Broken Road

Rating: PG-13 (changed because this is horrible)

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or anything, just the plot. This song belongs to Gary Allan… and I really like it.

Summary: Charlie/Claire fluff. How does being separated affect Charlie and Claire? Two-parter for now. Claire-centric

A/n: I said that I would write a third part to this…and this is it. My goal is to write this without sobbing uncontrollably… but I probably will. Haha! This is from Charlie's POV. And this is the end. I won't write anymore. The beginning is in short spurts, but hopefully the spurts between the lyrics will become longer.

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"I Can Love You"

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The path seemed to go on forever. I was almost unsure that I was going the right way. A large cloud was overhead, blocking out all light, and I was literally stumbling around in the dark. But I couldn't lose hope. I couldn't afford to lose hope.

Loss of hope was the worst thing that could happen. Once hope was lost, there was nothing.

I continued trudging on, tripping over rocks and such falling to the ground. But I didn't give up.

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"I can't stop your heart from breaking,
Can't make right mistakes we've made,
Can't dry your crying eyes,
For my little angels sake"

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What seemed like forever later, the moon came back out. I could see in front of me, and remarkably, I had stayed on the path, never wavered from it. The thought bought a weak smile to my face.

My energy was fading quickly. I moved slower and slower, but I never stopped. I should have waited until the sun rose, but I had a feeling that it was going to be too late.

Then I saw it.

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"I can't make the sun keep smiling,
Or blow away the clouds,
There's some things in this old world girl,
I can't do nothing bout"

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A large tree house type thing. It was so big. I had a gut feeling that Claire was in there somewhere. Somewhere there. I wasn't sure at all anymore. I stopped and just looked around. I had no clue where I was. Now I wished that it would have been light out. Not knowing anything, I just continued moving.

Then I stopped quickly. I heard muffled voices coming this way. Quickly, I ran behind a door and ducked down. Getting caught now would do me no good.

I didn't know how long I was on the ground until the voices reached me. I heard a baby crying and a woman talking in French. It was the transmission lady. The French lady who had been here sixteen years. Sayid was right, she was alive. I held my breath as they passed. I didn't know how many people there were, all I knew was that I was terrified. Was Claire with them? Was the baby Claire's? I do think it was her's. Oh god, this was really bad.

The voices passed, and I stayed on the ground for sometime until I was totally sure that they were all gone. I got up slowly and peered out of the door, which was open just a crack. The coast seemed clear. I opened the door the rest of the way and walked out. Now to try and find Claire. I needed her so badly it wasn't funny. Maybe I was still just telling myself lies, maybe she wasn't in this above ground catacomb.

"And maybe she's dead…" I heard the voice again. I stopped abruptly and looked around. Whoever or whatever the bloody hell that was was starting to creep me out, just a little bit. I picked up the pace. "Claire?" I shouted. I got no response. "Claire?" Still nothing. I made my way around, opening doors every now and then.

Then I opened one specific door and my heart nearly stopped. I rushed in. Claire was lying on a piece of stone, seemingly dead. I felt the burn of tears reaching my eyes until she began shaking. She wasn't dead. Oh thank God she wasn't dead.

That was when I noticed the blood gushing from her mid-section. Shit. This was really really bad. I nearly deteriorated.

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"But I can love you,
Like I've always done,
And when the hard times come a knocking,
Honey you won't ever see me run,
I won't leave you,
When you need a friend"

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I was shaky as I walked over to her and lifted her shirt up slightly, and saw a deep cut that was bleeding quite nicely. It made me feel sick. Who the hell would do something like this? I looked around the room quickly for something to stop the bleeding with and found nothing.

The mess I was previously worsened about a million fold. I took a few staggered breaths trying to calm myself down. Claire was dying and there was nothing I could do. My hand went through my hair as I looked around quicker. There had to be something there.

Suddenly I heard a weak moan and my attention went directly over to Claire. I rushed over.

"Claire… Claire… Claire love…"

She seethed and her eyes opened quickly.

"Claire. Oh you're alive Claire," I said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it. I couldn't keep the smile from my face. I looked right at her. She looked back at me.

"I thought you had died," I said, keeping my eyes from the deeply bleeding gash.

"I thought the same about you," she replied weakly. I saw a flash of pain go through her face as she looked down. I looked down to and then looked away.

There were a few moments of silence before… "Charlie, am I dying?"

How was I supposed to answer that? Was she dying? I didn't know. "I don't know love… I don't know."

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"But I can love you,
Like I've always done,
And when the hard times come a knocking,
Honey you won't ever see me run,
I won't leave you,
When you need a friend"

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She broke down. "Charlie, don't lie to me, am I dying or not?" she choked through the sobs.

"I really don't know Claire. I don't… I don't know." I said, holding onto her even tighter. There had to be something I could do. But nothing was coming to mind. I let one tear fall before I heard heavy footsteps.

I looked at Claire. She looked back at me. "Run Charlie…" she said simply.

"No!" I said quickly and sharply.

"Charlie, don't be stupid. You'll be in even more trouble if they find you here. I think… I think that he tried to kill you for a reason Charlie, and you somehow survived that. Count your blessings and just leave Charlie, please, for me…"

I shook my head. I wasn't about to leave.

The door shot open. And I looked over at the door. "Well look at what we have here, the heroine back from the dead. This could be fun," he laughed. It was Ethan.

I could feel my blood boiling. "Stanley…" he said.

A big brute of a man stepped into the doorway and headed straight towards me. I felt so small, weak and insignificant. Claire grabbed my hand tightly. This was very very bad.

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"Can't make the bad days that much better,
Baby than they've ever been,
But I can love you"

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The next thing I knew, the big brute had his hands around my neck and my back was against the wall. Claire had no choice but to let go of my hand. I had no choice but to looking into his face, it was all I could see.

