Disclaimer: don't own lost. Anyway, this chapter is pretty short and sweet. It's a bit of a reliever compared to some of the previous chapters, so be ready for a good bit of romance. I have hopes to continue the happy mood for a little while. I've been playing with some possible ideas, and I'm not yet sure how far I want them to lead. If you have any opinions on the matter, please let me know. With that said, on with the show!
Lort3-hp3: thanks for reading!
Lauren Williams: I'm glad you liked it, sorry I made you wait so long.
Shannonlover 1: yeah, that's what I was indicating. Don't worry, it gets a little more pleasant in the next chapter.
A A Battery: hey, thanks for the heads up, I have no clue how I managed to get it on there twice.
FATE
The Good Charlie
Claire woke up on the floor, wrapped in a pile of airline blankets. The sun shined in through the
white plastic walls and ceiling of the make-shaft tent. She sat up and looked around. Charlie was
missing, along with her shirt. For a moment she had to try hard to remember if anything of
'interest" had occurred. After a moment, she remembered giving him back his shirt and sighed
with relief and mild disappointment all at the same time. She pulled herself up on the table, her
legs not quite ready to stand, and eyed the room in search of a shirt. she didn't know exactly why
proper attire was necessary, seeing that it was ten-hundred degrees and she was in nothing less
than a bathing suite top. And after all, Shannon, Kate and some of the other survivors had been
running about in their bikinis for weeks. Decent modesty, she supposed as leaned back agenst the
table and sighed. The room was full of nothing but equipment and empty luggage bags. Each tent
had begun to serve a purpose on the island. First, there was a "house" type tent for each little
group. Michael and Walk, Jin and Sun, Shannon and Boone and even good old Kate and Jack.
Then there were some individual "apartment" types for the rest of them, witch her normally much
small and didn't have walls. Just a white tarp pulled over a couple of poles for shelter and shade.
This particular tent served as a hospital, although her and Charlie had spent so many nights in there
it had almost become their own little home. Unfortunately, like the rest of the homes, however, this
one did not consist of any personal belongings. Witch excluded clothing of any sort. She found,
frustrated and began to worry on how she'd make half way across the island in her bra and not be
noticed. The little white flap-of-a-door swung open and Kate emerged. "Hey" she greeted with a
grin. "Hey" Claire smiled back, though less enthusiastic. "What's wrong?" Kate questioned,
standing with her arms folded across from her. "Nothing really, I can't find a shirt" she explained,
squinting. A good part of her wanted nothing to do with clothing at all. It was way to hot to be
covering up. "We'll its your lucky day" Kate replied cheerfully. "Why, do you have one?" Claire
asked graciously. "Well no, but every ones doing laundry, incase you haven't noticed" Kate
explained, indicating to her stomach, witch was bear. She was sporting the undergarments as well,
and with shorts no less. Claire smiled foolishly. "Come on" Kate suggested, tilting her head towards
the opening. "Join the party".
Claire emerged from the small isolated tent behind Kate, into the hot bright sun. they made their
way through the giant webs of cloths lines covered in all sorts of apparel, once again. "We should
do laundry every day" Claire said, randomly, as they walked. "Why?" Kate asked, confused.
"Because, look at every one. All smiling, every ones getting along. No one trying to kill any one.
Everybody's...happy" she explained, repricing her tan fisher hat from a pile off to the side and
plopping it on top of her head. "That's because were all half naked" Kate replied sarchasticly. The
two laughed for a moment as they ducked under a rather low cloths line. "Wheres Ben?" Claire
asked, slightly concerned. "Oh, he's with Charlie" Kate explained after thinking for a moment.
