A/N:

Longest chapter ever! it took tons of revising, lots of details, must admit I'm a bit nervous about it.

There's lots of information, you might have to read it twice

All your comments, love them, would love to post them all here but my notes for this chapter are quite lengthy.

About Sayid: Just in case you've forgotten who he is, here are some key facts:

In the first chapter, Sayid is referred to as the Middle Eastern man. Olivia caught him staring at her before the crash. Later on in the story, Olivia remembers him in Australia before they got on the plane, they had an argument over a taxi. Right before they left the island, Olivia confronts Sayid when he is about to torture Sawyer. She wonders if perhaps Sayid is the husband of one of her clients (she's a divorce attorney). Sayid does not say. Shortly afterwards they flee the island.

Sayid's background: Iraqui communications officer during the Gulf War. The Republican Guard promoted him to the rank of mayor in the Intelligence Division where he tortured military prisoners.

Chapter 40

The rest of the afternoon went by in a flash. As soon as they were done packing (they didn't pack much they would be gone two days tops), Fitz took Karen shopping for an engagement ring. He'd been thinking about it since their return from the island, but with everything going on he kept on telling himself that he would just wait for the perfect time to propose.

But then last night as he lay in bed missing her, he realized that there may never be the perfect time and if he kept on waiting the perfect moment would pass him by.

Their first stop was Zales at the local mall. The saleslady had been a little too flirty and he decided to shop elsewhere. Then, he tried Tiffany. He didn't like their customer service plus Karen was hungry for a snack, so they made a pit stop at Cold Stone.

"Daddy, did you buy a ring for mommy too when you married her?" Karen asked suddenly in between bites of her cotton candy flavored ice cream.

"No, not really," Fitz answered taking the question in stride. "Your mother and I went together one day and shopped for wedding rings. I never surprised her with a ring…"

"Why not?"

"It was just different. You'll understand one day," he replied giving his daughter a long look. Something was definitely on her mind and he was usually good at getting her to confide in him. "Are you worried you will miss your mom's call when we're in Mexico?" Mellie usually called Karen every other day. "We can call her from there you know."

"Should I tell her you're marrying Olivia?" Karen asked, concentrating on taking scoops of her ice cream. "She asks me questions all the time…"

"You don't have to tell her, K, I will," he reached over across the little bistro table inside the restaurant where they sat and patted her arm. "You're worried she will be upset?" Personally he could care less as to whether Mellie was upset, but it was his daughter's feelings he was concerned about. "Karen, honey, your mother loves you and that's not going to change just because I'm getting married again. In fact, your mother will always be your mother, nothing is ever going to change that," he added hoping that this would be re-assuring for Karen, he didn't want her to feel that by being happy about the wedding in any way meant that she was being disloyal to her mother. "Do you understand what I'm saying, sweetheart?"

Karen nodded vigorously while liking the last of her ice cream off her plastic spoon.

After that they went to Robbins Brothers. This time customer service was more to his liking. The salesman spoke of clarity, cut, shape, color and carat weight of the diamonds, took the time to show every piece and answer all questions. In the meantime, a saleslady took Karen under her wing and talked with her as though she was older. Karen was delighted, and as always, she had a lot to say.

When it was time to make the final selection, Fitz asked Karen her preference between two choices. He would have been fine with either choice but he wanted her to feel important and that her opinions mattered. After all, he'd already vetoed the idea of the kitten. She was heartbroken, but we don't always get what we want when we want it. Plus, he was thinking Olivia and he could still surprise her with the kitten later on.

Karen studied both rings. One of the rings was a Milgrain Marquise and Dot Diamond Engagement Ring in 14K White Gold and the other one was a classic pear shaped sapphire also in 14k white gold. The Sapphire stones on the second ring were rather large and to each side of the diamond setting.

"This one, daddy!" Karen said of the pear shaped sapphire ring.

"Okay," Fitz turned to the salesman. "We'll take it." It was a lovely ring and he was certain Olivia would love it.

XXX

Quinn led the way to the living room, Olivia and Sayid followed. She placed a tray on the rustic style coffee table and motioned for them to take a seat. There was no sofa just various Silver framed cow hide arm chairs-upholstery brown and white pattern-overlooking the courtyard with its cascading water fountain.

