Rp 3 (Others)

Mikhail looked at Bonnie and Greta in suprise.

"I thought you were in Canada!" Mikhail excalimed with surprise, but before Bonnie or Greta could respond, Mikhail went over to the room Bonnie and Greta had just been in. Zoe strained herself to listen, but it was useless. Mikhail re-emereged from the room and came out to talk to Bonnie. Zoe tried to look round at Zoe.

"What are we going to do?" She whispered, but Charlie didn't answer, listening to the conversation that Mikhail was having with Bonnie and Greta. Zoe heard a sudden deafening gun shots. Zoe swung her head back round and saw Greta splash into the water. Bonnie had been shot too, but was trying to shuffle backwards away from Mikhail.

"I'm sorry Bonnie, but I too, am following orders." He said to her, not at all sounding sorry. He went to shoot her but then the locker door of where Desmond was hiding burst open, and Desmond emerged shooting a pontoon at Mikhail. Mikhail screamed and then fell to the ground.

"Desmond!" Zoe gasped with relief. Desmond ran over to them to untie Zoe and Charlie. Charlie ran over to Bonnie straight away and retreive the code for the switch. Zoe went over to Desmond.

"Desmond, are you okay?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine sister. What about you?" Desmond asked concerned as he looked at Zoe's blood spattered face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Zoe replied. Charlie suddenly ran past them.

"Charlie?" Zoe asked to herself quietly. She jogged over to him in the control room and Charlie began to work out the code from the song of 'Good Vibrations'. He started to enter it. Zoe stood firmly next to him and held his hand as they watched a screen depixlize. A woman appeared on the screen.

"Hello? Hello? Who is that?" She asked squinting at them.

"It's Charlie! Charlie Pace! I'm a survivor from the plane crash. Oceanic flight 815." Charlie spoke into the mike. "Who are you?"

"My name is Penny. Penny Widmore." The woman replied.

"Penny?" Zoe and Charlie whispered simultaneously.

"Desmond! Desmond!" Charlie shouted for Desmond's attention.

"Did you just say Desmond?" Penny asked.

"Yes. Desmond is here. He's with us." Charlie replied. Zoe walked over to the enterance of the control room, standing by the door and looked acorss at Desmond, but then something caught her attention. Mikahil. There was a trail of blood from where he had laid and it went off into the water. Zoe stared at it confused. She heard a tapping noise. She wipped round and saw to her horror Mikhail outside the window holding a grenade in front of them.

"Charlie!" She screamed. Charlie turned to look out the window, then back at Penny and the door. He nodded and ran towards Zoe. He got up to the door, and took Zoe by suprise when he pushed her hard, forcing her to fall to the ground and slide backwards across the slippery floor. Desmond started to run towards Charlie, but he slammed the door on them both. Zoe scrambled to her feet and ran at the door, screaming Charlie's name as the window in the control room blow open, water flowing rapidly into it. Charlie took out his pen, and started to write somthing on his hand. Zoe continued to scream at Charlie, frantically trying to open the door, Desmond trying to restrain her, but failing too. Charlie suddenly appeared infront of them at the door window, smiling weakly at them both, placing his hand on the door for both of them to read. In bold black writing, enscribed on his hand were 'Not Penny's Boat' Desmond gave Charlie a significant look to Charlie as tears were now spilling rapidly down Zoe's face. She was not giving up. She continued to pull at the door, trying to wrench it open.

Charlie was pulled away from the window, as he lost breath and began to drown. His body floated lifeless in the water filled control room.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zoe screamed at the top of her voice, smashing her fists against the window of the door, her hands began to bruise and bleed, but she didn't care. She couldn't lose Charlie. She just couldn't.

Mel heard the gunshots from her spot deep in the jungle. She hurried back to the radio tower where she had left everyone. When she was nearly there she saw Ben and Sophie dart past her with a man following them. Mel ducked behind a tree when she saw the man had a gun.

Once the man passed by Sophie and Ben without seeing them he wandered her way. Mel knew this was Ben's warnings coming true. It seemed the people on the boat weren't so friendly after all.

When Sophie and Ben took off running Mel grabbed her chance. She made noise to cover them and the man came her way. When he was close enough she jumped from her spot behind the tree and punched him in the nose. Then she grabbed his head and slammed it into the tree. He fell to the ground unconscious.

Her heart racing, Mel bent down and picked up his gun. She tucked it in the waistband of her jeans and began to make her way to the radio tower.

Zoe continued to bang her fist hopelessly against the door, and kept trying to open the door, refusing to give up, Desmond tried to pull her away, but it was useless. Zoe cried harder. The door suddenly gave way, and water gushed into the room, Charlie's body along with it. Zoe ran over to him straigh away, ignoring the water begining to fill up the room. Desmond took charge, fighting with all his might to close the door to the control room shut again.

