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Not Penny’s Boat
Characters: Charlie, Desmond, Claire, Hurley, Jack, various others.
Rating: PG-13
Setting: The Looking Glass station
Disclaimer: Oh…if this happened…the joy I would have.
Summary: Charlie survives the Looking Glass, only to not be believed when he warns his friends about Naomi’s lies.
Note:The fact that Charlie doesn’t die in this fic does NOT create the “Not Penny’s Boat” scenario. The NPB scenario happens just like it does in the show, regardless if he lives or not. There’s not going to be a scene with Charlie being like: “I think I stopped rescue from coming by not drowning…” I’m not even going to address it in the least bit. Just wanted to clear that up. And…by the way…THIS IS A ONE SHOT.
Desmond grabbed his shoulders and turned him back away from the door. “Penny! Was that Penny on the screen?!”
“Yeah,” Charlie said breathlessly. “Des, listen, she said she’s not in a boat. She doesn’t even know who Naomi is. She’s not in a bloody boat…”
Charlie watched as Desmond’s face fell and he let go of Charlie and walked away, entwining his fingers in his hair out of frustration. Everything hit Charlie all at once and he sunk to the floor.
Desmond turned around now and made his way back to Charlie. “Are you ok, brother?” He knelt down in front of him and grabbed Charlie’s chin, turning his face from side to side to study his cuts and bruises.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Charlie said, shaking his head away from Desmond’s hand. “You?”
Desmond nodded and took a deep, shaky breath. He was trying his hardest to not let the recent news get to him, but he was failing miserably. Charlie could sense his anger and anxiousness.
“Lets rest here for a moment,” Desmond decided, sitting down next to Charlie against the wall.
But Charlie shook his head. He could understand why Desmond wasn’t looking forward to going back up to the beach, but the news was too important to avoid. Charlie stood up and Desmond followed after hesitantly.
“We have to hurry, Des. We need all the time we can get to prepare for this.”
Charlie smiled slightly as Hurley pulled him into a hug. They were standing on the beach now with Hurley, Sayid, Bernard, and Jin. Sawyer and Juliet were a ways up the beach, dragging bodies away and out of the camp. Sawyer spotted Charlie and Desmond returning and threw them an impressed smile.
Hugs, claps on the back - and high-fives on Hurley’s part - were exchanged. But when they noticed that Charlie and Desmond’s forced smiles turned into deep frowns, their enthusiasm died.
“What is it?” Sayid demanded.
Desmond glanced at Charlie and Charlie shrugged.
“You tell them…” Charlie muttered.
Hurley looked from Desmond to Charlie and frowned. “Come on, dudes. This isn’t funny. What’s wrong?”
Sawyer and Juliet wandered over now, oblivious to what was going on. Sawyer moved to congratulate Desmond and Charlie, but Hurley grabbed his arm.
“Don’t. Something’s wrong.”
Sawyer frowned when he noticed the scared look in Charlie and Desmond’s eyes and he stepped back to listen.
“Ok…” Charlie began when he realized Desmond wasn’t going to tell them and he‘d have to break the news himself. “When I turned off the jamming in the Looking Glass, I got in touch with Penny Widmore…”
Sayid nodded. “The woman Naomi is with.”
Charlie cringed. “We talked, and I-”
“Underwater?”
Charlie glanced over at Hurley. “What?”
“You talked to Desmond’s girlfriend underwater?”
“Hurley, the station wasn’t flooded.”
“…Oh. Ok. Go on.”
Charlie sighed. “Guys, she doesn’t even know who Naomi is.”
Desmond was staring down at the sand. Everyone exchanged worried looks and Hurley sighed.
“God forbid anything be simple around here.”
“This doesn’t eliminate the chance that they’re real rescue,” Juliet put in softly.
“Well, it does mean that Naomi lied,” Charlie pointed out. “Why would she lie about who she was?”
“She wouldn’t lie unless she wanted to keep something from us,” Hurley agreed.
“Which tends to be the point of lying, Muffin Top,” Sawyer spat. He and Sayid glanced at each other before heading over to the tent where they had been storing the weapons, which consisted of the rifles and shotguns from the hatch, nine millimeters from the Marshal, and whatever type of weapons the Others had been carrying. Everyone else followed behind and then Sayid and Sawyer distributed the guns.
Desmond took a rifle, as did Sawyer, Sayid, and Bernard. Jin, Hurley, Juliet and Charlie all chose the nine millimeters and they each took what was left of the weapons to bring to Jack and the others.
