Chapter 103
Jack waited as Hanso fiddled with some things behind the glass panel; the white walls began to slide shut and Jack closed his eyes as the white glare became unbearable again. He thought about Ana, and how he had left her in the woods, alone, just before nightfall. He thought hard, I want to change it, I want to change it. A bright, bright light flared; so intense that it seared his eyeballs through the lids and he winced; the loud subliminal ticking started again, getting louder and faster until it was just one long, pulsing squeal and suddenly it was gone; he was back in the glade with Ana, kissing her and shoving her up against the tree. He was himself; he was in the moment, the Foundation just a faraway place as he whispered against her lips, "I was so scared, Ana. I was so scared I lost you."
She whispered back, telling him about Jason as his hands roamed over her, feeling as much of her as he could; he was the past Jack, but he was the present Jack, too, and he had missed her, the feel of her, and as she finished, ..."I heard you calling me," he kissed her, long and slow, and she pulled back, finally, flushed and shaky and said, "With Sawyer's help, of course."
He was a little shaken himself, both from the kiss and the fact that it didn't change anything. She was still saying the same lines and as he opened his mouth he heard the same words come from his. "I'll bet it killed him to do it. But how did he know?" This was what he needed to change; this was the place. He started to say, Oh, well, it doesn't matter; that was what he wanted to say, but instead he growled, "Sara." He knew what was coming and the present Jack panicked, trying in vain to stop himself from accusing her, from getting angry and ruining it but he couldn't. "You suspected her, didn't you?"
He didn't hear her answer, he was screaming in his own head, I want it! I want it! Please! "...between us."
He still had another chance. He could still salvage it. He concentrated with all of his might but deep in his brain he knew it wouldn't work, he knew he didn't want it. Not enough. He wasn't surprised when he said, "You could've told me..." The rest faded away and he was back in the bright light again, his eyes burning and watering as he opened them, glaring at the white walls in front of him. They slid open with a hiss and Hanso and Locke grinned out at him from the glass booth.
He hung his head, dejectedly as they came out, and Hanso clapped his hand kindly on Jack's shoulder. "That's the best way to find out, Jack. Would you rather you'd thrown everything away on her, just to realize that you don't really want her?" He shook his head sadly. "It's better this way."
He opened the door again, taking them back through the universe to the door into the courtyard. "There is another room, there, but it is just a lab, where they track the tesseract. Nothing important." They moved on to the next door, with its small bronze strip that said 'Magnetics' and Hanso pulled out his card, preparing to swipe it. "Any of you have fillings? Metal pins? Plates in your head?" He glanced at John's bald skull and grinned. "No? Okay. This will feel weird at first but you'll get used to it."
The card went through and the door hissed open. Jack and Locke stepped through first, Hanso following them as the door hissed shut again. The first thing Jack noticed was the push-and-pull on his body, like something was trying to mold him into a new shape. It wasn't painful, or even particularly unpleasant, just...weird. That was the perfect word. He lifted his foot to take a step and his leg was distorted feeling, like it was rubber being manipulated by an unseen hand and he hesitated before he put it down, sure that it wouldn't hold his weight, but as he stepped on it it was solid again. The same was repeated with his next step, and he smiled uncertainly at Hanso, who was laughing at them both. Jack chuckled a little, despite his despair over losing Ana again; he still wanted to go to her but he knew that they would never let it happen, and he didn't want it enough to make it happen. "It's like the world's worst case of sea legs," he said.
Hanso laughed and Jack looked around for the first time; giant shining towers lined the circular room and there was a deep, gentle thrumming beneath him. "These are the magnets," Hanso said, motioning to the gleaming towers. "There's a tunnel that goes beneath the Tesseration chamber to a room just like this, only with polarized magnets, to create the draw that rips open the fabric of space inside the chamber. This is where we control it, call it when we need it to travel or rescue others."
Locke rubbed his head. "Is this connected to the hatches? To call the planes and ships?"
Hanso nodded. "Yes. And it's connected to your hatch. Every 108 minutes these magnets shut off, just for a brief, brief split second, resetting its hold on the tesseract." As he spoke the thrumming skipped and he smiled. "Reset."
