In the End
Chapter Eighteen
Author's Notes: Did Ross and Rachel get together in Friends? Please correct me if I'm wrong! (you'll see what I'm talking about in a minute)
Chapter Eighteen: Search and Rescue
Alex cursed as the spring to her cd player popped back up at her face. It was a miracle the small device survived the tortureus situations her bags had been through. For the first few months she put off trying to get it to work right, not being able to concentrate on the task with her mind always being elsewhere. But for some reason, today she literally woke up and thought 'I should fix a cd player today'. So she did. Or was trying to, at least.
"Having any luck, dude?" Hurley asked, sitting down beside her.
She smiled. Hurley's voice always seemed to be able to put a smile on anyone's face.
"No," Alex said, trying to hide her anger at the walkman.
"You can always use mine, if you want," Hurley offered, "I dunno, I figured it might be good to, you know, get your mind off of things, considering."
Alex turned towards him.
"Has Jack told you anything?" She asked slowly, beginning to feel even angrier.
"No," Hurley said, eyes widening. "No, I just thought that it might be good. Sorry, it was just an offer."
Alex sighed in relief. She didn't want everyone knowing what happened. It was already embarrassing enough that she was a psychic who could see every bad thing that happened to everyone else ahead of time, but as far as herself was concerned, she was clueless.
"I need something to do anyway," Alex recovered quickly.
"Oh," Hurley sounded disappointed, "mind if I uh..keep you company? We could like..talk..and stuff-" Alex raised an eyebrow, "not like that! I mean, we can just sit here. Or I can go-" Hurley's cheeks were slowly reddening, "yeah, I think I'll go."
"Guys!" A voice called.
Alex and Hurley turned at the call. Boone was heading towards him, out of breath and wearing a shirt full of sweat. They each watched, confused yet concerned, as Boone dropped to the ground beside them, exhausted.
"You'll never guess what I just saw," Boone said, breathing heavily.
Hurley eyed him.
"Dude, I don't think I want to know."
Alex road her eyes.
"Go ahead," she urged.
Boone met eyes with her, just realizing she was here. He looked reluctant to continue, but nevertheless cleared his throat, and spoke up, lowering his voice considering.
"Locke and Rousseau," Boone said, looking from Hurley to Alex. They stared at him, anxious for him to finish. "Kissing."
Alex's eyes widened.
"What?" She exclaimed, fighting to keep her voice down. "Are you serious?"
She never even saw the two together. Her mother never even spoke of Locke before. When did this happen.
"Yeah," Boone said with a laugh, "they looked really..together."
Alex snorted loudly. A few castaways talking near them glared, and then went back to their conversation.
"You know," Boone went on, "like they were meant to be or something. Like Jack and Kate."
"No," Alex said, laughing in disbelief at what she was hearing, "Jack and Kate are meant to be. Those two- my mom and Locke-" she shook her head, there were too many ways to describe what she was trying to say, "they shouldn't even be allowed in the same room."
"It's a good thing we're on the island then, isn't it?" Boone said. "Think about it, he's the lonely hunter, and she's the lonely chic who's been living on an island for six years. Like Jack and Kate. Jack and Rose. Ross and Rachel."
"Hanzel and Grettle," Hurley chimed in.
Boone stared at him.
"What?" Hurley said cluelessly.
Sighing, Boone shook his head.
"So you're actually what, rooting for them?" Alex said, incredulous.
Boone shrugged.
"It was disturbing at first," he admitted, "actually..down right scary, but think about it. They both deserve to be happy, right?"
"They are happy," Alex said, desperate to change Boone's mind, "he's got his hunting thing, and she's got..me."
Alex realized how selfish she sounded, but she couldn't help it. She actually felt furious. Danielle spent sixteen years looking for her, and now that she had her daughter back, at times she didn't even seem to care.
"Are you sure you aren't just jealous?" Boone said.
Alex's mouth fell open.
"I..I.." she struggled to defend herself, "I am not jealous. She can have her own life. It's fine by me."
"But it's either you or him, right?"
Boone seemed to be enjoying himself. Alex, on the other hand, was furious.
"I'm not jealous," she repeated, "why the hell would I be, anyway?"
"Maybe because she's really happy and has a..guy friend..and you..don't," Hurley said slowly, as if he were afraid that Alex would pound him.
She felt like she was being ganged up on, and it made her feel like crying. They had no idea what it was like, they didn't know what was going on. They had no right to accuse her of anything.
"Forget it," Alex said with a huff, spinning back around in her seat and facing the wall.
