A/N: As promised, here is another update and I'm pretty sure it's one you've been waiting on. Enjoy and review por favor!

Chapter Thirty-Three: One of Them
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Faith didn't even try to hide her amusement as Sawyer continued to stalk around his tent and grumble to himself. She crossed her arms and waited for him to stop, not missing the angry and disgusted looks people were giving him. He didn't even seem to notice as he kept ranting.

"Yo, it's just a tree frog."

"Son of a bitch has been croaking nonstop since yesterday, and I can't sleep." He bent over to go through his things and pulled out a 9mm Beretta.

"A tree frog Sawyer, not the army of the undead. Do you really need that?"

Sawyer grunted and threw the flap of his tent down. "If it helps me get some sleep, yeah."

"Gonna execute it like you did that boar that was in love with you?" He paused and Faith's eyes widened. "You didn't kill it, did you? Ha, that's funny." She shook her head. "Well, I wish you the best of luck. You're gonna need it Desperado."

"What?" His eyes went wide. "You ain't gonna help me?"

"Why? What's the matter, run out of friends to play with?"

Sawyer looked around then stepped closer, looming inches over her head, and he bent down so they were eye-level. "Must be because somebody had to play the bad guy and take the blame for that little gun incident the other night."

"Trust me, my time will come." She sneered back not giving him the satisfaction of moving one inch. "I've been told that several times already."

Her remark seemed to throw him off and he leaned back, eyebrows furrowing. "Maybe you should just come clean already as to why you wanted to help me in the first place."

"Since when do you care about honesty?" Faith glanced around to make sure no one was ease dropping and she swore under her breath as she spotted several people watching by their tents. They obviously couldn't hear what was being said but by the looks on their faces, they were starting to assume she needed assistance.

She quickly took a step back. "If you want to get into this with me Sawyer, we can do it when we're not the most interesting thing to focus on."

He looked around as well, glaring at the people watching, and they automatically shifted their attention elsewhere. Sawyer glanced her way again and opened his mouth to say something else when Sayid came running up towards them, his attention fixed on Faith.

"Been meaning to ask about you and Mohamed lately. Is it puppy love yet?"

"What?" She glanced over her shoulder and sighed. "Don't act stupid Sawyer. I know you're good at it but now's not the time."

Sayid stopped as Faith turned to face him. "I need you."

Sawyer grunted and instantly, she shifted to flip him off but it only made a shrewd grin appear on his scruffy face. Rolling her eyes, she focused back in on Sayid.

"Come with me. Right now." He didn't give her time to reply before he grabbed her hand, pulling her as quickly as he could through the camp.

Sawyer's laughter followed after them the entire way.

&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Sayid, what the hell are we doing all the way out here?"

He shushed her and continued to pull her through the woods. After several minutes, he stopped and Faith ripped her hand away.

"Sayid! Seriously. What are you-"

"I asked him to bring you."

Danielle stood there, the Frenchwoman wearing the same dark tank top and camouflage pants she always wore, but this time a crossbow and arrow satchel was tied securely across her back.

Faith's eyes shifted past Danielle and went wide at the sight of the man trapped in the tree net. "Holy shit, it actually worked."

"What?" Sayid glanced between them. "You knew about this?"

"If you want to catch prey Sayid, you have to set a trap." Faith took a step towards the net, watching as the man squirmed around and pleaded to be let down. "When did we catch him?"

"How long have you and Danielle been plotting this?"

"Shush!" She pointed her finger at him without looking. "How long?'

"Since last night." Danielle answered. "I was making the rounds and checking the traps we had set up the other night and came upon him. I was trying to wait until nightfall to come get you."

"Losing your touch or just the sense of what night looks like?"

Danielle did not return Faith's grin. "They are losing theirs it seems." She looked towards the net. "He is one of them, no matter what he tells you."

Sayid moved forward to end up standing between them, staring up at the net as well. "And what exactly should we do with him?"

Faith's grin grew wider. "Have a little fun, what else?"

"Please, let me down!" The man squirmed. "Whatever she tells you, she's lying and she's crazy! Help me, please."

Faith reached for her Jackal and immediately swore. She paused to take a breath. "I keep forgetting that fat bastard took my knife. God, whatever his name is, he better pray I don't use it on him when I take it back."

"I have a knife. We should definitely cut him down."

