Chapter 10

SEATTLE GRACE

TWO DAYS LATER

"You know, just before you told me about Jacob, you mentioned something about the secrets of the island," Locke said to Ben as he studied the journal. "You know, along the lines of wishing it was as simple as just opening a dusty old book."

"To be fair John, as you read these journals, it's pretty clear that I wish someone had been willing to do the same thing for me when I asked this same question," Ben said carefully. "You already thought I was the man behind the curtain. This would have just gone to prove that I was as much the wizard as the one in the movie."

"And it's not like you were exactly going out of your way to be helpful back then," James reminded him. "Hard to say it matters now that we're off the island."

"I guess we should have expected as much when we got the band back together again," Izzie said to Alex.

"Hey, at least they're not playing their greatest hit: 'How Much Vital Information Can We Not Tell Everybody?" Alex pointed out.

"I have to tell you, James, it's pretty clear that Karev has got us both beat when it comes to the sarcastic putdown," Ben said, only half in jest.

"The two of us were never in the same category. I was all about the nicknames, remember?" James reminded them.

"But you still have the whole deflection part down cold," Izzie pointed out. "According to my watch, it's been nearly an hour and you still haven't given a review to the movie you just saw."

It had taken most of the next day for the LA contingent of the Oceanics to get up to Seattle to see the information that Ben had been willing to provide as good faith. Perhaps not surprisingly, the group was more interested in the orientation film for the Hydra station that Ben had somehow managed to bring with him all the way from the island. They'd seen the film, mostly nodded, and said things along the lines of 'Well, that explains quite a bit," and had then gone through the journals that Ben had provided.

"I guess they're playing their second biggest hit: "Here's More Strange Stuff We'll Ignore.' Alex pointed out.

"Fair enough," Jack agreed. "How much of what you saw in this film doesn't comply with what you've already been told?"

"You're talking to people who hadn't seen one of these films before," Alex reminded them. "You got to realize this is like when I saw The Matrix the first time: I'm still trying to make sense of what I saw."

"Let's start with what may be the least important question to you, but matters the most to me," Locke turned to Ben. "When I searched your offices, I found the orientation films for every one of the stations except this one. Is there a reason you took it with you?"

"To be fair, John, even if I'd left it there you wouldn't have been able to watch it," Ben said. "Don't ask me to explain the logic, but for some reason alone among the orientation films, this wasn't made into a strip or a VHS tape. The Dharma Initiative seems to have filmed this on a Betamax."

Alex and Izzie looked blank at this reference, as did Hugo and Claire. Jack, however, seemed able to process this. "You're telling me that Dharma recorded its very first filmstrip on something that stopped being built by the early 1980s?"

"It's not like Dharma was ever at the cutting edge of technology to begin with," Ben pointed out.

"Those satellites I saw at the Flame would seem to indicate otherwise," Sayid was still being contrary.

"There was enough technology to update from. It's not like the Hanso Foundation owned stock in Betamax," Ben pointed out. "In any case, when I came back to civilization I found a company that transferred video images to DVDs, and that's where I got it."

"And nobody asked questions about what they saw on it?" Kate asked doubtfully.

Ben shrugged. "I said it was a teaser for a new movie that was debuting at a sci-fi convention."

"Easier to believe then the truth," Hurley said with a similar shrug. "So Pierre Chang, he was using all those fakes names because somehow your people got a hold of this film somehow?"

"I guess so," Ben said cautiously. "It's not like any of us were ever around for the filming of them."

"Well, Chang clearly had a strange sense of humor when it came to his pseudonyms," Locke said. "Marvin Candle, Mark Wickmund, Edgar Halliwax, it's like he was trying to say he was using fake names in those films without saying they were fake names."

"I get why you use aliases better than most," James pointed out. "But did nobody who was at these stations know anything about the others? I mean, if somebody who worked at the Swan ever had a conversation with someone who worked at the Pearl, they'd have to ask what the hell was going on."

"Yeah, and why use fake names but not disguise his appearance?" Kate argued. "You want to pretend you're not who you say you are, but not do a thing to alter how you look, someone's going to put two and two together, especially considering that all of these are meant to be seen for the same group of people."

"The Dharma Initiative was never big on trust," Ben reminded them.

"Kind of an overriding theme for the island as a whole," Alex countered.

"How about something you might be able to explain?" Locke asked.

"What do you have in mind, John?" Ben asked.

"I saw the five other Dharma film strips, and while I thought that they might have been filmed simultaneously, I'm now positive that the one for the Hydra was filmed first. And it has nothing to do with the aliases."

Jack nodded. "You noticed his hands, too."

Everybody except Locke looked blank.

"Care to share with the rest of the class, Doc?" James said.

