Chapter Three: Tabula Rasa

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The campfire was burning as Sayid stood beside it, positioning rocks and a burning stick as he continued to talk to the rest of them that were huddled around him.

"This is Australia." He was motioning at the rock, red embers flying from the stick as he moved it. "And this is us."

"Nice stick."

Faith smirked at Sawyer who smiled smugly back at her and Sayid continued.

"Two days ago, we take off from Sydney…."

She had barely turned her head when the tail end of the plane broke off, nothing but screams and the rushing wind surrounding her. Everything was shaking, parts of the plane along with luggage flying past, and Faith clutched at the arms of her seat.

A drink cart flew by as the plane tilted downwards and her eyes went to the luggage compartment above her head just in time to see the latch come undone and her bag fall to the floor. Faith leaned forward to grab it but was halted by her seatbelt and she cursed as the bag tumbled down the aisle following after the cart.

The alarm continued, the plane shaking uncontrollably, and she shut her eyes.

Her eyes flew open.

Someone stepped over her and Faith reacted instinctively, grabbing the closest leg and the person cried out as he fell. They rolled forward, Faith easily gaining the upper hand to come out straddling him and she shoved his arms down by his sides.

"What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" She shot back glaring down at Boone. "It's a little late to be sneaking around ninja boy." Faith applied pressure to his wrists and glanced at the object in his right hand. "Why the hell do you have that?"

Their commotion had roused the others to their feet; all staring in amazement at the sight of Faith restraining Boone.

"What are you doing?" Sayid stepped forward. "Come on, get off him!"

She allowed him to grab her arms and lift her up, and Faith stepped back keeping her eyes on Boone as he pushed himself up onto his feet.

"I'm standing guard!" He responded pointing the gun into the trees. "You heard what they said is out there."

"I think it's about time you gave it to Sayid." Faith glared at Boone.

"No, I'll keep the damn gun."

"Kate should hold it."

Everyone turned to look at Kate who shifted uneasily on her feet. Sayid nodded in agreement but Boone didn't move and he hesitated before he shook his head.

"I think Faith should keep the gun."

"Me?"

Boone nodded. "You should hang on to the gun. It'll be safe with you."

Faith shoved a piece of food into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully, leaning back into the chair as she glanced around the airport lobby. Everyone that came into her line of sight was too busy to notice her sitting there; all too focused in his or her own affairs, and that was fine by her. It was what she preferred. Faith popped the last piece of chicken into her mouth and turned her head, swallowing as she heard commotion at a table to her right.

An Asian man was standing, his pants soaked, and the Asian woman with him was talking quickly in Korean, dabbing at the mess with a napkin. He was responding calmly, pushing her hands away as he looked down at his pants.

Faith's eyes moved past them to notice another couple watching them as well, both trying not to seem too obvious that they were glued to the action in front of them.

The Asian woman pointed past Faith's table and the man quickly took off, Faith naturally assuming that he was heading for the bathroom. She shook her head and began to fix her attention elsewhere when she caught sound of the conversation at the other table.

"My God, it's 'Memoirs of a Geisha' come to life." The woman snipped as she looked at her newspaper and the man next to her flashed her a look of alarm.

"Hey, volume!"

"Relax. They don't speak English."

Faith glanced back at the Asian woman who had taken her seat and the woman's eyes were fixed on the table, her mouth slightly bent into a frown as she shifted uncomfortably.

Faith snorted and stood, grabbing her trash and her Coke can. She made her way past the Asian woman and as she neared the couple, she made it seem like she had stumbled, loosening her grip on her can, and she gasped loudly as what was left of the Coke spilled down the front of the woman's blouse.

"Oh my god!" Faith stepped back, eyes wide as the woman let out a cry of surprise. "I am so sorry!" She snatched a napkin up from their table. "I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. Sorry! I think there's a bathroom right over there!" Faith gave the couple a small smile of apology and handed the woman the napkin. She quickly turned to make her way back the direction she had come, snatching her bag up from beside her vacated chair.

As she passed the Asian woman, their eyes connected and Faith winked not once breaking her stride. She didn't look back but was tempted; positive that the woman had smiled back in return.

