Disclaimer: No, I don't own LOST, but did you really think I did? Wouldn't I be writing for next season if I did?
A/N: I decided to have all my Cult Ship ficlets in one spot, so I'm adding on here. Ironic how this one also fits the title.
Spoilers: Exodus, Parts 1 and 2, and my theories on next season, and possibly others, basically all episodes of season one.
Kate made her way through the jungle, a bag full of fruit and water slung onto her back. She had just made one of her few daily trips to the caves; gathering water, food and other supplies everyone on the beach needed. The group on the beach had been a solemn one since Michael had returned, without Sawyer, Jin and Walt. He explained that Jin and Sawyer had drowned, but whenever anyone asked about Walt he became strangely quiet, unwilling to talk about what had happened with anyone.
Kate couldn't decide if Walt had drowned, and Michael blamed himself because he was his father, or is something worse had happened out there on the water but Michael wouldn't talk about it, and she worried about him. At first, Kate thought her feelings for Michael came out of pity and a desire to see someone who had been once so full of life happy again, but she soon realized that there was more than that.
"Help!" A voice cut through Kate's contemplation. "Someone, please, help!"
Kate took off in the direction of the voice. She hardly thought as branches cut at her arms as she flew by after the voice, which was begging for help. Kate paused, hoping the voice would call again. "Help!" the voice yelled again, distinctly closer. Kate gave a little smile; she had been going in the right direction.
Kate took off again; and when she burst out of the bush onto a secluded space of beach, she was not prepared for the scene that greeted her there. Sun and Sayid stood with a couple others surrounding Michael who held a gun to his head and was threatening to shoot himself.
Kate moved slowly closer to Sayid and Sun, who stood closest to Michael. Sayid was trying to convince Michael to put the gun down. "Michael, please, put the gun down," Sayid urged quietly and calmly. "You don't realize what you're doing."
"You don't think I realize what I'm doing?" Michael pressed the gun to his head harder. "I know damn well what I'm doing, and nothing anyone's going to say will stop me."
Sun cried silently, and Kate pulled her into her arms. "Shh…" she whispered, "everything will be fine." Sun buried her head on Kate's shoulder, and Kate tried her best to soothe Sun while she felt dread overtaking her at every turn. She trusted Sayid, but what if his calm logic couldn't cut through the madness Michael was facing?
Sun was starting to pull herself together, and Kate knew that it would be best if the others left. Maybe she and Sayid could convince Michael to put the gun down, and if that didn't work, she could always send someone to find Jack. He would have some plan; he always did. "Sun," Kate said softly into Sun's ear, "I need you to take the others and take them away. Sayid and I will try to convince Michael to put the gun down, but after you get everyone away, go and find Jack. He'll have some idea what to do."
Sun nodded and pulled away from Kate's embrace. Kate turned her focus to Michael and was dimly aware of Sun's gently proddings to convince the others to leave. "Michael," Sayid was saying, "please, put the gun down. Your death won't help find Walt."
Kate's head shot up at that one; Walt was alive? What? How did Sayid know? However, that appeared to be the wrong thing to say because Michael got a crazy look in his eye and gripped the gun even tighter. "Leave Walt out of this!" he shouted. "He's none of your damn business!"
Kate cautiously approached Sayid, who was a mere ten feet from Michael. She remembered what Sayid had done to Shannon in the forest when she had held a gun on Locke, but she couldn't see him jumping at Michael. For one thing, the chances that Michael would miss his mark if Sayid attacked him were very slim. Also, Sayid would have a much worthier opponent in Michael and even if Sayid managed to get to him without Michael shooting himself, the chances were high that in the struggle for the weapon they would manage to injure each other.
"Sayid," Kate said in a low voice, eyeing Michael carefully. He looked so lost and hopeless, like a little puppy. "Give me some time alone with him. Let me see what I can do."
Sayid looked at her skeptically, and Kate felt her worth drop as he seized her up and down and appeared to find her lacking. "All right, ten minutes, and then I'll be back," he agreed softly and quietly retreated into the brush.
"Hi, Michael," Kate said, deciding that if she started things out as if he weren't holding a gun to his head she might get somewhere.
Michael looked at her skeptically and continued to hold the gun there, and Kate saw so many emotions on his face. He looked lost, hopeless, fatigued and desperate. Kate wondered exactly had happened to Walt since it seemed that Sayid didn't believe he was dead. "Michael, what was Sayid talking about?" Kate asked quietly. "Is Walt still alive?"
"Don't talk about Walt," Michael said harshly. "He doesn't deserve what happened to him. He was a good boy."
Kate wasn't sure where to go from there. Walt was alive? Then why hadn't Michael said anything? "Michael, what happened to Walt?"
Michael readjusted his grip on the gun and glanced around nervously. "It's all my fault," he whispered. "I couldn't protect him. He's my only responsibility and I failed him. I don't deserve to be forgiven."
Kate's heart started to break; Michael blamed himself deeply, and she wanted to comfort him but didn't know how. "Michael, it's not your fault," Kate told him softly, tears in her eyes. "Please just put the gun down; maybe you can still save him."
Michael had tears running from his eyes, and he looked at Kate, now only a few feet away, a broken man. "They wanted him," he choked out, tears falling freely. "They said that they wanted 'the boy.' He didn't even have a name; he was just a thing to them." Michael broke down completely. "But he's not a thing; he's my son and I failed him."
The gun fell loosely from Michael hands and he cried on the sand. The moment the gun hit the sand, maybe even before it had, Kate had closed the spaced between them and embraced Michael. She felt so much for him; anger, agony and fear. She knew which 'they' he spoke of; she knew that the Others had Walt. No wonder Michael felt so broken; he wasn't even prepared for the fight, everyone had thought that the Others were after Aaron.
"Michael, it's okay," Kate soothed, tears running down her face. "We'll get him back. We'll find a way to get to him; Locke or Sayid will have a plan, but we must tell everyone else. Don't lose hope, we can still get Walt back."
Michael turned his tear-streaked face up to hers. "Do you really think so?" he asked, his voice raw from crying and his eyes with a wary show of hope in them.
Kate smiled watery. "Of course," she whispered; she couldn't crush his hope, and she suspected that as she said it, she wasn't saying it to only comfort Michael. Her heart broke for him, and she knew that she would be as miserable as he was if they couldn't get Walt back.
Michael caught her up in a hug, a bone crushing and intense hug. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear.
Kate, with her arms wrapped around his neck, smiled into his shoulder. "I'll you had to do was ask," Kate told him. "I've always been here for you."
Michael pulled back just enough to look in her eyes, and Kate hoped that everything she felt was evident there. A small smile graced Michael's worn features and he pulled her back into the tight hug. "Yes, I guess you have," he whispered back, content. Kate felt better; better because Michael was better and hopeful that they might be able to stop Michael's pain.
Besides, even if they didn't, at least Michael wasn't alone anymore; and maybe she wouldn't have to be alone anymore either.
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