"It's one of those things that's not obvious to you guys, but if Karev or Stevens had seen the film for the Swan they'd have picked up on it quickly," Jack said. "'Marvin Candle' never moved his right hand during the entire film strip but he kept moving his left one. That's the kind of behavior you tend to see in people…"

"…who have a prosthesis," Karev was following now. "But Pierre Chang used both hands throughout that film."

"Did you only realize it now?" Kate asked Locke.

"When I was in rehab, I spent a fair amount of time around amputees," Locke acknowledged. "That said, I wasn't completely certain of it until I saw the tape for the Pearl. Of course, that only led me to ask why two people who were clearly the same man with the same injury were using different names."

"Before or after you broke the Swan?" Karev said pointedly.

Locke looked at Ben and James. "He's better than both of you right now and he's got at least ten years on both of you."

"He'll be the Iron Mike of sarcasm when he gets to our age," There actually seemed to be admiration in James' tone at that. "Can you answer that part of it?" he asked Ben.

"I never knew that Chang that well," Ben said. "He was always in the elite of the Initiative. Most of Dharma respected him but very few people ever knew what he was doing."

"I'm guessing he was in those films because he supervised some of those stations constructions?" Jack asked.

Ben nodded. "He definitely was involved with the work that was going on in the Swan and the Orchid. And I knew he did work connected with the Pearl. He must have done work on Hydra Island but I don't think he liked it much. Maybe it had something to do with the difference between biologists and physicists?"

Izzie shrugged. "Surgeons have issues with therapists and nurses; maybe scientists have the same problems between their specialties?"

"Dan and Charlotte have more advanced degrees than either of us, and they seem perfectly nice to us," Karev countered. "If I had the brains either of those two had, I'd look down at a mere surgical resident."

"You able to follow more of what they're talking about than us?" Kate asked.

"We do have a similar field of training, but it's not like one semester of physics prepares you for some of the stuff that Dan learned about as a teenager," Karev was speaking respectfully for a change. "He seemed to have a greater understanding about the polar bears in those videos were being used for."

"I'm guessing Red told you about the skeleton they found in the Sahara a few years back," James said.

Stevens pointed at the DVD. "With that exact logo on a collar it was wearing. She looked like she was going to explode when she saw that."

"So the polar bears were being used in experiments. We knew that much going in and they were also being used for one on a different part of the island," Jack said. "It still doesn't explain how the bears got from the island to Tunisia."

"I may have an answer to that," Ben said.

"Of course he does," Hurley said.

"Guy always had answers. He just chose when to drop them," James pointed out.

"This is more in terms of the theoretical than anything else. Because it involves a station whose full potential I didn't learn about until well after the Purge," Ben told them.

"Is that why you never told anyone else about it?" Juliet asked.

"This wasn't a matter of withholding information about the Looking Glass being operational," Ben told her. "Because honestly the Orchid itself was not the dangerous part of the station. If anything, the station being built covered up the more important of the secret."

"I saw the film," Locke reminded him. "And based on what Dan has been able to figure out, the Orchid station was dealing with something like time travel. Now I know from watching those movies that the reasons given about the station were not the real reason they were there."

"What did Richard tell you about the Orchid?" Ben asked.

"Only that no one should go ever near it." Locke said.

"Always a master of understatement. Well, time to stop dicking around," Ben said. "From what I understand, the vault in the Orchid was built right next to one of those 'pockets of energy.' Dharma was big in euphemism, weren't they?"

"What was really there?" Jack asked.

"I honestly don't know. I never went there. From what Richard tells me though was that Dharma built the Orchid on what he referred to as a 'measure of last resort'. Something that was to be done only if the island was in danger of discovery or destruction."

A very nasty idea was finally slipping into place for many of the people who had heard this story from John.

"Holy shit," James said. "You're telling me that they actually could move the island?"

"What do polar bears have to do with that?" Alex asked.

The answer came from the most surprising source. "You're telling me that there was a wormhole on the island?"

Everybody looked at Hurley. He shrugged. "Seriously? I'm the only person here who saw Farscape?"

"Well, Dan did seem to think that something like that had to exist," Karev said slowly. "That was how he thought the bear ended up in Tunisia. It went into the Orchid and wandered out in the Sahara."

"Boy if I wasn't opposed to experimenting on animals before," Izzie said disgustedly.

"Dharma did their work in the 1970s," Ben reminded her. "And honestly, there are so many better reasons to hate them. Such as the fact that they were drilling near energy this dangerous to begin with."

"Is that why they were purged?" Sayid seemed to be clearly putting 'Ben' when he said they.

"I realize you have no reason to believe, but the fact is the Purge was going to happen whether I was part of it or not," Ben said.

