The waves lapped at Kali's feet as she looked out over the dark ocean, desperately trying to block out the horror of the last few days. Her head throbbed painfully, her lungs burnt every time she took a breath, not to mention she was pretty sure she had a few cracked ribs. It seemed like there was rarely a day on the island where she wasn't in pain. The sand shifted behind her, a warm palm touching her shoulder as she twisted around to see Sawyer crouching down on the beach beside her. Maybe it wasn't all bad, she thought to herself.
"Do you think they made it? Do you think they got to go back home?" Kali exclaimed as Sawyer leaned forward to rest his chin on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I do. I mean, it's about time our luck changed, ain't it?" Sawyer pointed out.
"I'm gonna' miss them" Kali murmured, as Sawyer pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder.
"Hey, you still got me. And blondie" Sawyer told her, making Kali snort.
"Not to forget Miles, who seems to have an uncanny ability to find dead people. Or Faraday the slightly crazy scientist" Kali added.
"And his ginger girlfriend" Sawyer went on, as a bark echoed over the sand.
Moments later, a familiar dog was rushing over to them, his tail wagging uncontrollably as he started licking at Kali's face. She let out a squeal, petting Vincient's face, being assaulted by the dog's questionable breath.
"And you, Vincent" She grinned, wrapping her arms around the dog, holding him close.
"Can't believe this damn dog's still alive" Sawyer mumbled.
"Hey, James?" Kali smirked, twisting around to face the blond, a mischievous look in her eyes.
"...Oh, no. No. We are not keeping the pooch" Sawyer muttered, causing Kali to pout.
"C'mon! How can you say no to that face?" Kali complained, turning Vincient's head toward Sawyer, who watched as the dog drooled over his leg.
"You're lucky I love you, blue eyes" Sawyer huffed, making her grin widen, as she leant closer to press a kiss to his stubbled cheek.
"I don't think I'm ever gonna' get used to you saying that" Kali admitted, as Sawyer lowered his head to kiss her lips.
"You really think things are gonna' work out?" Kali asked, pulling back a little, their foreheads still touching.
Just as Sawyer opened his mouth to reply, a blood-curdling scream rang over the waves, as the pair whipped around to see one of their people with a burning arrow going through his chest. Kali's mouth hung agape as Sawyer was instantly dragging her to her feet, Vincent barking in fear at their feet. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as she saw more arrows billowing through the air toward them, realising they were under attack.
"I guess there's my answer" Kali gulped, as Sawyer wrapped his fingers around her hand and pulled her toward the trees.
"Run! Everyone, run!" Sawyer yelled, as their group began sprinting away in all different directions.
Kali's eyes quickly found Miles nearby, who was crawling to his feet, a fiery arrow missing his leg by mere inches. He almost tripped over his own feet in a panic and would have fallen to the ground if Kali hadn't been there to grab his arm, pulling the older man along with them. Vincent chased after them, as arrows continued pouring down from the sky.
"Come on! Split up, everybody get to the creek!" Sawyer shouted, as one of their group was shot directly through the head only metres in front of them.
"Charlotte!" Miles cried, seeing the woman had fallen to her knees, with Daniel crouched down trying to help her up.
Kali wasn't quick enough to stop him from racing toward them, his mind clearly made up. Kali was about to chase after him when she spotted a familiar blonde desperately trying to pour sand over a burning body. She nudged Sawyer in Juliet's direction, as they both reached down to grab her arms, hauling her onto her feet.
"He's dead, Juliet!" Kali insisted, as the older woman struggled against them.
"Wait—" Juliet began, when Sawyer cut her off, his hand wrapped tightly around her wrist.
"No! You wanna' be dead too? Come on!" Sawyer exclaimed as the three took off running, with Vincent close on their heels.
Over an hour later, the three were continuing to trek through the jungle, hoping they were almost at the creek. A tense silence engulfed the group, all on high alert, flinching at the slightest sound around them. Kali did her best to keep up, but she was still weak from the events of the previous day. She held onto Sawyer's shoulder, blinking rapidly as she began to feel light-headed. But they couldn't stop. She knew that.
"Son of a bitch" Sawyer cursed, hunching over as he came to a sudden halt.
"Are you okay?" Kali frowned, as he leaned down to look at the sole of his foot, finding a twig embedded in his skin.
