Lost Virtual Season Three
Episode Seven: Wayward Ways

Writers: Scouse and Midnight riot

Full Credits and Disclaimers: Will appear at the end of this post

Rating for Episode Seven: PG-13

Special Thanks to: Leigh

Feedback: Would love it. Please Read and Feed.

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Episode 3x7: Wayward Ways


ACT I

SCENE ONE- FLASHBACK TO STREETS OF ENGLAND

A slumped, haggard-looking Charlie stumbled down the wet walkway. Quivering hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie, arms wrapped around himself, he kept his head down and his eyes low. He paid no attention to the bulky, dark coat-clad men that were leaning against the building on the corner until it was too late.

With a yelp, Charlie felt himself being shoved up against the building. The few stragglers left on the streets that late paid no heed to his yell, and kept walking. The men—there must have been five of them, though Charlie wasn’t really in the right mind to count—gathered around him, one of them keeping his shoulders and arms pressed firmly against the brick. Charlie let out one choked and feeble, “Help!” before the man holding him slammed his fist into his stomach, knocking the breath out of him in one small gasp. A few of the other men sniggered appreciatively, and as Charlie struggled to breath again, he decided that yelling wasn’t going to be a great idea.

“L—look, mates, I don’t—I don’t have anything—nothing worth stealing, please!” He choked out the words desperately, and he could’ve kicked himself when they earned him another punch in the gut.

The men sniggered again, and one of them grinned beatifically. “Why don’t you let us decide that?”

The rummaged through his pockets, and Charlie had to fight back a sob when he felt their hands close over his stash. “Well, look at this,” a thug sneered, holding up the two baggies of brown powder. “Turns out you do have something worth stealing.”

“Lying is a sin, you know,” another one informed him.

“No, please!” Flailing his arms desperately, Charlie wrenched himself out of the first man’s grasp and flung himself towards his drugs. The thugs laughed heartily as one of them shoved him to the sidewalk, landing on his hands and knees. With a kick to the ribs, he was all the way down now, gasping and blinking back tears. “P—please!”

Again, they laughed, and Charlie was too afraid to feel indignant. The man who was holding his stash grinned down at him. “This is some nice product, boy. I wonder who your supplier is?” He wasn’t expecting this kick this time, and it sent him down on his stomach again. “Oh yeah, now I remember. Mr. Helling mentioned something to me and my associates about how you were a bit behind in your payments.”

Realization flooded Charlie’s mind as he raised himself up on his arms, facing them with wide, pleading eyes. “I—I know, and I’m sorry, but—”

Thug 1 kicked him again, cutting him off mid-apology. “No buts,” he hissed venomously. “There’s no excuse. We’re here to collect, we don’t want your mindless begging.”

“B—but, I don’t have anything! I don’t have your money!”

A smile spread slowly across Thug 1’s face, and Charlie’s eyes flickered to his arm, which was reaching into his coat. “NO! I mean—I—I can get it! I can get the money! Just don’t kill me, please! I can get it, I swear! Give me some time!”

Thug 1 removed his arm from his coat and stared down at Charlie, looking thoughtful. He cast inquisitive looks over at Thug 2 and Thug 3, who both shrugged. Thug 3 threw one of the baggies up in the air and caught it nonchalantly. Thug 1 finally nodded, giving him one final kick to the ribs and folding his arms over his chest.

“Alright, then. Phillips, give the boy his product back. Let him enjoy his last few living hours. You’ve got a day, kid, and then we’ll have another meeting. You don’t pay your tab, you won’t live another day. Very simple. Are we clear?”

Charlie nodded eagerly, grabbing the two bags that Thug 3 had tossed at him. “Y—yes, very clear.”

“Good.” Thug 1 smiled even wider. “We’ll see you soon, mate.” Sniggering to himself, he slunk off around the corner, the other four thugs following after him.

Charlie pulled himself up against the wall, wrapping his arms around himself and sitting there huddled for a moment. Then, only himself one small sob, he pulled himself to his feet and ran as fast as his aching ribs would allow him in the other direction.

SCENE TWO- THE CAVES

Charlie’s gaze follows where Eko is pointing to and reaches over to lift up a crooked log. Grunting with the weight of it, he steadies best he can, bracing it against the other logs that join it to form their protective cave barrier.

Wiping sweat off his face and stepping back, Charlie takes a minute to admire his—okay, fine, their—work. He looks around for Michael, wanting to know if it meets his standards, and finds him missing. He snorts derisively. “That wanker, probably off flirting with Cindy. Load of help he is.”

Eko smiles at Charlie, holding a water bottle out for him. “It is good that they are friends. They make each other happy.”

Charlie rolls his eyes as he gulps some water. “Women. Bloody witches, all of them. Even the nice ones. They’ll smile at you and laugh, all pretty. But inside, they’re plotting all the ways they can use you and abuse you.”

Eko gives him an amused smile and raises his eyebrows, but doesn’t respond. Charlie takes this as encouragement to continue.

“Don’t believe me, huh? I’m telling you, mate, it’s true. Not sure how much action you got at home, being a priest and all—oh, who am I kidding, you were probably a regular Don Juanoma, weren’t you? Women dig the spiritual stuff—I know, I was an altar boy once, boy did they love that—”

The larger man just continues to smile as Charlie babbles on. Spotting someone over Charlie’s shoulder, his smile widens. “Hello, Sawyer.”

Charlie freezes mid-sentence and pales, fair skin becoming a whole new shade of white. Eyes wide, he barely glances back at Sawyer, trying to focus on a loose log in the barrier. “H—hi there, Sawyer.”

The Southerner makes his way over to Charlie slowly, and he can just picture the smirk on his face, even though he won’t look at him. ““Interesting day I had yesterday, Chuckie. I lost me those guns. Any idea how that happened?”

His fingers slip from the wood he’s holding, and he finds his palms wet with sweat. Wiping them quickly on his jeans, he stammers, “Uh, well, no, you know, not really—”

Sawyer raises his voice and talks right over him. . “Cause you know, I think people might be curious as to how you knew where the guns were. It’d be a damn shame of me to tell them…too bad I’m a pretty shameful guy.”

He’s acutely aware that Eko has stopped moving and is staring between the two blonde men, but Charlie stills refuses to look at Sawyer.

“Sawyer, I don’t—I didn’t—I don’t know what—”

“You screwed me over, Charlie, and now I’m gonna return the favor. I can’t wait to see the look on your little baby mama’s face when she hears what you did.”

Finally, Charlie looks at him, whirling around to face him, trying and failing to keep the desperation out of his voice. “N—no, please, you can’t! You can’t do this! You swore—you swore no one would ever find out, no one would know—please!”

But Sawyer just grins at the fearful and slightly crazed look on his face. “Aw, don’t fret, Chuck. I’m sure she’ll understand. After all, wasn’t she so understanding last time you messed up?” He pauses, as though thinking about, then adopts a look of false pity. “Oooh, nope, she wasn’t, was she? Sorry about that.” Still grinning, he claps Charlie on the back and sidles off, leaving him standing there, looking slightly shell-shocked. Eko takes a tentative step towards him.

“Is there something you would like to confess, Charlie?”

SCENE THREE-SAYID’S SHELTER

Sayid stands at his shelter, tightening the cords on the tarp that protects him from the rain. He does not turn around when he hears footsteps approaching, and he does not look back at his visitor. “Hello, Ana-Lucia.”

