Following, Part Fifteen [Jack/Juliet] [R] [WIP]
Title: Following (Part Fifteen)
Characters: Juliet, Jack, Charlotte, Daniel, Hurley, Bernard & Rose (so far)
Pairing: Juliet/Jack, hints of Charlotte/Daniel
Rating: R (This part is more like PG-13.)
Spoilers: Season 4, Season 5 (sort of)
A/N: ACTION! PLOT! I hope this part isn't too unutterably cheesy. Comments = ♥!
~~
“The-uh, the measurement is pretty easy to take,” Daniel was explaining, holding his hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight that was streaming through the holes in the green canopy above them, “You don’t have to understand the scale - it will take an impression and I can read it later. To switch it on all you have to do is press that button right there at the top.”
Jack looked down at the device that Juliet was holding in front of them. It was about the size of old-fashioned camera, but with an odd, sleek design that made it seem as if it took up less space than they actually did. When the backlight came on behind the screen, a small green grid with a crosshair appeared in the center.
It was like radar, Jack thought at first, but then layer upon layer of different colored lines began to appear on top of the grid, and, when there was no more space left, on top of one another, becoming so dense that it was difficult, if not impossible, to decide where one began and the other ended.
“You can read this?” he asked incredulously, looking up at Daniel.
“It’s not-” Daniel nodded “It’s not actually as complicated as it looks.”
Charlotte looked at him pointedly, raising her eyebrows.
“Well, I guess it is still pretty complicated,” he admitted.
“You’re not going to ‘soap bubble’ your way out of this one, Dan,” Charlotte warned when he opened his mouth again, “Maybe you’d better just tell us how to use it before the sun goes down, hey?”
He nodded with what Jack couldn’t help thinking looked like relief.
“Right. So all you have to do position it over the ground like this,” Daniel added, demonstrating with Charlotte’s device, “and press this black button down here. You’ll see this little light come up for about a minute. Just hold it there until the light goes off. And that’s it-that’s all we need. But due to the trajectory of the-uh, the way that the machines take the reading, we have to be at least four kilometers apart. And we have to do it at the same time.”
“We’ve got two flares,” Juliet said, looking briefly into the bag that she had slung over her shoulder as if to make sure.
“Good,” Daniel returned, “The-uh, the second one is just in case something goes wrong with the first: you should only need one. Right after you set it off, you should turn the device on. Start the reading as soon as possible: When Charlotte and I see the flare, we’ll start ours. As long as there’s at least a fifteen second overlap, we’ll have attained a viable measurement.”
“And then we meet back here?” Jack asked, as Daniel turned off both devices.
“Yeah. If everything goes well, I should be able to finish interpreting the data tonight.”
“Dan,” Charlotte said, turning the device over slowly in her hands, “You know I hate to be a pessimist, but what if everything doesn’t go well?”
“You mean-” Daniel began, “If there’s a flash?”
Charlotte nodded.
“Actually,” Daniel said, looking at Charlotte, “now that you mention it,” he raised his eyes to look at Jack and Juliet in turn before he cleared his throat, obviously getting ready to begin another lecture, “I’m sure you’ve all noticed that matter on this island doesn’t always-move with us-when we shift. There’s a certain area in which the things around us will be-pulled along for the ride. It’s not very big: basically, just our clothes, whatever’s in our pockets and sometimes, the things we’re carrying, if they’re not too big.”
“Are you saying that these are different?” Juliet asked, looking down at the machine in her hands.
“I haven’t tested it myself,” Daniel acknowledged, “but if what Charles Widmore told me about their design is correct, then yes: these devices are not subject to that law. They should always be here-even if here is somewhere else.”
“I’m guessing that we can save time by not asking you how that’s possible,” Jack observed.
“That would-that would be good,” Daniel nodded distractedly, looking into the distance. “Uh, anyway, the point is that we should be capable of taking valid measurements no matter when we are. So even if there’s a flash, we should try to proceed as planned. Unless-”
“We’re too busy running for our lives?” Charlotte offered when Daniel trailed off.
“Uh, yeah,” he agreed, his eyes focusing on his immediate surroundings again as though he was just remembering where he was. “Hey, Jack, Juliet?”
“What is it?” Juliet asked.
“Who are those people behind the trees over there?”
Jack had only just begun to turn when something came shrieking past his ear, cracking through the jungle around them. It felt like a sharp breeze, against his face. When his vision cleared, he could see the silhouettes of several figures in the distance, moving between the trees, all of them holding long rifles.
“Dan!” he heard Charlotte shout suddenly, and Jack turned to see Daniel just as he was collapsing against her, a small dart sticking out of his neck, his eyes rolling back in his head.
Then the figures behind them began firing.
~~
Jack ducked behind a thick tree as soon as he heard the sound, turning back toward Charlotte.
