Megenfritz: Thanks.
Alabelle: Thanks. I'll update soon as I can.
Spice of life: Haha, thats great. I have lost dreams all the time. Exspecialy when its been off for a while. Its like I'm having withdraws. Exspecialy now, what with the promis of sex scenes in the future and all.
"You should be!" Charlie teased, managing to make her laugh once again. "I felt like I was coming face to face with Samara" He continued, knowing that his attempt was working.
She was smiling comfortably now and the laughter came out strong. If he kept it up she'd forget about her crazy dream in no time and be able to sleep without having to worry.
"Next time I will try to be less terrifying" Claire confirmed playfully with a roll of her eyes. Charlie smiled, glad to see her recovering from it so quickly.
He remembered how long it took him to recover from his own sleep walking and felt a bit upset to know that he hadn't quite done it yet.
"Good. Cause if that happens again you might literally scare the shit out of me" He confirmed sarcastically, although their was some slight truth in his words.
"Oh, that was graphic!" Claire noted, making a face of disgust. "Sorry" Charlie replied, genuinely embarrassed. Claire smiled in order to make him feel a little less ashamed.
"You should be" She replied playfully, flashing a revengeful grin. Charlie laughed. The tables had ben turned. Oh well. Two could play this game.
He opened his mouth, ready with his own smart come back, but was interrupted by a loud humming sound that seemed to be coming from all sides.
Claire jumped and practically fell into to Charlie's lap, griping his hand tightly now by instinct as the lights around them began to flicker.
"Not again" Charlie groaned, no longer frightened by the hatch's malfunctions. He was still under the impression that it was no more then some kind of glitch, and there for had no real reason to be afraid, only annoyed by its inconvenience.
But Claire, on the other had, seemed to know that something was wrong. That the sounds and movements were caused by more then a mechanical glitch.
That something very, very bad was just waiting to happen. She couldn't understand why she had the feeling but it haunted her none the less, making her grip on Charlie's hand all the more tights as the doors on either side of the hall began to open.
"Come on" Charlie suggested as he glanced towards the door, knowing thatit would be closing again in a moment andthinking it best for them all to be in the same room.
He rose to his feet, keeping a protective hold on Claire's hand despite his lack of concern as he helped her up, giving her some time to adjust her towel before he lead her down the hall.
The two moved quickly, unsure of when the door might come crashing down. The simple act of stepping through the door way was frightening, but Charlie managed to get himself and Claire through safely, just in time to here the door come falling swiftly behind them.
Claire watched the door come down with wide eyes as she squeezed Charlie's hand, knowing that if they would have gotten in just a second later, they 'ed be crushed.
Charlie's arms were wrapped around her waist, holding her protectively. And now that the need for panic had died down, he once again became aware of her lack of clothing as she breathed heavily in his arms, her body pressed against his.
The feeling only lasted for a moment before the lights went out, and he became aware of the commotion going on in the room they had just entered.
He could see nothing in the dark but heard sounds of a struggle and turned quickly, holding onto Claire as if will power alone would keep her safe.
One of the doors to the room still remained open, and he watched as a shadow moved through it just in time to see it come crashing down with in the second who ever it was had escaped. The the lights were all gone, and nothing but the blinking dot on the computer screen remained.
"What's going on?" Charlie questioned, wondering why anyone would want to leave this room. His voice was fallowed by the sound of heavy breathing as Sayid pushed himself to his feet, using the table as support.
"Are you two alright?" He questioned urgently, anger and fear both present in his voice. Charlie nodded in response, but realized the gesture was pointless in the dark and gave a proper response instead.
"Were fine" He confirmed, wrapping his arm around Claire's shoulder to be sure she was safe. He could feel her shaking against him and knew that she was afraid. He was beginning to worry that she might have a good reason to be after all.
"What happened?" He repeated, becoming more aware of the signs of a struggle. In the dark he could make out shapes on the floor, as if they 'ed been knocked down in a fight.
He could make out Sayid's out line in the dark, and from the way he was leaning over the computer desk, could tell he was hurt.
"There was a man in the room. One of them" Sayid explained through a sharp but shaky voice. Claire turned to Charlie with wide eyes, trying to decipher what this meant. Charlie understood right away what he meant by 'one of them' and pulled Claire a bit closer.
"How is that possible?" He questioned, wondering how any of them managed to get into the hatch, let alone this very room with all the doors locked down.
"I have no clue" Sayid replied breathlessly, staggering as he worked his way around the table.
"He used the control panel like Desomond usual did to make the doors open. We couldn't tell that it wasn't one of us until the lights began to flicker.
Once I realized that it was one of the others me and Echo tried to stop him. He stabbed in the leg with something. Some kind of nettle" Sayid explained, his voice continued to quake unsteadily as he limped around the desk, making his way over to them.
Claire's eyes filled with desperation as she remembered her own encounter with being injected by one of the other's nettles. She clutched at Charlie's shirt and he laid his hand on top of hers comfortingly, waiting for Sayid to continue.
"After that I couldn't more. Echo tried to take him on but the man was stronger then we'd expected. He pushed him through one of the doors and-" He didn't have to finish. They both saw it happen, they were just to oblivious at the time to know what was going on.
Charlie bowed his head, feeling a bit guilty for not at least trying to help. Either way, there was nothing they could do about it now. All they could do was wait and hope that the others did not harm Echo to badly before they had a chance to save them.
For a long moment it was silent. Charlie ran his hand up and down the side of Claire's arm, doing his best to comfort her and calm her shaking.
He kept his eyes on Sayid, watching for any signs of pain. God only knew what they 'ed injected him with, and if it was strong enough to temporarily paralyze him, there was no telling what the other effects would be.
Luckily, Sayid seemed to be recovering from the incident rather well. He was no longer shaking and could now move around fairly well, although he wasn't moving much. Charlie felt a bit of relief, glad to know that at least the three of them were ok. That's when it hit him.
"Wait. Where's Desmond?" He questioned, knowing that there had been three in the room. Sayid looked confused at first, then his expression changed to alarm as he became aware of the other mans absence.
Alright, kids. Thats the end of this chapter. Sorry its taking so long but I'm working on three stories at once and this one is definetly the hardest. I plan on having alot of updates today so keep your eyes out!