Chapter Text
Kali let out a deep breath, as she attempted to still her leg that had been bobbing up and down for the last few minutes. They had been in the air for six hours now, but it felt like eternity. She hated fearing something as stupid as flying. She looked to her side as she saw the man sitting next to her had managed to flirt his way into getting some small bottles of vodka.
"Are you going to drink all those?" She questioned, as he turned to her and shook his head after a moment.
Before he could say anything else, she had taken one of the bottles from his lap and within mere seconds had downed the contents. She let out a steadier breath, hoping the alcohol would calm her nerves.
"Gorgeous but an alcoholic…there's always baggage these days" The blond man next to her mumbled.
"I've never flown before" She admitted, not liking the thought of some stranger thinking she was a drunk.
"You don't sound like you come from Australia" The man frowned, noting her English accent.
"I won a cruise to Australia, but I missed my boat. This seemed like the only option…does the air usually seem so stuffy on these?" She queried, squirming a little.
"I think I would have preferred you to have been an alcoholic" He exclaimed.
"Oh, well I'm more than happy to oblige" She replied, as she went to grab another bottle.
"Are you even old enough to drink?" He questioned, holding the bottle away from her.
"I'm almost twenty" She retorted, going to grab the drink again.
"Well this is an Oceanic airline…so that would be a no" The blonde grinned at her, obviously enjoying himself.
"You don't strike me as someone who cares much about the rules" She suggested, giving up trying to get the bottle, as his arms were far longer.
"Are you flirting with me?" The blond's grin widened.
"Maybe in your dreams" She shrugged, sweetly.
Suddenly the plane jerked so hard that Kali almost bashed into the man next to her, who didn't seem too bothered. There was an announcement to put their seatbelts on, which Kali had done the moment she had entered the plane, but she still tugged onto it to make sure it was still tight.
"It's just turbulence," The man told her.
"Right…yeah, totally normal" Kali nodded to herself, as the plan continued to jerk, starting to concern the other passengers.
"Because I'm feeling generous…" He trailed off and passed her the bottle she had been after.
"Well aren't you a gentleman?" She teased.
Before she could even think about opening the bottle, the plane jerked even harder and Kali saw someone a few isles ahead get flung into the air and was mostly likely dead. She let out a scream as she could feel that they were going down. The oxygen masks fell down in front of them, as Kali scrambled to put hers on as she was too short to reach without taking off her seatbelt. The man next to her grabbed hers and placed it in her hands, and she tied it around her face as quickly as she could. They heard a bang from behind them, as Kali looked back and could see the back of the plane was gone. Completely gone. People were getting sucked out of the plane. She gave the blond next to her a terrified look before everything went black.
Her hearing was the first thing that can back, as she could hear shouts and screams from all around her. Then she realised that she was upside down as she could feel her arms were dangling down. She slowly began to open her eyes, coughing through the fumes that surrounded her. She realised that she was still attached to her seatbelt and began fumbling to take it off. She fell to the ground with a bang and groaned as she sat herself upright. She looked at her limbs for any injuries and realised that she had a large cut across her left leg that she hadn't even registered. She then freaked out when her sight in one of her eyes began to blur but realised that it was due to a liquid dropping onto her eyelid. She rubbed at it with the back of her hand and realised that it was blood. Her blood. She cautiously pushed herself upright, finding herself to be dizzy, but she was able to stand. It was then that she realised that the man that had been sitting next to her was unconscious, not to mention upside down. She grabbed a suitcase and stood on top if it, and then quickly unbuckled his seatbelt. She tried to support his body as he fell, but he was much bigger than her. She dragged him out of the wreckage, suddenly realising where they were. A beach. Not giving it anymore thought, she crouched beside the man and checked his pulse, which was still beating. She then held the side of her face close to his mouth and felt his chest.
"Shit…not breathing" She mumbled, as she quickly pushed him onto his side.
