4x08 "Shine Down"

[JB Sawyer]

“Help! Somebody please, help!”
A scream of desperation and terror rang out across the beach. Sayid, closely followed by Desmond and Jack, bolted across from his tent, slipping momentarily in the sand before managing to catch his feet. He continued to run, ever nearing the source of the screams, which now had traces of sobs within them. Yet when he reached the cause of the cries he fleetingly wished he’d never left his tent. In front of his feet lay a dark pool of blood, staining the floor a crimson mess and leaving a coppery smell heavy in the air. The body was lying face down in the pool which continued to flow in a steady stream out from underneath it. Both Desmond and Jack grimaced as Sayid had when they reached the scene, the shock of what lay before them almost as overpowering as the stench that surrounded them. Sayid covered his nose with the back of one hand whilst motioning towards Desmond to help him to turn the body over; Jack simply backed off, planting his heels into the ground and rubbing his eyes. Their fingers dipping into the still warm, red liquid, they eased the carcass onto its side, before gently letting it fall onto its back. Sayid knelt on one knee and looked at Desmond, before glancing up at Jack.
“Sullivan,” he sighed, looking down at the man before him, his glasses stained red and the knife that protruded from his chest.
“Someone please help…” came a muffled sob from the tent beside them.
As Desmond stayed with the body of a deceased Sullivan, Sayid and Jack both pushed into the tent and were met with a bloodied and beaten Danielle, her hands still bound, and Alex stood over her, tear tracks littering her cheeks.
“He’s gone,” she sobbed, wiping away the blood from her mother’s face, “He’s gone…”
Sayid turned to Jack, the two sharing a frightened and knowing look, “Ben’s escaped.”

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The Flame station was fading gradually into the background as Ben and Juliet started to make the journey back to the barracks, back to home; the tears on Juliet’s cheeks however had not started to fade and were still going as strong as they had been when the image of Rachel had flickered off in front of her, only a little while ago. She was still hugging the copy of Carrie close to her chest and neither of them had said anything since Ben’s hopeful statement that there may be mothers on the newly crashed plane.
“Ben,” Juliet asked, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, “Why do you need to do this?”
“Do what, Juliet?” Ben replied, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground ahead of his feet.
“Keep me here. You know as well as I do Ben that the only way I can have any hope of finding out what happens to women who conceive on this Island is by taking them off the Island. No matter what way you look at it Ben we need to get off this–”
“No-one is going off the Island Juliet.”
“But why Ben?” a desperate Juliet asked, stopping Ben in his tracks by grabbing hold of his arm, “There’s nothing I can do here. How many women do we need to go through?”
“As many as it takes to solve the problem,” came the stern, almost emotionless reply.
“But do you not see that by trying to create new life you’re just going to rid the Island of any existing life it already has?”
“Do not make statements like that about things you have very little understanding of Juliet. I know what needs to be done. Jacob knows what needs to be done. I ask you to do something because I know that it is the right thing to do,” Ben answered, for the first time looking Juliet in the eye.
“I understand, Ben, that I have seen many of my friends die in front of me. Do you remember Hannah, Ben? Do you remember Sarah? Does Jacob remember Emma, or Mary? These are the people that have lost their lives and you claim to know the right thing to do?” she had now started to cry again, and her voice was shaking in a pool of emotion.
“I know that they gave their lives for the good of every single person on this earth, and that is all that matters. We are doing something vitally important for the world Juliet, not just the Island; this is for the good of all human kind. I remember every last name on the list, every name that you have just mentioned, because they are my people. You may not think it but I care for my people more than any other person part of our society. They are my people, and I will not apologise for doing what is best for them, and for the world. Now if you please, Juliet, we need to get back home. There is work that needs taking care of. After all, it’s not every day that a plane full of people lands on your doorstep.”