"I do not think that is a good idea Sayid." Danielle shook her head. "He will only try to get away."

"We cannot keep him up there forever." He grunted and took out a small knife from his pocket.

Faith shrugged at Danielle and stepped back, watching as Sayid moved forward to cut the net down. The man crashed to the ground with a moan and Sayid removed the netting, allowing Faith to get a good look at her –their- new hostage. He was close to his mid-thirties it looked like, medium build, and wearing a faded orange shirt and dirty khakis. His hair was cut close to his head and his large eyes were currently darting around in fear.

It didn't surprise her that the very second Sayid stepped away he took off running.

"Faith!"

Danielle tossed her the already loaded crossbow and Faith positioned it tightly against her shoulder, zeroing in on the escaping man. The arrow flew straight and hit the man directly in the left shoulder. He fell down with a yelp and she lowered the weapon just as Sayid went running past her.

"I thought I gave you one to use."

"Ya did Mom, but I didn't think we'd be dirty man hunting today." The words came out sarcastically but as soon as Faith looked at Danielle she realized she had made a mistake in saying them. The woman's face looked haunted and sad, dark eyes staring at Faith as if seeing her one moment then not the next. "Sorry Dan, I wasn't thinking."

"You do not need to apologize. You remind me of myself as a young girl." Danielle took the crossbow, slinging it again onto her back. "I even imagine you look similar to my Alex now."

Faith watched her approach Sayid who was bent down over the man. Of course Danielle would see her as a replacement daughter. There was still a void in her life where Alex should be. Faith had been expecting that admittance from the Frenchwoman seeing as how she repeatedly told her information, gave advice, and usable weapons. To be honest, one of those three things she could do without.

Sayid threw her a hard look as she finally approached. "You could have killed him! What were you thinking?"

"If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead, and you know that, end of discussion." Faith glared back. She bent down to grab onto one of the man's arms. "Now help me get him to Jack before he bleeds all over my clothes."

&&&&&&&&&&

"Locke." She leaned over him and poked his shoulder. He continued to snore softly and sighing, she jabbed his ribs as hard as she could with her index finger. "Hey, sleeping beauty!"

He jerked awake, eyes already alert as if he expected trouble and it was funny to her that this time he was right. "Faith? What are you-"

"Get up, you're gonna want to see what I caught in the woods. He has a name and everything. I just might keep him."

"What?" Locke immediately slipped off the lower bunk and followed her, his eyes widening at the sight of the unconscious man lying in the floor. "Faith, what in the world is going on?"

"Um, let me see if I can give you the condensed version. Net. Other. Crossbow. Me. Yeah, that should cover it." She watched as he bent down to check the man's injuries. "Sayid went to get Jack."

"Who else knows about this?"

"Danielle." Faith moved to jump up on the kitchen counter. "She gave me the supplies and helped me rig the net in the first place."

"So who is he?"

"Besides on Other?"

The man groaned and Locke took a step back, both of them watching as he opened his eyes. He continued moaning as he managed to prop himself up.

"Oh my god, my back. I'm bleeding!"

"Yeah, getting shot with an arrow will do that to you." Faith grinned as she watched him look around in panic, clearly in shock but lucid. "That's why it's never a good idea to run from people holding crossbows. Cause and effect or something like that."

"You shot me!" He stammered. "You're as crazy as that woman!" The man spotted Locke and inched away. "Who are you? Where am I?"

Faith leapt off the counter and came towards him. "You don't ask the questions, we do, so shut up."

"Faith."

"What John? Don't tell me you're about to start waving your Good Samaritan card around now."

"No, not that." He nudged his head towards the tunnel and she looked over just in time to see Jack and Sayid come rushing towards them.

"What exactly is going on?" Jack glared at them, immediately bending down to see the man's wounds. "This man has an arrow in his back!"

"Captain Obvious strikes again!" She positioned herself back onto the counter, legs swinging side to side as she watched him start to attend to the man's injury.

Jack frowned and looked up at Sayid. "You shot him?"

"Do I have a bow Jack?"

Faith watched as he turned his attention towards her, eyebrows raised. "What? He was trying to get away!"

"So you shot him with an arrow?"

"Well I didn't have a rope to lasso him with at the moment so yeah, pretty much."

"Unbelievable."

