A/N: I would like to thank everyone for the awesome reviews. Keep them up. Remember, reviews is what keeps my stories going. Next chapter we'll have a PWP, just because I havn't had a certain pairing in yet.

Here's the next installment.

Also, I will be away for a bit.

Title: Deprivation
Warning: Slash
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Sayid/Charlie, Locke/Boone, Sawyer/Jack

Sayid sat under a tarpaulin shelter trying to salvage the remaining parts of the smashed transceiver. He had been working on it for so long now, but every new direction seemed to lead to a dead end. Whoever had smashed it had either messed with the wires or removed some of them all together.

Reminiscing, Sayid pondered about Charlie. He hadn't talked to Charlie since his return. Afraid of loosing what they had built, and not knowing what to say to comfort the distressed man. Sayid hadn't seen Lexi either, since the return of Claire. It was unnerving, thinking about the other people on the island. Hostile people.

Sayid was surprised to see the four year old running up the beach towards him. She had tears streaming down her cheeks, and her feet slipped in the sand. She fell to her knees in front of him, and took three deep breaths to try to calm herself to be coherent. Sayid put his work aside while the girl babbled in what was obviously German, her native language. He pulled her into his lap, and dried her face with a piece of cloth he kept in his back pocket. "Now, Lexi," Sayid said calmly. Keeping his word distinguish able to the little German girl. "What has you bothered?"

"Why is Charlie angry?" Lexi stutters out. Her face was a veil of misery and confusion. Sayid couldn't stand seeing the girl like this.

"Charlie," He started. "Charlie isn't feeling well right now, Lexi. We must give him time to recover." Lexi nodded, and rested her head on Sayid's shoulder. Sayid sighed, and resigned himself to not getting anything else accomplished until Locke and Boone came back. Boone, having lived in Germany for 7 years, had volunteered himself to teach the girl English, and to anyone who wanted to learn, he taught German.

Lexi had fallen asleep. Placing her next to him on the sand, Sayid was preparing to start his examination of the transceiver again. Someone else had, now, decided to interrupt him for the day, and he looked over to see a very concerned Hurley. "Sayid, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," He answered simply.

Hurley hesitated. "Did you ever get that Gulf War syndrome?"

Sayid shook his head. He was very patient with the other people on the island that were ignorant of his nationality, or just racist. "That was the other side."

"Oh, right." He sat thinking. Trying to come up with the words he wanted, but failed. "Then, what's the one when you're all, like, shell-shocked?"

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?"

"Yeah, that's it." Hurley said with false cheer. "You ever have that?"

Now it was Sayid's turn to be confused. "Why do you ask?"

The next three words caused Sayid's world to freeze. His heart to constrict in his chest. "Because, I'm worried about Charlie."

Charlie. Charlie. Quiet Charlie. No longer cheerful, stressed, moody Charlie. "What's wrong with Charlie?"

"I mean, he killed a guy. He shot him in the chest four times." Hurley eyes sought his out beseechingly. He didn't want to loose the only one on the island that treated him with total respect and friendship. "Maybe, you should talk to him."

Now, here Sayid found himself. Having left Lexi with Boone, who had come back early, he stood in front of the man he had been looking for. Charlie was fervently trying to open a coconut by smashing the skin on a rock. Sayid smiled. He tried to joke the way they used to. Easily, and without hesitation. "You're developing quite a talent."

"Yeah," Charlie replied. The, he glanced up at Sayid. His eyes were different now to Sayid. They didn't hold as much warmth as they used to. Now, overflowing with immense pain. "You're here to check up on me."

Of course, Charlie knew why he was here. "You killed a man." He stated bluntly, not knowing what else to say. All he could think about was removing the pain in those beautiful blue eyes.

Charlie's eyes blazed with hatred as he sent an intense glare to the man he used to call his friend. This wasn't like Charlie. "A man who killed one of us, who kidnapped Claire, who strung me up and left me for dead!" His voice suddenly grew cold, and eerily calm. "He deserved to die. I'd do it again in a minute. Pardon me if I'm fresh out of bad feeling."

Sayid looked upon the pained man in front of him, the man he loved, with worry. "When I was in the army in Tikrit, in Iraq, the man who lived next door was a policeman." Charlie didn't know why he was telling him this. "One day his car was rigged with a bomb. It killed his wife and three young children instead. They caught the man who did it. I volunteered to be on the firing squad, and I did my duty without a single ounce of remorse." His voice caught slightly, and he closed his eyes to ward off the sun when he felt too cold to withstand it's blistering heat. "Then, for no reason, I found myself waking up at night, replaying what I did."

"It looks like you're the one who needs checking up on," Charlie said without any humor.

Sayid felt half way to punching the Brit squarely in the jaw. " All I'm saying is that what happened with Ethan will be with you for the rest of your life."

"Any suggestions?"

"Your not alone." Sayid said sadly. "Don't pretend to be."

Sayid turned to go, but then he hears Charlie take a stuttering breath. "Then, why does it feel as if the only person I've missed with all of me these past days is miles away?"

Sayid was glad that Charlie couldn't see the weariness in his face. The regret. "I'm sure Claire is more than ready to talk. She's been --"

"Damn it, Sayid! I was talking about you!" Charlie's eyes stayed glued onto Sayid's back. Willing the him to move, to say something, anything, but he remained silent and unmoving. "God, Sayid. Just say something already."

He could hear the brokenness in Charlie's statement. Could practically see the tears clouding his voice. "Shout. Rant. Punch me for Christ's sake. Anything's better than this blood awful silence."

