Lost Virtual Season Three: Episode 10
The Eye of the Storm


Writers: Aimz and Scouse
Credits: at the end of the episode
Rating: Act I: PG-13, Act II: R
Special Thanks: to all our faithful readers who have given us such wonderful feedback. On behalf of all the writers we sincerely appreciate it.
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ACT I

Scene One: The Jungle

“Over here. Over here,” Ana Lucia slows her pace and bellows to her companions, not wanting to stop completely and allow her boots to sink too far into the soppy marsh. She knows her voice is little match against the deafening downpour yet she screams into the darkness, commanding but almost helplessly. The heavy drops of water, hammering down from the sky like a relentless shower of lead, render her nearly blind. She can barely keep her eye lids open or see more than a few inches in front of her, and her saturated hair feels like heavy ropes plastered to her neck. She breathes a desperate sigh of relief when the outline of three figures comes into her view.

“Over here,” she bellows herself hoarse once again, water falling into her mouth, while ramming the handle of her riffle against the opening of a door, her hand slipping and sliding on the weapon's wet nozzle. She hopes against hope that whatever lies on the other side of the door will offer them much needed shelter, not to mention medical supplies.

Safety as opposed to more peril.

“Ana Lucia!” In call and response fashion, Sayid shouts back with frantic urgency, letting the sound of Ana's voice guide him. By the time he comes within eyesight of Ana, he finds that she has managed to jimmy the door open.

The two stumble into the doorway, trying in vain to shake-off the wetness and regain composure. They look for Sawyer, who soon follows, carrying a limp bodied Claire, as he did for miles in hopes to find her medical attention or Jack, whichever came first. The group had gotten twisted around in the extreme weather and lost their sense of direction to the main hatch.

Where they are now, they haven't a clue.

In an unfamiliar pitch black room, Sayid instinctually searches around its perimeter for a light switch or electrical outlet.

“How is she?” Ana asks hurriedly while moving her body as close to Sawyer and Claire as possible so she can bring them into full view.

“She ain't doing too good,” rasps Sawyer through quick breaths, his long hair dripping wet. Still holding Claire, he is searching around for somewhere to set her down.

It's not what Ana wants to hear. Before she can respond, a dim light illuminates the area, and she looks up to a single light bulb dangling from a cord in the ceiling. Looking around, she spots what looks to be elementary school-style classroom desks, lined up neatly in four rows.

“We seem to have electricity,” announces Sayid while navigating around the confined dank area, which to him resembles an interrogation room save for the odd furniture. On the door he recognizes a symbol similar to the Dharma insignia he has seen plastered in the main hatch and on the packaging of every ration they had managed to find.

“This must be one of their places,” he says, addressing his comment to nobody in particular while spinning around, eye-balling the perimeter of the station. A flash of anger overcomes him, the same feeling he gets every-time he thinks of them -- The Others.

“Look, see the monitors over there,” announces Ana, directing Sayid to the area. She puts her hands over her eyes as Sayid approaches with a flashlight.

“A flashlight?”

“Yes. It is working, but I am unsure of its battery life. We would be wise to conserve.” He moves the flashlight around to survey the room more closely then heads towards the monitors.

“Ain't meaning to interrupt the CSI, but Mamacita here needs tending to,” announces Sawyer, irritated, wet and exhausted.

Ana looks over to the corner as he lowers Claire to the ground. He grunts and fusses not really knowing how to position her body.

“Is she conscious?” Ana asks, moving towards them.

Sawyer examines her face as Claire's pupils roll up and her frail body slumps over. “She ain't no more.”

“She's probably lost alot of blood,” Ana concludes while pressing her fingertips against Claire's neck, feeling a weak but steady pulse. ”Sayid, toss me the flashlight.” Ana catches it in mid air and whisks the light over Claire, surveying her wounds more closely than she was able to back at the caves. The barrier wall that splintered and fell on Claire apparently did much damage.

“And she's still bleeding.” Profusely, Ana fears. She whisks the light over Sawyer and notices his shirt is shrouded in blood. “Look we need to find rags, bandages, blankets, anything you can find.” She directs her order at Sawyer. He scowls back at her. The scene is familiar to both of them.

“Ain't that what I said? Tend to her, dang-it.”

“Maybe,” she answers Sawyer in an exasperated tone.

Ana, who has seen many a gruesome site, flinches at the abundance of blood staining Claire's pale skin a deep shade of red and sticking in clumps to her blonde tresses. There is a large shard of wood lodged into her shoulder and a nasty gash marring her forehead. She looks like an extra from a horror movie. Ana figures that if Claire didn't pass out from loss of blood, then she did from the pain alone, which must have been excruciating.

“Gimme your shirt.”

“Why for?”

“Why do you think Sherlock?”

“You don't wanna know what I think sweetheart,” Sawyer quips while slowly unfastening his sopping wet shirt as if he is doing a striptease, all the while keeping his eyes intensely trained on Ana. “And you and your gimmies would work a whole lot better with a please and thank you.”

“Just hurry it up. . . please.”

“Well you know how to loosen my buttons in a hurry, Chacha. Wanna come help?” he growls. “I'll let ya rip it off me.”

Ana rolls her eyes and taps her foot while her face grows warm. She's trying to keep herself from completely blowing her top over Sawyer's antics, trying to stop the urge to lunge at him and do whatever would bring him much pain. As if fighting with Sayid wasn't enough. He's skating on very thin ice.

“You might not like how I rip.” She pulls out her hunter's knife and thumps her nail against the tip, biting her lip and sending Sawyer a message of which he ignores in order to issue another complaint.

“Ain't like Muhammad's done much to help matters. Why don't you bark your orders at him?” He peels the shirt from his flesh, happy to be ridding his body of it. ”And put the damn knife away. You ain't scarin' nobody.”

He dangles his shirt in front of him like a carrot, making Ana stretch her body to reach it. Rubbing his bare, damp skin to keep from getting a chill, he eyeballs her from head to toe before stomping off. The thanks he gets for hauling the little Mama damn near across the entire island, and with no help from the Muslim.

“Thanks man,” Ana responds with resigned sincerity. “You're a good Cowboy.”

Sawyer turns his head and nods slightly, shooting her a twisted smile.

After ripping Sawyer's shirt to shreds with the knife, she forms a turnicate around Claire's shoulder to stop the bleeding, fussing over her wound, knowing that without alcohol to sterilize the area, it risks becoming infected -- if it's not already. Ana feels Claire's forehead, figuring a fever is on the brink. She shudders and looks around desperately. “We need to find Jack.”

“Here. It's the best I can do,” Sawyer says, tossing Ana a bundled clump of material that looks like a drop cloth. “Sorry it ain't Jack,” he adds with a tinge of resentment in his voice.

After covering Claire, trying to make her as comfortable as possible, Ana stands and waves the flashlight around the area.“What the hell is this place?”

“Hell if I know. Least it's dry.”

Ana rubs her hand over the tops of the desk, catching in her finger tips what promises to be years of dust. Reaching her hand inside of one of the desks, she pulls out piece of card stock that looks like it's been carbon copied. Shining light on it, she mouths the words to its title. “6th Midterm Intelligence Aptitude Test.” It's a number two pencil-type standardize test that she recognizes well. She took many of them, one after the other, when she was a kid. It's something that she hasn't thought about in years, but the nature of it darts in and out of her memory as if it happened yesterday. She sees herself as a young girl in a school uniform filling in little circles with a lead pencil -- sees herself sobbing on a long bus ride, headed towards a private school in which she had no business being.

Near the monitors, Sayid is inspecting the wiring and electrical connections to see if he can get them working. Both he and Ana Lucia jump a bit at a strange audio which abruptly cuts through the silence.

Sawyer has pressed play on an antiquated VCR machine and is now watching a film appear on the screen.

“What the hell.”As the audio begins, Ana approaches, studying the man on the film strangely, totally mesmerized.

“Maybe they got cable. Why don't you fetch me some popcorn and a beer. Extra butter.”

Ana sneers at Sawyer.