Smiling warmly, Ana-Lucia moves around so that she’s visible to him. “Sayid. How’re you doing?”

Sayid quirks an eyebrow at her, amused by her attempt at small-talk. “I’m doing fine. And you?”

Nodding, Ana responds, “Also fine.” Still smiling, she watches him working for a minute, hands on her hips. Sayid notices her finger tapping lightly against the top of her jeans, and figures out that she seems excited. He thinks she might’ve been bouncing around if she hadn’t any self-control.

“Is there something you need, Ana?”

Still smiling, Ana shakes her head. “Nope.”

“Is there something you’d like to talk about with me?”

She nods again, and Sayid notes the eagerness in her movements. “Yeah, we need to talk.”

He stops what he’s doing and motions for her to continue. She takes in a quick breath and reaches behind her, pulling out a gun. “Here,” she says, handing it over.

Sayid takes it without hesitation, but peers down at it, intrigued. “You are giving up your weapon to me. May I ask why?”

“Of course you may,” Ana responds, a hint of laughter in her voice. “I’ve got a pretty big supply of guns now. I can spare that one.”

Now Sayid gives his full attention. “You—you have the guns?”

“Yup. Conned the con man himself. I won’t tell you how. A magician never tells her secrets.”

Sayid smiles at her, though still looking curious. “And you chose to supply me with a gun, out of everyone?”

“I trust you, Sayid, and not just with a gun. I trust you to have my back in this whole thing, no matter how bad it gets. And I trust you not to spread this around.”

He nods solemnly, and because nothing else needs to be said, Ana-Lucia leaves. Sayid peers down at the gun, noticing something written on it…

He smiles wider when he realizes it’s the combination to the armory.




SCENE FOUR-FLASHBACK TO CHARLIE’S FRIEND’S APARTMENT IN ENGLAND

Charlie paced the room over and over, cradling his ribs. Slumped on a sofa with his eyes glazed over was Baz, the current resident of the tiny shoebox apartment Charlie had decided to hide out in.

“I need money, mate,” he said desperately. “This isn’t just going to go away. They’ll kill me.”

Baz wasn’t very patient with Charlie. “I don’t know what to tell you. You just need to get the hell out of here soon, cause I am not gonna get caught in any crossfire cause of you.”

“Right, right…but I need help! You can’t just throw me to the wolves here, Baz!”

Baz drawled out, “Aren’t you in a band or something?”

“Not anymore, thanks to darling brother Liam.”

“Oh, bollocks, mate. Cause my buddy could get you a gig. His band’s looking for someone to open for them out in LA.”

Charlie looked up, interest piqued. “Really? When?”

“Few days, I guess. But you’re not in a band anymore—”

But Charlie’s head was reeling. He could feel the gears turning, blood racing as an idea, a miracle, a possible solution was suddenly attainable. This was his chance to not only recreate his dream, but to save his own pathetic life, too. “My brother’s in Australia—if I can get the money for the plane tickets—”

“And where are you supposed to get that?”

Charlie thought about it for a minute, before pulling out his two trusty baggies. He peered at them almost longingly, then pocketed one and held up the other. “Can I interest you in a sale, good sir?” He grinned at his friend, who eyed the baggie eagerly.

“’Course you can.”

SCENE FIVE- THE BEACH

Michael’s cooking fish over a fire with Cindy. She smiles over at him. “You’ve been working on that thing in the caves so much lately, I hardly ever see you anymore. Glad you could drag yourself away for dinner.”

“Yeah, I figured I needed a break. I like having something to do, but it’s good to just sit around and do nothing for a while. Peaceful.”

“So you were in construction back home? Did you like it?”

Michael nods, grinning at her interest in him. “Yeah, loved it. When I was a kid, I used to draw pictures of houses, and then I’d try and build them out of popsicle sticks. I made the best damn popsicle stick houses you’ll ever see. Blow your mind.”

Cindy laughs. “So you’re an artist, too? A jack of all trades then, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say all trades. Just…most of them.” She laughs again and punches him lightly, then looks over at Walt, who’s thumbing through a magazine nearby.

“Well, you’re a great father, too, Michael. There’s another trade you can add to your list. Not to inflate your ego or anything—like it needs it.” Michael grins back at her.

“And you’re a flight attendant extraordinaire, from what I remember. There, now I’m inflating your ego.”

“Ah yes,” Cindy says. “Flight attendant extraordinaire, that’s me. Excuse me, sir, would you like more peanuts?” They laugh together, and Cindy slips her hand into Michael’s quietly. He stares at it for a more, before looking up at her. They hold the stare for a few seconds, feeling the energy charged air between the two of them, before…Vincent jumps into view, charging at Michael’s fish and snatching it up with his teeth, barking triumphantly. Michael and Cindy jump apart while Walt laughs from his seat in the sand.

“Hey! He’s got my dinner!” Michael protests, starting to his feet, but Cindy laughs and lays a hand on his arm, causing him to sit back down.

“You can share mine.”

SCENE SIX- SUN AND JIN’S SHELTER

A nervous and fidgety Charlie makes his way slowly towards where Sun and Jin are eating and talking in low voices. They both stand up when they see Charlie, so he assumes the worst and starts apologizing. “I know Sawyer told you…I’m so sorry, I never meant for you to get hurt, it was only supposed to be a distraction…I’m really sorry…”

“Charlie, what are you—” Sun starts, confused, but he interrupts.

“No, don’t—don’t pretend you don’t know for my sake. I don’t deserve that. What I did was—was awful and horrid and I don’t deserve any forgiveness for it. I—I just need you to know that I didn’t want to do it, that if I could do it over…”

He trails off, and notices the confused expression on Jin’s face, but not the one on Sun’s. “I—I’ll understand if you want to hurt me—hell, you probably want to kill me right now.”

“Charlie—” Sun starts again, but this time Jin cuts her off.

“I don’t—”

“Of course you do!” Charlie suddenly shouts, his fear quickly giving away to his overwhelming guilt. He feels it rushing behind his eyes, pounding in his head, and suddenly, right then and there, he wants Jin to hurt him, wants him to beat him senseless, because bloody hell, he’d deserve it. “I hurt your wife, mate! Don’t try and be noble for the pathetic likes of me! Don’t try and be the bigger person here! I don’t deserve it! Just take your shot!”

But Charlie feels the fear return as he spots the look of pure, unadulterated rage on Jin’s face. He feels the bottom of his stomach drop out, and he feels the blood in his veins freeze suddenly. He feels himself take an involuntary step back.

“You—hurt—” He points at Sun, points at Charlie, brow furrowed in anger and confusion. Charlie’s eyes widen.

“You mean—Sawyer, he didn’t tell you? About what I—”

“You were the one that kidnapped me?” Sun asks, taking a step behind Jin. Now Jin starts moving towards him, and Charlie stumbles back.

“I’m sorry—I was—there’s no excuse, I know, but I’m just so, so sorry—I know you can never forgive me but—”

Jin starts yelling in Korean, furious, and reaches out to grab Charlie. And at that moment, Charlie knows, without a doubt, that Jin is going to kill him. And he finds himself surprised as that fear inside him erupts into a blinding, rushing will to live. Powered by this and only this, he turns and bolts into the trees, running as fast as he can.

He’d thought that nothing could alleviate his guilt. And maybe nothing could. But damn, running away, fighting to stay alive—it sure pushed it aside for a little while.




