effect.

She lowered one gun and slipped it into her waistband. She took some deep breaths; but kept a tight grip on the gun that remained in her hands. "We need to tie him up," She gestured to Sayid as she spoke to Eko.

"I am not tying him up." Eko said firmly.

Ana strode towards him. "He tried to kill you!" She reminded him.

Eko defiantly shook his head. "No."

Dejected, Ana turned to Libby and pointed her gun at her. "Libby; you tie him up. Use the vines from the stretcher."

This statement snapped Mia back into the situation. "No! If you do that we won't be able to carry-"

"Shut! Up!" Ana cursed each word at her.

"He needs a doctor; or he'll die." Mia said in an even voice, not wanting to spark another argument. Ana's face was still visibly reddened from the punch Mia had given her; she didn't want to give her extra reason to fire that gun.

Ana locked eyes with Mia; lowered her pistol, and just stared at her. "I know what I'm doing." She said quietly. "Now untie him."

Libby was already unraveling the vines on the stretcher, and gave Mia a sympathetic look as they carefully untied Sawyer. In a sudden shock, Sawyer started shaking. "Oh!" Mia pulled him out of the stretcher. "Sawyer?" She held her hand to his face, her heart racing as she realized his temperature wasn't cooling off.

"M?" He barely whispered.

"Here," Libby pushed her water bottle into Mia's hands. "While he's conscious."

"Hey, hey," Mia knelt down close to his face. "You have to get some water in you, okay? You're gonna be fine; but you need to drink, alright?" She held the water bottle to his lips and dribbled the water into his mouth. He took one mouthful; and then two, and then promptly coughed up the third. "Ok, good," Mia stopped pouring. "Good," She pulled him into her arms so Libby could take the vines from underneath him. "Can you stay awake?"

"M…" He muttered. "Amelia… Marguerite… Rowan… I…" He trailed off and passed out once again.

"It's ok," She said to Libby who was watching her with pity.

"Who's Marguerite?" Libby asked.

"It's my middle name," Mia replied, pulling Sawyer into her lap so he wouldn't have his head in the mud. She could do nothing but watch Libby take the vines as Ana lifted Sayid by herself towards a tree. She snatched the vines from Libby and tied him up quickly to make sure he was stuck in place; and then again more tightly. They were talking; but Mia couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Let me help."

Mia hadn't realized Eko was at her side until she heard him speak. "What?"

"I will carry him back to your camp. You know the way, yes?"

Mia nodded. "I don't…" She glanced down at Sawyer and bit her lower lip. "He can't take much more of this." She admitted.

Eko nodded, reached down and slung Sawyer over his shoulder, rising to his feet with apparent ease with the man resting across his back. "Let's go."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ana squealed; noticing Eko and Mia retreating from her little coven of scared people.

"I am taking him back to his camp." Eko said reasonably, gesturing to Mia. "And she is leading me."

Ana just stood, stunned as the trio started to walk off, Mia shared a nod with Michael, him letting her know it was okay that she go, and that he would stay with Sayid and Jin.

"Wait," Ana stood in front of Eko; blocking his path. "Don't leave." She muttered in a low voice, clearly not wanting Mia to hear her. "Please. If that were you," She jutted her chin at Sawyer. "He'd let you die."

"I'm not doing it for him." Eko told her. "I'm doing it for me."

Mia and Ana locked eyes, but didn't say anything to each other, they both knew whatever they would say would only breed more tension between them, but she was letting them go. That was something. Not much, but something.

xxx

Mia had thought once the rain stopped it would be easier to trek her way back to the beach; but she was so very wrong. Now the sun was beating down on her damp clothes, and her soaking boots kept slipping on rocks and making her slide. Her hands had grazes all over them from her frequent falls on her face, and now that she wasn't spending her time worrying about Sawyer; all of her injuries she'd had since the raft exploded were making themselves very well known. Her leg stung; her head was aching and her side was numb. The knowledge that they'd be near Jack, and therefore better medical treatment for Sawyer, was the only thing spurring her on.

"I must rest." Eko said after about an hour.

Mia happily pulled to a stop in a clearing; she was surprised he hadn't needed a break earlier. All she carried in her shoulder bag were her damp belongings and two bottles of water. Eko had one bottle hanging from a string on his belt. Lying Sawyer sitting upright against a fallen tree log, Eko took his water bottle and stood in the middle of the clearing, breathing in and out, filling his lungs with much needed oxygen. Mia took one of her water bottles, swallowed a few mouthfuls, and then sat beside Sawyer. An onlooker could be mistaken for thinking he was just resting his eyes as he sat; not unconscious from an infected wound.

Resting her head back against the log, Mia turned to face Sawyer. She could feel the heat emanating from his forehead even though they weren't touching. "Sawyer?" She voiced quietly; hoping his eyes would snap open and he'd snarl some retort at her, something that would tell her that he was back to normal and that he was okay. "Can you hear me?" She wasn't speaking loudly; she didn't want Eko to overhear; not that he was likely to call her on anything she said. "You have to wake up, do you hear me?" He didn't even stir. "Please. You have to wake up." Tears welled in her eyes as she resisted the urge to reach out and touch him.

"We should keep moving." Eko said, already approaching her to pick Sawyer back up. "We might get back to your camp before dark."

Mia nodded, keeping her eyes to the ground. "I could help you carry him," She offered.

"It would be worse for his injury to have him between two people," Eko said, lifting Sawyer back up over his broad shoulders. "And you are exhausted as it is; you need to spend your energy on getting us to your doctor."

Mia nodded again and started to walk. The sun wasn't as strong as it had been; they were past the worst of the heat of the day, which was both good and bad. Good for the temperature; bad for the lighting. Mia could track better than most people; but without a torch or any sort of light in the dark, trekking was almost impossible. Each tree looked just like the next, all the branches were alike, the paths looked the same; it was a fruitless endeavour.

But then, Mia saw a ray of hope in the form of a red piece of fabric tied around the trunk of a tree. "Boone." She smiled, remembering too clearly how he had tied these as markers to trees to help them find their way back to camp when Claire had been kidnapped. Her smile faded as she thought of the young man, killed way too early in his life, and now Shannon, too. It was hardly a time to smile; but it was a beacon home. "We're close." She muttered over her shoulder to Eko; clearly struggling. "I know this path."

"Follow it; I can follow you. Go." Eko told her as he paused to take a few breaths.

With a new surge of energy, Mia took to the path like it was an old friend welcoming her home. She could still hear Eko trudging behind her, but she kept her eyes on the path ahead of her, recognizing trees, noticing footprints, and then, like a church bell, Mia heard laughter. Laughter that she recognized.

Kate.

"Hello?" Mia cried out, wanting to alert her friend that she was there, not an enemy.

There was silence, and then. "Who's there?"

Mia broke through a fence of shrubs and spied Kate and Jack, standing beside a creek, Jack with a golf club in his hand. "Jack!" She cried with relief.

"Mia!" Jack sprang towards her.

"Oh my God!" Kate was right behind Jack, crossing the river.

"What happened to your leg?" Jack asked as he crossed the water. "What happened to the raft?"

"Sawyer got shot, we found the people from the tail section, Shannon's dead," Mia said, reaching for Jack as her head suddenly became hazy. "Walt's gone. We had to find you..." With that, she collapsed right into Jack's arms.

xxx