Chapter 8

"How certain are you this information?"

"Is that even a question?" James asked Sayid. "We're not taking this seriously, are we?"

"It's Benjamin Linus. The man would say the sun rises in the west if he thought it would serve a larger purpose," Sayid acknowledged. "The problem is I can't see the logic in telling this particular lie."

Kate and Claire had revealed everything that Ben told them – including the fact that one of the survivors, a man they had known as Scott Jackson – had not only been on the island before their plane had crashed, but as a member of the Dharma Initiative more than a quarter of a century earlier. When they had asked why Ben had wanted him killed so back, the man had been surprisingly forthcoming.

"Many members of the Initiative were not what you would call reasonable people," he had told them, "but after the Incident most of them realized that there was an error in their basic approach. Life wasn't exactly peaceful afterwards, but it was normal. When the next group of people arrived in 1980, the hostility in the Initiative became more agitated."

"And a teenage boy was a major threat at the time," Claire said doubtfully.

"I was a spy at that time, you all know how effective that was," Ben didn't take any pride. "Perhaps it was a generational thing, odd as that may be. The first group who came to the island – Horace and Olivia were a big part of it – believed in harmony with nature and the island. But after the next major arrival, there was a decided shift away." He hesitated. "The drilling that had been so dangerous, the one that could've destroyed the island if it hadn't been checked; this group wanted to resume it."

Claire considered this. "Olivia told us there was some kind of truce in effect?""

"From what I understand, not a lot of people in Dharma were happy when Horace made that arrangement with our people when it was signed. There was a similar attitude of hostility on our side as well."

"Charles Widmore," Kate guessed.

Ben nodded. "I suspect it was the only reason he was willing to let me defect in the first place. He wanted someone on the inside. The fact that that someone was an adolescent was probably why he was in favor. No doubt he thought he would have greater influence over me."

"And this Scott Jackson was one of the forces who try to push Dharma otherwise."

"Horace didn't like it. That's the reason Scott and so many of his kind were exiled from the Initiative in 1986. I assume the DeGroots were backing him that time. It didn't only postpone the inevitable, but…" Ben shrugged.

Neither wanted to push him that far. "So how did he know to get on our flight?" Kate asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me." The shock must have evident on both Claire and Kate's faces. "I realize I don't exactly have the greatest level of believability on this point, but I genuinely was stunned when I saw your plane fall from the sky. As long as I was part of the Others the only person who ever seemed to have an inkling when someone was coming to the island was Richard. And as Juliet will verify, he was off the island the day of the crash."

Claire had decided not to rehash the argument she'd had with Ben the previous day.

"If we told you that our plane was supposed to crash on the island, would you be shocked?" Kate asked instead.

"Honestly the only shocking part would be that you were willing to accept it," Ben acknowledged. "But that leaves two possibilities, neither of them particularly encouraging. The first is that someone told Scott that the plane was going to end up on the island."

"And the other?" Claire asked.

"That Dharma figured it out on their own. When I found out he was on the island, I had hoped for Ethan find out anything he could about Scott. But by then, he knew about you and he was too focused on it. I'd hoped to send a team to try and extract him, but then you learned of Ethan's identity and everything got shot to sunshine."

"It wasn't exactly pretty for us," Kate began.

"We've been through this already," Claire reminded her sister-in-law. "But you've been avoiding the obvious question: if Ethan killed Scott, why are you so concerned now?"

'That's the reason I wanted to see the manifest." Ben then reached into his coat pocket and took out a newspaper clipping. "This should be a familiar picture."

Indeed it was. It was a group shot of the Oceanic survivors when they arrived in Honolulu on January 7, 2005. "Now take a look at the print on the side and I think you'll see what I'm getting at. Second row, fourth from the left."

It took a moment for both Claire and Kate to focus on it and then they saw what he was seeing. And that had just made them more confused than ever.

LLLLL

"He recognized on of the people who came back as Scott Jackson," Jin said slowly.

"Except the photo identifies him as Steve Jenkins," Kate told them.

Hurley who'd been quiet all this time chose this moment to speak up. "What if Ben's right?"

James raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Why are you of all people taking Ben's side?"

