Lost Fic: The Weapon (Miles, Jacob, and The Man in Black)
Title: The Weapon
Characters: Miles, Jacob, and The Man in Black
Rating: PG (mild language)
Words: 1,155
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: For demonqueen666 who requested mythology and strange bedfellows. I hope this is the sort of thing you had in mind. :)
Jacob went about the process of choosing his army before any of them drew their first breath. He wove his tapestry and into it he threaded their names. He knew them and he knew their weaknesses and their strengths. He knew what would hold them together and what would break them apart. Then he forged them out of time, he put a pen in a little boy’s hand and fueled his anger. He taught a little girl how easy it was to lie. He made a man watch his wife die, bloody and broken on the street, so that the monster inside of him could swallow him whole. He told himself it had to be done.
But they were not enough. The Man in Black could push and pull them; he would play on their hearts. He would show them what they wanted---lovers, fathers, friends all lost and sacrificed. And they would want so much to believe that they would stray.
He needed someone who could see through the lie. So Jacob made his greatest weapon out of a child. He came into the boy’s nursery and he touched his forehead.
“A gift,” he whispered into the dark. And then he left the child to sleep on.
***
The Man in Black knew something that Jacob never could. The gift he gave was a curse and would be seen as such as the child grew into a man. He would see death and he would carry the burden alone. The child would always hold himself apart from the world because he could see everything, and no one wants to know the brutal truth of life. He would understand this the moment his mother looked at him not with love, but with fear.
“We do not talk to dead things, Miles.”
And the child would become bitter. He would be filled with hate and anger; he would spend a lifetime asking, “Why me?”
Yes, he would be a great weapon, but for which side?
The Man in Black had the answer the boy sought and he knew that in giving the boy the answer he would find an ally. Because the truth, the answer to “why me?” was as simple as, “you were there.”
And the boy would know it was a simple twist of fate. He was chosen because Jacob needed a seer. And what man would choose to fight with the one who damned him?
***
Jacob was filled with joy the day Miles, Charlotte, and Daniel arrived. His secret was that he favored them above the others because they were among the last true children of the island. This place was in their blood and it hurt him to know that they would end here just as they began. But he took solace in knowing that their end would not be for nothing.
He watched as Miles walked through the jungle for the first time. He knew the boy could see death all around him, but he did not let on. His face was calm and knowing. He was harder than Jacob had imagined. He threw around words like they were knives, but no matter. The bravado was just an act, what was important was what he would do in the end.
Jacob held his breath as the first test came. The girl, Claire, died but the Man in Black made it look like it was not so. He wanted the child, just as he had always wanted the child, so he became the girl.
Her friends suspected nothing. They saw what they wanted to see. It was a miracle they thought. She is alive and well, and The Man in Black was satisfied with himself. He would have the child and he would make his own weapon, and then he would win, at long last he would win.
But Miles saw. He did not say anything, but he saw through the disguise. He saw straight through to the man lurking below, and the Man in Black was afraid. He left the child and retreated back to his cabin. And Jacob was filled with pride.
***
The Man in Black began planning that very night; so that the next time he met Miles he would be prepared.
He cornered him in the jungle after the woman set off the bomb. Miles was older now; the hard edges he had worn with such pride were softer after three years on the island. The Man in Black appeared to him as his father, even though he knew the boy would see the lie.
“I know you’re not him.”
Miles’s voice was steady, anger rumbling just below the surface.
“Then who am I?” The Man in Black asked with a smile.
Miles smirked. “Something old as fuck.”
The Man in Black laughed and it sounded old and rusty. He could not remember the last time he had laughed. He changed then, turning first into a cloud of smoke, swirling and crackling with energy. It was an impressive sight, people usually ran, but Miles held his ground. His face became paler and his heart, The Man in Black could feel it, beat faster.
Miles was scared, but he was too stubborn to show it. This pleased The Man in Black because it meant there was defiance in him and that was exactly what he was counting on.
He changed then, pulling the smoke inwards until he stood before Miles in his true form.
“This is who I am. Right down to my core. You’re the first man to lay eyes on me in…well, I don’t keep up with time the way I used to, friend, but trust me when I say it’s been quite a while.”
Miles eyed him suspiciously. “What the hell do you want?”
“You, by my side. You can see me, friend, and there are some who would use that against me.”
Miles considered him. “Why don’t you just kill me then?”
The Man in Black shook his head. “If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you a long time ago. I need you alive. You’re useful, friend.”
Miles gave a bitter laugh. “What’s in this for me?”
Inside The Man in Black was smiling. “You’ve spent your whole life wondering why you can do what you do. I know why, friend. Because a man named Jacob gave you your “gift” so that when you grew up he could use you to get rid of me. He took your life; he made you what you are.”
Miles was silent. He stood there in the jungle; blood still crusted on his face, and said nothing at all. The Man in Black was becoming nervous; wondering suddenly if he had waited too long, let the boy get too soft. But then Miles spoke.
“What do you want me to do?” He asked grimly.
And The Man in Black knew the weapon was his.