The Prisoner (Part/7)
Recap: "You killed two of us …good people who were leaving you alone" He breathed "You're the killer Ana-Lucia"
Ana tried to struggle free, but the prisoner pinned her. Ana was starting to lose consciousness; John hit Henry in the back of the head with his crutches. Lucy dived forward, helping Ana. Ana began chocking and gasping.
"I guess he decided to start talking" John said simply, looking at the unconscious prisoner.
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"Why would your own people want to kill you?"
"Because the man in charge; he's a great man, John, but he's not a forgiving man" Henry answered "He'll kill me because I failed, John; I failed my mission"
"What mission?"
"When that woman caught me in her trap, I was on my way here; I was coming for you, John"
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"Michael, Michael!" Jack called, trying to rouse Michael.
Lucy bent down next to Jack.
"Anything I can do?"
"So, it worked" John stated
"What are you talking about, John?" Jack asked, ignoring Lucy's offer.
"Your deal…the trade" John explained "If they gave us Michael…"
"They didn't give us anything" Jack interrupted
"So it was just a coincident that he came wandering out?" John answered
Lucy's eyes rolled, it was no use trying to talk to either of them, when they were arguing. She decided to check Michael over.
"I was shouting; he heard my voice…what, they just let Michael go hoping we would hold up our end of the bargain?" Jack replied, with sarcastic venom "You think they're on the honour system?"
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Lucy was preparing some bandages, while Jack was cleaning some scissors. Locke was strategically placed on the sofa reading. Ana entered.
"Hey, you're back" Ana said a little in awe.
"Hey" He answered
"So, the Others… they didn't show up?" Ana quizzed
"No; Michael is back though" Jack replied, as he noticed the wound on her forehead "What happened?"
Locke jumped in before Ana could reply.
"My fault; I left the tap on in the bathroom sink and Ana wiped out and hit her head" John explained "And I'm sorry, again"
"Yeah, don't worry about it" Ana answered, catching onto Locke's charade.
Kate's voice could be heard from the other room.
"Jack, I think he's waking up"
Jack leapt up and headed for the bedroom.
"Hey, Michael"
"Jack?" Michael asked, as he sat up
"Hey man" Jack answered
"Wait a minute…how'd I get…?" Michael enquired
"Wait, try to take it easy" Lucy told Michael as she put her hand on his shoulder.
"You're back in the hatch" Jack answered "We found you out in the jungle last night"
"Oh my head" Michael winced
"Welcome back" John greeted
"Hey John, I found them; after I hiked north back to where we were" He looked at Ana "I hiked to the beach; followed the shore line, a day later I saw one"
"What'd he look like?" John asked
"I think we should leave the questioning until Michael's had a rest" Lucy suggested.
"Dirty, worn clothing, no shoes, simple" He answered, ignoring Lucy's remark "Just like the rest of them"
"Like the rest of them?" Jack cut-in
"Yeah, his people…the Others, I followed him back to his camp; they live in tents" Michael explained "Canvas tents and tepees; they eat dried fish, they're worse of than we are"
"How many of them were there?" Kate chimed in
Lucy's eyes rolled, she was a little sick of being ignored; they had roped her into this place, the least they could do was acknowledge her existence. She stood up, and exited. But she managed to hear Michael's reply.
"I counted 22"
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Lucy entered the kitchen area and pulled out her bottle. She filled it with water and went to settle herself on the couch with her book, but something was pulling her into the armoury. She scanned her surroundings before opening the little door, to revel the prisoner; the little man bound by rope.
"Don't you usually knock?" He asked
"Sorry" She answered
His eyes met hers.
"What do you want?" He questioned, maintaining eye contact.
"I thought you might like some water, considering your vow of silence is over" She sat herself down near him, holding out her bottle
"I can't take it" He stated
"Yes you can, it's only water"
"No, I mean, I can't take it; my hands are tied" He explained, a smirk playing about his lips.
Lucy smiled
"Okay, sorry; John moment…I mean blonde moment" Lucy giggled
Henry smiled and said
"You got a straw?"
Lucy folded her arms
"You know, I really don't know" She looked thoughtful "I'll go have a look"
Henry laughed, it was a melodic laugh.
