The Lost Shephard { Richard, Sawyer, Alex }

[Jack Shephard]

"Wake up, Kiddo."

His eyes snapped open, and eyes focused, they were met by a sea of dark greens and blues. Breaths came out in ragged pants, and his brows narrowed deeply. His body screamed out in pain, and he blinked, shocked as he tried to focus on the things above him that were swaying gently in the breeze...

Trees? No...

The sound of a dog barking made Jack's head snap to the side, and instantly, he was attacked, a wet, rough tounge scraping across his face. "S-Stop," he mumbled, his voice tired and weak. "Stop, Vincent..."

...Vincent...

His fingers sank into the golden fur of the dog, and he used the dog as leverage to sit up. The dogs panting was happy, and a wagging tail only signaled this further. The last thing he had remembered was...his room. He had been in his room, he'd...he'd been drinking. This had to be a dream.

"Okay. Okay, this is just a dream." He said, as if the dog would nod, or bark, or actually speak. Dogs spoke in dreams, didn't they? His brows were fixed, narrowed down, and he watched as the dog happily licked at his arm. Looking down, he noticed that he was wearing the same clothes he had fallen asleep in. Since when did that happen? It was then, as Jack sunk his fingers through the dogs fur, watching as Vincent flopped down to sitting next to Jack, that memories started to come back.

He had been drinking heavily...somehow his father had been there. He had been laughing, and Jack had taken more pills to try to drown out the taunting. The laughter.

The truth.

"Am I dead?"

Vincent's wet tongue lapped at Jack's face, and he wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Slowly, Jack stood up, and as he did, Vincent followed his motion along side of him. However, Vincent suddenly stilled, and started barking at the trees. "Vincent!" Jack said with a frown. "Vinc--"

The loud mechanical roar made Jack jerk back, and as he saw the trees part, he spun around rushing through the trees. Faintly, he could hear Vincent barking in the distance, but as he ran as fast as he could, the sound he heard most was the pounding of his heart somewhere near his throat. He tried to remember the way through the jungle, and he jerked to the left, knowing the beach would be that way. The Monster never came on the beach. He'd be safe on the beach.

Wake up, Shephard. WAKE UP! WAKE THE FUCK--

His foot caught a root, and he grunted hard as his hands broke his fall, slamming him down onto the hard earth. Air released it's way quickly from his mouth, but as the roar sounded again, he managed to scramble to his feet, taking familiar shelter that he had taken so many times before. Peering through the large reeds of the tree, his shaky breaths were the only thing he heard as he saw the black smoke spread out in front of the tree. He didn't realise that he held his breath until the smoke passed, and he felt himself release it. He climbed out of the tree, eyes wide as he scanned the jungle. "Vincent?!" he called, hearing nothing but silence in return. "VINCENT!"

The bark shifted it's way through the jungle, and Jack's head whipped around to where it came from. He started off in a run towards the sound, finally coming upon the dog who was standing in the sand on the beach. His breaths came in harsh pants, and he frowned slightly. "It should have ate you for leaving me."

Vincent barked and ran off down the beach. Confused and tired, Jack started off in a run after him, but failed to continue to run as he saw nothing on the beach save for a random sea-shell.

Vincent ran, barking loudly until he came up to Alex, jumping up to place his two paws on the girl's stomach. He continued to bark and look back towards the far side of the Island.

[Alex Linus]

She picked up another seashell as she walked along the beach, not far from camp. Examining it, she pulled back her arm and tossed it back into the ocean as waves began to roll in, higher and higher each time - the tide was coming in.

Alex sighed, brushed hair out of her face, and continued along her short walk while Richard and Sawyer got things in order or whatever it was they were doing. She knew she was going with them to find the other survivors, she just didn't know when they were leaving. Having gotten fed up and plain bored, she left them talking.

A faint barking caught her attention, but she brushed it off, knowing it was either Vincent out chasing a bird in the jungle, or she was just hearing things - which was possible in this heat.

Until it grew louder.

She paused, frowning as the yellow lab came out of nowhere, leaping up at her. Alex brushed him off and knelt down to his level, scratching him behind the ears. "What is it boy? You find another bird?" She asked, but as he continued barking, she sighed.

"All right! All right! Calm down and show me what you want!" Alex muttered, getting back to her feet and heading in the direction the dog had come from.

"C'mon you mangy mutt let's see what the commotion is about."

