Part 473: Plausable Deniablity

10:24 pm

The survivors were gathered in a large conference room. The majority of them had been interviewed and processed. They wanted all known information about Hanso and the Dharma Group. They collected John, Tony and McKay’s clothes. They detected minor traces of radiation on their clothes. The one-eyed doctor didn’t have the courage to tell them the truth. That a monster from a distant island coated them in it’s own genetic goop so it could teleport them. He told them they were just coated in some Hanso chemical from a lab explosion on the way down.

Sawyer was by the window, gently banging his head on the pain. Shanna would comfort him whenever she could. She knew what his problem was. He wanted outside to go smoke. Since they had been forced into the room nearly 40 minutes ago, the redneck was getting a little stir-crazy. Kate was resting next to Jack in the back as he had his arm in a sling. It reminded him of when he hurt his arm back in the cave in on the Island. She was there for him then and she’s there for him at the moment. Jenny felt a little better, allowing herself to sit with her friends. Raven stayed near her as Kellye and Ana-Lucia watched over her.

Most of the children were asleep. Brendon was resting between his mother and his father. Bridgett was asleep in Alexander’s arms, as her mother Mandy gently stroked her hair. Shelley was awake, sitting next to Mia, while Aaron was also awake; propped next to Charlie. They had gone through a rough set of four hours. It was worse for Shelley since she lost Locke. During their waiting for whatever the CTU had planned for them, she had stopped crying. She was still sad that she lost her grandpa but her excuse to her mother was that she had all cried out. Mia said that was okay because when she lost Brendon back on the Island, it was her same excuse as well.

McKay sat with his wife Taylor, propping up his bandaged leg. Jin sat with Sun, rocking her back and forth. Joscelyn was pacing near Hurley, because she wanted to call her sister Paige and make sure her family was okay. Jilly leaned her head back against the wall, sitting next to Karleigh who was stroking Dutch’s hair as he rested on her shoulder. Hal had his arm around Libby who was in and out of sleep on his shoulder. Arizona stayed with Chance, who was wide awake due to his bandaged leg.

Tristan leaned on his elbows against his knees while sitting next to Eddie and Bonnie. The young man has his arms crossed, gently banging his head against the window pane behind him. The redhead by his side was cold for some reason and the agents were nice enough to provide her with a blanket. She wanted to get to the hospital to check on her mother. As for what the next few weeks would be, she wasn’t sure. She gently reached over and placed her hand on Eddie’s. The young man was lost in thought but he then looked over to her. Bonnie smiled and sniffed slightly. “I love you too.” She smiled, remembering what he told her before he went after Ben and Matt.

The young warrior smiled and then leaned over, kissing her on the cheek. Leaning back, he put his arm around her and helped her to keep warm. Across the room, Tony and Marita had witness the whole exchange. It was a scene that easily brought a smile to their faces. It was nice to see that during this whole chaotic event, that Eddie was still able to keep Bonnie as a girlfriend. If anybody deserved to be happy, it was him.

Finally the door opened up to the big room. A handful of people stood up, almost on instinct. Inman stepped in, followed by Jack Bauer, and a handful of agents. Tony looked to his old friend from the special forces. “What’s the score, Jack?” the doctor asked, “Are we free to go?”

“All the evidence has been secured. There are a handful of matters that needed to be taken care of.” Bauer reached out and one of his agents, gave him a very thick folder, “First off, the bodies of John Locke, Tijarah Ecko, Penelope Widmore, and Flower McKay have been sent Oak Park Funeral Home on Wilshire. These are the documents to claim their bodies. May the next of kin step up, please.”

Mia then stood up and took the document meant for Locke. Natasha walked up and held out her hand, allowing her to receive the document for Ecko. Taylor took the one meant for Flower and Desmond slowly stood up after her. “I’ll take the one for Widmore, brother,” he coughed.

“You’re Desmond Hume, right?” Bauer asked.

“Aye.” He replied.

“Then I’ll give you the document, but you need to sign this first.” The agent said, handing him a light green document.

“What is it?” he said, looking at it.

“It’s a legal binding document of marriage between you and Isabella Pena.”

The Spanish woman then stood up. She quickly approached the table. After glancing at the document, she looked at Desmond with a slight tear in her eye. “Marriage?” she stuttered.

“It’ll help you with the legal implications of being gone out of the country for so long.” Bauer informed her.

“You okay with this, luv?” Desmond smiled.

“Not . . .really romantic.” She giggled, wiping her tear.

“We’ve been through Hell, Izzy,” the Scotsman embraced her, “Let us settle back into being normal human beings and then I promise I’ll get on one knee for ya, the white church fields, then whole she-bang. I love ye, and I want the whole world to know it.”

“I love you too,.” She said, kissing him.

After the kiss, the Scotsman parted from her and sighed the document. He gave the pen to his Spanish love and she promptly signed it. Bauer then gave him the document to help claim Penelope’s body. He then also gave them a manila envelope. “Here is some local driver’s license and passports.” He told them.

“I was wondering why you took my picture.” Isabella smiled.

“Now, brother, what do you plan to do about my son?” Desmond then asked.

Bauer took the documents and handed them back to the agents. “Mr. Hume, I deeply apologize but we have no official word about where you son is.” The agent sighed, “Our official position is that he’s . . . .MIA.”

“MIA?” the Scotsman raised an eyebrow, “He’s not a bloody POW, brother. He’s a 9 year old boy and he’s needs his parents.”

“The Liberation is in control of any outside stations that would or could have been operated by Dharma.” Inman piped in, “ Therefore, your son is Missing in Action, and you need to ACCEPT it.”

“Accept it?” Isabella scoffed, “how DARE YOU!! This is my son we’re talking about.”

“Not to mention the survivors of Flight 216.” Eddie mentioned.

“Shut your mouth, boy.” The CIA operative hissed.

“Then it’s real.” Jack said, standing up, “There is another Island and there is another of survivors that has crashed there. We need to help them.”

“WE . . .don’t need to do anything,” Inman glared, “Our goal is the locating the whereabouts of the Liberation. And I can assure you, THE ACTUAL Liberation . . is NOT on some Island.”

“Inman, we need to do something-“ Mia tried to say.

“ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!!!!” the CIA operative screamed at the top of his lungs.

The group went silent, seeing the agent look like he was about to have a heart attack. He even held onto his chest briefly. The agent looked at them with utter contempt. “Now, get this straight, the lot of you.” He hissed, “You’ve already done enough. You’ve violated enough laws to the point, that any normal human being would spend the rest of their lives in prison for. Indeed, if I had my choice, I’d see all of you in Fort Levingworth.”

“Then why don’t you?” Sayid said, with his arms crossed.

Inman looked at him. Not many people knew of the past between the two of them and actually, the Iraqi preferred to keep it that way. The CIA man ran his hand through his white beard and then pointed at Raven. “Because I don’t know where I’d put . .him.” he sneered.

The Jaeger Unit leaned up, letting his eyes glow blue at the man. Jenny gently slid her arm under Raven’s. The blonde cop understood Inman’s threat. The cyborg had the ability to smash wall as easily as they crushed aluminum cans. There probably would be no type of prison that could hold him. Inman then reached back and grabbed a large bundle of papers from one of the agents. He then flopped them down on the table with a thud. “These are special liability memorandums.” He looked at all of them, “Once you sign them, you are agreeing to speak to no one about Hanso, Dharma or anything else you’ve gone through. Not the press, no one.”

“In exchange for what?” Jack asked.

Inman looked at the wounded doctor. “In exchange that we don’t arrest you and I don’t send every military force I can find after your cyborg friend.” The CIA agent grunted at him.

Jenny scoffed at the man just threatening Raven will assault. The Jaeger Unit leaned down and looked at the floor. He then stood up and approached the conference table, making the others step back. The masked man then took a deep breath and sighed. “You got one of those memo’s for me?” he asked.

Bauer then started to shove the documents aside and found Raven’s. He then slid it over toward him and slid a pen as well. Raven picked up the paper and browsed through it, finding where he needed to sign. Jenny then grunted as she got up and leaned against the table. “What are you doing?” she asked him.

“What I must.” He said, as he started to sign it.

“What about Dharma? What about what they did to you?” the blonde cop said, taking him by the arm, “The world needs to know what these people were capable of doing!”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Jenny.” The cyborg looked at her, “I got you back. I got our friends back. I’ve lost Ecko. I just wanted to be left alone by Dharma. I . . ..I want to go home.”

Jenny closed her eyes and sighed. She understood what he meant. The fight, for the most part, was over. They lost three of their friends but the rest of them came out virtually intact. The only thing left to do was to move on. The blonde cop admitted she would like to go back home and try to forget the Island, and Dharma. She then held out her hand toward Inman. “Give me mine.” She sniffed.

Inman then handed hers. One by one, the rest of them slowly got up and moved to the conference table. The agents passed out the memorandums and the survivors began to sign them. After they were done, they gave them back and then the agents began to escort them out of the building; informing them that their vehicles were secured and were outside, waiting for them. The group began to whittle down to the closest circle of friends. Tony signed his document, then allowed Marita to sign it. He then gave it to his friend from the CTU. “Is there nothing you can do, Jack?” he asked.

“You know how this works, Tony.” He sighed with regret, “ I can only follow the orders I am given. I want to help these people, I really do. But until I get authorization, they are on their own.”

“It’s okay, Jack. I believe you,” the doctor said, shaking his hand, “It’s Inman I don’t believe.”

“I honestly could give a damn what you think of me, Mr. Largo.” The CIA operative moaned.

“How the hell do you sleep at night?” Mia hissed at him.

“Easy. I lay down and close my eyes.” He glared back at her.

“I’m not signing this.” Desmond winced.

“Sign it or you’ll spend the rest of your life in prison.” Inman warned.

“Desmond, I want to get out of here.” Isabella begged.

“Izzy, if I sign this document, then I say anything about what Dharma was all about,” the Scotsman then looked at the agent, “And when I sign this, this means my son OFFICIALLY doesn’t exist. I’m not doing it.”

Eddie then stepped in and picked up the document. “Desmond, sign it.” He whispered.

“Little man, I will do no such bloody thing.”

“These people can’t help us,.” The young man whispered, “Please . . . sign it.”

“Think of Isabella.” Jack said, leaning in, “You can’t help Sebastian if you are in prison.”

The Scotsman looked at his doctor friend, then at his wife. Isabella was upset that her husband was right but she was also upset at staying in the CTU building any longer. The bushy haired man took a deep breath and then with a trembling hand, signed the document. The moment he was done, Inman practically snatched it away from him and then filed it with the rest. “Thank you for your cooperation, ladies and gentlemen,” he coughed, “I REALLY hope . . .I never see any of you again.”

“You’re really going to do it.” McKay grunted, “You’re really going to leave these people to die on that distant Island?”

“The moment the Liberation got involved, these people’s fate was already decided.” Inman stepped up to the door, getting ready to leave but then he stopped, “Let us hope that they are in God’s hands. . . . .or someone else’s.”

McKay blinked. “What?” he asked, confused.

“Oh, please, Mr. McKay . . .you’ve of all people should know, sometimes you make your own luck.”

McKay stared blankly into space as the man finally walked out of the room. Bauer motioned for the rest of the group to follow him out into the parking lot. The group stayed with each other as they walked down the hallway toward the exit. Isabella wept silently and Desmond held onto her. He felt like someone had kicked him in the gut.

