In the End

Chapter Twenty-Four

Disclaimer: "The Yankee Doodle Boy" was written and composed by George M. Cohan. Why would I need to use these lyrics? Be afraid:-p

Chapter Twenty-Four: Swan Song

"Rise and sine, dudes!"

It was the second time that Jack had been unwilling awakened. With a groan he forced his eyes open to find Hurley smiling at him and Kate, who was still asleep beside him. He noticed that his arm was wrapped around her, and Kate's hair had engulfed her face, draping over Jack's arm. Carefully he pulled his arm away, and brushed the hair away from Kate's face. He let his muscles tense for a moment, and then relaxed them, a trick he learned from many years of insomnia.

"Go away," Jack muttered to Hurley, closing his eyes again.

Hurley laughed.

"Dude, you gotta eat sometime," he said, "you two haven't eaten in two days and trust me, I checked."

"As flattered as I am," Jack said with a chuckle, "I can take care of myself."

"Sure thing," Hurley said with a grin. Apparently he thought Jack would reconsider. When he didn't, Hurley let out an exasperated sigh. "Come on, dude, don't make me do that 'look me in the eye and tell me you're not lying' thing, I suck at that." Jack laughed. "Don't tell me you're not worried about Kate."

The mention of Kate's name made him stop, and turned on his side to watch her sleep. Hurley was right, he couldn't even remember what the last thing he had to eat was, and he was beginning to worry about Kate as well.

"All right," Jack finally agreed, "give me a minute."

When Hurley finally left, Jack let out a sigh of relief. Yes, he was starving, but getting up didn't seem to be in his mind's vocabulary at the moment.

"Who was that?" Kate mumbled from beside him.

Normally when she woke up Kate would breathe in deeply, gladly welcoming a new day, unlike most, who cringed at the thought of another day in the island. Now, however, Kate awoke with a groan, just like Jack, and hid her face into her arms, trying to block out the light.

"Hurley," Jack replied, stroking her hair, "he wants us to come eat."

"Tell him to stuff it," Kate muttered bitterly into her arm, "and stop doing that."

Jack dropped his hand, smiling a little. He'd never seen Kate grumpy before. It was a little like seeing Locke in shorts: you just couldn't picture it.

"We should eat," Jack said wisely, "we need to build up our strength for our next kidnapping."

"I guess that should be in about twenty-four hours, right?" Kate joked lightly.

Jack chuckled.

"Come on," he said, giving Kate a little shove, "let's go."

"You go," Kate mumbled, "I'll sleep."

"Yeah," Jack said thoughtfully, "but you see, around these guys, we're kind of like a two-for-one deal."

"And it sucks," Kate said tiredly.

"Just when you think she loves you.."

"Fine!" Kate grumbled, rolling over. "You better enjoy your damn food."

"That I will," Jack replied happily.

With a smile Jack lifted his head, only to immediately fall back. He groaned, and brought a hand to his face. Slowly he began messaging the sides of his head, closing his eyes to block out the little cave light that now seemed suddenly so much brighter.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked him with a yawn, placing a hand on his arm.

"I can't lift my head," Jack muttered, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up a second time.

Kate's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?" Kate asked, unsure to think that he was just playing around or serious.

"I mean I can't sit up," Jack said, annoyed, "my head..it's heavy or something."

Kate laughed.

"It's called a hangover, Jack," Kate said, slapping his shoulder, "when was the last time you were drunk, anyway?"

"The day of the crash," Jack admitted. Kate raised an eyebrow, almost hurt, and Jack knew why. That was the day they met. "That was only a few hours after I found out about my father. And I..didn't handle it very well." He gave Kate a weak smile. "At least, not for someone like me anyway."

Kate smiled sadly, and looked down, and realized for the first time that her hand was resting on Jack's knee. She quickly moved away, but blushed when she caught Jack looking at where it had once been.

"So," Jack said, staring up at the ceiling, "how do I do this?"

"Oh," Kate said with a snort, "is that how you see me then? Shouldn't you be asking Sawyer about hangovers?"

"Hey, I was just asking-"

"Forget it," Kate said, rolling her eyes, "if you could save a life this morning you can get up now. Come on."

