TITLE: Starting Over
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: What started out as a trip to the hatch to check up on those who wanted to blow it up, becomes much more of an adventure for Shannon and Sayid, which brings them closer together.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters from Lost and am not making a profit. If they were mine, then there would be more Shayid moments.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story started out as a random throw away idea that only got developed because of mrstater's encouragement and constant support. Thanks so much!
Shannon stood there motionless as Sayid pulled Sawyer further out of the water. She didn't know what to do. She turned to look back out to sea to see if she could find the rest of those who had been on the raft. Maybe Sawyer had just fallen off or something, but she knew that wasn't likely. Her eyes filled with tears at the calm she saw out in the ocean. They could all be dead, and the chance of rescue was gone. She hated herself for even thinking about rescue when Michael, Jin and Walt could be dead.
Shannon watched helplessly as Sayid fell to the ground beside Sawyer and appeared to examine him. He called her over, and she moved slowly, unsure of what she needed to do.
"Sawyer is still alive," Sayid said. "He has been shot through the shoulder. The bullet passed clean through."
Sayid opened his mouth as if to tell her something else, but closed it quickly. Instead, he stood up and hugged her tightly, whispering that it would be all right.
Kneeling back down next to Sawyer, Sayid continued. "I need you to go get the towels off the beach. Also, see if you can find someone to get Sun. She'll be more help than I will."
Shannon quickly moved as Sayid continued examining Sawyer. He called to her as she ran off, "Thank you, Shannon."
She knew how urgent the situation was, and she quickly gathered their belongings. She ignored the shaking in her hands. Sayid was doing what he could to save Sawyer, and she would do whatever she could to help him.
Shannon noticed one of the other castaways standing there watching, and she yelled to him to get Sun. She had no idea what his name was; she had never bothered to learn. She decided that once Sawyer was taken care of, she would start learning names of those who didn't really matter. But for now she had more important things to do.
Shannon rushed back to Sayid and gave him the towels. She watched as he tied the towel around Sawyer's shoulder to apply pressure. She saw how calm Sayid was, and she realized that she needed to act in the same manner. She decided that she was only allowed to panic if he did.
Tilting Sawyer's head back, Sayid held a bottle of water to his mouth. Sawyer's eyes fluttered open as his body shook with violent coughs. Shannon breathed a sigh of relief even as she turned away from him throwing up seawater. She wasn't really friends with Sawyer, but that didn't mean she wanted him to die. He kept things entertaining on the island, and even though her heart belonged to Sayid, it didn't mean that she didn't enjoy it when Sawyer walked around shirtless.
"Walt?" Sawyer asked weakly. "Have you found Walt?"
"You are the first we have seen. No one else has come ashore."
Sawyer shook his head. "They took him. We thought they were rescue." He coughed weakly. "The radar showed us a ship, they came and took Walt. I couldn't stop them." His eyes filled with tears. "I couldn't do anything."
Shannon didn't believe him at first, she thought maybe she had misunderstood. But the tears in Sawyer's eyes told her that she had heard correctly. Walt was missing. She didn't want him to be hurt, out of everyone on the raft, Walt had been the one who had reached out to her when she needed someone the most. It was Walt who showed her that staying in her grief wasn't working, and showed her that it was okay to talk with someone, even if that someone was a dog. They had to find him.
"You did what you could," Sayid said, his voice calm. "We will find Walt."
Sawyer shook his head. "The Others took him. Why would they take him?"
Shannon felt her fear growing at his words. The Others weren't supposed to be real. Rousseau had made them up so she could get Aaron. Shannon didn't want them to be real because it would mean they weren't really as safe as they all thought.
Sun came running down the beach. Shannon's heart went out to her. She had no idea where her husband was, and she had to care for Sawyer.
Sawyer's eyes fell on Sun. "Jin tried to save me," he whispered. "We held on for as long as we could."
Sun told him to rest as she began to dress his wound.
Sayid walked away from where Sun sat with Sawyer, and began pacing back and forth. Shannon had never seen him that upset before. His fists were balled at his sides, and she wished she knew what to do to help him.
"I should have known."
"What? That the Others had a boat?"
He shook his head. "Danielle said that they wanted the boy. She thought they meant Aaron. The whispers, she said. I thought she was crazy, I thought she had made it up. It was Walt all along. I should have stopped this."
Shannon rested her hand on his arm. "And how could you have done that? Danielle didn't tell you about the whispers until last night, and the raft was already gone. You can't blame yourself."
