Title: Aftermath
Summary: SANA. Sequel to 'GI Sawyer'. Something was going on between the couple, but Jack didn't want to get in the middle of it unless absolutely necessary. Then he found out that it had passed 'necessary' about two exits ago.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.
Author Notes: This story makes me sad... It hurts to have to write such sad, depressing stuff, but its all part of the process. See, to leave the whole love triangle (or is it square?) thing alone, without really dealing with it would be bad. After all, these sorts of things ALWAYS come back to bite you in the ass. I call this process 'The Biting'.
Also, this is a quote from my beta that I found hilarious: "They'd better get back together, I mean it wasn't his fault. Stupid Kate! As if ruin happy story, stupid Kate! Have her shot by a random bullet. Fired by Jack. Accidentally. At point blank."
Hearing such things from someone who wasn't really into Sana before reading my stories makes me smile.
And, oh yeah, my team won the 3 on 3 competition!
Anyways, onwards with the story...
A week had passed since Ana had banished Sawyer from her sight, and neither one was faring well. Ana had grown bitter, and stayed on the infirmary bed constantly, staring at the ceiling and not talking unless it was to answer Jack's medical questions with a grunt or one-word answer. Sawyer was withdrawn, quiet, moody, and ignored anyone who tried to talk to him.
Jack had revealed that the reason for Ana's second bout of unconsciousness was a thin needle-like projectile, which was buried in her neck that had probably been tainted with a poison or sedative. Ana accepted this reason with a nod and a grunt, leaving Jack unsure if she had actually understood him. Despite Ana's apparent disinterest in the matter, Jack found it quite puzzling and thought about it a lot.
The origin of the projectile was unknown, but Jack had a feeling that the Others had something to do with it. But why? Why would they want her unconscious? Were they planning another kidnapping? Or was the poison really meant to kill her? Jack hadn't told anyone else about the poison-tipped needle, not even Sawyer, something which Ana had requested.
He found it strange that the couple that had previously been so happy and close were now not even speaking to each other. But then, he knew how fickle relationships could be, and figured they would be at it again after a few days to cool off. Something was going on between the couple, but he didn't want to get in the middle of it unless absolutely necessary. Then he found out that he had passed 'necessary' about two exits ago.
"Hey Ana, how're you feeling today?" Jack asked, giving her a smile. Her eyes flickered to him for a moment and then she grunted, her eyes going back to the ceiling.
"Okay, I might need actual words from you here." Jack said, grimacing and Ana's eyes went over to him again, this time not leaving his face.
"I feel like shit." Ana croaked, she obviously hadn't used her voice in a while and she now sounded like a lifelong, ten-pack-a-day smoker.
"Better or worse than last time?" He asked, as she cleared her throat to speak.
"Worse." The one-word response caused Jack to look down at the handwritten chart that he had written for Ana (old habits die hard). Then he looked back up at her, eyebrows raised to just below his hairline
"That's strange, you should have felt better by now," He muttered quietly to himself prompting Ana to make a questioning noise. He looked back up at her and just shook his head and continued to mutter to himself.
"Am I dying?"
Maybe it was the way she said it so deadset, or how she was still looking at the ceiling, or the almost-hopeful sparkle in her eye, but Jack was rattled by the question. He stared at her, leaving the question unanswered long enough her to finally look at him expectantly. He finally coughed and replied.
"No. Well, I-I don't know. But," He tried to offer her a reassuring smile, "Knowing you, you'll pull through fine." To this Ana just sighed and went back to looking at the ceiling. Jack grimaced, nodded, and decided to take the obvious hint. He turned to leave but stopped when Ana began to speak again.
"Talked to Kate yet?" Ana asked and Jack turned, slightly confused by the question out of the blue.
"Yeah, I mean, why wouldn't I?" Jack asked, as a crease appeared between his eyebrows, and his throat dried suddenly.
"Guess she didn't tell you." Ana's voice was monotonous and that, coupled with the actual words she said, made Jack's hair stand on end.
"Tell me what?" He asked, trying to fight the urge to throw up. He didn't particularly want to see today's meal in reverse. Finally Ana's eyes met his and he saw the sadness in them.
