RP3 Part Two "One Year Later"

Sophie sighed and placed the in the back of her jeans. Making her hoodie cover it up.

"If we seen zoe thats mean were not far from home kids" she smiled as she struggled further more to the barricks.


Finally she reached the village and was glad to see not many people were out. She didn't want a big reaction as she returned. But she knew she would as she looked across to Mel's place. She looked down at William and Bella. "Its time you saw mummy" she sighed. Even though they weren't her children she looked after, cared for them as if they were her own. So she was sad to let them go. But knew it was the right thing to do.

Climbing up the porch steps she stood there thinking before she eventuly knocked on the door. Not hearing a response she knocked again hearing mel shout she was coming. Finally Mel yanked the door open,

"What is so important?" she said.

Mel looked down and her breathe caught. She grabbed the door frame to steady herself.

"Oh my God." she whispered.

"Hello Mel." Sophie said. Mel stood incomplete shock her two babies there. Tears pricking her eyes of happiness as she looked at them. How much they had grown and how beautiful they are. She then looked to Sophie. "I think its time they got to know there own mother." she smiled. as she passed Bella to her. Mel held her and rocked her as she cried for happiness.

"My babies..." was the only thing to come out of mels mouth. "I've missed you so much. I've never forgotten you."

"I know Ben broke his promise. Thats why i brought them back. They great kids Mel." Sophie sighed. Taking molly and heading down the porch steps. "Oh and by the way, Mollys there half sister, be nice for them to keep in contact." she said.

"Your staying?"

"Of course" Sophie said as she walked off with a smirk. Heading to Bens house. No wait, her house.

"Sophie?" Mel shouted from the porch. Sophie turned around. "Thank you...." Mel sighed. Sophie just nodded before heading off again

Jack carried Abbie as he and Emma trekked through the jungle towards the village. They stopped by a stream to rest and refill their water bottles.

Emma smiled as she watched Jack making funny faces at Abbie. "You're going to make one hell of a dad," she said.

Jack smiled back at her. "I can only hope I don't end up like my father."

"There's no danger of that, Jack. You're nothing like him. You're a good guy, and he's...welll...he's just a mystery."

Jack returned his attention to Abbie, and his smile quickly turned into a look of concern.

"Jack, what is it?"

"Abbie's not responding," he replied. "Her eyes are unfocused. She seems feverish as well."

Emma took Abbie from Jack's arms to see for herself. Zoe's baby seemed listless, and a rash had appeared on her arms and legs. "What's wrong with her, Jack?" she asked, alarmed.

"I don't know. I need to examine her, but my medical supplies are all in the village. We have to get her back there as quickly as possible. I'll carry her; she might pose a danger to you and the baby." Emma handed Abbie back to Jack. "Let's go." They continued on their path towards the village at a much faster pace.

********
The village was unnaturally quiet when they arrived. All the bodies had been cleared out and buried; it almost seemed as if the purge had never happened at all. Emma breathed a sigh of relief; she had been dreading this scene of so many deaths.

Abbie couldn't stop crying now, no matter how much Jack tried to soothe her. Emma tried to help but he told her to keep her distance. He wouldn't take any risks with the health of his own unborn baby.

"I'm going to grab my supplies and take her to Juliet's. You should rest."

"Why Juliet's?" Emma responded suspiciously. "What does she have to do with anything?"

Jack was all seriousness. "I'm a spinal surgeon - Juliet has more experience with babies than I do. Together we can figure out what's wrong with Abbie."

"Juliet still hasn't forgiven you, Jack. Why do you think she'll cooperate?"

Jack shrugged. "I know she's fond of Abbie. And Juliet can be very professional when she needs to be."

Emma nodded. Jack was right. Juliet had taken care of her when she was shot in the leg, even though they were rivals.

"You have nothing to worry about," he said quietly. He kissed her forehead. "I love you. Go rest. I'll be home soon."