But first, they had to contact Jack. Charlie was nominated for that job, just because he was assumed to know the most even though he had told them everything he did know. While Sawyer was teaching Hurley how to use his gun, Charlie took the radio and walked down the beach a ways.
He switched on the radio and pressed it to his ear. “Jack?”
There was a slight rustle of static on the other side before he finally got an answer. “…Charlie?”
“Yeah, Jack, listen-”
Jack laughed heavily on the other end. “Are you and Desmond ok?!”
“We’re fine. But will you listen?”
“Good job, man,” Jack laughed again. “They’re coming soon - rescue. You’re a hero, Charlie.”
Charlie bit his lip and hung his head slightly. He couldn’t tell Jack just yet. He didn’t want to get in a heated argument over the radio, especially when Jack was so ecstatic. Jack would only ask questions and nothing would get done.
“Jack - look. We need to meet up.”
“We can just meet you at the beach.”
“No. It needs to be soon. How about at that clearing that’s a mile or so away from where the hatch used to be?”
“Sure, Charlie, but-”
“And Jack? Don’t talk to the Freighters if they radio you again.”
Jack paused. “Charlie? What’s wrong? You‘re not acting like yourself.”
“We just need to get together as soon as possible. I’ll explain then. Just hurry and don’t talk to them, ok? You trust me, right?”
“Yeah. I trust you.”
Charlie smiled slightly and turned off the radio before quickly walking back to the camp to tell the others they needed to head out. They were already a step ahead of him and were waiting by the treeline.
“We’re meeting them in the clearing close to the hatch,” Charlie said, handing the radio back to Hurley. “Lets go.”
Sun went to Jin, Rose to Bernard, Kate to Sawyer, and Claire to Charlie. Desmond watched as Claire ran up with Aaron and threw her free arm around Charlie’s neck to pull him into a kiss. She was crying and telling him never to even consider doing anything like what he had done again. Charlie was looking teary-eyed as well, but obviously had a lot more on his mind.
“Why do you all have guns?” Jack suddenly asked.
Guns had practically been an accessory on the Island so no one thought much of it until Jack pointed it out. Why did they need guns? They were safe now.
Charlie’s hand suddenly slipped away from Claire’s and she looked up at him, worried. Charlie frowned down at the ground and all the commotion, laughing, and cheering slowly died down into silence as they noticed the tension in the air.
“Charlie?” Jack asked, crossing over to him. “What is it?”
“Look, guys,” Charlie began hesitantly. “The station wasn’t flooded. And when I turned off the jamming, I got in touch with Penny Widmore - the woman who Naomi is supposed to be working for - and Penny said she’s not with the Freighters. She said she didn’t know who Naomi was. She doesn’t know anything. Naomi lied about who she was.”
Jack’s face tensed. The group erupted into silent whispers and a few raised voices. From the edge of the circle, Locke was just taking it all in, his arms crossed over his chest.
Charlie glanced over at Claire, who was now staring at him with scared, confused eyes. He would usually be able to muster a smile for her sake, but he realized that he simply couldn’t do it. Instead, he reached over and grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently.
“It’s going to be ok,” he told her softly. “You know, if we all stay together, and-”
Everyone was silent and listening to him. He stopped.
“Go on,” someone prodded.
Charlie glanced at Jack, who was busy pacing and thinking. For the first time, this group of people was listening to what he had to say and he felt he had the confidence to tell them what they needed to do. While he wouldn’t even think of being their new Jack, for the first time he knew something that confused everyone else and he could help.
“We all should stay together,” he continued. “We have a lot of guns. Everyone who knows how to shoot should have one, if we have enough. So lets be honest here - who thinks they have a good enough shot to carry a gun?”
A few hands went up.
“Ok, you…” Charlie said, pointing at one of the men. “We have rifles, and, uh, the smaller ones…”
“Charlie, stop.”
Charlie frowned and glanced over at Jack. “What?”
Jack turned to the group. “Look - we don’t know anything for sure yet. This could be real rescue. And we’re going to run from it? There has to be more than one group that was looking for us.”
“You’re missing the point!” Desmond spoke up. “Naomi lied to you.”
Jack turned to Desmond now. “This is the closest we’ve ever come to rescue.”
Sayid frowned. “And you would take that chance and put our lives at risk?”
