Chapter 6

"You know, it's weird," Izzie said to Alex. "Even after everything we know about Jack and everything he told us, I just couldn't picture him as a runner."

"We all need to blow off steam in our way, Iz," Alex said. "I work the weight room, you plan elaborate dinners, Jack runs. "

"You know Christina and Mer did a fair amount of running after their breakups," Iz reminded him. "They kept saying endorphins helped relieve anguish."

"They ever try a tour de stade?' Alex said. "'Cause I've had my running phases, and even I don't think I'd have the nerve to try something like this."

It had been two days since Jack and Kate had last talked with Izzie and Alex. They'd shown them the journal which, even after Izzie had helped decode some of it, had made little sense even to the three people at Seattle Grace who knew the most about the island. Two hours earlier, Jack had called them and said that he had an update and he wanted to pick their brains again. He'd asked to meet him at one of the athletic fields that was near the hospital. They'd been a little puzzled as to where he was asking to meet them – on the athletic field itself.

When they'd gotten there twenty minutes earlier Jack had been near the middle of the seats. Both of them had an idea why he was doing it but they both knew that their friend would tell them what it was when he was ready.

So they waited patiently as Jack wound his way through every seat in the park. Alex was just grateful he hadn't wanted to meet in the Kingdome.

Finally, after another five minutes Jack reached the bottom. He spent another minute catching his breath, and taking a long swig from the canteen he'd brought with him.

"This how you spend your leisure time Shephard?" Alex said playfully.

"Trying running from a monster made of smoke and guys in tattered clothing who are shooting tranquilizers at you," Jack said. "That makes the Boston Marathon seem like a cakewalk."

"I get you need to burn off stress," Izzie said. "I'm just surprised given everything you went through that you'd ever want to go through physical activity this strenuous voluntarily."

Jack finished breathing heavily. "After I performed the spinal surgery on Sarah, I was certain I had failed. So I went to the park near St. Sebastian. I guess because I was still up for self-flagellation physically as well as mentally. I was running the tour de stade, and while I'm there I get in a race with this total stranger. I'm so eager to beat him that I end up twisting my ankle."

Both Izzie and Alex knew this story, but they also knew Jack was retelling it for a reason.

"He helps with a first aid kit and while we're exchanging pleasantries. He tells me this absurd story about training for a race around the world and he asks me why I'm running like the devil's chasing me. Now back then I kept everything bottled up, but for some reason I tell him who I am, what I've done, and that I failed. He tells me: 'What if you fixed her?' I say: 'That's impossible.' He says: 'Even if it is, let's say that its not.' I'm about to tell him he's wrong, when my pager goes off. We exchange names, and I go back to the hospital certain I'll never see him again." He looked at Izzie and Alex. "You know who I met, what happened afterwards, and where we met again. In a weird way, you can trace everything that happened since from that moment."

"And you're taking this trip down memory lane, because…?" Alex asked.

"Our first meeting was six years ago to the day," Jack told them. "The reason I'm doing what might be called a very bizarre anniversary ritual is because on that day I was trying to deal with something that I couldn't face. Now six years and a lot of things later, I'm facing something just as potentially life-changing and I thought that this would help me think that same way."

"So what are we doing here?" Izzie asked.

"I'm going to do something that I would not have even considered doing six years ago," Jack told them. "I'm going to tell people I trust what's bothering me and I'm going to ask them for advice."

"Can't you just ask your other friends?" Alex asked.

Jack shook his head. "I may have relinquished the role of leader ever since we've come back to civilization, but old habits die hard. My word still carries a lot of weight, probably far more than it should. I told them all to try and come up with another solution to the problem we're facing and I know they'll try, but I also know that most of them want to know what I would do. And right now, we're facing a bunch of bad choices."

"Something that, as surgeons, we have to deal with all the time," Izzie followed. "In order for this to work, you have to give us the details of the case."

Jack smiled for the first time. "Ask any many questions as you want. I can't promise I'll have any answers, but I'll do what I can."

And so Jack told them about the last few days. He tried to leave out as much of the possibilities of alternative timelines and psychic flashes as he could, but even so it was clear just how weird this story was. The general point – that the Dharma Initiative was clearly looking for the island again and they were using the children of those who'd been killed to do it – was clear enough. He also tried to give as much of what Olivia Goodspeed had told them – none of which, however, made Juliet's suggestion any less of a shock when he finally got to it.