After a few minutes of small talk, Quinn excused herself leaving Sayid and Olivia sitting across from each other in silence simply enjoying a glass of iced lemonade. There was also a bowl of chips and salsa and other snacks.

"Well, so here we are," Olivia broke the silence, intrigued. Something about Sayid seemed different. Perhaps, friendlier? "Why do I have the impression that you've got a long story to tell?" She took a chip dipped it in salsa and ate it.

"Yes," he smiled, "I don't know where to start."

"How about you tell me why you dislike me so much for starters?

"I don't dislike you, Olivia," his eyes twinkled with a hint of amusement. "I was hired by your father to protect you."

Olivia's eyes widened. "Wh-what?"

"Your father was afraid that his nemesis would try to hurt you as revenge," he stated matter of factly and paused. When he spoke again, the hint of amusement returned. "You can say that I'm part private investigator, part bodyguard…"

"So…you followed me all the way to Australia?" She shook her head.

Sayid nodded ever so slightly. "Back in the 1970's there was this group of people that belonged to an organization called The Dharma Initiative. They established themselves on the island and built a small community with housing and all modern amenities. They lived quite comfortably. Most of them came from the United States, many of them came with their families, young children. In all there were maybe anywhere from 70 to about a 100 people."

Olivia cocked an eyebrow. "What were these people doing on the island and what they have to do with my father?"

"They believed there was a source of electromagnetic activity deep underground. They built several stations for scientific research including the one named the Looking Glass Station."

Yes, that's where Fitz and Charlie had made radio contact with her father. "And the hatch where Fitz found a map for the Looking Glass Station…and a picture of my parents dated back to the 1970's…" Olivia added her brain reeling struggling to make the connections.

"I believe they built all these stations for their scientific experiments," Sayid continued. "One of the stations held wildlife including polar bears that were kept in captivity. By the time we came to the island, the bears either escaped from their cages or were set free by the scientists once they were of no further use to them."

Well, that certainly explained the presence of polar bears on a tropical island.

"How do you know all this?" She was feeling impatient as Sayid had yet to explain what any of this had to do with her father.

"Locke and I found the hatch before Fitz and the others did. I found a diary and other documents. I pieced it all together. It appears that The Dharma Initiative also engaged in psychological experiments."

"We always wondered why Locke decided to keep the existence of the hatch to himself. We didn't know you were also involved."

Sayid shrugged. "I wanted to make sure I gathered all the evidence."

Olivia studied him carefully. "Sayid, did you leave the photo and the map of the Looking Glass Station for Fitz to find? I'm sure you combed through the entire place…and then Fitz finds this secret book safe, a little too conveniently placed if you asked me. It had a lock for a key but it was unlocked."

Sayid gave her a small smile in response.

"So who is this person who has a vendetta against my father?"

"His name was Benjamin Linus."

Was?

"What happened to this man, Benjamin Linus?"

"Never ask a question unless you're absolutely sure you want the answer," he admonished. "All you need to know is that he's no longer a threat to you or your father."

Olivia studied him once again. This man had always been such an enigma and at this point she was unsure as to whether she should trust him. Sayid simply stared back with that hint of amusement behind those dark eyes of his. "So...you mean to say you took care of him?" Olivia insisted, undeterred. Flashes of Sayid the day he was intent on torturing Sawyer came to mind.

"So you're telling me that when we boarded flight 815 you were there sent by his father to protect me? She laughed and then grew serious. "Are you really expecting me to believe that all those times I caught you staring, and you acted antagonistic it's because you were trying to hide the fact that you had me under surveillance?" She shook her head in disbelief.

Sayid smirked for the first time since she'd known him. "No, Olivia, It was just that I disliked you because you stole my taxi back in Australia, remember?"

Olivia smirked back, she didn't know the man had a sense of humor. "Well, I guess I would have never guessed," she went on, the smirk replaced by a serious expression.

This was too much of a coincidence that flight 815 crashed on the same island where her dad lived during the seventies.

It was almost as if the crash had been orchestrated by someone, perhaps Benjamin Linus?

"So this Benjamin Linus wanted me dead to get back at my father...Why? Why were he and my father such arch enemies?"