“Charlotte! Quick!” he hissed, when he saw that she wasn’t moving, grabbing her arm and pulling her along with him. Juliet was already holding her gun, glancing over a large rock behind which she had hidden, waiting for a good shot at their assailants.
As Charlotte fell against Jack, Daniel dropped awkwardly away from her toward the ground, already unconscious. She looked up at Jack, startled.
“It was just a dart, Charlotte,” he said, “It wasn’t a bullet: He’ll be ok.”
“I-Oh,” her eyes suddenly seemed to focus again, and she reached for her gun, pulling it out quickly and turning off the safety with shaky hands, but instinctively, as though it was something she’d been trained to do.
“Jack,” Juliet, said suddenly. He turned to her just as another badly-aimed shot rang out. The worry on her face was unmistakable. “It’s the Others. Or some of them, anyway. I can’t see how many there are.”
“What are we going to do?” Charlotte said desperately, looking at Daniel’s unconscious body.
“The first thing we have to do is hide this stuff,” Jack said immediately, looking at the machinery on the ground. “Even if they end up capturing us,” he winced, thinking about the possibility, “we can’t let them find out what we were doing here. We can’t give them a chance to find the source of the energy before we do.”
“Right,” Charlotte agreed, her eyes clearing further, “Daniel wouldn’t have wanted that.”
“Juliet,” he added, “There were some small caves a few meters back: if I can get rid of these there- Do you think you can cover me?”
Juliet nodded, her eyes flashing out at him like shot. Then she reached out for him.
“Be careful,” she said, touching his arm quickly, her expression momentarily soft, reminding him suddenly of what she’d said to him the night before.
“You too,” he looked back at her seriously, wondering for a brief moment whether she was thinking about it too.
A second later, Juliet had turned back toward the Others, and he was moving. He could hear her fire behind him, and the sound went through him like lightning, but he didn’t look back to see whether she’d hit anyone: he merely threw the two light objects into Daniel’s bag and took off, tearing a path between the trees.
He knew they didn’t have much time-knew, as he heard several more shots ring out and one more whistle past him, that there were in all probability too many for them to take out with only two guns, even under the best circumstances. When he ducked into the small cave, flinging Daniel’s bag inside, he felt a sense of sudden relief wash over him.
It didn’t last long. Almost as soon as he emerged, he heard a sharp shriek, and then felt a bursting pain in his neck. His body flooded with heat, his limbs went heavy, and he toppled backward, unable to control his movement.
“Juliet,” he murmured dimly as his vision grew dark.
~~
Part Sixteen
Characters: Juliet, Jack, Charlotte, Daniel, Hurley, Bernard & Rose (so far)
Pairing: Juliet/Jack, hints of Charlotte/Daniel
Rating: R (This part is more like PG-13.)
Spoilers: Season 4, Season 5 (sort of)
A/N: ACTION! PLOT! I hope this part isn't too unutterably cheesy. Comments = ♥!
~~
“The-uh, the measurement is pretty easy to take,” Daniel was explaining, holding his hand over his eyes to block out the sunlight that was streaming through the holes in the green canopy above them, “You don’t have to understand the scale - it will take an impression and I can read it later. To switch it on all you have to do is press that button right there at the top.”
Jack looked down at the device that Juliet was holding in front of them. It was about the size of old-fashioned camera, but with an odd, sleek design that made it seem as if it took up less space than they actually did. When the backlight came on behind the screen, a small green grid with a crosshair appeared in the center.
It was like radar, Jack thought at first, but then layer upon layer of different colored lines began to appear on top of the grid, and, when there was no more space left, on top of one another, becoming so dense that it was difficult, if not impossible, to decide where one began and the other ended.
“You can read this?” he asked incredulously, looking up at Daniel.
“It’s not-” Daniel nodded “It’s not actually as complicated as it looks.”
Charlotte looked at him pointedly, raising her eyebrows.
“Well, I guess it is still pretty complicated,” he admitted.
“You’re not going to ‘soap bubble’ your way out of this one, Dan,” Charlotte warned when he opened his mouth again, “Maybe you’d better just tell us how to use it before the sun goes down, hey?”
He nodded with what Jack couldn’t help thinking looked like relief.
“Right. So all you have to do position it over the ground like this,” Daniel added, demonstrating with Charlotte’s device, “and press this black button down here. You’ll see this little light come up for about a minute. Just hold it there until the light goes off. And that’s it-that’s all we need. But due to the trajectory of the-uh, the way that the machines take the reading, we have to be at least four kilometers apart. And we have to do it at the same time.”
“We’ve got two flares,” Juliet said, looking briefly into the bag that she had slung over her shoulder as if to make sure.
“Good,” Daniel returned, “The-uh, the second one is just in case something goes wrong with the first: you should only need one. Right after you set it off, you should turn the device on. Start the reading as soon as possible: When Charlotte and I see the flare, we’ll start ours. As long as there’s at least a fifteen second overlap, we’ll have attained a viable measurement.”
