Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of it's characters (obviously or this story wouldn't have happened! stupid Shoone killers!)
Author's Note: Alright, another update for you. Thankyou so much to all those wonderful people who reviewed the last one! It was my highest review count yet! I love you all! And to all those who asked questions of me, just wait and find out ;)
Four hours and many grumblings from tired survivors later, the large group arrived at a clearing just large enough for them to settle down for the night. It backed up against a cliff-face, covered in vines and ferns. Upon reaching the clearing, Boone gave the cliff an apprehensive glance, barely suppressing a shudder. Noticing this, Shannon gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled as softly as she could. Boone smiled back and kissed her cheek tenderly before setting about laying out their bedding. Shannon watched him for a while, the same soft smile still gracing her lips. The effect it had on her face was remarkable. Whenever Shannon used to smile, it was usually sarcastic or cynical, filled with hate or spite. Now, now her smile was genuine and bright, the kind of smile you expected to see on innocent little children experiencing their first Christmas. Her thoughts were interrupted as Claire called her over to help with little Aaron. With a last lingering glance at Boone, Shannon left to aid Claire.
As she walked away, Boone paused to watch her leave, a similar smile to the one she had given him spreading across his face. Damn, he loved her so much. It had always felt so wrong, being hopelessly in love with his own sister, even if they weren't blood related. And the fact that she always used it against him made the whole situation ten times worse. But they were working past that. Gradually, they were working out how to be more like normal people, even if they never could actually be normal.
Shannon had changed a lot since Boone had last seen her. The snobby, stuck-up bitch that always used to torture him with flirtatious glances, followed by equally hateful ones had disappeared, to be replaced by a tender, sweet girl that loved him almost as much as he loved her.
"Hey." Came a voice behind him. Boone turned to see Jack watching him rather uncertainly.
"Hey." Boone replied, finally finished setting out their bed. He looked at Jack and it was a minute before he noticed that the man looked rather worn out.
"You okay man?" he asked.
"Yeah, fine, just a little tired, y'know?" Jack told him, trying to sound nonchalant, and failing miserably.
"Actually no, I can't remember ever feeling better." Boone said with a small laugh.
"Funny you should mention that." Jack said, suddenly straightening and losing his casual tone. Boone felt apprehensive at his change in expression but either it didn't show on his face, or Jack chose to ignore it because he pressed on. "I saw you die, Boone. It happened right in front of me. And I saw your body be buried, I even helped dig the grave." Pausing, he shuddered at the memories. "My point is, I know that you died, and now you're standing here, in perfect health, and I have no idea why."
"Wish I could help you mate, but all I remember is lying on the stretcher back in the caves, trying to tell you how I felt about Shannon, then I woke up butt-naked in the middle of a ditch with Shannon practically ecstatic to see me. To be honest I thought I'd died and gone to heaven." He chuckled quietly to himself, glancing over to where Shannon was now, very awkwardly, holding Aaron. Jack noticed where the young man was looking and, realizing he would get no more answers, decided to change the topic.
"Must be good, finally being open about it?" he asked, also watching the nervous Shannon try very hard not to drop the baby cradled in her arms. His expression was somewhat different to Boone's though. Boone looked over at him, comprehension dawning across his face.
"You already knew?"
"I had my suspicions. You guys weren't very good at hiding it you know."
Boone's cheeks flushed once more and he looked away.
For five days the survivors stayed in their new campsite and tried to figure out what to do next. There were no attacks from any of the dangers of the island; no one saw any signs of the Others, or the monster or the strange shadow thing. It was as if everything were waiting for everything else to make a move.
It turned out that this new location was quite close to the beach, meaning that groups of people could go down every now and then to fish. No one was brave or stupid enough to go out alone. Except Boone.
Shannon didn't know how he did it, but every once in a while he suddenly wouldn't be there. She would be helping Claire with Aaron, or organizing her clothes, and would turn to find him and he would simply be gone. The first time it happened, she was worried he had been taken by the freakish cloud thing, or finally disappeared like she had been so afraid he would since he returned to her. But a few hours later he had wandered back into the clearing, looking slightly dazed but completely unharmed. She was so happy to see him that she didn't even bother asking where he had gone, just held him until she was sure he wouldn't disappear again. It occurred to her later that he might have been trying to find another secluded little spot like the last time he had wandered off. When she realized this, she gave him a sly little smile, wondering if he would ever stop making her feel so wonderful. She fucking hoped not.
But Boone didn't whisk her away to a romantic location, though he did give her a sensuous massage after dinner (fish, again!). Shannon cuddled into him as they were preparing to go to sleep and heaved a disappointed sigh. Whether Boone mistook it as a sigh of happiness, or did not hear, she didn't know, but he pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head before drifting off to sleep.
He continued to make random disappearances over the next few days, never leaving for more than a few hours, but always refraining from making any mention of it to anyone. When he had disappeared for the fifth time, Shannon decided to confront him about it. Once she realized he was gone, she waited anxiously for him to return, thinking of how to go about getting an answer from him. She could always seduce the answers out of him; lord knew he couldn't resist her. But that was too much like the old Shannon; she wanted to stop being like that. Maybe if she just asked him about it, with just a little flirting? That wouldn't be too bad.
Shannon glanced up at the sky; dark clouds were sluggishly drifting across it. She hoped it would rain, because then she and Boone would have to huddle close together beneath the minimal shelter provided by the cliff.
As her gaze lowered to the surrounding jungle, Shannon saw a lone figure moving through it.