Chapter Thirty Eight: No Strings Attached

When Violet was let go by the Others what seemed like ages ago, back when Kate, Sawyer and Violet had been given a boat and allowed to sail back to their own island, Violet had nightmares for a long time that the Others would come back for her, take her again. She prayed, desperately hoped she would never be a prisoner of theirs again.

And here she was, with Kate and Sayid, sitting around with Richard Alpert and a group of Others holding guns at them. Sure, Richard wasn't ordering their executions, but it was obvious Richard wanted something from them. Maybe Violet wouldn't have felt so nervous if all those guns weren't pointed at them.

"Look, we're not interested in hurting you. I apologize about the guns, but the thing is, we need your help with something," Richard explained in a calm demeanor. Sayid lifted an eyebrow.

"And you didn't think to simply ask?" he asked. Richard smiled.

"You and I both know asking wouldn't suffice, not with our history." He leaned forward. "Those men from the freighter, they found Ben, and they've got him. We need you to help us free him. And if you help us do this, we'll let you leave the island."

And there was that promise again, the promise of leaving the island, the same promise she'd heard in so many contexts ever since those guys on the freighter showed up. And yet, here they were, still on the island.

So it was hard for Violet to believe the man was serious.

But Kate and Sayid perked up when they heard this.

The two of them shared a glance, as if they were sharing a private conversation, deliberating what to do. Violet felt left out, but reasoned they could make a better decision than she could. They would do whatever they thought was safest, and best for everyone involved. Besides, Violet was too tired to make any decisions. There was far too much else going on, finding out how her father killed himself, learning Claire was gone and then running into the jungle toward danger, only to get held up at gunpoint by people she'd almost forgot existed. Yeah, there was way too much going on.

"Alright," Kate said finally. "We'll help you. What do we do?"

Richard hesitated.

"You're not going to like it."

They waited.

"Those mercernaries are moving this way. We're going to intercept them, ambush them, and get Ben out of there." Richard pointed to Kate and Sayid. "You two will be given rifles, and your orders are to shoot anyone who tries to fight back."

Sayid raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds simple enough."

"Yes, well, here's the part you aren't going to like." Richard turned and let his eyes fall on Violet. "We need Violet to run out toward them first as a distraction."

Violet's stomach lurched inside of her, and Kate jumped to her feet, ignoring the sounds of clicking guns around her.

"Are you insane? You want to send her out to those men unarmed?" she exclaimed, eyes wild with fear.

Richard stood to face Kate.

"I understand your concern, but I need you and Sayid with the guns. Violet makes the most sense as the distraction; she doesn't know how to use a gun," he explained. Violet narrowed her eyebrows.

"I could!" she exclaimed. Richard met her eyes again and laughed quietly.

"Have you ever used one before?" he asked. "And I don't mean just holding one?"

Well, Violet didn't have an answer for that, not one that she wanted to admit. She sat quietly as Richard continued.

"We'll go with giving the guns to those of you who are more, ah, experienced."

Nobody said anything for a while, but it didn't seem as though there was any other choice. Sure, Richard made it sound like they had a choice, giving them the promise of leaving the island if they helped, but Violet noticed there was no choice in the other direction. Would the Others simply let Kate, Sayid and Violet go on their merry way if they disagreed to this?

As Violet peered at all those guns from the corner of her eye, she doubted it. She would have to accept that in just a little while, she would be sent out as bait to a bunch of armed men, intent on killing every single person on this island.

She reasoned she had every right to be terrified out of her right mind.

It wasn't long before Richard announced Martin Keamy and his team were dragging Ben through a nearby clearing, headed for the beach. It was time. One of the Others Violet didn't recognize came and took Violet's arm, pulling her away from Sayid and Kate. Kate jumped forward, but another Other held her back.

"Relax, Kate, Violet's going to be fine. Keamy won't kill her until he figures out where she's come from. We'll have enough time before he decides she has no information," Richard said.

Violet swallowed. If he was trying to be reassuring, it wasn't working.

As Richard handed Kate and Sayid guns, giving them instructions, the Other who had her arm watched through a bush as Keamy and his team appeared. Violet's eyes widened; the men were all dressed in camouflage, and right in the center of their little circle stood Ben. Violet shuddered; she hated that man. He'd tortured her without batting an eye. Why in the world were they agreeing to help him?

"Okay, run out there until they stop you. Tell them you're being chased. Don't say anything about us." The man holding her arm gave no other explanation and pushed her out. Swallowing, Violet stole one quick glance back and met Kate's eye. She stared at Violet with wide eyes, clinging to the gun she'd been giving, biting at her lip. She was terrified, and that didn't make Violet feel any better.

Still, she ran into the clearing as she was told. What else could she do?

They saw her immediately.

The clicks of guns startled her into stopping as the mercenaries glared her down like some kind of animal. The guy who seemed to be their leader, Keamy, approached her, holding his gun level with her chest. Violet was sure her heart was going to claw its way out of her chest.

"Who are you?" he asked, his lips tight and his eyes intense.

Violet let out a gasp, tried not to look behind her in hopes to see the calvary coming. That gun pointed at her chest could go off any second now. How could they let her do this?

"I'm...I'm V-Violet," she stammered, feeling every inch of her shaking in terror. "I...I'm from Oceanic 815."

"Why were you running, Violet?" Keamy asked.