The outside air was cold from the breeze. The moment they got outside, Sawyer quickly popped a cigarette into his mouth. After he lit it, Isabella came up to him. The redneck stared down at her with her tear soaked cheeks. Within two seconds, he understood what she wanted. He calmly took the cigarette out of his mouth and gave it too her. She gently began to smoke with trembling hands. “Welcome back to the new world, sister,” he said, lighting up a second one.

“Hey, guys!” Seth jogged over to them, “We’ve decided to all head over to Hurley’s to recover.”

“Why his place?” John asked.

“It’s the biggest.” The singer shrugged his shoulders.

“Yeah, and he would have no problem with his extra spare beds,” Tony sighed, “And not to mention, knowing Hurley he’ll have plenty of food.”

“I’m so glad you’d thinking of food, brother,” Desmond grunted as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, Desmond.” Marita stepped in.

“I’m sorry, sister.” The Scotsman sighed, “I’m just a little upset why I agreed to write my son’s life off.”

“Desmond, don’t give up hope,” Jack looked at him, “We’ll find a way to get Sebastian back.”

“How, Jack?” he asked, grabbing him by the arm, “How the bloody Hell am I going to get my son back? He’s alone on an Island in the middle of the damn ocean. He could be starving, he could be scared or for all I know he might be dead! So, tell me how we’ll get my son back from this spooky Island, which by the way, NO BODY KNOWS WHERE IT IS!!!!”

Jack just stared at the Scotsman who was looking like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Isabella gently walked over and stood next to him. Tony held onto Marita. They didn’t have any words to offer him for comfort. Luckily someone did, however. “I do.” Eddie said behind them.

The group of adults turned around at their younger companion. He was already sitting in Turk, looking at them. He then reached down, between the seats of the front and pulled something out. The friends looked it and it was a lamented red parchment. Eddie held it up to them and couldn’t help but smirk.

“I know the way.” He grinned.

Part 472: Recovery of Answers

9:23 pm

Tony and Marita waited for their friend in the conference room of the government building. The couple were waiting but they were also busy eating. It had been a long day for both of them. The one-eyed doctor sipped on his beverage after finishing a standard microwave dinner of chicken, green beans and corn. Marita munched on her roll after taking a bite of chicken. “So, Tone,” she said, with her mouth half full, “You know this Bauer guy?”

“Jack?” her husband smiled, “Yeah, me and him go way back. We had to run a few special forces operations in foreign countries I can’t pronounce. He’s a good man. I had no idea that he was running the CTU out of Los Angeles.”

“What does CTU stand for?” the Latina asked.

“Counter Terrorist Unit.” Tony sipped on his drink, “I heard of it, just before I went into the Special Forces.”

Before Marita could ask any other questions, the door slowly opened. Jack Bauer walked into the room and smiled at his old friend. Tony stood up and approached him. After the agent put his coffee down, he embraced his friend; patting him on the back briefly. “It’s good to see you, Jack.” The doctor said.

“Tony, had I known you were a part of this, I would have gotten involved sooner.” The agent promised.

“I know,” Tony replied, sitting back down next to his wife, “Let me guess. Inman put you on a need-to-know basis?”

“You know Inman?” Bauer said, pressing record on a tape recorder.

“Yeah. He was the CIA operative who questioned me and my two friends when we got rescued from the Island. I take it, he’s still looking for the Liberation?”

“Yes. He’s been made the official liaison to the government, as far as any operation looking for the Liberation. He was given free reign to use CTU to investigate.”

“Did Inman know that the Liberation would come looking for us?” Marita asked.

“From what we’ve learned about them, they operate very slowly,” Bauer sipped on his coffee, “They don’t communicate over normal channels, making them very difficult to find. Imagine . . . .you have a neighbor, who’s got a dog that barks only once and while, like everything five days. After a while, you might not even remember that your neighbors even have a dog.”

“Silence means security.” Tony whispered, remembering the age old military mantra.

“Exactly,” his friend agreed.

“Did you find the bodies at our house, Mr. Bauer?” Marita asked.

“You can call me Jack and yes, we did.” The agent smiled, “It’s already been cleaned up. You don’t have to worry about the authorities.”

“Thank you, Jack.” The doctor smiled.

“Now, we have to get down to business,” the agent sighed, finishing off his coffee, “I have to ask you some questions about the Hanso Foundation, not to mention this Dharma Initiative and anything you might know about the people involved.”

“Ask away, Jack,” Tony sighed, “We’ve got nothing to hide.”


---------------------------------------,

“Why did this Linus person want these children?” the agent asked.

Jack Shepard sighed as he sipped on his orange juice. He had been inside an enclosed room, answering the questions about the scientists who kidnapped him. He had been stuck inside a similar room all day so he didn’t enjoy the prospect of still being in one. However, to make thing more comfortable, Kate and Sawyer were with him. The former fugitive sat next to him, rubbing his back. Sawyer had his head buried in his arms on the table. He was on the verge falling asleep. “He wanted the children because he believed them to be superior.” Jack told them, “He thought he was going to create a master race.”

“Was Linus a Nazi?” the female agent asked.

“Probably.” Sawyer muttered.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” The woman promptly retorted.

“Honey,” the southern man raised his head, “ You REALLY don’t have to much talking when I’m around.”

The woman then coughed, as her cheeks turned a light red. The redneck even took the time to lean over and glance at the agent’s legs. She then pushed them to the side, and shifted around nervously. Kate sighed and gently brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. “Yeah,” she smirked, “He has that effect on women.”

“Um . . .moving on.” She continued, “When did you last see Dr. Linus?”

“Just after he threatened the children. Afterwards, I couldn’t tell you.” Jack coughed, “With any luck, he died in the shootout.”

“And these children? They didn’t exhibit any ability out of the ordinary?”

The worn-out doctor then looked at the woman. He remembered the uniqueness of Sebastian and the other children. Thanks to a rare plant infecting their parents and migrating into their systems, they received higher than normal intelligence. Ben even went so far to explain it. Jack had a bad feeling about telling all of this to the government agent. It seemed a little too cliché but what if they wanted the children for their intelligence too? The doctor was going to make sure that these kids would be allowed to be kids. “No,” he said, “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Very well,” she smiled, turning off the tape recorder, “Someone will be along shortly to escort back to the main conference room with your friends.”

“You ready for my interview now, sweet cheeks?” Sawyer flickered his eyebrows.

The female agent then clutched her notebook around her chest as her cheeks flushed red again. She then quickly turned around and exited the room in a fast but polite manner. Jack looked at her and then leaned up, looking at Sawyer. “Is there any woman you HAVEN’T tried to pick up?” he scoffed.

The redneck rolled his eyes, pretending to think. Then he pointed toward Jack with a wild grin. “Your mom.” He smirked.


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Eddie was resting up against the side wall, propping his chair back. Bonnie sat at the table, tapping her fingers around her cup of hot chocolate. Tristan was on a nearby loveseat asleep. They were being interviewed by one of the many agents at this organization but about ten minutes ago they were called away abruptly. Eddie wondered why he wasn’t allowed to see his friends and family just yet. He was a little leery of telling them everything, especially without consulting Tony first. That may have been the very reason why he wasn’t allowed to see him.

The door to their room then opened and Eddie glared at the man who entered the room; it was Inman himself. The CIA operative closed the door and then placed down a folder on the desk. Eddie and the older man locked glares at each other. Bonnie looked at him, then at her boyfriend and back at him. It didn’t take an expert to know there was a tension between them. Inman then pulled out a photo and slid it across the table. It was a picture of Ben Linus. “We found him down at peer 16 at the wharf.” The older man coughed, “We found him with 9 bullets in his chest.”

“What a shame.” Eddie whispered.

“Is that your handiwork?” the CIA agent sneered at him.

“Yep.”

“I should have you arrested.”

“Then why don’t you?” the young man said, calling his bluff.

Inman winced at him and then pulled out another photo; sliding it over to Bonnie. It was a picture of Matt Tefpourth, her stepfather. The redhead took another look at the photo and then shoved it back toward him. “That was my stepfather.” She grunted.

“He’s dead too.” The CIA operative promptly replied.

“Good.” Bonnie said, sipping her hot chocolate.

“What role did he play in all this?”

“He’s was a clone of Ethan Rom.” Eddie replied.

“A . . clone?” Inman coughed, “A REAL clone? That’s illegal.”

“Then I guess your government regulations aren’t strict enough, Inman.” The young man smirked, pulling his chair up to the table.

“You were raised by Largo, Riggs and McKay, weren’t you?”

“Most of the way.”

“I can tell. You have all their arrogance, times 3.”

“Thanks.” Eddie chuckled.

“Why did the Hanso Foundation want you, boy?”

“I was told it was simply because I came away from that Island.” Eddie said, leaning into the table, “I went through some rough crap over there. I was even forced to kill someone at the age of ten. I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe, Inman.”

Inman pulled out another photo and then shoved it toward the young man. It was a picture of the remains of the charred Liberators at the Hanso outside lobby. “Like what killed them?” he asked.

“Yeah, I know what it was.” The teenager sighed.

“Then what was it?”

“It’s called Monoxide.” Eddie said, “The computer back on the Island listed it as a anti-gravity nano-cluster. I think that meant it was comprised of millions of microscopic . . .robots and it was designed to resemble black smoke. It was sentient and did things that was told to it by Watchman.”

“The computer?” Inman raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, you’ve heard of it?”

“We intercepted some communiqués between Hanso and other channels. They mentioned trying to duplicate Watchman but had failed to do so. How did Monoxide get here if he was on the Island?”

“From what Tony told me, he teleported here with the Polliwog.”

“The what?” the CIA man said in confusion.

“The Polliwog. A large creature on the Island that was designed as a security system for Watchman’s central core.” The young man smiled, “I named him by the way.”

Bonnie stared at her boyfriend, not believing a single word he said. However, the way and the seriousness in which he said it was disturbing. Almost disturbing as Inman hanging on every word he was saying. The redhead then jumped when the Operative slapped his hand near her to get her attention. “I said, what did the Hanso group want with you?” Inman asked her again.

“Oh . .uh . . Eddie said that the . . .Ben person, was going to make me the Eve of this other Island.” She stammered.

“Eve?”

“Yeah, they were going to wipe our memories and make us live brand news lives on the second Island.” Eddie concluded for her.

“And how did you come to believe your stepfather was a clone?” Inman asked her.

“Eddie showed me a picture of Ethan Rom on the Dharma website.” She said, sipping the remains of her chocolate, “ Then he showed me the two lockets. One from myself and the other from my twin sister who died on his Island. Apparently my sister wasn’t the only one abducted.”

Inman wrote down the majority of the information they were giving him. He calmly clicked his pen shut and tucked it back into his coat pocket. “One last question for you, Mr. Trascal.” The operative looked at him, “ Did you have any idea where Linus and Tefpourth were going?”

“Yeah,” he coughed, “It’s called Isla De Verde. Or commonly known as Site B.”

“Site B?” Inman raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. An experimentation to see who survives in the game of Natural Selection. There are people there already,” Eddie leaned in, “Now . . .what are you going to do about it?”

