Disclaimer: Alrigty, here's the next chapter. Not much of an explanation needed.
Alterarial10: Glad you liked the wedding and the additional couple action. I've enjoyed wrighting them quite a bit, especially Shannon and Sayid. To answer your question, Claire is about three months pregnet, and Jin is an ass, witch is why he was not at the wedding. But you'll hear more about that soon enough!
FATE
Know Your Place
Claire's eyes slowly fluttered open. It was mid afternoon, but in the jungle, it was still pretty dark.
She laid still for a moment as she slowly came to before realizing Charlie wasn't beside her.
Worried, she quickly hopped up and looked around. He found him no more then three yards
away. "Morning, Ms. Pace" he greeted playfully, looking up from his guitar. "Morning" Claire
smiled sleepily, patting down her tangled hair. Charlie sat his guitar down and hopped up,
makeing his way over to her. "I made breakfast" he announced, stopping over by the fire. "Aw,
how sweet" she grinned, resting back on her elbows. He picked up one of the two mugs witch
had been sitting on the rocks by the fire and handed one to her. Claire smiled and took a sip
without looking, amusing it was just water. But her eye's widened as she recognized the familiar
taste. "Oh my god. Is this coffee?" she asked, looking down at the contents of the cup. "Yep.
Sowyer gave it to me as a wedding gift" Charlie explained with a grin, kneeling down infront of
her. Claire took another sip before handing him back the cup as she laid her head back agenst the
pillows. "Did you get any sleep?" She asked with a hint of concern, turning her head to face him.
"No, too awake" He answered simply. "Really? I was exhausted" she exclaimed a little
suggestively, shifting under the blankets. Charlie grinned, and blushed a little before taking a sip
from his own cup. Claire laid her head flat agenst the pillows, and closed her eyes agenst the
single beam of sun that managed to break through trees and clouds just to shine down right in her
face. "What did you make?" she asked, without opening them. "Uh, bacon, of sorts" he explained,
glancing over at the tin tray where about eight slices were laid. He lifted it off the surface of the
rock and held it over to her. Hesitantly, she lifted one of the narrow slices and took a bite,
considering for a moment as she chewed. "Oh my god, this is amazing!" She exclaimed with
surprises and took another bite. "Where did you learn how to cook?" she questioned with a full
mouth. "My mum" he explained simply. "Well, she thought you well" Claire confirmed as she
picked up another piece. "I hope you don't mind that I'm eating it all" she joked concideretly as
she took another bite. "No, not at all. After all, your eating for two" he reminded her with a smile.
"How's she doing in there, anyways?" he question, seizing the excuse to tilt his head enough to
see under the blankets. "She's fine" Claire confirmed as she pulled the blanket tighter around her.
Charlie looked away and sipped his coffee innocently. She didn't buy it for a second. "Where are
my cloths anyways?" she asked, looking around the general area. "well, here are your pants" he
explained, tossing her a pair of wrinkled geans witch had been lie on the ground. "and your shirt
is..." he searched the earth infront of him for a moment before his eyes trailed up ward. She
fallowed his gaze up the neighboring tree until she spotted the top, hanging on a branch way out
of reach. "Well...then I suppose I'll have to barrow yours" she exclaimed with a laugh as she
pulled on the geans beneath the blankets. "Actually, it's a little cold out. I might just have to keep
it on" he teased. "Alright, in that case you can climb up and get it" She suggested firmly. "And if I
decline?" he questioned playfully, with the rasing of an eyebrow. "Do you really wanna go there?"
she retorted, giving him the same expression. 'Cheater" Charlie mumbled bitterly. Claire just
replied by giving him a sweet and innocent smile.
Jack stood out by the rocks, looking out at the ocean as he thought about the dream he'd had
weeks ago. It hadn't bothered him the night he had it. After all, it was only a dream. He
had only dreamt about when Claire gave birth to Ben, nothing strange. But last night, it had
occurred again, and he found himself thinking about it constantly. He wasn't one to believe that
dreams told you anything about life or the future, they were simply figments of your imagination.
