Red Rover - Chapter 4: The End's Beginning - Cooper (Lost/OC) - pg
Prompt: Rumble for occhallenge
Characters: Cooper Mackenzie.
Fandom: Lost
Rated: PG.
Summary: Cooper falls ill as Juliet returns to camp.
Disclaimer: I only own Cooper; I do not own the rights to Lost or to Rachel Weisz.
Comments: Are welcome and muchly loved.
Also, I thought this would be as good a time as any to plug my promo for this fic :) Enjoy!
Red Rover Promo
The End’s Beginning
“Cooper, can you hear me?”
She could. Hear the voice, that is, but Cooper didn’t think it was a real voice, because it belonged to Juliet. And Juliet was back on the other island, not here at the beach. So instead, Cooper kept her heavy eyes closed. She was so tired; she couldn’t even remember going to sleep the night before.
“What the hell happened to her?”
“She just dropped... one second she was washing clothes, the next she hit the sand...”
Again, Juliet’s voice asked the question, and then Sawyer’s responded, she recognized his accent. Why was she dreaming about him...? Unless it wasn’t a dream. Curious, Cooper opened her eyes. Well, she tried to, it was exhaustingly hard. “Ju...l.. iet?” She said slowly, seeing the concerned face of her friend hovering above her. Why couldn’t she speak?
“Cooper, hey.” Juliet smiled. “Thank God. You fainted, but you’re gonna be alright.”
“Here,” Another voice said, kneeling over her. “It’s water, drink.”
It was Jack, she remembered his kind eyes, and he was holding a water bottle to her lips. His hand snaked under her neck to hold her up, to help her be able to swallow. After a few mouthfuls, Cooper’s head started to clear and she began to feel better, and she started to remember what had happened. Washing her clothes in the ocean, that rumbling feeling in her stomach, the dizziness... and then Juliet’s voice... she wondered how long she’d been lying in the sand.
“Let’s get her out of the sun,” Jack said, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the cool shade of her tent.
“What are you doing here?” Cooper managed to ask Juliet, referring to both her and Jack who had still been stuck back at their former home on the other island.
“Kate came back for us.” Juliet said with a smile, setting herself beside her friend. “They’re all gone.”
Cooper cocked her head at her. “Who?”
“Ben, Alex, everyone. They all left.” Juliet took her wrist and started to time her pulse. “But don’t talk. Just rest.”
“How’ve you been feeling?” Jack asked her, all doctor-like, feeling her forehead for her temperature.
“Fine.” Cooper lied. Truth was, she’d been feeling nauseous for a couple of days, but that was expected in her pregnancy. She just wasn’t ready for everyone to know; especially considering the theoretical outcome on this island.
“Might just be heatstroke,” Jack said. “I’ll get you some more water; just stay lying down, ok?”
Cooper just nodded as he left her and Juliet alone. “Am I okay?” she asked.
Juliet smiled comfortingly. “They don’t know you’re pregnant.” She stated quietly. “Kate was talking about you as we trekked back here... didn’t mention it.”
“You didn’t say anything; did you?”
“Of course not. But we should.”
“Is it starting?” Cooper asked fearfully.
Juliet sighed deeply. “I’m afraid so...” She tried not to sound grave; but it was hard considering what Cooper was beginning to experience.
“Now, we start, right?” Cooper said. “This is the time to start.”
Juliet’s unlined forehead creased in concern. “Cooper, Ben sent me here to get blood samples from the pregnant women in the camp. He wants to take them back to our island, and test them. If he finds out about you; he’ll take you, too. If he finds out about what we’ve been doing-”
“Juliet.” Cooper sat up straight and gripped her friend’s hands. “He’s not going to find out. He’s not here. And the fact is; we’re closer to The Staff than we were before... the only chance I have is for us to keep doing this, you know that.”
“Coop...” Juliet’s ocean blue eyes became tearful. “More than anything; you need to get off this island.”
As if on cue, Cooper’s belly chose that moment to rumble again. It reminded her of the growl it made when she was hungry; but this rumble was in the wrong part of her body. “I know. And being here, with these people, is my chance to do that.” She bit her lip. “Until then, I’ll need your help.”
---
When Claire fell ill seemingly overnight with what seemed like a flu, Juliet and Cooper were immediately concerned. Even though she’d already given birth, and had conceived off the island, her body was having some sort of latent reaction to a vaccine she had been administered by Ethan. At least, that’s what Juliet told Jack; the truth she told to Cooper. There was an implant in Claire’s body; one that had been given to her whilst she’d been under their care, and it had been activated to cause her body to go through the same symptoms as every now deceased pregnant woman who had been on the island. It was a crisis that only Juliet could solve; and one that Ben was sure would help Juliet to gain the trust of the beach camp survivors.
