In the End
Chapter Nineteen
Author's Note: Okay, stick with me until the end..please! Or at least through the next few chapters..no matter what bad things happen, you just have to see them through until the end.
Disclaimer: The part of that song "All I Want is A Room Somewhere"..uh..My Fair Lady, right? Well, wherever it's from, I don't own it, and I promise I'll make a point to see that musical sometime.
Chapter Nineteen: A Room Somewhere
Shannon scanned the beach in front of her, observing the few castaways who remained. The group was torn in two as to where to live: though the caves were closed in, and Jack and the water was there, the monster was still in the jungle. Even though the beach was calm and serene, there was still a mile walk to the caves each day for water. Shannon stayed at the beach simply because Sayid wanted to stay there. He felt obligated to play the part of leader for the beach-goers, even though Shannon was sure that he would move if she wanted to.
What Shannon was looking for was something she didn't normally search for: a woman. A woman for Boone. Someone to get his mind off of whatever it was he did out there in the jungle everyday, and more importantly, someone who wasn't her. Not many women were left at the beach, so there were few to choose from, but a tanned brunette caught her attention from about a hundred yards away. Shannon ran up to her, trying not to get her hopes up.
"Hi." Shannon greeted, walking up to her, "I don't think I know your name."
"Audrey," the woman replied, and threw a wet shirt over a clothes line. The wind caught it a few times before it was successfully caught on the line.
Audrey and Boone, Shannon couldn't help but to think, "Boone and Audrey Carlyle. Doesn't sound half bad.
"My brother, Boone-" Shannon began, but was cut off by a cry of disgust.
"Ew! Audrey exclaimed. "You two are brother and sister? But I've seen you two make out so many times!"
Shannon's face contorted in anger. Maybe this girl wasn't exactly who she was looking for.
"He's my stepbrother," Shannon corrected hotly, "anyway, he's been kind of..down lately, and I've been asking around, trying to get people to talk to him."
"I'm sure he appreciates it," Audrey said sarcastically, throwing a pair of jeans on the line, "trust me, it's not worth it. Brothers are jerks. They don't want your help."
She definitely didn't like this girl. Shannon didn't even want to know what she'd think about her relationship with Sayid, which was bound to come up soon. Not wanting to go there, Shannon quickly ended the conversation.
"Yeah, well I'm sure he wouldn't want to talk to you anyway," she said coldly, and swirled around.
Stomping off towards the jungle, furious with the way Audrey acted and frustrated with her lack of progress, Shannon didn't noticed when another girl approached her.
"You said you were looking for someone to talk to your brother?" The woman said.
Shannon stopped to let her catch up.
"Hi," the woman said with a smile, holding out her hand, "I'm Kelsey."
Kelsey had a much nicer way about her than Audrey, and she smiled too. That was always a plus. Shannon took her hand.
"Shannon," she offered, "and yeah, I was. You interested?"
She felt guilty, realizing it sounded like she was making a business deal.
"Yeah," Audrey nodded, "I've seen him around. Boone, right? I've always wondered about him. He seems nice, but secretive. Like he's hiding something."
Shannon's face fell. Maybe this girl was too deep for Boone. She didn't want her questioning him all the time, that would only drive Boone away.
"But I'm sure he's great," Kelsey added quickly, "I'd like to meet him."
She gave Shannon a smile. Shannon could tell that Kelsey really wanted her to say yes. Kelsey didn't seem like a bad girl, and maybe dark was just the type of girl Boone needed. Someone to drown themselves in pity with. Shannon smiled back.
"Follow me."
(space)
"Maybe we should go back," Charlie suggested nervously, glancing around the long, dark tunnel.
These kind of tunnels were only supposed to be in movies and tv. Standing at maybe five feet in height, the tunnel curved around the inner earth of the island. Charlie remembered coming here before, looking for Claire with Jack and Sawyer. God that seemed like so long ago. The place only seemed vaguely familiar, but Claire, however, was finding her way around effortlessly.