"What exactly did Dharma do deserve being purged?" Jack asked.

"They broke their word. Actually, they broke quite a bit of it."

"Is this about this 'truce' Mikhail said existed?" Kate asked, trying to defuse the situation.

"He was part of Dharma after it ended, but the Truce was very real," Ben said. "Richard explained it to be when the decision was made."

"This has something to do with the agreement Dharma made with the 'Hostiles' when the finally settled the island," Locke said.

"From what I understand, Horace agreed to a very legal document. Richard was the representative during this period and he didn't much like the terms Dharma set to begin with. So he added some codicils that they were to follow. The Initiative was never to have more than 216 people on the island. I don't know why they picked that particular number so don't ask why. Dharma was not supposed to violate any ruins on the island."

"I can think of at least two reasons why they wouldn't want that to happen," Locke agreed.

"Dharma was supposed to vacate the island exactly fifteen years after they settled it. And most importantly, they were never to dig or drill more than ten meters below the surface anywhere on the island."

"They clearly did not abide by that part of the deal," Sayid actually sounded thoughtful now.

"And I'm guessing that 1988 came and went and they stayed put," Hurley said slowly.

"They were still on the island when the French team crashed," Ben confirmed. "I still don't know how Rousseau lived on that island for three months and they never found her."

"She had a way of keeping herself hidden," Sayid said admiringly.

"So yes, the Purge was going to happen one way or another. The only thing that I did was make sure I wasn't part of it," Ben said. "Nor was the only one."

"I don't pretend to understand the machinations of Jacob," Locke reminded Ben, "but I'm certain everyone who ended up on the island only did because of his maneuvers. And that includes Dharma."

"My people would have argued differently," Ben began.

"Were those people getting lists then? Because I can tell you with some certainty that at least a few key people in Dharma were on it."

It was very rare to see Ben Linus taken aback even now. "How would you know that?"

Locke told him without any pride about how he had found the Lighthouse and the names that he had seen on the wheel. It was always hard to read him, but it was clear Ben had never even heard of a lighthouse much less seen one.

"I lived on that island for thirty years. If there had been a lighthouse on it, you think I wouldn't have seen it?" Ben actually sounded unnerved.

"We didn't see it either," Hurley said calmly. "Maybe it only showed up when we needed to look for it."

That was deep coming from Hurley.

"So my name was on that wheel."

Now was not the time to tell Ben that it might just as easily have been his father's. "Yours, and Chang, and Goodspeed. For all I know there might have been four or five more names from the Initiative there and I didn't know it. But I remember those three very clearly. That means Jacob wanted them there. Which means that he wanted Dharma to find the island."

"And then fifteen years later, when he didn't think they were useful anymore, he had them thrown away," Karev actually sounded gentle when he spoke to Ben. "I don't mean to question the deity you spent your life worshipping, but he sounds pretty Old Testament to me. Certainly not the kind of God you should spend your life obeying."

Ben looked truly shaken for the first time since any of the survivors had known them. Locke had an idea what he might be going through right now. But before he could offer words of comfort, Ben looked at him.

"You made the right choice walking away when you did," Ben said sadly.

"I saw that wheel, Ben," Locke said in a mournful tone. "I'm not sure how much of a choice any of us truly had coming to the island."

"And we're listening to John Locke's power ballad: 'Everything Happens for a Reason," Karev's sarcasm was slightly muted. "I know that the two of you were the biggest destiny boosters on that island and given what happened to you two, I can't exactly say I blame you for thinking that way. But I don't care how many lists you carried, how many statues you walked towards, I will never buy this particular line of BS."

Locke turned to Jack. "Did you spin this line when you were telling them this story or this kind of thinking limited exclusively to surgeons?"

"Need I remind you that a fair amount of us never shared your point of view, John?" Kate said with a small smile.

"And I'll admit, I'm biased in this," Karev actually sounded a bit more emotional. "John, if you had walked up to be while Iz was going through chemo and said to me 'All this was happening for a reason', I'd have thrown you through another window."

"I'd like to think I'd never be that oblivious but I remember how I was back then; I could very well have said something like that," Locke admitted. Considering how he had survived getting shot by Ben, he wasn't prepared to rule it out.

"And I get why Jack would have been so adamant in his opposition even if I had only known he was a surgeon," Izzie said carefully. "It is very hard to be a person of faith after you spend a rotation in an ER. I don't care how religious you are; you see enough people who get hit by a drunk driver or enough children dying of cystic fibrosis, you are certain that if God existed, he's just a bastard."

Jack nodded at this. "I'm slightly more inclined to believe in destiny than I was before, but every mass trauma I'm called in on, it's harder to believe that." He looked at John. "And that's with knowing what happened to you."