Her almost-fixed walkman stared up at her as Alex looked down to the ground, resting her elbows on her knees. Sighing, she picked it up, and tried to concentrate on fixing it. But as she tried changing out the batteries for the hundredth time, Alex found herself thinking about what Boone said. Was she jealous? Or was she just really mad? Wasn't that the same thing? Alex shook herself out of it, and tried to get back to the task. She could still hear Hurley and Boone whispering beside her.
"You don't thin they're like..serious..do you?" Hurley said, trying very hard to keep a straight face.
Alex almost threw up.
"That's it," she said, standing up and shoving her walkman into her bag, "I need to go get some air..or a new mind or something. Seriously, grow up."
Hurley and Boone laughed as she walked off, disgusted, but just as she was leaving, a new voice caught her attention.
"I'll meet you tonight then," Locke was saying, "on the beach."
Alex's heart skipped a beat.
"Sure," Danielle replied in her usual quiet voice.
But Alex could detect something in her voice that she was sure no one else could. Danielle sounded like she was holding back something. Like something she didn't want her daughter to know.
Locke smiled at Danielle before leaving, and nearby, Hurley and Boone burst out laughing. Ignoring them, Alex stormed over to her mother.
"Hey," she said briskly, crossing her arms.
"Hello," Danielle replied.
Alex waited for her to say something else. She never did.
"Don't you have something you want to tell me?" Alex said hotly.
She sounded like a snob but she didn't care.
"No," Danielle said quickly.
Too quickly. It was an obvious lie. Alex let out an exasperated sigh.
"I don't believe this!" Alex exclaimed, infuriated. "I thought we were supposed to be having this whole honest relationship thing, and that's we, not just me."
Danielle stared at her blankly.
"Fine," Alex cried, throwing her hands up, "forget it."
Confused, Danielle watched her as she left. She stared at the exit to the caves for a long moment, before glancing around the room, hoping for an explanation. Boone and Hurley, who had been watching the scene intensely, shrugged innocently.
(space)
Jack tried to fight back as he was thrown outside, screaming for Kate, praying for a response, or anything that would signal that she was okay. The sunlight blinded his eyes as he stumbled, and struggled to keep his balance.
"Shut up!" David cried.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jack yelled, fist waving madly.
"Shut the hell up!" David bellowed over Jack, grabbing him by the arm and throwing him against the exterior of the ship.
"You don't even live here, do you?" Jack accused, his balled up fist now shaking uncontrollably. "You have a way off the island, don't you you son of a-"
"Hey," David cut off, grinning, "there's a lady inside."
That sent Jack over the edge. Leaping forward, Jack grabbed the front of David's shirt, sending them both slamming to the ground. He threw his fist forward, sending it bouncing off of David's jaw. The guy didn't even flinch. Instead he rolled over, throwing Jack under him, and Jack turned away just in time to avoid being hit. They wrestled on the ground, exchanging punches, but never actually landing one. Twigs snapped in Jack's ear as he rolled over, already exhausted from what seemed like the never-ending fight.
A nearby muffled scream caught his attention. Kate. Jack froze, his fist in mid air. A thousand thoughts rushed through his mind. Someone else had come after her. She was in trouble. She was hurt. She was scared. She needed him.
A cry of pain escaped Jack, and his right eye immediately closed, feeling heavy and swollen. David grinned proudly to himself above him. Jack hoped that at least Kate heard that, and she would have some reassurance that he was okay, or at least alive. A familiar click brought Jack out of his thoughts. A gun was pointed at him. Not the rifle, but a 9mm. Alex's gone. Jack completely forgot about having it. Furious, Jack mentally kicked himself, cursing under his breath.
"Funny the things a guy can forget when worried about his girlfriend," David commented, "I, for one, find it sweet."
Jack glared at him. Wasting no time, he kicked up, attempting to knock the gun out of David's hand. Reaching out with one hand, David caught Jack's foot with ease, just like he had done earlier with his fist. David threw Jack's leg back, and he flinched in pain at the sound of a muscle popping. His ankle hit the ground with a frightening crack. David grabbed his arm before Jack could recover, and in one quick move, lifted him off the ground and tossed him to the side.
Once again, Jack slammed against the exterior of the ship. Furious with himself for not being there for Kate, for not being able to take control of the situation, Jack swung his fist around, and sent it smashing into the wood. He winced slightly at the throbbing pain that sprung up his arm afterward, but bit back the cry that followed, because Jack knew that whatever pain he was experiencing now could never match the pain Kate was feeling. Jack thought about how scared Kate must be, but he knew she's never admit it.