Jack sighed at all the skeptical faces and continued to try to explain himself. “Why would they want to hurt us?”
“It would be no different than what Ethan and the Others did,” Charlie said. “Look, do we really have time to argue about this?”
“Charlie’s right,” Locke said, stepping up into the circle of people. “We don’t have much time. If you want to survive…” he said, addressing the group. “Then follow me.” He nodded over at Charlie approvingly. “And Charlie.”
Charlie frowned sadly at Jack and moved over next to Locke. Desmond, Claire, Hurley and Sayid followed. After a hushed chat with Kate, Sawyer joined them as well with a slightly hurt look. He and Kate certainly hadn’t agreed on sides. Sun and Jin spoke rapidly in Korean before joining with Jack, along with Kate and Juliet. The rest of the survivors chose their sides as well. As it turned out, more people were with Jack than with Locke.
There would be no swaying some of them. Charlie should’ve realized this from the start. Locke looked ready to head out into the wilderness, but Charlie and the others were slightly hesitant as they watched Jack and his group ready themselves to head for the beach. Charlie finally crossed over to Jack.
“Jack, look, if you’re not going to listen at least take a gun.”
Jack turned around to face Charlie and nodded. “We already have guns. But, hey, promise me you’ll keep the radio nearby incase we need to contact you. When it’s real rescue.”
“Or when you need help,” Charlie put in.
Jack ignored his words. “I don’t want to leave you - or anyone - behind, Charlie.”
Charlie chewed on his bottom lip anxiously and sighed. “What happened to you, Jack? You used to be so careful with stuff like this.”
Jack looked around at the group he was leading. “From day one I basically promised these people I’d get them home. I promised them that if we all worked together, we’d somehow get rescued. And after three months, this is the closest I’ve gotten to make that promise happen. I can’t just let them down now.”
“We’ll keep the radio close, then,” Charlie decided. “I just can’t promise that we’ll be able to come back if you need help…”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.” Jack clapped him on the shoulder. “Bye, Charlie.” He turned around and started to walk off, followed by his group.
“…You wouldn’t expect me to!” Charlie called after him. “I went down in that station, incase you’ve forgotten!”
Jack threw a look over his shoulder. “Yeah. Look how that turned out.” He turned around fully now. “You’ve divided a group of people. One half is going to be rescued, and the other half will only blame you when they’re not.”
Charlie felt his heart pounding angrily. “Then what’s the point of carrying the radio with us if you won’t try to reach us when it’s ‘real rescue’?”
“Whether you believe me or not is your choice, but I’m going to contact you.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to,” Charlie growled. “You’re not the only one that’s been trying to help.”
Charlie turned to his much smaller group to find them readying themselves. Desmond, however, seemed to have heard Charlie’s entire conversation with Jack because he was frowning and looking at Charlie apologetically. Charlie avoided his eyes, and Locke led them in the complete opposite direction of the beach.
Charlie was sitting by the stream and cleaning his cuts from Bonnie and Greta when Claire came up to sit with him, Aaron in her arms. He smiled over at her slightly and then started to fill up his water bottles.
“Are you ok?” she finally asked after watching him for a moment.
Charlie hesitated slightly and then nodded. “Yeah. I’m ok.”
“You know you shouldn’t feel bad about them leaving,” Claire said softly. “It was their choice.”
Charlie nodded and screwed the caps back onto his water bottles and put them back into his backpack. He moved closer to her and kissed her lightly. “Don’t worry about me.”
Claire sighed. “I can’t help it when you’re acting all brave all of a sudden. And back there with Jack…people were listening to you and you completely took charge for awhile. I’m not used to that side of you.”
Charlie nodded, understanding her point but still slightly worried. “Is that a bad thing?”
Claire shrugged slightly. “I don’t know yet. I really think it’s great that you’re able to do that when all this time you just listened. But if you’re suddenly the new hero of the group…that only means you’re going to run off and leave again.”
Charlie didn’t consider himself much of a hero anymore, though. He was the one who turned off the jamming which led to the Freighters getting in contact with them. He was simply the victim when he talked to Penny, which turned him into the messenger. Turning into the messenger led to him being considered someone worth listening to. Becoming someone worth listening to just upped his status a little higher on the scale.
“Charlie? Do you know how to use a rifle?”
As if the question couldn’t have come at a more improper time. He didn’t even have time to promise Claire he wasn’t going to run off again. Maybe that was for the best, anyway. If Desmond was teaching him how to use a rifle, chances were he was going to be expected to use it.
