Fight for You Part II
Title: Fight for You 2/7
Rating: PG/PG-13
Genre: angst, action/adventure, romance
Characters: Claire, Charlie, Desmond
Summary: AU. Claire is suspicious enough when Desmond comes and asks Charlie to help him with a project but when she discovers that Desmond nearly let Charlie get killed by Rousseau’s arrow trap, she realises that they’re both still keeping secrets from her. When she discovers that Charlie is actually planning to die in the Looking Glass so that she might be rescued, Claire insists that the decision be taken out of his hands and puts the other survivors to a vote. From there, it’s all AU fun and games!
Disclaimer: If Lost was mine, this is what would have happened instead of the season finale. The lyrics in the cut and used in the title are from “The Special Two” by Missy Higgins.
~*~
Greatest Hits
“I’m worried about Charlie.”
Hurley looked up from the kitchen table at Claire, his heavy brow furrowed.
“Huh?”
“I said I’m worried about Charlie,” Claire repeated, absently cutting through thin air. Hurley helpfully moved her banana further along the chopping board for her. “Oh, thanks,” Claire said, scooping up the slices of fruit and depositing them into a dented bowl one handed. “He went to go help Desmond with something and he hasn’t come back yet.”
Hurley seemed non-plussed. “And?”
“Well,” Claire murmured, hitching Aaron more securely into her arm. “I’m wondering if Desmond’s had another flash or something.”
“Oh,” Hurley paused then shrugged. “I dunno. Nobody’s said anything to me. Maybe they’re just, you know, talking about stuff.”
“Maybe,” Claire said uneasily.
Hurley scrutinised her for a moment over the top of his own pile of fruit and then he sighed. “Dude, if you’re that worried about Charlie then just go talk to him. I’m sure he’ll tell you if there’s something up.”
“I’m not so sure that he will,” Claire said morosely. “When I asked him about how his guitar got broken he said it was an accident but I’m sure he wasn’t telling me everything.” She paused and then appealed to Hurley. “I don’t suppose you know if Desmond had a flash of it beforehand? Charlie said he didn’t but…”
“Man, Charlie didn’t tell you about that at all?” Hurley said, honestly surprised. “He was complaining to me about it for like a week.”
Claire frowned. “Why? Because his guitar got broken?”
“No way. He was freaking out cause Desmond like, saw Charlie getting skewered by the arrow but he didn’t tell him till after it happened. The dude came this close to letting him get turned into a shish kabob…”
Claire gaped at Hurley for a moment and then gave an angry hiss. “I knew it!” she said angrily. “I knew Charlie was lying to me! And Desmond! How could he not tell Charlie what he’d seen?”
“He thought if he saved Charlie that his girlfriend wouldn’t come to rescue us,” Hurley mumbled, beginning to pick at his fruit disconsolately. “Turns out he was right - we got that Naomi chick instead.”
“He was going to let Charlie die so that he could see his girlfriend?” Claire was aghast. “What the hell is wrong with him?!”
“Well he probably misses her or something,” Hurley said reasonably. At the withering look Claire gave him he hastily added, “Not that, you know, that’s any excuse for nearly letting Charlie die or anything…”
“I need to talk to Charlie about this,” Claire said decisively and she parcelled Aaron into Hurley’s bewildered arms. “Can you watch him? If he gets fussy just go put him in his cradle.”
“Uh, sure I guess,” Hurley held the infant awkwardly. “How long are you gonna be?”
“I don’t know,” Claire exhaled heavily, trying to calm herself down. “Hopefully not long. Do you know where they are?”
“I think I saw them heading up the beach before,” Hurley offered and Claire strode off without a backwards glance.
It didn’t take long for her to find the two of them huddled into the sand, talking quietly. They were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn’t even realise that Claire was there until she greeted them with an overly chipper “hi!”
“Hello,” Desmond shielded his eyes from the sun. “What brings you out here Claire?”
“I was wondering if I borrow Charlie for a minute?” Claire asked, still trying to keep her voice cheerful. Both men stared up at her, bewildered, and then they looked at each other.
“Sorry,” Charlie said after a moment, his eyes still on Desmond. “We’re a bit busy at the moment.”
“Doing what?” Claire asked.
“Planning,” Desmond jumped in and Charlie nodded along convincingly. “We were thinking about maybe going on another camping trip once all this stuff with the Others blows over…”
“Oh don’t give me that crap!” Claire snapped, losing her temper. “Charlie, I need to talk to you.”
“Now?” Charlie asked, surprised.
“Yes, now,” she said peevishly.