[Jack Shephard]

Even hell could be beautiful, Jack thought silently as he stared out at the ocean. Even if he was alone and this was hell...for a brief second, it was...home. Tearing his gaze away from the ocean, he moved to pull off his shoes, rolling up his suit pants to his knees. He had lost his jacket somewhere in the jungle, and better off, because as he looked at the sky, he figured that it would rain soon. At least he'd be able to gather water.

Did people need water when they were dead?

However, the sound of barking made him frown, and his brows narrowed even more when he heard a voice.

"All right! All right! Calm down and show me what you want!"

...that was a voice. His heart started beating in his chest again, faster and faster as he picked up his shoes from the shore, seeing Alex in the distance.

Then, his stomach shifted painfully, and he realised that it wasn't a dream. He wasn't dead. He was back on the Island.

"...how the hell?" he whispered, watching as Vincent ran up, barking to him. It suddenly felt like the earth shifted slightly, and he brought a hand up to his head, rubbing the small space in between his eyes as if it would make an answer appear there.

"Alex?"

[Alex Linus]

"Alex?"

She jerked, halted in her tracks at her name, looking up from where she had been watching Vincent run across the sand. Alex hadn't noticed Jack coming toward her, but now, she could make out his form perfectly as she jogged up to him, Vincent reaching him moments before she did.

"Dr. Shephard?" She asked, slightly unsure for a moment. He looked a bit worse for where. Well, you would too if you had died, Alex, she told herself - she'd been through that once, and it wasn't going to happen again.

"Uh, Dr. Shephard? Are you alright?" She questioned, gingerly resting a hand on his arm. Should she leave him here and go get Richard? Or just take him back to camp?

"Do you want to, like, sit down and me go and get Richard or James - or do you want me to take you to them?"

[Richard Alpert]

"I told you, James. I know why you're back, but exactly WHY you're needed? The reason in the long run? Well, I'm not exactly privy to that information. I'm given information as it's seen needed to me."

Of course, Richard wasn't sure if Sawyer would believe that or not. However, it didn't matter whether or not Sawyer believed him. If he did, well, that was great. If he didn't, well, then he'd be shown the foolishness for not believing him. "Sawyer, among many things, my role on this Island is something like...an advisor. So let me suggest something. Take my advice and trust me."

However, as Richard heard the sound of a dog barking, he poked his head out of the make-shift tent, before pulling himself back in to look at Sawyer. "Well, that's quicker than I thought." Richard said with a slight smile. "It looks like the Shephard's returned to his flock. He looks a little worse for wear, though. You need to fill him in on what's happening, James. Your people are out there in the jungle, and if they get into the wrong places, I can't exactly say they'll come out of there alive."

[Jack Shephard]

"Dr. Shephard? Are you alright? Do you want to like, sit down and me go and get Richard or James, or do you want me to take you to them?"

"Wait, what?!"

The world stopped spinning long enough for Jack to register that she had said James. She couldn't have meant Sawyer? He had seen Sawyer dead in the morgue. He had seen Aaron on the slab. His brows narrowed deeply as he grabbed onto Alex's arm, looking at her seriously. "You're telling me...that Sawyer is here. James--James Ford, the one that you went off the other Island with...he's here?"

If Sawyer was here...did that mean everyone else was here? Was this all a bad dream brought on by too many pills and bottles of booze? Were Kate and Juliet alive? Was Hurley alive? Were they all alive and just...wandering around? Hope fluttered in Jack's heart for the briefest of moments, but then it faltered slightly. "I saw him...I saw him with half of his skull missing...there's no way he can be here." This HAD to be a dream.

"He's dead, Alex. I saw him. He--they said he blew his brains out in the middle of the hotel room." He had seen the body...

Alex said something about taking him to Richard and Sawyer, and Jack wondered if that was the best idea. If this WAS a dream, and he WAS alive...it'd drive him to suicide to see Sawyer...after everything that had happened, all the deaths in Los Angeles...

"Take me to him."

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

Letting out a frustrated as Richard came out with another useless answer, Sawyer stuffed a bottle of water into his backpack. Each day he had more questions, and the answers were always the same. Useless.

“Seen needed to ya by who? Don’t ya ever get tired’a livin’ like a puppet on a string?” he asked, clearly annoyed. This guy was like one of those religious fanatics that lived their lives looking for signs and thought God was telling them what to do because they could see Jesus’ face in an oil stain or a potato. It was no way to live at all.

Trust him. Trust. It was something that James Ford did not give easily. His mother had trusted a man once with everything and it had ruined all their lives. He could not trust so blindly, and he hated feeling like he had no choice.

