A/N: Ask and you shall receive. Enjoy.

Chapter Forty-Three: The Glass Ballerina

"There is no need to continue sitting down here alone."

"There's no need to keep checking up on me either."

"I disagree, it's been an entire day since we left the Others camp, and you've not come up deck one single time. Sun and Jin are beginning to worry about you."

Faith glanced away from Morana's body to see Sayid leaning on the doorframe.

"You're being too hard on yourself."

She looked away, ignoring him as he came to stand behind her and he placed his hands on her shoulders. If he noticed the way she tensed up before relaxing, he made no mention of it. "Maybe I'm not being hard enough."

"I remember the first time I killed someone Faith. Sometimes late at night I still hear the screams. I remember the faces." Sayid squeezed her shoulders. "Over the years, I have learned that the blood washes off but the memories; they'll always be there. They're impossible to live with however if you never forgive yourself."

"I don't want advice from you."

His hands fell away as if she burned him. "What do you want from me then Faith?"

For a minute, nothing was said until Faith tilted her head to catch his eyes with hers. "I want you to leave me alone." She turned back to face forward in the chair again, not moving until the sounds of Sayid's footsteps faded up the stairs. With a sigh, she leaned back into the wooden chair and closed her eyes.

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

It was the sound of whispers in the background that had her opening her eyes. The whispers continued, mixing now with the sound of something that sounded eerily like katydids in the summer time and Faith sat up to look around at the darkness surrounding her.

She was still sitting in the wooden chair but the boat was gone as was Morana's body. She stood up as the sounds increased in the background. Something was glowing just ahead in the distance.

Faith approached the flickering lights and frowned as she came up behind a little girl with long, black hair in a white dress who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, the lights in front of her coming from a small white cake decorated with candles.

The little girl looked up at Faith with black eyes and it was at that moment that Faith noticed the girl's hands were coated in a dark red shade, the shade of blood. She noticed the noise in the background was closer now as well and stepped away from the girl just as a stream of black smoke flittered across the air in front of them.

"14.92.81.10."

Faith looked back down at the little girl, her hands now clean and a dainty pale shade. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

The little girl smiled. "It will mean everything. Numbers are very important." Her dark eyes were calm, as was the expression on her face, and she looked away to gaze down at the cake, the candles continuing to flicker in nonexistent wind. "But you have a lot on your mind Faith. It is a hard thing to ignore, even for those like me."

"Like you? And who are you exactly?" Faith snorted. "Or maybe I should ask what are you?"

"I am a conduit."

"You're a tube?"

Those black eyes returned to hers but she didn't smile, she merely blinked. "I am your connection between worlds, forever eternal, lasting through space and time."

"Wow, that's just… awesome."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated."

"Your bizarre ass way of talking isn't appreciated either." Faith snapped back. "I'm tired of these games." She looked away as the black smoke returned to slither closer to them. "What the hell is going on?"

"You've received a gift from us."

"Us? I don't even know you are!"

The girl looked back at the cake. "I am a conduit."

"Yeah, yeah, you said that already repeato-girl. Throw me another bone, why don't you?"

"There is no path that can be walked without the past, present and future there to guide you. You are all these things, no part of you can be left behind."

The words were so familiar that she felt her mouth go dry. "What-"

"The rabbit hole goes further than you think, to the very ends of the earth and back. You have received a gift from us but do not take our favors lightly. There is nothing without price. That is the way the world unfolds. The Powers that Be will it so."

"Powers that Be? They're responsible for this?" Faith motioned at her eyes. "What exactly is happening to me?"

"Ebb and flow. There is not one without the other."

Faith started to open her mouth again when she saw her hands were coated in blood, the sticky texture dripping off her fingers. "I don't understand any of this."

"There is nothing to understand Faith. In the end, there is nothing but endless ocean and open sky."

"I don't even know what it is or what you want for it!"

