Hope is not Such a Bad Thing - part 2
Hope is not Such a Bad Thing
Rated: PG
Disclaimer: Don’t own Lost, Desmond or Daniel (sadly enough)
Characters: Desmond Hume, Daniel Faraday, Sayid Jarrah, Charlotte S. Lewis, Jack Shephard, with the occasional appearance and guest performance of other Lost characters
Summary: Desmond finds himself in desperate need to go back to the island… but how? And yeah, for the first time in his life, he gets lucky!
Part 1
Part 2
The humming stopped suddenly, but not only that. Daniel felt as if someone turned the volume off, silence surrounded him. He couldn’t hear the murmur of the ocean or the distant human voices of the people in camp - something did happen!
He opened his eyes excitedly and a bit worriedly of what he might see. He was in a clearing, but seemingly he was still on the island. He didn’t know his exact location, but he didn’t feel confusion or anything suspicious… And he certainly remembered being on the beach just a moment ago… so what happened exactly?
He looked around, there was no one, only bushes and trees as far as his eyes could reach. He searched in his pockets, then his backpack but he had no phone or any device on him. He thought he was wearing different pants too and his tie was gone. He looked up to the sky for orientation; only… he didn’t know where he was heading.
“Hmm… ermm” he scratched his head puzzled, he wanted to shout out to see if anyone was in earshot, but he felt awkward, so he walked around the clearing in silence. He found a small, matted paper in the grass at a few yards’ distance. As there was no one else around he concluded that he was the one who lost it. He picked it up and flattened it, he recognized it in a second. He saw that many times during the everlasting meetings on the boat; it was a map that showed the way to Ben’s village. Was he going there or coming from there?
He pondered for a few seconds, then decided to go back to the beach. He took his bearings and started walking fast. He was not a physical being - ironically enough for a physicist, any kind of exercise was tiresome and utterly redundant for him. He felt exhausted pretty quickly. His shirt was soaked, sticking to his back and its collar was stinging his neck uncomfortably. He jumped over a brook, his shoe slipped and he fell on his knees.
* * *
“Daniel, are you alright?”
He squinted in the pouring light, the outline of two people emerged slowly above him. Jack and Charlotte were looking at him worriedly.
He sat upright quickly; it wasn’t such a good idea because it made his head spin.
“What happened?” he asked on a wheezy voice.
“I think you fainted. Maybe it was the sun… it takes a little getting used to. You should move your experiment into the shades”
“Experiment?!” he asked and looked around. His equipment was laying a couple of yards away, and he was sitting in the sand on the beach he was heading to… a moment ago.
“Does your head hurt? Any dizziness? You must be dehydrated” Jack went professional in a minute, but Daniel wasn’t listening to him. His face enlightened as he looked around, his eyebrows furrowed with the effort to decide what was needed to be done… He reached for his diary still in the sand nearby… it opened automatically in the same place every time… he looked at the words written in red ink for a few seconds.
“I need to talk to Desmond Hume” he said looking at Jack, then at Charlotte. The two of them shared a worried look.
“You just said we can’t talk to them” Jack said and turned to Charlotte again, who made a helpless gesture.
Daniel jumped to his feet
“I know… but this phone works… maybe Frank will…”
* * *
He was on all fours in the middle of the jungle. He turned around slowly, sat in the grass and took his backpack between his legs. He rumbled through it for a while until he found the diary.
“If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant.”
Something did go wrong and now he needed his constant desperately. He was thinking feverishly.
This must be the future. He didn’t remember wearing these pants on the island before, and he hasn’t been wandering in the jungle alone before either. How much time passed? What happened since then? Did they capture Ben? Was Desmond still on the island?
He hoped to find some answers on the beach, so he made an effort to stand up and walk on.
He wasn’t as far away as he thought, in another half an hour the jungle seemed to clear and he was seeing the blue waves when a dizzy spell made him lean on a tree for a second.
* * *
When he opened his eyes, he was still leaning next to a tree, at the other end of the beach. Someone dragged him into the shade and let him in a sitting position. He had a wet cloth on his forehead and a bottle of water by his left foot.
“You’re coming around, finally” Charlotte said half worried, half impatient.
“How long was I out?”
“A couple of hours” she said. “We couldn’t wake you” she said frowning.
“I expect not” he said rubbing his forehead. “It’s getting harder… I never though it would be this hard” he said more to himself.
“You did something to yourself, didn’t you?” Charlotte looked at him suspiciously.
“Charlotte, I need the phone” he said avoiding answering her question but confirming her suspicions nonetheless.
“I knew this would happen” she rolled her eyes. “I left the phone in my shelter, wait here.”
“I’m not going anywhere” Daniel sighed.
She walked carefully, hoping to avoid Jack on her way. She made it to her tent easily, she searched her bag and took out the phone. As she turned out to go back to Daniel, Jack was standing outside.
