Chapter Fifty One: There's No Place Like Home (Part One)

"Faith, you have to slow down and think about this. We don't know where to find Keamy and his team!"

She continued to walk at a brisk pace through the jungle, Locke hot on her heels. "This is an island, not the final frontier; we'll find them eventually."

"We don't know a single thing about these scientists either! Frank could have been lying!"

With a sigh, she turned sharply to face him. "What would you suggest we do then Locke? By now Ben has found our group and talked to Jack and we both know that meeting of the minds never goes well. They're probably trying to contact the same freighter full of people who want to kill them and if that's not enough we're being hunted by a group of mercenaries who want to stick me in a box and poke me with really sharp objects! I don't know about you but that doesn't sound like a day at Disneyworld to me!"

"We should find Richard."

"Hiding in some hatch isn't an option here Locke."

"I didn't say anything about hiding but we're outnumbered, not to mention outgunned. I know you're capable of a lot of things Faith but unless you suddenly know how to stop bullets I'd suggest we rethink our attack plan."

"I'm starting to rethink the whole liking you deal, that's what!" Faith turned away from him and only took two steps forward before a change in the atmosphere had her freezing in her tracks. It was as if her whole body came alert, something she had never really experienced even as a slayer until recently on the island, and she cursed as she felt the pounding of her heart loudly in her ears.

It disappeared as quickly as it came and she blinked to find her crossbow already in her hands and targeting the patch of trees in front of them. Locke came up beside her with his gun drawn. Her finger squeezed down on the trigger.

"Don't shoot."

Richard's voice had her cursing again and she lowered the bow, glaring at him as he appeared in their path. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't." Faith muttered under her breath. The trees around them rustled, more Others becoming visible as well. She cleared her throat. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be hiding by now?"

"We thought you should know the survivors have returned to the beach. It seems that the new arrivals are agreeing to take them to their freighter despite recent events."

Faith watched his gaze flicker momentarily to Locke. "What recent events?"

"It seems that Locke has killed one of their own during his time away from us."

She turned on the older man immediately. "You did what?!"

"She was radioing for help, radioing Keamy. I did what I had to do to protect the island."

"That business you had to take care of was murder? Which one did you kill?"

"Faith-"

"Which one Locke?"

"Naomi." He answered quickly. "It had to be done Faith. She wasn't here to help and you know it, you heard what Frank said about her!"

"You're un-fucking-believable!"

"Faith…"

She pointed her finger at Richard. "Don't fucking start with me!"

He smiled only slightly. "We have to go. Locke's needed at the Orchid with Ben."

"Ben?" She frowned. "What happened to Alex and Karl?"

"Danielle is taking them to the beach. Ben requires Locke's assistance and you are needed at The Temple."

Faith shook her head and slid the crossbow strap over onto her shoulders once more. "I'm needed where I damn well say I am and that's at the beach. I need to check on everyone and make sure they get on the freighter."

"Jack will take care of it."

"You're not hearing me." She growled. "I'm going to the beach."

Richard took a step forward to bring him closer to her. "You belong with us at The Temple. I will make sure that every one of your friends makes it on the freighter but it is important that you are safe with us more than anything else."

"That's sweet, really, almost to the point of nausea but I think you need to get your ears checked. This isn't up for negotiation. I'm going to see my friends then I'm going to find Keamy and his group."

He released a small sigh. "Don't stay long at the beach. I would wish you luck with Keamy but I highly doubt you'll find him before we do."

"Want to bet?"

"What are you willing to risk?" Faith glanced around to see the Others had gone, Locke with them. Richard stepped forward again. "They're taking him to the Orchid and preparing for what's to come."

"This isn't your fight Richard; it's me Widmore wants."

"You haven't answered my question."

"If you think I'm going to willingly sign up for your baby making factory, you've got a fist to the face coming." He actually smiled at that and she inhaled as he reached out to touch the side of her face. "You just might have one coming anyway."

The smile remained on his face even as he dropped his hand and stepped back. "Be careful Faith."

With a roll of her eyes, she took off running towards the direction of the beach.

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"Faith!"

She came skidding to a stop on the beach so fast that sand went flying upwards. "Sun, is everyone here? Did Danielle make it?"

"Just a few minutes ago." Sun studied Faith's face. "Is everything alright? When I had heard you went off with the Others…"

"It's a long, boring story trust me." Faith spotted Alex and Karl assisting some of the other survivors. She continued to scan the beach and frowned when she didn't see Jack, Sawyer or Sayid.

"If you are wondering about Sayid, he went with Jack and Sawyer to find you. There are people from the freighter out at sea." Sun pointed at three people standing next to a zodiac, two men and one woman. "They're taking us six at a time to the ship."

Faith locked eyes with one of them and started for the zodiac.