The girl looked up, smiling brightly. Her hands were coated with blood again and she lifted up the white cake. "Payment is death. There is nothing else we desire, no other purpose from you since the day of your birth." The candles were still flickering as the icing began to leak blood as well, going unnoticed as it coated the girl's white dress. "Blow them out and make a wish."

The candles on the cake glowed to the point where she had to shield her eyes and when Faith removed her hand she found herself back on the boat, still sitting in the wooden chair. She blinked and ran a hand over her face, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

A glance towards the cot had her blood running cold. Ana-Lucia laid where Morana was once positioned, her face uncovered and staring at Faith with open eyes. The sight sent Faith backwards, knocking the chair over into the floor, and she scrambled to her feet, her head snapping immediately back to the cot again only to find Morana lying there again with closed eyes.

"Faith!"

Sun's voice at the top of the stairs startled her and she turned quickly towards the sound of it. "Yeah?"

"You may wish to come up on deck! We have discovered a dock!"

Faith spared another glance at the cot but the figure there remained Morana.

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

"Check it out." Sayid passed her the binoculars, keeping his eyes forward towards the island. "By the looks of the dock it's overgrown and decaying. It might be the best place to build the fire for Jack."

Sun and Jin exchanged looks, talking low in Korean but they nodded back at Sayid.

Seeing this, Faith lowered the binoculars and glanced over at Sayid with raised eyebrows. "I keep forgetting how much alike we are Sayid." She thrust back the binoculars, hitting him harmlessly in the chest with them. "Better watch that tangled web you weave." She turned and caught Sun's gaze, the other woman looking uncertainly towards the dock.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

Faith nodded and looked back at the dock as well. "There's no one here and Sayid has a point, if we're going to build a fire, this is the place for it." She turned back to him. "We might as well bury Morana here too."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"Don't see why not." She shrugged. "Not like she's going to complain."

"That is not what I meant Faith."

"I know what you meant and no, the Others aren't going to come for her. You heard her, they're disposable soldiers."

"It strikes me as curious as to why you are not though."

"Well, when I get the memo, I'll make sure to send it your way."

Sayid frowned. "My intention is not to fight with you."

"You're doing a bang up job of it, keep up the good work." Her words were meant to deflect his curiosity, direct his interest elsewhere but she didn't look at him to see if they had done their job. She turned instead to double check that her Jackal was strapped firmly against her hip the nodded at Jin and Sun. "Okay. Let's bring her in."

&&&&&&&&&&&

Faith watched from her spot on the beach as Sun and Jin continued to build onto the fire Sayid had started. She thumbed the handle of her Jackal but said nothing, content to watch while she occasionally glanced around.

Her eyes caught sight of the shadow appearing beside hers. "I caught wind of your conversation with Sun a few minutes ago." She shaded her eyes from the sun with her left hand. "She's smarter than she lets on, you should know that by now."

"I lied about the dock because it was the only way to get Jin to bring in the boat." Sayid crossed his arms. "It was important to start a fire in a place where the Others could see it and know its exact location."

"The tracks on the dock couldn't be more than a day old, maybe two. Something big went down here."

"I believe it had to do with Jack and our group. They have probably been captured."

She nodded in agreement. "That wouldn't surprise me really."

"And why is that Faith?"

"Because nothing on this island goes the way we plan." She lowered her hand and glanced behind them to see Sun was talking quietly to Jin who looked less than pleased. "Does it not bother you that you asked a woman to lie to her husband?"

"I believe Sun is more accustomed the subject of lying than she lets on."

"I'm starting to think we all are."

Sayid cleared his throat. "If everything goes according to plan, we will have the location of our people by nightfall."

"What'd I tell you about plans?" Faith started to turn to go up the beach when the sight of a small child had her freezing mid-step. The little girl caught her eyes and smiled before turning quickly to disappear through the forest.

"Faith?"

She jerked her gaze away to find Sayid peering at her with concerned eyes. "I need to go bury Morana."