A cache of vaccine that would reverse the effects of the chip had been left in the jungle for Juliet, a treatment that was also vital for Cooper’s procedures. Only one vial needed to be used on Claire, which meant the rest could be used for Cooper to stave off the effects her pregnancy would have on her, hopefully until rescue arrived.
Charlie, who Cooper soon realized was in a relationship of sorts with Claire, was extremely protective of her and her infant son, Aaron. It took Jack some convincing to let Juliet inject Claire without him being there, so instead he took the baby for a walk. When he returned to see Claire still unconscious with both Juliet still at her side, he was fuming. He set Aaron down in his crib and went off to yell his frustrations at Jack. Juliet went to offer assistance if she could, so when Aaron began to fuss, it turned out that Cooper was the closest person to him.
He was fussing, biting on his fist and whimpering, when Cooper picked up him and held him to her chest. She didn’t take him away from Claire, rather she moved closer so she was sitting beside the girl so that Aaron could see his mother, and hopefully this would calm him. “It’s alright, handsome,” Cooper whispered to the baby, unable not to smile when he locked his blue eyes with hers. “My, you are a gorgeous boy.” With her free arm Cooper carefully pulled Claire’s arm open and then gently laid Aaron beside her. He quieted down immediately, and even yawned.
“Oi! What do you think you’re doing?”
Cooper rose to her feet as Charlie stormed towards her. “The baby was crying, I thought it might help if he was with his mother...” She gestured down to Aaron, whose eyes were fluttering closed, lying in Claire’s arms.
“She was just trying to help, Charlie,” Jack said as he came up behind him. “Aaron’s fine.”
“I understand that you don’t trust me and you don’t like me.” Cooper said to Charlie. “But one thing you can trust is that I would never bring harm to a child.”
Charlie ran his tongue across his teeth and brushed past Cooper, staring her right in the eye. “Just stay away from her.” He muttered fiercely.
Frustrated, Cooper could think of nothing more to do than walk to ease her mind; but she soon realized she wasn’t alone. “Jack, if you’re trying to follow me without me realizing; you’re not very good at it.” She stopped and sat herself heavily in the sand.
“I’m sorry,” Jack sat down beside her. “I was just... trying to figure out what to say.” He paused. “I trust Juliet. And she tells me I’d be an idiot not to trust you, too.”
Cooper laughed and rested her arms on her pulled knees. "Why? Why are you so eager to trust us? We kept you in locked up, monitored you and your friends. To all your people," She nodded up towards the camp. "We're the enemy."
Jack sighed, and looked out to the setting sun. "I believe that Ben is the enemy. And that he kept you on this island for reasons I don't understand, and a part of me doesn't even want to. All I do know is that you and Juliet were desperate enough to leave, so..." He shrugged. "To me, that means you're in the same boat as we are."
The smile he gave her made all of Cooper's anxiety dwindle away. He had a confidence about him that she admired; he was adamant that they were going to leave this place. She hoped she could feel the same way, but once again as if on cue, her stomach rumbled reminding her of the reason she was so desperate to get off this rock in the first place. She must have been wearing her frustrations on her face, because Jack asked her if she was alright.
"Jack..." She said quietly. "If I tell you something... will you listen to me?"
The ease on his handsome face disappeared. "Of course." She opened her mouth, to tell him she was pregnant, but she stopped. If she told him; she'd have to tell him about the experiments. She'd have to divulge all of Juliet's brilliant, but secretive, work on infertility. She'd have to answer more questions than she cared to think about the responses for... Cooper didn't want to lie to him; but right now, only mere days into this 'new life', she realized she had no other choice.
"What is it?" Jack prodded her.
So, instead of telling him what she really wanted to, she told him something else. Just as true, but not as detrimental.
"I am dreadfully sorry for what we did to you, and to your friends." She apologized. "Ben... he's not one for conversation. He has a way of doing things... and he thought the only way to get you to operate on him; was to force you into it. That's why he took Sawyer and Kate as well... and I am so sorry, Jack. I'm sorry that I didn't help you. And I hope, one day, you are able to forgive me."
His face, serious and stoic, suddenly broke into a kind smile. "Cooper... up until today I had no idea what you even looked like." He said. "To be honest, in my eyes?" He frowned and shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for. It wasn't you who did this to us," he flicked his eyes out across the ocean. "It was them."
Cooper found her tearful eyes return to normal, and a slight smile tugged at her lips. “Thank you, Jack.” She said sincerely.
xxx