TITLE: Against all Odds

RATING: PG

SUMMARY: It started out as nothing but translating maps to get them off the island, but when Shannon realizes that she is falling for Sayid, will her past come between them?

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters from Lost and am not making a profit. If they were mine, then there would be more Shayid moments.

Thanks to all the reviews from my first Shayid story. This one is happen in my own world and will be a much longer story. I hope that everyone enjoys it. I welcome any suggestions on how I can improve. Thank you for reading!

Chapter One The Beginning

The sunlight had found its way through the blanket and shawl that Shannon had wrapped over her head in the attempt to get more sleep then she had been. She sighed, as it got too bright, waking her from the best dream that she had ever had and also the sexiest. She just lay there as she allowed herself to relieve every second of it. He had come to her as she had waited for rescue to come. He had sat in silence for a while before he told her that he had fallen in love with her, of course she had told him the same. Which had then ended with them making love right there on the sand with the waves crashing all around them. She shivered as she felt his phantom hands caressing her body. That dream had been far steamier than any of her real life encounters.

She sat up quickly as she remembered that she told Sayid that she would come by and help him with the maps. How was she going to be able to look at him after that dream? Then the reason for the dream crept into her mind. Right as she had fallen asleep she had realized that she was beginning to feel for him more than just friendship.

Which was bad, she couldn't be falling for him. Boone and her past would ruin any chance that she had and there was the fact that he was only interested in her because she was the only person on the island who knew French. She thought about what she normally would have done if she was home and had wanted a guy. She would have flirted and wore, as little clothing as she could get away with, but she didn't think that would work with Sayid. He was different from every other guy that she had ever been interested in and it scared her because she didn't know how to act or what to expect.

Still just because it might not work didn't mean that she was going to look bad, she looked through everything to see if she could find something that would make her look really good. She pulled out her favorite outfit and fixed her makeup more than she had done recently. She hoped that it wasn't too much.

Shannon took a deep breath before she left her tent; she hated the feeling of the butterflies in her stomach, a feeling that she hadn't felt since early high school. Why did she have to fall for Sayid? He was so different from her and so much better than her. He was doing everything that he could to get them off this island and she hadn't done anything until he had asked her.

The fluttering of the butterflies got worse the closer she got to Sayid's translating area. By the time she was standing next to him, she thought she was going to throw up butterflies. She stood next to him for a while watching him work. Within seconds he knew that she was standing there. She wondered if he just knew it because it was her or if it was because of his solider training.

Smiling, he looked up at her, "You look very nice today."

Shannon's feeling of victory was short lived.

"Did you come here to tell me that you had other plans for the day?" he asked.

"What else is there to do?" as soon as it left her mouth she regretted it. It sounded as if she was just spending time with Sayid because there was nothing better to do which really wasn't the reason, at least not anymore. He had quickly gone back to what he had been working on, but she thought that she had seen a flash of hurt in his eyes.

She sat down beside him, completely distracted now. What could that look have meant? Did he have feelings for her too, or was he just reacting as anyone would have? She was so frustrated; her normal methods to get herself out of this wouldn't work with him. She couldn't play the bitch or the dumb blonde because she knew that Sayid would know that it was just an act. She wished that she knew what to do. If she was home all she would have had to do would be to lean forward so that her chest was in his face and move so that her skirt was hiked up just a little higher, but that wouldn't work either.

"Where are you?" Sayid asked, a small smile on his lips.

"Craphole Island," she said without thinking, a little confused by his question.

He laughed, "I meant you seemed to be somewhere else."

"Oh," she laughed with him. "I was thinking about what I would be doing if I was home." She forced down the feeling of guilt that she felt by telling herself that technically it wasn't a lie.

He turned so that he was facing her completely, the maps and other papers momentarily forgotten, "What would you be doing?"

She bit her lip as she thought about how to safely answer that question. She wasn't ready to tell him too much about her past, especially the parts that involved her stepbrother.

"Sunbathing," she laughed, "I guess I do that here too. I guess I would be shopping with some friends," she frowned, "Well, they weren't really my friends," she added softly.

"What do you mean?"

"We were an interesting bunch," she said, as she pictured the group in her mind, "We hung out all the time, but I don't think any of us really liked the other. We were friends because we all belonged in the same circle." Seeing the confusion in his eyes, she continued, "We all came from rich families so everyone just assumed that we would be friends. Actually we pretty much just tried to outdo each other or use each other to get something else. We also made fun of everyone not in our circle." She felt tears welling up in her eyes, "Not sure why I miss that."

"I think that its natural to want to go back to what was normal for you."

"But when I think about it, I wasn't that happy then," she admitted.

"Are you happy now?" he asked, wiping away the lone tear that fell and leaning a little closer.

The feel of his hand against her skin forced her to flashback to the dream that she had. She felt her heart start to beat quicker and she knew that she needed to get out of there. She grabbed Sayid's empty water bottle and quickly stood, using it as an excuse to get out of there, leaving his question unanswered.

TBC…