Back again, now with the war chapter! I hope everyone enjoys… the war? Heh. Sorry if it's a little sad and negative, by the way, but really, it is a war chapter. To be fair.
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. Wow… I think I'm out of silly disclaimer-comments.
Chapter Eleven: War, Part I
The Beach
Guns were being distributed.
Many, many guns were being put into the hands of people who had no idea how to use them. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, and Charlie were already walking around, explaining to people how to use them. As people nodded and listened, they seemed to look around, wondering if this was the last time they'd see all these faces together.
Just as almost everyone knew how to use a gun, Sayid came back next to an excited, desperate-looking Rousseau.
"Where is Alex?" she demanded in her French accent. Her eyes darted around, searching for a fifteen-or-sixteen-year-old girl.
Kate nodded to the others and turned to Rousseau. "Follow me," she said with a smile, and she led her back to Sawyer's tent. Sawyer followed, just in case.
"Okay," Jack shouted to the rest of the people, "we don't have a great plan, but we have a plan, and it's the best we can do."
Everyone listened intently while examining their guns.
"We're going to sneak as quietly as possible into their camp. Now, they'll be expecting something, so it won't be great. But the island should have a lot of cover for us, because as weird as this is to believe, it's on our side now, and it's going to help us win this war."
Everyone looked confused but somehow reassured by this news. Some of them had already heard Jenny say it, but those who hadn't now believed it, too.
"Once we find our places near the camp but not in it, we'll shoot as many people as we can who are standing outside." Everyone's breaths drew in at this—Jack was blatantly asking them to kill. "Now," he said, "if you can control your aim, try to shoot at legs, shoulders, or arms. Avoid the heart and the head. But if you can't, don't worry about it. It's to get us off the island, right?"
People nodded at this, seeming reassured.
"Once we do, they'll come out and find us. Stay hidden as long as you can, but if they get close to you, run and shoot. While you fight them, a small team of me, Kate, and Sawyer are going to search for the psychics." He didn't look thrilled with the thought of going somewhere with the happy couple, but he would if necessary.
"What about John and Sayid?" Michael asked. "They've got as much experience as you." He obviously also believed that psychics were their best bet off the island.
"Exactly," Jack replied. "You can't have all of us gone. John and Sayid are going to stay and fight. They'll be kind of like your generals."
Finally, after all the planning was done, it was agreed that they would have half an hour of talking and saying goodbye (just in case), and then they would meet up for the battle to save themselves.
Sawyer's Tent
Alex, wrist still tied to the tent, was drawing abstract designs in the sand with her free hand when Kate, Sawyer, and Rousseau walked in. When Rousseau laid her eyes on her long-lost daughter, she stopped moving and stared in disbelief.
Alex glanced up, wondering if this was possibly her mother.
"Alex?" Rousseau whispered in a quivering voice, her eyes fixed on the small, beautiful girl sitting in the sand, leaning against one of the plane seats Sawyer had taken.
Alex nodded, not saying a word. Rousseau slowly walked toward her daughter as Kate and Sawyer lingered at the entrance.
"Uh," Kate said softly, "Alex?"
Alex glanced at Kate as her mother slowly untied her half-a-handcuffed hand from the post of the fence (the other half was the one that had been around Jin's wrist).
"Just…" Kate sighed. "Please don't go back there."
Alex glanced at her mother, whose eyes were filled with love. "I won't," Alex promised. Once her hand was free, she hugged Rousseau. She'd never known her mother, and she hadn't expected to feel so attached to her, but now that she was here, she did. It was a stronger bond than she could possibly have with the Others.
Kate looked at Sawyer with a peaceful smile on her face.
"Some good came of this," she told him as the mother and daughter were reuniting. "We reunited a family."
Sawyer shrugged and nodded. "No dad, but it's an improvement."
Kate smiled and leaned her head on his broad shoulder. Watching Rousseau and Alex together made her feel like she almost had a family again. And leaning on Sawyer's shoulder with his hand in hers made her feel like she didn't need a family again. She had him.
Claire's Tent
"Hey," Jake greeted Claire hopefully as he walked into her tent. "Can we talk?"
Claire looked up at him and nodded. She didn't want to talk to him, but she also didn't want him to die and have their complicated situation on her shoulders for the rest of her life.
