Freefall
Title: Freefall
Rating: PG
Words: 9000
Summary: For toestastegood, who wanted The Future. The next generation of Losties end up in their parents past.
Author's Notes: Okay, this is a tough one to explain. It is slight AU to start out with, but will follow the mid-season 6 timeline.
Dr. Aaron Charlie Austen: Short blonde hair, grey eyes, glasses. Kate takes him in when Claire is unable to be found as per original timeline. Jack learns about his relationship to him at his Father's wake and is apprehensive around Aaron and has difficulty dealing with his guilt over leaving Claire behind. Kate eventually convinces him that he is the only family Aaron has and after a brief struggle with depression he finally lets go, marries Kate, and settles down with his family.
Aaron is an ER doctor and occasionally teaches some of the first year medical school courses. He is a family man that is both calm and wise beyond his years. He married veterinarian Elizabeth 'Liz' Heller seven years ago and they have one daughter, Caitlyn Austen, who loves hanging out with her 'Grampa Jack'.
Federal Agent Samuel 'Sam' Christian Shephard: Sam and his sister Claire are Jack and Kate's biological children, along with adopted Aaron (who I guess would be their half cousin, but I am not getting into that.). Sam has a similar profile to Jack, but with Kate's eyes and an unwavering stubbornness that is greater than both of his parents combined. He also regularly maintains what Kate considers "Island Jack Scruff" much to her displeasure and she is always nagging him to shave it off if he ever wants to find a woman. Jack maintains that he managed to get her just fine.
He is generally restless in nature and after finishing a Ph. D. in Geology at Columbia joined the FBI's Counter Terrorism task force. Sam is a world traveler and though he has both a house and family in Los Angeles, when he is not working he is leading field team explorations to some of the most uncharted regions of the world. Sam once spent six months in the Antarctic chasing after a meteor that crashed somewhere in the ice fields. He has a bad habit of not knowing when to give up and Kate often worries that he is more like Jack than Jack is.
Sam is named for Jack's and Kate's (adoptive) fathers.
James 'Jay' Ford: Son of James "Sawyer' Ford and Juliet Burke, Jay is a cunning high profile lawyer who's swaggering charm and good looks have contributed to his successful career. He is a spitting image of Sawyer and is currently dating Spinal Surgeon Claire Shephard...much to Jack's annoyance. Though he can be irritating at times, Sam and Jay are good friends, to the point Sam defended Jay when Jack found out about his relationship with Claire. Though he knows how to pick his fights, Jay has a certain dependability about him when it really counts. He has also inherited his father's fondness for nicknames and his mother's calm and collected nature.
Los Angeles-2038
Moonlight bathed the city in a dim glow, one that was scarcely noticed over the smog and toxic neon signs. At exactly which point Tinseltown had managed to outrival Vegas for the position of The City That Never Sleeps, at least on some rudimentary level, it was impossible to tell. It was well past midnight and the traffic congestion reached on for miles, some easier to navigate then others. Two motorcycles weaved in and out through the queue of cars on either side of the center line. Sam Shephard could see them through the grubby windshield of his black SUV, both Harleys he thought. The tail lights of the minivan ahead of him flickered and he rode the break maybe a little too roughly. Someone honked in the distance.
"Ya tryn' to put us through the window er' what, Chief?"
Sam sighed, glancing up at the rear-view mirror. He didn't need to turn around. James 'Jay' Ford waggled an eyebrow at him and managed to look sarcastic while doing it.
"You do realize that you owe me big time for this right?" He rebutted, fiddling with something on the dash just to give his hands something to do while he waited.
"Yeah, yer a regular ol' Mother Teresa, 'preciate it."
Aaron, who had settled himself in the front passenger seat, snorted lightly. "Looks to me like the only thing you seemed to appreciate tonight was that last shot of bourbon."
"Aww Doc, I'm a big boy."
"You're also plastered." Sam observed.
"Am not," Jay hiccuped.
"Yeah," Aaron turned around in his seat to face the man, "you are."
He tried not to seem annoyed, "and I wanna know why."
"Did you and Claire have fight?" He asked softly. His glasses slid down the bridge of his nose as he shifted his head, making him look older than it probably should have. He was a little under five years Jay's senior, but his striking gray eyes conveyed a wary wisdom. Fatherhood had changed him. He gazed upon the man with a stern dignity, patiently waiting for an answer.
"Wasn't a fight," Jay mumbled.
"You mean it wasn't one of your usual fights," Sam frowned, rubbing at the thin line of scruff that was starting to ghost across his chin. His eyelids dipped a couple of times and he had to fight to suppress a yawn.
"Do I need to call and check up on my sister?" He asked firmly, not liking where this was going one bit.
"It's late," Aaron reasoned. "We should probably leave it."
"Arn't you out past yer curfew, Doc?" Jay slid back against the leather interior and attempted to redirect the conversation.
"Nah. Mom and Jack offered to take Caitlyn camping for the weekend and Lizzie's at a conference til' Sunday at the earliest. Sam and I decided to catch the Sox game. You could have come along, but I thought you'd be with Claire..." he paused and pressed his lips together, realizing his mistake.
"Yeah, well I had better things ta do. The Sox suck anyway." Jay brushed him off. He titled his head toward his feet and Aaron could see in the waning light, filtering in from outside, that he looked more than a little pale.
"If you ever plan on marrying her one day you'd better not let Jack hear you say that. He's pissed enough at you already for not telling him that you and Claire were seeing each other in the first place." Aaron warned.
"She's twenty five. He ain't her damn keeper." He hissed, but was unable to mask the distinctive flush creeping up his cheeks at the suggestion. He had been toying with the idea...until tonight.
Sam smirked back at him. "Red suites you, Jay." He grinned. "You wanna be an official member of the Shephard family you gotta love the Sox. It's a rule."
Jay didn't bother to acknowledge the comment with an audible response. He just snorted and directed his gaze toward the window, clearly finished with the conversation.
Sam let him drop it and allowed his eyes to settle on the long stretch of pavement in front of him. "So Mom and Dad have the Squirt for the weekend?" He asked with a dusty chuckle.
Aaron's smile widened. "Yeah. She's been after Jack to help her get her wilderness survival badge all month."
"Good choice. We all know how great with camping you were when we were kids. Dad had to fix you up more than all of the rest of us combined. Remember the poison ivy incident?"
The older man cringed. "A little too well, Jack was pretty pissed. I offered to help her pitch a tent in the back yard, apparently that didn't cut it."
"Right, well I'm glad you turned her over to the experts. Mom and Dad are old pros when it comes to that sort of thing. No offense, but you probably wouldn't last a day if you had to rough it."
"More like an hour." Aaron was only too happy to agree. "What can I say? I rather enjoy running water and electricity way too much to let them go to waste."
"But you can have too much of a good thing." Sam rebuked. "There's nothing wrong with sleeping out under the open sky, staring up at the stars. You know, taking life for what it is really worth?"
Aaron shook his head. "The only life I need is the one right in front of me."
"Yeah well," Sam's tone grew softer. "Guess no one ever taught me how to settle down." There was a slight timber in his voice that held something undetectable, something he couldn't quite place.
"God forbid Trailblazer goes all domestic on us. I'd bet hell would freeze over." Jay piped in from the back. Aaron had stated to think he had fallen asleep.
"Oh, so you're still with us, Jay?" He teased.
Sam's phone sprung to life, startling all of them before he could respond.
"This is Shephard...what? Langer was supposed to be running point...why?"
Jay cocked his head up. "Well, don't that sound official?"
"Shut it, Jay." Aaron warned, watching Sam's expression turn grave as he clenched the steering wheel and made a complete one hundred and eighty degree u-turn in the middle of the freeway. The tires screeched and Jay cursed loudly though clenched teeth.
"Son of a bitch! Where the hell did you learn to drive?" He glared daggers at the back of Sam's neck and didn't dare let go of his death grip on the edge of his seat. They were barreling around a sharp curve in the road at well over the normal speed limit. He was starting to wonder if Sam even knew that such thing existed.
Sam continued to talk quietly into his phone. Aaron could only hear bits of his conversation, but it always made him nervous when Sam used words like 'tactical', 'evasion', and 'shoot-out'.
"Jesus Pontiac, are you even listen' ta me?"
"Jay, if you don't want me to shoot you I suggest you shut up." Sam barked, uncharacteristically as he whipped his head around.
"Yes Sir...I'm about 3 minutes out. Yeah, no. I know the drill. Local LEO's already on scene?...good...OK...yeah I'll take over."
"Sorry bout' the detour," he said as he pocketed his phone. "Got a possible ID on a suspect we've been tracking. Report of shots fired...gotta check it out."
"Yer, going to go play FBI agent, now?" Jay complained.
"Local police are already there. I just have to supervise while they lockdown the area and then I'll get you two home, OK?" Sam tried to sound optimistic, he'd worked cases like this before and he had a feeling he was in for a long night. It was starting to feel like he would have to check the place out, drop Jay home, drop Aaron back to his apartment to his car, and then return to the scene. It was supposed to be his god damn night off ...that was just karma right there.
"No fucking way," Jay grumbled as they pulled into the parking lot of an old, run down church. His eyes flicked around to the four LAPD squad cars with their red and blue lights blaring.
