How Can They See With Sequins In Their Eyes?
Title: How Can They See With Sequins In Their Eyes?
Fandom: Lost/Harper's Island crossover
Characters: Shannon Rutherford, Hunter Jennings. Mentions of Harper's Island wedding party.
Pairings: Shannon/Hunter
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for Harper's Island episodes as far as Ka-Blam. AU as far as Shannon is concerned.
Summary: Written for missy_useless who requested crossovers at lostsquee Summer Luau. Shannon's thoughts on the wedding party are revealed, as she teams up with Hunter Jennings to con Thomas Wellington.
Author's Note: Set around the time of Ka-Blam in Harper's Island verse. Shannon's backstory up to the time of the crash of Flight 815 remains the same, but this assumes that she and Boone never boarded that flight after all, and that she is related to the Wellingtons on her mother's side.
As Shannon looks at her cousin Trish, preparing to tie the knot with Henry, she remembers how different her own wedding had been from this. For one thing, Trish has her daddy and all her family around her, whereas Shannon had just had Boone, making it very clear that he didn’t approve of the marriage, while her stepmother, Sabrina, had been a no-show. Looking at Trish and Shea’s stepmother, Katherine, however, Shannon suspects that they were wishing she’d been a no-show as well. The woman’s practically the same age as her stepkids, for pete’s sake.
Shannon remembers when her mother was still alive and her father had once said to her “Your brother’s a fool.” Siobhan Wellington Rutherford had said “Thomas, a fool? What are you talking about? He’s always been very shrewd when it comes to business.”
“Business, sure,” Adam Rutherford had replied. “But he’s no judge when it comes to women.” Looking at the woman he had married, Shannon thought she could see why her father had made that comment. If Uncle Thomas were to die suddenly, Katherine would probably try and claim everything had been left to her just like Sabrina did, although the difference was that Uncle Thomas most likely had made some provision in his will for his daughters anyway. Look at Trish, the daddy’s girl who could have everything she ever wanted from her father. Shannon remembered when she and her own father had been close like that, in the days before Sabrina.
Speaking of her family, Shannon has to admit that Chloe’s date, Cal, is reminding her of Boone in a way - if Boone were here, he’d probably be displaying the same desperation, the same trying too hard to fit in with the wedding party. Chloe might like that kind of thing, but it makes Shannon itch with irritation to watch him (although she had to admit to a grudging admiration for the trick with Sully and the feathers; she hadn’t thought Cal would have had that in him.)
If anything, she’s had the opposite problem to Cal in that the wedding party won’t leave her alone - she’d already caught Henry’s friend Malcolm, for instance, ogling her as she’d sat by the pool. Not a chance, loser, she’d thought, giving him a withering look. Having to feign interest in his stupid home brew plans wasn’t Shannon’s idea of a good time. Still, she’d caught him later chatting up Trish’s friend Beth, so he obviously wasn’t too broken-hearted.
Abby, meanwhile, has been bugging her about any cute anecdotes/old photos of Trish she might have for the scrapbook she’s making Trish and Henry as a wedding present. Not much chance of that, Shannon had thought, since Sabrina had been pretty keen that Adam should cut off contact with his first wife’s side of the family as far as possible after they got married and she’d barely seen Trish since, in fact she isn’t even sure why she was invited to the wedding, so she’d just brushed Abby off. There’s something odd about that whole thing as well, Shannon thinks. In fact, she’d been having a conversation with Lucy, Beth and Chloe about it on the first night, when they’d been wondering whether it was true that Abby and Henry had been just friends all their lives, without anything ever happening between them. Abby had said that nothing ever had, but Shannon had seen the way Henry had looked at her once when he thought no one was looking and recognised it as the way Boone always used to look at her. And coming back to this island after that crazy Wakefield guy had killed all those people, including her mother? What was up with that?
“Penny for them.”
Shannon laughs as she sees who is behind her. “Oh, I think they’re worth a little bit more than that, don’t you?”
Hunter Jennings smiles. “What would you say to $50,000?”
“Really?” Shannon asks. “Is that how much you got?” Suddenly, she breaks away from Hunter, turns around - is that someone following them? No, she realises with relief. It’s just Gigi, Lucy’s annoying little dog, who had run up to her, sniffing at her ankles for a minute then dismissing her and running off. That’s weird, Shannon thinks. Didn’t someone say something about Lucy going back to see her boyfriend for a few days then bring him back to the wedding? It’s strange that she hadn’t taken Gigi with her, since she never usually went anywhere without her. Then Hunter pulls Shannon back towards him and starts explaining about the money, and Shannon dismisses Gigi from her mind. “Yeah, I did a deal with old man Wellington. He’s giving me $50,000 to leave and not tell Trish about our little deal.”