“Did he wake up? Is he feeling better?” he asked.
“Yes” she said with a slight hesitation, holding the phone awkwardly.
“I thought we couldn’t call the ship” he said with a straight face.
“We are not calling the ship” she answered lifting her chin provokingly.
“Who are you calling then?”
“Why don’t you ask Daniel yourself?” she walked out on him.
Jack shook his head looking after her, the cold war started to get on his nerves already. However he intended to stay informed so he followed her. They found Daniel limp and blood was dripping from his nose.
* * *
He walked into camp with trembling legs. He was getting confused and worried, this was really bad. It was the first time when it occurred to him that this experiment could cost his life. The beach was quiet, a few people were walking around like dizzy bugs in the heat, Daniel didn’t seem to recognize any of their faces.
He stumbled from tent to tent, people were looking at him darkly, he didn’t understand why. Nobody seemed eager to talk to him.
He looked around searching for a friendly face, he spotted a black woman in the kitchen who didn’t look very threatening, so he decided to approach her.
“Khm… I’m sorry...”
The woman looked up from the pile of fruit that she was selecting. He was afraid she would throw him the same dark look as the others, but she only smiled.
“Daniel! What brings you here?”
“Oh, you know me… that’s right… that’s right.” He said enlightened.
“You don’t look so good, honey” she said frowning.
“Yes...huh… well. I’m looking for Desmond Hume” he said awkwardly.
Rose’s face darkened at this, she looked sad and angry in the same time.
“He’s over there in the cemetery.”
Daniel’s face fell, she smiled a sad smile.
“Oh, he’s not dead. He is only dead drunk. Yesterday I couldn’t talk two words with him…” she added.
Daniel mumbled some thanks and paced to the place where he knew they buried their dead. Since he had seen this place it grew considerably. Desmond was sitting in the grass with a bottle in his hand. He looked up at him, but there was no recognition in his eyes.
Daniel approached carefully, he had a phobia of drunk people, they could become violent and were utterly irrational, something that unsettled and frightened him.
“Desmond?!” he asked unnerved.
“Aye. That’s me… Desmond bloody Hume” he said lifting the bottle to his lips. “How can I ruin your life?” he asked after a short pause then laughed at his own joke with a snort.
“Hmm… what? Err … I only need you to…”
* * *
He was floating. He felt quite weightless as they were carrying him somewhere.
“He’s back” said a woman’s voice nearby.
“Dan? Can you hear me?” now he recognized Charlotte’s voice. “We are bringing you to Jack’s tent so that he can help you” she said on a soothing tone.
“He can’t help me” Daniel sighed. “The phone Charlotte…” he mumbled. “I need the phone”
“You need to get better first” she answered while Jack and Jin were settling him down inside a large tent.
“Charlotte please… I don’t have much time! I must have Desmond…”
* * *
“…call me!“
“What?” Desmond looked at him perplexed. “You need me to call you?!” He watched his unfocused eyes, and despite his own inebriation he knew what was happening to the physicist. The recognition hit him in a bolt.
“You’re Faraday” he said sobering up quickly. “You are…” he searched his brain for the term… “Unstuck” he finally concluded. Daniel was shifting from one foot to the other, his confusion and fear rising.
Desmond struggled between anger and gratitude. This man saved his life once, but their people were responsible for the massacre that happened 3 weeks ago and left him in self-loath and desperation.
“Your people…” he started slowly “killed them…” he couldn’t utter names, he just made a wide gesture to indicate the 5 new graves. “They killed them all!” Daniel looked around with a scared and sad expression on his face.
Desmond saw his confusion, and a light alit in his head.
“You don’t know anything about this, do you?”
Daniel only shook his head frowning.
“I… I only came here because you are my constant” he said hesitantly.
A stupid grin widened on the Scot’s face.
“I am? That’s funny. Very touching!” he was about to lift the bottle to his mouth, when a sudden thought hit him. It was taking shape with great difficulty in his soggy brain, but nonetheless a new, unexpected hope was born in his chest. He let the bottle slip from his fingers, and he turned to his visitor eagerly.
“You came from the past or from the future?”
Daniel was beginning to be utterly afraid of the manic expression on his face, he made two steps back when the Scot jumped to his feet.
“What is it then?” he roared at him impatiently, grabbing the front of his matted shirt.
“P-Past… I think I came from a few days ago, don’t know how many” he said jumpily.
“Give me some specifics…” he let go of him, but was watching every twitch of his face.
“I… was making an experiment… err… Charlotte said they were coming”
“Who was coming?” Desmond asked eagerly.
Daniel hesitated a moment before the answer.
“The people who did this” he said very quietly, indicating the graves.
Desmond walked around clutching his hair with both of his hands.