"Yer suspect is a god damn old lady in her Sunday hat?" He snorted, surveying the area with air of distaste.
Someone knocked on the window before Sam could snap at him. Aaron remained silent while Sam turned his head and blinked back at the blue patrol uniform. He hit a button on the dash with his thumb and the window rolled down.
"This is a crime scene. I'm going to have to ask you to..."
Sam shifted in his seat to pull his badge from his back pocket. He flashed it at the officer.
"Special Agent Sam Shephard, FBI Counter Opps. We're taking over."
The officer's frown deepened, but he said nothing and stepped back to allow Sam room to open the door.
"I won't be long," he turned to them...looking apologetic.
Aaron shrugged, unwilling to admit that the situation made him feel uneasy. "Shit happens." He agreed, trying to brush off the tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him he shouldn't be anywhere near this place.
"Stay in the car, both of you." Sam said as he pushed the door open.
"Well, I sure as hell don't feel like join' the Holy Roller Choir."
"Not even confession could save you, Jay." Aaron grinned. He noticed Sam roll his eyes as the door slammed shut.
"Well, this turned out to be a real fun night. We should do it again sometime, Doc." Jay pressed his forehead back against the window, relishing the cool glass against his skin. He could already feel the workings of a monster headache starting to form.
"We should," Aaron agreed, eyeing the other man curiously. "Just next time, how bout you call us before you decide to hit the hard stuff?"
He reached back and nudged Jay with something cold and dripping. It startled the man and he bit his lip, peering at the doctor warily.
"Put it against your face and get your head lower." Aaron gestured to the rag he had pulled out of the glove compartment and doused with his water bottle. "It'll help with the nausea."
"It smells like WD-40," he grimaced.
Aaron reached over to open the back windows and let the air circulate. "Yeah well, just let me know if you're gonna puke because Sam will shoot you if soil his car."
"Yeah. I'll bet." Jay huffed, barely suppressing a groan. "It's always that last one, ain't it, Doc?"
"No. It's usually the six or so before that, that's the real killer."
"Fair enough," the other man croaked, catching a hint of a smirk. "Yer enjoying this arn't ya?"
"Probably not as much as Claire would, considering the circumstances."
Jay swallowed hard, not wanting to press the issue. He muttered something about 'sadistic doctors' and stretched so that he was almost sprawled off against the back seat. "So when do I get my god damn lecture?" he moaned.
Aaron grinned and stretched his shoulders backward against the seat. "I'm not that sadistic." He tried to sound affronted.
Jay opened one eye blearily. "Good. Cause fer a while there I thought ya had yer stethoscope shoved too far up yer ass."
Whatever Aaron retorted he didn't hear, didn't even realize he had fallen asleep or just how bad he felt until something loud cracked over his head and he found himself sitting bolt upright. He could hear shouting, but the voices were blurry and indistinct. The air was cooler than when he had fallen asleep. He shook his head to see Aaron staring back at him from the other end; he had the trunk open and was rummaging around for something.
"Wha..." he tried to mutter. His voice felt syrupy and thick with sleep.
"Something's happened." Aaron finally set his hand on a large back kit bag with Trauma 4 printed on the side of it. "Three shots fired...I gotta go make sure no one is hurt," He tried to explain.
Jay cursed and maneuvered his way out of the SUV on unsteady legs. His stomach fell to his feet.
"Are you fucking crazy?" He grated when he finally caught up with the man. The flurry of officers around them seemed to be paying no attention.
Another shot. Aaron bit his lip.
"I'm a doctor. What do you expect me to do?"
"Sit in the god damn car and do as you're told. If someone's been hit they'll bring em' ta you!"
Another shot braced the distance. This one closer. They couldn't tell where, but one of the LAPD officers was shooting at something around the perimeter of the building.
"Shit. Run." Jay huffed, nudging him in the direction of the church. Sam, who was standing on one of the large granite steps with his handgun drawn shouted at them...or at least started to. Something indescribable happened before he could even attempt to finish his sentence. The closer they got toward him, the fussier things got, the brighter their surroundings got. Aaron thought for sure he was going to pass out, his ears were ringing, he couldn't see...that was a bad sign right? At least he thought it was. He fought back a low, pain-filled whimper...then nothing.
"What?" Aaron blinked, feeling warm sunbeams tickle the back of his neck. He drew in a sharp breath and waited...no forced, his vision to clear. Everything was still bright, but not as bright.
"What?" he muttered again, looking down to find himself in a grass filled grove. Wide open space, blue sky, birds singing...what?
Maybe he wasn't so fine. Jay sure wasn't. Aaron could hear him throwing up violently from not too far away. Sam was standing over him looking wary.
"What the hell is going on here?" He barked at Sam and winced out the sound of his own voice. The only other time he had taken that tone with the man was three years ago when Sam had to have his appendix removed and stubbornly refused to rest. Jack and Kate were out of town. He vaguely remembered the idiot waving medical proxy and opting do go to work instead of the recovery room. He had ended out passing out on the way to his car and Aaron used it as an excuse to have him restrained until he was certain there was no risk of infection. Sam didn't speak to him for a month.
"They did something...in the church." Sam shook his head. The frown lines on his brow arched upward in concentration to try and justify... nope he couldn't even attempt to. "Wasn't really a church..." he tried to partition his fragmented thoughts, no longer sure how much of what he had seen was even real.
"You mean this isn't an all expenses paid vacation to hell?" Jay ground out, roughly swatting his sleeve across his mouth to wipe away any debris that had gathered there. "Ain't that what churches are for?"
"Settle down you two. I'm sure there's a reasonable..." Sam started.
"Oh don't go feedn' me your FBI crowd control BS. We sure as hell ain't in fucking Disneyland and this would have never happened if you..."
"Enough." Aaron shouted. "Sam's right. We can sit here and blame each other all day. You really think that's gonna help?"
"Hell yeah." Jay snorted.
"Well I don't." The older man retorted.
Jay's expression turned to absolute disgust. "Well we ain't in Kansas anymore."
"There was a hidden room in the church. Big pendulum hanging from the ceiling." Sam reached to rub the bridge of his nose, trying to remember. It all happened so fast. "Two shooters."
He closed his eyes. "Didn't get em' on the sweep. They killed one of the officers and shot down the pendulum...caused some kind of electromagnetic release."
"So we're in hell and we're radioactive? Fantastic! This night is just getting better and better." Jay growled.
"Day." Aaron corrected automatically, glancing up at the cloud filled sky. "Wherever we are its apparently day time."
"We're near the ocean." Sam straightened his back and surveyed his surroundings. "And near the equator." He pointed to a tall tree on the horizon with a large billowing trunk and stout branches. "That's Agathis australis native to the South Pacific."
"Well that's just wonderful. We can go around and chronicle all the plant life...really damn helpful."
"I'm just saying we can use it to give us some idea where we are." Sam defended. "If you have other ideas I am open to hearing them."
That shut him up.
"Thought so." Sam sighed. "We can't stay here all day. The sun's gonna set eventually and we have no food, no water, and no shelter. That right there is a recipe for disaster."
"No...no please...I need you..."
Aaron's head shot up, tilting his glasses back toward the upper ridge of his nose. "You hear that?"
"No you're losing it, Doc." Jay stated flatly.
Sam shushed him. "We're not alone out here," he agreed, starting deeper into the grove. The dense tree growth prevented the light from penetrating.
"Don't leave me...please." Someone was saying...no sobbing.
"Hey?" Aaron called out, barely making out the source of the sound. His eyes trained on the hunched form of a man cradling something in his arms.
His voice was enough to make the muscles in the man's back coil as he turned to face the strangers.
"Hostiles." Sam was sure he heard the man mumble. Hostiles.
"Look...I'm sorry I didn't mean to violate the truce...all my people are gone and I...please I beg you...take me...please don't kill my wife and son."
Aaron and Sam exchanged and uneasy look. What the hell was going on?
"Why the hell would we wanna do that? We ain't animals." Jay thundered, feeling a bit offended.
Horace sat frozen, paralyzed with fear. He had Ethan tucked in a makeshift sling against his chest and Amy cradled limp and lifeless in his arms.
"J...Jim?" He stammered unable to lift his eyes from Jay's confused features
"They attacked the compound...Amy got shot...I don't know where everyone went.. .bright flash...it's deserted..." He trailed off, looking on the verge of passing out himself.
"Humour him, Jay." Sam advised, emphasizing the need to get information.
Jay shot him a venomous look and crouched down to get a good look at the man; he was bloody and had a deep gash stretching laterally across his neck.
"We're gonna help ya okay...H?" He squinted...noting the man's name stitched on his jumpsuit...the woman he was holding was blocking the rest of the letters from view.
The man reacted with a little nod. It was good enough.
"Great." He assured in his soothing southern accent. "This here is my pal Aaron, and he's a doc okay? He's gonna take real good care of you and your family."
"This guy is not quite all there," he frowned, glancing up at Aaron.
"He's suffering from a concussion." Aaron agreed. "Sam, you okay to take our little buddy there while I check out Mom and Dad?" He gestured to the baby, but Horace tensed when they attempted to get closer.