"I'm...I'm being ch-chased."

She wondered how convincing she actually sounded. Lying didn't come so naturally when terror ran through your blood.

Without a second to spare, Keamy cupped his rough hand behind Violet's neck, and pushed her down into the ground, just as another guy in the army get-up pushed Ben, tied up, to his knees next to Violet.

"Don't move, girlie, or you're dead, got it?" Keamy said as he glared. Violet managed a nod, trying not to whimper.

The men went to work, circling the clearing, holding their guns up. As they searched for Violet's pursuers, Violet glanced up and caught Ben's eye. He knew. He knew there was a plan, he knew his people were out there. His eyes said it all, he'd known they were coming.

Everything happened so fast.

The Others emerged from the jungle, shots were fired, people were screaming. Violet cupped her hands over her head as she heard the shots, trembled as she knelt there, but Ben was prodding her with his tied hands.

"Get up, run!" he shouted as he rose to his feet. Violet hesitated for a split second, reasoning of all the people she would ever listen to, it would not be Ben.

But there was a war going on, and it was their chance.

She ran, Ben right beside her.

There was so much going on behind her in the clearing. Violet heard an explosion, a shriek, gunshots. Violet fought back the tears, praying Sayid and Kate got out alright, that they would find her and they could all find Jack and Sawyer and get back to the beach, maybe even find Claire. But first, they had to get out of this alive!

Violet didn't know how far they should run, but it wasn't long before Ben said to stop. Gasping for breath, Ben plopped himself down on a rock, as casual as ever.

"Are you insane?" Violet asked. "Those people are probably coming after us!"

"They won't be," Ben replied in mono-syllables. "My people will have killed them all. This is where we'll all meet up."

So this was the plan all along; Ben must have known he'd be taken by those mercernaries, must have told his people to have an ambush ready. Violet couldn't help but wonder if she had been part of their plan all along. It seemed impossible, but Ben's plans had a way of including the seemingly impossible.

Violet didn't bother to ask. She picked a rock as far from Ben as possible. Sure, his arms were tied, he looked like he'd been beaten pretty badly, but this was still the same man who'd ordered her strapped to a chair while he turned up the electricity. No, she wasn't taking her chances.

As Ben predicted, it wasn't long before the rest of the Others emerged into the clearing. Violet jumped to her feet, searching through the crowd of strangers for Kate, for Sayid. She held her breath, and finally released it slowly when she saw them, staggering into the clearing, sweaty and exhausted-looking. Violet shot forward and met Kate with open arms. Kate clung tightly, asking her a thousand times if she was okay.

"I'm sorry I let you go out there," Kate whispered. Violet rolled her eyes.

"Kate, as if we had a choice," Violet replied, letting Kate off the hook. Kate was like that; she'd assigned herself the role of Violet's protector from the beginning, and it was no secret she let guilt plague her like a virus anytime Violet was in trouble, or sick, or in danger. No, this time, Violet wasn't giving her that much credit.

As Kate, Sayid and Violet stepped forward, they could overhear a conversation occuring between Richard and Ben, while Richard cut his leader free.

"Their leader, Keamy. He's dead. The rest of them too. They're gone." Richard shared a significant glance with Violet, Kate and Sayid. "Thanks to them."

Ben nodded.

"What was the arrangement, then?" he asked simply, as though it made total sense there would have been an arrangement.

"I told them if they helped us free you, we'd let them leave the island," Richard stated. Violet secretly rolled her eyes. Yeah right, as if Ben was going to-

"Fair enough." Ben surprised her. "The helicopter is yours. It's just through that clearing there."

And with that, Ben and his people turned to leave. Violet stood dumbfounded, trying to process what had just happened. Unable to contain her confusion, she took a daring step forward.

"Are you serious?" she called. "Just like that. 'The helicopter is yours'? No strings attached?" She asked it with a hint of sarcasm, but Ben stared at her with all the seriousness he could muster, his face a stone.

"No strings attached, Violet," he said in that same creepy voice he used to use when he was trying to convince Violet, back when she was a prisoner, that he wasn't a bad person. He had that look now. "I've told you before, Violet, I'm a man of my word."

Yeah. That she remembered. Harshly.

As the Others departed, Kate and Sayid headed toward the clearing with the helicopter, and the reality of it all hit Violet like a ton of bricks. The helicopter was here. No mercernaries were around to shoot them. No Others were around to stop them. Nothing stood in their way; they had the means to fly off this island. They had the means to go home.

Violet swayed on the spot. No, this wasn't happening. After all this time, this couldn't be happening. I don't want to leave, I can't leave! Tears stung her eyes as she stared at the helicopter like it was a stairway to hell itself. She couldn't get on that thing. She couldn't.

"Violet, are you okay?" Kate asked all of a sudden, stopping to give Violet her full attention. Violet wondered how bad she must have looked. She'd felt all the color drain rapidly from her cheeks; had Kate seen it?

Violet thought on Kate's question. Okay? No, she wasn't okay! How could she be? It was no secret she didn't want to leave this island, but here was the copter, ready to exchange life on the island for the unknown. Violet felt ready to collapse.

But instead, she nodded.

"Yeah, fine." She paused. "You know, except for nearly getting killed. No big deal." She faked a convincing enough smile to dissuade Kate, but inside, she was screaming.