Shannon laughs. “I can’t believe she actually walked in while you and Uncle Thomas were discussing it!”
“I know,” Hunter rolls his eyes. “He had to do some pretty fast talking to get himself out of that one, but I think she believed that he was warning me off.”
“What would you have done if she’d actually decided to leave Henry for you?” Shannon asks, hating herself for asking, but feeling that she had to know, especially after the Bryan incident.
“I laid it on pretty thick, but I never really believed she would. But I’d have found some way to get rid of her somehow. And it’s better this way, because now I don’t have to. Wellington’s giving me the money tonight. That’s $25,000 for me, $25,000 for you. It’s better if I let him think I’m leaving when he hands it over, so I’ll pretend to leave then. But I’ll meet up with you down at the beach, where you all had your little party last night.”
“Sure.” Shannon smiles, kissing Hunter one last time. “I better get back now, show my face at this dinner before they start wondering where I am. But I’ll be back to meet you later.” It had been a stroke of luck, she reflects as she makes her way back towards the Candlewick, running into Trish’s ex at that party. She’d known she wouldn’t get any more out of Boone and/or Sabrina, not after Bryan had blabbed everything to Boone that day, while Hunter was down on his own luck and together, they’d realised that conning Shannon’s uncle was the answer to their prayers.
And it couldn’t have gone better, Shannon thinks as she cheerily waves to Chloe and Cal, following them in to the dinner to listen to Henry’s toast. Soon, she’ll be off this island.
Any minute now, somebody’s going to realise that they haven’t seen her since Henry’s speech, and they’re gonna come looking for her. But Shannon is determined to keep on waiting here for Hunter, keeps thinking, he must be on his way, it won’t be long now before he comes for her.
But she’d seen Uncle Thomas walking back into the inn about two hours ago. It’s time for Shannon to face the facts. Hunter had never had any intention of coming back for her. It’s just like Bryan all over again, Hunter’s obviously decided to take all the money for himself. He’d conned Trish into thinking he wanted them to reunite, and now it looks like he’s conned her as well.
Fandom: Lost/Harper's Island crossover
Characters: Shannon Rutherford, Hunter Jennings. Mentions of Harper's Island wedding party.
Pairings: Shannon/Hunter
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers for Harper's Island episodes as far as Ka-Blam. AU as far as Shannon is concerned.
Summary: Written for missy_useless who requested crossovers at lostsquee Summer Luau. Shannon's thoughts on the wedding party are revealed, as she teams up with Hunter Jennings to con Thomas Wellington.
Author's Note: Set around the time of Ka-Blam in Harper's Island verse. Shannon's backstory up to the time of the crash of Flight 815 remains the same, but this assumes that she and Boone never boarded that flight after all, and that she is related to the Wellingtons on her mother's side.
As Shannon looks at her cousin Trish, preparing to tie the knot with Henry, she remembers how different her own wedding had been from this. For one thing, Trish has her daddy and all her family around her, whereas Shannon had just had Boone, making it very clear that he didn’t approve of the marriage, while her stepmother, Sabrina, had been a no-show. Looking at Trish and Shea’s stepmother, Katherine, however, Shannon suspects that they were wishing she’d been a no-show as well. The woman’s practically the same age as her stepkids, for pete’s sake.
Shannon remembers when her mother was still alive and her father had once said to her “Your brother’s a fool.” Siobhan Wellington Rutherford had said “Thomas, a fool? What are you talking about? He’s always been very shrewd when it comes to business.”
“Business, sure,” Adam Rutherford had replied. “But he’s no judge when it comes to women.” Looking at the woman he had married, Shannon thought she could see why her father had made that comment. If Uncle Thomas were to die suddenly, Katherine would probably try and claim everything had been left to her just like Sabrina did, although the difference was that Uncle Thomas most likely had made some provision in his will for his daughters anyway. Look at Trish, the daddy’s girl who could have everything she ever wanted from her father. Shannon remembered when she and her own father had been close like that, in the days before Sabrina.
Speaking of her family, Shannon has to admit that Chloe’s date, Cal, is reminding her of Boone in a way - if Boone were here, he’d probably be displaying the same desperation, the same trying too hard to fit in with the wedding party. Chloe might like that kind of thing, but it makes Shannon itch with irritation to watch him (although she had to admit to a grudging admiration for the trick with Sully and the feathers; she hadn’t thought Cal would have had that in him.)
