Author's note: An idea that came to me after reading far too much slash fanfic, that stuff is more addictive than Charlie's heroin. Anyway, hope you enjoy and remember, feedback is very, very welcome.

It had been six months since Sayid had got the makeshift transceiver working and nearly three weeks since he'd gotten a reply. No one could believe that anyone had survived the crash of flight 815, let alone that they'd been living on the island for two and a half years. But Sayid and Jack had managed to convince them that they were alive and had been for sometime and could they please get rescued now? They all knew it wasn't going to be as simple as that, however. Sure, now people were actively looking for them, but they didn't know where to look. No one knew where the island was. Jack relayed the clues he'd gotten from the pilot the day they crashed and the search team seemed to be closing in, but they knew it could be a while before they got off the island for good.

Boone walked down the beach and spotted Shannon sitting alone, staring into the ocean. It reminded Boone of when they first crashed and Shannon would sit and watch for rescue boats, insisting they would be saved any minute now. Boone smiled at the memory, so much had happened since then.

He walked over to her and sat beside her, joining her in gazing out at the horizon. They sat in a comfortable silence for a beat before Boone turned and looked at her as she ran a hand over her pregnant belly. The estimate was that she was around six months gone, apparently Sayid made more than a transceiver back then, but no one could be sure without the proper check-ups.

"Sabrina's not gonna be impressed that you got yourself knocked up," Boone said, his gaze heading back to the ocean.

"Oh, please, she's gonna go postal when she finds out your gay," Shannon replied.

"I'm not gay, I'm bi," Boone explained.

"Whatever, you're the toy boy to some doctor and she's not going to like it."

To the casual observer it may sound like nothing had changed between the two during their time on the island, but listening a little closer it becomes obvious that this is a light-hearted parody of their former bickering matches from times gone by. And boy did they have some good ones.

"I'm starting to think that the fact we're still alive will be a major inconvenience to her day at this point. Anything else will just be the icing on the cake," Boone said, a little distant.

"I dunno," Shannon mused, "having the CEO cheat death and get in all the papers can't be bad for business."

"Maybe," Boone conceded.

"And she can do mine and Sayid's wedding which will probably beof media interest too so there's a reason to keep me sweet for a while. And I like being kept sweet."

"I noticed," Boone replied dryly.

"Speaking of which, I could kill for a chocolate bar right now," Shannon said, hormones getting the better of her. "Cravings are hell when all you have is a choice of boar or fish."

Boone smiled at her. "There's always that wide selection of random fruits," he suggested.

"Ick!" Shannon dismissed with a roll of her eyes. She looked down at her belly. "God, I can't wait to get a scan of this little fellow, see what she's up to in there."

"She?" Boone asked, looking at her bump.

"I say 'she', Sayid says 'he'. I don't really care, to tell you the truth, so long as it's healthy." She paused and then added, "Well, she would be cooler I guess cos then I'd have someone to pass all my fashion tips onto and then maybe my pre-crash life wouldn't be a complete wipeout."

"Shan, your life is not a wipeout," Boone insisted.

Shannon once again found herself looking at her belly and smiled fondly. "Not anymore," she said a little dreamily.

Boone smiled and decided not to push the point. She had made herself feel better, there was no point getting into it now. But then she looked up at him a little sad, tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Shannon smiled through the tears and the smile seemed genuine enough, but something still bothered Boone. "Nothing," she said, "It's nothing. I just..." she trailed off.

Boone looked concerned. "What?"

"I'm gonna miss this place," she finally said. "It's stupid, I know it's stupid. The last two and a half years I've wanted nothing but to get off this Godforsaken rock and now that's it's actually happening all I can think is how I don't wanna leave it all behind."

Boone nodded. He knew exactly what she meant. Their stay on the island hadn't been easy, in fact most days it had been a nightmare, but they had got through it, they had bonded, they had formed their own little community here, their own little world, and as much as they all wanted off, they also didn't want it to end, because there was a terrible feeling of 'now what?' that would inevitably crash down on them once they reached the mainland. Would they ever see each other again? How do you go back to your life after something like this happens?

For Boone this worry was multiplied because he wasn't just at stake of losing friends, he was at stake of losing Jack and Jack had been his world for the last two and a half years as much as this island had.

Boone was bisexual and Boone was okay with that, he had come to terms with that, sure he hadn't told Sabrina that, but he really was getting around to it. Jack, however, was not bisexual. Well, not pre-crash anyway. Boone could never really get his head around why Jack had chosen him, what it was about him that made Jack shy away from his usual choice in partner, shy away from Kate who Boone was sure Jack could have had if he'd wanted. But apparently Jack hadn't wanted Kate. Jack had wanted Boone. For Boone, this came so far out of left field that it took him two weeks, and Shannon's constant jibes, to realise that Jack was trying to come onto him. It then took him another two weeks to come to terms with the fact that no, Jack hadn't suffered a concussion during the crash and really was quite interested in him. After that, things had headed slowly but surely towards the solid coupledom they were enjoying now.

Solid? Was it? Boone wasn't so sure. Not anymore. If they were to stay on this island for ever more then Boone was reasonably confident that he could keep hold of Jack. But back on the mainland? Back in the states? Back in the real world? That was a whole other story. Would Jack really want to add a boyfriend into the mix of his old life? Was there any room for Boone in his life of hospitals and spinal cords and no doubt hot nurses who would clearly adore Jack, especially now with his muscles built up form the physically challenging life they lived on the island.

Boone turned to Shannon, and he could feel the beginnings of tears stinging his own eyes too. "Nothing's ever gonna be the same again, is it?" he asked her.

She shook her head sadly. Theywere bothrather unsuccessfulat holding back the tears any further and fell into an embrace together. Shannon laughed a little. "Hey, I got all these pregnancy hormones shooting around my system, what's your excuse?"

Boone shrugged a little. Shannon remained in the embrace but looked back out to the horizon. Boone followed her gaze out but wasn't sure if he wanted to see anything or not.