Inman glared at him. Judging from the reaction of his face, the operative was upset by this information. He took a deep breath and gathered up the photos, and papers by into it’s manila envelope. “The associate of the Liberation with the Hanso Foundation has to reviewed in it’s entirety before any action can be taken,” Inman then stood up, “Therefore . . .there is no Site B.”

Eddie blinked. “What did you just say?” he gagged slightly.

“I said there is no Site B and you’ll do well to remember that, kid.” He pointed at him.

“Wait a second, man!” the teenager stood up, “My friend is out there! Look, I can help you guys. Before he died, Matt-“

“THERE IS NO SITE B!!!” Inman screamed at his face.

Eddie just looked at him in confusion. Bonnie was amazed that the older man bother to scream. However, his scream awoke Tristan who looked at everybody. The CIA operative tucked his envelope under his arm and opened the door. “Someone will be along shortly to escort you back to the main group.” He told them.

Inman slammed the door behind him. Tristan stretched as he got off the couch and joined his friends at the conference table. “What was that all about?” he asked Eddie.

“Bureaucracy in action.” Eddie moaned, resting his head on his hands.

Part 471: Point of View Part 5

7:33 pm

The wharf was completely empty of workers. It was way after the shift of most of them, besides a few that had agreed to work overtime. The wind blew up some of the cold water below, caressing the wooden peers that shot out from the docks. In a nearby warehouse, a Sedan pushed well past it’s limits quickly arrived at the entrance. Ben jumped out of the car, reloading his pistol. Matt took a deep breath, and had to cough. He then motioned for the two men waiting for them to get to the peer to await the boat to take them to Isla De Verde. Little did they know, they were being watched from the street.

Eddie kept his eyes on them, seeing the two vile men disappear into the warehouse. He already concluded if they had come this far, they were planning on leaving in a boat; maybe even to the Island themselves. The young man sniffed, wiping his tears. He couldn’t think of anything else besides the loss of his sister. He vowed to make them pay for what they had done. Eddie then reached inside his car and pulled the switch to pop the trunk. Then he opened it further and retrieved a crow bar. “I promise, Turk.” He coughed, as he slammed the trunk back, “When this is over, I’ll fix you. I promise.”

Eddie then gritted his teeth as he used the crow bar to cave in the back windshield. Glass fell all over the back trunk as the young man scooted it away. He then flung the crowbar onto the side of the street and got back into his beloved vehicle. He made sure both the automatic pistol he had were loaded and he had two spare clips.

It was time to end it.



Matt picked up the case containing his notes. He made sure it was slung over his shoulder before he took another step out of the warehouse. Matt was waiting on him but he couldn’t stop staring at the phone. He wanted one more chance to call Julia and tell her that he really did love her. He wasn’t even sure if she would be out of her coma by now. He wanted to be with her but he was certain Ben wouldn’t understand. “Forget her.” The scientist ordered as he checked the notes.

“Excuse me?” the clone looked at him.

“I said forget her. Julia believes you had a hand in husband’s death. You really think you are going to change that?”

“You were the one that ordered me to get close to her. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with her, so don’t tell me just to forget it!” he screamed.

Ben then walked over and glared at him directly in the face. The two friends sneered at each other. “We have a chance to salvage this.” The scientist told him, “We got our station on the second Island. We can still bring the Herrenvolk into the world to lead them. This is only the beginning!”

Ben’s speech was interrupted by a vehicle crashing into the warehouse. The two men looked and then screamed in defiance as Eddie and his car came plowing toward them. Boxes, tables and chairs flew in all directions as Turk crashed into the building. Eddie immediately then dove into his backseat. The two soldiers that were with Ben and Matt fired on the car. The bullets smacked the windshield where Eddie was two seconds ago. The young man grunted as he climbed out the back broken windshield and rolled down his trunk.

The two soldiers fired on the drivers side, as Eddie expected them. The young man stayed hidden among the destroyed boxes while Turk plowed toward them. The vehicle then rammed one of the men and shoved him toward the wall. The impact made his head collide with the plate glass window and cracked it. The last soldier fired again and then stopped to reload. The moment he did, Eddie jumped up and fired on him. The soldier buckled as the bullets struck his head and ribs. Matt fired a round at Eddie as he and Ben ran out the back.

Eddie jumped over the dead body of the soldier and ran after them. He then looked around, among the huge crates. There was only one way to go. He quickly ran up the peer and started looking around. He didn’t see anything but boats, and water. The young man gritted his teeth, and kept looking. Then a bullet struck a nearby crate, making him jump. He turned to see that he had gotten on the wrong peer; Matt and Ben were on the other boardwalk. Bonnie’s stepfather continued to try and shoot the young man. Eddie returned fire with both his pistols, hoping he could hit them. However, he could already tell he was out of range.

Eddie then screamed as he jumped onto a boat hanging between the peers. The young man grunted as he fought to get away from the other stuff to get to the boardwalk. Bullets bounced around him as Matt continued to fire on him. Eddie fired twice before jumping on a plank. He grunted as the wooden board fell away in enough time to get to the top peer. He then jumped off and fired both his guns as he did. The clone of Ethan Rom fired again, hiding behind the pillars. Eddie continued to fire on him, running full bore at him and firing both his weapons. Bullet after bullet struck the pillar as Eddie ran. He finally got in range and screamed as he fired. One bullet struck Matt in the chest. The clone fell back against the wooden platform, holding his wound as his gun fell into the water.

Eddie tried to jump over a barrel but his foot got caught by the tip; making him stumble over. Ben fired on him, making the bullets bounced in the pillars above him. The scientist fired against then struck Eddie on the side of his rip cage. The young man screamed at the agonizing pain, holding his wound. He struggled to get to his feet but Ben was already on him. The crazed scientist pointed his gun directly at the young man’s face.

CLICK!

Ben felt like someone just stepped on his grave. Eddie then got to his feet and held his gun on the mad-man. The scientist slowly backed up and then held his hands up; dropping his gun at the same time. The young man winced in pain but didn’t waver from keeping the gun on Ben. The scientist stared at him and couldn’t fathom a way out of his situation. His only hope was to tell Eddie the truth and pray he believed him. He coughed and whispered, “”Eddie, Jilly is-“

Ben didn’t get a chance to say another word as the young man fired at his chest directly. The scientist grunted as bullet after bullet hit him in his body. He jerked back and forth, then fell into the water. However, Eddie didn’t stop firing. He continued to fire at the man even as he was in the water. Tear flowered from his eyed as he continued to squeeze the trigger.

CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.

Eddie took a deep breath, after he realized he had emptied an entire clip into Ben. Up in the distance, a smaller boat looked like it was about to dock but then it turned around, and left. The young man then collapsed onto his knees, holding his scraped wound. He had nothing left to do but cry. Jilly was gone and killing Ben wasn’t going to bring her back. However, he killed him after he tried to say her name. He had absolutely no right to say her name; no right at all. “Eddie . .” Matt whispered.

The young man gasped over the fact that Matt was still alive. He shifted around and looked at him. The older man was reaching into his jacket for something. He then pulled out a long red document. The clone then held it into Eddie’s direction, before letting his head drop onto the boardwalk. Then young man then crawled toward him, seeing the blood flow out of his mouth and sadly, the urine build up in his pants. Eddie coughed and then took the strange plastic document away from his dead hand.

Eddie took stood up and began to walk back. He took another look at the folded up parchment, which turned out not to be plastic but lamentation. As he unfolded it, it resembled a map. Eddie gasped when the map showed it’s destination.

Isla De Verde.

Eddie looked back at the dead man, wondering why he would bother to give this to him. A last chance at redemption? Eddie wasn’t sure and quiet honestly, he didn’t care. The young man felt justified in what he had done, considering what they did to Jilly, not to mention Bonnie and her mother. Eddie then started to limp up to the long access of the peer. He had needed to get back to Hanso to make sure everybody was okay.


The drive didn’t take as along as Eddie though it would. He felt slightly weak and a little cold. The young man coughed a bit, assuming he was feeling this because of the slow trickling wound down on his left side. He had never been shot before today. He smirked at the notion because technically he wasn’t shot; the bullet just scraped him. He got lucky, like when Kellye got shot on the forehead back on the Island and the bullet hit the perfect angle to deflect off her skull.

Eddie pulled Turk up to the street where the Hanso building was. The bulk of it was consumed in fire and smoke. The young man grunted as he got out of the vehicle. He then started to limp toward the massive collection of vehicles. Eddie looked around, wondering who they were. With the small collection of ambulances near the beginning of the parking lot, he naturally assumed these were some local authorities come to help him. “Bout time.” He laughed to himself.

“EDDIE!!!” Bonnie screamed.

Eddie smiled as he saw his girlfriend running toward him. The redhead threw off the blanket around her and ran toward him. She then wrapped her arms around him, making him grunt. However, he ignored the pain and held onto her. The fact that he was able to hold onto her meant he had won in some aspect. Bonnie kissed him passionately, holding onto his cheeks. The redhead parted from him, then gasped at the sight of her right hand covered in blood. She looked at Eddie and saw that he was bleeding from the side of his ribs. “Eddie, are you shot?” she asked in shock.

“Naw, it’s a scrape. It’s not bad.” He winced.

“Well, it’s bad enough to make you grunt in pain,” she said, guiding him back, “ Let’s let these doctors look at you.”

Eddie held onto and looked at her. He felt like he should tell her, considering everything that’s happened. The only hope he had was that she wouldn’t hate him. “Matt’s dead.” He coughed.

Bonnie smiled briefly and then kept helping him walk. “I know.” She whispered.

“I’m sorry, Bonnie. I know . . . I know he took good care of you.”

“Me too, Eddie. I sorry . . .he turned out to be an abomination. But I knew . . .if you had come back, then Matt and that horrible Ben person was more than likely dead. And I prefer to see you again then them.”

Eddie winced again. “Kewl.” He muttered.

The young man then climbed into the ambulance. The doctors immediately started to cut open his shirt to see the wound. Tristan then came out from the right and smiled at his friend. “Good to see you, brohiem.” He smirked.

“Good to see you too,” he grunted as they started to bandage him.

“Did you get what you needed?” the Asian teenager smirked.

“I did. Those two bastards won’t be bothering anybody ever . . . .again . . .”

Tristan then wondered what Eddie was trailing off in his speech. It was because in the distance, the young man was looking at someone he wasn’t expecting to see. The soldiers were guiding a young woman toward one of the ambulances. Kellye and Joscelyn rushed up to greet their friend. Jilly hugged both of them, and wept a little bit. The young man then pushed the doctors aside as he started to walk toward her. Jilly then saw her younger adoptive brother and laughed; seeing he was okay. Eddie then embraced her as she cried on his shoulder. “Jilly . . . .You’re . . .you’re alive.” He started to weep.

“I was about to tell you the same thing.” She said, kissing him on the side of his forehead.

“But . . I saw . . .I saw them put your . . .your head. . .in a plastic bag.”

Jilly looked at him confused. “My head?” she blinked, “Eddie . . .what are you talking about?”

“Eddie, do you mean this bag?” Tony said, as he walked up toward them.

Eddie laughed that his mentor and adoptive father was alive and well. Then he stared at the item in his hands. It was the same plastic grocery bag that contained what he thought was Jilly’s head. Eddie then took the bag and opened it. What was inside was a cantaloupe, a wig similar to Jilly’s head and small amounts of ketchup. “I don’t . .understand.” the young man whispered.