"I have one more stop to make first," she replied. Emma kissed him back and caressed Abbie's head in farewell, then headed towards Mel's house.

As much as she distrusted Mel, she had promised Desmond she would relay his message to her. In his last moments, Mel had been the first person on his mind. This fact made Emma crazy with jealousy, even though he had said that he loved her as well. She had chosen Jack over Desmond, after all. How could she now blame Desmond for thinking of Mel in his last moments? After everything that he had done for her in his life, she had to put her pride aside and do this for him.

Zoe looked in the direction of the jungle that would normally lead back to the village. She hesitated. She really didn't want to go back there, but she had too if she wanted Abbie back. She was just about to go when Sawyer came out of the jungle from that very direction. He spotted Zoe immediatly, and she identified a sense of relief spread across his face as he ran over and hugged her, careful not to squash Charlie, and Zoe started to cry.

"Desmond didn't make it!" She wailed. "Jack couldn't save him. We were to late." Zoe handed Sawyer the note Emma had left. He read it.

"That bastard - I'm going to kill him-" He muttered. Then he looked at Zoe. "You're okay though? You're not hurt? Locke hasn't come back to come after you, has he?"

Zoe shook her head, watching Sawyer with a preplexed expression.

"No, why would he?" She asked.

"I found out something back at the village." Sawyer said more seriously. "Oh god, Zoe, it was awful back there. There aren't any bodies, but you can sense it. The death. When I went back there, I found Mel, and she told me - she told me Locke was going to kill you!" Zoe arched her eyebrows in suprise.

"Locke?" She scoffed. "Locke was the one that saved us! It's Mel and Christian - they are the ones responsible. Christian is claiming that Jacob ordered him to purge the island because it was - shall we say, contaminated. There was a list, and almost everyone was on it. Even us James. Locke says he got the orders from Jacob too, but do you want to know what I really think? I think e got the orders from Christian, claiming it was orders from Jacob. John killed Desmond, yes, I know that, but I don't think he is entirely to blame."

"I'm still going to kill him." He said danerously.

"If you love me, you won't." Zoe replied firmly. Sawyer looked at her, shocked by what she said.

"He killed Desmond! He would have killed you, given half the chance!" Sawyer protested.

"No James, he saved us. Look, I know it wasn't your primary thought to bring me, Charlie and Abbie to the beach. It was Locke's." She admitted.

"Who told you that?" Sawyer asked.

"John Locke. When I went after him in the jungle, after he stabbed Desmond." Zoe replied truthfully. "If he really wanted me dead James, I wouldn't be standing here."

"But Mel-"

"-is a liar." Zoe finished coldly. "You know she doesn't like me. Not since..." Zoe trailed off.

"Anyway. That doesn't matter. All that matters is that you promise me you won't go after Locke." Zoe added. Sawyer looked at her for a moment, deep into her eyes, and could see just how serious she was. He finally nodded.

"He would still kill you, given half the chance." He said.

"Do you not find it a bit more then a coinsidence? That he told you to take us all to the beach, just mere days before the purge?" Zoe asked. Then a knowing expression spread across Sawyer's face.

"He saved us James."

Chrisitan swiftly picked Mel up from the floor and set her on the couch. He left her for a moment to close the door than was at her side again.

"Darling?" he asked softly.

Mel couldn't stop her tears. "He told her he loved me. He was still in love with me." she whispered.

Christian kissed her hand, "Of course he was Mel. Anyone could see that. Whenever Desmond was close his eyes were always on you. Why do you think he left when I came around?"

Mel raised her teary eyes to her husband, "Why did he have to die? He was a good man."

"I know he was. I can't tell you why Jacob chose him because I don't know."

"You heard what Emma said, she thinks that we told Locke to kill Desmond. They're never going to believe that we didn't put all of those names on that list are they?"

"The names that we put on there, that you researched. We know those people would be on Ben's side should he return. They needed to be eliminated. Jacob told us both that clear as day. He told us to remove Ben's allies and that is exactley what we did."