"I'm fine. Just stepped on something..." Sawyer sighed, grabbing the twig between his fingers and giving a hard tug, groaning through his clamped lips.
"Shit. Let me look" Kali murmured, watching as blood ran over Sawyer's toes.
"It's nothing" Sawyer shook his head.
"It's not nothing. Now, sit your ass down and let me patch that up" Kali told him, sternly.
"So bossy" Sawyer scoffed, his lips twitching into a smirk, as he did as he was ordered to, perching on a nearby rock.
"Which is exactly what you need" Kali grinned, kneeling down in front of him, ripping a strip off the white shirt she was wearing.
"Is he gonna' be able to walk on that?" Juliet questioned.
"Your concern is touching. Really" Sawyer huffed, grimacing as Kali began tying the makeshift bandage around his foot.
"We all want to make it out of this alive, then we've got to work together, alright? No splitting up" Kali stated, continuing her work.
"Live together, die alone. Huh?" Sawyer mumbled, as he and Kali shared a knowing look.
Vincent was quick to rush up to the blond, jumping up on his knee, and licking at Sawyer's face. Despite himself, Sawyer started to laugh at the dog's antics, half-heartedly pushing his drooling face away. Kali was soon finished wrapping the cloth around his foot but knew she would need to clean the wound out soon or it would get infected.
"I'm fine, boy" Sawyer insisted, stroking Vincient's face.
"See. He likes you too" Kali smirked, watching as Sawyer rolled his eyes.
All of a sudden, the group heard a twig snapping in the distance, and then the sound of shuffling footsteps. Juliet dropped to her knees in a blink of an eye, as Sawyer grabbed Kali to hide behind the rock he had just been perched on. They kept Vincent low to the ground and prayed he wouldn't start barking. Two people walked by silently, rifles in their hands, wearing some sort of uniform. Once they were out of earshot, Kali and Sawyer crept over to where Juliet had been hiding. They really couldn't seem to catch a break that night.
"Who were those people? Were they yours?" Sawyer inquired.
"Want me to crawl out there and ask them?" Juliet retorted.
"You don't have to be a wise-ass" Sawyer huffed, as Kali nudged his shoulder.
"Think she might have taken offence to how you're still talking about her like she's an Other. She's one of us now—" Kali started, but she was cut off as a hand was suddenly grabbing her hair, pulling her to her feet.
"Hey!" Sawyer cried, reaching out to pull Kali away from her attacker.
He went still when he felt the cold blade of a machete pressed against his neck, watching helplessly as Kali's arms were restrained behind her back. Juliet went to grab Kali's arm, planning to drag her away, when a familiar clicking sound echoed through the jungle. She twisted around to find two other men approaching her, one with another machete and the other gripping a rifle in their hands.
"What are you doing on our island?" The man with the rifle questioned.
"Get that gun away from her face and I might just tell you" Kali spat out, as the man holding her threw her to the ground.
"On your knees! All of you!" The man with the rifle yelled.
Begrudgingly, the three did as they were told, as Sawyer crawled over to Kali's side, shaking his head at her, knowing she was about to do something stupid. Before she had the chance to, Vincent was jumping up at the man with the rifle, snarling at him as his claws pierced his chest. The man was quick to hit their dog with his rifle, throwing Vincent off him, as Kali let out a shout.
"Leave him alone, you bastard!" She cried, as he turned his gun back onto them.
"I'm gonna' make this quite simple for you. You're gonna' tell me what you're doing, how many of you there are and how you got here" The man exclaimed, as the other three men grabbed Juliet, hauling her over to the rock Sawyer had been sat on minutes before.
"Let her go" Sawyer growled, watching as one of the men raised his machete up in the air.
"Unless you're answering my questions, don't speak! I want you to tell me everything or I'll cut off her other hand" The man with the rifle, who appeared to be their leader, announced.
"What?" Juliet gaped, her tone full of fear.
"Other?" Sawyer questioned, as their leader pressed his rifle to Sawyer's back.
"The first one isn't negotiable. It's just to illustrate how serious I am" The leader explained, as one of the men pulled Juliet's arm out, their intentions clear.
"No!" Juliet screeched, struggling against the three men.
