Gloriosa

A LOST Fanfiction

Disclaimer: LOST and all of its characters and situations belong to… well, Disney, actually. Isn't that weird? And I certainly wouldn't presume to own Ben… Circe Widmore *is* mine however.

Summary: Ben and Charles are playing a game that may be the longest con of all. When Widmore's other daughter crashes with 815 will she become a pawn in their game, or is she destined for a much greater role? (AU no time travel Ben/OC??? Sawyer/OC???)

Episode 3: Co-Pilot Part 3

"I'd like to come with you."

Circe peered over her shoulder. There was a blonde woman approaching, followed closely by a man about the same age. Both of them looked angry.

"She's not going -- this is what she does," the man said.

"The hell I'm not! You don't know what the hell I do"

They came to a stop at the heart of the hike group, seemingly intent on continuing whatever argument they were having. Circe figured it was a lover's spat.

"She makes really bad decisions that upset her family, which at the moment is me!" the man growled.

"Shut up, and stop trying to be charming."

Circe shared a skeptical glance with Sayid. Kate didn't look any more enthused.

The blonde turned to look at the rest of them. "I'm coming with you!" she declared fiercely.

They all hesitated; Kate was the first to respond, "…I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Are you kidding me? She looks about fifteen!" the blond gestured angrily at Circe. She was about to respond in kind, but the blond kept going, cornering Charlie, "You're going, aren't you?"

Charlie didn't miss a beat. "Uh Yeah, are you?"

"Yep."

"Yeah, I'm definitely going," Charlie said.

Circe rolled her eyes. "Can we all just take a chill pill and go?"

Kate turned, and started to walk. "Yeah, we are leaving now."

Sayid, Circe, and the rest followed her, Charlie was last, still trying to placate the blonde. "You couldn't tell from that, but she's actually really nice." Circe wasn't sure if he was referring to her or Kate.

As they passed the threshold of the jungle Circe heard footsteps behind them and turned. At was Sawyer, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"Hey Sawyer," she greeted, waving at him.

"Hey yerself cupcake." He winked at her.

Kate turned to him as he caught up with the rest of them. "You decided to join us."

"I'm a complex guy, sweetheart."

There was some light banter as they hiked along, mostly fueled by Charlie and Shannon, as Circe discovered was the blonde woman's name.

Circe mostly tried to take in as much of the jungle as she could, with its unfamiliar plants and smells. It was beautiful in a way that she had never experienced before— a dangerous, unaltered beauty that had nothing to do with and no regard for people.

Eventually they came to a fairly wide clearing; the grass was up to their waists and the trees were spaced widely.

As they walked through, Sawyer said "Okay, wide open space. You should check the radio, see if we're good."

"We're not going to have any reception here." Sayid answered, not looking back.

"Just try it."

"I don't want to waste the batteries."

"I'm not asking you to keep it on all day."

"We're still blocked by the mountain," Sayid insisted.

"Just check the damn radio!" Sawyer growled. It was almost a shout, and it made Circe wince. Her nerves were already frayed and she did not want to see a repeat of their earlier fight, or even more of Shannon and Boon's bickering.

It was clear that Sawyer wasn't going to back down, so she said, rather more sharply than she'd intended, "Look, Sayid, what's the harm in—"

She stopped; they all did, hearing a weird, scuffling noise in the bushes. All of them whipped around to look for the source of the noise. Circe thought of the noises the night before, but there were not the same.

It was definitely moving, and coming toward them.

"Oh my god," Shannon gasped.

"What the hell is that?" Boone demanded.

"Something's coming," Kate answered.

"It's coming towards us," said Charlie.

"You think?" Circe was already turning to move. It might not be whatever had bent the trees, but that didn't mean that it wasn't bad news.

"C'mon, let's move," Kate said, now starting to run herself.

They all ran, but it hardly made a difference, whatever was in the tall grass was coming for them, and it was fast.

"I shouldn't have come on this hike!" Shannon screamed.