Before Charlie could get anymore useless thoughts stuck in his head, Sayid whirled, and slid down before the distraught bassist. Charlie flinched back when Sayid grabbed a hold of his face, but he didn't pull back. Pulling him into a heartfelt kiss, Sayid wanted to portray everything he felt since he met the young man: Protectiveness, pride, joy, heartache, longing. Above all else was love. He didn't want it to end, but then Charlie was sobbing, and he was sure neither of them could breathe, so he broke the kiss to pull Charlie into his arms.

"Your not alone. Not anymore."

Boone loved it when he could head to the beach early. When the hunt for the day was over quickly, and there was nothing left to do but to skin and clean the carcass. He didn't know how to do it, and also knew that they couldn't risk the meat being spoiled by him trying to learn since most of the wildlife had started to migrate away from them.

Everyday, after making sure there was enough food, he would search out Lexi, who was usually at the beach with Sayid, and help her learn English. He was fluent if not a little rusty in German, and hated to see the young girl struggle to tell anyone what she needed or wanted.

Lexi was quiet. Boone wondered if that was not contributed by the death of her father. Sometimes, Boone would awake from the sound of her crying, or talking. She prayed. To God. To her father. Sometimes he heard her say the name Tobias. He could only assume that he wasn't on the plane. Or the body was lost, but he didn't want to think about how one day they might stumble upon dead bodies somewhere out in the jungle. Boone decided to add that to the list of soon to come nightmares. The story of his life.

Boone also taught those who wanted basic German so they could communicate with the girl when she couldn't remember the word needed, or to just provide familiarity. So far Jack, Kate, Claire, Sayid, Locke, and previously Charlie had come aboard for the lessons.

Finally, He spotted Lexi sleeping in the shade next to Sayid, who was talking to Hurley. Before he knew what was happening, he was sitting where Sayid had once been while him and Hurley ran off. To say he was confused would be the biggest understatement of the century. He hoped it had something to do with Charlie. He didn't have anything against Charlie, and really hoped that the ex-rocker would make a full recovery.

Boone didn't feel like moving the girl, but he was a little too restless to stay sitting still. He stood and stared at the surf as it seemed to crash into the island. Boone loved children. He always wanted to have children someday, but resigned himself to the fact that, because of his sexual preferences, he'll never be able to have any of his own. As far as he knew, adoption was still not an option to couples in his situation. Being attracted to males since he'd hit puberty, he felt opportunities slip past him everyday. That didn't mean he regret the ones he had been able to grasp. He didn't regret the plane crashing, or finding John. But…he was a little afraid of never being found.

He knew that he would never go back to the life style he had once regretfully inhabited. Holding no qualms about leaving his mother alone, Boone hoped to continue what he had with Locke if they would get rescued. Boone's mother had always turned a blind eye to the struggles he had faced growing up. She was always so focused on business instead of family. The bruises weren't there, nor were the cuts and welts and the tears, that had started to appear since she remarried when Boone was ten, were all invisible to her naïve portrayals. Tired of people telling him what to do, Boone was willing to give up his past, and start over.

The sun was slowly setting. The kind of sunset that takes hours to completely commence. This usually signaled the people back to finish their tasks, and return to their shelters, whether it be on the beach or at the caves. Still standing on the beach, watching the people walk past him, he thought about how well people were adjusting to the new lifestyle. Out of necessity, yes, but well none the less. Another thing he couldn't help but notice was how people seemed to be 'pairing off' in a way. The island seemed to be the best place to meet your other half.

There was a sound of a foot fall behind him. He didn't give it much thought, thinking it was either Sayid or Locke. He wasn't prepared to see who was standing in front of him.

"Haven't seen you on the beach for awhile." Shannon stood in front of him, her arms crossed in front of her. Intimidating or insecure, he didn't know. Boone could have sworn he saw a faint trace of weariness in her eyes, but was quickly covered up by a mask of smugness as she laid eyes on Lexi.

"There isn't much the coast can offer us anymore." He answered simply. Boone studied her, trying to figure out what her ulterior motive was.

"Or is it that your having too much fun playing 'Cave' with our resident woodsman?" Shannon smirked, and locked eyes on Lexi. Boone glared, and tried not to let her bait him, so he turned to stare out at the waves. "But that's what it really is isn't it? Playing? That's all it's ever been with anyone who got close enough to you."

"Shannon, why don't you shut up and do something productive for a change?" Boone really hated this. "You know, instead of trying to bring down the peace we've created here, you could try to contribute to it for a change."

"Aw. Did I hit a sore spot? No one wants anything to do with innocent, virgin Boone." Boone smirked. 'She can't see everything through my eyes anymore. She's too scared of not surviving. She's too desperate.'

"Does that really matter right now, Shannon." He said calmly, but firmly. "The fact is, you're the one sitting on the beach, waiting for the impossible, living off of other people's generosity. And, guess what, Shannon." Boone smirked to himself. An almost 'Shannon' smirk.

"What?" Shannon seethed.

"You're the one who's sitting out here…alone."

Shannon's face contorted in a fit of rage. Her mouth opened a few times as if she was going to speak, but firmly shut it. She went to stand directly in front of Boone, and slapped him. "You have no right. If you weren't such a brat, he'd still be alive." She whispered harshly, glanced over Boone's shoulder, and spun on her heels to walk back the way she came.

Boone glared. "If he was alive, I'd be dead. I think I would have every right."

Boone turned around to see three people staring at him. One gaze he caught and kept. They stepped forward, and Boone let himself fall into Locke's arms as Sayid and Charlie gathered Lexi.

Boone pulled Locke down for a kiss, willing back the image of a drunken man and a frightened boy.

--tbc--