4x06 "Event Horizon"

[Kiowa Warrior]

Sorry for the delay in getting this up quite late and also for the length of it, even after I edited it!

[size=large][align=center]EPISODE SIX - 'EVENT HORIZON'[/align][/size]

‘When is my lawyer going to get here?’ Locke asked wearily, as Lieutenant Weir looked up from the file he was reading.
‘Probably ‘bout the same time I pay good money to run a marathon.’ Laughing loudly at his own joke he shook his head and turned a page in the file as Locke’s voice rose.
‘I have the right to-’
‘You have the right to shut your mouth and to speak only when you’re spoken to, criminal!’ Weir closed the file and slammed it down onto the metal table, causing Locke to jump. ‘This here is a small town with an even smaller police force, and I can tell you no-one in this station is impressed that a drug dealing, free loading piece of hippy scum nearly blew one of them away so I’d quit your yapping, ‘cause I doubt even the Captain is too bothered that your State appointed attorney hasn’t shown his sorry face yet.’

Weir glanced at Locke and then back down to the file lying on the table and, after tapping it with his finger a few times, looked back up and spoke.

‘Thought you would have taken the hint after the first three times Locke…but, then again, refusing to accept something that’s as clear as day just because you don’t want it to be true is nothing new, is it?’ Locke looked up but didn’t say anything, and Weir opened the file and recited a page:
‘United States Army: Applications to join - 3. Successful Applications - 0.
Bet you got turned down by the local neighbourhood watch as well, didn’t ya?’ Chuckling, Weir closed the file again and saw that Locke had slumped into his chair, bringing the one hand that wasn’t cuffed to the table up to rub his eyes.
Pausing for a few seconds Weir then sighed and, scowling deeply, pointed an angry finger at Locke. ‘I’m not at all pleased about this but, once again, I have been overruled when it comes to you…’

The door clicked open and a tall blonde man in an immaculate army uniform entered the room. He picked the file in front of him up and with his free right hand reached into his decorated jacket and pulled out a cigarette lighter and, as Locke sat up straight and his eyes widened, a flame appeared and began to blacken and curl the bottom of the pages. A short while later when the confidential police file was nothing more than a pile of black ashes the uniformed man put the lighter away and held out his hand in greeting as he pleasantly said ‘Hello John, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Robert, and I have a proposition you might be interested in…’

*****

‘I told you John, you’re not ready yet…’ Richard grimaced. ‘He broke six of your toes, pulled most of the nails out and left a large slab from your left foot lying near the bottom of that tree.’ Richard shook his head again as Locke gingerly took a step forward, and creased his eyebrows together as he asked ‘Doesn’t it hurt?’

Locke looked up at him, and his beaming smile was unfeigned as he replied ‘Oh it’s agony Richard. Pure agony.’

‘…OK then. Look, John, we don’t have much time before they come round, so we will take Widmore and his men to the Ruins and secure them there, but before you can join us you have to go back to see Jacob again.’
Locke‘s face darkened. ‘No I can’t, I…this wasn’t supposed to happen. I saw him only a couple of days ago and what he told me didn’t involve capture and torture, because he warned me about a bl-’
‘What if you were supposed to meet me like this and, by refusing to yield under Robert’s torture, you proved your alliance and loyalty to us - to the island - and that you must now seek further instructions from him before this island burns and breaks?’
Locke looked at him quizzically and said ‘Or maybe you just want me out of the way for whatever it is you’re cooking up at the Ruins?
‘John that’s not true,’ Richard said sharply. ‘Why-’
‘Because,’ Locke said in a harsh whisper, ‘I know you can’t see Jacob without Ben or myself and, since you’ve been on this island longer than either of us, that fact - that feeling of exclusion and dependency - must still eat away at you no matter how hard you try to deny it.’

Richard’s face was stony as Locke’s voice grew louder. ‘So if there’s something you can’t be a part of that I am, then it’s not too surprising you’re going to want to keep something secret from me in return to, you know, address the unfair balance you find yourself in.’ Richard seemed to relax but Locke appeared not to notice as he sighed and continued. ‘So go ahead and keep your secrets Richard, but please believe me that I don’t intentionally keep any from you.’
Richard smiled softly. ‘You’re right, I can’t see Jacob. After all these years of loyal service I’ve never once seen him but what’s important is that I know he’s there, and that I believe and trust in his instructions so please, please go to him and then come to the Ruins to tell us what to do. You’re the only one who can guide us now John, and we’ll be waiting for you to return to us.’ Richard looked Locke square in the eye. ‘We’ll be waiting for you to lead us.’