"I know it's useless to ask but if you require help…"

She walked away.

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

There was no headstone decorating the grave to alert anyone of the woman who lay beneath the fresh dirt and Faith appreciated that. It kept things simple in an already confusing world. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Simple.

A shadow fell over the spot where her feet met the brown dirt and Faith looked up to see the small girl from her dream.

"In the state of California, this is considered stalking."

"You amuse us." The girl giggled. "Maybe that is why you have lasted so long in this world Faith; your approach to life has always been refreshing."

"Yeah, it's positively sparkling with optimism."

"It was a nice gesture, to bury her." The conduit looked back down at the grave before bringing her eyes back to Faith's. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. This is how you look at it."

"Stay out of my head."

Her demand was ignored and the girl simply titled her head, eyes large and dark. "Choices. That is what is given. Two endings, one choice." She motioned to the dirt at their feet and Faith blinked, eyes narrowing at the sight of the little girl now standing between the bodies of Ana Lucia and Morana. They were both covered with white sheets but with exposed faces, their eyes closed and hands crossed over their chests.

"One life for another, one choice." The little girl glanced between the two women. "There is no favor without debt."

"And what favor have I done?"

"The burden you carry is the favor and it is us that owed you a debt. Enjoy it while it lasts."

Faith let a low hiss escape her mouth, blinking as the image in front her disappeared and left only the unmarked grave behind.

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

"Do you think this will work?"

She ceased her survey of the darkness around them and focused on Sun standing just a few feet away from her. "I thought I told you to wait below deck."

Looking slightly embarrassed, Sun shrugged and glanced towards the shadowed beach. "Sayid said he was going to kill most of them. Do you think he will?"

Faith looked over in the same direction. "Yes." She looked away just as quickly, not waiting for a reaction. "Come on, let's go back down. If the Others are around, they'll want this boat and there's a better chance of them falling for the bait if they think it's deserted."

"Sayid said the plan was to attack them from the beach." Sun's wide eyes were glued to Faith. "I thought we were only supposed to hide."

"No, you're supposed to hide. I'm here to get answers and pummel a few faces while doing it, you know, fun stuff like that."

"I do not understand then how Sayid will be able to help if…" Sun looked slightly surprised when the corner of Faith's mouth tilted upwards. "You did not tell him about this."

"Nope." Faith dropped the smirk from her face. "This plan is all mine."

Despite looking even more worried by this point, Sun turned and headed back down the steps into the cabin, Faith following close behind.

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

Faith threw herself down onto the chair at the bottom of the stairs, watching as Sun busied herself in filling a pot with water and placing it on the stove. "Seems like hardly the best time for tea; don't ya think?"

"I have to occupy myself Faith, anything to keep my hands from shaking."

The urge to acknowledge the truth of that statement hit Faith harder than she was willing to admit. She shifted her attention to the area where Morana's body had lingered, the blue tarp left behind that had been underneath her. It had been rearranged and folded since she had last seen it. Faith frowned. "What's this?"

Sun glanced over at the blue tarp then back down at the task at hand. "Sayid put a gun underneath the tarp in case of an emergency."

"Have you ever used a gun before?"

"No."

"Then what help could it possibly be to you?"

"Have you used a gun before?"

Faith leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. "A few times. It was nothing to write home about. My line of work, they're pretty useless."

"Your line of work?" Sun studied her carefully. "I was under the assumption from what has been said and told to me that you did something in the security business."

"Something like that."

Sun opened her mouth, millions of questions probably ready to explode at a moment's notice. A noise from overhead, a loud thumping interrupted her and saved Faith.

She immediately sat up from the chair, eyes narrowed. "Stay here."

"Faith wait, the gun!"

"I told you, it's useless." She listened as the thumping was followed by more similar sounds and she glanced around. "You use it if you need to; it's simple Sun, aim and pull."

"What are you going to do?"

