Title: In Admiration - Part 4

Fandom: Lost

Characters: Jack Shephard, Boone Carlyle

Prompt: #19 Him

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

…………

Furious didn't even begin to describe the way Boone was feeling. It wasn't just because Jack had saved him when he didn't need saving and a woman had died because of it. Well, yeah, okay, that was half of it. But what got on Boone's nerves even more was that when he confronted Jack about it, he tried to shove him aside and then ran off, leaving Boone to stare at the spot in the tree line Jack had gone through, expecting him to come back at any minute.

"What are you doing?"

Boone narrowed his eyes, turning towards Shannon. She was standing a couple feet away, arms crossed across her stomach, and Boone could have sworn she was wearing a different outfit than this morning.

"I was trying to talk to Jack. Then he just...took off."

"Maybe he didn't like the way you smelled."

Boone didn't have the patience for this. And there was no way he could have smelled...he had just been in the ocean! "Shouldn't you be using someone for a new shade of nail polish?" Shannon scowled at his quip. It had made Boone feel a little better knowing that it wasn't just him Shannon made a habit of using. She didn't have a retort of her own, which was unusual for Shannon. "Did you need something, Princess?"

Shannon started examining her nails like they were the most important thing in the world, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I was bored."

"So you needed to come bother me?"

"Because standing here lusting after Jack is so important?"

"I'm not...lusting."

"Longing, then? Or maybe yearning..." At the glare from Boone, she ended her train of thought. "I just wanted to go for a walk."

"So you're doing the nice thing and seeing if I want to come too?"

"No," Shannon replied, with a little smirk that Boone knew to mean she was going to say something nasty but didn't actually mean it. "I was seeing if you wanted to come too because if the island monster shows up I'll just have to worry about running faster than you." They started down the shoreline, comfortably silent until rounding some trees that stuck farther out onto the beach, blocking the camp from view. "You don't need to be pissed that he saved your sorry ass."

Boone quirked an eyebrow at Shannon, confused. "Who?"

"Him," she replied, angling her head back towards camp. "Jack."

"I could have made it back." Boone mumbled, kicking at the sand as he took a step. "I was talking to him last night, after the memorial service. He made me feel better about how I couldn't help Rose after the crash." He frowned, not sure why he was telling this to Shannon. He wanted to tell Jack, but she was there and he wasn't. "And then this morning it was like he didn't believe me."

"Believe you or believe in you?"

Boone had to do a double-take. "You're actually listening to me?"

"I told you I was bored," Shannon scoffed. "There's no television on this island, so your problems are as good as I'm going to get."

"Glad I can entertain you," Boone said dryly.

"Maybe you should just stop thinking about it. And stop trying to save people since you're obviously not good at it."

"Then we can sit on the beach being useless together."

"I could give you a pedicure," Shannon offered, smirking.

"I think I'm good."

They kept going for a few more yards until Boone realized they'd probably been walking for a while and were getting kind of far from camp. "We should probably go back." Shannon nodded in agreement, and they walked back in silence.

About halfway back when Charlie came up to them. "Have you guys seen Jack?"

"He ran off into the jungle maybe an hour ago," Boone replied, "I haven't seen him since."

"He's an adult; I'm sure he can take care of himself." That was Shannon's version of being comforting. On a normal island there wouldn't have been a need for concern, but this was an island with monsters that ripped people to shreds and could knock over trees.

"The guy with all the knives..." Charlie continued, falling into pace beside them. "Locke? He went out to find him but hasn't come back yet."

Boone looked over at the tent that had become Jack's base of operations, in a sense. He didn't feel comfortable calling it a medical tent with the complete lack of medicine they had on the island. But they did keep the water in there, and if Jack was gone, who was going to keep track of it? It was just sitting out waiting for someone to take. Boone wouldn't put it passed Sawyer to take their entire water supply to put himself in a higher position of power, make people feel like they needed him around. The man was a parasite, and Boone had a hard time lately dealing with people who always took what they didn't deserve without giving back.

He looked over at Shannon. Boone hadn't quite figured out how to explain her behavior. He didn't appreciate getting used for his money, but he also understood that his mother had dealt Shannon a shitty hand by not giving Shannon the money after her father died. But maybe he didn't see her as a parasite the way he saw Sawyer as one because he loved her. Was that even true, though? Boone never remembered consciously being in love with Shannon, but it made sense as to why he would follow her across the globe to get her out of relationships. He stood over the water, trying to figure out what to do.