“Ja–” Kate started as she turned round, expecting to see Jack standing behind her, but her voice and breath caught in her throat as she came face to face with the man, or thing, that had plagued her nightmares; a man clothed entirely in black. His face remained hidden by a black hood, giving the impression that should Kate have stuck her hand within its black depths it would have travelled straight through. She willed herself to move but found herself frozen in place, staring at the lifeless being before her. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out, noise becoming as non-existent as the entire world round her. All that remained in the sudden black abyss of time was her own petrified and frozen self and the Man In Black that stood ominously before her. No sound, no motion, just the overwhelming sense of fear that radiated from her. The motionless state was broken, as the Man In Black slowly raised his right arm, the cuff of his sleeve slipping down below the wrist of a grey-skinned, weathered and eroded hand, which extended forth one crooked and bony finger tipped with a long, corroded yellow nail. He pointed the finger directly at Kate, who could only stare back as it curled inwards and beckoned for her to come to him. He raised his head, still immersed in the black hood, and the blackness was pierced by a Cheshire-cat grin of sharp, fang-like teeth. A snake-like hiss of a laugh destroyed the silence as the Man In Black started to take delight in Kate’s realisation that her time was inexplicably up. The Man In Black, with the grin still implanted firmly in the darkness of the space within the hood, slowly began to take a step towards her.
“Stop,” a shout rang out throughout the clearing, stopping the Man In Black in his deathly tracks and causing him to spin round to meet the voice behind him. Kate looked up, still in the transfixion that had gripped her, to see the Man In Black confront who had momentarily saved her life.
“You shall go no further. You are not warranted here or with her,” Locke warned, his eyes fixed on the cloaked being that was nothing more than a meter from his face. “You have no cause to be here. Be gone.” The Man In Black screamed, a shriek of fury and anger that would chill the strongest man to his very core. But Locke stood his ground, his stare unwavering. The Man In Black conceded, indignantly slinking into the trees behind him, disappearing as he entered the shadows.
Kate, the presence of the Man In Black removed, snapped back to her senses, and ran to Locke. “How?” she asked in confusion. “Why?”
“You were not part of the plan,” Locke answered, walking past a terrified and mystified Kate.

“We have to go after him Sayid.”
“How Jack? We don’t know where he’s gone, there’s no trail, and we don’t know what time this happened, Alex found Danielle, she didn’t just stumble in while Ben was giving his leaving present. We have nothing to go off.”
“He killed one of us!” Jack shouted, “Stabbed him in the chest, twisted the knife and left it in there. And you’re saying we shouldn’t get him back?”
“No Jack,” Sayid calmly replied, “I’m saying that we don’t know where to go to go after Ben. And look what happened to Sullivan; that could happen to any one of us. If you want to go searching blindly for someone in a jungle that he knows better than you, by all means be my guest.”
“Well then what do you suggest we do, Sayid?” Jack scoffed, “Because now we’re all just sitting ducks, waiting for that carrier ship to come before Ben finds some new way to kill us.”
“That’s what we’ve been for the past 3 months Jack,” Sayid solemnly responded. Jack nodded and dropped into silence, giving up on his argument despite the deep temptation to run into the jungle and after Ben that still brewed fiercely within him.
“The more pressing thing to worry about,” Sayid said, his hands underneath his chin, propping up his head, “is the fact that one of our watchmen are dead. Sullivan asked for a shift watching Ben and Ben killed him.”
“So? What’s your point?” Jack asked.
“My point, Jack, is that Ben was tied and he managed to get out of his bonds, kill Sullivan, gain some measure of revenge on Danielle and get away.”
“Jack,” a voice came from beside them, diverting Jack’s attention away from Sayid as he looked up to see Desmond, “the…um…the French woman’s awake.” Jack nodded to Desmond, and the three made their way down the beach to Danielle’s improvised tent.
Jack stepped through the folds in the tarp first, followed by Sayid whilst Desmond stayed outside. Inside sat Danielle, her face a bruised mess, with Alex sat beside her. Alex had a bowl of water and was dabbing a cloth into the water and onto her mother’s cuts and dried blood. Danielle winced each time, before looking up and seeing Jack and Sayid enter.
“Oh good. Visitors,” she said, “I take it you’re both here to ask me how this happened.”
Jack nodded, “Do you remember anything? Did you see Ben do anything before he attacked you? Did he say anything?”
“I heard sounds outside, shouting and then a scream. After that silence. Then he came in here, said something about his ‘daughter’, then…blackness,” Danielle looked at Jack and then Sayid, “you fill in the rest.”
Disheartened by the lack of anything that may have led to Ben’s whereabouts, Jack merely said “thanks” and turned to leave with Sayid behind him.
“Jack,” Danielle said. Jack turned his head back round, “There’s something that you need to know.” Both Sayid and Jack came back into the tent, waiting for Danielle’s revelation expectantly. “When Ben came in here, he had something in his hand. Something that the man with the glasses had had in his beforehand. It was a walkie-talkie.”
Jack turned to Sayid, whose face had fallen. “We gave whoever was on watch one of the walkies. The walkie Sawyer found in Nikki and Paulo’s tents. It was one of the Others’ walkies.”
“Looks like our problems just got a hell of a lot worse.”

