Title: Unknown

Title: Unknown

Rating: K+ (may go up)

Pairing: Jack / Charlie

Summary: Charlie gives into temptation. Can Jack pull him back for the edge of breakdown? Jack / Charlie Slash.

Chapter: Three

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, nor do I own any rights to the television show "Lost". They were created by JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof and they belong to them, Touchstone, and ABC.

&

Kate walked towards the beach. She hadn't yet decided what to tell Claire. Although she had given her word to Jack, Charlie meant a lot to Claire. In Kate's opinion it was best she knew. It was complicated, but then was it her decision to make? She didn't know.

As she walked towards the beach, she met Sun. "Hey."

Sun just nodded in greeting.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "Claire's worried. She needs to know what's going on. I think… I think she thinks Charlie's using."

Kate nodded, but didn't say anything. "Jack found him."

"Is he ok?"

"I'm not sure. Jack said he's been hurt. Doesn't want to move him."

Sun looked sharply at Kate, but said no more. They walked slowly back to the beach, neither speaking. Sun had guessed that there was more to this than met the eye. Kate was trying to decide what to do.

When they did arrive Claire was sleeping. She looked so peaceful. There was a gentle smile on her face. It was then Kate realised, she couldn't tell her the truth. She couldn't take that smile off of her face. No, when Claire woke, Kate would tell her Jack's story and let her believe, even for a while, that there was hope.

&

Meanwhile Jack had returned to Charlie. It had taken him a lot longer than expected. When people had heard he would be gone for a few days they had mobbed him. Every minor complaint had become a major issue. What if things escalated while he was gone? How would they cope?

Almost three hours after he had left Charlie he returned, unsure what to explain. There was a pain deep in his gut. He felt horrible for leaving Charlie alone for so long, but getting away had been next to impossible. And what hurt him the most? It was the doubt. What if Charlie had more Drugs? Was he about to find a drugged up Charlie, or a Charlie near death from the withdrawal?

As he stepped into the clearing his eyes landed on Charlie's form. Charlie's back was to him and he shook ever so slightly. There was something about his hunched position that sent a shiver of panic through Jack. Rushing forward he grabbed Charlie and swung him round.

Charlie's face was ashen white. There was dried blood running from a broken nose, staining his mouth red. His eyes were wide, and blood shot.

"Charlie! Charlie! Look at me!" Jack shouted.

He gently lay Charlie on the mat. He still shook slightly. "Hold on." Water. Jack pulled a bottle from his bag. Lifting Charlie into sitting position, he poured the water into Charlie's mouth. What had happened here? It definitely wasn't the withdrawal. His nose had been broken, but how?

Jack held Charlie to him, giving him sips of water frequently, but no too much. He cleaned him, but left the nose as it was. After a while Charlie began to wake up. It was like coming out of a trance. He slowly returned to reality, taking in his surroundings. Jack watched, watching his adjust as he came to.

"You came back?" Charlie asked. His voice was rough, pain ridden. There was vulnerability there, as if he had doubted Jack would return.

"Of course. Took me a bit longer than expected, sorry for that."

Charlie pulled off of him. "You shouldn't have come back." He pushed himself up, wobbling slightly on his feet as he moved away, his back to Jack.

"What do you mean?" Jack hadn't expected the sudden hostility, but it made sense. Charlie probably felt abandoned.

"They need you. That's why you took so long." There was bitterness in his voice, regret and something else. Something Jack couldn't quite identify, but he thought it was despair. "You shouldn't be here. You don't want to be."

Jack was silent for a long time. He was unsure what to say, how to make it better but he had to try. Climbing to his feet, Jack stood behind Charlie, who shook even worse now. He was crying again. Jack pulled Charlie back against him, so they were wedged close together. "I'm here, with you, because I want to be. There's no where else I would rather be, Charlie."

Charlie's sobs increased at Jack's words. "You don't understand." He wailed, the sound breaking Jack's heart.

"Oh Charlie." Jack pulled him close, melting into the embrace.

&

Kate was with Claire when she woke from her nap. "How's Charlie? Did they find him?" Claire asked almost immediately.

"Yeah," Kate replied. "He's hurt his leg. Jack's with him, in the forest." Her words were halted, almost unsure. "They're gonna stay there for a while. Make sure Charlie's good before they move him."

Claire sat back. "It's not drugs then?"

Kate looked at her. "Jack didn't say, but I presume not." It was a lie, and it killed Kate to tell it. She liked Claire, and hated how much this would hurt her.

Claire grinned. She seemed so innocent, so happy. Kate wanted to shake her, wanted Claire to doubt Kate's word, but Claire believed her. "I'm glad." She said quietly.

"Here." Kate handed her some water, before climbing to her feet and walking away. She couldn't sit with her right now. Her eyes led her back to the caves, and in her mind she could see the spot Jack had marked out. She hoped they wouldn't need it, but at the same time, she wanted to go to Jack, if only to see what was happening.

She sat at the shore, staring out as the waves clashed. The sea looked quite rough today, but she needed to clear her head. Standing up she tugged of her t-shirt and jeans, leaving her in her underwear. Then she ran into the sea, enjoying the bitter freshness of the water.

As she swam, she relaxed, breathing slowly, letting the water relax her. She didn't understand why this all upset her so much. It wasn't fair to say it was Charlie's fault, but it was. So much wasn't what she wanted. Whether they believed it or, she did like Jack, a lot. And Charlie had taken him from her, in more ways that even he knew.

&

They had been silent for a long time. Charlie at far side of the clearing from Jack, his back to him. Jack paced slowly through the clearing, being as quiet as possible without actually being quiet.

