Title: Infamy

Author: Sassy

Rating: PG

Pairing: Charlie/Claire undertones

Show: Lost

Genre: Future Fic

Summary: They survivors are finally back to civilization, but Charlie wonders if it really is that civilized.

Infamy

Ever since he was a child, he had wanted to be famous. Recognition by thousands - millions even -smothering his social life. The name Charlie being screamed by hundreds of girls. When he had joined Driveshaft, he had expected it. He had never expected his infamy to come from being one of the forty-eight survivors of the Australian airplane that had been disappeared for nearly two years. He didn't think he could deal with the hopeful relatives and the leech reporters. In a way, he was in shock to return to civilization. The civilization that had rejected him repeatedly now wanted his comment on the plane crash and his favorite actress. Like he even knew anymore. He ducked his head down to avoid all the flashbulbs that went off and hid from the microphones being shoved in his face. He was feeling a little disoriented and more than a little irritated by the now unwanted attention. Maybe it was the time he'd spent on the island, but his desire to be famous had vanished like their airplane off the radar. Ironically, that fame he'd always wanted was here when he least desired it. He fought off a shiver as the wind blew off the ocean as he walked off the gangplank. He would like to live by the ocean, he thought. He'd spent too much time on the beach to just suddenly not look out to see the crystal blue water anymore. Just like it would be hard to look out and not see his forty-five closest friends and members of his new family.

Actually, he feared the return to civilization. People he saw 24/7 would suddenly be across the continents. He wouldn't have the acceptance he had always craved anymore. When he had experienced his withdrawal after his little bag of cheer ran out, they hadn't deserted him in disgust. Jack had tried to ease the pain of the withdrawal, Kate had sat with him, Boone had brought him fresh water continually, and Claire - Charlie paused at the thought of Claire. Claire had held his hand and brushed his dirty hair off his sweaty forehead. All while she was in pre-labor pains.

As if she knew she was being thought of, her hand slipped into Charlie's. Charlie waited for her to catch up with him. She offered him a comforting smile as she shifted Tess to her side. The 20-month-old baby gurgled happily and tugged on her mother's long, stringy blond hair. Her other fist reached out towards Charlie.

"Dadadadadada."

Charlie smiled indulgently, all thoughts of impending interviews and possible loneliness gone at the sight of Claire's daughter. He had become quite attached to Tess on the island. Who would have thought drug addict, player Charlie would fall for the pregnant woman after a dramatic plane crash? If the boys from Driveshaft could see him now. Wait. They could. He wasn't stranded on a desert island anymore. He could pick up a phone and call his 'buddies'. Except he couldn't. It was physically and emotionally impossible for him to do it. The plane crash had changed his life; it had changed his entire being. He had meaning now. Claire and little Tess-the daughter that wasn't really his. He never would have pictured this happy little life it weren't for the plane crash. With thoughts like that, he was even more screwed up than before.

He'd been happy on that island. Yeah, it had its downfalls; no food, hardly any contact except for the other survivors, that pesky skin eating monster-thing. But he had been happy alone in his tiny, makeshift hut with only Claire and Tess to be with. He liked being secluded. He liked being able to think and consider life and the meaning of it. He loved to think philosophically often and no one laughed at him for it. He liked the acceptance he found in the other survivors, the family he had found. And it was all going to change. Except for maybe Claire's acceptance. Hopefully that would never vanish; Claire's unwavering devotion meant more to him than he could even say. But he would never be able to tell the future. He would have to wait it out like everyone else. All he could do was hope he could find someplace where he could hide away with Claire and Tess with only a few visits from other survivors. Maybe he could finally have a peaceful life.

"What's your name, Sir?"

"What seat were you in?"
"Did anyone you know die in the crash?"

"Who were you before the plane crash?"
"Did you form a whole society or did things become Lord of the Flies on you?"

Or maybe his life would go back to the way it was, alone, miserable, and addictive.