"Faith, wait!" She paused and glanced over her shoulder. Sun stepped forward. "You should know that they gave Jack a radio that has a beacon for their helicopter."

"Sun, whatever happens, I want you to get on the boat, okay? Get everyone on the boat as quickly as possible."

Sun nodded. "And what about you?"

"I'll be fine." Faith didn't stop walking until she reached the group by the zodiac. "Which one of you is in charge?"

"Charge? We'll see, we…"

"You spoke first so that means you." She glared at the brown-haired bearded man in the middle. "Name?"

"Daniel, Daniel Faraday."

"Listen up Daniel Faraday, you're going to get people on your boat or else I'm going to kill you. Do you understand?"

He swallowed and fidgeted. "Listen, lady…"

"Don't fucking lady me. We both know you're aware of what I can do and unless you want me to show you first hand, I suggest you stick to your word of getting people on that freighter. We five by five or not?"

"It's not us you have to worry about." The redheaded woman spoke up in an accented voice. "It's Keamy."

"I'll take care of Keamy." She eyed the woman and the other man before looking back to Daniel. "Now, do we have an understanding or do I just cut to the chase and beat you to death now?"

"We'll get them to the boat Faith."

Something switched on inside of her, her eyes flashing, and had it been any other time, it would have been amusing to see the three of them step away from her simultaneously. "Good." She flashed them a smile that was all teeth. "Get to it."

They nodded and it was almost a feeling of déjà vu as she sprinted back off into the forest.

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There was no sign of Jack or Sawyer at the helicopter but what worried her more was that there was no sign of Kimberly or Frank either. Faith kept her crossbow close to her side and continued to linger back in the jungle, eyes on the aircraft. There were no signs of life at all but she knew deep down that the second she shifted, things would reveal themselves for what they really were.

Seconds passed. Minutes lingered. Finally she let out a low sigh and stepped away from the tree. Her finger rested on the trigger of the bow as she approached the aircraft but she knew how pointless it would be as a weapon if she was up against a mercenary with an automatic assault rifle. Fuck, she hated guns.

"Stop right there Ms. Lehane."

She stopped but didn't loosen her grip on the bow. She remained silent as a tall man in military garb appeared from around the aircraft, his team coming out from the bushes and trees surrounding her. Buzz cut and facial hair, he kept his eyes on hers even as one of his men shoved Frank forward and she took note of the fact his hands were bound again.

"You must be Keamy."

"Mr. Widmore told me capturing you would be a lot harder than this. I'm disappointed."

"The only person you've managed to capture is Frank and from what I've seen that isn't much of a challenge, no offense Frank."

"None taken."

Keamy moved forward one step. "Why don't you lower the weapon? We can do this nice and easy."

"It should be in one of those files Widmore gave you about me that I never do anything nice and easy." She tightened her grip on the bow. "Where's the girl?"

"Ah, you mean the blonde; feisty thing that one."

Out of the corner of her eye, Faith saw Kimberly shoved forward; the girl holding her arm that was bleeding profusely. It was beyond obvious that she had been knocked around before being shot.

"She put up quite a fight before we were able to subdue her. I heard you slayers were tough but I had no idea, I'm impressed."

"She's still a novice." Faith returned her attention back to Keamy. "You should try someone more skilled, like me."

"Believe me, I'd love to but I'm under strict orders to bring you and Benjamin Linus back alive." Keamy smiled. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is right now would you?"

"Nope, sorry. Ben and I aren't really all that close."

"I think you're lying." He motioned at the two men by Kimberly and Faith watched them shove the girl towards him. Eyes locked on her, Keamy shoved Kimberly to her knees and pressed the barrel of his gun to the back of her head. "Let's try this again Ms. Lehane; where is Benjamin Linus?"

"Shoot her and I'll kill you."

He cocked the gun. "Last time, where is Benjamin Linus?"

"Do not tell him Sister!"

"Shut up." He hit Kimberly in the head with the gun but quickly brought his attention back to Faith when she moved forward. "Uh-uh, not so fast. Tell me what I want to know and I won't kill her. It's as simple as that. Keep your mouth shut and I'll make sure that every single person on this island you care about dies."

Faith lowered her bow down by her side. "Let her go and I'll take you to him myself."

Keamy's eyes never wavered from hers. After it seemed he had weighed all the options in his head, he nodded and stepped back from Kimberly. "Let's go." He nudged his head at his men. "Handcuff both of them to the chopper." His eyes met Faith's again. "Safety precaution; I don't want you trying anything funny."

"I wouldn't dream of it." She muttered sarcastically. She didn't fight back as one of the men grabbed the bow from her and another stepping forward with a set of handcuffs. "Even attempt to touch me with those and I'll shove them down your throat."