The Asian man on the film, who identifies himself as Dr. Marvin Candle, welcomes them to “The Pearl”, giving the viewer of the film instructions on how to complete log-books and monitor other stations including “The Swan.” Tests from “the children” are to be collected and sent through a pneumatic tube.

“You know that guy, Luce?”

Ana wavers to answer him, trying to comprehend what she's hearing and why she has a sudden sense of deja vu.

“Why would I know him?”

“You tell me.”

“Namaste,” Dr. Candle says before the film abruptly ends.

“Namaste,” Ana whispers back, her questioning eyes staying trained on the screen long after it goes blank.

Scene Two: Flashback, Widmore Academy, California, 1988

Young seventh-grader Ana Lucia Cortez sat on a wooden bench, slouched down with her hands across her chest and a sour expression on her face. Strands of black curls hung loose and wild from her ponytail. Her white cotton shirt was wrinkled and half untucked from her uniform plaid skirt, her socks rolled down to her calves revealing a fresh scab on her knee. The girl across from her looked just as disheveled.

Ana's attention was divided between shooting daggers at the girl and nervously watching the closed door to the Headmaster's office. She knew her final fate at Widmore Academy for Exceptional Learning was about to be determined.

Inside the office, Headmaster Margo Shepard paced the floor while her guest tried in vain to rationalize with her.

“I don't know how much longer I am expected to tolerate having her in this school Dr. Candle. This is an institution for learning, not street brawling. And this is the third time she's been in a fight this semester. . .”

“Need I remind you why Miss Cortez is in this school?” Dr. Candle speaks calmly yet forcefully.

“I know,” she cuts him off. “I understand that she scored high on the aptitude tests. That no longer holds any bearing.”

“. . . unusually high on mathematics and cognitive ability, Mrs. Shepard,” he completes her statement. “She has been tested many times, each time scoring in the highest percentile. One-hundred percent on our key questions.” Candle lowered his voice to a forceful whisper, repeating the phrase 'key questions'. “We cannot let this one slip through the cracks.”

“Dr Candle, academic merit aside, Miss Cortez lacks the discipline to continue here. This is a very special school, and I think she is sorely out of place here. She has very little guidance at home with her mother being a police officer of all things,” she exclaimed, disapprovingly. ”Ana Lucia is here on scholarship and her grades are slipping. I am recommending to the board that she be expelled. And this time I think they'll support my decision, considering the fact that she just attacked the chairman's daughter.”

“Penelope Widmore? Perhaps Ms. Widmore is too clever for her own good.”

“I would say the same thing about Ana Lucia, which is why she has to leave this academy immediately.”

“He won't be happy about this Margo,” Dr. Candle cautioned, dropping the formalities.

“Marvin, *he* does not tell me what to do.”

“Sit down,” the assistant Headmaster warned after Ana rose from the bench and faked a lunge at the girl sitting across from her. “And you'd be wise to apologize to Penelope.”

“I am not apologizing to her cuz I'm not sorry. She had it coming,” sneers Ana at her enemy. She had dealt with too many real bullies back in her L.A. public school to let the likes of Penny and her rich snotty minions get away with mouthing off to her.

“See Headmaster Whipple,” Penny started in her proper English accent. “It's just like my father always says -- can't let any old riffraff come to this school, especially the ones bused here from el barrio. It's a waste of taxpayer . . .”

Before Penny could fully get her comment out, Ana lunged a second time at her opponent, this time knocking her to the floor, pulling her hair and attempting to land punches.

“You take that back, you snotty English piece of ... ”

“I will not. Get her off me.”

“Take it back.”

Before Ana could land another blow, she felt a strong hold on her elbow yanking her up.

“Okay break it up. Miss Cortez, in my office. Now.”

Ana huffed and tried to compose herself, and as her red haze of anger began to fade, she fully saw the man grasping her elbow. He was an Asian man that she had seen on campus before, often wearing a white lab coat, accompanied by other school VIPs.

He looked down at her, but not with the usual disdain and disappointment of all the other educators. He had a twinkle in his eye, and a slight smirk on his face as if he found all of this amusing.

“Chin up my dear. You can do great things if you put your mind to it. Mind over matter. Remember that. Namaste.”

Scene Three: Main Hatch

The buzzing feeling of uncertainty has taken up residence deep down in his stomach. Twisting and coiling enough to make his nerves stand to attention and his lungs suck in air like it’s going out of fashion.

She wouldn’t try and get out there…would she? Not after everything they had talked about, argued about, earlier?

But the nagging feeling of foreboding refuses to leave him and in response to it, his pace quickens to almost double his previous speed and he feels his heartbeat kick up a notch.

“Kate?” his voice echoes down the dimly lit, rusting corridors hoping that he’ll reach her before she does anything stupid. “Kate, it’s your turn for button duty…” he lies and maybe she knows it’s a lie as soon as she hears it. She knows as well as anyone that Jack would rather smash the damn computer up into a thousand un-working pieces than keep pushing the button. But he has to try. He needs to keep her from getting another of her stubborn ideas into her head. He needs to keep her from trying to escape her pseudo prison of the hatch and opening that door.

The door!

He’s running now, feet thundering out a clanging rhythm as he sprints towards the exit of the Swan, the sound ricocheting around him as loud as his heart beating like a drum in his ears.

If she opens that door…

“Kate! No!” he sees her as he surges around the final corner but his words are smothered and drowned out by great grind-clunk of the lock snapping open with her effort before his voice can even reach her.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he muses that maybe he should know by now, like she knows him, that Kate does what she wants, when she wants. No question. He should have foreseen that she’d make a break for freedom, especially with Sawyer out there. He should have known she’d never listen to him.

There is a split second of stillness in which Jack hopes, wishes, prays that Kate was right before. That there is no flood water behind that door. That there is nothing out there other than the dark, damp jungle after a rain shower.

But they aren’t that lucky and the nervousness in his guts, that counting to five and letting the fear out won‘t dispel, tells him so.

A deep primal, almost alive sounding groan hums through the air making the very structure of the hatch resonate with it’s wailing. The shriek of metal grinding against metal, so high pitched it sets his teeth on edge, joins the crescendo and then the door swings open, before Kate can step away, before she even realises that Jack is there calling to her. It catches her between the eyes, connecting with her skull with a sickening crack that somehow, inexplicably, Jack can hear over all the noise around him and that is when the water surges in, muddy and churning, filled with bits of the jungle that it has managed to claw away from it’s rightful place outside. The white horses at the crest of the rushing wave flash their teeth and stamp their hooves and gallop down the corridor towards him, towards the inside of that hatch and the other survivors huddling in the living area. Jack can hear them shouting back there, perhaps demanding what’s going on, what all the noise is. A noise not dissimilar to the smoke creature that stalks the jungle outside.

Kate doesn’t have time to acknowledge her pain yet or the blood streaming down from her forehead. The water is shockingly icy, choking the air in her lungs as it gushes and swirls and hammers into her body, the cold seeping into her chest. She grabs wildly at the door handle she has just struggled so hard with but her swimming vision, the dizziness of pain and disbelief that she was wrong again, makes her reactions clumsy and the torrent of a river pouring in through the doorway tugs and pulls at her threatening to send her down to the ground. The current is so strong.

She feels herself losing her footing, there is no way she can stand against the immense force that she has let in and just as she feels herself ripped backwards, closing her eyes and giving in against the water’s power and her own woozy, pounding head, strong arms hook themselves beneath her arms from behind. Wrapping around her, drawing her back into a strong, reassuring chest that is surprisingly warm after the frigidness of the water hitting her.

“Stay awake, Kate!” Jack shouts, his mouth is by her ear and yet she still finds it difficult to hear what he’s saying above the roar and the blood thumping behind her temples. She knows that she should feel guilty and ashamed for what she‘s done but the pain blots all her other feelings out for the moment. “Kate, don’t close your eyes! You need to stay awake for me!”

Even he struggles to remain upon his feet against the rush. He hefts Kate’s suddenly limp body a little higher in his grasp, cradling her head back against his shoulder and turns his back to the open doorway, stumbling as he is shoved back down the corridor, trying desperately not to let himself fall.