"Locke must have told them is was our idea, the purge. It's ridiculous, he kills all of those people and we get blamed for it."

"Locke is a fool, a puppet who could bring this village to its knees. He needs to be taken care of."

Mel smiled as Christian wiped a tear from her face, "What about Sophie?"

Christian shook his head, "You know who's side she will be on, she won't turn her back on Ben for anything."

"Do you think he'll follow her? That he will come back?"

"Darling, you know the answer to that. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already here. Sophie will need to be taken care of."

"She just brought me back my children Christian. I don't like the woman I have a debt to her. I don't know if I'll be able to kill her."

Mel felt a shiver run down her spine. So much for that peaceful, happy family. They gotten to enjoy that for a whole day. "So many people that still have to die. And I can see how some of them deserve it, how some have earned it, but not Desmond. He wouldn't have helped Ben for anything. He would have been on our side, on my side."

"I'm sorry Mel but I can't bring him back."

"I know." she nodded as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I think I need a bit of time alone love. Do you mind watching the kids?"

"Of course not." Christian smiled. "Take as much time as you need."

Mel and Christian stood at the same time. She went to the front door and he went to check on the children. Before she left Mel opened the closet and pulled her handgun down from the top shelf. She opened and closed the front door softly before sticking her gun in her jeans and walking straight for the jungle.

She may not have the heart to pull the trigger on Sophie right now but there was one man who she wouldn't hesitate for.

Mel stalked through the jungle, her anger growing with every step. Deep down she knew that she was acting irrational. She and Christian had convinced John to play his part in the purge. But they had only been following Jacob's orders. Why could no one understand that?

And now it seemed like John was blaming her and Christian as well. That was just like him, to pull the trigger himself but claim that it was someone else's idea. The man was a coward. A coward who had killed Desmond. Regardless of her part in Des's death she felt a powerful need to avenge him. Maybe it was his last words saying that he loved her or maybe it was the simple fact that John Locke could not be allowed to live any longer if Mel wanted her family to survive. Maybe it was both.

Mel went to the one place she figured John would be. Back to where the idea of his destiny began, she went to the Pearl, or at least what was left of it. She found him staring down into the large pit that was made by the implosion.

"John." she said evenly. He turned around to see Mel pointing her gun calmly at him.

John cocked his head and looked at her, "Now why would you be pointing your gun at me?" he asked.

"Why did you spare Zoe but not Desmond?" she retorted.

"I believe Zoe is a good person, she didn't deserve to die."

"And Desmond was what, a bad person? It was not your task to decide who lived or died John."

"No." John admitted, "It was yours. So why are we even having this discussion? You wanted me to get rid of the people on the list and I did."

Mel shook her head trying to leave her feelings for Desmond out of this, "You did your job very well John and perhaps you're thinking that you did it too well. I'm betting that you're ready to go back to the village and become it's new leader, aren't you?"

John shrugged, "The thought had crossed my mind. I think I would make a good one."

Mel laughed, "You John, would be a horrible leader. You let me talk you in to killing over twenty people because I said the word, destiny. You continue to allow yourself to be manipulated first by Ben and now by me. Well, you're not going to get another chance John."

"Why are you doing this?" he asked.

"All I want." Mel started, "Is to have a quiet life with my family. I don't want anymore power hungry tyrants trying to take over and believe me I am tired of killing people. I just want to raise my children in peace. But I can't do that yet. There are still loose ends that need to be tied, and you John are one of those loose ends." With that Mel fired her gun.

John was propelled into the pit. He landed on his back, the gunshot to his stomach bleeding heavily.

Mel walked to the edge of the pit and looked down. "Feeling deja-vu yet John?"

"I think you misunderstood me." John struggled.

Mel pointed her gun at him again, ready to finish the job but he kept talking.

"When I asked why you were pointing your gun at me I meant why at me instead of him."