Charlie frowned slightly and looked up from Claire to see Desmond walking over to them with one of the rifles in hand. Claire smiled at Charlie slightly before getting up off the banks of the stream and walking back over to where the rest of the group was resting. Charlie stood to greet Desmond.
“No,” he answered. “I don’t.”
“Well, I just taught Hurley. You should learn, too. This will be a lot more useful than those tiny hand guns. You know, if something were to happen.”
“Well, if you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the gun-wielding type. I can hardly handle the nine millimeters, Des.”
Desmond managed a small smile. “It’s important you learn this. For your protection and for everyone else’s. I’m not doing this to scare you, Charlie. I just want you to be prepared.”
Charlie hesitated and then nodded.
“All right, brother. This is a bolt action rifle. You fire from the shoulder. The kickback will give your shoulder hell at first and it’ll hurt, but you get used to it. I’d let you have a few practice shots to get used to the feel if we weren’t trying to go unnoticed. To open the breech, you open the bolt. All the rifles have rounds in them right now so you won’t have to worry about reloading just yet. If and when you do, reloading is quite simple and basically how you would reload any other gun. You take it off safety by pressing this red button here. And always use the scope before you fire. It’s all very simple. Let me see you hold it.”
The words and terms Charlie wasn’t familiar with flew over his head, but he took the rifle awkwardly anyway. After a few clumsy attempts and Desmond’s help, he managed to hold and poise the firearm correctly. Desmond then taught him how to correctly aim and use the scope. The nine millimeters were fairly simple and obvious, but the rifle was a whole other world. He was finding it incredibly hard to believe that Desmond was actually trusting him with it.
“You think you got it?” Desmond asked.
“…Yes…” Charlie said, unsure even as the words escaped him. It was just a gun. You pull the trigger.
Desmond seemed to accept this answer and he took the rifle back from Charlie. “You’re not thinking too hard about what Jack said, are you?”
Charlie shrugged slightly. He knew Desmond would bring it up. “I guess I don’t understand why he thought I wouldn’t go back for him if he needed help. All I said was that I wasn’t sure if we could. He just thinks I’m a coward with some beneficial knowledge for once. Maybe I am.”
“You’re the bravest person I know,” Desmond reassured Charlie. “Jack is a coward for feeling he has to lead his people to rescue. Jack is afraid of how they will react if they aren’t taken to the helicopters. He’s just afraid.”
Charlie wasn’t sure if he believed Desmond’s reasoning. They were all scared.
“We need to go,” Locke called over to them. “Are you ready?”
Desmond nodded and Charlie followed him back to the group. Desmond stepped up to help Locke and Sayid lead and then glanced back at Charlie to encourage him to step up as well. Instead, Charlie took the back of the group with Claire and held her hand. He found he wasn’t comfortable with the side of him that had an important effect in the happenings of the survivors and suddenly knew how to operate a rifle.
Cheers erupted from Jack’s group as a few men jumped from the helicopter and walked up to meet them. Jack laughed and ran up, shaking their leader’s hand as they walked away from the loud noises of the engine of the helicopter.
“You have no idea how great it is to see you!” Jack exclaimed. Everyone else made similar sounds of agreement.
“My name is Joshua,” the man said. “My team and I are here to rescue you.” He smiled. He was clean-cut with dark hair and about Jack’s height and generally looked friendly and official.
“I’m Jack Shephard,” Jack introduced himself. “And there’s another group out in the jungle. It’s a long story. But can we wait for them? I have a radio.”
Joshua glanced over at the other Freighters pointedly. “You heard him - they’re in the jungle.”
Several of the Freighters walked away and out into the wilderness.
Jack frowned. “Wait - no. I have a radio. We can just call them.”
“We’d rather get rid of them a little sooner. Especially since Widmore’s team is right behind us. Sorry, Jack.”
Before Jack could even get a word of protest out, several shots rang out into the air. Bodies hit the sand. People ran into the jungle. Everything happened so fast that Jack hardly remembered pulling his own gun out and shooting down Joshua before he could do the same. Then Jack ran.
It was between staying on the beach to fight a battle they would probably lose or hiding briefly to alert Charlie and the others before the same thing happened to them. He had to take the last option.
He ducked down in the high grass a few yards deep into the jungle. The screams and gunshots still rang out, and Jack thanked God that his friends had guns as well.
Perhaps a few lives could be spared.