“Trust is somethin’ ya gotta...” Sawyer started to reply before Richard turn away, no longer paying attention. Glaring at the back of the other man’s head, the harsh expression quickly fell at what he heard next.

Jack was back.

They had their differences in the past, for certain, and their last meeting had been painful for both of them, both emotionally and physically, but Sawyer was honestly looking forward to seeing the good doctor again. The conman had told Jack that he was the best friend he had on the island, and oddly enough he had meant it. They were friends, rivals, and everything in between. Their relationship was nothing if not twisted.

“No worries, Sunshine, we’ll find them. After all,” he said, pushing past Richard and making his way out of the tent. Standing up straight, Sawyer smiled as he saw Jack approaching. “Ol’ Jacko here won’t leave nobody behind. Ain’t that right?”

[Alex Linus]

She frowned, nodding. "Of course they -." She started, then realized he had just woken up from dying. So of course he thought the others were dead, because they had gotten here before him, because they had died first. If that made any sense at all. To her, it really didn't, but hey. It was a mysterious freaky Island - who knew what it could do.

"Yeah, James is alive - the baby is too." She stated, beginning to lead him back toward the camp. Vincent was running along side them in the surf, barking uncontrollably.

"Glad to see you woke up all right though - now we just have to wait for the others to end up here, and we'll go look for them." She muttered as they turned a corner on the beach, the camp coming into view.

"Hey Richard! James! Jack's back!"

[Jack Shephard]

"Yeah, James is alive - the baby is, too."

Jack's head was spinning, making his stomach shift in ways that he didn't like as he walked along the beach. Vincent's barking wasn't making it any better, he thought silently as he brought a hand up to his head, rubbing it. "If this is a dream, I'm done. I want to wake up now. I just want to--"

"Hey Richard! James! Jack's back!"

Lifting his eyes from the surf, Jack's brows narrowed as he saw the form of Richard. He hadn't seen much of Richard during his week stay in New Otherton, however, he had seen enough of the man to know that he held some weight, even if he didn't act like it. And then, his eyes found Sawyer. His stomach shifted again, and he grimaced.

"Doctor Shephard, if you want to ID the body, that'd be a great help. I mean, not much is left of his head--"

"Look, you don't need to tell me about the effects of a gunshot to the head, okay? I know there isn't much left."

There had been a small part left, and even for Jack's trained medical mind and stomach, he had felt himself barely able to handle it. More so when they had shown him the battered and broken body of Aaron.

"Ol' Jacko here won't leave nobody behind. Ain't that right?"

He was sure that part of him was happy to see Sawyer. No, he was sure that part of him was EXTREMELY happy to see Sawyer, because at least, if this was a dream, or if this was hell...he wasn't alone. Where Richard fit into all of this, Jack wasn't sure, but as his eyes focused on Sawyer as he walked up to him, the smirk got to him.

That god damned smirk.

He wasn't even sure if it had even registered in his brain until after the fact, but the pain in Jack's hand as it connected with Sawyer's jaw made him grimace, grabbing onto his hand with a frown. He shook it with a frown, the anger at Sawyer draining from him as he watched the man.

"...you'd have to have the thickest fucking head in the world, Sawyer."

[Richard Alpert]

"I'm not a puppet, James. Some things you just do without question. I care about this Island as much as you care about your friends. And besides, how do you know you're not the puppet in the end?"

Richard stepped out of the tent, watching as Alex and Jack moved up. The doctor looked very unsteady on his feet, however, when Jack stepped up, reached an hand back, and punched Sawyer, Richard couldn't help but arch an eyebrow.

"Now that you've got that out of the way," Richard told Jack. "Your friends are in the jungle. I assume you've had a run in with what's lurking out there, I really don't want to see your friends get a worse fate; we should really get moving. James can fill you in while we're walking."

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

A little worse for wear was an understatement. Jack looked like death warmed over twice, all dishevelled and disoriented. Whatever the hell he’d been through these past few days, it wasn’t good.

Taking a few steps toward the doctor, Sawyer had expected a hug, or a million questions at the very least. The punch, though, took him by surprise and dropped him to one knee. Bringing the back of one hand up to his lip, he could already taste the distinct coppery hint of blood in his mouth. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered, spitting the blood in the sand and glaring up at Jack. The harsh expression didn’t last, though, and soon he found himself actually laughing.

“Thought you’da learned that lesson last time,” he chuckled, getting back to his feet. “Lookin’ pretty good for havin’ it shot off too, huh?”

