Title: Wherein Obscurely

Author: Indian Summer

Summary: Everyone on the island has their secrets. Shannon, however, happens to be at the center of the most explosive one. (Shannon/Sawyer, hints of past Shannon/Boone)

Dislaimer: I do not own "Lost," have any affiliation with it, its writers, or the wonderful actors on it. "Wherein Obscurely" is the title of a Pernice Brothers song, written by none other than the amazing Joe Pernice. I also have no affiliation with Michael Keaton, and the similarity of any original character to someone in reality, whether in namesake, personality, or behavior, is purely coincidental. Phone numbers are purely fictional, although the area code is not. This is for my enjoyment only, and I do not profit off of this is any way.

Notes: This was started before 1x13- "Hearts and Minds," so it's technically AU, although still within the realm of possibility.

Chapter Title: Christmas Eve, 2001
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Present Day

It had been a long time since the feel of sand between her toes had comforted Shannon. She sat on the beach and dug her toes into the wet sand along the shore's edge as she looked out at the horizon, willing a ship to appear.

Of course, none did.

"Shannon?" The voice was hesitant and carried a heavy accent.

She cocked her head to see Sayid standing a good ten feet from her, map in hand, and smiled. "I don't bite. At least not on a good day."

He returned her smile and stepped forward, still not invading her personal space like she was so used to from guys like Boone and Sawyer, or even Jack. "Did you need help translating?"

As Sayid shook his head, Shannon wished she could use some Frederic Fekkai on his hair. The curls she'd once envied were starting to look dull. "No. I think I figured out the map."

"Oh." She scrambled to her feet and Sayid's side. "What are we going to do?"

Sayid glanced down at her and shook his head. "I'm going to finish mapping out the island. You're going to stay here."

"You don't stop Kate from going off into the jungle," Shannon pouted, pulling a map out of Sayid's hand. "So what did you figure out?"

"Kate can hold her own. She grew up in the woods, I think." Sayid pointed to the edge of the island on the map. "From what I can tell, it's a skewed perspective. If you were looking at the island from a boat out at sea, you would see it differently."

Shannon nodded. "So you think the French woman drew the map before she came to the island? Then how will it help with-"

Sayid shook his head. "She might have drew- drawn- the outline of the island before. But the features are too exact. Like here," he pointed to a spot a bit further inland, "Those are the caves Jack found."

She'd forgotten English wasn't his first language, but she tossed the thought aside and pointed to a spot further in. "Would that be Sawyer's waterfall, then?"

Suddenly alert, Sayid's head snapped up. "Sawyer found a waterfall?"

Shannon's stomach dropped as she realized she wasn't supposed to know about it, much less be telling other people. "Uh, he mentioned something like that, while Kate was flipping out over the briefcase."

"Oh. Okay." Sayid's lips were drawn into a thin line and Shannon could tell he was frustrated with not having known about the waterfall. "Alright, so what I'm thinking is if it's a skewed perspective, then everything more inward in here," he went on, pointing to a spot near the right side of the map, "and rounder out here," he added as his finger trailed across the paper.

"Which would make the triangle what? Further inland?"

Sayid nodded.

"I want to come," Shannon said stubbornly, handing Sayid back the map.

Sayid opened his mouth to protest but, as if realizing Shannon wouldn't give in, nodded. "We'll leave tonight," he murmured before turning and walking off.

Shannon watched him go before turning her gaze back to the ocean and frowned. Staying on this island was slowly driving her mad, and it was starting to show. She never would've agreed to trek into a dangerous jungle, let alone argued to join in the trip.
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When Sawyer approached her, Shannon was eating lunch- or rather stabbing her slab of fish with a plastic fork.

"You better be careful, Sweetcheeks," Sawyer said, dropping a water bottle into the sand next to her.

Shooting him a curious look, Shannon picked up the water bottle and twisted the cap. "Of what?"

Sawyer gestured to the signal fire, where Sayid and Charlie sat. "Didja know an Iraqi soldier wouldn't think twice of rapin' a pretty girl like you?"

Shannon rolled her eyes. "Thanks for your concern, but Sayid's not like that."

"Or that's what he wants you to think." Sawyer kicked some sand off to Shannon's side and grinned down at her. "I'm just looking out for you."

"And why's that?" Shannon asked, a silent challenge in her gaze.

Sawyer held her gaze steadily. "Well, lets just say there's things you have that I want. And things you know that I don't want anyone else knowin'."

"Like Kate?" Shannon arched an eyebrow.

"Among others," Sawyer responded elusively, casting his gaze down the beach. "Where's your brother?"

"Boone's off somewhere. Didn't you hear? He's Locke's new boyfriend."

Sawyer chuckled. "An' here I was thinkin' he was moonin' after Jack."

"Not likely," Shannon muttered, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"Oh, right. He don't swing that way, do he? You'd be proof of that."

Shannon glanced around nervously. "I told you not to bring that up."

"Since when do I take orders from a girl?"

"Since this girl could tell Jack about an encounter you had with his father."

Eyes narrowed to slits, Sawyer lowered his voice. "Hero doesn't need to know everything."

"I know," Shannon nodded. "And everyone on this beach doesn't need to know about my... past with my brother."
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Christmas Eve, 2001
Manhattan, New York

Although it was a warm 82 degrees inside the penthouse apartment, Shannon couldn't help but shiver as she stared at the bay window at the snow swirling in the street.

