A/N: Thank you again for the wonderful reviews. Glad to see some old and some new faces. You guys ROCK.

Someone brought up an interesting point to me in one of their reviews. Will I be going to AU mode anytime soon and changing things? That answer is a two-parter. YES. I am but NOT in this season. Big changes are coming, new events, new characters even, finally some answered questions, and some new dangers! Keep your eyes peeled and those reviews coming in. More I get, faster I update. Give and Take relationships. Aren't they wonderful?

Enjoy and until next time!

Chapter Seventeen: Numbers

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The sound of an argument was too tempting to pass up. Faith inched closer to the group, listening in as Sayid continued to argue with Jack. Hurley stood near them with one of the maps in his hand.

"It means 'Dark Territory'. Does that really sound like a place you'd like to visit?"

"So you won't help?"

"That's not what he said." Faith spoke up. All three men turned their attention to her but it didn't take Hurley long before he returned his gaze back to the paper. She took a stand next to Sayid. "You won't last five minutes out there with her Jack."

"And you're suddenly the voice of wisdom?" He glared at her. "Last time I checked, you were the one wanting to go all lone ranger out there and find her." Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "And since we're on the subject, I think it's about time you gave us some answers Faith. The Frenchwoman spoke to you last. There must have been a reason for it. What'd she say?"

"I told you. She decided to be generous and leave me a present for being such a good girl." Faith returned his stare. "I couldn't get any more answers out of her then Sayid did last time. Sure, killing us off one by one might not be a part of her plans any more but that doesn't mean she trusts us."

"Believe what you want but leaving you weapons means she trusts you a little bit more than the rest of us." Jack argued. "You both could help me find her again, she's bound to have a battery we can use for another distress signal on the raft."

"I'm telling you it's not possible." Sayid shook his head. "We'll never find her."

Faith said nothing, glancing back at Hurley to find him still staring down at the map. She moved closer, blocking out Jack and Sayid's conversation to stand beside him and glanced down at whatever had captured his attention.

Sayid's writing was randomly all over the papers, markings and equations in dark ink but it was a spot of repetitive numbers he had circled that made her pause.

4 8 15 16 23 42

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Hurley stopped walking as he finally found the cable cord. He glanced up and down the beach then bent to pick it up.

"Yo! French chick!" He shifted nervously on his feet. "I'm… coming in."

"I don't think she answers to French chick."

Startled, Hurley dropped the cord and he glanced in surprise to see Faith standing a few feet away. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" She glanced down at the cable and looked towards the island. "Sayid's gonna be upset when he finds out you swiped one of his maps."

"Dude, I didn't-"

"Yeah, you did." Faith cut him off with a smirk. "I saw you last night leaving his tent. Very 007 of you, maybe that should be your new nickname."

"I need to do this." Hurley bent down and snatched up the cord again. "And… and you're not stopping me."

"Nope, I'm not."

"That's right, you're- What?"

She grinned and motioned towards the island. "You really don't expect me to let you do this all by yourself do you?"

He seemed flustered and unsure but finally nodded. "Okay then."

"I'd be careful if you want to lead though; last time I wound up hanging upside down from a tree. My brain still hurts thinking about it."

Hurley paused and looked down at the cord in his hand. "Uh, maybe you should lead?"

"Good idea."

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"So what made you decide to go all man of mystery on us?"

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

"Well duh, I know that." Faith grinned, "That's why it's so much fun to ask you. Besides, you wouldn't be man of mystery if you were that easy to figure out."

Hurley grunted as he continued to walk a few steps behind her. "I just need to find the French woman, that's all."

"For a battery or something else?" She stepped over a log pausing to turn and watch him. "It's about the numbers isn't it?"

Hurley paused with his foot in midair, wide eyes staring at her in shock. "How did you-" He put his foot down and immediately they both froze at the sound of metal squeaking under his foot. "Oh crap."

Faith gritted her teeth as she spotted a circular piece of metal where he had stopped. "Crap is right H-Man, don't move alright?" She pointed as she saw him about to shift. "I mean it, don't-"

"Do not move Hurley!"

"Oh double crap." He rolled his eyes. "This is just great." Hurley shifted at the same time as Faith to see Sayid and Charlie a few feet behind them. "What are you guys-"

"I mean it, don't move." Sayid interrupted him, "You do and the trigger will spring."

"I was in the middle of explaining that to him." Faith crossed her arms. "What do we do?"

"We need to find something to replace his weight."

"Replace his weight?" Charlie scoffed. "Are you kidding me?" He noticed the sharp look Hurley gave him, shrugging sheepishly. "Sorry mate."

Faith chuckled but motioned at Hurley, drawing his attention back to her. "How fast can you move Hurley?"