"No," Claire said, looking around with eyes full of excitement and anxiousness.
Charlie looked down to the ground. He knew the chances were slim that the baby would be well, let alone alive, but he hadn't seen Claire so happy in so long that he couldn't bring himself to confront her.
"This way," Claire said as they reached a lighter part of the tunnel.
The only hope Charlie possessed came from the fact that lighted torches hung off the walls, glowing brightly. Torches that had been there for awhile. This could only mean one thing: someone lived here, or at least came often. And then he heard it. Ever so lightly a soft cry echoed through the tunnel, coming from an adjacent area. Claire's eyes lit up, bursting in excitement. Charlie fought to keep up as Claire ran towards the sound. He remembered watching movies as a boy and seeing children run towards something like that, something that they loved: parents coming home, presents under the tree at Christmas, the overall feeling of relief and rescue.
"Claire!" Charlie called desperately, running after her.
Claire stopped at an opening in the wall. There was no door, no light switch. It was like a cave. The cry grew louder as Charlie approached Claire, who was stopped in the entryway. Charlie's heart fell. Maybe this was all just a joke, a mean joke. He felt ready to kill. But then Claire darted forward into the room, collapsing beside something in the corner: a crib. Claire sobbed in relief as Charlie slowly walked into the room, stunned at what he was seeing.
Everything that was needed to raise a good, healthy baby was in this room: a crib, toys, a rather large diaper bag. Even a heart monitor sat in the room, hooked up to what Claire was now holding in her arms, rocking back and forth. Another machine Charlie didn't recognize was on the other side of the crib, similar to that of a computer.
"What do you think this thing is?" Charlie asked Claire, who didn't respond.
Sitting his arms on the table the computer set on, Charlie gazed into the dark screen, wondering where the keyboard was. He was so caught off guard by his unfamiliar appearance in the screen that he almost forgot about Claire. Guilty, he dropped beside Claire, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"He's beautiful," Claire whispered, gazing down to the infant child in her arms.
"Beautiful?" Charlie snorted. "Boys aren't supposed to be beautiful. They're supposed to be strong and handsome."
"He's just little, Charlie," Claire said with a smile, "and besides, I'm sure with your wonderful parental influence, he'll grow up to be just like his uncle Charlie."
Charlie tried to hide that he was absolutely frightened at the idea of being a parent, especially since his last baby-sitting experience ended with a burnt bowl of chocolate and dead fish in the flower bed. It had been a very long night.
"Uncle Charlie," he mused, "sounds a little bit like Uncle Buck."
Claire let out a laugh.
"How did you get Charlie out of Buck?" She asked, amused.
"I dunno," Charlie shrugged, "how do you get Jimmy from James?"
Claire laughed again, gazing down at her baby boy.
"He has my eyes," Claire whispered proudly.
"And your hair too," Charlie commented, noting the teeny tiny strands of blonde poking through the baby's scalp, "unless he has my hair-" he looked up thoughtfully, "man, wouldn't that be weird?"
Claire smiled, and looked around the room, taking her eyes off the baby for the first time.
"Who do you think's keeping him here?" She wondered out loud. "What do they want with him?"
"I don't know," Charlie said regretfully, wishing he knew the answers she wanted.
Charlie lifted himself off the ground and studied the room. Once again the computer drew to his attention, and he realized he was looking at something he hadn't noticed before: on the screen were dozens of zigzagging green lines, fading together as they crisscrossed over the screen.
"Bloody hell," Charlie muttered to himself as the computer came to life.
"Charlie!" Claire scolded. "The baby."
He ignored Claire's humor. Something wasn't right. He could feel it.
"We should go," Charlie announced quickly, standing up.
"What?" Claire said, alarmed, looking up at him.
"We shouldn't be here," Charlie said, looking around the room nervously as he tugged on Claire's arm.
"Charlie!" Claire cried. "The baby!"
"Claire, I don't think we should be here," Charlie said again.
Claire eyed him.
"Why?"
There was a crash from nearby.