“Psychological warfare.” The one-eyed doctor whispered, “Raven found this while he was searching the building for survivors. He thought it was Jilly too. When he saw what was inside, he then scoured the building till he find her.”

“Why . . .why would those sons a bitches do that?” Jilly asked.

“They wanted to break me.” Eddie sniffed.

Tony looked at the young man that meant so much to him. Eddie started to squint his face, trying to keep from crying. The one-eyed doctor gently took him by the arms. “What . . have I become?” Eddie cried.

Tony then embraced him. Eddie had finally broken under the strain of the whole day. The one-eyed doctor held him and gently stroked his head. “You’ve become a hero, Eddie,” the older man told him, “You did what you had to, to help and protect the people you care about. Do not dwell on anything else.”

“He’s right, Eddie.” Jilly said, stroking his back.

Eddie wiped his tears as he parted from Tony. The one-eyed doctor then motioned for everybody to get onto the vans and allow the government representatives to take them away from there. They were on a time table after all. One of the soldiers requested the keys to Eddie’s Turk so they could bring it with them and keep it secured. The young man gave them and watched them quickly get it out of the street. He then accepted a blanket from one of the medic’s as they guided him and Bonnie back to the ambulance. Tristan hopped on before they did, as Eddie stepped in with Bonnie. The young couple sat on a gurney as the medics closed the door to get moving. The redhead leaned her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder. “I’m so glad this is over.” She whispered.

Eddie took a deep breath. He didn’t want to make her upset but he knew for a fact, it wasn’t even near over.

Part 470: Point of View Part 4

7:19 pm

Tony then buckled when a hail of bullets destroyed the wall he was hiding behind. John then quickly peaked out and saw Leann with her two minions. They quickly opened fire on him but promptly missed. The archer then pulled out one of his last explosive arrows. McKay loaded up his shotgun, and looked at him. “You got the look of a kid on Christmas, John.” The Australian laughed.

“Man, I feel like Green Arrow.” The gym teacher said as he loaded up the special arrow.

“I thought you would have said Hawkeye or are you not a Marvel man?” The one-eyed doctor chuckled.

John then pulled back the arrow and fired down the hallway. He wasn’t aiming for the bad guys; he was aiming for a metal conduit. The archer has the skill to bank the shot, making it ricochet and head straight for them. Leann and her soldiers ducked into a stairway as the explosive arrow struck a nearby wall; turning it into debris. Tony then peered around and all he saw was smoke. Then as the whiteness began to clear, he could see the open door to the stairway. “COME ON!!” he screamed as he ran toward the door.

Bullets bounced around as Tony quickly left the entrance. He then reached in and fired his gun wildly. The bullets echoed above and then he heard a scream. McKay rushed in first as they quickly ascended the stairs. After climbing a few flights, they saw one of the soldiers that were following Leann lying on the stairs. He was holding his chest just above his heart where massive amounts of blood was escaping through his fingertips. He looked up at the three men. John then took the gun out of one of Tony’s hand. He then pulled back the breech, letting the empty shell soar into the air and the gun immediately load in another one. He calmly pointed the gun toward the man’s head. “M . Mercy.” He coughed.

“You shot my wife, you kidnapped my daughter,” John winced, “I’m fresh out.”

The gunshot echoed loudly through out the stairway. Tony had covered his eye but then looked at the soldier. The man was still holding onto his chest wound but his eyes were rolled to the back of his; almost an horrific sight as it seemed he was staring at the bullet wound in his forehead. John coughed a bit then and then handed back the gun to his best friend. Before they could say anything, they heard a helicopter above. McKay then shoved past them and run up the stairs. John and Tony quickly followed after him.

McKay reached the door and then shoved open the door. He immediately saw Leann and her last soldier stepping into a helicopter. The Australian opened fire on them, letting the buckshot hit the side of the copter. A Liberator then opened fire on him from the driver’s side of the copter. McKay then screamed as the bullet ruptured his lower calf muscle. As he collided onto the gravel of the rooftop, Tony quickly came in and fired on them. John rushed over and grabbed his friend, dragging him onto the side of the rooftop entrance. Leann fired on Tony as the helicopter began rise. The one eyed doctor then screamed as he fired on the gas-tank but missed. The female soldier then fired again but missed at her enemy as the bullets bounced around him. Within four more seconds, they both became out of range. “JOHN!!!” Tony screamed at his friend.

John quickly rushed toward the side of the building, loading up his last explosive arrow as he ran. He stopped at the edge and aimed at the helicopter disappearing into the distance. He quickly fired upward, hoping his arm would make it fall right on top of them. The archer stared at his weapon as it shot into the blackness of the city lights. Then his arrow exploded about ten feet near the copter. It banked slightly but the pilot was able to regain control. “DAMN IT!!” John screamed, as they saw her fade into the night.

Tony and John then turned sharply at the sound of an explosion. McKay grunted as he was thrown forward from the flames that shot out of the stairway. The two friends rushed over to the Australian and then began to drag him away. The bald man then grunted as he held onto them, until they got him a few feet away. “John, check the stair way!” Tony told him.

The archer threw off his empty quiver as he ran back toward the small rooftop entrance. He got to it but he could only barely see through the smoke. What he did see wasn’t good. The majority of the stairs they came up with were on fire. He backed off and jogged back over to his friends. The archer then collapsed into the gravel beside them. “It’s no good,” he coughed, “The stairs are on fire.”

“Any other way off of here?” Tony panted.

McKay took a look around. All he saw was another far end of the building but it had nothing to climb onto. Not to mention the helipad was now empty. “No other way, unless you are Superman.” He sighed.

The three friends looked at each other. They all knew they were trapped on the roof and there was no way out. Tony took a deep sigh, feeling slightly regretful. He was going to take out Leann because she wanted to kill him and Marita. He never should have asked McKay and John to follow him. However, he knew deep down as their friendships go; they would have followed him to Hell if necessary. McKay looked up toward one of the sides of the building. Smoke was pouring out rapidly; meaning the fire was spreading. “I guess this is it, then.” The bald man whispered.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Tony coughed.

John covered his face in his hands. He didn’t want to cry but he didn’t feel like he could do anything else. Tony walked over and sat next to him, gently rubbing his shoulder blades. McKay smiled at his two best friends. If he had to die, then he couldn’t think of any better people be there with him at the end. “Hey, “ he smiled, “We’ve covered some ground, haven’t we?”

John and Tony smiled; remembering his phrase from the Island. They were the best of friends, thrown together by circumstance when they needed each other the most. Tony needed friends to remind himself he wasn’t meant to be a loner. McKay needed friends to help him with his love life. And John needed friends he knew would never use him nor leave him. They were all thankful for the Island and what it gave them.

John looked up at the sky, with tears coming down his face. He couldn’t stop thinking of Mia and Shelley. He hoped they would be okay without him. The archer marveled at the stars that he could see through the smog. It made him feel a sense of peace. “I just wish . . . I just wish I could have seen Shelley grow up.” He whispered.

Tony stared up at the sky with him, thinking of his own unborn child. “The point is they WILL grow up.” He whispered.

It made McKay think of his unborn child with Taylor. “Alexander will raise my child,” he whispered with pride, “I taught him well.”

“You did, McKay,” the one-eyed doctor agreed, “And we also taught Eddie well. He will take care of all of them. I know it.”

“Yeah, we did right by Eddie. I guess . . .that’s one thing we can tell God will pride, eh?” John smiled, wiping his tears.

“Gentlemen . . .it’s been a privilege knowing you.” Tony held out his hand.

John immediately put his hand into Tony’s and McKay quickly followed suit. Back on the Island, Cecil had nicknamed them the Three Musketeers. Bonded by fate and bound by friendship, they vowed to always be there for one another. As the smoke and fire began to rise from the sides even higher, they knew they would be there with each other when they finally met Death together.

But some things are meant to come later.

John then yelped as a lightning bolt burst from the roof top near him. McKay screamed as well as more surges of electricity began to coarse around them. “WHAT IS THIS?” John screamed.

Before anybody could answer, the ground below them began to surge upward with them on it. The stucco, concrete, and steel gave way to a large, rocking platform. The three friends grabbed onto it as it rose up from the floor of the rooftop. Tony nearly has a bowel movement at the feel of the substance below him. He had felt it long ago.

It was the shell of a creature that saved him more times than it should have.

“OH, MY GOD!!!” he screamed, “IT’S THE POLLIWOG!!”

“WHAT THE HELL?” McKay screamed as he held onto the shell.

The creature let out a guttural purr as the back of it’s head could be slightly visible under the rooftops gravel. Tony remembered all the stories about how the Polliwog moved about and why it had protected him all this time. He remembered what he heard learned when it saved him from the sharks, not to mention the story that Jack conveyed back to him from Raven. It was the only logical explanation of why the creature was there now, not to mention . . . how it planned to get them off the rooftop. “HANG ON!!” Tony screamed to his friend, “CLOSE YOUR EYES!!”

“Tony, what’s it’s going to do?” McKay said as he jolted slightly.

“It’s going to teleport us off of here!!”

“WHAT?” the archer screamed, “TONY, I CAN’T DO THIS!!!”

“It’s either this or death, John!!!” the one eyed doctor leaned down, “PLEASE!! For Mia and Shelley . . .HANG ON!!!”

“OH, MY GOD!!” John grunted, as he slammed into the Polliwog’s shell, “OH, MY GOD!!! OH, MY . . . .AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”




There wasn’t anyway to describe it.

Imagine yourself being reborn again. Or dying, yet brought back to life. Imaging being bathed in electricity only to have it not hurt you. Possibly even falling from a thousand feet up and then surviving the fall. Yes, it could not be described, riding the back of the Polliwog during it’s ability to bend space.

Tony slowly opened his eye. The darkness was dim, as if he was in a closed building. Then he saw the majority of brand name cars around him. The one-eyed doctor understood that he was in a car dealership. He remembered passing one on the way to Hanso. The doctor grunted as he leaned up. Every muscle in his body left like had had just fought off three elephants and won. A slight bit of vomit was in his mouth, not to mention he was covered in a sticky, translucent goop. The one eyed doctor wiped his face and hair of the majority of it. Then he heard a guttural purr behind him.

Tony closed his eye and turned around. He reached out for the creature and felt it’s huge tongue lick his palm. The doctor was thankful for the gifts he received in life. The magic of the Island and a creature that protected him was something he’d never thought he could ever comprehend. It was something that he would cherish for his whole life. But there was one thing he felt he needed to do.

Tony slowly opened his eye.

The doctor gasped at the sight of the Polliwog. He was expecting some fearsome creature, like the Manticore or the Griffith. What he was almost comical. The giant monster was almost the size of a T-Rex dinosaur but he was covered in dark blue feathers. On his back was a large shell, similar to a turtles. His head was similar to a hippo’s with big round eyes. The Polliwog panted like a dog and for the first time, it was allowing someone to look at it. The one-eyed doctor smiled and felt a little sad. He knew he’d never see the monster again and nor would anybody believe him. “Thank you . . .for everything.” He whispered.

