AUTHOR'S NOTE: The mysterious "project" will involve a small crossover with one of my favorite video games. No worries though, whether you've played it or not, this will make sense to you.

PENNY'S BOAT

CHAPTER 14: THE MISSION

Widmore's associates stepped out of the room one by one. Paik, Mittelwerk, Heatherton, and the rest had gathered for a discussion of unity and synergy in their respective branches of the nebulous organization that had slowly formed under Charles' watchful eye. Their company controlled medical supplies, vehicles, PMCs, an innumerable number of Widmore Industries employees had infiltrated every sector of business. Most notably, Oceanic Airlines.

Charles turned his chair away from the conference table and looked out the window at the clouds rolling in. He'd relocated back to London after his business in Los Angeles. All the pieces are set. The game begins. All I must ask now is, am I player or pawn?

The phone rang and Widmore flipped it open and put it to his ear, "Speak."

"It's Zoe, Mr. Widmore. I'm calling to report that the project is now 75% complete. Growth was accelerated at the rate Edmund predicted. At this point we're focusing on outfitting them."

"How long will this take?"

"We should have it done within a month, give or take a few days. Sir, has Dr. Burke been re-recruited yet? We used her research to advance this project without her knowledge for so long, but we need her direct input to ensure the further-"

"Just get it done, Zoe. If the operatives currently on the job fail, I'll need your work finished, packaged, and ready for action. Dr. Burke will be apprehended soon."

"Yes, Mr. Widmore."

Charles ended the call.

Jack sat atop a shipping container, watching the sun go down on the freighter's final day at sea. He'd been informed by Penny that the boat would reach Tahiti within 10 hours. He prayed that nothing further would disturb their voyage. I just want to get home, get everything dealt with, and have some rest.Is that so much to ask?

Jack turned at the sound of someone ascending the side of the container. He smiled as he realized it was Juliet and helped her up onto the massive crate. She sat down next to him and looked at the setting sun.

"You sure you're okay to be climbing around like that?" Jack asked with concern.

"You sure you're not going to pick any more fights with crazy mercenary people?" Juliet responded sarcastically.

Jack laughed, "Well you win some, you lose some."

Juliet smiled wryly, "You lose some to a guy with seven bullets in him?"

Jack rubbed his neck, "Well I guess I'm not as much of a tough guy as I used to be." He turned to look at his companion, "So, what's the first thing you're going to do once we get home?"

Juliet didn't need to think, "I'm going to go see my sister and nephew in Miami."

Jack was surprised, "You never told me you had a sister."

"I never told you a lot of things."

"True enough. You know what I'm going to do?"

"What?"

"I'm going to call up everyone who ever bad-mouthed the Red Sox and talk some serious smack."

Juliet laughed. She found it strange that half their shared experiences had occurred with a glass wall separating them, yet they still managed to be so close. It was nice to talk genuinely to someone.

Jack tapped the surface of the container, "So… Now that it's all over, now that we're free and clear… What exactly was it that you people were doing on that island?"

Juliet stared out at the sea, "I honestly don't know. I was recruited by a company called Mittelos Bioscience. Turns out there is no Mittelos Bioscience. Richard and Ethan drugged me, strapped me into a submarine, and brought me to the island. From then on I did my work, didn't ask any questions, and kept my head down. It seemed like… No."

"What?"

"Well it almost seemed like they weren't even sure what they were doing. Like they'd walked into a room and forgotten why they'd come in. They kept searching the room, but they didn't know what they were looking for. Understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah. Seems to me that Ben reported to some higher power who wasn't giving him the whole story."

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay."

Juliet was surprised, "What?"

Jack grinned, "I said 'Okay'. Whatever went on on the island, whatever your people wanted or whatever that crazy smoke thing was, it's all over now. Now we can just go back to our real lives."

Juliet sighed, "No, Jack. I don't think what happened on that island will ever really be over."

Silently, the pair watched the last traces of the sun vanish. Despite their proximity to salvation, they knew they still had a long road ahead of them.

Sawyer waved the gun at Locke, "I saw you die, you crazy son of a bitch. How the hell are you still breathing?"

Locke raised his hands toward Sawyer non-threateningly, "The island wasn't done with me yet, James. You've seen what this place can do. It brought us here for goodness sake! This is our destiny."

Sawyer wasn't satisfied, "Our plane crashed here by pure chance, Baldy. Ain't no such thing as destiny. Unless you got a real good reason for me to trust the man who took away our first real chance to get off this rock, I'm taking Freckles and Shorty and getting out of here."

Kate turned to Sawyer, "I think maybe we should trust him for now, Sawyer. He's our best chance of getting home."

Sawyer frowned, "And how's he gonna do that?"

"We're going to find the Dharma Initiative." Locke responded nonchalantly, "And if we want to do that, we'd better get moving."

Kate gave Sawyer a glance and shrugged. He looked from Locke to Charlie and back again before nodding, "So what's the plan?"

Locke gestured to the north, "Through the jungle and over the mountains we'll find the reason our plane went down. The real reason."

Sawyer wasn't convinced, "How could you possibly know that?"

"That's not important right now," John insisted, "All that matters is that we get there."

Kate looked at Charlie questioningly. He didn't even acknowledge her. She looked at the ground as she followed James and John. This just gets weirder and weirder.

Martin awoke with a start. A menacing figure loomed over him. A figure with a twisted grin carved into it's grotesque face.

"Hello there." The clown taunted. Martin tried to hit him, but found his limbs were still bound to the bed.

"You the new blood?" Keamy asked with a snarl. He shifted his wrists, trying to break free of his restraints.

The Joker slipped a small knife from his pocket, "No, my friend, I think you are."

Keamy tried to speak, but found he could make only a small gasp as his throat split in two.

A message came in through the Joker's walkie, "Sub departing for target location in 90 seconds. All not aboard will be left behind."

"Can't have that, now can we?" The maniacal mercenary giggled.