Title: Meeting Up
Author: Terri
Rating: T
Summary: They were lost, now they are found.
Spoilers/Warnings: Character death, major spoilers for season 2.
Author's Note: This can be a stand alone, but I added it on here because it flows and fits. Just so that everyone knows here in the UK we have Exodus part I and II left to air of the first season, so I haven't seen full episodes of the second season and probably won't do for a while. I have read spoilers and watched a few clips courtesy of some amazing websites. Also, this is not necessarily a shipper fic, at least I didn't intend it to be, I just wanted to convey a brother/sister relationship. I hope you all enjoy it and any feedback would be welcomed (especially in the form of well done presents, such as pictures of the beautiful Josh Holloway, it will be all I have of Lost to keep me sane in the next few months!).
The pain is fleeting; there is an intense burst of it and then nothing. A loud bang is reverberating in her head, something tells her that it is important, but she cannot understand why. To her it is just a noise. She realises then that it is the only noise and that everywhere else is silent. Deathly quiet. There is stillness in the air too, it tells her that no one is here, that she is alone.
It strikes her that there should be people here, that there were people here. Distantly she sees the face of a woman she does not know, her arm is outstretched, but Shannon's gaze cannot extend to the woman's hand. She knows there is something in it though, grasped tightly and pointed – at her she thinks but is not certain. The image is slipping from her mind and she lets it, unable to figure out what is going on. A soft fingertip-like brush down her arm causes her to jerk and suddenly Sayid is there and he's crying. Shannon tries to reach out to him, but as she stretches her arm in his direction he moves further away. As she takes a step forward he disappears completely.
Confused and scared she spins on her heels, arms spread wide like a child and she screams.
"Hello? Help me!"
She does not receive an answer. Dizziness begins to set in and she stops abruptly, letting herself drop to the floor in the process. Sitting cross-legged on what should be a wet floor – but does not feel like anything – she breathes deeply and allows a few tears of desperation to fall. When she sees that her fingers are running through shining blades of grass, her brain notices that she cannot feel them. Her fingers should feel cold with the water and there should be a slight tickling sensation from the grass. There is nothing.
Her breath hitches in her throat and the thought that she is dead flashes in her head. Panic sets in then, herairways close up and she cannot breathe. Shannon curls her fingers around the grass painfully, trying to gulp enough air into her body. The panic only heightens her inability to do so and the lack of oxygen gets worse. If she wasn't dead before she most certainly will be after this.
Screwing her eyes shut in an attempt to concentrate she does not see the figure appear from nowhere. They lay a hand on her arm and she does not feel them, only when she realises that her hand is now grasping onto another's does she open her eyes. It takes her a moment to comprehend what she is seeing, and the pieces only fall into place when she hears his voice.
"Breathe Shan, breathe. Just like Jack told you, come on, you can do it. Breathe."
Unable to talk, she does as he says, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion. She focuses completely on the sound of her own breathing, tries to coax it back to a regular rhythm. After a minute or two it seems to have worked, at least enough so that she can speak.
"Boone?" There is a softness to her voice, as if she is afraid to talk loudly – it is like she is trying not to destroy a dream. A small smile graces Boone's face and still Shannon refuses to believe that it is him. "You're dead Boone. I mean you died…I saw your body. We buried you."
Tears are falling down her face now, although she is still hesitant to allow herself to make sense of what is going on here, her mind rushes through the facts a mile a minute. Boone watches as her eyes fill with disbelief, confusion and something akin to an unwillingness to accept reality. He places his other hand softly on her cheek and smiles sadly.
"I know Shan." He whispers the words, "I'm still dead."
That's when she finally understands what has happened to her. The loud banging noise echoes all around her, and the image of a gun firing from the unknown woman's hand is suddenly there. For a second there is silence, and then the pain starts. Before Sayid can get to her it has stopped and she is no longer there. It is his hands grabbing her, trying to pull her back to him, but she is nothing but an observer. The image fades almost as quickly as it appeared, and all she can see is Boone.
"I'm dead." Realisation and then, "oh God, I'm dead. She shot me." Sobs wrack her body and she falls into him. Shannon wraps her arms around him, clinging to him – she's dead but Boone is here, and she can't quite figure out how she should be feeling. The sobs continue and unrecognisable emotions overwhelm her. Boone sits down on the ground, pulling Shannon into the circle of his arms; he rocks her and runs his hands through her hair, soothing her.
"Shhh, it's ok. It's alright." The words are monotonous, a mantra repeated in an effort to create an illusion. Shannon hangs onto them anyway, reverently wanting to believe him.
Her tears slow and her sobs quiet, her hands are fist and they are grasping Boone's top, pulling herself closer to him and pushing him closer to her simultaneously. As she comes back to the here and now, Boone's body beneath her cheek becomes solid. For a second she feels nothing and then there is an enormous sense of relief. She has never felt so happy in all her life. Boone had died, left her with nothing but regrets and unspoken words of love. Yet now, here he was, and here she was. Right where she belonged.
"I've missed you." Her voice wavers, almost breaking. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything. I love you Boone, please don't leave me again." It's all the things she had told him in the hours after his death – when she'd refused to move (or be moved) from his side. Then she had gotten nothing but emptiness in return.
"I love you too Shan." And his words are her forgiveness and his. They have all the time in the world to argue and bicker – but there will always be time for 'sorry' and 'I love you'. Neither of them is going anywhere soon. Shannon thinks that Heaven is better than she ever hoped it could be.