He went back to treating the man and Faith caught Locke's eyes, nudging her head towards the bunk beds. He followed her and both of them shifted so they could watch Jack.

"The vibe I get on this guy is just off, definitely shady." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Danielle said he was an Other. What do you think?"

Locke watched as the man started to answer questions and fight to remain conscious. "It's possible but then again, Danielle once thought Sayid was an Other so who are we to believe her?"

"I need you to believe me on this John." Faith stared at him. "I've never lied to you this far, I wouldn't lie to you now."

"No," Locke shook his head, "You'd just betray my trust."

"What the hell does that-"

"I know it was you that helped Sawyer move the guns Faith. You were the only person who knew where they were besides me."

"Did you ever stop to think maybe Sawyer had someone else on the side? He wasn't the one who attacked Sun and neither was I, I was with Sayid but I guess you're gonna blame me for that too right?"

"No. I'm not, but I wasn't born yesterday either."

"If you really want to talk about trust John, we can start with Boone and that whole you leaving us at the caves to die incident but I don't think we have time to get into it this very second. You want to throw down about the guns later, I'm all for a good fight, but for right now, we have bigger fish to fry."

He looked away again to study the man more closely than before. "If you're so sure this man's an Other then I hope you have a way of proving it."

Faith turned her head to watch as Jack and Sayid began to argue over the now unconscious man, the broken arrow now lying in the puddle of blood that coated the floor. "I've got a few ideas."

&&&&&&&&&&&

"We need to move him."

"That's crazy, the man is seriously injured! He needs to lie still!"

"Fine. If you want a panic on your hands then just leave him there."

"I still can't believe you shot him!"

Faith sighed, rubbing her hands over her face and tried to calm down before she completely lost it. "Jack. I shot him, he didn't die, you fixed him, he'll heal." She dropped her hands. "I did what I do and you did what you do. Now we have to decide what we do."

"What the hell does that mean?" Jack frowned at her. "You did what you do?"

She hesitated as she felt Locke squeeze her arm and cleared her throat. "Jack, we don't want people scared and they will be if they see this man lying half-dead here."

"If Faith hadn't of shot him, he wouldn't be!"

She threw up her hands. "Would you like to take this outside Jack? Are you looking for a fight, is that what this is?"

"No, but–"

"Then get over being pissed at me for one second and focus on making a decision."

"The armory." Sayid glanced between them. "We can put a cot in there for him to lie on. He'll be out of the way and we'll also have him in a secure location to where he cannot escape."

"You don't even know if he's really an Other!"

"Jack, he ran away before." Faith hissed. "He'll try it again."

"Maybe he was frightened because you had a crossbow Faith, ever stop to think of that?"

"Give up the Good Samaritan act Jack, it's getting old!"

"What the hell does-"

"Faith, Jack! Please!" Sayid positioned himself between them and pushed them back from each other several steps. "Now is not the time for this." He looked her dead in the eyes. "Let's move forward with the plan and put him in the armory like we discussed."

She nodded but didn't move until shooting another look at Jack.

Within minutes, they had the cot and the injured man in the armory. Faith locked eyes with Sayid as he lingered behind, Jack unaware as he left and approached the kitchen. She didn't move as the door to the closet slammed shut and Jack whirled back around in surprise, rushing forward to pound on it.

"Sayid! Sayid, open up!" Jack demanded. He tried the combination to the lock and seeing it wasn't going to open, beat on the door a few more times. "What are you doing! Open the door!"

"He's a little busy right now Jack. I'd take a seat, it might be a while."

"Until what?" Jack twisted again and approached her, his face full of anger. "What's he doing in there?"

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen you this made before."

"What is he doing Faith?"

"Finding out the truth."

"We have to stop this." Jack looked over at Locke. "What's the new combination?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that Jack."

"You're agreeing to this too Locke? If he dies, his blood is on both of your hands." He sneered and turned to beat on the door again. "Sayid! Please!"

Faith shook her head. "Just days ago you were ready to band together a search party of middle-aged gun toting wannabes and now you're trying to help one of them." She approached him, slowly pulling out the 9mm she had tucked snugly in the back of her pants. "If he's really an Other, and we just let him go free, his people will kill every single one of us. I can't let that happen, just like I couldn't let you take the guns."