"That's for her to tell you." Her eyes left his again, "If you want to find out that is."
Jack swallowed hard and walked out, knowing that he needed to find Kate. Because, after all, knowledge is better than ignorance right?
----
Sawyer was sitting outside his shelter brooding when Jack found him a few hours later. Sawyer looked up at him and immediately noticed the murderous look on his face. Sawyer set aside the book that had been sitting in his lap (a failed attempt of starting to read his books again) and let out a sigh. It was a rumble time. Took him long enough, too.
"Finally found out, Doc?" Sawyer asked and Jack's eyes flashed angrily. His hands were at his sides, clenching and unclenching, his biceps flexing causing his tattoo to ripple.
"Get up." Jack ordered through gritted teeth and Sawyer put his book next to him before getting up. Then, as soon as he had stood, Jack threw a hard punch, causing Sawyer to end up on the ground again, this time with an added bleeding nose and quickly swelling lip. He grimaced up at Jack and wiped away the blood with the back of his hand.
"Not taking it well, Doc?" He asked sarcastically, which caused the vein on Jack's forehead to become prominent.
"Get up!" Jack yelled and Sawyer shook his head.
"I might just stay down here, if it's all the same to-" Sawyer was cut off when Jack grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up, slamming him against the shell of the plane. He punched him in the gut, causing Sawyer to double over and cough, spitting out a wad of blood. Jack let him sink to the ground, before kicking him hard in the stomach. Sawyer curled up and grimaced as his whole body began to throb.
"This isn't just about me." Jack said, jaw clenched and breathing hard. Sawyer coughed and chuckled, despite the pain that it caused and he started to cough.
"It damn well is." Sawyer croaked out and looked up at him, a snarl firmly in place, "It's always about you, 'hero'." Jack looked down at him as if he was contemplating hitting him some more, but he didn't. Instead he just shook his head at Sawyer, as if he was disappointed in how little the Southerner understood.
"It's about Ana. I don't think you know just how badly you hurt her." Jack said and Sawyer suddenly looked at him, a hurt look which quickly turned into a defensive one.
"About as badly as she did to me. This isn't a goddamn one way street, Doc. Things run both ways here." Sawyer returned, as fierce as always but Jack had a reply ready and waiting.
"Except, you aren't the one who watched the person you love kiss someone else. What would you have done if you'd seen Ana and I kiss?" Jack asked and Sawyer shot his reply back, firmly and quickly.
"Killed you."
"So what do you think I should do?" Jack asked and Sawyer looked up at him, his eyes dark. Then Jack, who was unprepared for it, found himself tackled to the ground and taking punches from Sawyer to the face. Jack grunted in anger and flipped Sawyer over, so that Sawyer was under him, and then started pummelling him. Sawyer threw him off and got to his feet (a little slowly, due to the pummelling) and Jack also did so (a little more dizzy than Sawyer).
Jack stood with his knees slightly bent, swaying on his feet slightly and Sawyer was leaning on his shelter. They both watched each other warily, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Sawyer did it, his patience gone. Thinking that Jack's lack of balance was an advantage, he launched himself forward, taking a swing at Jack. Unfortunately Jack had seen this coming and ducked the wayward shot, throwing his elbow up into Sawyer's ribs.
Sawyer took in a breath suddenly, his eyes bugging out in shock at the surprise counter hit. Jack took this pause as an opportunity and reached up, grabbing him in a firm head lock. Sawyer was shocked back into consciousness when Jack's arm closed around his neck and tried to shake him off as well as he could, but it was to no avail, Jack's grip was iron strong.
"I don't want to fight." Jack said and Sawyer snuffed a laugh.
"Had me tricked." Sawyer muttered and Jack yanked on Sawyer's hair, making him yelp.
"Despite what I would like to do, I was telling the truth earlier. I'm here for Ana." Jack said and Sawyer, who was losing his patience with Jack thanks to the hair pulling incident, scoffed.
"Well that's mighty chivalrous of you. Ana know she's got a white knight?" Sawyer asked, bitter at the fact that the fact that it was Jack who was now defending Ana.
