Heaven and Hell, pt. 3
Feb. 3rd, 2007 06:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alliecat8Sequel to Prologue: The Mind is its Own Place., and Heaven and Hell, pt. 1 and pt. 2
Characters: Jack, Sawyer, Kate
Rating: PG
Word Count: 978
Spoilers: Through recent promos
Prompt: hands, water, music, green
Summary: What the hell is going on here?
Disclaimer 1: Only mine in my dreams
A/N: Prologue title and chapter quote stolen blatantly from John Milton's Paradise Lost
Heaven and Hell, pt. 3
The mind is its own place
And in itself can make
A heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven.
He’d expected a warmer welcome. Jack had stayed in the secluded cove he’d swum to after he dove off the boat until he was dry, and then he’d made his way back to the survivor’s camp. He’d finally found his way home, and he thought they’d be glad to see him. He hadn’t expected to be spotted by Sawyer when he was still making his way along the shore, or to be charged by the man, his green eyes flashing fire as he wrapped his hands around Jack’s throat. He hadn’t expected the others to come running, not to his rescue but instead to stand and stare at him accusingly as Sawyer tried to choke the life out of him. It was Kate who finally spoke up.
“That’s enough, Sawyer. He’s not worth the energy.”
Spots swam before Jack’s eyes as Sawyer gave one last vicious squeeze and then pushed him away. Jack landed hard in the sand and he stayed down, looking around at the people he’d come home to. The people he’d come to think of as family. The people who were staring at him now like they wished they’d never had to lay eyes on him again.
“What’s wrong?” he croaked, the air whistling out of his bruised throat like ragged pipe music. “What’s happened?”
“Oh, don’t give us that innocent act, Jackass.” Sawyer jammed his foot into the sand and pelted Jack with a stinging spray. “Thought you’d get away with it, didn’t you? Thought you’d be able to make up some bullshit story about how they brought you back to our island, turned you loose so you could find your way back here. Didn’t know anybody’d see the boat, or that I’d try to swim out to it—“
“It was an accident!” Jack jumped to his feet and tried to keep the panic from his voice. “They gave me the boat, and I was coming back here to get some of you. I don’t know what happened, I don’t know much about boats, but somehow it caught on fire. That’s all it was, Sawyer, an accident!”
He looked at Sawyer, looked around at the others, and saw nothing but condemnation in their eyes. He had a flash of déjà vu, remembering the very same looks on the faces of the very same people, only then he’d been one of the accusers. Then he’d been looking with contempt at a man who had betrayed them all. Now he was the one who stood accused, and he was no more innocent than Sawyer had been the night he stole the guns. In their eyes, Jack had now stolen something far worse.
“Well lookee here,” Sawyer sneered. “Saint Jack ain’t so saintly anymore, is he? Now he’s nothin’ but a dirty liar. How’s it feel to be the one on the outside, Jack? How’s it feel to be hated?”
Jack swallowed, and the pain in his raw throat brought tears to his eyes. “It was an accident,” he repeated weakly, and he didn’t even sound convincing to his own ears. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Sawyer took a menacing step forward. “Recognize this?” He waved a charred piece of paper in Jack’s face. “I got to the boat right after it exploded. Found this floating in the water. It’s a map, ain’t it?” He pointed to the half-legible letters near the charred top. “That says ‘shipping lanes,’ don’t it? And it looks like there might’ve been some numbers, right here where it burned. They weren’t just lettin’ you go, were they? They were sendin’ you home.”
Jack felt a faint surge of hope. If that was all Sawyer knew…. “That’s right! They were sending me home. Did you think I’d go and leave you all behind? Didn’t you think I’d take some of you with me, so we could find rescue together?”
“That’s really noble of you, Jack.” Jack didn’t know which cut him deeper, the sarcasm in Kate’s voice or the coldness in her eyes. “It makes a good story. It’d even be a believable one if you hadn’t dropped anchor where you did. I guess you thought there was no chance of anybody seeing you way out there.”
