A A Battery: It's very refreshing to see one of my readers so....enthusiastic. I'll update as soon as I can, shouldn't be long.
Shannonlover 1: I'm looking forward to it too. I'm really happy that the two of them becoming and item wasn't just a hopeful figment of my imagination.
FATE:
The Waiting Room
Claire sat out on the sand, legs stretched out before her. Although she had lived in Australia her
whole life, she never spent much time in the sun. Even in the summer, when she went to beaches
or a pool, she never tanned. Sun-tan lotion probably played a large role in this, seeing that there
was none on the island to be found. What little there had been had been used up, leaving the fair
of skin high-and-dry. She leaned back, supporting herself on her elbows, hat placed flimsily on her
head. "It is very hot" a voice noted from beside her. She glanced over. Sayid sat to her left,
almost mimicking her position. "Yes" she agreed with a friendly grin. "Where is Ben?" he asked,
shifting so that he was siting up straight, his arms rested across his knees. "He's inside with
Charlie, sleeping" she replied, amazed that it was past noon and neither one of them had even
stirred. "It is good to have him with us on the island," Sayid commented, "it gives us hope."
Claire beamed at the complement. "I worry, sometimes that growing up here will make life hard
for him" Claire replied thoughtfully, squinting back at him. "Why?" he asked inquisitively, like a
teacher would when they wanted you to explain your answer, although they already knew what it
was. "Raised in the wild? No school, books, he'll be the only child in LA who hasn't sceen a
Disney movie" she replied jokenly, though her point was serious. "I believe it will make him
stronger. Knowing that he survived certain death before he could even talk? Knowing he'd lived
through things that most adults hadn't faced in their entire lives before he could walk? He'll be the
bravest kid in LA" Said retorted, with a smile, knowing he had made an impact. Claire smiled at
the thought for a moment. "Besides, just because this is the wild doesn't mean he can't be
taught like a civilized person" he added with a metaphoric tone. "But how, theres nothing to-"she
began to question, but caught the contradicting look in his eyes and stopped. "Come with me" he
instructed, and rose to his feet.
She fallowed him over to Sowyer's tent, where he sat reading a book that clearly didn't belong to
him. He smirked when they approached, without looking up. "Sowyer" Sayid exclaimed firmly,
they way a Sargent spoke to his troops. "Can I help you?" he asked, folding the book shut and
placing it on his lap. He looked him dead in the eye, then trailed over to Claire's. she was nervous
standing by the two with such violent tension loaming about. "Well hello there, sweat heart. You
come to beat me up to?" He joked sarcastically, a sentence directed to Sayid, although it was
spoken to her. Claire looked away from him, to intimidated by his history with her current
roommate and unadmittedly with herself. "You have one of Charlie's bags, correct?" Sayid
questioned, complete ignoring his remarks. "I believe I do" he replied slyly, letting them know
straight off that he was going to make this difficult. "What do you want for it?" he questioned,
cutting straight to the point. Sayid was raveling a very demanding, uniform side of him that only
seemed to emerge when he spoke to Sowyer. "Well" Sowyer replied suggestively, letting his eyes
trail back over to Claire. "Don't even think about it" Sayid threatened defensively. Claire was
surprised to see him act so protective of her. Sowyer glanced away for a moment, knowing that
he'd be caught-before-spoken, though his grin remained. "alright, you got me. But I don't think
there's really much you can give me Sayid" He replied, opening his book once again. Sayid gave
him a penetrating glare, not moving down. "Thank you, come again" Sowyer added, keeping the
eyes on the print infront of him. Sayid still was not backing down. Claire almost wanted him to.
The last thing she wanted was to be the cause of a fight. "Where are they, Sowyer?" he demanded
after a heavy sigh. "You must not have heard me clearly-"Sowyer retorted, closing the book once
again. She could see the anger building up inside him as he stood, fist clinched at his sides. "I heard
you. I chose to ignore you. Where are they?" he replied coldly. "Why the hell should I tell you?"