"Jay?" Aaron prompted.
Jay bit his lip, feeling the wet grass starting to soak through his jeans with what he suspected was blood. He was hungover, stranded, and currently helping the Doc play Doc...that was never a good combination.
He pushed out an annoyed breath of air, making his lungs burn. "I'm gonna take this little guy from you so the Doc can get a good look at ya." He told the man calmly...frightened at how easily Horace said "Okay Jim," and lowered his arm so that Jay could have better access to extract the sleeping baby.
"Don't either of you say a word." He snapped at the slight smile Aaron was trying to mask. If only Claire could see him now.
"Alright, I got ya bud," Sam cooed as the baby was transferred to his waiting arms. Horace twitched slightly at the unfamiliar voice, but otherwise sat bolt upright and clutched Amy tighter too him.
"He may have started to go into shock." Aaron observed. "I need you to get him to put Mom down and we'll get them both checked."
"She's bleedn', Doc." Jay followed the blood splatter pattern across Horace's jumpsuit. "Left leg."
"Alright. Get her here, hurry." Aaron dropped the trauma kit from Sam's car ― somewhat thankful that it was standard FBI issue so he at least knew it was well stocked. He shrugged out of the leather jacket that was making him sweat and spread it so the fleece lining provided some degree of cushioning against the grass.
"Sorry H." Jay dropped his slow, non-threatening movements in favour of a quick scooping motion that made the man cry out in anguish as Amy was ripped from his arms and transferred onto Aaron's jacket.
"Keep him sitting," Aaron jerked his head backward. He slipped on a pair of exam gloves and started rifling through the kit for a Vital Function Array pack.
"Amy!" Horace cried out.
"She's in good hands, Horace." Jay remarked now that he could finally read the man's name. "We're just trying ta help ya.
"Jim, she can't die," he wheezed, staring into Jay's impossibly blue eyes.
"She ain't gonna." Jay returned the intensity. He was a lawyer, he promised people things all the time, but this time he knew damn well he had to mean it.
"He supposed to be shivern' when it's 102 degrees out here?"
Aaron didn't look up from his inspection of Amy's leg. "Probably an acute stress reaction. Should be some solar blankets in the kit. Get him warm and keep him awake until we can assess the severity of his concussion."
"You got it," Jay agreed.
Vital Function Arrays or VFA's consisted of a small, flat touch screen computer about the size of an ipod that integrated several critical control features for advanced diagnostic analysis. The sensor module was a modified 25 gauge needle with a disposable tip and a wireless integration domain on the shaft that transferred data to the monitor using a modified Bluetooth L2CAP protocol. It could be used to monitor heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and body chemistry. The module, using small electrode sensors that could be placed on the skin had x-ray and differential variant capabilities.
"Thankfully, it didn't nick her femoral but the bullet is in there pretty good." Aaron tapped the touch screen in his hand, showing Sam a small dichromatic x-ray of the woman's leg. Near the bottom, information on heart rate and blood pressure filtered in from the needle sensor he had inserted into the vein on the back of her hand.
"Gonna have to do this the old fashioned way," he admitted with a grim expression. "It's not gonna be pretty."
***
"Vitals are stable, that's a good sign." Aaron glanced up from the small computer in his palm to watch Jay struggling to work one of Horace's arms out of the jumpsuit. The man just sat there like a ragdoll and let it happen.
"Try and keep him talking," he suggested, frowning at his blood stained gloves. "It'll keep his mind moving so he doesn't start to freeze up on us."
"You a god damn shrink now?" Jay snapped. "What the hell do ya want me ta do ask him? We're stranded in the middle of god damn nowhere, I don't see how chatn' it up about this year's top 40 is really gonna help much."
"Doesn't matter." Aaron motioned to Amy's prone form. "I'm going to have to get in there to get that bullet out and the drugs that I do have arn't near strong enough."
The younger man huffed in silent understanding. Horace wasn't going to react well to what Aaron was being forced to do.
"Keep yer stethoscope on. I got this Doc."
Aaron nodded, motioning to Sam to help hold the woman down with his free arm. Baby Ethan wriggled in the other and Sam had to bite his lip not to smile at the two brilliant blue eyes beaming up at him.
"Your mom is gonna be just fine," he whispered. In actual fact he was trying to assure himself more than anyone else. After all that had happened to them in the past few hours they needed a win, needed something good to finally come about.
"We'll do it on my count alright?" Aaron grimaced, his forehead crinkling in deep concentration as he prepared to extract the bullet using a pair of forceps. Sam bore down, listing to Jay ramble on to Horace several feet away.
"You still with us, H?" He pulled the man's other sleeve away from his arm.
"m'fine" Horace tried to say. It came out of him as more of a weak groan.
"Yeah, well tell ya what, as soon as we get outta this hell hole I'll hook you up with some decent digs. Whoever picked out this jumpsuit deserves to be shot." Jay made a face as he felt the older man lean further against him.
Horace's head was throbbing to the point he couldn't quite see straight. The world around him was a vortex of colour and sound, making it impossible to tell what from what. He could feel his own pulse throbbing in his throat, keeping time with the rhythmic swirl of his surroundings. He could hear Jim talking to him, not understanding what was being said, but the comforting sound of his honeyed southern accent seemed to be enough. Jim would help Amy and everything would be ok.
"Thank you, Jim," he mumbled at the exact same moment Amy let out a bloodcurdling scream. Suddenly, the gentle hands on his shoulders became constrictive, trying to pin him as he fought to get to her.
"Whoa...hey easy!" The warm voice commanded, but it was different somehow, similar, but different.
"Keep him there, Jay!" Someone else shouted. "It's almost out."
Jay? Horace stilled momentarily. The younger man had managed to pin him on his back and he stared up at his captor. Jay not Jim...not Jim!
"You get away from her!" He howled, painfully aware of his mistake as he took a swing at the man's face.
"Son of a bitch!" Jay yelped and groped at his nose. The shift in position was enough to sway things to Horace's advantage, allowing just enough room for him to get to his feet and shakily charge Aaron from side on.
He was bordering on hysterics. "You get away from my wife!" He roared, pounding the young doctor's chest with everything he had.
"Hey!" Aaron managed to grab the man's wrists and easily flip their bodies such that Horace was now sandwiched between him and the ground.
"Hey..." he said a little more gently, watching the adrenaline start to fizzle away. It wasn't enough to sustain him for very long.
"You listen to me now." He kept his voice firm, allowing the solid weight of his body to keep the man still. "I'm a doctor. I am just trying to help her. We got the bullet out."
"Hostiles," Horace spat back at him. Their noses were almost touching and Aaron watched the low growl reverberating at the base of his throat.
"Call us whatever you want to," he said finally, unsure of what to do next.
"You killed our people!" Horace glowered, fighting to keep the tears from leaking out of his eyes. It wouldn't be long before they killed Amy too.
"Now hold on just a minute now. We didn't kill anyone, H!" Jay huffed, standing over Aaron while still holding his nose.
"Aaron, she's bleeding out." Sam interrupted, before they could continue. He nodded, and slowly lifted his body from Horace's, allowing Sam to stand at the other man's feet so that Horace could see very clearly that he was holding baby Ethan.
"Please don't hurt him," Horace stammered. "I'll do anything...I..." he started to babble.
"I need you to scoot back against that tree. Don't stand up." The FBI agent directed in his best authoritative tone. He pointed to a wide-trunked caco tree.
Horace did as he was asked, the tears flowing freely now at the prospect of losing the only family he had left to those animals.
"That's good, Horace." Sam praised slowly, making a point of dropping the edge in his voice once he saw that the older man was willing to cooperate. When he was sure that he wasn't going to be attacked, he knelt down and transferred the chubby infant into his father's shaky arms. The act rendered Horace speechless so Sam spoke for him.
"My guess is that whatever these 'hostiles' have done to you it hasn't left you with much grounds to trust others. The only thing I can do is give you my word that we mean no harm to you or your family. I just have to ask that you continue to let Aaron treat your wife. She has a bullet wound to her upper leg and he needs to get the bleeding under control."
The slow nod Horace did manage was a weak one at best. Sam was almost certain he heard the man murmur a quiet 'thank-you' but, he wasn't entirely sure.
"I can hear water running nearby," he told Aaron as he stood back up and gestured to Horace's almost empty canteen. "I'm going to check it out."
"Can you see if you can catch the scent of a couple of double cheeseburgers on the wind while yer at it, Trailblazer?" Jay piped in. Aaron had charged him with monitoring the woman's vitals on the tiny computer while he administered injection after injection.
"Might be able to bag us a couple of rabbits," Sam chimed in, making the man grimace.
"I think I would rather gnaw off my own hand and eat that."
"You do that." Sam agreed. "More for the rest of us. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"There's nothing wrong with rabbit." Aaron didn't look up from filling what Jay was sure was the third syringe.
"You turning her into a human pin cushion or what, Doc?" His stomach did a little summersault at the sight of the silver tipped needle piercing Amy's skin, just above where the wound had been bandaged.
"Strong antibiotics, tetanus, and a morphine analogue for the pain. It isn't much, but it's the best we got. Can you watch her for a minute, Jay? I'm gonna check up on our friend over there."