Before she could get him into the recovery position, he was throwing up, as she guessed that was why he hadn't been breathing. His eyes began to flicker open, as he tried to sit up, but she pushed him back down.
"You need to stay on your side…catch your breath" She told him.
"I guess…I guess it wasn't just turbulence" He stated, as she let out a small laugh.
"What's your name?" She questioned, realising she had never asked.
"…Sawyer" He replied, after taking a few seconds.
"My names Kali. Does it hurt anywhere? Does it feel like you hit your head?" She asked him, as he shook his head.
"No…no. I think I just passed out" Sawyer admitted.
"Help! Please help me!" They heard a feminine scream from a few metres away.
Kali lifted her to see a woman clutching her stomach…a very pregnant stomach. She rushed over to her and crouched down in front of the scared woman.
"Help me" She cried, as she gripped onto Kali's arms.
"Is it the baby?" Kali questioned, as the woman frantically nodded.
"I'm having contractions…oh god, I'm not even eight months" The woman sobbed.
"How far apart are they?" Kali inquired.
"I…I don't know, a few just happened" The woman told her.
"How long has it been since you woke up?" She asked.
"Um…maybe 15 minutes" The woman replied.
"Okay, how many contractions is a few?" Kali went on.
"Uh, two I think. Yeah, two" The woman informed her.
"Have your waters broke?" Kali queried.
"No" The woman shook her head.
"Okay…you might not be in labour. But even if you are it looks like really early stages. If the contractions get less than a few minutes apart…that's when we need to worry" Kali explained.
"Do you think my baby's going to be okay?" The woman asked, with pleading eyes.
"I…Just focus on your breathing okay? If this is just you panicking, breathing nice and deep should sort it out, alright? Deep breaths" Kali suggested, avoiding the subject.
"Okay…okay" The woman nodded.
"Let's get you away from this wreckage" Kali said, as she helped her to stand up.
She placed her down beside the man she now knew as Sawyer, who was sitting upright and looked much better than he had ten minutes ago.
"Have you had any more contractions?" Kali asked, as the woman shook her head.
"Okay…are you going to be alright here? I need to see if I can help anyone else" Kali told her.
"You a doctor, or something?" Sawyer inquired.
"Student nurse" Kali answered, as she stood up and searched the area for anyone else who needed help.
She quickly spotted two men on the other side of the wreckage who seemed to be disagreeing with how to do CPR. She was about to walk over to them when someone grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to the ground. Before she could say anything there was a massive explosion, which she was shielded from by a large body that covered her and the pregnant woman.
"Thanks" She mumbled, when she realised that it was Sawyer, who had protected them both from the blast.
He seemed irritated by this and took his muscular arm away from her side. She didn't dwell on this and ran over to the pair who were performing CPR.
"Hey, you need a break?" Kali asked, sitting on the other side of the woman.
"Are you a proper first aider?" The man inquired, giving the blue-eyed man next to him a glare.
"I know first aid, man" The other one insisted.
"Student nurse" She replied, as the man gave her a grateful smile as she got in position to take over.
They continued swapping every few minutes, so that neither of them would get too tired and soon enough the woman came spluttering back to life.
"Deep breaths. Take some deep breaths" He ordered the woman.
"It's okay, your going to be alright" Kali soothed the confused woman.
"Good work…?" The man stated, fishing for a name.
"Kali. And you?" She inquired.
"Jack. Doctor" He responded.
"I should have known from the suit" She joked.
Their attention was quickly brought to a sound from behind them, as they saw that one of the wings of the plane looked like it was about to crash down…onto the pregnant lady and a large man who was trying to help her.
"Oh no" Kali gasped, as Jack began to run over to warn the pair.
She was about to follow him when she spotted a young boy holding a leash, who was far too close to the wing for comfort. She took off in his direction, yelling at him to run but he didn't seem to understand why. Without a second's thought, she picked him up and began to carry him away. They were both pushed to the ground by the force of another explosion due to the wing collapsing.
