![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alliecat8Title: Wild
*Pt. 1 of 3*
Characters: Jack, Sawyer for this part, J/S later
Rating: PG for now, leading to...well, you know ;)
Disclaimer: Only mine in my dreams
Warnings: Dark! fic. Character death, but it's not Jack or Sawyer and most of you will like it :)
Spoilers: Through the present
A/N: This idea came from an unsettling and brilliant theory of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
uberaeryn's. I took it and ran with it. But it's all her fault. ;)
Jack stops complaining about the prisoner in the hatch, the man who calls himself Henry Gale, the day he captures a prisoner of his own. A prisoner he can’t keep in the hatch, or anywhere near the other survivors. A prisoner who, he is fairly certain, has gone mad.
Earlier
They all assume that Sawyer vanished of his own accord. Since the gun fiasco, he’s been shunned. Since the frog fiasco, he’s been the object of disgust. Since his humiliation at the hands of the Others, he’s been the epitome of wounded pride. When he disappears, they assume he’s taken his guns and gone off on a quest of his own. As Sayid did. As Michael did. It never crosses their minds that he might have been taken away, for their safety and for his own.
Earlier
Jack finds her in the jungle in the dim light of sunset, face down in the dirt with a bullet hole in the back of her skull. The Others, he thinks immediately. They were here and they found her. Her worst fear, realized.
There’s a rustle in the jungle, and a figure emerges. It isn’t an Other. “Had to do it, Doc,” Sawyer tells him. “She tried to sneak up on me in my tent, but I knew she was coming. I knocked her out with a rock and brought her out here, did what had to be done. She was coming to kill me. So I killed her instead.”
Chills race down Jack’s spine. “How did you know she was coming to kill you?”
“I heard you all. Whispering.”
He stands, still as stone, and stares at Jack. Jack wonders if Sawyer will kill him, now. Instead, Sawyer drops his head, slumps, the picture of defeat. He holds out the gun, offering it to Jack. “Help me.”
Earlier
“We have to kill him.”
Jack’s stomach clenches at the finality of the words. He can’t believe it, doesn’t want to believe it. But the evidence is there.
It’s there in the mutilated carcasses that begin to appear around the campsight. It’s only small things at first, frogs, rabbits, a couple of squirrels. “It’s Sawyer,” Hurley tells Jack quietly. “I’ve seen him do it, over and over again. It’s like, he’s making sacrifices to the island or something.”
The sacrifices – if that’s what they are – grow steadily larger and more ominous. A full grown boar. A jungle cat. And then they find the body of a stranger, an unkempt and earthy stranger of the same ilk as the Others, head-shot and gutted and strung from a tree.
Danielle makes her way out of the jungle, sees Jack and Ana Lucia standing before the hanging body. “One of yours did this?”
“Why would you think—“ Jack begins, but Ana cuts him off.
“Probably,” she says in a clipped voice. “It’s the same as the animals, and we know who’s been doing that.”
Danielle shudders. “It’s the sickness. This is how it begins.”
Ana stares at her, this stranger who looks Other, but is clearly familiar to Jack. “What sickness?”
Danielle lowers her voice to a whisper. “It took my people, everyone but me. It begins with the weakest one. Montan lost his arm, and it poisoned his bloodstream. Very quickly, he became inhuman. Senses heightened, bloodlust, all traces of civilization gone. When he went from torturing small creatures to hunting human prey, we saw that there was no choice. Soon he would turn on us. He had to be killed. It took the others, one by one, until they were all dead and I was alone.”
Jack’s eyes narrow suspiciously, but he lowers his voice as well. “Why didn’t it take you?”
“I don’t know. I have wondered if perhaps my pregnancy made me immune. After I killed…the last of my group, I relocated to another part of the island, one that was perhaps not contaminated. If I had contracted the sickness, I would not be human today. Those who contract the sickness become wild.”
“Then that’s what we have to do,” Ana says, her words no less menacing for all that they’re spoken in a whisper. “We have to kill him.”
The determined tone of her voice makes Jack’s blood run cold. “No,” he says sharply. “We’re not killing anybody, that’s insane. If Sawyer is…infected, we’ll figure out what caused it, find a cure. Lock him in the hatch in the meantime—“
“Jack.” Ana’s eyes go from his to the mutilated carcass before them, and he sees in them a glittering, almost maniacal fear. “He did this. Sawyer isn’t human. Not anymore.”
This isn’t happening, Jack thinks, panic closing in on him in one great wave. He needs time to think. “It’s still daylight,” he says in his sternest leader voice. “He only hunts when it’s dark. Let me talk to the others, try to find another way. We’ll just have to come up with a civilized plan before twilight.”