"Apparently, he and your father were born on the island and grew up together during the days of the Dharma Initiative until the latter withdrew their presence from the island sometime in the 1990's. They were rivals, competing for the supreme leadership role and become The leader of the island. Not only that, but they also competed for the affection of Maya Lewis who was also born on the island."

"My mother," Olivia mouthed. Everything she had known about her parents had been a lie. They hadn't been born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan like they always claimed. So that was the reason Fitz had been unable to find records of a birth certificate for her father.

"In the end, your dad lost the leadership role although he did win Maya's heart. Together, they left the island and moved to Michigan the headquarters of The Dharma Initiative…"

"Michigan, that's where I was born…" Olivia's brown eyes widened as she further realized the implications. Come to think of it, everything seemed to click into place now. Both her parents had been quite evasive, they rarely spoke about their own childhoods and when they did it was only in response to one of Olivia's questions. Furthermore, she knew virtually nothing about her grandparents. All she knew was that her paternal grandparents had died when her father was young and that he'd been raised by an aunt who had passed away before Olivia was born. As to her maternal grandparents, all she knew was that her grandma—whom she never met- had been born somewhere in Great Britain ( her own mother had claimed being born in East London) and that her grandfather had deserted his family shortly after arriving in America.

"I didn't know anything about this, they never mentioned anything about being born on an island in the middle of the pacific…" she shook her head in utter disbelief. How could it be that she knew so little about her own parents, the very people who raised her?

Now she understood. Back in 7th grade and three years after her mother had lost the battle to cancer, Olivia had tried re-constructing her family tree as part of a school project. She had been unable to find any records of a Maya Lewis. She did find a Marie Wallace being born in East London that seemed to match her search criteria, but the dates were wrong so she thought the latter might have been her maternal grandmother.

Sayid nodded.

"Wait, why did they withdraw from the island?" her inquisitive eyes boring into him. "None of this explains Linus' hatred for my father. Why was he coming after him this many years later?"

Sayid reached into his briefcase and pulled out a black and white picture almost identical to the one Fitz had found and showed it to Olivia. She stared at it for a few moments and then set it on the coffee table. "Apparently, before he left the island, your father decided to get his revenge for being dethroned as their leader." He paused, visibly uncomfortable with this part of the story. "Your father used poison gas to eliminate at least half the population of the Dharma Initiative. Benjamin Linus and a few others survived. The island natives took over and ruled for a while, not sure how many people are left living there, probably not very many. The island is still considered uninhabited. The Dharma Initiative never returned, although their headquarters still operate in Michigan. Linus finally got off the island and found your father. That's when he hired me as a precaution to keep my eyes on you at all times."

Olivia gasped, horrified. Her first instinct was to cover her stomach as if protect the tiny life growing inside her from all the emotion swirling around it. "My father? Are you sure about this?" She asked maybe all this was just a terrible mistake.

"Absolutely," Sayid replied making firm eye contact. "I wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't absolutely sure."

Olivia stared back, shocked and devastated at the same time. She then buried her face in her hands. When she spoke again, her voice was a little shaky yet she met his eyes decidedly. "How? How many people are we talking about here? How many people... did he murder?"

"In the upwards of 30 I believe…"

"How, "she ran her hand over her was so horrific. "How do you know all this?"

"I found all the evidence at the hatch, one of many Dharma Stations on the island. Your father wrote about it in a notebook. Locke agreed to keep it a secret until the day he led Fitz to its location thinking we could take shelter there. That had been the plan…but then, shortly afterward we got rescued."

"Where is all this evidence now?"

"I have it in a safe deposit box...just in case something happens to me. Now that you know the truth, "he handed her a small key. "He doesn't know that I have it. Hopefully, Fitz did not mention anything to your father about us finding the hatch station?" Obviously, he knows that we found The Looking Glass Station since Fitz and Charlie made radio contact with him, but hopefully he doesn't know we found the hatch. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure he knew the notebook was at the hatch. Someone else must have put it there well before we came to the island."

Olivia shook her head, gripping the key tightly in her fist. "I don't think that Fitz has talked to my father about the things that he found at the Hatch," she spoke slowly her brain working extra hard trying to process all the information, afraid she might have missed an important detail. There had been so much going on since they got off the island a week and a half ago. As far as she knew, Fitz had only talked to her father once when she was in the hospital after the miscarriage scare.

"Good," Sayid looked visibly relieved.