“Eko!” he yells out and in seconds the other man is there, charging around the corner as if he has read Jack’s mind, or pre-empted his thoughts at least. He takes in the scene, glancing over at the gaping doorway and the dark, churning water spewing in and he starts forwards.

“Take her into the back with the others.” he tells Jack, raising his voice over the din. “Get them safe, into the store room. I will try and close the door.”

Jack opens his mouth to protest but the look on the priest’s face and the dazed groan from Kate make him nod his head and send him hurrying, almost with the flow of the water, into the living area of the hatch.

“Everyone. We have to move. Now!”


Scene Four: Flashback, Downtown, L.A.

“Well, well what do we have here,” said Big Mike, peering out of the squad car window.

Ana slowed the vehicle as both she and her partner spotted two people shoving and arguing outside of a convenient store. “The rich folks have taken up to slumming.”

“Let's go break it up,” sighed Ana, while flipping on the siren lights and pulling into the parking lot.

As she exited her vehicle, she got a closer look at a man and woman engaged in a heated dispute inbetween a pristine Mercedes Benz and black stretch limo. The man, about 50 years of age, was attempting to yank a blonde woman in her late 20s towards the limo. The woman was shouting and resisting his hold.

“Let go of me I said.”

“Your father won't approve of this,” the man yelled through clenched teeth. “You don't want to keep testing him like this. You are in jeopardy of loosing everything.”

“All right break it up,” Ana commanded as Big Mike worked to remove the man from his hold on the woman. “I said step aside.”

“You're asking to get arrested.” Big Mike pulled the man away from the scene and towards the squad car, while Ana stayed near the woman to question her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes,” the shaken woman said while trying to pull herself back together. “Fine.”

“You wanna have the creep arrested? Just say the word and my partner will put the cuffs on him.”

“That won't be necessary.”

Ana paused for a second, looking at the fair-skinned, blonde woman curiously, noticing a distinct British accent, fine cashmere overcoat and pricey jewelry. She left no doubt in Ana's mind that she was sorely out of place in this neighborhood.

“Look miss, if your boyfriend takes a liking to slapping you around on the regular, then I advise you to press charges.”

The woman rubbed her forehead, sighing and shaking her head as if she had been through the drill before. “No, no that won't be necessary, I assure you. It's a misunderstanding, and he's not my boyfriend. He's my father's attorney.”

Ana raised an eyebrow. “You two are awful far from home aren't you? What are you doing in this neighborhood anyway? Take a wrong turn?”

The woman was no longer focused on Ana's questions. Instead her eyes fell on the police officer's nametag as a flash of recognition overtook her expression. “It's all a misunderstanding, Officer Cortez.” She paused for a second as Ana scribbled on her notepad.

“Look I'll give him a ticket for disturbing the peace at the very least. Then I suggest you both head out of here and don't think about coming back anytime soon. I'll need your name.”

“You don't remember me do you?” she asked with a slight knowing smirk.

Ana paused, and almost chuckled. “Should I? You don't seem like the type of person I'd run in to. Especially in this neighborhood.”

“Oh, you shouldn't sell yourself short Ana Lucifer.”

“What did you call me?” Ana spit out while taking a defensive stance. There was only one person in her life that ever dared call her that name, and she got her face smashed into asphalt for it. She examined the woman again as vague memories came flooding back.

“Seventh grade? Widmore Academy?”

“Sonofabitch,” Ana whispered with her jaw hung low. It couldn't be her. No, not the British snob that quickly became her nemesis. “Penelope Widmore?” she asked, tripping on the name.

“Tis I. How lovely to see you again Ana Lucia.”

Scene Five: “The Pearl” Hatch

Ana paces nervously, clutching one of the aptitude tests in her fist. Her eyes periodically fall upon Claire, lying in the corner of the room in a helpless ball. She bites her thumb nail, trying to think of a way out of this mess.

“Hey watch it,” exclaims Sawyer while lurching back from a surge of electricity.

“What are you clowns doing now?” Ana approaches them, and Sayid is telling Sawyer that he said on the count of three not two.

“Bob Villa here is about to set this whole place on fire, that's what.”

“If you cannot follow simple instructions, then perhaps I overestimated your level of intelligence,” says Sayid in a biting tone while moving out from behind the bank of audio/visual equipment.

Sawyer moves towards him with his fists and jaw fully clenched. “Listen here Osama. You want trouble? Cuz I'll lend you a world of it. You just keep flappin' dem gums.”

Ana quickly positions her body inbetween them. Both of them have been acting like children and she's fed up with their antics. Before she can fully respond to their behavior, the monitors slowly fade up from snow to display clear pictures.

“Sonofabitch.”

The three stand in front of the bank of six monitors, each one displaying which looked to be other rooms.

“These are security monitors,” concludes Sayid while fiddling with one of the controls. “They are most likely attached to hidden cameras, strategically placed. We found some in the main hatch. This must be the place that Locke told me of.”

“Those bastards have been watching us?” asks Ana with much disdain in her voice while spinning around quickly as if she's expecting someone to jump out and surprise her. The test that she has been clutching in her grasp is nearly crumpled up into a ball. Then she quickly realizes that the monitors may serve to their advantage. “Can you see our hatch? Jack?”

“No,” Sayid answers desperately. ”And if this is main control, it has obviously been abandoned for quite awhile. But there are tunnels, look,” he points out.

“And there's someone in one of em,” discovers Sawyer. ”Lookee here.”

The three of them spy a man with long curly hair stumbling around in what looks to be a darkly lit tunnel. “Now who do you suppose he is?” asks Sawyer while honing in on the monitor displaying the image in question.

Ana immediately resumes searching around the perimeter of the area. “There has got to be more than one way out of here.”

-----

“Here, over here.” After a few minutes of searching around, Ana finds a hidden door inside a smaller room, which looks like it was either a utility closet or bathroom once upon a time. She tries to open the door, but has little success. Soon Sayid joins her effort, using all of his muscle to pull the lever to no avail.

“It seems to be locked,” concludes Sayid.

“We need to get this open, whatever is on the other side of this door may be our ticket. We can't stay here,” says Ana, gesturing towards Claire. She thinks for a second before saying, “stand back, give me your gun and get back.”

Ana urges Sayid out of the area and raises the revolver towards the handle. She fires at it twice, hitting her target both times.

“Bingo,” Ana says as the bullet-ridden door swings slightly open. Ana holds the gun firmly in her grip with both arms stretched out before her as she slowly steps through the doorway. She hears Sayid tell her to wait, but she ignores him and pushes through into the passageway.

“Whoever this guy is, he's getting closer to the camera,” bellows Sawyer, who is still fixated on the monitors.

“He's right here.” Ana releases the safety on the gun and aims it towards the strange tunnel dweller.

The man, startled by their sudden appearance, raises both arms instinctually. He swaggers and stumbles back a bit as if he hasn't full capacity of his movements. Through slurred speech, he asks “What took you so long?”

“What took us so long? Who the hell are you?” asks Ana in a commanding voice.

Sayid approaches behind her, shining a flashlight directly at the man. As he squints and grimaces in response to the light, Ana examines him closely. He has long, curly brown hair, a full beard, and is wearing some sort of strange jumpsuit. To her, he seems oddly familiar.

“I believe she asked who you are,” Sayid repeats Ana's command.

“Maybe I should ask you the same question Brother? Would ya mind aiming that flashlight in another direction though?” he requests, still struggling to adjust his eyes to the light.

Ana frowns at what she detects as a Scottish accent. She jerks a bit as Sayid pushes past her with a shotgun in hand.

“I've heard about you, you're the man who had been living down here for years.” Sayid glances towards the Dharma patch on the front of his jumpsuit. “And you are one of them.”

Ana glances curiously at bothof the men. She hadn't heard about anyone living in the hatch, which was yet another thing Jack had apparently neglected to tell her. Still the man was familiar to her, and she couldn't put her finger on why.

“I could be one of them Brother, but that would depend on who you mean by them.”

Sayid presses the nozzle of the shotgun against the man's head.

“Sayid!”