"Even if I had a way to get off this damn island it wouldn't be enough for us all!" David shouted, grin wiped off of his face. "Everyone here, your people. Not to mention there's no way in hell it would even let us off!"
"It?" Jack repeated, holding his quickly swelling fist in his good hand.
"And we've been here longer than you!" David went on. "Not that that even matters now, because they're all dead! All of them! But not me! I'm not dead!"
He took a step towards Jack, filling up the space in between them. Jack's eyes darted around, looking for the rifle David wasn't holding.
"Why aren't I dead?" He asked Jack, only inches from his face.
His eyes were like fire, unnaturally narrow and dark.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jack finally said, trying to keep from lashing out again.
Maybe David knew something, about what's going on.
"Yeah, like you'd know" David said, his tone lowering significally.
Taking a step back, David began pacing the ground.
"You have no idea what it's like to lose you're entire crew," David's voice cracked a little, "you're friends."
"You have no idea," Jack echoed, "that thing-" he waved towards the jungle, "it killed over half of us. At once."
David looked his way, and Jack could've sworn he saw a flash of sympathy in his eyes.
"Do you know what it is?" Jack asked, taking advantage of David's momentary silence. "That thing out there? How does it work? What makes it..tick?"
David began breathing heavily.
"I don't know," he said quietly, "all I know is that we're in real trouble. You better be thanking the good lord every day you're still here. You're one of the lucky ones."
'Lucky ones'? With all that happened to him over the past five months, Jack hardly considered himself lucky. But what mattered now was that David seemed to have calmed down, at least for the time being. Jack had to take advantage of this.
"Why won't you just let her go?" Jack said, calmly as he could. "Kate. She doesn't have anything to do with this. She doesn't deserve to be hurt."
A moment passed. Jack prayed. David looked like he was actually considering the proposal, and if he did, Jack promised that he would take back what he said about not being lucky. He was lucky, he realized. He had Kate. And he wasn't going to let this creep take that away from him.
"Aw, that's sweet," David said at last.
Instead of his usual simper, David looked angry.
"But you see, that's not the point-" the 9mm was once again aimed at Jack, "because believe me, you'd much rather go this way than the later.
(space)
Kate's eyes watered as she let out another muffled cry. She thought she heard Jack shout, but she couldn't tell.
Please let him be okay, she thought desperately, please!
Bang
Her eyes darted around the room, searching for the source of the noise. The room echoed, so it was hard to detect where it came from.
Bang
A small beam of light shone through the room, straight across from her. Kate let out a sigh of relief. It had to be Jack. He had come to save her. The shelf that was pushed against the door's opening inched forward as someone threw themselves repeatedly against it. There were a few more bangs, and the blockade was pushed free. Kate let herself have a moment of relief before going back to screaming. Maybe it wasn't Jack, and the person would just walk on by. Maybe it wasn't Jack, and the person was there to hurt her. Maybe screaming wasn't such a good idea.
Feet slowly approached her. Dust flew from the old floorboards of the ship with every step they took. Whoever it was seemed skeptical of helping her, and Kate screamed when she saw them take a step back. Then the feet came running.
"Sh!" The person hissed. "Be quiet, will you? What are you tryin' to do, wake the dead?"
Her face fell. It was Sawyer, not Jack, which could only mean one thing: Jack was in trouble. Surely he would've come for her by now if he wasn't.
"Where's Jack?" Kate asked frantically as soon as Sawyer pulled the cloth out of her mouth.
She was breathing heavily in panic. What if he was dead? What would she do?
"How about a 'Thanks for rescuing me, Sawyer. I could've died. I'm now forever in your dept'," Sawyer said sarcastically, trying to keep the mood light.
"Where the hell's Jack?" Kate said, jumping up as soon as she was free from the binds.
Sawyer looked at her, confused and worried.
"I don't know," Sawyer said. "What happened?"
"Jack! He..we were-"
A wave of dizziness swam through her brain, clouding her mind. She had jumped up too quickly. Jack wouldn't of advise it, but Sawyer hadn't thought to.
"You okay?" Sawyer asked, concerned, grabbing her shoulder to steady her.
"Fine," Kate lied, jerking away from his grip, "where's Sayid?"
"Upstairs somewhere," Sawyer said, scanning the ceiling above him, "not exactly Pirates of the Caribbean, huh?"
"Why did you come and not him?" Kate said, ignoring his comment.