The creature replied with a guttural purr as it back up into a corner, knocking two brand new PT-Cruisers out of it’s way. From out of the corner then shot a stream of black smoke. Tony gasped, not knowing that Monoxide had also arrived. The black smoke then hovered above the Polliwog, flashing it’s blue eyes at the doctor. The creature then bent down and started to tremble. If Tony didn’t know better, he thought it was taking a dump. Then a slow stream of clear ooze came from it’s back and then it began to sparkle in electricity. The monster began to glow a bright blue, enough for Tony to cover his eye. Then in a burst of air and electricity, the Polliwog and Monoxide were gone.

Tony slowly stood up. He slung the majority of the goop off his arms. He then heard a familiar moaning sound. He looked beyond the expanse of parked show-cars. “John?” he called.

“OH, MY GOD!!” the archer screamed, “WHAT IS THIS CRAP ALL OVER ME?”

Tony rushed over and helped his friend to his feet. Nearby McKay was grunting awake as well. Before he was able to stand, he promptly vomited. The one-eyed doctor patted him on the back and then helped him up. The Australian could barely stand because of his wounded leg. Tony looked at them both and chuckled a bit; happy to be alive. John, however, was still in freak-out mode. He slowly held out his hands, as the goo slid off of them. “What . . .is this?” he whispered in utter disgust.

“Near as I can tell, the Polliwog secretes it. It acts an electrical conductor to aid him in his teleportation.” Tony guessed.

“He . . .secretes . . it?” the archer said, still disgusted.

“John, do you realize what just happened? WE TELEPORTED!!!” Tony screamed in glee, “We’ve done in one minute what most scientists dream of their whole life! Isn’t that amazing?”

John then slung the goop off his hands and proceeded to walk toward the car dealership’s bathroom. “I’ll be amazed . .AFTER I wash this crap off.” He said, shoving the door open.

“Somehow I think he’s happy to be alive.” McKay chuckled.



After a few minutes of getting the bulk of the gunk off of them, the three friends walked out of the dealership. McKay had his arms around both Tony and John as they helped him walk with his wounded leg. He had taken off his shirt and turned it into a makeshift bandage. The one-eyed doctor looked at all the new trucks and vans, not recognizing them. John looked everywhere through them, then noticed his survivors friends. The crowd was slowly getting onto two vans and the others who were wounded where getting into ambulances. These black clothed men were helping their friends and they were clearly going willingly into the vans. “Tony, you see this?” John asked.

“Yeah, these are not the Liberation.” The doctor concluded.

“Government?” McKay asked.

“I don’t know but they got medical equipment so let’s get you over there.”

The three friends picked up the pace a bit as they walked over. The soldiers then immediately saw them, and started jogging over to them. “HEY!” John screamed, “We got a wounded man here!”

Another black-clothed soldier responded by bring a gurney over. As soon as they brought it, McKay stumbled over and collapsed into it. The soldiers then quickly started to rush him back toward the ambulance. When he got within two feet from it, Taylor screamed and ran toward him. The Australian grunted she landed on him and showed him with kisses; happy he was alive. His little family then came over, including Mandy, Alexander and Bridgett. They all gave their thanks to see him alive.

John then looked over and saw Mia and Shelley rushing up toward him. He then embraced her as Mia held onto him. The archer then picked up his daughter and kissed her on the cheek. He then kissed his wife and held onto them both. A few minutes ago, he was resigned to his fate to die on that rooftop. Silently, he thanked the Polliwog as he held onto the people that mattered most to him.

Tony then looked around and almost as if on cue, Marita ran toward him. He held out his hands and she collapsed into them; crying up a storm. The doctor kissed her on the forehead and stroked her hair. He held onto her like he was afraid to let her go. The couple then parted and then promptly kissed. They were almost getting use to facing death and coming out on top. It made Tony appreciate what he had all the more.

The doctor parted from his Latina wife and then by happenstance, looked into the distance. Up ahead in an ambulance was Bonnie. The red-head was covered in a blanket and weeping. What scared Tony the most was the fact that she was alone.

“Where is Eddie?” he asked.

Part 469: Point of View Part 3

7:04 pm
Raven exploded from the floor as he plunged his way from the ceiling of the floor below him. He coughed a bit as the dust from the stucco flowed off of him. He then started to walk down one corridor and the moment he turned, several Liberators found him. They immediately opened fired. The bullets from the distance struck his flesh, ripping it off. More bullets bounced off his metal chassis underneath. Then he started to run toward them; a blue stream of light flowing behind him. He got to the first soldier, then grabbed his rifle and twisted it. The momentum and the force he put behind it snapped the soldier’s arm in three places. Another soldier fired on him at point blank range. Raven ignored it and slammed his foot into his fellow Liberator. The soldier then flew down the hallway as if he was rammed by a semi-truck.

The last soldier was then grabbed by Raven and shoved against the way. The cyborg held him by the neck and glared at him; his eyes glowing a massive blue. The Liberator then looked at the Jaeger Unit’s skin through his overcoat. The skin was a illuminated by another sold blue light. The skin began to craft itself back to it’s original style; as if he was never shot. “You . .you . . .you’re not a Jaeger Unit.” The soldier coughed.

“No, “Raven grunted, “I am Unique.”

“Who . . .who made you?”

“I’m not here to answer your questions, you are here to answer mine,.” The cyborg hissed, “Tell me where Jenny is. The blonde police officer you captured.”

“I . .I don’t know where she is!” the soldier begged.

“DON’T LIE TO ME, YOU VERMIN!!” Raven screamed, squeezing the man’s neck.

“I . . ..swear . . . .” he coughed, trying to breathe, “I . . don’t know . . .where any . . blonde . . .woman is . . . . I can give . . you . . the Spanish woman . . .”

“Spanish?” Raven raised an eyebrow, “Where is this woman?”

“Room . . .422 . . .”

Raven then tossed the soldier down the other end of the hall, like a rolled up newspaper. The cyborg marched down the hallway, even as he could heard explosions echoing below him. A fire alarm could also be heard. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the fire department or even the police showed up. He had to hurry to rescue Jenny and maybe some other people too. There was only one Spanish woman he knew in his life and he couldn’t fathom why she would be here. He prayed he was wrong.

Raven then stopped at the door of room 422. With an easy kick of his right foot, he knocked it down. The door flew off it’s hinges and then slowly fell off of them. The masked man stepped and looked around at the room, which contained only a white-laced cot and a woman in the corner. Her brunette hair was unmistakable as was her face. “Isabella?” he coughed.

The woman looked up from her arms as she hid her face within them. “Raven?” she gasped.

“Oh, my God, it is you!” he walked over to her, “How . . . why did they bring you here?”

The Spanish woman got up and embraced him. She knew him from the Island. They were never the fast of friends but they were friends none the less. She knew that Raven cared for the survivors of flight 815 and the stranded couple fell easily into that category. “Raven . . .I’m glad you are here.” She wept in his chest.

“Isabella, we don’t have much time.” The cyborg said, gently pushing her back, “Do you have any idea where Jenny is?”

“They took her a few hours ago. “ the Spanish woman pointed toward her door, “All I know is that they headed toward the right.”

“Come on.” He said, taking her hand.

Raven then leaded the way down the corridor. At ever door they came across, the Jaeger Unit destroyed it. He had no idea where Jenny was, so he had to check every location. Door after door; he destroyed them all. Still no sign of her. Raven then turned around corner, and then immediately a bullet struck him in his chest. He looked into the distance and saw a soldier that was hiding in a doorway. The look on his face definitely said he was not expecting to see Raven. The cyborg then easily recognized him; he was the man in the back of the truck that detonated his poison capsule.

Karl then continued to fire but Raven shrugged off the rounds. The cyborg rushed him and by the time he was trying to reload; he already grabbed him by the arm. The masked man screamed as he flung Karl down the hallway like a rag doll. The force behind it, severed his arm at the shoulder as his body flew down the hallway. He screamed as he landed; still alive and in agonizing pain. Raven then looked into the room that the Liberator was protecting.

Jenny slowly looked at him. Her hair was soaked in sweat and the lines under her eyes were gray. Burnt marks were around her neck and upper chest. The wires connected to her suggested she had been subjected to electric torture. The masked man then looked over to the other end of the room and saw an older black woman pointing a gun at the blonde cop. “Make a move toward me, Raven,” Ms. Klugh whispered, “And she dies.”

“I think . . .you’ve done enough.” The masked man grunted.

Raven then shot out his left hand and a several spikes of energy thrust from it. The bolts of blue energy collided with Klugh’s gun, making her drop it in a painful scream. The cyborg then slowly walked around Jenny and began to slowly approach her. His eyes were glowing in a brighter blue than ever before. “WAIT!!” Klugh screamed, “Raven, Wait! You can’t kill me!”

“Why not?” he hissed.

“I know who you are!”

Raven then stopped.

“Yes. Yes, I know who you are.” She held out her hand, “I know why you stare at that photo of the blonde girl on the peer. I know why you volunteered for the service.”

Raven stared at the table, lost in thought. His eyes began to lose their glow. Raven had always been curious about who he was and where he came from. He also wanted to know who the woman was in the photo. He would have given anything to learn that information. “Now that you know that, can you really take my life?” Klugh said, “ Is it really worth the price?”

Raven looked back at Jenny. She stared up at him, with tears streaming down her face. She also knew how important that information was to Raven. The cyborg matched her gaze and when he saw her pain; his eyes began to glow a bright blue again. Then he faded in a blue flashed and shot at Ms. Klugh. The woman jerked and screamed as the cyborg punched her clean through the chest, hearing his fist embed in the concrete behind her. The black woman gasped for her final breath. She gently rubbed his mask as she collapsed her head on his shoulder. “Is it worth the price?” Raven whispered in her ear, “I pay it gladly.”

Raven then pulled his arm out of her and let her limp body fall to the ground. The masked man then turned around and walked back toward Jenny. He kneeled down and began to remove her bonds. The blonde cop slowly curled a smile at him. “I knew you’d come for me.” She whispered.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” He laughed a bit.

“Raven . . .Jack, is . . .is he . . .”

“Jack is fine, honey,” he said, as he removed her bonds by her legs, “ He’s down in the outside lobby waiting for you.”

Isabella looked from the doorway at the bonding between the age-old warrior and the younger woman. She marveled at their unique friendship. Raven then picked her up easily and held her in his arms. Jenny wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. She had to admit it felt comforting to have him carry her like a newborn. “I didn’t tell them anything about you, Raven,” she sniffed, “Not once.”

“I know you wouldn’t, Jenny. You are the toughest girl around.” Raven smiled.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Jenny.” Isabella whispered.

“Isabella?” the blonde woman raised her head, “Where . . .where is Desmond?”

“Desmond is here too?” the cyborg gasped.

“I don’t know where he is-“ Isabella started to whimper.

“IZZZYYYY!!!” Desmond screamed.

“WHAT?” the Spanish woman wailed in a surprise jolt. She never expected to hear her husband’s voice come out of the blue.

Isabella then turned the corner and looked down the hallway. Desmond was leaning against the wall, holding onto his leg while blood poured out. She quickly ran to him, laughing over the fact that he was alive. The Scotsman then limped toward her and hugged her with his free arm; holding a gun loosely. “Desmond, are you all right?” she cried.

“I’ll live, luv,” he sighed, “It’s just a flesh wound. When they came for me, a bloody explosion gave me the chance to overpower one. I got his gun and shot the other, only to have a bullet in my leg for the trouble.”

