Title: His Heroine, Chapter 6

Author: Zelda Loves Charlie, Orlando Hope, Zeldabel

Rating: R

Warnings: Graphic Sexuality, Incest

Pairings: Shannon / Boone

Shannon and Boone lay side by side, barely touching. The rain had subsided to a soft mist, and daybreak was visible through the canopy of trees. Aside from Boone's deep, heavy breathing, the jungle was quiet. Shannon thought she'd prefer to hear a boar snorting for truffles, or a polar bear moaning in the distance. Anything—anything—but this horrible silence.

It had been a long night. In his delusion, Boone had kicked Shannon twice in the stomach, carried on a one-way conversation with his dead father, and wet himself twice. Shannon had spent the night holding Boone through his chills, mopping sweat off his face with her favorite bra, and trying desperately to bring his fever down. When the fever had finally broken, Boone fell into a calm asleep. Shannon, however, never slept. She kept a watch on him, watched his chest rise and fall with breath and life. She counted the eyelashes fanned across his cheek, rested her head on his chest so she could both feel and hear his heartbeat. He was alive.

"That was a neat thing you did, with the aspirin," Boone said around dawn. It was the first sensible thing he had said since Shannon found him the night before. "How did you learn to do that?"

Shannon shrugged one delicate shoulder. "Watching Animal Planet." Since she had forgotten to bring any fresh water, and Boone's throat was too dry too simply swallow the aspirin, Shannon had smashed the pills with a rock and spread the powder on Boone's gums. The medicine was absorbed through his gums, and helped lower the fever.

Boone laughed, a deep, husky laugh which sent shivers all the way to Shannon's bright pink toenails. "Maybe you should be a vet."

"I think taking care of you is a full-time job, big brother," Shannon answered. "Anyway, we seem to kill all the animals on the island, not nurse them back to health."

"You're right." Boone sighed. "Think the others are worried about us?"

Shannon snorted. "As if. You really think anyone is going to miss us?"

"How about Sayid?" Boone turned his head so he could look at Shannon. "Think he's looking for you?"

"Let's not talk about the others—including Sayid," Shannon suggested. Though she was still looking up at the sky, she could feel her brother's gaze on her. She had to get the subject away from Sayid—fast. Shannon wasn't prepared to answer Boone's questions about her relationship with Sayid. For that matter, Shannon herself wasn't ready for those answers.

The stench of sweat was still strong on Boone's body. Shannon wrinkled her nose. "You smell like decaying meat and pee, you know that, right? Not a very fetching aroma."

"Ah, back to predictable Shannon," Boone sighed, closing his eyes. "Things get too complicated, and you turn nasty. I expect nothing less."

"I'm not being nasty, I'm telling you the truth—you stink!" Delicately, she sniffed her underarms and sighed. "I don't smell all that great myself."

"Kate and Sawyer found a freshwater pool around here somewhere," Boone said, making no effort to move. "I guess we could try and find it, get cleaned up."

"I suppose," Shannon sighed, though she, like Boone, made no effort to move. After last night, after a week of making love to her brother, finding out he had been relieved when he thought her dead, flirting with Sayid, chasing Boone through a demented jungle, breaking her wrist, and being peed on, she was content right where she was. It was finally Shannon's turn to rest.

But Boone was having none of it. "Shannon?"

"What, Boone?"

"I wasn't really relieved."

Closing her eyes, Shannon sighed. With her good hand, she reached out for Boone. With his large hand wrapped around hers, Shannon Rutherford finally fell asleep.

Author's Note: The rest is up to you, my friends. When I first began this story, I imagined Boone either committing suicide at the end or being killed by one of his fellow castaways. Then, as I wrote more and more about him, I began to love him. So, Boone survives to face another day on my personal fantasy island.

As for the Shannon / Boone relationship: I thought about them making love in this chapter, perhaps in the freshwater pool—signifying a cleansing of hearts, minds and bodies—or in the dirt—signifying a new chapter in an already muddied relationship. In the end, I liked this simple little ending: Boone telling Shannon, in his own special way, how much he loves her. Shannon admitted her love a few chapters earlier; all she wanted was to know how Boone felt in return. Plus, her temper never allowed her to let him explain exactly why he felt relieved when he thought she was dead. He was relieved that Shannon was off the island, in a better place; she believed the worst not of him, but of herself.

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Zelda