"You know I could just untie your hands for a minute" She suggested "But don't try anything"
He looked at her with innocent eyes.
"You could do that?" He asked
"Yeah, I can do that" She replied "Don't sound so surprised, I can make some decisions on my own"
He smiled; she lent over and untied his hands.
"Won't you get into trouble for this?"
"What's it to you?" Lucy enquired, handing him the bottle.
He took a mouthful
"You trust me?" He asked
"Yeah, thousands wouldn't, but then again none are as dumb as me" She remarked
Henry raised his eyebrows as he continued to drink.
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Lucy stood by John, who was writing something down; Jack entered.
"You were right" He stated
Both John and Lucy spun round to see Jack standing in the doorway.
"Right about what?" John asked
"About Henry; what you and Sayid did to him, when you first found him" Jack replied "You were right; I don't like how you did it, but I shouldn't have gotten in your way"
"Well you did what you thought was right at the time you thought it, Jack" He answered simply "I just hope that next time you decide to do something you include me; and something tells me that's going to be soon"
Lucy watched the two; for once this conversation didn't seem like a contest for dominancy. It gave her hope for the possibility that they were partners; and dare she say it, friends.
"You heard Michael; we can take them" Jack remarked
"Our friend with the beard told us not to cross the line" John reminded
"Yeah, we don't need to provoke them" Lucy chimed in
"Those people are liars" Jack snapped "Why should we take their word on anything?"
"I couldn't agree more; so what now?" John enquired, standing up from his chair.
Jack left and walked into the living area. John followed, and started packing things with Jack. Lucy followed them, more certain than ever of her invisibility.
"Where are you going" Kate asked as if it was a reflex
"Yeah, is it club members only or are we invited too?" Lucy remarked
"To get our guns back from Sawyer" John answered
"We're going to need you to help convince him" Jack stated, looking over at Kate
"Who's going to take care of Michael?" She questioned
"I'll stay; you guys go ahead" Ana cut-in
"I'll stay with you Ana" Lucy suggested "I can keep an eye on Michael"
"You guys sure?" Jack asked
"Yeah"
"Give Sawyer my best" Ana smiled
"Alright; we'll be back soon" He answered
Ana and Lucy stood and watched the trio leave. Ana turned to look at Lucy.
"Why'd you stay?" Ana questioned
"I thought you might like a med-student's touch, when it came to a sick guy" Lucy remarked "Did I make the wrong assumption?"
"No..." Ana answered "But there's something I've got to do"
"What?" Lucy asked, looking confused "What are you going to do?"
Ana looked at Lucy's concerned face.
"Can I trust you?" She asked
"Ana, of course you can trust me" Lucy answered "Ana tell me"
"I'm going to take care of Henry, once and for all" Ana notified
"What?"
"He's dangerous, and let's face it; who else has the guts?"
"But…"
"Go for a walk" Ana instructed
"Ana"
"Lucy, I need to do this; for me, for all of us"
"Revenge is a dish best served cold, Ana"
"You don't know what they did to us; to my people" Ana explained "They're all the same; animals and you know what they do with dangerous animals, Lucy"
Lucy's eyes met Ana's.
"Ana, if you do this, you can't take it back" Lucy told her "If you make a mistake, it's going to live with you"
"Lucy, no offence; I don't need a lecture…I know what I need to do"
"Okay"
"Okay?"
"If you're sure, if you know this really is what you have to do"
"What?"
"Someone, a whole lot wiser than I can ever hope to be told me something; you got to do, what you've got to do"
"You're not going to object; thought you were a member of the Henry fan club"
"Look, you wanna deal with this or not; because you haven't got long before Jack gets back" Lucy answered, with an undertone of animosity "I don't think it's fair for us to decide Henry's fate, but you're right…I don't know what they did to your people, or what they are going to do to mine; if you're going to do this, do it…don't mess around"
Ana smiled, and placed a friendly hand on Lucy's shoulder.
"You know what, Lucy, you're a good person; don't ever lose that"
"Alright, I'm going; be back in half an hour" Lucy stated as she left the little underground fortress.
