Rating: Pg-13

Disclaimer: As usual, don't own any of this.

Spoilers: Pretty much everything to do with the episode 'The Moth'.

Charlie sat next to the fire, huddling close to it for warmth. It was a clear, mildly warm night, but his hands were shaking ever so slightly. He had just tossed away his drugs, now and forever.

But it wouldn't be without a price.

"Jack?" Charlie whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Is that a snake coming out of the fire?"

Jack checked carefully. "That's a twig, Charlie."

"Oh. That's all right, then," Charlie said calmly, trying to keep his voice from panicking.

"You're going through the hallucinatory stage, Charlie," Jack said. "I need you to hang in there, okay?"

His hands shaking, Charlie closed his eyes.

A tear fell to his cheek.

-------------------------

(Flashback)

What do you mean you won't hire Driveshaft?" Charlie demanded, turning away from the window. He had done his best to look decent-worn new clothes, showered and shaved. But even that couldn't hide the need for sleep in his eyes. Or the boiling anger.

The manager stared at him impassively. "Sorry, Charlie. That's just the way it is."

"Oh come on John-you've heard us play before! You know how good we are!"

"That was before, Charlie. This is now. Half the band split, for Pete's sake, and you-well, I'm sorry Charlie, but you're not good enough solo."

"John, I need this!" Charlie snapped.

John's green eyes strayed to Charlie's hand which was pressed against the desk. It was shaking. Quickly Charlie straightened and swallowed. "All right," he said. "What if...what if I got my brother to play for the band? Will that be all right for you?"

John looked up at Charlie.

"Will you hire us then?" Charlie persisted.

----------------------------

"Charlie!" Liam pleaded.

"I've got a plane to catch, Liam!" Charlie snapped, walking past him, anger building up in him. His own brother had refused to play in the band, and had discovered that Charlie was still on the drug. Said that Charlie had a 'problem' and offered to help. Well, Charlie didn't need his brother's help. He could manage it all on his own if he had to-

"Wait, Charlie." Resignation.

Surprised, Charlie turned around. Liam set his daughter upon the grass. "All right. I'll make a deal with you, Charlie. How much is this tour worth to you?"

Charlie stepped a few paces towards him. "Everything, Liam. You know that!"

"Enough to give up the drugs?" Liam asked him.

For a long moment there was silence.

"What are you going on about, Liam?" Charlie demanded.

"Will you give up the drugs for this, Charlie?"

"Well...yeah. I mean, drugs aren't my whole life, Liam. The music is."

Liam slowly nodded. "All right. I'll...figure out some way to join you for the tour *provided* that you stop taking the drugs right now and we walk away from the tour clean."

Charlie slowly smiled and stepped forwards. "Yeah?"

Liam smiled. "Yeah...I guess."

Charlie clasped his hand. "All right then!" His smile widened. "Nothing to it!"

------------------------

Charlie gripped the seat tightly as the plane shuddered once again.

Liam glanced up and smiled from his magazine. "It's just turbulence, Charlie. Nothing to worry about."

"*I hate flying*, Liam. You know that!" The ship shuddered violently.

"It's not the reason, is it, Charlie? No one gets off the drug easily."

"I can handle it, Liam," Charlie snapped.

The next second the plane exploded into a fireball.

--------------------------

(Now)

Screaming and laying flat on his back, Charlie wrestled with whoever was holding his hands. He had no idea where he was, or what time it was, only that his brother was hurt-

"Charlie?"

"Liam he was....no, he wasn't on the plane my head what's happening my fault-"

"CHARLIE!"

Charlie's eyes snapped open. He was laying on the cave floor with Jack shaking his shoulder. "Jack-" Charlie whispered before his body erupted into shudders. His eyes swam with more visions.

"No-stay with me!" Jack snapped. "You're going through the worst of the hallucinations now. I can't give you any drugs to help you, but if it gets any worse I'm going to have to tie you up to keep you from hurting yourself. Now I might need help to do that! Charlie! Does anyone else know about your secret?"

Charlie closed his eyes, his teeth chattering. He whispered something.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Locke! Locke knows!" Charlie screamed.

"Okay," Jack whispered. "I'm going to get him. I need you to hang on until then. Whatever you do, don't move."

Charlie closed his eyes. "Hurry," he whispered. "Hurry, Jack."