There wasn't much more he could do now that the bullet was out and the wound was wrapped in military grade Celox hemostatic bandages. The thick gauze was coated in a generous layer of polymerized chitosan, a strictly organic anticoagulant produced from the deacetylation of chitin exoskeletons extracted from marine invertebrates such as shrimp. Such bandages were often used in combat injuries as they promoted quick blood clotting and maintained their anti-bacterial properties for days after application.
"Go right ahead, Doc. I'm startn' ta get used ta playn' yer damn nurse."
"Good. Just keep an eye on her vitals and let me know if anything changes." The top portion of his lips curled into a grin.
"And I'll be sure to let Dr. Shephard know that she's got herself one heck of a nurse maid if we ever get the hell out of here." He was, of course, referring to Dr. Claire Shephard and her name had the desired effect of causing Jay to grumble loudly as he sat himself on the grass next to Amy; refusing to make eye contact when he realized just how red he was turning.
"Part of being in a relationship, Jay is biting the bullet and realizing that the woman is always right." Aaron called over his shoulder. "Trust me. Honey, I love you, and you're right are the only two things a lady wants to hear. You manage to get those down and you'll have it made."
He plodded the short distance to where Horace was sitting rigidly and watching their every move around Amy with a notable wariness in his eyes.
"How about we try this again?" Aaron suggested as he bent down onto his haunches to squat in front of the man. He extended his right arm.
"I'm Dr. Aaron Austen."
Horace stared at the pre-offered limb and Aaron knew he was weighing his options as he instinctively tucked the baby closer to his chest. Finally, he related and shook the doctor's hand.
"Horace Goodspeed."
"Great to meet you, Horace. Do you think it would be okay if I had a look at you? I can see you've got a pretty good bump on your head there." Aaron shifted in a gesture of good faith, allowing the man an unobstructed view of where his wife was laying.
"She's stable, now." He continued. "Lots of rest and a healthy regiment of antibiotics and she'll be good as new."
He didn't wait for permission to take the man's wrist and start feeling for a pulse. "Do you have a headache?"
"Yeah," Horace admitted.
"Okay, well we can definitely get you some Advil for that. You should probably eat something as well." Aaron rooted in his jeans pocket for a half squished chocolate chip granola bar that his daughter had shoved there earlier that day, he offered it to Horace who stared at it.
"Seriously, it's chocolate chip marshmallow."
The man blinked back at him. "Who are you and why are you helping us?"
"Because you needed it," Aaron shrugged, making the man wince as he cleaned the gash on his neck. "And I was hoping that when you guys were feeling better you could help us figure out where the heck we are."
"What do you mean?" Hunger finally got the best of him and carefully pealed back the foil and took a tentative bite. He couldn't help the instinctive whimper of pleasure that escaped his lips. He had forgotten how long it had been since he had eaten something substantial. "The compound is about 20 miles east. Mmm this is really good."
Aaron adjusted his glasses and grinned. "My six-year-old seems to think so as well. What do you mean compound? Where are we, Horace?"
The older man looked at him oddly and Aaron could tell it was more than a slight concussion that was making his brow furrow.
"You're on the Island," he replied slowly.
"The Island?" Aaron repeated. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Not helping much I'm afraid."
"How did you get here, Aaron?" The man asked him gently. He suddenly got the feeling that this man was true to his word when he said he wasn't a hostile.
Kate really did hope that Jack would find what he was looking for, maybe then he could be their leader again and they could round everyone up and go home. Most importantly, she hoped that she could find Claire and then Aaron could have a mother and...she didn't know what else, her mind was racing a mile a minute. She hadn't bothered to move from her spot on the rocks after Jack and Hurley had left her. Some gut feeling kept her drawn to the water's edge, her eyes fixated on the meandering stream.
She was starting to wonder if coming back was such a great idea to begin with. From her standpoint they had caused more harm than good. She thought of Juliet, and the complete and utter breakdown she had witnessed with Sawyer. Her mind wandered to the engagement ring he had tossed off the dock and she was suddenly worried that he wanted to forget. Juliet wouldn't have wanted it that way that was something she was sure of. Her hand drifted to her chest where the heavy weight of her own engagement ring hung like a stone against her heart. Even after everything she had been through with Jack she never wanted to forget. He may have been convinced that it was 'all misery', but she wasn't. Jack had given her something that she could only ever dream of before she met him. He made her feel loved.
She didn't realize just how deep in thought she had drifted until the snapping of a branch several feet away brought her barrelling back into awareness. She spun around, cocking the small sidearm resting on her thigh at the same moment she brought herself to her feet, back rigid.
"Jack?" Kate squinted, trying to make out his figure through the trees.
Sam froze. His FBI training was enough for him to automatically raise both hands where she could see them, palms up. He took a couple of cautious steps forward, his pale green eyes meeting her own with a look of both astonishment and utter disbelief.
"You're not Jack," she stammered, getting a closer look at the man. She had to do a double take. He looked the way that Jack used to look, cropped brown hair, tired eyes, and a light dusting of scruff sprouting across his chin, just younger somehow.
"Er...no." Sam agreed, feeling the bile rise against the lump in his throat. He recognized her immediately, he didn't know why, or more importantly how, but there she was― Katherine Anne Shephard néeAusten, glaring back at him.
She shot him a formidable look and shifted her hand slightly, lining up the handgun for a better shot if he dared try anything.
"I'd rather it if you'd put that thing away," he requested sheepishly and suddenly wondered how he'd be able to explain that to his own mother. The wary timber in his voice made her eyes widen. She recognized it from somewhere, but just couldn't place it.
"Who are you?" She demanded dangerously.
Sam remained perfectly still, trying to judge for himself if this was just some wickedly bizarre dream. Maybe he had been the one to really tie one on instead of Jay. He wasn't much of a drinker, but right about now he would take just about any excuse he could get to try and justify this.
"If you don't answer me I'm just gonna shoot you," she warned.
Of course she was. That was his mom alright, though she didn't look a day over thirty.
"Sam." He blurted, realizing she would be true to her word. "My name is Sam."
"Sam?" Kate allowed the name to roll gently off of her tongue. Whatever she had been expecting it was not that. Something pulled at her insides and she suddenly felt sick.
"You're...you're one of them?" She tried to say.
"One of who?" That certainly wasn't the right thing to say because she drew even closer with the gun.
"You're an Other." She stated.
Sam blew out a short breath at the comment. "I'm sorry?" he rasped. "I'm a what?"
"You're from the Temple." Kate clarified. She seemed to show no intentions of lowering that gun.
"No," he admitted honestly. "Actually, I'm from Los Angeles, California. Myself and two others just sort of ended up here. There was a bright flash and..."
"What?" She cut him off. He knew the expression on her face all too well, it was the same one she had fixed him with when he and Elliot Fisher across the street managed to launch a baseball through old Mrs. Paterson's bedroom window.
Her eyes bore him and he swallowed nervously. This was getting ridiculous now, his mom didn't know about guns or mysterious jungle temples. Well, if she did, he sure as hell never heard about it.
"I honestly have no idea." Sam let his hands drop back to his sides. Maybe getting himself shot would make him wake up and put an end to this nightmare or something. "We got caught in some sort of electromagnetic field and ended up here. Personally I think we've all gone half loopy but..." he tried to offer her a friendly smile.
"Do you think you could tell me where exactly here is?"
"You've got ink on your forehead." Jacob told Hurley, mildly as they watched Jack from his vantage point on the cliffs. The man hadn't moved a muscle in hours and Hurley was getting frustrated just watching him. It didn't make any sense why Jacob wanted him to tag along to begin with; he had ruined everything when he had smashed those mirrors. The calm, collected, leader he had once known seemed nothing more than a phantom lingering in the sea breeze.
"I have ink on my forehead? That's all you have to say? Jack broke your lighthouse, dude. Mission un-accomplished. Whoever you said we need to help get to the island is totally screwed." He huffed; disappointed with himself for not being able to stop Jack from destroying what he was sure was pretty damn important.
Jacob didn't seem concerned in the slightest. "They're pretty resourceful. They could be already here for all I know. You never can tell who's coming and going from this place."
"So...everything you wanted me to do didn't get done, and you don't even care?" Now Hurley just seemed affronted, but he did his best not to let his disappoint show. They watched Jack for a moment, and he grinned slightly with realization.
"Wait a minute. Did you want jack to see what was in that mirror? Why?"
"It was the only way for him to understand how important he is." Jacob assured, smugly.
"That was your plan? I think it backfired, man." Hurley sounded doubtful.
"Jack is here because he has to do something. He can't be told what that is. He's got to find it himself. Sometimes you can just...hop in the back of someone's cab and tell them what they're supposed to do. Other times...you have to let them look out at the ocean for a while."
"Well next time how about you tell me everything up front. I'm not big on secret plans OK."
"Fair enough," Jacob agreed. "But you're not going to like what I need you to do next."
"Yeah?" Hurley cocked an eyebrow. "Why, you gonna make me glue all those mirrors back together?"
Jacob snorted slightly and shook his head without lifting his eyes from the breakers floundering on the rocks below.
"No. I'm going to ask you to dig up Juliet's body."