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked the scared boy.
"Yeah…have you seen my dog?" He questioned, as she laughed.
"Sorry kid. It's not been on my list of priorities" She told him, as she sat up.
"Walt! Oh my God, are you alright?" A man cried, as he ran over and hugged the boy.
"You his dad?" Kali asked, as he nodded after a few seconds.
"Thank you. Thank you so much…I saw him over there, but I couldn't get to him quick enough and then-" Kali cut off the frantic man.
"He's safe now" She insisted.
A little while later, everyone who could be saved had been, and Kali finally allowed herself to sit down on the beach, feeling the adrenaline from the day quickly slipping away. She looked down at her leg and grimaced suddenly feeling the pain much more. She split open her trousers and sighed when she realised why that was. She had a bit of glass lodged into her leg, it was only small but every time she moved it hurt.
"That looks nasty" A voice boomed from above her.
She squinted as she looked up to see it was Sawyer, who she hadn't even heard approach her.
"Do you still have that bottle from earlier?" Kali queried.
"I thought you weren't an alcoholic" He replied.
"I thought you were trying to be a gentleman?" She retorted, the bottle being lowered to her eyesight a few seconds later.
She took the bottle from his hand and opened it up, pouring a little onto her hands and then some more onto the wound on her leg. She couldn't stop the hiss that left her mouth, finding it hurt more than she had expected. Sawyer had sat down next to her as he watched her clear away the dried blood on her leg to get a better look at the glass.
"I don't suppose you have a bandage as well?" Kali questioned.
"No…but I can improvise" Sawyer exclaimed, as he ripped off one of the sleeves of his long top.
"I don't know if it's really my colour" She laughed, as she took the cloth from him and wet it in the alcohol.
"Maybe you should get the doctor to…" Sawyer trailed off, as she suddenly ripped the glass out of her leg.
"Jesus…" She mumbled, as she quickly placed the cloth over her thigh and began tying it around.
"Well aren't you brave, lifesaver?" Sawyer said, an impressed tone to his voice.
"Oh right, because all girls faint at the sight of blood?" Kali responded, raising an eyebrow.
Before Sawyer could say anything, they heard a gasp from in front of them, as the large man from before held what looked like food in his hand. Without warning, he dropped to the ground, face first, most likely having seen the whole thing.
"Well that's just embarrassing" Kali grimaced, as she pushed the man onto his side.
"Case and point" Sawyer grinned.
Kali had stayed with the man until he woke up, about ten minutes later, while Sawyer had wandered off down the beach.
"Wow, you really just fell down like a sack of potatoes" Kali laughed.
"Is that a joke about my weight?" The man rolled his eyes.
In response, Kali held up the dish she had been eating, which contained a large amount of potatoes and raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry…is your leg…okay?" He asked.
"It's still attached, don't worry. What's your name?" Kali queried.
"Hurley. You?" He replied, holding out his hand for her to shake.
"Kali…thanks for the food by the way" Kali smiled at him.
"No problem, man. Just maybe do that…stuff in private" Hurley advised, as Kali nodded, trying not the laugh.
The smile on her face quickly died when they heard a horrific clanging sound from the forest, which made Kali almost jump out of her skin.
"What the hell was…?" She cut herself off, when there was another clanging sound.
She looked towards the forest and saw that numerous trees were being pushed over, as if there was some invisible giant standing on them.
"Should we be running?" Kali suggested, as they all heard a large horn blare.
"I think…I think we're alright on the beach" Hurley mumbled, seeing as the trees nearest the beach seemed unaffected.
"You better hope so, because there's no chance you could outrun it" Sawyer announced, coming up from behind them.
Hurley glared at Sawyer before walking towards the pregnant woman that Kali now knew was Claire. She could tell Hurley was still worried about her, he seemed to feel partly responsible for what happened to Claire now.
"Rude, much?" Kali scolded.