Ana stares at him for a long moment, her lips tightening and her eyes bright. She doesn’t argue. Instead, she turns on her heel and stalks away.
Earlier
Sawyer never leaves his tent in the daylight anymore. He says even the faintest of lights – the monitor in the hatch, the glow of the bonfires – hurts his eyes. And he grows ever more irritable and intolerant of sound. Each morning before dawn he moves his tent a little further down the beach from the main group, complaining of being kept awake all night by their noises. And he’d taken the painkiller supply from Jack by force, demanding relief from the pain in his shoulder and headaches and all number of other physical complaints. Jack wonders if perhaps he’s becoming a hypochondriac.
Earlier
Hurley makes his way out of the jungle, finds Jack on the beach. “Dude, I think there’s something wrong with Sawyer,” he says, holding up a small mangled carcass. “Look what he did to this frog.”
TBC
Link to Chapter 2, Wild
*Pt. 1 of 3*
Characters: Jack, Sawyer for this part, J/S later
Rating: PG for now, leading to...well, you know ;)
Disclaimer: Only mine in my dreams
Warnings: Dark! fic. Character death, but it's not Jack or Sawyer and most of you will like it :)
Spoilers: Through the present
A/N: This idea came from an unsettling and brilliant theory of
uberaeryn's. I took it and ran with it. But it's all her fault. ;)Jack stops complaining about the prisoner in the hatch, the man who calls himself Henry Gale, the day he captures a prisoner of his own. A prisoner he can’t keep in the hatch, or anywhere near the other survivors. A prisoner who, he is fairly certain, has gone mad.
Earlier
They all assume that Sawyer vanished of his own accord. Since the gun fiasco, he’s been shunned. Since the frog fiasco, he’s been the object of disgust. Since his humiliation at the hands of the Others, he’s been the epitome of wounded pride. When he disappears, they assume he’s taken his guns and gone off on a quest of his own. As Sayid did. As Michael did. It never crosses their minds that he might have been taken away, for their safety and for his own.
Earlier
Jack finds her in the jungle in the dim light of sunset, face down in the dirt with a bullet hole in the back of her skull. The Others, he thinks immediately. They were here and they found her. Her worst fear, realized.
There’s a rustle in the jungle, and a figure emerges. It isn’t an Other. “Had to do it, Doc,” Sawyer tells him. “She tried to sneak up on me in my tent, but I knew she was coming. I knocked her out with a rock and brought her out here, did what had to be done. She was coming to kill me. So I killed her instead.”
Chills race down Jack’s spine. “How did you know she was coming to kill you?”
“I heard you all. Whispering.”
He stands, still as stone, and stares at Jack. Jack wonders if Sawyer will kill him, now. Instead, Sawyer drops his head, slumps, the picture of defeat. He holds out the gun, offering it to Jack. “Help me.”
Earlier
“We have to kill him.”
Jack’s stomach clenches at the finality of the words. He can’t believe it, doesn’t want to believe it. But the evidence is there.
It’s there in the mutilated carcasses that begin to appear around the campsight. It’s only small things at first, frogs, rabbits, a couple of squirrels. “It’s Sawyer,” Hurley tells Jack quietly. “I’ve seen him do it, over and over again. It’s like, he’s making sacrifices to the island or something.”
The sacrifices – if that’s what they are – grow steadily larger and more ominous. A full grown boar. A jungle cat. And then they find the body of a stranger, an unkempt and earthy stranger of the same ilk as the Others, head-shot and gutted and strung from a tree.
Danielle makes her way out of the jungle, sees Jack and Ana Lucia standing before the hanging body. “One of yours did this?”
“Why would you think—“ Jack begins, but Ana cuts him off.
“Probably,” she says in a clipped voice. “It’s the same as the animals, and we know who’s been doing that.”
Danielle shudders. “It’s the sickness. This is how it begins.”
Ana stares at her, this stranger who looks Other, but is clearly familiar to Jack. “What sickness?”
Danielle lowers her voice to a whisper. “It took my people, everyone but me. It begins with the weakest one. Montan lost his arm, and it poisoned his bloodstream. Very quickly, he became inhuman. Senses heightened, bloodlust, all traces of civilization gone. When he went from torturing small creatures to hunting human prey, we saw that there was no choice. Soon he would turn on us. He had to be killed. It took the others, one by one, until they were all dead and I was alone.”
Jack’s eyes narrow suspiciously, but he lowers his voice as well. “Why didn’t it take you?”
“I don’t know. I have wondered if perhaps my pregnancy made me immune. After I killed…the last of my group, I relocated to another part of the island, one that was perhaps not contaminated. If I had contracted the sickness, I would not be human today. Those who contract the sickness become wild.”
