Part 406: Return To Us

“Kate?” Mia gasped, as she got up out of her swinging porch.

John shook his head in agreement; telling his wife that it was indeed their fugitive friend. The Lakota woman came closer as the archer held the receive to his ear with one arm and put his other arm around his wife. “Kate, are you all right?” he asked, “Where are you?”

“I can’t . . . .I can’t . . .I can’t . .do this anymore.” Kate whimpered, “You . .you said . .you could help me.”

“I can help you, Kate. But first, you need to tell me where you are.” John replied.

“I’m . . .at a Winkies . . .on Highway 182, just north of Los Angeles.”

“Okay, stay put. I’m sending Mia to get you.”

“What are you going to do, John?” Kate whispered.

“I’ll tell you when you get here. Just stay where you are, Mia will be along as fast as she can.”

“Okay,” the fugitive whimpered.

John slowly hung up the phone and took a deep breath. Mia stared up at her husband as the cool October winds blew against his hair. The archer gently stroked his wife’s beautiful black hair. “I honestly expected her to call sooner than this.” John confessed.

“John, what is all this about?” Mia asked.

“It’s a plan I set in motion five years ago. Kate is a good person, Mia. She deserves a chance at a normal life and hopefully, I will be able to give it to her.”

“John, I don’t understand-“ the Lakota tried to say.

John took her by the arms and stared down at her. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

“You know I do.” She immediately responded.

“Then go get Kate. I’ll explain everything when you get back. I promise, Mia. Now go to Highway 182, head North of Los Angeles. There is a Winkies just outside the edge of the town, that’s where you find her. Please, go.”

Mia embraced her husband and held onto him for a few seconds. She felt a wave of excitement wash over here. She had enjoyed her calm life over the past five years but it was exciting to be brought back into dangerous territory. She then parted from John, reached into the side table and grabbed the keys to her truck. After quickly slipping on her sandals, she skipped out to her truck and got into it. Within seconds, she was out of the drive way and on her way. John stayed on the porch just long enough to wave goodbye to her.

He then headed back into the house, seeing Locke come down the stairs. “Is Shelley asleep?” he asked.

“Took a while but she did finally did drift off,” the older man looked at his watch, then at the door, “Where is Mia going at this hour?”

“To pick up Kate.” John said bluntly.

Locke looked at John with a mild bit of shock. The archer stared at him and didn’t once bat an eye. The seriousness of his face told the older man that he wasn’t joking. “Kate?” the bald man gasped, “Our Kate? From the Island Kate?”

“Yep.” John scratched the back of his head, “She finally got my message. She’s ready to stop running.”

“What message? What are you talking about, John?”

“Come with me, Pop.” The archer said, as he started walking through the living room, “I’m going to need you to contact Hurley. After I speak with an old friend of mine.”

Locke was about to ask John further questions, until they arrived in the study. Mia hung out here mostly during the day, surfing the internet, making photoshop art and posting on forums. John sat down at her chair, then turned on the computer. After it booted up, John closed his eyes and concentrated. The archer then turned on the internet explorer. It booted up all the way, he typed in the address; www.the-network.com . The page slowly came up and gave him several options. He then clicked on the switch where it said, CHAT OPTIONS.

The screen flickered and it read CONNECTING.

“John, what is this?” Locke asked.

“Please be there, please be there.” The archer whispered to himself.

The screen then came onto a giant gray screen. Yellow words slowly started to fill the upper left hand corner of the screen.

Hello. My name is Poodle. What can I do to help you with your quest?

“Wha?” Locke said, even more confused.

John sighed and began to type, “Hello, Poodle. I need to speak to the Matador.”

There was a slight pause, then the words filled the screen again.

The Matador is a busy man. May I ask what is pertaining to?

John typed into the computer, “Tell him it’s about a bullfight he pulled me out of in 1993.”

“John, what the hell is going on?” Locke asked.

John slowly tilted around to looked at the older man. “You know your history, Locke?” the archer asked, “Recent history.”

“What do you mean?” he inquired.

“Back in 1993, me and my fellow Olympians were in the country of Valverde. It was a good will games routine; we had done it so many times before. However, the government of Valverde was overthrown while we were there. We were not allowed to leave because were not from that country, plus we were Olympians.”