“Good thing I got…what did you call it? Hyper-opia?” Sawyer smirked at Jack. “I saw that little bitty boat way out there in the water. Didn’t know for sure if I could swim to it or not, but I thought it was worth a try. Had to stop a few times to rest, though.” He looked at Kate. “It was a hell of a long way out, right?”
“I couldn’t see it.” Kate shrugged. “I thought you were crazy when you ran into the water. Didn’t realize that since you’re so farsighted, you could see such a longer distance than me.”
For just an instant Sawyer looked cocky. His eyes had been a help rather than a hindrance for once. “The last time I stopped, I could see the boat, and I could see you on the boat. I started to holler at you, and then I saw what you were doing.”
He turned and addressed his next words to the others, though he’d clearly already told them the story. “He’d just finished dousing the deck and the sails with gasoline. Then he lit a match, threw it, and dove into the water right before the boat exploded. Last thing I saw was his sorry ass swimmin’ for the cove about a mile down shore. Doc here had our rescue in his hands, and he blew it all to hell. Only one reason I can figure for doin’ something stupid like that.”
He turned back to Jack, and his look of rage had faded to one of stunned disbelief. “Jack don’t want to get off this island. He don’t want any of us to.”
TBC
Link to Heaven and Hell, Conclusion
Disclaimer 2:
I feel like I'm jerking y'all around worse than the Lost writers do, with the gazillion unanswered questions. But I'm NOT like them! I WILL answer them ALL! Maybe even tomorrow, prompts permitting. And I think it will even make sense! Thank you for your patience. *smiles sweetly*
Characters: Jack, Sawyer, Kate
Rating: PG
Word Count: 978
Spoilers: Through recent promos
Prompt: hands, water, music, green
Summary: What the hell is going on here?
Disclaimer 1: Only mine in my dreams
A/N: Prologue title and chapter quote stolen blatantly from John Milton's Paradise Lost
Heaven and Hell, pt. 3
The mind is its own place
And in itself can make
A heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven.
He’d expected a warmer welcome. Jack had stayed in the secluded cove he’d swum to after he dove off the boat until he was dry, and then he’d made his way back to the survivor’s camp. He’d finally found his way home, and he thought they’d be glad to see him. He hadn’t expected to be spotted by Sawyer when he was still making his way along the shore, or to be charged by the man, his green eyes flashing fire as he wrapped his hands around Jack’s throat. He hadn’t expected the others to come running, not to his rescue but instead to stand and stare at him accusingly as Sawyer tried to choke the life out of him. It was Kate who finally spoke up.
“That’s enough, Sawyer. He’s not worth the energy.”
Spots swam before Jack’s eyes as Sawyer gave one last vicious squeeze and then pushed him away. Jack landed hard in the sand and he stayed down, looking around at the people he’d come home to. The people he’d come to think of as family. The people who were staring at him now like they wished they’d never had to lay eyes on him again.
“What’s wrong?” he croaked, the air whistling out of his bruised throat like ragged pipe music. “What’s happened?”
“Oh, don’t give us that innocent act, Jackass.” Sawyer jammed his foot into the sand and pelted Jack with a stinging spray. “Thought you’d get away with it, didn’t you? Thought you’d be able to make up some bullshit story about how they brought you back to our island, turned you loose so you could find your way back here. Didn’t know anybody’d see the boat, or that I’d try to swim out to it—“
“It was an accident!” Jack jumped to his feet and tried to keep the panic from his voice. “They gave me the boat, and I was coming back here to get some of you. I don’t know what happened, I don’t know much about boats, but somehow it caught on fire. That’s all it was, Sawyer, an accident!”
He looked at Sawyer, looked around at the others, and saw nothing but condemnation in their eyes. He had a flash of déjà vu, remembering the very same looks on the faces of the very same people, only then he’d been one of the accusers. Then he’d been looking with contempt at a man who had betrayed them all. Now he was the one who stood accused, and he was no more innocent than Sawyer had been the night he stole the guns. In their eyes, Jack had now stolen something far worse.