"Sayid, why are you telling me all this right now?"

"When I learned about the freighter, I knew there was something fishy going on." He took a deep breath. "I'm thinking that the rescue mission was not supposed to be a rescue mission at all. Or perhaps Ben Linus' people on the island took over the freighter…I think that once people get to the island they are not supposed to leave...they're all part of a psychological experiment…The Dharma Initiative still has a it's headquarters in Michigan, I believe…"

Olivia couldn't help but notice that this was the second time that sayid mentioned The Dharma Initiative operating out of Michigan. "You believe?"

"I'm certain of it, "Sayid corrected himself. "I'm not sure what's the role that your father played in the disappearance of the freighter. But we got to get our people back…"

"Absolutely, "Olivia nodded. "But how?"

"I'm leaving the country, Olivia. I'm not going to Iraq, can't tell you where…. and I think you will agree it would be for the best. I'm leaving in a couple of hours. I'll send you confirmation. Once I'm in a safe place, you need to call your dad and tell him about the evidence in the safe deposit box. It's up to you if you want to tell him you found it yourself or you can say it was me. I don't think anything will happen to you, I don't think your father will hurt you…"

"Maybe not, "she conceded.

"I have the feeling that the freighter will turn up then. The last thing your father needs is for the truth to come out and for him to be tried for his crimes."

Olivia stared back confused. All though it seemed clear that in this story, no one was wearing white hats: not her father, not Benjamin Linus, not The Dharma Initiative. Perhaps not even Sayid.

"What if I decide to make it public" she opened her fist revealing the key that Sayid had given her. "There's gotta be some justice for those people…. the ones my father murdered," she said with a bitter taste in her mouth. She still couldn't fathom that her own father had done such a horrible thing.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You've got yourself and your family to think about. Is it worth to risk it all? And for what?"

"I don't know…but what about justice? Justice for those people…?"

"Those people are already dead, Olivia. We can't do anything about that. But our people, the ones on the freighter...there's something we can still do for them."

Olivia put the key in her jean pocket. Then, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes and rubbed her hands on her forehead. There were some things still unclear. Still, what seemed undisputable was that exposing Elijah Pope and the dealings of the Dharma Initiative would put a lot of people at risk, not just her family but also the rest of the survivors from flight 815, regardless of whether her father had the support of The Dharma Initiative or whether they were actually against him because of the poison gas incident. The fact remained that Elijah Pope had used poison gas against his own people. She assumed that he would do anything to keep this under wraps and protect his good name. This was something far greater than she had ever imagined.

XXX

Fitz and Karen arrived right after Sayid informed Olivia of his intention to leave, although as soon as he saw Fitz, it became obvious that he couldn't just make such a swift departure.

Olivia stood, a wealth of emotions written all over her face.

His look softened the instant their eyes met and took a step toward her.

She sauntered into his arms and he closed his arms around her.

"Oh, Fitz, you're here," she sighed, her voice a wave of delight. He lifted her chin and lowered his lips to hers.

Their kiss was short but sweet.

Quinn and Karen watched the reunion with a ready smile. Sayid looked on mildly interested.

After a moment, Sayid cleared his throat.

Fitz and Olivia turned their heads to acknowledge the presence of the others, yet their bodies remained angled toward one another other, their body language screaming how much they were into each other.

"Hi, K," with a warm smile, Olivia greeted Karen by her nickname.

Karen glided over and gave Olivia a quick hug. After a moment, she remarked, "Oh, this place is so beautiful, "her eyes fixed on the 3 tier water fountain.

"Come, Karen, I'll show you around the house while your dad and Olivia have a little talk," Quinn winked at the couple. In turn, they nodded in appreciation.

"You'll love the horses, they're just amazing," Olivia said to Karen, "We'll come and join you in a little bit, Okay?

Karen nodded and then dashed off to the water fountain with Quinn trailing behind.

Sayid seemed to come alive again once Quinn and Karen were gone. In a few words, Sayid brought Fitz up to speed regarding everything that he'd discussed with Olivia.

After the initial shock had worn off, Fitz agreed with Sayid's plan. "What matters now is to save the people on the freighter," he told Sayid and Olivia. "If there's still alive that is," he added with a worried frown.