I'll post the rest later. :-)
Rating: PG
Words: 9000
Summary: For toestastegood, who wanted The Future. The next generation of Losties end up in their parents past.
Author's Notes: Okay, this is a tough one to explain. It is slight AU to start out with, but will follow the mid-season 6 timeline.
Dr. Aaron Charlie Austen: Short blonde hair, grey eyes, glasses. Kate takes him in when Claire is unable to be found as per original timeline. Jack learns about his relationship to him at his Father's wake and is apprehensive around Aaron and has difficulty dealing with his guilt over leaving Claire behind. Kate eventually convinces him that he is the only family Aaron has and after a brief struggle with depression he finally lets go, marries Kate, and settles down with his family.
Aaron is an ER doctor and occasionally teaches some of the first year medical school courses. He is a family man that is both calm and wise beyond his years. He married veterinarian Elizabeth 'Liz' Heller seven years ago and they have one daughter, Caitlyn Austen, who loves hanging out with her 'Grampa Jack'.
Federal Agent Samuel 'Sam' Christian Shephard: Sam and his sister Claire are Jack and Kate's biological children, along with adopted Aaron (who I guess would be their half cousin, but I am not getting into that.). Sam has a similar profile to Jack, but with Kate's eyes and an unwavering stubbornness that is greater than both of his parents combined. He also regularly maintains what Kate considers "Island Jack Scruff" much to her displeasure and she is always nagging him to shave it off if he ever wants to find a woman. Jack maintains that he managed to get her just fine.
He is generally restless in nature and after finishing a Ph. D. in Geology at Columbia joined the FBI's Counter Terrorism task force. Sam is a world traveler and though he has both a house and family in Los Angeles, when he is not working he is leading field team explorations to some of the most uncharted regions of the world. Sam once spent six months in the Antarctic chasing after a meteor that crashed somewhere in the ice fields. He has a bad habit of not knowing when to give up and Kate often worries that he is more like Jack than Jack is.
Sam is named for Jack's and Kate's (adoptive) fathers.
James 'Jay' Ford: Son of James "Sawyer' Ford and Juliet Burke, Jay is a cunning high profile lawyer who's swaggering charm and good looks have contributed to his successful career. He is a spitting image of Sawyer and is currently dating Spinal Surgeon Claire Shephard...much to Jack's annoyance. Though he can be irritating at times, Sam and Jay are good friends, to the point Sam defended Jay when Jack found out about his relationship with Claire. Though he knows how to pick his fights, Jay has a certain dependability about him when it really counts. He has also inherited his father's fondness for nicknames and his mother's calm and collected nature.
Los Angeles-2038
Moonlight bathed the city in a dim glow, one that was scarcely noticed over the smog and toxic neon signs. At exactly which point Tinseltown had managed to outrival Vegas for the position of The City That Never Sleeps, at least on some rudimentary level, it was impossible to tell. It was well past midnight and the traffic congestion reached on for miles, some easier to navigate then others. Two motorcycles weaved in and out through the queue of cars on either side of the center line. Sam Shephard could see them through the grubby windshield of his black SUV, both Harleys he thought. The tail lights of the minivan ahead of him flickered and he rode the break maybe a little too roughly. Someone honked in the distance.
"Ya tryn' to put us through the window er' what, Chief?"
Sam sighed, glancing up at the rear-view mirror. He didn't need to turn around. James 'Jay' Ford waggled an eyebrow at him and managed to look sarcastic while doing it.
"You do realize that you owe me big time for this right?" He rebutted, fiddling with something on the dash just to give his hands something to do while he waited.
"Yeah, yer a regular ol' Mother Teresa, 'preciate it."
Aaron, who had settled himself in the front passenger seat, snorted lightly. "Looks to me like the only thing you seemed to appreciate tonight was that last shot of bourbon."
"Aww Doc, I'm a big boy."
"You're also plastered." Sam observed.
"Am not," Jay hiccuped.
"Yeah," Aaron turned around in his seat to face the man, "you are."
He tried not to seem annoyed, "and I wanna know why."
"Did you and Claire have fight?" He asked softly. His glasses slid down the bridge of his nose as he shifted his head, making him look older than it probably should have. He was a little under five years Jay's senior, but his striking gray eyes conveyed a wary wisdom. Fatherhood had changed him. He gazed upon the man with a stern dignity, patiently waiting for an answer.
"Wasn't a fight," Jay mumbled.
"You mean it wasn't one of your usual fights," Sam frowned, rubbing at the thin line of scruff that was starting to ghost across his chin. His eyelids dipped a couple of times and he had to fight to suppress a yawn.
"Do I need to call and check up on my sister?" He asked firmly, not liking where this was going one bit.
"It's late," Aaron reasoned. "We should probably leave it."
"Arn't you out past yer curfew, Doc?" Jay slid back against the leather interior and attempted to redirect the conversation.
"Nah. Mom and Jack offered to take Caitlyn camping for the weekend and Lizzie's at a conference til' Sunday at the earliest. Sam and I decided to catch the Sox game. You could have come along, but I thought you'd be with Claire..." he paused and pressed his lips together, realizing his mistake.
"Yeah, well I had better things ta do. The Sox suck anyway." Jay brushed him off. He titled his head toward his feet and Aaron could see in the waning light, filtering in from outside, that he looked more than a little pale.
"If you ever plan on marrying her one day you'd better not let Jack hear you say that. He's pissed enough at you already for not telling him that you and Claire were seeing each other in the first place." Aaron warned.
"She's twenty five. He ain't her damn keeper." He hissed, but was unable to mask the distinctive flush creeping up his cheeks at the suggestion. He had been toying with the idea...until tonight.
Sam smirked back at him. "Red suites you, Jay." He grinned. "You wanna be an official member of the Shephard family you gotta love the Sox. It's a rule."
Jay didn't bother to acknowledge the comment with an audible response. He just snorted and directed his gaze toward the window, clearly finished with the conversation.
Sam let him drop it and allowed his eyes to settle on the long stretch of pavement in front of him. "So Mom and Dad have the Squirt for the weekend?" He asked with a dusty chuckle.
Aaron's smile widened. "Yeah. She's been after Jack to help her get her wilderness survival badge all month."
"Good choice. We all know how great with camping you were when we were kids. Dad had to fix you up more than all of the rest of us combined. Remember the poison ivy incident?"
The older man cringed. "A little too well, Jack was pretty pissed. I offered to help her pitch a tent in the back yard, apparently that didn't cut it."
"Right, well I'm glad you turned her over to the experts. Mom and Dad are old pros when it comes to that sort of thing. No offense, but you probably wouldn't last a day if you had to rough it."
"More like an hour." Aaron was only too happy to agree. "What can I say? I rather enjoy running water and electricity way too much to let them go to waste."
"But you can have too much of a good thing." Sam rebuked. "There's nothing wrong with sleeping out under the open sky, staring up at the stars. You know, taking life for what it is really worth?"
Aaron shook his head. "The only life I need is the one right in front of me."
"Yeah well," Sam's tone grew softer. "Guess no one ever taught me how to settle down." There was a slight timber in his voice that held something undetectable, something he couldn't quite place.
"God forbid Trailblazer goes all domestic on us. I'd bet hell would freeze over." Jay piped in from the back. Aaron had stated to think he had fallen asleep.
"Oh, so you're still with us, Jay?" He teased.
Sam's phone sprung to life, startling all of them before he could respond.
"This is Shephard...what? Langer was supposed to be running point...why?"
Jay cocked his head up. "Well, don't that sound official?"
"Shut it, Jay." Aaron warned, watching Sam's expression turn grave as he clenched the steering wheel and made a complete one hundred and eighty degree u-turn in the middle of the freeway. The tires screeched and Jay cursed loudly though clenched teeth.
"Son of a bitch! Where the hell did you learn to drive?" He glared daggers at the back of Sam's neck and didn't dare let go of his death grip on the edge of his seat. They were barreling around a sharp curve in the road at well over the normal speed limit. He was starting to wonder if Sam even knew that such thing existed.
Sam continued to talk quietly into his phone. Aaron could only hear bits of his conversation, but it always made him nervous when Sam used words like 'tactical', 'evasion', and 'shoot-out'.
"Jesus Pontiac, are you even listen' ta me?"
"Jay, if you don't want me to shoot you I suggest you shut up." Sam barked, uncharacteristically as he whipped his head around.
"Yes Sir...I'm about 3 minutes out. Yeah, no. I know the drill. Local LEO's already on scene?...good...OK...yeah I'll take over."
"Sorry bout' the detour," he said as he pocketed his phone. "Got a possible ID on a suspect we've been tracking. Report of shots fired...gotta check it out."
"Yer, going to go play FBI agent, now?" Jay complained.
"Local police are already there. I just have to supervise while they lockdown the area and then I'll get you two home, OK?" Sam tried to sound optimistic, he'd worked cases like this before and he had a feeling he was in for a long night. It was starting to feel like he would have to check the place out, drop Jay home, drop Aaron back to his apartment to his car, and then return to the scene. It was supposed to be his god damn night off ...that was just karma right there.
"No fucking way," Jay grumbled as they pulled into the parking lot of an old, run down church. His eyes flicked around to the four LAPD squad cars with their red and blue lights blaring.