Keamy chuckled and shook his head at the other mercenary. "Just stay here and keep an eye on these two. If anything happens, kill the girl." He directed his attention to Faith again. "Let's go."

She allowed someone behind her to push her forward with the barrel of a gun, her eyes not straying from Keamy as he took lead. The calculations she was beginning to make in order to escape were useless however when he suddenly stopped, fist in the air.

The wind shifted and Faith barely had time to spring forward before bullets rang out. Her leap onto the mercenary sent her crashing into the ground, Keamy on the bottom. She connected two solid punches before an uppercut sent her into the dirt.

Keamy sprang to his feet at the same time that she did. His team members were being picked off one by one but he only looked at her as he whipped a 9mm from his side holster. Faith didn't hesitate, moving quickly to escape the bullets being directed at her. Dirt flew up at her feet, her hands rose to cover her head, and she cursed as she felt a bullet knick her leg seconds before she ran past a line of trees.

Out of nowhere, a body collided into hers and they went tumbling into the grass. She brought up her hands grab onto the person's shirt and roll them, the move bringing her to rest on top. Faith jerked her hand back to connect the punch to her attacker's face.

"Faith, stop!"

"Sayid?" She stared down at him. "You're supposed to be at the beach!"

"I was trying to find you! The Others are taking care of Keamy and his men."

Faith noticed the gun fire had ceased and she jerked Sayid to his feet. "You shouldn't have come! I can handle this!"

"I'm not going to leave the island without you!" He cupped her face with his hands. "We can-"

It was as if time stood still when the sound of a gun going off interrupted him. Eyes on his, Faith barely felt the blood splatter onto her clothes. Sayid's body sagged and she gathered him into her arms as she lowered him into the floor. Her eyes lifted to see Keamy, the gun still smoking in his hands.

"Get up on your feet!" She didn't move and with a snarl, Keamy stepped forward and trained the gun on her. "I said get up now!"

Her eyes went back to Sayid's to watch a trail of blood seep from the corner of his mouth. When her head lifted again, her eyes were no longer white, nothing but a thick blackness there. She held onto Sayid as he died and kept her eyes on Keamy as a loud roar broke through the silence of the forest. Black smoke appeared behind her and swirled, looming as Keamy and what was left of his team backed up.

There was no place to go as the smoke grabbed the men that was left, dragging them kicking and screaming into the forest until they were silenced. Keamy fired but it was useless, the smoke picking him up off the ground. It held him there as she rose to her feet, choking him and shaking him like a rag doll.

Faith motioned for the smoke to bring him close to her. It did as she instructed and she smiled thinly the second she came face to face with the mercenary. "You're going to die here..." It was almost as if the low growl of her voice was someone else's. "…when I am ready to let you."

Keamy tried to free himself and his eyes bulging as the grip of smoke tightened.

Eyes that didn't belong to her watched him struggle and a deep chuckle escaped. "It is I who you seek and now I who you have found." She hissed. "Do you not like what you have discovered Human?"

"Faith…"

A hand landed on her shoulder and squeezed, Faith slanting her eyes to see Richard beside her. "This is not your concern."

"Please. You should attend to your friends Faith. They need you, not her."

Her black eyes blinked, the color fading until the brown returned, and she would have stumbled back had it not been for him. Leaning into his shoulder, she watched as the smoke vanished and Keamy fell onto the ground at their feet.

"Go." Richard turned her towards where Sayid was lying still on the ground. "I'll take care of this."

Nodding slowly, she turned to find Kimberly sitting beside him, his hand in hers. She lowered herself onto her knees and reached out with a shaky hand to push back strands of hair from his face.

"I'm sorry." Kimberly whispered. "The bullet is too deep."

"There has to be something I can do. I can't just let him die." She felt something trail down her cheek but she didn't lift a hand for the proof of her emotions betraying her. "I can't."

"You can ask the island, ask Jacob." Kimberly whispered. "The demon that is in all of us obeyed you Sister, it did your bidding. Ask Jacob to spare him." She reached down to touch the blood of Faith's leg wound with fingers coated in blood from her own.

"What are you-"

Kimberly grabbed her hand, smearing the blood between their fingers. "Close your eyes and ask him!"

Faith stared at the younger girl only a few seconds before she nodded and closed her eyes. She inhaled as she squeezed the hand in hers. It was barely a second that passed when she felt the grip slip away and when she opened her eyes again, she was no longer in the forest but standing in a long white room that seemed to stretch on for miles.

"Slayer."

She turned to find a creature watching her with black eyes. It was tall with large expanded wings, long torso and legs covered by a dark robe. It studied her and when it smiled, it displayed long rows of pointed teeth.

"It is time we talked, you and I."

"You're right. It is."