"Move?" Jack's voice came out of the clearing as he appeared beside Sayid. "He doesn't need to move at all."

"I can move fast, I'm spry."

"Don't even think about-"

"Drop the cord and go for it."

"Faith, are you out of your mind! He-"

She blocked Jack's voice out just as Hurley dove to the side and her eyes flew up as the trigger snapped, an object moving from the trees. "Hit the floor!"

He was down in a split second, everyone else stepping back, and Faith watched as a log with several long spikes swung over him.

"That…" Hurley wheezed, "was close."

"That was crazy, that's what it was!"

"Lay off him Charlie." Faith watched as Jack caught the log to stop it. She nodded at Hurley and offered him her hand, which he gladly accepted. "Way to go, spry you are indeed."

"What are you two doing out here?" Jack questioned.

Faith shot a look at Hurley and he shrugged before turning back to look at Jack.

"We're getting a battery."

"You heard the man." Faith patted him on the back and shifted her bag more comfortably. "You guys coming or were you just being nosey?"

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"It stops here and goes into the ground."

Faith nodded at Sayid as he motioned to the cord. "I'd say we're close to a power source though right?"

"Oh we're close to something alright," Charlie motioned at them. "Check this out."

Faith approached him with the others and let out a low whistle at the sight of an old rope bridge. "Now this I definitely don't remember."

"Me neither." Sayid shook his head. "Then again, I doubt we had reached this far before our little mishap."

"Yeah." Her lips twisted. "Pretty sure I ended up in China." She cocked an eyebrow at Hurley as he began to step on the bridge. "And I thought I had a death wish."

"What are you doing Hurley?" Jack cried out. "Get back here."

"Dude just chill." Hurley waved him away. "I'm gonna go across."

Jack frowned but went quiet as Hurley continued and made it all the way to the other side. He rolled his eyes as Charlie began to follow and Faith bit down on her lower lip. Charlie was halfway when the rope snapped and she swore she tasted blood as she watched him jump to the other side just as the bridge fell apart and crumbled between the two sides.

She cut off Jack before he had the chance to speak with a shake of her head. "Looks like we're going the long way boys."

"You guys should go back." Hurley yelled. "I can go and-"

"Hurley, we should stay put!" Charlie interrupted him loudly. "You're acting like a bloody lunatic!"

Faith turned her head to watch Hurley stare at Charlie with a look she couldn't describe. At this point there was a lot she didn't know but one thing was for certain, Hurley wasn't crazy, not in the slightest.

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"That was incredibly stupid of you both!"

"Oh god, here we go." Faith rolled her eyes, "A lecture from Mr. Perfect. That's exactly what I wanted when I woke up this morning."

"We had to come out here and now we're separated."

"No one asked you to come." She pointed at Jack, "But I guess you saw the bat signal and just had to come to the rescue didn't you?"

"Can you two stop your bickering for one second?" Sayid stared at them both. "You're like two little children." He shook his head and motioned to the area around them. "Does this look familiar to you Faith?"

"He started it." Faith grumbled as she tore her eyes from Jack. "Yeah," She nodded. "Between being strung upside down and getting knocked in the head, I'd say this looks very familiar."

Jack frowned clearly puzzled. "I thought she lived underground Sayid." He stepped towards the other man but paused at the sound of metal clinking near his feet.

Faith's eyes went wide. "Oh way to go Sherlo-" She was interrupted as something exploded a few feet away from them, debris and parts of several trees flying into the air. Faith covered her face then began to cough as the dust started to settle. "Sayid? Jack?"

"We're okay." Sayid coughed closer to her. "But I doubt the same thing can be said for Danielle's home."

She nodded coughing again and took in the sight of what used to be the shelter. "Now that's a bitchin' security system." Faith motioned at Sayid. "Take a look around, see if there's anything we can salvage and I'll scan the area."

"I don't have to tell you to be careful do I?"

"No, but it's touching that you care, really." Faith shot Jack a look as he remained quiet. "What? No goodbye kiss?" She smirked when he rolled his eyes and snapped her fingers. "Your loss Doc."

Jack turned in her direction, mouth open to say something but the spot she had been standing was empty, the trees where she had disappeared still moving side to side.

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Grunting, Faith climbed over yet another log and pushed aside branches that were in her way. She ignored the tiny limbs that managed to scratch her skin and pushed on, the island quiet around her as she continued. She could no longer hear the sounds of Jack and Sayid behind her and paused just as the sound of a gunshot echoed through the trees a short distance ahead of her. Birds cawed loudly, flying up and she took off running as fast as she could.

She burst through the trees in time to see Hurley a few yards ahead and as she jumped easily over a fallen log, he stopped short with his hands going up at whatever was in front of him.

