A/N:

The hardest thing to write is a good story description that matches readers to the right story. Every story has a reader and by the same token, not all readers like the same story.

okay, so I tallied up the votes, and so far option B (leave description as it it) is winning!

Stay tuned for there is another survey at the end of the chapter

Some of you had some questions about this story, so let me clarify somethings:

I) This story will not be bogged down by Lost canon. In fact, since it's AU many things will be different.

II) Lost ending: Will have nothing to do with this story. I'm merely using the island and characters to suit this story.

III) no time traveling.

IV) Lost had many character deaths but since I'm not a big fan of angst I will not be dwelling on this. Therefore, you will not find anything overly intense (that makes you crawl under your bed in utter despair) in this fic.

V) Funny streaks: if anything, from time to time I'll be trying to insert some humor whenever I can :D

xxx

Fitz and Hurley were heading towards higher ground and moving away from the beach where they'd left Olivia and Kate behind.

Judging by the position and relentless heat of the sun, it appeared that it was close to noon or shortly thereafter. Fitz, wiped the sweat off his forehead and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt.

As they walked, he thanked god that he had put on his most comfortable pair of jeans for the trip rather than a dressy pair of slacks. He had discarded his green cardigan sweater a long time ago since it was obviously too warm for this tropical island weather.

"Hey, wait up," a man of color called to them. Next to him was a boy, about ten years old.

"Have you seen my dog?" the boy addressed both Fitz and Hurley. "Haven't seen him since we boarded the plane."

Fitz shook his head. He could just picture the dog crushed underneath some rubble as clear as day, which was extremely likely given that pets were usually confined to the luggage compartment. Thus, he couldn't imagine how the dog could have survived the crash or broken out of its carrier.

"What's that?" Fitz asked the boy who was now twirling around a pair of handcuffs.

"Just found them. They're not mine, " he smiled. "Finders keepers though!"

Just then, they all reached an area where a larger group of survivors were gathered watching a fight between a white man with a very distinct Southern accent and the Middle Eastern man.

"You're the prisoner!" The Southerner pointed an angry finger at the Middle Eastern man. "The boy showed me the handcuffs," he motioned to the child and everyone turned to look at him.

A man (short hair, early thirties) stepped in and broke off the fight.

"That's Jack, the doctor," Hurley whispered to Fitz.

"Listen, everyone! A group of us went to the cockpit and found this transmitter radio but it's not working. Anyone here knows how to fix it?" he looked out to the crowd. "We're just a step away from rescue if we can get this thing working."

"I can give it a try," the Middle Eastern man offered.

"Yeah, perfect! Let's just trust this guy!" The southerner replied with sarcasm.

"Hey, we're in this together, let's try to get along," said Hurley.

"Shut up, Mambo Jumbo!" The Southerner yelled back.

Jack ignored the Southerner and gave the transmitter to the Middle Eastern man. Fitz and Hurley gathered around them.

"Where did you learn how to fix these?" Jack asked.

"I was a communications officer. I fought in the gulf war," he said while his hands expertly took the transmitter apart.

"No way!" Fitz exclaimed. "I also fought in the war. My plane got shot down in Operation Remington!" He took a long look at the Middle Eastern man. "What are you? Army? air force?"

"The republican guard," the Arab man stated matter of factly.

Fitz' eyes widened. So this man fought for the enemy forces?

"The battery will not last long," the Middle Eastern man paused while considering all available options. All three men watched him intently. The transmitter seemed to be their best bet to getting rescued at this point. Otherwise, no one knew how long it would take. "Another thing we could try is to pick up a signal from up high."

All four of them looked up at the mountains surrounding them in the distance.

"Okay. We'll get you a group to hike with you," Jack said in an authoritative manner. "Right now, I gotta go back to the marshal, he's in bad shape, don't know if he'll make it. "

"Jack!" Fitz stopped him in his tracks. "I'll go with you."

"Me too," Hurley hurried behind them.

The marshal was laying down underneath a tree, drifting in and out of consciousness. He had severe injuries across his torso and stomach.

Fitz helped to hold down the marshal while Jack operated on him. Hurley stood back as he claimed that the sight of blood would make him pass out.

"After this, I need you to come with me, Jack. My girlfriend needs help," Fitz stated in a tone that was right in between a request and a clear expectation.

"What seems to be the problem?" Jack asked while still tending to his patient.

"She's paralyzed. Can't move from the neck down. No visible injuries, though. "

"Is she breathing okay?"

"Yes. Checked her pulse too."

"Will do the best I can...but you do realize there's people with severe injuries popping out to and fro."

"I can be your best assistant," Fitz offered, holding the marshal down while Jack continued to work on the marshal's injuries.

"Where is she?" the marshal awoke, suddenly lucid.

"Who?" Jack inquired.

"The woman...she's dangerous! " the marshal then directed Jack to look in his jacket pocket for an important piece of paper.

Jack unfolded the paper. It was a picture of Kate.

Fitz, Jack and Hurley stared at the photo, speechless.

Once again, the marshal lost consciousness.

"Is there such a thing as temporary paralysis?" Fitz asked after a few moments while Jack continued to suture the wounds.

Seeing that his patient was temporarily stabilized, the doctor stepped back some and wiped sweat off his forehead. "Periodic paralysis? hmm...yeah, there are several types, mostly related to potassium intake. "

Fitz breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever this condition was, it had to be infinitely better than a spinal injury. "So, how long will it last before she goes back to normal ?"

"I can't really diagnose her without examining her," he took a deep breath and started gathering his medical supplies in a makeshift medical bag. "But in general, periodic paralysis is a rare gene mutation sometimes exacerbated by stress...and it's hard to say, but it could last days."

Fitz looked to Hurley who had been watching from a distance. "Will you stay with the Marshal while the doc is out to see Liv?"

Hurley Shrugged. "Sure, Dude" Then, he turned to Jack. "He's not gonna die on me or anything, right?"

"No, Hurley. He's stable for now. "Jack walked over to Hurley and gave him a slight pat in the shoulder.

"He'll be back before you know it," Fitz reassured Hurley and then turned to Jack. "She's right over to the side of those rocks," he said as they started moving in that direction.

"Your leg...it's bleeding," Jack noted. "Let me take a look at it."

"It's just a slight laceration. Fitz spread his hands in a dismissive gesture. "I'll wash it later with some salt water, it'll be alright."

"Well...it's still bleeding. The safe thing is to apply some pressure and wait 10 minutes," Jack insisted, putting his bag down in the sand and motioning towards the nearest rock with his other hand. "I"m not moving until we're sure the bleeding has stopped," he concluded in a no-nonsense tone.

Fitz reluctantly complied and eased down onto the rock . It was killing him having to wait, he wanted them to get to Olivia as soon as possible, especially in light of this new revelation regarding Kate's criminal background; he couldn't help but wonder what types of crimes the woman had committed.

A/N:

Today I changed the story description (scroll back up if you missed it).

Please vote for one(1) of the following:

1) I like this description : Come along for the journey of a lifetime to see how they survive and fall in love while they await rescue ( Idea taken from LoreneMichelle41).

2) LOVE current description! I HATE Jake!

3) I vote for BOTH 1 and 2

4) OTHER (fill in the blank)