"Let's go," Charlie said, ending the argument.
Claire reluctantly followed Charlie out of the room with the baby held tightly in her arms, grabbing the diaper bag before exciting.
(space)
"Hey, Boonehead!" Shannon called out as she entered the caves, Kelsey following close behind her.
It was almost annoying, the way Kelsey practically breathed down her neck, drawing in quick breaths of nerves. Just like Boone sometimes would. Maybe they were the perfect couple. As she walked into the caves, Shannon saw that Boone was sitting by Hurley. The two seemed to be deep in conversation until Shannon walked in.
"Anyone else find it pathetic that she's still using the same nickname she thought up when she was in seventh grade?" Boone said dully to no one in particular.
"Anyone else find it pathetic that he's still offended by it?" Shannon snapped back.
Boone rolled his eyes.
"What do you want?" He asked, standing up to face her.
"This-" Shannon pulled Kelsey, who was hiding behind her, into Boone's field of view. "Is Kelsey-" she winked at him, "have fun."
With a graceful spin, Shannon left the caves, leaving the two strangers alone. Boone raised an eyebrow.
"What was that all about?" He inquired, puzzled.
The girl Shannon left him with smiled.
"I'm Kelsey," she said smoothly, "you uh..wanna go for a walk?"
Though her name was said with ease, the last part was blurted out. Boone felt a little uneasy, but nevertheless, he offered Kelsey a smile.
"Sure," he said, even though he had no clue what just happened.
After all, what did he have to lose?
(space)
Charlie led Claire through the hallways, staying close to the wall.
"Do you hear something?" Claire asked suddenly, sounding frightened.
As soon as she mentioned it, he could hear a soft buzzing noise coming from nearby. Charlie turned abruptly at the noise, not sure what to expect. Was someone following them? Maybe watching them? The noise grew increasingly louder, and Charlie was sure of one thing: he had to get Claire and her baby out of there. The lights went out. Claire's baby began to cry, and Charlie began to panic. Whirling back around, and Charlie yelped as he bumped into someone. In return, the other person let out a small cry of surprise.
"Jack!" Charlie exclaimed, recognizing the voice.
"Charlie!" A relieve voice replied. "Thank God. We've got to go."
"Yeah, I know," Charlie quickly agreed, "but the lights..what the hell's going on?"
"I don't know," Jack confessed, "but that thing's back, and Kate's out there. We've got to go."
Claire's baby began to cry again. Jack eyes darkened as he looked passed Charlie, to where the baby lay in Claire's arms. As if she was afraid that Jack would strike out and attack her, Claire turned away from him, protectively holding her baby tightly in her arms. Jack cleared his throat, trying to cover up the fact that he didn't know what to think. He was looking at a very alive baby he was told died months ago.
"Where-" Jack finally began, voice uneven.
"A room back there," Charlie cut in, saving Jack from having to struggle to complete the question.
Jack glanced to where Charlie was pointing, only taking his eyes off the baby for that second.
"Did you see anyone?" Jack asked, hoping the answer would be no.
There was no way they'd be able to take out bad gus right now. Not only were they in a dark, unfamiliar, place, but they had the baby in tow now- not to mention Jack was growing anxious. With every moment that passed Jack became more and more worried. Surely if Kate was okay, and the monster was gone, she would've thought to come back to the ship. Maybe deep down, she's afraid of it, Jack thought. There wasn't anything wrong with that, but Jack just hated not knowing.
"No," Charlie said, shaking his head.
Jack let out a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Claire was rocking her baby softly, still glaring at Jack like he was mad.
"I don't want to hurt your baby," Jack assured her, "he's beautiful."
This seemed to relax Claire a bit. It almost seemed as though she didn't even recognize who Jack was.
"Fine," Charlie muttered bitterly under his breath, "accept it when he says it."
Jack didn't waste time wandering what the meaning to that was. The one thing on his mind was getting everyone, including the baby, safely back to camp. But he knew what the logical thing at the moment would be, with all the drama going on, and as much as he didn't like it, he knew he needed to bring the suggestion forward.