Jack ran out of the cave. At the mouth of the entrance Jack ran straight into Hurley, looking more then a little disturbed. "What's going on there, man? It sounds like he's being...tortured..." He crammed his neck upwards for a better look.

"No," Jack denied, blocking Hurley's vision. "No, his flu has gotten worse. He'll be all right, but he's hallucinating at the moment." Jack bit his lip, impatient to be off. At the rate and intensity of the hallucinations Charlie might become dangerous if it got any worse.

"Oh, wow. Do you need any help at all?"

"No, it's okay. I got it. Thanks," Jack said quickly, far too quickly.

-------------

(Flashback)

John slowly wrote a check and removed it from his book with a snap. "Congratulations, gentlemen. Your first gig will be here next Sunday. Check into a hotel room until then."

Hardly able to contain his excitement, Charlie took the check. "Thanks, John, we won't let you down."

"I hope not, Charlie. That's a lot of money involved," John said. "Liam, my secretary will make the arrangements with you. Charlie and I will catch up on old times in the meantime."

Liam grinned. "See you soon," he said, and exited the room.

John folded his hands at Charlie and sighed. "To play DriveShaft requires a certain amount of...energy. I hope you boys haven't lost it."

"No, sir. We haven't," Charlie protested quietly.

John stared at him for a moment, then opened a desk drawer. He took out a bag and handed it to Charlie. "Just in case."

Charlie looked at it. "Wha-?"

"You're a druggie, right? This will avoid you buying them with my money while you're on tour."

"I don't-I've gone clean now, John."

"I hope not, Charlie. I mean, come on, how can someone like you not play DriveShaft without being stoned? You've got no talents, Charles, and this stuff will make you seem like a god."

Charlie licked his dry lips. "But-"

"Charlie, take it from someone who tried-no one gets clean from this. There's no point in even starting. Take it. I know it's what you want. Give me a call if you need any more. I have a ton of supply."

Reluctantly, Charlie took it.

"Good man," John said, and winked.

----------------------

(Now)

Charlie jerked his head up, sweat running from his forehead. He had heard a noise-like a stomping. "J-Jack?" he whispered. "Is that you?"

The entire cave suddenly shook violently around him, dust exploding near his body. At first Charlie thought that it was an earthquake, but the shaking didn't stop.

'I'm hallucinating again,' Charlie thought, but then looked up. 'What if it's the thing that's out there? That thing that killed the pilot of the plane? What if it's out there and....is coming for me again?' One thing was sure, he had to get out of the cave. He bolted for the entrance.

And stopped in astonishment.

The entire jungle was on fire! Beyond the cave entrance was a wall of flame. "JACK!" he screamed, but he couldn't see or hear anything.

Something did answer, though, something that roared. Whatever it was, it sounded very angry. Quickly Charlie bolted back into the cave, through the small passageway which led to an adjacent network of caves. He ran further and further through the network, far more then he had ever explored before. The shaking continued.

He suddenly tripped over something and fell head-first into the dirt. He turned his blond head in astonishment, tears in his eyes.

---------------------------

(Flashback)

It was after their first concert.

Liam collapsed in the bed of their hotel room, laughing. "I can't believe how much I missed it Charlie-the music, the cheers! People still love us back there!"

"Yeah, I know," Charlie said in the second bed, grinning. "And you know what the best thing is? I got a few phone calls from people who watched us."

Liam twisted to face him. "You didn't!"

"The second half of the band is willing to play. They'll meet us in England. It'll just be like old times, Liam."

Liam collapsed back into the pillow. "Wow," he said. "Just like old times."

A silence between them.

"I bet um...Susan wasn't happy to see you go," Charlie said after a moment.

"It was a bit of an argument, yeah. I convinced her that I was doing this for you. I mean, you 'have' remained clean, right?"

Charlie nodded, grinning. "Clean and straight. Maybe if I keep doing this I can be sober too."

"That's such good news. Those drugs weren't any good for you. Charlie...did you really mean it, back there? That I drove you to do drugs?"

Charlie hesitated. Luckily, the phone rang. Charlie picked it up. "Supper's arrived. You go on and get it. I've got to freshen up."

"All right," Liam said, laughing.

"And Liam, don't eat all the chicken. Half of that's mine!"

"Charlie," Liam called before Charlie could make it to the bathroom. "I'm proud of you, bro."

