Come Together
Title: Come Together
Characters: Cindy, Lennon, Dogen, Zach, Emma, Nathan, Ana Lucia.
Pairings: Cindy/Lennon
Warnings: Spoilers all through S6
Rating: PG
Summary: For cloudytea who requested Cindy/Lennon at lostsquee Summer Luau. Cindy wonders about all the feelings of deja vu she experiences following the sideways Flight 815, until she meets Lennon again.
Ugh, at least that flight’s done with, Cindy thought as she glanced around the airport for a woman who might conceivably be Zach and Emma’s mother. “Look after them, would you? See that they’re all right on the plane,” their father had said right before disappearing with his new girlfriend without a backward glance. And she had, for the most part, leaving them only to deal with that guy who’d overdosed. (He couldn’t have picked a worse moment, right in the middle of that turbulence!) Luckily, Zach and Emma seemed to have coped pretty well.
“There she is!” Emma tugged on Cindy’s arm, gesturing towards a blonde woman who was waving and smiling.
“Did they behave themselves on the flight?” the woman asked as Zach and Emma launched themselves into her arms.
“Oh, they put some of the adult passengers to shame, the way they coped with the turbulence,” Cindy laughed as the kids, already looking like they’d forgotten her, started chattering about their time in Australia.
“Anyway, take care of yourselves, kids,” she said as she turned to walk away, Zach and Emma waving as they left. Strange, she thought as she watched them go. It wasn’t the first time she’d looked after kids who were flying alone since she’d worked for Oceanic. But she’d never felt like this at parting with any of them before. It was as though she felt relieved at handing them over to their mother, as though by handing them over she was keeping them safe somehow. But that made no sense, since they’d never been in any real danger on the flight (it wasn’t even the worst turbulence Cindy remembered.) And yet another part of Cindy hated the thought of letting them go, knowing that she was never likely to see them again. But that didn’t make sense either. Why had she felt such a bond with them? Surely it couldn’t just have been because she’d picked up on the fact that they clearly didn’t like their dad’s girlfriend, remembering her fraught relationship with her own stepmother?
Cindy shook her head. That had been one strange flight. A drink, that was what she needed, she thought, heading purposefully in the direction of the bar.
That doctor who’d helped her out earlier with the overdose guy was a little way off, she noticed, appearing to be arguing with someone at the information desk. Cindy wondered briefly what that was all about. She wondered about the other guy as well, why he’d been so angry once he’d realised he’d been saved. While she’d never actually experienced a life-threatening situation on one of her flights before, she’d never known of anyone who’d reacted in that way before.
Oof. Cindy glanced up in shock to realise she had collided with a man wearing a red shirt, causing him to drop his hand luggage to the floor.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, “Here, let me help you with that.” She bent down to help the man pick up his things, noticing that his passport had fallen open. Nathan was all she read before he snatched it away angrily, snapping “Forget it, I’ve got it,” and glaring at her as he walked away.
That was rude, Cindy thought as she watched him stomp off. Yet even though he was the one to snap at her, Cindy realised she was feeling a sense of guilt, more than a mere collision would have warranted. The flight had obviously affected her more than she’d thought.
“Tequila and tonic, please,” Cindy requested at the bar. It wasn’t her usual drink, but the nervous woman in 42F had been downing them throughout the flight, and it had appeared to relax her, so Cindy had been tempted to try the same.
“If you will allow me, I will get this,” came a voice from behind her, and Cindy turned around to see a Japanese man accompanied by a man with shoulder-length hair and glasses. “I am Dogen, and this is Lennon, my translator.”
“Translator?” Cindy repeated, covering how flustered she felt at the sight of Lennon. “But your English sounds pretty fluent to me.”
Lennon grinned. “He is, but a lot of his business associates don’t know that. They think it’s going to be so easy to get the better of the guy who doesn’t speak English, so they never see it coming when he actually gets the better of them.”
Cindy laughed. “So, is that what you’re over here for now? Business?”
Dogen shook his head. “We have just come back from Tokyo, but we are here long-term now. My son has an audition for the Williams Conservatory this week. My wife’s idea…I would have been happy for him to have waited a little longer, because he is still so young for this sort of pressure. However, Shizuka is determined that he will succeed.”
“What about you?” Cindy asked Lennon. “Are you married?” She hoped the answer would be no, yet when he gave it, it was as if she already knew it. It was Zach and Emma (and the rude man outside) all over again; it felt as though Cindy had already known these men, known them well enough to feel comfortable with them in such a short space of time.
“You know, this might sound really odd,” Cindy began, “but this is the third time today where I’ve felt I’ve recognised someone. There were these kids on my flight…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe they just reminded me of other people I’d known. I’ve always had a good memory for faces,” she went on, but as soon as she’d said it, she heard a voice in her head. Guess your talent for remembering faces was exaggerated, Cindy. It was the woman who’d been drinking all the tequila and tonic who’d said it, and it was somehow connected with the man who’d bitten her head off outside…But how could that be, when she hadn’t met any of them before today?
“So you got them home safely to their mother then,” Lennon replied softly. “I know you always felt guilty about what happened to them when they were in your care.” He reached out and took her hand. “Do you remember, Cindy?”
Several images flashed in front of Cindy’s eyes; the day Zach and Emma were taken from her, the day she’d let those two Other goons take her without protest because she knew it would get her back to them, the day Richard had taken his party to the Temple and Lennon had been there to welcome her…
“Yes,” she whispered. “I remember everything now.”
It was the moment she hadn’t even realised she was waiting for, when she and Lennon had come together once again.
