PENNY'S BOAT

CHAPTER 8: AWAKENING

Jack touched his face gingerly. Bruises covered it and he felt a sharp pain as his fingers brushed them. He pulled his arm away and let it drop to the cement below. Marc was picking himself up from the ground, quickly wiping away tears to hide how scared he'd been.

Cars drove by, ignoring the two boys as they stood and walked toward each other. Jack looked out past the rusting gate that was meant to shelter those in the basketball court from harm and watched the pedestrians continue walking. They didn't care whether he and Marc were alright. They just wanted to keep moving. He didn't like that; the idea of leaving someone behind to save yourself.

Marc wiped away a stream of blood seeping from his left eye, "Thanks, Jack. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't showed up."

Jack smiled, his swollen lip giving a slightly comedic effect to the expression, "I didn't do anything special. There was a problem and I tried to fix it. I guess I didn't do such a great job."

Marc allowed himself a nervous grin, "But you tried. That's what matters. Anyway, I gotta get home. Mom's gonna flip her lid if she sees me all messed up like this. Thanks again."

Marc picked up his backpack and ran off toward his house. Jack walked over to the fence and sat down, leaning against the crossing wires. He let out a sigh. Dad's not going to like this.

"You okay, kid?" A voice asked. Jack looked up to see a man with short blonde hair and a square jaw. He was pretty big, but had an air of friendly familiarity.

"Yeah I'm okay. Just playing rough." Jack answered, trying not to cause any more trouble. The blonde man sat down next to him and watched the cars fly by.

"You know, Jack, everyone's got a calling. We all have something we need to do. Maybe saving that kid back there was your call. Maybe that was the push you needed, eh?" He suggested serenely.

Jack looked over at him skeptically, "Do I know you from somewhere, Mister?"

The blonde man shook his head, "Not yet… Not yet." With that he patted Jack on the shoulder, stood up, and walked off into the distance. Jack watched him leave with a strange sense of déjà vu. He had a feeling he hadn't seen the last of this phantom stranger.

Sawyer pushed the ferns aside and continued following the path of footprints leading further and further into the jungle. Ben had crossed the mesa, passed the golf course, and was approaching the mountains. He'd been running for about an hour.

Miles ran to Sawyer's side, "How do you know Benjamin Linus?"

Sawyer didn't look at him, "None of your business, Short Round. Now shut up and buzz off."

Miles shoved Sawyer, "Look, redneck, I've got a few million riding on catching this guy. There's something in it for you if you can tell me where he'll be."

Sawyer frowned, "Why the hell would I-"

"I know about Clementine."

"You what?"

" I know you abandoned your daughter and I know that's gotta eat at you every day. What kind of father leaves his kid behind anyway? So how about you and me work together on this one, and I'll help you get the cash to make sure she lives a nice, comfortable life."

Sawyer shot Miles an interrogative look that betrayed temptation, "How could you possibly know all of this? Who hired you?"

Miles' expression became very serious, "Look, I'm trusting you with this. I don't know why, but I feel like we'd make a good team. Anyway, that's beside the point. I was hired by a man named Charles Widmore. He sent me and two other guys on the freighter to achieve a secondary objective."

"Beyond rescuin' everyone."

"Exactly. This merc, Keamy, and I were recruited by a guy named Abbadon. At first I thought he just represented Oceanic Airlines, but then it became clear he actually represented the man behind Oceanic: Widmore. He's apparently got some grudge against Linus, so he sent us to find and execute him. From the fact that you guys had him tied to a tree, I assume that's a common interest."

Sawyer nodded sharply, "Fine. I don't cherish the idea of working with a guy who'd kill a man for a buck, but I've got a bone to pick with ol' Benny boy myself. Let's do this."

They parted a large cluster of ferns and found themselves staring at a greenhouse. It was quite tall, looking to have been 2-3 stories at some point. It was now a decrepit mess of broken glass and overgrown plants.

"What is this?" Miles asked.

"Don't look at me, Billy Lo. I've never seen this thing before." Sawyer responded, looking up at the greenhouse in awe.

Miles took out a booklet from his pack and scanned it carefully. He paused and his eyes widened, "Oh shit."

