LOST: Rp4

Linear Timeline

Now that Rene's funeral was over and Richard, Hurley and Carrie had disappeared into the jungle, they were all just killing time on the beach. Jo played poker with Frank and Miles while Sun chopped fruit in the pantry. Illana polished her rifle and Ben watched her intently. Jo wondered what he was thinking; she could almost hear the gears whirring in his head. Finally, he spoke up.

"Now what?" He directed his question at Ilana.

"We wait," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Wait... for what?"

"For Richard to come back."

Ben smirked in reply. "You'll forgive my skepticism, but... the last thing Richard said before he went stomping off into the jungle was that we were all in Hell and he had no idea what we were supposed to do next! In fact, I would bet money we never see him again!"

"That would work out rather nicely for you, wouldn't it Ben?" Jo blurted it out without thinking. Ben instantly turned his icy gaze on her. Her face burned and she avoided his eyes by staring at her cards.

Ilana wasn't a bit fazed by Ben's pessimism. "Hugo and Carrie will find him. They will track him down and bring him back."

Miles chimed in with his customary snark. "Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I'm not sure Hurley can track anything..."

"Hey, don't talk about bacon," Frank mumbled. Jo rolled her eyes and laughed. It felt good to laugh; it had been too long.

"I fold," she said as she placed her cards on the crate. "You boys go on without me."

She stood up and stretched lazily. Ilana continued talking, fairly oblivious that Ben's attention had been diverted. "Jacob has never lied to me before. If he said Richard knows what to do, then Richard knows what to do. He'll come back. And until then, we wait."

Suddenly Sun flung a mango towards the sea, stabbed the knife into the table with violent force, and stormed off. Jo started after her but Jack appeared by her side and gently touched her arm. "I'll go," he offered. Jo nodded in approval. Jack knew Sun better than she did, and would know the right thing to say.

Ben took this opportunity to approach Jo. "We need to talk."

"No we don't," she replied smoothly. She wasn't quite ready to deal with Ben. She began to walk away but he stood in front of her and stopped her. His eyes flashed angrily.

"We've been in the same camp for two days, and you haven't said one word to me."

Jo sighed. He wasn't going to let up. "Look, Ben, nobody else knows about your...indiscretion. Not yet, anyway."

Ben scowled in response. "You want something from me. You want me to buy your silence."

Jo glared fiercely at him. "No, Ben I don't. Because I'm not like you."

Ben smiled knowingly. "Ah, but you ARE like me."

Jo shivered. She still hadn't exactly come to terms with her family history, even though it had been three long years since she had made that disturbing discovery. She was beginning to get angry now.

"Do you really think that fact simply erases everything you've done, Ben? Your people kidnapped me, they kidnapped my friends, they experimented on us...all on your orders! I don't forgive easily. I don't care if we're related by blood - it means nothing to me! I'll keep your secret, as long as you stay out of my way. But I will warn you - if Richard asks me, I am going to tell him the truth. Because I'm NOT like you, Ben. I don't lie and I don't manipulate people."

Ben nodded formally. "I'll stay out of your way. But when it comes down to it, you're going to want me on your side. You'll change your mind - and hopefully it won't be too late." He smiled suddenly, and his manner changed entirely. He almost seemed cheerful. "I'll see you at dinner, then?" And he whistled as he walked away.


Alternate Timeline

Jo caught up with Jack in the doctor's lounge. "What was that all about?" she asked, trying a little too hard to sound casual. Inside, she was fairly seething with jealousy.

"What?" Jack asked innocently as he poured a cup of coffee.

Jo stared at him, her arms crossed defensively. "The random chick from your past that suddenly shows up, demands to talk to you, and wipes mustard from your chin? It's crossing the friendship line a bit, isn't it?"