“It’s not too late… I can change it! We can change it!” then he turned to Daniel. “Listen to me brother. The lives of all these people are in your hands now. When you go back, call your mate with the helicopter… Lapidus. Do whatever it takes… MAKE him go back to the boat for us! We can save them… we can save them!” he was clutching his shoulder in a hurtful clasp, but Daniel wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
“Promise! Promise you will make Lapidus go back!” he shouted desperately.
* * *
“I promise!” he said as he opened his eyes. He was lying in a cool tent with two people sitting on either side of him.
“Charlotte…” he whispered, the woman jumped to her feet to look at him more closely. Her eyes were red and she was clutching to a black box with both hands.
“Here… the phone Daniel.” But he couldn’t take it into his hands, so he looked at her pleadingly.
“Please, call Frank for me.” While the woman was dialing, he closed his eyes to gather his strength. She thought he had a fit again, so she called out anxiously.
“I’m ok, just dial” he answered.
“You shouldn’t excite yourself” Jack interrupted, but they both ignored him.
Charlotte made the connection and after an exchange of a couple of rushed sentences she set the phone on speaker and left it on Daniel’s chest. He spoke up on a surprisingly clear voice.
“Frank! I don’t have much time, so listen! The lives of many people are at stake here. Where are you?” Static and the muffled voice of Lapidus rolled off the device
“Just landed, what is it then?”
“Are you alone?”
“Sort of… why?”
“I need you to take the helicopter and go back to the boat for Hume and Jarrah.”
“You’re crazy? The captain will spit fire… what the heck?”
“Don’t ask, please Frank. You must go back for Desmond.” His voice was dying away. “All these people will die… and so will I”
After a pause of a few seconds Frank’s answer came like a bark
“Ok, but on your responsibility!”
“Thank you” Daniel whispered. “And one more thing. After you leave, have Desmond call me… He must…”
* * *
Sayid looked at Desmond with apprehension.
“How can you explain this?” he asked slowly.
“I can’t” he shook his head. “But we shouldn’t question our luck” he said with shining eyes.
“Are we going or what?” Lapidus asked looking around. The captain was already approaching.
They climbed into the chopper hurriedly, and in two minutes they were above the ocean, on their way back to the island.
Desmond looked at the boat that was falling into the distance with a pang of regret. In truth he wasn’t too happy to go back to the uncanny island, but as he thought about his desperation of the last few hours a wave of relief washed over him.
Lapidus woke him from his reverie thrusting the phone into his hands.
“Call Faraday” he said with authority. Desmond looked at him questioningly.
“Don’t ask. He said to tell you that his life depended on it” the pilot shrugged.
* * *
Desmond was sitting in the sand, looking out at the big blue ocean. He almost regarded it as a live creature, one like the ancient gods who distributed despair and joy alike. He wondered what was yet to come to them. The ocean brought death, hopelessness, it was a relentless guardian of the stranded ones… but it could also bring along the rescue that Desmond’s fair girl promised to provide.
He looked around the camp, hope like he rarely allowed himself to have filled his every fiber. Claire and Hurley were playing with her sweet baby just a few yards away from Daniel, who looked at them with a half smile, fearing to approach them. Hurley waved him closer, he walked toward them hesitatingly. Desmond smiled at his clumsy friend.
“What do you think had happened?” the Iraqi sat down beside him.
“With the hostiles and Ben?” he asked shrugging.
“We didn’t hear anything from Locke” he said meaningfully. “They don’t know anything?” he tossed his head in the direction of Daniel and Charlotte.
Desmond shook his head.
“Since they helped us they’ve been cut off of any communication. They are with us now” he added after a few seconds of pondering.
Sayid nodded, but he wasn’t satisfied.
“We should at least find out what happened, if they are still a threat…”
But Desmond wasn’t listening to him anymore. He was watching the tree line with a frown, and suddenly jumped to his feet.
“Excuse me for a moment…” and he walked into the jungle, the Iraqi was squinting in vain to see what he could see there.
* * *
Charlie was leaning to a tree and watched the merry group smiling. Claire handed over the baby to Daniel who was holding him with arms stretched in front of him, Sawyer was laughing his head off seeing somebody who was clumsier than himself around the infant.
Desmond stopped by his side, they contemplated the camp in silence for a few minutes.
“Thank you” Charlie finally uttered.
“They really mean a lot to you, aye?” the Scot asked with an understanding, sad smile.
“Everything” Charlie said simply.
“You should thank him then, brother” Desmond looked at Daniel. “He saved them really”
“I might” the Brit’s eyes were glinting mischievously.
“What now?” the Scot asked after a pause.
“We wait” Charlie nodded slowly. “Hope is not such a bad thing. You should try it out some time.”
“Will we get rescued?” Des asked not bothering to dissimulate his eagerness.
“You don’t really want me to spoil it for you, do you?” the blond chap laughed and walked away whistling “Good Vibrations”.
THE END