"I need you to apologise to her." Jack insisted, ignoring Sawyer's earlier comment. Sawyer rolled his eyes, not that Jack could see.
"You need a lot of things Doc." He replied and Jack gave his hair another tug.
"Well this happens to be high on the list, so I'd really appreciate if you started acting like you give a damn about the woman you claim to love." Jack shot back, stressing the word 'claim'. This angered Sawyer, who roared and reached up to Jack's shoulder, sticking his leg behind Jack's at the same time as pulling him backwards, causing Jack to fall and Sawyer pulled himself out of the headlock. Then his hands were at Jack's throat, squeezing hard.
"You think I don't give a damn?" Sawyer yelled at the man whose neck he had a firm grip on. Jack wheezed, as if trying to answer, but Sawyer didn't hear it, nor did he care.
"I love her more than anything! And I would give anything to take back that kiss. To have pushed her away as soon as she tried it." Sawyer's anger dissipated gradually as he realised that the man he was choking had nothing to do with why his life had gone to hell. He let go of Jack, who scrambled away, his hands trying to soothe the angry red marks that Sawyer had inflicted. Then, after a few moments of recovery, Sawyer's words sunk in.
"'She tried it'? As in Kate?" Jack wheezed, half asking half stating, sounding as if he was trying to be nonchalant about it, but obviously he failed miserably.
"I thought she told you." Sawyer said, confused and Jack just nodded.
"She did. Just..." One of his hands when to his cropped hair as he leaned back against the shelter, "Not that part." Sawyer's mouth turned into an 'o' as he realised what Jack meant. Turns out Kate wasn't as innocent as she seemed, she had lied to Jacky boy about the kiss, probably blaming Sawyer for it.
"I suppose you didn't mention anything about being jealous of Kate and I, either." Jack said and Sawyer froze for a second.
Definitely not as innocent as she seemed.
Jack sighed as Sawyer indicated 'no' with a furrowing of his brow and a quick shake of his head. Jack slumped down, disappointed and exhausted. In fact, Sawyer almost felt sorry for the man who kept getting jerked around by the woman. Not that Sawyer hadn't had his fair share of being jerked around.
"Look, not that I can say I got any experience or anything, but I think it was cos of you and Ana." Sawyer said and took in a quick breath and winced, expecting Jack to return the earlier choking, expect this time with Sawyer being on bottom and being deprived of oxygen.
"Why would she?" Jack asked, his tone was defensive and bordering on his version of hysteria. A watered down version of hysteria, extremely watered down, knowing Jack.
"Since she got hurt you were spending every minute by Ana's bedside." Sawyer saw Jack start to protest and held a hand up, "I know nothing went on, hell I was right beside ya Doc. But she doesn't. You and Muchacha used to have a vibe. Now, ain't nothing I ever struggled with, but we all know Freckles ain't me."
"I thank god everyday for that Sawyer." Jack joked and Sawyer laughed dryly.
"Ha ha funny man. Listen, all I'm sayin' is that the Little Miss got jealous and wanted to lay out the cards." Sawyer waved his hands in front of him, as if motioning to the 'cards'.
"The cards being?" Jack asked and Sawyer shrugged.
"Make a play for her or step out of the ring." He explained and then shrugged, looking into the far off distance, "Only thing Freckles didn't know was that I ain't in 'the ring' anymore. I was happy. I guess everyone has to be miserable around here." Sawyer grumbled and Jack rolled his eyes.
"You should talk to Ana." Jack said, realising that Sawyer truly was sorry.
"You should talk to Kate." Sawyer shot back. Apparently he wasn't going to let Jack off the hook anymore than Jack was willing to let him off.
"I'll talk to Kate if you talk to Ana." Jack offered and Sawyer grinned, reaching out to shake Jack's hand, sealing the deal.
"Listen, I'm sorry about the..." Sawyer said, motioning to Jack's neck but Jack shook off the apology.
"It's okay. I-I kinda deserved it anyway." Jack replied and Sawyer smiled appreciatively at Jack's forgiveness and nodded.
"You're kinda the only friend I've got on this island and I don't want my temper to-" Sawyer started and Jack cut him off.