SCENE SEVEN- THE BEACH

Jack is talking to Claire and Bernard when Jin and Sun come running over, Sun trying to calm Jin down. “Charlie!” Jin shouts among bursts of angry Korean.

“What about Charlie? What happened?” Jack demands, looking at Sun for clarification.

Sun is visibly shaken, and she avoids Claire’s eyes as she tells Jack what Charlie said. “He—he is the one that kidnapped me.”

Claire’s eyes narrow. “No, he wouldn’t—” But she stops, because she realizes that yeah, he would.

“What’s going on?” Ana-Lucia asks as she comes over.

“Where is he?” Jack wants to know.

“He—he ran off into the jungle, I don’t know where,” Sun says sadly. “But Jack, why would he—it’s Charlie, he’s not evil like this. He said he didn’t mean to hurt me—I don’t understand.”

“What happened?” Ana asks firmly.

“Charlie’s the one who attacked Sun,” Jack says evenly, before turning back to a fuming Jin. “You need to calm down, okay, I’m sure this is a misunderstanding.”

“It has to be,” Claire insists, not willing to believe that she had given Charlie a second chance after all this. She sees Ana peering over at Sawyer and follows her gaze to see the smirking Southerner watching the scene.

“Find him,” Jin demands furiously. “I find him.”

“Jin, that’s probably not—Ana, where are you going?” Jack watches as she starts storming over to Sawyer.

“I’m getting an explanation,” she says hotly. Claire follows Ana determinedly. “What are you smiling about, cowboy?” Ana wants to know.

Sawyer just smirks up at her. “Nothin’. I’m just a smiley kinda guy.”

“I’m sure.” She glares down at him. “Do you think this is funny? Are you really getting a kick out of this? I’m not an idiot, Sawyer. I know he helped you.”

“What’s going on?” Claire asks.

Sawyer turns his smirk to her. “Nothin’ much, Mamacita. Lu-Lu here’s the new Sheriff, she’s got to make sure she shakes down all the bad guys when a crime’s been committed.”

“A crime that was your idea!” Ana shouts. “Are you really that low of a human being that you’re just gonna stand by and let him take the fall for this?”

“You attacked Sun?” Claire asks incredulously.

Ana-Lucia shakes her head. “No, but he put Charlie up to it. It was all part of the plan, right Sawyer? Just so you can play your sick control games with the rest of the camp. And now you’re pissed because we pulled your control right out from under you.” She smirked at him defiantly.

Sawyer gets to his feet, still smiling broadly. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, Princess. I didn’t put nobody up to nothin’. If Chuckie lost his fruit loops and got rough with poor Tokyo Rose, I had nothin’ to do with it.”

Ana glares him at him. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep at night.” She sees Jin go storming off in the jungle, despite Sun and Jack’s efforts to contain him. She looks at Claire. “Come on, we should find him before Jin does.”

[END ACT 1]

ACT II

SCENE ONE- THE HATCH

”They’ll find them before anything happens, I promise.” Jack reassures gently. He crouches down before Sun where she is sitting, still shaking, upon the hatch’s sofa. He offers her a glass of water, in an attempt to calm her down. “Michael and Sayid will find them.”

Sun sips at the water and nods lightly. She doesn’t dare hope yet that Jack’s words could be true.

“My husband,” she begins, voice quavering. “He is very protective of me.” She admits sadly and Jack nods in understanding even though he doesn’t know that half of it. Sun’s eyes then look up from where she is focusing upon the half empty glass in her hands to fix onto Jack’s sympathetic gaze. “But I do not want him to hurt Charlie. If Jin does something to harm him just because of me, I will never be able to forgive myself!” the tears start welling in her eyes again and Jack places a comforting hand upon her shoulder. “Charlie is a good person, I know he is.”

“Charlie has some…problems.” Jack soothes gently as her shoulders begin to shake again. “But you’re right. He is a good person. He just acts on impulse sometimes. He doesn’t think things through.”

“I think we are all guilty of that…” Sun responds quietly, memories perhaps clouding her eyes and before Jack can voice any of his queried, Locke hobbles up the ramp from the computer room and notices Sun’s distressed state.

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, John.” Jack counters, barely giving the older man a chance to finish his sentence. Jack peers over his shoulder as Locke refuses to move away so quickly. He doesn’t really buy the doctor’s hurried reassurance and leans heavily onto his one crutch (he refuses to use two anymore, trying to wean himself off his dependence on them).

A beat of silence makes the air between them heavy and Sun is glancing from one man to the other, unsure of where the conversation is next likely to go.

“So,” Locke breaks the silence first. He shuffles around Jack to take a seat besides Sun on the sofa, propping his injured leg up on the coffee table with a brief wince and a hiss. “Did Sawyer notice that the guns are missing yet?” his smile is both triumphant and enigmatic at the same time as he changes the subject.

Jack isn’t even sure if he’s heard him correctly and whips his head in Locke’s direction.

“I can imagine he didn’t take it very-”

“What do you mean the guns are missing?” Jack snaps in demand, speaking over Locke’s smug tone.

The injured hunter pauses for a long moment, folding his arms across his chest and running callused fingertips over his lips. Confusion darkens the blue of his eyes as he considers Jack warily, suspiciously.

“I assumed you had something to do with it all.” He states finally. “Ana-Lucia was in here yesterday with them, she locked them in the armoury. Changed the combination too, I think,” that notion makes him chuckle lightly as if he’s tried the old combination anyway. “She didn’t give the new one to me…not that I was expecting her to…”

Jack’s still stunned and Sun sitting between the two men, is silent.

“Ana got the guns back.” Jack’s tone sounds almost mocking in his disbelief. Low and questioning as he confirms Locke’s revelation. “How?”

“Not a clue.” Locke grins, his eyes twinkling with mirth at seeing his ‘adversary’ so flummoxed. “Maybe the same way she got a hold of Sawyer’s gun the first time…”

Jack doesn’t know why, but that conception doesn’t sit well with him. He doesn’t even know how she did manage to get that first gun from the Southerner, but he is familiar enough with Sawyer to know that he wouldn’t have made it easy for her.

He allows himself to move from his crouch, finally acknowledging that his legs are beginning to ache in that position, to sit upon the armchair across from Locke and Sun. He leans back allowing his glazed over gaze to travel to the ceiling.

“Gotta give credit where credit’s due, though.” Locke speaks out, again breaking through the silence. “I never thought we’d be seeing those guns again…”

And with that the beeping of the hatch computer calls Locke away, back to his purgatory.

SCENE TWO- THE JUNGLE

“Charlie?!” Claire calls out again, cupping her hands around her mouth to magnify the volume as her throat begins to protest to such usage. “Charlie, where are you?!”

Her head whips out in every which way, searching for any sign of the Britton, Ana-Lucia hot on her heels which gives her pause for thought suddenly. She carries on through the jungle for a moment longer before she turns to consider the other woman at her side.

“Why are you doing this?” she queries, more curious than anything else and Ana glances at her briefly before sending her scrutiny back out into their surroundings. “I mean…I don’t really know you very well and I didn’t think you knew Charlie either.”

“Truthfully?” Ana queries in response. “Because it’s partly my fault that he’s in this situation…” and Claire stops dead in her tracks, making Ana pause herself and turn to consider the slight blonde mother.

“What?”

