Lost fic: Chakra
Jun. 22nd, 2009 01:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alliecat8Title: Chakra
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Jack/Sawyer
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,148
Spoilers: None past S4
Disclaimer: Only mine in my dreams
A/N: This fic is a stand-alone, but it's also a companion piece to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eponine119's fic, Crumbs. I'll give a cookie to anybody who can tell me why it's a companion piece!
Chakra
“Son of a bitch!” Sawyer says. He holds out his index finger and watches as bright red drops of blood fall onto the wheel. He doesn’t have a band-aid (they won’t be invented for ten more years) so he puts his finger in his mouth and sucks on it until the metallic taste is gone.
He’s exploring again, even though Jack told him not to. He doesn’t follow Jack’s orders. Jack only thinks he’s in charge. “You’re not the boss of me,” Sawyer mutters defiantly, though Jack is far away and can’t hear him. But Sawyer’s feet ache and he’s starving, so he decides to save the rest of his exploring for another day. He wants to go home.
Before he leaves, he stands back to look one more time at the giant four-toed statue. “That is one ugly motherfucker,” he says, and wonders who would build such a thing and why. And how, since it looks like it must be ancient?
In the base of the statue is a room. Its door was had been wide open when he approached it and he’d gotten lucky – nobody was home. There wasn’t much to see, just long walls covered with printed fabric that vaguely spooked him, and a spinning wheel. It was the wheel he’d touched, just out of curiosity, and the damn thing had bitten him. Then he realized that he’d accidentally touched the sharp needle-like thing that sewed the fabric.
He takes it as a bad omen and decides to leave before he gets caught snooping. There's no telling what the natives would do to him if they caught him, a stranger in their midst.
********
Jack was pissed off. He’d told Sawyer and told him to keep the finger clean, to leave it alone even though Sawyer complained that it itched and burned like fire. It was infected, Jack said, and all they could do was keep it clean and hope it got better instead of worse. But still he caught Sawyer sucking on the finger again and again, and of course the bacteria from his mouth had gotten into the wound and the infection had gotten worse. Now Sawyer’s whole arm was inflamed and Jack was afraid there was nothing he could do.
********
Although they weren’t sure, they thought that they were just a little less than a hundred years in the past. Someone (another time traveler, maybe?) had scratched a crude calendar into the wood of the cabin wall, and the marks ended in April 1909. When they’d found the cabin there had still been fresh fruit on the rough homemade table, and a well-tended garden out back. They waited in the jungle for somebody to come home – Sawyer had said they were waiting for the three bears, and he’d dubbed himself Goldilocks – but whoever had been there never came back. Had he or she flashed out when Jack and Sawyer flashed in?
Sawyer was the adaptable one and he made himself at home. “Crazy’s the new normal, Doc,” he’d said. “Best get used to it.”
Now they lived in a cabin surrounded by trees, amidst the flora and fauna of the jungle, and Sawyer had been as content here as Jack had ever seen him. But now the infection had taken over his body, and Jack desperately wanted to get back to their own time where a strong course of antibiotics would save him. He had to fix this.
********
Jack knelt on the floor by Sawyer’s cot, saying goodbye. There was nothing he could do.
They’d lived here for months now, and he’d seen Sawyer change. He was still contrary, still a rebel as he ventured out to explore against Jack’s orders. But he’d seen a good-natured side of Sawyer, too, one that was teasing and light and, at times, almost flirtatious. Their new relationship made it so much harder to let him go.
Jack didn’t try to stop the tears as he stroked Sawyer’s damp hair back from his face. He ran his fingers across his closed eyelids and soft lashes, as if his touch could make Sawyer open his eyes. He thought about how he’d seen patients look up at the moment of death, their expressions filled with wonder, as if they were seeing something beautiful that didn’t exist in this world. As if they’d been lost, and had finally found their way. Sawyer’s eyes stayed closed.
Jack laid his hand against Sawyer’s face, and he seemed to turn his cheek toward it, to settle into it ever so slightly, as if he knew Jack was there. Jack thought he must have imagined it, but still it gave him the courage to do what he’d wanted to do for so long. What they’d both wanted, if only Jack had been willing to admit it. Now, in death, he gave him what he’d never had the courage to do in life.