She held a hand out, and Jack reluctantly took it. He let her help him sit up, groaning as he did.

"See?" She said with a smile when he was fully-upright, rubbing his head in pain. He glared at her, but Kate's look, bright with her smile, softened him. She put her hands gently on either side of his head, and tilted it forward slightly, giving him a small kiss on the forehead. Kate paused there for a second, and said quietly: "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Yeah?" Jack said, not quite ready to admit defeat. "Well, it's your fault anyway."

"My fault?" Kate snorted in disbelief. "You're the one who was all 'let's get drunk in this tent that we can barely fit in'."

"We wouldn't have even been in that tent if you would just move into the caves," Jack pointed out defensively.

"I was fine at the caves!" Kate exclaimed with a laugh. She knew Jack was just playing around with her. "You're the one who made the date, so therefore, it's your fault. Case closed."

Jack chuckled, but didn't argue.

"So what did I do anyway?" Jack asked her, putting on his shoes. They were the ones Kate gave him, and fairly new; he still had to loosen the strings to get them to fit right. "You know, I've been getting these weird looks from everyone all day."

Kate laughed a little bit too loudly at that, and quickly put a hand over her mouth to silence it.

"What?" Jack demanded, suddenly feeling nervous. "What did I do?"

"Stripped off your shirt and ran around in your underwear singing "Yankee Doodle"," Kate replied in one breath, and immediately looked down to the ground as she started to laugh again.

Jack looked horrified.

"No, seriously," he said. His voice was shaking slightly. In college he heard tales of stupid things people did when they were drunk, but he never believed them.

"Sorry Jack," but Kate didn't sound sorry at all, "I tried to stop you, but.."

"You decided it'd just be better to laugh at my misery?" Jack shot.

"It was funny," Kate said, giggling, "you seemed to enjoy it."

"I was drunk!" Jack cried out, only making Kate laugh even more.

"Okay, okay," she said, trying to calm herself down, "it wasn't that bad, and no one saw you anyway." Kate paused, thinking. "Well, maybe Charlie."

"Oh, that's just perfect!" Jack said. "He and Hurley are like soul brothers or something, and we both know Hurley can't keep a secret."

"Aw, that's mean," Kate said. She finally stopped laughing.

"You're the one to talk about being mean," Jack mumbled miserably.

"Aw, don't worry," Kate said with a smile. She gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Look at the brightside, at least you don't have to embarrassed yourself on tv. You already know you can't sing."

Jack glared at Kate, whose eyes were now twinkly.

"Cute," he snapped sarcastically. He glanced towards the entrance to the main caves; Jack could've sworn he heard laughter coming from outside. "I'm not going out there."

"Is poor Jack embarrassed?" Kate teased in a mocking tone.

"So what did you do, anyway?" Jack inquired, ignoring her comment. Kate stopped smiling, which caused Jack to grin. "Come on, fess up."

"I think I'll just go get us some food," Kate said quickly, slowly getting to her feet, "we can just stay and here and eat."

"Ah," Jack said, "the truth comes out."

Kate's cheeks flushed a bright pink, and she looked to the ground, hiding her embarrassed expression, sulking.

"Don't worry," Jack said in mock reassurance, "whatever it was, remember, only Charlie saw it."

He gave Kate a wink, and Kate launched a dirty sock towards him. It bounced off Jack's head, and he grabbed it in pain. Kate grinned.

"You still hungry?" She asked him.

"Yeah," Jack admitted. He glanced again towards the exit. "You think it's safe?"

"Since Hurley's the one who told us to come eat," Kate said thoughtfully, "probably not."

She and Jack exchanged sympathetic smiles before finally getting up. Kate grabbed a light jacket on the way out, and wrapped it around her, feeling cool. Right away, they were greeted by Sayid, who was hurrying out of the caves.

"'Morning," he offered swiftly, moving out of their way with a smirk.

Kate glanced towards Jack, raising an eyebrow.

"He woke me up earlier," Jack explained.

He knew she was wonder how Sayid would know, he was around less and less, just like Boone and Locke. Before Jack and Kate had a chance to escape from the caves, a shadow appeared behind them, and a voice began singing softly in Jack's ear..

"I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, a Yankee Doodle do or die.."

