AUTHOR'S NOTE:

In case you're confused, here's a rundown of what's different from the original timeline.

1. The freighter was hired by Penny. If you didn't catch that bit, get help.

2. Jack shot Locke when they had their confrontation over the fate of Juliet. In this timeline, Locke took more direct methods in dealing with the woman he saw as a threat to his "people".

3. Kate's fake dad, Sam, was the leader of the mercenaries on the freighter. He quit his military job to search for his (sort of) daughter.

4. Ben is Kate's real father. Yeah there's an explanation later, calm down.

5. Ben turned the Frozen Donkey Wheel, moving the island after most of the survivors were rescued. He then disappeared.

6. Charlie washed up on shore after the Looking Glass was flooded. He met Locke there, who seems to have survived in the same way he survived the hatch implosion.

Keep reading, it just gets better from here.

PENNY'S BOAT

CHAPTER 11: FREEDOM

Kate's eyes snapped open. She looked down and saw mud… about 30 feet down. Shocked, she grabbed the closest thing, a tree branch. She held on tightly and tried to get her bearings. She was in a tall tree near… I must be near the beach, I can hear the waves. What happened?

She lowered herself from the branch and carefully dropped down to the ground. The day was sunny, but it appeared night was almost at hand. Kate decided to return to the camp and get on the last boat for the freighter. Sawyer had kept her waiting long enough.

She walked quickly through the jungle, but soon found herself lost. Everything seemed out of place. The trees weren't the same. Different animal cries cut the silence. Something was very wrong.

"Need some help?" A voice asked from the bushes. Kate turned to find Locke wearing an expensive suit and cutting the foliage aside with a machete. Charlie followed him slowly, wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled high enough to cast a shadow over his face. Locke stopped and gave Kate an eerie smile.

Kate stepped back, "How are you-?"

"Alive?" Locke responded, "I'm not entirely sure. It was just like the hatch implosion, there was a bright flash of light and I was laying out in the jungle. My clothes were gone, but I found a coffin with these clothes laid out in it. And as for Charlie… Well why don't you explain that yourself, Charlie?"

Charlie stepped forward past Locke, his eyes appeared bloodshot and he looked agitated, "We were in that hatch… The Looking Glass… And an Other blew out the porthole. I locked the door to keep the water from drowning Desmond… Then I just blacked out and woke up on the beach. I suppose I might've swam out the hole in the side." He spoke in an uncharacteristically dismissive voice.

Locke planted his machete in the ground, "Everyone else is gone. We went back to the camp and there was nothing there. All the tents and Dharma rations have disappeared and I couldn't spot the freighter in the distance. But don't worry, I think I know why this is happening."

Kate looked at Locke in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Locke picked up the machete and twirled it around before grasping it tightly, "There was a file in the Flame station pertaining to another station called the Orchid. The Dharma initiative was apparently researching a similar kind of electromagnetism to the kind that caused the sky to turn purple when the hatch blew. I figure this Orchid station must be the cause of that light that made everything vanish, so if we can find and destroy the station, we can stop-"

Locke was cut off by a loud humming as another burst of light flashed before their eyes. Charlie looked into the sky silently while Kate held her head in her hands. A brutal headache had suddenly hit her. Locke didn't flinch.

The light faded and they found everything back in it's original order. The trees were where Kate remembered them, if a little more overgrown. The sky was brighter now. It looked like midday.

Locke gestured for Kate and Charlie to follow him, "Come on, we're going to find that station." He was smirking creepily. Kate paused for a moment, then followed.

Aaron started crying loudly. Claire tried to silence him, knowing a lot of the other occupants of the freighter were sleeping. Those that could sleep, that is. A number of people were far too excited to quit for the night and were eagerly asking the freighter crew various questions about what they'd missed while stranded on the island. Claire didn't really care about which politicians had been elected or how the war was going, she just wanted to be free again. She hadn't felt free since before she first met Thomas. He'd been a mistake, but it had taken her a long time to realize it.

Aaron finally settled as Claire sat down near the port side of the ship and stared out at the spot where the island had been. The sun was setting and it almost looked like an island of fire.

Claire wasn't sure how to feel. She was finally saved, finally off the island, but at what cost? Charlie was dead and a lot of good people had been killed when the island was destroyed. Claire silently hoped that she was wrong about that, but general consensus among the survivors was that the island had been destroyed in an explosion. It was the most rational explanation they could come up with and they seemed to accept it, if only to avoid agonizing over yet another mystery. They'd had enough of mystery. It was time to just live.

It was strange to think that the island was gone. It, in itself, had been the real object of menace. Not polar bears or monsters or hostile natives; The island itself. Nobody would admit it, but they all felt it. There was a will to that place that could not be denied. Claire wondered if Charlie's sacrifice had been demanded by the island in exchange for their leaving.

She shivered and walked down the stairs toward the sleeping quarters.

Martin Keamy lay staring at the ceiling. The door was sealed and an armed guard blocked exit. He smiled despite promising himself he wouldn't get overconfident. It was just so easy. Gault had no idea Omar answered not to Sam, but to Keamy.

A knock came at the door. Three quick taps followed by a loud bang. The lock slid aside. Keamy pushed the door open and stepped out slowly, checking the hall to ensure Omar was alone.

Omar laughed, "We did it, boss. Now can we finish the job so I can get my cut and go home?"

Keamy frowned, "Your cut? What gave you the idea you were in on this?"

Omar stopped laughing, "You said-"

Martin walked out of the hallway, leaving Omar's broken-necked corpse laying by the cell. You served your purpose.

Sawyer pulled himself up out of the well after Miles. It was midday and the sun was shining brightly. Everything looked like normal. The Orchid was where it had been, though it looked a little more run down than before. Everything seemed the same, but had an air of being older.

Miles looked around in agitation, "Great. Lord knows where and when we are."

Sawyer turned, "What're you talkin' about?"

Miles sighed, "God you're an idiot. When I say we don't know when we are, I mean it. When that station gets activated, it moves the island randomly through time and space. The thing always ends up in the Pacific, but beyond that… we could be anywhere."

"Let me get this straight. You're sayin' when ol' Benry spun that wheel around he made us travel through time?"

"That's right. I'd try to make you believe me, but I don't really care. All I know is, I've gotta get to the dock and get on the submarine… If it even exists."

"It doesn't. Bald Bull back there blew it up when Blondie and the Doc tried to get out of here on it. Always thought he was a few cards short a deck."

"You don't get it, do you? We time traveled. We could be at a point before the sub was destroyed. So as long as I get that sub back here so your buddy can blow it up, I can leave on it."

Sawyer frowned and started walking into the jungle.

Miles grabbed his shoulder, "Where do you think you're going?"

Sawyer shoved him away, "To find Kate."

Ben gasped. He pressed his hands into the hot sand and vomited. The sun was beating down on him, brutally choking the air from his lungs. Everything was muddled. He couldn't tell up from down and had no idea what time of day it was. The sky was orange. The endless desert was orange. They spun together, a vortex of confusion and disorientation. Finally it all spiraled back into sense.

A car had pulled up next to him. A pair of feet stepped out of the car and two hands pulled him to his feet. Ben found himself staring into the face of Charlotte Lewis.

"What year is it?" He asked.

Charlotte frowned, "What are you talking about? It's 2005."