Circe kept running, until she heard Kate behind her shout, "Sawyer!"

Then Circe turned, and she saw him standing still, waiting for whatever it was. Sayid had grabbed Kate.

"Let him go!" Sayid told her, pulling her forward.

Circe was now frozen with awe, watching Sawyer face the thing down. Boone and Shannon brushed past her.

Then she saw why Sawyer wasn't running. He had a gun! She wondered where the hell he had got it. Out of the luggage they'd gone through? She hadn't seen it!

She saw a flash of something white through the grass, leaping at him. Sawyer fired. Once, twice, three times. Over and over, until she was sure he had unloaded the entire clip. The thing didn't stop, it just kept rushing towards him, until falling, as the final bullet was fire, almost on top of him. Sawyer scrambled backwards. Circe hurried over to meet him, and so did the others.

The thing was lying on the jungle floor, growling and groaning and writhing. Now that she could see it clearly, Circe realized that it was a massive white bear.

She looked at Sawyer, panting, "Are you alright?"

He looked down at her, and didn't seem to know what to say.

"That's a big bear," Shannon said.

Circe gulped back a laugh of disbelief. "Yeah."

"Think that's what killed the pilot?" Boone asked.

Circe saw Kate and Charlie share a look.

"No that's a tiny, teeny version compared to that," Charlie said, shaking his head, and holding his fingers less than an inch apart, to illustrate the size difference.

"Guys, this isn't just a bear. It's a polar bear," Kate said, voicing aloud what Circe had been thinking.

"That can't be a polar bear," Boone said, staring at it.

Circe raised an eyebrow at him. "What the hell do you think it is?"

"Polar bears don't live near this far south," Sayid said.

"This one does," Boone answered.

"Did," Sawyer said, walking around the dead bear. "It did."

Kate spun around to face him. "Where did that come from?"

Sawyer shrugged. "Probably bear village," he quipped. "How the hell would I know?"

"Not the bear, the gun," Kate said, gesturing at it.

For a moment everyone was silent until Sawyer answered.

"I got if off one of the bodies," he said nonchalantly.

"One of the bodies?" Sayid sounded skeptical.

"Yeah, one of the bodies," Sawyer insisted, daring him to disbelieve.

"People don't carry guns on planes," Shannon said.

Circe raised an eyebrow, also wondering how someone would get one of those through customs when she couldn't even bring her own nail file.

"They do if they're a U.S. Marshal, sweet cheeks. There was one on the plane."

Kate's eyes darted back to Sawyer. "How do you know that? She asked sharply. Circe wasn't sure but she thought she detected a note of panic in he other woman's voice.

Sawyer sighed. "I saw a guy lying there with an ankle holster so I took the gun. I thought it might come in handy," he explained, sounding exasperated. "Guess what? I just shot a bear."

"So why do you think he's a Marshal?"

"Because he had a clip-on badge," he retorted, holding it up for everyone to see. "I took that too, thought it was cool."

Circe felt herself beginning to get dizzy. She didn't know if it was the heat or just the sheer bloody-mindedness of everyone around her. She held her hands up to her head. "Look, why does it even matter where he got it? A gun is a gun. Shouldn't we be grateful?"

"Why thank you for that, Rapunzel."

Sayid shook his head. "I know who you are," he said, looking daggers at Sawyer. "You're the prisoner."

Sawyer stared at him. "I'm the what?"

"You found a gun on a U.S. Marshal? Yes, I believe you did. You knew who he was because you were the one he was bringing back to the States. Those handcuffs were on you. That's how you knew there was a gun."

Circe held her palm against her forehead, and took a deep breath. She wanted to say that Sayid was just retaliating for Sawyer's earlier accusations, but she kept her mouth shut. The edges of the jungle blurred.

"Piss off," Sawyer spat.

"That's who you are you son-of-a-bitch."

"You're as suspicious of me as I am of you."

"But you are the prisoner."

"Fine, I'm the criminal. You're the terrorist. We can all play a part," he snapped, and turned to face Circe. "Who do you want to be?"