But still, he couldn't seem to pull himself away from the thought that it was trying to tell him
something. He closed his eyes as he rubbed his temples. What are you doing, Jack? Get a hold of
yourself. The rest of the guys are out working hard on the fuselodge and your standing over here
wasting time. His eyes flew open instinctively when the sound of fluttering papers startled him
out of his train of thought. He looked over to see a crumbled batch of papers hit the ground not
far from him. For a moment, he looked around in confusion to see who had dropped it. The
closest people were Shannon and Sayid, and they were way over at the edge of the jungle
translating the maps. Reluctantly, he walked over and scooped up the papers. A look of surprise
crossed his face as he realized what he was looking at. It was a news paper, dated August 23rd,
2004 two months, after the crash one year ago. A look of confusion flooded across his face as
he flipped through the pages until finding a picture of himself, a long with many of the other
survives and a few he didn't recognize. The head line read: After two months searching, all
victims of the plain crash have been presumed dead. Below that was a photo of each of the "crash
victims" and a small obituary about each of them. He stared in wonder as hid eyes trailed through
the images. "Whatcha got there?" Kate asked, wrapping her arms around his shoulder from
behind him. The sudden motion made him jump, and he quickly lost his page. A look of confusion
crossed her face as she became aware of the item he was holding. "Where did you find this?" She
asked in shock, as she stared at the photos of her fellow survivors. "It was on the ground, right
over there" he explained in aw, pointing to the spot in the sand where he'd recovered it. "How is
this possible? How dose a paper that was put out after the crash get on this island?" he added
with a look of bewilderment as he stared down at the page.
"happy?" Charlie questioned sarcastically, looking over at his newly wedded wife who was now
sitting on the ground beside him, in his own shirt no less, after eating all most of their food.
"Well, I'm full, but the little one is still going strong" Claire explained as she stared down at
where her hand laid across her stomach. "You've got to be kidding?" he exclaimed with disbelief.
"Fraid not" she confirmed with a sigh. "Aw, that's terrible" he sympathized thoughtfully, giving
her a weak smile. "Yeah, I think she's inherited your eating habits" Claire replied resentfully,
shooting him a playfully accusing glare. "Im sorry" he replied in the sarcastic voice of a child,
giving a pathetic pout. "Well, I think theres some more food in the bag if you want?" He offered,
pointing a thumb behind him to the little path behind the rocks where they'd left them. "Do you
mind?" she question sweetly, rasing an eye brow. "No problem" he assured, and was on his feet in
seconds. Claire pulled her self up slowly as well. She was only three months in, but the difficultly
of standing was already in progress. And soon, the ruff stages would come. Morning sickness, a
time she was not looking forward to. She pushed on the small of her back, leaving the other hand
over her slightly rounding stomach as she stretched. She then brushed back her hair, witch was
extremely tangled. A few knotted strands got caught on her hand and she looked at them with a
sigh. "Charlie?" She called out, glancing over the rocks. "Yeah?" he called back. "Get my hair
brush too, please" she requested, craning her neck so that her voice elevated over the top of the
rocks. "Alright, luv" He replied. She could hear him digging trough the bags loud in clear. She also
he zipped one up, but tripped over the other and fell to the ground with a loud thud before
makeing his way back. "I'm ok" he assured sarcastically. Claire laughed and shook her head, once
again pulling her massive hair out of the way. She turned when doing so, and spotted movement in
the trees out of the corner of her eye. She did a double take, and was shocked to see a familiar
figure standing in plain air before her. The shock made her stumble a little, and her head went
dizzy. "Thomas?" she asked softly as she stared back at the figure. Slowly, as the ground began to
spin before her, her eyes slid shut and her knees gave in. She dropped to the ground unconscious.
"Claire..." Charlie began to say as he appeared from behind the rocks carrying a hair brush in one
hand and a plastic bag full of fruit in the other. He stopped when he saw Claire lieing on the
ground. "Claire!" he called in a panic. The items dropped from his hands as he ran to her side.
"Were all in here?" Boone questioned, looking up from the paper as he sat on the table. "And then
some" Jack confirmed with a sigh as he stood beside him. "This is amazing. Where did you say you
found it?" Locke inquired, squinting down at the paper from the opposite side of Boone. "Over by
the rocks, I had my eye closed, so I don't know what way it came in from. But it landed just a few
feet away, right in the sand" Jack explained plainly, giving a gesture towards the ground before
him. "Well it couldn't have just fallen out of the sky" Boone exclaimed sarchasticly. "Of chorse not"
Jack agreed, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "But where did it come from?" Locke questioned
musingly. "I haven't the slightest idea" Jack assured him, brushing his hand from his forehead to t
he back of his neck. "Well sitting around here isn't gonna help us find much" Sowyer chimed in
from his corner, leaning back agenst the pole with his arms crossed over his chest. "He's right.