"Heard screams," Sawyer said, "he went one way, I went the other."
"And you just happened to find me."
Kate crossed her arms, trying to hide the fact that she was shaking now. Where the hell was Jack?
"I hate to be judgmental, Freckles, but you sound disappointed," Sawyer said, growing furious.
She bit back a small smile at hearing her own nickname. Sawyer was just trying to make the situation as light as possible, like always. He was kind of like Hurley, except he could fight.
"Did you see Jack?" Kate asked, this time more calmly.
"No," Sawyer said hesitantly, knowing it wasn't what Kate wanted to hear. "Sorry."
Kate looked down to the ground to hide the tears that were forming rapidly in her eyes. Sawyer watched her thoughtfully for a moment before continuing, wondering what he should do.
"Who did this to you?" He asked carefully. "Which way did he go?"
He wants to help Jack, Kate thought. Somehow, that thought relieved her of some worry.
"He threw Jack out," Kate said, voice beginning to break, "he's okay for now, but that guy-" she shook her head, "he was strong. He has a rifle."
"Not anymore," Sawyer said with a mischievous smirk.
Sawyer held out an object to her, and Kate sighed in relief when she saw it was the rifle. The guy didn't have it. At least Jack had a fighting chance- literally. But what about Jack's gun? Kate was just now remembering he had it, what about Jack? Would he remember before it was taken?
"Let's go."
Cautiously, Sawyer took a step outside and looked around. The jungle was deadly silent, giving them no clues as to which direction to go in.
"You don't want to do this," a voice pleaded calmly.
Jack. Kate opened her mouth to yell for him, but Sawyer's hand clasped over it to stop her. She struggled, but gave in. It wouldn't be good to provoke whoever was doing whatever to Jack.
"Stay here," Sawyer instructed quietly, rising the gun a little.
Kate stepped forward to protest, but Sawyer put his hand out to stop her. All she could do was watch as Sawyer crept towards the commotion.
(space)
Jack shook his head, quickly thinking, searching his mind desperately for a way out of this. He didn't want to die, and he didn't want Kate to lose him. He didn't want her to have to go through that pain.
"Give the girl my best wishes," David said, "it's a shame, what all's happened to her."
Worrying so much about Kate, Jack forgot about Alex. He couldn't help but to wonder how she would react if he were to die. They had grown close over the pass two months, almost as though they had known each other forever. But what did this guy know about her?
"Sorry about that, mate," David said, "complicated times. Some people just suffer. Tell her I'm terribly sorry. I mean it."
"What the hell are you talking about it?" Jack demanded. "What do you know about her?"
"Just tell her I'm sorry," David said again.
A gunshot fired, sending off a loud popping noise that rang through the air. Jack's heart stopped. His insides went cold. He was about to dropped down in surprise when someone fell on top of him, and sank to the ground. Jack forced himself to look down. David's bleeding, unmoving, body was laying at his feet. His empty stomach churned, and Jack swallowed hard to keep from getting sick. Smoke still mixed in thickly with the air.
He knew someone had to have fired the gun, and he knew it wasn't him or David. Looking up, Jack half-expected to see Kate stand there, the rifle shaking in her hands. Instead it was Sawyer, holding the other gun they brought with them. He was staring at the body, the gun still pointed at it. Sawyer didn't noticed as Jack walked up to him, and lowered the gun. It was a rifle. Jack could tell even from here that the bullet had ripped through David's body, instantly killing him.
"Jack?" A small voice said from behind Sawyer.
Kate. Jack's frozen expression slowly widened into a smile as she stepped out from behind Sawyer. A painfully red mark scarred her cheek, and it crushed Jack to have to look at it. He saw just in time that Kate was running towards him, and Jack scooped her up in his arms, letting her shed tears of joy against his shoulder.
"It's okay," Jack whispered, "you're okay. I've got you."
Jack held on to Kate tightly, relived that she was okay. It reminded him of the night before, when Kate ran from her nightmare. He liked it, being the one to provide comfort.
"You're welcome," Sawyer called out from behind Kate.
Letting out a laugh, Jack looked over Kate's shoulder.
"Thank you," he choked out, barely audible.
He lay his head down carefully against Kate, rubbing her back in small, soothing, circles.
"I'm okay," Kate told him quietly, releasing herself from Jack's hold, "I just..I'm fine."
She was lying, Jack knew, but he didn't want to push her.
"What happened to your eye?" Kate asked, concerned.