"Charlie, can I talk to you for a sec?" Jack asked, already pulling Charlie so that both of their backs were facing Claire.
"Yeah?" Charlie asked, sounding worried.
"What was in the room when you found it?" Jack asked first.
"I dunno," Charlie shrugged "baby stuff. A crib, this bag thing-" he motioned towards the diaper bag that was hanging from his shoulder, "oh, and a heart monitor."
Suddenly all the hope Jack had left for this child died. That wasn't good news.
"You took the baby off the heart monitor?" Jack said darkly, eyes turning cold.
"Yeah," Charlie said blankly, "why, is that a bad thing?"
Jack closed his eyes, trying not to lose it. In his mind, he could hear Kate telling him that everything would be okay. She was safe. The baby would be safe. He was alive and healthy, and would remain that way. Jack would be able to help Claire maintain a healthy life, and everything would be okay.
"It could be," Jack said finally, "listen, I don't want to have to say this, but maybe it would be best if the baby stayed here."
"What?" Charlie hissed, outraged, trying to keep the conversation out of Claire's earshot. "Are you insane? It needs its mother!"
"He needs his mother," Jack corrected, "and I know that, but don't you think they were keeping him here for a reason?"
"Yeah!" Charlie retorted. "To hurt it! God knows what they were doing to him!"
Jack sighed. This wasn't going to be easy, and he hadn't even had to start convincing Claire yet.
"But of all the places on the island, why keep him here?" Jack pointed out. "What about the baby being outside? Near the water? Near sunlight? Maybe that was because that thing's out there- it still is. Maybe they know more about the island than we do."
"But he needs his mother," Charlie said exasperatedly, putting emphasis on each word.
"I can hear you," Claire announced from behind him.
Both the men turned their heads. Jack sighed again, impatient.
"I'm not leaving him," Claire said confidently, "if he can't have a real home, he needs to at least have me."
The words hit Jack hard, and every plausible reason for what he was trying to do didn't matter anymore. All Claire wanted for the passed moths was to get her baby back. She just wanted to be the mother she was supposed to be. Jack's own experiences with child separation came back to mind, and he couldn't justify himself at all. If he forced Claire to do this, then he would be just as bad as Sarah. He couldn't sit by and watch another parent suffer through a life without their child.
"All right," Jack agreed, "but there's no way we can take the baby back the way we came."
"Then we'll go the beach route," Charlie said, eyes lighting up.
"The beach?" Claire repeated, obviously not fond of the suggestion. "Isn't that longer?"
Charlie and Jack exchanged glances.
"Maybe Sayid knows a path," Jack suggested, "but-"
"We can figure it out," Charlie said suddenly, startling Jack speechless, "I know you want to get back to Kate, right?"
He did, but that didn't mean he wanted Claire and Charlie trudging through the jungle alone with the baby.
"Trust me," Charlie seemed to be in a sudden hurry to get Jack out, "I can get us home."
Jack glanced towards Claire. She also seemed surprised at Charlie's sudden enthusiasm, but didn't protest. Jack knew that time was wasting: Kate or one of the others could be hurt somewhere, so he gave a small nod, already regretting his decision. Charlie grinned.
"Thanks mate," he said, clamping a hand down on Jack's shoulder, "see you soon."
(space)
"I can't believe she actually did this!" Boone said, infuriated.
After walking for only ten minutes, Kelsey blurted out the reasoning behind her sudden meeting with Boone.
"She was only worried about you," Kelsey pointed out, "it was thoughtful."
Boone snorted.
"Even when she's concerned she has to get people to do her dirty work," he said bitterly.
He notice Kelsey looked hurt. Boone reminded himself that this wasn't all her fault. She seemed like a great girl, though easily manipulative. The perfect person to play the protagonist in another one of Shannon's schemes.
"No offense," he added quickly.
Kelsey shrugged.
"I'm used to it."