We've gotta start asking some questions" Kate agreed, rather she liked it or not. "Then lets get
going" Jack suggested plainly. With that, the group hopped up but before they could get very far, t
hey were gravely interrupted by the sight of Charlie running for them full force. "Jack! Jack!" He
was calling as he staggered out of the trees and dropped to the sand, carrying Claire in his arms.
Jack and the others quickly rushed over. "What happened?" Jack questioned, dropping to his knees
infront of him. "I don't know, I wasn't looking. I went off to get something from our bags, only for
a minute, and when I turned around she was out!" Charlie explained in a distressed panic. "Ok, calm
down. Boone, go get me some water" Jack instructed calmly without looking back as he turned
Claire's head to face straight forward. Boone nodded, and quickly hurried off. "She's gonna be
alright?" Charlie questioned, glancing up at Jack with a look of worry. "Oh, yeah. She'll be fine. I
think fainting is a natural routine for her by now" Jack assured light-heartedly. "No, no. I mean the
baby" Charlie explained. For a moment Jack was silent. "She'll be fine" he assured finly, with a
warm smile. "Here you go, Jack" Boone said breathlessly at his return and handed him the full
bottle. "Thanks, man" Jack replied aprecativly, then turned down to Claire. He lifted her head by
sliding his hand under her neck, and gently tilting it back with the other palm opened on her
forehead. Slowly, he let the water drip inside her mouth. In a few moments, her eyes flittered open
and he pulled the bottle away. She sat up with a look of confusion. "You alright?" Jack asked with
a smile. The faints on Claire's behalf had ceased to effect him, although Charlie on the other hand
was not so easily dismissed. "Yeah, I'm fine" Claire began to answer softly before she was nearly
tackled by Charlie's sudden motion as he threw his arms around her and placed a kiss on her
forehead and the side of her check. "Really" She assured him with a laugh, attempting to hug him
back. Charlie sat back, a little embarrasses. "Well now that your alright, we've got some business to
take care of. Just lay back and relax. Try not to faint" Jack suggested teasingly, giving her a little
pat on the back before rising to his feet. "I'll try" Claire assured him playfully, squinting up at him
with a smile. Jack gave a nod, and headed off. The others broke off in different directions as well.
Sayid sat out by the water, stareing at the open map across his lap. Shannon had taken a break due
to the level of brightness brought on by the sun in the after noon. They had long since ran out of sun
screen and rather she wanted to admit it or not, she was fair skinned. He sat on the sand not far
from her tent, finishing up the job. Or atleast, trying. There wasn't much he could do seeing that
he'd never spoken a word of french in his life, but he still felt compelled to stare at it. he was soon
distracted by the loud squill fallowed by frantic flapping of the plastic tent door as Shannon clumsily
fought her way out of the tent. In her panic, she'd managed to get tangled in the sheet they'd been
using for a door and no longer able to see, she pulled it off its ties as she stumbled to the sand.
Sayid couldn't help but laugh as he watched her fight her way out of the plastic, sitting up with a
huff as she blew the frazzled hair out of her face. He fell on his back, laughing hysterically. Shannon
let out an agrivateed growl in her frustration as she stumped to her feet and kicked the plastic off
her ankle. "Are you alright?" he questioned with amusement as she continued to shack and kick her
foot to remove the plastic that was wrapped tightly around her ankle. Shannon ignored him, giving
another wale of frustration before falling flat on her ass once again. And again, he broke out in
laughter before going over and helping her. "Dammit" she groaned as she gave in, propping herself
up on her elbows as he carefully unwrapped the tarp from her ankle. "There" he said with a smile of
accomplishments once her ankle was free. "My hero!" she sighed in a sarcastic breath, pulling her
ankle to her lap as she sat up straight and brushed back her wild hair. "What were you screaming
about?" he questioned, glancing back at her open tent. "There was a spider in there, again!" She
exclaimed angrily. "Ugh, I can't stand spiders" She added, the thought alone made her cringe. He
laughed once again and stood, helping her up with him. "Thanks" she smiled sweetly, without
letting go of his hand. "Your welcome" he replied, returning the smile. "Hey Shan!" Boone called
as he jogged up, stopping before them. He looked down at there hands, witch Shannon quickly
disconnected quickly at the realization of his presence, then down to the tangled plastic lieing on the
sand. "What happened to the door?" he questioned, lowering his eye brows as he glanced up at her.