That seemed to be the reason a lot of people were getting along before the war: fear of death. It wasn't a good reason, but at least it was doing something.
"Look, I'm not asking you to give me a second chance, or whatever," he said first.
Claire nodded. "Good," she said. She wouldn't have given him one if he had asked. She'd be fine with being friends with Jake at times, because after all, he did care about her. But with Aaron and Ellie and the fight that had happened, she couldn't even begin to imagine a relationship with him, despite their kiss.
He looked put out at the throwback, but he accepted it. "I just want things to be cool with us before this war starts," he explained. "I mean, I'm assuming you're not fighting, right?"
"I'm staying with Aaron. But they're leaving me a gun, and they said that if anyone's outside my tent, I should shoot them."
Jake laughed slightly at the thought of seeing Claire with a gun, but he didn't comment on it. He was glad she wanted to help. "Well, I know this is kind of a stupid reason, but if something were to happen to either of us, I'd want us to end on good terms, you know?"
She nodded. She'd been thinking the same thing.
"So, if we do get off this island, keep in touch, okay?"
Claire smiled finally. About twenty people had already dropped by her tent with their phone numbers and asked her for hers. It wasn't a crush thing, it was a keep-in-touch-with-the-people-you-were-marooned-on-an-island-with thing. Still, she had a feeling that Jake was doing it for more than that.
A big part of her didn't want to keep in touch with him. She'd still talk to plenty of people on the island, but she wasn't sure about Jake. He'd bring back bad memories and temptations, and she knew that if she did try anything with him, it would end badly. She just couldn't trust her future self to resist doing anything with him.
"Sure," she said. She didn't ask for his number, and she didn't give him hers.
He looked like he wanted to ask, but he resisted. He decided that if he was desperate enough, he'd ask Ellie or Charlie later. "Okay," he said. "Well, I'm gonna go, but cross your fingers for me, okay?"
She smiled. "Okay."
He smiled and left, and she felt a tugging at her heart as she did so. Was there ever going to be a right guy for her? Thomas had left her, Charlie had lied to her and taken the statues, and Jake had cheated on his old girlfriend and started a fight. Weren't there any normal guys?
She smiled down at her baby. Aaron was normal. He was the only guy she needed.
The Expedition Survivors' Shelter
"You ready?" Charlie asked Ellie. It had been twenty-five minutes, and everyone was gathering their weapons to leave.
Ellie glanced at Jenny, who was still lying down. Natalie was at her side, knife in hand, and Andrew was sharing a tearful good-bye with her.
"I keep telling myself I don't want to kill them," she said sadly, "but then I see Jenny and Andrew and I think of you and all the others they've hurt, and I want them to die. But should I really wish that on anyone?"
"Them? Yes." Charlie didn't say it in an evil way, but he sounded certain. "We've all agreed on it for a reason, Ellie. They're bad people, and the only way we can be safe is to have them…" He shrugged. "You know. Dead."
Ellie laughed. "That wasn't the best pep talk," she teased. "I guess Brits aren't very good at it." Her face grew serious. "Just promise me you'll stay with me, okay?" she asked.
"There's not a chance I wouldn't," Charlie promised. She smiled, and they both left.
The Beach
John Locke was standing at the head of the huge crowd, getting a taste of what Kate and Jack had been recently feeling, giving the instructions for their invasions. The crowd was lining up in single-file lines of five people each, so there were about fourteen lines. They were standing tall and bravely, actually resembling a real army about to fight a real war.
Each line had a leader who knew how to use a gun. Charlie was at the head of his line, with Ellie behind him. Behind her was Bernard, and behind him were two mid-thirties males from flight 815. Ellie and Charlie smiled at each other, showing that they were ready.
Jake was in a line with Michael as their leader, and they were talking nervously, trying to stay calm but both obviously scared. Walt was back with Claire, and Michael looked like he was worried sick. Along with them stood two smart, brave girls from the Expedition and an older man who looked nervous.
Sayid and Jin were also at the heads of their lines, and there were several others who were trusted with being the heads for the rest of the lines.
Kate, Jack, and Sawyer stood a bit away from the lines, scanning the crowd to make sure they were ready while discussing their own plan.
"They're going to notice we're not with everyone else, fighting," Jack said. "They've seen us and talked to us, and they'll be waiting for us."