He leaned down and softly kissed his lips. “You’re almost home,” he whispered.
Something changed, then. He heard a noise, a low creak followed by a rush of cool, dank air. Startled, he looked up to see part of the wall slowly swinging open. A hidden door, opening by itself. “Crazy is normal,” he mumbled as he rose to investigate.
He saw a dark opening and a shaft leading down. A rickety ladder beckoned, and he looked over his shoulder at Sawyer. As he did he got the strongest feeling he’d ever had – Sawyer wanted him to do this. Jack began to climb.
At the bottom of the shaft was a room, faintly lit by the light from above. Jack could just make out a shape in the shadows. It was round, with what appeared to be spikes sticking out of it. Some kind of wheel, Jack thought. Then he recognized it. He’d seen these at county fairs with horses or donkeys reined to the bars. They walked around and around with children on their backs, turning the wheel in an endless circle.
Jack was supposed to turn this wheel; he knew it as surely as he knew his own name. As he took hold of a metal bar and began to push, he almost laughed, thinking of all the times that Sawyer had called him “Jackass.”
Then everything around him went white.
********
He has no control over where they go, and they flash too far ahead. A hundred years exactly. There is no one left on the island now. But the medical hatch still exists, and inside are precious antibiotics. Sawyer is still holding on, still fighting. Jack fills his veins with the elixir of life, and soon Sawyer opens his eyes.
“Welcome home,” Jack tells him, unable to look away from that blue gaze.
They might be alone on their crazy island, but they’re alone together. That's all that matters.
And the wheel of life still turns.
The End
Fandom: Lost
Characters: Jack/Sawyer
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,148
Spoilers: None past S4
Disclaimer: Only mine in my dreams
A/N: This fic is a stand-alone, but it's also a companion piece to
eponine119's fic, Crumbs. I'll give a cookie to anybody who can tell me why it's a companion piece!Chakra
“Son of a bitch!” Sawyer says. He holds out his index finger and watches as bright red drops of blood fall onto the wheel. He doesn’t have a band-aid (they won’t be invented for ten more years) so he puts his finger in his mouth and sucks on it until the metallic taste is gone.
He’s exploring again, even though Jack told him not to. He doesn’t follow Jack’s orders. Jack only thinks he’s in charge. “You’re not the boss of me,” Sawyer mutters defiantly, though Jack is far away and can’t hear him. But Sawyer’s feet ache and he’s starving, so he decides to save the rest of his exploring for another day. He wants to go home.
Before he leaves, he stands back to look one more time at the giant four-toed statue. “That is one ugly motherfucker,” he says, and wonders who would build such a thing and why. And how, since it looks like it must be ancient?
In the base of the statue is a room. Its door was had been wide open when he approached it and he’d gotten lucky – nobody was home. There wasn’t much to see, just long walls covered with printed fabric that vaguely spooked him, and a spinning wheel. It was the wheel he’d touched, just out of curiosity, and the damn thing had bitten him. Then he realized that he’d accidentally touched the sharp needle-like thing that sewed the fabric.
He takes it as a bad omen and decides to leave before he gets caught snooping. There's no telling what the natives would do to him if they caught him, a stranger in their midst.
********
Jack was pissed off. He’d told Sawyer and told him to keep the finger clean, to leave it alone even though Sawyer complained that it itched and burned like fire. It was infected, Jack said, and all they could do was keep it clean and hope it got better instead of worse. But still he caught Sawyer sucking on the finger again and again, and of course the bacteria from his mouth had gotten into the wound and the infection had gotten worse. Now Sawyer’s whole arm was inflamed and Jack was afraid there was nothing he could do.
********
Although they weren’t sure, they thought that they were just a little less than a hundred years in the past. Someone (another time traveler, maybe?) had scratched a crude calendar into the wood of the cabin wall, and the marks ended in April 1909. When they’d found the cabin there had still been fresh fruit on the rough homemade table, and a well-tended garden out back. They waited in the jungle for somebody to come home – Sawyer had said they were waiting for the three bears, and he’d dubbed himself Goldilocks – but whoever had been there never came back. Had he or she flashed out when Jack and Sawyer flashed in?
Sawyer was the adaptable one and he made himself at home. “Crazy’s the new normal, Doc,” he’d said. “Best get used to it.”
