Prologue

Excerpt from Four Christmases:

Everyone needs to put on your own oxygen mask

Reese Witherspoon: "Is this how it's gonna be with us?"

Vince Vaughn: (confused) "Is this what's gonna...what's?"

Reese Witherspoon: I'd like to know you'll be there for me in a crisis. If we were on a plane and it was going down and I was out and say...Everyone needs to put on your oxygen mask...I would like to know that you're gonna put on mine before your own, you know?"

Vince Vaughn: I wouldn't and the FAA wouldn't want me to either."

Reese Witherspoon: I'm not...FAA? What?"

Vince Vaughn: Do you ever listen to the stewardesses? or are you too busy moving your Blackberry and having them tell you to shut it off? I listen to the stewardesses when they say that you're supposed to put on your mask in case of an emergency before you try to help out a child or an unfit adult sitting next to you. I've heard her...cause if you pass out, you're not helping anybody."

Chapter 36

Ten minutes after 5:00 pm, Kay Decker, the spokesperson for Oceanic Airlines walked to the podium and began addressing the public by apologizing for the delay. One of the survivors-Olivia Pope-she explained, had a last minute situation preventing her attending the conference at this time.

The spokesperson stood behind a large podium raised on a flat platform in a corner of a large auditorium. The Oceanic Airlines logo-a big purple circle enclosing smaller blue and pink inner circles- was prominently displayed on a long white background wall. The United States flag was to the left of the podium.

The survivors of flight 815 were seated alongside a banquet style table on the raised platform.

Fitz glanced at his phone for the up tenth time. Still no messages from Olivia.

With a professional smile, Kay Decker directed a few warm up questions to the survivors.

Kate, Hurley and Sun (in that order) answered her questions relating their own personal narratives of their experiences after the crash and their survival on an inhabited island.

The audience listened captivated as Kate talked about encounters with polar bears and wild boars and as Hurley related their hunting and fishing methods. Then, Sun and Jin replied to a question by a Korean reporter by stating that they owed their survival to the group. In the short time they had been together, the group had bonded in a way they had never imagined possible. Together they had pooled all their emotional and physical resources which had made it possible for them to survive in the most dire circumstances.

While listening to their responses, Fitz flashed back to the time when they as a group of eight (including baby Aaron) were intercepted In Honolulu -their pit stop before boarding the flight bound for Los Angeles- by a representative from Oceanic Airlines.

Fitz had appointed himself as the spokesman for the group and had answered initial questioning in a general, non-committal manner with the understanding that he there would be a formal press conference once the survivors had a chance to recover from their ordeal.

"If we get any questions we don't wanna answer, or that we can't answer, let's just keep our mouths shut," Fitz had said to the group prior to giving their first official statement.

Everyone had stared at him in a daze.

"That's okay, they'll think that we're in shock," Fitz quickly added.

Sayid shook his head."We are in shock, Fitz."

Fitz visibly relaxed. "Well, this should be easy, then."

"Mr. Grant, " Kay Decker's voice intruded on his thoughts. "I understand that from the island you made radio contact with Mr. Elijah Pope."

Fitz cleared his throat and dipped his chin to speak into the microphone clipped to his suit jacket. "That is correct," he said making direct eye contact with Eli Pope who was sitting by himself to the right of the podium-on the opposite side of the Oceanic 815 survivors.

"It is my understanding that you were aboard the helicopter on the last flight off the island at the time of rescue...can you tell us when was the last time you saw the freighter that carried the rest of the survivors?"

FLASHBACK

Fitz remembers the rising feeling of panic as the helicopter battles against strong winds.

The pilot struggles with visibility, "Goddammit, we're losing altitude!

"What's the matter? Fitz asks.

"We're running out of gas AND lost communication with the freighter."

A moment later, a bright light brighter than anything Fitz had ever seen shrouded everything in sight. He turns his head back where the island had been but all he can see is an universe of oneness; the sky and all landmarks into one continuous deep fog.

Five seconds later Fitz hears the most deafening sound. A moment later he realizes that the sky has now turned purple.

Sayid who was sitting beside the pilot says in consternation, "The island! The island is gone!"

Fitz shook his head. certainly this could not be, they couldn't have possibly flown that far... in the last...what? thirty seconds?