"I broke it" she explained shamelessly. "Jesus, Shannon..." he sighed, giving a mournfully glance
down at their door as he shook his head. "Hey you didn't by any chance lose a news paper?" He
then added, looking back up. Shannon replied by curving an eye brow at him, giving him the look of
insanity. "No?" He asked again, turning to Sayid, who shook his head. "Alright, thanks" He sighed,
and headed over to the next tent. "He is so weird" Shannon noted, watching him with crossed arms
as he asked the same question Hurly at his tent. Sayid snickered, and walked back over to his map.
"Oh, it was so beautiful. You should have been there" Sun mused as she sat down on one of the
boxes outside her tent. Jin simply looked up at her with a raised eye brow. For a moment she fell
silent. "Why weren't you?" she ten asked slowly, turning back to him. "I'm not about to participate
in these obnoxious cheerful events. They pointless, and a waste of time. Just a pathetic excuse to
stop working. I don't understand why you go at all" Jin explained bitterly. "Well, maybe if your
participated in 'cheerful' events once and a while, you'd understand" Sun replied softly, being polite
despite her anger. "Maybe if you didn't, you would give your husband a little more respect" He
snapped in response, giving her an evil glare. "I was just trying to get you out of this tent! Rather
you like it or not, were not alone on this island, Jin. And I'm not going to sit around and pretend we
are!" Sun exclaimed angrily before standing to her feet. Jin hopped up and grabbed her arm as she
began to walk away, swinging her around to face him. "Don't you dare walk away from me like
that. You, are my wife, you understand!?" He ordered sternly, keeping a tight grip on her shoulder.
"Not any more" She replied shortly, her voice low and serious as she jerked her arm away. He
stared at her intensely for a moment, breathing hard as the anger rose inside of him. Not even a
second past before the back of his hand whipped across the side of her face, knocking her to the
ground. She held her cheek and stared up at him in shock. "Don't ever speak to me like that again"
he demanded forcefully, kneeling down to look her in the eye. She breathed heavily as an
unexplainable fear filled her. "Do you understand?" He asked sternly. She was so stunned by the
look in his eyes that no words could come out. He hadn't treated her well since they were married,
and a few yells and evil looks, possibly even threats had been uttered. But never once had he hit her.
And now the look in his eyes told that he could easily do it again, or worse. And nothing could
stand in his way. "Do you understand?" He repeated angrily, gripping her shoulders. She nodded
hard, but only a sob escaped from her lips. His hands disappeared from her arms, though the red
outline remained as he got up and walked away. Sun watched him slide out the door as the tears
welled up in her eyes, and the left side of her face began to throb.
"How are we feeling?" Jack asked cheerfully as he took a seat beside Claire, who was lieing on the
'Operating' table. They had laid down some blankets and pillows to make it feel more like a bed,
even if it was only a thin layer of down between her and the metal slate. "Exhausted" she replied in
a whoosh of breath. "Charlie tells me you've been throwing up a lot" Jack noted, though it was
more like a question. Claire nodded wearily. "How many times today?" he questioned, pulling the
bag he'd carried in onto his lap. "I don't remember" She explained in a sigh as she rubbed her eyes
with both hands, covering most of her face. "Head ach?" he asked, observing carefully as she let on
of the hands rest on her forehead as she leaned forward. "Yes" he answered miserably, dropping her
head into both hands once again. "Here, lay back" he suggested, gently guiding her down by laying
a hand on her shoulder. She leaned back into the pillows, letting her head sink in. "How long have
you had this head ach?" he questioned, pulling up his clip board. "Since I fainted" she replied,
smiling a little. "Having trouble remembering things too?" he asked, pencil ready on the paper. She
nodded, pressing down on her forehead with the palm of her hand. "What about dizziness?" he
questioned as he wrote. "Yep" she sighed. "You should of told me sooner, I could have gave you
some medicine, and they'd be gone by now" he explained, setting to board aside as he unzipped his
bag. "Like what? Tylenol or something?" She questioned, eyes barley open as she sat up once
again, leaning back on her elbows. "No, no, no. You'd need something a little stronger for
migraines" He explained with amusement as he dug through his bag. "Wait, migraines? I've never
had a migraine-" She tried to explain with confusion. "Well, your having one now" He confirmed,
glancing up at her from the bag. He retrieved a small orange-tented bottle with a fat white cap.
