It has been one month since my last update. Sorry about that. Graduating from medical school and coordinating a move keeps you busy.
I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend, and the Lost Finale Anniversary (5/23/10...it's been 8 YEARS! Crazy!). Enjoy the update.
Ben's rushed feet hurried through the tall grass as his breathing rushed wildly from his chest. He could no longer hear Locke calling out to him, angry and rocked with vengeance. He knew he was outmatched physically. Locke, even hurt and bleeding, was a far superior match and could kill him with one move if he were to find him.
But Ben knew he was smarter, and disabling Locke most likely slowed him down, but didn't count him out, so he had to keep moving.
He decided to stop for a second, catch his breath. He replayed the conversation he had with Mikhail from weeks ago:
"So?" Ben asked, momentarily distracted from his suspicions.
"Richard was telling the truth; John tried to recruit him and undermine his allegiance to you." Mikhail reported, having successfully followed Richard, and did so undetected.
"You followed Richard all the way?" Ben asked.
Mikhail nodded. "Yes. It took everything inside of me not to follow John, and kill him."
"Like I told you before, I have something far more damaging than death in store for John Locke. You'll get your vengeance, Mikhail. We both will." Ben said.
"He was at the Black Rock. He could have taken a few sticks of dynamite and is on his way right no—"
Ben cut Mikhail short. "He isn't. He tried that already, and he knows that we'll be ready for him. What about Jacob? Was Richard telling the truth about that too?"
"Yes. Jacob wasn't there when he arrived." Mikhail confirmed, getting the idea that Locke was not on the top of his list of goals.
Ben smirked. "He will when I arrive."
"And when will that be?" Mikhail asked.
"When all the pieces are in place." Ben informed him.
Mikhail nodded. "Waiting certainly won't make matters easier to keep under wraps."
"No, waiting is exactly what I should be doing. If I strike now, it'll be too premature, too hasty." Ben said.
Mikhail kept forging ahead to get a better handle on Ben's plans. "What about Richard? If you don't move against Locke, he'll suspect."
"He already suspects. He's trying his best to hide it, and the only solution he can find is to eliminate Locke for good." Ben turned to Mikhail before he said, "Richard has been compromised. He didn't go with Locke, but he didn't have to."
"What are you going to do about it?" Mikhail asked.
"Absolutely nothing. He's my only connection to Jacob, and that is all he means to me." Besides, the man was immortal, ageless, Ben thought, so there was no killing him, even if the thought had crossed his mind, which it hadn't.
"My goal is Jacob." Ben said, with all the force he had to give.
"I want him to wait, and I want him to know that I've spent the last twenty years of my life preparing for a position that he was never going to give me. When I show up, when he realizes that his secret hole is no longer a secret, I'll kill him, but not before he knows with absolute certainty that this Island has always belonged to me, no matter who he brought here to take his place."
Ben hadn't stopped there. He wanted to know exactly what Mikhail saw.
"I take it you noted the exact coordinates and can accurately describe where Richard went to meet Jacob." Ben said.
"Oh absolutely." Mikhail said with a nod.
Ben took a few more steps, vowing that he had to be close. The trees started to thin out, and the ground softened. He heard the lazy slaps of waves in the near distance. Stepping out from the solid dust of the jungle floor onto lush, white sand of a beach was startling but exhilarating all the same. He took in the breathtaking view. The ocean stretched for miles, crystal blue water created a perfect line between the sand and the sky filled with bellowing clouds.
Seagulls flapped against the waterline, with one flying above and away. Following the seagull as its long wings flapped and spread to lift it higher, he caught what Mikhail had described it in perfect detail. What was left of the statue. What was left of the only hole Jacob had left to hide in.
The tails of Ben's lips curled as his stare fell into a full squint. He checked for his knife and handgun. He could use his handgun, he thought. Pump Jacob full of bullets and be done with it. But he knew he wouldn't make this easy. He wanted to feel the blade plunge through his skin, and feel the warmth of his blood seep into his hands.
Jacob didn't deserve a swift and quiet death. He deserved to go violently.
Ben was finally there to deliver.
Sawyer groaned almost the entire way. Kate and Sayid held him up, his arms draped over their shoulders as they made it through the jungle, one stumbling step at a time.
Jack's words echoed in Kate's head.
"He needs you."
The look in his eyes haunted her. Determination to find Locke mingled with the sadness at having to leave her again, at realizing that he was back in her orbit, but not the one she'd chosen. Jack had no idea how much she loved him and wanted him. When would the world stop burning long enough for her to tell him?
Kate barely felt the ground beneath her as she walked over it, or the third time Sayid called out to her.
"Kate?" She turned, her attention elsewhere, not at all sharp, but trying to follow the trail as best she could, while balancing Sawyer's arm and weight on her shoulders.