Faith checked her watch as she dumped the rest of her garbage in a nearby trashcan and continued walking through the airport spotting her gate terminal; her flight to Los Angeles didn't leave for another forty-five minutes. She glanced around, shifting her bag onto her shoulder, and caught sight of something that made her stop short in her tracks.

A man who was unmistakably government material was making his way through the airport lobby along with two men from airport security, his hand firmly on the upper bicep of a brunette woman trailing beside him. The woman had her hands covered by the man's suit jacket but it wasn't that hard to imagine it was to cover the handcuffs attached to her, not to warm her hands.

Prisoner. That was the correct term for it and it was something she knew about all too well.

The urge to bolt hit hard but Faith remained calm as they neared where she stood. She turned towards the phones located on the wall to her right and had to skid to a halt, allowing the airport employee to push an older man past her in a wheelchair.

"Sorry." She kept her head down and they went by as she stepped forward up to a phone.

Faith sat her bag down by her feet, lifting a phone off the receiver and grabbed a side of the metal border in an attempt to shield her face as she pretended to be talking.

She glanced over her shoulder as the group passed, and her eyes connected with the prisoner's. The dull eyes flickered towards her only a split second before looking away. Faith waited until they had turned the corner towards the security office before she replaced the phone back on the receiver.

"Then what am I supposed to do with him? He's not supposed to be mine!" An African American male shouted into the phone next to her. "This was never part of the plan." He paused. " Yeah, I -- Thanks a lot."

As she watched, he hung up the phone and grabbed his items, only to turn around and run into the boy behind him. He hesitated shifted uneasily on his feet.

"Hey, man. I was, uh …"

Faith grabbed her bag and made her way across the lobby, glancing around before taking a seat in one of the plastic chairs with a sigh. She leaned back, spreading her legs as she slouched and glanced over at the boy taking a seat down two seats from her own. His eyes were fixated on the Game Boy in his hands as he took the back off to reveal the batteries, and she looked past him to see the man he was with in the gift store.

"That your old man?"

The kid hesitated as he glanced towards the store but nodded looking at Faith from the corner of his eye.

"He says he is."

"What?" Faith smirked. "You not sure or something?"

His lips slightly upturned at her teasing. "I was little the last time I saw him. My mom got sick and died, and he came to get me."

"I hate to break it to you Kid, but you're still little."

"I'm not a kid." He rolled his eyes.

She chuckled but nodded. "Whatever you say Kid."

"Are you here with your dad?"

Faith shook her head and directed her gaze at the passing crowd. "I don't remember ever having a dad."

The boy's father was heading towards them with a pack of batteries in his hand.

"He never came back for me."

Faith shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and she sat back down, turning away from them. "Give it to Kate. I don't do guns."

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"As you and the others know, we hiked up the mountain in an attempt to help the rescue team locate us. The transceiver failed to pick up a signal."

Faith ignored the crowd around Sayid and she shielded her eyes against the glare of the sun with her hand, watching as Kate talked quietly to Jack. A larger sized man stood with them and she watched with interest as he glanced uneasily between Jack and Kate, his gaze eyeing Kate warily.

Jack and Kate wandered off together and Faith cleared her throat as she watched the man who had been left behind make his way towards a makeshift tent. She immediately followed and glanced around a few minutes before entering after him.

"Where'd Jack go?"

He jerked as he whirled to face her, glancing up in alarm from whatever he was doing. "Dude, don't do that. You about gave me a heart attack, totally not cool."

"Sorry." She gave him an innocent smile. "I was looking for Jack."

"He and Kate went to have a secret meeting." The man made quotation mark gestures with his hands then motioned at the man by their feet. "I'm playing nurse but he should be back in a few minutes after he goes to look for some more medicine in the fuselage."

"Ah, okay." She glanced around the tent, noticing the stack of papers and empty water bottles. "Mind if I take a bottle?"

"Sure thing dude. Knock yourself out…" His statement seemed to make him hesitate. "But, uh, not literally cause like I said, I'm not the real doctor."