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Ana eased herself onto the couch. Her eyes remained on the armoury door. She knew Lucy was right, if she was going to do this, she needed to do it; no messing around. She paced over to the armoury. She took a breath and opened the door. She pushed a Swiss army knife over to the prisoner.
"Pick it up; cut yourself lose" Ana instructed
Henry looked up at her, confused.
"What?"
"Just do it"
"Why?" He asked, filled with a mixture of confusion and fear
"You know why"
He did know why; his stomach clenched as he began to cut himself free.
"He kept saying you were misunderstood" Henry stated, stalling the inevitable
"What are you talking about?"
"Goodwin; Yes he told us all about you, Ana…how he thought you were worthy; and that he could change you" Henry remarked, making every word count "But he was wrong; and it cost him his life"
"He was going to kill me" Ana answered, as if trying to justify her actions.
"Was he?"
"Are you done?" Ana asked, remembering herself
"Yes, Ana, I'm done" The prisoner replied
Ana drew her gun and aimed at Henry's head.
"So this is it, huh?" Henry said, believing these to be terrible last words. There was something deep inside him hoping for a rescue, but that seemed quite impossible now.
"Yes, Henry, this is it"
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Lucy took a walk around the jungle; not something that was recommended much these days, but she still felt her connection with nature. She loved the silence sanctuary that the jungle offered; it was always dangerously welcoming. She wondered if she had made the right the decision, to let Ana kill Henry. But there was no going back now; he was probably dead. It didn't bare thinking about, knowing she was partly responsible; it sent a chill down her spine. She had never been best friends with Henry, but he had never done anything to her hurt her, and from the stories John had told her, Henry hadn't hurt him either. Was there the smallest possibility that he was a good person? She couldn't have second thoughts now, she told herself. Ana was right; right about the others, after all she had better knowledge than any, excepting Rousseau. She had to think of something else.
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Ana sat herself on the couch. She couldn't understand why she couldn't bring herself to do it. It had to be done, even Lucy had agreed. She began to observe the armoury door. The words Henry had spoken about Goodwin echoed in her mind. He had been trying to kill her, and Henry was just trying to think of a way out; he had managed it. Michael appeared, scanning the room.
"Where is everybody?" Michael asked
"What you said got them all worked up; they went to get the guns back from Sawyer" Ana replied, playing with the gun in her hands.
"Sawyer?" Michael repeated bemused "Sawyer has the guns?"
"Long story"
"At least he didn't get that one" Michael stated
"Yeah; too bad I can't use it" Ana reacted
"Use it on what?"
"We caught one of them…the Others; he's locked up in there" Ana informed, indicating the armoury.
Michael eyed the armoury.
"How long has he…?"
"Over a week" Came the reply
"And you're what…taking care of him?" Michael queried
"He tried to kill me today, so I wanted him dead; I couldn't do it" Ana blurted out "I couldn't even kill him; I looked at him and…I can't do this anymore"
Michael watched her features tort with anguish.
"Then let me do it" Michael offered "They're animals, I've seen these people and they are animals"
Michael caught Ana's eye, they exchanged looks of tormented understanding.
"They took my son" He continued "Right out of my hands…they took my son and…I'll do it; give me the gun, I'll kill him, because that's what they do"
Ana handed over the gun. Something deep in the pit of her stomach, told her this wasn't the right thing to do, but it had to be done; there was no going back.
"What's the combination?" Michael asked, examining the weapon.
"18 right, 1 left, 31 right" Ana answered, as if it was reflex.
Michael silently examined the gun for a while. Ana watched his movements, certain he was searching himself. She knew only too well that some people are killers and others aren't no matter how hard they try, it often takes a gun to find out what sort of person they are.
"I'm sorry" Michael said
Ana believed these to be the moments, he explained that he couldn't do it either. She thought the gun would be returned to her, and everything would be as it was. She was mistaken. Michael turned, and pulled the trigger. Her last seconds were cold, but she felt surprisingly numb; the last of her life drained away, leaving her cold and still. Libby's figure appeared. In shock Michael fired two further shots. He didn't wait to see the affects of his actions, instead he pulled open the armoury door. He and Henry exchanged glances, before Michael took aim at himself and pulled the trigger for the final time.