Leaves crunched and twigs snapped as Sawyer furiously pounded through the foliage of the jungle, Juliet lagging somewhat behind, having given up on trying to keep up with him and to calm him down. His initial sorrow over the loss of Kate had disappeared behind a blind rage that threatened to consume him, and Juliet was forced to put her hand out to stop branches lashing back into her face as Sawyer pushed through them first.
“James, calm down,” she tried again, sighing as he showed no sign of even hearing her, let alone slowing down, “James!”
“Shut up and walk,” came the low rumble of a reply, as Sawyer showed no recognition to the woman behind him.
“James, it wasn’t your fault. You had no other choice…” she continued to try, sympathy and concern clear in her voice.
“Of course I had a choice,” he replied, stopping in his tracks to turn and stare Juliet straight in the eyes, a fire burning clear in his own, “and once again in my pathetic excuse for a life Delilah I made the damn wrong one. The only person that I care about on this heap of corrupted rock, I just killed, so if you don’t mind Jules I’d appreciate it if you stop trying to play comforter.”
“I wasn’t trying to play comforter, I was trying to make sure you didn’t end up knocking out my front teeth with a branch,” she said calmly before smiling.
A hint of a smirk graced the side of Sawyer’s mouth, “Nice try Miss Snell, but…”
“What did you just call me?” Juliet interrupted, her face losing any trace of the smile that had been there previously, its place taken by a stern shadow.
“You never heard of Sue Snell? She’s from…”
“I know what she’s from,” she said, and if Sawyer looked closely at the eyes that bore into his, there may well have been fire burning within them.
Noticing the tension that was fast beginning to brew in the small area that they stood within Sawyer decided to bring the curtain down. “Let’s just get back to camp.”
“Good idea,” Juliet replied.
“You’re just full of ideas at the moment aren’t you Ford?” came a voice from behind the two of them, causing them both to wheel round and come face to face with a sight more unreal than the Man In Black that had haunted them only hours ago. “Hello Juliet,” smiled Ben.