“Wait . ..I do remember this.” Locke’s eyes bulged, “You . .YOU were in that group? How did you get out?”

John pointed back to the computer screen with his thumb. “Ramon knew this guy, calls himself the Matador.” He turned back to the screen, “He’s a computer hacker. For a special price, he got us fake passports to help get us out of the country.”

“How much are we talking about?”

“At the time, it was 300 thousand. I have no idea what he’s going to charge us for what we are about to do.”

“What ARE we about to do, John?” asked the older man.

“Hopefully, we’re going to give Kate a new life.”

Then the computer screen flickered, and the internet explorer was minimized. The arrow key for the mouse began moving on it’s own. Programs began to shut down left and right of the screen. “He’s in my system.” John commented.

“Doing what?” asked Locke.

“Probably confirming the computer is not tapped and I am not a fed.”

After a few seconds, the screen flickered and instead of a gray background; it was red. Locke smirked; assuming it was red for a Matador’s flag. Words began to pop up on the screen starting from the middle and working its way back and forth.

IN 1993 I CAN ONLY THINK OF ONCE INSTANCE WHERE I DID SOMETHING NOBLE. I SAVED A GROUP OF OLYMPIANS FROM A FASCIST GOVERNMENT REGIME. SO, LOGICALLY I AM ASSUMING YOU ARE JOHN RIGGS?

John paused for a second and then typed in, “How do you know I am not Ramon Vega?”

BECAUSE RAMON VEGA IS DEAD. HE DIED IN THE CRASH OF FLIGHT 815 OCEANIC. YOU DID NOT. SO, LET ME ASK YOU ONE QUESTION TO PROVE YOU ARE JOHN RIGGS. WHAT WAS THE NAME I GAVE YOU IN VALVERDE?

John then typed into the computer, “Trevor Chaznelli. You made me an Italian.”

HOW DID YOU FOOL THE AIRPORT SECURITY WITH NO ACCENT?

“You also faxed in a medical document proving I was a deaf mute.” John typed.

There was a short pause, then the words started to fill the screen again.

WELL DONE, JOHN. YOUR MEMORY SERVES YOU WELL. NOW, HOW CAN I HELP YOU TODAY?

“I need you to bring someone back to life.” John typed in the computer.

BRINGING SOMEONE BACK TO LIFE IS NOT EASY. IT WILL REQUIRE A LOT OF MONEY BEFORE I GIVE YOU DETAILS.

“How much?” the archer typed.

FIVE MILLION.

“Do you have a wire bank transfer I can send it too?” John asked.

OF COURSE.

“Locke, I need you to contact Hurley now.” The archer said.

“How are you so sure that Hurley is just going to hand over five million to this Matador guy?” the bald man picked up the phone.

“Because . . .its for a good cause.” The archer smirked.


After a good thirty minutes, Mia finally reached the Winkies at the edge of the city on highway 182. The diner had only a few trucks in the parking lot. The Lakota woman expected to find Kate’s Avalanche truck that she took from Sawyer five years ago. Mia stepped out of her own truck and walked up to the door of the diner. When she entered the restaurant, the familiar bell clanged over the doorway. A brunette with a red-baseball cap jumped at the sound and looked toward the doorway. Mia immediately spotted Kate’s beautiful eyes. She quickly walked over to her and the fugitive immediately stood up, embracing her. The Lakota girl was a little thrown back by the weeping woman holding her. “It’s all right, Kate.” Mia whispered, “I’m going to take you home.”


The two women began to drive back toward Mia’s home. The highway was practically empty at that time of night. Mia looked in the rearview mirror, at any cars near her. More than likely no one was following them but since her passenger was a fugitive; it made her a little paranoid. She glanced at Kate. The poor woman’s hair was a little un-kept. And judging from her poor red cheeks, she had been crying for some time. Kate massaged her forehead, then looked toward her friend. “It’s good to see you, Mia.” She whispered.

“I’m glad you are back with us, Kate,” the Lakota girl said, taking her hand, “We’ve all be worried about you.”

“How is Jack?” Kate asked, “Is he . . .still with Jilly?”

“They see each other off and on. I don’t know how serious they are.”

“How about Sawyer?” the brunette inquired.

“You know . .Sawyer is Sawyer. I don’t even know if he has a job.”