“Wherever you just came from, you are going to take us back there. Now.”

Scene Six: Flashback, Los Angeles

Ana sat at the bar of a swanky lounge, knocking bag the last swig of her tequila and tonic. She felt her cell phone vibrate against her hip. Danny showed up on her caller i.d. She shut off the phone, choosing to ignore it, ignore him and his inevitable questions about where she was and when was she coming home. She was drinking too much, and sleeping too little, not eating enough either, according to Danny and his constant nagging. Every since the shooting, Danny had acted more like her keeper than her boyfriend, and she wanted to run away, needing room to breathe.

“So you decided to take me up on my offer?”

Ana turned her head towards the voice and the woman speaking. She found it interesting that Penelope Widmore hadn't lost her British accent after all those years of American schooling.

“Maybe,” Ana replied as Penny took a seat on the bar stool next to her. It had been nearly six months since their chance encounter, and Ana was second guessing her decision to contact her.

She ordered a martini and turned to smile at Ana, sizing her up like an old friend. Ana demurred to return the sentiment. Old wounds were hard to heal, and she didn't quite trust Penny. She didn't quite trust anyone.

“You called asking to meet me, so I gather you have given it some serious thought at the very least?”

“I have,” Ana replied simply, offering no more information or insights on her decision.

“I would be delighted if you were to say yes Ana Lucia,” Penny responded with eagerness.

“Well, you should know that I'm on a leave of absence from the job, so I am not going to have easy access to information. And why is it that you want me to do this anyway? You can hire any fancy P.I. Why me?”

Penny released a long breath while fiddling with the olive in her drink. “My father is wealthy and connected. I am sure you recall,” she said, while Ana rolled her eyes. Ana was well acquainted with Widmore; more than she wanted to be; couldn't escape it if she tried. Not only had the corporation begun to resemble some sort of monopoly, she cursed the day that Danny began working for Widmore Laboratories.

“Any private detective that I would hire would eventually be paid off by my father. Or they would go to him to see if he would outbid me. It's happened before you see. The truth of the matter is that my father has reasons to keep me from succeeding on this. He would never suspect you.”

“So you thought this all out,” Ana replied, still incredulous but tempted. She had grown stir crazy after the shooting, just sitting around waiting until she got permission to report back to duty. This would give her something to do besides ruminate on her misfortunes.

Penny took out a cashier's check and handed to Ana. “That can serve as a deposit.”

'Five thousand dollars', Ana thought, holding the check firmly in her grasp. “This guy must mean a whole lot to you.”

“He does,” she responded solemnly.

“Well like I said. This thing may take longer than I thought. Things changed since we talked before.”

“You are on a leave of absence from the police force?” After seeing Ana nod yes, Penny inquired as to why.

After knocking back another swig of her drink, Ana responded dryly, “because I got shot four times in the chest.”

Penny jerked her head to attention at the matter-of-fact tone in Ana's voice. “I'm sorry. That's, that's horrendous.”

“Ain't it,” Ana responded cynically, shooting Penny a look that told her to back off the subject.

“Well it's interesting that you are a police officer, isn't it. You always said you wanted to be one. I remember that clearly. 'I want to be great cop like my mother',” Penny recollected while imitating the voice of a young girl. But Ana didn't trust the fondness in her voice. “And look at you now.”

'Yea look at me', Ana thought without responding or acknowledging Penny's attempt at being sentimental. In seventh grade while at the infamous Widmore Academy, Ana had given a speech for career day only to be heckled by Penny. After class, she had introduced Penny to her fist. Ana had no fond memories of the event.

Folding the cashier's check, Ana tucked it into her back pocket nonchalantly. “So let's get started then. Who's this guy you want me to track down?”

Pulling out a manila envelope from her handbag, Penny handed it to Ana as if it were a top secret document. “His name is David Hume, but he goes by the name Desmond,” she explained. “He's Scottish, but he was last seen in the States, here on the West Coast. I'll double the final payment if you can do this quickly.”

Ana rubbed her chin while examining the photos. “Desmond, hmm. We got a deal then.”

Act Two:
Act two is rated R

Scene One: Hatch Stockroom

“And now the other eye. Can you focus on my finger?” Jack gently pushes Kate’s eyebrow upwards with his thumb so that he can check the dilation of her pupil. Thankfully it’s not any larger or smaller than the other eye, suggesting that she has not suffered a concussion and is very, very lucky.

Kate winces as the skin pulls taut over the split in her eyebrow, Jack’s touch making it sting and bleed a little again, though not as much as before.

“Sorry.” he mutters, noticing her flinch. “You seem to be okay but I need to keep up these checks just to be certain that you’re not concussed. That’s all I need, you passing out on us. As if-” he is dabbing at her injury with the cloth he used to clean it up with but Kate catches his wrist with her hand, stilling his ministrations and just shaking her head. She knows he’s just trying to make her feel better. She knows that it’s her fault they’re all stuck in the store room. She knows that she could have killed them all if Jack and Eko hadn’t been there and taken charge and had the sense to move everyone into the store where they would be safe. She knows that if they don’t find a way out soon, before the water on the other side of the door gets too high, that she may very well have still killed them all. And why? What for? Because she was feeling a little insecure that Sawyer was out there somewhere? No, it wasn’t even that…it was more to do with the notion of who he could be stuck out there with and she feels the heat of shame upon her cheeks even as she forces those thoughts and bitter feelings from her mind. She has to get over it. Over him. And Jack too.

“Please.” she whispers. “I just need a moment alone.” And Jack, pausing for a moment, almost about to protest, nods, withdrawing from her and leaving her to her own thoughts.

He takes his place upon a box upon the other side of the food store, smiling and nodding at Rose, Hurley and Libby as they huddle together cooing over the baby in Rose’s arms, watching as he giggles, oblivious to their predicament.

“We cannot stay in here forever, Jack…but you know that…don‘t you?” Eko rumbles out from where he is standing in the corner against the shelves. Jack’s gaze flashes up at the powerful Nigerian man before he looks back down and begins dabbing at knuckles that he doesn’t remember grazing in the heat of the moment.

“We’re safe in here for the moment. Until we can figure something out. We have food and water and we can hold out until the waters subside out there.” he gestures to the door but Eko shakes his head.

“At the moment the waters are only continuing to rise on the other side of that door, Jack. We need to get out soon. We do not know how much pressure that door can take and we cannot afford to wait and find out. I am a man of faith, Jack…but my faith is in God, not in the people who created this hatch.”

Jack nods again slowly, as if he is tired and maybe he is tired of being the leader of having to make all the decisions and of having everyone else‘s lives in his hands…especially when all he wants to do is let his own panic and worry for a certain person out there in the midst of the storm. He wants someone to comfort him and tell him that everything is going to be alright…but there isn‘t anyone. He has to take charge. He needs to be strong enough for all of them, pushing his own fears aside. “You’re right. Aaron needs his mother…soon and there are still people out there…who knows if they’re safe or not. We need to do something.”

Eko ponders the doctor’s words. “I think…I may be able to help you.” he smiles knowingly, pulling a crumpled piece of scribbled on paper from his back trouser pocket. “I think there may be another way out of this hatch.”

They look towards the door and contemplate going out there.

Scene Two: Underground

Navigating their way through a maze of dank tunnels, Ana slowly walks behind Sayid who has a gun trained on their new companion, ordering him to lead him to the main hatch. Behind her Sawyer lugs an unconscious Claire.

“How do we know Lucky Charms is leading us to the right place,” grunts Sawyer while slowing to a labored shuffle. He stops and attempts to reposition Claire in his arms while shooting Sayid an angry glare.

“I'm Scottish not Irish,” he responds, stopping and directing his comment towards Sawyer.

Sawyer frowns at him questionably. Not many people bother to correct his nicknames and he doesn't much like it. “So?”

“Well Lucky Charms is that little leprechaun. The one that sold cereal, no? He’s Irish, Brother. I’m Scottish.”

“Well hand me a bagpipe and stand me corrected,” Sawyer says as his jaw tenses. “And why don’t you give me some of whatever you been drinking, Kilt,” says Sawyer, noticing that Desmond may be a bit inebriated.