"Stop it! Let her fucking go!" Kali exclaimed, jumping to her feet, as the leader raised his gun to her head.
"Do it!" The man ordered, as Kali shook her head.
She couldn't let them hurt Juliet, not after everything she had done for the group. Not when Kali knew she could heal from almost anything...
"You want to take someone's hand, take mine! You leave her alone!" Kali insisted, as Sawyer gaped up at her.
"No! You don't touch! Neither of em'!" Sawyer spat out, as he too pushed himself to his feet.
"I said, do it!" The leader repeated, as the machete was raised in the air, and Juliet let out a terrified scream.
Suddenly, a knife was being thrown through the air, hitting Juliet's attacker in the chest, directly over his heart. The man flopped to the ground, dead before he even hit the grass. Before the other men knew what was happening, a gunshot rang out through the jungle. Kali gasped as she watched a bullet wound form on the forehead of the other man who had been holding Juliet down. Sawyer hit out at the man closest to him, knocking him out with one punch. With the leader distracted, Kali grabbed the end of his rifle, and slammed it into his nose, causing him to stumble backwards. She then kicked him square in the chest, sending him sprawling onto the ground, as she whipped around the rifle to aim it at his face.
"Kali..." Sawyer's voice stuttered beside her, something about his tone causing a chill to run down her spine.
She twisted around to come face to face with whoever had saved them, feeling her heart come to a grinding halt. The rifle dropped from her hands, falling to the grass, as Kali stumbled back a pace, colliding with Sawyer's chest. It was impossible.
"Ken?" She cried, staring into her brother's blue eyes.
"Who the hell brought a dog onto this island?" Ken huffed, gesturing to where Vincent was looming over their fallen attackers.
He was almost thrown to the ground as Kali collided with him, her arms wrapping around in shoulders in a vice-like grip, terrified he would disappear at any moment. Ken frowned at her reaction, not understanding the looks of shock that were etched onto the group's faces. Still, he circled his arms around Kali's back, holding onto her just as tightly, a small smile gracing his lips. She used to hug him just the same when they were kids.
"How...how are you...?" Juliet stuttered, her hand covering her mouth.
"I was following Claire, and then this white light just came out of nowhere. Next thing I know, I'm bumping into baldie over here. He's not much of a conversationalist, eh?" Ken muttered as Kali pulled away from his embrace.
It was then that she saw a familiar man walking out of the shadows, strolling forward and ripping his hunting knife out of the corpse on the floor. Kali was surprised to find she felt almost relieved to see Locke was still alive.
"But that was days ago. You...you disappeared—" Kali started, remembering the few hours that Ken went missing while she was helping Juliet save Jack's life.
"And now I'm back. So, what'd I miss?" Ken exclaimed, as Kali swalled thickly, not sure what to say.
Telling her brother that he had died didn't seem like it would go down well. Besides, if it really was a younger version of her brother standing in front of her, did that mean she could save him?
"You're okay?" Juliet questioned, as Ken's eyes flickered over to hers.
"Everything seems in working order, yeah. You want to take a hands-on approach?" Ken smirked, as laughter left Juliet's lips.
Her laughing quickly turned into a sob, as she rushed forward to pull the younger man into a hug, clutching onto his shoulders. Ken reached up to rub her back soothingly, his frown deepening at her strange reaction. His concern only grew when he felt his shoulder growing wet with her tears.
"Hey, it's okay. Everything's okay" Ken murmured, as Juliet hid her face against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
But it wasn't. Nothing was okay.
"So, what are we thinking? Is that really...your brother?" Sawyer asked, in a hushed voice.
Kali's eyes darted over to where Ken and Locke were securing their two remaining prisoners, who were both kneeling in the mud. She knew that there were unnatural forces at play on the island, she herself was proof of that, but when she looked into Ken's eyes, she knew he was her brother.
"It's him. I know it" Kali insisted, firmly.
"I agree. Didn't you hear what he said? One of those...time flashes got to him before the rest of us. Threw him a few days forward" Juliet explained, as Kali nodded.
"Well, if that's the case then who the hell was the Ken with us on the helicopter?" Sawyer pointed out.
"I don't know. Some future version of him? Jesus, none of this makes sense" Kali sighed, running a hand through her sweaty hair.