"Ruin this wonderful, golden friendship?" Jack sarcastically finished off, his eyebrows climbing up his forehead and Sawyer chuckled.
"Yeah I guess. Just don't tell anyone, ok? I wouldn't want to ruin my reputation." Sawyer joked lightly and Jack grinned at him.
"No worries, Sawyer."
----
Ana awoke to a rustling sound and opened her eyes slowly, trying to hold onto the last remnants of sleep before completely rejoining the land of the conscious. When she did open her eyes she saw a scruffy looking man with long hair and a beard going through the various medical supplies that Jack had scavenged and supplied the infirmary with. She sat up immediately in shock, which caused the man to look at her and take a step back, hands up in defence.
"Who are you?" Ana demanded and the man looked around, as if wishing that the Latina with a murderous look on her face was talking to someone else.
"I'm, uh, Desmond." He replied, still afraid of the rabid looking woman. When Ana didn't stop her suspicious look that could pierce through steel he clarified, "The bloke from the boat."
"What boat?" She asked, eyes narrowing.
"The boat from earlier, the one that was adrift off shore." He explained, her death look clearly getting to him. Then it came back to her, the boat which had appeared in between her two bouts of unconsciousness, she'd assumed that that had been part of her dreams as well but apparently not.
"Oh." She said and her gaze went from a Force 10 to about a 7 or 8, "I guess you aren't here to rescue us."
"Sorry." He replied with an apologetic look and a shrug. Then her gaze went to the little mess he'd created in his fit of searching and when it was back on him he blushed slightly, looking downwards. Then he looked back up at her after he'd recovered from it.
"Listen, y'know if the doctor's got a stash of alcohol around here somewhere?" His accent weighed heavily on his words and any previous alcohol he'd consumed was making him slur slightly. Ana looked at him for a second and then nodded. She gestured to the box that had been overturned and used as a stool. He went over to it, and after some encouragement from Ana via gestures, he lifted it up and discovered several small bottles of Jack Daniels.
"Well that's fitting." He drawled as he palmed the five small bottles which were probably leftovers from the bottles salvaged from the flight bar.
"He doesn't drink from them. When he thinks I'm asleep he just takes them out and holds them. I guess its enough to just know that they're there." Ana commented as she watched Desmond study the novelty 'fun size' bottles.
"I know how he feels." He said, running his thumb over one of the labels and staring at it. Then he snapped out of the funk he was in, "But that isn't enough right now." He unscrewed the bottle and went to swallow it but then he looked over at Ana and realised his manners, or lack thereof.
"Sorry," He offered the bottle to her, "Ladies first." Ana smirked at him, taking the bottle and swallowing it all in one go (not really an achievement, given the size of the bottle), grimacing as it left a fire trail down her throat.
"Damn Cowgirl, may want to pace yourself. We've only got 5 bottles." Desmond warned and Ana shot him a look before grabbing another bottle and chugging it. She went to grab yet another bottle but he didn't let her drink this one, snatching it back off her. She glared at him, but he didn't back down this time, keeping eye contact and then drank it down himself.
"Hypocrite." Ana said and he grimaced at the word, but she wasn't done yet and she continued, showing that it wasn't really meant as an insult, "That's good. Means I'm not the only one around here." She kept the serious look on her face a second longer before letting the corners of her mouth move up slightly and her eyes become warm and seem to dance with silent laughter.
"That's funny. You're funny." He said and Ana, who was already kinda woozy from spending so long in bed, wasn't completely sure if he was being sarcastic, or just drunk. So she just put it aside in her mind and moved on.
"I try." She replied dryly and snatched another bottle, downing it before he could take it off her.
"Whoa, slow it down girl." He said, taking the empty bottle from her and putting it back on the table. He grabbed the last two before she could and tucked them into the back of his pants, "I'm cuttin' you off, for the sake of the last bottles on this island."
"What are you the goddamn Drinking Commission?" She snarled and he grimaced.
"Yes ma'am. All about the preservation of alcohol on the Island of Lost Souls." He joked and she glared at him.
"What about the preservation of my sanity Irish boy?" She demanded, yet he remained strong, shaking his head.
