Title: Spread My Wings

Rating: (This Chapter) T for violence

Characters (in this chapter): Alex, Sayid, Shannon, Jack

Warning: Character death warning, and major cliffy warning for chappies 4, 5, 6, and 7 (that's as far as I've planned out the story)

Ships: CharlieClaire, ShannonSayid, JackKate or SawyerKate (I haven't decided which yet), HurleyOC, and WaltOC (this story is going to take place over a span of many years, the last two won't be for a while)

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. But I do own this storyline, and my version of Alex

Author's Note: Thank you, SGCFan4Ever, at least I have one loyal fan who will review every chapter. And here's the reply

SGCFan4ever: The scientists taught Alex basic things to keep her from becoming feral, and she could talk to other experiments in nearby cages, or to her friend Paige, so she could have learned it in any of those ways. That was a good question, though.

Alex and Sayid exchanged glances.

"Shannon," Sayid began, "I am not sure if that is such a good idea,"

"Why not?" Shannon asked stubbornly, "I feel useless sitting around here,"

Sayid sighed, "Fine, but I don't want anyone other than you coming. I don't want to make Rousseau feel threatened,"

Shannon nodded, and fell into step behind Sayid.

"So we're just going to follow the cable?" Alex asked, after a moment of silent walking.

Sayid nodded, "Your mother could be anywhere. Our best hope is to follow the cable, and pray that it will lead us to her shelter,"

Alex was silent for a moment. Then, in a much quieter, more thoughtful, slightly timid voice, she added, "Sayid? Did my mother ever say anything about my father,"

"Only that he got ill, along with the rest of the expedition," Sayid said sadly. He conveniently "forgot" to mention that Rousseau had actually killed all her teammates because they were all ill.

"So he's dead?" Alex asked quietly.

"I'm sorry, Alex, but I'm afraid so," Sayid murmured.

Alex didn't reply. Her face got thoughtful, but in kind of a sad way. Sayid shot her a look of concern.

Throughout this conversation, Shannon was regretting coming. She was beginning to feel out of place already, like a third arm. But she had to keep an eye on Alex, especially when she was with Sayid. For all Shannon knew, Alex could be taking Sayid to the Others. Sure Sayid was strong, but Alex had those awful wings and claws, and could probably overpower Sayid fairly easily.

Just then, Sayid spotted a dark strip imbedded in sand. He rushed over to it, and pulled it up.

"This is it," He said, "The cable we will be following,"

Without waiting for a reply, he began following it into the woods. Shannon and Alex hurried after him.

They followed it for what seemed like hours, to no avail. They narrowly avoided several traps, but the journey was relatively uneventful.

"Um, I don't think she's here," Shannon finally said.

Sayid ignored her, "She has got to be somewhere,"

"Did you ever think that the cable may be here just to lead people to her traps, not her shelter?" Shannon replied irritably.

Sayid sighed. "Maybe you are right,"

"We can't stop looking!" Alex pleaded.

"She is right," Sayid declared, "We still have several hours of daylight left,"

"But maybe we should look somewhere other than along this cable?" Alex suggested.

"Yes," Sayid decided, "We are not making any progress this way,"

And so, they continued on their search, looking for any signs that Danielle had been there; foot print, a snapped twig, anything.

"Did you hear that?" Shannon hissed.

"Hear what?" Sayid asked.

"Shhh! Listen! I think I hear it too," Alex declared. They were silent for a moment. Sure enough, they heard distant crashing.

"Where is it coming from?" Shannon's eyes were wide with fear as the crashing grew louder and stronger.

There wasn't time for her questions to be answered. A loud crash sounded from what couldn't be more than ten or twenty yards away.

"RUN!" Alex screamed. Sayid and Shannon didn't need to be told twice. They bolted, running frantically through the trees, the thing hot on their tails.

"Alex," Sayid panted, "Do you think you are strong enough to fly out of here with Shannon?"

"I-I think so," Alex's voice was laced with fear, "But what about you?"

"Do not worry about me, I was in the war, I have probably seen worse," Sayid assured her, "Besides, I brought a gun with me,"

Alex nodded reluctantly, and without another word, she unfurled her wings and took off, catching Shannon under her arms as she carried her through the air, flying faster than she ever had before. She had to get Shannon to safety, and get back to help Sayid.

She landed in a treetop not to far from the beach.

"Do you think you can climb down and get to the beach? I need to get back and help Sayid," She asked her seriously. Shannon nodded. Just then, there was a gunshot, a loud clank, and a yell of pain. Then Sayid's body went flying through the air, above the treetops.