"I'm guessing he doesn't know what happened to him, right?" Sawyer suggested as Kali turned pale at the thought.
"And that's the way it's gonna' stay, alright? Until we find out what's going on with him" Kali explained.
"But what if we could stop him? Tell him to make a different choice—" Juliet started, when Sawyer stopped her.
"Tell him to let you and his sister die? Let that thing off the island? Ken saved everyone. I don't think that's a choice he'd want to change" Sawyer went on.
"Then we figure out something else. I'm not letting my brother die for me a second time" Kali pushed, as Sawyer nodded, placing his arm over her shoulder, bringing her close to his chest.
"Are you lot just about down gossiping and braiding each other's hair?" Ken's voice called out to them.
"We need to decide what we're going to do with these two" Locke announced.
"Good point. How'd you want me to kill them, quick or slow?" Ken questioned, lining up the rifle in his hand to the leader's neck.
"We're not killing them" Locke argued, reaching out to shove Ken's rifle toward the ground.
"The hell we aren't! They tried to chop off Juliet's hand! I'm sure as hell taking both of theirs" Ken spat out, as the others came to stand beside them.
"We need to at least interrogate them first. Find out who they are. And when we are" Juliet theorised.
"What happened to your leg?" Sawyer frowned, realising that there was blood running down Locke's trousers.
"I got shot" He shrugged, causing Kali's eyes to widen.
"You didn't think that was something you should tell us? Let me see—" Kali began, but Locke brushed her hands away, still staring at their prisoners.
"Later, first of all, we need to deal with these two" Locke insisted, noticing that one of the prisoners had begun whispering.
"Quare non sunt vestitus eis?" He mumbled.
"Tace!" The leader exclaimed, in a warning tone.
"Hey, you open your mouth again and I'll shoot you in it" Ken told them both, as Juliet placed her hand on his arm, taking a step forward.
"Cognoscitis qui sumus?" She asked as Kali quirked an eyebrow.
"What language is that?" Sawyer inquired.
"They're speaking Latin. That one asked why we aren't in uniform, and this one told him to shut up" Juliet replied, as the two prisoners shared a look.
"And how is it that they know how to speak Latin, Juliet?" Locke pushed.
"The same reason I do. Because they're Others" Juliet announced.
"Great. I'll be sure to put it on their gravestones" Ken muttered, itching to pull the trigger on his rifle.
"Wait...ask them if they know Richard?" Kali questioned, as both men's heads snapped toward her, shock evident on their features.
"Richard Alpert?" The younger prisoner frowned.
"I know him. We have certain...things in common. You take us to him, and maybe we can figure this whole thing out" Kali explained, as the prisoner's eyes flickered over to his leader.
"Please. No one else has to die" Juliet pushed.
"This is your one shot to live, buddy. I suggest you take it" Sawyer advised.
"Alright. We need to head east another couple of kilometres until we hit the ridge—" The prisoner started, but was cut off as his leader suddenly lunged at him, his hands wrapping around his neck.
Kali gasped as she watched the man snap his friend's neck in the blink of an eye before he started sprinting away from them. He hadn't even seemed to think twice before killing his comrade for talking. Ken grabbed Juliet's wrist, pulling her behind him, still worried the man might try to attack her.
"Shoot him!" Sawyer yelled, as Locke raised his rifle in the air.
When a few seconds passed and he still hadn't pulled the trigger, Kali reached up to rip the gun from his hands. She sucked in a breath, taking aim, and lowering the gun a few inches before pulling the trigger. Sawyer's brows knitted together as he watched a bullet rip through the man's arm, who fell toward a nearby tree, but after steadying himself, took off running into the jungle once more.
"Are you crazy?! What were you thinking? Why didn't you shoot him?" Sawyer yelled at Locke, angrily.
"Because...he's one of my people" Locke told them, as Kali ran a hand down her face.
"Okay, so he's lost it" Kali scoffed.
"Why didn't you kill him?" Ken accused, knowing his sister was a good shot.
"Because that guy is going to lead us straight back to his camp...and now we're gonna' have a convenient trail of blood to follow" Kali smirked, as a grin broke out on Sawyer's face.
"That's my girl" He murmured, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.