Faith inched closer, raising her crossbow quietly as she watched him reach back into his bag.

"Easy. I'm -- I'm just getting your notes." He extended the map in front of him. "There's numbers on this; what do they mean?"

"I don't know."

She straightened as she recognized the voice and shifted to the side where she could be seen. Danielle stood a few feet away from Hurley, a gun held firmly in her hands but the moment she saw Faith, her grip wavered and she slowly lowered the weapon to her side. Faith nodded and lowered her the crossbow.

"Imagine meeting you here."

"You cannot be here. Go back."

"But I was having so much fun." Faith smirked as she slung the crossbow strap over her head. "And I'm sure you don't get out much so this must be quite the occasion for you."

"The numbers, they have to mean something!" Hurley interrupted stepping forward to get Danielle's attention again. "Tell me. What do they mean?"

"I told you I don't know." The Frenchwoman shook her head. "I tried along with my team for months to find out the meaning while we waited by the tower but the answer never came, only the sickness."

"There's a radio tower?"

"Yes, by the Black Rock."

"Ooo, the Black Rock." Faith grinned. "Wicked, where's that?"

"A place you shouldn't dwell." Danielle replied sharply. "If you are smart, you'll leave this place and return to your camp before the sickness spreads to you as well."

"No can do DR." Faith shrugged. "We need your help and by the looks of it," She glanced momentarily at Hurley, "we both need answers."

Danielle was quiet as she glanced between the two of them.

Hurley let out a loud sigh of despair. "Just tell me, the numbers, they're cursed right?"

"Cursed?"

"As in bad? They brought us here just like they did you. They must be bad then right?"

"I suppose so."

"Oh thank god." Hurley surprised the both of them by stepping forward and enveloping Danielle in a huge embrace. "You have no clue how long I've been waiting for someone to agree with me about the numbers. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Danielle looked at Faith with a look of mixed shock and panic but she nervously smiled as Hurley released her and stepped back. "You are… welcome."

Faith chuckled. "Hate to break up the Kodak moment but we need a battery right H-Man?"

He nodded. "That's right. We're trying to build a boat, we need a battery for it."

The Frenchwoman went quiet again but after a few seconds she nodded motioning at Faith. "I'll give it to you if he stays here."

"Fine by me." She shrugged and shot Hurley a look. "Stay here."

"You got it Dude. I'll just catch my breath and…" He watched as the two disappeared deeper into the jungle without another word, "…wait here."

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"So what do the numbers really mean?"

Danielle continued to lead them, glancing around. "The numbers are meaningless."

"Right," Faith scoffed. "You really expect me to believe a set of numbers like that show up everywhere and that they mean absolutely nothing? They obviously mean something to Hurley; I mean, he tried to come all the way out here to find you by himself."

"You seem interested in them as well." Danielle turned her dark eyes towards Faith as she stopped walking. "What do the mean to you?"

Faith halted too, shifting so she could look the Frenchwoman directly in the face. "They're just numbers to me."

Danielle grunted and turned away to sling her gun strap on her shoulder. "Stay there." She shoved past the bushes ahead of them and was only gone for a few minutes before she returned, a battery held firmly in her hands. "I believe this is what you were looking for."

Faith nodded and took the battery, shoving it under her arm. "Can I ask you something?" When Danielle didn't respond, she nodded and continued. "These others… What do I need to know about them?"

"There is only thing you need to know… If you are not careful, you won't be able to fight them. The only choices the others have is to run, hide or die."

"You're talking as if they're invincible."

Danielle grew quiet but shook her head. "No, but there are many of them. Your group will be no match for them." She shifted her gun strap so she could grip the weapon once again in her hands. "Beware of danger when you see the black smoke."

"What does it mean?"

The Frenchwoman started to walk back towards the direction they had left Hurely, continuing to look around cautiously as she took slow, precise steps.

"Death."

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"We got lucky."

Faith nodded at Sayid, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully as she continued to stare down into the fire. They had returned back to the camp successfully with the battery, each of them going separate directions. Jack had surprisingly been quiet the entire trip back, and no one had asked what had happened during their time of separation. Hurley himself had gone off before she had a chance to ask him anything.

She slowly looked around the beach area for any sight of him. "You must have made quite the impression on her," Faith glanced towards Sayid. "She seemed genuinely concerned when she asked about you."

"We connected during our short time together."

"About what? You never said."

"About the one thing we were both missing." Sayid stuck his hands into pants pockets. "A complete heart."

Faith looked back at the fire, lips twisting. "I don't think any of us have a whole heart Sayid, some of us never will."

"One can never say."

He was watching her.

"I do not know you well Faith but I am willing to listen if you need to talk."

