Gale was smiling. Everything had gone so well. His men had informed him that Ford had more than delivered on his promise, and was now just a few hundred yards outside of their camp.
His smile only grew wider as he walked into the small, pitiful campsite that the survivors had erected. Ford was standing in the center, idly poking at the dying embers of a fire, while the rest of them lay, unconscious on the ground.
"Can we be certain this isn't a trick?" I asked Tom.
"Yes, sir," Tom said immediately, practically saluting me. "I've been out here all night, watching them just like you asked me to. Mr. Ford kissed the little lady, and then went right ahead and drugged her up."
"Good," Gale nodded briskly. He motioned with his hand, before walking into the camp. Ford's head jerked up at his entrance. "You did well, boy," Gale said. "Not only did you bring us Mr. Shepherd and Ms. Austen, but Mr. Reyes as well." He peered at the slumbering forms more closely, and realized that Ford had even gone to the trouble of tying their hands together. "Very well, indeed."
"Don't call me boy," Ford growled, completely ignoring all of the compliments. But, Gale supposed that was just part of his supposed charm. "Now where's my way off this rock?"
Gale glanced up at the sky. The sun was only just clearing the top of the trees. "It won't be here for an hour or so," he said. Ford narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Gale ignored him. He glanced at the four sleeping figures.
"I hadn't anticipated Mr. Reyes," he murmured. "I'll have to go back and get some more help."
"Don't bother," Ford said, inexplicably. Gale turned to him, a slight smile on his face, prepared to ask exactly what that meant, when he found himself face to face with the end of a gun. On the ground, Shepherd groaned and rolled over while Austen slowly blinked open her eyes.
"What are they doing awake?" Gale asked, trying to keep panic out of his voice. "That sedative should have kept them unconscious for days."
"Not on a quarter dose," Ford replied. Shepherd jerked, and grabbed for a gun out of his back pocket. The bindings on his wrists fell easily away.
"Men!" Gale ordered, and heard the sounds of a dozen guns being readied. Shepherd and Austen had risen to their feet now. Shepherd had his gun fixed on Tom unwaveringly, but Austen seemed uncertain whether she should be firing at his men, or at Ford himself.
"Seems we got ourselves a little Mexican standoff," Ford drawled, and his mouth began to drag upward in what could only be considered a smile. That was enough to make Gale want to laugh.
"Except you're outnumbered," Gale pointed out. A moment later, however, he felt the hard end of a pistol shoved into his back, and he was rudely pushed into the clearing.
"There, my friend, you are wrong," An Iraqi voice hissed into his ear. A moment later the ten men who had been with him were similarly pushed into the clearing. He glared at all of his men. How the hell had they all been captured? The survivors couldn't have had more then five guns between them!
"Excellent job, Neil," Jarrah said, nodding to one of the bigger of the men. He shrugged, and roughly pushed Tony to the ground.
"I didn't think they'd fall for it so easily," Neil said. He easily pulled the gun out of Tony's hand, and dropped what was nothing more than a blunt stick to the ground. Throughout the clearing, the rest of the men did the same. Gale groaned.
Reyes let out a loud snort, and Austen, with a laugh, went to her knees and gently shook him until he fully woke up.
"What happened?" Reyes asked in the dumbest voice imaginable. Austen pretended to pull him to his feet, although any idiot would know that a man of Reyes weight could have pulled the smaller woman to the ground. After getting to his feet, Reyes looked around and finally saw Gale and his men. Realization seemed to settle across his fat, stupid face. "Ohhh," he said.
"Listen," Gale growled at Jarrah as he was roughly manhandled and tied to a tree. A tree, of all things! "You don't want to do this. He'll be coming soon, and I've already told you. . .He is not a forgiving man."
"Neither am I," Jarrah said, and pulled the bindings even tighter.
Neil had finally been calming down after an hour spent on the beach. He and Steve had gathered together enough logs and sticks to keep the fire burning brightly throughout the night, and Jin and Lance had caught fish to eat. Janelle had handed over a few mangoes, completing the feast and proving to Neil that she wasn't completely and totally useless.
"Cold?" he asked her after dinner, as she inched a bit closer to the fire. He didn't blame her. What with a pair of jeans and a tube top that barely covered her breasts, he would have been freezing himself, even in the warm night air.
"You want to come over and warm me up?" she asked him, one eyebrow raised provocatively. He took a deep breath. What on earth had this woman done off the island that she was so crazy?
Apparently he'd said the words out loud, because Janelle began to answer the question. Either that or she was pregnant.