Slowly, almost shyly, a smile appeared on Locke’s face as he walked stiffly towards Richard. ‘You can count on me.’

*****

Wiping away the last drops of water from his face Jack stepped out of the jungle and back onto their beach and, after giving the distant blue horizon a familiar inspection, he walked over to his tent to look for a dry shirt.
‘If you need a change of clothes brotha, I’ve still got Hurley’s shirt he lent me when I was caught out.’
Half-smiling, Jack shook his head. ‘Thanks but no thanks Desmond…I’ve one here.
‘Suit yourself. But maybe you really ought to take what I’m going to give you next…’
‘Yeah, and what’s that?’
‘Advice.’
‘Like not getting caught in the rain?’
‘Like getting everyone off of this damn beach quickly so that we’re not left as lambs to the slaughter.’
Jack turned round, and his expression was set.
‘We’ve been through all this before Desmond and the answer is no; we’re all going to stick together and we’re all going to get rescued together, because-’
‘Bloody hell Jack, how many times?!’ Desmond ran both hands through his hair and sighed loudly. ‘The rescue boat that you phoned up is no such thing…I don’t know what it is, but it’s not Penny’s boat and it’s not coming to help us!’ He raised his palms upwards in defeat. ‘What part of that don’t you understand?’

Jack‘s eye‘s narrowed as he shook his head again. ‘So I’m just supposed to go and tell everyone that sorry, but the man I spoke to who told us to sit tight while he prepared to rescue us is, in fact, not a rescuer, but rather out to do us more harm than good? He made move to pass Desmond, but the other man’s outstretched arm grabbed hold of his tightly.

‘Charlie’s last message to me before he died before my eyes was that it wasn’t Penny’s boat, and I for one am inclined to believe him,’ Desmond hissed as Jack angrily shook off his hold.
‘And I for one am inclined to believe what I hear with my own ears, so if the man on the radio said to stay put then we’re going to stay put, right here in familiar territory!’
Jack pushed past to stride along the damp beach and didn’t alter his stride as he heard Desmond call out ‘What if this whole island is familiar territory to them brotha, and by sitting on a beach visible from miles away all you’ve done is to paint big red target signs on us all?’ Breathing angrily, Desmond spun around and began striding along the beach in the opposite direction. If Jack wasn’t going to get people moving, then he’d have to do it himself…

*****

A loud snap jerked Locke to a standstill and he drew out a knife, wincing as he shifted his weight to a defensive posture and as the foliage in front of him began to shake he raised the knife higher, sunlight glinting off of the long blade, as the bushes finally parted and-

‘Kate.’ Letting out a breath Locke lowered the knife and relaxed, as Kate stopped short and gasped.
‘John…I didn’t think anyone would be this deep in the jungle.’
‘Neither did I.’ He wiped his forehead. ‘So, Kate, what brings you all the way out here?’
Kate shook her. ‘It doesn’t matter. Well I thought it did - I was sure it did - but I couldn’t find it and now Jack…’ She broke off and smiled ruefully. ‘Not making much sense, am I?’
Locke grinned. ‘The things that make the most sense to you are often unclear at first, so don’t give up on it yet, whatever it is you’re searching for.’
‘…you think I’ll find it then?’
Locke’s smile widened. ‘I bet that it will find you first.’

Before Kate could reply her gaze had slipped from Locke’s to just behind him, and as her eyes widened in fear she took a step back and breathed in sharply. Locke spun around, and nearly collapsed at what he saw. ‘You!’ he breathed in horror, as the Man in Black smiled and held up a finger to his lips.

All of a sudden the Man in Black jumped - took one big bounding leap - to land inches in front of Locke’s face. Kate screamed and fell backwards as Locke stood frozen to watch the Man in Black open his mouth and smile. It was a hot day but Locke shivered and froze as he looked into that smile, because the teeth that appeared out of it were all sharpened to a fine point, like the fangs of a snake, and they all glittered with a blackness darker than the midnight sky.