She lifted her head, trying to make sense of where the conversation had gone. "Guh?"

She didn't notice Kate had taken the gun until she was holding it in full view. "Does anybody know how to use a gun?"

Charlie started to speak, but Circe didn't hear him. The edges of her vision were going dark.

"Guys?" she pleaded. "Guys?"

Everything went black.

000

Circe fired one last time at the target that stood at the far end of the range. A bull's-eye. She nodded at Chris, the lanky black haired boy who had accompanied her, and they headed back to the door, passing a young latina on their way. Circe pulled her head-phone-like sound muffler down and handed it to the person behind the counter. Chris did the same thing.

"So, how come your dad got you a gun for your birthday?" he asked, pushing the door open and ushering them both into the bright sunlight in downtown LA.

She shrugged, walking down the street past shoppers and loiterers. "Got me a concealed carry permit too. He's paranoid about this enemy he's got?"

"For real? I mean, I know he's pretty loaded and all, but, seriously?" Chris put his hands in his pocket and walked ahead of her, facing backwards. He flipped his designer shades down from his head to his nose. "Mom hasn't had any problems like that."

"Yeah, your mom isn't Captain Ahab either. You know that ship he's always talking about? There's this guy; I'm not sure how he's connected, but dad says he is: says he's dangerous."

Chris raised his eyebrows. "Danger guy have a name?"

"Several, so I hear. Dean Moriarty, Benjamin Linus."

Chris laughed. "Linus? Doesn't sound very threatening."

"Yeah, somehow I doubt he carries a safety blanket."

They shared a chuckled.

"Bet your dad's glad you're here in LA. From what I hear you can't have a gun in 'jolly old'."

Circe smirked. "Yeah pretty much. He'd have to get me a bodyguard or something instead."

"Ouch, then they'd really know we're not actually dating."

"Oh, Chris," she sighed.

They walked together in a not quite awkward silence.

They'd come to 'the agreement' almost a year before. Like Circe, Chris was the child of a wealthy, and old-fashioned family. Un fortunately for him, he was also gay. So, to deflect the questions of his family, they claimed that he and Circe were dating.

They were great friends; Chris was charming and funny, and sweet. Circe knew that she ought to be attracted to him. Her problem was that she had horrible taste in men. Not to mention that she'd seen from her sister where following your heart away from the mainstream led. Desmond was still serving his sentence in military prison.

So Circe didn't let herself fall in love.

They'd probably end up married to each other, her and Chris. It would keep both their families happy, and they'd be free to pursue their own interests.

Simple.

000

Someone was shaking her.

"Kiddo, y'all right? Hey, wake up Rapunzel."

"Muh?" Her eyes fluttered open. Sawyer was leaning over her, a look of concern on his scraggly face. He was holding her gently up off the jungle floor. She cringed slightly, not used to being touched, but it did make her feel safe. "What happened?" she asked blurrily.

"Ya passed out, that's what happened," he said gruffly.

"It was probably the heat," Sayid said, calli8ng over from where he sat with Kate. Circe saw that they had taken the gun apart.

Circe kept silent, not wanting to admit that she'd come on the hike without having slept.

"Here, kiddo, have some of this." Sawyer proffered her his water bottle.

"Thanks, Sawyer." She glanced briefly at the Oceanic logo, and took a few sips before handing it back.

She started to get up; Sawyer pulled her the rest of the way to her feet.

He turned immediately back to Kate and Sayid. "Gimme back the gun."

Kate made a skeptical noise in her throat. "Why do you want it?"

"I don't know, freckles, how about in case there are any more freaking polar bears around. I'm gonna take lady lovely locks here back to the beach."

Circe moved to protest, when Sayid spoke up.

"That may not be necessary, Sawyer. I believe I may be able to get a signal here." The Iraqi held up the radio.

"Oh, now's a good time to check the radio. Not before, but now." Sawyer sneered,

Perhaps wisely, Sayid ignored him this time.