Sawyer looked over at him, confused, "What?"

Miles stared at the greenhouse in terror, "This is the Orchid station."

Claire stared forward from the front of the zodiac, not letting the freighter leave her sight. She felt that if she let herself lose sight of it for even a second, she'd wake up and find it had been a pleasant dream. Aaron slept peacefully in her arms, but he'd done an inordinate amount of crying earlier. Claire idly wondered if he somehow knew the man who'd served as his loving father for so long was dead. She knew she shouldn't think about things like that during a time that was supposed to be joyful, bur she couldn't be happy knowing Charlie was dead.

Sun, Jin, and Hurley were in the zodiac as well as a crewman from the freighter. This one had been the first to arrive and the other boats were on their way. When Charlotte had found out Sun was pregnant and Claire had a newborn, she'd insisted on putting them on the first ride to the Kahana. Claire had asked to bring along Hurley and Jin, naturally, accompanied Sun.

Hurley was almost as affected by Charlie's death as Claire was, and he'd spoken very little since returning from the beach. Claire had decided to stick with him and ensure he'd be alright. Or at least that's what I told myself. I think I'm the one who needs a friend right now.

The crewman gestured toward the ship. He had a comedically pirate-ish accent that made Hurley and Claire smile despite themselves, "This rig ain't really the Kahana as I'd have had it. Ms. Widmore had the whole tub refitted. Looked like a downgrade said I, but she but just gave me one of them 'knowing looks'. Whole inside looks like somethin' what might come out of the 70s. Lord only knows why that renovation was cleared by the captain. Said he used to be acquainted wif the young lady's father so that might've played a part I s'pose."

` The talkative crewman finally went silent and Sun felt the need to ask, "Who sent you? The freighter I mean?"

The crewman smiled, "Ms. Widmore hired the boat, but I believe I overheard the captain say she was funded by Sabrina Carlyle and some woman named Rachel Carlson. As it turned out, this Carlson woman had extorted the cash from a gov-ment research grant issued years ago for Miami Central University. Shady business, I say, shady business."

Claire turned to Hurley and whispered, "Sabrina Carlyle is Boone's mother, I remember him mentioning her company, but I don't remember anyone mentioning a Rachel. Do you know anyone named Carlson?"

Hurley shook his head, "Nope, I did that whole census and no Carlsons. Maybe they died or were in the tail section or something."

Claire frowned, "I hope whoever it is, they're okay."

Juliet sat up and looked around. She wasn't sure what time it was, but the lights had been turned down, so she assumed it was nighttime. Though that could just have been because of the dank nature of the sick bay. She felt a bit disoriented. Where…

She was snapped from her thoughts as the door slowly slid open. A hooded man entered, his face in shadow. She made a move for the call button on the wall, but the man put a finger to his lips and pulled his hood back.

"It's me. Remember?" The man said quietly. He appeared jittery, as if he weren't supposed to be there.

Juliet squinted for a second in the weak light and suddenly caught on, "Michael?" The face that stared back at her was a somewhat wide-eyed, dark one with a mood of sadness.

Juliet shifted uncomfortably, "Look it's not my fault you know. What happened to-"

"I know. Libby and Ana Lucia are dead 100% thanks to me. Trust me, I know that by now. I'm not here for revenge, I'm here to find out why they're calling you Shannon when you told me your name was Juliet back at the village."

"It's a long story, but the point is, for us to get out of here without trouble, we're pretending everybody who was killed died in the crash and that Desmond and I are Boone and Shannon."

"Why would you need to be rescued from the island? Last time I checked, you people could come and go as you pleased!" Michael was allowing hostility to raise the volume of his voice.

"After you left, something weird happened and the sky turned purple. After that there was… trouble. Listen, I'm not one of them anymore. I'm on your side now, Michael."

Michael looked at his feet, "It's more like I'm on my own side these days. I lost Walt… I lost everything… I lost myself. And now I'm standing here telling this to a woman who helped kidnap my son, because she's the only person I know in this world who doesn't hate me. If that isn't the most pathetic thing you've ever heard-"

"Michael?"

Michael and Juliet's gazes shot to the door. Jack had returned.