Claire smiled at the thought of Charlie being stuck with a baby for more then two seconds. Though,
in all honesty, she couldn't help but smile any time Charlie entered her mind. Despite his recent miss
haps, witch have been many, that seemed to have given him a bad reputation amongst many of the
group, witch normally would have lowered her opinion of him some what, she saw something
different in Charlie. Ever since the day they meet, when he continuously tried to make her laugh
with pathetic jokes, he had been able to make her smile like no one else. Kate caught this unique
grin and gave her a playfully accusing glance. Instead of defending the subject, like she normally
would have, she ignored her and continued to walk along, smiling. She had long ago kicked off her
pair of fadded, blue, high-top chuck's and recover a plain brown halter top from the pile of freshly
clean cloths. Her and Kate chatted for a while until Kate spotted Jack off by himself and had to go
investigate. Unoffended, Claire continued to walk an soon found Charlie and Ben behind the large
chunk of plain left from the crash, not far from the shoreline. A canvas had ben attached to the edge
of wreckage on one side, and attached to two large metal poles on the other, makeing a nice little
tent. The inside consisted of a few bags, one of witch she recognized from the previous night, one
of the broken airplane Chairs, a small cylinder-shaped piece of shrapnel with on other piece draped
over it, forming a small table, and Charlie's guitar case. Charlie himself stood just outside of the
border line's of the tent, holding Ben agenst his Chest. She walked over smiling and stood beside
him. "Nice little place you've got here" she complimented, eying over the homey little section he
had claimed. "Yeah well, it's shade and it's a place to keep my shit" he replied, modestly, brushing
back his messy hair. He still looked pretty ruff and worn out from the night before, but his mood
had graciously improved. "Have a seat" he suggested, gesturing towards the empty airline chair that
now almost resembled a recliner. She plopped down into the chair and grinned up at him from
beneath the rim of her hat. "So, heard you've be taking care of my kid while I was out" she said,
conspiriously, every thing above her nose shadowed by the hat, leaving nothing but her smile, witch
pulled to the left when she talked. "Yea" he replied, brushing his hands trough the thin white-blond
strands of hair atop Benjy's head. Claire smiled, and secretly began longing to hold him. Charlie
must have sensed it, because he plopped Ben down in her lap and Kenned down beside her, leaning
his back agenst the front of the chair beside her legs. Ben seemed to have grown every day. She
almost felt guilty when ever she left him on someone else, even if it did make her happy to see him
with Charlie. "Its nice, today" she noted, shifting Ben so that he was side was on her lap, leaning
back agenst her right arm. "Yeah, but the suns killing me" he added, indicating to the sunburn on
his arm. "That's why I've been hanging out under here. Last thing we need's a baby with sun burn"
he explained as he laid his head back agenst the chair, eyes closed. Jack and Kate were off in the
distance, flirting as usual. Waiting for another disaster to happen so they could run off and play hero
together in the jungle. "I wonder when they're just gonna get it over with" Charlie noted, shifting
bit on the sand. "What do you mean?" Claire asked, glancing down at him. "I think you know full
well what I mean. Two of them have been flirting since the plain crashed. Hell, they were probably
flirting while the plain crashed!" he exclaimed sarchasticly. Claire laughed and shook her head,
pretending to disapprove. Although, he made a great point. "Hi, how are you? Well actually, I'm a
little tight on oxygen, what with the plain crashing and all. Well, how's about I give you some
mouth to mouth? After all I am a doctor" He mimimicked, changing his voice for each speaker.
Claire cracked up despite his pathetic impressions. "Your horrible" Claire teased, shaking her head
as she tried not to laugh. He grinned as if it were a compliment and continued to watch the two. "I
see you recovered some of your own cloths" Claire noted. He was wearing a slightly different drive
shaft T shirt, same style but with a different style of wrighting for the logo, plus it looked newer
than the last. The geans he wore could belong to any body, but the torn knees and the sharpie
scribble running up and down the legs simply screamed Charlie. "Yeah, but I'm wearing women's
underwear" he joked. Claire laughed even harder. It was great hearing him crack jokes again. Ben
hiccuped to break the silence. Charlie turned and patted him on the head. It had become clear now
that he would make a better father then Claire's previous interest. Witch probably wouldn't have
made a difference seeing that they may never get off the island. But now its was inevitable that
Charlie could be the only father figure in Ben's life. After a moment, Charlie sighed and stood to his feet. He faced the ocean and scratched at the back of his head for a moment. His eyes narrowed, in
thought. She wanted to ask exactly what he was thinking, but new how much that aggravated men. So
instead she just relaxed, leaning her head back agenst the rest and looking out at the ocean with him.
She turned only once she could clearly here some one approaching. She glanced up to see Michael
standing just out side the shadow as if it were a door step. "Hey" he said uncomfortable, grabbing the
attention of them both. "We got some more of this plastic stuff out of the plain, thought you might
want it" he explained, indicating the pile of white-plastic tarp flung across his arms. "Thanks" Charlie
replied, cheerfully and went over to help him with the pile. "Nice" Michael joked,
looking around at the interior of the cosey little tent. "Ocean view, air conditioning, top of the line
furniture. All it really needs is a few walls" he added as the two unfolded the tarp's across the sand.