"I think they'll be a little busy fending off the seventy people shooting at them," Sawyer sarcastically to Jack. But Kate gave him a look, and he stopped smirking.
"Let's just stay as unnoticeable as possible and hope that we can find the psychics," Jack suggested, ignoring Sawyer's comment.
Kate nodded. "It's a plan," she said, loading her gun and stuffing some shells into her pack for later.
"Are they gonna go first?" Sawyer asked.
As if on cue, John put a finger to his lips and led them into the jungle. They all stayed in their lines, guns posed and at the ready, and they hardly made a sound as they marched into the jungle.
"Now we go," Jack said, and the three of them slowly followed into the jungle.
"You guys," Kate said softly, "we might actually win this."
Near the Others' Camp
They'd been walking for about an hour in the directions Kate and Sawyer had given them, and they could hear and see the Others' camp about half a mile ahead. John stopped walking, and so did everyone else. Kate, Jack, and Sawyer walked to the right of them, looking for a back way in.
"It's time for our lines to break apart," John said in a hushed voice. "Everyone go at a slightly different angle. Don't let yourselves be seen. I'll stay in the middle. When I raise my hands, shoot. Don't shoot before I do unless someone is coming at you."
They all nodded. This was it.
"Let's go," John whispered as loudly as was safe. They all walked speedily and silently through the jungle around the perimeter of the Others' camp. Their tree and bush covering was excellent, and John couldn't help but wonder if the island had done something to make them less visible.
Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were out of their sight now, but John trusted the island to keep them hidden for at least a while. He let his light sea-green eyes scan the camp. There were about six people with guns pacing around, presumably guards, but no one had seen them. He was too close to shout an order, but he was ready to raise his hands.
Once they shot the guards, he had a feeling that would be it. Everyone would know, and everyone would fight. And then they would have to hope for the best.
He drew in a deep breath and raised his hands.
The gunshots began.
Search for the Psychics
"It started," Kate whispered, glancing up at Sawyer. She was scared, and she could sense fear behind his baby blues, but she could also see that he was brave, and he was willing to fight for himself and for her.
Jack looked troubled, and not just because Kate and Sawyer were sharing yet another bonding moment. "I feel like we shouldn't be doing this," he told them. "We should be helping our allies, not searching for psychics. We don't even know who's psychic and who's not."
"Won't they be meditatin', or something?" Sawyer asked.
Kate laughed slightly as Jack rolled his dark eyes. "Or something," Jack replied.
Sawyer laughed for a moment, too, but went back to scanning the camp. "Okay, meditatin' losers… people with their eyes closed… maybe mouthing things…" He turned back to Jack and Kate. "Yeah, I don't see anything."
"They're probably keeping their psychics somewhere for safekeeping," Kate said, staying behind a thick tree covering as she heard gunshots and yelling. "We should go look around the camp—inside buildings and stuff."
"That's probably where the women and children are," Jack said. "We can't kill them unless they try to kill us, okay?" he added, looking meaningfully at Sawyer.
Sawyer nodded quickly. "Doc, you think I'm gonna kill a kid?"
Jack ignored him and turned back to Kate. "We'll all sneak into the first building." He pointed to a small hut near them. "If anyone sees us, I'll shoot. You two, just try to get in there."
"Why you?" Kate asked, obviously worried about him despite her relationship with Sawyer. "Why do you have to risk your life, and not us?"
Jack swallowed. "Because I don't have anyone to live for. You have each other."
The Battle
The first gunshots had gone very well—all six of the guards were down. As he took a second glance, John proudly noticed that almost all of them were too wounded to fight but not at serious risk of losing their lives. Once those six were shot, a few unarmed women came to see what had happened. John made an X with his arms, and no one shot. But many Others exited their huts and buildings with guns, and John quickly raised his hands again. This time, they shot.
The hiding was done, so the survivors started running into the camp, not looking too scared to fight. There were plenty of Others, but they were taking time getting out, and they didn't add up to the seventy survivors pointing guns at them.
John winced as many Others were shot—some in the heart—but still shot a few in the arms and legs himself, mostly in self defense as they tried to get near him. He glanced around and noticed with restoring strength that none of the survivors had been shot yet.