"Thanks," Charlie said, still smiling, and entered the bathroom. He closed the door shut behind him. Outside he could hear Liam talking with the waiter. Quickly Charlie opened his briefcase and took out the bag of drugs. He had kept to his words and hadn't touched any of it. And he never will, ever again. Charlie smiled, a true smile of relief. Screw John and his company. He didn't need this stuff in his life anymore. He moved forwards, about to flush it down the toilet.

He suddenly turned around.

The door was wide open, and Liam was silently starring at him.

------------------------

(Now)

Charlie couldn't believe what he had tripped over. He knew that the caves had once belonged to two survivors, but to have Jack and the others miss this.....but of course, it was there waiting for him.

'You gave up something to the Jungle, Charlie,' Locke's voice rang in his head. And now the Jungle wants to give something back.'

Smiling, Charlie picked up the butcher's knife.

----------------------

Jack heard Locke before he saw him. Jack stepped into a clearing where Locke was sitting on a massive tree root, cutting nearby branches with his knife. There was something about Locke that unnerved Jack a little, but he was getting desperate.

"Hello, doc. What can I do for you?" Locke asked calmly.

"It's Charlie. He's got a problem," Jack said.

"What sort of 'problem' does Charlie got?"

"Come on. You know that he was taking drugs," Jack snapped.

"Are you mad? That he confided in me and not you?"

"Maybe a little," Jack admitted.

"Well, you can't solve everything on this island, Jack," Locke said with a small smile. "For what it's worth, he didn't confided in me, Jack. He never did. I just figured Charlie out pretty easily," Locke said, snapping off another branch.

Jack put his hands in his pockets. "His hallucinations are getting worse. I can't give him any drugs to slow them down. I might need your help."

Slowly, Locke said nothing for a moment. Then he shrugged. "Okay."

Jack turned to go.

"Wait." Locke reached for something in his pack. "We'll probably need these."

Jack stared at the shoelaces tied very tightly together to make a crude rope. "Where did you get these?" he asked.

"From the shoes of dead people, of course. I took all I could find." Locke winked. "You never know when shoelaces can come in handy, Jack."

-----------------------

Minutes later Jack and Locke entered the cave. Jack looked to the left and right. "He's not in here."

Locke pointed. "Footprints. He must have gotten back further in the cave. We'll find him."

"No, Locke, I'm a lot closer then you think," Charlie said, stepped out if the shadows.

Jack stared. In Charlie's right hand he held a knife. Jack cursed under his breath. He was sure that he had searched these caves top to bottom. Where had Charlie gotten the knife? Charlie was between him and Locke, but he was circling so fast that they couldn't even get close to him. He stepped forwards. "Give me the knife, Charlie."

"I'm getting out of this cave," Charlie said, switching the knife between Jack and Locke. "And you're not going to stop me."

"Now why would we stop you, Charlie?" Locke asked, his voice as calm as ever.

Charlie snicked, his blue eyes shining brightly. "Please, you don't think that I don't know? That I'm not on to you? You guys don't want me to leave this cave alive!" His view switched to Jack. "Because I know his secret!" He moved back. "I don't want to hurt either of you-but I will."

"No you won't, Charlie."

Charlie stared at Jack. "You don't know me, Jack! You don't know what I've done!"

"I know you well enough, Charles," Jack replied, holding his hand out. "Just...take it easy, okay?"

Charlie turned. Locke was blocking the entrance to the cave. "Slow down, son. You don't want to do this." Locke said.

"Get out of my way!" Charlie snapped, and lunged with his knife at Locke.

Locke expertly grabbed his wrist and twisted his hand behind his back. With a cry Charlie dropped the knife which fell to the dirt. Locke grabbed his other hand. "Now, Jack!"

Jack quickly wrapped the shoelaces around Charlie's wrists.

"As tightly as you can!" Locke snapped.

When Jack was done Locke tripped Charlie to the ground and wrapped the other end around Charlie's ankles, loosely enough so that he was comfortable but tightly enough so that he can't get up and walk without some serious hindrance. "There. That should hold him," Locke said, breathing hard.

Charlie, meantime, was swearing his head off. Suddenly he stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes starring at nothing. "Liam?" he whispered in astonishment.

-----------------------

(Flashback)

"What are you doing, Charlie?" Liam demanded. He stared at Charlie, who was still holding the bag of drugs next to the sink.

"I-"

"You're taking the drugs again, aren't you!?"

