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-Chapter 36-
For Every Action

1977
The Hydra

"What did you do with my baby?" Her stare lacks the familiar timidity of the Claire they once knew so well. She's now her own survivor; a caterpillar transformed by the harsh cocoon of the Island. After three years of metamorphosis, she's become a formidable mother desperate for her son. Her forearm muscles bulge as she tightens her grip and steadies the pistol. Her left eyelid twitches; she closes it, then aligns her other eye along the sight of the barrel.

Locke slowly bends his elbows and lowers his hands, hoping she grants him some range of freedom. She quickly re-cocks the chamber to emphasize she's not in the mood. "Don't move!"

Kate steps out of the surveillance room to investigate the commotion. "Claire?" She spots the gun and instinctively jumps aside to get out of the line of fire.

Locke wiggles his fingertips to keep Claire's focus on himself. "Stay back," he warns. "This is between me and Claire." He takes a half step closer and attempts conversation past the question he's unable to answer. "You were there too, remember?" He flattens his hands and drops his arms slightly, gesturing like a pedestrian pleading an oncoming car to stop. "You were with me inside the cabin." He clenches a fist while leaving his index finger extended. "He said the baby was where he was supposed to be. I figured you already knew; but now that I'm back, it all makes sense. I'm supposed to lead you, just like I'm supposed to lead everyone else to what this Island wants to give back to them." Locke hopes his words reestablish their trust; he relaxes his arms and takes another step closer.

She opens her left eye again and lowers the gun slightly. "He doesn't know where my baby is, John. And neither do you. He lied to the both of us."

Locke grins confidently. "He does know. You'll see. He knows more about this Island than any of us. He's the one who brought me here. He knew how to bring me back from the dead."

"If that's true, then you have nothing to lose," she replies, raising the pistol.

"Goodbye John."

She snaps the trigger. BANG. The sound of echoing gunshot alerts everyone else inside the surveillance room.

Locke presses his hand against his blood stained abdomen and drops to his knees.

2004
On board Oceanic 815,

"What did you do with the baby?" Locke says, holding her arm. The intensity of his grip begins to cut off her circulation.

The question reignites her fears about the condition of her pre-born infant. "My baby?"

Kate's unsure how to come to her defense after such an unusual question by such an unusual man.

Locke softens his voice but not his grip. "You were in the cabin with Christian. He said the baby was where he was supposed to be. He must have told you something."

Claire wrestles her arm to escape Locke's hold. Suddenly, a shocking sensation transfers from his hand and a yellow glow clouds her vision. She stops struggling and stares in a trance like state.

"You remember, don't you?" asks Locke.

Her left eye twitches. The trance relaxes her body to a point where she begins to fall unconscious. "Goodbye, John." She closes her eyes and slumps over against Kate.

Kate props up Claire's head to make sure she doesn't fall forward. She reaches across her lap and reclines her seat. "What did you do to her?"

"I'm only trying to help her." Locke suddenly feels a burning sensation just above his waistline. He presses his shirt where the pain emanates; blood seeps from an abdominal wound and quickly soaks his shirt.

Kate panics at the sudden sight of blood. "Help! He's bleeding! Hurry!"

Jack the physician springs into action. He sprints down the aisle and sees Claire soundly asleep. His attention quickly turns to the man bleeding in the wheelchair. He lifts Locke's shirt to check the wound and yells instructions to Kate. "I need clean towels! As many as you can find, right now! Hurry!"

The Hydra

Claire tucks the gun beneath her belt and runs in the opposite direction away from the surveillance room.

Kate stoops down and sees the fresh bullet wound. "Help! He's bleeding! Hurry!"

The group rushes out of the surveillance room. Jack the physician springs into action. He lifts Locke's shirt to check the wound and yells instructions to Kate. "I need clean towels! As many as you can find, right now! Hurry!"

Oceanic 815

Kate passes a towel to Jack who quickly fastens it to the wound. Locke is still conscious; he sits up in his wheelchair and insists on holding the towel for himself. "Thank you, Jack, but I'm going to be OK."

Jack takes another towel from Kate and before replacing the other, notices the bleeding has already slowed. He places his hand to the skin and examines the wound.

"I'm going to be OK," Locke assures him. "Fortunately, I don't have a kidney on my left side."

Jack places a fresh towel on the wound then looks over to Claire who is still lying unconscious. "What the hell is happening?" he asks, puzzled.

Kate clears her throat and confesses what's been weighing on her conscious. "I took your baby," she says, staring into Claire's expressionless face. She looks to Jack, his look of puzzlement remains; it's obvious he doesn't remember their time together on and off the Island, at least not yet. "I was with her on the Island. I helped deliver the baby. Before we left, she went missing. She left her baby inside the base of a tree. So I took him, and raised him as my own son for three years."

Locke pats her on the shoulder. "You did the right thing, Kate." He looks back to Claire, hoping she awakens and remembers the details of everything that happened. "But the question still remains as to why she would leave her baby at the bottom of a tree."

The Hydra

Kate passes a towel to Jack who quickly fastens it to the wound. Locke is still conscious; he sits up and insists on holding the towel for himself. "Thank you, Jack, but I'm going to be OK."

Jack takes another towel from Kate and before replacing the other, notices the bleeding has already slowed. He places his hand to the skin and examines the wound.

"I'm going to be OK," Locke assures him. "Fortunately, the bullet passed through my left side exactly where my kidney was removed."

Jack places a fresh towel on the wound. "What the hell is happening?" he asks, puzzled.

Locke keeps the pressure on the wound as Jack helps him to his feet. "Claire's confused. She's looking for her baby and she wants to blame me."

Kate exchanges a glance with Jack then looks back to Locke. "I took Aaron. I raised him off the Island for three years."

"I know. But he's back on the Island, and I'm supposed to help her find him." He places a hand on Kate's shoulder. "I need you to go after Claire. You're the only one here with experience in tracking. It's important that all of us be together when we go back to the main island."

Kate nods and takes several steps away before glancing back at Jack. "Go now, Kate!" instructs Locke. She runs off down the hallway to find an exit out of the Hydra.

"This is madness," Sayid scoffs, listening into their conversation. "My first priority is to make contact off the Island so we can be rescued. I trust that you found the tools I requested?"

"Yes." Locke winks an eye and hands him the toolbox. "They're coming, Sayid."

Oceanic 815

Locke looks back to Claire, hoping she awakens and remembers the details of everything that happened. "But the question still remains as to why she would leave her baby at the bottom of a tree."

Kate runs her fingers through Claire's hair and supports her head against her shoulder. Although she's unconscious, she senses their sisterly bond already forming. She notices her clothing bounce around her arching tummy and moves her hand over the moving skin. "The baby; he's kicking really hard," she says, her eyes widening in shock. Jack leans over and feels the movement for himself.

Locke winks an eye at Sayid. "We're coming, Sayid."