"We should stop here, rest for a second." Sayid said, not taking a vote as he veered them over to a nearby tree and angled himself to help Sawyer as he lowered himself to the ground.
Kate took in Sawyer's face. He was obviously tired, his breathing labored and unsteady. He was sweating profusely. She needed to focus, but how could she when Jack was running off towards the direction of the man who had set out to get rid of him and was desperate enough to kill him?
"How much farther?" Sayid asked as he watched Kate step aside.
"We should be there soon." Kate told him, with the least amount of enthusiasm.
Sayid clocked her mood, which was somehow always written in her body language. She brought her thumb to her mouth, chewing lightly on the nail edge, her eyes darting to and fro with thought. She was thinking about Jack, about a way to get to him. She felt saddled, almost burdened with the task of getting Sawyer back to the rest of the group. He knew her well enough to know that.
She paced, that thumb still trapped between the top and bottom rows of her teeth as she worked feverishly to make sense of what was going on. "Why do you think Jack was so set on finding Locke?"
"I assume it would be because Jack has come to realize something about Locke that we haven't." Sayid offered.
"Hmm." Was all Kate said, as she went back to pacing.
Something happened while Jack was off the Island, she knew. She knew that he would come back to save them all, to help them, but something else, an undercurrent that had been flirting with the surface ever since he left had come in with the tide and created a storm none of them could ever hope to control. Now that Jack was back, the tide had become an unstoppable flood, with him at the center.
Sayid stood. "What are you thinking?"
"Locke said Jack was chosen by Jacob, to protect the Island." Kate sighed, rubbing at her forehead. "That means he was right, all this time. The Island is Jack's destiny now. It always was."
"Kate, you can't know that for sure. Maybe Locke said it to get a rise out of Ben." She knew that Sayid was trying to make her feel better, but even he had to feel it. The way Jack had to find Locke, there was so much to it that he didn't say anything about before he disappeared.
Kate shook her head. "Think about it. Locke would always tell Jack that this place was special, was something that needed to be protected, but Jack could never see it and Locke could never prove it. What if Locke finally proved it when he revealed what Ben was up to? That's why Ben got Jack off the Island, and kept Locke prisoner while letting the two of us go. He was threatened by what Locke knew."
"Then why did he let Locke live?" Sayid asked, hoping to veer his friend off of this road her mind was racing down.
"I don't know. Pride? Over-confidence that with Jack off the Island, there was nothing for him to worry about." Kate hypothesized.
"Only Locke didn't come back to the beach after Ben set him free." Sayid added. Then it dawned on him what Locke told him when he saw that he was back. The way he said it never did sit well. "Actually, he said that he came back because he was told to."
With that, Kate let out a small smile. "He went to find proof."
Kate continued constructing her theory. That was the only thing that made any sense. Locke was much like Jack in that way, unstoppable when it came to finding the truth. "He probably found Jacob, who told him what he needed to know, what he always knew to be true. Only then did he come back to the beach, because Jacob told him to."
"And in less than a day after he's back on the beach, the Monster attacks." Sayid added. "None of that is a coincidence."
"Locke knew what Ben had done, and he wanted to kill him to keep him quiet. Only Ben didn't know that Jack was already back on the Island." Kate shared.
"Neither does Locke for that matter." Sayid added. "Although, he most likely does at this point. He saw Juliet leave the Island with Jack. Seeing her on the beach when he returned had to tell him that Jack wasn't too far behind."
Kate hugged herself as she continued to pace, too fitful to stand still. She finally stopped, a spot of sunlight cast over the crown of her head, highlighting the slight frizz of her curls. "When Jack showed up in the cabin, he told me he'd been time-traveling. He'd been to the past, right here on the Island. He saw the Black Rock crash land here. He actually met this Jacob guy, but he never told me what he wanted from him."
Sayid cocked his head to the side. Kate noticed that he was thinking about something, intently. "What is it?"
"The cabin." Sayid said, looking into the distance. "You'd been drawn to it ever since Jack left the Island, and it's where you saw him for the first time since the barracks, even though you somehow knew he was back well before then."
"What are you getting at?" Kate asked.
"You were the only one who was allowed to go inside, Kate. That line of ash, it was protecting it from everyone else, but you. Whatever is happening to Jack, it's happening to you too, just not in the same way. Whoever is doing this, however they're doing it, they pulled Jack back to the Island just as they were pulling you towards the cabin, towards him."
Sayid turned to Kate just in time to see the tears falling from her eyes. She was physically shaken. What he was saying, how he brought it all together in his mind, was everything she'd been thinking, but had been too afraid to believe. It lifted her spirits to hear Sayid finally agree with her, but burdened her soul to know that all of this came down to Jack protecting the Island, to staying here. It would always come back to that. Did he have a choice? She wondered. If he did, it was up to her to help him make the right one.