The man had a menacing smile that only made me more terrified. Not only was I worried about Claire, but about my own life. What did Ethan mean by "this could be fun"? A shock ran through my body as the man's hands tightened.

"Seem familiar Charlie?" Ethan asked simply. I could feel my oxygen supply cutting out. The man moved and I saw Ethan heading over towards Claire. "Now there are many ways to torture a man. There is torture, which is very messy and very painful. Then there is mental torture. Hurt a loved one." His glance moved over towards Claire.

"You leave her alone," I managed to choke out.

He laughed. "Stanley, put him down…" I felt the grip tighten and oxygen flow back into my lungs and go immediately to my brain. I went to run over to Claire, but the man instead had a tight grip on my hands. My eyes went immediately towards Claire.

"Charlie, why didn't you listen to me?" Claire seethed angrily before she screamed out in pain.

My eyes went down to Ethan who had gotten a pointy object out of his pocket and was sticking Claire with it.

I closed my eyes and looked down at the ground, but it didn't stop the screams of pain from echoing cavernously in my ears. I willed him to stop but he never did.

"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie…" I heard him say. "You have no faith in me do you?"

I looked up at him and he had an evil smirk on his face. "Why should I bloody well trust you?" I spat angrily.

"I just saved your little girlfriend's life…"

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"Can't hold back the ocean waves,
Or stop a sinking ship,
Can't make a mountain move,
Or tell you how to live"

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I didn't know what to say. I looked over at Claire who still looked in pain, but then I noticed the stitches. He had stopped the bleeding. Why did he do that?

I sniffled and looked back at the ground.

"Can't say as much for you…" he said lightly. "Have fun Stanley…"

Before I could realize what was happening, I felt myself being thrown to the cold hard floor. I cried in pain as I felt my arm wrap around my back, being forced into positions that one's body shouldn't be put in.

It burned so much; I just wanted it to stop. But it didn't. I could hear Claire shouting something, but the exact words never reached my ears.

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"But I can love you,
Like I've always done,
And when the hard times come a knocking,
Honey you won't ever see me run,
I won't leave you,
When you need a friend,
Can't make the bad days that much better,
Baby than they've ever been,
But I can love you,"

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The pain never stopped. Stanley had some of the greatest ways of beating the crap out of me. I held back the cries of pain that tried so hard to escape me. Everything seemed to he fading away so quickly.

I knew that I was weak, I knew that I was tired, and I could feel death's grip on me. I couldn't fight back. This guy was about three times my size. He could kill me with one hit, but he seemed to be having a wonderful time drawing it out.

Everything was blocked out. Everything except the pain. I couldn't see Claire, I couldn't hear Claire, but I was thinking about her. Using the thoughts of her to try to stop the horrendous pain.

Then suddenly, it all stopped. I started letting things pour back into me. The first thing I heard was Claire continuously crying my name. I turned my head to look at her, but pain shot through me.

"Claire… listen to me…" I said, keeping my words limited. "I have a feeling that the saying 'third time's a charm' is coming into play here. Just do whatever… whatever you can to get out of her. I lost you once. I can't lose you again."

Ethan laughed. "Awwww how sweet," he said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "Now that Stanley has gotten his exercise in, it is my turn. "Say goodbye to your little girlfriend Charlie," he smiled.

He was going to kill her. I was in too much pain to move, he knew there was nothing I could do. He was going to make me watch her die.

Then I realized that he was going no where near Claire. He pulled a knife out of his pocket that looked an awful lot like one of Locke's knives and advanced towards me.

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"And I won't leave you,
When you need a friend,
Can't make the bad days that much better,
Baby than they've ever been"

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The last thing I heard before my screaming blocked everything out was Claire pleading with Ethan. I had never felt pain like this before. It burned it seared. It was worse than the outer pain that Stanley caused.

This was permanent. This was deadly. Third time was a charm. I had cheated it twice. This wasn't exactly how I thought it was going to happen. The pain was horrendous. It was like someone was tearing my insides out.

I was too afraid to open my eyes and I felt the tears welling up inside the closed eyelids. My throat was dry and it burned, but screaming was the only way to let the pain out, and it wasn't helping that much. Sure every muscle in my body tensed up. Nothing helped the pain go away.

Nothing would.

The pain made me wish for death, but it never came. I wanted it all to stop, but it didn't.

What seemed like hours later everything stopped as I heard the door slam open. My screaming stopped, but the pain didn't. It was numbing. Everything was silent. I couldn't hear a thing, but I had a feeling that something either really good or really bad was happening.

I felt someone grab me. "Chaaaaarrrrlllliiiieeee…" I heard. It was so long and drawn out. My eyes opened slightly, but closed immediately. It was all too much.

"Chhhaarrrllliiee.."

I didn't respond. I couldn't. The pain… I could still feel it. I felt something hot and wet fall on my face. It was the last thing I remembered.

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"But I can love you,

But I can love you."

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A/n: Holy shit, I can't believe that I actually did that. I told you I could do it Ali. There will be a 4th part. I just keep making this longer and longer don't I? Haha. But I'm pretty sure that that will be it. It will be in Claire's POV, and it will probably be a lot harder to write than this chapter was (which was very hard)… and I still can't believe I did that.

For those of you who want to know what happened… all I have to say is "Walking Tall"

Now to thank my wonderful reviewers:

rah rah replica – Hey, most of my friends hate Rascal Flatts, I don't care if you don't like the artist. Thanks for the wonderful review. The artist has really nothing to do with anything… the songs just fit… like the next chapter is a Simple Plan song…

Harper's Pixie –

The Pirate Illusionist – sad enough? I still can't believe I did that.