Lost: "I'm Calling, I'm Falling" (Claire/Boone) CHAPTER 8
Title: I'm Calling, I'm Falling
Chapter: Eight
Fandom: Lost
Characters/Pairings: Boone/Claire, Boone Carlyle, Claire Littleton, Charlie/Claire, Charlie Pace
Rating: R
Narrative: Boone's POV, third person
Genre: Romance, Suspense
Length: 11 chapters
Warnings: Gore, smut, strong language
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or the characters
Author's Note: Part 8.
Summary: After the camp is violently attacked by the Others, Boone is left with a Claire in extreme agony and cannot find Shannon anywhere. Part 8.
CHAPTER EIGHT
"WHAT?” Claire screamed. She was standing completely still, her eyes wide.
“Claire…” He tried to put his arms around her, but she threw him back and charged towards Charlie’s grave.
“What is this?” She screamed. Boone just looked at her sympathetically. “He’s…he’s not… so why?” She stuttered.
“Claire…” Boone sighed. Claire stared at him, and then charged. She stood inches from him, and shouted.
“He’s not dead! So why is there a grave? What sick joke is this?” Boone put his hands on her shoulders.
“I’m sorry, Claire. It’s why we didn’t want to tell you-” Boone began, but he was interrupted by Claire slapping his hands of her shoulders. The expression on her face was one that Boone had not seen before. She was scowling deeply, and tears were brimming in her eyes.
“You knew?” She gazed at Boone in disbelief. Shit, Boone thought. “You KNEW? You kept this from me?” Boone couldn’t say anything. He should have told her. “You lied to me? You knew?” She screeched. She began pounding on Boone’s chest. “You KNEW?” She pounded harder and harder, and screamed all the while. Boone seized her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. She continued to punch him and scream for a few minutes, before she slowed down. Boone looked down at her, and sighed sadly when he saw that she was crying. This had to happen sometime. It was inevitable. All he could do now, was to look after her all over again. He cuddled her into his chest, and she grasped him tight.
When her legs gave way, Boone helped her to the ground and sat with her, never once letting go. She cried for what seemed like a lifetime. Boone couldn’t bear to see her like this. She was hurting again. Something he had tried to prevent.
With each sob, Boone remembered another moment from that night. Another expression of pain on her face. Another scream. Another cough of blood. Another dead face. Another gunfire. He gave in to tears as well as Claire. The pain of the memories. He couldn’t take it. He sobbed into her shoulder as she did into his. Whenever Claire’s cries slowed for a moment, so did Boone’s. Whenever her cries rose, so did his. So when her cries stopped, so did Boone’s.
After an eternity of silence, Claire finally spoke. Her voice sounded as if it was going to fall out of her at any moment.
“Is there anything else…I don’t know?” She asked quietly. Boone sighed. He may as well tell her. She moved to sit next to him, facing the ocean. She cuddled her knees in to her chest, which reminded Boone of a child.
“Before…that night,” Boone gulped. “You were pregnant. You lost the baby.” He waited for a moment. To Boone’s surprise, Claire didn’t cry again. She merely stared out at the waves, and muttered quietly,
“Oh.”
Boone decided to continue. “And Jack says…you got some damage to your… reproductive system…” He swallowed. “…so you can’t have any more babies.”
After a moment of silence, Claire asked, “Ever?”
“Ever.” Boone responded.
“Oh.” She said again. “Right.” Boone was worried. She didn’t seem upset, merely… indifferent.
“You okay?” He asked. Claire kept her gaze on the water.
“Yeah.” She replied. Boone frowned. Wasn’t she upset? Did she understand what he was saying? When Claire said nothing more, Boone stared out at the waves as well. The sunset was a brilliant red tonight. The silence concerned Boone. It felt…wrong. Awkward. Eventually, he’d had enough. He shifted himself to sit directly in front of Claire. When he did, he was shocked. Her face was tear-stained, with fresh tears running down stale tear tracks on her cheeks. How had he not noticed she was crying? He kicked himself mentally, and put his hand on Claire’s shoulder.
“Claire? Are you-” Yet he did finish his sentence. For Claire had reached up, and kissed Boone full and hard on the lips.