Chapter 27: Where the Heart Is

A light was on in the window of Ben's house. Valerie slowly drew her gun. "Just in case," she murmured.

Desmond turned off the flashlight and handed it to Frank.

"Slowly and quietly," Ben instructed. "Sun, why don't you stay here with Frank."

Desmond unzipped the duffel bag, taking a rifle for himself. "Take your pick," he told Sun, gesturing at the open bag. She frowned at him and selected a small handgun.

"Just in case," she said, repeating Valerie's words.

Ben led the way across the green to his house, shotgun at the ready.

At the door, he hesitated.

"Should we knock?" Valerie mouthed.

Ben peered into the window but couldn't make anything out. He shrugged at Desmond.

"Fuck it," Desmond said and rapped decisively on the door.

They stood with their backs against the wall, weapons drawn.

"What the fuck was that?" a woman's voice asked from inside.

"Shit," another woman said.

"Who's there?" a man's voice asked through the door.

"I should be the one asking that," Ben replied, "since you're in my house."

"Dad?"

Alex burst through the door.

The shotgun fell from Ben's hands and he threw his arms around her.

"Alex," he croaked. He held her as close as he could.

"Sun, Frank, it's alright," Valerie shouted at the woods. "It's Alex!"

They trudged up the path, Frank carrying the flashlight and Sun toting the bag of guns.

Alex pulled away from the hug and looked at her father's face, only to draw him back into another.

"I missed you so much," she told him.

He felt the tears in his eyes. "Alex, you have no idea how happy I am to see you."

"Come inside," she said. "All of you, please."

She led them into the kitchen. Karl stood in the corner, a stunned expression on his face.

"Claire, is that you?" Sun asked, rushing over to the blonde woman sitting at the kitchen table.

"Sun? What are you doing here? You left—you were free!"

"I came back," she replied. "Is Jin here?"

Claire shook her head, pulling Sun into a hug. "They all disappeared—I'm the only one left."

"Aaron is with your mother," Sun told her hurriedly. "Kate took care of him."

"Oh," Claire cried, and fell back into Sun's arms. "Have you seen him?"

"He's perfect," Sun replied, nodding. "I hope he'll meet my daughter one day."

They continued talking rapidly about all that had happened off the Island—and everything that had happened to Claire.

Ben locked eyes with Val as Alex hugged her. The reunion seemed to make Valerie almost as emotional as it had made him.

"Where's your mother?" he asked Alex gently.

She shook her head sadly. "She disappeared with the rest of them."

"I'm so sorry sweetheart," he told her, pulling her into another tight embrace. "I'm so sorry I wasn't here."

"I know dad—I know you had to leave."

He kissed the top of her head.

He turned to Karl. "Thank you for taking care of her," he said, offering his hand. Karl ignored the extended hand and gave Ben a hug instead.

"She was taking care of me most of the time," he said. "It's good to see you Mr. Linus."

"Please Karl, if you're going to live with my daughter, I insist you call me Ben."

Karl grinned at him.

Despite their exhaustion, it was impossible for any of them to sleep before catching up. They listened intently as Alex and Karl explained how they split from the rest of the Others and found Claire alone in the jungle.

Claire had, apparently, been in a bit of a state—but Alex and Karl's diligent care had pulled her out of it. They'd been sharing the house for more than a year now, with Claire in the spare bedroom, and Alex and Karl sharing the room Alex had grown up in.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "You two lovebirds didn't take the master bedroom?" he joked.

Alex rolled her eyes. "I knew you were coming back. It would have been weird to sleep there."

He squeezed her shoulder, unable to contain the smile on his face.

"Why did it take you so long—where were you?" she asked. "What were you doing?"

He glanced at Valerie. "It's a long story," he said to Alex. "Why don't we continue this conversation tomorrow?"

"Alright, I guess," she agreed.

"I think we should all stay here," Sun suggested. "Until we know what we're dealing with."

"Agreed," Desmond said, "assuming our hosts don't mind."

"Of course not," Alex replied, and started assigning rooms. "Dad, you can have your room," she instructed. "Claire, would you mind sharing with Sun?"

Claire shrugged happily. "Sure."

She turned to Frank and Desmond. "There are couches in the living room and dad's office—you guys can sort that out, though the office couch has always kind of been Valerie's."

Valerie shot Ben a look as the group dispersed.

"Alex—Valerie can stay in my room."

"I mean, if you'd prefer a couch, dad, be my guest," Alex replied obliviously.

"No, sweetheart, Val and I are—we've been—we're going to sleep in the same room."

"Oh!" she said, realizing what he was telling her. "Oh. Oh my god."

Valerie started laughing.

"Jesus Christ," Ben said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Holy fuck, I knew it—I knew you had a thing for her."

"Language, Alexandra."

"Dad, I'm almost twenty."

"Duly noted," he replied with a smirk and pulled her into another hug.

"You're fucking my dad?" Alex mouthed to Valerie over Ben's shoulder.

Val nodded, stifling her laughter.

"Alex, language."

"I have so many questions," she told him, "but I'll let you sleep—or do whatever."

"Alex!" Ben exclaimed

Val started laughing again.