"And Ben, he wasn't following us." Sayid said, moving over to her as she wiped at her face with the back of her hand. "He was on his way there just as we were, with his most trusted informant bound and gagged, no longer someone he could rely on, and his bodyguards at each hand. Why? What was he looking for? Or better yet, who?"
Before Kate could answer, she and Sayid heard rustling nearby, immediately drawing their weapons towards it. Their eyes searched the leaves for any trace of where the noise had come, but nothing.
"We know you're there and we won't hesitate to shoot you!" Kate yelled, crossing with Sayid, who had his handgun aimed and ready.
"Don't shoot me, please!" A young, female voice pleaded, tears mingled with fear could be heard in her tone. Kate lowered her weapon and slowly approached it.
"We won't if you come out." Kate bargained, standing at the edge of the clearing. She waited until the owner of the voice appeared. The girl who showed up with Locke at the cabin. She was Ben's daughter. What was her name again?
"Please don't shoot…" Alex pleaded.
Kate signaled that she wasn't going to shoot her, lowering her weapon to her side. "Your name is Alex, right?" She asked her.
She nodded, her hands raised in the air, her legs trembling beneath her. She didn't know these people. The only thing she knew was that her father had taken them both prisoner and made their lives a living, breathing hell until he saw it fit to let them go. She was probably the last person they wanted to help.
Sayid looked around, and then back to Alex. "Why are you following us?"
"I—I don't have anywhere else to go." Alex said, her voice breaking, trying her best to stay strong amid the only life she knew crumbling around her.
She felt responsible, for everything. Feeding into her father's hatred for Locke led to all of this, she believed. She didn't mean for it to escalate. Why didn't she stay put like Ben always told her to? Because she always knew, deep down, that something sinister and cruel had taken her father away from her long ago, even before she was born perhaps, and she couldn't stand by any longer.
Kate read the sea of conflicting emotions running through Alex's eyes. Regret. Guilt. Sadness. She could see herself in the girl's troubled, lost temperament. She was starting to soften towards her, but immediately got back on track.
"Tell me what you know about Ben's plans." Kate demanded as she approached her, leaving no room for negotiation.
"Kate…" Sayid whispered in her direction, scolding her for asking in such a blunt, brute manner to a child. The girl was in no mind to be interrogated.
"Do you know where your father is going?" Kate asked pointedly, ignoring Sayid.
"On our way to the cabin, Locke said that if my father didn't find Jacob there, he would head to the Far East end of the Island and that under no circumstances could I follow him there." Alex shared.
Kate turned to Sayid, giving him a knowing glance. So, Ben was on his way somewhere dangerous and was leading Locke, and more important to her, Jack, straight to it.
"Why would Ben believe that he'd find Jacob at the cabin?" Kate asked.
"Because it belonged to him. He built it years ago, even used to live there, before abandoning it to be closer to the water." Alex shared, another bit of information she stored up from eavesdropping on her father and his security personnel.
Kate and Sayid looked at each other with surprised eyes, the same thought running through their heads. Jacob was protecting the cabin. He had to be the one who led her there. It was the only explanation they could come up with. If he had abandoned it long ago, then why did he suddenly care about it so much now?
Everything led back to Jacob.
"What's on the Far East side of the Island?" Sayid asked, willing to receive the information if Alex had it and was strong enough to share it.
"Jacob. That's where he lives now." She had been eavesdropping on her father's conversation with Mikhail the night he came back from following Richard into the jungle. She knew exactly where her father was going.
"He protects the Island, right? Jacob?" Kate asked.
"Yes." Alex said. "Locke told me that he knew what my father was after. He's gonna try to stop him and I'm scared that he'll be killed."
"What else did Locke tell you?" Sayid asked. For a child, this girl knew quite a bit of information about what was going on. She had just confirmed that Locke knew what Ben had been planning, which answered their previous suspicions about what kept Locke from returning to the beach, and what occurred soon after he did.
"Nothing. He said that once we got there he'd protect me, that I didn't have to go back with him." Alex said. She feared that if he died, no one would protect her, ever again, not even her own father. Locke was all she felt she had left.
"Locke isn't the only one in danger. Jack followed him out there." Kate told her. Alex wasn't the only one who stood to lose someone if her father were to succeed. "If you know anything else—"
"I don't, I swear." Alex interrupted. "All I know is that my father is not gonna stop until everyone and everything in his way is dead. He knows every inch of this Island. He could be leading them into a trap." Alex offered.
"I'm going after them." Kate announced, more to herself than anyone else. She always knew she would. She spoke again before Sayid could try to reason with her. "If I don't, Jack is dead. Locke may already be."