“Then that’s what we have to do,” Ana says, her words no less menacing for all that they’re spoken in a whisper. “We have to kill him.”
The determined tone of her voice makes Jack’s blood run cold. “No,” he says sharply. “We’re not killing anybody, that’s insane. If Sawyer is…infected, we’ll figure out what caused it, find a cure. Lock him in the hatch in the meantime—“
“Jack.” Ana’s eyes go from his to the mutilated carcass before them, and he sees in them a glittering, almost maniacal fear. “He did this. Sawyer isn’t human. Not anymore.”
This isn’t happening, Jack thinks, panic closing in on him in one great wave. He needs time to think. “It’s still daylight,” he says in his sternest leader voice. “He only hunts when it’s dark. Let me talk to the others, try to find another way. We’ll just have to come up with a civilized plan before twilight.”
Ana stares at him for a long moment, her lips tightening and her eyes bright. She doesn’t argue. Instead, she turns on her heel and stalks away.
Earlier
Sawyer never leaves his tent in the daylight anymore. He says even the faintest of lights – the monitor in the hatch, the glow of the bonfires – hurts his eyes. And he grows ever more irritable and intolerant of sound. Each morning before dawn he moves his tent a little further down the beach from the main group, complaining of being kept awake all night by their noises. And he’d taken the painkiller supply from Jack by force, demanding relief from the pain in his shoulder and headaches and all number of other physical complaints. Jack wonders if perhaps he’s becoming a hypochondriac.
Earlier
Hurley makes his way out of the jungle, finds Jack on the beach. “Dude, I think there’s something wrong with Sawyer,” he says, holding up a small mangled carcass. “Look what he did to this frog.”
TBC
Link to Chapter 2, Wild
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 03:39 am (UTC)I mean...not Sawyer! *cries* But it's creepy because I can absolutely see this happening on the show, and I don't want it to.
I love Jack standing up for him, or trying to. And I'm suddenly kind of intrigued by the idea of Sawyer as a hypochrondriac. Because there's evidence for it, isn't there? Of course, are you really a hypochondriac if you're always getting sick/hurt/wounded like our boy? ;)
More please!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 03:55 am (UTC)But I am glad Ana's dead. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:38 am (UTC)And yeah, I've seen traces of the hypochondriac in Sawyer. Even though he DOES get hurt all the time. So naturally Jack would leap to that conclusion when Sawyer gets so hypersensitive to stuff. But I think he's just reacting to everything -- pain, light, sound -- because of the sickness. For fic purposes, anyway.
Oh, and I went to
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 06:21 am (UTC)Verr good.
Scary creepy not my Sawyer!, gut-punching pace, like the Memento structure, eagerly await more...
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 11:51 am (UTC)well, everything!!
-you see I can read slash too, sometimes ;-)))
I won't be able to watch the new episode before the weekend, probably, but I'll check your lj tonight/tomorrow morning/whatever it will be with the time difference, to see your reaction.
Uberaeryn's theory is brilliant indeed, and I hope you and her are not too far from the truth. Because I would rather see a mad, sick and infected Sawyer rather than a badly written, "gratuitously cruel" Sawyer...
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 03:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 03:11 pm (UTC)See, I can write non-slash. Um, for now. ;)
Because I would rather see a mad, sick and infected Sawyer rather than a badly written, "gratuitously cruel" Sawyer...
Word, word, word, and more word! Because...sick!Sawyer can be saved. Dr. Jack is a miracle-worker, right? Badly-written Sawyer is hopeless. So yes, I'm totally with you!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 03:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 03:29 pm (UTC)I love the backward momentum of this and the reveal of more details as you show us how it all went down. Even if it is creepy and Aw!Sawyer.
♥
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:09 pm (UTC)Instead, Sawyer drops his head, slumps, the picture of defeat. He holds out the gun, offering it to Jack. “Help me.”
I feel so bad for him there. He knows he's doing these horrible things and he can't help it. Can't wait to see where this goes!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:17 pm (UTC)*hug*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:23 pm (UTC)I'm having a ton of fun with this fic. Even if it does fuck with our boy a little. It'll probably get worse before it gets better, bwahahaha.
*reads that^^^*
*scratches head*
Evidently, I am a sadist.
*wanders off to contemplate*
WOT????? It's WEDNESDAY!!!!! I am not responsible for a WORD I SAY!!!
*twirls*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:27 pm (UTC)Yes, and I hope people are getting it that he trusts Jack. He heard their whispered conversation, and he knows that, though Ana wanted to do the practical and apparently necessary thing, Jack wanted to try to save him against all odds. So, though he killed Ana, he trusted Jack enough to hand over the gun (that's a big deal, imho) and ask for help.