Characters: Cindy, Lennon, Dogen, Zach, Emma, Nathan, Ana Lucia.
Pairings: Cindy/Lennon
Warnings: Spoilers all through S6
Rating: PG
Summary: For cloudytea who requested Cindy/Lennon at lostsquee Summer Luau. Cindy wonders about all the feelings of deja vu she experiences following the sideways Flight 815, until she meets Lennon again.
Ugh, at least that flight’s done with, Cindy thought as she glanced around the airport for a woman who might conceivably be Zach and Emma’s mother. “Look after them, would you? See that they’re all right on the plane,” their father had said right before disappearing with his new girlfriend without a backward glance. And she had, for the most part, leaving them only to deal with that guy who’d overdosed. (He couldn’t have picked a worse moment, right in the middle of that turbulence!) Luckily, Zach and Emma seemed to have coped pretty well.
“There she is!” Emma tugged on Cindy’s arm, gesturing towards a blonde woman who was waving and smiling.
“Did they behave themselves on the flight?” the woman asked as Zach and Emma launched themselves into her arms.
“Oh, they put some of the adult passengers to shame, the way they coped with the turbulence,” Cindy laughed as the kids, already looking like they’d forgotten her, started chattering about their time in Australia.
“Anyway, take care of yourselves, kids,” she said as she turned to walk away, Zach and Emma waving as they left. Strange, she thought as she watched them go. It wasn’t the first time she’d looked after kids who were flying alone since she’d worked for Oceanic. But she’d never felt like this at parting with any of them before. It was as though she felt relieved at handing them over to their mother, as though by handing them over she was keeping them safe somehow. But that made no sense, since they’d never been in any real danger on the flight (it wasn’t even the worst turbulence Cindy remembered.) And yet another part of Cindy hated the thought of letting them go, knowing that she was never likely to see them again. But that didn’t make sense either. Why had she felt such a bond with them? Surely it couldn’t just have been because she’d picked up on the fact that they clearly didn’t like their dad’s girlfriend, remembering her fraught relationship with her own stepmother?
Cindy shook her head. That had been one strange flight. A drink, that was what she needed, she thought, heading purposefully in the direction of the bar.
That doctor who’d helped her out earlier with the overdose guy was a little way off, she noticed, appearing to be arguing with someone at the information desk. Cindy wondered briefly what that was all about. She wondered about the other guy as well, why he’d been so angry once he’d realised he’d been saved. While she’d never actually experienced a life-threatening situation on one of her flights before, she’d never known of anyone who’d reacted in that way before.
Oof. Cindy glanced up in shock to realise she had collided with a man wearing a red shirt, causing him to drop his hand luggage to the floor.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, “Here, let me help you with that.” She bent down to help the man pick up his things, noticing that his passport had fallen open. Nathan was all she read before he snatched it away angrily, snapping “Forget it, I’ve got it,” and glaring at her as he walked away.
That was rude, Cindy thought as she watched him stomp off. Yet even though he was the one to snap at her, Cindy realised she was feeling a sense of guilt, more than a mere collision would have warranted. The flight had obviously affected her more than she’d thought.
“Tequila and tonic, please,” Cindy requested at the bar. It wasn’t her usual drink, but the nervous woman in 42F had been downing them throughout the flight, and it had appeared to relax her, so Cindy had been tempted to try the same.
“If you will allow me, I will get this,” came a voice from behind her, and Cindy turned around to see a Japanese man accompanied by a man with shoulder-length hair and glasses. “I am Dogen, and this is Lennon, my translator.”
“Translator?” Cindy repeated, covering how flustered she felt at the sight of Lennon. “But your English sounds pretty fluent to me.”
Lennon grinned. “He is, but a lot of his business associates don’t know that. They think it’s going to be so easy to get the better of the guy who doesn’t speak English, so they never see it coming when he actually gets the better of them.”
Cindy laughed. “So, is that what you’re over here for now? Business?”
Dogen shook his head. “We have just come back from Tokyo, but we are here long-term now. My son has an audition for the Williams Conservatory this week. My wife’s idea…I would have been happy for him to have waited a little longer, because he is still so young for this sort of pressure. However, Shizuka is determined that he will succeed.”
“What about you?” Cindy asked Lennon. “Are you married?” She hoped the answer would be no, yet when he gave it, it was as if she already knew it. It was Zach and Emma (and the rude man outside) all over again; it felt as though Cindy had already known these men, known them well enough to feel comfortable with them in such a short space of time.
“You know, this might sound really odd,” Cindy began, “but this is the third time today where I’ve felt I’ve recognised someone. There were these kids on my flight…” She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe they just reminded me of other people I’d known. I’ve always had a good memory for faces,” she went on, but as soon as she’d said it, she heard a voice in her head. Guess your talent for remembering faces was exaggerated, Cindy. It was the woman who’d been drinking all the tequila and tonic who’d said it, and it was somehow connected with the man who’d bitten her head off outside…But how could that be, when she hadn’t met any of them before today?
“So you got them home safely to their mother then,” Lennon replied softly. “I know you always felt guilty about what happened to them when they were in your care.” He reached out and took her hand. “Do you remember, Cindy?”
Several images flashed in front of Cindy’s eyes; the day Zach and Emma were taken from her, the day she’d let those two Other goons take her without protest because she knew it would get her back to them, the day Richard had taken his party to the Temple and Lennon had been there to welcome her…
“Yes,” she whispered. “I remember everything now.”
It was the moment she hadn’t even realised she was waiting for, when she and Lennon had come together once again.