But if he had just listened to Charlie, then perhaps they would’ve never been found.
Jack switched on the radio and brought it up to his ear.
They were walking deeper into the jungle, simply relying on Locke’s tracking skills to get them somewhere safe until they could figure out what they were going to do. Hurley and Charlie had resorted to playing I Spy, simply to lighten their situation. Claire was walking with Rose and Bernard while Desmond was still near the front of the group with Sayid and Locke.
“Uhh…the leaves.”
“Nope.”
“The grass?”
“No.”
“The plants?”
“No.”
“Bernard’s shirt?”
“…Yeah.”
Charlie rolled his eyes slightly. “Ok, my turn. I spy something…” he looked around and shrugged. “Green?”
“Charlie, can I have a moment?”
Hurley and Charlie looked up to see Desmond weaving his way through their group to get to them. Hurley looked at Desmond skeptically. “Dude, every time you ‘have a moment’ with Charlie you tell him he’s going to die and everyone just gets pissed…”
Desmond shook his head. “Keep it down, Hurley. And it’s not like that.”
Hurley shrugged and walked ahead and Desmond fell back instep with Charlie. “How’re you holding up, brother?”
“I’m all right,” Charlie said. “…I guess I just wish that things could’ve been different with Jack and the others.”
“We both knew that it would only end up messy,” Desmond said quietly. “We couldn’t make everyone believe.”
“Yeah,” Charlie shrugged. “Des, you haven’t had any flashes, have you? Not just of me…but of anything?”
Desmond shook his head. “Nothing.”
Charlie frowned down at his shoes and Desmond glanced over at him. “What is it?”
“It’s just the last time you told me you weren’t seeing anything I was nearly killed by the cascades of doom. I guess I’m a little paranoid.”
They fell silent and walked for awhile longer. Claire stepped back with them and took Charlie’s hand again as Desmond watched on, smiling as Charlie played and talked with Aaron and shared little looks of admiration with Claire. And it made him think of Penny.
A half hour or so passed and for the first time, Charlie and Desmond were trying to get to know each other personally.
“So what did you do for a living?” Charlie asked during one of their few breaks from walking.
Desmond felt a blush rise in his cheeks. “I…uh…had a few odd jobs.”
Charlie nodded slightly. “So you don’t have a career, or…?”
“No.”
“That’s all right. My poor excuse of a career was being in a band that had a few years of stardom before falling off the face of the Earth. I just assumed you were as rich as your girl.”
Desmond smiled slightly and shook his head. “No. That was the problem.”
Charlie was about to comment when Hurley’s radio rustled with static and the larger man jumped in surprise and pressed it to his ear quickly.
“Charlie?!” the other voice exclaimed.
Hurley blinked. “…Jack?”
“Hurley, put Charlie on now!”
Hurley quickly passed the radio over to Charlie and Charlie quickly responded.
“Jack? What is it?”
“Look - you were right. They opened fire here and some of them are heading for you, ok?”
Charlie’s eyes widened and he clutched the radio a little tighter. “Jack? How many of them?”
“I’m not sure - a few. Most of them stayed at the beach.”
Charlie could hear gunshots faintly ring in the background and he bit his lip. “Where are you?”
“Close to the beach. Hiding. I had to warn you and then I’m going to go help the others. And, listen, before they attacked they said Penny Widmore’s team was right behind them. I don’t know how. But that’s the helicopter we need to get on.”
Charlie glanced over at Desmond, whose eyes widened with a mix of fear and hopefulness.
“All right, Jack. We’re coming back, ok?”
Charlie’s group went silent and they exchanged looks of varying disagreement and uncertainty. Locke’s breath caught in his throat at the suggestion but he didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry,” Jack sighed on the other end.
“Don’t worry,” Charlie said. “We’ll be there soon. Be careful, mate.”
Charlie turned off the radio and turned to Locke. “All right…you heard him. We have to go.” He turned to Desmond. “Des, how did Penny…”
“She talked to you when you unblocked the signal and, well, she has a lot of money. I suppose it fits.” Desmond smiled slightly despite their present situation.
But Locke shook his head. “Charlie…we can’t go back there.”
Sawyer glared at Locke slightly. “They’re our friends. We’re going back, with or without you, Locke.”
Sayid seemed to agree as he joined Sawyer, Charlie, and Desmond.
“…God damn it,” Hurley groaned as he walked over with them as well.