Jack swirled around, shoving Charlie away.

"Knock it off," Kate said to Charlie, crossing her arms.

"Yeah," Jack spoke up, "that's not even the right song."

"Really?" Charlie said, sounding surprised. "That's what I heard."

Jack glared at Kate, who quickly looked away innocently.

"Dude," Hurley said from beside Charlie, laughing, "you need voice lessons."

Jack was growing angry, but he managed to hold it in, and just let them insult him. They were only joking, anyway.

"You know," Charlie said mischievously, "we should've gave him another tattoo. You know, like those that have Cupid with the arrow?"

"Dude, that would've been awesome!" Hurley exclaimed.

"Or we could've just drawn a pony," Charlie joked. He gave Jack a slap on the shoulder, grinning. "Don't worry mate, you know we love you."

"Sure," Jack grunted bitterly.

By now other residence of the caves were walking by, all snorting under their breath. Jack watched them coldly as they passed.

"Leave them alone," someone scolded behind Jack and Kate said.

They turned to find Claire, bouncing Aaron in her arms, glaring at Charlie..

"Aw, come on, Love," Charlie said innocently, cooly sliding towards Claire, "we were only joking, Jack knows that."

He kissed Claire on the cheek, still grinning.

"Let's go," Jack said, still sounding miserable, "I'm starving."

"Hold on," Kate said, pulling back when Jack took her hand, "I forgot to get something."

Jack raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. He gave her a quick kiss goodbye.

"You're on my list," he said, pointing to Charlie.

"Ohhh," Charlie teased, waving his hands in the air like he was impersonating a ghost, "I'm scared now."

Claire slapped him on the shoulder, and both Jack and Kate snorted.

"Dude, I feel left out," Hurley said sulkingly, eyeing both couples.

"Aw, come here," Charlie said, with a grin so wide it could've fallen off his face. He grabbed Hurley's arm, playfully pulling him towards him.

"Dude, get away!" Hurley exclaimed in horror, jerking away from Charlie and literally scampering away.

The four of the burst out laughing, and Jack decided that he didn't feel bad about being picked on anymore. All it was was a horrible flashback from school, that was it.

"I'll meet you at the beach?" He heard Kate asked.

Jack pulled himself away from his thoughts.

"What?" He said, trying to process what she was asking. Jack blinked. "Yeah, sure." Glancing around the caves, he noticed the running waterfall, vacant of visitors. "Actually, I'll wait up for you, I should probably get some water for the people at the beach. Rebecca'll need some."

Kate smiled, looking uncertain.

"Sure," she nodded, and disappeared into the caves.

Jack watched until he couldn't see her anymore, and only turned away when he realized time was getting away. He bent down next to the water, and grabbed some empty bottles that were sitting next to the small pond.

The water below him sparkled in the light dancing out of the cracks in the cave walls, and Jack stopped when he spotted his reflecting between the tiny ripples. His expression was, to say the least, depressing. Wrinkles were beginning to form across his foreheads, and bags continued to developed under his tired eyes. He was exhausted. No matter how much sleep he got, Jack always seemed to maintain a stable sense of weariness. It was what his father called the weakest link of personality. It would only stand out only if you messed up, otherwise it could be packaged away. Only with Jack, it was always there.

"Ready to go?" Kate asked happily from behind her.

Jack stood, turning, surprised at Kate's sudden change in personality. She was still smiling, as she was when she left her, but now it seemed more forced. Even in her eyes, Jack could tell that Kate was hiding something.

"Sure," he said, taking the few bottles he just realized he filled and placing them in his back, "let's go."

(space)

"You can't do that," Alex declared sharply, staring down at Danielle's pile of cards.

Danielle looked at them quizzically.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because," Alex said, as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world, "it doesn't add up."

Danielle looked as if though she didn't have a clue as to what she was talking about, and Alex sighed.

"Look, if you use your three of diamonds-"

"Looks like you've got a good game going," Charlie complimented, approaching them.

He was holding Aaron in his arms and grinning.

"I'm winning by fifty bucks," Alex boasted proudly.

"Fifty?" Charlie said with a simper. "That's nothing."

"That's what I told her," Hurley said from the ground next to the two.