"I left home at seventeen," she said. "Had to find someway to make it through the world. Trust me. . .I'm good."
"Okay," Neil said, attempting to sound confident but coming out with a bit of a warble. He coughed, and cleared his throat. "Good for you."
"For crying out loud, Neil," she suddenly exclaimed. "We can't all be businessmen!"
He had no idea why she was suddenly going off on him, and was almost relieved when a dark figure began approaching their fire. Mostly he was just scared enough to piss his pants.
"Jin? Neil?"
"Sayid," Jin said, pointing to the figure, followed by a clear and distinct "Hello."
"Hello," The Iraqi said, easing himself down by the fire. He nodded at it appreciatively. "You have done an excellent job."
"Thanks," Neil said uncomfortably. He just couldn't get used to people thanking him and complimenting him. It was weird. He was just Neil, the Frogurt guy who spent more time moving around pieces of the fuselage than doing anything useful.
"I Need you to help me," Sayid said then, and glanced at everyone hunkered around the fire. "All of you."
"We're kind of busy here," Neil pointed out. He then noticed how ridiculous that statement was, since they were all just sitting around watching the fire burn. "I mean, not right now, this second, but we need to be here, to watch the fire."
"I know that this is very important," Sayid said, and Neil could have hit himself over the head. Of course Sayid knew—he was the one who had started the signal fire in the first place! "But what I have to do is even more so."
"What's that?" Janelle asked, scootching herself over to where the two men were speaking. Neil suddenly found himself very conscious of her warm thigh, so near to his own.
"I am going after the Others," Sayid explained. That caught Jin's attention, and the large Korean man instantly came over to join them.
"Hate to break it to you," Neil said regretfully. "But Jack, Sawyer and the rest of them left around noon."
"I am aware of this," Sayid said, and then, as though with difficulty, added "Sawyer is leading them into a trap."
"Asshole!" Janelle yelled, instantly leaping to her feet. "I mean, he was always a dick, but what a complete and total asshole!"
Sayid smiled a little. "While normally I would agree with your description, I am afraid that in this case he is doing good," he said. "He has told me about it. He provides the bait, and I provide the trap."
"So let me make sure I got this right," Neil said slowly, puzzling it out as he spoke. "You want us to go and basically rescue the Ateam from the Others."
"Correct," Sayid inclined his head. Neil didn't understand how he could be so calm in the situation.
"We don't even have any guns!"
Sayid smiled, and held up a small, thick stick. "They don't need to know that," he said.
Neil couldn't believe that Sayid was proposing this. Sayid, who was always calm, who actually knew how to think, who never let the desire for revenge overcome his good sense.
"Fire?" Jin asked, apparently the only one who remembered the fire. Janelle stepped forward.
"I'll watch it," she said. Neil stared at her, amazed that she didn't want to come with. She looked at him, an expression somewhere between shame and indignation on her face. "What?" she asked. "I can't use a gun, I don't exactly look intimidating. . .what good would I do?"
Neil decided that it would not be a good time to mention that he thought she looked very intimidating indeed. He turned to Sayid and sighed. "All right. Let's get going."
Kate blinked slowly into consciousness, only to find herself bound and lying on the ground. Memory came flooding back to her. . .the kiss and Sawyer's subsequent betrayal.
"What are they doing awake? That sedative should have kept them unconscious for hours."
Kate's eyes scanned the area, and lit upon the scowling figure of Henry Gale. Jack began to groan and thrash around to her left, and when she looked at him, she saw him easily opening his hands despite the bindings, and grabbing his gun. Kate remembered Sawyer insisting that they sleep with the guns on their persons. She reached back, and sure enough there was hers. And, sure enough, the rope tied around her wrists easily slid off.
"Not on a quarter dose," Sawyer ground out. Austen stood up, and moved her gun to sight at Gale. She couldn't keep her gaze from sliding back to Sawyer, however. Had he betrayed them or not?
"Seems we got ourselves a little Mexican standoff," Sawyer drawled. Kate couldn't take her eyes off him. Did he not realize what was going on? Was he not aware that they were surrounded by Others, and that their three guns didn't stand a chance? Gale clearly did, as he made a comment similar. Kate took a deep breath. Her hand trembled. Should she just shoot Gale? Take down the leader at least?
But just then Sayid's head appeared over Gale's shoulder, and he pushed the Other leader into the clearing. All around, more khacki-clad men were shoved in by other survivors.
