Chapter 52 - 77
Telling her to sit still while he investigated the noise in the other room was not what she wanted to hear from Sayid. Although, she could not say she was surprised, knowing that his stubborn streak ran nearly as deep as hers - if not deeper. The problem was, that if the C-4 were ignited, it wouldn't matter who was stubborn, strong or smart. They would all be blown to hell.
She set her gaze on him and for a moment found that safe place in his eyes. The one she used to know. Then there was another thump and then a crash followed by a series of grunting.
"Stay here. " He said, raising himself up on his feet and hoisting the rifle over his shoulder.
Sarah watched him turn from the doorway, and disappear into the darkness. There was a sliding sound and then a loud click that briefly sent her back to when she knelt in the mud staring into the barrel of Jude's rifle. Then. "Stop right there!"
Now, she was on her feet and trailing a short distance behind Sayid. She passed the doorway in time to witness Kate throw a fist into the black woman's face and a bewildered Sayid holding her back. "It's her. She was there! She was at the docks; she was there when we were kidnapped! She knows where Jack is. "
Sayid nodded and then pressed the rifle into the woman's chest. "Are there any more of you here? "
She stared back at him with hard and stern eyes until Sayid suggested they take her upstairs.
But Sarah stood with her feet planted on the floor. She believed what the woman said, and Mikhail was somewhere up there. Perhaps they'd taken him down and then bound him up, but he was up there all the same ... alone with John. If she knew anything about these people, it was that they were very resourceful and they never gave up on anything. She stood firmly in protest. "Sayid. Just let her go! "
"What?! " Kate glared.
"It's alright Kate. " Sayid nodded again. "Let's go. "
"No … no please. She's gonna trigger the explosives, she's gonna blow the whole building! Just go, get out of here! "
"With what? Her mind?! We do not have time for this. It was a bluff Sarah, to get you to do what she wanted. Now come up with us, or stay down here if you are that stubborn. " With that, Sayid prodded the woman forward, followed by Kate. Sarah blinked, feeling somewhat unsure and a bit shell-shocked, but eventually yielded and climbed the metal ladder leading up into the main room of the house.
They found the upper level suspiciously quiet, and so Sayid called out for John who responded from beyond the door. "Out here! "
They all moved towards the front, Sayid first, pushing the woman forwards with the rifle in her back. He threw a foot into the door. When it flung open, Sarah sighed. There was John facing them, about a yard or more away. Mikhail stood behind him with a firm hand on his shoulder and a pistol to his head.
Sayid pushed the woman out into the yard, Kate behind them and then Sarah.
"This is simple. " Mikhail said. "Send her over to me and I will release him. And we all go our separate ways. "
What followed occurred very quickly and would later become one blur of time that Sarah would add to the list of atrocities she could not easily forget. Something partially attributed to the tension and struggle for leadership that had ensued between Sayid and John since leaving the beach. John argued that Mikhail was bluffing and Sayid insisted that he was in charge. All the while Mikhail was ordering John to keep his mouth shut and then the woman joined her voice with theirs by yelling out
"Mikhail!"
John and Sayid went back and forth and the woman muttered what sounded like gibberish to Mikhail, who responded in like manner. Then everyone was yelling until the woman shouted.
"Just do it Mikhail! "
Mikhail gave a hard shove, throwing John to the side and then aimed his pistol. He muttered something that sounded like "Br'stivia" and then one blast rang out. The woman flew back until she hit the ground. Sarah stepped back, staring at her, barely hearing Sayid yelling at John. She flicked her eyes up in time to see John struggling with Mikhail. There was another shot, Mikhail head butted John and then Sayid leaped forwards, smacking Mikhail in the head with the butt of his rifle. Mikhail fell back onto the ground, yelling, "Finish it! " when Sayid shoved the rifle into his face. "Kill me. "
Sarah stepped up, Kate grabbed her arm. She stared at Sayid and Mikhail. She had not seen him kill Jude. She had her eyes closed tightly and heard the shot. It was not until he knelt beside her and put his hands on her that she jumped back, opened her eyes and found him next to her with Jude lying on his side. Now she was staring at him holding a gun on Mikhail and Mikhail begging him to shoot. She held her breath.
Mikhail never let his eyes stray from Sayid's who met them straightforwardly as well. He then turned his head to the side, working his jaw and withdrew the rifle. "Kate, Locke, go back and gather whatever might be useful from inside. We're leaving. "
They bound Mikhail's hands and then Kate and John went back into the house, leaving just the three, Mikhail, Sayid and Sarah. She had not spoken much during or after the last series of events. Truly not since Sayid snapped at her in the basement.