"Follow my plan." Faith moved past her into the back, shoving aside the bathroom door. There was a skylight just above the sink and she stepped back just as she saw shadows moving over it. Faith turned back to say something to Sun but stopped at the sight of a blonde woman stepping down from the stairs.

She was of average height with sandy blonde hair that flowed past her shoulders. It was pulled back tightly with a hair clip, showing off her small features and angled cheeks.

Sun held the gun suddenly, both hands shaking but somehow managing to hold it steady. "Let us off this boat."

"I can't do that." The woman looked past Sun, ignoring the gun completely. "Hello Faith."

"How do you know my name?"

"We know all of your names." The woman's dark eyes flickered between the two of them. "And I think you're aware exactly as to how we know your name Faith."

Her confident tone made Faith chuckle. She moved forward but kept a good distance to the left of Sun and away from the woman. "Know what I think? I think we should shoot you."

"That wouldn't be wise. See, my friends are up top and they wouldn't be happy if you-"

Faith didn't shift her attention for a second. "What do you think Sun?"

Sun cocked the gun.

"You're not a killer Sun Hwa Kwon. But on the other hand…" The woman looked back at Faith. "Is another murder really something you want to add to your resume Faith? It's starting to become quite long."

"I hear that's how you build up credentials."

"We don't have to be enemies, you and I."

Faith watched her moved forward and lifted up a hand to stop Sun from reacting. "I suspect that's something they both told you and Morana before they played Operation Super Barbie with your brains." She lowered her hand. "I recognize you from the picture in Morana's box."

"That was taken at our home during happier times."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Colleen. I trained Morana when she first came to us. It's a shame she didn't have a strong enough belief to make it past the entire program." She moved forward again, this time Sun raising the gun higher. "I was number eight."

"Don't come closer!"

Faith ignored Sun and the gun. "Was, interesting choice of words."

"I no longer need a number." Colleen shrugged. "I have a home, a husband, a place I belong to now… Don't you want those things Faith? A real purpose in life?"

"I have a purpose."

"Your purpose was forced onto you because a group of old shaman's were too scared to fight their own battles! That war isn't ours to fight anymore."

"So which one are we supposedly fighting now? I hardly call kidnapping children and killing defenseless men a war."

"The war isn't here yet Faith." Colleen smiled. "It was merely waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"For you."

"And the rest of those like us? What's the point in them being here then? More slaves?" Faith eyed the other woman with obvious contempt. "Aren't you a little old and scrawny to be Slayer material?"

"I've been here a long time Faith. I've always been different and they suspected many things but it wasn't until the call of all the Slayers that I knew exactly what I was. The group took me in, made me whole again, gave me purpose and in exchange I helped train the others like me, helped prepare them for the coming. As you can see, Morana wasn't strong enough. None of the past experiments have been strong enough but now that you're here, it can change." She smiled again. "Come with us, I'll let Sun go. With your blood, we can find the missing link in the blood line, the way to transcend that into not just women but men as well."

"That certainly explains Ethan's killer right hook at least."

Colleen's eyes flashed, her lips pressing together momentarily. "Yes. He was a failed experiment. Our blood isn't pure, only yours."

"Let me tell you how sorry I am to hear that."

"Do not do this Faith, we're not the enemy."

"Yes, you are." Faith glanced towards the stairs at the sound of someone yelling Colleen's name and it was at that very moment that the other woman moved towards Faith.

Sun's reaction was immediate, finger squeezing the trigger and the shot ran loudly through the cabin. Colleen's mouth fell open as blood poured from the large stomach wound. She mumbled something, the words gurgled then she collapsed.

The stampede of footsteps had Faith turning towards Sun and shoving her towards the bathroom. "Go!" She pulled the gun easily from the other woman's loose fingers, tossing it aside. "Out the skylight, now."

Sun nodded quickly, Faith helping her to climb the sink but she paused with her hands pushing on the skylight cover. "Faith, what about you!?"

"I'll be fine, just go."