The southerner honestly didn’t know whether to hug Jack or hit him back, but Richard interrupted any attempt at either. “Wait, you’re sayin’ tha rest’a them are already here? It’s only been a few days, how do we know Jackass ain’t tha first one?”

[Jack Shephard]

Sawyer was laughing, and Jack actually felt a smile hitch at the corners of his mouth, before he felt it shift back into a frown. "Sawyer, they said you killed Aaron and then blew your brains out. That's not exactly funny." Of course, part of Jack had never believed it. Aaron's cry made Jack frown deeper, and he rushed the short way into the tent where Aaron was. The boy cried once more, and then smiled his wide, toothless grin at Jack. A breath escaped his lips in almost a sadly happy sigh, and he moved, lifting Aaron up into his arms. "Hey. Hey, kiddo. What're you doin' here, huh?" He asked, bouncing the baby lightly with one of the first truely happy smiles since he had woken up. "What're you doin' here?"

"Wait, you're sayin' that the rest of them are already here? It's only been a few days, how do we know Jackass ain't the first one?"

Looking back at towards the front of the tent as he heard Sawyer speak, Jack suddenlly felt a strange sense of hopefullness. Juliet and Kate were both alive. Setting Aaron back down in the crib, Jack moved back out to look at both of them.

"Because they're dead." It hurt to even remember it. "...they all just died. Hurley got hit by a car in front of the Roosevelt a few days after you...died. Kate..." Jack couldn't even finish the sentence, and he looked down slightly before he looke dback at Sawyer. "Juliet got into a car accident in my car." He paused for a moment and looked at Sawyer, his brows narrowing slightly as he remembered.

"...I drank myself to death."

The words came out as almost shockingly painful. "I--I just--" He looked at Richard. "Did I kill myself?"

[Richard Alpert]

"Whether or not you killed yourself doesn't really matter, does it?" Richard asked, looking at Jack. "Simple fact is, you died and now you're here. I wouldn't dwell on it. Now, I'm really wanting to get into the jungle and find your people before it gets dark, so if we can save the questions until after we get back, that'd be great."

Richard didn't even wait for them to reply before he started off into the jungle. Looking back, he spoke as he walked. "The Barracks are the closest location where your people could be. I'm amusing that you all are waking up in places that mean something to you, or that the Island thinks mean something to you."

Glancing over at Alex, he clenched his teeth slightly in thought before speaking to her. "Vestri matris quod Karl vires vivo in Templum, Alex. Ego mos transporto a signum ut nos reperio suum absentis populus*."

((*Your mother and Karl could be alive in the Temple, Alex. I will send a signal when we find their missing people.))

[Alex Linus]

Alex watched the exchange with an almost amused look on her face as she stood there, scratching Vincent's head absentmindedly. Finding the others should prove to be amusing too, considering what some of their reactions might be.

The teen snapped out of her thoughts when Richard began heading into the jungle. Without hesitation, she followed, looking at Jack and Sawyer as she fell into step behind Richard - like hell she was getting left by herself now. Making sure the gun was in her waistband, it took her a moment to realize Richard was speaking to her.

Latin again? She hadn't used that since - well, since he had taught it to her. So it took her a moment to work out what he had said, and work out a reply.

"Es vos iens ut dico lemma venire contra beach? Vel es nos iens ut Templum secundum nos reperio suum populus?**" She finally replied as she walked behind him, staring at his back. She cast a glance at Jack and Sawyer again.



(((**Are you going to tell them to come to the beach? Or are we going to the Temple after we find their people?)))

[James "Sawyer" Ford]

That story again. The thought of anyone believing that he could do such a thing to a child, that anyone could, made Sawyer sick. “And how many of ya believed that little tale?” he replied harshly, but Jack was already off to see Aaron. Looking to Richard for an answer, the southerner was surprised when Jack was the one to reply, the answer shaking Sawyer.

They had all died. Jack was the last one. That meant the rest were already out there somewhere, alone. Sawyer remembered how confused he had been when he had been the only one. If he hadn’t had Aaron to look out for he didn’t know what he would have done. The rest of them, though, would be awake somewhere on this dangerous island having no idea how they got here or why.

For the first time, all the confusion didn’t matter and he completely agreed with Richard. How they got here and why didn’t matter at this point. All that mattered was finding the rest of them. Hefting his pack over his shoulder, Sawyer grabbed an extra bottle of water and tossed it to Jack.

“Walk it off, rock star, we got work to do,” he threw over his shoulder as he set off after Richard and Alex. Catching the end of their conversation, he scowled. “Ya know, ya want us ta trust ya, you might wanna stop talkin’ in your secret language.”