"You're seriously considering trying to ask Ben Linus for help," Alex said bluntly. "He made your lives hell when you had no escape from him. Why would you seriously be voluntarily considering asking for a favor from him?"

"And start with what may be the most obvious question, what makes you think you could even find him in the first place?" Izzie countered. "You had no idea he was off the island when he just popped up in the hospital two years ago. For all you know, he's the one who sent Abaddon to start this whole thing just to cause you grief."

"Take it further. For all you know, this is one of his complicated machinations to get back to the island in the first place," Alex pointed out. "He got kicked out by Locke and you know from past experience how long this guy can hold a grudge and how patient he can be to pay out revenge."

"Hold on," Jack said. "Now I grant you the man is an evil genius and master manipulator. But do you really think he'd be our first choice for any of this? None of us trust him."

"And yet here you are, considering tracking down this very same devil," Izzie reminded him. "Say what you will about the man, he's a master manipulator. Didn't his own daughter tell Locke that he makes you believe that what you're doing is your own idea?"

It was really hard to argue with that kind of logic. Ben had managed to play him perfectly those days he'd been on Hydra Island. Juliet had admitted that he had managed to do the same to her and him in performing the surgery and trusting that the man would keep his word. He found it hard to believe that Isabel had really been 'the sheriff'. In what world – even that of the Others – did Ben Linus take orders from anybody?

"Abaddon was working for Widmore," Jack said carefully. "I can't see any world it which Ben would make an alliance with someone who worked with his mortal enemy."

"You knew the man," Alex reminded him. "That might have been his order of business. I have a feeling he had far mortal enemies than he ever did friends."

It was hard to argue with that point either. "But why would he wait this long?" Jack asked. "Ben's had more than two years to eke out some kind of master plan."

"Maybe he needed that much time to get the resources together," Izzie pointed out. "He might have been the big fish on the island, but in the real world…"

Jack remembered something Juliet had said about Ben's resources in the outside world. Clearly he had to have some or he wouldn't have been so bold to find out where the two of them were working and make a public attack. He remembered something else that she'd said: Ben always had a plan. If nothing else, he would probably want some kind of revenge on Locke, the man who had replaced him on the island and cast him out.

"Assume for the sake of argument – and I will concede it's a very good argument – that you're right," Jack pointed out. "It still doesn't answer the larger problem. We are under some kind of threat, and we have no idea how to counterattack it. Military tactics weren't my strength on the island, and I'm not sure they're anybody else's in civilian life."

Izzie and Alex thought for a second. "Maybe you're taking the wrong approach to this problem." Alex said slowly. "You still think you have to play by the rules."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"You're still thinking you should ask Ben for help," Alex said with more certainty. "But since he never played fair, why should you?"

"You know, Doc, I knew you had a ruthless streak in you," James told him after he made his suggestion. "But this, I mean, holy poetic justice."

It was perhaps fitting that James had broken the two minute silence. Everyone else was still reeling from the idea.

Kate was not quite as enthusiastic. "That was their big idea?" she said skeptically. "To kidnap Ben Linus and make him tell us everything he knows."

"They said it best. He's never going to tell us what he knows willingly," Jack pointed out. "So let's just take that option off the table and do perhaps the only move he'd ever truly respect."

"You're assuming that we can find him in the first place," Sun reminded them.

"'With enough money and determination you can find anyone,'" Desmond countered. "We certainly have more than enough of both."

Sayid, who had the most reason among them to loathe Ben, had been surprisingly quiet up until now. "This is based on the supposition that he's even using his own name," he pointed out. "He used a false identity when we first made his acquaintance. I find it hard to believe he hasn't assumed a new one."

"That's my area of expertise," James reminded them. "Well, Freckles has some insight but I'm guessing she has a moral dilemma."

"Moral dilemma involving Ben?" Kate shook her head. "I've known convicted felons with more integrity. It's a crazy idea, I grant you, but it's not a stupid one. I'm just not sure how we'd pull it off."

"I hate to put it this bluntly," Jack said awkwardly, "but I was kind of hoping you and James could use your…expertise in this area to figure how to look for him.'

