There was a moment of stunned silence from the both of them, in which they simply gazed at each other; Claire up to the sky, Charlie down to the frozen ground.
"Claire?" he finally said weakly. His mouth hung open. It had been two years. Two years and… three months since he'd seen her.
A news helicopter landed on the beach, spewing sand blown from the deafening rotors. People were screaming and laughing and hugging each other. Two men stepped out from the flying machine –they looked so alien from everything else. Besides the hatch, they were the first human, civilized things Charlie had seen in over two months. After general confusion the men made it clear to the overjoyed crowd – they had room for only three people, but they would be back with reinforcements within the day. The men asked them who would be the ones to go, and Charlie shivered when he heard Claire's voice.
"Oh! I'll go! Please let me go! I have a baby; I want to get him out of here now!" As she pleaded, she waved her arms about and her voice cracked with emotion and excitement.
And Charlie's heart plummeted. No one could believe their eyes as the helicopter rose off the ground, carrying Claire, Aaron, Sayid and Sawyer up to the clouds.
Charlie couldn't believe his eyes now either. Claire, here. In Massachusetts. Underneath the cliff, standing there, pale and confused.
Suddenly, Claire moved with a start. "Stay right there!" she shouted at him, and without further warning, began climbing up the rock face.
This broke Charlie out of his shock. "Whoa! Whoa! What are you doing? Don't climb up here, you'll fall! Claire!" But he was forced to watch helplessly as she struggled higher and higher, clutching the wall of jagged rocks until she was nearly at the top. On her face was a sick, scared expression, but it was also filled with determination. It took an agonizing minute that felt like thirty, and every moment, he feared she would lose her grip and plunge backwards to the ground. Charlie reached down to pull her the rest of the way up. He felt her cold hands and gripped them tightly, she the same. He felt like her grasp was going to break all of his fingers and his arms burned with the effort off pulling her over the ledge.
Claire tumbled over the top, collapsing in a heap, breathing hard. Charlie was winded too, but before he could regain some air, she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him fiercely. Charlie relaxed in her embrace until she shoved him away again and started to shout. Her hair was in her face, and her angry blue eyes were glassy with tears.
"What the hell are you doing up here? You almost gave me a heart attack! Oh my God, I thought you were going to jump right in front of my eyes! Oh my God, oh my God." She was in furious tears. "I thought," she gasped, her cries becoming hysterical "I thought I was never going to see you again, and there you were, way up here, about to –"
"Wait, wait, wait." Charlie interjected, confused. "You thought I was going to kill myself? Bloody hell, Claire! I'd at least have had the decency to commit suicide in the privacy of my own home!"
Claire looked horrified, and Charlie was immediately sorry he'd said that. He always said the wrong thing at the wrong time.
"I was just kidding. Kidding! I'm sorry. This whole thing is weird. It has me a little shaken, okay?"
Claire wiped her wet face with both hands, still sobbing. Charlie placed a tentative arm around her shoulder and considered it a good sign that she didn't pull away. In fact, she leaned into him as if she'd never move again. Slowly her crying subsided, and he tried to think of what to say.
But there was nothing but the wind raging around them.