Chapter 5: No Fear

"Hey."

Kate looked up at the cheerful voice, surprised to see the pregnant girl meandering toward her. She hadn't really talked to the girl yet, but knew her name was Claire and that the man with her seemed overly protective, which was reasonable since they were stranded on a deserted island with a bunch of strangers.

"You haven't found a hairbrush in there, have you?" Claire asked, smiling warmly with a hand on her belly.

"No, sorry," Kate replied, throwing her a small smile in return. She busied herself with sorting the clothes.

"I must have looked through twenty suitcases, and I can't find one." Claire plopped down beside Kate. "It's weird, right? You'd think that everyone packs a hairbrush…" A hand shot to her forehead, and a she swayed slightly. Kate grabbed her elbow. "Whoa…"

"Are you all right?" Kate asked, in concern.

Claire nodded,shutting her eyesfor a moment then opening them again. "Yeah… it's just the heat. Oh… and I'm pregnant." She smiled sheepishly.

Kate cocked her head."Really?"

Claire gave a small laugh, rolling her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorting the practical clothes from the impractical." Kate held up a think wool scarf, making a face at it. She flung it into the 'impractical pile then turned back to Claire. "You want to help?"

"Sure," she said, shrugging a shoulder. "Can I… can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"Are you a Gemini?"

"Yeah, I am."

Claire's face lit up. "I thought so! Restless, passionate… I mean, everyone thinks that astrology is just a lot of crap, but that's just because they don't get it!" She smirked at Kate. "I could do your chart if you wanted."

By the skeptical look on Kate's face,she blushed and added,"…Or not."

"Sorry," Kate replied, sincerely. She folded a pair of jeans, placing it in the 'useable' pile. "How far along are you? About eight months?"

Claire's eyes flashed with a brilliant light. "That's right! Good guess."

"How long have you and your-" Kate paused, not wanting to offend the mother-to-be with the wrong thing.

"Charlie is my husband," Claire broke in.

Kate nodded. "How long were you two together before you decided to have a baby?" she continued, trying to make small talk as they sorted the clothes.

Claire cocked her head. Her and Charlie's marriage wasn't easy to explain, especially to a complete stranger. She gave the basic facts. "I got pregnant before we were married." Kate quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. How modern of me," Claire added with a laugh and Kate followed suit.

Leaning over to place a tuxedo shirt in the 'disregard' pile, a wave of nausea came over Claire. She closed her eyes, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Hey, are you all right?" Kate asked.

Claire swallowed hard. "I think so."

"Why don't you go lay down," Kate suggested.

"Maybe I should."

Kate helped Claire to her feet, and the pregnant girl walked off down the beach toward the blanket her and Charlie shared.

Charlie sat on the sand, legs propped up in front of him and arms wrapped around them. He stared out at the water, thoughts of what would happen if they didn't get rescued. He'd had a fiery talk with Jack early that day. He demanded to know what happened out in the jungle when Jack and Kate had went to find the cockpit. The doctor had finally given in and told him that they were 1000 miles off coarse. The hope for rescue was slim to none.

That meant Claire would have the baby on the island, far from any hospital. The thought scared him as much as the thought of losing Claire. What if there were complications and Claire or the baby didn't make it? Charlie took a deep breath, and tore his eyes from the water. He caught sight of a small figure with a protruding belly in the distance trudging toward him. He smiled, loving the beautiful golden image coming to him. Asshe grew closer, he noticed the uncomfortable look on her flushed face.

Charlie shot to his feet as if someone had lit fire to him. Claire had fallen. Whether she tripped or fainted, he did not know. He skidded onto his knees, ignoring the burningof his skin, and rolled Claire onto her back.

"Claire!" he yelled, leaning over her.

"Hey! Is she okay?" the black man asked, his name escaping Charlie's panicked mind.

"I think she fainted!"

"Walt!" the man called to his son. "Go get Jack, or Kate or Mr. Locke!" The boy was off in a shot.

Charlie stared wildly athis wife'sface. "Claire," he murmured desperately, touching her cheek.

"Grab her legs!" the black man yelled, slapping Charlie's back. He slipped his hands under Claire's arms, raising her to a sitting position. Charlie went for her legs, and they carried her awkwardly but quickly to the medical tent.

Kate was there. Jack was nowhere to be found. She went to work,feelingClaire's forehead and patting her cheeks gently to get a response. Charlie hovered over Kate's shoulder, not tearing his eyes off his wife's face. Claire moved her head, and murmured incoherently.

Then she opened her eyes. Charlie finally set out the breath he had been holding.

"Claire, can you hear me? It's Kate."

Eyes half-opened, Claire said in a daze, "What…?"

"You passed out. Just take it easy, okay?" Kate turned to Charlie. "She needs water!"

Charlie jumped at attention, hurrying to the suitcase full of the water bottles he and Hurley had gathered. He looked wildly about before realizing the suitcases were nowhere to be found. "They're not here!" he yelled then cursed himself for being so loud. Claire didn't need the added stress, and the baby surely didn't either.

"I'll go see if I can find some," Michael said, taking off.

"I think I know who took the water," said Kate, darkly. "I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, she took off as well.