"I spent too much time in a hospital bed to not understand that point of view," John admitted. "And I won't deny there were times on the island it was easy to fall back on it."

Ben looked at Juliet. "Was that why you never truly bought into what you were hearing, even when you first came to the island?"

"I was so grateful to be out from under the thumb of Edmund Burke, I don't think I cared that much," Juliet admitted. "And it's not like there weren't warning signs right up to the time I showed up on your doorstep. Richard was practically telling me as much right before I took the sedative and got on your sub."

"He told you were just going to be there for six months," James reminded her.

"He also made his pitch telling me Mittelos was in Portland," Juliet countered. "The fact that he told me he was lying about that before my husband's body was even cold should have been an indicator I wasn't in my right mind."

Even more than six years after the fact, Juliet was still not willing to ask the obvious question: had the Others arranged for Edmund to get hit by the bus? There was two things about it; first, for all the powers the Others and Jacob supposedly had, she just couldn't bring herself to believe they were capable of making a bus literally appear out of nowhere. And second – and she wasn't proud of this – of all the things she regretted about her experiences leading to her coming to the island, her husband's death was not one of them.

Edmund Burke had been a monster who flaunted his infidelities and whose last real conversation with her had been to blackmail her over her research. He had been a loathsome tool who didn't have a friend in the world. He had been one of the most prestigious scientists in the country, but only she and his mother had attended his memorial. And it was clear that both of them were only doing so out of a sense of obligation; neither had said a word or shed a tear during the short service, neither had even placed a flower on his grave, and when it was over, both just walked without a word to anyone, not even each other. He was just as much a prick when he was dead as when he was alive, and neither wanted to spend a second longer with him. Juliet had wanted to get as far away from her husband as possible. If that meant going to an island halfway around the world for six months, who cared?

"You kept telling us over and over that everything you did was for the good of the island," Juliet was talking to Ben with compassion for the first time in a very long time. "Given what those three years were like for me, it's really hard for me to see how the island was good for anyone else."

Locke had an obvious reason to argue this point but he had no intention of doing so in Juliet's case. He had a feeling that he wouldn't find many allies in this argument.

"And I just don't buy that the island or Jacob or whoever was calling the shots for your lives," Alex was back to his original point. "I have to believe that we make our own choices."

"That easy for you to say, Karev," Stevens said only half joking. "You've never had your name appear on some list. I have a feeling George and Lexi might have a different opinion."

"They sure as hell didn't seem to think so in the last few conversations we've had," Alex pointed out. "And of all of us, they're the ones who wear their hearts on their lab coats."

"On an unrelated note, is there a reason neither of them chose to join us for the viewing?" Claire asked almost casually.

"Some of us still have to work," Karev told them. "Only reason Iz and I have time for this is we're still on a lighter schedule. They've still got rounds to do and charts to go over."

"I can't imagine they don't think about this stuff occasionally," Jack said.

SEATTLE GRACE CAFETERIA

Though no one knew at the time, Meredith, George, and Lexi were in the cafeteria right then. But none of them were thinking of their project, Ben Linus or anything island related. They were looking from a distance at what all of them thought might very well be a historical moment in medical history.

Five minutes earlier the other Kathryn Austin, new chief of cardiac surgery had just had what was her first encounter with Miranda Bailey. There had been a polite introduction and the two had walked off together in front of half the interns and residents. So naturally, Mark Sloan had done the only appropriate thing. He had started a betting pool on which one would come back alive.

"You know if Bailey finds out about this pool, you'll be the one most likely to use motor function?" Derek Shepherd had reminded his friend.

"That's why I'm putting the odds in favor of it being her," Mark said.

"Bailey is a strong and wise woman," George said solemnly. "She knows better than to go after an attending before she's done something to offend her."

"You do know Austin's track record? She's been fired from three different hospital, suspended twice from the same one," Mark pointed out.

"Have you actually had a conversation with the woman?" Meredith asked, a little heatedly. "She took the time out of her busy schedule to introduce herself. She was a fire eater back in the day, but she seems to have mellowed since then."

"I talked with her two days ago," George agreed. "She actually seems pretty decent. Though I don't know, maybe she just gets this way among potential mentees."

"What did she ask you about?" Derek asked gently. "Your mother?"

Meredith nodded. "They never met but the two had mutual admiration for each other. Which didn't mean Dr. Austin wasn't stunned that she'd been having an affair with a married man for over a decade."

"She didn't blame Richard for stringing her along?" Derek asked.

Meredith shook her head. "If anything she seemed shocked that Ellis continued it after I was born."

"What did you talk with her about?" Lexi didn't want to discuss parentage that much.