“Aaron, please shush, Mommy’s very busy at the moment,” Claire despaired, trying desperately to fix the roof on her tent whilst comforting a crying Aaron. The tarp that made the roof was putting up just as much of a fight as Aaron.
“Hey Claire,” Hurley called, as he hurried over to help Claire recover the losing battle with the tarp. As Hurley got it under control, Claire took the opportunity to comfort Aaron as best she could. Wrapping him tight in blankets she hummed the tune to ‘Catch a Falling Star” into Aaron’s ear, and he slowly started to calm down. “Impressive,” Hurley smiled.
“Yeah, for now,” Claire said, rolling her eyes as she placed a now quiet Aaron back into his makeshift cot.
“I can’t believe that thing is still standing after, like, everything,” Hurley noted, referencing the crib.
“Yeah John did a good job,” Claire smiled, an event that had become a rarity over recent days, “before he tried to ruin all of our chances of going home.”
Hurley tied the tarp tight with a spare piece of rope before sitting next to Claire, “But the important thing to remember Claire is he didn’t. Naomi’s ship is coming, we’re going home, you and Aaron are getting off this rock and are finally going back to Sydney, or, like, wherever you lived in Australia,” he smiled awkwardly.
“Charlie won’t be though,” Claire said solemnly, her head bowed, either in remembrance of Charlie or just plain regret of ever letting him leave. Hurley put an arm round her.
“Yeah I know, but you gotta remember Charlie was a hero, none of us would be going home if it weren’t for him; he saved us Claire.”
“But I couldn’t save him,” she whispered and now tears were evident on her face, “I wasn’t there. I couldn’t be with him, and I should have been. I should have showed him I cared more, I should have…” she wiped her eyes as Hurley pulled her into a hug.
“He did what he felt he had to do Claire. Desmond said he had decided and nothing could have changed his mind. He died happy, happy knowing that you and Aaron are going to be safe. Y’know my grandpa Tito always said that the happiest man was he who could die with no regrets and knowing that he had made an impact on those whom he loved. Charlie did,” Hurley smiled, and there was genuine warmth within it. Claire pulled away from the hug and moved over to the little desk (actually no more than a shelf constructed from bamboo) beside her bed. She picked something up from on top of it, and sat back down beside Hurley.
“I found this in the sand when we got back from the radio tower, it was beside Aaron’s cradle,” she said, holding up a silver ring with the two letters ‘DS’ engraved upon it.
“No way, Charlie’s ring!” Hurley exclaimed, a shocked smile beaming across his face. Noticing that this time the smile wasn’t returned, Claire simply staring at the ring between her own ring finger and thumb, Hurley stated what he had originally planned on when he had first walked over. “Claire, erm, I was thinking that maybe we should have, like, a memorial service for Charlie. I know a lot of us want to say goodbye to him properly and let’s face it, if there’s anybody that deserves one it’s him. You could lead it if you want, or if not, I could say a few things, or…”
“I’d like that,” Claire smiled.

Juliet and Sawyer stood staring blankly at Ben, who stood in the middle of the clearing in front of them. Sawyer then stepped forward, pushing Juliet behind him. “Well? You happy now you son of a bitch? The damn Phantom of the Opera fulfilled your damn promise,” he screamed, his hands shaking with rage.
“I’m sorry?” Ben enquired, looking genuinely confused.
“Your little speech; ‘in eight days she’ll be dead’, remember? Well it’s happened, granted a little earlier than you promised, but your prophecy was right. Kate’s dead.”
“James, Austen is with John Locke as we speak currently 5 miles from here and she’s very much alive,” Ben said, his voice unwavering as a wry smile began to cross his lips.
For a brief moment confusion took hold of Sawyer, until something within him snapped and he pulled the gun from the back of his jeans. He stormed over the clearing to Ben and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, slamming him against the nearest tree and practically lifting him off his feet. He pushed the barrel of the gun against Ben’s neck. “I saw her die,” he growled, in a strangely ethereal, guttural voice.
“Then you saw wrong,” Ben wheezed, trying to feel the floor with his feet. “I promise you James, Kate is alive and if you go now, you’ll be able to find her yourself.”
Sawyer loosened his grip and stared at Ben, “If you’re lying I swear I will rip your damn heart out myself.”
“Well fortunately for my poor little heart I’m not,” Ben retorted, “I’d hurry though, the clock is ticking.” Sawyer looked at Juliet who simply nodded, giving Sawyer the mutual go-ahead to find Kate. He let go of Ben and gave a parting glance towards Juliet.
“Which way?” he growled.
“Whichever way your heart takes you James,” Ben replied, his tone remaining eerily monotonous. Sawyer stuffed the gun back into the back of his jeans and stormed into the jungle, quickly hidden by the vast undergrowth.
“Such a lovely man,” Ben scoffed to himself before turning his attention to the woman stood at the opposite end of the clearing. “And then there were two,” he smiled.
“Indeed,” Juliet said, her stare unwavering despite the fear that she could feel deep inside her.
“You know Juliet; justice has a strange way of catching up with itself. Especially on this island. And it would appear to have done so nicely again, what with you and me now face to face again.”
“No Ben, there is no thing as justice on this island.”
Ben gave a look of genuine confusion, “Why not?”
“Because if there was, you’d be dead,” Juliet replied simply, her look still unwavering as was the fear.
Ben bristled, “And we both know how you’ve tried Juliet. Only more recently it’s been my people and not just me you’ve had a hand in trying to kill.”
“I did what I needed to Ben; I did what was best for the innocent, I…” Juliet struggled, her strength starting to waver.
“You did what was best for you Juliet. You led to innocent lives being lost, and you could have led to millions of lives going to waste. And all for nothing,” Ben shook his head sadly.
“For nothing?” Juliet shouted, emotion coursing through her, “I did it because on that carrier is the opportunity for me to be happy again. For the first time in 3 years Ben I could go home. I wouldn’t be trapped, I wouldn’t be forced to watch my friends die, I wouldn’t…I would be able to see my sister again. The sister whom you made me believe was dying in order to get me to stay here, the sister who gave birth to a son she named after me while I was kept here, the sister that I promised I would return to. And I finally had the chance to fulfil that promise. To see her again. To be back with the person who I love most.”
“Rachel is dead Juliet,” Ben said calmly.
Juliet literally staggered, and barely managed to creak out one word, “What?”
“She’s dead Juliet. She died a month after their plane crashed, a month after you saw her at the Flame. We couldn’t tell you Juliet because we knew what it would do to you, and you had work to do. So Juliet…you didn’t have anything to go home to, you were more at home here.” Ben explained, taking a step towards the woman in front of him. Juliet however said nothing, but turned away and ran as fast as she could through the jungle, trying to get away from the news that had just brought her world crashing down around her. Ben watched her go and looked down at his feet, “I’m sorry,” he said forlornly.