Closing his mouth the Man in Black’s bright yellow eyes drifted downwards from Locke’s rigid face to Kate’s terrified one, and he raised his right arm and pointed a long pale finger at her. After a few seconds of holding it outstretched he turned it upside down and made a beckoning motion with it, and Kate cried out as Locke shouted ‘No!’
The Man in Black’s yellow eyes snapped up and his smile evaporated instantly, and as he snarled and reached out a clawed hand towards Locke's throat Locke reacted swiftly and ducked underneath it, at the same time sinking the knife he still held deeply into the Man in Black’s chest. The Man in Black looked down almost quizzically at the knife’s handle protruding from his chest, and before he could fully lift up a hand to touch it he had collapsed backwards and lay there, still and unmoving as his eyes dulled and stared up at the green canopy above.

Kate had backed away to rest up against a tree, and she looked at Locke fearfully. ‘Who the hell is that? Someone you know?!’
Locke looked at Kate and grimaced. ‘I don’t know him personally, or even that he would look like that, I…’ he sighed, almost breaking off but deciding to continue. ‘Jacob warned me that a dark threat had begun to stalk the jungle…that it had began to stir the day the people from the outside world were contacted, and that it would probably now be looking for something. Or someone.’
Kate’s eyes were liquid with horror as she stared at Locke. ‘…meaning me? That he - that this thing - was after me?’
‘Jacob didn’t give any specific names; he-’
‘Who the hell is this Jacob? One of the Others?’
Locke walked over to the inert figure of the Man in Black and shook his head. ‘Nope. Jacob is…Jacob is someone I have to go and see right now so, Kate, I think it’s best if you get back to the beach and-’
‘I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on!’ Kate shouted as Locke bent down and violently pulled his knife out of the Man in Black’s chest.
Locke took a deep breath, and his eyes seemed almost sad as he said ‘Jacob didn’t say there was only one dark threat on this island Kate…’

Hesitating for a few seconds Kate finally turned and fled, tearing through the jungle in the direction of the beach as Locke took one last look at the Man in Black, sheathed his knife, and then set off in the direction of Jacob’s hut.

*****

A few meters before Sawyer entered the make shift holding pen on the edge of the beach he stopped and crossed his arms, looking intently at the man sitting cross-legged in the middle of it.

‘Why James, I’m almost flattered…I didn’t think your tastes ran that way, but by all means stare away. Your eyes on my face are sure better than your bunched up fists after all…’
‘Why haven’t they healed yet?’
‘…I’m sorry?’
‘Why haven’t they healed yet?’ Sawyer repeated. ‘Your cuts? Back when we first landed on this paradise I got my arm sliced open - right down to the artery - and after barely a week it had healed right up. Now I’m no doctor but a pill a day an’ a bandage don’t cure a cut like that but damn me it did, so what I want to know is why are your scratches still bleedin’?’

Ben fell silent and Sawyer grinned darkly. ‘Or is that too much of a touchy subject for ya?’
Ben remained silent for a good long minute, just sitting and looking evenly at Sawyer, before his head tilted and he asked ‘Why are you still a slave to him James?’
Sawyer’s eyes narrowed and his voice lowered as he asked ‘What?’
‘To the man I know you murdered. To the man you know as the real Sawyer,’ and Sawyer gripped the top of the fence hard as his face darkened.
‘Too much of a touchy subject for you? Oh dear, how thoughtless of me to bring it up…’

Sawyer sprang away and strode round to the entrance of the stockade, but Sayid blocked his way and grabbed his shoulders roughly. ‘Ignore him. You-’
‘You can’t stop me speakin’ with him!’ Sawyer snarled, as Sayid sighed with resignation.
‘Correct. But I can certainly stop you from doing something which you might later reg- well something that will tax our medical supplies to the limit, anyway.’
Sawyer held up his hands and stopped moving.

‘Oh I am disappointed James,’ Ben drawled, as he slowly got to his feet. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve had a really good, thorough beating by you people, and I fear that the withdrawal symptoms are only just beginning to kick in so please, please don’t hold back when you’re now so close…’
Sawyer breathed in deeply but didn’t move, and as the silence between them lengthened a light came into Ben’s eyes and he beckoned for Sawyer to come forward.
‘I have something to tell you James,’ Ben said, and Sawyer tensed.
‘What?’
‘…you’ll have to lean in closer, so that I can whisper it to you. It’s not just for anybody’s ears to receive after all…’

Sawyer hesitated and studied Ben’s face, but in the end curiosity overcame hate and fear, and he leaned in so that Ben could speak to him. After only a few seconds Sawyer’s face drained of colour, and when Ben had finished Sawyer sprang back as if he’d been shocked, and he looked at Ben with complete horror in his face.