Jack shook his head. "You have nothing to worry about, Jo. It's just Carrie!" He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Just Carrie?" Now she was fuming. She had seen the look they shared. It was certainly more than friendship. "See, the funny thing is, two days ago I had never heard Carrie's name. Now all of a sudden she's wiping mustard off your chin in front of a table of your colleagues and, oh right, your girlfriend? It's just a little odd, Jack." Jo stormed out of the lounge before he had a chance to react. She popped into the office she now shared with Chase and snatched her jacket and her handbag. Chase's desk faced hers; he looked up from his files as she collected her belongings and reached for the keys on her desk.

"Done for the day?" he asked casually.

"Yup." she responded sourly. "I need a drink."

Chase brightened up. "I could use one too. Want some company?"

Jo nodded. "Absolutely."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jo and Chase sat at their favorite local bar, just around the corner from Saint Sebastian's. They were on their third round of beer. She filled him in on her "fight" with Jack, although by this time she was feeling rather badly for overreacting about the whole thing.

"Jack's an idiot," Chase declared suddenly. "Plain and simple. If that random airport guy - what's his name? Boone? - can see from one meeting how amazing you are, then Jack must be a goddamned idiot."

Jo blushed, completely embarrassed. "Now why do you say that?" she eyed Chase suspiciously.

"You're not going to make me say it, are you?" He asked as he stared into the bottom of his beer glass.

Jo had no idea what he was talking about. "yes," she answered simply, her curiosity piqued.

He looked at her, all seriousness and sincerity. "I'm crazy about you."

Jo was utterly blindsided, and speechless. Chase continued, clearly gaining courage from his three beers. "And I'm a bloody idiot too."

"Why are you an idiot?" Jo stammered, completely confused by Chase's bold declaration.

"For doing this." He reached towards her, held her head in his hand and leaned in to kiss her. Their lips met, and Jo felt an unexpected surge of electricity. She didn't stop him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jo stole a glance at her text messages as she left the taxicab. "Please come over," it said. It was from Jack. She glanced up at his apartment building and sighed heavily, wondering how this crazy day was going to end.

She knocked on his door. "Jack?" She tried the doorknob - it was unlocked. She walked into his apartment and closed the door behind her. She was stunned to find the living room filled with candlelight. Jack approached from the doorway of the darkened bedroom and stood in front of her.

"I, uh..." he cleared his throat nervously. "I've had this for a while, and was waiting for the right moment, and today just...it seems like the right time is now."

Jo's eyes widened as understanding dawned on her, in spite of the four beers she had just consumed.

Jack knelt on one knee in front of Jo and opened a small jewelry box.

The moment Richard intercepted her Jo knew what his intentions were. She bit her lip nervously. The moment had come far sooner than she expected. She could see the confusion in his eyes, but it wasn't yet suspicion. That was about to change. She didn't want to be the one to hurt Richard, yet she had sworn to Ben she wouldn't lie. She was stuck.

"Dammit," she cursed under her breath. Then she spoke out loud. "Excuse me, Richard, sorry...I have to check on Sun..." she tried to dodge him but he wouldn't allow it. He held his hand out to stop her.

"Whoa, wait a second. I saw you watching Ben and Carrie, and I was just wondering...did something...happen while I was gone? They seem...closer...all of a sudden, and I don't quite understand why."

Jo bit her lip so hard she could taste blood. 'Don't make me say it,' she thought to herself. "Richard, please. You should talk to Carrie." Her eyes pleaded with him to leave the matter alone, and not question her any further.

Richard's eyes narrowed in response. Jo was clearly evading a straightforward answer, which could only mean she was hiding something. The game was up.

"Tell me," he demanded. "Tell me what happened."

Jo drew a deep breath and glanced over to Rene's tent, where she could see Ben and Carrie innocently sorting through clothing together.

"Jo?" Richard prompted her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Tears sprang to her eyes. She knew how much Richard loved Carrie. She had seen it from the moment she met them in the Barracks. This was going to destroy him, and she was going to be the reason for it. She hated herself for it - but she hated Ben more. She simply couldn't lie and prove him right. Ben was counting on Jo to take the cowardly route, she knew. But she refused to do it.