"Rock stars life, I guess" Charlie shrugged with a smile, rolling out the last of the tarps. "I'd be glad to
help" Michael offered as the two both stood up straight once again. "Nah, its alright. Not much to do
really, just pen em' up-"Charlie explained, squinting up at the billow plastic with hung over head, that
had ben so difficult to create. It wasn't so much skill as it was a matter of science. The side of the plain
being atleast ten feet of the ground, and the poles raised at seven. Plus, Charlie wasn't exactly a man of
stature. It would be difficult to get done alone. "On second though" he gave in, turning to Michael with
a Friendly grin. This must if been his way of pay back, Claire though, as she watched the two fumble
agenst flying plastic and the wind. He didn't pay any attention to her, perhaps because he was
embarrassed. But what ever the reason, she didn't mind. She was perfectly content with not helping.
She was still tired, and had a three hundred pound child bouncing on her thigh. Besides, it would have
been impossible to help while she was jugging Ben, who had grown tremendously despite the small
food supply he'd been receiving. Charlie, though not spoken, did not ignore her at all. He'd give her a
smile every time his eyes met hers, often forgetting what he was doing and messing things up. He had already managed to trip on three occasions, being then attacked by Vincente, who was playing with
Walt near by. But with in a half an hour or less, the place had four flimsy walls pulled tight between the
poles and the side of the Plain. It kept the inside cool, although they were raised two inches of the
ground. A flap was cut out for a door with the help of one of Locke's four-thousand knifes. The two
stood back, admiring their work. "Hmm, needs a sun roof" Charlie noted sarchasticly, hand folded over
the curve of his chin. "And a fire place" Michael added, with the same gesture. "How about windows?"
Walt chimed in, looking up at the two in confusion. Claire pinned the door-flap open and emerged from
the shade to observe the progress. She stood beside Charlie with ben rested on her hip and squinted,
examining their work. "What do you think, luv?" Charlie asked, turning to her. "Fantastic" she mused,
keeping a straight face for a mere second. "Well" Charlie spoke up, brushing off his hands, "this calls
for a celebration! And when I say celebration, I mean food. Wheres the mighty hunter?" he proclaimed
sarcastically, looking about the island. "Hes over there doing... something" Walt explained, pointing in
his general direction. He was in fact doing something, though it was difficult to tell exactly what, from
their point of view. "Right, then. You all stay here, relax. I'll go see what's on the menu" he suggested,
and headed off to the Locke's personal station. Locke was one of the many who had developed their
own persona tent early own. It was very small, not big enough to fit anything but himself and his
knives, but served a place for him to go when it rains, if he felt like going in doors. Otherwise, he spent
all his time out doors. He was sitting beside the extinguished camp fire outside his tent, carving away at
something. Charlie plopped down on the sand beside him. "What'ca doing?" He questioned, trying to
see what was in his hand. He couldn't tell. "Candles" Locke replied, moving the knife away. In his palm
lay a slender piece wax, most likely from the bees witch had attacked him, wrapped around a small
string. Charlie nodded, noticing a pile of similar white-translucent sticks of wax atleast a foot high. "so,
what's the latest catch?" he asked, his mind was set on food. The withdraws had destroyed any type of apatite witch he may have had, leaving him eternally starved over the past week. But now the
withdraws had seceded and he was left with pure hunger. "Depends" Locke replied, "when's the last
time you ate?" Charlie looked at the sand for a moment, then back at him. "About a week" he
confessed, his stomach growling as he spoke. "The whole parties gritty famished" he added, tilting his
head in the direction of his flat. Michael, Claire and Walt were convecting, paying little attention to
them. Locke nodded. "Well, the pork's being cooked at this very moment" he explained, indicating
towards a small fire in the distance with a pig roasting over it. "Thanks" Charlie replied, disappointed.
He began to pull himself off the ground. "Charlie" Locke said, stopping him. Charlie lowered himself
back to the sand, looking him in the eye. "Its nice to have you back" Locke smiled, he hadn't sceen that
often. He smiled back, apreciately, then rose to his feet.