Sayid ignored her words as he continued pacing. "I can fix it. I will make it up to Walt by finding him now. I think I know where he would be."
She couldn't believe how quickly everything had changed. One second she was resting in his arms, and now he was talking about returning to the jungle to find Walt. She wanted the peacefulness back, but she knew that wasn't possible. Instead she knew that she wanted to help.
"I'm coming with you."
"No, I need you to stay here. You know what is happening, I need for you to be in charge."
Shannon snorted. "As if they would listen to me. Anyway, I want to be with you."
She knew that she wouldn't be any help to anyone if she were worried about Sayid. She needed to stay with him to know that he was safe, and for her own safety.
"It would be better if you are here. I do not know how dangerous this will be."
"Exactly, and I'll be safe with you. What if the Others come back here while your out looking for Walt? I trust you Sayid, and I know that I'll be safe with you." She bit her lip. She knew that the next thing she was going to say was wrong and slightly manipulative, but she wanted to stay with Sayid. "Could you forgive yourself if something happened to me while you were away."
His shoulders sagged under the weight of her words. "That is not fair."
Her eyes dropped to the ground. She hated that Sayid could see through her, and knew exactly what she was trying to do. She didn't mean to hurt him, and she didn't want to hurt him. She just needed to go with him. But seeing the hurt in his eyes, told her that she needed to find a better way to meet her goal.
"I'm sorry but I'm going with you. I'll follow if you leave without me."
He sighed. "We will need to move quickly," he said reluctantly.
She nodded, relieved that she didn't have argue with him anymore. She was glad that she never unpacked her bag from earlier. She knew that she could just throw some clothes on over her bathing suit and be ready to go.
Shannon and Sayid walked back to check on Sawyer again. He still seemed weak, but at least he was conscious.
Sun began to tell them what she was doing, when Sayid saw something else floating in the water. Shannon turned to where he was looking, and she saw an arm flailing in the water. Sayid ran back into the water, swimming further out this time. Shannon and Sun held their breath to see who would be brought back.
Sayid dragged an exhausted Jin next to where Sawyer lay. Sun's eyes filled with tears and she fell to the sand beside him. Shannon smiled as the two interacted. Shannon knew first hand what it felt like to fear the death of a loved one. She remembered her own relief the night before, and imagined that Sun's was even greater.
Sayid quickly relayed some instructions to Sun about what to do with Sawyer and Jin. He needed her to be in charge of their care until they were able to send Jack back to the beach. He then took Shannon's hand and they moved quickly to get back to the caves.
Shannon hurriedly threw some clothes on over her bathing suit, without even looking to see if they matched. She knew that Sayid was changing out of his wet clothes at the other side of the caves. Yet somehow he still was changed and ready to go before her. He walked up just as she was finishing.
"Are you ready?" Sayid asked, swinging his backpack onto his shoulder.
She nodded. "Where are we going?"
"We will go to where Charlie and I found Aaron, but first we need to get Jack to take care of Sawyer and Jin."
"Let's go."
They started running to the hatch, they knew there was no time to waste. Shannon was glad that they had made the trip to the hatch earlier because now she knew where to go, and it didn't seem quite as scary. She did however have to make sure that she kept up with Sayid. She was glad that despite her asthma she had been on a few sports teams in high school, it helped her to be able to match Sayid's pace.
Finally they broke through the undergrowth to find everyone still standing around the hatch talking about it. Sayid quickly explained to them what had happened with Sawyer and Walt. Shannon watched the reactions on everyone face as Sayid talked. Kate's hand flew to her mouth in horror about what happened to Sawyer. Locke and Hurley looked physically ill as Sayid told them that the Others had Walt. Jack started asking questions about Michael and the raft, but Shannon stopped listening, she was annoyed that they were wasting time. Shannon focused on the conversation again when she heard Sayid mention her name. Sayid told them that he was taking her with him to search for Walt. She saw the surprise register on their faces, and once again she was upset that they considered her to be useless. She would help find Walt, and then they would all be sorry they doubted her.
Jack, Hurley, and Kate rushed back to the beach. Kate was as pale as a ghost. Shannon rolled her eyes at Kate. She really needed to pick either Jack or Sawyer, the whole triangle thing was getting old. She frowned as she realized that Locke had stayed behind. She was being to regret her decision to come along now that Locke seemed to be coming with them, but she knew that she didn't want to leave Sayid alone with Locke.
Without a word, Sayid motioned for them to follow. They were off to find Walt, and Shannon hoped Walt would be all they found.
TBC…