Sayid grabbed Shannon by her arm and together they fell back, away from the falling tree. Though for a few seconds Shannon thought she might have an asthma attack, she controlled her breathing and stopped it.

"That was close."

Sayid pulled Shannon to her feet. "That is an understatement. We should hurry."

"Yeah." They started into the woods, sidestepping the large roots of the struck down tree. Outside the jungle, the storm was wild, but inside was a different story. It was muted in there, with the wind whistling softly instead of harshly, and the rain only hitting them in a few sparse drops. The problem, though, was that the rain had puddled on the ground anyways and created a lengthy stretch of muddy, uneven ground.

"If I get mud on my dress I'm going to shoot you."

"Shannon, if you get mud on your dress…I will laugh." Sayid said with a smile. He took the lead, finding a path through the mess of rocks and mud, trying to make sure that there is no reason for Shannon to get mad. He'd seen enough of how she was to Boone when mad to know that he didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

They made their way slowly, and even though the beaches were not far away, it was going to take a while. Sayid knew that coming up was a little hill and that in this weather it would be particularly slick. He stopped at the top and waited for Shannon to catch up. She got all the way to right behind him before slipping. "Ah!" She squealed as she grabbed his shoulders for balance. He turned and wrapped his arms around her waist so that she wouldn't go tumbling head over heels down the hill.

"Are you alright?"

Shannon sighed. "Yeah, but damnit! I got mud on my dress!" Shannon let go of his shoulders and pulled the hem of her already short skirt away from where it was plastered against her wet and shivering body. "See?"

Sayid's mouth was dry as cotton and all he could do was nod. He took the hem from Shannon's hand and laid it back against her wet thigh. He did not let it go however. Instead he used the back of his fingers to lightly rub the skin beneath the place where the mud had splattered.

"Shannon?"

Though she was lost to the sensation of his body heat warming her leg (and other places), Shannon stirred enough to look at him. "Huh?"

"There's no one around."

"Yeah, so…Oh!" Shannon grasped his meaning seconds after he said it. There was a very specific reason why he and Shannon hadn't been "intimate" yet. It seemed like at the beach there's was always someone nearby. For once, there was no one around.


(Flashback)

"Daddy?"

Shannon's father was about to shut the bedroom door but he came back in at his daughter's plaintive cry. "Yeah baby?"

"Did you love mommy?"

"Of course honey." Jack, Shannon's father, sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his large callused hand down the downy blonde hair.

Shannon hesitated, and then asked the question on her mind. "Then why didn't you tell Sawyer that my mommy is his mommy?"

"What? Where did you…How did you…you little eavesdropper you! Been listening at the door again?" Shannon nodded. "Honey, you can't tell Bobby who your mommy is ever. If you do then only bad things will happen. Got that?"

Shannon pouted. "But why?"

"When mommy decided to leave Bobby's daddy, he wasn't happy. Bobby's daddy tried to hurt mommy so she ran. But she couldn't bring Bobby with her. Later when we tried to go get Bobby, he was already gone."

"Where'd he go?"

"Bad people had taken him. His daddy's parents came and they got him."

"Gramma and Papa aren't mean."

"Not yours, babe, his grandparents. They didn't like mommy, and they wouldn't let us take him back. But you still can't tell Bobby any of this."

Shannon was sleepy, but she absolutely had to know. "Why?"

"He'd be angry with me. Do you want Bobby to be angry with me?"

"No…"

"Then we'll keep it to ourselves. Our own little secret."

(End Flashback)


Shannon didn't know it yet but these "little secrets" would keep popping up over the years. There were always things that Shannon knew that she wasn't supposed to tell. And there were always things she wasn't supposed to do. Make love to a handsome Middle Eastern man against a tree in the middle of a rain storm was probably one of them, but if it felt so right, how could it be wrong?

"Sayid!" Shannon moaned as she finally began to come down from the astronomical orgasm he'd just given her. Her back hurt from where the bark and bitten into it, and her shoulder twinged from where Sayid had bitten it, but at that moment none of that mattered.

"Shannon." Sayid whispered back, together they had sunk down to the soggy ground, and now were cuddling in the lessening rain.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Ow."

"Did I hurt you?" Sayid asked in a sudden attack of guilt.

"Hell yes, but it felt good. You can hurt me like that anytime. In fact, what are you doing in about five minutes?"

"Hopefully I will be drying off in a cave and holding you in my arms. Much as I'd like to stay and continue what we were doing, I do not want you to get sick." Even as he said this he was straightening himself up, though there wasn't much to straighten. They hadn't even gotten around to actually taking off their clothes.

"Another good point, Claire is probably worried."

"They might all be worried."

"Uh-huh." Shannon agreed even as she doubted it. They continued on to the caves, but both still hummed with the after-effects of their jungle-love. Shannon was sore (not that she would mention it), and Sayid was feeling guilty (though Lord knows why).

As soon as the cave fires came in sight, both breathed a sigh of relief. They could finally get away from each other to think about everything that'd just happened.


Welcome one and all to the sick pervy mind that is COLDQUEEN!