"Got it." Faith chuckled and she inched over to grab an empty bottle, eyes looking down at the papers. He was focused again on the unconscious man and seeing that he was distracted, Faith grabbed the paper from the very top of the stack, folding and sliding it into her front pocket before she turned back around to face him. "I'm Faith by the way."

"Hurley."

"Well Hurley," Faith cleared her throat and glanced towards the patient. "I'll leave you to your business and just go look for Jack at the fuselage."

"But there's bodies in there." He squinted with a frown. "Smelly, dead bodies."

"I'll plug my nose, I promise."

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One thing was for sure; Hurley wasn't lying about the smell. Faith ducked inside, wrinkling her nose, and she stepped back as Sawyer appeared before her, saying something to Jack as he was leaving.

"You're just not looking at the big picture, Doc. You're still back in civilization."

"Yeah?" She heard Jack respond. "And where are you?"

Sawyer winked at Faith. "Me? I'm in the wild."

She cocked an eyebrow his direction and snorted, waiting to move until he had completely exited the fuselage and was making his way back down the beach. She shifted her attention back to the plane, spotting Jack on his knees as he rummaged through the debris.

"Hurley seemed a bit nervous that you'd left him with Mr. Shrapnel."

Jack grinned and shook his head, continuing to look. "He'll be fine. I need to find more medicine or that man is gonna …"

"That man is gonna die regardless of what you find."

He halted his search, sitting back on his legs. "Are you and Sawyer in the same club or something? I can't just sit back and watch that man die."

She nodded and leaned against a lopsided plane seat to her left. "Honorable but in the end, it's gonna happen whether you want it to or not. He's lost a lot of blood, and he's becoming too badly infected. Are you really going to waste all the medicine you find on a dying cause? What if we need more later?"

Jack rubbed at his head in frustration. "How can I think about the future when I can't take care of someone right now?"

Faith moved forward fishing the sheet of paper out of her pocket. She unfolded it to glance it over. "There are more important things for you to worry about Jack. A dying man is the least of your problems. The handcuffs that the boy found? They were on a fugitive your patient, the marshal, was escorting on the plane." She handed him the sheet, motioning towards the black and white mug shot of Kate that stared blankly back. "But you knew that already didn't you?"

He said nothing.

"Thought so. Whatever, her business is just that but I'd be more careful about what you leave lying around for other people to discover. It'd raise issues you don't want to deal with and panic right now is the last thing we need, especially when she's toting around a piece."

Jack's eyes widened. "She's what?"

"A gun." Faith moved past him and began to shove through the cushions that were in her way. "Don't worry, it's not loaded. Sayid has the clip. Seems the wilderness redneck took it off your patient, has his badge too." She swooped down as she spotted a small bottle and glanced over her shoulder at Jack. "Hey, head's up."

He jerked his head towards her and she tossed the bottle, looking away again as he caught it.

"Concentrate on getting medicine first," Faith muttered. "Then you can worry about your girlfriend."

When he didn't reply, she looked back to see him staring out at the beach and she shook her head, continuing to rummage around as she moved further back into the fuselage. She ignored the bodies around her, the smell growing even stronger as she kept going. "At least there's no need to worry about staking any of them later."

"You say something?"

Faith smiled as she spotted a strap of familiar brown leather and she bent down yanking her bag free of the wreckage. "Oh nothing," She swung it onto her right shoulder and continued to search for anything useful. "Just found my bag, that's all."

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Despite the fact it was thundering, Faith continued to sit on the sand, shifting the items in her bag that rested between her legs. The water began to pour down, soaking her completely and she tuned out the sound of people yelling as they scrambled for cover. A group of three was tying down tarps in an attempt to collect fresh water and her grip tightened on her bag.

"You're getting wet!"

Faith looked up to see Locke grinning down at her. "I noticed." She shrugged. "So are you."

Whatever else he was going to say was lost at the interruption of the sound of yelling coming from the medical tent and Faith stood, ignoring Locke completely as she moved towards it.

She broke into a run and shoved aside the tent flaps just in time to see the marshal with his hands around Kate's neck, choking her, the woman moving her mouth soundlessly as she struggled.

"Let her go, damn it!"