The rubberizing of his body was starting to hurt a little and he noticed Locke seemed a little uncomfortable too; he scooted closer to the exit. "Can we get out of here?" The thrumming was giving him a headache.
The door opened and Hanso ushered them out into the sunny courtyard. The birds were chirping happily and a few of them flew off, circling up into the sky before flying in different directions. Jack looked up at the middle, raised door and sighed in relief as the rubbery, disjointed feeling left his limbs. He didn't like that at all. "Are we going in there?"
Hanso grinned. "Do you want to?" Jack didn't respond and he cocked his head a little. "First things first. You can't tesser unless you are ready." He pointed to the door directly across the courtyard. "And that brings us to the Medical Lab."
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The girls were still chatting behind him, talking about pregnancy, though Kate still found ways to get around saying the word; she used coy, un-Kate-like euphemisms like, 'in a condition' and 'indisposed' and he swore he even heard her use 'in a family way' though he, thankfully, wasn't sure. He could only hear snatches, and it wasn't that the subject was uninteresting so much as it was disgusting; words like 'hemrrhoid' and 'discharge' kept reaching his unwilling ears and when Sara said 'mucus membrane' he drew the line. "Do you guys think you can talk about something else, please?"
Vincent was trotting next to them, listening with horrified fascination, and he looked at Sawyer with disgust and shock in his eyes as he nodded in agreement. At least, it looked like he was nodding. Kate had been puking in the bushes an hour ago and now she was discussing the most horrid, revolting things without batting an eye. He didn't get women. She rolled her eyes at him, making Sara laugh; it was like they had their own little girl's club and no boys were allowed. Except Vincent. He felt a little left out. "James, what we are talking about is just nature."
"It's just repulsive, Freckles! Mucus membrane? Afterbirth?" He shuddered as they both laughed, and Vincent even woofed at him a little, though he still seemed a little dazed by their conversation. "What do you look so shocked for? Aren't you a freakin' angel? Haven't you seen this stuff before?"
Sara looked at him curiously and he grinned at his slip. "An angel? I'm assuming you mean that figuratively." He gave her a sort of blank look and she sighed. "Adverb. Figurative:represented by a figure. As in you don't mean it literally."
Kate was grinning at him, trying to stifle her glee at his discomfort at getting an impromptu English lesson. "I know what it means. I do read you know." He was beginning to feel like the only boy at his older sister's slumber party; out of place and picked on. Girl's Club.
Kate nodded. "Yeah, I'll give you that. He does read a lot." She grinned wickedly. "But not since he lost his fabulous glasses." She turned to Sara, whispering in a confidential tone. "They were one-of-a-kind, I tell you," and she burst into giggles. "Steam rolled Harry Potter."
Her laugh was infectious and he had to join in; the glasses were horrible, but now that they were gone, blown up with the raft, he kind of missed them. "Good old Jabba." He glanced at Sara, then Vincent. "No, I didn't mean it figuratively." He gave her a meaningful stare.
Sara nodded, slowly. She wasn't surprised, really, nothing was very surprising anymore. "I saw them," she said, "when you rescued me from the plane. They were singing over your shoulder."
Vincent woofed and Sawyer nodded, smiling at Sara. "Yeah. Fido's buddies, keepin' an eye on you. Not me." He shifted his gaze to Kate, holding her eyes. "I got my own guardian angel."
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Ana still held the gun on Frank. "How do we do it?"
He sauntered closer, leering at her as he sucked his mossy teeth with his tongue. "He has to be gone. He'll heal her and kill us, so we have to distract him somehow."
Ana shook her head. "He'll never leave her alone. I already thought of that."
He grinned and her spine tingled unpleasantly. "Oh, but they're not alone," he said. "The other woman is with them." He smirked at her surprise. "You thought it was Us, didn't you? I gotta admit, that was a pretty smooth trick he played."
Sara was with them. And she had betrayed Jack again, causing this split, this nightmare. Her murderous rage surged again, against all of them; her heart turned to steel and her eyes glinted as she said, "I have an idea."