"Where's the freighter?" Olivia yells so she could be heard above the roaring of the engine. That's when Fitz realizes that Olivia had been staring ahead in direction of where they'd had last seen the freighter while he had remained focused on the island they'd left behind.

"You need to fly to another island!" Fitz tells the pilot. Sensing that beside him Olivia was starting to panic, he squeezes her hand and gives her the best reassuring look he could muster.

"There is no other island! at least not one within the next 30 miles. We're running low on fuel," the pilot reiterates with a greater urgency.

Fitz recalls looking at the sky once again and was struck by the fact that it looked rather purplish. The fog was dense and thick and it was raining cats and dogs.

"Here," Sayid turns back and starts handing out life jackets, "just in case."

Fitz would never forget the look on Olivia's face on that moment. She lets the floating device fall across her lap and stares at it as if it was about to explode in a hundred pieces. What she was thinking clearly palpable. Sure, they could all potentially survive the force of an impact as they were wearing safety belts...but what about Aaron?

"NO," she says, her caramel eyes resolute. "I won't be able to hold onto Aaron wearing this!" She's holding Aaron tight against her chest, supporting his head the best way she could. He was still a newborn and his neck muscles were not strong enough yet.

She didn't need to say more for him to understand. The life vest was too bulky and would prevent her from being able to hold the baby flush against her body.

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball that boggles the mind.

Olivia continued to shake her head in refusal. Logic dictated that she should put on the floating device and yet she couldn't help but think... There was nothing to protect Aaron in case of an emergency landing or heaving forbid yet another crash.

The prospect of watching a defenseless child plummet to his death was nothing less than horrifying.

So Fitz did the only thing he could do. He took off his own flotation vest. "I'll hold him," he says handing her the darn bulky thing. "You put this on, you think of our baby!"

Olivia starts shaking. "Fitz, NO!" she cries hysterically. "Oh, God, Fitz...I love you so much!"

If anyone had to sacrifice their life it had to be him, Fitz thinks. He would rather die a thousand deaths rather than she be hurt in anyway, rather certain that he would couldn't live a single day without her.

He had to do everything in his power so that the three of them survive: Olivia, Aaron and their unborn baby.

"I love you, baby, it's gonna be okay," he caresses Olivia's cheek with the back of his hand, giving her a ghost of a smile which was the best he could do under the circumstances.

Yes, Olivia and the baby would be okay. As for Aaron, in the event of a crash, he would use his own body as a human shield or at least he hopes he would be able to.

She stares back at him for the longest time as though she were forever paralyzed.

"It's gonna be okay!" he reassures her once again. "We're all gonna be okay!"

With tears running down her cheeks, Olivia transfers the sleeping baby onto Fitz's arms. Then, she throws her arms around his neck and kisses him deeply, adamantly.

She pulls back a moment to gaze into his eyes, running her hands through his hair. In her eyes he sees apprehension but also a good measure of love and adoration.

END OF FLASHBACK

"We were lost," Fitz spoke. "We had zero visibility for a while. It was a rough landing but not nearly as bad as we had expected...and then, by some miracle we landed on another island."

The Oceanic spokeswoman addressed the audience. "This is where local fisherman called the local authorities as the helicopter landed on the highest peak," she said showing a slide. The island of Sumba appeared in the heart of a cluster of islands of various sizes. She then drew a big question mark around the Island of Sumba.

"As you have all read in your briefing, some of this islands are currently inhabited. It is unclear at this point which one was the island where flight 815 crashed." She turned her head to where Eli Pope was sitting. "As you know, Mr. Pope sent his crew aboard a freighter to comb the area on a hunch. But we have no way of knowing the exact location as the pilot reports becoming disoriented during the tropical storm."

She then showed a slide of the seven survivors (minus the baby) shaking hands with the locals in a village called Manukangga. Kay Decker focused on Olivia with Aaron in her arms.

"Here is a picture of the survivors taken by a local anchorman. The survivors include a 2 month old baby..." she then turned to Fitz. "Miss Pope is not here with us today. But she and the infant are currently living with you in your residence, is that right?"

"Yes, indeed." Fitz answered and for some reason he felt as though he was in a courtroom answering the prosecutor's questions.

"Miss Pope is your girlfriend, is that correct?" she tilted her head as though she was making an educated guess.