"Yeah, well a fifty's a lot for someone who makes money playing songs on the streets," Alex said, smiling sadly as she recalled her old life. She missed it, even though it was a horrible way to make a living financially. Without a high school diploma she knew her chances of getting a good job were slim, so Alex decided that music was the only thing she had going. Not that she didn't love music, it was really the only thing that ever kept her going. It set her apart from the world. She could write things and no one but herself could ever really know what it meant.

"She's got a point there," Charlie said, carefully sitting down with Aaron. Aaron squirmed in his sleep, but remained silent. Charlie sighed in relief. "But try living in England with the biggest rockers in the world. Honestly, who are people going to pick, Driveshaft, or the Stones?"

"True," Alex agreed, "but try living in New York with you eighteen year old boyfriend as a college dropout."

"Impressive," Charlie said, nodding in approval.

"Anyone want to hear my story?" Danielle spoke up quietly.

Alex and Charlie looked up from the game in surprise. Danielle usually wasn't the one to speak out from the group.

"Sure," both said in unison.

"When I was twenty I went out on my own," Danielle began, "I didn't want to go to school, so I looked more practical lines of work-" she threw down a card more forcefully than she had been before, "I ended up joining a science team with fifteen drunken men."

"Were they French?" Charlie asked, interested.

Danielle looked up at him.

"Yes," she replied, sounding almost irritated, another quality that wasn't like the normal-Danielle.

"Sounds awesome," Charlie said.

"Not when you're pregnant," Danielle disagreed.

"You were pregnant at twenty?" Alex said in disbelief.

"I was pregnant at twenty-five," Danielle corrected. She stared down at her card, watching it as she placed it on top of the one already on the sand, glaring at it as though all the pain that had been inflicted upon her was its fault. "You two were lucky, you had easy work."

Both Charlie and Alex had fair arguments, but neither brought them up. They had a feeling that Danielle's statement went deeper than the differences between calculating measurements and playing a chord. Alex realized that she was still holding a card in her hand, and put it down: a four of diamonds.

"My brother was a drug addict," Charlie chimed in over the silence. The three of him turned to him, surprised by the sudden comment. "I mean, that's what got me on drugs..was on drugs, I'm not any more. I'm clean, I swear!" Alex raised an eyebrow. "But I mean, that has to be hard, right?"

Alex shrugged. Beside her, Hurley looked like he just realized something.

"I won the lottery," he said suddenly.

The attention was immediately turned to him.

"Seriously!" He exclaimed. "And the money was like, cursed or something."

"Sure," Charlie said, smirking, "so when we finally get off this rock, you can buy it and dedicate some memorial to us, right?"

Hurley shrugged.

"If you want."

At that moment the skies opened up, casting down hard,slick drops of rain, one after another, chasing each other until they hit the ground in echoing splatters. Cards were grabbed and soon the space were cleared, and the four of them ran for cover underneath a tarp. Once under the shelter, Alex bent over, resting her hands under her knees to catch her breath, in shock of the sudden rainstorm. It was funny how weather worked on the island, it was uncontrollable. Or maybe it was controlled. No one could really knew.

"It's really coming down!" Charlie yelled over the rain. His hand was over the baby's head.

(space)

Jack and Kate looked up in disbelief at the rain.

"Great," Jack said, throwing his hands up.

A few yards away, Rebecca fluttered awake to find something blue flapping above her. The material slipped, falling down to her, covering her legs like a blanket.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Rebecca muttered wearily. "Bury me?"

"You better be grateful for this, Sweetcheeks," Sawyer said. He was struggling to tie a tarp to a pole. "You're just lucky I didn't want the rain to ruin that pretty little head of hair of yours."

Rebecca managed a weak smile, but Sawyer was grinning widely above her.

"How long have I been asleep?" She noticed Sawyer finally got the tent fixed. He stepped down from the suitcase he had a foot propped up on.

"Couple of hours," Sawyer told her, "wish I could sleep like that."

He dropped down to the ground beside her, letting his arms rest over his knees.

"You feel okay?" He asked her, looking down at her in concern.

Rebecca looked up to him, meeting his eyes. She held his gaze for a moment before shifting weight, turning to her side, wincing in pain.

"A little better," she said.