“It could be much worse.” Raven smiled from down the hallway.

Desmond looked at the mask man and began to limp toward him with Isabella’s help. The Scotsman looked up at him and smiled. “Good to see you still in one piece, brother.” He smirked.

“Likewise.” The cyborg replied.

“Desmond, this is Jack’s Jenny.” Isabella pointed.

“Hey, Desmond,” Jenny sighed, “I look forward to having dinner with you away from this crap.”

“I couldn’t have said it better,” the Scotsman patted her on the arm, “Let’s get the bloody hell out of here.”

“FREEZE!!!!” a female woman said, “DROP YOUR GUN AND TURN AROUND SLOWLY!!!”

Desmond then blinked when he heard the woman screaming at him. He was certain he had heard the scream before; a long, long time ago. Isabella stared at her with confusion. She didn’t look like a scientist, nor like one of the Liberation. Jenny then raised her head in the direction of the woman shouting. Even though she had a gun drawn on them, she recognized her easily because of the case with the Rogue Jaeger Unit. “It’s . . .it’s Penelope Widmore.” She coughed.

Desmond then turned around. Isabella remembered the name but never seen her face. Penelope then held her gun toward them. When she saw the face of her former lover, she had to blink several times. She wasn’t sure she could trust her eyes. However, the look on his battered face was also of shock. It truly meant he was the man she had come to love. Penelope started to shake; almost in shock. She let her arm drop, sending her gun to the floor. “Desmond,” she whispered, with teary eyes.

“Long time no see, Pen.” The Scotsman waved; a little teary eyed himself.

Penelope laughed a bit and started walking toward them; her arms held out. Then she jerked twice as two bullets exploded out of her chest. She collapsed onto the floor in a bloody haze. “NOOOOOOO!!!!” Desmond screamed.

The soldiers behind her continued to fire at them. Desmond gritted his teeth and then held up his own pistol; returning fire. The Scotsman screamed in defiance as bullets whizzed about him. Raven quickly turned around; just in time for the metal projectiles to bounce off his back and not hit Jenny. One soldier continued to fire, managing to hit Desmond on his arm. The Scotsman ignored the pain and continued to fire. “IZZY, GET HER!!” he screamed.

Isabella rushed down and then collapsed on all fours; sliding toward her. The Spanish woman grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the range of fire. She continued to drag her down the hallway as Raven pushed open a stair way access. He gently set down Jenny on the steps and then ran back to finish the soldiers with Desmond. Isabella grunted as she managed get Penelope into the safety of the stairway. Jenny grunted as she help the brunette pull the woman up to them. She was coughing up blood and her hands couldn’t stop trembling. “Ms. Widmore, hang on.” Jenny begged her.

“This . . .this is my fault . . .I never should have let . . Ben . . .” she coughed.

“Shhh. Don’t talk.” Isabella held her hand over her wounds.

“Your name . . . . is Izzy?” the CEO gagged on the blood in her mouth.

“Isabella.” The Spanish woman whispered.

“You’re . . .his wife?”

“Yes,”

Penelope smiled. She then slowly closed her eyes and took a last breath. She then started to whisper something. Jenny then leaned in to listen to her. The cop then leaned up and then placed her two fingers on her neck. She could not feel a pulse. Isabella closed her eyes and leaned back. Jenny couldn’t help feel sad as well. Penelope didn’t deserve this; she was just an unfortunate victim of evil men using her corporation. Then Raven and Desmond appeared in the door. The Scotsman frantically looked for Penelope and held his mouth open at the sight of her laying limp on the stairs. He slowly collapsed on his knees and held her hand. It was cold to the touch. Desmond then looked to Isabella; she wept silent for the poor woman. “Did she . . . did she say anything?” the Scotsman sniffed.

“She asked if I was your wife and I told her . . .yes.” Isabella confessed.

Desmond shook his head in agreement.

“Jenny, did she whisper anything to you?” the Spanish woman asked her.

Jenny wiped her tears with her sleeve. “All she said was . . .so happy he’s not alone.” The cop replied.

Desmond stared at the body of his former love. Even in her last moments, she was happy that he wasn’t alone. The Scotsman then took her hand and gently kissed the back of her knuckles. An explosion rang out from the top sending down small bits of debris on them. “We can’t stay here.” Raven told his friends.

“Goodbye, Pen.” Desmond whispered as he struggled to get to his feet.

Raven picked up Jenny again and led the way down the stairs. Desmond held onto Isabella as they followed. The group quickly made their way past many flights. More smoke and debris echoed from above. As they finally reached the third floor, they all stopped when they heard a roar from above. Desmond and Isabella gasped considering they only heard the roar a few times. Jenny had heard it more often on her side of the Island. “The Polliwog?” she exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Raven smirked, “He teleported.”

“Why is he here?”

“He’s my backup.” The cyborg said as he kicked the last door.

The group had arrived at the main lobby which was covered in glass and the bodies of fallen Liberation. To the far distance corner by the side exit rested the body of Ecko. Desmond immediately recognized him as did Isabella. “Bloody hell.” the wounded man whispered, “I was hoping the old man found his piece of heaven.”

“He did.” Raven sniffed.

The Jaeger Unit continued on through the lobby, stepping out from some of the broken glass. To his amazement, the majority of the outside was covered in bodies of more Liberators. They were all smoking as if they were scorched by a flame thrower. Raven carried Jenny out among them, as Desmond and Isabella limped out after them. They walked for a few more seconds until they were able to be recognized by their friends in the distance. “RAVEN!!!” Jack yelled.

The cyborg smiled over that Jack made it out alive. Kellye then rushed up to them to make sure Jenny was okay. After a few feet, Desmond and Isabella were greeted by Marita. “Salutations, sister.” The Scotsman smirked as he embraced her.

“Is there anybody else missing?” Raven inquired.

“John . . . .” Mia sniffed, “Our boys haven’t come back yet.”

The cyborg approached her and then gently put his hand on her shoulder. “John, Tony and McKay are the best of the best, Mia.” He assured her, “Regardless, I will do a sweep of the building. To make sure if they get out okay. Besides . . .I can’t just stand by and leave Ecko’s body in there.”

“If you would be so kind, brother.” Desmond piped in, overhearing their conversation, “Could you perhaps . . .bring Penelope out of there?”

“Of course.” The Jaeger Unit said, understanding completely.

The moment Raven made his move to head toward the building, the screech of tires got his attention. Mia then turned sharply at the small access roads surrounding the Hanso Building. More large SUVS, vans and two hummers came out of the roads, coming to abrupt halts around them. The Lakota winced at the prospect of facing more Liberation. She reached down and pulled a pistol out of a dead Liberator’s hip holster. Hal armed himself again as Sayid, Kellye, Ana-Lucia and Jin stood with them. Bursting from the vehicles and vans came more soldiers. Mia then blinked; these men did not look like Liberation. All of their uniforms, body armor and weapons looked professionally made. It didn’t look stolen or salvaged, as the reputation of those terrorists dictated.

The soldiers stopped abruptly, pointing their rifles at the group of survivors. Men in suits came out from the SUV’s and started walking toward them. One of them kneeled down and examined the charred remains of one of the soldiers. “What the hell did this?” he whispered.

“Please put your weapons down!” one of them said, “We’re not here to hurt you. Please, I need to speak to Tony Largo!”

Marita then raised an eyebrow. “Who are you?” she asked.

The older man approached her. He looked like he was in his mid 40’s and judging from the look on his face; he has seen combat easily. “Ma’am, I need to speak with him.” He coughed, “Is he among you? Is he wounded?”

“My husband is still trapped in the building. WHO are you?”

“You’re his wife?” the soldier said smirk, “I never thought the Keyman would settle down. Mrs. Largo, I need you to get your people into these vans as fast as possible.”

“Why? What’s going on? Who are you and these men?” the Latina demanded to know.

“Please, Mrs. Largo, I will explain everything later but we don’t have the time-“

“THEN MAKE THE TIME!” Mia screamed, walking toward them, “Tony is not the only one trapped in the building. Are you going to get our husbands out or aren’t you?”

“You still haven’t said who you are!” Marita pointed out.

“BAUER!!!” someone screamed behind them.

The soldier turned as did Marita and Mia. Approaching them fast was a man in a business suit. He quickly removed his sunglasses and looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel in his face. Mia didn’t need the lack of sunglasses to know he was a government operative. She already knew him, despite the fact that his hair was just a tad whiter. “Inman.” She whispered.

“Bauer, we don’t have time for pleasantries.” He hissed, “Get these people onto the vans.”

“I’m not trying to strong-arm them, Inman, “ Bauer grunted, “These people have already been through enough.”

“And if we don’t get them out of there, they are going to go through MUCH WORSE.”

Mia looked at Inman with contempt. She remembered how he treated them on the battleship that saved them from the Island and from the looks of things, much hadn’t changed. The government man then pulled a small capsule out from his jacket, marked Rolaids. He promptly flopped two into his palm, then shoved them in his mouth. “You couldn’t wait, could you?” he said to Mia and Marita, “You have to go get involved. I was so close to getting more than a Journal about the Liberation. Once again, you have screwed me.”

“They had our children, Inman!” Mia yelled, “What the hell did you expect?”

“What did I expect?” he said, approaching her before Bauer stopped him, “I EXPECTED . . .you to call the cops! But NO! You people . . . for some crazy reason, you people believe you can take on the world!” He took a brief moment to look around at all the bodies, “And it looks like you are succeeding. STILL.”

“Then I guess we should continue to do you job, Inman.” Sayid squinted at him from the sidelines.

“I’ll deal with you later, Jarrah.” He groaned, “In the meantime, do what Bauer says. Let his people take care of your wounded and get the rest of them on the vans. We have to leave this place shortly.”

“What about my husband, and Marita, and Taylor’s?” Mia demanded.

“LOOK, WOMAN!!” Inman screamed, looking like he was about to have a heart attack, “ We’ll get your men out of there. Right now, before the cops, the fire department, the local news and the rest of the DAMN WORLD GET HERE . . . .I want all of you on those vans!”

Mia felt like spitting in the man’s face. However, he did have a point. She wanted to leave this horrible place. She had no choice but to trust him at his word that they would wait till John, Tony and McKay got out of the building. Then she saw the soldiers move to the left. Raven heard everything but it didn’t change the fact that he was going to get his friend out of the building for a proper burial. “ Excuse me, sir!” Bauer screamed, “I can’t let you go back into that building!”

Raven stopped as the soldiers surrounded him. “Let him go, Bauer!” Inman called, “Besides . . .you couldn’t stop him if you wanted to.”

Raven looked back at the CIA agent with a glare. Inman looked at him and then motioned for the cyborg to go on. The soldiers opened a gap and he ran through; moving as fast as he could into the building. Jenny held onto Kellye and Ana-Lucia, watching her friend leave. She then looked over to Inman, who was fishing out the same Rolaids capsule. “You knew?” she asked, implying about Raven’s uniqueness.

“I’ve always known.” He said popping in three more antacids and walking away.