"Well, at least you finally see my felonious past as an asset," Kate seemed a little more like herself now. "He wouldn't be dumb enough to use his own name."

"Right," James agreed. "Ben Linus hasn't been in the civilized world since he was 13. He might've been able to hide it before, but there would be too many questions if he tried to blend it under that name, particularly in the country."

Now Sayid was thoughtful. He looked at Juliet. "You said Ben left the island from time to time over the years," he asked gingerly. "There isn't any chance you'd know someone he'd pretend to be in civilization."

"I didn't even know how he was leaving the island," Juliet said sadly.

"I might have an idea," Locke said. "I told you that I searched his house after he left the island."

Sayid nodded. "You found a secret room, filled with currency of various denominations and multiple passports. Do you recall any of the names?"

Locke nodded. "Dean Moriarty. You know Sherlock Holmes' arch-nemesis. Stuck in my head because it seemed far too on the nose for him."

"Well, you could definitely see why it would appeal to him," Jack pointed out. "Pretty sure he's the kind of guy who was rooting for Moriarty to have survived Reichenbach."

Sayid turned his attention to Penny. "How much work would it take to see if we could find Dean Moriarty?"

"You could probably do that with a simple Internet search at this point, "Penny pointed out. "But even allowing that we find him, what would be the plan? Let's say we could just arrange to have him taken off the street. Wouldn't that raise the kind of fuss we're hoping to avoid?"

"Au contraire," James pointed out. "No one would even go so far as to report him missing."

"You answered that way too quickly, James," Michael pointed out.

"The moment Dean Moriarty, or whatever alias he's been living under, is reported missing, the first thing any half-decent law enforcement office would do is put his name in some kind of database," James pointed out. "That is the last thing Ben would ever want to have happen, because the moment it does they will find out that this man only started existing two years ago."

Kate nodded. "A whole lot of question will start being asked of anyone who lived near him. Most of them will be pointed in the wrong direction because they will think that 'Moriarty' was a criminal."

"He is," Juliet reminded them, "His crimes were just committed waaaay outside the jurisdiction of most states."

James nodded. "Questions will start being asked, and while nobody will even think to make a connection to the island or even us, enough heat will come up that might force too many people to start asking questions none of them – least of all King Rat – would ever want being asked. Therefore, assuming there's anyone still out there who gives a shit and a shake about Ben Linus, they all belong to the same club that wants to be very sure that nobody asked questions about who he is and where he's been all this time."

"Doesn't that mean those same people will ignore the law and come looking for us in the first place?" Sun pointed out.

"Well, this isn't going to be much comfort but they already are," Jack reminded them. "And at the very least, it would force them out into the open. That's kind of what we're hoping for in the first place."

"And we'd have something to bargain with," Sayid reminded them.

Jack didn't think this was the time to remind them they had been in this position before – when they'd tried to use 'Henry' to get Walt back – and it hadn't worked. Hell, the Others had used that exact tool to maneuver Michael against them. But it was three years later, they were no longer on the island, and they had more resources and trust than they ever had then.

"Um, I kind of think there might be a problem here," Hurley spoke up for the first time.

"Hugo if this is about the whole thing being a crime –"

"Oh who cares about that," Hurley said a little too casually. "We're dealing with Dr. Evil here. It's not like he hasn't done worse to all of us a dozen times over."

Somehow it was Hurley saying that he was okay with all this that shook Jack a little. He'd managed to come away with the idea that this was 'unorthodox' and had basically shrugged off any problems with the legality of it because it was, after all, Ben Linus. And from the moment he'd suggested the idea, no one seemed to have a problem with the fact that they were committing a crime to stop ones being committed against them. They'd bent the law several times on the island and had let it go by saying they were trying to survive. The fact that they were now all considering doing so with no qualms was kind of disturbing.

"I'm just kind of reminded of this old joke. Every day a bus comes driving down the street. Every day, this dog chases after it trying to catch it. This goes on for days, for weeks, and then finally after months, the dog finally managed to get the bumper of the bus between his teeth. The dog thinks: "I got it!" Then he thinks: "Now what do I do?"

It was really rare for Hurley for all people to come up with a metaphor that described the situation that they were dealing with. And now that he had, all the potential flaws with doing so became obvious to all of them, especially James.

"Yep, once we've got him first we got to figure out where to put him," James said resignedly. "Oh we've got more elbow room than we did in the hatch, but it ain't exactly like any of us can lock him in an armory and hope no one asks questions."

Jack nodded. "We have done this before," he said slowly. "I'd like to think we've learned from our mistakes, but my guess is so has Ben. How long do you think we'd have him before you and I would be at each others throats, John?"

"I'd like to think we've all grown and changed since then, " Locke acknowledged, "but it's not like he doesn't know other ways to exploit people."

James looked at Juliet. "Do you think you could handle him better now that he doesn't have the same hold over you?"

"Probably," Juliet told them. "But he'd do what he'd always do. He'd find another line of attack. Knowing him, he'd probably start on Kate and you as his go to point. It worked him on Hydra Island and the fact that you're each married to other people –"

"…he'd have all of us in counseling for years," Kate said, only half in jest.

"I've been in therapy over Ben, I don't particularly relish going back," Juliet wasn't entirely joking either. She looked at Sayid. "If you had more time…"

Sayid didn't need her to finish the sentence before reluctantly shake his head. "He never brought out the best in any of us. I'd still be willing to try if I thought it would work."

"And we know it wouldn't," Jack reminded him. "He didn't break even with a tumor on his spine. I can't imagine being any easier to get him to talk when he's healthy and we desperately need something from him."

"He wouldn't have to," James said gloomily. "Everything I said about the police not looking for him would give him every reason to stall. He may not have people who care about his well-being, but there are still people out there who would care if he disappeared. And they would know where to look and more importantly who to look for."

"Like I said," Hurley pointed out. "We've been down this road. We might have taken him instead of his being, you know, caught in a net but it's the same thing. Heck, there might be some twisted part of him that likes it."

"Likes it is strong, Hugo," Locke pointed out. "But he'd get the irony very quickly and it's pretty clear that would become just another weapon in his arsenal to use on us."

"'We're good, but he's better," Everyone looked at James. "Something he said to me after he conned me on Hydra Island. It was a nice idea while it lasted, Doc."

A gloomy silence fell over the group. Then Claire, who had not said a word the entire time, spoke up. "Izzie and Alex had the right idea, but not the right approach."

"You follow that?" Hurley asked Jack.

Jack shook his head.

"In order to try and get answers from Ben, we can't play by the rules," Claire explained slowly. "But kidnapping Ben and holding him prisoner is playing by the rules. It's just the Others' rules."

Sayid clearly seemed to get that much. "Well, then what approach should we take?"

"One that not even Ben Linus would ever think of."

Claire explained. It didn't take long. The silence afterwards was even more incredulous than when Jack had suggested his plan. And once again, it was James who broke it.

"I'm guessing in Sydney, you know the phrase 'it's so crazy, it just might work?" he asked Claire. "Unfortunately, I think you're only half right."

Kate, if anything, was even more in agreement with James on this point. "Claire, I realize that you didn't have a lot of experience with Ben on the island…"

"I was held prisoner by the Others longer than you were; I think I know something about how they think," Claire reminded them.

Kate only knew what Claire had told her about her time with Ethan, and what she had heard was fragmented. The one clear point that had come across was that Alexis had to help her get away. Now was not the time to bring that up. "Ben was an entirely different animal from Ethan," she tried again.

"Didn't our meeting last establish that he might have actually been worse?" Claire reminded them.

It was always difficult to argue with her logic even when it went against their experiences. This time Juliet tried. "I spent three years with the man. On his best days, he was a pathological liar who used any weakness against you and that was with people he trusted. What really makes you think this approach will be any different?"

"Because he'll feel guilty."

This time, James couldn't restraint an unpleasant laugh. "The man killed his father and sold out the people he grew up with without any remorse. He's a liar and a sociopath and that's coming from a guy who conned people out of their life savings for a living. What makes you think guilt is something he knows how to feel?"

Claire heaved a sigh. "He's been off the island for two years. Let's say for the sake of argument all of this some master manipulation to get to us. Why is he only doing it now?"

That was a question that none of them could answer. Claire looked at Juliet. "He had a chance to kill you two years ago. He didn't. He's known John's been off the island for more than a year, and he has even more of a reason to want him dead than you. Why hasn't he done it yet? I get that he's makes long term plans and that he likes to torture people emotionally. But he hasn't even tried to do any of those things until now."

"Because if he gets caught, there will be questions he doesn't want to answer and consequences he can't avoid," Sayid pointed out.

"The consequences were more immediate when he was in the hatch, and far more likely to be fatal," Claire pointed out.

Michael remembered far too vividly his last conversation with Ana Lucia. If she'd just shot him then, how much horror could've been avoided? And there had to have been at least a half dozen more occasions before he'd returned. He remained silent on this, partly out of guilt, mostly because he didn't think it would help Claire's cause.

"I'm not denying Ben is a monster. But all the time on the island, all we ever used was the stick. It's understandable because that's all they ever used on us. We're back in civilization now. It's permissible to use the carrot."

"We all know the only thing he's ever wanted," Jack tried again. "That's the whole reason we think he's behind this."

Claire actually seemed a little exasperated when she spoke to her brother. "If he is behind this, it's not for the reason you think. The island isn't why he'd be doing this."

And then Locke got it. "I think I see where you're getting at. But how sure are you that he just wants to see Alex again?"

"Because that's what my father wanted to do before he died," Claire said simply. "Every father wants to make things right with their children."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Sun reminded her. "Most of us only know each other because of bad parents."

"And you heard how Ben dealt with his own father," Locke reminded her.

Kate was thoughtful. "We all know that too well. But some of us also know you don't have to be related by blood to love a child."

James, who'd been silent ever since Claire had made her suggestion, spoke up again. "First things first. If this was to work, we have to find where Ben, or whatever name he's using these days is currently hanging his hat." He looked at Penny, "How long would it take you to start the search?"

"Just give the word and I'll have my people on it," she told them.

Juliet seemed genuinely puzzled. "You just this was an insane idea."

"Oh, I think its Looney Tunes," James admitted. "I think trying to appeal to Benny Two-Face's better nature assumes that he has one to begin with. Honestly Claire, you really seem to be hanging all of this on what Olivia told you about him as a kid."

"He was on that wheel, too," Claire said simply. "Which means he was on that island for the same reasons we were there initially. Bad parenting seems to come with the package."

Locke, who had perhaps more reason to doubt Ben's good nature than any of them – but who also knew far too well why they had been on the island in the first place - spoke up thoughtfully. "Even assuming your assessment of him is correct, why does it have to be you?"

"Because we've never met," Claire told them. "He may have sent Ethan among us and he may have done horrible things at his orders, but all the time we were on the island, we never exchange so much as a howdy-doo. Now almost everybody else here has some kind of internal prejudice against him. The only people who he never interacted with directly are Sun and Jin, Desmond and me. "

She looked at Sun and Jin. "Considering that at one point one of his people held a gun to both of you, is it possible you could be impartial towards him?"

Sun spoke first. "I can't speak for husband, but considering he was willing to give an order to have him shot and then lie about it for an advantage, no, I don't think I could deal with him."

Jin was a little more thoughtful. "I've dealt with men like him before, and the thing is, I just don't have your faith in their good nature. Besides, he gave orders to have Sun abducted and kill anybody who gets in his way. That's not something any husband or father could forgive. I'm a little surprised you're willing to be so forgiving."

Claire nodded as if she'd expected this. "I don't think the Others even knew you were on the island until Juliet showed up on our doorstep. "

"Maybe so," Desmond admitted. "But he just told you he knew that what the Swan did was real and what the consequences were if I didn't push the button. He convinced Locke that it was a lie, and if I hadn't been there, God knows what would have happened. I grant you it all worked out as a result, but I turned that key pretty sure it was going to be the last thing I'd ever do. I don't have what you might call 'warm feelings' towards the man."

Claire turned from Desmond and shrugged her shoulders. "And by process of elimination…"

"You're still basing this on the idea that it will work," Jack reminded her. "There were a lot of times on the island that we were absolutely, positively sure about something and we were wrong and there were horrible consequences. So if you're thinking we were just going to let you do this –"

"Jack I never had any intention of going alone," Claire told him. She looked towards her sister-in-law. "Want to go another girl's only trip?"

Somehow no one was particularly shocked that Claire had turned to Kate and it assuaged almost everybody's fears. Even Jack seemed a little less doubtful now. "You sure? If ever there was an occasion that called for an overprotective big brother, I'd think it's this one."