Ana sighs, resting her hands on her hips lightly.

“I’m the reason that Sawyer out-ed Charlie. I used Charlie to get the guns from him and Sawyer took out his anger on Charlie instead of me, like I’d thought he would…I never even considered what consequences my plan might’ve had on Charlie…But we needed to get those guns away from Sawyer and I saw a way to do that, so I took it.” she considers Claire, expecting her to get angry and storm off, perhaps even lecture her that her actions were wrong and she should’ve thought about these things before she went ahead with them.

But she doesn’t do any of those things. Claire merely takes a deep breath and shakes her head solemnly.

“Charlie…he- he’s done things like this before,” she says, swiping long blonde hair from her face and allowing her hands to remain there to rub at her temple. “I don’t really have any reason to trust him. I mean, he’s a junkie, and a bad influence. But I can’t help thinking that maybe, this time, if I give him the chance to explain, things could be different than last time.” She looks up at Ana almost for affirmation that her wish isn’t stupid or foolish and Ana nods in reply, waiting patiently for her to continue. “…I don’t want to cut him out completely again. I don’t think that’s the right thing for any of us.”

“And you’ve thought about this?” Ana queries, drawing the bright blue eyes up to meet her own questioningly. “You know he’s a junkie-”

“Was a junkie.” Claire corrects and Ana concedes it with another nod.

“Alright, was a junkie, and you’re still happy for him to be around your baby? To take care of him?”

“I know what you’re saying, Ana,” Claire sighs. “But I trust Charlie with Aaron, even after everything he’s done, and I know that he would never do anything to hurt him. Or me.”

“Then I guess you do have a reason to trust Charlie,” Ana smiles reassuringly. “Now, how about we try and find him?”

Claire’s smile turns into an appreciative grin as she agrees and falls into step beside Ana once more but before they get very far, a noise behind them sends them spinning back around, staring in the direction that they’ve come from.

Charlie stumbles out of the bushes, almost falling flat on his face and eventually he steadies himself leaning heavily on the nearest tree truck. He’s breathing hard and doubling over as he stops to catch his breath.

“Charlie!” Claire exclaims with relief and delight, starting over with Ana-Lucia right behind her. “Jin is after you, we need to hide you, he—”

“I don’t want to drag you into this,” Charlie says, backing away from them. “Just—stay away! I don’t need you in the middle, Claire!”

Ana rolls her eyes. “Don’t be noble. Jin will kill you. We can keep you safe until he calms down.”

Charlie eyes her distrustfully. “Why on earth would you want to keep me safe? I’m a crazy kidnapper. Right?”

Ana starts to shoot something back, but suddenly, there is a loud yell as Jin suddenly bursts the trees.

SCENE THREE- FLASHBACK TO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

‘The Last Call’ Cocktail Bar wasn’t the best place that Charlie had ever decided to get pissed in. It wasn’t the worst either for that matter, but he was beyond caring either way. At least they kept the drinks coming without question and as long as they kept doing so, he’d keep buying them.

He’d gone in looking for a quiet place to sort his head out at first and it was a quiet place. The only other two people in there was an old guy making his way steadily through a bottle of bourbon who’d suddenly got friendly with the rough looking, leather-clad blonde guy sitting at the other end of the smoky bar.

Charlie had taken his own place on the other side of the room. Huddled into a dark corner, to figure our how in the bloody hell he was going to tell his big brother ‘Saint Liam’ about the whole mess he’d gone and gotten himself into…and how he was going to persuade him to help him out of it, which, from what Charlie remembered of his elder sibling, was not going to be an easy task, especially when the finer details of the…predicament were lain flat on the table.

His head was beginning to hurt again and Charlie reached out for his glass only to find it void of any and all alcohol. He couldn’t even remember what the last drink had been but then again, he hadn’t really cared then and still didn’t. It could have been mouthwash for all he cared as long as it got him bladdered and blotted out the memories of the men out for his blood and even worse…the memories of the drugs that had, only a couple of hours before, been singing down his veins before he’d bloody well run out!

“Oi! Bartender!” he called out, slurring his words and standing up from his table. He toppled to one side, crashing into it and sending it screeching across the tiled floor and drawing the stares of both the men at the bar.

Cute couple, he thought with a giggle before he righted himself and waved his empty glass in the air as the bar tender glanced his was dispassionately.

“How about you get us another bevvie, ‘ey? Cheers.” He swayed again as he grinned over at the man cleaning the glasses, not noticing as he shook his head in disapproval.

He did, however, notice the doors to the establishment being thrown wide, light from the neon sign outside spilling into the darkness.

“Charlie-Boy! There you are, we thought we'd lost you!”

Four of them this time. He knew that thick Cockney accent immediately and he knew that they’d found him so that they could take his debt out on his arse. They’d beat what he owed out of him. For running away perhaps. For not paying when he should have. Both!

He was royally buggered.

“Bollocks!” he hissed through gritted teeth and he barely had time to squint his eyes at the silhouettes marching in through the doorway before the fear seized him, sobering him up in lightening fast timing. He struggled out from his corner booth and dashed for the door that lead to he presumed the kitchen, ignoring the yells behind him.

It all went by in a flash. He didn’t know who he’d passed or where he’d run through and he didn’t stop until he slammed through the back door finally breaking out into the night air, wheezing.

He stumbled again, crashing headlong into the opposite wall of the alleyway and resting his head there against the cool brick, grinding his skin into it’s gritty, biting surface in an attempt to wake himself up a bit more.

Jesus that was close! And he almost laughed with relief until the bright street light at the entrance to the alley dimmed and then darkened completely as four long shadows fell down and across him.

Bastard! He was still bloody buggered after all and he suddenly cursed himself for choosing a cocktail bar right next to a jetty. No doubt, come tomorrow morning, he’d be sleeping with fishes so to speak.

“L-l-listen, Lads…” he started, raising his hands to ward off their advance, his voice stuttering and catching in his throat with fear but he was interrupted by someone else exiting the bar and crashing headlong into one of the thugs.

“Watch it, Lardo!” The southern voice growled dangerously and Charlie vaguely remembered that he’d been the blonde guy at the bar. “A man’s walkin’ here!”

“What did you say to me, Squire?”

There was another growled response to the thugs question but Charlie couldn’t hear it…he didn’t even hear as the disagreement turned into a scuffle and the scuffle into a full on brawl that drew the police out into the night dragging the Southern participant of the fight down to the ‘Old Nick’.

Charlie didn’t hear because he had already turned tail and was pelting out a run down the back of the alley way, trying to put as much space between him and the hit men out to collect his debt as he could.

He knew he hadn’t been captain of the cross-country team back home in Manchester when he’d been at school for nothing.


SCENE FOUR- THE JUNGLE

It all happens so fast that Charlie barely has time to draw in a panicked breath.

Jin charges through the tree-line, breaching the small clearing, his fists flailing wildly to push the undergrowth aside as he makes a beeline straight for the slightly shaking Britton.

Ana-Lucia is already moving by that time. Already moving to counter his furious rush. She’s acting on her reflex actions, attempting to grab his wrist and twist an arm up behind his back. She’s gone into ‘take-down’ mode, learned and ingrained in her memory, in her very limbs from her time as a cop. But, despite her strength and training, Jin is fuelled by something that ensures that he’s going to win their clash hands down.

Rage.

Anger.

Fury.