A yelp from Michael's line caused John to shoot his head around and see what happened, but just as he did, a bullet flew by his shoulder. It was within a mere inch of hitting him, and John wondered if it was the wind, blowing the bullet slightly off course. The island, he decided, was definitely their best ally.
He raised his gun again and shot at the man who had shot at him, but it was too fast, and the bullet only skimmed his hand. Luckily, John was able to shoot again, this time hitting his leg.
John turned back to Michael's line to see an older man on the ground, his hand on his heart. John had a feeling it wasn't because he was checking his pulse.
Michael's Group
"Sean?"
Jake shot randomly at a few people near them, but he had a feeling he'd missed. Still, his attention was on the man who had fallen to the floor, choking for breath and coughing up blood.
"Oh my God!" shouted one of the college girls from next to Jake. The girl, Paige, accurately shot an Other near her and knelt beside Sean, the old man. "Sean, please say something! Are you okay?"
"C'mon, Paige," Jake urged, his eyes searching the camp for someone else. The other clusters of five on their side looked like they were handling things, but since no one was near Jake, he aimed far away for someone else to shoot. Somehow killing an Other seemed to make up for them shooting Jenny and now Sean. Paige, however, didn't revert to revenge. She tried to heal.
"I told you we should've brought that vaccine!" she shouted to Michael, who was a little farther away from them. "It might've healed him!"
"There's only so much we can carry," Michael shouted back, his gun moving with his body as he tried to get a clear shot. "Can you just do your best to help him and keep defending yourself?"
"I can't help him!" Paige said frantically, trying to apply pressure to Sean's wound. "I'm not premed or anything… I was just taking the course for credits…"
"You're the smartest freaking girl in our dorm hall!" Jake objected. "Just do your best!"
His persistent urging wasn't helping, but Jenny did the best she could. She pulled a pair of tweezers that she'd brought in her pocked for this very reason, ripped the blood-stained part of Sean's shirt off, and gripped the bullet with the tweezers. She gently pulled it out, trying to block out his yelps of pain, as Jake and Michael stood around her in case anyone tried to shoot them.
Along with the bullet came a lot of blood, but Paige but a lot of pressure on it, trying to keep it in.
"Hang in there," she whispered desperately. "Please."
Sean's eyes drooped and closed. "Have fun back in the real world," he whispered, and his body seemed to loose its tension. Paige frantically checked for a pulse, keeping the wad of cloth against his wound, but she determined that he was dead.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she knew she had to get up and fight. This wasn't right—she wasn't a soldier, and neither was anyone else on the island—and yet it was. Sean, along with all the others who had been hurt or killed on the island, wanted them off. And as respect for them, Paige thought as she reloaded her gun, she was going to win this war.
Charlie's Group
"Charlie," Ellie said shakily as she fought desperately to keep the Others far away from her, "did someone just die?"
Charlie's face looked hard as he aimed and shot. The process was depressing and maddening, but it was what he had to do. "I don't know," he said sadly, and finally turned to look at her. Bernard and the mid-thirties men were covering them for the moment. "We have to keep fighting," he urged. "You can do it. We both can." The look in his electric blue eyes was faithful, but Ellie felt her eyes shifting over to Michael's group, wondering what was happening to Sean.
"Okay," she said shakily, and lifted her gun again. But before she could shoot, a bullet skimmed the side of Bernard's knee and landed hard into Charlie's calf.
Ellie shrieked as she grabbed him, not letting him fall. We can both do it, she told herself over and over, but the blood rushing out of his calf said otherwise.
Search for the Psychics
"Go," Jack ordered them desperately, hoping… praying… that they were still hidden. "Go first. I'll follow you and wait outside the door. If anyone comes, I'll shoot. Just run as fast as you can."
Kate's faded green eyes bored into his for what felt like the first time in ages. Despite their problems and differences, and despite her choosing Sawyer, Kate would never forget the courage and bravery stored in the single man standing in front of her. She sincerely hoped that he'd keep in touch after all this was over, and she knew that he'd be a friend that stuck.
"I'm sorry," she whispered as Sawyer gently took her arm.
"Don't be," Jack said softly, with a small smile. It was a smile that honestly told her everything was all right. He felt feelings for her, but he knew Sawyer did, too. And it wasn't her fault that she didn't have feelings for him. Jack would move on, and he knew that as soon as he got off the island, he would live a happy life. His father wasn't there, but his job was, and whatever was left of his life could be remolded into something amazing.