"What's that?" She questioned, giving a wide eyed expression towards the bottle in his hand.
"Tranquilizers, they calm the nerves that are getting frazzled from the higher levels of hormones-"
He began to explain. "Meaning....?" Claire questioned, cutting him off. "Meaning, they'll take away
the headaches and dizziness. Help you get some sleep" He explained again, in lammed terms as he b
began twisting the cap off. "Oh, not thanks" He spoke quickly, waving a hand to indicate for him to
stop. "No thanks? As in your not going to take them?" He questioned with a raise of his eye brow.
"I'd really rather not" She replied nervously. Jack gave a airily laugh of disbelief and shook his
head. "May I ask why?" he questioned skeptically, turning back to her. "I just don't want them,
alright?" He confirmed, aggravation raising in her voice defensively. "Ok..." he gave in skeptically,
and slid the medicine back into the bag. For a moment, it was awkwardly silent, then Jack pulled
another item out of the bag. "What is that?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side. "This, is
my home made stethoscope" He explained, flashing her a proud smile. Claire looked on with aw at
the contraption, constructed out of a thin black tube-wire and a small warped pieces of metal. He
tucked two behind his hears, and held the opposite end on her stomach, moving it around until her
found a heart beat. "Can you here it?" She asked excitedly, her mouth hanging open. "I can hear it"
he confirmed with a grin. He moved it around for a moment, and his face went a bit serious. "what
is it?" She asked in concern. His smile returned a widened. "Here, listen to this" he said, removing
the ear pieces from his head and pressing them on ears. "You hear that?" He asked, holding the
extension piece to a particular spot on her stomach. Claire listened for a moment and soon he could
hear a steady heart beat. She nodded, to show she was listening. "Ok, now liston to this..." he
instructed, and moved the extension piece over to a lower part of her stomach. Claire listened for a
moment, and at first heard no change. Then it dawned on her. The hear beat had bubbled. "Oh my
god" She said, both in shock and amazement. "Congradlations, Claire. Your having twins" He
confirmed with a grin. "Oh my god..." she repeated, her jaw hanging open. The two broke out into
laughter.
"Hey, Shan" Boone greeted, plopping down beside her. "What do you want?" She questioned
sharply, with a roll of her eyes. "Nothing, can't I talk to my sister?" he asked defensively. "....sure"
She sighed with another roll of here eyes as she slammed the book in her hands shut. "So, how's the
quest for redemption going?" he questioned playfully. "The what?" she asked with low brows, not
at all amused. "This whole rampage you've been going on to show every one how your 'worth'
something" He reminded her with a teasing grin. "Oh, and you think this is all a joke?" he
questioned defensively, tilting her head to the side. "No, not at all. Actually, I hate to say it but...I'm
proud of you" he explained, seriously. "Yeah....right" she muttered skeptically. "No really. All that
translating seems to be helping a lot" He assured her. "What ever..." she mumbled, rolling her eyes
with a sigh. "Speaking of the translations, what's with all this time you've been spending with
Sayid?" He questioned with a raised eye brow. "Oh god, is that what this is about?" she groaned, s
slamming the book shut again. "I was just asking" he replied, holding his hands up in serenader.
"Hey, are you suppose to be watching that kid?" He then asked, completely changing the subject.
"Ben? Yeah, why?" She asked, a little worried. "Because I think he just walked into the woods"
Boone replied, stareing off at the trees. "Shit" She muttered, scrambling to her feet. "Shannon,
wait!" He called, hoping up after her. Shannon pushed her selves through the trees as quickly as
possible, and stopped in her tracks when she was Ben, standing with his back to her only a few feet
away. But the thing that had her afraid wasn't that she'd found Ben, but the man standing infront of
him. Boone had stopped behind her, and for a moment he was to shocked to move. "Hey!" he
called angrily, moving past her. The man looked up, startled, then quickly turn and ran. Boone
called after him again as he hurried after him. Shannon ran too, but dropped behind Ben, turning
him to face her. "Are your alright? Did he say anything to you?" She questioned in a panic. He
nodded slowly. "What did he say?" She asked breathlessly, trying to calm both him and herself. But
Ben didn't respond. He simply stared.