“Anything you want to say to me you can say with Desmond here,” Charlie said, maddeningly. Claire almost had to physically stop herself from screaming in frustration.
“Not everything,” Claire muttered. When he didn’t budge, she softened a little though. “Please Charlie?”
Charlie sighed and then finally stood, shooting Desmond an apologetic glance as he went that made Claire bristle again. Claire led him all the back to the piece of beach that their shelter looked out onto and then she turned to him.
“So what’s all this about then?” he asked, facing her and crossing his arms. “And why are we having a private conversation in the middle of the beach?”
“I was just talking to Hurley at the kitchen,” Claire jumped feet first into the deep end. “And he said some very interesting things about your guitar…” Charlie eyed her warily. “…And how it got broken.”
Charlie pursed his lips and looked down guiltily.
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” Claire said flatly. “Oh.” When Charlie didn’t offer anything more, she pressed on. “He said that Desmond had a flash of it happening only he didn’t tell you. He said that Desmond only just pushed you out of the way in time.”
Charlie was still looking at the sand.
“He said that you told him about Desmond’s flash. That you complained about it even. And yet when I asked you about it, you lied to me. Why is that?”
“I didn’t want you to worry,” Charlie muttered at his shoes.
“Oh don’t go all noble on me Charlie,” Claire snapped. “I told you that I wanted to help you and you might not believe me but I did actually mean it.”
Charlie was silent then, sulky.
“Has Desmond had another flash?” Claire asked finally.
“No,” Charlie said instantly but his face flickered guiltily and Claire shook her head at him in disgust.
“You’re lying to me again,” she said, feeling sick. “Why are you lying to me Charlie? I thought we were in this together!”
“Well you thought wrong then, didn’t you?” Charlie snapped.
Claire stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” Charlie said mutinously. “Now if you’ll excuse me…”
“Don’t walk away from me!” Claire yelled, her hands balling into fists as she chased after him, growing increasingly desperate. “I’m trying to help you Charlie! Please!”
“It’s not like you could stop anything from happening to me even if you wanted to!” Charlie wheeled around to face her again, his eyes blazing with anger and unshed tears. “God! Why do you even bother?”
“Because I love you!” Claire blurted unthinkingly.
Charlie’s jaw dropped.
“What?”
Claire froze, her face flooding with colour as her brain caught up to her mouth.
“You heard me,” she muttered, still blushing. “I said…I said that I love you.”
Charlie mouthed soundlessly at her for a moment and then began to stutter. “I…I well…”
Claire stepped closer to him. “I do,” she said earnestly, taking his hands. “I’m not just saying that because…you know. I mean it Charlie. I really do.”
“Claire, I…” Charlie shook his head helplessly at her for a moment and then let out a moan. “Oh God…” he whimpered.
“Charlie!” Claire cried out, alarmed, as his face seemed to crumble before her eyes. She went to embrace him but Charlie took a step backwards and put his hands up in an unmistakable halting motion between them.
“No! Please…don’t…just…just…”
“Charlie I’m going to get really offended in a second,” Claire said reprovingly and pushed his hands aside so she could step up close to him again. Her face still felt flushed, but it was from anger now rather than embarrassment. “I tell you that…that…you know. And you get upset?” her voice rose shrilly. “What have you got to be upset about? You’ve been in love with me for ages! I thought this was what you wanted!”
“It is what I wanted!” Charlie turned away from her, his voice quietly miserable. “Christ Claire - you think I ever wanted it to end like this?”
Claire froze in the act of putting her hand on his shoulder.
Charlie froze too.
“What did you just say?”Claire said, her voice deathly quiet.
“It doesn’t matter,” Charlie said stiffly, turning fully away from her.
“Of course it bloody well matters!” Claire grabbed his shoulders and forced him to face her. “Why would you even say that Charlie? Why?” There was a pause as she stared desperately into his eyes, and then she remembered what they had been arguing about in the first place and, to her horror, she realised that she had been right all along. “Desmond did have another one of his flashes. Didn’t he?”
Charlie sighed heavily but then he nodded.
Claire scowled heavily at him. “Well why didn’t you just tell me then instead of lying about it? Idiot!” she gave his shoulder a shove and then as an afterthought, she grasped both his hands in hers as though to apologise for hitting him. “How does it happen? When?”
“It happens when I turn off the jammer switch in the Looking Glass station,” Charlie mumbled, not meeting her eyes. “I turn it off and then…and then I drown.”
Claire took a moment to process this and then frowned. “What the hell is a Looking Glass station?”
“It’s an underwater Dharma station,” Charlie explained. “Sayid thinks that it’s attached to the cable that he found further down the beach. If somebody can get down to the station and unblock the signal then he can use Naomi’s phone to call her ship, to get us all rescued.”
