In this installation, we see a bit of how our intrepid physicist came to get off the island and perhaps understand a little more of the strange powers of the island over its inhabitants, temporary or otherwise. As before, spoilers for the series finale and the major events leading up to it.
Still
Alive, part 2. Lost, AU, post-series/series 6 alt take. Prompts
used: plane; long day's journey into night.
Two
months ago.
Daniel
Faraday ran through the jungle, grabbing at vines and branches that
crossed his path, throwing them out of the way. He could hear a
plane's engine starting, the mechanics crankily kicked into life. His
clothes were torn, he was covered in blood, and his chest felt like
it wanted to cave in with every step he took, but he kept running.
He’d
been dead, and then he had not. And then he’d wanted to die. Then
he was running for something he couldn't see, but knew he needed to
reach above anything else. Seconds earlier, before he’dhit sneakers
to dirt in a frenzy of feet, Daniel had seen a glimpse of red in the
corner of his eye, like long red hair blowing past him. Then he’d
heard a voice which told him to follow the sound of the plane, and
the voice had sounded like Charlotte. So, he ran for it.
He
broke into a nearby clearing just to hear someone shout, “Look!
It's Dan! Don't take off!” Maybe it was more than one person—he
couldn't say for sure.
Daniel
nearly fell to his knees as a wave of chest pain overtook him. Two
pairs of hands grabbed him and carried him across the grass, and over
the threshold of the creaking metal beast that had only just come
into view.
Someone
was strapping him into a seat, and he wanted it to stop, but the pain
in his chest was dissipating. He looked up and it was Miles, a
glimmer of panic in the other man's eyes. Dan had never been so happy
to see the medium as in that moment.
“Where
am I?” Words spilled out of Faraday's mouth with the fluidity of
loose mud. “How is this… this?”
“We
found a plane and—dude, we thought you died.”
Miles frowned.
Faraday
blinked. “I did, didn't I,” he said, rather than asked. “Are we
going home?”
“God
help us, we are. If we're lucky.” For a second, the images in
Faraday's head blurred and Miles shifted into an older man in a lab
coat, deep lines across his face. He shifted back into Miles long
enough to give him one last look before being called to the cockpit.
He
vaguely registered the other people in the belly of the plane—Miles,
of course, and James Ford next to Richard, who wouldn't look anyone
in the eye, Claire staring out from a window seat, while Kate held
her hand—and he almost asked where the others were, if there were
others, before he saw Frank in the pilot's seat pulling on a lever.
The craft lifted with a big jolt. Daniel gripped the arms of his
chair. He realized that his fingers were covered in dirt and blood,
possibly his own.
The
plane took on air as it took to the sky. While everyone else
celebrated in their own way that their flight home looked to be
successful, Daniel Faraday did the only thing he could and passed
out.
----------
Penelope
Widmore's boat met them on the beach of the nearest island shore,
when the gas had run out, and Frank had been forced to make a
landing. By then, Daniel had been conscious for half an hour, long
enough to realize no one wanted to talk to him, or even catch his
eye. The distance between all of them felt like the many years that
spanned from one jump in time to another. The sun was beginning to
set against the horizon, putting an end to a seemingly eternal day
for the survivors.
“Where's
Desmond?” Penny's glance flitted from one face to another. “Where's
my husband?”
“He's
back on the island,” someone said. Daniel looked over his shoulder.
It had been Frank. “He's still there.”
“Why?”
“It's
complicated,” Kate started.
“No,
no, no...” Penny fought back tears. “He promised...”
“He
saved everyone, him and Jack,” Miles offered weakly.
“He
should be here, not back on that horrible island.” Her voice took
on a hue of anger. “Someone should have brought him back in time.”
The
pain in Daniel's chest gave a quick jab at his heart, reminding him
of something like guilt. That someone could have been him. In
fairness to Faraday, he’d been dead at the time.
Still,
no one could be more surprised than him when he spoke up next. “I
can take you back to the island.” Every head swiveled to look at
him. “I know the way to get there.”
Penny
squinted at him, her memory seeming to fail her. “Who are you?”
“I'm
Daniel Faraday.” He stared back. “I'm—I'm actually your
half-brother.”
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