She reached out to Alex, her eyes pleading for the girl's help. "Alex, can you track?"
"Yeah, it's how I caught up with you." She admitted.
"My friend Sawyer is in a lot of trouble, and he needs to get back to our group as soon as possible. I'm following the trail we left behind, but do you think you can lead my friends the rest of the way?"
Alex looked over at Sawyer, another casualty of her father's deadly game. She turned back to Kate, and nodded.
"Thank you." Kate said, before turning to bring her rifle's strap over her head.
"You can't do this, Kate." Sayid listened to the words come out of his mouth, and knew that she hadn't heard them.
"Jack will need backup." Kate said. "Ben is crazy and you heard what his daughter said. He will do absolutely anything to get what he wants, that includes killing Jack if he has to. I'm NOT gonna let that happen."
Sayid sighed, shaking his head. He moved to his pack, pulled another handgun from inside and handed it to her. "Give Jack my regards."
Kate nodded, taking the gun and stuffing it into her jeans at her lower back. "When you get back to the others, get them to that plane as soon as you can."
"What about you?" Sayid asked, genuinely concerned for his friend. What was she saying? Was she telling him to leave without her? "Jack wants you to be on that plane when it leaves."
Kate shrugged. "That's too bad, because I'm not going anywhere without him." Jack's destiny was moving in on him, closing the window for them to be together like she wanted. But she still wasn't leaving until she told him how she felt about him, and how sorry she was for the pain that loving her, if he still did, if he ever did, had caused him.
She walked closer to Sayid, as if physically emphasizing what she was about to say. "Once Juliet is able to help Sawyer, get to that plane. I don't want you or anyone else waiting. I'll find my way, but first, I have to find Jack."
Sayid nodded. "Okay."
Kate looked over at Sawyer, feeling guilt for having to leave things as they were, before making sure he was in Juliet's capable hands, but she trusted Sayid, and had to trust Alex. She had to go.
With that, she was gone.
Locke stumbled through the leaves, quickly but obviously struggling to keep the pace. The hand he placed over his wound was doused in his own blood, dripping from between his fingers, as it crept through the fabric of his t-shirt, having reached the collar. He felt himself losing more and more of his grip on consciousness, too stubborn to let go without a fight.
He leaned into a tree trunk, breathing through gritted teeth and trying his best not to pass out. The only thing that kept the pain from burning a hole straight through him was Ben. Catching Ben. Killing Ben. It was his life's purpose in that very moment and he wouldn't do away with it until it was finished. Groaning and mumbling through it, he erected himself from his slouched position and pushed forth. After a few more steps, he closed his eyes and buckled to the ground, his body slamming into the dirt below.
He opened his eyes after what felt like hours, and groaned in defeat. His face was planted in the dirt, his gun inches away from the hand that once held it. As he tried to get on his knees and crawl towards it, he noticed he couldn't move his legs. They felt like dead weights, just as they had before, when he was left by the Monster outside of the Temple. His legs were no longer in his control.
"No…no. No." He mumbled desperately. He felt it, that dangerous precipice between complete control and utter chaos. Ben was getting away, further and further towards his goal and if he didn't get going soon, it would be too late.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Locke screamed in anger, which only caused his lightheadedness to become stronger, more persistent. He beat his blood-soaked fist into the ground, while the other hand clawed forward towards the gun that was just out of reach.
He could see the moments playing out in his mind, all the times he had failed, been played, running towards something only to be kicked down and out. Helen turning down his proposal and walking out of his life. His car parked outside of his father's entrance gate, his head bowed into his steering wheel as he cried for something he never had, but somehow could never get back. Being told by his doctors that he would never walk again, his father's last gift to him. How could he have been so stupid?
He had never felt more a part of something than he had when he woke up on the Island. The smoke, the chaos of the crash, people stepping over him to get help, to get to safety. It has given him wholeness, a sense of belonging. It was his home and Ben was ready to take it all away.
"Some—somebody help me!" The words came running from his chapped lips, swimming with weakness. He knew there was no one around. He dipped his forehead into the grass below, and wept.
Deep and desperate, his voice rang out again. "Somebody….please." It became clear whose help he was asking for, the man he was racing to save, Jacob. Why did he even bother if this was what it all would come down to?
"I did everything you wanted me to!" Locke continued, his voice trembling, slurring.
He remembered the last time Jacob had appeared to him. He was poised to set the Monster out on Ben and his people, but he told him that he would know when to use the Monster to his advantage. To Jacob's credit, he was right. When he saw the Monster on the beach, ravaging through tents and hurling bodies for yards, he knew how to control it. He knew that it wouldn't hurt him. It was the one move Ben didn't expect.