"What'd you say?" Jack turned around and the last thing he saw was the gun coming down, knocking him into vast sea of black unconsciousness.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The loud moan informed her that he was awake again. She remained seated in her relaxed position and watched as Jack rubbed at his forehead before he tried to sit upright against the sofa cushions. It took him a few minutes but finally the earth stopped spinning, and he was able to focus on the room, and on her in particular.

"You hit me."

"So far no signs of permanent brain damage, that's a plus."

"I can't believe you…" He stopped and quickly sat up straight but moaned as it made the room spin again.

Faith chuckled. "I wouldn't recommend getting up any time soon. You'll have a nasty headache too for an hour or so, but I'm sure you have something in that big ol' med stash that'll help you deal with that."

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" She tilted her head. The gun was still visible laying flat against her thigh. "Knock you out?"

"Steal the guns." Jack sat up again, slower this time and blinked as he focused his gaze directly at her. "Why'd you help Sawyer?"

"I had my reasons, he had his. They weren't connected."

"And what were yours?"

"I already told you. I couldn't let you start handing them out to any Joe Blow who wanted to play toy soldier." Faith shook her head. "Standing by and watching you kill each other by accident isn't what I'm here for."

"And what are you here for?" He glared at her. "Who are you exactly?"

"Me, Jack? I'm just a simple Boston girl that was chosen to fight the good fight." Her index finger trailed softly down the side of the gun barrel. "Sharp objects like swords and hunting knives are my specialty, but I dig the occasional tranq gun. I heal fast, I work faster, and if someone tries to get in my way, they tend to come out a little banged up."

"And you expect me to believe this why?"

"I don't. That choice is entirely up to you but I know for a fact you've noticed the healing factor and there's no doubt at this point you're all banged up."

"Where is Sayid?" Jack looked around. "Locke?"

"Locke's doing what Locke does, the button." Faith jabbed her finger over her shoulder. "And Sayid's getting some fresh air."

His eyes widened and she could see the fear creeping into them.

"Oh, don't worry Jack, he didn't kill your little patient." She paused to tuck the gun back into her pants, "Tossed him around a bit but the man didn't crack, figuratively or literally. Lucky for you, bad for him I'm afraid."

"And after all that, what'd you learn?"

Faith sat up in her chair. "Man calls himself Henry Gale." She admitted. "Says he's from Minnesota, that he and his wife had been flying an air balloon when they crashed here. She ended up getting sick, some kind of fever and died within three days. Henry said he buried her and then started this way from the North shore of the island."

Jack eyed her skeptically. "You seem to have that pretty well memorized."

"Seems Henry Gale doesn't know how to do anything but repeat the same old story over and over again."

"And you still think he's on Other?"

"Of course," She smirked. "The man's good but he's not that good. Trust me, the ice under him will break soon enough and when it does, I'll be under it waiting."

&&&&&&&&&&&

The door to the armory opened and Henry glanced up through the bruises and blood to see Faith standing there. He looked surprised as she smiled brightly and approached him, a bowl in her hands.

Faith squatted down in front of the cot, not saying anything, and she extended the bowl. Slowly, Henry took it and scooted back, clutching it tightly against his chest. He continued to stare at her, watchful and scared.

"You should eat that before it gets cold. Wouldn't want you to starve before you and I talk now would we?" Faith's eyes didn't waver from his and neither did her smile. "Sayid told me all about your story, the one about your wife and the balloon. I know all about that but what I don't know is who you really are and that kinda irritates me..."

"I already told you who I am and I don't know who any of-"

"So I'm gonna make this easy for you." Faith stood up, glaring down at him. "I have questions and I want answers. Get comfy because until I get them, you're not going anywhere. You can rewind and play your sob story as many times as you want to anyone who will believe you but the first time you try anything with me, what Sayid did to you will seem like a cake walk in comparison to what I'll do and believe me, I can be quite creative under pressure. You understand me don't you Henry Gale of Minnesota?"

He nodded slowly.

"Good." She turned back to the door then paused. "It's a nice story, the one about you and your wife, very touching, but you're laying the spaced out, who are you people bit on a little too thick. I'd think about turning it down a notch or two." Faith placed her hand on the doorframe and turned around to give him one last look. "And don't worry, I'll keep this between us. Wouldn't want anyone spoiling all our fun now would we?"

The door slammed behind her and the armory room was covered in darkness once again.