Now they lived in a cabin surrounded by trees, amidst the flora and fauna of the jungle, and Sawyer had been as content here as Jack had ever seen him. But now the infection had taken over his body, and Jack desperately wanted to get back to their own time where a strong course of antibiotics would save him. He had to fix this.
********
Jack knelt on the floor by Sawyer’s cot, saying goodbye. There was nothing he could do.
They’d lived here for months now, and he’d seen Sawyer change. He was still contrary, still a rebel as he ventured out to explore against Jack’s orders. But he’d seen a good-natured side of Sawyer, too, one that was teasing and light and, at times, almost flirtatious. Their new relationship made it so much harder to let him go.
Jack didn’t try to stop the tears as he stroked Sawyer’s damp hair back from his face. He ran his fingers across his closed eyelids and soft lashes, as if his touch could make Sawyer open his eyes. He thought about how he’d seen patients look up at the moment of death, their expressions filled with wonder, as if they were seeing something beautiful that didn’t exist in this world. As if they’d been lost, and had finally found their way. Sawyer’s eyes stayed closed.
Jack laid his hand against Sawyer’s face, and he seemed to turn his cheek toward it, to settle into it ever so slightly, as if he knew Jack was there. Jack thought he must have imagined it, but still it gave him the courage to do what he’d wanted to do for so long. What they’d both wanted, if only Jack had been willing to admit it. Now, in death, he gave him what he’d never had the courage to do in life.
He leaned down and softly kissed his lips. “You’re almost home,” he whispered.
Something changed, then. He heard a noise, a low creak followed by a rush of cool, dank air. Startled, he looked up to see part of the wall slowly swinging open. A hidden door, opening by itself. “Crazy is normal,” he mumbled as he rose to investigate.
He saw a dark opening and a shaft leading down. A rickety ladder beckoned, and he looked over his shoulder at Sawyer. As he did he got the strongest feeling he’d ever had – Sawyer wanted him to do this. Jack began to climb.
At the bottom of the shaft was a room, faintly lit by the light from above. Jack could just make out a shape in the shadows. It was round, with what appeared to be spikes sticking out of it. Some kind of wheel, Jack thought. Then he recognized it. He’d seen these at county fairs with horses or donkeys reined to the bars. They walked around and around with children on their backs, turning the wheel in an endless circle.
Jack was supposed to turn this wheel; he knew it as surely as he knew his own name. As he took hold of a metal bar and began to push, he almost laughed, thinking of all the times that Sawyer had called him “Jackass.”
Then everything around him went white.
********
He has no control over where they go, and they flash too far ahead. A hundred years exactly. There is no one left on the island now. But the medical hatch still exists, and inside are precious antibiotics. Sawyer is still holding on, still fighting. Jack fills his veins with the elixir of life, and soon Sawyer opens his eyes.
“Welcome home,” Jack tells him, unable to look away from that blue gaze.
They might be alone on their crazy island, but they’re alone together. That's all that matters.
And the wheel of life still turns.
The End
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-23 02:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-23 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-24 12:32 am (UTC)I never thought I'd see JJ and "sweet and innocent" in the same sentence! *giggles*
Thanks again, darlin'! :)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-23 12:33 am (UTC)Did you ever watch that Sleeping Beauty DVD I sent you?
no subject
Date: 2009-06-23 02:57 am (UTC)Of course I watched the DVD, so did the girlchild -- didn't I tell you? We loved it! I watched it again before I wrote the fic and it was even better the second time around. *SMOOOOOOOOOCH!!!*
no subject
Date: 2009-06-23 09:07 am (UTC)Also, Jack as the fair prince and Sawyer as the sleeping beauty are so cute. And of course, Jack would wait until the last minute to kiss him, the fool. ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-06-23 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-24 07:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-24 04:04 pm (UTC)Oh, btw, this fb came in at, like, 4 a.m. and I saw it because I'd just woken up from a dream about you! I dreamed we were on the show "Greek" and you were in a sorority called Zeta Xi (you know, Zelda Zee, Zeta Xi?..."xi" is pronounced "z"). Ha, isn't my dreaming mind
crazyclever? ;)no subject
Date: 2009-06-29 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-30 08:38 pm (UTC)