He’s blinded by it all now. The red haze veiling him until he’s almost unrecognisable to them all. He is by far the more powerful out of them and succeeds in ripping his arm from her double-handed grasp, shoving Ana backwards and out of his way.

His eyes are only intent upon Charlie’s, fixed onto the blonde man’s wide-eyed, fearful blue gaze. He stalks forwards again and every one of them watching, Ana and Claire and even Charlie himself, know that if he gets his hands on Charlie, he is going to kill him.

This notion spurs Claire from her terrified silence suddenly.

“Jin! No!” She cries, voice already hoarse from hours of calling out for Charlie.

She tries to force her way into Jin’s path instead, using herself as a barrier but Ana keeps her back by taking hold of her firmly at the elbow. She sees the frenzy that the Korean man is in, she recognises it and she knows that he is capable of anything while he is in such a state.

Jin reaches Charlie and for a split second it looks as if he’s just going to stand there and glare at him until he crumbles into the quivering mess that’s he’s heading towards becoming. But Charlie knows he’s not getting off that easy and almost in reply to that thought the first blow catches him square in his face, snapping it to the side and sending a hot trickle of his own blood snaking down from his nose.

It’s as if a floodgate has suddenly opened and after that first blow it is as if Jin cannot stop. He’s not controlling himself. He’s become the monster that has been eating him up inside since he first took that job for Sun’s father.

“No! Get off him!” Claire cries, struggling against Ana’s firm, hard grip, her tears falling freely now as she watches Charlie go down like a sack of bricks, not able to do anything more than cradle his arms over his head against the onslaught.

“Claire, just stay back.” Ana soothes the young mother, fixing her with a beseeching glare, before turning back to the beating that is taking place in front of them. She steps forwards, palms raised in a placating gesture towards the furious man, his fist pounding down mercilessly. “Jin!” she tries, her voice strong and authoritative, to get his attention. “I’m going to give you to the count of three to step away from him! You don’t wanna do this, Man.”

But Jin either doesn’t hear her above his own yelling combined with Claire’s sobs and Charlie’s cries of pain…or he merely ignores her. Which, she doesn’t know and, as the noise rises in a crescendo around her, Ana knows that desperate times call for desperate measures. Charlie’s life hangs in the balance and there’s no way Jin is going to stop his assault unless she gets his attention.

She feels her own hand automatically reaching around behind her to clasp around the reassuring form of her gun. The metal cold in her grasp as she closes her fingers around it tightly, readying herself to pull it from where it is ‘holstered’…

…But before she can, a louder yell breaks over them all and, charging his way from the direction that Ana and Claire had come from, Sawyer thrashes his way through the trees, followed by Jack and Sun, thudding into Jin’s back and hooking his arms beneath his ‘raft-buddy’s’’ armpits and heaving him backwards and off of Charlie.

Even Sawyer has a struggle, Jin’s fists landing against him hard as he protest in Korean that he be released and that Sawyer stays out of it.

Claire takes her chance then to dodge past Ana and scramble over to the motionless form of Charlie, bloodied and bruised, his arms still locked firmly over his head as if he expects Jin to come and have another go at murdering him…like he deserves.

Jack is beside her in an instant, his doctor-ly instincts taking over as Ana-Lucia’s cop-instincts had only moments before. Sun, however, is beside Sawyer, speaking in hurried and desperate Korean to her glaring husband who has finally stopped fighting against the Conman gripping him by his shoulders just to make sure he isn’t going to fly off the handle again.

“Take it easy there, Fists o’ Fury!” Sawyer growls, a darkening bruise blossoming on his jaw as he shoves Jin backwards again and nurses his own face with the back of his hand. “You gone wasted all that energy on the wrong fella.”

The group all pause in their different tasks then and turn their stares upon Sawyer.

“What do you mean?” Jack demands from where he is crouching beside Claire and Charlie and Sawyer lets out a sneer, his eyes holding onto Ana’s ever so briefly before he turns back to Jin, Sun now gripping his arm desperately. To hold him back or to keep herself steady.

“What I mean, Scrubs, is that you really think that Chaz there has the brains to think up that little escapade of kidnappin’ Mulan all on his lonesome?” Sawyer scoffs, tossing his head back and laughing up at the blue sky above them shining brightly between the green leaves and sunlight. “Puh-lease! The boy can’t barely tie his own shoelaces!”

“You?” Jack asks, incredulous, half standing from his place until Claire’s nervous hand on his arm stops him and returns his attention to where it’s really needed.

“You?” Jin echoes the doctor’s words, a confused frown drawing his brows back down and together.

“That’s right, Crouchin’ Tiger. I did it. I put him up to it. Me!”

Jin’s face transforms from confusion into anger again in a split second as he gets the gist of Sawyer’s revelation. His hands clench into fists again, so tightly that his knuckles shine bright bone white in the shade of the jungles muggy air. He snarls something at which Sun shakes her head, eyes wide, and she starts pleading with him again, trying to persuade him not to do whatever it is he intends to. But, once more, Jin seems to block them all out, stepping towards Sawyer to take the revenge that he feels he deserves.

Ana moves then, after having been still and silent for so long, before she truly knows what she’s doing, blocking Jin’s path. She raises her gun, levelling it on him, clasping it determinedly in both hands almost as tightly as Jin is clenching his fists.

“Move!” he barks at her through his teeth.

“I think you need to go calm down.” Ana responds coolly, calmly. Her glare at him is heated however, telling him that he’s in no way shape or form getting past her and laying a finger upon the Southerner behind her.

He considers her for a long moment, staring back at her down the barrel of her gun, grinding his teeth behind pursed lips, before he nods, begrudgingly and Sun takes her cue from a glance from Ana stepping forwards, wrapping her hands about Jin’s forearm and leading him away towards the path to the beach. But not, however, before Jin’s gaze returns to Sawyer’s face, stood behind the protective form of Ana-Lucia and the conman shrugs, cracking a bitter smile.

“Maybe next time, Jet.” He slurs in a growl.

“Drop it, Genius.” Ana tosses back at him instantly. “Do you want to get your ass kicked?”

“Well, that depends on who's doin' the kickin'. Him or you?” Sawyer returns without a beat, still grinning widely as Ana shakes her head and turns to face him fully now that the threat of another brawl has passed. “And what the hell was all that anyways, Rambina? You gone went all Kevin Costner on me…Guess that makes me Whitney Houston.” He presses a palm to his heart as if he’s touched by her actions and Ana allows an incredulous chuckle to pass her lips as she shakes her head.

She can’t help feeling relieved that Sawyer has listened to her and she can’t help feeling a little proud that he’s finally done the right thing…even if he was still his usual obnoxious self while doing it.

SCENE FIVE- CLAIRE’S SHELTER

Charlie winces, pulling his head away slightly from the cold cloth that Claire is dabbling at the cut on his forehead.

Jack has finished giving him the once over and has given him the all clear, telling him to just keep an eye on his injuries.

“Hold still.” Claire reprimands slightly, dabbing at the wound again and this time Charlie does as he’s told, even though he still draws in a hissed breath at the stinging pain, his free hand grabbing onto the edge of Claire’s makeshift bed that they are sitting on. His other hand is occupied, tickling Aaron lightly as the baby lies wide awake and kicking his legs in the little basinet. He giggles out, grinning up at Charlie and proceeding to grab his toes with his podgy little hands and pull them into his mouth.