"Feel free to call me an idiot, but hear me out first." Hurley said. "I remember the first weeks on the island all of us – me included kept getting Scott and Steve confused."

"I thought you cleared that up after you did the census," Kate pointed out.

"As I remember, we were still getting the two of them mixed up even after that," Hurley said. "Hell James, you couldn't tell them apart even after Scott was killed."

James took this in. "Ethan did do a number on him," he said thoughtfully. "Hell, I bet even that guy's own mother would have had a hard time telling who he was."

"I was still having trouble figuring it out weeks afterwards," Jack said slowly. "And we spent weeks together. How much time could Ethan have spent among them?"

"How about we go even further out on a limb?" Locke said carefully. "How sure are we that Ethan killed 'Scott' at all?"

Jack considered this. "Show your work," he said thoughtfully.

"Ethan comes back, attacks Jin and gives his ultimatum to Charlie." Locke told them. "We decide to tell everyone, set up perimeters and try to keep everyone safe. The next day, we find 'Scott's body. Even though none of us can figure out how he got past our defenses, the natural assumption is Ethan has followed through on his threat."

"Giving Scott, or whoever he was, the chance to assume Steve's identity." Sayid had picked up the thread. "And making the rest of us more determined to stop Ethan whatever the cost."

"We up the stakes in our efforts to catch Ethan," Locke pointed out. "No one even thinks to question Scott's death any further."

"It's a good story," James admitted. "And it ain't it like most of us gave more than a second thought to the whole thing for the next couple of months. It's not like any of us moved beyond on our own circles. All the other survivors were mostly doing their own thing. Maybe Scott was leading his own explorations while the rest of us were focused on the hatch."

"There's a certain crazy logic here," Juliet acknowledged. "But there's one small flaw in it. If this man's plan was always to find the island, why did he leave with the rest of us?"

Locke had an easy answer for this. "Because he was a spy too. And since he couldn't exactly have regular communications with headquarters, the only way he could tell his handlers that he'd found what they were looking for was to come back to civilization with us."

"This is still merely conjecture," Sayid reminded them. "We can't exactly eliminate the possibility that this is another effort by Ben to divide us further."

"Then why name Scott?" James pointed out. "Why not say Mike or Locke, you know, someone who doesn't have the best track record with us. No offense, guys."

"Very little taken," Michael said. "But I see what James is talking about. If you're going to strike fear into our hearts, why name someone that none of us have really talked to since we got back to civilization?"

"Because it's easier to suspect an outsider rather than someone you talk to every day," Jin pointed out.

At this point everybody shuffled their feet a little. No one was particularly proud of how they had treated Jin the first two months he had been on the island. Perhaps he had a perspective on this that the rest of them didn't.

"I'm not necessarily saying that Ben is wrong in this regard," Jin reminded them. "However, the fact is we're not on a desert island any more and the Others aren't the only ones who have access to information on everybody. Before we go any further down this road we're going to need more than Ben Linus' word."

"Then that's what we'll do," Sayid said. "We'll do as deep a dive into Scott Jackson – and while were at Steve Jenkins. See if we can find out everything that we can before they got on the plane."

"So I guess we're the Others now?" Juliet said with a small smile.

"Nope," James said. "Just following a variation of the Golden Rule. Do as the Others would have done unto us."

A few people groaned though really everyone was kind of impressed at James' way with words.

"What's the next step we can take?" Jack asked.

Kate and Claire exchanged glances. "There is one, but you're not going to like it," Kate finally said. "I know because the two of us hate it"

TWO HOURS LATER

"Seriously," Alex said. "I'd think this was a bad idea even if you guys actually were holding him hostage."

"If it makes you feel any better, I feel dirty just suggesting the idea," Claire said.

Everybody knew this alliance with Ben was one that could fracture at any time. Everyone was impressed at how well Claire managed to handle him, but they also knew the nature of the man. The element of surprise – and brutal honesty – had worked in their favor in the initial confrontation, but they all knew how well Ben could adjust on a moment's notice, Only Claire thought that there was any possibility for reform in Ben's soul. None of the rest was willing to even consider the possibility he actually had one.

Despite this all of them – even Juliet and Sayid – knew that Ben had far more information about the island that any of them could hope for. That meant negotiation. That didn't mean they had to like it – especially considering what he was asking for now.

"You didn't tell him that you told us about the island?" Izzie asked.

"Of course not," Claire assured her. "That said, Ben is many things but an idiot is not one of them. He knows that we may not have told the world about what happened after the plane crash but he doesn't believe we could've gone nearly three years and not told anyone else."

"It was a good bet." Jack admitted. "It took me a year and a brain tumor to start telling you guys. That is why you're in this mess."

Kate looked towards the sky. "Are we going to have to go through this again?"

Jack shook his head. "I'm not sorry I did it, and I'm pretty sure the rest of us aren't either. But that's where we are. And for all we know, Abaddon would have confronted you even if I hadn't said a word."

"But Ben Linus doesn't believe that," Izzie said slowly. "That's why he wants us to have this little chat."

"None of us ever knew what was going on in his head," Kate told them. "I'm pretty sure none of 'his people' did either. Hell, we can't even say we know what's going on in it right now. So, in that sense, you really are no different then the rest of us."

Alex looked at Claire. "You made this deal with him. Does that mean you think he'll play fair with us?"

"I think he'll play fair with me," Claire said after some thought. "I really do think there is some part of him that feels guilt and is trying to make amends for all the horrible things he's done over the years. I think some part of him hopes for atonement, if not redemption. That being said…" She trailed off.

Izzie and Alex looked at each other. "If this we're to happen," Alex finally said, "what approach should we take?"

"That is the million-dollar question," Jack said resignedly. "If Izzie were to go in alone, I think there's a very good chance he could poke holes in everything you might tell him, whether it was the truth or a lie, in about ten minutes. If you were to go in with Alex, there's a real possibility he'd start finding ways to use your love against each other."

"We've been down that road a couple of times," Izzie reminded Jack.

"Which is another arrow in his quiver," Kate told them. "Trust me on that. One of us probably should go in with you, but there's a very good chance he'd use that as a sign. Almost all of us were victims of his manipulations at one point or another and just because you know they're coming doesn't make them any less effective. Of course if none of us show up, he'll probably say something along the lines of how much we must trust you, and use that as an attack,"

"You make it sound like he's a serial killer," Alex said, only half in jest.

"He is," Kate said flatly. "Remember the Purge? Hell, the very fact that we're trying to get you inside his head pretty much makes it clear how deep he's in ours, even more than two years after the fact. None of us were saints before or on the island, but none of us have the blood on our hands that he does."

Izzie thought for a long moment and then looked at Claire. "Your approach; it caught him off guard?"

"My family and friends may complete disagree with this but I think when it comes to Ben Linus honesty may be the best policy. It's certainly the only one he can't immediately counter." Claire told her. "He spent so much time lying to everybody that I think he's genuinely stunned when someone tells him the truth. He's just not ready for it."

"And it may happen again," Jack owned. "I just don't know if he'll have developed a counter-attack if he sees someone doing what he'll no doubt consider the same trick twice."

Izzie looked at Alex and squeezed his hand. "I want to do this," she told them.

"You sure, Iz?" Alex said. "I mean, technically we've been in more dangerous situations in our residency, but this seems different."

"It is," she acknowledged, "but for better or worse we are in the middle of this. Hell, for all we know he may be willing to share more of what he knows with a stranger – someone he thinks he can completely manipulate – than someone who already knows his tricks."

Izzie looked at Jack and the rest. "I have some conditions of my own, though."

"Believe me, that's not a problem," Jack said.

"You haven't heard them yet."

WESTERFIELD HOTEL

ROOM 417

Ben opened the door on the first knock. "Dr. Stevens, how nice to meet you."

"I wish I could say the feeling was mutual," Izzie said slowly.

"I don't blame you considering the circumstances." Ben held the door open. "Please come in."

Izzie walked in slowly. "I guess whatever problems my friends have with you, they were at least willing to give you decent accommodations."

The Westerfield wasn't a luxury hotel, but they had been willing to spring for a decent room. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

"For now, I'll just stick to ginger ale."