“Name’s Desmond,” he responds, waiting in vain for any of them to return the sentiment.

Ana tilts her head to the side and repeats the name in her head. Sawyer lowers his brow to a sinister stare. Sayid raises his aim.

“But if calling me Kilt strikes your fancy, so be it.”

“We should keep moving,” says Sayid.

“I could use a breather here Muhammad. Unless you wanna render yourself useful and carry this load.”

“Who are you?” Ana spits out. She gestures to Sawyer to set Claire down and take a rest. She watches him hunch over and struggle to catch his breath.

Desmond pauses and turns towards Ana, ignoring the gun that Sayid has raised and aimed towards him.

“Does it matter who I am?”

“Well actually it does,” she answers sternly. “How’d ya get here? How long have you been here? Where have you been since you were first discovered?”

Desmond smiles a bit in response to her interrogation. “Got here by sailboat. Been here long enough. Got a replacement, I gathered. So I fixed me boat and tried to sail away.”

“Why’d ya come back?”

“What’s meant for ya will not pass by ya. None of us can really get away can we? We’re lab rats, all of us gettin’ on the same wheel.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You think it’s an accident you’re here Sister?”

Before Ana can utter a response, the dim lights in the passageway flicker off and on, and the ground below them starts to tremor and shake like an earthquake. They all struggle to ground themselves, moving back towards the wall. Desmond darts his vision around nervously, the numbers that he grew to know so intimately float through his consciousness. He fears the worst.

Scene Three: Flashback, L.A. College Campus

Ana slowly drove her car into the parking lot of University Hospital stadium, the wheels crunching over gravel. The area was abandoned save for two cars parked in her vicinity -- so quiet she could hear crickets.

She jerked to attention as a man stepped out of an SUV. He was tall, lean and wearing surgical scrubs. She watched as he rounded to the back of the vehicle, opening the car trunk. In a few seconds he reemerged in running clothes, before stretching and heading into the stadium.

A doctor, she deduced. He was not her guy.

A few minutes later a man emerged from the second vehicle, pulling his long, curly hair back into a ponytail. He too stretched as if he was preparing for a run.

Ana lifted her binoculars for a closer look, comparing the man before her to an assortment of 8x10 photos of one Desmond David Hume.

“Gotcha,” she said while dialling her cell phone. She had her man.

“Hello, Penelope Wid. . . Oh Ana Lucia, is it you?” she asked hurriedly.

“Yea it’s me,” she answered the voice in her cell phone. “Found your guy.”

“Really! Where?”

“I’m at University Hospital Stadium. You know the place?”

“Yes, yes.” Penny didn’t try to mask her excitement, and Ana felt like she was going to jump right through the phone and embrace her.

“I am looking right at him in fact. Just went into the stadium.”

“Oh my. This is, this is good news Ana Lucia. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“I’ll wire the money into your account straight away. It should be there tomorrow morning when the banks open. I can’t thank you enough,” she gushed, talking rapid fire.

“The money does the trick. You want me to wait here, follow the guy home?”

“No no. You have done the job. I can take it from here.”

“Okay then. Pleasure doing business.” Ana prepared to hang up.

“Wait a moment. . . “

“Yea ?”

Penny hesitated. “Uh I just wanted to say good luck to you Ana. I have always admired you, you know, envied even.

“Why?”

“Well I suppose. . . .Well you always knew what you wanted. And you had such love for your mother. You were lucky to have a mom. I suppose that is why I gave you such a hard time. Children can be silly at times, at least I was. I just wish you the best.”

“Same here Penny. Take care of yourself,” Ana offered, finding her confession, and feeble attempt at an apology, a bit out of place. But somehow she believed Penny. She waited for a response before saying, “gotta go.”

“One more thing Ana Lucia,” she paused again, taking a deep breath, and calming her voice to a serious tone. “The man who shot you -- there will be a breakthrough in the investigation. Expect an arrest soon.”

“What? How could you possibly know anything about that? How do you even know it was a man. . . ”

“Because it’s truly a small world Ana Lucia.”

Ana’s heart raced as her ear was met with a click and a dial tone. “Wait a second,” she yelled into the phone. “Hello? Hello?”

Ana quickly hit redial, only to be met with a busy signal. She waited a second, pondering Penny’s revelation, then dialled her number again. She heard a loud tone and a voice recording reciting, “we’re sorry, the number you have dialled is no longer in service. It has been changed or disconnected. No further information is available.”

Ana sat, staring at her cell phone, as the recording repeated.

No further information is available.

She shook off Penny’s words as the mere rantings of a wealthy woman who wanted to amuse her and drove off into the night. Whatever happened next would be nothing more than a coincidence.

Scene Four: Present Day, Medical Hatch

“Right here.” From the passageway, Desmond opens a hatch door and ushers his captors into a sterile, brightly lit area, a sharp contrast to the hatch of which they came.

Having just narrowly escaped the dangers of what seemed to be a small earthquake, all glare at Desmond, perhaps confused by his casual attitude.

Ana quickly surveys the area and surmises that it resembles a hospital. Through a glass window, she spots a room with gurney and what looks to be surgical equipment.

“You should put your friend in there,” directs Desmond nodding towards the room in question. “You may find medical supplies that you’re after as well.”

Sawyer quickly carries Claire into the room, happy to free himself of the cargo. Sayid follows behind right on Sawyer's heals, bumping into him in the process. Sawyer turns around and growls at him.

Ana stays back, eye-balling Desmond curiously. “You were leading us here all along weren’t you? Here instead of the main hatch.”

Desmond smirks deviously. “I’m just as lost as you are, Sister.”

As Ana joins Sayid and Sawyer in the room, Sayid is checking Claire’s pulse and holding up a needle and thread.

“You know how to stitch her up?” asks Ana.

“I am going to make an attempt. I was trained in first aid. I assume you were too?” Ana nods. “One of us can continue searching for Jack later. But for the moment, we have what we need. There’s some rubbing alcohol there. We should try to clean her wounds to the best of our ability so there is no risk of infection. “

Ana hurries over to oblige. She looks to the corner of the room. Sawyer is there pushing a mobile, which is hanging over a crib.

“This is the fecking Twilight zone,” Sawyer mumbles to himself almost in nonbelief after recognizing the mobile to be tiny jets with the Oceanic Airlines insignia on them. He walks back towards the group and laughs a bit at Sayid and Ana attempting to play doctor and nurse.

“There. That should suffice for now,” concludes Sayid, finishing up the last suture.

“Great job Sayid,” Ana commends, although they could do nothing about the piece of wood in her shoulder. Neither of them dared touch it.

“We should rest a bit, then head out there again to find Jack.”

“Agreed.”

Sawyer frowns at the scene. “Well well comrades, looks like Sadam the torturer can do more than make people bleed.”

“Shut it Sawyer,” warns Ana.

“I assure you that I can do many things,” Sayid responds in a warning tone.

Sawyer makes a move towards him and Ana blocks him, placing her palm on his bare pec, attempting to push him away, but he only pushes back.

“You want him to rip you apart some more Cowboy? Knock it off or I might take my turn next.”

“What! Ah hell, you on his side now Lucy? You got the hots for him or something?”

“You’re insane.”

“You’ve been rubbin' his turban pretty good for awhile now.”

“Grow the hell up Sawyer.”

“Perhaps you should stay out of this Ana Lucia,” interrupts Sayid while keeping his steely gaze trained on Sawyer.

The two men push and shove each other out of the room.

Ana glares at both of them as her blood runs hot, disappointed that Sayid is continuing to perpetuate the inane brawling as much as Sawyer. Completely fed up, her jaw locks, fists clench and she nearly grinds her teeth to dust watching the two assholes slam into each other like children on a playground. Shaking her head at the shameful scene, she turns and angrily walks away.

Needing to find an escape, somewhere to hide away from the chaos around her, she passes Desmond who nods at her with the same knowing look that he has been giving her since they met. She pauses and examines him again. He’s sitting on the floor reading a book as if he hasn’t a care in the world.

