Four Walls and a Visitor [Alex]

[Richard Alpert]

This was why he liked being off Island.

As the water ran across his head, down his back, he felt a sigh escape his lips. There was something going on, Richard could feel it in the air. The entire apartment felt heavy, and the news hadn't made that thought any better; Ford was dead. Ford and the baby were dead. Murder, they said. At first, instantly, he thought of Jacob. Was this revenge? He wouldn't put it past him, Richard thought as he felt the water start to run cold. He turned off the tap and exited the shower, wrapping the towel around his waist. The bathroom was connected to the bedroom by a small hallway, and Richard entered the bedroom, only to stop at his tracks at a figure sitting in the chair by the bed.

"Hello, Richard."

Richard knew of the ghost of Christian Shephard, the father of Jack, the leader of that merry little band of Survivors. However, he thought that Jacob would at least have some sort of respect, or mutual respect, and come to Richard himself. However, he chose to speak to Christian, at least for the moment. "Christian."

"You seemed surprised to see me."

"You seem surprised that I'm still alive. Are you here to tell me my time is up?" The tone was almost amused.

The smallest of smiles spread on Christian's lips. "Touche." He uncrossed his legs, resting his hands on the armrests. "Jacob isn't happy with you, Richard."

"I know that. Couldn't he have came himself and told me that?" Richard asked, stepping across the bedroom to grab some clothes from the drawer. He dressed silently. "I did what I was told to do by Ben."

"Ben didn't order you to take Alexandra off the Island. You did that yourself."

Whether or not Richard had done it himself wasn't the issue. He ignored the statement as he pulled on his pants. "Two of the survivors died. They said murder." He didn't need to voice who he thought did the deed.

"Whether or not he did isn't the point. They're better off where they are."

"Yeah, right." Richard looked over at Christian before pulling his shirt on. "I expect there's going to be some punishment when I get back to the Island, right?"

"Who says your going back?"

Richard smirked, scoffing slightly. "Right." he told the man with a slight nod. "Don't try to scare me, Christian, because it won't work. I could easily go back to the Island if I want to right now, and face him, but there's no point. Not right now. And you do realise that she doesn't want to go back to the Island, right?"

"She'll see the true way, soon." Christian said with a nod. "You know that. And are you sure it's not fear that's keeping you here, Richard?"

"Don't hurt her. She didn't deserve any of this. I'll get her back there whenever he wants me back." Ignoring he other statement, he shook his head. "I know he could easily kill me here, so what's the difference? And it's not fear, Christian. It's respect."

"The Fear of God, Richard. Like these people in LA say--"

The sound of footsteps down the wooden-floored hallway made Richard stop and look over, seeing no one sitting in the chair. "Alexandra?" he called to the closed door. Had she heard? He opened the door, seeing Alex standing near the door. For almost the first time, he was unsure as to what to say to her.

[Alex Linus]

Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair, twirling the joker card between her fingers as she tried to debate and remember which was it's match out of the cards spread out on the bed in front of her. She sat cross-legged on it, her back against the headboard as she played a simple matching game out of bordem. Hopefully Richard would actually take her out and about into Los Angeles soon.

Flipping over the top corner card, she frowned when it was an ace. Rolling her eyes, Alex tossed the joker down and gathered up the cards, setting them on the small table next to her bed before getting to her feet and stretching.

She left the room, a small yawn escaping her lips as she made her way down the hallway. Alex was still very tired.

But something caught her attention - voices. Since when did Richard have company? She frowned slightly, and followed them silently to where she stood outside Richard's bedroom, just next to the door. Pressing her ear to the wall curiously, she could hear some of the things being said.

"She'll see the true way, soon .... You know that. And are you sure it's not fear that's keeping you here, Richard?"

Were they talking about her? She frowned, pressing harder against the wall.

"Don't hurt her. She didn't deserve any of this. I'll get her back there whenever he wants me back ..... I know he could easily kill me here, so what's the difference? And it's not fear, Christian. It's respect."