It'll be fine, he told himself over and over again. You want to get off the island.
But as much as he wanted their safety, the thought of going back to the real world wasn't as tempting as he hoped.
He watched Kate and Sawyer plunge into the open, ducking and trying not to be seen, and he saw them reach the door. He followed after them, gun at the ready, his heart completely in it. But even though it was in it, his heart felt empty, like there was no life to go back to.
Sayid's Group
Sayid was leading a group of annoyingly fearful and jumpy fighters—two teenage girls who looked smart but girly and flighty, a rich-looking ex-businessman from flight 815 who looked like he didn't want to be there, and an early-twenties boy who looked bored.
They were all shooting, but no one was hitting anything. Sayid took a deep breath and turned to them, looking more than exasperated.
"Aim," he said carefully. "Use your left hand to position the gun and your right hand to pull the trigger. Fix it on anyone."
"I thought we weren't supposed to kill them," said one of the girls snottily.
"If you're lucky, you'll hit them somewhere besides the heart or the head," Sayid said desperately, "but at this point it doesn't matter." Several others got near them, and he expertly shot them off.
"I think my gun's out," said the early-twenties boy, Zach, to Sayid. "What do I do?"
Sayid sighed, gave the crowd a quick once-over that determined no one was too close, and turned back to his group. "You three, keep cover," he ordered the two girls and the businessman. He pulled some shells from his cargo pockets and started to load Zach's gun. He felt certain that the girls and the businessman knew what they were doing, because Sayid was a man who had faith. But his faith obviously wasn't enough, because a bullet plummeted into his chest, and he fell to the ground.
Charlie's Group
Ellie's head shot up when she saw Sayid fall to the ground, but she shook it off, hoped for the best for him, and turned back to Charlie, whose leg was shuddering in pain. She was still holding him upright, but she knew from her college courses that it wasn't good. She slowly lowered him to the ground, her arms shaking as much as his leg, and let his head rest against a conveniently placed moldy rock.
Thanks, island, she thought, remembering Jenny's announcement about the island helping them, but don't you think you could've just stopped him from getting shot?
Bernard frantically shot everywhere, shouting at Ellie. "Is he okay? Will he survive? How is he?"
"Go back to shooting," Ellie said frantically as she examined Charlie's wound. Then she remembered that those could be her last words to Bernard, so she carefully added, "Please."
She took out her backpack and pulled out a bottle of alcohol and a pair of tweezers. She dug into her bag and pulled out a needle and thread, too, just in case. "Cover for me, you guys," she said desperately to Bernard and the mid-thirties males. They circled around her and Charlie, guns poised.
"Charlie," she whispered desperately, "talk to me." She scanned her backpack for something to use to dab with alcohol, and she couldn't find anything. She tried ripping a piece of her shirt off, but it didn't work.
"That always works in the movies," Charlie joked with a hardly visible smile. His breathing was uneven but safe, and she instantly relaxed.
"Ha!" she declared, despite the frantic moment, and pulled out her Driveshaft shirt from her backpack. "I hate to waste it, but it's the best I've got," she told him as she poured the alcohol onto the shirt. She wiped away the blood stains and purified the blood. He winced, but let her continue.
"That bloody hurts," he muttered, but he sounded grateful."
"That better mean it's bloody working," she said in a rushed voice as she took out the tweezers. Just as Paige had done with Sean, she pulled out the bullet. Charlie let out a few uncomfortable noises, but he bared it. She instantly covered the wound with his shirt, exerting pressure, but she knew it wouldn't work perfectly.
"I have to stitch it," she said, "but I don't want you to bleed to much first… God, Charlie help me…" She was freaking out, she knew, and she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks again, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't lose Charlie, too.
He swallowed carefully, his mind reeling. "Sayid said… once, when we were together…" He took a deep breath. "Gun powder."
She nodded, keeping pressure on his wound, and took apart her gun.
"Ellie," Charlie whispered. She glanced at him. "I don't want to freak you out with the I-love-you stuff again, but this is a slightly frantic situation…" Ellie laughed slightly, her emerald eyes glistening with tears, as he continued. "I love the thought of loving you," he decided, relying on a variation of his earlier words. "That doesn't scare you, does it?"