“You like Dickens?” he asks in response to her staring.

Ana frowns in confusion.

“Charles Dickens. It’s the only one of his that I haven’t read. Been saving it up. The book's called 'Our Mutual Friend'. Kind of fits the ocassion, wouldn't you agree?” An old letter, serving as a placeholder in his book, falls to his lap.

“What did you say your name was?”

“Desmond, my friend. Yours?”

“Ana Lucia,” she mumbles parting her lips in disbelief. Her heart races. But she shakes off any notion that she knows this man in any, way, shape or form. She simply can't wrap her mind around it with everything else going on. But the uncanniness fails to escape her.

“What is this place? I mean what do these people want?”

“This place. It may or may not be hell. But it’s a place far away from anyone who loves ya. Isn’t it?”

Ana shakes her head at his cryptic manner and slinks off. Rounding a corner, she slumps down in a heap on the floor. Her body is weary, and her mind reeling from so much fatigue and confusion that she hardly knows if she is alive or dead. She refuses to believe that this Desmond is anyone she knows – refuses to believe that any of this is real. If Desmond is a truthteller then this is hell, her purgatory, and she has certainly earned the right to be here.

She thinks about her Mom, and the fact that she may never see her again, reflecting solemnly on their last phone conversation and how she broke down, so eager to reconcile with her before boarding the doomed flight. She squandered so much time, and now may never get the chance to say she's sorry, that she loves her more than anything. Leaning back, she rests her weary eyes on a bank of fluorescent lights above. The tile is cool against her back, and she wants to float away.

Far away from anyone who loves you.

She wants to be in her Mom’s living room, drinking tequila and joking about the crazy happenings at the precinct. She longs to be back in her own room, her own bed. She closes her eyes as her chest heaves, choking back sobs, trying with all her might not to cry, but the tears flow anyway.

“You hiddin’ on somebody Muchacha?”

Ana quickly wipes any semblance of tears, spying Sawyer's shadow shrouding her. He's breathing heavily, his bare chest hovering close. She can smell his sweat.

“Go away man.”

“Can’t do that.”

“Then I’m going.”

Ana quickly raises, but is halted by Sawyer who secures a firm hold on her elbow. He pulls her back, close to his heated body, tilting his head and shooting her a look of warning not to resist.

“Let go of me,” she sighs in a resigned voice. She hasn't the strength to put up a struggle, but has no problem body slamming him if needed. “I said let go.”

“Not til I say what I need ta. Boys will be boys. And me and the A-Rab had some unfinished business for awhile now. Things you don’t know about. It’s over, solved. Mano y mano. Ain’t got nothing to do with you in the first place. No need gettin’ your panties in a bunch over it. Sorry if ya did.” His voice is smooth but insistent. He searches Ana's face for any sign of acceptance. That was his apology. The only one she's getting. It would have to suffice.

Ana cranks her neck. “Swell for you. Done?”

“Nah, m’am. Just gettin’ started.”

He yanks her closer, his thigh practically wrapped around both of hers. He splays his palms, framing her hips and jerking her close. Her eyesight is in line with the broad, hard plane of his bare chest. The comfort that she feels being so close to him is unnerving.

Ana raises her vision to his face, noticing a fresh cut on his lip and above his eye. He's glaring at her with fierce intensity, like a predator -- brows slanted low, blue eyes glistening. His dimples are in full effect as he grins, looking like he wants to eat her alive. She looks away and focuses on the stark white tiles, only hearing his breathing and the buzz of electricity.

“Sayid still alive?” She wouldn't have put it past one of them to have killed the other.

Sawyer sucks his teeth making a tsk, tsk noise. “Still frettin' on the wrong guy, huh? You needs to switch that up.”

“You’re an ass,” she spits out, jerking to get away from him, but Sawyer now has her pinned up against a wall. Her instinct is to force him away, but she needs to feel something besides gut wrenching despair if only for a moment, something human, something she knows is as real as Sawyer's hot breath on her neck, and his undeniable arousal at her hip.

“And you love it.” He puts his lips close to her ear. The timber of it makes Ana shudder. She feels dizzy, and her heart thumps hard against her chest.

“Why don’t you arrest me Chacha? Put the cuffs on.”

“Back away.”

“Make me.”

Sawyer is still for a second, yet pressing his weight against her. He prepares himself to leave her be as he's not one to force himself on anyone. But he notices that she is no longer putting up a fight, and he knows the woman can fight if she wants to. Instead she wraps her arms around his torso, pulling herself closer so tenderly it makes Sawyer want to hollar for mercy.

With the sensation of his awakened groin pressed against her, she bites her lip hard, releasing a throaty groan. If he would just shut up, just stop talking, then she could enjoy this, not think or rationalize any of it. Instinctually, she slinks her palms along the bumpy plains of his lowerback, wedging her hands down his loose jeans. His skin is warm, feeling like polished marble, and his muscles clench against her touch.

“There ya go Chacha,” he rasps against her cheek while raking his lips down her neck, enjoying the feel of her hands massaging his rear, and moving around to the front. She unzips his pants. He lets out a loud moan of pleasure, nearly exploding. “Damn girl, you do it properly.”

“Shut up.”

“Why yes m'am.”

In one swift move, Sawyer frees her hair from it's ponytail, and runs his splayed fingers through it until it's wild and free like it was in the jungle -- like she was in the jungle. He feels a damp mass of hair at the nape of her neck as he pulls her face to meet his, shaking his head in disbelief that this ravishing hellion could tempt him so. Just as much as she pisses him off, he wants this. He needs this.

He rakes his knuckles against her cheek, soft and round -- cherub-like. She looks angelic, quite a contrast to her attitude. But it's all good. Just like those lips of hers, so plump and ripe. He presses his thumb into the cushion of them and pries them apart before taking hold of them with his own, sucking and lacing her with a searing, hungry kiss.

She tastes the metallic tang of blood, his blood, and detects a faint tinge of liquor. “You been drinking?” she asks pulling away from his lips. “I had a swig of the Scott's wiskey,” he rasps while resuming his position on his lips, not allowing her to say another word.

Not that she wants to.

After awhile she pulls away from his kiss again to let out a desperate breath as his large hand works its way under her damp tank top and up towards her breast. She squirms with anticiaption as he completely shrouds and tends to it. She's completely lost in him.

As his free hand works to unfasten her belt, his lips are again at her pulsating neck, stubbled face buried in its crook, savouring the feel of her warm flesh against his. How could he not love skin as smooth and supple as her's. How could he not want to wrap himself around it, wallow in it.

Not wanting to break from their kiss, Sawyer searches frantically for the bottom of her shirt. Ana reaches her arms towards the ceiling, allowing him to slip it off. He tosses it to the side, and it skids across the linoleum floor.

Her jeans slip past her hips, and down her legs till they fall in a heap at her feet. Sawyer's has been wanting to free her of those for quite awhile -- been aching for it. He can wait no longer.

He lifts her up and she locks her shapely thighs around his waist, gasping as her bare back slaps against the cool tile. Letting him inside, she digs her claws into his shoulder blades. He comes on hard and strong, making her hold on for dear life. But she matches his cadence blow for blow.

Their moans cut through the silence and bounce off the walls, echoing throughout the empty corridor. She swears she hears him cry out Ana Lucia through gasps of breath. She made him say her name. She takes pleasure in it.

Turning her head to the side, she sees their reflection in the glass window, naked bodies intertwined, jerking and moving in rhythm, until her vision becomes hazy, replaced by shards of bright light. She soars out of her body and all coherent thought vanishes into oblivion.


Scene Five: Medical Hatch
Sawyer is sitting reared back against the wall with a sated grin on his face. Gathering her strength and trying to put her mind back together, Ana pulls herself off him and reaches for her top, hoping to leave the scene with no words said; there is no need to dwell on this encounter. It happened. Move on. But he won't let her.

Sawyer places his hand on her hip possessively and she glances back at him, shooting him a stern glare. “Not so fast sweetheart. There ain't no place to go. May as well hang around. Go for round two.”