"The Fear of God, Richard. Like these people in LA say--"

As she stood on her tippytoes, eager to hear more, she stumbled slightly, her head hitting the wall and her feet making a loud noise against the wooden floors. She winced, knowing she was going to be caught redhanded.

Not wanting to go through the entire process of lying - especially not to Richard - she stood outside his door, raising her hand to knock. But before she could, it opened and Richard stood there, looking slightly angry. She frowned again.

"Uh - sorry. Who were you talking to?" She questioned, her gaze sweeping his room slightly, not seeing anyone.

[Richard Alpert]

Well, she had heard. Was it time to explain? Richard didn't want to go through the long explination, and sure, it was keeping things from her, but Richard needed to keep things from her; he kept so much from her that he wasn't sure there was enough hours in the day to explain.

"It doesn't matter." Richard said, moving to shut the door, stopping her gaze from the room. "What you heard, it doesn't concern you, so don't worry about it." But the truth was it DID concern her. The words that Christian had said hadn't gone unnoticed to Richard. It didn't worry him, but it had made him very interested as to what Jacob was up to.

Richard figured it was safe to at least show her a little of Los Angeles. Being pent up in this apartment probably didn't do her much good; but she was doing alot better than when she had came in.

"Do you want to go out?"

[Alex Linus]

Alex frowned slightly, realizing he was obviously lying about something to her. But she didn't mention it out loud. If he wanted to tell her the truth, he could, if he didn't, well, she'd get over it.

Folding her arms over her chest, she took a step back as Richard shut the door. She brushed her hair out of her face as she looked at Richard for a moment, listening to him ask her if she wanted to go out. It would be nice, but she wasn't exactly sure if she was ready.

After a moment of debating, she nodded.

"Sure."

[Richard Alpert]

He knew she knew he was lying. However, explaining it to her would just get her more confused. Besides, the less Alex knew, the better. At least until they were back on the Island. And even then, it was still dangerous. As she agreed to go out, Richard nodded slightly and moved to grab the keys. Walking her outside for a few moments wouldn't hurt, Richard told himself.

As he walked to the door and opened it, he made a mental note to speak to Alex about the Island sooner or later. If she needed to get back there, he'd do everything in his power to get her back. He had taken her away from there out of worry that she'd be hurt, and now she needed to go back. They all did.

"Do you really like it here as much as you say?" he asked her when they were out in the hallway. He shut the door and locked it, turning to walk with her down the hall.

[Alex Linus]

She felt like a little lost puppy as she followed Richard down the hall, toward the front door. A little lost puppy that needed to be trained and walked and all that nonsense. She frowned slightly at the thought, shaking hair from her face.

It irked her.

Alex silently followed him out into the hallway, watching him lock the door with tired eyes. She was still very tired from her experience, and had been sleeping off most of it, so this was her first time actually out of the apartment. Her gaze briefly flickered around at her surroundings before returning to Richard.

She was slightly surprised with his question, but spoke without hesitation.

"Yes, Richard, I do. Even if I haven't seen anything but the inside of that apartment - I love it here."

[Richard Alpert]

Of course she did. She enjoyed it here because it was different. But soon, she would need to go back to the Island; Jacob would order that she come back, and Richard would do whatever nessesary to get her back.

He reached over behind him, adjusting the gun in the waistband of his pants before he looked over at Alex. "I understand that you like this place and I understand you want to stay here. You do realise that if He asks me to take you back to the Island, I will do whatever I have to, to get you back?" he asked her honestly. "I shouldn't have taken you from the Island; I know this now. My emotions got the better of me; I thought you were in danger. I should have taken you to the Temple and kept you there."

[Alex Linus]

Alex frowned at him. Wasn't he supposed to be on her side? Who cared what the hell He said - she didn't. And come hell or high water, she wasn't about to set foot back on that island.