Jo grasped Richard's arm and spoke very gently. "After Rene died, Carrie and Ben became...intimate." There. She had said it in the most tactful way she could think of.

Richard said nothing for a moment. His eyes searched hers worriedly, looking for a sign that she was lying to him.

"You must be mistaken, Ben hated her, and Carrie would never..."

"There's no mistake, Richard. I saw them."

Richard suddenly looked very weary; she could almost see the betrayal weighing on him. His expression was one of profound confusion. She had seen that expression before: it was the same expression Jack had when he found out about her betrayal with Boone, and it was the same feeling she had when she learned of Jack and Kate's engagement. It broke her heart then, and it broke her heart now.

Without another word, Richard walked away.

Flash-Sideways


René stood at the door of her house on the stoop; Ben one step down from her. After an evening of fruitful conversation there was an awkward silence. "Nightcap?" she asked as she unlocked the front door.

Ben smiled and gave a nod, "Why not." They walked into her house. It was modest, simply and modestly decorated. Ben was impressed by the paintings that hung on the wall. He stepped close to one to view the intricate brushstrokes, unsure why it held his attention so much. "Did you do this?"

René was in the kitchen getting out two small glasses and the bottle of scotch she kept. She poured the drinks and walked over into the living room and handed him is glass. "I painted that a couple years ago. I was walking by a park and something I saw seemed familiar."

"How come their faces are blurred?"

"Because it was like a dream. You know you're talking to someone but you just can't make out who they are. That's what it felt like," she took a sip.

"What's it called?"

"Father and daughter," They both stepped back and looked that the image of the father figure pushing the little girl on a swing.

"That was kind of crazy with that woman tonight. I think a saw a plume of feathers," she chuckled as Ben blushed.

"I'm more than happy to expand the knowledge of the general public," he smiled.

René motioned for Ben to have a seat on the couch and she sat across from him. He took another sip from his glass; René took a deep breath and swilled hers back in one foul swoop. She let out a hard breath. Ben stopped mid swallow in surprise and coughed a little. She got up from the chair and sat down next to him on the couch. She took the glass from his hand without saying a word. His heart began to race. She reached up and carefully pulled the glasses from his face, folded and set them on the coffee table at the end of the couch.

He reached out and ran the back of hand down her cheek and tucked the hair behind her ear; an air of anticipation grew beyond the two of them. Unsure, yet sure, simultaneously they leaned closer to one another and their lips met. Gentle and consuming, René felt free again.

Ben sat back for a moment and tried to say something, he didn't know where to begin. She placed her finger over his lips and shook her head. "Don't say anything. Don,"

He interrupted her with a bout of passion that coursed through his veins with ample desire. He wrapped his arms around her as she reciprocated. It didn't take much for them to make their way to her bedroom.

Alternate Timeline

“When were you planning on telling me?” Jo spun around in her office chair when she heard Chase’s voice, completely startled. He was leaning casually in the doorway to their shared office with a decidedly irritated expression on his face.

“OH my God, Chase!" she sputtered. " I have no clue what you’re talking about! Don’t scare me like that!”

Chase sauntered into the office and dropped a stack of files onto his own desk. “The diamond ring you take off every morning when you come into the office. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? When were you planning on telling me?”

Chase’s eyes never left hers as he boldly reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out her engagement ring. He held it up for her to see, then placed it on the desk in front of her and sat down in his own desk chair opposite her. He folded his arms defensively, awaiting an answer.

Jo blushed hotly. “Ohhhh, Chase…I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you. It happened the same night we…you know. And we haven’t really talked since that night, not properly, so I wanted to wait for the right moment…”

Chase frowned, and leaned closer to her. His eyes flashed angrily. “The right moment,” he repeated sarcastically, “would have been immediately after you said yes.”

Before Jo had a chance to respond, Edward popped his head into the office. “Jo, Foreman very graciously ‘donated’ our time to the ER since we don’t any patients at the moment. They’re short-staffed and need us asap.”