"Now, wait, that's leaping to conclusions," Charlie protested.

Liam stepped forwards and snatched the bag out of Charlie's hand. "Give me the damn drugs. You looked at me right in the eye, Charlie! You told me you were clean!"

"I am!" Charlie snapped. "John gave me this stuff because he saw that I was a druggie!"

"And are you!?"

"NO!" Charlie shouted. "Liam, you know me! You know who I am!"

"Bullshit!" Liam snapped. "I know who you 'were'. If you're off the drugs, then prove it! Get rid of it right now."

For a long moment neither of them said anything. Charlie didn't know what happened in that moment, but he didn't take the drugs Liam was holding out. Instead he looked down and rubbed his arm. "I shouldn't 'have' to prove anything, Liam."

"Meaning you won't do it. Charlie? Look at me."

Charlie met his eyes.

"It's time you decide what matters to you. Are the drugs worth more then the music? Are they worth more then me?"

A long moment of silence.

------------------------

God loves a coward....'

Charlie lowered his head into the dirt, his eyes closing.

"Are you going to be all right, Jack?" Locke asked, a touch of concern in his voice.

"Yeah," Jack said. "He's starting to quiet down. We should be okay for the rest of the night."

Locke stared at him intently. "That can change at any moment. Odds are you're in for a rough night, Jack. Look, I've seen this before. He's quieting down only because the last worst bit is just ahead. Be careful, and don't fall asleep around him." Slowly, Locke gave him the knife.

"Odds are we're keeping the rest of the island awake as well," Jack said with a sigh, rubbing a hand across his stubble.

"What do you plan on telling the others?" Locke asked.

"The flu," Jack replied promptly.

Locke grinned. "Good man." He nodded. "Good night, Jack."

"Good night." He waited until Locke was safely away before tossing away the knife. It would be easy to find in the morning, but he wouldn't need it tonight. Not around Charlie. With a sigh he turned back to the cave. He really hoped that Charlie wouldn't wake up hating him.

--------------------------

(Flashback)

John closed the briefcase with a snap. "So," he said, starring at Charlie. "The band split from you about one-quarter into the tour. Dare I ask where my money is?"

"Gone," Charlie muttered, looking down. His voice was slurred. "I'm sorry, John-"

"So, in other words, I've lost millions of dollars on you." John stood. "Let me guess, Charlie, you spent the money on drugs?"

"No! I know better. My brother took most of it with him," Charlie said, meeting his eyes. "I-I haven't seen it."

"Then, you better get it back Charlie. Or else, you know that bad things will happen."

--------------------------

The next day Charlie stood in front of the sidewalk next to the house. Taking a deep, decisive breath, he stuffed his hands into his blue jacket and entered.

Liam immediately looked up. His daughter was trying to learn how to play the piano and his wife was nearby. "What are you doing here, Charlie?" Liam demanded.

"I need my money, Liam," Charlie said and stepped forwards.

"Liam-" Susan began.

"Sh, it's okay, Susan." He turned back to Charlie. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"John's money! John's million of dollars! Liam, if I don't get his money back he'll kill me! Please!" Charlie implored.

"I don't have it, Charlie. I split the million with the band and saved two hundred dollars to buy my daughter a birthday gift!"

Charlie swallowed. "Well...fine, give me the two hundred dollars, then!"

Liam shook his head. "You're high, aren't you? Get out of my house, Charlie! We'll talk about this when you've civil."

In response, Charlie took out a gun and aimed it at all three of them. "No. We'll talk about this now."

Liam, Susan, and their daughter became very still. In the distance the clock chimed peacefully.

"Call the band," Charlie ordered. "We're going to get the money back."

"All right," Liam said, moving towards the telephone. "All right, Charlie."

While he dialed, Charlie looked at the three-year-old girl. "I'm sorry," he said to her. He suddenly heard, 'Police department' echo out of the phone.

"Yeah, I've got-" Liam began.

"Woa-wait, what are you doing?"

"You need help, Charlie!" Liam snapped. "Look at yourself! You're threatening my wife and child with a gun!"

"Put down the phone!" Charlie shouted.

"Charlie, I don't have the band's numbers so you can forget about the money! Now we'll figure out a way around this-"

Anger stirred in Charlie. "No!"" He lifted his gun, fully meaning to blow his blasted brother's brains out. He pulled the trigger just as Liam collided with him.

