Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! You make my day!
Chapter Five: The Eight
"He dribbles to the left, dribbles to the right, makes his way up the court…"
"Ohhhh, stolen right from under his nose. She fades back to the three point line, she shoots… and scores!"
Kate pumped her fist in the air and smirked, " Well Jack, I believe that makes the score 18-20. I win."
Jack grinned cockily and retrieved the ball from the ground, "I let you win."
Kate snorted, "Oh, you did?"
"Yes. I didn't want you to feel humiliated."
"Jack, I think we can all testify that your basketball playing skills don't quite reach the level of your doctoring skills."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying you suck Jack."
He glared at her for a moment and then smiled good naturedly, "I've gotten better though. You've got to admit that."
Kate looked down at the ball Jack held in his hands, " Jack, Hurley built this thing fifteen years ago. You've yet to win a game."
Jack threw the ball in her direction and she ducked as it sailed over her head, "Maybe if we had something better than a blown up boar stomach I could show off my skills.
"Jack you lost to Sun once."
"Hey! I thought we were never going to talk about that." They both laughed.
Kate sat down and opened a bottle of water, taking a swig. She handed it to Jack and he held it in his hand while watching her.
She looked around self consciously, "What?"
He shrugged, "Nothing. I just noticed that you've got a few more gray hairs there."
"Shut up." She swatted his leg and he sat down next to her, "You're one to talk about gray hair. Grandpa." She rubbed her hand over his head and he smiled.
"I'm not the one who's got a son old enough to actually make her a grandma."
Kate grimaced, " He's only eighteen."
Jack shrugged, " And what were you doing at eighteen?"
"Huh." Kate thought for a moment, " Maybe it's a good thing that Nadia's the only girl on this island."
"I don't know. I don't think James would be too upset if Nadia came over and asked him to share a hut with her."
"Oh my God." Kate dropped her head in her hands. She looked sideways at Jack through her fingers, "You have taught him about birth control, right?"
Jack laughed, " I talked to all the kids. Truthfully I'm surprised it hasn't been an issue."
"Why?"
"Think about it Kate. We're on an island. There's not a lot to do around here. Sayid and Shannon can barely keep their hands off each other so they've all grown up knowing about sex. It's not something easily hidden in this world we've made for ourselves. Unfortunately for them we seemed to have blessed with a less than equal male to female ratio around here."
"That's going to be a problem, isn't it?"
"I think it already is." Jack cocked his head in thought, "I talked to Adam today."
Kate nodded, "I talked to James."
"Ahh, the dreaded love triangle." He grinned slyly, "Not that we would know anything about that."
"Oh, no. Absolutely nothing. Kate rolled her eyes. "That seems to be a way of life around here."
They sat in silence for a moment until Kate placed her hand on Jack's knee and stood up, "I'm going to go see what the boys are up to."
Jack nodded and placed his hand over Kate's, rubbing his thumb over her wrist. She smiled at him, then turned and walked away.
Deep in thought Jack watched her retreating figure. Their conversation had suddenly catapulted him back in time. Back when he had been on the rotten side of one of those triangles. Back when it had become glaringly obvious that there was an unequal ratio of males to females….
He had noticed it in Shannon first. The way she picked at her food and turned her face up at any strange smell. But it wasn't too much of a delineation from the way she normally acted so he hadn't paid it much attention. Then one morning he had seen her emerge from her tent looking pale and then run with her hand over her mouth towards the forest. When Jack questioned her she said that she felt fine, it was probably just something she ate. But it happened the next day too and Jack began to notice the furtive glances Claire began throwing in her direction, glancing at Shannon and then down at Adam with a concerned look on her face.
When Shannon didn't come to him, Jack decided to approach her with his guess. He found her standing with her feet in the water one day, staring out at the horizon. Walking toward her was the easy part. But in the year since they had been on the island Jack had developed a healthy fear of Shannon's attitude. He could never figure out how Sayid dealt with it.
Shannon watched him as he stood next to her with his arms folded, "Can I help you?"
"Are you pregnant?" There. Just get right to it.
She arched her eyebrow and laughed a curt laugh, "Right. That's a good one."
"Shannon I'm serious."
"Look, Jack. Just because I've been sick the past couple days doesn't mean that I'm pregnant."
"When was your last period?"