“You sure you can handle me again, old man,” she fires back, pursing her lips into a teasing smirk.

“Hmph, first of all I think I handled you just fine,” he growls while rubbing his chest. "Secondly ...."

“Just get dressed, and don't be so impressed with yourself.”

“I'll put my pants back on in due time.”

“How about now,” she requests shaking her head. Apparently there's a hefty price to pay for sex with Sawyer -- more pointless chitchat than she can stomach. And she's paying dearly.

As she pulls her top over her head, she hears echoes of Sayid bellowing in the near distance.

“What's that?” she asks while moving to stand.

“Ignore it, Luce, ignore it.”

She slaps his hand away as he sneaks it up her thigh.

In a flash Desmond skids round the corner and halts at the site of them like a bird hitting a glass wall. Ana scuttles to cover her exposed parts, tossing Sawyer's jeans at him so he can do the same.

“You better come quick now. The lady's awake and she's got a gun on your friend.”

Her face growing warm from slight embarrassment, Ana scrambles, shoves on her jeans and rushes to the scene. Sawyer follows closely behind.

Ana comes to a halt at the doorway. “Claire?”

“Claire put the gun down,” urges Sayid, backing up slowly.

Claire has a riffle aimed at Sayid. Her eyes are wild and glassy, her body trembling. She looks like a war victim. “Where is he?” she asks in a shaky, desperate voice. “My baby, what have you done with him?”

Ana pushes her way inside. “Claire your baby is fine. Aaron's fine.” Ana calms her voice and gingerly moves closer. “Put the gun down, okay?”

“You're lying. You brought me here to take my baby. I know it. You drugged me and took him.” She blinks hard and grimaces in pain, her eyes darting around nervously. She recognizes this place. She's been here before. She looks at Sayid and no longer sees him, but someone more sinister, someone she doesn't trust -- one of them

“You don't know how to use that. You're going to hurt somebody. Now please give me the gun.”

“I will shoot him if you don't give me my baby.” Claire takes aim at Sayid who is pleading with her to disarm. Voices become warped in her brain. Her hands slippery on the trigger.

Sawyer makes a sudden move.

“Claire!” Ana exclaims while lunging at her. Sayid has little time to duck as a gun fires into the air.

Scene Six: Flashback, Los Angeles

Ana Lucia checked her watch as she entered the small office building for her scheduled therapy session. She was reluctant to be there, but willing to do whatever was required to get herself quickly reinstated to the police force. She arrived at her therapist's office to find the waiting area curiously empty and the door ajar.

“Hello?” she asked while peering into the room.

“Oh come right in Ana Lucia.”

Ana slowly entered, looking its occupant strangely. A blonde woman was sitting shoeless and cross-legged ontop of the desk.

“Um where is Dr. Lansing?” Ana asked, wondering why this woman was so comfortable in her therapist's office.

“Oh Dr. Lansing is on leave of absence. I am taking over his case load for awhile,” she explained while opening a manila folder, her demeanor calm and relaxed. “Go
ahead, please have a seat.”

Ana sat, still feeling a bit uncomfortable, but accepting the change. Anything to get back on the job.

“Well Ana Lucia, I've been looking over your file. Seems you made a lot of progress since your shooting. How are you feeling these days?”

“What did you say your name was? Dr.....?”

“Oh you can call me Juliet.” The woman smiled warmly. “Why don't we start by discussing your miscarriage.”

-Lost-

Lost Virtual Season 3: Episode ten full credits:

Writers: Aimz, Scouse

Executive Producers:
Aimz
nycjoc
DarkHuntress
InMemoriam
Scouse
midnight riot

And Leigh is superbad!

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.--

Wow.


I never want to be the first one to respond to these things, but this is an exception. It was fantastic. Phenominal. Squee-worthy.

And the sex was fantastically written. Totally worth the extra days wait. Amazing job.

Ana involved so closely in all the mysteries :bow: Love it. It's like Michael involved in them, or even better. :bow:
Teehee, at the end of S1 I briefly shipped Sawyer and Claire and it amuses me how they have more interaction here than they ever had in the real show, ConMamians would be in 7th heaven ;) But it only amuses me, Sana all the way *nods* :D
I've always been saying you should be paid for doing as good job as the real writers, well, now for doing better job then them I think you can only be worshipped, no pay will do :P :bow: :bow: :bow:
R-rated Lost episode intrigued me from the beginning ;) And good I wrote some comment before actually getting to it, 'cause *FAINTS* I really expected it being something else *FAINTS* EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :wub: My comments are always incoherent anyway, but I unintentionally saved this one a bit ;) EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
SANA *FAINTS*
:wub: :wub: :wub:
:bow:
You made my day. Or week. Or two weeks. And most certainly night, sitting until 5 is SO worth it :lol:
I really love everything else too, I just... *squeeeeeeeeee*
:bow:
*after a few minutes*
I'm so glad Sana is in something that makes so much sense and is so much in character. Getting Sana for the sake of it in real S3 would make me squee and incoherent as well (esp. with having it all in pictures ;)), but would always be - it's not what really sould happen to make sense. Poor Skaters ;)

:yeah:
Totally agree!


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! that was awesome! love the Sana :wub: :dance: :dance:

woah, never figured claire to do that lol and I hope Kate's okay :ph43r: , and Ana-centric kicked ass, great job, can't wait for the next chapter :P

AWSOME ABSOLUTLY AWSOME!!!!!! GREAT JOB GUY!!!!!

*would say something, but there's too much drool in her mouth*

OMG OMG OMG *jumps up and down* OMG OMG OMG that was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome guys


OMG OMG I can barely keep my excitement in. OMG OMG :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :dance: :dance: :dance:

You guys F-in ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cant wait for the previews for next week

OMG!!!!!!!.....IT IS SOOOOOOO GOOD........ I LOVE IT!!!...I can't wait for more


:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

this is defenitly the BEST episode EVER! and that incluedes real lost episodes as well

what can i say? I LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

the sana was..WOAH! and all the ana flashbacks were amazing!

you guys ROCK!!! :D

Did you guys change the last line? I could've sworn it said something different before... :unsure:

I concur about this being the best episode yet. There was not a single moment nor word that felt anything but perfect in this episode.

We'll start with Sana sex. Ok, that was not only hot as hell (*fans self*) but it was written excellently. The 'after' scene was perfect. Sana is tricky. You go too gushy or happy after and it's out of character, you go too cold and "it's over and done" and it's not moving forward and repetative. But you rode that line perfectly. I feel like the Sana here has developed, yet not at all gone a smidgen out of character or believability. Well well well done on that one.

The Ana flashbacks. Awesome. I loved how delciously mixed up they are. They take place between various parts of her real Lost flashbacks and it's wonderful and well though-out. The Academy ones in particular are totally cool. I loved the little 'Ana the hellion' bits but I loved that just like in her adulthood, she's only that hardcore when she feels threatened or whatever. She's not a brat, she just doesn't know how to control her anger....suprise suprise, apparently that is still the case. Hehe. Greatness. And the Penny/Ana drinking scene was fantastic. Ana's short answers....perfect. Oh and the stadium scene fitting into Jack's flashback was brill.

The Kate scenes were....still damn good! I was suprised that such a huge chunk dedicated to Kate and Jack/Kate didn't make me bored or irritated. It was very well written and Kate, per usual, screwed up and had to be, per usual, rescued....but it seem she might have ACTUALLY learned this time. Finally. That's character developement right there....and for someone as stagnate as the character of Kate, it was very well done.

Loved the Sayid/Sawyer tensions. That was both funny and clever. That leads me to re-eastablish just how much I adore your writing of Sawyer. You have him pegged 100%.

You even had Desmond down pat....with his good intentions despite his little gentle quips here and there. He and Sawyer's stuff was brilliance. My favorite line of this whole ep, if not the whole damn season thus far, “Well hand me a bagpipe and stand me corrected.” :D :D :D

I'm a tad worried about little Claire, lol. Anyway....I can't wait to find out who, if anyone, got hurt by that little gun-firing.