Shannon screamed, and her breathing became shallow and raspy.

"Asthma…"

Alex swore. Her chest tightened with fear and helplessness.

"Shannon, this is really important. I need you to breathe deeply," Alex said in a panicky voice. Shannon attempted to take a deep breath, "Good. Now, do you have anything like an inhaler, or something that will help?" Alex's voice was rising with panic. Every moment they wasted was another moment Sayid lay bleeding to death. Luckily, the monster seemed to be finished, and was now crashing away.

Shannon nodded again, and pulled out a small bag of the eucalyptus gunk.

"Good. Now I'm going to go get Sayid. Please, please, don't panic, go to the beach, if you don't make it back to camp on your own, I'll come back for you, but stay on the beach. The monster never comes out of the woods," And with that, Alex took off towards the spot where Sayid had been flung.

She found him fairly easily. He was lying in a crumpled heap near the base of a tree. He had a large gash across his forehead and head, his body was scratched, battered, and bruised, and his leg was bent at an angle it was not supposed to be bent at, clearly broken.

"Oh, god," Alex whispered. She rushed up to his broken body, tears filling her eyes. Then she let out a whoop of joy. Ever so slightly, she saw his chest rise and fall. She gently reached for his wrist, and sure enough, she felt a faint pulse. Now all she had to do was get him back to Jack.

She stood beside him for a moment, chewing her bottom lip, trying to figure out the best way to get him back. She wasn't worried about not being strong enough, she was much stronger than she looked, but she was worried about hurting him. Finally, she just decided to carry him the same way she had carried Shannon.

She gingerly lifted him, and took off as fast as she could. She didn't have a moment to lose. Sayid was dying as she flew, and the sooner she got him to Jack, the more chance he would have of surviving.

Finally, the beach camp came into view, and she dove down where she could see the caves hidden beneath the treetops. Her pounding heart slowed a bit as she dove down farther, and managed to fly through the trees and land in the caves. As soon as people saw Sayid's broken body, they began to panic.

"Jack! Where's Jack!" Alex shrieked. Sayid was still breathing, but it was even fainter and shallower than before.

"Over here!" Jack called. He stepped into the main part of the caves, "What's the trou-oh my God!" He rushed over to Alex and helped her Cary the Arab man over to the makeshift hospital bed. Then he shut his eyes and Alex could only faintly hear his voice.

"One…two…three…four…five…"

Then he opened his eyes again.

"Alex what happened? And where's Shannon? Hurley told me she went with you and Sayid,"

Alex quickly told him what happened as Jack went about cleaning Sayid's wounds.

"Do you have any idea of what this 'thing' is?" Jack asked her.

"Yeah," Alex replied, "It's like a part robot, part animal thing that usually guards the headquarters. The scientists can program in to do certain things. Sometimes they make the experiments try to fight it," She shuddered at the memory.

Just then, they were interrupted by a loud scream.

"WHERE IS HE?"

They turned to see Shannon running into the caves, followed by much of the beaches dwellers. Shannon ran over to where Sayid lay.

"Oh my god, he's dead, and it's all my fault!" She sobbed.

"Shannon, Shannon, calm down," Alex soothed, "He's not dead,"

"He's not?" Shannon looked up.

"No, he's not, but for me to save him, you need to calm down and don't be all over him," Jack managed to keep his voice steady.

"Okay," Shannon said in barely more than a whisper. She knelt next to him and took his bloody hand in her own, "But don't let him die like you let Boone die,"

Jack tried unsuccessfully to hide the pain and hurt in his eyes.

"I won't let him die, Shannon, I promise,"

After many long hours of work, Jack finally stood up and addressed the many worried onlookers.

"I've done everything I can. He's unconscious, maybe in a coma, it's hard to tell without the right equipment. There may have been some brain damage, but again, I don't have the right equipment to tell. If he survives the night, he'll probably be okay," Jack said wearily.

"Jack?" Shannon asked in a small voice, "Can he hear me when he's unconscious?"

"I'm not sure. It's different for every case," he replied.

Shannon nodded, and then turned her eyes back to Sayid.

"I love you," She whispered, "So, so much. I wish I could have told you before now. And now you're dying, because you wanted me to be safe. Please, please wake up,"

To be continued…

A/N: Ooh! Cliffy! Next chapter, find out whether or not Sayid survives (I figured since Shannon is always the one killed off, cuz of all the spoilers, I'd be unique, and do it to Sayid instead!) w00t!Don't you luv me?