He turned his head, and must have seen the unsettled look upon her face. "Are you alright? "
She bobbed her own head without much enthusiasm. Mikhail smirked, tilting his chin. "Does he not yet know who you are, or is he planning to trade you off to Ben, hmm? "
She dropped her eyes. He had caught her in a moment of weakness, just as Ben would have done, knowing the exact moment to strike in order to maximize the effect. Had Ben taught them all to be just like him? Or was it a characteristic required to become a member of the group? Whichever it was, Mikhail seemed to have mastered the art to perfection. "I know who you are … Laren. You are one of us. "
"Of course she is … that's why one of your people had her tied up in the basement. "
He then grabbed Mikhail by the hands and pushed him forwards, calling for Danielle. "Tell me something; were you ever a member of the Dharma initiative? Our was everything you said a lie? Of course, I'm wasting my breath. "
He admitted that he was never a member, but everything else he told them was true. There was a purge initiated by Dharma and he remained living there at the farmhouse after it was over. They continued talking as Danielle joined them. She wanted to know how many of the group remained, thinking that Mikhail would have managed to kill one or two, or perhaps only Sarah and Sayid were the only ones left. He explained that John and Kate were gathering anything useful from the farmhouse and that now they had their ticket to where the others were. Where they would find Jack and Danielle's daughter and then finally perhaps a way home.
A way home. Sarah had lived on the island for so long that she couldn't remember anywhere else being home. There were the sketchy memories of when she was a small child and then the brief moments in Australia. The only place that she had ever really thought of as home, a place she found comfort and strength, was there on the beach with the rest of the survivors … With Sayid.
Mikhail raised his head proudly, while squaring his shoulders and insisted he would do nothing to cooperate with them. They could do whatever they wanted, but he would never tell them where the others were. Sayid stared at him smugly. "I didn't say you were our ticket … Did I? "
He then rolled out a map and explained several locations marked on it, stopping on one in particular. An area that consisted of a cluster of dormitories powered by cables running to them from the Flame. The map marked the area as the Barracks. They appeared to be complete with a water supply substantial enough to support an entire community, and was a place that seemed well worth visiting.
Mikhail did not relent though, declaring that once his guard was down, he would not hesitate a moment before killing Sayid. Danielle suggested they go ahead and kill Mikhail now.
Sayid stood, inching his way forwards until he was face to face with Mikhail. Neither man looked away and so the two of them eyed each other fiercely. Danielle waited.
Sarah held her breath once again, eyeing the both of them. Sayid stood rigid with both arms to his side. Then there was a purring sound. Sarah's eyebrows turned in, but she kept her eyes on them until the sound grew louder in her ears. Then she tossed her head and then looked off to the side, seeing nothing but the ground darkened by the oncoming nightfall. What was this sound?
She caught a glimpse of Kate and John coming out of the farmhouse just as Sayid spoke. "No, he's my prisoner. I will decide his fate. "
At the approach of John and Kate, Sayid took another shot at John. "I can see you didn't find anything worth taking. "
John seemingly ignoring the jab, admitted that he had played a silly game of chess and discovered why Mikhail had advised him to abandon his efforts at beating it. This, of course, only served to set Sayid on edge even moreso and he narrowed his eyes while snarling. "Meaning what? "
There was the sensation of air being sucked away from them, and then an explosive boom that reverberated in their ears, throwing them all to the ground. The entire farmhouse went up in one large inferno of bright red and orange, in the midst of the darkness of night. It wasn't until they hit the ground that Sarah realized Sayid was covering her. He rose up in a furious glare and yelled. "What have you done John?! That place was our one hope for communication with the outside world!! "
John insisted that he had done what the computer told him to do if there had been an incursion by the hostiles. He entered seven-seven.
Sayid clenched his teeth, closed his eyes and then shook his head. He then leaped to his feet.
"We should go. If anyone is around this explosion's going to attract their attention. "
Sarah had already risen, hearing their words only distantly. She stepped through the bushes, as if walking in a trance, slowly towards the fire, and then stopped when she felt the heat rising from it. She blinked when puffs of heated air blew into her eyes. Had Kate and John not exited in time, they would have been killed.
"Sarah, let's go. " Sayid stepped up beside her. "Sarah? "
She barely heard him over the sound in her ears. The sound of purring. It grew louder the closer he approached. She rolled her eyes over the scene before her and then whispered.
"What's that sound? What is that? "
"I remember you." He cried, kneeling in chains, on the cold, hard floor. The dripping of water behind him.
"I remember your face. "
Sarah could see them both in her head even now.
His face was so twisted with sorrow that she wanted to run to him and throw her arms around him. "I am sorry. I am so sorry for what I did to you. I'm so sor …"
His words dissolved into tearful whispering.
The silver and white cat rested in the womans arms and purred. The woman answered through her own tears.
"I forgive you. "
The purring was all she could hear as she turned to him and scanned his face. What burdens had he born that she knew nothing about? Is this why he could so easily refrain from truly hurting Mikhail? Was he thinking of this moment in time as well?
"Sarah?" He said again, gazing over her face.
Brows turned inward, she turned her head to the side and looked softly on him. He was standing there, gazing down at her with the same dark eyes to which she had grown accustomed. He was a bit rank, but they all were and she hardly noticed now. "Who is she? The woman in the chair? The one with the scarred hands holding the cat."
"Who is she, Sayid? "
