Reading Between the Lines

by Dreamality

Disclaimer: Lost and all related characters, settings, plots, etc. belong to J.J. Abrams and ABC. I claim no ownership and make no money from this venture.

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Vulnerability (Boone POV)

"Boone… don't leave me alone, okay?"

With six words and one look into Shannon's eyes, Boone was immediately transported to a time when Shannon and he were both nothing more than children. They had been rollerblading down their street, and after seeing Boone demonstrate a few tricks he'd learned from watching the older boys at school, Shannon had eagerly tried to emulate her older brother. An unseen rock sent her flying towards the unforgiving black asphalt and her scream brought Boone flying to her side. With her knee oozing with blood, her hands black and scraped, and tears filling her eyes at an ever-quickening pace, Boone had put his arm around her.

"It's all right, Shan, I'll take care of you," he had assured her with the confidence of an older brother who knew that it was his job to do so.

"Just don't leave me alone, kay?" six-year-old Shannon sniffled. And Boone hadn't left her.

Times had been very, very different back then. It was before miniskirts and makeup. Before high school parties and strings of boyfriends and frat parties and it was long before the day Shannon had screamed that she wished he weren't her brother and slammed the door in his face so hard one of the hinges never worked quite right again.

Now, an older Shannon was begging him to stay with her once more. Gone were her impenetrable wall and her self-assurance. In their stead was vulnerability, and Boone had not seen his sister in such a state for nearly two decades. He forgot about Sawyer and Sayid and Jack and went back to her side.

"Breathe, Shannon, just breathe," he coached, watching with pride as she inhaled through her nose and breathed out of her mouth.

"Don't leave me," she repeated. "I'm sorry, Boone, I…"

"Don't, Shannon. Now isn't the time. It's all right. I'll take care of you," Boone said quietly.

Shannon continued to breathe, even though each precious gulp of air was a struggle nearly too taxing on her diet-ravaged body. Boone stayed by her side because it was his duty. He was the older brother and she needed him. Shannon made not one negative comment, which hadn't happened for years. Once she even reached out and squeezed Boone's hand, and the touch was so unexpected it sent a jolt up his arm.

He looked at their hands, his rougher and calloused and with short, stubby fingernails all bitten off in contract with her smooth, feminine hands with nail polish only chipped in a few places. Different, yet he knew that underneath the skin they were the same. Maybe this island, maybe this asthma, was not the easiest way to forge reconciliation, but at that moment it was all Boone had, and he was grateful.

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Warning (Michael POV)

"Don't, man. I'm telling you. Don't."

Michael knew that the dude didn't speak a lick of English. He knew that his words were probably falling on deaf ears, yet he hoped some of their meaning would not be lost on the controlling, temperamental Korean man who didn't seem to appreciate Sun one bit.

Michael couldn't explain why Sun's husband made him mad. Of course there was the fact that he had been attacked because of a watch and might have been killed if not for Sayid and Sawyer's intervention, but there was more underneath that. It angered him that someone like that could have someone like Sun and not even be thankful. Instead of appreciating Sun as a beautiful and special woman, which she quite obviously was, the man took advantage of her and controlled her like a little dog or something.

It wasn't his place to tell the guy what to do with his own wife, but it wasn't in his nature to sit back and watch someone like Sun get abused. Even though this guy, whatever his name was, June or Jin or Jimmy or whatever, had no idea what Michael was saying, their translation was written all across his face. He got the message. Whether he would listen to it or not, Michael would have to pay close attention in the following days to find out.

Not that it was a particularly hard thing to do. He paid close attention to Sun regardless.

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Revolt (Kate POV)

"If the tables were turned, I'd watch you die."

The bottom of Kate's stomach dropped out and she blanched when Sawyer uttered the words. Jack was trying to save his life while Sawyer lay there, ungrateful as ever.

And Kate had kissed him.

She shuddered and turned her face away. One of her hands rose to her lips, which felt as though they were burning. She had kissed this… this thing… this thing that did not even have a heart, much less a soul. She had kissed him, and for what? He didn't have the medicine. They were no closer to saving Shannon than they had been before dragging Sawyer into the jungle.

It was just a kiss, Kate told herself, even though she knew it was much, much more. For a moment she thought Sawyer might have reawakened feelings in her she had buried long ago. Then he said those words and revealed his true colors.

Sawyer would never change. Kate knew this before she kissed him. She forgot it as she kissed him. Now she was reminded of it, and the full force of it socked her in the stomach. It made her sick. It made her dizzy. She wanted to run away from him, to put as much distance between her and this monster, this shadow of a man, this weak invertebrate, but she also wanted to stay close to Jack. So she remained, and she looked down at Sawyer, and found him looking back at her.

The heat in his look sent heat to her cheeks while fire rose in her eyes. Again she shuddered and looked away. The fine tremor in her hand did not go unnoticed by Sawyer. Neither did the look of disgust on her face, and something like anger, or perhaps shame, rose within him, making him look away from her judgmental eyes.

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To Be Continued…