No one else stepped forward. And Charlie wondered if, yet again, if he was just going on a suicide mission.
Claire hesitated for a moment before she joined them, Aaron in her arms. Charlie stared at her, appalled.
“Claire…you can’t…”
“We might get separated,” Claire protested. “Locke is taking everyone away for good to God knows where so they can’t get rescued. And if I follow them, I might not see you again.”
Charlie bit his lip. She had a good point. But he couldn’t just lead her into danger, although it was no different than what had been happening all along on the Island.
Claire noticed his hesitancy and stared at him pointedly. “You can’t make me stay.”
Charlie looked like he was about to object again, but Desmond shook his head and squeezed Charlie’s shoulder.
“Let her, brother.” Then he passed him a rifle.
He wasn’t used to carrying such a heavy weapon - or even a weapon. And he was almost certain that he looked ridiculous wielding the large firearm. Hurley was refusing to carry a rifle, however, and was clinging awkwardly to one of the nine millimeters. Everyone else but Claire - who had nothing - was bearing one of the rifles.
He hadn’t even said goodbye to Locke. The last time he had actually been with Jack they had gotten into a fight. And, now, they were all probably going to die.
He wiped some of the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and tried to even out his breathing which was coming out in short gasps every now and then. What if Jack was dead? What if they all were dead?
Charlie stopped, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. Claire, after nearly running into him, rested a hand on his back and looked up at him, concerned.
“I don’t think I can do this,” Charlie muttered to her.
Everyone else turned around now and watched him a little nervously. Desmond stepped forward and squeezed his shoulder.
“You can do this,” Desmond said. “I know you can. Do you want me to carry the rifle?”
“No,” Charlie said quickly. “No. I got it.” His next sentence was whispered to Desmond. “I just can’t help but feel we’re walking to our deaths all over again. Except it’s different now.”
Desmond couldn’t say that they would be ok because he honestly didn’t know. Instead, he looked Charlie dead in the eye. “I’m going to protect you and Claire and everyone else. I promise.”
“I’m sorry,” Sayid suddenly spoke up. “But we don’t have much time. Sawyer and I are going to move ahead. As two people, we can move quickly and efficiently. We’ll shoot down any of the Freighters we come across. But any that get away you will have to take care of. We’ll meet you back at the beach.”
Desmond nodded. “Good plan. Go now, and we’ll follow soon.”
Sayid and Sawyer gripped their rifles and disappeared into the jungle.
Desmond looked from Hurley, to Claire, to Charlie and managed a smile. “All right. It’s just us.” Desmond squeezed Charlie’s shoulder again, and a few minutes later, they were off.
“Oh God…” Hurley stopped. “Oh God…oh my God, dudes…”
Desmond stayed calm and ordered them all into the underbrush along the trail Sayid and Sawyer had created. He kept his rifle poised and ready as he peered through the long grass, ready to shoot at anything that was a threat.
Charlie, Hurley, and Claire stayed together. Claire was holding a sleeping Aaron, praying that he wouldn’t wake and start crying. Charlie was clinging to his rifle. Hurley was too stunned to even consider getting out his gun.
But when the Freighters came, it was without warning.
Desmond suddenly started shooting frantically and practically aimlessly, screaming for Charlie to come to his aid over the loud gunshots. The Freighters were firing as well, but were missing them by several feet, as they were hidden by the grass. Charlie yelled at Claire and Hurley to duck down as he scrambled over to Desmond’s side, switched the gun off safety with shaky fingers, and fired.
He didn’t know how many of them he shot down. He didn’t even know how many there were. Sometimes, he wasn’t even sure if Desmond was still alive until he heard the shots ring out from his friend’s gun. But what completely caught them off guard was when several of their attackers ran through the grass, past them, and towards Claire and Hurley who were hidden behind them.
In shock, Charlie hid his face in the ground as the commotion passed and the shots ceased. He wasn’t even aware of his surroundings until Desmond shook him urgently and he sat up, dizzy and scared.
Turning around, Claire was gone. Hurley’s forehead was bleeding from an apparent fall, and Aaron was in his arms.
Charlie jumped to his feet and looked around the area that they had been hiding in. “Claire?! Where’d she go?! Where’d they go?!”
Hurley pointed off in the direction that they had come from. “She passed Aaron to me while they were shooting…and when they started running towards us…she just ran,” Hurley explained, his voice hitching. “I don’t know where they went. But I…I don’t know…”
Charlie moved to run in the way Hurley had directed, but Desmond rose to his feet and tackled Charlie just as he started to leave.