Faith grabbed at the man's hands, applying only the smallest amount of pressure and immediately he let go. Kate scrambled backwards, her own hands rubbing at the base of her neck as she coughed, inhaling sharply for air. Faith released the marshal and Jack pushed her aside.

Jack shook him. "Breathe! Come on!" The marshal jerked then his chest began to rise and Jack grabbed a flashlight, shining it into the man's eyes as he shot an annoyed look at Kate. "What the hell did you do?"

"I was just checking to see if he was –" She gasped. "He just attacked me… I…"

"You okay?"

Kate nodded at Faith. "Fine." She smiled weakly and looked back at Jack. "I wasn't..."

Jack grabbed several of the water bottles and ran from the tent. Kate scrambled to her feet to follow, leaving Faith standing there. She gazed down at the marshal, watching as he blinked, swallowing hard and his gaze focused on her.

"You…" His attempt to move caused him to groan in pain. "You…"

"Yeah, yeah, me. Unfortunately for you, you don't have two pairs of handcuffs. You don't even have one now." Faith glanced over his wounds. "Looks like you're not getting your Christmas bonus after all. But don't worry; I'm sure the doc will make it quick."

She turned and exited the tent to find Jack scooping up water into his bottles as it continued to rain, Kate hovering near him.

"Can't you put him out of his misery?" Kate yelled.

Jack glared at her and positioned himself to the point where they were almost nose-to-nose and Faith inched closer to them.

"I saw your mug shot, Kate." Jack spit out heatedly. "I am not a murderer."

He left her standing there, not even looking at Faith as he ran back into the tent, and Kate seemed to barely notice Faith now standing beside her.

"People like him will never understand your side if you force it on them."

Kate swung her gaze to Faith. "And you know this from experience right?"

She continued to scrub at the blood on her shirt, ignoring Buffy as the other slayer hovered near her, hands on her hips as she watched.

"There's nothing to talk about. I was doing my job."

"Being a Slayer is not the same as being a killer. Look, sooner or later, we're both gonna have to deal with what happened."

Faith chuckled shaking her head. "Wrong. There is no we."

"We can help each other."

"I don't need it." She moved away, stepping around Buffy to fling her wet shirt on an open dresser drawer. "I made the mistake, not you, so don't act like you know where I'm coming from or that you understand me."

Buffy made a sound in the back of her throat and crossed her arms. "You can shut off all the emotions that you want but eventually, they're gonna find the body."

Faith whirled on the balls of her feet, facing Buffy with narrowed and determined eyes. "This is the last time I say this to you. There is no body, never was. End of story."

"Getting rid of the evidence doesn't make the problem go away! Faith, you don't get it. It was an accident. It happens, getting confused as to who is the enemy and who is human but in the end, you killed a man. He wasn't a demon, he wasn't a vampire; he was a flesh and blood human!"

"You don't seem to be understanding me." Faith shot Buffy a sarcastic smile. "I don't care!" She turned away, trying as hard as she could to block out the look of disbelief she saw on Buffy's face. " I have shit to do B so shut the door on your way out."

"Faith…" Buffy hesitated but she sighed, nodding slowly. "You're right. I don't understand you; I don't understand you at all."

She ignored her, returning to the bathroom and slammed the door. Minutes later, the hotel room door shut behind Buffy and Faith glanced up into the mirror, the reflection of her cold eyes staring back at her.

"That's another story." Faith hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. "But hey, try to look at it on the bright side. Marshal dies and you have one less person to worry about."

"One less?"

Faith smirked. "They used way better lighting on your mug shot then they did mine." She turned away ignoring Kate's gaze and made her way up the beach, the rain continuing to drench her but she walked on nonetheless.

Kate blinked against the rain that coated her and looked down, the tendrils of her hair sticking to her cheeks. She moved away, the screams of pain from the marshal echoing in her mind even after the tent was long out of sight.

&&&&&&&&

"What ya making again?"

Locke looked away from the fire then down at the object in his hand. "It's a whistle."

"You gonna play a tune or something?"

He chuckled but shook his head. "Nope but I am gonna use it."