“I . .uh . ..I saw Seth and the gang. I went to a Turboshaft concert.” Kate giggled slightly.

“Kate, that’s wonderful,” Mia laughed, “I know seeing Seth would have loved to have seen you.”

“Do you know . . . why Dutch and Karleigh joined the band?”

“Seth, Charlie and Shanna needed a guitarist. Dutch apparently knew how to play and Karliegh was a pianist. We never asked so we didn’t know. And for why they joined the band . . .it was simple. It was the one way they could definitely be together.”

“How . . .romantic . . .” Kate said, before crying.

Mia took her hand as she continued to drive. “Kate, talk to me.” The Lakota encouraged her, “What happened? Why did you come back after all this time?”

Kate sniffed and wiped her eyes with her jean jacket sleeve. She closed her eyes and leaned back. “I was in Chicago.” She coughed, “Low rent dive, just spending the night. Then a bang hit my door. I had a gun with me . . .a snub nose 38. I quickly grabbed it as the bang happened again. I ran to the door and pulled it open, expecting to threaten whoever was hitting my door. It . . .was a kid, Mia.”

“A kid?” she asked.

“Yeah. Just some little boy who was getting a little crazy with his soccer ball. Had he not turned around at the precise moment I held the gun out, he would have seen me with it. I quickly closed the door and collapsed. I couldn’t stop crying. I’ve spent the last five years looking over my shoulder. I’m tired, Mia. I want it to end.”

“And John said he could help you?”

“Yeah, he did.” Kate whispered, pulling out the photo from her jean jacket inner pocket.

Mia took the photo and leaned it up into the headlights. It was a picture John took of himself in the mirror, holding up a note that read IF YOU EVER WANT TO STOP RUNNING, CONTACT ME, then his phone number. “He never told you about that?” she asked.

“No, he didn’t.” Mia gave her back the photo, “But I trust my husband. If he didn’t tell me, then he had a good reason.”

“Maybe . . .he thought he wasn’t sure if he could help me?” Kate asked.

“Maybe. He said he has a plan but didn’t sound like he knew if it would work or not. This is our exit.” Mia finished by taking the truck off the highway.


After another twenty minutes of driving, they finally made it to the subdivision. Mia turned the vehicle down the street, then stopped at their house. Kate took a look at it and smiled; thinking it was going to be the preverbal picket fenced house. Instead it was a simple two story ranch style home with a porch and a swing on a tree in the front yard. “You have a lovely home.” The fugitive commented.

“I wonder where Locke is?” Mia said, getting out of the truck and noticing the missing vehicle.

“What?” Kate raised an eyebrow, “Locke?”

“Yeah, he lives with us.”

“Why did he do that?”

“Because he needed to be with family.” Mia smiled, taking her friend’s arm, “Maybe that’s why you’ve come back to us.”

“I admit it. I missed you guys terribly. I never felt . .I belonged until we all met on that Island.”

Mia opened the door and Kate followed in. She saw no sign of her husband and could only assume her daughter was still asleep. Then she saw John coming down the stairs, holding their digital camera and a white sheet. He stopped when he reached the bottom of the stairs. The archer stared at his wife and their friend standing next to her. “Hello, Kate.” John smiled.

“Hello, John,” she smiled, wiping her eyes, “Have you got a miracle up your sleeve for me?”

“It’s a joint effort.” He said, smiling and touching his wife on the arm, “ We’re going to give you a normal life, Kate.”

“How are we going to do that, John?” Mia asked.

“By giving Kate a new identity.” He said, getting on the couch and posting the white sheet onto the wall with tacks.

“John, I don’t understand how we can accomplish that. And where is Locke?”

“Locke has gone to get some supplies. Katherine wore glasses, so he’s gone to get some fake ones with just glass in them.”

“Katherine?” Kate raised an eyebrow, “Who is Katherine?”

“My sister,” John got off the couch and looked at the fugitive, “It’s kinda funny. We called her Kate, too.”

Mia’s eyes slowly got wider because she was starting to put two and two together. Kate stared at John for a brief moment. When she noticed his somber look and Mia’s shocked expression, she finally figured it out as well. The mention of John’s sister, coupled with the conversion of a new identity gave the fugitive only one logical conclusion.

“I’m going . . ..to be your sister?” she asked.