"Are we seriously doing this?" Shannon turned and began to walk away.
"Yes, this is serious. When was your last period?"
With an exasperated sigh Shannon shook her head, "I don't know. I haven't been keeping track."
Jack didn't believe her but he kept pushing the subject. "You've been sick every morning for the past week, you get nauseous at the slightest smell, you've been putting on weight without eating."
Shannon glared, "Gee, Jack. That's just the thing every girl wants to hear. No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."
For a split second he considered leaving her to her own suffering. But he decided to ignore the bitchiness.
"Shannon. I need to know. I'm the only doctor on this island. I'm the only one that can help you through this. There are a lot of dangers. We barely have any medical supplies. I'm not an obstetrician. We have to work together here."
She looked down at her feet for a moment and when she looked back up there were tears in her eyes.
"I don't think I can do this."
"Yes you can. You can."
A few days later
Jack stretched out his arms and yawned, turning over in his bed. He jumped when her saw the figure standing in the mouth of the cave.
"Jesus Kate. Are you trying to scare me to death?" He sat up and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. Kate walked over and leaned against the side of the cave with a anxious look on her face. " Sorry. I thought you would be awake."
" Greg was complaining again about a stomachache. I was up all night."
"Busy life of the doctor."
"You could say that." Jack looked up in question. "Did you need something Kate?"
She smiled at him and bit her lip, " I heard about Shannon."
He nodded, " Yeah. This should be interesting."
"How far along is she?"
"I'd say a couple months." Jack stood up and walked out to the waterfall to throw some water on his face. Kate followed him and watched him for a moment in silence.
"Is she okay?"
Jack shrugged, "I don't know. Right now she is. But we're living in primitive times. There's not a lot I can do to help her if something goes wrong."
"So, there's a chance the baby might not make it?"
"Yeah, the baby. Shannon too."
Kate looked concerned but she laughed and stared down at her hands. "I guess we knew it was going to happen when the condoms ran out."
Jack laughed, "Well there's really only one other method of birth control we know of right now. And with the lack of things to do on this island I really don't want to start outlawing one of the things people do for fun around here. We would have to start playing a lot more golf.
" Hurley would have to make some more golf clubs."
Jack laughed and then noticed the look on Kate's face, "Don't worry. Sun and I are working on something we might be able to use if things get out of hand."
Kate nodded and Jack began to walk away. He barely heard the next words out of her mouth.
"Jack, I'm late."
"Late for what?" He looked at her in confusion until the look on her face kicked in. All the questions she was asking. Her and Sawyer…Jack suddenly had the urge to punch the wall of the cave. Instead, he took a step closer and looked into her yes.
"You're pregnant."
She nodded, "I think so." Then she looked up with a half smile, "I guess things are about to get really crazy."
Later that night
1…2…3…4…5… Breathe. 1…2…3…4…5…Breathe.
Jack sighed and sat up in his bed. He couldn't relax. Couldn't get his mind to stop running over all the possibilities. What if… What if…
Suddenly the stakes seemed so much higher. This was Kate… He kept picturing something going wrong. Losing the baby. Losing Kate. He pictured the possibility of everything working out. Kate and a baby…Kate, a baby and Sawyer. He wanted to scratch the image of such a family permanently out of his mind's eye."
" I'm not bothering you am I? You're not in the middle of some important doctor stuff are you?"
Jack wanted to scream at the sound of that voice interrupting his thoughts.
"What do you want Sawyer?"
The blond haired man stepped into the cave staring down at Jack who sighed and stood up to meet him face to face.
"Kate just told me."
Jack nodded, "Yeah, I talked to her this morning."
" So, what do I do?"
"What?" Jack questioned him wearily.
" It's dangerous. I know that. I know what can happen. What can I do to help?"
Something changed in that moment that Jack peered into Sawyer's face. He saw the worry written there. He saw the concern and as much as it pained him, he saw the love. In a quick flash Jack saw Sawyer with that baby on his lap, looking tenderly into that brand new face. Something inside him gave up at the image.
" There's not a lot you can do Sawyer. Just don't let Kate exert herself too much. Especially as the pregnancy progresses."
"You think that's gonna be easy Doc?"
Jack smiled, "Just watch out for her, okay?"
Sawyer looked back at him, " You too. When the time comes you'll do everything you can. Right?"