Jacob's voice echoed in his head, before he could control it, tune it out in anger.
'He'll kill you when you're finally broken, and you're not broken yet, are you John?'
Uncontrollable anger and unrestrained rage finally silenced it, and he wept even more, before lashing out at the cruelty.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" He cried, mumbling incoherently as he bowed his head back into the grass.
"He's not doing this to you, John." He heard nearby. The voice was echoing and splintering at the same time. It was also familiar. Male. He lifted his head, craned his neck, and froze under the gaze pointed right at him.
"Wa—Walt?" Locke asked, shocked. He couldn't believe his eyes. He slowly rolled himself onto his back, positioning himself to get a better view of the child towering over him. His friend.
He sounded different, Locke thought. His voice was deeper, monotonous, robotic even. He was taller than he remembered, older. Had it really been that long since he last saw him?
"Get up, John." His voice echoed again, it sounded like it was coming out of a speaker with crackling feedback. It made his head swell even more.
Locke struggled to speak, his words gargled with forced effort. He clocked the hand that was soaked with his blood. "Ben stabbed me….and I can't….I can't move my legs."
"You can move your legs, now get off the ground John." Walt assured him, but Locke wasn't listening, deciding to ramble through the pain, depression and this hallucination instead.
"I gotta get to him. He's gonna kill Jacob. He's gonna kill Jack and…"
"Jacob is already dead." Walt told him.
"What?" Locke asked.
"Don't you get it by now, John? Jacob dies no matter what you do. So, get up John."
Locke shook his head. He didn't know if he could. He hesitated, soaked in deep breaths, on the brink of tears, giving up for good, when he asked, "Why?"
"Because you've got work to do."
Locke woke up with a start, breathing raggedly, sweating profusely, beads of it on his forehead. He looked around lazily, through glazed eyes. He was crouched down in the grass, his head and shoulder pressed into a tree trunk, his gun still wrapped up in his fist.
He didn't recognize this particular stretch of the jungle. It was bone-chillingly quiet. Something was missing.
"Walt?" He whispered.
He wasn't there anymore, or had he ever been?
It was a dream, he realized. It was all a dream. He must have passed out, he thought with relief. The alternative was worse. He looked down at his legs, and when his mind gave the command to move, they followed. They were slow, but he could feel them this time. Before he could get far, the pain of the stab wound doubled him over, but he fought through it. Once upright, he rested for a second, gaining his breath.
Through the pain, he marched like the soldier he was.
Juliet looked into the expanse of the jungle, her eyes fixed on everything and nothing at all. She was okay before. She was hopeful and watchful and full of anticipation to be able to go home, to be able to help these people and, surprisingly to her, to see Sawyer's face again. She knew something was wrong. That bright purple light lit the sky like a firework that spread and wouldn't end. She could still feel the stinging in her eyes from its brightness, and her ears still rang with dread from the shrill bellows of….whatever that was.
She calculated it in her head. Kate, Sayid and Sawyer left for the cabin hours ago, approximately four hours. Within that time, they could have made it to the cabin and detonated ELMA. She had a feeling that the sky lighting up in a violet hue and whiting out everything in their path had something to do with the electromagnetic energy Sayid spoke of before.
Everyone else couldn't stop talking about it, theorizing what it could have been. An explosion. A discharge from one of the DHARMA stations. She didn't want to hear it. She knew what it was, and what could have gone wrong. She knew Ben. She knew that he would have something to say or do about people running around on this Island without his involvement in some way. Their relationship was terse to say the least, but she knew him. He wouldn't stop. He would never give up control.
All she needed was to see Sawyer walk through those leaves. She needed to know that he was okay, and she needed to know right now.
She was suddenly scared. Oh so scared.
She heard someone approaching her from behind, but didn't bother to turn. She kept her arms wrapped low on her torso, her nails picking at the fabric of her shirt.
"Juliet…" The soft tone of Rose's voice jostled her back to the present. She approached her from behind.
"He's gonna be okay."
Tears sprung to Juliet's eyes. How did Rose know? She thought. Who was she kidding? She was Rose. She was smart, and probably seen enough of Juliet haggling Sawyer on the beach and easily put two and two together. Not to mention their goodbye. Everyone had to know by now. She took in a deep breath. She didn't want to talk about it.
"How are the others?" Juliet asked, sucking her tears back where they belong.
Rose rounded on her, taking in her recovering features. She was trying to stay strong and failing. "Still talking about the purple sky, unfortunately."
"It was ELMA" Juliet said, not able to hold it in anymore. "They must have found the cabin and detonated it."
