I.
"Why are you here?" Jack asked.
His father didn't turn around. He continued to sit facing the fire, never stirring. "Something's going to happen. You can feel it. You know."
Jack stepped forward and then stopped. He didn't know if he wanted to see his father's face. "What's going to happen?" His father was silent. "Dad? What's going to happen? WHAT?"
His father laughed, a slow, drunken sound. "This isn't a bad, little home you've made here, Jack. Nice and cozy. Not bad at all. You've got your shelter, your supplies, your girlfriend. People to make a family around you. You think you can take your care of them." He laughed again and Jack took a step backward this time, even as his father turned around. His face was decaying, gray, and pieces of his skin seemed to be melting from the heat of the fire to the cold, jungle ground. "It's going to happen soon, Jacky boy. And you don't have what it takes."
"Dude. Dude!"
Jack woke up with a snap, and blinked several times. He hadn't been sleeping well since the crash, and this was the first rest he had gotten in sometime. His eyelids felt like they had pounds attached.
"Dude," the voice said again, and Jack focused his attention on Hurley, who was standing above him, breathing heavily from running. "It's that blonde girl, that guy's sister, Shannon, or whatever. She's missing."
Jack got up. Near the fire, a bunch of people were standing, arguing. For a brief second, Jack thought he saw his father sitting, staring at the flames, but with a quick blink of his eyes, the mirage was gone, and there was only Charlie sitting, watching and waiting.
The group included Boone, Locke, Sayid, Kate, Charlie, Michael, and Claire. The Korean couple were also standing nearby, murmuring to each other, but weren't otherwise contributing to the discussion. A few other survivors of the crash were watching but Jack was somewhat dismayed to realize he didn't known their names and almost somehow considered them less here than the others, just extra people. That didn't seem fair since they had after all survived the crash together and it had been Jack who had made the speech about togetherness, but this was hardly the time for more formalized introductions.
"It's too dark out now," Sayid was saying, and Jack glanced up at the cloudless sky, wondering what time it was in California, and if the sky was as deep and dark as it was on this island. "We'll have no chance of finding her now, and it could be perilous to try. We still have no idea what is out there on this island with us. We must wait until morning."
"You can wait for as long as you want," Boone shouted back, "but Shannon is my sister and I'm going after her now!"
This led to more yelling on everybody's part. Jack walked up to them. "Hey! Hey!"
Everybody was quiet. Jack had a moment to reflect on the idea that at home nobody would have ever shut up for him, and then the moment passed. "Okay, what exactly happened?"
"Shannon's gone," Boone said. "We came up here earlier to get some fresh water and I went to help Locke with the hunting. I. . .I wanted to be doing something useful. Anyway, we got back late, and when I looked around, she was gone. I went back to the beach and she wasn't there. No one's seen her and Shannon's not exactly hard to miss."
"I'll say," Charlie said, and everybody looked at him. He shrugged. "Sorry."
"She must have gone into the jungle," Boone continued after a moment. "I don't know why she would but she must have because she's gone. And if you think I'm going to wait until she gets eaten by whatever the hell is out there in the woods, then you're fucking crazy!"
Everybody started to yell again. "Okay, okay," Jack said, and everyone quieted down. "Look, nobody is obligated to come along. This could be very dangerous; we all know that. But it's not right to leave this girl alone in the jungle. She could be hurt or unable to leave, and we haven't been on this island long enough yet to become so savage as to leave her to her death. Now, I said it before, and I'll say it again: we can not stand alone out here. We need to stand together."
Everyone remained quiet. Sayid looked angry but Jack didn't care: they hadn't agreed on much since the plane crashed, anyway. "I say we try to find Shannon now. We don't spend all night out there. We go out, we try, and if we have no luck, we come back and wait until morning, and form a larger party to search. I'm going to go along with Boone. Now, who else wants to go?"
Nobody was surprised when Kate stepped up. "I'll go," she said, and Sayid's look of anger intensified. However, he didn't protest, only said, "If you are all foolish enough to do this, then you might as well do it right. I will join you."
Jack nodded with a smile. "All right."
The Korean woman looked as though as she was about to step forward when a heavy hand came down on her shoulder. Her husband glared at the group. He spoke harsh, biting words that, while not in English, clearly denoted an unwillingness to come along.
"That's fine," Jack said. "Anybody else?"
Michael, Locke, Charlie, and one of the extras all ended up volunteering. Neither Michael nor the other guy bothered to give any kind of explanation. Locke said, "We all know how dangerous it is out there. Someone with some kind of hunting knowledge should go along."
Charlie looked at him, shrugged, and then looked at the rest of the group. "I don't have any kind of hunting knowledge," he said, "and I sure as bloody hell didn't take classes in finding lost girls in jungle woods, but I've got another set of eyes, and that's something, yeah?"
Jack found himself smiling again. He remembered how self-conscious Charlie had looked when they were trapped together, when he said that he was useless. He couldn't help feeling sort of protective towards the British rocker, like a younger brother, maybe, though he didn't actually have one. "Yeah," Jack said, and that was all it took for Charlie's eyes to light up in happiness. He looked like a puppy that was so surprised he wasn't getting kicked again.
"We're going to need torches," Sayid was saying, bringing back Jack's focus. "And some weapons would probably come in handy."
"Well, I have a good collection of knives, but a knife isn't much use if you don't know how to handle it," Locke said gravely. "I suppose we could fashion up so clubs or something in that regard."
"I know who has what we need," Kate said suddenly, and the disgust in her voice made Jack sigh, realizing who she was talking about.
II.
"Well, isn't this interesting," Sawyer said, opening his eyes to see eight people glaring at him, Kate standing out at the forefront. "I told you, Freckles, you'd find that I've got something you want." He winked at her suggestively, and both Boone and Locke had to hold Jack back from attacking Sawyer.
Kate's glare was ice. "You're a jackass, Sawyer. Why don't you just give us the supplies?"
"Well, darlin', because I don't give nothin' without getting back something in return. Now, I might have something that I can do you for, but I'm waiting to see what's in it for me."
Kate's voice was utterly flat. "What do you want?"
Sawyer scratched his chin. "Well, I just don't know. A little respect wouldn't be a bad start. People talking to me like I'm the Devil's plaything doesn't sit too well with me, you know. But I can't actually expect you to guarantee that, that genuine niceness would just go against your nature. I could go for a kiss, I suppose."
"You expect me to treat you with respect when you loot around in their things, hoard prized possessions, and blackmail women into kissing you?" Jack's voice was aghast. "Forget it, Sawyer. We don't need you."
"Yes, we do," Kate said.
"Kate."
"We need him, Jack," Kate said, and then quite quickly kissed Sawyer. The kiss wasn't long and heated but it was also not a chaste, kiss on your father's cheek. Kate pulled back and Sawyer licked his lips, his eyes still closed.
"Well," Sawyer drawled, "that was. . .beyond all my wildest dreams."
"So's this," Kate said, and Sawyer opened his eyes in time to see Kate's fist to his head. Sawyer was knocked out instantly.
Kate stood up and looked at the group, who was staring at her. "His stash of supplies is right over there," Kate said matter-of-factly. "Let's go through it and get going."
And they did but as Jack tried to catch her gaze, Kate wouldn't meet his eyes.