The survivors began to follow the soldier’s orders as they started to march toward the vans. Ana-Lucia and Kellye helped carry Jenny while Marita and Isabella helped carry Desmond. The parents of the various kidnapped children followed them to the medical vehicles. Mia paused for a moment while they wrapped Locke in a body bag and then started to carry him off. She wiped a tear, not knowing how she’ll move onward without her adoptive father. Then an explosion echoed above her. The Lakota turned, still holding her daughter and looked upward. The building was even more on fire than it was a few minutes ago. She looked upward and thought she saw a helicopter leave; but couldn’t tell for all the smoke. More fire and more smokes shot from the multiple windows. “Is daddy okay?” Shelley sniffed.

“I don’t know, baby.” She hugged her daughter

Part 468: Point of View Part 2

6:55 pm

“Mrs. Riggs,” Kamiyama smiled, “What a pleasant surprise.”

“I’m sure.” Mia said, striding into his office.

The Asian man stood up from his prayer stance and walked over to his desk. He calmly sat down in his chair. “Would you like some tea?” he asked, non-chanlantly.

“How about you tell me where the children are and I don’t kill you?” the Lakota woman said in all seriousness.

“The children are in a same place,” the Asian man whispered, pouring himself some tea, “ And soon they will be on a great adventure and they will be the one thing they are not; Happy.”

“You don’t know squat!” Shanna grunted, “Those children ARE happy.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you.” He said, placing the tea-pot down.

Mia then looked at the tea-pot, remembering a conversation that she and Brendon had in the dream world. It’s ironic or fate, that a certain aspect of that discussion came up at that moment. “The spout doesn’t point to the guests.” She pointed at the ceramic object, “ It’s a sign of disrespect.”

“I’m impressed, Mia. Some westerners don’t know certain Japanese quirks. You must have had a good teacher.” He sipped his tea, “I can only assume that would be . . .Brendon Battle?”

Mia raised her eyebrow.

“Yes, I know quite a lot.” Kamiyama smiled, “However, what happened do Brendon? I understand he killed his own brother? Did such a low life take his own life?”

Then amazingly enough, Shanna pulled out her pistol and shot at Kamiyama. The bullet barely missed his shoulder. The Oriental man then raised up both his feet and slammed them into his desk; making it shoved toward Mia and Shanna. The two woman grunted as the large object slammed into them, sending them back. Within a second, Kamiyama was on his desk and then roundhouse kicked Shanna. The redhead slung her head toward the right, spitting out blood from the assault. The Asian then slammed his foot into Mia’s side and she screamed; as he aggravated her bullet wounds. Kamiyama then walked over and disarmed Shanna’s gun. “You shot me immediately after I insulted your Brendon.” He smiled, “You must have loved him. How noble.”

Shanna couldn’t respond because her mouth hurt incredibly. Kamiyama then moved toward her but could feel Mia fast approaching him. He then blocked her as she tried to slam the ax into him. He then thrust his fist into her shoulder and she screamed in agonizing pain. She immediately dropped her axe and backed off; seeing the blood seep through her fingers. Kamiyama was quick to point it out. “You came to fight me . . .WOUNDED?” he laughed, “What bravery.”

“I WANT MY DAUGHTER BACK!!” Mia screamed.

“She’s not your daughter anymore.” The Asian said, then kicked her directly into the stomach.

Mia collapsed and coughed, trying to get the air back into her lungs. Kamiyama then snatched up a sword from a nearby wall and then walked back over; placing it around her neck. The Lakota gasped as he grabbed her hair. “I’ll make sure Shelley grows up to be a beautiful woman,” he smiled, “Who knows? Maybe I’ll make her my concubine.”

“You won’t get the chance . . .Gaijin.” Seth hissed.

Kamiyama then looked up and saw the leader singer approach him. Seth gently twirled his sword, looking at the Asian man. The business man then backed off from Mia and then started to walk over to him. The Lakota took a deep breath; seeing her adoptive brother staring down the villain. She knew Seth did it on purpose; called Kamiyama a Gaijin. For an Oriental to be called a Gaijin, it would have been the same as a black man being called a nigger. And watching Seth twirl a sword, in Kamiyama’s eyes, that he had no business possessing. It was Seth’s way of getting him away from Mia and Shanna. And Mia loved him for it.

Seth then struck his sword against Kamiyama’s and they fought. With every blow, the Asian blocked it against the lead singer. The musician grunted with every blow, trying to hold his own. It had been some time since he had fought with a sword, so he was a little rusty. However, he did practice whenever he could but not against a real opponent. Seth then jumped onto a nearby table and swiped at Kamiyama’s head; which he was able to block. The older Asian then swung at the singer; managing to cut him on his upper arm. Seth grunted and jumped down; but felt the sword sting him again across his back. He yelped as he landed on a nearby, hitting his chin on the top seat portion. Kamiyama them moved to attack him.

He then jolted as Shanna grabbed him across the legs. He got ready to swing his sword down but Seth stopped him with a kick to his chest. The Asian man screamed as he fell down onto the floor. He tried to brace his fall, putting his arms out. Mia then took this moment to thrust her axe down on his wrist; severing his hand from his arm. “AAAAAHHHHH!!!” he screamed as blood starting gushing every where, “YOU WHORE!!! My hand!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!

He stood up to try and swipe her with the sword. Then another sword ruptured through his chest, sending a glop of red liquid onto the floor. Seth pulled Kamiyama’s head down and whispered into his ear. “That’s my sister you just insulted.” He coughed.

The singer then pulled out his sword, letting the man fall to the ground. Shanna dabbed the blood on her swollen lip, then rushed to the man’s desk. Mia slowly walked over and stared down at the body. She gently patted Seth on the arm, proud of his actions. Seth took a deep breath and then looked over at his adoptive redhead sister. Shanna was looking at all the papers and then came across one. “Here is a list of all the kids.” She gasped.

“What does it say?” Mia turned to face her.

“It looks like some sort of medical analysis.” She looked at it closely, “ I think they took the kids’s blood for . . . .ROOM 216! THEY ARE IN ROOM 216!”

Mia, Seth and Shanna then ran out of the room and back down the hallway. Locke had just gotten done checking out the other corridor but by the shrugging of his shoulders; it told them he found nothing. The Lakota woman then stopped at the directory mounted on the wall. She quickly scanned it for room numbers. She then pounded the picture when she found what she was looking for. “It’s seven more floors up!” she told them.

The bald man followed the young three Brat Pack to the nearest stairwell. They quickly ran up the stairs as fast as they could. Locke had to pause to a take a breath; Mia then quickly stopped, came back down, grabbed him by the arm and ran back up with him.

After they managed to reach, the seventh marker; Seth peered out of the hallway first. He looked down one end and then back to the other. He thought he saw some movement toward the right, but wasn’t sure. “DOWN!” Jack screamed.

Seth then gasped, as he heard his friend scream only to be followed by a gunshot.


---------------------------,

Jack paced back around, wondering how he was going to get out of his situation, along with the children. The doctor looked at them as they were huddled together on the bed. Aaron kept his arms around Shelley and Bridgett, while Mandy’s daughter held Brendon’s hand. The doctor then coughed, and rubbed his hands together. He then came over to the kids, especially Seth’s son. “Brendon, I need you to do me a big favor.” He said, kneeling in front of the boy.

“What’s that, Uncle Jack?” the little boy looked at him.

“When they come in here to take us away, I’m going to tell them you are very sick. And when I tell them that, I want you to pretend that you have a bad tummy ache.”

“Then what are you going to do?” Aaron then asked.

“Don’t worry about that, guys. Brendon, can you do that for me?”

“Sure.” He said, shaking his head.

Then the door opened. Jack looked back abruptly and saw it was a single soldier. The doctor silently blessed his fortune. One soldier he might have a chance to disarm. The redheaded soldier walked over and held his pistol against Jack. “End of the line, doctor.” He whispered.

“You really going to shoot me in front of these kids?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Yep,” the man smiled, “It’s okay. Their memory will be wiped anyway.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea. You can’t take them away especially when one of them is sick.”

“What?” the Liberator’s eyes went wider, “Which one?”

“AOOOHHHH!!!” Brendon screamed, collapsing onto the bed. The other kids then leaned over to check on him. All it did was add to the ruse.

The Liberator looked over at them. “I think his appendix is getting ready to burst.” Jack told him.

“WHAT?” the man gasped.

“DOWN!!!” Jack screamed as he grabbed the soldier’s wrist.

The Liberator then grunted as he fought off Jack; realizing he fell for the oldest trick in the book. The doctor plunged his hand into the man’s face as he tried to wrestle the gun out of his hand. The soldier then thrust the doctor into the wall and then back to the counter. By the time they got back to the door, the gun went off and the bullet ripped throw Jack’s left arm. The doctor screamed as he fell into the hallway. The soldier grunted and then walked over; pointing the gun directly at the doctor’s head. “It’s a shame you don’t get to say goodbye to your brats, do-“ the Liberator tried to say before the left side of his head ruptured.

Jack closed his eyes as the small amounts of blood dropped onto his face. He then heard someone running toward him. “JACK!!” Kate screamed.

“Kate?” he raised his body, struggling with his arm going limp.

“JACK!!” Seth screamed as he ran down the other side of the hallway running toward him.

The kids then flocked out and surrounded Jack. The doctor sighed as he the kids did their best to comfort him, in a mixture of crying and sympathy. “Brendon!” Seth screamed.

“Dad!” the young boy then jumped into his father’s arms.

“Mommy!” Shelley said, opening her arms for Mia.

The Lakota kneeled down and embraced her daughter. She kissed her and held her close; happy she found her before the Dharma people had any chance to do anything to her. Locke then kissed her on the forehead, happy to see her alive as well. Kate then began to help Jack on his feet with Natasha. Aaron and Bridgett were a little scared, considering they didn’t see their own parents with the group come to rescue them. “Don’t be scared.” Shanna said, comforting the kids,” We’re going to get you out of here.”

“Where’s my mom and dad?” Aaron cried.

“Aaron, don’t cry, honey. “ Natasha said, taking his head, “Your mom and dad are okay. They are waiting for you down in the parking lot.”

“Which we better get going right now.” Mia ordered the rest of them.

Two soldiers then came flying down the opposite end of the corridor. The group gasped at the soldiers landing hard on the floor and sliding; like discarded trash. The Jaeger Unit they had adopted into their family strode into view. He saw the others and smiled under his mask. “JACK!” he said, with glee.

“I knew they couldn’t bring you down.” The doctor replied with a smile and holding his wound at the same time.

“Do you know where Jenny is?” Raven asked.

“No. How many floors have you checked?”

“Everything below us. So she is still above us. Can you guys make it back down?”

“Where is John and the others?” Mia quickly asked him.

“They ran down that adjacent hallway,” Raven told them, “Head that way and you can’t miss them.”

“Raven, please get Jenny out of here.” The doctor begged.

“I’m not leaving without her, Jack.” The cyborg promised.

Raven then leaned down and then jumped straight up; making a hole in the ceiling. “WOW!” Brendon laughed with joy, seeing his idol do such incredible feats.

“Raven can take care of himself, let’s go!” Seth said, carrying his son.

The group then rushed down the hallway. Locke covered the rear as he held onto Aaron. Kate and Natasha stayed with Jack; making sure he could walk with his wound. Shanna held onto Bridgett’s hand as they continued to walk. Seth pushed aside the double doors and they wound up inside a lobby. It was a internal lobby, mostly enclosed in glass. Then it took him three seconds to realize they were being shot at. The group then took cover behind a large potted planet. Mia covered her child while she screamed in her ear. Kate and Natasha quickly dove down while a hail of bullets destroyed some paintings on the wall. The one of a corn field collapsed and struck him in the shoulder. “AW, DAMN!” he said, already feeling the pain from his gunshot wound.