Charlie gasped as he hit the ground and tried to push Desmond away. “What’re you doing?! We have to go find her! Des! Get off!”
But Desmond refused to move. He held Charlie down and waited for Charlie to calm before he spoke. “We have to wait, Charlie. We have to wait. We don’t even know where they are anymore.”
Charlie shoved him off and sat up, grabbing his gun. “I’m going back for her. I have to…”
Hurley shook his head, seeming equally in shock. He handed Charlie a wailing Aaron and Charlie cradled the child against his chest carefully, trying to quiet him.
“Listen to Desmond,” Hurley said. “Lets wait and go together. Then-”
More deafening shots rang out from behind them. Charlie didn’t budge, but Desmond grabbed his arm and pushed him ahead and they darted through the jungle. Charlie clung to Aaron with one arm and clutched the rifle by the strap with his other hand. It bruised and bumped against his shins as he ran, but he tried his best to ignore it. Finally, the shots diminished yet again and they were left standing in a clearing, breathing heavily and gasping.
But Hurley was nowhere in sight.
“Oh, Christ…” Desmond whispered, his eyes darting around the clearing. “Where did Hurley go? Charlie, did you see him?”
Charlie’s heart thumped in his chest and he tried to shush a sobbing Aaron. “We have to backtrack, Desmond. We have to.” He could feel his bravado draining from him every second and his voice quivered. “We’ve lost them…”
They stood silent for a moment. Only the sounds of the jungle surrounded them. But then there was something else…the sounds of gentle waves crashing against the beach and the salty smell in the air.
“The beach is this way,” Desmond said, grabbing Charlie’s arm and leading him unwilling to the treeline.
Out on the beach was a helicopter. Bodies were strewn everywhere, but if Desmond peered, he could spot Jack sitting in the sand and getting a shot wound treated by a man while several other people observed the beach and examined the wounds of the others.
Charlie let out a sigh of relief when he saw Hurley standing with Jack. Hurley had evidently ran ahead too far and wound up on the beach. He was yelling at Jack and pointing off into the jungle. They also spotted a badly injured Sayid, as well as Kate, Sun, and Jin.
But that was all.
“It’s Penny’s team,” Desmond whispered to Charlie.
Charlie nodded slightly. “But Des, we have to go. We have to get Claire! We can’t get on the helicopter!”
Desmond paused for a moment. “I can’t, Charlie. But you and Aaron can.”
Charlie shook his head angrily. “No! I’m going with you to find her!”
Desmond drug Charlie a little into the jungle and grabbed his shoulders firmly. “Charlie, I’m not letting you follow me to get Claire. You have a child. You have to get him rescued. Go to the helicopter - tell them to wait for me to come back with Claire, all right? They’ll wait for me because they work for Penny.”
Charlie was openly crying now - confused and hurt as he knew Desmond wasn’t going to let him follow. “But don’t you trust me?”
Desmond nodded. “Of course I trust you. I trust you to take care of Aaron. But I need to go back for Claire, and you and her child need to be rescued. If they don’t wait…see you in another life, yeah?”
Charlie shook his head, tears running down his cheeks. “They’ll wait. You’re the one they’ve been looking for anyway.”
Regardless, Charlie hugged Desmond tightly for several moments before his friend pulled himself away, offered a genuine smile, and darted off into the jungle.
Charlie waited until he couldn’t see him any longer and then he ran off onto the beach.
“Guys!” he called, running up to the man that was helping Jack. “You have to wait! Desmond Hume is here and he…he’s coming back soon with Claire Littleton and you have to wait for him!”
Hurley hugged Charlie tightly, careful not to crush Aaron. “Dude, are you ok?! Is everything all right?! Where’s Desmond?!”
“I’m fine. Desmond ran off to find Claire.” He turned back to the man. “We have to wait for them.”
Jack wasn’t meeting Charlie’s eyes as he stepped up into the helicopter, followed by the others.
The man looked at Charlie regretfully. “I’m sorry, but the people from the freighter are still out there and we have to leave as quickly as possible. But we will be back for them.”
“What?!” Charlie exclaimed, stepping back. “He’s Penny’s boyfriend! And he’s coming back with this baby’s mother! You have to-”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the man said, grabbing Charlie’s arm and easily forcing him up into the helicopter before climbing in himself and taking the pilot’s seat. And they lifted off.