The two men stared at each other, a wave of understanding washing over them. Jack nodded and Sawyer turned to leave. At the mouth of the cave he turned with a grin, "Oh and doc? If something does happen, I'll kill you." He turned and left.
Jack let out a sigh and dropped back down to the ground with his head in his hands. He had already gotten the same threat from Sayid. The next seven months were going to be hell.
"Kate defeat you again?"
Jack looked up at Hurley, "What makes you think that I lost?"
"Dude, you suck. You wanna play?"
Jack shook his head and threw Hurley the ball, "No thanks, I've had enough ridicule for the day."
Hurley shook his head, "Whatever."
Jack watched for a moment as the other man tossed the ball in a perfect arch toward the hoop. He didn't watch to see if it made the basket.
Back in the forest
Adam and Nadia pulled away from each other at the sound of the voice and snickering behind them. Nadia spun around and Adam shot daggers at the three teenagers standing behind the trees.
"Are you spying on us?"
Hunter snickered, " Yeah right. Like I want to watch you make out with my brother's girlfriend."
"I am not his girlfriend."
Josh hung his head in mock sadness, "Poor James, if he had seen you, his little heart would have been crushed."
Jake made kissing noises with his hand while Adam reached out to smack his brother across the head.
"Ouch, that hurt. I'm gonna tell dad that you're being violent again."
"Great. And while you're at it, mention how much of an asshole you are."
Hunter and Jake both snorted with laughter as Josh glared at his older brother.
Nadia stepped in between them, placing her hand on Adam's chest.
"Guys come on. Just drop it."
"What's going on?"
Everyone froze at the new voice. Hunter spoke first, " Oh James, how delightful it is to see you. We were just about to sit down and have some tea."
James rolled his eyes at his younger brother's falsetto. He nodded toward Adam, "You and your brother having problems again?"
Adam clenched his jaw, "Nothing I can't handle on my own."
Jake piped up with a giggle in his voice, " He called Josh an asshole."
James looked thoughtful, "Well now, that doesn't seem very nice. Don't you think you should be setting a better example for the younger kids here?"
Nadia slumped her shoulders at the way James egged Adam on while Josh muttered something under his breath about not being a kid.
"I'm sorry. Do you have a problem with something I've done?" Adam turned his attention on James.
"Maybe I do."
"And maybe I've got a problem with you."
" I can't imagine why." The two young men stood within inches of each other and Nadia looked on with worry while the younger boys watched in amusement.
" I think you know exactly why I have a problem with you."
"Let me guess. It has something to with a girl."
"Seriously Josh, shut up."
"Oh, can't we all just get along?"
"Shut up Hunter." James turned his head to glare at his brother and Adam took the opportunity to land a punch square on his jaw.
The shock caught James off guard and he flew backward landing flat on his back.
"Adam! What the hell are you thinking?" Nadia screamed and rushed toward James who lay on the ground in a daze.
"Nice punch." Jake tried to high five Adam but the older man just stood and watched Nadia lean over James.
It didn't take long for him to recover and in a minute he had scrambled to his feet and launched himself towards Adam.
"Stop it. Both of you!"
"It is them."
"Dude did you guys hear that?" Hunter looked up at the trees, which began to rustle in the breeze.
Nadia looked around, "I heard it."
Earth.
Jake laughed, "It's probably just Walt trying to get back at us."
Josh looked confused, "It didn't sound like Walt."
Water. Fire. Air.
Adam and James stopped attacking each other as the whispers grew louder. The six young people stood under the trees looking around them in confusion.
Earth. Fire. Water. Air.
"What is that?" Josh's voice was filled with fear. They were all used to the island's strange behavior but this was something new.
It is them.
They are the ones.
The eight. The infinite. The eternal.
Suddenly the forest began to pulse with a bright light as if it was coming from the trees themselves.
There are only six.
The others will come.
The others will come.
Nadia screamed in fright as the light grew brighter and the voices grew louder. She could hear the others moving around her. She could hear Adam's voice calling for her. But it grew fainter.
Earth. Air. Fire Water.
And then everything went white.
Author's Note: So, the title of this chapter was actually where I got the entire story from. I hope you liked it. There's more to come. All will be explained… I hope. My plan it to get it finished before the season finale so that I don't fall too far out of canon. Please read and review.