The sun had grown lower in the sky, but still shown rather bright as after noon fell. The air had gotten
cooler and breezes were regular. Charlie had rejoined the others to await his food. Michael stood
solemnly, watching Walk play with his dog on the floor. Some where he had retrieve a frisbee and was
tossing it back and forth. Charlie and Claire sat on the ground just outside the tent, side by side. Her
legs out stretched, Ben nestled in her lap. He had stolen her hat, witch now hung over his face. They
had been stareing out into know where for the past couple minutes without a word. Although the good
Charlie had returned, his mind was fixed on something un known. "Its so calm, peace full" Claire noted,
looking out to the horizon. "It'll probably rain soon" Michael explained skeptically, he had been
stareing in the same direction. "Better enjoy it, then" Charlie said, smiling over at Claire. Locke and
Hurly approached, carrying paper plates topped with slabs of dark meet. They handed them out and took
seats on the sand. Charlie began poking at the meat with his spoork, wearily. He had eaten it once
before, but couldn't recall the taste. He glanced up at Claire, who was feeding Ben little chunks of her
own spoork. His stomach gargled, urging him on. He held his breath and took a bite. It tasted like under
cooked stake would, but with a hint of pork. Not nearly as nauseating as he had expected. Contempt with
the particular taste, he dug in. Jack and Kate were off a few feet, sitting on a long piece of metal, eating
away. Charlie half expected them to feed each other as he looked up from his plate. Now, he was ready
to vomited. "Just ignore them" Claire suggested, reading the discussed expression on his face. He looked
away and continued working on his food. His legs were pulled up to his chest, the plate awkwardly
balanced across his knees. He chewed the tender meat for a moment, stareing at his half empty plate
before his eyes wondedered back to the two. Claire giggled. "What?" he asked, mouth still full. "Your
hopeless" she explained with a mocking grin. "I'm hopeless? They're the hopeless ones. They're need to
get a room" he exclaimed a bit to loud, catching their attention for a moment. They brushed it off and
continued talking. "They probably think the same thing about us" Claire replied conspicuously, leaning
her head close to his. With that said, she stoop up to dispose of her plate. The comment caught him
temporarily off guard. He sat silently for a moment, thinking about what she had just said. He had never
wondered what others thought of them. Clearly, they were no where near as sickening as Jack and Kate,
were they? It began to rain, and soon, the others began to scurry off. Jack and Kate headed off in one
direction to their little twin tents witch were almost connected. Michael and Walt headed off in another
direction to their own, Vincent fallowing behind. "Later dude" Hurly said, pulling himself off the ground.
"Cheers" Charlie murmured in a meek response. Hurly headed off to his own tent just as Claire returned,
Ben wrapped in a large T-shirt beneath her arms. She had retrieve her hat from his grip and was now
trying to hold it on her head as she walked. "You have any where to go?" Charlie asked, rising to his feet.
"Not really" she replied, shifting her wight to better balance Ben. "Well then, Ladies first" he suggested,
holding the flap-door open. She smiled and ducked inside, he fallowed behind.
Claire walk up on the floor. They had made a bed out of a small pile of blankets on the ground with a few
layers of metal beneath it to keep it form getting soaked by the rain, witch was still falling steady agenst
the plastic roof. She felt warm beneath the blankets, her legs tingled from the warmth. She sat up slowly
and looked around. It was dim inside, the small candles witch were scattered across the room flickered in
the rain. Ben was asleep not far away in his own little cradle, a curved piece of shrapnel with a blanket
bundled in it. She noticed Charlie as he returned through the small door with a small black bag over his
shoulder. The bag was her own. It contained mostly baby products, along with a few books on astrology.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" he whispered, laying the bag down in a corner of the room. "Not at all" She
lied, sheepishly looking back at him. He looked over at Ben, who was sleeping soundly, and cracked his
neck. Claire watched as he brushed the hair back from his face and gave a small yawn. He looked
exhausted. "You should get some sleep" she suggested, her words half broken off by an unexpected
yawn. "So should you" he teased, rubbing the back of his neck. She smiled and patted an empty space on
the blankets beside her. His hand dropped to his side, caught of guard by the gesture. He gave a faint
smile and made his way over to the blankets. He laid flat on his back, not quite ready to get
comfortable. Claire, how ever, was wasting no time to get back in sleep. She shifted to her side, one
beneath a pillow, and let her eyes close. But after a moment, his alertness began to edge her awake. She
glanced back up at him, noticering that he had yet to actually lay down. "Can you sleep like that?" she
teased, pushing herself back up and resting her weight on one arm. He smiled, embarrassed, and leaned
back agenst the other pillow. He shifted, in an attempt to get comfortable, knowing his mind would not
let him rest. He looked back at her to see if she was satisfied. She wasn't. "What?" he questioned, rasing
an eye brow. She smiled secretively, brushing a piece of hair back begun her ear. The rest of her hair,
witch was parted unusually to the left, hung loosely across her bare shoulders. The thin sleeves of the
burgundy tank she was wearing had slipped down her arm on both sides and the necklace she wore, with
some Chinese wrighting on it, dangled from her neck. The candle light caught her eyes, witch sparkled
blue. Before he realized what was going on, she leaned down to kiss him. It was no more than a peck,
witch lasted no more than a second. But still left him in aw long after she curled back into her spot under
the blankets beside him. He laid on his back, stareing up at the sealing. The lights flickered across the
plastic to the beat of the rain, witch made it shift with every added drop. Slowly, his eyes fell shut.
Finally, he could rest.