They arrived at Richard's camp within a few hours, with Locke announcing he wanted to give himself up so he could speak to Richard. The rest were ready to argue with him when they noticed Faraday being marched off away from the camp, a blonde woman holding her rifle to his head. Knowing Faraday would need their help, and could be their only way to stop the flashes, the group, minus Locke were quick to rush after the pair.
"So, Richard. That's the guy that you said gave you the cure" Sawyer pointed out, as they crept through the tree line, their eyes still on Faraday.
"He said he made a deal with Jacob. I don't know what exactly, but supposedly he's been alive since 1897" Kali told the group, as Sawyer's footsteps faltered.
"You're telling me the guy has lived for more than a hundred years?" Sawyer gaped, trying to wrap his head around the new information.
"At least" Kali huffed.
"...It's gonna' be the same with you, isn't it? He still looks young, right? He stays the same, and everyone around him gets older" Sawyer mumbled, as Kali turned to him.
"Look, we save Faraday and then we talk to Richard. Maybe...maybe there really is some cure out there" Kali suggested.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Sawyer exclaimed, as her eyes softened.
"I would do anything to live a life with you, James. Anything" Kali insisted, reaching up to cup his cheek with her hand.
"Excuse me while I go throw up in the bushes" Ken muttered from behind them, shoving past the pair.
"Hey. There he is...what the hell is that?" Juliet gaped, her eyes being drawn to a large bomb hanging mid-air behind Faraday.
It looked completely out of place from the otherwise scenic landscape as she tried to figure out how the hell it could have gotten there. Shaking her head, she reminded herself they had more pressing matters to think about.
"We get him back and then we worry about that, okay?" Kali stated, as the group nodded, forming a plan.
"I'm not saying it's perfectly fine, but there hasn't been any atomic blast, all right? There has not—" Faraday stopped himself as Sawyer jumped out from behind some foliage, a rifle in his hand.
"Drop the gun" Sawyer commanded, as the blonde woman's eyes darted between the two men.
"It's okay. She's okay. You can put your gun down" Faraday told Sawyer, who gave him a look of disbelief.
"She puts hers down first" Sawyer insisted, as the blonde woman weighed up her options, her eyes not moving from Sawyer's looming form.
She flinched when she felt a blade pressed against her neck, her gun instantly clattering to the ground. A hand was grabbing her shoulder then, twisting her around as she came face to face with Kali, realising Sawyer had been used as a distraction.
"Good girl" Kali mumbled, pulling her knife away a few inches from the woman's neck.
"Are they from the future, too?" The blonde asked, as Sawyer held his hands up in exasperation.
"You told her?" Sawyer huffed.
"I'm not good at lying, alright?" Faraday retorted.
"Well, now she thinks you're crazy and a liar" Kali pointed out, as the sky suddenly appeared to grow brighter.
"Oh, son of a bitch" Sawyer cursed, as they realised they were about to jump through time again.
"Kal!" Ken cried, rushing forward to place his hand on her arm, not wanting to be separated from his sister again.
Kali raised a hand up to shield her eyes as the sky turned a burning white colour, and the high-pitched ringing sound returned. And then as quickly as it had arrived, the deafening sound disappeared, and the sky returned to its normal blue. The ringing in her ears continued for a little while longer, as did the pounding of her head, but she at least seemed to still be all in one piece. Kali's eyes fluttered open, finding Richard's camp was now nowhere to be seen. She twisted around, her heart beating fast in her chest as she realised that wasn't all that was missing.
"James? James?!" Kali shouted, looking around the hilltop for a sign of her friends.
"Oh, shit" Ken murmured, by her side.
Kali's panic only grew worse as she realised that apart from her brother, and Vincent who was bounding toward them, there wasn't another soul in sight. Her whole body began to shake as the realisation hit her, tears starting to well in her eyes.
"We didn't jump with them" Ken announced.
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Trust to clarify if you got confused, the Ken that is now with them is the one who disappeared whilst Jack was having his appendix removed...but what happened on the helicopter is still his future. We'll have to wait and see if it can be changed or not. Also, I totally forgot about poor Vincent, as did the Lost writers I think, haha. Please leave a review:)
Guest: Thank you! Glad you like the last chapter:)
Guest: Thank you so much, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
scripturient321: Every chapter has to be emotional for my fics, haha. Thanks for reviewing:)