"I don't know what the plans were regarding the freighter...but I think there was a reason… a reason why the pilot suggested that Olivia board the chopper last, and that was so that she would be on the last trip off the island."

"The important thing was to keep Olivia off the freighter," Fitz added.

"Right," Sayid agreed, echoing Fitz's thoughts on the subject.

Olivia turned to Sayid. "You were sitting beside the pilot…did you see him deliberately steering the helicopter away from the freighter?"

"Visibility was terrible as I recall," Sayid answered. "It's hard to say, he could have changed course because of the storm or it could have been planned that way."

Fitz and Olivia exchanged puzzled looks.

"Sayid, "Fitz spoke. "You think that perhaps Elijah Pope knows that you have all this evidence against him and that he might start looking for you once he realizes you're no longer working for him?"

"My surveillance of Olivia ended the day his nemesis was no longer a personal threat to him and Olivia…" Sayid replied in a very measured tone. "So he has no reason to suspect me."

Fitz gave Sayid a doubtful look. It seemed to him that Elijah Pope was much too astute and was probably ten steps ahead of them already.

Olivia thought that there was still the issue with the people on the freighter. "Where are they, are they being kept hostage?" she asked aloud of no one in particular.

"Maybe as part of a psychological experiment? " Sayid reiterated.

"I want to be the one to speak with Elijah Pope, Fitz turned to Olivia, I will tell him of the things I found at the hatch."

XXX

The next morning while they were all gathered eating breakfast, Sayid send a text message confirming that he had landed safely far away from the North American Continent. Both Fitz and Olivia dialed Eli Pople's number and left messages on his answering machine.

Eli Pope called his daughter back during breakfast.

She told him in no uncertain terms of the evidence that pointed to the Purge, the poisoning of over half the members of the Dharma Initiative back in the 1970's.

"Olivia, where did you hear all of this?" her father's voice rose in outrage.

"I found the evidence...your plans to use poison gas on your own people. You wrote about it in a notebook. There was this place on the island…. it had all modern amenities, can you believe that? That's where I found it. Oh, God, she wished he would deny it, that somehow her own father had not committed such a horrible crime. He could deny it and she'd be willing to believe it was just a terrible misunderstanding.

"You have it with you?" "Olivia, you don't know what you're doing, you're playing with fire...those people are dangerous…"

Olivia's face fell. So he was guilty then, he wasn't even trying to deny it. However, she continued without missing a beat, "Which people dad? The Dharma Initiative? Your people?"

There was silence on the other line.

"Let me talk to him!" Fitz demanded.

Quinn excused herself from the table and headed for the kitchen.

Olivia shook her head no, she was going to handle this herself. "Don't worry, dad, I'm not interested in coming forward with any of this," she said unable to hide the disdain in her voice. "All I want is to know what happened to the freighter."

"You think if I knew Olivia, they would not have been found already?"

She wanted to yell at him, demand that he come clean, but found herself too upset to form a coherent response. That's when she simply decided to hang up and end the conversation.

A few hours later…

Fitz and Olivia were getting ready to pack their things and head back to Santa Monica when they heard Quinn's voice across the other side of the house filled with excitement.

Olivia, Fitz, you gotta come and see this!"

Intrigued, the couple made their way across the water fountain and headed for the kitchen.

Quinn motioned to the TV screen on her kitchen counter.

They couldn't believe their eyes.

There it was, the image of the freighter docking in North America. The headlines were in Spanish yet it was clear that this was in reference to the survivors of flight 815.

Olivia squealed in delight when she saw Sawyer, Charlie, John Locke and the others disembark the freighter, greeted by a swarm of newscasters and photographers.

Fitz stared back at the screen dumbfounded as he heard John Locke say: "I feel darn lucky to be alive," in response to a reporter's question."

A/N:

The Dharma Initiative is a fictional secret society dating back to the 1970's that employed techniques of mind control. They recruited people to work for them which later reportedly disappeared without a trace. The organization was secretive and its dubious activities were categorized as a mystery, perhaps a cult of some sort.

Next up: story continues to move forward to the time when Olivia gets the letter. But first we'll have Fitz's proposal and the wedding :) Oh, and of course we'll learn what happens with Aaron. At this point, I'm thinking maybe just two more chapters and then a sequel.

***In this fic, nothing bad will happen to Fitz or Olivia or the kids, promise!***

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