Homecoming
Chapter Seven

Shannon sat up started getting up until Sayid put out a hand, stopping her. Knocking his hand out of the way, Shannon sat up on her knees, looking down into the dark hole. There was no sound or movement for the next few moments, which worried Shannon.

Is he okay? Shannon asked slowly, fearing the answer.

He's fine! Locke called back. Just a little out of it, from the blood loss.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Shannon sat back, and Sayid took over.

Can you get him up? Locke said confidently, yeah, I can.Let me know when- Sayid started but Locke cut him off.

Is now good? Locke's voice echoed. He's losing air. Sayid said, now's fine.

Within the next few seconds, Boone's hand came through the darkness. Sayid grabbed it, making sure didn't fall back down on top of Locke. The last thing they needed was two injured people trapped six feet under.

Locke asked, not showing any signs of having trouble holding Boone up.

Sayid confirmed.

Boone's other hand appeared on the ground, and Sayid gripped it, and pulled Boone up by the forearm. Consciously, but hardly, Boone was lowered to the ground where he lay, coughing and trying to catch his breath.

He's okay, Sayid called down to Locke, can you make it back up?

But Locke's hand had already gripped the soil above ground. Though he didn't really need it, Sayid helped Locke to the ground. Shannon was paying no attention to them. Boone was awake.

she was saying to him.

Boone tried to life his head but went down in a groan as pain shot up his leg.

We should get him to the caves, Sayid said, noticing Boone's face was going white, get Jack to look at him.He's out looking for Claire, remember? Locke reminded him.

The realization showed on Shannon's face.

But you can help him, can't you? Shannon said desperately.

Locke looked away distantly, then back at Shannon.

he said, I can.
......

What the hell? Sawyer muttered under his breath.

Slowly, the three men stepped onto the beach with caution, like they were half expecting it to fall beneath them. On the beach was more wreckage, but it wasn't from a plane. It was from a ship.

This stuff must be what, a dozen years old? Charlie wondered to himself.

Or sixteen, Jack added on, transfixed at the site.

Looking up, Jack saw that Sawyer had already helped himself to some luggage.

Nothing here's going to be useful, he said, this stuff's only a dozen years old. We'll be lucky if we can make any sense of it.

Sawyer held up a pack of cigarets.

Guess I was a good boy this year, he smirked, pocketing them.

Hey, what's that? Charlie said suddenly.

Jack looked at him, then followed his gaze to the front end of the boat, where a few letters were covered by seaweed and sand. Sawyer was already down on his knees, trying to clear it off. After a few minutes, the print was readable:

Black Rock, Sawyer muttered to himself, the damn thing was a ship.What thing? Jack said, watching Sawyer as he studied the name.

As if knowing where to go, Sawyer's hand followed the rusted wood and traced it to the bottom- where it landed on a handle. With no hesitance or fear, Sawyer jerked on the handle, pulling up what was, indeed, a door. Sawyer lowered it back until it fell against the ground, and they found themselves looking in a dark black pit.

What do you think is down there? Charlie said after a moment of silence, question pointed mostly to Jack.

There was no answer. Jack seemed lost in his thoughts, memories. Somehow, it all seemed familiar, the entire setting. And then he realized: he had been here before. It all came rushing back to him in one memory: the argument, Ethan, the kidnapping, Locke finding them..

Charlie said, noticing the fear that played all over Jack's face.

Jack was about to say something, make some kind of excuse, but before he could, there was a scream from bellow. None of them had to think twice before knowing it was Kate. Trusting there was a staircase like the other entrances which, thank god, there was. Sawyer and Charlie followed, Charlie worried about Claire..

Charlie repeated. Ethan, where's Jack?

Ethan's crazed stare was haunting him, like Ethan knew something Charlie didn't. The last thing Charlie saw before darkness took over him was a slow evil smile forming on Ethan's face.

When Charlie looked up, he saw that they were in some kind of dark underground tunnel. Jack's eyes were wild as he looked around, and caught light at the other end. Forgetting trying to hide their presence, Jack tore off towards the light.

Charlie yelled after him, confused.

Go look the other way! Jack called back.

Way to make your presence, Sawyer muttered.

But Charlie's attention had turned to something on the ground: a necklace. Moving towards it, he realized it was Claire's.

Claire's here, Charlie whispered to himself.

What the hell are you talking about? Sawyer said, trying to look for the other way' Jack told them to go.

Charlie showed him the the necklace.

This is Claire's, he explained, some kind of astrology thing or something, I don't know, but she never takes it off. She's down here somewhere.

When Sawyer didn't say anything, Charlie grew impatient.

Charlie said, you go wherever the hell you want, but I'm looking for Claire.

Gripping the neclace, Charlie turned, following the darkness. Sawyer stood there, pondering what to do. He really didn't want to play hero against some native psycho, but he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if Claire died. Then again, there was also Kate.

Sawyer muttered, following after Charlie.
......

Jack had never been in a darker or damper place i his life. Well, then again, he could take that back considering the kidnapping. The worse part was, the tunnel he had been following had led him no where, and the light was dimming, and as he grew closer, Jack realized it was nothing but the opening to a door. Pushing on it, Jack was led outside, into another part of the jungle. He stepped out, hoping to get a sense of where he was, but jumped at the sound of the trap door closing. When he looked back down towards the ground, he was shocked: there was nothing there.

......

Charlie hadn't even checked to see if Sawyer was behind him, and really, he didn't care. Claire's necklace still clutched in his hand, he ran at full speed. It was darker than night, and vision was impossible.

Maybe Sawyer coming wouldn't have been such a bad idea, he found himself thinking, at least he would've had a lighter.

Lost in his thoughts, Charlie hadn't noticed that he had been running straight for a dirt wall.. one that he fell right through.
......