Zoe stroked the hair out of Charlie's face away, tears dripping onto him as she held his head firmly.

"Charlie!" Zoe said despertaly to him, but he didn't stir. "Charlie, wake up!"

Desmond continued to try and shut the door, knowing it was useless asking Zoe for help. He was getting there, but the closer he got to closing it, the harder it was.

"Charlie, wake up!" Zoe shouted at him. She positioned Charlie so he was limp on his back. She then bent down, connecting her mouth to his and began to try to resusitate him, hoping the kiss of life would work, hoping the kiss of life would bring him back. She gave him breaths then pumped his chest. She placed her ear against his mouth but there was still no breath. Tears streaming harder down her face, she continued the procedure.

Desmond fought against the rapid hard pressure of the water gushing through the door. He was barely inches from closing it now, almost there.....and finally he managed to shut it. He slid down on the floor, panting for breath.

Zoe had now repeated the resussitation eight times, and still Charlie hadn't choked up any water, or started breathing.

"Charlie, wake up! Wake up!" Zoe shouted desperatly, slamming his chest before going back to breath into his mouth. Desmond watched on momentarily with empathy and despair, wishing that Charlie could be saved, but knowing it was too late. He couldn't rest any more, not with witnessing the sorrow that Zoe was going through. Weak from pushing the door shut, he forced himself to his feet and walked over to Zoe. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Zoe, let it go, we're too late." He said softly to her. Zoe battered his hand away and continued, ignoring Desmond, she refused to except the truth.

"I'm not giving up!" She mumbled through tears as she pounded on Charlie's chest and proceded with mouth to mouth.

"Zoe-"

"I'm not giving up!" Zoe shouted firmly. "This can't be the end - it just can't be! I won't let it be!" She pounded his chest once before Desmond wrapped his arms under hers and wrenched her away from Charlie.

"No!" Zoe screamed, sturggling to get free of Desmond, but he had too strong a grip, and she was to emotional to fight back properly.

"Desmond, let me go!" She screamed.

"I'm sorry Sister." Desmond said calmly to her, feeling tears spill down his face too now. "But we are too late. There is nothing any of us can do."

"There is! We can still save him!" Zoe protested, and began punching at him, but they were weak and insufficicent, she knew Desmond wouldn't let go, so she became limp into his body, crying heavily. Desmond sat them both down and hugged her tight, allowing her to cry into his shoulder, he glanced over at Charlie, and he too, began to sob.

"We better get back to the beach." Desmond said eventually, getting up from the floor. "I found some suba diving gear in one of those lockers, so it shouldn't be too much trouble getting back to the surface without almost drowning ourselves. " Zoe stayed knealing on the floor. She looked up at Desmond.

"How are we going to get Charlie back?" She whispered.

"What?" Desmond replied off guard.

"Charlie. How are we going to get him back to the beach? We can't just leave him here." Zoe said. Desmond looked at her sympathetically.

"I don't think we really have a choice..." Desmond replied.

"Yes we do!" Zoe replied determindly. A thoughtful expression spread across Desmond's face.

"Okay, I think I've thought of a way we can do this." Desmond replied finally. "It's going to be hard work though."

"I don't care." Zoe replied firmly. "I'll do anything." Desmond nodded and walked over to one of the lockers and started to take equipment out. He returned with what he thought they needed and handed Zoe a wet suite.

"We are going to harness Charlie to the both of us, and we are going to swim back to the boat." Desmond explained.

"We need to clean Charlie's face first." Zoe replied. "The blood....it attracts sharks." Desmond nodded and went to look around the station, disappearing into another room. He re-emerged with a packet of dharma face wipes.

"Will these work?" He asked handing them to Zoe. She nodded and took a wipe out, gently holding Charlie's face as she wiped his face clean, tears spilling onto his cheek as she did.

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Zoe and Desmond were ready, they eased themselves into the water, carefully guiding Charlie with them. Charlie's weight became much more denser once they were both in the water, but this only made Zoe more determined. Desmond and Zoe began to kick furiously along under the bottom of the station before coming into the more open part of the ocean, where they kicked rapidly upwards, aiming directly for the boat.

Zoe was thankful for the suba diving gear. They definatly wouldn't have made it without them. It took them eight minutes to get back to the boat. Zoe clambered into the boat first, and grabbed Charlie under his arms, easing him into the boat with Desmond's help from treading water, lifting Charlie's legs into the boat before clambering in. Desmond picked up the wire and they began their journey back to the beach in silence.

Zoe and Desmond were almost back at the beach when Zoe suddenly spoke.