"I guess they told you to keep your head clear." Ben was still speaking neutrally.

"I'm trained as a surgeon. When you're facing a difficult situation, you need to keep your head clear."

Ben didn't seem insulted. "You don't seem at all unsettled by this situation. I don't know of any woman in this age who would voluntarily go into a hotel room with a complete stranger based solely on his invitation."

"You're not a complete stranger. But I'm guessing you know that already."

Ben didn't acknowledge this one way or the other. "How much do you know?"

"About what happened to Jack after the crash? Less than you'd think, actually."

"I find that hard to believe," Ben walked over from the counter with her ginger ale. "A survivor of one of the most famous plane crashes in history and none of your colleagues asked for the details."

"Clearly you've never worked a surgical rotation at a hospital," Izzie said with a bit of honesty. "When you're working a forty-eight hour shift and are lucky to have one free day every two weeks, you kind of lose track of the world outside the hospital. I can't even remember who was running for mayor of Seattle last year, and I know for damn sure I didn't go out and vote for them."

Ben looked at her. "You'll forgive me if I doubt that."

"I don't care one way, it happens to be the truth." Izzie sipped her drink. "Everybody knew who Dr. Jack Shephard was because of the miraculous spinal surgery he performed nearly four years before he came to Seattle Grace. There were discussion among the women in my circle whether he was sexy enough to sleep with for a few days, but honestly none of us even knew he'd been on Oceanic 815 until the reports showed up the acknowledge the first anniversary of the rescue. I assume that Dr. Weber – he's our Chief of Staff – knew about it when he hired Jack, but he didn't mentioned in when he introduced him to us. Everybody in the hospital is up in everybody else's business – I won't lie to you about that - but beyond what surgeries we're scrubbing in for or screwing somebody in a closet, that's about as far into each other's past we're either willing to go or willing to reveal. I know for damn sure I didn't tell anybody my secrets until it was practically impossible to avoid." She hesitated. "It probably would be better if we did."

Ben considered this for a long time. "And when Juliet showed up at the hospital? No one had any question about her."

"I don't know how the screening process where you used to work, Mr. Linus, but you don't just hire someone at a hospital without doing a background check," Izzie told them. "I imagine there were some gaps in her resume that weren't easily explained, but when you have the reputation of a Juliet Burke, people are willing to overlook those problems if they achieve results. Given the recommendations in her file, I can't imagine any of us wouldn't jump at the chance to hire her." She paused. "I'm guessing you know that, seeing as she used to work for you."

"You told me you didn't know what happened after the crash," Ben said calmly.

"I told you that I didn't know what happened to Jack before he came to the hospital. I made no such claim about Juliet." Izzie countered.

Ben gave a small smile for the first time. "I must be out of practice not to have seen that one coming."

"I wouldn't expect her to send you a 'World's Best Boss' mug any time in the future," Izzie said quietly.

"I'd appreciate an answer to my original question now," Ben countered.

"I don't know everything that happened the 101 days my friends – and I do consider them my friends, for the record – spent on the deserted island in the Pacific after the crash," Izzie told him. "I know bits and pieces of what Jack and Juliet have told me over the last couple of years, but I suspect they are withholding quite a bit, partly because of the trauma, but mostly because they're still coming to grips with things that would be incomprehensible to almost everybody who works at the hospital."

Ben considered this. "Do you believe what they told you?"

"I think if you and your colleagues were afraid that once they left the island they would tell the world what they lived through, you clearly don't know anything about people in general," Izzie said in a somewhat lecturing tone. "Let's say that on the day of the press conference they had given just a fragment of the details of what happened. The media would have decided in a matter of seconds that the events of the crash were too traumatic for the survivors to truly deal with, so they had constructed a fantasy. Rather than going to their homes and their families, Jack and the rest would have spent the next several months speaking with psychiatrists, who would lecture them, put them on medications they didn't need, and put them in facilities somewhat nicer than the ones that Hurley spent several months, but that would still have them unable to leave. There would honestly have been more speculation if they had told the truth than if they had lied."

"You truly believe that?" Ben asked.

