Break in the Pattern
Title: Break in the Pattern
Character: Shannon
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: 1.13 "Hearts and Minds"
Disclaimer: Not mine.
lostsquee luau: For fosfomifira, who requested Taking a break.
It was easier to be someone else than to be herself.
The Shannon that was Shannon had hid herself away years ago, the first time she'd kissed a man she didn't really like but needed something from. Boyfriend after boyfriend, partner after partner, Shannon Rutherford played the role of a lifetime. If they gave out Oscars for that shit, she'd be Meryl fucking Streep.
There's this line in Pretty Woman, where Julia Roberts is asked her name and she says "Whatever you want it to be." Being Hollywood, being a romance, and being that the heroine of the story had to be a hooker who clearly could be more than a hooker, Richard Gere sees right through her BS and calls her out.
No one ever called Shannon out. No one saw her heart of gold. They saw her long legs, her pouty lips, and the way she went along with whatever was offered. She told each one her sob story, with just the right amount of righteous indignation and self-pity and sometimes she got a place to stay, a piece of jewelry, or - and this one was the best - an idea to get back, get even. She liked those men the best.
But here on the island, she can't pretend. There's nowhere to run, and not many men willing to take her on and even less who could help her out if they did try. The few who have the power, Jack especially, would never look her way. Jack would be Richard Gere. But she's no Julia Roberts.
The thing is, it feels kind of good. She feels like Shannon, the Shannon from before, for the first time in a long time. The sun is burning away her charred edges, the rough sand breaking down her layers and rubbing her smooth. If she stays here long enough, she could be shiny and new.
The break in the pattern may not have been her idea, but she's starting to think that crashing on this island may not be such a huge tragedy after all.