Claire smiles at the two of them, and Charlie returns it uncertainly.

“I—I thought you’d hate me,” he admits softly.

Claire shakes her head. “I figured it’s about time I give you the benefit of the doubt,” she says. “Let you explain, instead of condemning you right away. It’s only fair, isn’t it?”

Charlie hangs his head, Claire’s hands having fallen into her lap again with the cloth she was using to clean his head. Waiting.

He sighs, thinking that she will hate him even more when she knows the truth…but he has to tell her. If he’s going to show he’s changed at all, he has to start with telling the truth.

“I was jealous.” He begins uncertainly and Claire looks at him in confusion. “About you and Locke, okay?” he clarifies but Claire’s confusion doesn’t waver. “I saw him taking over, with you and the baby. It was like he was driving you away from me and I didn’t know how else to stop it…that was when Sawyer came to me about the guns…and I wanted to do it, to help him so that I could make Locke look like a ponce…so that you would hate him, the way you hated me when I made a mistake…” he sighs deeply as if it’s a relief to have all of those negative thoughts and feelings off his shoulders and then turns his eyes tentatively towards Claire to see her reaction…to see if she’s going to yell at him and snatch her baby away from him again. Wondering if he’s ruined it all again by telling the truth after things had been getting better between them finally. “I was in a bad place then,” he admits and he can now see how foolish he was. “I’ve changed, I promise.”

He is met by a long, drawn out silence. Claire thinks about it for a minute, before reaching into the bassinet and taking Aaron’s little hand in hers.

“He missed you, you know,” she says with a smile, ignoring Charlie’s words. “And so did I. I don’t want to miss you again, Charlie. Please don’t give me a reason to.”

Charlie smiles big at that, and takes her hand inside the bassinet, so that the two of them are both holding Aaron’s little hand.

“I won’t.”

Claire smiles, then turns her gaze over to Sun and Jin, wear she is tending to his bloody knuckles. “I also trust you to do the right thing. And you know what it is.”

Charlie follows her gaze and sighs resignedly. “Yeah, I know.”


SCENE SIX- THE BEACH/SAWYER’S SHELTER

Ana-Lucia doesn’t even bother knocking or announcing her presence to him, she merely ducks down and pushes her way in through the two blue plastic sheets that constitute Sawyer’s front door.

He sits inside, the many events of the day obviously having given him another of his infamous headaches, thus causing his retreat into the dark, muggy recesses of his shelter. That and his ‘disgust’ with himself for actually doing a good deed for once.

He isn’t alone however. A blonde amorously pushes against him, trying desperately to wrest his attention from the book he’s trying to read.

Ana smirks at the scene, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows in amusement.

“Damn dog!” Sawyer growls beneath his breath, using the palm of his unoccupied hand to shove the yellow Labrador’s nose from where he’s sniffing at Sawyer’s crotch.

Ana laughs that time.

“Don’t know when he’s not wanted. Like someone else I know for that matter…” he glares up at her showing that he doesn’t appreciate her laughter and mockery.

“Wow,” Ana quips back. “For a minute there, it actually sounded like you don’t want me here…” she stoops slowly, moving to pat Vincent on the head, using the motion as an excuse to kneel down beside the Conman who is furiously trying to return his attention to his beat up, stolen copy of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. “Good thing I know you better than that, huh?”

“You don’t know nuthin’, Sweets Cheeks…” he grumbles in return from behind the novel and Ana’s smirk lances sideways on her lips at his antics.

“You know that’s a double negative, right?” she quirks an eyebrow at him as a dubious, frowning blue eyes peers around the pages. She chuckles again, patting Vincent on his thickset shoulders before continuing. “’You don’t know nothing’ actually means I do know something.”

He growls a sulky response that she can’t quite catch but he’s obviously no longer paying attention to his reading anymore and is merely using it as a distraction. He’s feeling uncomfortable, Ana notes with equal parts entertainment and curiosity.

“You still here?!” he demands after a long pause filled only with the dog’s breathy panting and swishing tail. “Can I help you with somethin’, Starsky?”

“Such a charmer,” she snorts watching as Vincent tires of their company…or just their lack of treats for him and he snuffles his way back outside with an indignant huff, leaving them alone. “Really, it’s a mystery how the ladies can resist you.”

He places his book down onto his lap with a slap at her sarcastic words and folds his arms, leaning back slightly, his smirk widening once again as he starts to feel more at ease with the direction of their conversation.

“I’ve got somethin’ going for me.” He grins over at her, raising his chin challengingly. “You’re here, ain’t you? I obviously tickle your fancy.”

Ana can’t help but laugh out loud at that and she shakes her head, reaching between them to give him a pat on his shoulder. It doesn’t escape notice that she hesitates to touch the shoulder that she trod on back upon their first meeting on the other side of the island.

“You did a good thing today, for Charlie. Your Mama would be proud.” And she means it. All sarcasm and biting banter disappears from between them for just those few words.

Sawyer’s blue eyes darken ever so slightly with something, some recollection of a past he will never share and that haunts him, before they clear and reclaim their teasing sparkle as he quirks his head at her and arches his eyebrows.

“Are you?” he demands and Ana snorts silently.

“Do you have an Oedipus complex now? Do I look like your Mama?”

He barks out a laugh, still grinning like a Cheshire Cat, and replies, “No, Ma’am, you sure don’t. And I’d like to thank God for that.”

“Yeah,” she suppresses her own amusement finally as she stands from her spot and turns to leave, tossing over her shoulder, “Thank God for that.”


SCENE SEVEN- FLASHBACK TO SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

He stared up at the window of the diner that he’d told them to meet him in. He could even see them as they sat there waiting at their table. Waiting for him so that they could bundle him into the back of their car and take him somewhere to pummel him in a red stain on the ground.

And he’d deserve everything they did to him. He knew he did. He should have just coughed up the money for them back in Old Blighty. He should have begged and borrowed the money, paid his dues and then gotten help.

He needed help, he knew that now. It wasn’t normal that his hands hadn’t stopped shaking for the past three days straight. It wasn’t normal that he’d not slept in weeks worrying about when they were going to come for him and what they were going to do to him.

And yet…at the back of his mind…all the time a little voice was asking him, what if Baz’s gig could spark things off again? What if he could have again what they had before Liam took off to Oz and practically wrote Charlie off as a brother? Because of some stupid mistake that Liam himself had made in the first place! It was all his fault. He was the one who’d begged Charlie to start the band. He was the one who’d introduced Charlie to heroine. He was the one who couldn’t keep his bloody act together and got them dropped by their record label. Him. Liam. Didn’t he owe Charlie big time? Didn’t he owe Charlie this one last chance at the fame-game after all he’d put him through over the years?

The door to the diner was getting closer as Charlie’s feet lead him up the three steps and a blonde girl, eyes ringed with thick black eyeliner, exiting the place grinned at him and held the door open for him to enter as she tugged a jacket on over her diner uniform.

“You going in, Lovie?” she asked as Charlie stared in, the warm air and smell of food wafting out and over him as he stood on the threshold but he shook his head, returning her grin with one of his own, before shoving his hands in his pocket and walking down the steps backwards.

He shook his head again.

“Nah, Love. Just window shoppin’ before I have to meet me brother.”

She chuckled following him down the steps. “Your brother, huh?”

“Yeah. We’re in a band…you’ve probably heard of us. Driveshaft’s the name.”