Sawyer looked up, scanning the beach, and noticed Jack and Kate standing in the middle of the rain, talking.

"Hey!" Sawyer called over to them, fighting the pattering of the rainstorm.

Jack and Kate turned at once. They actually looked annoyed at being interrupted.

"Get the hell outta the rain!" He yelled to them.

The two ran over, and Jack put a hand on Kate's back to help her find her way around the clutter that was Sawyer's camp.

"Thanks," Kate said gratefully. She glared at Jack. "He didn't want to walk back in the rain."

"You're the one that was saying 'Just wait it out'," Jack shot back.

"Yeah, well.." Kate trailed off, looking around the beach desperately for an excuse.

Jack chuckled in triumph, and looked around the tent. His eyes fell on Rebecca, who was still laying down, only half-awake.

"How do you feel?" He asked her sympathetically.

"Ain't you lucky?" Sawyer said to Jack with a grin. "Like killin' two birds with one stone."

"Don't mind him," Rebecca said to Jack. She was surprised to find that it was now easier to talk than before. "I'm okay, I guess." Her eyes met Jack's, and a familiar moment passed in between them. That moment between doctor in patient, where the patient knew this was it. "Did I have a heart attack?"

Jack's eyes softened sympathetically.

"Yeah," he told her quietly, "I think you did."

There was a long pause, where the only thing that could be heard was the rain, which continued to fall heavily against the tarp, whirling around them in a violent wind.

"But I'm only twenty-eight," Rebecca said. She was confused. Heart attacks didn't run in her family. She didn't smoke, or even drink. She had always been pretty risk-free, even as a teenager. "Why.."

"I don't know," Jack confused. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Just hang in there, okay? I have a feeling you'll be fine."

Jack smiled, and Rebecca half-heartily returned it. Suddenly the beach was quiet again, and the group looked out of the tarp. People were starting to emerge from shelters, looking around as though they were in a daze.

"We better go," Jack said, turning to Kate.

Kate snapped out of a reverie she was in, and nodded.

"Sure," she said quietly, and followed Jack out.

(space)

Alex looked up to the sky as the rain slowed to a stop, letting sprinkles drop on her face. She blinked, and studied the sky. Gray shadows were painted over the horizon, highlighted by thick black lines of dust. It looked like dust, anyway. The sky made the entire atmosphere seemed sad, yet familiar, somehow. She gaze up to the clouds, trying to think of what it reminded her of. And then she remembered: death. That's what it looked like. Curiously, she glanced to the others under the tarp that was over them, and wondered if they saw it too.

"Hey," Charlie's voice broke her away from her thoughts, "want to go for a walk?"

It took Alex a moment to fully understand what Charlie was asking. Aaron was still bouncing in his arms, and amazingly, still sleeping soundly.

"Sure," Alex replied, though she couldn't see why Charlie, of all people, would want to pull her aside. Maybe it was about music.

She followed Charlie down the beach, keeping her eyes on the baby, carefully watching it.

"So.." she said, sticking her hands in her pockets. She realized quickly that she was wearing a skirt, not jeans, and dropped her hands. Wearing dead people clothes didn't exactly make her comfortable, so she took as less as possible. "What'd you want?"

"You're psychic, right?" Charlie asked her, though she knew he already knew the answer.

"Yeah," Alex eyed him.

He stopped walking, and turned around. Charlie was, for once, no longer smiling, but looked serious.

"Claire's worried, you know, about the baby," Charlie hesitated before going on, "and it's future."

Suddenly Alex understood what this was about. Charlie was wanting some kind of reading for the baby. He wanted her to tell him that Aaron would be fine, and grow up healthily, off the island. He wanted to hear that Aaron would live a normal life, go to a normal school, and would have great friends that would help get him through life. Then he'd get older, graduate college, go to school, and get married. He wanted to hear that Aaron would have a normal life, and Alex didn't know that she could tell him that.

Charlie noticed the skepticism on her face, and shook his head.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "I shouldn't have. I'll just-"

"No," Alex said, cutting him off, "it's..it's fine." She caught a strand of hair before it could wrap around her face, and pulled it back, placing it behind her ear. "I understand."

Charlie nodded, but neither made another move. At last Alex stuck out her hands.