"Who?" Mel asked.

John pointed behind her. Mel whipped around and almost lost her footing as she recognized who John was talking about.

"No." she whispered. "You can't be here."

He stared back at her with a face that betrayed no emotion. She wasn't afraid but in his eyes Mel saw the beginning of her new life fall apart.

"No! No! No!" she cried and fired three wild shots at him. She didn't wait to see if they had hit him or not. She had only one thought, get back to the village, so she ran.

Zoe and Sawyer ran all the way back into the village, Sawyer having taken Charlie to cradle, as Zoe was exhausted as it was from carrying herself. They went straight to Juliet's house, something telling them, that they just knew Abbie would be there. They both stood outside Juliet's porch and knocked. Juliet answered it almost immediatly. She looked pale, and scared.

"Juliet? Are you okay?" Zoe asked concered as Juliet let them in. She was shaking and looked very nervous, tears spilling down her face.

"There was nothing I could do - I'm sorry -" She started to stir.

"What are you talking about?" Zoe asked frowning, Charlie began to cry, with Sawyer in the background, soothing him to try and quiet him. "Juliet, what's wrong?"

"Abbie." Juliet whispered. "She - she got sick."

"No -" Zoe replied in disbelief, feeling tears spill down her face, Sawyer looked up at Juliet abruptly.

"I tried everything, I promise, I did-" Juliet continued. Zoe was now shaking.

"Please, tell me Juliet, please tell me she's not-" Zoe begged. Juliet looked away from her, unable to look her in the eye, bringing a hand to her face as she looked down on the floor, she shook her head. Zoe screamed, turning into a high pitched wail.

"No! She can't be! She was fine, just hours ago!" She screamed, collasping to the floor. Juliet was sobbing too, saying the same thing over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Sawyer placed Charlie safely on Juliet's sofa and ran to Zoe's side, his eyes watering. He took a firm grip of her, as Zoe continued to shout and scream over the loss of her daughter.

"It's not possible! This can't happen! IT'S NOT FAIR!" Zoe continued to scream through her tears.

Sawyer tried to help Zoe to her feet, but she struggled against him, hitting him.

"It's all my fault, I should never have left her!" She started to blame herself. Sawyer seized her wrists to stop her hitting him.

"Hey, hey, hey, stop!" Sawyer tried to keep calm, but his voice was wobbling. "It's not your fault. You couldn't possibly known that this was going to happen." Zoe rocked back and forth on the floor, crying heavily. Juliet stood still, her face tear stained, she didn't know what to do.

Then, without warning, Zoe stood up straight, still crying, making her way for the front door.

"Zoe!" Sawyer shouted after her, and ran after her, leaving Juliet with Charlie. Zoe was running for Sophie's house, Sawyer grabbed her halfway there.

"What are you doing?" He asked her worridly and concerned, holding her by her shoulders.

"I can't stop." She she shouted through a wobbily voice, tears still streaming down her face. "Not until it's over." She forced herself out of Sawyer's grip and continued to Sophie's house. Sawyer stayed caught up with her.

"You're in no state to do anything Zoe! Come back to Juliet's - we should -" Sawyer started to protest. Zoe looked at him.

"Please Sawyer, help me." She burst out crying, she stumbled, fighting the pain she felt, but it was too strong. Sawyer steadied her, and went to lead her back to Juliet's.

"NO!" She screamed loudly. "I NEED TO SEE SOPHIE!" Sawyer looked at her very frightened, but nodded, and helped her to Sophie's house, not hesitating to knock. He closes the door behind the both of them.

"SOPHIE!" Zoe shouted out for her, hoping she had already made it back to the village, Sawyer continuing to support her standing.

Mel threw the door of her house open.

"Christian!" she yelled as she ran in. "Oh my God." she breathed when she saw him sprawled across the kitchen floor.

She kneeled next to him and saw that he was stirring.

"Mel?" he said as he opened his eyes.