Claire looked at him. "I'm not entirely sure you could be diplomatic when it comes to dealing with this man based on everything that happened when the two of you were on the same island."

"Not to mention the fact that if things go sideways, she's a better shot than you," Juliet said with a small smile.

Everyone – even Jack – chuckled a little at that. "Before my wife agrees to this as well, I just would like some reassurance that you're not going to both be in danger at the exact time."

"How am I supposed to protect her if I'm not there?" Kate asked.

"Freckles, I hate to tell you this, but you were always lousy at sneaking up on people." James said with a smile. "Besides, it's not like the bastard wouldn't be able to spot you if he saw you. He has been doing this for longer than any of us."

"I was expecting more of your expertise when it came to staying hidden then to actually standing and fighting," Claire said with a little more gentleness.

"You do know I have a habit of letting my guard down to help people I care about," Kate said simply. "Even when it's disastrous. And I don't care if he's spent the last two years being a hermit, Ben is always dangerous."

"Again, not disagreeing with you. But this still has to work the way I say it," Claire told them.

"You do know you can be as stubborn as your brother," Kate told her.

"And yet you seem to find it endearing in her," Jack said, half in jest. He heaved a sigh. "All right. Let's get started."

"You're sure about this, Jack?" Sayid asked.

"Not really. But in a way, this is my idea. I can't exactly argue that someone else wants to do it," Jack admitted. "Just do me one favor, Kate."

"Name it."

"If he so much as looks at her funny…"

"Believe me, I'm going packing," Kate assured him. "And since we all know Ben Linus doesn't have a heart, I'll aim somewhere lower."

James whistled. "Glad I never got on your bad side, Freckles."

"You had a habit of doing that, James," Kate reminded him. "Fortunately for you, I never had a gun at any of those times."

BOULDER, COLORADO

ONE WEEK LATER

It was hard for Ben Linus to know if he felt happy. He had lived so much of his life without even an idea of what real happiness was. He'd been lying to Jack about how he'd lived on the island all his life, but considering that he had almost no memories of what it was like to live anywhere else, it was as close as he'd come to ever telling the truth to any of the survivors.

And when all you do is lie – and it was basically second nature to him – you don't recognize the truth anymore. Combined with his utter fealty to the island, and he'd basically shut out any positive emotions he was capable of feeling. It was not until he'd been forced into exile that he realize that it had never been the island he'd wanted – it had been Alex. In his entire life, there'd only been two people he loved unconditionally. And he had completely destroyed the relationship he'd had with Alex.

He hadn't even bothered to try and ask her to come with him when he was forced to leave. Why would she? Alex knew nothing but the island. And really, whose fault was that? He consoled himself with the fact that at least his daughter was with her mother and the boy she loved.

And now, after two years just being with Annie – the one person in his entirely life who'd loved him unconditionally – he had to admit to himself that he felt a level of completeness that he'd never had on the island. He was finally beginning to think he might have a home.

But he was Ben Linus, after all. And even with everything as it was, there was always some part of thinking about something else. A part of him that knew the nature of the island and that even after Locke had succeeded him that you couldn't just be done with the island. That part of him had never stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So when someone came to his house and rang the doorbell one Thursday afternoon exactly ten minutes after Annie had gone shopping, a part of him knew what was coming. That part of him looked for the metallic baton that he'd bought from the sporting goods store a week after he'd moved in with Annie – the weapon he'd preferred all the years he was on the island. He put in his left hand, hid in behind his back and opened the door with his right.

And when he saw who it was, he nearly dropped it.

"Hello Ben," Claire Littleton said. "Can we talk?"

Notes:

Yes, my original plan was to have the Losties hunt down and abduct Ben Linus. But after a couple of days I realized that Ben actually seemed to thrive in captivity. So, in the typical Lost fashion, I had Hurley be the voice of the fans.

Now I realize any fan of the series is thinking: Claire? Against Ben Linus? Lamb to the slaughter, right? The thing is, I have a plan that I won't give away just yet but for now I'll just say this: Claire was the only person who survived the crash who never lied about any part of her past. She was the most fundamentally honest person on the island. And Ben had no interaction with her during the entire series. Let's just things are about to get real in a way the greatest liar in TV history in prepared for.

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