‘If my calculations are correct which, of course, they are,’ Ben said in a regular voice, ‘then he is most likely getting to work now, and in eight days she will be dead.’

‘You lie…,’ Sawyer rasped in disbelief, as Ben's face slowly broke out into a wide smile.

*****

'Excellent throw Private! I can see that Major Smith wasn’t exaggerating about you.’

‘Thank you Colonel,’ Locke beamed as he reached for another throwing knife. ‘The Major taught me all he knew.’
‘Maybe, but no-one can pass on the rate at which you learn,’ Robert interjected as Locke held the knife up in position. ‘That’s all down to him. He’s a born natural to this…’

The Colonel glanced briefly at Robert before directing his attention to Locke.
‘So John, how are you coping with the device? Not giving you too much discomfort is it?’
Locke shook his head. ‘No Sir, no problems at all,’ he replied conversationally, as he instinctively reached up to touch the circular metal device surrounding his right eye that was held in place by two straps looping over his head. A thin, transparent layer of toughened plastic was in the middle of the device and covered his eye, and the soft red light at the top of the metal rim continued to pulse lightly once every sixty seconds.

‘Good,’ continued the Colonel, and as Locke glanced away he nodded almost imperceptibly to Robert, who plastered on a large smile.
‘The Colonel and I have been discussing matters lately, and he has given me the honour of granting my request to be the one to ask you.’
Locke tilted his head in question, and the late afternoon sun caught the bright metal of the eye device and gleamed. ‘To be the one to ask you if you’d like to join us here in the Army permanently,’ he continued as Locke gasped. ‘To ask if you’d like to devote your time, energy and considerable skills to work for your government, instead of against it.’
‘If you need time to think,’ added the Colonel, ‘please take as much time as you-’
‘I want nothing more than to join you,’ Locke declared passionately, as Robert and the Colonel both smiled and moved to stand either side of him.
‘I am honoured to be asked, and will do anything required of me,’ Locke finished as the Officers stretched out their arms to shake hands with him.

‘Now that,’ said Robert as his eyes shone, ‘was exactly the answer we were hoping for.’

*****

The sun had sunk away and darkness was just beginning its rule of the island when the Man in Black gasped and sat upright. He looked around slowly as the memories of what had happened re-ignited, and when they caught aflame he hissed and flexed his long pale fingers. Slowly rising to his feet he brushed away the dirt and leaves and debris from the jungle floor that had covered him, and he scowled in annoyance as he found the rip in his jacket and shirt that the knife had inflicted on his otherwise immaculate appearance.

Taking a few moments to compose himself he opened his mouth and breathed in deeply, drinking in the essence of the jungle and those that had passed through it. After a third such breath his head snapped to the right, and he closed his mouth slowly as a dark gleam clouded his yellow eyes. He turned round fully in the direction he was now facing, and as he walked calmly and with purpose into the dark jungle it soon swallowed him whole.

*****

When Locke reached the line of strange ash surrounding Jacob’s hut a sudden blast of air rushed past his ears, as all the trees and jungle plants began to dance in the sudden wind that had sprung up. But not all of them did, for everything that lay within the circle of ash was standing frozen as if made of rock, while everything outside was being whipped up into a frenzy. Unnerved, Locke looked forwards to make out the faint outline of Jacob’s hut and just as he made to take a step over the line of ash he stopped, suddenly unwilling and unable to take another step, as if an invisible wall was blocking his entrance into what seemed familiar territory. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and as Locke took a small step backwards he saw a pulse of light in front of him. He stopped and stared intently ahead and saw it again: a brief glow of light that seemed to be coming near or even from inside the hut and he hesitated again, reluctant to go back but uncertain whether to go forward. The light flared again, even brighter and longer this time, and Locke took a small step forward so that he was once more standing on the very edge of the ash.

He stood there, taking deep uncertain breaths as he argued with himself about what to do, and as the mysterious light flared up again even brighter and a few drops of rain began to fall, he took one last glance backwards into the violently moving jungle before fixing his gaze straight ahead as, with a sudden thrill of both exhilaration and all consuming dread, he carefully stepped over the line into the new unknown.