“Well lookee here,” Sawyer sneered. “Saint Jack ain’t so saintly anymore, is he? Now he’s nothin’ but a dirty liar. How’s it feel to be the one on the outside, Jack? How’s it feel to be hated?”
Jack swallowed, and the pain in his raw throat brought tears to his eyes. “It was an accident,” he repeated weakly, and he didn’t even sound convincing to his own ears. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Sawyer took a menacing step forward. “Recognize this?” He waved a charred piece of paper in Jack’s face. “I got to the boat right after it exploded. Found this floating in the water. It’s a map, ain’t it?” He pointed to the half-legible letters near the charred top. “That says ‘shipping lanes,’ don’t it? And it looks like there might’ve been some numbers, right here where it burned. They weren’t just lettin’ you go, were they? They were sendin’ you home.”
Jack felt a faint surge of hope. If that was all Sawyer knew…. “That’s right! They were sending me home. Did you think I’d go and leave you all behind? Didn’t you think I’d take some of you with me, so we could find rescue together?”
“That’s really noble of you, Jack.” Jack didn’t know which cut him deeper, the sarcasm in Kate’s voice or the coldness in her eyes. “It makes a good story. It’d even be a believable one if you hadn’t dropped anchor where you did. I guess you thought there was no chance of anybody seeing you way out there.”
“Good thing I got…what did you call it? Hyper-opia?” Sawyer smirked at Jack. “I saw that little bitty boat way out there in the water. Didn’t know for sure if I could swim to it or not, but I thought it was worth a try. Had to stop a few times to rest, though.” He looked at Kate. “It was a hell of a long way out, right?”
“I couldn’t see it.” Kate shrugged. “I thought you were crazy when you ran into the water. Didn’t realize that since you’re so farsighted, you could see such a longer distance than me.”
For just an instant Sawyer looked cocky. His eyes had been a help rather than a hindrance for once. “The last time I stopped, I could see the boat, and I could see you on the boat. I started to holler at you, and then I saw what you were doing.”
He turned and addressed his next words to the others, though he’d clearly already told them the story. “He’d just finished dousing the deck and the sails with gasoline. Then he lit a match, threw it, and dove into the water right before the boat exploded. Last thing I saw was his sorry ass swimmin’ for the cove about a mile down shore. Doc here had our rescue in his hands, and he blew it all to hell. Only one reason I can figure for doin’ something stupid like that.”
He turned back to Jack, and his look of rage had faded to one of stunned disbelief. “Jack don’t want to get off this island. He don’t want any of us to.”
TBC
Link to Heaven and Hell, Conclusion
Disclaimer 2:
I feel like I'm jerking y'all around worse than the Lost writers do, with the gazillion unanswered questions. But I'm NOT like them! I WILL answer them ALL! Maybe even tomorrow, prompts permitting. And I think it will even make sense! Thank you for your patience. *smiles sweetly*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-04 02:07 am (UTC)I will always trust "him" and you to make things right, and hell, I like a little (a lot) intrigue in my fic - so here I am, watching the snow fly and waiting for more. Waiting. For. More.
&hearts
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Date: 2007-02-05 10:34 pm (UTC)*hugs you tight to keep you warn*
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Date: 2007-02-05 11:38 pm (UTC)Shall try to get back tonight, but more likely tomorrow night, after working late. However, I would like to go on record as saying that I was fascinated, and it was a very good WTF that I was thinking!
no subject
Date: 2007-02-04 04:46 am (UTC)It's kind of the perfect conflict between the two men -- Sawyer angry because he can't go home, and now Jack has reasons of his own for never wanting to leave the island. (Which strikes me as unbearably sweet somehow, that he wants to stay with them so badly, this group of strangers. Except now typing this I'm wondering if it's just that Jack's insane and they're all his delusion, but that's more something I would write/have written.)
I love Jack swearing he came back for them, his lie so convincing except for what Sawyer saw.