"I would have signed off on commitment papers myself," Izzie said sincerely. "You and your colleagues lived on that island so long you forgot what people are like. We may love to read books by Stephen King or watch series like The X-Files, but we don't want to find out we're in one. There may have been some majesty once in the idea of thunder being the sounds of the angels; now we want explanations for everything. Jack wasn't capable of dealing with what he saw on the island and I'm not sure Juliet ever accepted it, so what they did – and what I think almost all the other survivors did was compartmentalize. Explain what you can, and push to the back what you can't."

Ben thought for a moment. "At some level I realize that people are mostly like that," he conceded, "but if you lived where I lived for more than thirty years, it would be impossible not to have questions. It frankly stunned me just how incurious Jack and the rest of them were. "

"They were concentrating on fighting for their lives," Izzie reminded them. "Something that I believe you and your colleagues did everything you could to hinder."

Ben didn't argue. "You still haven't answered my question."

Izzie took a deep breath. "I went to college, then med school, and am in the middle of a surgical residency," she said slowly. "If anyone should know when something is physically or psychologically wrong, you would think – hell, you would hope – it would be me. But when I began to suffer from hallucination – visual and auditory – of a man that I not only knew was dead but had been in the room when he was pronounced – not only did I ignore the possibility that something might be wrong with me, I clung to the possibility that it was real until it was almost too late to save my life. What does it say about my perceptions of what I know is real and my decision to accept the fiction?"

In a way Izzie knew she still hadn't answered Ben's question. But she must have passed some kind of test, because he looked away from her before he began to speak. "My mother died after giving birth to me," he said quietly. "I was two months premature; she went into labor and died while she was being driven to the hospital." He hesitated. "My father didn't take that very well."

Izzie didn't know Ben at all, but she'd been a doctor long enough to know that this wasn't a story that he told often – if at all. She offered neither false platitudes nor encouragement, she just stayed quiet.

"Not long after we came to the island, I began to have visions of her." Ben looked off into the distance – was it possible some part of him was still trying to find her? "One night, after a particularly bad day I ran out of our home and into the wild. There was a line we weren't supposed to cross. I was about to go over it – and there she was. Warning me. Telling me 'not yet'. A few days later, I ran even further out. And that's the first time I met Richard." He finally turned back to Stevens. "Did they tell you who he was?"

"Only that he'd been on the island for a very, very long time," Izzie said carefully.

Ben seemed to accept that. "I told him I was looking for my mother, which he didn't seem to care about – until I told him she was dead. I've never been entirely sure what kind of test you need to pass in order to belong, but it clearly meant something – because when I told him I wanted to live with them, he said that might happen someday…but I would have to be very, very patient." He turned back to her. "And I was."

Izzie thought for a moment. "Did you ever see her again after that?"

Ben hesitated for a longer period. "I saw many remarkable things the thirty years I was on that island. Things that would stagger the imagination of most people. But no, I never saw her again. I try not to think about that. Whether everything I did, every single action that I took from the moment I ran into the jungle, was based on the simple fact that I missed my mother. I know now it doesn't excuse anything I've but for the longest time, it was my justification for everything I did."

If anyone from the plane had heard this story – possibly even Claire – they would have thought that this was just another elaborate fiction designed by the master of lies. Izzie didn't doubt it for a second. "You know how Jack met his wife?" she said casually.

"I had his file, remember," Ben said neutrally.

"Denny Duquette was born with a congenital heart defect," Izzie began. "He'd spent basically his entire life going in and out of hospitals, basically waiting for a transplant. That's how I met him two years ago. And even though I was with somebody and all the rules of medicine were against me, I fell in love with him anyway."

"That's a breach of ethics. It's hardly a crime." Ben said.

Izzie gave a laugh with no humor. "He was eligible for a transplant, but there was another man ahead him on UNOS. To make sure he got the heart, I cut the wire attaching him to life support. Then I basically convinced all my friends to lie about it. I got the Chief of Staff to cover for me. I forced a man who was going to get the heart to go back on the waiting list. Where he still is, assuming of course, he hasn't died. And for all of that, Denny died less twenty four hours after he got the heart. I nearly scorched my entire community – my island, if you will – for someone I had no reason to love. I may not be as a big a monster as they think you are, but at least you had the excuse of being an innocent child in a strange place with no support. I was an entitled blonde girl who was willing to destroy everything she had worked her entire life for because I thought – thought! – I loved somebody."