*****

‘I don’t understand…’ Locke looked around wildly as an edge of pure panic entered his voice. ‘Why are we hear, I don’t know-’
‘What you don’t know could fill half a dozen warehouses,’ a familiar voice interrupted. ‘So don’t be too surprised that you’re not an expert on this situation.’

Locke and Weir stood next to the car that Weir had just parked at the front of an apartment complex. ‘Robert - Major Smith - told me that I was going to see a man to teach me further combat skills before I signed up fully, so what-
‘There is no man,’ Weir replied bluntly, as Locke’s forehead creased. ‘We’re out here because this is where you’re staying from now on. I’ve arranged for the apartment to be kitted out as well as sufficient funds in an account we’ve set up to last un-’

‘Wait, what? I don’t understand…what are you talking about?’ Locke demanded angrily, as Weir ran a hand through his hair.
‘It’s over Locke; the Army, the ‘test’…it’s finished. This is where you belong now, and-’
‘Stop! When the Colonel hears about this-’
‘There is no Colonel you fool!’ Weir shouted. They didn’t want you Locke, not really…all they cared about was getting someone to agree to be a test subject for them for six months and you fit the bill perfectly: no-one to miss you or to start asking annoying questions, competence with weapons, a desire to avoid jail, an even greater desire to join the armed forces, a highly suggestible personality…they picked you as soon as Eddie called you in after the arrests.’

Shaking his head Locke forced out a dry laugh and pointed at Weir. ‘This isn’t true. Robert-’
‘Robert isn’t even in the Army. He’s CIA, and his good buddy the Colonel is another government hack. They were assigned to rope in some sucker to voluntarily but unknowingly agree to test out a drug cooked up by their scientists, and they must have rejoiced when they found the prime candidate not a day or two after getting their orders.’
‘It can’t be. You’re lying!’ Locke cried out desperately. ‘Why are you-’
‘Oh for God’s sake Locke, didn’t you even suspect anything? That an Army unit was operating out of California of all places? That you never once saw more than half a dozen people at a time? That after a lifetime of rejection now all of a sudden the armed forces are bending over backwards to accommodate you?’

Weir broke off and wiped a hand across his forehead. ‘They needed someone to test out their latest device as soon as possible. No, not the eye thing: that was just a piece of metal containing a large battery to power the blinking light; some piece of crap to, well, blind you to the real thing. They needed to trial run the first stage of some high performance powder to make soldiers run faster or for longer or for I don’t know, for something anyway. They’re now advancing onto the second stage, adding in the part to actually improve performance, while the powder you happily gulped down in your morning orange juice was just to see if your teeth didn’t fall out or your fingers turned green.’

The silence was loud and long, and Locke remained rooted in place as Weir slowly advanced forward and placed a small bag at Locke’s feet. ‘The keys to the apartment. Room 168. And keys to a red Beetle. The same VW you had before, since I thought you might like-’ Weir broke off and looked away, as Locke continued to stare dead ahead, his eyes wide and unfocused. Weir took a step away, but then immediately went forward again to rest a hand lightly on Locke’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry John,’ he muttered as he removed his hand and strode quickly back to the car, not looking back as he gunned the engine and drove away.

*****

‘Robert sure did get to work on Locke’s feet,’ Richard admonished.
‘He’s an expert, and he did his job - to inflict pain on that which matters most - well.’
Richard shook his head. ‘But was it really necessary to-’
‘Oh Richard,’ the voice said sharply. ‘Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts, not now…’

Richard shook his head firmly, as the flickering lights that surrounded the perimeter of the abandoned courtyard cast shadows across both of them.
‘Good, because the only way to preserve this island is if we’re both in accord.’
Richard nodded but, unlike his companion, the yellow torchlight struggled to ignite his eyes.
‘Since we both know,’ the voice continued forcefully, ‘that it’s just a matter of time before the entire world discovers this place one day and when they do, all you’ve worked for - all that you’ve fought for so long to preserve - will collapse.’ It paused as Richard walked forwards stiffly. ‘Work with us and you will have an outside level of protection you can barely comprehend, allowing you to rebuild the glory days here and, when certain elements already on the island - Locke, Ben, the people on the beach and the pathetic ‘Jacob’ myth - have been taken care of, then this place will be ours to explore to depths we have never imagined.’

Richard nodded slowly, and flinched slightly as the familiar hand clasped his shoulder.
‘Come on old friend,’ Widmore grinned brightly in the gloom. ‘We have an island to take back.’

**********