Except things didn't happen exactly as he planned.

Charlie stared in horror at what he had done.

Susan shrieked.

----------

(Now)

An hour later and things were not getting any easier.

Jack was sitting in front of the crudely-made fire. "You need something to drink, Charlie."

His eyes burning, Charlie lifted his head. He was kneeling in front of the fire, the only comfortable position he could possibly be in.

Jack looked at Charlie carefully and could see no recognition on his face. He suddenly looked up as he heard a noise. He decided to check and out and walked out of the cave.

"Charlie?" Jack called a minute later. "There's someone here to see you."

Charlie looked up. Claire kneeled down in front of him. His first thought was-Oh God, she'shaving the baby! "Wha...what are you doing here, Claire?"

"I heard you were feeling under the weather, Charlie," Claire said. "I was worried about you."

Charlie swallowed. "Just a little. I'm almost through the worst of it, though. But still, it's um...very contagious, Claire. You shouldn't be here. Hell, you shouldn't have left the beach."

Claire looked away. "Do you think I'm weak, Charlie?"

"No! No-that's not it at all. It's just, well, your condition. Being pregnant and all."

A pause between the two.

"You're suffering, Charlie. I can tell."

Charlie snorted and looked down. He looked up at her. "Can I ask you something honestly, Claire-do you think I'm a screw-up?"

Claire shook her blond head. "No, I don't think so."

"But I did do something once. Something very bad. Something...I can never forgive myself for. To be honest, there's nothing back waiting for me. Not anymore." Charlie snorted and looked away. "Maybe that's why I don't want to get rid of the drugs."

"But you threw them away, Charlie. Locke was right about you-you are strong. I can see it."

"Yeah?" Charlie asked, snorting again. "Prove it."

Claire smiled a little, and reached behind him. A moment later she freed his hands and took one of them. She pressed his hand against her tummy. "Feel that?"

Charlie's face lit up. "Is that him kicking!?"

"Yes," Claire said, laughing a little.

"No way," Charlie whispered, still grinning. "Sorry, it's just...I've never touched a pregnant woman

before."

She took his hand. "I'm not sure when it's going to happen, Charlie. Could be any day now. When it does, I'm going to need a lot of help. So I'll make you a deal, Charlie-if I help you through this, will you help me when the time comes? We Australians have to stick together, after all."

Charlie smiled slightly. "I haven't been around children at all, Claire."

"But you want to. I can sort of tell," Claire said.

Charlie's smile widened.

"You have to have something you want to do in life, Charlie. Otherwise, there's no real hope, is there?"

Charlie looked down. A sudden sound made him turn his head. It was Jack. Charlie turned back to where Claire was sitting, where there was now only empty air. Charlie sighed and flexed his tied hands. "Did you find anyone?" he asked as Jack sat down.

"No," Jack replied in puzzlement, shaking his head. "Probably the wind or something."

Charlie slowly nodded. "I think I will have a drink of that water, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure." Jack helped him drink a bottle of water. "You should probably get some sleep. It'll be dawn in about five hours."

"Yeah," Charlie said, nodding. "All right." He lay on the ground, as comfortably as possible.

Jack truly meant to watch him all night, but exhaustion crept up on him. An hour later, he slowly lowered his head onto the chest.

Charlie twisted around. He eyed the still-burning fire.

-----------------------

Charlie winced as the flames licked his hands. He didn't have a lot of time to burn the shoelaces, he knew. The smoke was literally going right into Jack's face. As the rope burned half-way through Jack's eyes slowly opened. His eyes were about to close again when he noticed the smell. He lifted his head, frowning.

Charlie backed away from the fire, starring at Jack. His hands tore at the shoelaces. They broke apart. He was free.

"Charlie, what-" Jack began.

Charlie bolted.

Jack's eyes widened. "Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit-"

Charlie moved fast and Jack might have lost him right then and there if Charlie hadn't suddenly tripped at the mouth of the cave. At first Jack couldn't understand why, until he saw a tight line of wire an inch off from the ground-Locke must have placed it there in case Charlie escaped. All of this went through Jack's head in less then a second as he dived on top of Charlie before he could get up.

The two of them wrestled for a moment before Charlie smashed his fist against Jack's jaw. Jack fell with a cry as Charlie stood and ran into the dark, wet jungle. Wincing his jaw, Jack took off after him.