"Your sanity has little to do with these 'ere bottles of Hack. And also, I'm Scottish." He corrected her and she backed down slightly.
"Oh. Sorry." She mumbled and he grinned at her good naturedly.
"That's alright ma'am. Common mistake." He said and, at her raised eyebrow, continued hastily, "Well, not too common. But I take no offence." Ana muttered something that sounded somewhat like a 'thanks' but he knew better than to push his luck by asking her to repeat it.
"So is there a reason that you're sitting here Miss...?" He trailed off, obviously wanting her name, but she didn't give it. Instead she just regarded him with a steely gaze before replying, rather bluntly.
"I'm dying," Then, seeing the look on the Scot's face, she corrected herself, "Well... I don't know. Jack won't tell me."
"Ah, Jack the Doctor. Mr I-Can-Cure-Everything. You'll be fine." Desmond reassured her, gesturing as if he were waving off her worries but she just shrugged him off.
"He can't cure everything." Ana answered cryptically and Desmond, also having known the feeling of lost love, knew exactly what the forlorn look meant.
"Love is a fickle bugger." He said, causing Ana to look at him suddenly like she was going to deny all connections to love - Love? What is this 'love' you speak of? - but then she seemed to accept it and her eyes dropped to her lap where her hands lay dormant. Desmond saw the emotions flash across her face - sadness, anger, fear - and wondered what had happened to the Latina to cause her so much pain.
"Feel like talking about it?" He asked and she shook her head, not looking up at him. He didn't really expect a response from the stoic Latina, but he still held out hope. He was known for his stubbornness and he wasn't about to stop now. Plus, he was an extremely curious individual and enjoyed the whole unwrapping of the human enigma, Ana being a prime example of an enigma.
"You sure? I'm a good listener." Desmond tried to coax her but she just glared back at him. A silent, stony façade was obviously her strong point, not that Desmond was willing to accept it as all that she was. When his face showed that he wasn't willing to drop the subject any time soon, Ana finally replied.
"No." She said and he grimaced slightly at the dead set response.
"Well I find it hard to take 'no' for an answer." He responded, if the message hadn't already gotten through. She rolled her eyes at the answer, her patience wearing somewhat thin.
"That's your problem." She shot back and he seemed taken aback by the response. He paused, apparently his last response was the last one he'd really prepared so he had to think for a second before responding. Of course, it was a typical cliché response, but he was under pressure.
"I just want to help you." He said and winced at how it sounded.
"I don't need your help." Ana snarled back and Desmond withdrew, slightly scared of the woman who looked like she could take his head off with a flick of her wrist. So they sank into silence, Ana trying to hold back all the emotions that she was experiencing and Desmond, having realised that if he couldn't say something incredibly amazing and groundbreaking he shouldn't say anything at all, was now trying to think of something incredibly amazing and groundbreaking. Then he thought of something and decided to take a shot with it, even if it was a long shot.
"I understand what you're goin' through. I left someone behind myself and I know it's hard, and I know it hurts but..." Desmond started but Ana interrupted him.
"I didn't leave anyone behind." Her tone scolded him for thinking that her pain was due to her being separated by the crash. He tilted his head at this questioningly.
"But I thought-?" He began to question but Ana interrupted him once again.
"He crashed here too." She said and that only served to confuse him more. Then she turned to look at him, finally, and he saw the pain clear in her eyes and realised his mistake. She hadn't left anyone behind, she had fallen in love with someone on this very island. Someone who had betrayed her so badly that she wouldn't recover for a long time. And suddenly Desmond wasn't feeling so friendly towards this person.
"Who?" His accent thickened thanks tot eh anger and he cleared his throat, trying not to sink too deeply into Caveman mode, "Who is it?" Ana looked at him for a moment as if she knew what he was thinking.
"Don't." Was her only response and Desmond's hands began to wring each other, as if dreaming that they were around the offender's neck.
"Don't what?" He asked, starting to see red.
"Don't do what you're thinking of doing." She replied, for once being the level headed one.