“Ben, I’ve got news,” Juliet said, rapping gently on the door of Ben’s house. “Ben?” she enquired again as no reply came. She knocked again, louder this time, ensuring that Ben would hear it wherever he was in his home. But again no reply. She sighed and turned to leave, taking the papers that she held in her hand and her news with her; until she suddenly heard noises within the building. She turned back, trying to convince herself it was just the wind, or her mind playing tricks, but no, it came again, noises quite clearly coming from the house from which nobody was supposed to be in. Juliet walked back up to the door and placed one ear against it, trying to prove to herself without any doubt that what she was hearing was real. The bangs that echoed through the door answered her question. Juliet looked around, contemplating what to do, there were people inside Ben’s house she couldn’t just leave them, but she couldn’t get anyone else, most the others had gone to the Pearl station. Swallowing hard, and conjuring up every ounce of courage she had Juliet pushed the door handle down and, surprised when the door creaked open, walked in.
She padded into Ben’s house, remaining as quietly as possible so as to remain undetected and also to hear the noises coming from whatever it was. And the noises were still there, quiet and spontaneous, but still there. And they were coming from behind a half shut door a little down the corridor which Juliet was stood at the head of. Again she plucked up all bravery that she could find within her and shuffled towards the door. Coming to it now she realised that she could clearly hear breathing and also, what sounded like giggling. Confused, Juliet pushed the door open revealing Alex and Karl lying together in bed, the covers around their waists, looks of shock and horror staining their faces.