George, as was his want whenever he tried to avoid a touchy subject, deflected badly. "Oh, you know, just being friendly. We were all coming off a mass casualty and she was sitting off by herself, so I figure why not introduce myself now that my sleeves weren't coated with innards?"

This was just close enough to what they had discussed that most people would not have pushed any further. Lexi Grey, unfortunately, still had that eagerness about her that stopped her from recognizing the line and when not to cross it. "She didn't want gossip on anyone she'd be working with?"

"She said Jack and Juliet had given her some of the dirt on most of the people she wanted to hear about," George told her. He decided to deflect with a variation on the truth. "Which means they probably told her about Christina."

He wondered if they would start probing his part in this. George was slightly surprised they took him at his word. "Whatever Jack didn't tell them about Yang, Richard would have," Derek said simply.

"You don't think there's any chance either of them would sugarcoat it?" Meredith might not be as close to Christina as she once had been, but she still cared for her.

"Weber might deflect. We all know Jack does not hold back about what he thinks of you guys," Sloane reminded them. "I'm still not sure why he gets considered for his honesty for it and I'm just an asshole."

"To be fair, we didn't exactly like it when he laid down the law the first time," Meredith said.

"And to be fairer, he was acting in the best interest of the hospital, whereas as you were just being your charming self," Derek was only partially kidding about this.

"Hard to argue with either one of you," Sloane agreed. "Which actually makes me think that Austin might not want to get to a war of words yet with Bailey. Maybe she knows about the resident who she'll be working with the most closely of all of you…"

"…and she wants to know what's she in for," Meredith said thoughtfully. "Not a bad idea, considering what happened to the last two heads of cardio before her."

Everyone was surprised to hear Meredith say what they were all thinking. "I love Christina, but I'm not immune to the chaos she can leave in her wake."

"We all did when we were coming up," George reminded her.

"The difference is, she still hasn't learned from her mistakes." It took a lot for Meredith to say that. "That pool you were talking about, Sloane. Is there another option?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Which one of them does Christina take out?"

LGLGLGLG

Indeed, the other Kate Austin had every intention of bring Yang up to Miranda Bailey when she pulled her aside, but because you don't lead with a live grenade, she was working her way to it. It helped matters that Bailey, while being properly deferential, was not intimidated by her. Indeed, she had led with the question that Austin had expected.

"Did Weber promise you chief when he stepped down?" she asked.

"I told him I wasn't interested," Austin said. "I don't blame you if you choose not to believe me, considering I held the job at two of my previous hospitals."

"It's just when Derek Shepherd and Preston Burke were offered positions here, Weber made that same promise," Bailey said. "Derek was actually given it two years ago but he turned it down. Somehow I don't think he'll make the same mistake twice when Weber actually steps down and means it."

"That's interesting, considering Jack seems pretty sure you're going to get it," Austin parried. "Indeed, when I had my first meeting with him and Carlson, they both made it very clear that they intended to back you when it happened."

Miranda didn't deny this. "Jack already made it clear. It's nice to know Juliet has my back. But I'm not naïve. Even with their backing, it'll be a fight and there are more experienced doctors here even before you showed up."

"I love that euphemism 'experienced'," Austin said. "But since you're a candidate for the position and I've already held it, would you like to know what it's like?"

"By all means," Miranda said. "I'm guessing it's not as glamorous as it sounds."

"No one takes a job like this because it's glamorous. For me, it was more about planting a flag than anything else," Austin admitted.

"I'm not immune to the work doctors like you have done before I came along," Bailey was respectful now. "I wouldn't be here without it."

"It's always nice to hear that," Austin was equally respectful. "The problem is, of course, no one ever tells you about the personal costs. That old cliché about winning friends and influencing people? I was never good at either of those."

"You do know my nickname?" Now Bailey was being humorous.

"But I also know it comes from a place of respect and that you are liked as much as you are admired," Austin now sounded slightly depressed. "I used to say I didn't care if people liked me as long as they respected me. Almost everywhere I worked, very few people did either."

"That doesn't count the personal costs," Bailey hesitated. "I haven't told anybody else at the hospital at this, and I'd appreciate it if you kept it between us, at least for now."

Austin had an idea what was coming when she agreed, and she was not surprised.

"My husband and I have separated. "And based on how the last several weeks have been, we're probably going to get a divorce soon," Bailey shook her head.

"I won't tell, but you should know that Jack thought it was a matter of time. I guess like recognizes like."

Bailey shook her head. "Adele left Richard for over a year. Though to be fair, she had a much better reason to than Alan did."

"You don't have to protect Richard's confidences. He told me when he hired me about his relationship with Meredith's mother." Austin assured her. "Though I have to say I didn't think either one of them was capable of that kind of protracted infidelity. Still, all things considered, it's a better reason than just neglect, which is what happened to Tommy and me."