Ellie laughed beneath her tears. "Shut up," she said almost playfully. "I love you."
Search for the Psychics
They were spotted.
Kate and Sawyer made it into the first hut, leaving the door cracked for Jack, but a few Others saw them. They were safe, but Jack had to lift his gun. Despite his new state of depression, he was still willing to fight. If he wasn't fighting to get back home, he was still fighting to get revenge, and that was good enough for him.
"Jack!" Kate shouted, her head peeking out of the doorway. "This might be it! C'mon, get in!"
Jack shook his head. "No, get in there without me," he said, shooting another bullet.
Kate shook her head, too, Sawyer just behind her. "Don't do this, Jack. You can make it."
"Not all of us can," Jack said. Kate wanted to say more, but she knew that Jack's mind was made up. "Just close the door," Jack hissed while firing another bullet, "and don't come out until they're gone." He shot again, running closer to the Others who were coming toward them.
"I don't want Doc to die, Freckles, but he might be able to handle it," Sawyer said softly to Kate. "And I sure as hell don't want you to die."
Kate blinked away her tears and nodded. "Be careful," she shouted at Jack. He nodded, his eyes staying fixed on the band of Others coming toward him.
"Jack," Sawyer shouted. Jack didn't turn, but Sawyer knew he was listening. "All the best cowboys have daddy issues. Don't let it get to you." He knew Jack was thinking about his father.
Jack smiled slightly and fired another bullet.
"Remember," Sawyer shouted, his face looking pained, "you're the closest thing I've got to the friend on this island, and that ain't gonna change. You'll be the closest thing I got to a friend in the real world, too."
Kate smiled proudly at Sawyer's kindness, and Jack looked touched, too. Kate and Sawyer gently closed the door as Jack approached the Others. They all shot, and almost all of them missed, thanks to the winds of the island. But the winds had moved a bullet aimed for Kate and Sawyer, and now the bullet was headed for Jack.
END OF CHAPTER ELEVEN
I know, a lot of people are getting shot, but it is a war. Give me a break. So I'll give you one heads-up about the next chapter (not including the fact that, yes, Sean is really dead): either Charlie, Sayid, or Jack are going to die.
I'm very sorry, and I know they're all very beloved characters. Despite his being a slight fop, even Jack is loved by me, and you know I wouldn't kill him without a heavy heart. I love Charlie to death, so don't be mad if he dies, and Sayid has always been a goodhearted, great character that I also love, so again, please don't be mad if he dies. The fact is, I don't write sins—I write tragedies. Heh, sorry, Panic! At the Disco song. I don't really write tragedies, but in a story with a realistic war, I think it's also realistic to say that one of the main characters is going to die. I'm very sorry, but life is life.
Eh. Now I'm depressed. Let's just get to it—thanks a ton for the reviews, and as the story draws to an end (well, the war draws to an end—there are still five or six chapters left, but still), I'd like to say, nice knowing everyone. It's been great. ;)
Here are my loverly reviewers' responses.
Charlotte Temples: Yesh, Led Zeppelin is awesome. I'm thinking the same thing: YAY, a person with good taste in music. Anyway, I'm glad the unhappy-anticipation thing worked well. And as for Ellie, I agree---I wouldn't be able to wait six days. Hello, CHARLIE. But you know, she has some slight boy issues. Anyway, I'm glad you're back, and thanks for the motivating review!
CharliesHoodie: Your (many) reviews were so nice! Sorry about the misspellings. I started spelling Jin and Eko right in the later chapters, and (sniff) I didn't mention Boone again. Anyway, thanks, your reviews were SO positive and supportive. You're so sweet! (I would LOVE to write for Lost, but unfortunately I'm a little too young…13) (And yeah, the Chellie thing is a cool word.) Thanks! I'm so happy you reviewed every single chapter (yes, I admit I am obsessed with reviews at this point, but they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside). Go review addicts!
meangenius: Well, here's the warwise part, and there was some romancewise stuff, too. Hope you liked the Alex/Rousseau thing. I kinda temporarily forgot about them after that one part, but we'll go back to them after the war. Thanks!
Ich liebe dich! (I love you in German.)
--KissBangX3
Reviews make the war better! (Ooh, I bet that's motivating.)