"Why not? Doesn't he deserve it? What happened, did you walk in on them? Or did he step up and tell the god's honest truth?" Desmond had transformed, going from an easy going, alcoholic Scotsman, to an angry man with a 'white knight' complex. Ana just shook her head, knowing he was trying to rile her up, but not letting him get to her. As good as it would feel to have Sawyer pummelled into a bloody pulp, she knew it wouldn't be worth it.
He got up off the stool, and stepped forward, so he was in front of Ana. He looked down at her, his face showing his complete honesty.
"Then what do you want me to do?"
Ana sat up, taking his face in her hands, and pulled him down into a kiss.
It was then that - in accordance with Murphy's Law - Sawyer walked in, wanting to patch things up with Ana. He didn't want to for long though.
"Skirt what are you-?" Sawyer froze as Desmond moved away quickly at the sound of Sawyer's voice, revealing Ana to Sawyer. Sawyer looked like he'd swallowed his own tongue when he realised what was had happened.
"God..." He muttered to himself, and then took off, pushing back through the entry to the infirmary. Desmond turned back to Ana, who looked like someone had shot her, white face, shocked look, eyes wide. Then it all clicked and Desmond felt his stomach drop.
"He... He was the guy." He said and Ana nodded silently. Desmond felt his legs damn near give out, and he had to collapse down on the box again. Ana wasn't any better, she was now hugging herself tightly, as if trying to console herself as she rocked slightly. Then, as if she was in a dream, she swang her legs over the side of the 'bed'. She launched herself off the bed and, for one terrifying moment, it looked like her legs would give way under the sudden weight, but she steadied herself and began to walk (a little wobbly, as she tried to get accustomed to using her legs again).
The fact that she had recovered so quickly had never occurred to Ana, but Rose watched from far away as she emerged from the tent, and smiled slightly. This island truly had some magical qualities.
Back in the tent Desmond stood as she passed him and watched her gradually get faster as she went in the direction Sawyer had headed off in. Then he sat down again and started to think about everything that had happened to him and wondered if there was something in the spring water.
----
When Ana reached Sawyer, he was turning his knuckles bloody by going a few rounds with a tree. It wasn't hard to find him, she just had to follow the manly grunts followed by girly sounds of pain. And there he was, attempting to work off his aggression by punching an innocent tree. She watched him for a moment, contemplating what made males have that compulsive need to hit something (not that she could talk). Then he threw a particularly hard punch, composed himself for a moment (probably biting his lip to keep from crying) and turned to face her.
"What happens now? You apologize, I accept it and we go off skipping?" He asked, no humour in his tone nor on his face.
"I was hoping... Well, except for the skipping part." She replied, attempting to smile at him. It failed when she met his eyes though. The look in his eyes made her stomach sink, her heart break, and her hope to disappear.
"I can't. Not now." He said, shaking his head. It was the 'Not now' that set Ana off, normally double standards pissed her off, but this... This made her absolutely furious.
"What do you mean 'Not now'? Getting a taste of your own medicine isn't nice is it?" She asked, her face pulled into an expression of fury and he took a step forward, causing her anger to slip for a moment at the suddenly close proximity and she looked down, trying to regather herself.
"Is this what this is about? Revenge?" He asked and she raised her chin defiantly at him, meeting his eyes without a problem this time.
"What else would it be?" She asked and he seemed taken aback. Apparently he wasn't used to dealing with honest, straight forward women. Wonder why.
"I just... I need to be alone." He said, struggling with himself before finally finding the words. Ana swallowed hard at this and wondered when they had entered a soap opera in the back of her mind.
"Ok." She whispered in a voice that wasn't her own, it was the voice of someone timid, scared, someone who felt that crippling fear directly connected to losing the one you love. Sawyer looked down at her and felt his heart break for her. Stepping forward, he pushed her hair behind her ear. She looked up at him, causing his fingertips to rest on her cheek and he swallowed hard as he saw the look on her face.
They silently communicated through eye contact and Ana blinked back the tears that were starting to gather, looking down and breaking eye contact as she tried to compose herself. When she looked back up he was gone. Taking in a shuddery breath she covered her face with her hands, feeling hot tears try to find their way out.
Then she finally let herself sink down to the sand and softly began to cry.