PENNY'S BOAT

CHAPTER 3: CONFRONTATION

Juliet stumbled and fell. The wound was bleeding profusely. Jack ran to her side. As Locke turned to walk away, Jack stood. The expression on his face showed nothing but rage.

"Why?" Jack spat through his teeth, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" He walked forward step by step, matching his words.

Locke looked at him with his trademark "You'd never understand." expression. He frowned, "She was a traitor. A danger to us all. I came all this way to dispose of that threat."

Jack stopped, seething, and stared at Locke. Animalistic madness filled his eyes, "She helped us you worthless son of a bitch! She left her comfortable life at the Barracks to help US! And you! You were so proud you weren't a useless cripple anymore that you thought you'd help us all out by murdering Boone and Naomi and now this! I've got a plan now John. First, I'm going to kill you. Then I'm taking Juliet and everyone else to that freighter and we're getting out of here together!"

"The island will never let you-"

"RAAAH!!!" Jack punched Locke square in the face, dropping him. He hit him again and again, pounding his rival turned insane nemesis deeper and deeper into the mud. He grabbed the sidearm from Locke's belt and pressed it into his forehead.

"Nobody needs to watch this." Jack shouted through the pouring rain. Hurley turned Claire away from the gruesome scene. Rousseau covered Alex's eyes.

"You can't do this, Jack. It's not our destiny to leave this island. It won't let me die! I'm the chosen one! Only I can-"

"Goodbye, John."

BLAM!

Daniel twitched nervously. He was excited to finally get to the island they'd spent so long searching for, but a certain sense of dread had overtaken him. His sister had assured him that nothing bad could happen so long as they had the mercenaries to protect them, but he was still apprehensive.

Legend had it that in this area there was an island that could appear and disappear in the blink of an eye. The locals they'd met onshore had said that nobody would go anywhere near the places the island had been spotted and that prehistoric creatures and undead cannibals roamed the place. Daniel was a man of science, not a big believer in the supernatural, but even he felt a little chilled by the ghost stories.

He walked down the deck toward his quarters, but stopped when he noticed Penny staring off into the night sky at the railing. He walked over and leaned back, looking up at the stars.

"Sooo… I finally get to meet this Desmond huh?" Dan asked with a smile.

"If Charlie was right, then yes. Des is here. After so many years I've finally managed to find him." Penny answered, positively glowing.

"So how exactly did he come to be on an island in the middle of the Pacific… I mean… How does something like that happen?"

"Lord only knows. Desmond always did have a strong will. When he decided he was going to do something, he was going to do it. He became a monk, joined the army, and finally entered a sailing competition. That was the last time I ever saw him."

"Pen?"

"Yes, Dan?"

"I'm really glad my mother found you. I've never had a real family before. Not really. But now it's like… like I have a purpose beyond just researching and studying all the time. I can do something."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the head of the mercenaries. The tall man saluted, "We're making our approach. We should be just off the shoreline of the island within two hours. Then I'll launch the zodiacs."

Penny straightened, all business once again. Dan almost chuckled when he realized how much she could be like their father, "Thank you. How's your group holding up?"

The mercenary leader frowned, "I've locked Martin in the brig. I think he's gone a little off during the voyage. That's not to say he wasn't always a few good eggs short of breakfast."

Penny looked out over the railing, then back to the merc, "A lot of the crew have been acting strangely since we located the island. I want you to keep an eye on them. Especially Regina. She and Naomi are… close… and I think she's a little anxious to get her back on board. Keep Keamy locked up until after we've collected Des and the others, I don't want those poor souls facing any more trouble than they're due."

"You got it, ma'am. No trouble 'til we reach Tahiti. I'll have Omar guard him." The mercenary responded steadfastly.

Penny smiled, "Thank you, Mr. Austen."