Lastly, the end? Tastey is the only word I can come up with. I mean seriously. You guys' imposing of the real Lost's new characters and moments is absolutely flawless. It does NOT feel forced, nor contrived. Instead it's subtle, well-placed, and oh so amazingly clever.

I just have to say that eps like this show the world (well, anyone reading it anyway, lol) just how great this show COULD have been with the right writers, plots, and actors working that series. You include every character in IMPORTANT ways. No one is really left out for very long if at all, Ana shines without overly dominating, and EVERY. SINGLE. CHARACTER. is 110% in characterization. You are making these people move forward and develope both together and alone....and that's something the real Lost writers cannot seem to do without killing people after they finally emotionally progress.

This was a butt-load of action, drama, romance, humor, suspense, and thrills. Can't ask for more in a fanfiction or hell even a tv show or film. You guys are better than Lost itself, and I love it.

Bravo.

L.

Aimz, you are a star, you know that? Entire credit must go to you for making that episode as amazing as it is (I barely plugged a couple of gaps) I really enjoyed working with you and if my past two weeks hadn't been so hectic I could've have done a better job holding up my end of the episode. :) Hopefully we'll get to work together again on an eppy and hopefully by then my time management will be improved :lol:

Kudos to Aimz :cheers:

Yes. Cool that you noticed though, very cool


Leigh, thanks for the detailed and enthusiastic feedback. Along with everyone else salivating, exploding with emoticons and barely able to speak due to Sana. LOL. It means alot to me as this Ana episode was definitely a labor of love for me. It's why I signed on to do LVS3 -- to have a chance to do justice to a character who was killed off so prematurely, and to realize her potential in ships, leadership, and connection to the island mythology. It's been therapeutic.

I agree Leigh about Kate in this, which is a credit to Scouse. I thoroughly enjoyed Kate, related to her, and sympathized with her. We had her do something incredibly stupid (yet Kate-like), and it could have been a farce the whole flooding the hatch thing, but the way Scouse handled it was brilliant, truly. I think you should always write Kate Scousey. :D

Eeeee, you all made my day.

Edited to Add: Thanks Scouse. You did an awesome job with the main hatch scenes. I read them repeatedly, they are so epic, and just an interesting way to handle the portrayl. You felt like you were right there experiencing it. And the horse metaphor was amazingly poetic. I love your writing. I also loved Jack and Eko interactions. And Aaron makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Hehe Leigh. I crack up everytime I read it. I seriously laugh out loud everytime I write Sawyer.

* jumps up and down screaming*
OMG!!!!!

Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Love it!!
Aimz, you rock!!!! :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

See ya later............ :kick:

*hands Scouse a gold star for somehow making Jate tolerable and a good read*

:D

L.

brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!!! :lol:

this eppy truly was the best one so far!

...and i thought that about the last eppy....you guys just keep getting better and better.

loved every word of it. everyone was so in character...and so wonderfully written!

i remember when i couldn't even read a sana fic ...cause i was a big time jana fan...i still like jana but guys your sana just rocks!

it was so well written and in character as to the way they were on the actual show.

wholly hotness!!! :lol:

their secret is out (sana sex) what with desmond finding out now...can't wait to see how/if it gets out.

hope that claire will be ok and you made it so that i didn't really want to smack kate this time 'round.

absolutely brilliant how you wrote ana into jack's flashback at the stadium....and the new season 3 characters as well. wonderfully done!

you guys are amazing and thank you so much for all of your hard work to give us such pure joy and entertainment!

we all really appreciate your hard work and effort!

bravo once again.

counting down the days till the next one...and oh it's gonna be so good!!!

Ohmigosh this is so good. you guys write so well, i LOVE the opening paragraph, i LOVE the whole thing.

*mentally jumping up and down and all around* this story is way cool. It's totally totally fantastic

WOW

everything has been said before...

... AMAZING!

i'm in love with this epi :angel:

hwoaahhaaha that made my day, it sounds so cute :wub:

and again, i do love this ep

I really don't know what to say but, wow. You guys should be so proud of yourselves. You are amazingly talented writers, and you put the actual writers of LOST to shame. That was amazing. And as excellent as it was, it's also sad b/c it shows how much we really got jipped. They could have done SO MUCH with the character of Ana-Lucia. Even if she did only want to be there for a year, they still could have developed her character more. Oh well, we've been through that. :(

But thankfully we can get all that and more with LVS3. So, thank you. The Sana sex, along with the whole epi was just brilliant stuff. Rock on guys! :)

WOW

says it all basically

So (and I'm going with my gut feeling here) everybody really liked this episode huh? :D

This episode was amazing. Very well-written, engrossing and detailed.
I loved the Sawyer/Ana scene, and I'm not even really the biggest fan of the pairing. It was, again, very well-written, and alike to their characters-- I particularly liked Ana's comment afterwards about having to pay for it by enduring Sawyer's pointless chit-chat. It also seemed to progress naturally, and, again, fit both characters well.
That being said, I'm a bit surprised they chose to do it where three people could walk in on them at any time. I was also a bit disappointed Ana Lucia didn't find anybody to talk to about how she was feeling-- she seems to understand Sawyer pretty well, but I don't really see that he understands her much beyond the basics, and the fact that he met her tears with, basically, sex, was a bit disappointing, as much as I loved the ensuing scene.
I did enjoy the Ana flashbacks, although I find it's all becoming a bit too interconnected (Juliet, Desmond, etc) on the verge of winding up utterly predictable. I loved Penelope, though; her character was fun, and her and Ana Lucia's scenes together were very good.
Also? Awesome cliffhanger :)
These episodes just keep improving. Congrats and thanks to everyone involved.
~Malenkaya

Ahaha. Sana. I'll tell ya, if there's one thing I can say for that ship, it's that it's definitely a lot more interesting than Skate. :lol:
What can I say that everyone else hasn't already said? Wow! The writing team behind this project is amazing. You guys have real imagination and instinct when it comes to the plot-lines and characters, and the best part, the story actually moves forward! Nothing better man, nothing better.

Seems like AL's met everybody! Penny, Juliet, Des, other Dharma people...and the Widmore Company, I must say, I'm getting hints of the Acme Corporation! Everyone seems to be connected to it somehow...interesting. Excellent flashback. Especially the bits when she was a kid.

Ooh - and I loved the Jate sequences!

Small quip: When Penelope mentions that the guy who shot AL will be arrested soon, would these events have come before "Collision"? Sort of like time-line filler? I know that the whole series excludes "Two For The Road" but I was a little confused there.

Keep the spirit alive!

I think the answer to your question is yes. Think of it as Ana taking the detective assignment from Penny after she was shot, and ending the assignment before Jason was arrested. Everything we saw in Collision happened after all of the flashbacks in this episode. Perhaps Penny knows more than she lets on, and perhaps the shooting was not just a random occurence, and Jason not a random person. ;)

We haven't gotten to Ana's Two for the Road experiences in the timeline yet. That would have come after she resigned from the force. It may come up towards the last quarter of the series.

Thanks so much for asking. Hope that clears up the confusion.

Acme, lol, guess I watched too much Bugs Bunny as a kid. :lol:

Ahh! Ok, I understand better now. Thanks for explaining that. :D Gee, I can't wait to see how that turns out!

this episode is great and i only have read part of it. kudos writers for an excellant episode. off to finish the rest.

The people who are writing these virtual episodes are my saviors. I've been so out of the Lost world after they killed my favorite character :rant:

In fact, I would have stopped watching were it not for Sawyer. :wub:

I just want to thank you all for creating this :bow: and keeping ana alive :cop: without it I probably would have abandoned the series :cry: (esp. since it seems that Sawyer has lost his sanity, SKATE :cuss: )

So thank you for keeping the love of Lost alive for me! :hug: :wub::love:

Wow! Loving this! If this is what happened on the show I'd be glued to the tv. Please tell me more episodes are to come.

OMFG!!!! i read this epi and all the ones before and let me just say that the writers should: GET A CLUE!! TAKE A HINT!! i would be so much happier watching the show if it was like this! :rolleyes:

I like reading this but,I don't know how to make one up. :( :D