"Hmm...she's my fiancee, actually," Fitz said. He had no idea what had prompted him to say such a thing. All he knew was that for a longest time he had struggled to find the right word that described what Olivia meant to him. Girlfriend, lover, live in girlfriend...None of these words seemed to describe the role that she played in his life. What do you call the one person that he would gladly risk his life for, the one person who was his everything?

The woman nodded. "And you two are taking care of this infant who was presumably born on the island? It's too young to have been aboard flight 815, " she said enlarging the image of Aaron with his eyes closed on projector screen. "Who is the mother?"

Fitz took a deep breath. He imagined Olivia sitting next to him where she should have been sitting.

His gaze shifted to the other survivors and the audience. They all seemed to be waiting for his answer.

It wasn't as though he was surprised by the question. Of course, he'd been expecting it. Yet, he really wished he didn't have to answer as it opened up the door to uncharted territory. It was as though he'd sign up to play a game of Bingo in which his luck was truly random, depending on the game board he was given.

"The baby's mother..." Fitz pursed his lips and looked out into the audience. "Her name was Claire Littleton. She disappeared one day at our camp shortly after she gave birth. We looked for her everywhere." he concluded.

"Yes, I recognize the name from the passenger manifest... was the baby full term and born in good health?"

"Yes, he was."

"Mr. Grant," she continued, giving Fitz a quizzical look. "If you and your fiancee have been taking care of the infant since then...what is your plan? Will you be filing a petition to adopt given that the mother is presumably dead?" she inquired coolly.

He wished the woman would ask more questions about the freighter, the rescue and the other survivors.

He hesitated, remembering what his father had recommended he'd do. "At this time," he began shifting in his seat, "We have no such plans," he added regretting his words as soon as he uttered them.

The woman stared back momentarily surprised. The rest of the Oceanic survivors exchanged looks.

Considering the subject closed, the spokesman then shifted her attention to Sayid, "Mr. Jarrah what are your plans will you be returning to Iraq?

Sayid stated that he believed there is nothing waiting for him in Iraq.

"As the co-pilot did you see anything aside from what Mr. Grant and the other passengers saw?

Sayid, who up until this point had been sitting relaxed in his chair, flexed his left arm, pressing his elbow against the arm rest and held his chin in a thoughtful manner. "No, I don't think so, " he was going to add something else except that the Kay Decker voiced yet another question.

"Do you have any idea of what might have happened to the freighter?"

"Like Mr. Grant said, our plan was to land on the freighter and navigate back to Los Angeles. But we lost track of the freighter. We never heard from them again."

"What do you think happened? " the woman insisted.

"It's hard to say," Sayid's hardened gaze focused on Eli Pope who was sitting on the other side of the podium to the right of the spokesperson. "Last I heard was that Mr. Pope had made radio contact with the freighter shortly after we arrived in Sumba."

Kay Decker raised her brow. "And how do you know this Mr. Jarrah?"

Sayid pursed his lips. "I believe that Olivia, Mr. Pope's daughter, informed us."

Karen Decker shifted her attention to Elijah Pope with ease. "I was not aware of there being any contact with the freighter, Mr. Pope after the helicopter deviated to the island of Sumba."

"Maybe because there wasn't any," Eli spoke in an utterly confident voice. "What I said to my daughter was that I had been in communication with my people the entire time and that I was sure that they would be making the journey back to Los Angeles safely," he looked out into the audience, "my daughter clearly misunderstood and assumed that I had just received word from them. "

"Are you sure about that?" Fitz spoke suddenly, his gaze directed at Eli Pope like a laser beam of light. "I was there too...and we were all under the impression that you had just received communication from the Freighter prior to speaking to Olivia."

Eli Pope smiled a fake smile. "I'm absolutely positive," he reiterated his gaze shifting between Karen Decker and the audience in general.

Fitz smiled back an equally fake smile. He wasn't sure of the significance of the lie Olivia's father had just told. But it was essentially his word against his. The interesting part was that the lie appeared to be inconsequential. Yet, he was convinced that where one lie lived many more resided.

A/N:

I'm changing my pen name to kz4valentina. No worries, it's still me :D

Please leave a line telling me how you're liking the story,

A little birdie told me this morning that some of you were gone on an extended spring break vacation -shrugs- Okay, but don't forget to come back!