Something that no one would've recognized appeared on Ben Linus' face. It was an expression remarkably close to sympathy. "Is that the real reason you didn't tell anybody what you were seeing?"

Izzie shook her head. "It's been a year since I've been in remission. I've had time to think about it. I think part of me really thought I was getting a chance to spend time with someone I had loved but never gotten to know. And I think the other part of me – the one that knew this was symptomatic of something that was terribly wrong with me – thought what the hell? If I'm going nuts, at least I'm seeing Denny. If I'm dying, well, maybe it's a…preview of being able to see him soon. It didn't make any difference."

She wiped away tears. "So yes, when Jack told me some of the things that he saw, I was not inclined to dismiss them. So now that I've answered your question with brutal honesty, I need you to do the same for me. Did this man come to the hospital for the sole purpose of getting at Jack and Juliet? Or did he do it because he thought I was, to use a term that doesn't have the same connotations here that it did on your island, special?"

"If he did, then you have my sympathies in more ways than one," Ben told her. "I wouldn't wish being special on my worst enemy. And I have had more than my share of those."

"Is that the real reason you wanted to talk to me?" Izzie asked.

Ben gave a smile that almost seemed sincere. "As Jack and the rest of them know very well, I don't do anything without an ulterior motive. I need to know who else at your hospital knows about what really happened while they were on the island."

"My fiancé Alex," Izzie told him. "He believes Jack and Juliet more than the nature of the story they told."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Ben asked.

"I told him I was seeing Denny two months before I underwent any medical tests," Izzie said slowly. "His reaction was to treat me as if it was normal."

Now Ben did blink.

"Before we starting getting serious, he had a relationship with a former patient." Izzie told him. "This patient did have a psychotic break and he basically tried to pretend it was normal. When I told him, I think he just thought he was dating another loony."

"Is that the proper medical term?" Ben asked.

"His words. And given my attitude, I wasn't exactly in a position to argue otherwise." Izzie told him. "Aside from us, the only one who knows every detail is Callie Torres."

"Hugo's girlfriend," Ben acknowledged. "The three of you must have some interesting conversations."

"You have no idea," Izzie had no intention of telling Ben any part of the Seattle Grace soap opera. And she had no plan of letting George getting involved.

"No one else knows."

"Which doesn't mean that they're not in danger." Izzie paused. "I know you don't go anywhere without doing your homework, and I also know it's a lot easier to do it in civilization. So I need to know: how much of a threat do these people bear on my friends and this hospital?"

""The man you encountered. His previous employer had a similar interest in the island. Your friends can testify just how dangerous that encounter was." Ben told her.

"They survived that threat."

"We're in civilization now. Different rules apply. It also means that I don't have anywhere near the advantages I did three years ago." Ben said bluntly.

"Doesn't that mean that the enemy has to abide by those same rules?" Izzie asked.

"You're assuming it's the same enemy."

"You're assuming I know what it's like to have an enemy." Izzie countered.

"I haven't known a time I wasn't someone's," Ben's matter-of-fact tone was one of the saddest things Izzie had heard said. "So I focused my anger on other people. First it was Dharma, then it was Widmore, then it was everyone I was thought was a threat. Which included survivors of a plane crash. You say you're doing it for a noble cause, for something bigger than yourself and you keep doing it long enough that it becomes instinct. I served the island for so long that it was like breathing. I thought it was part of a larger plan. Right up until the moment I developed a tumor on my spine on an island where cancer was not supposed to be possible."

Ben sighed. "When I had Jack in captivity, I asked him if he believed in God. As he so often did, he turned the question back on me. I said: "Two days after I learned I had a tumor on my spine, a spinal surgeon falls out of the sky. And if that's not proof of God, I don't know what is.' Then again, about a week later John came to visit me and asked another far more obvious question."

"'Why'd you get the tumor in the first place?'" Izzie guessed.