"Charlie. He gave me a letter. He told me not to read it until we came back from the station. I knew he knew he thought he had to die." Zoe said quietly, looking down at Charlie's face. Desmond didn't reply, but looked at her to show her he was listening. "I confronted him, asking what it was all about, and he admitted to me that he thought he had to die in order to rescue us all." Zoe then looked deep into Desmond's eyes. "I told him to shut up and to stop being silly. I ripped up the letter to prove he was wrong. I'll never know now what he really wanted to tell me. I regret it. Why Desmond - why did Charlie think he had to die to get us rescued? He could have done both. He could have lived. He could have run out the room and shut it before it began to flood. Why did he close that door with him inside?" Desmond looked away from Zoe and then looked at the floor.

"Like you said Zoe, Charlie really thought he needed to die in order to save us all." Desmond replied. There was a pause, and Zoe stared at him for a few moments.

"Right." She replied firmly, and tight mouthed, saying nothing more as they came to shore, both of them clambering out with Charlie and heading back to their camp.

Zoe and Desmond arrived back at the camp, but no-one was around. They assumed the explosions had gone well and that Sayid, Bernard and Jin had gone to join Jack and the others. Desmond went to lead Zoe with Charlie towards the graves, but she stood firmly where she was.

"I don't want him buried there." She said to him quietly.

"How come?" Desmond replied looking at her puzzled.

"He's a hero. I don't want him buried amongst the others - as if - as if he was just another ordinary guy. He's going to be buried at his place. Where he liked to play his guitar, where he sat and thought, sat and wrote songs, sat and talked to me." Zoe replied. "It's not far - just a couple of yards along the beach that way." Zoe pointed in the opposite direction of where they had just come. Desmond nodded, understanding and let Zoe lead the way. When they arrived at the spot, they lay Charlie down on the soft warm sand, and Zoe stayed with him while Desmond went to fetch blankets to wrap Charlie in, and a spade. While Desmond ran off, Zoe spoke to Charlie.

"Charlie, I forgive you for what you did." She said softly to him, stroking the hair away from his face, moving onto stroking his face alone. "I know you thought you had to do what you had do to do. Because Desmond told you. You thought Desmond was your friend, and you were wrong. I'm sorry he treated you like this, that he mislead you, making you think you had to sacrifice yourself to save us all. I promise Charlie, I promise I am going to make him pay, make him take responsibility for what he did to you." Zoe took hold of Charlie's hands, and rested her head on them. Tears trickled down her face, as she spoke through heavy sighs of her crying.

"I am going to miss you. So much. I don't know what I am going to do without you. I don't think I can. But I will try." Zoe continued to weep. She sniffed and looked up into the sky momentarily before looking back at Charlie. "Promise me that you will watch over me. Maybe just knowing that, it might help me get through this. I love you Charlie - I just wish I had the chance to love you even more, if that were ever possible." She then knealt over to him, kissing him softly on his lips, which were now begining to cool.

Desmond returned with blankets and wrapped Charlie in them. He put the shovel he brought with him down for a moment.

"I was thinking - if rescue comes, maybe we could take him home, and have him buried there?" Desmond suggested. Zoe shook his head at him.

"No - I think he would want to be buried here." Zoe replied firmly. "Besides, I'm not going home, rescue or not."

Hmmm, we'll see, lol

"Why not?" Desmond asked.

"Because I had no real home. Not really. I feel more at home here." Zoe replied. "We won't bury him now. We'll wait for Jack and the others to get back. So we can have a proper funeral. Maybe you should go look for them, tell them the news about what happened in the Looking Glass."

"No." Desmond replied. Zoe looked up at him.

"Why not?" She quipped.

"Can't leave you here by yourself." Desmond replied. Zoe rolled her eyes.

"I am perfectly capable of looking after myself Desmond." She replied coldly.

"Yeah - of course you are. That's why the Others have managed to capture you. Twice." He replied. Zoe curled her lip at him.

"That's different. I didn't expect that all to happen. I wasn't ready. But I am now. I'm ready for whatever they throw at me." Zoe replied firmly. "Go Desmond. I would rather be left alone anyway."

"But what if - " Desmond began to reply.

"JUST GO DESMOND!" Zoe shouted as she stood up, pointing in the direction that Jack would have left with the other losties. Desmond got up from where he sat.

"Charlie asked me to give you this - should anything have happened to the original copy." Desmond told her quietly before he hung his head and left without another word. Zoe took the note, and pocketed it, not feeling any guilt towards Desmond. Zoe watched him leave, still holding onto Charlie's hand. She kissed it one more final time.

"I'll be back." She whispered softly, and got up to go back to the camp to look around it to see how things had gone. She didn't know what, but she was pulled straight to Aaron's cradle. She walked over to it, picking up the blanket that had been left inside it. Something slipped out of it and hit Zoe's shoe, and then tumbled onto the ground. She dropped the blanket and picked it up. It was Charlie's DS ring. More tears spilled down her cheeks as she sat down, studying the ring carefully before clasping it into her fist, wiping her tears away with her arm.

Zoe returned to Charlie's side and began to read his letter.