"I guess..give him here.

She swallowed her nerves as she felt Charlie carefully lower Aaron into her arms, and she looked down at the life in her hands. He was beautiful. Definitely possessing Claire's eyes and hair, Claire had a feeling that he'd be a momma's boy. Maybe. Alex studied the boy, placing a hand on its head.

"What's that for, better reception?" Charlie asked jokingly.

He sounded nervous, so Alex gave him a reassuring smile.

"He's beautiful," Alex complimented, and looked up at Charlie, "he'll be fine."

Charlie grinned. He couldn't of looked happier.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

She handed Aaron back to Charlie, who smiled down at him.

"Did you hear that?" He asked the baby. "You'll be okay."

Alex couldn't help but to smile. Charlie thanked her again, and then made some excuse to head back to camp. She had a feeling that Claire put him up to this.

"Cute kid," someone behind her complimented.

She turned, and saw Sawyer bent down in the low tide.

"Weren't you just with Rebecca?" She asked, confused.

"What can I say," Sawyer said, flashing a smile, "I'm a man of mystery."

Alex rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms.

"So you doin' palm readings now?" Sawyer asked her, drying his hands on his jeans. "Mind if you do mine? I'd love to see what kind of coconut I'll be eatin' this afternoon."

Alex snorted, and let her mind trail elsewhere. She gazed around, her eyes diverting to the peak of the island, standing high above the trees and jungle.

"Somethin' on your mind?" Sawyer asked.

He was approaching her now, but when he reached her, he just plopped down into the sand. Alex looked down at him, and for a moment was confused. She was feeling something for Sawyer, and it took her a moment to recognize it as sympathy. But why would she feel sympathy towards him?

"Had an interesting conversation with the Doc and his kidnapper the other day," Sawyer announced out of nowhere, "he mentioned you."

"Jack?" Alex asked, inviting herself to sit down next to him.

"Nah," Sawyer shook his head, "the other guy."

Sawyer pulled out a cigaret and lit it. She couldn't help but to notice that over the past few days, Sawyer had been smoking more than usual.

"Talked about you like he knew ya," Sawyer went on, "kept apologizing'."

Alex's eyes narrowed.

"For what?" She asked quietly, her voice shaking so hard she was sure her voice box would crack.

Sawyer shrugged.

"Hell if I know," he turned to her, with that mischievous smirk of his, "but I've got a feeling you do."

Alex stared at him for the longest moment, frightened of him for the first time. He was actually trying to force something out of her. Why had she even stopped to talk to him? She swallowed hard, because she knew what he wanted to talk about: Kyle. For one, no one ever knew why he just suddenly disappeared. Rumors started that he was eaten by the monster, so Alex, Jack, Sayid, and Danielle went along with it.

"I..I don't know what you're talking about," she lied. It was a horrible, obvious lie.

"You sure about that?" An ash dropped from the cigaret into the sand. "I've been wonderin' myself where that guy you were with ran off to. What was his name..Kyle?"

From the way Sawyer said it, she knew he knew exactly what he was talking about. He was torturing her on purpose.

"You heard," Alex said quietly, "he was eaten."

"Sure," Sawyer said with a simple shrug, "but take it from someone who knows, lyin' ain't recuperation'."

She met is eyes, her entire body shaking. His eyes were dark, haunted, and she knew that unfortuently he wasn't lying. As she stared at him, Alex contemplated their friendship, wondering if she could trust him. He wasn't there that night, but then again, she didn't exactly go to him. Sayid was only there by coincidence, a lucky coincidence. She remembered what all Jack taught her about traumatic experiences and getting over them. Part if it was accepting what happened, just like death.

"I.." Alex hesitated, reluctant to go on. She didn't want like being forced to remember it, or anything that had happened on the island, for that matter. "He..he just wasn't a good guy, okay?"

Sawyer seemed to get the picture pretty quickly. She was thankful for that, but still looked down to the ground in embarrassment. His eyes darkened, and she began thinking that maybe telling him wasn't the best thing to do. She looked at Sawyer as someone who would be big on revenge.

"He's dead," Alex said quietly, after a long pause, "just..leave it at that-" she looked up at him, meeting his eyes again, "please."

Sawyer swallowed; that obviously wasn't his plan.

"Fine," Sawyer agreed, "but if anyone so much as lays a hand on you-"

"I know, I know," Alex said with a chuckle, "I'll let you chase them around the beach with a stick or something. I got the same thing from Jack."

"Yeah," Sawyer said, "well, good for him."

Alex shook her head, and rolled her eyes, looking out to sea. The sky was still a dark gray, and she could've sworn she saw eyes peering through the clouds, staring at her. She shivered.

"Can I ask you something?" She said.

"Shoot."

She looked down, trying to figure out how to word her question; she didn't want to scare him.

"If it was your last day to live, what would you do?"

Sawyer was startled by the question, and it took him a moment to work up a reply.

"Hell," he said, "here? Run around in my underwear singin' war songs."

Alex winced.

"You heard that too?" She said.

"Jacko's got one helluva voice," Sawyer said, "and that ain't necessarily a good thing."

"Happens to the best of us," Alex said with a sad smile. Adam always teased her for being so musically talented, but she still couldn't sing a note.

Something told her to turn around, and she was only slightly surprised to see Jack and Kate in the distance, chatting as they ate some fruit. Kate stood, and said something to Jack before leaving him alone. He waited until Kate was a safe distance away, and sighed. Alex knew he didn't like being alone.

"See you around," she said, getting to her feet.

Muttering a quick goodbye, Alex hurried towards Jack.

"Hey," he greeted when he saw her walking towards him.

"Hey," she echoed, "you want some company?"

"Actually," Jack said, "I was going to meet Kate at the caves-" he noticed how Alex's face fell, "you want to come?"

"Sure," Alex said, shrugging.

A breeze brushed across the jungle, sending shivers up Alex's spine. She wrapped her arms around her, regretting not wearing a jacket.

"You cold?" Jack asked her.

"I'm fine," Alex lied. She didn't want him worrying about her. "I told Sawyer about what happened, with Kyle."

She hadn't planned on telling Jack about that, it just came out. He looked at her in surprise.

"That's not a bad thing," Jack said assuringly, "you can trust Sawyer."

Alex snorted.

"I can't believe you're saying that."

And after everything Sawyer did to him, she really couldn't. After that, they were quiet, the mood dampened. Her mind wondered back to her walk with Charlie, and his favor.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked on cue.

He always seemed to be able to do that, know when to ask questions, offer help.

"Charlie asked me to do a psychic reading for Aaron," Alex told him. Jack raised an eyebrow, and Alex stopped writing. "I told him that he'd be okay." Jack somehow seemed to know not to believe this. "I lied-" she met Jack's eyes, hers apologetic, "I can't see any good in the future, for any of us."

Jack didn't respond right away. She was afraid that she was mad. It was something she didn't like, not being able to see what she wanted to, to tell people what they wanted to hear. But she had to.

"It's not your fault," Jack said finally.

Alex almost sighed in relief. She wasn't sure if Jack believed what he was saying, but he sounded sincere. A grateful smile crept on her lips, and Alex looked down.

"We should start heading to the caves," Jack said after a short moment of silence.

"Yeah," Alex agreed quietly, and followed him back to the caves, the rest of their trip spent in silence.

Author's Note: That was a very crapy way to end the chapter, I know, but I have MAJOR writer's block with this story. I'm doubting plots I once loved, and I've really just gotten myself in over my head with what I've planned. So I'm going to take some time to think through the series' future, and hopefully I'll be able to update soon. If not, I apologize ahead of time. You guys have been really great, and I don't want to disappoint you, yet at the same time I know what needs to happen needs to happen. Either way, tomorrow's my Sweet 16(cheer!), so hopefully I'll be in a good mood, and will be able to start a new chapter. I'm sorry this one was short and rather uneventful, but I really need some time to think through the story. Thanks so much for the reviews! You guys rock!

Coming up next, on "In the End":

If I stick with my original plot, the next chapter's rated 'R' for scary/disturbing images, and character death. If you're not good with either, you don't have to read it, and I understand completely. Who's going to be the one to bite the dust(literally)? I'll tell you this: there were maybe three clues in this chapter. Did you catch them?

Thanks again!

Until next time:

October Sky