Suddenly, on the ground, Hurley emitted an especially loud snore. That was enough to calm Kate down, the utter mundanity of it all. She knelt beside him, and carefully shook him awake.
"What happened?" Hurley asked, clearly still seeing the fear written across her face. He glanced over and saw Sawyer, Sayid, and Jin herding the Others around one tree and lashing them to it. "Ohh. . ." he said. Kate offered him a hand, and assisted him to his feet.
"So where is this vessel?" Sayid asked Sawyer. Kate's ears perked. Was there a possibility of escape?
"Don't know," Sawyer said. "I was waiting for them to tell me, but somebody jumped the gun, jihad."
"Would you have rather been shot?" Sayid asked coolly, ignoring the insult. Sawyer shifted his shoulders a little. Kate still couldn't decide whether she felt betrayed or relieved at his con.
Sawyer coughed a little, and turned to look at her. Kate stepped backwards a step, trying to avoid his stare. She found herself backing straight into Jack, who smiled down at her, a weak, tired smile. She forced one in exchange.
"Freckles," Sawyer said, his voice strained and cracking. She ignored him, and pulled one of Jack's arms over her shoulder. She could tell that his strength was failing him.
"Are you all right?" she asked. Jack nodded.
"I haven't felt this good in a long time," he said.
"Kate," Sawyer said her name again, and this time the pain in it was apparent, even to Jack. The doctor stiffened, and then slowly removed his arm and nudged her.
"What?" she asked, looking at him. "You need my help."
"I think he needs you more," Jack said.
Kate didn't move for a moment, frozen by his words. She looked into his eyes, and saw a pain there far different than that of his still healing leg. Hurley came over silently, and Jack leaned on the larger man. Kate bit her lower lip and, blinking back tears as the vision of a perfect future disappeared, turned to Sawyer.
"What do you want?" she asked lowly.
"Nothing," he rasped, but his eyes begged for forgiveness.
"You could have told me," she said. "You didn't have to lie to me again."
"Couldn't tell you," Sawyer said lowly. Strands of his hair fell into his eyes, and before Kate could stop herself, she was pushing them back. Sawyer blue eyes met her green ones, and for just a moment
"He's coming!" Gale suddenly screamed, breaking the tension in the air and replacing it with new fear. "He's coming!"
Kate looked around nervously, uncertain just who could be coming. Sawyer pulled out his gun, and held it tightly, his eyes scanning the area. A gun roared, and Sawyer swore as he dropped the gun, clutching his bleeding hand tightly. Kate gasped. Neil cried out in pain. Gale roared in triumph. And then the leaves parted.
"Michael?" Hurley asked in disbelief. But sure enough it was Michael, tightly holding hands with his son. Behind them marched two dark-skinned men, one clutching a still smoking gun,and behind them a woman.
"Hey, Hurley!" Walt said chipperly. A broad grin crossed his face, and he began waving to everyone. "Hi, Dr. Jack! Hi Kate! Hey, Sawyer! Hi, Neil! What's up, Lance?. . ."
Kate frowned as she looked at the boy, and then at his father. True, almost a month had passed since she'd seen him, but it looked as though he'd grown almost a foot, and as though he was finally beginning to lose some of the baby fat. But that didn't make sense.
Gale was still screaming, and the woman looked over at him disdainfully. "Would someone stop that racket?" she asked. Sayid glanced at her, an inscrutable expression in his dark eyes, before he went over and slammed Gale hard on the head with the blunt of his pistol. The woman nodded in satisfaction.
"Now then," the woman said, turning back to all of them. "Who are you people, what are you doing on my island, and why the hell did you stop pushing the button?"
And here ends the six episode beginning of Season III. Or at least, estrafalaria's version of Season III. And, like the real show next year, you only get a few episodes (eight in my case, instead of seven) beforee a long hiatus before I continue (if I do!). Unlike Lost, however, my hiatus will not be due to a laziness in producing enough work—it will, rather be the result of a move to Mexico, and a consequent inability to use the internet.
So, I hope you all enjoyed my little voyage into the Lost universe, and forgive me for leaving you with a cliffhanger and a thousand questions so reminiscent of the real show. Trust me, though, for my AU I do have the answers. What resulted when the button stopped being pushed? Who is the woman, and how does she know all of these things? Will Desmond live? Where did the Others come from? What do the numbers and the black smoke mean (okay, I'll be honest, I don't have the answers to that.) Will Rousseau and Alex ever meet? What about Vincent?
And the burning questions everyone wants the answers to: what's with Janelle, and how cool is Neil the Frogurt guy?