"Yer suspect is a god damn old lady in her Sunday hat?" He snorted, surveying the area with air of distaste.
Someone knocked on the window before Sam could snap at him. Aaron remained silent while Sam turned his head and blinked back at the blue patrol uniform. He hit a button on the dash with his thumb and the window rolled down.
"This is a crime scene. I'm going to have to ask you to..."
Sam shifted in his seat to pull his badge from his back pocket. He flashed it at the officer.
"Special Agent Sam Shephard, FBI Counter Opps. We're taking over."
The officer's frown deepened, but he said nothing and stepped back to allow Sam room to open the door.
"I won't be long," he turned to them...looking apologetic.
Aaron shrugged, unwilling to admit that the situation made him feel uneasy. "Shit happens." He agreed, trying to brush off the tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him he shouldn't be anywhere near this place.
"Stay in the car, both of you." Sam said as he pushed the door open.
"Well, I sure as hell don't feel like join' the Holy Roller Choir."
"Not even confession could save you, Jay." Aaron grinned. He noticed Sam roll his eyes as the door slammed shut.
"Well, this turned out to be a real fun night. We should do it again sometime, Doc." Jay pressed his forehead back against the window, relishing the cool glass against his skin. He could already feel the workings of a monster headache starting to form.
"We should," Aaron agreed, eyeing the other man curiously. "Just next time, how bout you call us before you decide to hit the hard stuff?"
He reached back and nudged Jay with something cold and dripping. It startled the man and he bit his lip, peering at the doctor warily.
"Put it against your face and get your head lower." Aaron gestured to the rag he had pulled out of the glove compartment and doused with his water bottle. "It'll help with the nausea."
"It smells like WD-40," he grimaced.
Aaron reached over to open the back windows and let the air circulate. "Yeah well, just let me know if you're gonna puke because Sam will shoot you if soil his car."
"Yeah. I'll bet." Jay huffed, barely suppressing a groan. "It's always that last one, ain't it, Doc?"
"No. It's usually the six or so before that, that's the real killer."
"Fair enough," the other man croaked, catching a hint of a smirk. "Yer enjoying this arn't ya?"
"Probably not as much as Claire would, considering the circumstances."
Jay swallowed hard, not wanting to press the issue. He muttered something about 'sadistic doctors' and stretched so that he was almost sprawled off against the back seat. "So when do I get my god damn lecture?" he moaned.
Aaron grinned and stretched his shoulders backward against the seat. "I'm not that sadistic." He tried to sound affronted.
Jay opened one eye blearily. "Good. Cause fer a while there I thought ya had yer stethoscope shoved too far up yer ass."
Whatever Aaron retorted he didn't hear, didn't even realize he had fallen asleep or just how bad he felt until something loud cracked over his head and he found himself sitting bolt upright. He could hear shouting, but the voices were blurry and indistinct. The air was cooler than when he had fallen asleep. He shook his head to see Aaron staring back at him from the other end; he had the trunk open and was rummaging around for something.
"Wha..." he tried to mutter. His voice felt syrupy and thick with sleep.
"Something's happened." Aaron finally set his hand on a large back kit bag with Trauma 4 printed on the side of it. "Three shots fired...I gotta go make sure no one is hurt," He tried to explain.
Jay cursed and maneuvered his way out of the SUV on unsteady legs. His stomach fell to his feet.
"Are you fucking crazy?" He grated when he finally caught up with the man. The flurry of officers around them seemed to be paying no attention.
Another shot. Aaron bit his lip.
"I'm a doctor. What do you expect me to do?"
"Sit in the god damn car and do as you're told. If someone's been hit they'll bring em' ta you!"
Another shot braced the distance. This one closer. They couldn't tell where, but one of the LAPD officers was shooting at something around the perimeter of the building.
"Shit. Run." Jay huffed, nudging him in the direction of the church. Sam, who was standing on one of the large granite steps with his handgun drawn shouted at them...or at least started to. Something indescribable happened before he could even attempt to finish his sentence. The closer they got toward him, the fussier things got, the brighter their surroundings got. Aaron thought for sure he was going to pass out, his ears were ringing, he couldn't see...that was a bad sign right? At least he thought it was. He fought back a low, pain-filled whimper...then nothing.
"What?" Aaron blinked, feeling warm sunbeams tickle the back of his neck. He drew in a sharp breath and waited...no forced, his vision to clear. Everything was still bright, but not as bright.
"What?" he muttered again, looking down to find himself in a grass filled grove. Wide open space, blue sky, birds singing...what?
Maybe he wasn't so fine. Jay sure wasn't. Aaron could hear him throwing up violently from not too far away. Sam was standing over him looking wary.
"What the hell is going on here?" He barked at Sam and winced out the sound of his own voice. The only other time he had taken that tone with the man was three years ago when Sam had to have his appendix removed and stubbornly refused to rest. Jack and Kate were out of town. He vaguely remembered the idiot waving medical proxy and opting do go to work instead of the recovery room. He had ended out passing out on the way to his car and Aaron used it as an excuse to have him restrained until he was certain there was no risk of infection. Sam didn't speak to him for a month.
"They did something...in the church." Sam shook his head. The frown lines on his brow arched upward in concentration to try and justify... nope he couldn't even attempt to. "Wasn't really a church..." he tried to partition his fragmented thoughts, no longer sure how much of what he had seen was even real.
"You mean this isn't an all expenses paid vacation to hell?" Jay ground out, roughly swatting his sleeve across his mouth to wipe away any debris that had gathered there. "Ain't that what churches are for?"
"Settle down you two. I'm sure there's a reasonable..." Sam started.
"Oh don't go feedn' me your FBI crowd control BS. We sure as hell ain't in fucking Disneyland and this would have never happened if you..."
"Enough." Aaron shouted. "Sam's right. We can sit here and blame each other all day. You really think that's gonna help?"
"Hell yeah." Jay snorted.
"Well I don't." The older man retorted.
Jay's expression turned to absolute disgust. "Well we ain't in Kansas anymore."
"There was a hidden room in the church. Big pendulum hanging from the ceiling." Sam reached to rub the bridge of his nose, trying to remember. It all happened so fast. "Two shooters."
He closed his eyes. "Didn't get em' on the sweep. They killed one of the officers and shot down the pendulum...caused some kind of electromagnetic release."
"So we're in hell and we're radioactive? Fantastic! This night is just getting better and better." Jay growled.
"Day." Aaron corrected automatically, glancing up at the cloud filled sky. "Wherever we are its apparently day time."
"We're near the ocean." Sam straightened his back and surveyed his surroundings. "And near the equator." He pointed to a tall tree on the horizon with a large billowing trunk and stout branches. "That's Agathis australis native to the South Pacific."
"Well that's just wonderful. We can go around and chronicle all the plant life...really damn helpful."
"I'm just saying we can use it to give us some idea where we are." Sam defended. "If you have other ideas I am open to hearing them."
That shut him up.
"Thought so." Sam sighed. "We can't stay here all day. The sun's gonna set eventually and we have no food, no water, and no shelter. That right there is a recipe for disaster."
"No...no please...I need you..."
Aaron's head shot up, tilting his glasses back toward the upper ridge of his nose. "You hear that?"
"No you're losing it, Doc." Jay stated flatly.
Sam shushed him. "We're not alone out here," he agreed, starting deeper into the grove. The dense tree growth prevented the light from penetrating.
"Don't leave me...please." Someone was saying...no sobbing.
"Hey?" Aaron called out, barely making out the source of the sound. His eyes trained on the hunched form of a man cradling something in his arms.
His voice was enough to make the muscles in the man's back coil as he turned to face the strangers.
"Hostiles." Sam was sure he heard the man mumble. Hostiles.
"Look...I'm sorry I didn't mean to violate the truce...all my people are gone and I...please I beg you...take me...please don't kill my wife and son."
Aaron and Sam exchanged and uneasy look. What the hell was going on?
"Why the hell would we wanna do that? We ain't animals." Jay thundered, feeling a bit offended.
Horace sat frozen, paralyzed with fear. He had Ethan tucked in a makeshift sling against his chest and Amy cradled limp and lifeless in his arms.
"J...Jim?" He stammered unable to lift his eyes from Jay's confused features
"They attacked the compound...Amy got shot...I don't know where everyone went.. .bright flash...it's deserted..." He trailed off, looking on the verge of passing out himself.
"Humour him, Jay." Sam advised, emphasizing the need to get information.
Jay shot him a venomous look and crouched down to get a good look at the man; he was bloody and had a deep gash stretching laterally across his neck.
"We're gonna help ya okay...H?" He squinted...noting the man's name stitched on his jumpsuit...the woman he was holding was blocking the rest of the letters from view.
The man reacted with a little nod. It was good enough.
"Great." He assured in his soothing southern accent. "This here is my pal Aaron, and he's a doc okay? He's gonna take real good care of you and your family."
"This guy is not quite all there," he frowned, glancing up at Aaron.
"He's suffering from a concussion." Aaron agreed. "Sam, you okay to take our little buddy there while I check out Mom and Dad?" He gestured to the baby, but Horace tensed when they attempted to get closer.