Jo swore under her breath. It was the worst possible timing, and as usual she had Foreman to thank for it. She stood up to follow Edward to the ER.

“Chase, I’ll explain everything, I swear.”

“Don’t bother,” he muttered as he turned his back on her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scene in the ER was utterly chaotic. One of the ER doctors handed Jo a medical chart and directed her to a private, curtained bed where a car-accident victim awaited sutures. Jo obligingly took the chart without reading it. Her jaw dropped the moment she spotted her new patient – it was Boone. He smiled weakly when he saw her.

“You know, if you wanted to see me again you could have just stopped by my office,” Jo suggested, smiling flirtatiously. “It would have saved you a lot of pain.” She pointed to the bloody bandage on his head. “And blood.”

Boone shrugged. “It was your move. I waited for that phone call you promised me…”

“Sorry,” Jo replied sheepishly. “If I were single, you would have gotten that call, believe me.” She squeezed his hand. “Maybe in another life,” she told him wistfully.

Jo removed the bandage from his forehead to examine the wound. It was clean; the nurses had done their job beautifully.

“This won’t hurt, I promise,” she told him. “You can fill me in on what happened afterward.” Boone nodded obligingly and closed his eyes.

She turned her back to Boone for a brief moment to prepare the sutures. When she turned back around she found herself facing a different scene entirely. She saw Boone lying on a rough table, his clothes bloodied, filthy and torn. Blood and dirt mingled on his sweaty skin and he moaned in agony, barely conscious. They were in a dark cave, lit only by crude torches. Jack worked busily beside her, preparing a makeshift blood transfusion. Jo reached for Boone’s hand and felt a tremendous sense of terror, hope, desperation, and something else, another feeling entirely – could it possibly be love?

Jo panicked and dropped her suturing instruments. She shook her head as if to wake herself up from a nightmare, and the scene before her instantly dissolved. Boone still lay in front of her, but he was in a clean hospital bed. The only visible blood trickled from the gash on his forehead. Confused, she knelt to pick up her instruments from the floor. Boone leaned over the rails on the side of the bed and clasped her hand firmly. Jo met his eyes; she saw understanding in them.

“You saw something, didn’t you.” He spoke softly. It wasn’t a question; it was a realization, a knowing.

Jo nodded, utterly speechless. She had never hallucinated before, and this vision shook her to her very core.

“I saw something too,” Boone confessed. “When I saw you at LAX, for the first time…that’s when it happened. I saw you and me in a dark space – it felt like we were inside a tree trunk. I was kissing you, inside this tree, and I felt…” he paused awkwardly, then decided he had nothing to lose and forged ahead. “You were everything I wanted. In that moment, it felt so primal...I was in love with you. And that was before I even met you.”

Jo drew in her breath sharply. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Boone. ‘What does this mean?’ she thought to herself anxiously. Something very, very strange was happening to both of them.

Carrie stood at the reception desk of the school, waiting for the receptionist to finish on the phone.

"He's not answering, I'm afraid," the woman said to her as she put the phone down. "Oh, Miss Shaw?" She called as the red-headed woman Carrie had seen at the coffee shop came past, and stopped as the receptionist called her. "Have you seen Doctor Linus?"

"He's in the staff room," Miss Shaw replied, glancing at Carrie.

"Would you mind taking Officer Copeland here to see him?"

"Sure," she smiled at Carrie, looking very friendly and immediately likeable. "This way, Officer."

Carrie followed Miss Shaw down the hallway, receiving many curious looks and behind-the-hand whispers from the students - she was still in her LAPD uniform, as she had come on her lunch break. No doubt rumours about her presence would soon begin to spread.

"So, Officer Copeland, is it?" Miss Shaw enquired as they walked. "I'm sure you said you were a doctor at the coffee shop."

"Both," Carrie replied with a smile. "I have a doctorate in forensic psychology, hence the doctor part, and I work for the LAPD, hence the officer part. I generally change whether I say Doctor or Offiicer depending on the circumstances."