Jack winced as Kate reached up, brushing a finger over the bruised skin under Jack's eye.
"It's nothing," Jack said.
He was so worried about Kate that he forgot about it.
"As much as I love a sweet reunion," Sawyer spoke up, "what the hell was all that about?"
Jack looked at him.
"What?"
"'Tell her I'm sorry'?" Sawyer quoted. "He was talking about Alex, wasn't he?"
Kate looked up to Jack, waiting for him to answer along with Sawyer.
"Just forget it," Jack said, "he was delusional. He could've been talking about anyone."
"But you knew what he was talking about," Sawyer said, taking a step towards Jack, "you know something about her. What?"
Jack knew it wasn't his place to say, and he didn't want to break their bond of trust. With all that happened to her, Alex's trust was fragile and vital to her recovering process.
"I can't say," Jack said sincerely, "ask her."
Sawyer scrawled.
"I know you two have this whole buddy-buddy thing goin' on," Sawyer began, "and I think it's great, I really do, but don't I at least get some say here? I was on the raft with her for a week total. Come on, we're practically friends."
"Friends who never talk," Jack pointed out, suddenly feeling defensive of Alex, "you never once even tried to talk to her."
"Got her to stop smoking, didn't I?" Sawyer reminded.
"Congrats," Jack said sarcastically, "how's that going to help her now? She needs people she can trust, people she can count on to be there for her. If she doesn't have that, every lecture on ruined lungs and yellow teeth will mean nothing to her."
Sawyer glared at Jack, but didn't argue.
"Finally!" A relived voice said behind them. "I was worried that- who's that?"
Jack, Kate, and Sawyer turned to see what had stopped Sayid. He found the body.
"Long story," Jack replied.
Sayid studied him closely.
"What happened to your eye?" Sayid inquired.
He looked from Jack's injury to Kate, to the gun in Sawyer's hands. Sayid then bent down, and picked up the 9mm David had been holding. Turning the safety back on, Sayid handed Jack the gun.
"What happened?" Sayid implicated.
"We-" Jack stopped, not feeling like going through the story so soon, "ran into some trouble. But we're fine."
Sayid looked unsure, but nodded in anyway. The four stood in silence, not sure what the next step in the search and rescue process should be. Jack realized that until now, he had forgotten about Charlie and Claire.
"Maybe Sawyer and I should check the upper decks," Sayid finally spoke up, breaking the silence," left doesn't seem like a good idea."
They reluctantly nodded in agreement. None of the three felt like searching for the missing castaways, all exhausted and shook up, but they knew it was important to find Charlie and Claire, preferably before dark.
A loud roar came from the jungle, violently shaking the trees near them. Kate clinged to Jack for balance, while Sayid and Sawyer fell back against the ship. The monster was back.
"Run," Sayid said quietly.
They no longer shouted it, like they were afraid that it would hear them.
"No," Jack protested, "Charlie and Claire."
But Sayid and Sawyer were already halfway down the path. Jack panicked momentarily at the thought of being left on his lone, but a tug at his shirt eased his worries. Kate was still with him. Another roar erupted through the jungle, and Jack knew it wasn't safe to stay. But what if Charlie and Claire were still in there?
"Catch up with Sayid and Sawyer," Jack said, turning to Kate, "stay with them. I'll meet you at camp."
"But-"
Jack cut her off with a quick kiss. He stared at her for a moment, hesitant to leave her. His eyes trailed to the cut on Kate's face, and he reached up, touching it softly.
"Be careful," he whispered.
Kate stared back at him, eyes swollen from crying, and nodded. As she left, the only thing he could think of was: why hadn't he told her he loved her?
Author's Notes: This chapter is shorter than most of mine have been, but I'm trying to make this story as long as possible. And I wanted to get to update tonight. The next chapter may be a little short too, because I just thought this was a good place to leave it off. I'm sorry for the wait, I just haven't been able to get on like I used to. Thank you guys so much for reviewing! You guys rock!
Coming up next, on "In the End":
At last the Shannon setting up Boone thing will be resolved(sorry for the wait on that Chris! I know you were excited about that part:p). Alex and a couple of different people will have a couple of different heart to hearts, Jack will redeem his lack of 'I love you' sayings, and this whole island thing will be resolved. That's right, the entire island. It's quite a big explanation, as explained by Callum. Oh, and that David guy? Have I mentioned that you've seen him before? And I don't mean when he talked to Alex. All of this might not happen next chapter, but it will happen soon.
Thanks again!
Until next time..
October Sky