Rose nodded her agreement. She was no science whiz and definitely didn't have any desire to get technical about the Island's abilities, but she trusted a woman's intuition. She knew Bernard was still alive, deep in her bones, from the second she was brought back to life on the beach all those days ago. It was connection. It was love. It was what drew Kate to Jack and it was what had Juliet so rattled about Sawyer that she was vibrating with it.
"What else, dear?" Rose asked. Juliet turned her head, her expression puzzled. Rose just kept her gaze sweet and caring, open. She would wait all day in this clearing to hear Juliet say it.
"He's hurt." Juliet admitted on a shaky breath. "I don't know how, but I just…I know it."
In that moment, chatter could be heard from the group nearby. Juliet moved towards it, with Rose following. She emerged from the leaves just in time to see Sayid and Hurley helping him into a reclined position against a tree trunk. She could see the blood on his shirt, and his pale complexion a stark contrast from the sun-kissed appearance he helmed before. Everyone was murmuring, shocked.
'Is he gonna die?' Juliet heard someone ask under their breath.
"Dude, what happened?" Hurley asked Sayid, still hovering over Sawyer, who was unresponsive to the activity surrounding him.
"We got to the cabin, Kate was moving to enter when Ben showed up." Sayid shared. "Needless to say, gunfire ensued." He looked down at Sawyer with regret in his eyes. "He was just trying to protect us."
Juliet couldn't move, frozen in place, '…He was just trying to protect us'. She could hear it all, but she felt so stiff. She knew. She felt like she could actually feel the impact as it was happening. As she tried to find her way through the haze of worry and anger, Sawyer opened his eyes, slowly. Sayid and Hurley were still talking over him, with Charlie joining the fray. Sawyer's eyes roamed, finally landing on Juliet's face. He clocked her worry and dread, but stayed focused on her, too weak to tell her that he was okay, and too sure of the fact that he wasn't.
Tears welled in Juliet's eyes again and she did nothing to stop them as she moved to him, bending down to get closer.
"Damnit James, I asked you for one thing." She cried, framing his wound with her hands, trying to take the best look she could given her tremulous state. Her shaky hands then caressed his face, keeping him focused on her.
Sawyer smirked. "Sorry, Blondie. I saw him draw his gun. He was gonna kill us."
He looked her over. He found that drowning in the delicate features of her face took away from the excruciating pain and numbness that was starting to spread.
"God, you're beautiful." Sawyer whispered loud enough for her to register.
She stilled at that, her lips curling into a subtle smile. She couldn't remember the last time someone called her beautiful, but she had to stay focused, so she played off its effect on her.
"Well, so are you. Wouldn't want those good looks to go to waste." She forced a smile.
He could tell that she was putting up a wall, so he couldn't see how scared she was for him, but he could see through it. He was growing weaker and could see his pale reflection in her eyes.
He was terrified of dying. The emotion was strange, but looking into the eyes of the woman he'd fallen in love with so unexpectedly, he knew it was real.
"It's bad isn't it?" He asked.
"You're not gonna die on me, James." Juliet told him sternly. "I won't let you."
"So, what caused it?" Charlie directed Sayid's way.
"What caused what?" Sayid retorted.
"That bright purple….thing that happened to the sky and that blood-curdling, nails on a chalkboard—?" Charlie asked.
"I take it was the consequence of Kate detonating ELMA." Sayid interrupted him, his focus coming in on Juliet as she checked Sawyer's vitals. She didn't look happy about the results and he looked even worse than when he did in the jungle, if that was possible. This wasn't good.
Claire watched as Charlie peppered Sayid with a dozen more questions when she noticed a young girl that no one else seemed to be paying any attention to in the background. She was standing in wait, watching as everyone tried to make sense of what was happening. Claire felt like she had met her before, but couldn't quite place her. She rose with Aaron in her arms and approached her.
"Excuse me?" Claire asked, catching Alex's attention. "Have we met?"
Alex played stupid, not wanting to break it to Claire that her father had sent Ethan Rom to kidnap her and her unborn child to run harmful and catastrophic experiments on them. It was best that Claire never recovered those memories, least of all know that she was the one who rescued her from those circumstances. She knew even then that her father wasn't telling her everything, or anything for that matter. He still didn't know that she was the one who helped Claire escape and he could never find out.
"No. I don't think so." Alex lied.
"I'm Claire, and this is Aaron." Claire introduced herself, looking down at her pride and joy, her whole world. Alex smiled at the baby's peaceful, round face. He definitely wasn't at all affected by the chaos surrounding him.
"What's your name?" Claire asked.
She looked back into Claire's blue eyes. "Alex."
Before Claire could interrogate her any further, Juliet spoke up, still hovering over Sawyer. "I need someone to head back to the beach!"
Hurley spoke up first, moving towards Juliet and Sawyer. "What do you need?"