Jack was confused, unsure how to handle the situation. He had known this would be difficult, but Charlie wasn't giving him anything. Charlie pushed, and Jack found it hard to remain standing still. There wasn't much Jack could do to make him better, until Charlie let him. Jack was stuck. Treating to symptoms didn't cure the disease, Jack knew that, but Charlie needed to want to be cured.

Jack sighed. "Charlie." He didn't move. "Charlie it's going to start again. You need to take some pain killers."

Charlie nodded, but didn't move. Jack took some diazepam out of his bag, looked at it for second, before handing two tablets to him. Those should help. Charlie took them without a word.

Jack sat down beside him, and looked at him. "Do you want my help?"

Charlie looked at him quickly. "What?"

"You heard me. Do you want me to help you?"

Charlie stared at him. "I - " He stopped, unsure what to say. Did he want Jack's help? It wasn't something he'd thought of before, he had assumed he had no choice. "I don't know."

"Then there is nothing I can do." Jack spoke quietly, even though the words killed him. "There is no point if you don't want to feel better."

Charlie was silent. He could think of nothing he could say. A part of him still loved the drugs, the freedom they gave him, the control and how strong he felt, how together. They felt so much better than anything else ever had.

Jack got up to leave, but Charlie stopped him. "I don't want you to go."

Jack looked back at Charlie. He looked so desperate, so lost, that is broke Jack's heart. "I'm not helping you stay like this Charlie. Making you detox now will only help now. You need to want my help, you need let me help you, you need to let me in Charlie. Then I can help you." He looked at Charlie hopefully, hoping beyond hope that Charlie would ask for help, would let him in. This meant so much more to him than it should, he knew that, but he didn't know why. Not yet anyway.

There was a long silence from Charlie. "I don't think I can do that."

That was something. Jack sat down again, closer to Charlie this time. "Nothing worth doing is easy Charlie. This isn't easy, but I'll help you. You don't need the drugs. You're so much better then them." He put his arm around Charlie. "And I'll be with you the whole time."

Charlie shook him off, Jack let him. "That's not what I meant." He looked at Jack. "I don't think I can, I can…. I can't let you in." Charlie turned away. He felt so ashamed. Jack wanted to help him, but Charlie just couldn't tell him. How do you tell someone like Jack you're in love with them? It just didn't work that way.

That hurt Jack, so much more than he'd like to admit. "I-" He started, but could find no words to say. He felt broken, like something inside had been ripped out. "Is there someone… someone else?"

Charlie looked at him and shook his head. No, he did want to tell Jack, he just couldn't.

"You can trust me Charlie."

"I know."

"I won't tell anyone."

"I know."

"I won't judge you."

"I Know."

Jack stopped. What did Charlie want from him that he couldn't give him? He sighed, maybe Charlie didn't want him. Charlie and Hurley were close. Maybe Charlie would prefer to take to Hurley. "I'll leave then." He didn't want to leave.

"What?"

Jack took a deep breath. This hurt him so much, that Charlie didn't want him. "Obviously there is someone else you would prefer to talk to. I think you need to talk to someone. Maybe Hurley, or Claire?"

Charlie looked at him. He was so shocked, and couldn't help but feel betrayed. "No Jack. I don't want to talk to them."

"Ok." Jack stood up, turning his back to Charlie, so he couldn't see the tears running down Jack's face. He no idea why this got to him so much, well he did, but he couldn't let that in. It was wrong, in so many ways. "Who would you like to talk to about this? Locke, or Boone?"

"No. I – I would like to talk to you."

Jack whipped his head round. "What?"

Charlie stared at him, seeing the tear tracks running down his face. "Are you ok?"

Jack stared at him for a second. "I'm fine. Just got something in my eye."

"Yeah," Charlie muttered.

It took Jack a minute to regain his composure. He was the doctor here, Charlie was his patient, he couldn't cry over a patient, even if it was Charlie. "would you like me to stay then? To help you."

Charlie looked away, but nodded.

Jack couldn't keep the smile off of his face. "Ok then. I'll stay." He sat down where he was. With that decided, there was much to do. He could explain the detox to Charlie, but he had a feeling Charlie knew it all. It seemed too soon to start really talking, they needed to feel comfortable around each other again. Jack would wait, even as he burned with curiosity. What was so important to Charlie to keep hidden? Why couldn't he trust Jack?

&

Kate climbed back out of the water, feeling refreshed. She could see Claire talked to Sun and smiling, Sayid was with Shannon, but it was Sawyer she looked for. He was no-where to be seen. Sighing she grabbed her clothes and walked away from them.

She saw Sawyer chopping wood in the forest. Dressing she walked over to him. "Did you hear the news?"

"Jack and drugs'r'us are out in the forest doing it?" He grinned at her.

"It's not the drugs Sawyer, and I'm pretty sure there not doing itr."

"Do I sense a hint of jealousy? You got your eye on the doc?"

"Don't Sawyer. He's not strung that way."

"Isn't he freckles?"

Kate looked at him and walked away.

"It's always the drug Freckles." Sawyer called after her.

"What?" She turned round.

"It is." And he went back to chopping wood.

Kate shook her head, he was right, but she couldn't tell him that. What if they were doing it though? Kate wasn't so ok with that. Nothing against gays, just not Jack. They would be good together.

&

Whoa that took me ages to get up. Sorry about that. I lost this chapter, so it took me a while to get it back to something I actually like. Anyway I hope you like and would love to hear what you think.

Dervla xx