“No way?! You guys rock! How about…after you’ve met with your brother…you an’ me hook up?”

SCENE EIGHT- SUN AND JIN’S SHELTER

Charlie shuffles in the sand, approaching Sun and Jin as they sit outside their shelter, cautiously. He knows that Jin is still furious with him for his part in Sun’s kidnapping and he knows that the other man has every right to be. He has every right to want to throttle the life out of his scrawny British neck.

He notices as Jin’s fists clench in the sand at his sides as he, in turn, notices Charlie’s approach but Sun places a hand on his arm, making his tense muscles relax somewhat as she murmurs to him something that Charlie can’t catch.

He clears his throat and scuffs the toe of his sneaker in the sand as he stops before them.

“Err…” he scrubs the back of his neck nervously, eyes flitting over to Claire who’s watching with Aaron in her arms back over at her shelter and she smiles at him encouragingly. That gives him the strength to continue on. “I know that there’s no excuse for what I’ve done and I know that I don’t deserve to be forgiven and I totally understand if you never do and you hate me forever…but,” he sighs, his blue eyes wandering up from the sand and his scruffy footwear to Sun’s face mostly. He’s still too afraid to look into the dark, angry eyes of Jin. “If I could do everything over again…I would do things different and I’d do them right. I know what’s right now…and I know that I was a very, very wrong person to do what I did…I’m sorry.”

His words hand there in the quiet air, only the crashing waves and Aaron’s burbling giggles behind them breaking the silence and eventually, after a long moment of consideration, Sun nods, even though it’s plain to see she’s still very shaken up and upset about the whole ordeal.

“I know you are a good person, Charlie.” She says. “I forgive you.”

Something akin to wild and unbridled relief flashes across Charlie’s face before he reins it in, remembering that he’s not entirely out of the woods yet and that’s when he dares a glance over at Jin.

His hands still wind themselves into rock hard fists that Charlie remembers feeling pounding down onto his body, covering him in bruises but, stoic and indifferent as he is, glaring out at the sea instead of at the apologetic blonde man before him, Jin nods his head once, sharply.

“Thank you and I’m sorry again.” Charlie murmurs before taking his leave, returning to Claire unharmed, the weight of his actions not entirely gone from his shoulders, but not, by far, as heavy as the had been before he'd done the right thing.

[End Act II]

[End Episode]

LOST

-----------------


Lost Virtual Season 3: Episode Seven full credits:

Writers: Scouse Midnight Riot

Executive Producers:
Aimz
nycjoc
Skayla
DarkHuntress
InMemoriam


Brought to you by Leigh and mru-forum.com. Thank you, Leigh, for all your help and support through this. It wouldn't have been possible without you. And special thanks to all the board members who have been just as excited about this project as we are. You guys totally motivated us.

Disclaimer: None of the writers or producers have made any money on this project. It was purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement is intended.--

wonderful!!

Lovely gals! It was a wonderful episode and made me start to like Charlie again!

Ok first, you made me a tad sympathetic to Charlie (it's really rare for me to care about it him)....and so way to go on that one.

I simply LOVED they whole Claire/Ana/Charlie/Jin/Sawyer jungle fiasco. I love it when more than 2 or 3 characters are involved in some sort of group scene/scenarios and that played out REALLY well.

Lastly, the Sana. Yes I love Jana and Sana, but ugh the Sana just makes me smile. And you wrote it VERY well. It's obvious they like each other but it's written in a way that is subtle and moving at a realistic and in-character pace.

Really enjoyed this, thanks so much....and way to go!

L.

How flashbacks are composed with Island scenes sometimes is really even better than on real show :bow:
SANA! :wub: *sighs for the episode 1 a little* This kind of Sana was DEFINITELY worth the wait too :wub: Love them just being close :wub: *melts*
Charlie/Sawyer connection! :bow: :bow:
Ana/Claire interaction, it should've happened.
Michael and Cindy are adorable! :D Man, I like liking Michael ;)

Psst, flashbacks in second post aren't [i]'d out ;)

I will say it once, and say it again, Scouse and Allie did a great job :D

I guess I am evil. I think Charlie got exactly what he deserved, hmph. I don't feel sorry for him at all. I was cheering for Jin, haha. Everyone (except Jin) gave him the benefit of the doubt because he is just dumb Charlie who screwed up again. I was like why is everyone so willing to let him off the hook. But sigh you have to have a soft spot for poor Charlie I guess. That did come across well. He is just a mess.

But hell if I didn't love Charlie in this episode aside from that. Pure comedy. What I love most about this episode is that I was laughing most of the time while all the intense drama was unfolding, which was written so well considering the amount of characters involved in it all.

Charlie and Sawyer were hilarious and so spot on. Haha, and Scousey I loved that you found all kinds of Asian nicknames for Sawyer to use -- Mulan, Crouching Tiger, hahahaha.

My favorite scenes were Charlie and Eko,because I could picture Eko's reaction to Charlie's women-hating blubberins. And Ana and Sayid because they are just so damned cool, speaking of which I adored Ana in this episode -- her barely containing her excitement as she gave Sayid a gun, then just being so smooth and in control with Sawyer with the "shakedown." and trying to contain Jin during the rumble in the jungle.

Yea yea Sana goodness. :) Sorry I was feeling Sayana in this episode.

And where's Kate. Haha!

Awesome job!

Saved it to my computer so I can read it offline a bit later.

:wub: I do love LVS3. :popcorn:

Yay, I come home to great feedback! :D You guys make me smile. Thanks so much for the feedback...and Ash, sweetie, thanks so much for posting for me, you're so awesome, seriously!

Awe, Aimz, you know me and my Charlie love, lol. He and Sawyer are the only reasons I'm still watching Lost this year. I hated the way Charlie and Claire was wrecked in the show, though I suppose it was necessary, and I hated how they made Charlie look like the total bad guy in it...you're right, he's just really messed up, and I'm glad that came across. :)

thanks again for the feed, and I'm glad you guys are liking this! :)

Hey no problem Allie. I don't mind posting if no one else can do it. Anytime sweets. Though, I have to admit, I nearly forgot to post it XD.

i loved this!

the sana :o was just... WOW!

ive always hated the halfling :lol: but you made me feel sorry for him and kind of like charlie ;)

what can i say? LVS rocks :D

The claire ana interaction was great man should have done that a long time ago
and i love the sun claire ana charlie sawyer jin fiasco as well

Dark Huntress you are a total ANGEL for posting this up for us! Couldn't have done it without you. ;)

Wow, such great responses! I have to echo what Allie said previously, thanks so much for taking the time to read and give a little reply/comment. We dearly love those comments! :wub:

I'm just super glad I managed to pull my end of the bargin off in the end :D and that it turned out okay. :)

Aimz-y, you know all about my Sawyer-love (:lol:) when I am in that man's head, I can't seem to get out again...so be prepared for me to go around calling everyone dubious nicknames for weeks to come now! :lol: There are just sooooo many great options for new nicknames when writing Sawyer, I can't help but throw a few new ones of my own in from now and then ;)

Allie - I must say, Darling, I've really enjoyed working with you on this, even though we've both been pretty busy over the last few weeks and haven't had all that much contact...but I must say, we didn't do too bad, huh? :D Thanks for putting up with me being slow and lazy and hopefully we'll be able to work together again sometime. :)