"So which should I call you?" Miss Shaw laughed.

"Just Carrie is fine," she smiled.

"Well, nice to meet you, Carrie," Miss Shaw said as she stopped outside a room labelled 'STAFF ROOM - please knock and wait to be let in'. "I'm Rene." She held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Rene," Carrie smiled as she shook her hand, before they entered the room. Doctor Linus looked up as they entered, and his expression immediately brightened as he saw Rene.

"Hey, Ben." Rene smiled as she greeted him. "Leslie, John," she acknowledged the other two staff members sitting with Ben.

"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" One of them asked Carrie.

"I used to go to school here," she nodded. "I left in '93. Carolyna Copeland; I was in your Chemistry class, Doctor Arzt."

"Oh, yeah, I remember," he said, taking a bite out of his sandwich. "You were one of my top students. Wasn't surprised when you graduated early. You know... I never said this, being your teacher and all, but I always found you pretty hot."

"Leslie!" Ben exclaimed in shock. Carrie simply laughed.

"I did notice your eyes wander a few time, to be honest! Kinda glad that's all it was actually."

"How inappropriate," Ben muttered to himself.

"Well, I'm not your teacher now," Leslie said. "So maybe you wanna hook up sometime?"

"Leslie, I must protest," Ben interjected, "I hardly think that asking out your ex-student is very-"

"It's okay," she cut across him, laughing. "Sorry, Doctor Arzt - I have a feyoncee and somehow I don't think she'd approve."

"She?" Leslie echoed, surprised. "Geez, I didn't think you'dbe one to swing that way. Hey whatever happened to that loser kid you always hung around with? What was his name?"

"Kelso," she told him. "Michael Kelso. Yeah, he move to Rhode Island to go to RISD. He's an advertisement designer now in NYC. Married some woman called Sarah Wagner. She's nice." There was a pause. "Anyway, I didn't come here for that," she said. "I came here to see Doctor Linus. Mind if I speak to you for a moment, Doc?"

"Sure," Ben smiled, standing up. "Let's go to my office. And call me Ben."



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"You know, it's rather pecular," Ben smiled as he and Carrie sat down on two chairs in front of his desk.

"What's that?" She asked.

"I'm gonna sound crazy," he told her, "but recently I've been having these dreams - visions, really, like... memories from a past life."

Carrie leant forwards, intrigued. "Of who?"

Ben furrowed his brow slightly, introgued by her asking who, and not what. "You, in fact, Officer. You and Rene - Miss Shaw. And all these other strange things, people I have and haven't met, all in a place I have been to."

"An island?" She asked urgently. "Small yellow buildings, beach camps, jungles?"

Ben looked shocked. "I knkw you came here to find out what I know. But first... tell me what you know, Carrie," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

As Ben touched her shoulder, he disappeared. As did his office, the school, the whole of LA disappeared. All she could see was a scene just like her dreams. Except, Richard Alpert wasn't there. It was Ben Linus. She and him were in some sort of laboratory, shouting at one another. Carrie could have sworn she heard Ben shout, "you're so blind!" But the scene changed - Richard was back, but Ben was there again. They were in a surveillance room, Carrie was in Richard's arms, and Ben was watching them angrily. The scene changed again - Carrie and Ben were in a small, dark room. He was pushing her up against the wall, and was pointing a gun to her head.

Emotions rushed over Carrie like a tidal wave. Anger, confusion, the desperation to uncover hidden motives. The scene changed one last time. Carrie and Ben were walking through a jungle side by side. She felt a different emotion now. Seperate from all the others. It was realization, serenity. And a pull she knew only too well.

Carrie gasped as she found herself back in the school. She looked at Ben, who had the same look on his face as she did.

"You saw it too, didn't you," she said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Yeah," he frowned. "Yeah, I did. And I saw your guy."

"What?"

"Richard Alpert. The one you're looking for. I saw him, I've seen him before. Not just in these visions, but with my own two eyes."

Carrie's eyes widened in surprise. "But that's not possible," she denied. "He disappeared over 150 years ago, Ben, how could you have met him?"

"I can't tell you much about that," he replied. "But what I can tell you... is that that Richard Alpert is real. The Island is real. I've been there, I've seen him. You're not crazy, Carrie. I think there are others, too, having flashes like these. Maybe if we found these people..."

"...we could figure out what the hell is going on," she finished.

Ben nodded. "Exactly."

"But before any of that... what happened to Richard? To the Island?"

"Richard; I don't know. He may have survived, he may have died. The Island; I do know. It sunk. Underwater. I got off the Island in time, but I don't know about his fate." He looked at Carrie, who looked concernedd about her search still proving fruitless. He wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help," he said after a while, standing up.

"No, you were," she said slowly, standing up also. "I saw you, Ben. In my vision. Yet here you are, standing right in front of me, telling me I'm not making this all up. You've given me tremendous hlep, Doctor Linus. If there's ever anything I can do for you - and I mean anything - just call up the LAPD and ask for Officer Copeland." She indicated her police badge. "Connections," she winked. "See you around, Doc."

"Won't you stay?" Ben asked as she made to leave. "People respect you after one glance at your uniform. Maybe my students would actually do some work for once if you were watching over the class."

Carrie looked at Ben, and laughed. "I wish you'd been teaching here when I was a student," she grinned. "I'd have had a whale of a time in your class."



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Carrie stepped outside onto the school steps, the sun blinding, forcing her to put her sunglasses on. She'd spend the last few hours watching over Ben's class. It had been quite interesting watching the class. Not much had changed since Carrie had been there - it seemed Principal Reynolds wasn't a big fan of updating the equipment, as they were still using big heavy computers and blackboards.

She spotted René and Ben standing together talking. Just as she went over to them, Ben said, "he's been sitting there just watching everyone, I'll be right back," before walking off.

"'S going on?" Carrie asked as she caught up with René.

"Oh, nothing," she replied, "Ben's just a bit suspicious of that man over there." She indicated a Beamer in the car park.

Carrie titled her head to the side slightly as she watched Ben talking to the man, who was rather handsome. Ben turned around and came back towards them, and smiled in a friendly fashion as he noticed Carrie was there.

"What did he-" René began, but she stopped as there was a screeching noise and a thud, then the sound of tyres burning against tarmac. They looked up, and were shocked to see the wheelchair-bound teacher from earlier, of whom Carrie had never learnt the name, lying on the floor. Immediately, the three of them ran towards him. Ben and René bent down to help him, but Carrie kept on running, chasing the car. She'd done this too many times before.

"Straume!" She cried into her walkie talkie, knowing he would be in. "We got a hit and run here!"

"Got'cha, Copeland," he replied over the static. "Report position and license plate."

"Megan Ralph High School," she said as she kept running. The man looked at her in the rearview mirror, and only smiled when he spotted her. "License plate: 2, foxtrot, alpha, November, 3, 2, 1." She stopped running as the car joined the traffic outside. "Suspect escaped."

"Filing a report now," confirmed Miles. "Good work, Carrie. Any victims?"

"Just one," Carrie replied as she turned to walk back to where Ben and Rene were still with the man. "Male, 40s-50s. Injured, doesn't look too bad."

"Want us to send back-up?"

"No need, he's gone. But send out an alert. And get us an ambulance for this man, stat."

"Roger that," Miles acknowledged. "Stay with the victim."

"Roger," Carrie replied. "Say hi to James for me."

"Will do. Over and out."

Linear Timeline

When Hurley surprised everyone with his and the old gang's arrival, Zoe's eyes brightened to see the familiar faces she hadn't seen in so long. Hurley and Jo in particular. Even Charlie Jr gave out an excited laugh as Jo walked closer into camp, but her eyes were averted, and drawn attention to the sight of Chase.

"Hello, Jack." John greeted him specifically, as he walked over to him, "I think we have some catching up to do." John gestured for them to take a walk alone. Zoe rolled her eyes privately, more secret meetings, so childish and petty. She watched as Jack hesitated, and glanced at Hurley, before asking his advice. Seriously, Zoe thought, can no-one think for themselves on this island any more? As Jack and Locke walked off into the darkness, Zoe got to her feet and went over to Hurley, and they embraced.

"Hey Hurley." Zoe spoke as they withdrew, little Charlie taking a tight grip on her finger. "Have you been ok?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Where the hell have you been?" He asked.

"I had to sort some stuff out." Zoe replied, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Claire sneak off after John and Jack. "But have you all been ok? Where's the rest of you? Ben, Carrie, Richard?"

"They didn't want to come with us, they don't trust fake Locke." Hurley explained. Zoe nodded in understanding.

"Zoe?" Came a familiar, sweet, southern accent. Zoe turned to see Sawyer.

"Yes?" Zoe replied.

"Can we have a word? In private." Sawyer asked, glancing at Hurley. Zoe glanced from Hurley to Sawyer.

"Really? Do we really have to do all this secretive stuff? It's all getting rather boring." Zoe groaned.

"Please?" Sawyer persisted, his eyes flashing that familiar irresistibleness that Zoe once was in love with. She rolled her eyes again.

"Ok, let's go." She replied, turning to Hurley. "Do you mind looking after Charlie for a few minutes?"

"Course not." Hurley replied, and took Charlie from Zoe's arms. Sawyer grabbed hold of Zoe's hand and walked her away from the camp to somewhere quiet.

"Ok, so what's going on?" Zoe asked.

"You know Locke's plan?" Sawyer checked.

"Yeah, to go over to Hydra island and fly the plane home, with all of us." Zoe replied. "Why?"

"Do you trust Locke, Zoe?" Sawyer asked seriously. Zoe hesitated.

"What choice do we have? Between him and Widmore?" Zoe replied.

"You can trust me." Sawyer responded.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked.

"I mean, getting us all off this damn island. Without that smoke Locke thing. Whatever this feud is between him and Widmore, we don't need any of that. You, me, Charlie, Sun, Jin, Kate, Jack, Hurley... we re going to get a boat, sail to Hydra, and take the submarine, we can leave Widmore and smoke man to have it out between themselves, whatever there thing is." Sawyer explained. "What do you say?" Zoe pursed her lips for a moment as she thought.

"I say I can see a lot of things going wrong with that plan." Zoe replied.

"How so?" Sawyer demanded.

"Well, how are we going to get control of the submarine without Widmore's notice? And I bet Locke isn't going to be happy with us just galloping off with the boat he wants to use to get to Widmore. This could cause more problems then it's worth. Besides, I don't know if I want to leave the island. It's become home to me." Sawyer shook his head in annoyance and frustration at her.

"Why would you want to stay here? Once we have all left, there will be nothing for you here. Just you and Charlie alone. Do you really want that for you and him? You'll have no way of getting off this island if you changed your mind." Sawyer interrogated.

"There's no-one back for me back home. This place is my home now." Zoe explained, feeling her eyes water, as Sawyer's angry expression stared into hers before she had explained, which then turned to empathy. Sawyer placed his hands on her shoulders and lent down to her level.

"Zoe, you can have me." Sawyer whispered. Zoe, distracted by what he had just said to her, was dumbstruck for words, she stared back at Sawyer, wide eyed and wide mouthed in shock, and before she had time to process what was said and answer, Sawyer leaned in closer, and kissed her, and before Zoe knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in closer to her, and before they knew it, they slid down the side of the tree and were on the jungle floor again, just like those three and a half years ago...

Alternative Timeline

Zoe was sat, curled in a ball, on the sofa, staring into nothingness, her eyes glazed over, in her own little world. She didn't even notice the front door open and someone walk in. They went to the fridge, opened it, and took out a bottle of water, as they turned, they noticed Zoe, almost lifeless in her own little cocoon.