"Then don't listen to him Richard." Alex stated sharply, folding her arms across her chest as her eyes narrowed slightly as the anger rose up in her. She wasn't about to let him take her back, even if she knew that Richard could overpower her easy.

"That temple wouldn't have done a damn bit of good - those mercenaries from the Freighter would have found it eventually, and we'd all be dead anyway. So what the hell does it matter anymore?"

[Richard Alpert]

He just had to keep telling himself she was young. She had never been to the Temple, she hadn't known. Nor did she realise that not listening to Jacob could mean certain death. "You don't realise what you're saying. It's okay." he said, almost to himself, or to maybe another person all together, he wasn't even sure himself. "It does matter, because we may have to go back. We probably WILL have to go back, and I know I told you that you'd be able to stay here, but I'm not quite sure anymore."

"Have you ever been to the Temple?" he asked suddenlly, looking at Alex.

[Alex Linus]

"I realize perfect well what I'm saying Richard." She stated firmly, her tone turning slightly icy as she spoke, her fingers clenching.

"I'm not going back Richard - EVER. I mean it - I'll stay here on my own if I have to. And by the sounds of it, I'm probably going to have to." Alex continued, pressing herself back up against the wall of the hallway as if afraid he might somehow grab her and take her back right then.

"And no - I've never been."

[Richard Alpert]

A sigh escaped Richard's lips, and he resisted the urge to get angry with her. It would be better to let it go, perhaps she would let it go, too. He knew that it would continue to stew, and she would need to get it out. He wasn't sure what parent she was like, but maybe a meld of the three. "Then you don't know if it's that safe, do you?" he asked after a moment, and turned to walk towards the elevator. He didn't hear her coming behind him. "Come on. We're not just going to stand here in the hallway."

The Temple would have been his choice, however, it had been too far away. Alex had been too badly wounded, and the closest thing had been the Orchid. She still wasn't following, and he sighed out, moving to place his hands on his hips. "Are you coming?"

[Alex Linus]

Alex gritted her teeth.

"I guess I don't - but those idiots figures out how to get to the Island, so they can't be that dumb. I'm sure they'd figure out how to get inside the Temple eventaully." She stated.

After a moment, Alex tookd a step forward, following him onto the elevator. Her curiousity was overpowering her now, but anger still boiled beneath the surface, still prepared to be unleashed.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

[Richard Alpert]

As he watched her, Richard felt himself swallow slightly before she followed him into the elevator. Richard knew what he had to do; he needed to get her back on the Island. Christian wouldn't come for anything; the sooner the better. "And they won't get into the Temple. The Temple is the last safe place on the Island, the last place anyone would find whomever they're looking for."

Richard knew that the only way that he'd get Alex back to the Island was if she was unconcious. He knew he had to get her to Middelos, and then he'd be able to get her back to the Island.

[Alex Linus]

Alex chose not to respond, for she didn't really have a reason to argue. Richard was probably right - it was the last safe place. And Alex was just trying to argue her way out of going back to the island, something she wasn't looking forward to. She knew deep down she had to go back, but every other ounce of fiber in her body was toward not going back. Karl was dead, her mother was probably dead, and her father - well, she had no idea. There really was nothing left for her back there.

"So what? When we get back to the island, are we just going to go on with our happy little lives and pretend that Flight 815 never crashed, that half of us didn't die, and that we're all going to end up being eaten by a damned polar bear or smoke monster?" She questioned in a clipped tone.

[Richard Alpert]

"Don't be ridiculous, Alexandra." Richard said to her clipped tone, looking over at her as the Elevator started it's decent down. "You're not going to get eaten by the smoke monster, OR a polar bear. Have you yet? No. You havn't." he told her honestly. "We were perfectly happy with the situation that we found ourselves in, and when we get back to the Island once more, we'll adapt again."

Of course, adapting to change was something Richard knew well. With the arrival of the Dharma people all those years ago, with the arrvial of the 815 survivors, everything had changed.