Glimpsing the Fandom

by Dreamality

Disclaimer: Lost and all related characters, settings, plots, etc. belong to J.J. Abrams and ABC. I claim no ownership and make no money from this venture.

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Chapter Six: Walt, Hurley, and Charlie Explore Wild Theories

"Hurley! Hey, Hurley, wait up! Are you going to the laptop?"

Hurley turned in surprise at the sound of Charlie's voice. It was rare for him to willingly speak to anyone who was not Claire or the baby, and to see him alone was downright shocking. He slowed down enough to let Charlie catch up before continuing along the path.

"Yeah. What's up, dude? Something wrong?" Hurley asked.

"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong. I've just been so busy lately, you know, with Claire and all, that we haven't had time to hang out. Thought we could spend some time checking out the Internet. You know, quality bonding time, yeah?"

Something in Charlie's tone made Hurley dubious that the rock star was here entirely of his own free will. Arching an eyebrow, Hurley chuckled and said, "She kicked you out, didn't she?"

Charlie sighed and ran a hand over his hair. "Said I'd been spending too much time with her. 'Smothering,' I think was her word. She told me I'd better go spend some time with someone of the male persuasion before I sprouted breasts and started feeding the baby myself."

Hurley laughed outright at that. "All right, buddy, let's go check out what weird stuff is on the laptop today."

However, when they arrived at the desk in the middle of the jungle, one of the chairs was already occupied by young Walt. Vincent lay loyally at his feet and raised his head to look quizzically at Charlie and Hurley when they approached.

"Hey, man, does your dad know you're here? Little ones shouldn't be going on the Internet alone," Charlie said.

Walt rolled his eyes. "Come on. It's not like I can get to any porn sites."

"Well how do you know? Did you try?" Charlie challenged.

Walt raised his eyebrows, pursed his lips, and remained silent. Hurley looked over his shoulder to see exactly what he was looking at. It was nothing but a message board discussing Walt and Vincent's relationship.

"Mind if we have a go, kid?" Hurley asked.

"No way! This is my first time on a computer in months! Give me some time, there's still a lot I have to do!" Walt protested.

"What could you possibly be doing? It's the big boys' turn now, Walt. Go play with your dog or something," Charlie said.

"You'll never be a good father with that kind of attitude," Walt said.

That was exactly the wrong button to push in Charlie. Hurley watched, slightly fearfully, as the color drained from Charlie's face and his eyes narrowed menacingly. Creeping up slowly behind Walt, he had his arms around him and had the kid lifted off the chair before Walt saw it coming.

"Never say that! I'm going to be a great father!" Charlie declared, squeezing Walt as he kicked and struggled and yelled. Upon seeing his master attacked in such a way, Vincent leapt up and lunged at Charlie, attaching himself to his leg until Charlie had to let Walt go to fend off the dog.

Walt grabbed the computer mouse and was about to click on a different link when Charlie pushed him out of the way and started typing in a URL for a Charlie/Claire website. Hurley rolled his eyes and took the mouse for himself so he wouldn't have to go through some mushy lovefest with Charlie giving the computer googly eyes.

"You guys are no fair!" Walt shouted. "It was my turn! You can't just take the computer away from me!"

"Don't be such a baby," Charlie muttered. "Hey! Hurley! So not fair!"

The three boys began to struggle, with Vincent egging them on with a chanting bark. Their haphazard clicking and hitting of keys started transporting them to different websites all over the Internet until they all ended up tumbling to the ground as a result of their grappling.

"Hey! Dudes! That's enough! Someone is touching my behind and Charlie, that better not be your hand!" Hurley yelled. "What did I say about the touching during the golf game?"

"Sorry, Hurley, that's Vincent's nose. Down boy! Go lay down!" Walt stood up and stared at the computer screen as Charlie and Hurley started to dust themselves off.

"Well, where are we at now? Some sort of support group for those who believe in Vincent and Claire's baby or something?" Charlie asked.

"Not quite." Walt sat down and started reading whatever was at the top of the page. Curious, both Hurley and Charlie leaned in to read it.

"Theories Message Board," Charlie read out loud.

"Discuss what you believe to be the answers to all of the island's secrets. Where are they? What is the monster? Who is Alex? Where was Vincent before Locke found him? Hey, I thought my dad found Vincent!" Walt exclaimed.

"Never mind that. Just click on something, dude. This looks interesting," Hurley said.

Three hours later, as the sun was beginning to set, Hurley, Charlie, Walt, and Vincent came running into the cave camp as though their tails had been lit on fire. They rushed up to Jack, who was sitting just outside of his cave writing furiously on a few spare pieces of paper. He looked startled when they stopped before him, all panting heavily, and he hastily shoved the papers into his back pocket.

"Hey, Jack, we need to talk… what were those?" Charlie asked curiously.

"What were what?" Jack asked in an attempt to play dumb. Never one for acting, they saw through his lie immediately.

"Those papers you just put away. What were you writing?" Charlie pressed.

"Nothing! It was nothing! What's wrong, guys? You look like you've just seen a monster," Jack commented, casually steering the conversation in a different direction.