They walked on a few more paces. He tried to avoid Kelsey's eyes, which were watching his every move, by concentrating what was really important at the moment: the code. He still didn't know exactly what it meant, and Boone wasn't so sure that he wanted to go running back to Callum so soon.
"Um.." Kelsey began, breaking the silence with a nervous laugh, "okay, this is going to seem really weird, but-" she stopped, suddenly acting very bubbling as she pulled on Boone's arm to stop him as well, "can I kiss you?"
Boone's eyes widened. What relationship in hell was Shannon trying to get him into?
"What?" Boone exclaimed, speaking his thoughts.
"I know you probably don't really want to be with me," Kelsey began, smiling to herself as she looked from the ground to Boone, "but I just..you know..want to see."
"Want to see what?" Boone said, disgusted.
"If I even want a boyfriend!" Kelsey finished, excitement making her giddy. "Just let me kiss you, and I'll know."
"No," Boone said flatly, taking a step back from Kelsey, "I'm sorry. Find someone else to use for your sick little experiment."
Kelsey frowned.
"But.." she pouted, doing a perfect impersonation of Shannon, "I really wanted to get to know you too. I mean, we could at least be friends, right?"
"Wrong," Boone said. For the first time in his life, he was having no trouble setting up a break up with a girl. Then again, he never really got that chance. "I've got to go sort out a real experiment."
He didn't meant to say it out loud, but it came out anyway. Oh well, Boone thought, she'll probably get the wrong picture anyway. Boone stormed off before Kelsey even processed what he said.
"What?" She called after him when she finally did.
"Never mind!" Boone yelled back.
For once, he was thankful he had the hatch to go to.
(space)
Jack ran through the woods, calling Kate's name, desperately wanting an answer.
"Kate!" He called out, cupping his hands around the sides of his mouth to make an echoey effect. "Kate!"
"Jack!"
The cry came distantly, barely audible, but still enough for Jack to hear it. Jack let out a sigh of relief, grateful enough to cry.
"Kate!" He yelled back.
Jack waited for the reply, the pit in his stomach tightening into a fine knot. A sudden ruffle of leaves caught Jack's attention like the sound of a gunshot. He waited what seemed like forever for the source of the noise to make it's way through the bush, and at last Kate stumbled out. Jack ran to her, swooping her into a hug before checking her for injuries. Kate held onto him, sniffling into Jack's shoulder.
"Thank God," he said, reluctantly pulling away, only to make sure she was all right. Jack ran a hand through Kate's untamed hair. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you again?"
"No," Kate said, shaking her head. She was shaking. "No, he..it was that thing. It came, and Jack-"
"Jack!" A relieved voice exclaimed from behind them.
Jack turned to see Sayid approaching them. He was covered in mud, but other than a few minor scratches on his arm, Sayid looked fine.
"That thing-" Sayid began, but was cut off by Jack.
"I know," Jack said, "are you okay?"
"Fine," Sayid replied hastily, "but when that thing came, Sawyer and I got separated."
Jack's eyes narrowed. He had a feeling that what Sayid was about to tell him hand something to do with why Kate seemed so shaken. Not that she didn't have the right to be.
"I jumped out of the way," Sayid continued, "but Sawyer-" he stopped, hesitant to go on, "Sawyer didn't even see it coming. That thing, I think it got him."
Kate grabbed on tightly to Jack's arm. He could feel her tense up beside him. Jack put a hand on her arm, though he was equally stricken by the news.
"I think I heard him scream," Sayid finished quietly.
A long pause of silence followed. Jack was speechless. He and Sawyer weren't on the best of terms, but no one deserved to die. Even though the moment of rage had come over him as he beat Sawyer to a pulp only a week earlier, Jack knew that deep down he'd never be able to kill him cold-blooded, and now that things calmed down, he didn't think Sawyer deserved to die.