Sowyer questioned, leaning forward. He let the book in his hand drop to the ground. "What use
are they to you?" Sayid snapped, crossing his arms across his chest. "They're worth what ever I
can get for them" He replied smugly. Sayid twitched, about to head in for the kill. "Sayid" Claire
spoke up softly. He stopped and turned to her. "Its not important" she insisted, trying to convince
him to back down. "Are you sure?" he asked, looking her in the eye. She had expected him to
protest and was slightly caught of guard by his reticence. "Yeah, lets just go" she suggested.
"Alright" he agreed. He shot Sowyer a 'your lucky' glare before headed back to the shore line with
Claire.
He walked ahead of her, not noticering she had stopped. She was looking at the tent, witch was
rippling in the wind. "Claire" some one called from behind her. She turned around. Sowyer stand
only inches away from her, lingering over her. Surprised to see him there, she stumbled back a
step. "Here" he said, holding the black bag up with one hand. She glanced down at the bag then
back up at him, confused. "All you had to do was ask" he explained with a tilted grin. She
hesitated for moment, then took the bag from his hand. "Thank you" she said appreciatively. "No
problem sweat heart" he smirked. She pulled the bag over her shoulder and went to turn. He
placed a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, and next time you want something from me, don't send one of
your god damn soldiers" he added, letting the hand then drop off. She didn't know what to say.
"Claire" another voice called from behind her. She glanced over. Charlie was stand beside Sayid,
holding Ben in his arms. "Coming!" she called back. She gave Sowyer a quick glance, then headed
of to meet them. "What did he say to you?" Sayid interrogated as soon as she reached them.
"Nothing" Claire replied plainly, giving both Ben and Charlie a kiss on the cheek. "Are you sure?"
he questioned, begging for a reason to go over there and beat his ass. "No, he just gave me the bag"
she shrugged, pulling Ben into her arms. "That is all?" he continued, taking another step closer to
her. "Yes" she insisted, turning to face. "Alright, I'm just makeing sure" finally, he gave in. I'll talk
to you later" he added, giving each of the two a nod of recognition before heading off.
"What was that all about?" Charlie asked, after Sayid was out of range. "Oh nothing," she replied,
"I got your stuff back" she added, enthusiastically changing the subject. "Oh...thank you" he replied
appreciatively, though some what confused. "Why?" he asked, after a moment of thought.
"Actually, it was Sayid's idea" she explained. "Oh" he nodded, deciding to just let it slip away
rather than pester her about it. "Its really bright out" he noted, squinting up at the sky. "Isn't it
always" she pointed out, heading back to their tent. "Well yeah, but today its really..really bright"
He explained, walking at her side with his hands shoved in his pockets. "I guess so" she agreed
finly, as they reached the 'front yard' of their humble abode. He could sense the sarcasm in her
voice. "Well, perhaps it doesn't bother you as much, what with that hat and all" he shrugged,
leaning agenst the side of the plain as she plopped ben down on top of the blanket. Things had
gotten tremendously easier since he became able to sit up and crawl on his own. She didn't have to
lug him about all the time. "Aw, your jealous" she teased, plucking at the rhyme of the little fisher
hat atop her head. "Of what? The hat?" he questioned sarchasticly, as if she were crazy. She nodded
as her arms crossed, trying not to smile. "Oh no, she's discovered my secret plan" he teased
playfully. "To bad" she replied, playing along. A mischievous grin slid onto his face. With a swift,
cat-like movement he made a grab for a hat. Claire hoped back, doing the gesture while holding the hat secure to her skull. He smiled once again and made another grab at it with the opposite arm.
Claire dodged once again, pulling the hat entirely off this time and holding it firm in her hand.
Discarding his original approach, Charlie made a playfully tackle, knocking both her and himself to
the ground. Despite the fact that she had just hit the sand laughing, with Charlie pinned over her,
she managed to slide the hat beneath the small of her back, where he could not reach. His counter
attack as a deadly one. Tickling. He had just barley maneuvered his hand beneath the arch of her
back enough to where he could grip the them when he noticed the shadow hovering over them. He
looked up slowly, slightly embarrassed. Lock stood over them with his usual kindly expression
smiling down on them. "Sorry to uh..," he began, clearing his throat, " interrupt, but the food is
ready if your interested" he finished, his smile turning slightly suggestive. "Yeah, sure" Charlie
replied as if dazed. Locke gave a little nod, then headed back to his tent. Once he had gone, the
two both burst into laughter. "Well, that was embarrassing" Claire exclaimed, strugling to sit up.