"Alcohol, sutures, gauze, tape. Any kind of pain medication you can find. Ibuprofen, Tylenol, anything." Juliet listed. "I think most of what I'll need is in Jack's tent, or what's left of it."
"I can help." Alex spoke up, trying to avoid any more prodding from Claire. Juliet turned, her features rising in surprise.
"Alex?" What in the world was she doing here? She knew how Ben felt about her wandering off. She was a long way from home, and in company that was liable to make her father very angry.
Alex waved nervously "Hi, Dr. Burke." Not having the time to question further, Juliet gave Hurley an inpatient look. She needed them to get moving right now.
"On it." Hurley said, moving towards the path to the beach, Alex parted from Claire to follow him.
"So, Kate detonated it?" Bernard addressed Sayid, having eavesdropped on him and Charlie's conversation. He knew the changes in the sky had everything to do with detonating the EMP generator, but to what end? What were they going to do now?
"Yes, she did." Sayid said. "And Jack appeared soon after. He seems to be back for good."
"Well, that's good to hear! So, where are they?" Bernard asked, while Rose snuck up behind him, listening in.
"Jack went after Locke, who went after Ben. Kate thought it best to follow Jack, protect him."
My girl, Rose thought to herself. "So, Locke is alive?" She asked.
"Yes." Sayid confirmed. The man didn't know how to die, he thought, rather fondly, grateful for Locke's entrance. If it hadn't been for him throwing Ben off and bringing the Monster to wreak havoc, he wasn't sure they would have escaped.
Static suddenly resounded through the group's small gathering. Sayid listened intently, trying to find its source. "Where is that coming from?" He asked.
Bernard's face brightened. "Oh!" He ran to his bag that lay open. He pulled out the transceiver Jack, Kate and Charlie risked their lives to get from the cockpit those first few hours after the crash and handed it to Sayid.
"I brought this with me just in case we were able to use it once ELMA was detonated."
"How did you do this?" Sayid asked, amazed. All of the equipment he was working with had been destroyed by Locke way back when. He had given up on trying to rebuild it. The only thing he had left was a transceiver with a dead battery. It looked like Bernard took it upon himself to fix that.
"You're not the only one who knows his way around electronics. I worked my magic, found a way to charge it. The battery is nowhere near full capacity, but it has enough juice to take a few minutes each day checking for any changes, so I turn it on here and there, just to make sure. I must have forgotten to turn it off sometime between now and this morning."
"Any changes?" Sayid asked.
"If there was anyone else out there. I overhea—" Bernard started, but was struck in the side by Rose's elbow. He gave her a look. "Okay, fine. I was eavesdropping on you and Juliet that day on the beach when you went to her about your idea about going to the plane, about being able to communicate with the outside world."
"You knew about ELMA all this time?"
"No. Juliet didn't say anything about it, but she did say Ben was blocking communications remotely and that there was no way around it. She then said there might be another way and then you guys ran off into the jungle."
Sayid looked confused. How did Bernard make the jump from hearing about Juliet's idea to getting the transceiver ready in case they were able to communicate if he didn't yet know about ELMA? Bernard clocked the look on his face and elaborated.
"I've been working on charging the transceiver since before you, Locke and Kate left to rescue Jack from the Others. Something compelled me to do it. Judging from what Jack brought back with him, I was right to be prepared." Bernard explained.
"I know what a device like ELMA is capable of, causing a blackout so massive that blocking communications remotely would be virtually impossible. I knew we would need to be ready to communicate with anyone who can help us, coordinate a way to get out of here when the time came."
Sayid let go of a small grin. Smart. That was the only word he could come up with for Bernard thinking two steps ahead. After the Monster attack on the beach and the ambush at the cabin, he didn't think they would have an upper hand in any of this. He was glad to be wrong.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sayid asked.
"I didn't want to say anything about it. You know….get people's hopes up and all." Bernard said coyly, harkening back to Sayid's rationale for keeping ELMA a secret.
Before Sayid could retort, the speaker of the transceiver blasted off-key singing and jovial whistling intermingled with static interference.
"Who is that?" Charlie asked, his eyes widening with worry. He gasped, pointing to the transceiver. "What if it's one of Ben's men and talking to him trips some alarm that sends a brigade out here to kill us?"
Sayid wasn't worry or scared. He knew exactly who it was. He spoke into the speaker, ignoring Charlie's wince of horror. "Hello?"
They could all hear rustling from the other end. Something had fallen, and an off-course 'Damnit' could be heard nearby, lower in volume than the singing from before. Eventually, the voice came in louder again. "Hello?! Who's there?"
Sayid smiled. "Frank, it's Sayid."
"Sayid?" Frank asked.