Charlie ran from the others and ran from himself. The wet branches tore against his clothes and his skin. He ran as fast as he was possibly able to.

Jack tried to follow but soon became hopelessly lost. He turned around in a circle. "Dammit," he muttered. He took off in a direction he thought he had heard something.

With a grunt Charlie fell into a puddle after tripping over a root. He kicked it aside, scrambled to his feet and resumed running.

Jack heard something behind him and wasn't entirely surprised to see who it was. "Locke!" he said, very grateful. "It's Charlie, he's gone!"

"I know, I heard him," Locke said. He was studying the ground intently. "He couldn't have gotten much further. This way!"

Charlie stopped briefly to rest, taking in large gulps of air. Wiping away a lock of blond hair with his shaking finger, he resumed running.

Locke was only just a minute behind. "Move it, Jack. We're gaining on him!"

Charlie kept on running, jumping once over a log and into a clearing...and suddenly jerked to a halt as he looked up.

The sky was clear and he could see a blip moving across the stars. He could see and hear it! "A search plane!"

Jack and Locke tore out of the bushes, moving so fast that they collided with Charlie, and all three almost fell to the ground. In his excitement Charlie grabbed Jack's arm. "A search plane! Look!"

"What?" Jack and Locke said in perfect unison.

"Look!" Charlie laughed, jumping up an down. "We're saved!"

Jack and Locke looked up, their faces filled with hope.

But only for a moment.

Jack looked down. "There's nothing there, Charlie."

"Wha-?" Charlie demanded, and looked up. The empty star-lit sky stared back at him. "No," Charlie protested. "That's not right."

"You were hallucinating again, son," Locke said.

"I know I've been hallucinating!" Charlie snapped. He looked up, tears of frustration in his eyes. He couldn't help it. "But...that wasn't it..."

Another moment of silence.

"Come on," Jack said gently. "Let's get back to the cave." A pause when Charlie didn't say anything. "Charlie?"

Charlie was still looking up at the sky. He looked down and sighed. "All right."

Jack clapped him on the back, and all three of them went back to the caves.

---------------

The pilot of the plane didn't know what had happened. One moment they were flying over the small Island, having spotted the bonfire, and the next they were thrown into some kind of strange wind disturbance. He lost control of the plane and screaming, watched as they crashed into the water.

-----------------

(Flashback)

Liam and the weeping Susan were standing with their backs turned to Charlie as he approached from the other end of the hall. He was ready to turn the drugs in-hell, turn himself in as well. He was just within hearing distance and he defiantly heard the doctor say, "She's going to be okay. Just some slight injuries." At this, Charlie leaned against the wall and sighed in sweet relief.

Liam took a step towards the police officer. "I want you to find him, and I want him locked down in rehab-"

"No, Liam," Susan snapped. "I've had enough! This...son of a bitch hurt our baby. Find him, lock him away for the rest of his life, give him the lethal injection!"

"What?" Liam asked.

What? Charlie mouthed silently. Realizing that he was in plain view, he scrambled around the corner. And listened.

"Susan, he's my brother-"

I am sick and tired of him, Liam! All you can go on about is how much you want to help him! Well you've got to make a choice, Liam. Your family, or your bastard of a brother!"

"You...of course, Susan. It'll always be you."

Charlie said nothing, his head bowed. Tears slid down his blue eyes.

The voice of his only brother. "Find him and...lock him away. For the rest of his life. We'll press for life in prison."

----------------------

A few minutes later, alone and by himself Liam stood next to the fountain outside of the hospital. He put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the grey sky. "You're going to kill yourself, you know."

"I'm so sorry, Liam," Charlie said behind him.

"I know," Liam replied, faintly surprised. "But it doesn't make it right, Charlie." He turned to face him.

"So...I guess this is the last time I'll ever see you," Charlie said. "Even if I did clean up, I'll never see you

again."

"Where will you go?"

"Someplace...out of the country. Away from here. Out of your life."

Liam looked up, his eyes accepting. Charlie turned to go.

"Charlie," Liam said.

Charlie looked up.

"Take care of yourself."

Tears falling silently from his eyes, Charlie stepped forwards. The two of them hugged, one last time. Liam looked down, unable to contain his own tears. Charlie turned around and started walking, trying not to throw up.

But more then anything wishing for his drugs.

