Hey everyone, I don't usually do author's note at the beginning, but I have to do 2 things. Firstly, I have to say that I did make Lex a little older because it better worked into the plot. Same personality, same genius, just different age. Secondly, I just realized that I never posted a disclaimer, and I'll put one at the beginning later, but for now…

Disclaimer: I do not own Flight 29 Down, its characters, or any other associates of the television show.

- - - - -

Day 34 - Morning

The chilly air from the previous night had blown over to make an unusually cold morning. Everyone awake and immediately started doing their own thing. Though things had calmed down, tension was still fogging the air.

Eric gave word to Jackson before he went to sleep that he believed that everyone needed to get to know each other better. Jackson thought about it for a while, and agreed. He decided that at lunch he'd speak to the group about meeting an hour before sunset to meet and ask each other questions. If they were going to be on the island for a long time, they needed to know each other, even if it pushed some personal boundaries.

"Permanent marker, permanent marker, marker…" Nathan muttered to himself as he walked into the tent. Lex was working on something and needed to mark some things, so he sent Nathan to find a marker for him.

Nathan looked over several bags before picking one up and opening it. He began tossing things out randomly, looking for the marker. Reaching the bottom of the bag he went to the small zipper section on the inside of the bag.

"Wait a second" Nathan thought as he moved the zipper across the section "my bag doesn't have an inner zipper" he looked into the pocket, "Oh shit.."

Nathan took the contents out of the bag and quickly shoved it in his shirt pocket before putting the other contents back in the bag at the same pace. He then left the tent and began sprinting to where he saw Daley last.

"Daley!" He called for her as he approached. She turned to look at him right before he slammed into her, unable to stop due to how fast he was running. They both toppled to the ground.

"Ugh, Nathan!" Daley slowly moved to sitting position, "What is it?"

"Daley, Daley you've gotta look at this." Nathan spoke hastily as he looked around to see if anyone was watching before he pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket.

"Nathan." She paused as she stared intently at the bag, and then spoke slowly, "Is that…marijuana?"

"I think so. I'm not positive." Nathan looked up at her "Should I smell it and check?"

"How would you know what it smells like?" Daley asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Nathan nearly laughed at her, "You've never smelled the scent of weed floating around the school campus?"

Daley looked at him before stating that he had a fair point.

Nathan opened the bag and took a short whiff of its contents.

"Well?" Daley's eyes bored into his.

"It's weed." Nathan closed the bag.

"Great." Daley sighed, "Where'd you find it?"

"It was in someone's bag."

"You went through someone's bag?"

"No, no. It was an accident. I thought it was my bag." Nathan allowed there to be a pause before he spoke again, "What do we do? Go to Jackson?"

"We can't go to Jackson. What if it's his?"

Nathan sighed, "Okay. Here's what we do. We call everyone together and we ask."

Daley looked doubtful, "Alright." She said, "I don't see any options better than that anyway."

Nathan smiled lightly, "Alright then. Today after lunch."

- - - - -

Day 33 – Late Afternoon

Lunch was late that day. There was a lot of work that had to be done, and some complications caused there to be no official lunch (or rather, dinner) until late afternoon.

"Hey, everybody. I we're going to be doing something a little different tonight." Jackson spoke to the rest of the group as they were finishing up eating, "instead of going off, I want us to take the rest of the time to sit by the fire and just talk to each other, ask each other questions about our lives. We need this."

"You mean like a game? Like truth or something?" Taylor asked him.

"Something pretty close, yeah." Jackson looked out again, "I don't like stretching my authority, but full participation is mandatory. At least for a while. And I expect everyone to tell the truth."

"Wait," Daley spoke up, "Full participation? You can't expect Lex to take part in this. What if he hears something inappropriate?"

"Daley." Jackson spoke carefully, "The kid just turned twelve. He's in the seventh grade. I don't think he's a little kid. And even if he was, he's not now. Everyone's grown up. We had to. He deserves to participate the same way the rest of us do."

"But-" Daley started but Lex cut her off.

"Jackson's right." Lex spoke for himself, "I'm not a little kid. I may not know about everything out there, but I know more than you think. I mean, honestly, nothing can be kept from kids once they hit middle school. It's like breaking into a whole new world. I made the transition, I know ever cuss word in the book, I know about what my classmates do behind the school, I know a lot of things…" He trailed off.

Jackson looked over at Daley who sighed in defeat, and he began speaking again, "Alright. For this to work, everyone has to tell the truth. And normally I'd never say this, but you have to answer the questions thrown at you. I don't want people being insensitive to each others' feelings, though. Keep in mind that if you ask an insensitive question they have the right to ask you one back. So, do we agree to tell the truth?"

Everyone agreed, but right after Nathan spoke his agreement, he stood up.

"Something wrong, Nathan?" Jackson asked quizzically.

"Actually, yeah.." Nathan took a deep breath and turned to everyone, "I was looking for something today, and I stumbled across this." He pulled the bag out of his pocket, "It's marijuana. I'm positive."

Some faces were slightly shocked, other unmoved. Daley took a quick glance over at Lex, but he didn't seem any more fazed than anyone else. Jackson took the bag into his hands.

"Where'd you find it?" Jackson's voice was incredibly calm.

"It was in one of the bags in the tent. Inner zipper compartment. I thought it was my bag by accident."

"Okay." Jackson looked into the eyes of every person that sat before him, "Since we all agreed to be truthful, here's the first question of the night. Whose bag is this?"

- - - - -

Yay, another chapter ended. I normally don't ask for reviews, but if you read this chapter, please review because I want to know two things. I want to know whether you liked this element of the story and I want to know whose bag you think it is. Of course, I've already planned whose it is, but I'm curious. Anyhow, I'm continuously writing, but I'm not posting another chapter until 2008. So, I'll catch you all in the new year!

-The Next News Headline