Not only were things getting better between Jack and Kate, but Jack knew that Sawyer and Rebecca were certaintly more than just friends. Oh God, he thought, Rebecca..he didn't want to have to do this. He couldn't tell her Sawyer was dead. Beside him, Kate let out a small whimper. She was clearly trying to hold herself together. Deaths were never easy for Jack either, but he knew that Kate always had some sort of a friendship with Sawyer. Jack pulled Kate closer to him, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"It's okay," he told her quietly, though he wasn't so sure of it himself, "as far as I'm concern, no one's dead until we found a body."
Kate's head was buried into Jack's shoulder, enabling him to turn around, but he was still able to hear Sayid behind him.
"He's right," Sayid spoke up, "we don't know anything for sure."
Kate didn't hear them. Jack knew she was breaking down, and later on would be embarrassed about it, no matter what the circumstances were. Wrapping another arm around her, Jack turned Kate away so that Sayid couldn't see her, giving her her privacy.
"I never got to say I was sorry," Kate whispered into Jack's shoulder in sobs.
Jack looked at her in surprised.
"What were you sorry for?" Jack asked curiously.
"For ruining his life."
Jack was startled by Kate's answer. When Kate had the affair, Jack never thought of it as ruining Sawyer's life too. Maybe in some ways, it did. People on the island would have an even worse view on him afterwards, which would mean everyone would loose trust in him. Whether or not Sawyer ever got the chance to realize it, trust was a very precious thing.
"I'm sure he forgave you," Jack said, knowing Kate was looking for reassurance, "he wouldn't of wanted you to think like that."
Sayid watched the two, admiring how Jack was able to calm Kate down, despite his own feelings towards the situation.
"I'll look for him," Sayid offered. He knew that Jack and Kate would want to- need to- be together right now. "You two should go back to camp."
Jack nodded, thinking along the same lines of Sayid.
"Thanks," he said, reluctantly loosening his hold on Kate.
But as soon as she dropped her arms, her hand immediately feel into his, squeezing it tightly. His hand began to sting, but Jack ignored it, knowing it was a comfort to Kate.
"Are you okay with going back?" Jack asked Kate, brushing Kate's hair away from her face.
Kate nodded, shaking her head so that her hair fell back into place. Jack realized what she was doing: trying to hide the mark David's fist made. He reached up to touch it, but Kate quickly forced his hand back down.
"If you ever need to take a break," Jack said to her, "tell me, I mean it."
Kate nodded again, trying her best to avoid Jack's eyes, which were desperately trying to meet her. When they failed, Jack forced himself to look away, afraid he might be making Kate nervous. Jack cleared his throat.
"I guess we'll head out," Jack said, turning back to Sayid.
Sayid stepped forward as he nodded, and put a hand on Kate's shoulder.
"I'll find him," Sayid promised, "we at least want a body to bury."
Jack figured Sayid didn't mean to word it that way, but he could see where he was getting at. At least they were considerate enough to bury him. Sawyer deserved it. Kate would be thinking that. Jack ushered Kate towards the path that would lead him back to camp, putting an arm around her shoulder again.
"And Jack!" Sayid called after him. Jack turned back around. "Tell Shannon I'm okay-" he paused thoughtfully, "and that I love her."
Jack forced out a half-smile, and nodded, trying not to think of what was happening, and what he would have to do.
Author's Note: Okay, I know this also wasn't as long as normal, but I wanted that cliffy..and yes, I said cliffy. Who knows if Sawyer's really dead. Oh, and by the way, the thing Jack was talking about having to do was telling Rebecca and everyone what was going on. Sorry for cutting that plot with Boone and Kelsey so short, but they might not be completely done with. Boone just needs to think about the code for now. Thanks so much for the reviews! You guys rock!
Coming up next, on "In the End":
A pretty angsty chapter, I'm not sure if it's in this next one or not, but Callum will soon explain the whole island to you. But in this next chapter, Jack will definitely have to tell Rebecca about Sawyer- and consider the possibility that he's dead. But secretly, Rebecca has something else on her mind..that has to do with Sawyer too.
Thanks again!
Until next time..
October Sky