She nodded. "I know but right now, that's not what I need from you."

Sayid frowned, clearly confused. "How could I be of service to you then?"

"I need help with a problem and I believe you might be familiar with it." Faith turned her attention away from the fire. "It goes by the name of John Locke."

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"Back home ... I'm worth $156 million."

Charlie squinted at Hurley and after a few minutes let out a short laugh. "Fine. Don't tell me." He slapped at his legs, standing up. "I bare my soul, and all I get is bloody jokes."

"Dude." Hurley watched as he stalked off. "Dude!"

"Well that didn't go so well." Faith quipped as she took Charlie's vacant seat. "Nice drying system." She pointed to his shirt that he had wrapped around two sticks and fell quiet for a few minutes as they sat side by side. Faith tapped her fingers against her knees. "You really worth that much?"

Hurley nodded as he continued to stare at the flames. "Yep."

"Must be nice." Faith grunted. She paused to throw a rock over her shoulder and trailed her fingers on the sand in a slow back and forth pattern. "Let me guess, you won the lottery?"

"Yep."

"And you played the numbers didn't you? The same numbers on the sheet."

Hurley was quick to look at her, his eyes yet again wide and confused. "Dude, seriously, how do you do that?"

"I'm good at guessing." Faith shrugged with a grin. "And because I was listening in on your conversation with Charlie. Anyone worth that much money and that concerned with the numbers he found, well, I figured the two had to be connected."

"How do you know?" Hurley glanced around before leaning towards her. "The numbers I mean."

She held his gaze a few seconds before looking down at the small pebble in her hand.

"I wasn't aware Ms. Stevens had any family in Australia."

Faith sent the brown-haired doctor a tight smile and shrugged. "Actually Dr. Hamilton, I'm just visiting the country for a few weeks. I figured I'd come see her now that I knew where she was."

"Yes, I'm afraid Ms. Stevens' stay here may be quiet permanent." The doctor continued to escort her down the white hallway, a clipboard full of papers tucked firmly under his arm. "Seeing as how her condition is a bit unstable and there's no one to take care of her, we've had no choice but to assign her to a room and begin issuing her medication."

"What exactly is wrong with her?"

"As I'm sure you were told, when the police brought her to us, she was in a state of confused delirium. She was unaware of her own name or who she was and it took several of us to strap her down and sedate her." Dr. Hamilton motioned Faith to a door on his left. "Ms. Stevens was quite strong despite numerous male members of the staff assisting me and even afterwards, she continued to fight her restraints and yell something about how she needed to be released so she could fight the forces of evil."

Faith's hands clenched tightly in her jacket pockets and she forced herself to continue looking shocked and sympathetic. "How horrible."

He nodded glanced into the room through the glass square at the top of the door. "When we questioned her on it later, she proceeded to inform us that things such as vampires and demons were real. She claimed to see them in her dreams."

"I'm sure you get a lot of cases like that."

"Every now and then, a patient with delusions of evil in the form of his or her parents is quite common."

Faith frowned at the doctor. "Her parents?"

"Well, yes. I thought you had been told." Dr. Hamilton nodded looking through the glass once again. "Ms. Stevens believes the only way to fight evil is to start at the beginning, with the destruction of her own parents." He cleared his throat and stepped back from the door. "She's heavily sedated at the moment and still strapped down to her bed. If you are still sure you–"

"I'm sure." Faith nodded cutting him off quickly. "I want to… say goodbye."

Dr. Hamilton nodded and he motioned at two members of staff waiting shortly behind them. "You have five minutes. If you need any assistance, these two will be right outside the door."

"Thank you." Faith slid past him to enter the room as the door creaked open. She was quiet as she approached the bed in the very corner of the room, the red head from the picture in her pocket strapped there, her eyes open and focused on the ceiling. "Rebecca?" Faith whispered. "Rebecca Stevens, can you hear me?"

"Evil. Evil." Rebecca muttered turning her head side to side. She continued to stare at the ceiling as if seeing something Faith couldn't. "They have to die. They have to die. They all have to die."

Faith took a step back but she stopped as Rebecca suddenly shifted her eyes to stare directly at her.

"Walls, walls. There's nothing but walls. Trapped, like a cage, the walls, the walls trap you." Rebecca's slim fingers extended and Faith followed the direction she pointed and for the first time she noticed the walls of Rebecca's room.

Every single inch was covered with writing so tiny Faith had to step right up close to see it. She frowned as she trailed her fingers over the pen marks, the repetitive set of numbers covering every inch of the paint.

4 8 15 16 23 42

"There is no escape, no escape from the walls." Rebecca whispered, her hand dropping limply onto the bed. "From beneath you it devours."