“And then we meet back here?” Jack asked, as Daniel turned off both devices.
“Yeah. If everything goes well, I should be able to finish interpreting the data tonight.”
“Dan,” Charlotte said, turning the device over slowly in her hands, “You know I hate to be a pessimist, but what if everything doesn’t go well?”
“You mean-” Daniel began, “If there’s a flash?”
Charlotte nodded.
“Actually,” Daniel said, looking at Charlotte, “now that you mention it,” he raised his eyes to look at Jack and Juliet in turn before he cleared his throat, obviously getting ready to begin another lecture, “I’m sure you’ve all noticed that matter on this island doesn’t always-move with us-when we shift. There’s a certain area in which the things around us will be-pulled along for the ride. It’s not very big: basically, just our clothes, whatever’s in our pockets and sometimes, the things we’re carrying, if they’re not too big.”
“Are you saying that these are different?” Juliet asked, looking down at the machine in her hands.
“I haven’t tested it myself,” Daniel acknowledged, “but if what Charles Widmore told me about their design is correct, then yes: these devices are not subject to that law. They should always be here-even if here is somewhere else.”
“I’m guessing that we can save time by not asking you how that’s possible,” Jack observed.
“That would-that would be good,” Daniel nodded distractedly, looking into the distance. “Uh, anyway, the point is that we should be capable of taking valid measurements no matter when we are. So even if there’s a flash, we should try to proceed as planned. Unless-”
“We’re too busy running for our lives?” Charlotte offered when Daniel trailed off.
“Uh, yeah,” he agreed, his eyes focusing on his immediate surroundings again as though he was just remembering where he was. “Hey, Jack, Juliet?”
“What is it?” Juliet asked.
“Who are those people behind the trees over there?”
Jack had only just begun to turn when something came shrieking past his ear, cracking through the jungle around them. It felt like a sharp breeze, against his face. When his vision cleared, he could see the silhouettes of several figures in the distance, moving between the trees, all of them holding long rifles.
“Dan!” he heard Charlotte shout suddenly, and Jack turned to see Daniel just as he was collapsing against her, a small dart sticking out of his neck, his eyes rolling back in his head.
Then the figures behind them began firing.
~~
Jack ducked behind a thick tree as soon as he heard the sound, turning back toward Charlotte.
“Charlotte! Quick!” he hissed, when he saw that she wasn’t moving, grabbing her arm and pulling her along with him. Juliet was already holding her gun, glancing over a large rock behind which she had hidden, waiting for a good shot at their assailants.
As Charlotte fell against Jack, Daniel dropped awkwardly away from her toward the ground, already unconscious. She looked up at Jack, startled.
“It was just a dart, Charlotte,” he said, “It wasn’t a bullet: He’ll be ok.”
“I-Oh,” her eyes suddenly seemed to focus again, and she reached for her gun, pulling it out quickly and turning off the safety with shaky hands, but instinctively, as though it was something she’d been trained to do.
“Jack,” Juliet, said suddenly. He turned to her just as another badly-aimed shot rang out. The worry on her face was unmistakable. “It’s the Others. Or some of them, anyway. I can’t see how many there are.”
“What are we going to do?” Charlotte said desperately, looking at Daniel’s unconscious body.
“The first thing we have to do is hide this stuff,” Jack said immediately, looking at the machinery on the ground. “Even if they end up capturing us,” he winced, thinking about the possibility, “we can’t let them find out what we were doing here. We can’t give them a chance to find the source of the energy before we do.”
“Right,” Charlotte agreed, her eyes clearing further, “Daniel wouldn’t have wanted that.”
“Juliet,” he added, “There were some small caves a few meters back: if I can get rid of these there- Do you think you can cover me?”
Juliet nodded, her eyes flashing out at him like shot. Then she reached out for him.
“Be careful,” she said, touching his arm quickly, her expression momentarily soft, reminding him suddenly of what she’d said to him the night before.
“You too,” he looked back at her seriously, wondering for a brief moment whether she was thinking about it too.
A second later, Juliet had turned back toward the Others, and he was moving. He could hear her fire behind him, and the sound went through him like lightning, but he didn’t look back to see whether she’d hit anyone: he merely threw the two light objects into Daniel’s bag and took off, tearing a path between the trees.
He knew they didn’t have much time-knew, as he heard several more shots ring out and one more whistle past him, that there were in all probability too many for them to take out with only two guns, even under the best circumstances. When he ducked into the small cave, flinging Daniel’s bag inside, he felt a sense of sudden relief wash over him.
It didn’t last long. Almost as soon as he emerged, he heard a sharp shriek, and then felt a bursting pain in his neck. His body flooded with heat, his limbs went heavy, and he toppled backward, unable to control his movement.
“Juliet,” he murmured dimly as his vision grew dark.
~~
Part Sixteen