Charlie was restless. It had been twenty minutes since Michael and Kate had gone off to find water, and neither of them had returned. He paced around the small tent, glancing out the entrance every few seconds. Claire was still asleep, the color in her face returning slowly. Another ten minutes, and Michael was back with news that he couldn't find any water. Another thirty minutes later and Charlie was about to burst. He stormed out the tent, ready to hit someone. He didn't get far when Kate came rushing up to him.

"I found some water,"she said, handing him a half empty plastic bottle. "I'm sorry it's so little."

"That's all right," he replied, taking it from her. "Thanks."

He began to walk off when Kate's voice stopped him. "I wanted to let you know that Mr. Locke is going out to look for water."

Charlie nodded. If anyone could find water, it was Mr. Locke, he reassured himself. He made a quick stop by their blanket to retrieve asmall airline cup he had found a couple days earlier, and hurried back to the medical tent. He poured the water into the cup right outside the entrance, and casually walked in. She looked peaceful as if nothing had happened. Her head rested on a folded towel, her golden hair splayed out around her head.

Charlie knelt beside her, and said gently, "Hey, love."

The sound roused Claire, and she slowly opened her eyes, slightly dazed. "How long have I-"

"An hour," Charlie said before she could finish the question. He helped her sit up a bit, and handed her the cup. "Here. It's not much, but it's what we have."

Claire took it and drank. When she was done, Charlie took the cup back and set it down on a cooler. "You just relax. Got to think about the little one."

"Thanks for the water, Charlie." She smiled lovingly up at him. He smiled back, reaching for her hand that was resting on her belly. "Is Jack back yet?"

"No," Charlie answered, disappointedly. He peered over his shoulder towards the jungle, wondering where the hell the doctor had gone to. He'd have a few hot words for him if he ever made it back. "No one's seen him."

The sparkle in Claire's eyes faded. Charlie turned back and quickly recovered when he saw the worry on her face. "But, I wouldn't worry. Good old Mr. Locke's gone into the jungle to get some water for you."

Claire let out a kind of snort-laugh."Great. Our only hunter's gonna get eaten just so he can get the pregnant girl some more water."

"I wouldn't worry, love,"Charlie said, nonchantly. "I mean, you tell me… who'd you rather meet in a dark alley? Whatever's out there, or that geezer with his four-hundred knives? I mean, who packs four-hundred knives? Personally, I can only have space for two-hundred, three-hundred at most."

It was music to his ears hearing his wife laugh. A moment later, she sobered. "When are they gonna rescue us?"

"Soon," he replied far too quickly.

Claire squeezed his hand that was now intertwined with hers. "Thanks, Charlie."

"For what?"

"People don't… seem to look me in the eye here."She sighed, all the facesof the other survivors flashing in her mind. Some would stare. Some wouldtalk to her but only if she talked to them first. Then there were some that just ignored her completely. She was thankful not tobe alone."I think I scare them. The baby… it's like I'm this time-bomb of responsibility just waiting to go off."

"You don't scare me."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Ihope of all people that my husband isn't scared of me! But really, you didn't have to take on this responsibility."

Charlie leaned over, brushing a softkiss against her lips. "I can't imagine my life without you or the little one, Claire."

It was night, and Charlie was pissed off at the fact that he needed to use the lu. He gently rolled himself from Claire's side, and disappeared into the darkness. It was the last thing he expected to see when he returned. A figure was hunched over his wife. The light from the moon and nearby bonfires gleamed off the plastic bottle in the figure's hand. Charlie gritted his teeth as he drew closer seeing that there were two more bottles standing beside the figure.

Anger flowed through him. He grabbed the figure's arm, and dragged him out of the tent. He twirled him around, finally seeing that it was Boone. He flung Boone to the sand. "Here's the thief!" Charlie announced as a crowd began to appear to see what the scuffle was about. Boone jumped to his feet, scared and not ready for a fight.

"Where'd he hide it?" asked Michael.

"I don't know," Charlie yelled. "This wanker had three bottles on him!" He shoved Boone in the shoulder, nearly sending him to the sand again. "Why'd you do it, pretty boy?

"It was just-" Boone stammered, pointing weakly to the tent, "it was just sitting in the tent! Jack just took off!"

"My wifecould have died!"Charlie screamed,shoving Boone some more.

"I tried to give her some sooner, but it just got out of hand, no one would have understood!"

"You're damn right!" Charlie's hand tightened into fist. He didn't even hear Kate's voice when she broke through the crowd to the circle.

Boone turned to her. "Somebody had to take responsibility for it, it never would've lasted!"

"Shut up!" Michael and another man grabbed Charlie's arms before he could lunge at Boone. The images of Claire and the baby dying was all he could see. He could have lost them if this pretty boy hadn't taken the supply. He wanted blood, and he wanted it now.

"Leave him alone!" Jack's voice cut through the chaos. He was back, and order would be set again. Charlie never got to pulverize Boone like he wanted to. He was dragged back to the medical tent by Jack a while later. Claire was awake.

"What happened?"

"A misunderstanding," replied Jack before Charlie could open his mouth. Jack fixed the rocker with a stern look, and Charlie sat beside his wife, brooding long after the doctor left the tent.