"Jay?" Aaron prompted.
Jay bit his lip, feeling the wet grass starting to soak through his jeans with what he suspected was blood. He was hungover, stranded, and currently helping the Doc play Doc...that was never a good combination.
He pushed out an annoyed breath of air, making his lungs burn. "I'm gonna take this little guy from you so the Doc can get a good look at ya." He told the man calmly...frightened at how easily Horace said "Okay Jim," and lowered his arm so that Jay could have better access to extract the sleeping baby.
"Don't either of you say a word." He snapped at the slight smile Aaron was trying to mask. If only Claire could see him now.
"Alright, I got ya bud," Sam cooed as the baby was transferred to his waiting arms. Horace twitched slightly at the unfamiliar voice, but otherwise sat bolt upright and clutched Amy tighter too him.
"He may have started to go into shock." Aaron observed. "I need you to get him to put Mom down and we'll get them both checked."
"She's bleedn', Doc." Jay followed the blood splatter pattern across Horace's jumpsuit. "Left leg."
"Alright. Get her here, hurry." Aaron dropped the trauma kit from Sam's car ― somewhat thankful that it was standard FBI issue so he at least knew it was well stocked. He shrugged out of the leather jacket that was making him sweat and spread it so the fleece lining provided some degree of cushioning against the grass.
"Sorry H." Jay dropped his slow, non-threatening movements in favour of a quick scooping motion that made the man cry out in anguish as Amy was ripped from his arms and transferred onto Aaron's jacket.
"Keep him sitting," Aaron jerked his head backward. He slipped on a pair of exam gloves and started rifling through the kit for a Vital Function Array pack.
"Amy!" Horace cried out.
"She's in good hands, Horace." Jay remarked now that he could finally read the man's name. "We're just trying ta help ya.
"Jim, she can't die," he wheezed, staring into Jay's impossibly blue eyes.
"She ain't gonna." Jay returned the intensity. He was a lawyer, he promised people things all the time, but this time he knew damn well he had to mean it.
"He supposed to be shivern' when it's 102 degrees out here?"
Aaron didn't look up from his inspection of Amy's leg. "Probably an acute stress reaction. Should be some solar blankets in the kit. Get him warm and keep him awake until we can assess the severity of his concussion."
"You got it," Jay agreed.
Vital Function Arrays or VFA's consisted of a small, flat touch screen computer about the size of an ipod that integrated several critical control features for advanced diagnostic analysis. The sensor module was a modified 25 gauge needle with a disposable tip and a wireless integration domain on the shaft that transferred data to the monitor using a modified Bluetooth L2CAP protocol. It could be used to monitor heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and body chemistry. The module, using small electrode sensors that could be placed on the skin had x-ray and differential variant capabilities.
"Thankfully, it didn't nick her femoral but the bullet is in there pretty good." Aaron tapped the touch screen in his hand, showing Sam a small dichromatic x-ray of the woman's leg. Near the bottom, information on heart rate and blood pressure filtered in from the needle sensor he had inserted into the vein on the back of her hand.
"Gonna have to do this the old fashioned way," he admitted with a grim expression. "It's not gonna be pretty."
***
"Vitals are stable, that's a good sign." Aaron glanced up from the small computer in his palm to watch Jay struggling to work one of Horace's arms out of the jumpsuit. The man just sat there like a ragdoll and let it happen.
"Try and keep him talking," he suggested, frowning at his blood stained gloves. "It'll keep his mind moving so he doesn't start to freeze up on us."
"You a god damn shrink now?" Jay snapped. "What the hell do ya want me ta do ask him? We're stranded in the middle of god damn nowhere, I don't see how chatn' it up about this year's top 40 is really gonna help much."
"Doesn't matter." Aaron motioned to Amy's prone form. "I'm going to have to get in there to get that bullet out and the drugs that I do have arn't near strong enough."
The younger man huffed in silent understanding. Horace wasn't going to react well to what Aaron was being forced to do.
"Keep yer stethoscope on. I got this Doc."
Aaron nodded, motioning to Sam to help hold the woman down with his free arm. Baby Ethan wriggled in the other and Sam had to bite his lip not to smile at the two brilliant blue eyes beaming up at him.
"Your mom is gonna be just fine," he whispered. In actual fact he was trying to assure himself more than anyone else. After all that had happened to them in the past few hours they needed a win, needed something good to finally come about.
"We'll do it on my count alright?" Aaron grimaced, his forehead crinkling in deep concentration as he prepared to extract the bullet using a pair of forceps. Sam bore down, listing to Jay ramble on to Horace several feet away.
"You still with us, H?" He pulled the man's other sleeve away from his arm.
"m'fine" Horace tried to say. It came out of him as more of a weak groan.
"Yeah, well tell ya what, as soon as we get outta this hell hole I'll hook you up with some decent digs. Whoever picked out this jumpsuit deserves to be shot." Jay made a face as he felt the older man lean further against him.
Horace's head was throbbing to the point he couldn't quite see straight. The world around him was a vortex of colour and sound, making it impossible to tell what from what. He could feel his own pulse throbbing in his throat, keeping time with the rhythmic swirl of his surroundings. He could hear Jim talking to him, not understanding what was being said, but the comforting sound of his honeyed southern accent seemed to be enough. Jim would help Amy and everything would be ok.
"Thank you, Jim," he mumbled at the exact same moment Amy let out a bloodcurdling scream. Suddenly, the gentle hands on his shoulders became constrictive, trying to pin him as he fought to get to her.
"Whoa...hey easy!" The warm voice commanded, but it was different somehow, similar, but different.
"Keep him there, Jay!" Someone else shouted. "It's almost out."
Jay? Horace stilled momentarily. The younger man had managed to pin him on his back and he stared up at his captor. Jay not Jim...not Jim!
"You get away from her!" He howled, painfully aware of his mistake as he took a swing at the man's face.
"Son of a bitch!" Jay yelped and groped at his nose. The shift in position was enough to sway things to Horace's advantage, allowing just enough room for him to get to his feet and shakily charge Aaron from side on.
He was bordering on hysterics. "You get away from my wife!" He roared, pounding the young doctor's chest with everything he had.
"Hey!" Aaron managed to grab the man's wrists and easily flip their bodies such that Horace was now sandwiched between him and the ground.
"Hey..." he said a little more gently, watching the adrenaline start to fizzle away. It wasn't enough to sustain him for very long.
"You listen to me now." He kept his voice firm, allowing the solid weight of his body to keep the man still. "I'm a doctor. I am just trying to help her. We got the bullet out."
"Hostiles," Horace spat back at him. Their noses were almost touching and Aaron watched the low growl reverberating at the base of his throat.
"Call us whatever you want to," he said finally, unsure of what to do next.
"You killed our people!" Horace glowered, fighting to keep the tears from leaking out of his eyes. It wouldn't be long before they killed Amy too.
"Now hold on just a minute now. We didn't kill anyone, H!" Jay huffed, standing over Aaron while still holding his nose.
"Aaron, she's bleeding out." Sam interrupted, before they could continue. He nodded, and slowly lifted his body from Horace's, allowing Sam to stand at the other man's feet so that Horace could see very clearly that he was holding baby Ethan.
"Please don't hurt him," Horace stammered. "I'll do anything...I..." he started to babble.
"I need you to scoot back against that tree. Don't stand up." The FBI agent directed in his best authoritative tone. He pointed to a wide-trunked caco tree.
Horace did as he was asked, the tears flowing freely now at the prospect of losing the only family he had left to those animals.
"That's good, Horace." Sam praised slowly, making a point of dropping the edge in his voice once he saw that the older man was willing to cooperate. When he was sure that he wasn't going to be attacked, he knelt down and transferred the chubby infant into his father's shaky arms. The act rendered Horace speechless so Sam spoke for him.
"My guess is that whatever these 'hostiles' have done to you it hasn't left you with much grounds to trust others. The only thing I can do is give you my word that we mean no harm to you or your family. I just have to ask that you continue to let Aaron treat your wife. She has a bullet wound to her upper leg and he needs to get the bleeding under control."
The slow nod Horace did manage was a weak one at best. Sam was almost certain he heard the man murmur a quiet 'thank-you' but, he wasn't entirely sure.
"I can hear water running nearby," he told Aaron as he stood back up and gestured to Horace's almost empty canteen. "I'm going to check it out."
"Can you see if you can catch the scent of a couple of double cheeseburgers on the wind while yer at it, Trailblazer?" Jay piped in. Aaron had charged him with monitoring the woman's vitals on the tiny computer while he administered injection after injection.
"Might be able to bag us a couple of rabbits," Sam chimed in, making the man grimace.
"I think I would rather gnaw off my own hand and eat that."
"You do that." Sam agreed. "More for the rest of us. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"There's nothing wrong with rabbit." Aaron didn't look up from filling what Jay was sure was the third syringe.
"You turning her into a human pin cushion or what, Doc?" His stomach did a little summersault at the sight of the silver tipped needle piercing Amy's skin, just above where the wound had been bandaged.
"Strong antibiotics, tetanus, and a morphine analogue for the pain. It isn't much, but it's the best we got. Can you watch her for a minute, Jay? I'm gonna check up on our friend over there."