"I spent so much time away from my family that I didn't know my infant son was injured until he came into the emergency room," Bailey said detached.

"I was so worried my ex-husband would get full custody that I basically kidnapped my seven-year old daughter and took her out of state," Austin said in a similar measure of detachment. "So, I guess neither of us are candidates for Mother of the Year."

"I've known people who had bigger parental issues," Bailey said.

"On staff or friends of staff?"

Bailey hesitated again. "Both."

"I knew Christian Shephard socially. I'm honestly amazed he held it together as long as he did," Austin told her. "And I met his wife last week. Between the two of them, I really don't have to know any of the details of the other survivors to know that they've got our parental problems beat by a country mile."

Miranda was relieved she didn't have to break any confidences she'd learned. "The code here is we don't tell Jack and his friends' secrets unless they give permission."

"And if they do give it, I will ask. But I've had a reputation as a busybody in a couple of my previous jobs to know that it's not one of my virtues. So I'll let them lead on this one."

"Well, you might get a chance to get some information anyway," Miranda was looking down the hall. "One of their closest friends is here, and I think I know why."

In his typical friendly fashion, Hurley waved to Miranda.

"If you're looking for Callie, she's still on shift for another hour," Bailey said with a small smile.

"I know I was actually hoping I could talk to you first," Hurley walked over.

"Have you met the other Kate Austin?" Miranda said as he approached.

"Sorta," Hurley said. "At the cafeteria a couple of days ago did you sit by yourself because you thought you should be at the new kid's table or did you just not feel like barbecue?"

"Neither" Austin said. "I could tell from the major topic of conversation was what happened to you after the crash and I didn't want to eavesdrop on something I didn't think I should know."

Hurley looked a little surprised. "You know, you're like the first person in a long time who was fine with our personal lives being personal."

"Am I being insulted or complimented?" Austin asked.

"After the crash the rule was, if you wanted to keep something a secret you didn't tell Hurley," Hurley said. "So I'm the wrong person to ask."

"Well, if this is that kind of business, I can catch up with Miranda later," Austin looked like she was going to leave.

Hurley held up a hand. "You're like the new head of heart surgery?" Austin nodded. "So you'll have a seat at the board decisions."

"Some of them."

Hurley looked at Bailey. "She might want to hear about this."

Bailey blinked. "This about what we talked about last week?"

Hurley looked at Austin. "About six years ago, I had what amounted to a breakdown and I spent three months in a mental facility called Santa Rosa. So even before I got to know Jack, I kind of had a good idea what hospitals were like and what they get wrong."

"Richard's mentioned that your foundation has done a lot of good work for this hospital and other facilities," Austin told him. "He says usually when this people do so much for a hospital, they ask for a new set of lungs in return."

"Yeah, I get the whole not wanting to do something out of the goodness of their heart bit," Hurley admitted. "I'm trying to prove them wrong. Which is kind of what I'm trying to do here."

"Hurley's trying an initiative so that hospital can get a better quality of food for both patients and staff," Miranda said.

"They've been trying movements like this in some schools in Chicago," Austin nodded. "I haven't heard anybody try for a hospital yet."

"Hospital budgets are already stretched thin as they are," Bailey reminded her. "I wish I could say it were things like clinics and surgical gear, but it's usually for more advanced technology and surgeons salaries. I've advocated for a lot of things for Seattle Grace, but I have to admit healthier meals wouldn't have occurred to me."

"It is one of those things that is self-evident," Austin hesitated. "Of course, when you do as many angioplasties as I do, you know that having healthier meals for your heart patient before he goes into surgery was the last thing he should have worried about."

"You think I'm overreaching?" Hurley asked.

"It's a good idea," Austin assured him. "I've eaten my share of lousy hospital meals in my career to know that everybody involved could benefit from better food. I just hope the spread you put last week wasn't going to be your business model."

"Honestly, I'm pretty sure a two-piece from Mr. Cluck would be an improvement over anything they serve anywhere," Hurley pointed out. "But yeah, the idea is for eating more nutritious meals, not just tastier ones."

"It's not just about money with this, Hugo," Miranda reminded him. "You're going to need to put together a whole staff. And as good as you are with food in general, I do think that's a little beyond your paygrade."

"There's a guy I know in Fresno," Hurley said. "We went to middle school together. Still hangs out with my brother Diego every so often. He's been trying to do some work with this kind of thing in schools down there. I've had a couple of conversations with him over the last couple of weeks."

"Is he up for something like this?" Bailey asked.

"Not gonna like, this is more ambitious than anything he's worked on before. And honestly, given Seattle Grace's reputation that the last few years, I had to persuade him this wasn't some kind of, you know, massage to make the hospital look better."