“Doc, keep your ass down!!” Sawyer said, as he ran over.

“Sawyer!” Kate screamed, “Where’s our boys?”

“Cochise, Curly and Robin are over there. They kept trying to get to that Queen Bitch but she’s got us pinned down!”

Sawyer began to shove shot-gun shells into his shotgun as fast as his fingers would let him. Mia then looked up and saw her husband with his two best friends. They were hiding behind a couch, while the bullets ripped into them. Then from above, another range of bullets began to hit the woman and her two soldiers. Mia looked up and saw Eddie with his two friends; helping them out. “That’s Eddie!” Aaron pointed.

“He’s covering us!” Jack grunted, “We should leave now!”

Seth then looked around as the sprinklers burst open above them. There was another stairway exit toward their right. He then jolted as an explosion ran out from above, sending the debris and glass all over them. Sawyer grunted as a chuck scratched him behind his neck. “We can’t stay here!” Locke screamed.

“This way!” Seth said, as he picked up his son and then rammed his shoulder into the door of the stair way.

The group then quickly followed. Mia stopped for a second to look at her husband. John flashed a silent message with his eyes; something she could only understand. She knew he was telling her to go down the stairs. She hoped that he knew she was telling him that she loved him. She then rushed in with her friends, as Shelley was screaming for her father. The group quickly plummeted down the stairs as fast as they could go. More explosions echoed above them, sending down small chunks of debris. Seth skipped a few steps and then landed on his side; making him grunt. “Slow down, daddy!” Brendon said.

“I’m okay, boy,” he coughed, “I just . . .I just got to get you out of here!”

Seth then kicked open the door and they were back onto a side street. They had managed to find the service stair way. Mia then looked around and saw the parking lot they had come from toward their right. She pointed and everybody else could see it as well. The group then proceeded to run up the side street toward their friends. The moment they got to the edge of the building; chunks of concrete began to rupture under a hail of gunfire. Seth grunted as he pulled back, making the group stop. Kate jolted out taking a look. Down the street, past several humvees were even more soldiers. They fired their rifles at them and at their friends in the parking lot. “We got to get to the vehicles and get the children out of here.” Mia gasped.

“Get ready to run!” Sawyer said, “We’ll cover you!”

Natasha ran over to a fallen Liberator and grabbed his rifle. The group got ready to move. Seth waved to his friends across the street. Mandy patted Hal on the shoulder and pointed. The cop then saw his friends arming themselves and the children were by their side. “They are getting ready to come to us!” he told them, “Cover them!”

Jack shook his head violently; tried to stay awake from his blood loss. Kate then took him by the arm, getting ready to help him run. Natasha armed her rifle and got ready to run along side, protecting the children. “HEY!!” Kellye said behind them.

The group turned to see Ana-Lucia and Kellye quickly running to join them. “Where the hell have you been?” Sawyer demanded.

“We couldn’t find Jenny!” Kellye replied in a panting of breath.

“Don’t worry . . . Raven will get her.” Jack winced.

“GET READY, DAMN IT!!” Sawyer screamed.

Seth then ran out first with Brendon; holding his son in one arm and firing with his other hand. Ana-Lucia ran out and did the same thing with Aaron. Shanna and Kellye then ran out covering Bridgett. Jack ran as fast as he could with Kate pulling onto him. Sawyer and Locke fired at the Liberation from behind them. Charlie fired with Claire right behind him in the parking lot. The blonde woman was screaming for them to run as fast as they could. Seth held onto Brendon as bullets ricocheted around him; smacking the potted tree plants. Up head, Dutch then screamed as bullet struck him in the shoulder. Hurley grabbed him and pulled him back. They moment they arrived, they took cover. Bridgett ran into the arms of her mother and Aaron did the same thing with Charlie and Claire.

Back at the building, Mia finally ran with Shelley; holding her by the hand. The Lakota girl held up her arm in some vein attempt to protect herself. Shelley had a white-knuckle grip on her mother’s hand, running with her. Locke then looked up and saw the Liberator’s pulling out bigger weapons. Two of them pointed an RPG directly at the running girls. “MIA, GET DOWN!!!” the old man screamed.

The soldier’s fired the weapon and the rocket propelled grenade soared through the air like a screaming train. The weapon exploded one of the potted tree plants near Mia and Shelley; making them both fly through the air about three feet. Bullets then began to pop into the ground around them. The Lakota fought to the dirt and smut out of her face to see where Shelley was. Her daughter was back by another potted tree; crying for her mother and father. Mia then got up to run toward her but then they fired another RPG at her. The explosion nearly destroyed the giant concrete pot she was hiding behind. Her ears were ringing and she could barely see for the flying dirt. Mia wasn’t sure but she thought Seth was calling her name but she wasn’t sure. The young Lakota girl looked at her daughter crying in the distance. “MOMMY!!!” she screamed, “DON’T MOVE!!! THEY’LL SHOOT YOU AGAIN!!!”

Mia then blinked through her watery eyes. She was experiencing a momentary sense of deja-vu. Then it occurred to her she had seen her daughter crying and sitting in the exact same stance before. It was in her dream where Brendon, Boone and the other’s she had lost were showing her things on the Island. Her dearly departed friend’s words then echoed in her ear about he told her about her daughter.

She’ll be fine. Besides, it’s not your decision to make.

If it wasn’t her decision to save her daughter, then whose was it? Her answer came in the form of Sawyer screaming. “LOCKE, GET BACK HERE!!!” the redneck screamed.

The old man ran toward his adoptive granddaughter. He fired his pistol at the Liberation as he ran toward Shelley. When he got toward her, the young girl then held up her hands. Locke threw down his pistol and then snatched up his grand-daughter. He then tilted her to the side and then grunted as bullet struck him in the back. Locke screamed again anther bullet struck him again in the back and then the chest. The old man collapsed on one knee and took a deep breath. “Grandpa, keep running!” Shelley begged.

Mia then managed to get up and run toward her family. She grabbed Locke by his arm and helped him get up. Sawyer then ran over, firing his shotgun to cover them. The others helped them out best they could. After a few more feet they managed to get toward the cover of their vehicles. Locke collapsed on both his knees but he managed to put Shelley down gently. Jack looked at the old man while Kate was tying up his wound. “Locke.” He coughed.

The bald man then collapsed onto this back, coughing up blood. Mia then checked on him best she could. His back was covered in blood and one small hole was starting to pour up into his chest. The doctor then grunted, as he crawled over and tried to help him with his hand that wasn’t numb. He then checked the wound on his side and then looked at the blood on his hands. It was red and black; meaning his kidney had been shot. Jack looked at Mia in complete distress. She could tell in his eyes that he knew Locke wasn’t going to make it. “Locke, you have to hold on.” Mia whispered, “You can do this.”

“It’s okay . .” he coughed, “You made it . . . .Shelley made it . . . .That’s all that matters.”

“No, please!” the Lakota girl begged, “You can hold on!”

“Locke . . . .” Jack whispered, “I’m so sorry . .”

“Don’t be . . . .a young girl lives . . . an old man dies . . . that’s okay trade . . in my book “

“Grandpa, please don’t die.” Shelley wept.

“Shelley . . .listen to your mother . . .grow up . .to be a beautiful woman . . .”

“NO! No, please hang on!!” Mia grunted, gripping his shirt.

“Thank you . . . for giving me a family, Mia . . .You take care . . .of everybody for me. .”

“Please.” She wept.

Locke looked at her directly. A small trickle of blood slid out his mouth and tears flowed down his cheeks. “I love you, Mia.” He coughed.

Mia’s face squinted up in pain. She didn’t know how much longer he had. She gently rubbed his bald head. “I love you, daddy.” She whimpered.

Locke laughed a bit and smiled at her. “I always love it . . . .when you call . . .me that.” He whispered.

Mia stared at him. The old man’s head then slumped to the side, as more blood came out his mouth. The Lakota girl then shook him but he didn’t respond. Seth, Shanna, Jack, Kate and Sawyer all looked at the man they held the most respect for. He died defending his family. “DADDY!!!” Mia screamed, “PLEASE!!! DADDY!!!”

Mia dropped her head on his chest and started to cry. Shelley turned around and embraced Shanna. The redhead stroked her hair as the young girl cried into her chest. Jack slowly took his good hand over to Locke’s eyes and closed his eyelids for him. The group didn’t know how to react. Locke was one of the best and if there was a few people they never though they’d lost; it would be him. “GUYS!!” Hal screamed.

The crowd then turned and saw the bulk of the Liberation running toward them. Their moment of grief cost them the advantage. The soldiers quickly surrounded them. Hal gently held up his guns and dropped them. Karleigh held onto Dutch as he covered his wound. Mia slowly looked at all of them. The Lakota then stood up and faced them. Red laser sighting dots covered her body along with the others. Sawyer breathed deeply through his nose, hoping he earned a shot at redemption with his friends. Marita leaned up, covering her belly. She hoped Tony knew that she loved him. Shanna then gently gave Shelley back to Mia. Despite the fact that she was in pain and bleeding, she held onto her daughter regardless. “Close your eyes, baby.” She whispered, placing her head onto her shoulder.

The soldiers then leaned up all their rifles and got ready to fire. Seth took one step out and spit in their direction. Brendon hugged Tanya as she held her husband’s hand. Libby cried as she buried her face in Hal’s back. Joscelyn covered her face as she held onto Hurley. How they met death was how they lived; standing side by side to the people they cared about. The soldiers then cocked back their weapons, and prepared to fire.

Only to be bathed in black smoke.

The soldiers then screamed as a weird acidic fume began to eat them alive. The survivors took cover and anyone who was near a child; covered their eyes on instinct. The black smoke engulfed all of them, eating away at their skin. Several soldiers fired in vein at the smoke, only to have the bullets pass harmlessly through it. One soldier then screamed as the smoke solidified enough to pick him up and then slam him into the asphalt road. The Liberators tried to run but how could they fight a creature that ignored the laws of physics?

Mia opened her eyes and looked. The entire outside lobby was filled with Liberators who were either dead or dying. The Lakota woman looked up at the black cloud hovering above them. Within seconds, the smoke produced two giant blue eyes. It was all the proof they needed that the magic of the Island was still with them. “Monoxide.” Mia whispered.

The cloud creature then floated upward and then shot away in a puff of smoke. Shelley held up her hand and waved. “Bye, bye, Smokey.” She said.

The survivors looked around. Once again, they had cheated death when the odds were stacked against them. Charlie held onto Claire and Aaron, crying that they were okay. Seth kissed his wife and held onto his son. Alexander was comforted that Bridgett was safely returned to his mother. Kate held onto Jack, happy that he was alive. Natasha was upset that she lost Ecko and Sawyer comforted her the best he could. Mia hoped that John would make it out alive. She needed more than ever now. The Lakota then gasped as a sound ripped through the building above, as it pillowed out smoke and fire. It was a sound that she recognized, as did the others survivors. A familiar noise they hadn’t heard in seven years.

The roar of the Polliwog.