"Goodnight," she told them, smiling broadly. "Welcome home."

Ben ushered Valerie into his room and closed the door. "She's alive," he whispered to her, still a bit incredulous. "She's alright."

Valerie nodded and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing her body against his as tightly as she could.

They undressed and shook the dust off the sheets before climbing into the bed. Valerie let out a satisfied sigh as she eased into the mattress. "Home sweet home," she murmured.

"I love you," he said suddenly—the words coming more easily than they ever had. "I love you, Valerie," he repeated.

She beamed at him, her face illuminated by the blue moonlight pouring in through his window. "I know," she said, leaning over to kiss him. "I love you too."

His head was flooded with dreams that night—memories that remained alive in tangible fragments the next morning.

He remembered marrying her—remembered Hugo's knowing smile as he had spoken the vows that he'd spent weeks writing. He remembered aiming a rifle at a curly haired woman that he was sure he'd seen on Ajira 316—a tearful, sincere apology on his tongue. He remembered bringing Walt home to the Island—the look on his face when he'd seen Vincent again. And he remembered shooting Charles Widmore twice in the chest.

"Val," he said, nudging her awake. "It's coming back—so much of it."

"What?"

"I'm remembering."

She smiled at him. "Good memories, I hope?"

"Mostly," he answered, giving her a quick kiss.

"God it's strange to wake up in this room again," she observed, pulling herself up. "Should we make some breakfast?"

Alex had been collecting the food drops and storing as much as she could in the house. They'd moved freezers from other houses into the living room for convenience. They'd also been keeping chickens and growing vegetables. It was more than enough to work with.

Valerie got started at the stove, and Ben set the table up for the eight of them.

Desmond smelled the bacon frying and wandered into the kitchen.

"Sunny-side up?" Valerie asked him, already knowing the answer.

"Yes please."

"Frank, how do you like your eggs?" she called into the living room.

"Scrambled," he answered groggily.

"Who prefers scrambled?"

"They're ready the fastest."

"He has a point," Desmond said, filching a piece of bacon.

Ben absently kissed the back of Valerie's head as he stepped behind her. Alex walked into the kitchen just in time to notice.

"Over easy for Alex," Ben told Valerie.

"Over easy for Alex," she repeated.

"Good choice," she told Alex with a wink. "Same for Karl?"

"No, he likes his eggs cooked all the way through—I know it's an atrocity, but I've never been able to convince him that he's wrong."

Valerie laughed. "Atrociously overcooked eggs, coming right up."

Alex grinned at her and turned back to Ben. "Did you want to finish that conversation, dad?"

He looked over at Valerie and she nodded. "I'll call you when it's ready," she told them.

They stepped out onto the front porch.

"You seem happy," she told him.

"I could say the same to you."

She stared out at the deserted houses—still damaged from the mercenary attack three years earlier. "I mean—it's been strange. But I am, I think."

"You haven't been alone," he noted. "That makes a big difference."

"Neither have you," she pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

"It's complicated," he told her.

"Do you love her?"

"I do," he answered solemnly.

"Then it's not complicated."

He smiled at her. She was still so young, but she was wise beyond her years. He was so proud to see the way that she'd taken control of things here. She'd always been brave, but he was impressed by the sheer magnitude of her competence.

"I'm so sorry, Alex. I wanted a better life for you than this." He gestured out at the destruction.

"There's still time," she said with a grin. "Besides, it could be a lot worse."

"That's true," he agreed.

"So, are you going to tell me what you've been up to for the last three years?"

He didn't really want to tell her about the people Valerie had killed—she didn't need to hear about all that unpleasantness. He told Alex about their travels, but he focused more on the places they went than the specifics of the business they had conducted. He told her about the Oceanic Six—what had happened to them, and how he and Valerie had found Desmond and convinced everyone to come back.

She wanted to know about how he'd fallen in love with Val. He didn't want to tell Alex the truth about who Valerie was and why she'd come back—not yet. He still felt so much shame for what he had done to her—even with her sitting next to him, alive and smiling.

Instead, he told her that after pretending to be married for so long, he'd grown rather fond of Val, and when pretending wasn't necessary anymore, he'd asked her if she'd want to continue wearing the rings anyway, and she'd said yes. It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either.

"That sounds like the PG version," she told him.

"It most certainly does," he replied. "You're still my daughter, after all. You don't actually want those details."

"Oh my god, no," she laughed. "Gross."

The window next to them opened. "Food's ready," Valerie announced.

They decided that they'd stay at the Barracks until they had a better sense of what was going on. As the group sorted through the abandoned houses, Valerie quietly suggested to Ben that they ought to make sure that the sonic fence was active.

They took a hike to the edge of their territory to check on it. Ben entered several codes into the keypad, and the familiar whirring noise roared to life.

Valerie exhaled.

"Do you think that's going to work?" he asked her

"I hope so."

They started walking back towards the Barracks, the comforting hum of the fence fading into the distance.

He took her hand as they approached the houses.

He opened his mouth to speak—but was interrupted by was a deep rumbling and a brief flash of white light.

"What was that?" Ben asked, alarmed.

She looked at him sharply. "I think they're back."