Frank? Charlie thought. It took him far longer than he liked to recognize the name. Frank Lapidus, the pilot that brought Jack and Juliet back to the Island. He remembered Juliet telling the group about him.
"It's Frank!" Charlie yelled with glee, wrapping Bernard in a hug. He gladly received and returned it. The rest of the weary group cheered as well. They needed this win. Charlie made his way to Claire, giving her a kiss and not forgetting to pepper Turniphead with enough to last him a lifetime.
Sayid nodded, turning and walking away from the celebration. "Yes. It's me."
Frank sighed. "Good! Where's Juliet?"
"She's right here. Sawyer's been hurt." Sayid spoke into the transceiver, and glanced in Juliet's direction. She was still hovered over Sawyer, gingering filling his mouth with water from her canteen. He looked like he was holding up, but it could go south fast.
"Is he okay?" Frank asked.
"For now." Sayid answered.
Frank sighed his relief. "You find Jack yet?"
"Yeah, we did, but he's not with us right now." And neither was Kate, he kept reminding himself. "He went after Locke, and another friend of ours went after Jack."
"Alright. So what's the plan?" Frank asked.
That was the question, wasn't it? Sayid thought. He had to make a decision. It was now or never. Get what group they had left to the plane or wait for Jack and Kate here on dry land. He knew where they had hidden the boat. He could have everyone on Hydra Island well before sundown.
His thoughts ran to Jack and Kate. He hoped she was able to catch up with him. He hoped they were able to find Locke together before it was too late. Kate told him to get the group to the plane at the first chance he could. There was no time to waste.
"We need time to get Sawyer stabilized." Sayid responded. "Then we'll be on our way."
"I'll be waiting for ya. Gonna make sure we're ready for take-off." Frank assured.
Sayid and Frank said their goodbyes for the meantime. He turned back to the group.
"What's the plan?" Charlie asked, stepping back up to Sayid.
Sayid addressed the group, the decision final and hopefully one that he can make happen without interference.
"Everyone get ready. We're taking a boat ride."
Ben finally pushed the heavy door aside at the entrance, and was met with temporary darkness. Firelight lit the dark hallway as he inched closer, that led to another hallway. He took one of the torches from the wall and moved further. The sound of the soles of his shoes grinding into the sandy bed of the floor played along the whoosh of the flames.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He squeezed his eyes closed, abruptly feeling dizzy. He kept hearing Richard's voice, from years ago, telling him what Jacob wanted and how much he appreciated his time, effort, his loyalty. He thought about all the restraint he had to muster over the years and the moment he decided to set this into motion. His own voice echoed in his head.
Things will change for the better once he's gone.
He gripped the knife in his fist as he reached the belly of the structure, a sprawling room with a central fire, and four columns holding it upright. The central fire battled with the sunlight that poured in from a huge hole on the ceiling. Amazed, Ben slowly moved down the stairs and stared up into the hole, catching the blue sky and the seagulls from before. From his angle, he could see storm clouds swirling in from the west, waiting patiently for their moment. He was grateful he had gotten here before the imminent downpour.
After bringing his eyes back to the room, he noticed the mural. Walking over to it, he clocked the amount of detail, the story it told, its symbolism mesmerizing. Amazed, he brought his hand up to touch it, and felt the prickly outer stems of thin, coarse threads that were tightly woven into what was the most beautiful piece of art he had ever see. He looked higher and put the Greek he learned to good use to read the lettering at the top.
'May the gods grant thee all that thy heart desires.'
In a nearby, secluded pocket of darkness, Jacob watched Ben. He watched the way he moved, the innocence in the way he placed his hand to the mural and the still calm in his pacing, in his stride. He clocked the knife in his hand and the handgun at his back.
He had chosen his weapon. He had made it to the mountaintop.
"It took me a really long time to get it just right."
Startled, Ben turned to the source of the sound, his voice echoing in the open space. He swallowed hard, and then moved closer, until the shadow of one of the columns no longer hid his face. He wanted to see his face when he said the first words he ever said to him.
The lines that fanned from the outer slits of his eyes showed his burden, his sacrifice. His sandy blonde hair greyed at the temples, and his eyes were blank, lifeless, letting on nothing, not even fear. Ben wanted him to be afraid. He wanted to incite fear, groveling, even a nice bargaining ploy. He needed it, but he needed other things more.
"You should be proud. It's as close to perfect as I've ever seen." Ben was being honest. No way would he have had the patience to create such art. He had waited a very long time for this moment though, he realized. Too long. He was never a very patient man.
Jacob stood, moving into the light, inching closer to his death. "I take it you didn't come all this way to tell me that."
Ben sneered. "Oh no. I think you know why I've come…Jacob."
He was face to face with Ben now, eye to eye, Toe to toe.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Ben."