Circe looked around the clearing. Charlie was absent mindedly playing air-guitar. Shannon was sitting on a rock glaring at the ground, and Boone was standing with his arms crossed.

"How long was I out?" Circe asked in a low voice.

He shrugged. "Minuet and a half. Two minutes." He saw where she was looking. "Don't you mind the lovebirds. Harpy there's just jealous of your fainting spell."

Circe snorted derisively. "Yeah, it was so much fun."

"Hey, we've got a bar," Sayid exclaimed. "Mayday, mayday."

The radio merely hissed and squealed.

"What is that?" Kate asked.

"Its feedback," Circe put in with a sigh.

"Feedback from what?" Kate asked, "What would do that?"

"I'll tell you what would do that," Sawyer answered with a frustrated grimace. "This guy not fixing the radio. This thing doesn't even work."

"It could be another signal," Circe said, leaning back and looking at the canopy of trees.

Boone stepped forward. "What do you mean another signal? Who'd be transmitting way out here?"

Circe shrugged.

Sayid shook his head. "She's right, we can't transmit because something else is already transmitting."

"Transmitting from where?" Charlie asked, suddenly back in the same mental sphere as the rest of them.

Sayid fiddled with the radio some more. "Somewhere close. The signal's strong."

"Somewhere close, you mean on the island, that's great," Charlie grinned.

"What kind of transmission is it?" Sawyer asked.

Sayid pursed his lips. "It could be a SAT phone, maybe a radio signal... Let me get the signal."

"The rescue party, it has to be," Charlie said.

The static suddenly resolved itself into another kind of gibberish. Someone was speaking clearly, but it wasn't in English.

Charlie for one, seemed to be delighted. "It's French, the French are coming. I've never been so happy to hear the French."

"Does anyone speak French?" Sayid asked.

Circe shook her head. "If it was German I could help you out."

"She does," said Boone, tossing his head at Shannon.

"No, I don't. What?" Shannon looked at him like he was crazy.

"What the hell are you talking about? You spent a year in Paris."

Circe shook her head with a sigh, and sat on the rock that the blonde had vacated, trying to tune out the ensuing argument. The battery on the radio was dying as the spoke.

Eventually it resolved that Shannon did speak a little French, and Circe listed to her amateur translation.

"She's saying, she's saying: "Please help me, please come get me."

"Or, she's not. You don't even speak French," Sawyer said with disgust.

"Shut up man," Boone snapped.

"The battery. The battery." Charlie insisted.

"Iteration 17294535.," the radio crackled, before proceeding in French again.

"I'm alone now, on the island alone," Shannon translated with sniveling hesitancy. "Please someone come. The others, they're, they're dead. It killed them. It killed them all."

"That was good," Boone cooed to her when she had finished.

Sayid looked up from his thoughts suddenly. "Sixteen years," he announced.

Circe's gaze snapped up. She stared at him. "Sixteen years?"

He nodded. "The iterations. It's a distress call, a plea for help, a mayday. If the count is right it's been playing over and over for 16 years."

Circe could feel the shock run through the rest of the group, a new kind of hopelessness. If this message had been playing for that long, would they ever be rescued?

"Someone else was stranded here?" Boone asked.

"Maybe they came for them," Kate said. Her hopefulness sounded false and hollow.

Sawyer shook his head, and flared his nostrils. "If someone came why is it still playing?"

They all stood there for a moment, taking in the news. Circe bit her lip. She felt something at this news, like they did, but what was it? Was it the same hopeless feeling of being cut off? Was it liberation, or just.. curiosity?

Charlie was the one who broke the silence, and the spell. "Guys," he said, "where are we?"

End of Co-Pilot

To be continued…

Author's Note: So, that's the beginning. Next chapter starts with Ben, I promise. That lil rat is important. 3 Oh um, I forgot to thank Lostpedia last chapter for the transcripts, and the timeline. I used them again, so thanks again, for all the hard work they put into it.

Also, there was a quick flash-cameo in this one, did anybody catch it?