2 Months Later
Charlie had demanded to be informed when Penny’s team was heading back to the Island. But he was never contacted.
And when he found out they were all dead…it wasn’t from Oceanic. Or from the Widmore team.
It was from the evening news.
“Tonight’s top story,” said the female anchor. “Members of Oceanic flight 815 that were never rescued from the Island have been confirmed dead. We’ve been following this story for quite some time now. It wasn’t clear exactly what happened when the crash survivors were attacked by a group from a freighter, only to be saved by Widmore’s rescue team, who received a distress call from Charlie Pace, one out of eight that survived the attack. Whether or not the survivors that were left on the Island were alive was left up in the air…until now. The following is a list of those dead individuals.”
They were read in alphabetical order.
“James Ford…Desmond Hume…Claire Littleton…John Locke...”
The list went on.
“There’s actually an interesting story behind Mr. Desmond Hume, who was not on flight 815 but crashed on the Island during a sailing race around he world. The race, ironically, was sponsored by Widmore. He was also rumored to have dated Charles Widmore’s daughter Penelope, although Widmore refuses to comment on that. Now,” continued the anchor. “The eight that survived were Dr. Jack Shephard, fugitive Katherine Austen, Republican Guard member Sayid Jarrah, Sun and Jin Kwon, previous lottery winner Hugo Reyes, DriveSHAFT bassist Charlie Pace, and Claire Littleton’s child, Aaron Littleton. Pace and Littleton have been confirmed by various sources to have had a relationship while living on the Island, and her son is now in the care of Pace. However, in an odd turn of events, it turned out that Jack Shephard is actually Aaron’s Uncle. He and Pace are currently having a custody battle, and we’ll keep you updated on that developing story. Now to the weather. Tom?”
Charlie flipped off the television and was surrounded by silence before he buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Aaron was in the next room sleeping peacefully, totally unaware. Completely innocent.
Charlie couldn’t help but blame himself. He should never have let Desmond talk him into getting on the helicopter. He never should’ve let Claire out of his sight to begin with. He should have made them wait.
After a restless hour of anxious pacing and some extra research online - only to find that the news was true - there was a knock at his door.
He opened it to find Jack standing there, a paper in his hand.
“Did you hear?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah,” Charlie answered, avoiding his eyes. “I heard.”
“I’m so sorry, Charlie…”
Charlie shook his head. “I don’t think you really are. You wouldn’t help me make them stay. You didn’t say anything…”
Jack didn’t respond to this. “Look, I’m sorry that they made this whole custody battle a big deal. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
Charlie glared at the paper in his hand. “What’s that?”
Jack passed it over to him. “The court dates. I just need you to look over them and make sure you can come-”
Charlie slammed the door in his face, locked it, and threw the paper onto the coffee table.
With no blood relation to Aaron, this was probably going to be a losing battle. But hopefully Jack’s alcohol and substance abuse would be noticed and they wouldn’t allow Aaron to go into his care.
Aaron was his. He was the only piece he had left of the woman he had loved. As for Desmond, he could only have memories of the man that saved his life.
Two Weeks Earlier
Charles Widmore shut the door to his boardroom and took a seat with the members of his rescue team.
“We’re going back to the Island,” he told them. “After all, the fate of Desmond and the other survivors hasn’t been concluded and people need to know what happened to them.”
The pilot of the helicopter nodded in agreement. “Yes. The media has been expecting us to make a return, as are the surviving members from the flight.”
“Well, of course,” Widmore nodded. “They left their friends behind. And they have the right to know. You’ll head out soon - with weapons just as a precaution. They were left alone with those men from the freighter, after all.”
“All right,” the pilot nodded. “And my crew?”
“Take the same crew you did as the first time you went. Oh, and Nathan?”
“Yes, Mr. Widmore?”
“You won’t be going to the Island. Because whatever you were to find there wouldn’t matter. No matter what, Desmond Hume and the others will be confirmed dead. He won’t be coming back to marry my daughter. As far as the world is concerned - Desmond Hume and everyone else that was left there is gone. We’ll deal with the issue of their remains at a later time.”
Nathan’s expression showed no concern over the situation. He remained emotionless and simply nodded. “All right, Mr. Widmore.”
Widmore nodded, pleased. “Whether or not they are really dead…I suppose we won’t know. Just as long as Desmond is dead to my daughter.”
That, to him, was all that really ever mattered.
-LOST-
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