Airport Visions
Based off the airport scene in Further Instructions. This is what Locke saw, without Locke in it. I only saw the scene once, so there may be a few mistakes. Also, most of this is interpretation, and probably different from what a lot of people came up with. Keep in mind that this is a story, and some things were used for plot instead of as conspiracy theories. Not that there's much of a plot. I also tried to insert things from their lives into the vision. Let me know if I succeeded (if you feel like it). Enjoy.
Disclaimer: These characters aren't mine. Neither is the plot, really. All I did was interpret things.
She had been nervous about the flight. The baby was so young, what if something went wrong? What if he couldn't handle it. Of course she was probably over-reacting. He had told her as much. "Stop worrying, love," he had said. She couldn't help it, it just came naturally. But now, as she watched him hold her baby, cooing and making faces until her child giggled with delight, she decided her fears were unfounded. With these two beside her, everything would be fine.
She hung back a little, as he lifted the delighted child into his arms. He knew she was worried about the flight, but he tried to reassure her. Contorting his face until her baby laughed in pure joy, he lifted his eyes to smile reassuringly. "See, love?" his gaze said, "Everything will be just fine." Her face relaxed into a smile, and he felt himself smile at the love he felt. Surely this was where he belonged. This was all he needed: his family.
Smiling and gurgling happily, he waved his fists in the air. These were the ones that loved him. These two people were his family; they were home.
He was late for his flight. They were late for their flight. He urged her to hurry, to obey, but she insisted on stopping. He became angry, standing in line behind all those others, when everything should already be taken care of. He grabbed the shopping bag, the one she insisted on stopping for, and waved it angrily across her vision. She shouldn't disobey her husband! He took care of her, guided her, loved her! She should show respect and honor his wishes. He was the husband and she was the wife! He was in charge.
Her husband was being controlling again. Always, forever, others sought to control her. She had only stopped to shop a little. It took barely five minutes. But she knew it was not the time, but the action itself that angered him. He had told her to come and she had stayed, though only for a moment. Despite progress, countless signs of hope and displays of his love for her, she feared he would ever seek to dominate his will over hers. After all, he only thought it right. But she wouldn't let him break her. Her spirit had been roused and she wouldn't rest until he saw her worth.
The couple in front of him was having some sort of dispute. The husband was becoming angry, the wife arguing gently but firmly. It appeared to involve a shopping bag. Irrational spending, perhaps? Regardless, it wouldn't do to continue this scene in front of the entire airport. Standing in line in front of the couple, someone stepped forward. He took the opportunity to tap the man on the shoulder, distracting him from the fight. Pointing to the empty space, he hoped it was enough to distract from the problem for the time being.
He laughed loudly, jovially as he worked. He loved people, loved helping others and watching lives parade before the desk; teaching lessons, giving hope, entertaining him. He enjoyed working with crowds, punching those numbers blinking across the screen. 4 8 15 16 23 42. Those numbers were special. With those numbers he helped people. With those numbers they reached their destination. Smiling, he pressed enter.
He walked confidently across the terminal with his companions, laughing women in flight attendants' uniforms. His own uniform gave him a sense of pride as he strode with purpose. He found great satisfaction in knowing that he flew the plane, he encountered and overcame aversion, he alone beat the odds. He didn't need their help to survive. He could handle it on his own.
Slipping off his watch and placing it gently into the plastic tub, he stepped through the detector again. Beep. Sighing in frustration, he stepped back and allowed airport security to check him themselves. The man scanning him grated at his nerves, and he couldn't say why. But he stood silently, hoping to finish this business as quickly as possible. Cooperate as long as needed, unhappily though he was, until he was sent on his way. Because they would send him on soon, and then he would be rid of them.
He moved silently about the man, waving the detector this way and that: along, across, around his body. This man was intriguing, yet his face was blank as he continued his ministrations. It was all part of the job. It needed to be done. And he always did what needed to be done.
At first glance she was exactly like countless girls he had been with before, but with a few seconds' study, she was anything but. She was attractive, and real, and had an aura of danger. He couldn't help but start to talk to her. He eyes crinkled pleasantly as she laughed at his flirtation. He wondered at an unexpected jolt through his chest before dismissing it, widening his grin as she twisted around enticingly in an attempt to speak with him. She seemed secretive, but even now he could see her confidence and control mingling with a contradicting sense of innocence. Ooh, she was a fiesty one.
She giggled slightly as the man behind her flirted. She didn't know him well, but something about him compelled her to continue the conversation. Glancing before her at the security line, she noticed a man holding up the line. The man behind her started flirting again and she laughed, her smile held flirtation as well. Shifting her eyes back to the man vying for her attention, the man being scanned faded from her mind.
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