Charlie and Hurley exchanged amused glances.

"Dude, you were writing fan fiction again, weren't you?" Hurley guessed.

"What? No! No, of course not, I would never…" Jack sighed when he realized he was defeated. "Okay, yes, maybe I was penning a short story about Kate and I, but if you tell a soul I won't give you your banana rations for a week," he threatened.

Sufficiently frightened, Charlie began explaining to Jack what they had found on the computer that day. "It was this huge message board all about theories that people developed about the island. Like some people said we were in purgatory…"

"What is purgatory, anyway?" Walt asked curiously.

"It's like the waiting room between heaven and hell. You wait there for an eternity or two until the nurse calls you in so Saint Peter can diagnose you," Charlie answered. "See, Jack, some people out there think that everyone actually died and we're all stuck in purgatory…"

"And then some people think that the island is, like, a booby trap or something, like the Bermuda triangle, and it actually sucked the plane in…" Hurley continued.

"That one girl, remember, she said that Mr. Locke had a connection to the island and he knows a lot about what's really going on," Walt put in.

Jack was staring at them with something akin to awe on his face as they all rambled about these so-called theories some crazy people out in cyberspace made up. The way they spoke about them, with reverence and conviction, made it seem as if they believed these people.

"Some people thought Hurley had been on the island before the crash, but he says he hasn't," Walt said.

"And a popular one was that Vincent found out everything, like what the monster is and where that creepy Ethan dude came from, in the days he was missing right after the crash," Hurley said. At the sound of his name, Vincent's head popped up and a little whine came out of the back of his throat, almost as though he were worried.

"The other most popular one was that it was all the polar bear! He planned it and faked his death and he's using us as a pawn in a reality show!" Walt said.

"What do you think, Jack?" Charlie asked.

Jack stared at them in silence. His eyes traveled from one eager face to the next. They were all so excited, as if they were really on to something, and Jack almost hated to crush their little dreams. He couldn't swallow his laughter forever, though, and it all exploded out of him in raucous guffaws. For a full five minutes he sat there laughing, so hard tears streamed down his face and anyone close enough to hear him worried that he was about to crack a rib.

"You actually expect me to believe this crap?" he asked in astonishment when he finally had himself partly under control.

"Well…"

"Erm…"

"Sort of…"

"Guys, the Internet is full of weird people. Just look at the fan fiction stuff. Obviously there are people out there who just have too much time to devote to thinking about us when they should be having lives of their own. These theories are just cock-and-bull stories they made up to have a little fun. You can't actually expect me to take them as truth," Jack said gently, as though he were explaining a laughable simple concept to a slow child. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some really important business to attend to. See you around!"

Jack pushed past them and entered the cave where he stored the medical supplies as well as his own personal belongings. When he was sure he was out of sight, he pulled the crumpled pieces of paper out of his pocket as well as a pen.

"Hmmm…" he mused as he reread what he had already written. "Should I describe her eyes as deep pools of melted chocolate highlighted by the occasional streak of caramel, or as nearly impenetrable spheres of obsidian that hide her deepest secrets from me except in her most vulnerable of moments?"

(Jack, quite obviously, had not read enough fan fiction to know what qualified as a Sue and what did not.)

While Jack was deliberating which cliché would do best for his fic, Charlie was meandering over to where Claire sat with her child. He wrapped one arm around her petite shoulders and leaned onto her with a heavy sigh.

"Something wrong, my love?" Claire asked.

"Nothing. It's just Jack thinks I'm a sodding idiot," Charlie muttered.

"Well, sweetheart, seeing as Jack has gone from being a respectable, logical doctor to a lovesick wannabe poet in the matter of days, I for one would not take his opinion too much to heart," Claire pointed out.

"How do you always know the right thing to say?" Charlie wondered.

"It's a gift. How do you think I ended up with this?" Claire indicated the baby and the two took a moment to stare lovingly at him as he cooed and gurgled. Charlie allowed him to suck on one of his fingers for a moment.

"Claire Littleton, are you telling me you seduced Thomas with your gift with words?" Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow.

Claire's eyes held in them a mischievous sparkle. "Believe what you will, Charlie, but just keep in mind that the only important thing is that I'm here with you now, and if Thomas were to rot in hell forever I wouldn't shed a tear."

He laughed and kissed her, his beautiful island temptress.

Across the camp, Hurley and Walt were sulking beneath the overhang of one of the caves.

"I thought they were great ideas," Walt pouted.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get for being the underdog. Dudes just don't take you seriously," Hurley sighed.

"What if Vincent really knows everything? He's a smart dog, maybe he knows how to make the transceiver work!" Walt suggested.

Vincent lifted his head off his paws and looked inquisitively at Walt. There seemed to be a spark in those warm, dark eyes of something akin to intelligence. As Hurley and Walt began to argue over the validity of the many theories they had explored that day, neither noticed when Vincent slipped quietly off into the shadows and trotted through the vegetation of the jungle.

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To Be Continued…

Coming up: Could one of the theories have some truth to it? Will we ever find out who is the mastermind behind the laptop? Will this fic ever see an end?

Hint: The answer to all three questions is yes!