"Honestly, the massage part would be hiring people like me," Austin pointed out. "What you're talking about is a grass roots thing that might make a difference."

"When's your next meeting with him?" Bailey asked.

"I'm going to get down to LA ahead of the rest of the group this week," Hurley told them. "Jack and Juliet, obviously, are on board with this and Miranda's more than willing to help. Your support isn't necessary, but I'm not going to lie and say it wouldn't hurt."

Austin smiled. "Your friends clearly haven't told you about my reputation at other hospitals."

"My friends clearly haven't told you I don't really care about other people's reputations," Hurley said back.

"No, that part everybody's been clear on," Austin said. "I was actually telling Miranda that I've never been good at persuading people to my point of view, even when it's the right thing to do. Hell, my being onboard might guarantee the board assign all cafeteria detail to Domino's instead."

Hurley didn't dismiss this outright. "There are a couple of doctors on staff with worse egos. A couple of residents too."

"I had to do a fair amount of pushing to sign up enough doctors for the clinic I have downstairs," Bailey reminded her. "Ruffling feathers come with the territory."

"Oh, ruffling feathers never bothered me. It's smoothing them out afterwards that I could never do," Austin said.

"Maybe there's a way we can make this work for us," Hurley said carefully. "You know, like two Jedis teaching a Padawan?"

Austin looked repulsed. "Don't bring that up again."

Hurley looked hurt for the first time since he'd shown up. "You don't like Star Wars?" he said as if Austin had just killed his puppy.

"Are you kidding? I saw all three movies when they first came out. When they were reissued in 1997, I made sure Sara saw all three of them in the theaters," Austin say carefully. "I did everything in my power so that the two of us could see The Phantom Menace together."

Hurley's face cleared. "Ohhhh," he said. "What made it impossible? Jar-Jar or the mitichlorians?"

"It was the immaculate conception of Anakin Skywalker," Austin shook her head. "I heard that line, it took all my willpower not to walk out of the theater. After it ended, I basically questioned whether the fact I'd like the first three movies was because I might have been smoking too much weed at the time."

"James had less patience than you," Hurley told her sympathetically. "He walked out before the space buggy race. I do take a fair amount of grief from him for seeing all of the prequels, and this is one of the rare occasions where I might have earned it."

Bailey shook her head. "It should be a crime against Hollywood to waste both Samuel L. Jackson and Liam Neeson in the same movie."

"All those years Lucas was working on the special effects, he clearly wasn't doing anything to the screenplay," Austin said sadly. "That's why I always liked Spielberg better."

Hurley raised an eyebrow. "Jaws and Indiana Jones or just the serious stuff?"

"An artist is an artist," Austin said. "Besides, the people who say that E.T. and Raiders of the Lost Ark don't have layers just don't want to see them."

"I'm still not sure he was the right guy for The Color Purple, even now," Miranda said.

"I don't know any other director who could have gotten that made in 1985," Austin countered. "Besides, who would you have gotten for the job? Spike Lee's a great filmmaker but he would have been the wrong choice even he had been established back then."

Bailey acknowledged as much.

"My mom really loved that one," Hurley said. "Wouldn't let me see until I was seventeen, and I have to tell you I'm not sure I would have sat through before then."

"Not your kind of film?" Bailey said sympathetically.

"I mean, no car chases, no explosions, nothing but acting in it," Hurley said.

"Was that the only reason you liked Saving Private Ryan? The explosions?" Bailey said, half in jest.

"I never thought a war movie could be exciting if it didn't have aliens or wizards in it before that," Hurley said seriously. "Gotta ask, does he decide that he has to make those fun movies in the summer and the serious ones for the winter? You know like he did War of the Worlds a couple of years back and then Munich for the awards?"

Austin and Bailey looked at each other. "Does seem to a pattern of his," Austin pointed out.

"Though sometimes they're not even that serious," Bailey said thoughtfully. "Remember a few years before he did Minority Report in the summer and Catch Me if You Can in the winter?"

"I couldn't follow the first one," Hurley said slowly. "Wasn't that sure what A.I. was about either."

"I'm not sure I did, either" Austin turned to Bailey. "You have any better luck?"

"That last half hour just made no sense to me," Bailey admitted. "But hell, given the amount of success he's had, Spielberg's entitled to do something just for the hell of it now and then."

"Maybe that's why he's doing that new Indiana Jones movie," Hurley said thoughtfully.

"Or he could just want to work with Harrison Ford before he gets too old to do those action scenes anymore," Austin pointed out.

"How old is he now? Fifty? Fifty-five?" Hurley asked.

Bailey looked at him. "Last I checked, the guy just turned sixty-four."