“Okay,” Claire said in a steady voice. “Okay well then we need to find somebody else to swim down there then. Sayid, or maybe...”
“No,” Charlie argued back instantly. “I have to be the one to turn off the…”
“If you know you’re going to drown there then the absolute worst thing you could do is swim down there!” Claire said sternly. “Somebody else can do it. I’m not...”
“No! You don’t understand!” Charlie yanked his hands back out of her grasp. “If I don’t die then the helicopter won’t come!”
“Helicopter?” Claire said confusedly.
“If I don’t die then you won’t get on it,” Charlie explained. “Or maybe it won’t even come - I don’t know. Either way, the only thing we can do is just…just accept this. I’ll go down there, flick the switch off, drown, and then you and Aaron can finally go home. End of story.”
“No it’s not the end of the story!” Claire argued. “I’ve had too many people I care about leave me Charlie and I’m not letting you go too! I need you - Aaron needs you!”
As if on cue, the sound of a babies cry rent the still air. Both of them turned and saw Hurley putting Aaron carefully into his cradle. Claire gestured at their shelter impatiently, indicating that she and Charlie should go and relieve Hurley and continue their conversation there. Grinding his teeth in frustration, Charlie began to stride over and Claire followed him, hissing like an angry goose. Hurley, seeing the aggravation between the two of them, swiftly excused himself and he tiptoed off down the beach, glancing back at them worriedly.
“You are not going to go down there on some suicide mission because you think it’s going to get me rescued,” she told him matter-of-factly through the tears she was fighting back as Charlie knelt beside Aaron’s crib and shushed him. “I’ve already been responsible for the deaths of two people here Charlie, and I’m certainly not planning to let you die for me again. So you are not going, even if I have to knock you out and tie you to a tree. Because if you die because of me…” she took a deep shuddering breath. “I won’t ever be able to forgive myself.”
“You can’t stop me from going,” Charlie said simply, standing up again.
“Oh can’t I?” Claire said menacingly, hands on her hips. “What if I go and tell Jack and everyone else that you’re thinking about going on a suicide mission? Do you think anyone will let you go then?”
“Jack already knows that it’s a suicidal mission anyway,” Charlie pointed out. “And I could easily run off with Desmond while you pow wow with him. By the time you told him everything I’d be long gone and nobody would be able to stop me.”
Claire stared at him for a moment, furious beyond all measure, and then she snatched up a handful of his shirt and with her free hand, she grabbed and twisted one of his ears. Charlie yelped in pain.
“Argh! Bloody hell! Wow, God…you must’ve been a nun in a past life - I thought only Sisters knew how to twist ears this painfully…”
“The way I see it you have no authority to decide to die for me or anybody else here to get us rescued,” Claire said shortly, ignoring the joke he’d just made. “They have a right to know what you’re planning on doing and to stop you from going. It’s very simple Charlie.”
“I can’t not go!” Charlie snarled. “This is what I’m supposed to do!”
“Have you forgotten that I promised to look after you?” Claire asked quietly and Charlie lowered his eyes humbly. “Have you forgotten that I said we’d get through this together? I don’t plan on breaking that promise Charlie, not now not ever.”
Charlie looked up then, and shook his head helplessly at her determined face.
“Why even bother?” he said dismally. “At least this way I’d be doing some good by dying. If you save me today then Desmond’s just going to keep having his flashes and one day when we’re least expecting it, I’ll die because of something really trivial and stupid…”
Claire let go of his shirt and placed her hand over his mouth.
“You know exactly why I’m bothering,” she said quietly.
Charlie eyed her reproachfully over the top of her hand and Claire slowly took it away and leant up to kiss him softly.
Charlie sighed against her mouth, releasing all the tension in his body and it was at that exact moment that there was a yell from further down the beach and suddenly everyone was rushing to join the throng that was busily forming. The two of them moved automatically towards the hubbub, but then Charlie let go of Claire’s waist and nodded towards Aaron.
“You watch him,” He said. “I’ll go find out what’s going on.”
“Only if you promise to come back and tell me what’s going on straight away,” Claire insisted, catching his hand and holding it tight. Charlie hesitated and she stared hard at him. “Charlie?”
He nodded although he didn’t look too happy about it. “Okay. I promise.”
“Thank you,” she said simply. “Thank you for not just keeping me in the dark. I hate that.”
Charlie offered her a tentative smile then. “I know. You’d think I’d’ve learnt after the first million times I’d done it.”
And with that, he was gone.
NEXT CHAPTER