Gah, tonight's ep needs to get here soon so I can write the next part!
*throws arms around you and dances, even though I'm jealous that you'll see it tonight 2 hours before I do*
:P
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:29 pm (UTC)Um, you do know who you're talking to, right? ;) We have sick!Sawyer and Dr. Jack-to-the-rescue, how could there NOT be smut???
*luffs you*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 04:32 pm (UTC)Don't worry - the mascocist in me loves it.
I KNEW you had a whip! ;Dno subject
Date: 2006-03-01 08:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 08:17 pm (UTC)I've been avoiding this theory. Because I don't like it. It might be the only thing that could make me stop watching the show - but you do an awesome job of letting it play out - and I'm very interested to see how it does in the fic.
I'm just so thrilled that you are excited and back in the game. I know I can count on you to take an create an interesting, compelling spin on canon.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 08:45 pm (UTC)Can I be honest with you?I hope I can and also I am drugged and all-so I have pills to blame for every word I write,lol.
I am not liking this fic so far...too creepy and realistic,and you are completely brilliant for transforming the theory into such a dark fic.
I don't like this Sawyer.You know that we disagree on your theory and I
still hope that I am right and Sawyer is not a sadist,but I understand how you felt and what you meant much better now.And here be major hugs for you,love!
But you killed Ana!:D
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 09:27 pm (UTC)Because I would like nothing more than turning this scenario into something good:)And writing it out is a smart move.
*hugs*
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Date: 2006-03-01 09:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 09:51 pm (UTC)And maybe this was a risky fic to write, but I kinda had to. That theory bothers me so much that I need to write it out and twist it into something that I can live with, if it happens. Fic as therapy, in a way.
Bear with me. The next part might be pretty dark, but I think you'll like where I go with it in the end.
♥
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 09:57 pm (UTC)More, more, more!
Well done, I like how you built up the story going backwards and backwards.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 10:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 10:24 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you wrote it! :-)
And I'm even more glad that you will write more YAY
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 11:17 pm (UTC)This extrapolation on the sickness theory is so very well written - and so deeply disturbing - that it has seeped into my marrow, where it will remain, haunting every thought, whether Lost related or not, for what is likely to be all time. It makes my skin crawl and my heart ache at the same time. And this image...can there be anything sadder on the face of God's green earth?
He stands, still as stone, and stares at Jack. Jack wonders if Sawyer will kill him, now. Instead, Sawyer drops his head, slumps, the picture of defeat. He holds out the gun, offering it to Jack. “Help me.”
*thud*
The unique format only adds to the askew slide. I know everyone has already said it, but here I am, late to the dance again and still singing. You are brilliant.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 11:54 pm (UTC)It is disturbing, and the idea has been haunting me a lot lately. As I tend to do a lot these days, I'm working out my issues by writing fic. It's the only world I have total control over.
Thanks so much for reading! (I'm still waiting to hear more about that Ireland trip!) :)
no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 08:27 pm (UTC)XmwahX
no subject
Date: 2006-03-03 08:14 pm (UTC)I missed it before, did you post the 2nd part yet? I'm all screwed up in my fic reading.
This is too horrible and sad. Not Sawyer! Waaa! I am hoping Jack holds the cure for him.
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Date: 2006-03-03 08:49 pm (UTC)Eek, I think it's scary that I wrote fic that's freaking everybody out so bad! Maybe I'd better get those sequels done, huh? ;D
*off to finish pt. 2*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-04 07:32 am (UTC)(And yes, I hope this only ever happens in fic! *clings to Sawyer*)
no subject
Date: 2006-03-04 06:53 pm (UTC)I know you had a rough week, and I just wanted to give you a great big HUG and say that I &heart; you!
Thank you so much for reading and rec'ing. *SMOOCH*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-04 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-04 09:40 pm (UTC)But yay! You liked the fic! *smooch!*
no subject
Date: 2006-03-05 08:22 am (UTC)But the sentiment is there!
And I'm sure you can save Sawyer! There'll be a vaccine! Or a blood transfusion! Or some magical herb! Or maybe the sex will save him, LOL. Ok, maybe not, but Jack should at least *try* that option! Seriously, looking forward to what you do with this.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-06 03:50 pm (UTC)Not that I like the whole idea, as anyone else, but if it had to be done, let it be like that. (possible sex therapy included! lol!)
can I friend you? I hate when I miss a good fic and my daily hopping from user-info to user-info is not that efficient! ♥
no subject
Date: 2006-03-06 04:44 pm (UTC)So glad you liked it. And YAY for friending! I'll friend back. :)