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Date: 2007-02-04 05:40 am (UTC)OH, look what you did, now you've made me think! And I was already brain-fuzzled by this fic. I have a better reply, I swear I do, but Prison Break just blew my mind (um, I'm watching the DVR from last Monday) and now I wish you'd watch it too because omg, we could talk all night about this ep and "tells," which we know all about from the poker game on Lost! Anyway, that? ^^^ isn't what's happening but it's definitely something that Jack will worry about so I'm gonna steal it for the next part. Stealing's okay if you confess to it first, right?
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Date: 2007-02-04 05:42 am (UTC)And I'm up to like season 1, disk 2 of Prison Break, but I'll never be caught up. Sorry!
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Date: 2007-02-04 05:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-04 06:16 am (UTC)And, um, did you read my comment porn for you?
go look!
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Date: 2007-02-05 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-05 10:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-05 01:57 am (UTC)WHAT??? crazy shit.
i'm really liking this - very suspenseful. *goes to look for next chapter*
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Date: 2007-02-05 02:07 am (UTC)I must be a bit loony, because feedback like that is my very favorite kind. Writing crazy shit is FUN!!! :D
I'm typing just as fast as I can on what I think is the last chapter, but it's kinda kicking my ass trying to explain all the craziness, so I might not get it posted today. Tomorrow for sure, though! And then I can read yours, yay! I'm so glad you're enjoying this! ♥
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Date: 2007-02-05 05:45 pm (UTC)you got be hooked darling, can't wait to read the rest!
lol!
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Date: 2007-02-05 10:29 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you're reading and liking so far! And I'll tell you a little secret, too. The "last" chapter isn't really the last, it's just the last of the PG-rated series. I already have a slashy sequel planned that'll be separate from, but based on, this series. I mean really, we can't let Sawyer stay pissed at Jack, can we? They love each other too much! :)
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Date: 2007-02-05 05:53 pm (UTC)I know you have real answers, unlike the Lost writers.
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Date: 2007-02-05 10:22 pm (UTC)Can I tell you a secret? I've been cheating a little, because this series is actually my (very late)
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Date: 2007-02-06 12:59 am (UTC)It's my prompt alright and I love what you're doing with it because you're taking the story far beyond what I could have done.
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Date: 2007-02-06 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-06 06:13 pm (UTC)So, what the hell is Jack up to? Is Sawyer right about the boat? And if he is, why did Jack burn it? I understand this is not a review, just me asking random questions, but I need to know.
Okay, let's see. This was really good but I just don't know what to say about it because I don't know what's happening and I'm just confused. Which I'm supposed to be, so good work, but I want to say intelligent stuff.
Everyone turning against Jack and Jack feeling like Sawyer must have felt, that was a nice detail. And Sawyer calling him in it too, that was really twisting the knife for someone like Jack. The thing about Jack, he has a long way to fall, which isn't really his fault, but him doing something like this is so much worse than Sawyer doing something like this. And that's not me being the crazy Jack fangirl that I am, that's just a fact. People expect more from Jack and so they're going to punish him harshly if he slips.
Nice use of Sawyer's farsightedness too. I am very much in love with that detail.
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Date: 2007-02-06 08:59 pm (UTC)LOL, you're so cute! *adores*
Oh, I know it must've freaked Jack out to suddenly find himself cast as the bad guy. And he had his reasons but he couldn't tell them what they were, so he just had to take the blame and the consequences. I felt very sorry for Jack when I wrote this part, and I can tell how much you love him because reading it made you sad for him, too.
THANK YOU for saying that about the farsightedness. I don't think anybody else mentioned that, and I was a bit proud of that detail. You just put a great big smile on my face! :D
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Date: 2007-02-10 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-10 05:54 pm (UTC)crackright-brained, wtf fic I've ever written. The last part scrambles brains. You totally have my permission to respond with, "Allie, you've gone crazy," as a couple of others did. I tend to agree. ;)I'm running off to the grocery store and then I plan to spend my day catching up on Lost Riffs, 'cause I know I missed stuff and I can't wait to get to it all!
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Date: 2007-02-18 07:37 am (UTC)Jeez, look at the hot water Jack landed himself in. That last line is...wow. That's something to think about.
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Date: 2007-02-18 07:09 pm (UTC)