She mindlessly twirled a strand of reddish brown hair around her index finger as she thought of her future.

She'd learned earlier that week of her acceptance to Harvard College, but that was not the thought that preoccupied her mind.

"Hey, baby," she heard whispered into her ear, seconds before finding herself enveloped in her boyfriend's arms.

She leaned back and smiled at him, brushing a strand of his dark hair out of his eyes as she spoke. "I wasn't sure if you were going to make it, Ben."

"And miss seeing Sabrina Carlyle lose her head over mismatching china? No way."

Shannon snickered, turning around in Ben's arms to kiss the tip of his nose. "I'm just happy you're here."

Ben nodded and looked around, almost a little uncomfortable. "Where's your brother?"

Shannon heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. "Around. Here I am trying to kiss you and you're asking about my brother?"

Laughing, Ben dropped a kiss on Shannon's forehead before stepping back. "He wanted to talk to me the other day, but I was running late for work so he told me to find him at the party."

"Fine," Shannon pouted, squeezing Ben's hand. "Find me later, okay? I'm not sure how much of this I can... deal with... alone."

He started to walk away backwards as he offered her a reassuring smile. "Give me fifteen minutes."
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Present Day

Shannon shielded her eyes from the sun with a hand as Michael pointed to a piece of metal from the plane. "We want to put those on the front of the reeds, to hold them all together. But try to find thin pieces, so they aren't overwhelmingly heavy."

Bending down next to the metal, Shannon ran her hand over it, nodding. "How are they going to stay on?"

Michael didn't meet her gaze and was quiet for a long minute. "Caked mud and ropes."

Aside from her nose scrunching in disgust, Shannon cast aside his words and got to work, gathering the metal.

"You don't need to help with this part. There's plenty you can do later- covering the reeds with a tarp, attaching the cushions in the chairs-"

"No, it's okay." Shannon glanced off in the direction her brother and Locke had disappeared in a few hours previous. "I'm not as useless as some people say."

Michael nodded, clearly made uncomfortable by her comment. "Right. Uh, my boy should be back in a minute. He went with Sayid to gather some stuff for the fire."

"Fire?" Shannon raised an eyebrow. "I thought Sayid had given up on the whole signal fire thing."

"Not completely. But this fire's to weld. Sayid says he knows a way to get it hot enough so we can bend the metal.
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Christmas Eve, 2001

Manhattan, New York

A few minutes after Ben had disappeared, Shannon's stepmother, Sabrina Carlyle, had pulled Shannon from the window and over to the fireplace, where a group of forty-something socialites were talking about some scandal or another.

Shannon rolled her eyes as Sabrina pulled her down onto a sofa. "Andrea," Sabrina addressed one of the woman in a haughty British accent, "I think it's been a while since you've seen our dear Shannon. Hasn't she grown up lovely?"

"Positively," Andrea responded, smiling at Shannon. "How old are you, dear?"

Shannon cleared her throat. "Seventeen."

"The last time I saw you I think you were eleven or twelve. Your brother used to pick on you something awful."

Shannon caught Boone's gaze as he walked by, and he seemed to freeze for a second before rushing through the room. "He still does, actually."

The women around the hearth laughed politely as Shannon stared at the doorway to the dining room Boone had disappeared through. That was odd. Shannon started to stand. "Can you excuse me? I have to go take care of something."

"Sure, sure, go ahead, darling," Andrea waved her away, smiling slightly. "I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to a group of middle-aged women."

"Not really," Shannon muttered under her breath as she made her way past the sofa. She started toward the dining room but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"Shannon, hey."

She turned to find Ben and smiled, letting herself melt into his arms. "Where'd you go?" she asked, kissing him lightly on the lips. "You said fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, uh," Ben murmured, pulling away, "Can we go talk?"

Shannon froze, crossing her arms over her chest. "About what?"

"Can we go to your room?" Ben muttered, not meeting her gaze.

Shannon looked around nervously and nodded. "Yeah, yeah," she said, taking Ben's hand and pulling him through the crowd.

"Look, Shan-" Ben said as they reached Shannon's room.

Shannon smiled and shut the door behind them before bringing herself flush against Ben, kissing along his jawline. "I was worried for a minute," she murmured, bringing her lips to his. "But you just wanted to be alone with me, hmm?" She swept her tongue over Ben's lips and he opened his mouth, allowing entrance, as he kissed her back.

Then he was pulling away, wiping his lips with his left hand as he did. "No, Shannon, I'm serious. We need to talk."

Shannon snickered, unbuttoning the top button of his dress shirt. "There's time for that later."

"No," he pushed her away and rebuttoned his shirt. "We can't do this."

Shannon blinked. "What did my brother say to you?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with him. I just..." Ben trailed off, finally meeting Shannon's gaze. "Shan, I can't do this anymore."

Shannon's eyes narrowed. "And what's this, exactly?"

Ben sighed. "Look, Boone told me about your... condition," Ben said, looking Shannon up and down as if she were defective. "And I just- I just can't handle it. I'm sorry. And anyway, it's not mine to handle, is it? I'm sure you'll work it out."

Shannon watched as he walked out of the room and blinked back her tears. She glanced over at the family portrait on her wall and stared at the smiling Boone, letting a single tear slip down her cheek. "What did you do, Boone?" she asked angrily, picking a bottle of perfume off of her bureau and throwing it at the painting. "What did you tell him?"
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