"Damn," Hurley said. "I mean, I know I come from a town where everybody has work done as a matter of course, but damn."

"Think how I feel. I was in college when I first saw Star Wars," Austin said slowly.

"It's going to weird seeing him playing grandfathers soon," Bailey said sadly. "Though let's not kid ourselves. Woman are going to be throwing themselves at him for the rest of his life."

"Isn't he married to someone, like, twenty years younger than him?" Hurley asked.

"Haven't you been around this hospital long enough to know men never stop chasing it?" Bailey said, half in jest.

"I've been here long enough to know the women do just as much," Hurley said, completely in jest.

"I spent a lot of my career campaigning for gender equality. "This isn't quite what I had in mind," Austin said slowly.

Hurley looked at Bailey. "Has he met Sloane yet?"

"We haven't worked together yet, but I know that he has something of the reputation of being a, what's the politically correct term, man-whore?"

"That's one word for when half the nursing staff signs a petition demanding that he stop having one night stands with them," Bailey said.

Austin's eyebrows nearly shot through her forehead. "You're kidding?"

Hurley shook his head. "My girlfriend had to console him that he wasn't that bad. She told me it was one of the few times she lied to preserve his feelings."

"I think you said it best. Damn." Austin said. "Is that why he hasn't hit on me yet?"

"That, and he has a girlfriend he's trying to be serious with, remember?" Bailey pointed out. "Are you relieved or miffed?"

'When I know, I'll tell you," Austin turned back to Hurley. "It was nice to meet you, Hurley, but I think I have to finish my conversation with Miranda now."

"Not a problem. I'm supposed to be meeting Callie and the rest of the gang for dinner anyway." Hurley held his hand. "You don't mind if I call you Dr. Austin for a while longer? Even after all this time…"

"I get it. That said, I would like to have a meal with you and some of your friends a little later. Not the plane crash, but maybe there's still some hospital gossip that you could fill me in on."

"Stick around this hospital a little longer. You'll pick it up on your own." Hurley said.

As he walked off, Bailey turned to Austin. "You've been here nearly a month. You're telling me there's still secrets to this hospital you're not privy too?"

"What can you tell me about Cristina Yang?" Austin asked.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Yes at this point Alex Karev is not only a fan of Lost; he's clearly could at puncturing the biggest flaws the characters had at the time. You do wonder why none of them asked some of the obvious question?

The film that Ben just showed them, by the way, is the Orientation film for The Hydra that was included as an extra in 'The New Man in Charge'. The explanation for the gaps is the explanation Ben gave, as for the explanation – yes, this is a Comic-Con Lost reference. I couldn't resist. As for the part of 'Marvin Candle' and his artificial hand – that was confirmed by Darlton themselves after 'Orientation' and anyone who saw 'The Incident' knows exactly how it happened. Jack being a surgeon would have picked up on the first showing and Locke would have guessed by that point.

How did Ben know how to move the island before 'Christian' instructed Locke? It's clear even given the status of the Orchid years after the fact that no one had touched the vault. This is as close to an explanation as I can give, but it's pretty clear it's a guess. The only person who knew about the wheel was the Man in Black; there's no evidence Jacob ever knew anything about it.

Hurley was always a sci-f fan and I bet Farscape would appeal to him. It combined two things he must have loved growing up: space exploration and Muppets.

The information about the Truce can be found in Lost: The Encyclopedia under the section the Purge. The information there pretty much details why the Purge took place.

All the names I listed could be found on the cave or at the Lighthouse if you freeze-framed at the appropriate times. At one point someone in the Goodspeed family and Pierre Chang were Candidates which would seem to mean that Jacob helped Dharma find the island in the first place. I've written in my previous stories that the Purge was not Jacob's idea but rather Charles Widmore's which does make more sense than Jacob decide to have several candidates killed.

Ben is finally realizing the lengths to which he has been used his whole life. And I think that Karev's attitude would explain a lot why he believes so much of the dynasty stuff was nonsense – and why someone like Jack would have so much trouble with the concept.

Other Business:

I wanted the Bailey/Austin conversation to happen because the two of them are a lot alike. I also think by this point in her career, the other Kate Austin is far less ambitious than she once was. I've discussed Austin's problems in previous chapters; Miranda's are canon to this point in the series.

I wanted them to meet Hurley just for fun and for this film conversation. Austin would have been in college when Star Wars first came out and I can imagined she'd have loved it then – and had serious doubts about Lucas after Episode I. (I know I did). The Spielberg discussion was just a bonus because Hugo would love Spielberg nearly as much as he'd love Lucas. (Considering how hard it is for many people to understand Minority Report or A.I., I don't think Hurley's complaints are insulting to him. I personally had a lot of problem with the plots of both.)

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