"Don't worry, I don't think he thought much of it" Charlie replied, pulling himself to his feet. He
grabbed her hand and pulled her off the ground as well. "I hope not"she concluded, glancing back
at Locke. He sat infront of his tent, fiddling with his knife as usual, paying no attention to them.
"So, I guess we ought to get something to eat" Charlie suggested. Claire smiled with agreement.
He lifted Ben off his spot on the blanket, and lead the way to dinner.
Charlie opened his eyes. He had been slowly pulled out of his sleep by something unknown. A
feeling of panic, warning. A sense that something bad was going to happen. Slowly, as he awoke
a crescendo of coughing rang into his ears. Claire was in a position between laying and sitting
beside him. With her legs starched out infront of her, she supported her self with one arm, the
other hand cupped over her mouth. The coughing was coming from her. He sat up quickly and began rubbing her back, trying to sooth her. She continued to cough histaricly, both arms now
wrapped around her stomach as she leaned forward. Not knowing what else to do, he continued
to keep a steady motion up and down her back. She griped the cleave of his shirt as the coughing
fadded into heavy pants. After a moment, when she had almost caught her breath, he spoke.
"What's the matter?" was the only thing he could think to say. She straightened up, rolling her
head back. She closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths, completely oblivious to the fact that
he had said anything. The two trails running down her cheeks glistened as the candle light reached
her face. He waited another moment to let her recuperate. "Claire?" he questioned softly. her eye
caught his, and for a second she looked confused, as if she had never sceen him in her life. "Are
you aright? What happened?" he rambled, placing his hand on her shoulders. "I had a nightmare"
she explained, her eyes wondered around the room. Her whole body shook. She was still
in the dream. Having know his share of nightmares, Charlie under stood why she was so shaken
up. What escaped him was the fact that she had gone into a full-blown coughing fit afterwards. She
crumbled agenst him, laying her head on his shoulder. He pulled his arms around her, and tried his
best to camphorate her. Despite his effort, her body continued to tremble, and after a moment he
realized she was not just shaking, She was crying. He held her tighter, burying his head into her
shoulder. He was not crying, though a part of hem almost wanted to. He could feel the same thing
she felt, although he had no clue what she had sceen to make her so upset. Whatever it was hit him
deep in his stomach , and would not leave either of them alone until late that night.
Hours past by, and the two had finally worn themselves out. Clare laid back down, bundling herself
under the covers. She pulled herself agenst him as soon as he laid down beside her. She laid her
head agenst his chest, a drained and distant expression slowly fadded away as she drifted off to the
beat of his heart. He could not sleep, for whatever had came to her in that dream would torment him through out the night.
It wasn't until later the next morning when Charlie sought out to find Jack. The sun had just come
up less than two hours ago, and he had lied awake, worrying about Claire, who was fast asleep
beside him. He knew that she seemed fine, that it was just a nightmare. But that sense of danger
still lingered with him. Once every one else had started to wake, he decided to join them.
He found Jack outside his tent, armed with a watter bottle. Charlie hesitantly walked up behind
him. Before he could speak, Jack turned and squinted up at him. "Hey Charlie" he greeted,"what's
wrong?" Charlie stopped, caught off guard by his question. "Oh, its nothing really" he lied. He
didn't know how to explain to him that his feeling was no more than just that. From what he knew
about Jack, he was a man of science who wasn't about to worry over someone's instinct. Jack
studied him for a moment, twisting the cap to his water bottle back on. "Wheres Claire?" he asked,
after a moment. "Shes back at the tent" Charlie explained, gesturing towards it general direction.
Jack stare over at their tent for a moment, then stood. "Is she alright?" he asked, knowing very
well that Claire never slept in late. She was almost always the first awake, ever since the first night.