"Ah, I see." Faith gazed down at her bag then glanced over her shoulder at the noise continuing to come from the medical tent. The marshal had gotten worse as the night progressed, the screams louder each time, and the rest of the survivors had begun to get anxious and upset.

"He needs to die soon."

She glanced across the fire at Shannon and watched Boone roll his eyes.

"Once again, you're real humane Shannon."

She threw Boone an irritated look and shrugged. "I'm just saying what everyone is thinking. He's not going to make it; I don't know why Jack won't do something about it."

"He is doing something about it." Faith spoke up. "He's trying to save him."

"Well he can't." Shannon snapped. "So he should stop wasting his time."

"I could say the same for someone else." Faith muttered sliding her gaze to Boone.

He shifted nervously in the sand as he ignored her and leaned forward to poke at the fire with the stick in his hand. Visions of him hitting Shannon on the head with it made her smile.

"I see you found your bag."

She nodded and looked back towards Locke. "Amazingly enough it was in the fuselage."

"That's good; especially if you have important things in it."

Faith looked down at the bag between her legs. "Indeed I do. Clothes, my own toothbrush, gum, you know, things a girl like me just can't live without."

Everyone around the fire chuckled and she started to lean back in the sand but was startled at the sound of a gunshot as it erupted into the air.

"What the hell was that?" Boone sat up.

The moaning had stopped and Faith forced herself to stay in her slouched position, watching as everyone around the fire looked at each other, obvious alarm across their faces.

"Looks like you got your wish Shannon."

The blonde had the decency to look ashamed and she turned a shade of pink, staring at the fire so she didn't have to meet Faith's gaze.

Faith sighed and sat up, looking over her shoulder again in the direction of the tent, and she narrowed her eyes at the sight of Jack come marching out, striding past Sawyer and Kate only a few feet away. She frowned but forced herself to turn back around.

Some people you couldn't save, no matter how bad you wanted to. She just hoped Jack could come to terms with that one day.

&&&&&&&&

"I found your son's dog."

"What?"

Faith's eyes opened at hearing the low whispers beside her and she blinked against the rays of the sun, rising up on her elbows to look around.

"Hey, thanks."

She watched Locke nod at the African American man with a smile.

"Welcome." He moved away, spotting Faith and kept smiling, taking a seat next to her as the boy's father stood and made his way down the beach.

Faith managed a small smile back and sat up completely. She brushed at the sand on her clothes, checking to make sure her bag was still beside her. "Who was that?"

"Michael, his son's name is Walt."

She glanced over to see the whistle in his hand; nodding as she comprehended exactly what he had meant the night before.

"That was a good trick."

He grinned. "Thanks." Locke watched the people milling around them, most standing at the shore as more luggage began to wash up. He motioned to her bag. "You look like you're guarding that with your life."

"Maybe I just think there'd be a riot if people found out I had expensive underwear in my bag." She chuckled. "At least from the female population… maybe a few choice males like Sawyer perhaps."

The comment made Locke laugh and he nodded. "Fair enough." He looked towards her then back out at the ocean. "Your arm looks good."

The cut had healed completely, only a small telltale sign of a scar left to indicate she had been injured at all. "I told you I was five by five." She shrugged. "I'm a fast healer; it runs in my family, strong genes and all that."

"Your family is probably worried about you."

"No one's worried about me." Faith muttered looking down the shore. "I don't have anyone back home…" She paused. "Wherever that is, anyway."

"Where were you going to go once you arrived in Los Angeles?"

"I have no clue." She let out a dry chuckle, glancing back over at him. "California in itself isn't too welcoming of a place for me anymore. Probably was just gonna do the nomad thing, move place to place for a while, but hey, guess I don't have to worry about that now."

"You're right. Now you get to fresh page in your book." He was looking past her, down the beach now. "Everyone gets a chance to start over, and that includes you."

She followed his gaze, watching as Walt spotted his father with the dog and a bright smile burst onto his face. He ran towards Michael and dropped onto his knees to hug his dog, laughing as the Lab licked happily at his face.

Down the beach Kate sat with Jack, both watching the ocean as it rushed in and out.

"Yeah." Faith muttered under her breath. "I guess you're right."