She helped him up to a sitting position and lightly felt his head which was still bleeding.

"What happened to you?" Mel asked.

"Sophie." Christian replied darkly.

"How?"

"I went over there to find out if she knew where Ben was. She was hostile. She threw me across the room."

"Christian, I've fought Sophie before. There is no way she is strong enough to send you across a room."

"She didn't use her arms Mel. She used her mind."

Mel paled, "Oh no."

Christian nodded, "I'll admit I didn't see it coming. Was she able to do these things before?"

"No, I would have told you if she could."

Christian finally looked at her closely, "You're not just worried about Sophie. What happened in the jungle?"

"I found John and I shot him." she said bluntly.

"Is he dead?"

"No, I was about to shoot him again but someone else showed up."

Christian raised his eyebrows but he knew only one person who could spook her so badly.

"It was Ben, he's back. I panicked and fired my gun in his general direction. I'm sure I hit him at least once but I didn't stick around to find out."

Christian pulled her into his arms and held her close.

"I could have ended it Christian. They were both right there, I could have finished them both and our problems would be over."

"Darling, no one ever said that you had to take care of everything, you're not in this alone."

"I know love, I know. What are we going to do? You know he'll be here soon enough."

"Well at least he'll be wounded, that should slow him down." Christian chuckled causing Mel to crack a smile.

"There's my girl. It's not so bad, not yet anyway."

Mel nodded, "Thank you, you always know how to calm me down." she said as she kissed him then stood.

She went to the freezer and grabbed some ice for Christian's head, "What did she do, kick you?"

Christian grimaced when she held the ice to his head, "That is exactly what she did."

"That bitch." Mel growled.

"Indeed." Christian mused.

"What's next?" Mel asked, for some reason unable to come up with a plan on her own.

"Help me up please darling, we're going to see Jack."

"Care to tell me why? He's not too fond of you or me right now."

"Well, I'm going to need some stiches for my head, and the way things look, we're going to need some allies."

***************************************************

Mel walked with Christian across the courtyard to Jack's house. They were nearly there when Mel noticed Juliet peeking out of her front door. She looked upset.

"Christian you keep going, I will be right there."

"Darling?" he inquired.

"You know what you said about allies? I know where to find one."

"Be careful." Christian warned.

Mel nodded and went up Juliet's porch. She knocked softly. Juliet opened the door, it was plain she'd been crying.

"Jules? What's happened? Are you okay?" Mel asked following Juliet into the house.

"It's Abbie, Zoe's baby. She's dead." Juliet explained. "I tried to save her but it was too late."

Mel was shocked at the news but she saw how upset Juliet was, "Aw Jules, come here." she said as she hugged her. "You know this isn't your fault. I'm positive you did everything you could."

Juliet cried into her shoulder, "I don't want to see anyone else die."

"No one does." Mel told her.

"You don't understand." Juliet said as she looked at her, "They're going to come for you now. They all believe that you and Christian are behind the purge. Zoe ran off to find Sophie."

Mel's eyes grew wide, "Jules, I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to be honest, okay?"

Juliet nodded.

"Ben is back on the island and he's going to come back to the village. He's going to use this against me. He'll try to turn everyone here against me and Christian. He'll blame us for everyone dying when the truth is that we saved the ones who are still alive. If their names had been on that list they would be dead right now but that won't matter once Ben gets here and twists everything around. Christian is not a bad man, he doesn't deserve to be crucified because he was following Jacob's orders."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm willing to do what I need to, to make sure he survives."

"So what is your question?" Juliet wondered, her eyes clearing.

"A long time ago you told me that you would never trust Ben again. Do you still feel that way?"

"Yes." she nodded.

"Good Jules, because I need your help." Mel pleaded, "Will you help me Jules?"

Juliet nodded, "Of course I will."

Mel hugged her again, "Thank you! Now, we should get to Jack's before he does something foolish like punch his father."