"A question I wasn't able to answer then or now," Ben admitted. "We've strayed a bit from the point."

"Which is?"

"The island is a special place. But the price it demands can be far too high with too little reward. I suspect the people who are searching for it – who are after Jack and the rest, and who seem to be targeting you – are more than willing to pay that price. Until recently, I would have given anything to pay that price. Now I'm beginning to have the same questions your friends are."

Izzie wasn't sure how to answer this, so she tried to answer the original question. "So how do we fight them?"

"This really isn't your fight, Isobel," Ben used her first name for the first time.

"That's exactly what Jack said a week ago even after I'd been attacked as a result. Don't tell me I'm not involved in this."

"You're sure about that? You may have survived cancer, but I assure you that's minor compared to what's coming."

"Why does everybody keep treating me and my friends like we're these fragile flowers who will wilt if we learn how dark the world truly is?" Izzie reminded him. "Denny dying was the hardest thing I've ever been through. By comparison, anything else is child's play."

Now an intrigued smile crossed Ben's face. "I can see why Jack trusts you."

"He spent the previous six months basically thinking I was spoiled kid, if not an outright murderer," she reminded him.

"That's how he admits it to himself." Ben walked over to the table. "I've been going through some old sources the last couple of days, trying to confirm something to myself. I was going to pass on to Claire and Kate, but as a sign of good faith I'll let you see it first."

Izzie could help herself.

"As you are no doubt aware, much of the baggage that the survivors of Oceanic 815 had to deal with was mainly brought on by their parents. It seems just as likely that those searching for the island right now are doing so because of that same baggage. It's certainly the case for one person in particular."

He picked up a file and handed it to her. "One of the passengers on that plane had been to the island before as part of the Dharma Initiative. Back then I merely considered him a danger. Now that I know who he really is, it is imperative that he never gets anywhere near the island again."

Izzie looked through the file. "Why him in particular?"

"Because of who his father was. Someone so single-minded and angry that he nearly destroyed the island out of the pursuit of science. What someone of his bloodline might do – guided purely out of revenge and spite – is beyond my comprehension." Ben told them. "And everyone in your group knows how much I've seen in my life."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

All right. For those of you who have wondered what the heck I've been talking about this chapter, here's the briefing.

Waaaay back in Season 1, there were these two background characters among the 48 survivors: Scott and Steve. It was a running joke for the first half of Season 1, that the two were frequently being mistaken for the other. Then when Ethan attacked Charlie, he killed Scott who even in Hurley's eulogy was reminded of the fact he was mistaken for Steve.

Now credit this to Nikki Stafford, Lost's keeper of the show:

When Scott's body was turned over, it was revealed to be the actor playing Steve. The actor playing Scott was still on the show and remained part of the cast for the next two years. The writers said at the time, they would someday explain this story to us, but obviously they never did and by the time the Oceanic 6 were back in civilization in Season 4, most of the background character had been killed by the mercenaries or the explosion of the freighter, so it was rendered irrelevant. I have decided to use that unresolved mystery to try and set up a larger one. Who was Scott really and why was he on Oceanic 815? I basically had the main characters deal with these issues the same way the viewers might've. I've given everybody a pretty big hit as to who his father is, but I will save that reveal til the next chapter.

I never liked Izzie Stevens' entire hallucinating Denny storyline way back on Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy. (In fact, I don't think the show ever truly recovered from it.) I wasn't intending to imply that Stevens might be special in a certain way, but if you're a long time fan of Grey's it's really hard to deny that the hallucinations she had were pretty close in nature and reality to the kinds Hurley basically had for the length of the series. So I'm trying to restore Izzie's credibility in a way Shondaland never was willing to do.

I never intended to have Izzie that involved in the story, much less in the room with Ben Linus. But it did occur to me that they have more in common than even I thought: much of their motivation can be explained by the mysterious visions of loved one and both survived a certainly fatal form of cancer. (And in this series, both did almost entirely because of Jack's efforts.) I also wanted to see how Ben would seem when he deals with someone who has absolutely nothing to do with the island. (And btw, The X-Files reference was deliberate. Points to anyone who can figure out why).

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