The sun was starting to set creating a heavy orange glow as the survivors gathered together at an unfortunately all too familiar place. The graves of far too many of their friends, Ana-Lucia, Libby, Paulo, Nikki and Shannon, lay around them; one more prepared to be filled. Yet there would be no body this time round. Instead the small grave that had been dug was filled with Charlie’s guitar. This was not a funeral; this was merely a remembrance of a friend who died a hero. Claire, Hurley and Desmond all stood at the head of the grave whilst the ever dwindling group of survivors all gathered in attendance. A calm hush fell over the scene as Hurley stood forward.
“Erm…Charlie never really got the send-off he deserved. I mean he like, saved us all, without him the carrier that is just a few miles away from us would never be coming, and we’ve spent way too much time worrying about whose being kept captive, who’s getting beaten up and basically trying to stop people from dying…when one of us has already died. And we’ve kind of overlooked that. So I…we,” Hurley corrected himself, looking at Claire, “wanted this to commemorate Charlie Pace. So…if anybody has anything to say about Charlie please, erm, share.”
Jack was the first to speak up, “When we all crashed here, Charlie was a drug-addict. He struggled to go a day without a fix. But through his strength and determination he managed to fix his addiction. I for one wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for Charlie. I would have died in a cave in. And it was through his bravery, and his heart that I’m here now. I was there when Charlie was hung from a tree, it wasn’t me who brought him back, it was his own will to fight. He was always stronger than he knew.”
“When Charlie killed Ethan,” Sayid started, “he did so because he was doing it to protect who he cared about. He did not do it with any wrong in his heart, I will always believe that. He was truly a good person.”
“Charlie was the one who attacked me,” all eyes turned to Sun, who stood calmly beside Jin, who in stark contrast had obviously understood Sun’s last statement and the confusion and rage was evident in his eyes. “But I forgave him,” she smiled, putting a hand on Jin’s shoulder, “because he wasn’t a bad person.”
Desmond moved forward, “When I told Charlie…what I told him, he could have refused. I offered to take his place, he didn’t let me. He didn’t have to push that button, he didn’t have to swim down to that station, he didn’t have to lock the door; but he did. He knew his devil, he faced it head on. To me, Charlie, brother, you’ll always be a hero.”
Just like the sun on the horizon, a steady silence descended, signalling that it was time to finally let Charlie go. “Thanks everyone,” Hurley smiled, tears in his eyes, and the crowd slowly started to scatter, heading back to continue their lives, having finally said goodbye. Hurley and Desmond picked up shovels, ready to fill in the grave. Claire stood with them, Aaron wrapped in her arms, both as quiet as each other.
“I love you,” she said, and placed the DriveShaft ring into the grave.

The orange glow that peered through the dense leaves was a stark contrast to the very blue aura that surrounded Juliet. She had only just stopped the tears and her mind was in the same state as her eyes: blurred. The world around her had turned into a bleak nothingness, spinning on an axis that didn’t seem to bear her. However amidst the fog like reality, there stood one man, the man who was the sole cause of this cruel non-existence. Ben, mirroring the scene from only hours before, was the only other being apart from Juliet in the clearing of trees, the setting sun peeking between their leaves.
“Juliet?” Ben asked tentatively, but no reply came, “Julie, you have to understand, you had work to do, and we couldn’t risk having people die because you’re mind was elsewhere…”
“They died anyway,” Juliet said no tone or emotion in her voice at all.
“Julie please,” Ben started, “At least now you know why I couldn’t let you go home. There was nothing to go back for Jules, and by telling you the truth you couldn’t have helped those who needed helping. I did what I thought was best.” But the only reply that Ben got was silence, Juliet not even giving him the dignity of looking at him. He sighed, “And that’s what I’ve got to do now.”
Ben pulled a gun from his back pocket and pointed it square at Juliet. “You tried to kill me Juliet. You killed your own people. And you almost played a part in killing everybody on this planet. I wanted to believe in you Juliet, I really did; shame that all your backstabbing was for nothing.” Juliet said nothing, causing Ben to become frustrated. “You see Juliet it’s not because your sister was dead that your plan was pointless but the fact that there is no longer a carrier. On the third day I was captured, one of your magnificently intelligent friends left this walkie,” he held up the walkie-talkie that only that morning had been in Sullivan’s hand, “near where they kept me, while he went for a toilet break. Instructions were then given, and the submarine dealt with the carrier. You see Juliet, the submarine that you saw explode was not the only submarine we have. You never got to experience what was at The Temple did you?” Ben smiled as he finished, keeping the gun trained on Juliet.
“I’m not afraid,” Juliet said her voice barely audible.
“Jules, there’s no shame in being afraid,” Ben replied, the gun still locked.
“It’s from Carrie, Ben. A story of a girl in a world in which she does not belong. However she’s kept in it, tortured by those around her, who cannot treat her for what she is, cannot see her gift. The wondrous gift that she is bestowed with turns out to be their downfall and hers, as the world which held her prisoner, falls around her.” Ben’s grip on the gun started to shake as Juliet walked towards him, her eyes locked intently on his for the first time. “All she wanted was to be loved, but the one person that she should have been able to trust most, killed her,” she was now directly in front of Ben, practically nose to nose, “Ironic don’t you think?”
She grabbed Ben’s hand and placed her finger on the trigger and the barrel of the gun to her throat. She looked up towards the heavens.
“I’m coming Sis.”
And pulled the trigger.