If anything, she’s had the opposite problem to Cal in that the wedding party won’t leave her alone - she’d already caught Henry’s friend Malcolm, for instance, ogling her as she’d sat by the pool. Not a chance, loser, she’d thought, giving him a withering look. Having to feign interest in his stupid home brew plans wasn’t Shannon’s idea of a good time. Still, she’d caught him later chatting up Trish’s friend Beth, so he obviously wasn’t too broken-hearted.
Abby, meanwhile, has been bugging her about any cute anecdotes/old photos of Trish she might have for the scrapbook she’s making Trish and Henry as a wedding present. Not much chance of that, Shannon had thought, since Sabrina had been pretty keen that Adam should cut off contact with his first wife’s side of the family as far as possible after they got married and she’d barely seen Trish since, in fact she isn’t even sure why she was invited to the wedding, so she’d just brushed Abby off. There’s something odd about that whole thing as well, Shannon thinks. In fact, she’d been having a conversation with Lucy, Beth and Chloe about it on the first night, when they’d been wondering whether it was true that Abby and Henry had been just friends all their lives, without anything ever happening between them. Abby had said that nothing ever had, but Shannon had seen the way Henry had looked at her once when he thought no one was looking and recognised it as the way Boone always used to look at her. And coming back to this island after that crazy Wakefield guy had killed all those people, including her mother? What was up with that?
“Penny for them.”
Shannon laughs as she sees who is behind her. “Oh, I think they’re worth a little bit more than that, don’t you?”
Hunter Jennings smiles. “What would you say to $50,000?”
“Really?” Shannon asks. “Is that how much you got?” Suddenly, she breaks away from Hunter, turns around - is that someone following them? No, she realises with relief. It’s just Gigi, Lucy’s annoying little dog, who had run up to her, sniffing at her ankles for a minute then dismissing her and running off. That’s weird, Shannon thinks. Didn’t someone say something about Lucy going back to see her boyfriend for a few days then bring him back to the wedding? It’s strange that she hadn’t taken Gigi with her, since she never usually went anywhere without her. Then Hunter pulls Shannon back towards him and starts explaining about the money, and Shannon dismisses Gigi from her mind. “Yeah, I did a deal with old man Wellington. He’s giving me $50,000 to leave and not tell Trish about our little deal.”
Shannon laughs. “I can’t believe she actually walked in while you and Uncle Thomas were discussing it!”
“I know,” Hunter rolls his eyes. “He had to do some pretty fast talking to get himself out of that one, but I think she believed that he was warning me off.”
“What would you have done if she’d actually decided to leave Henry for you?” Shannon asks, hating herself for asking, but feeling that she had to know, especially after the Bryan incident.
“I laid it on pretty thick, but I never really believed she would. But I’d have found some way to get rid of her somehow. And it’s better this way, because now I don’t have to. Wellington’s giving me the money tonight. That’s $25,000 for me, $25,000 for you. It’s better if I let him think I’m leaving when he hands it over, so I’ll pretend to leave then. But I’ll meet up with you down at the beach, where you all had your little party last night.”
“Sure.” Shannon smiles, kissing Hunter one last time. “I better get back now, show my face at this dinner before they start wondering where I am. But I’ll be back to meet you later.” It had been a stroke of luck, she reflects as she makes her way back towards the Candlewick, running into Trish’s ex at that party. She’d known she wouldn’t get any more out of Boone and/or Sabrina, not after Bryan had blabbed everything to Boone that day, while Hunter was down on his own luck and together, they’d realised that conning Shannon’s uncle was the answer to their prayers.
And it couldn’t have gone better, Shannon thinks as she cheerily waves to Chloe and Cal, following them in to the dinner to listen to Henry’s toast. Soon, she’ll be off this island.
Any minute now, somebody’s going to realise that they haven’t seen her since Henry’s speech, and they’re gonna come looking for her. But Shannon is determined to keep on waiting here for Hunter, keeps thinking, he must be on his way, it won’t be long now before he comes for her.
But she’d seen Uncle Thomas walking back into the inn about two hours ago. It’s time for Shannon to face the facts. Hunter had never had any intention of coming back for her. It’s just like Bryan all over again, Hunter’s obviously decided to take all the money for himself. He’d conned Trish into thinking he wanted them to reunite, and now it looks like he’s conned her as well.