There wasn't much more he could do now that the bullet was out and the wound was wrapped in military grade Celox hemostatic bandages. The thick gauze was coated in a generous layer of polymerized chitosan, a strictly organic anticoagulant produced from the deacetylation of chitin exoskeletons extracted from marine invertebrates such as shrimp. Such bandages were often used in combat injuries as they promoted quick blood clotting and maintained their anti-bacterial properties for days after application.
"Go right ahead, Doc. I'm startn' ta get used ta playn' yer damn nurse."
"Good. Just keep an eye on her vitals and let me know if anything changes." The top portion of his lips curled into a grin.
"And I'll be sure to let Dr. Shephard know that she's got herself one heck of a nurse maid if we ever get the hell out of here." He was, of course, referring to Dr. Claire Shephard and her name had the desired effect of causing Jay to grumble loudly as he sat himself on the grass next to Amy; refusing to make eye contact when he realized just how red he was turning.
"Part of being in a relationship, Jay is biting the bullet and realizing that the woman is always right." Aaron called over his shoulder. "Trust me. Honey, I love you, and you're right are the only two things a lady wants to hear. You manage to get those down and you'll have it made."
He plodded the short distance to where Horace was sitting rigidly and watching their every move around Amy with a notable wariness in his eyes.
"How about we try this again?" Aaron suggested as he bent down onto his haunches to squat in front of the man. He extended his right arm.
"I'm Dr. Aaron Austen."
Horace stared at the pre-offered limb and Aaron knew he was weighing his options as he instinctively tucked the baby closer to his chest. Finally, he related and shook the doctor's hand.
"Horace Goodspeed."
"Great to meet you, Horace. Do you think it would be okay if I had a look at you? I can see you've got a pretty good bump on your head there." Aaron shifted in a gesture of good faith, allowing the man an unobstructed view of where his wife was laying.
"She's stable, now." He continued. "Lots of rest and a healthy regiment of antibiotics and she'll be good as new."
He didn't wait for permission to take the man's wrist and start feeling for a pulse. "Do you have a headache?"
"Yeah," Horace admitted.
"Okay, well we can definitely get you some Advil for that. You should probably eat something as well." Aaron rooted in his jeans pocket for a half squished chocolate chip granola bar that his daughter had shoved there earlier that day, he offered it to Horace who stared at it.
"Seriously, it's chocolate chip marshmallow."
The man blinked back at him. "Who are you and why are you helping us?"
"Because you needed it," Aaron shrugged, making the man wince as he cleaned the gash on his neck. "And I was hoping that when you guys were feeling better you could help us figure out where the heck we are."
"What do you mean?" Hunger finally got the best of him and carefully pealed back the foil and took a tentative bite. He couldn't help the instinctive whimper of pleasure that escaped his lips. He had forgotten how long it had been since he had eaten something substantial. "The compound is about 20 miles east. Mmm this is really good."
Aaron adjusted his glasses and grinned. "My six-year-old seems to think so as well. What do you mean compound? Where are we, Horace?"
The older man looked at him oddly and Aaron could tell it was more than a slight concussion that was making his brow furrow.
"You're on the Island," he replied slowly.
"The Island?" Aaron repeated. He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Not helping much I'm afraid."
"How did you get here, Aaron?" The man asked him gently. He suddenly got the feeling that this man was true to his word when he said he wasn't a hostile.
Kate really did hope that Jack would find what he was looking for, maybe then he could be their leader again and they could round everyone up and go home. Most importantly, she hoped that she could find Claire and then Aaron could have a mother and...she didn't know what else, her mind was racing a mile a minute. She hadn't bothered to move from her spot on the rocks after Jack and Hurley had left her. Some gut feeling kept her drawn to the water's edge, her eyes fixated on the meandering stream.
She was starting to wonder if coming back was such a great idea to begin with. From her standpoint they had caused more harm than good. She thought of Juliet, and the complete and utter breakdown she had witnessed with Sawyer. Her mind wandered to the engagement ring he had tossed off the dock and she was suddenly worried that he wanted to forget. Juliet wouldn't have wanted it that way that was something she was sure of. Her hand drifted to her chest where the heavy weight of her own engagement ring hung like a stone against her heart. Even after everything she had been through with Jack she never wanted to forget. He may have been convinced that it was 'all misery', but she wasn't. Jack had given her something that she could only ever dream of before she met him. He made her feel loved.
She didn't realize just how deep in thought she had drifted until the snapping of a branch several feet away brought her barrelling back into awareness. She spun around, cocking the small sidearm resting on her thigh at the same moment she brought herself to her feet, back rigid.
"Jack?" Kate squinted, trying to make out his figure through the trees.
Sam froze. His FBI training was enough for him to automatically raise both hands where she could see them, palms up. He took a couple of cautious steps forward, his pale green eyes meeting her own with a look of both astonishment and utter disbelief.
"You're not Jack," she stammered, getting a closer look at the man. She had to do a double take. He looked the way that Jack used to look, cropped brown hair, tired eyes, and a light dusting of scruff sprouting across his chin, just younger somehow.
"Er...no." Sam agreed, feeling the bile rise against the lump in his throat. He recognized her immediately, he didn't know why, or more importantly how, but there she was― Katherine Anne Shephard néeAusten, glaring back at him.
She shot him a formidable look and shifted her hand slightly, lining up the handgun for a better shot if he dared try anything.
"I'd rather it if you'd put that thing away," he requested sheepishly and suddenly wondered how he'd be able to explain that to his own mother. The wary timber in his voice made her eyes widen. She recognized it from somewhere, but just couldn't place it.
"Who are you?" She demanded dangerously.
Sam remained perfectly still, trying to judge for himself if this was just some wickedly bizarre dream. Maybe he had been the one to really tie one on instead of Jay. He wasn't much of a drinker, but right about now he would take just about any excuse he could get to try and justify this.
"If you don't answer me I'm just gonna shoot you," she warned.
Of course she was. That was his mom alright, though she didn't look a day over thirty.
"Sam." He blurted, realizing she would be true to her word. "My name is Sam."
"Sam?" Kate allowed the name to roll gently off of her tongue. Whatever she had been expecting it was not that. Something pulled at her insides and she suddenly felt sick.
"You're...you're one of them?" She tried to say.
"One of who?" That certainly wasn't the right thing to say because she drew even closer with the gun.
"You're an Other." She stated.
Sam blew out a short breath at the comment. "I'm sorry?" he rasped. "I'm a what?"
"You're from the Temple." Kate clarified. She seemed to show no intentions of lowering that gun.
"No," he admitted honestly. "Actually, I'm from Los Angeles, California. Myself and two others just sort of ended up here. There was a bright flash and..."
"What?" She cut him off. He knew the expression on her face all too well, it was the same one she had fixed him with when he and Elliot Fisher across the street managed to launch a baseball through old Mrs. Paterson's bedroom window.
Her eyes bore him and he swallowed nervously. This was getting ridiculous now, his mom didn't know about guns or mysterious jungle temples. Well, if she did, he sure as hell never heard about it.
"I honestly have no idea." Sam let his hands drop back to his sides. Maybe getting himself shot would make him wake up and put an end to this nightmare or something. "We got caught in some sort of electromagnetic field and ended up here. Personally I think we've all gone half loopy but..." he tried to offer her a friendly smile.
"Do you think you could tell me where exactly here is?"
"You've got ink on your forehead." Jacob told Hurley, mildly as they watched Jack from his vantage point on the cliffs. The man hadn't moved a muscle in hours and Hurley was getting frustrated just watching him. It didn't make any sense why Jacob wanted him to tag along to begin with; he had ruined everything when he had smashed those mirrors. The calm, collected, leader he had once known seemed nothing more than a phantom lingering in the sea breeze.
"I have ink on my forehead? That's all you have to say? Jack broke your lighthouse, dude. Mission un-accomplished. Whoever you said we need to help get to the island is totally screwed." He huffed; disappointed with himself for not being able to stop Jack from destroying what he was sure was pretty damn important.
Jacob didn't seem concerned in the slightest. "They're pretty resourceful. They could be already here for all I know. You never can tell who's coming and going from this place."
"So...everything you wanted me to do didn't get done, and you don't even care?" Now Hurley just seemed affronted, but he did his best not to let his disappoint show. They watched Jack for a moment, and he grinned slightly with realization.
"Wait a minute. Did you want jack to see what was in that mirror? Why?"
"It was the only way for him to understand how important he is." Jacob assured, smugly.
"That was your plan? I think it backfired, man." Hurley sounded doubtful.
"Jack is here because he has to do something. He can't be told what that is. He's got to find it himself. Sometimes you can just...hop in the back of someone's cab and tell them what they're supposed to do. Other times...you have to let them look out at the ocean for a while."
"Well next time how about you tell me everything up front. I'm not big on secret plans OK."
"Fair enough," Jacob agreed. "But you're not going to like what I need you to do next."
"Yeah?" Hurley cocked an eyebrow. "Why, you gonna make me glue all those mirrors back together?"
Jacob snorted slightly and shook his head without lifting his eyes from the breakers floundering on the rocks below.
"No. I'm going to ask you to dig up Juliet's body."
I'll post the rest later. :-)