Sawyer was the only one that had any luck. He had found an adjacent hallway with fresh, damp footmarks, and what scarred him most of all, drag marks. He followed the drag marks, studying them closely, until he ended up in an open room. The site made him stop short.

In the middle of the room was a single table, like a lab table. Strapped onto the table by thick black bonds was a body, unmoving, with blonde hair. Sawyer recognized her immediately: the missing pregnant girl, Claire. Sawyer ran towards the table, catching it before he went forward. The first thing he did was check for a pulse, or at least mimic what he had seen on tv. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt a small one.

Claire herself seemed unhurt. Her forehead was scratched, but he figured that was either where she was knocked out or drugged through the jungle. She was pale, sick like, and obviously hadn't eaten. But Sawyer realized the most noticeable thing that he should've seen first: her stomach was flat. The baby was gone.

For a moment Sawyer found himself just starring at Claire, taking in beauty he, and probably no one else, was able to see in her before. She was very thin, and that clearly wasn't just from not eating. She looked younger without the extra wait, and Sawyer being to wonder how young she really was. He then shook his head, remembering why he was there.

Reaching over the unmoving Claire, Sawyer felt for some kind of holster the bonds had to be in. There was none. He began to shake Claire slightly.

Come on Blonde, he muttered, come on..

No response. He let out a curse as he gave up, and his hand went to his belt loop, where one of Locke's knives were. Careful not to cut Claire, Sawyer began running the knife through the bonds in a steadfast pace, he struggled to cut the bonds.

Drop the knife, a dry voice said behind him.

Doing his best not to jump, Sawyer didn't jump.

Drop the knife, the voice repeated, or I'll kill her.

In slow motion, Sawyer dropped the knife, and what seemed like ages later, it fell to the ground, landed with a loud thump.

Turn around, the voice said, sounding a lot like a police officer making an arrest.

Sawyer turned around to face Ethan, who wasn't alone. Kate was with him. He had his arm around Kate's mouth, stopping her from breathing. Kate's eyes were in a panic. It was obvious Kate was in pain, and the gash from her head was still there.

Let her go, Sawyer heard himself say.

He was suddenly not feeling like himself, like something else was controlling him. Ethan just shook his head.

What the hell do you want? Sawyer demanded.

I'm going to kill you, Ethan said, ignoring the question.

You're seriously standing right here telling me that you're going to kill me? Sawyer said, almost laughing.

Just the a knife appeared at Kate's throat. Sawyer's eyes grew wide, as did Kate's.

Sawyer said, desperate. What do you want with her? Hell, what do you want with us?You have no idea where you are, do you? Ethan mused. You have no idea what's going on, do you?We crashed on some damn island in the middle of nowhere! Sawyer shouted. How the hell are we supposed to know what's going on?All I was trying to do was to protect the child, Ethan said calmly, glancing towards Claire as if trying to determine rather or not the shouts bothered her.

Protect her from what? Sawyer said, not being able to take his mind off of Kate and the gash on her head, and the blood she was losing.

The island! Ethan said like it was supposed to be obvious. This place! This baby can not survive here! This island used to be the main site for radiation testing. If a baby is exposed to it, it can die.Then where is it? Sawyer said, knowing he didn't want the answer.

It's dead.

All his rage built up in him as Sawyer launched forward towards Ethan. Seeing the attack coming, Ethan shoved Kate to the ground and advanced on Sawyer. Ethan threw out a blow to Sawyer's jaw, and a sickening cracked echoed in the room.

Kate cried.

Sawyer stopped for a second before registering what had happened, surprised at the sound of his voice. Taking the advantage of the pause, Ethan threw in two more punches and a kick that sent Sawyer to the ground. His head hit the damp floor as he felt the ball of Ethan's foot hold him down. Not far from him, Kate was frozen in fear.

You're making a huge mistake, Ethan warned.

But Sawyer wasn't concentrating on Ethan. When he fell, he felt something hard jab into his side, and the package he had taken, that he had completely forgotten about, slid across the floor. Kate spotted it, and scrambled for it.

I'm warning you, Ethan said darkly, if you escape this alive, they'll all pay.

Finding the strength in his right arm, Sawyer reached into his pocket, and drew out the gun. Kate's eyes grew wider, if possibly, at the site of it. She looked afraid of the gun. Not afraid of Sawyer, what was happening to him, what he was doing, or what the gun could do, but just the fact that it was there seemed to frighten her. Even Ethan himself seemed to stiffen at the object pointed at him.

You're making a-

Not letting Ethan finish, Sawyer pulled the trigger, and a loud bang filled the room. Sawyer felt the weight lift off his chest as Ethan stumbled backwards, blood flowing fluently out of his shoulder. He took a moment to recollect his thoughts, taking in what he had just done, and then reached back, picking up the knife.

Kate said in a warning tone, afraid he was about to do something stupid.

But instead, Sawyer got up, holding in a groan of pain, and once again began to untie Claire's bonds. He wasn't watching Claire, only the back and forth movement of the knife, ignoring the blood running from his lip and the pain in his chest. So he was surprised when she spoke.

Claire murmured, barely audible.

That's right, Sawyer muttered to himself, I just saved your life and you want the rock god. Kate repeated from the ground.

But Sawyer ignored her as he finally got the three bonds untied. He through the cords over the side of the table.

Kate said, this time, urgently.

Sawyer turned to see that he hadn't killed Ethan, but simply shot him in the shoulder. That was his second miss on this island. He looked at Kate.

Can you walk? He asked her.

He cursed. Can you walk? Can you get up?

It seemed to take a moment for the question to register in Kate's mind, but when it did, she nodded.

I think so.. she said.

Sawyer said, taking Claire, who was now unconscious again, in his arms, exit's this way.