"Zoe?" Came the familiar, soothing British voice. Zoe's eyes gazed up at the man standing before her, Charlie Pace. "Are you ok?" Charlie asked, seeing her tear stained face.

"Jake's dead." Zoe chocked. Charlie bent down to Zoe's level.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "How?"

"He was shot. He.... he owed some money... Keamy.... he... he..." Zoe started, tears streaming again down her face, her breathing becoming uncontrollable. Charlie wedged his way onto the sofa with Zoe and pulled her gently onto his lap, and held her hand, which she instantly squeezed, as if that would some how bleed all her pain into him.

"Shhh... shhh..." Charlie tried to sooth, rocking her in his arms. "I... I don't know what to say." Charlie admitted.

"Tell me about your day." Zoe mumbled, wanting something to take her mind off it. "Why are you wearing hospital robes?"

Linear Timeline

Locke was leading everyone on the path toward the boat they were all supposed to be taking so they were able to get over to Hydra island, until he got distracted to where Sayid had gotten too. He let everyone know he'd catch them back up once he went to check where he had gotten too. This was there chance, Jack gathered everyone who was in on the plan and they all headed to where the boat really was, they got to the decking where the boat was docked quickly.

Zoe was the first to notice Jo's absence.

"Jack - where's-?" Zoe began to ask but Jack cut across her.

"She's not coming." He replied through clenched teeth.

Sawyer, who had gone ahead with Kate earlier to fetch the boat, helped Zoe with Charlie onto the boat. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since the other night, they were all concentrating on the mission at hand.

It wasn't long before they were about to take off when Claire had caught up with them all. Zoe had protested when Sawyer had told her that Claire's invitation had been revoked due to trying to kill Kate, but she knew Sawyer was too stubborn to get him to change his mind just yet. Luckily, Kate managed to console Claire to their side, promising her she would get Claire back to Aaron, and after some hesitation, Claire agreed to trust them all, and follow them.

They were soon all on the boat and Sawyer took charge quickly, and started to steer the boat toward Hydra island. Zoe, feeling the heat of the sun, headed down the decking to keep in the shade and cool, and where she napped with Charlie curled up next to her.

She hadn't been napping long when she heard a familiar Southern accent shouting, well, not shouting as such, but she just happened to be under the exact spot of where Sawyer and Jack were arguing, and she heard every word. She walked up the stairs to the top decking groggily to see what the hell was going on.

"...the island may not be done with me, Jack, but I'm done with it. Now get off my damn boat-" He snapped at Jack.

"Sawyer." Zoe started, but Sawyer ignored her, not taking his eyes off Jack. To Zoe's surprise, Jack stood up, preparing to jump.

"I'm sorry I got Juliet killed, Sawyer." He told him sorrowfully. Sawyer didn't answer him, and Jack jumped.

"Jack! No-!" Zoe exclaimed. She turned to Sawyer. "Sawyer - do something!" Sawyer remained with his angry expression, so she slapped him to get his attention, but before she could, he grabbed her hand. She pulled her arm away angrily.

"Sawyer. What's wrong with you? Can't you have any understanding for Jack's thoughts?!" Zoe exclaimed. Charlie Jr now started to cry in her arms.

"If you agree with him, you can join him." He muttered bitterly.

"Sawyer, Juliet's gone. As hard as it is to accept, and as sorry as I am for your loss, you cannot hold this against Jack forever, you can't let it get in the way of what we are doing. Besides, how do you know you can trust Widmore to keep his end of the bargain?" Zoe ranted. Sawyer said nothing, his angry expression said all he thought on the matter, he turned on his heel and stormed off back to the steering wheel, where Kate was staring in puzzlement.

Before Zoe knew what she was doing, she was easing herself over the boat, and she jumped, holding Charlie Jr tight in her arms, who was still crying, and splashed loudly into the water, which engulfed her lungs as the way she had jumped off made her sink deep into the ocean, the boat soon over took her before she resurfaced with a gasp of deep ocean air...