----------------------------

(now)

Charlie opened his eyes to the feeling of the sun on him. He felt dizzy and his mouth was incredibly dry. He stretched his fingers and saw that his hands were tied in front of him.

"Morning," Jack said, holding a cup of water.

Charlie struggled into a sitting position against the rock wall and drank half of the cup down. "Dare I ask what I did to deserve this?" Charlie gestured with his hands.

"You mean, after going knife-happy and thinking you spotted a plane?"

Charlie nodded.

"Thankfully, nothing," Jack said with a small laugh. He took the knife, and lifted it to Charlie's ropes.

And hesitated. It was only for a fraction of a second and then Jack cut Charlie's bonds.

"I suppose I must have led you through a rough night." He stared at the nasty bruise on Jack's cheek. "You must have seen my worst side."

"Do you remember anything?"

Charlie hesitated. "Bits and pieces."

"How are you feeling now?"

"Got one hell of a headache."

Jack smiled a little. "Before you said something about...learning my secret?"

Charlie hesitated. "I thought that, I dunno, that you wanted me to die rather then stay here. On this

island."

"Why would you think that?" Jack asked, truly puzzled.

"The truth?"

Jack nodded.

"Because this island is probably the best thing that's happened to me for a long, long time," Charlie answered, sipping more of the water. "I know that must sound weird. Sayid once said that it's a miracle that anyone survived the plane crash. I think it's fate. We might be lost on this Island but...so many people are lost themselves, you know?"

"I think I do. A little," Jack said.

"I have a brother, you know. Liam. You might have heard about him in my ramblings...he meant a great deal to me. When I went on drugs we...separated, but that's not where the story ends." Charlie looked down at his cup. "I wish to God it was."

Jack stared at him in concern. "What happened?"

"I put his kid in the hospital," Charlie whispered and closed his eyes. Tears fell from them. He sniffed. "He called the police on me. I fled to the plane, it crashed and...well, the rest you already know. And ever then, I've never stopped hating myself. That's why the drugs were so easy then."

"I'm sorry, Charlie," Jack said.

"I'm sorry you had to spend the night with a waste like me," Charlie said, looking down.

"I don't believe that," Jack said, so calmly that Charlie looked up. "Charlie, I'm a doctor. I've seen my best friends do terrible things under heroine. It's not who they really are. And now that you're clean I hope someday you can realize that."

"Maybe I can, Jack. Someday. But...I think I know where to start." Charlie slowly stood and stretched. "Thanks, Jack."

"I'd do it again," Jack replied firmly, and smiled. "Just...not anytime soon." He yawned and lay upon the ground. "Now if you excuse me, I think I'm going to sleep for a few hours."

"All right. See you at dinner?"

Jack waved him away. Charlie smiled and exited out of the cave, into the sunlight.

-------------------

On the hill Claire struggled with the firewood in her arms.

"What do you think you're doing?" Charlie asked from behind her. He smiled and took the burden. "That's way too heavy for you."

Claire saw the mocking expression on his face and relaxed. "I want to do my part, Charlie."

"A woman in your condition shouldn't be doing your part. You should be laying around and ordering all the strong-muscled men around to do your every bidding."

Claire giggled. "Jack said that you had the flu?"

"Yeah. As you can see, I'm all better now," Charlie replied, still grinning. They reached her spot on the beach. Charlie dumped the firewood on the ground and helped Claire sit. "Now, you are going to sit around and do nothing, while I will make a fire for you."

Claire leaned back. "You know how to make a fire?"

"Well, no, not really. But I get to try and you get to laugh at me while I do it wrong." Charlie made a few sparks. "So...how long do you figure? A month or two?"

"I...can only hope," Claire said, smiling. "Feels like...any day now though."

"Ah! There we go!" Charlie said, lighting the fire. He sat back next to her. "So what do you figure? Boy or girl?"

"I don't really know. I'm hoping a boy," Claire said. "Why? Do you have any children at all?"

"Me? No. I've barely been around them." He hesitated and held out his hand. "In fact, do you mind if I...?"

"No, go ahead."

Charlie touched her tummy. "Wow! It's a kicker, just like its mom!"

Claire giggled.

"He or she will probably be into...kickboxing or Karate, or something," Charlie said. They continued

chatting comfortable for a long while. Charlie looked out towards the beach and the ocean. He grinned. Today was a new day, and for once in a very long time, he wasn't afraid to face it.

Or himself.

THE END.