I thought this episode was wonderful. Very engrossing, and with a faster pace than the last one.
I'm not a Charlie fan, I'm still not a Charlie fan, but you made his scenes interesting, which is what counts.
I liked the fact that Sawyer was honest-- but why hasn't he gotten any real backlash for it? I realize that it was only his idea, and that Charlie carried it out, but while Charlie has had to fight to explain himself and apologize, Sawyer just shows up, admits to planning it, and gets all this credit for admitting to it without actually apologizing for it or having to explain anything the way Charlie did. That's a bit disappointing.
I think I may be the only person who finds the Michael/Cindy scenes boring. I just feel like it's a romantic plotline for the sake of it-- much the same way I felt about Hurley/Libby, a pairing which I absolutely hate. Thankfully, you haven't done too much with either one yet.
I like the Sana, and the Jana, but what I really, absolutely adore? Is the Ana/Sayid interaction. I would like to see them become close friends, with no romantic attachments. I think that they are so similar in so many ways, and the irony of that is fun to work with. I really liked seeing that start to happen in the show, and hope to see it continue here too.
I'm still hoping for the plotline to kick into a higher gear (maybe with more from the monster(s) or the Others), but I realize it's still the beginning (sort of) of the season :)
Thanks again for all the work you've all put into this,
~Malenkaya

Honest Melankaya. I love you, you are in my head.

We are commiting to 24 episodes, so that could be why it feels like we are taking a while to get to the meat of the action. You will see as the season unfolds that right now in the first quarter of the season, we are setting the stage for alot of what's to come. The gun situation was a story arc that came to a climax in this episode. The next two episodses will literally be the "calm before the storm" and then we launch into another story arc. We will get more into the mythology of the island around mid season. So please hang in there with us.

I agree 100% about Ana and Sayid and we are going to have them interact more. ;) And I am thankful that Lost gave us a glimspe of that in S2. I think they have an awesome vibe that came across really well in this episode. Allie did a great job writing that.

I take is that you are really not into the ships overall Melankaya. I can respect that, but you know we strive for balance. Some people are reading for ships (aka Sana) others like you are looking for action, some are looking for as much Ana as possible. Your comments really help, and I hold them in high regard.

Gracias.

Oh and P.S.

Sawyer gets away with too much on the show too, IMO. I'll have to file that in the back of my mind. But overall Charlie is the hard luck kind of character who is always going to get the short end of the stick, and Sawyer is the lucky mofo con artist who always seems to get out of situations with his hands clean. Frustrating but true.

Wow, I love your feedback, hon. So great. Yeah, I agree with you about Sawyer--but I think he gets away with more because people just kind of expect it from him. Oh, Sawyer's the bad guy in this? Oh, well, what else is new, you know? That's always the vibe I got on the show, and I guess it got into this, even though I didn't realize it when I was writing it.

The Michael/Cindy scenes- yeah, they are boring. I agree, because I thought that one was boring when I was writing it, I just couldn't figure out how to amp it up a bit. But to echo Aimz- we're winding down a little bit before we kick back up into some major drama and action, and I promise, with the stuff we have planned for those two, you'll feel differently soon. It's definitely something we're thinking about and working on.

Writing that Ana/Sayid scene was a lot of fun, though it was pretty difficult, and I'm really happy to see that you liked it. It was definitely a challenge for me, and I'm glad to see such positive reactions to it- thanks. :)

Oh, and Scouse, honey...you know I love working with you, sweetie. We did a bang-up job together on this one, if I might say so myself, and I can't wait to work with you again.

Ooo! Ooo! I have an idea! How's about we be like the real writers of Lost and go on a thirteen week hiatus where there's only repeats?

ahhh ....please NO HIATUS!!!

the last one nearly did me in. :o

anyway, just a curious question...how do you two (or any of you) actually write toether?

do you send ideas back and forth....or are you assigned a certain part of the eppy and then put them together kinda thing?

whatever you're doing is working/amazing!

ll

Just finished reading it finally and it was amazing! It honestly keeps getting better.

The Claire/Ana interaction was great, and I actually did feel a little sorry for Charlie.

And the Sana...:wub:

Great job guys. :)

We have been quite organized in our efforts if I do say so myself. LOL.

We had outlined the overall arc for most of the season before we began writing, along with backstories for the major characters. We had a general idea of what was going to happen in each episode and which character would get the flashback focus. Allie is one organized chica, so she did alot of pulling together things from brainstorming in the secured thread so it all made sense.

As we go along we create detailed outlines (I guess what you would call breakdowns in the movie/tv biz) of each individual episode scene by scene and share and discuss/debate amongst each other in the secured writers forum.

Most of the time two writers write an episode, one act per writer. Someone just steps up and volunteers to do the actual writing. And so far this system has worked really well. Overall this has been a total collaborative effort. Everyone involved contributes in some way to each episode with ideas and guidance. It's worked well. We all are creative types with strong opinions so we bump heads and duke it out, but it's been alot of fun for me because everyone on the team is so talented.

Oh and Leigh should get some credit too. Eventhough she is not writing, she has been active sharing her ideas (Leigh's never shy, haha) and giving feedback and lots of support. The very end of the Ana/Kate gun caper, with Ana walking away from Kate and not giving her access to the guns, was mainly Leigh's idea.

Thanks for the compliments doublebell, I am trilled you are enjoying this.

Haha, I feel like you are like Entertainment magazine interviewing me. I feel like J.J. Abrams right now, which could be a scary thing actually. haha.

Ask more questions. I kind of like this. :D

Don't worry sweetie! I was just being sarcastic. We will have no hiatus! Or else someone is gonna die and it ain't gonna be me.

Well, I gotta give props to Leigh as well-if it weren't for her none of us would be here so *bows in reverence to Leigh*.

And Aimz, if you were JJ we wouldn't be writing this virtual season 3 (that's so much better than the original) would we?

And yes! Ask questions! Lots of questions! Questions are good!

haha, yup.

And Damon, and Carlton aren't on the writing team either. ;)

But if I could get paid like J.J. I'd be a happy camper. I'd gladly be J.J. for $$$$.

Good Lord, Leigh is like royalty. LOL. :blink:

thanks for that guys!!

i'll definately be back with more questions!

ll

that was sooooo cool!!!! I loved the scene in the jungle! I was really suprised by Sawyer taking responsability for his actions lol it was awesome. and the Sana :wub: was really gud and I actually felt a little sorry for charlie which is weird coz I really hate him lol but he got what he deserved :ph43r: but that was seriously gud keep it up!

(by the way what's HIATUS? :unsure: )

A hiatus usually means that a tv show is going on a break, whether it be for weeks, months, etc.

I loved the sana scene at the end guys, nice job :)

Wow that was very good!!! Loved the part with Ana and Sawyer in the tent. :wub:
You know what would be SOOOO cool? If Ana found out she was pregnant by Sawyer from their little encounter. :lol: Wow!!! How interesting would that get!?

argh! no hiatus! no hiatus! :pray: I can't handle hiatus (unless it brings more sana :P )

:yeah: ohhhh I like ur idea ~michelle_rox~ lol that would be awesome, wounder what Sawyer would do? n e wayz can't wait 4 the next chapter :D

Thanks devilish_angel. Love your icon and banner!!! Its suposed to be Sawyer and Ana right? Totaly cute!!!! :clap:

You guys are so MAZING!!! :lol: