Title: In Admiration - Part 3

Fandom: Lost

Characters: Jack Shephard, Boone Carlyle

Prompt: #14 Strangers

Author's Notes: Written for the LiveJournal community slash100 (underscore between "slash" and "100" – for some reason FFN deletes it)

…………

It was dark, and Jack was sitting on the beach looking out at the ocean. He hadn't wanted to be part of the memorial service for the people who died in the crash. Something about it didn't sit well with Jack. He did feel that they had a right to be remembered, but Jack didn't think it was fair to them to have a service held by people reading off their passport or driver's license. It unsettled Jack to think that if he had died in the crash, they would have read his name and remembered him as an organ donor.

He heard the sound of someone approaching him, footsteps muffled as they displaced the sand. Jack hoped it wasn't Kate; he wasn't feeling up to entertaining her. It wasn't that Jack didn't mind her company. He just didn't have the energy to put up with her flirting. The other sat down in the sand beside him, outstretching an arm holding a bottle of water. It was Boone. "I thought you might want something to drink."

Jack took it gratefully, realizing that he had brought Rose water earlier but had neglected to keep himself hydrated. "I think this is the first funeral I've been to that didn't serve alcohol," Jack sighed as he took a sip of water. He saw Boone smirk out of the corner of his eye.

"Well if we ever get off this island, I'll make sure to write Oceanic a letter about how they need to keep the alcohol in a way for it to survive a crash." This made Jack chuckle. He and Boone were practically strangers, but something about his tone made it seem like that while the young man was making a joke, he was also slightly serious. "That woman," Boone continued, "Rose? She approached me and told me that there might have been a reason why I didn't succeed. Did you...?"

"Yeah, I did," Jack cut Boone off before he could finish his question. "She asked me why I was talking to her, said she figured I had bigger problems to deal with than making sure everyone ate and got enough water, so I told her you asked me to. Told her how you were trying to help her, but something was off, so I took over."

Boone leveled his gaze at Jack, and even in the almost total darkness, the doctor could tell just what a piercing blue the young man's eyes were. "Well, thanks for not making me sound like I totally suck."

"You don't suck. Some people just don't have experience dealing with high anxiety."

"I grew up with Shannon. I should be the expert on dealing with high anxiety," Boone scoffed, then took a sip of his own water that Jack hadn't noticed until now. Jack watched Boone glance over at where Shannon was sitting on the beach, talking to Claire. "I'm actually embarrassed that the first day here she gave herself a pedicure."

Jack shrugged. "People deal in different ways."

Boone snorted. "Shannon deals by not dealing. She helps by staying out of the way."

"And what about you?"

"I'm still looking for some way to contribute."

"You pay attention to people." Jack made a vague motion with his hand towards the other survivors. "I didn't realize Rose hadn't been eating or drinking until you said anything. You're trying, which is more than can be said about some people."

"Yeah, like my sister."

Jack mentally congratulated himself on correctly guessing the nature of Boone and Shannon's relationship. "I was thinking more along the lines of Sawyer."

"I think even Sawyer's helped more than Shannon. The guy may be a prick, but if he hadn't come on the hike and taken a gun off the marshal, we all would have ended up as polar bear food."

"Well, then, I guess even Sawyer is good for something," Jack looked over at Boone and smiled and was glad to see the other man grin back. Over Boone's shoulder he saw Rose waving in their direction; Jack nodded in acknowledgment. The boar Locke brought back must be done. "She thinks her husband is still alive."

"Rose does?" Boone asked. Jack nodded. "Well, maybe he is. No one knows anything definite one way or the other." A wide grin spread across the young man's face. "Or maybe she can feel his presence with the Force or something." Boone's expression took on one of disbelief when Jack quirked an eyebrow at him. "You don't know Star Wars?"

"I know Star Wars; I just can't believe you said that."

"It was a joke, Jack," Boone said, punching him lightly on the shoulder as he moved to stand up, "You're supposed to laugh at it, not admonish me."

"Sorry." Jack stood, redundantly trying to brush the sand out of the clothing creases even though he was just going to sit back down in it when he got to the campsite.

"Yeah, well, now you know for next time that when someone makes a joke, you're supposed to laugh. Maybe we should go see what fine, island dining has been prepared for us tonight. Although I don't know how much of an appetite I'm going to have for a barbequed boar after smelling those bodies in the fuselage burn."

"I think your bigger concern should be to hope it's really a boar Locke's feeding us and not one of the bodies."

Boone stopped in his tracks. "Are you serious?"

Jack turned to look back at him, a devious glint in his eye. "You're supposed to laugh at a joke, Boone."

"Oh...haha."