"Yeah, she's just sleeping" he explained, plopping down on a very large log that ran diagonal about
three feet from Jack and Kate's tent. Although his mind would not let him rest, his body was still
tired. "She had a nightmare last night, she was pretty shook up about. But she's fine now"
he added, talking more to himself than he was to Jack. Jack studied him once again, taking a seat on
a small box-shaped piece of debree witch also laid infront of their tent. "Are you sure?" he
questioned. He suspected something was wrong, just as Charlie did. Witch made the worry ten
times worse, knowing someone else had it too. "I guess so, I mean I think. She's been asleep pretty
much ever since" Charlie explained, looking back at the tent for a brief second. Jack nodded for a long time, thinking. "What was the dream about?" he questioned, after what seemed like an
eternity. "She didn't say," Charlie shrugged. "Must have been pretty bad though, cause she woke
up coughing and shit." something sparked in Jacks eyes that made his stomach sink. He was
beginning to panic. "She was coughing?" he asked, he was sounding more and more professional by
the second, witch meant something was terbly wrong. "Yeah. A lot" Charlie answered, the panic
starting to show in his voice. Jack glanced over at the tent once again. "You think she could be
sick?" he questioned, eyes darting back to Charlie. "You're the doctor" Charlie replied, dredging
his answer. "She could be," Jack replied thoughtfully, "let me take a look at her." with that he rose
to his feet and headed towards the tent. Charlie fallowed him inside, where he kneeled down next to
Claire. She opened her eyes, looking from one to the other with a grim confusion. She sat up
quickly, thinking something had gone wrong. It was no uprise, with the solemn expression they
both shared. "Calm down" Jack instructed, holding his hand out as if surrendering. "What's going
on?" She asked softly, her voice sounded strange. "We think you might be sick" Jack explained,
giving her a sympathetic look. Claire looked over at Charlie, then back at him again, still confused.
"I feel fine" she tried to ashore them, but the rasp in her voice spoke for her. Jack ignored her
comment and placed the back of his hand agenst her forehead. She was pale, to pale. Jack frowned
after a second, a pulled his hand away. "Your running a fever" he explained with a contradicting
tone. "But how?" she asked, "I haven't been doing anything different than the rest of you." Jack
sighed. "I don't know. You just relax alright? I'm gonna get you some water" Jack replied, pushing
himself up off the floor. Charlie took his place beside her as Jack ducked outside. Claire laid back
down, rolling her head to face him. "Sorry I ratted you out" He replied jokenly, wearing a fadded
smile. "Its alright, he would have found out sooner or later...I hope" she joked back, shifting
slightly. her skin had become very pale, a soft white color with heavy shadowing. As he thought of, she almost looked like a black and white photo stareing back at him, the only color being her eyes.
Even her lips had gown pale. "I must look awful" she found, noticering his captive stare. "Your
beautiful" he assured with all the seriousness of the world. She smiled wearily and rolled her head to
the other side. She gently moved her finger tips across the white, plastic-tarp of a wall, tracing the
water droops still left over from last nights rain. He stared at the flap, waiting for Jack to return.
"Charlie" she spoke once again, her voice soft, dry and hard to hear. His eyes snapped back to her.
"I know I didn't mention it last night, but the dream that I had, the night mare. It was-"she began to
explain, but before she could finish Jack returned carrying a very large water bottle. "Her you go" he
said, passing it over to her. To took it unenthusiastically, twisted off the top and took a sip. "I want
you to get some rest now, alright" he suggested fatherly. Claire nodded and got comfortable. Jack
signaled for Charlie to come with him. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and then fallowed Jack
outside.
"Is she gonna be alright?" Charlie asked once they had gotten out doors. "Well, in order to know I'd
have to know what she has" Jack explained with a sigh. "Wait, I thought you said she just had a
fever?" Charlie questioned. He was begging to panic. "She dose have a favor, but god knows what
else. We don't know what kind of diseases might exist on this island" Jack explained, makeing it seem
as if he were speaking in metical terms. Charlie nodded, understanding. He glanced back at the tent,
knowing he wouldn't be able to get his mind of her. "Hey" Jack said, catching his attention. "Let me
know when she wakes up" Jack instructed. He patted Charlie on the shoulder and headed off. Charlie
stood around for a long time before he went back in. Claire had drifted back to sleep, the bottle of
water resting in the curve of her arm. He stared at her for hours, waiting for her eyes to open. Who
would have thought the island had a waiting room?