Sun scrambled out of the hole, shots going off in the distance but Faith ignored them, turning back to approach Colleen. She knelt beside her body, feeling for a pulse and found a weak one throbbing beneath the surface of Colleen's skin. She blinked up at Faith, a trickle of blood seeping free from the corner of her mouth.

"I know you can hear me." Faith looked up towards the stairs. "You're going to die; we both know that and I know you can sure as hell feel it so I won't waste my words." She looked back down. "The smoke, what is it?"

Colleen coughed, spitting up blood that neither noticed. "Strength, our strength."

"And the little girl?"

"What…girl…"

"The little girl, who is she? The conduit!" Faith reached out to shake Colleen by the shoulders. "Hey! Answer me!."

It was useless, Colleen was coughing harder now and Faith released her just as footsteps started down the steps. She sprang to her feet and was instantly halfway up the stairs to meet the person.

The Other she encountered, an older man with gray hair, looked shocked to see her, but he barely had time to even blink before she punched him soundly in the throat and he keeled over. Smirking, Faith sprinted past him.

The boat jerked to life as someone turned on the engine.

Faith popped up from the doorway, immediately encountering another man with a gun. She brought her arm up to block the arch of his gun coming towards her face, ducking and coming back up behind him. Her foot landed perfectly on the small of his back and he went flying, tumbling directly into the Other she had just punched as he attempted to make his way back up the stairs. They went rolling down in a tangled mess.

Somewhere behind her several guns cocked. Faith didn't even look to see how many men there actually were; she just took off running at full speed. Shots rang out around her, sparks flying as the bullets hit metal but she kept her eyes locked on the dock as it began to become distant.

Faith jumped off the back of the boat and dove into the ocean water, head first among a spray of bullets. The water swallowed her completely but the sounds of the bullets piercing the water echoed in her ears. She came back up with a shake of wet hair and the boat roared, the engine propelling it further away into the darkness.

Somewhere in the distance Sun and Jin were yelling for each other. Faith turned towards the dock, swimming with wide strokes, easily reaching it. A hand was thrust into her face and she looked up to find Sayid. Despite not needing the help, she accepted his hand and pulled free of the water. "Thanks."

"Are you hurt?"

"No." Faith shook her hair, wiggling a finger in her ear. "Where's the duo?"

"Over here!"

They both looked over to find Sun being helped out of the water by Jin.

"Anyone hurt?"

"No." Sun shook her head. "We're fine."

"Good." Faith checked herself, smiling as she patted the Jackal still on her hip. She frowned after a minute. "Son of a bitch."

Sayid glanced away from the ocean. "What is it?"

"I left my bag in the ship."

"After all that just happened, you're worried about your bag?"

Faith shrugged. "Not really, I've got what I need right here." She tapped her waist. "Just a little pissed they got the drop on us that's all."

"Drop on me you mean." Sayid frowned and took a step closer to her. "You knew they would come for the boat."

She titled her head as their shoulders bumped, her gaze momentarily lingering on Jin and Sun as they held each other. "Why wouldn't they? It's a boat." She glanced back at Sayid still facing in the other direction towards the ocean. "You think they'd see something like that and just let us keep it?"

"We could have planned something together."

"I don't plan things with large groups; I'm not a tour guide Sayid. You and Locke want to play Five Star General, that's fine but leave me out of it." Faith edged away from him, stopping again only because he reached out and grabbed her arm. Her eyes went down then instantly came back up. "Don't even think about it."

"When there is a chance, we must talk about what is happening to you."

Her eyes flickered back down again. "It'll be a short conversation because at this point Sayid, I'm still not sure."

He released her arm. "With the boat gone, it will take at least two days before we reach our camp again. I'm positive you will be able to think of something during that time. Either way, we will talk."

Sayid made his way past her to the beach without a second look back. Had he only done so, he would have seen her look back to the ocean, her hand curling easily around the hand of her Jackal.