"I just speak the truth, sweetheart" Sawyer shrugged, as the clanging continued.
"What do you think it is out there?" She questioned.
"Maybe an animal" He responded.
"I don't know where you've been living, but I've never heard an animal sound like it" She exclaimed, a worried look on her face.
The next morning, everyone was questioning what was in the forest, but it was clear that they weren't going to be able to figure it out without investigating. She had heard that Jack was collecting people to go search for the cockpit to get a transceiver and offered to tag along.
"No. No way" Jack shook his head.
"Oh c'mon, why not?" She whined.
"You have an injured leg, we need you here to look after the injured and…you're too young" Jack retorted.
"There it is" She rolled her eyes, knowing that was the real reason.
"It's dangerous…whatever was in the forest last night might still be there" A woman with brown hair and freckles pointed out.
"All the more reason for me to come. Safety in numbers" Kali insisted.
"It's non-negotiable" Jack told her, as Kali sighed.
"Hey, maybe when your leg is better?" The woman from before smiled at her.
"You think we're going to be here that long?" Kali frowned.
"I hope not" The woman mumbled, but Kali could tell it wasn't quite true.
"What's your name?" Kali asked.
"Kate…your Kali, right? The nurse?" Kate inquired.
"Student nurse. Emphasis on the student" Kali replied.
"Um, if the guy in the suit wakes up…just…never mind" Kate shook her head, before walking away.
Kali looked over at the man in question, who had a piece of shrapnel jammed into his stomach and frowned. She wondered why Kate seemed to care about him? A vague memory of seeing them sitting together on the plane hit her. Maybe they were friends, she thought to herself.
Later that day, Kali was staring out into the ocean, wondering why no rescue team had shown up yet. She had noticed that there had been no planes, no boats, no sign of life had passed by them. It was strange. Her attention was grabbed when she saw Hurley running towards something, as she called after him.
"Hey, what's going on?" She asked.
"Your friend and Sayid are fighting" Hurley panted.
"My friend?" Kali frowned, as she realised who he meant.
"Stop it! Stop it!" She shouted, when she saw the pair brawling on the sand.
Neither of them gave her a second glance, as she groaned and went to take a step forward.
"Don't get in the middle of this, kid" Walt's dad, that she now knew as Michael warned her.
"Thanks, but I can handle myself" She retorted, to his condescending tone.
"Cut it out!" She yelled, as she picked up a large wad of sand and threw it into the men's faces.
"Jesus, what the hell?" Sawyer groaned, as he rubbed his eyes.
"Why did you do that?" The other man, who she guessed was Sayid exclaimed.
"To try and knock some sense into you idiots" Kali remarked.
"I'm sick of this redneck!" Sayid shouted, about to leap back onto Sawyer.
"Hey! Don't even try it!" Kali told him, as he got up into her personal space.
"What the hell is going on?!" A voice suddenly yelled.
They all turned to see Jack standing there, the others from his group all looking dishevelled.
"Yes, why don't you tell them, redneck?" Sayid insisted, throwing his hand in the air and almost hitting Kali.
"You want some more of me, boy?" Sawyer goaded.
This seemed to set Sayid off as he leapt forward about to hit Sawyer, but Kali pushed him backwards. He glared at her angrily, having to restrain himself from retaliating.
"Are you really going to hit a kid?" Jack exclaimed, standing in front of her.
"I'm an adult, jackass" Kali groaned.
"Nice" Sawyer mumbled, at the nickname.
"Thanks, I thought it was pretty good" Kali grinned at him.
"You turned nineteen a week ago, you can't even buy a drink yet" Jack pointed out.
"You said you were almost 20" Sawyer said, raising an eyebrow.
"What's eleven months difference?" She shrugged.
"If we could get back to the incident at hand…what were you fighting about?" Jack queried.
"He thinks I crashed the plane" Sayid announced.
"If the shoe fits buddy" Sawyer glared.
"Look, my kid found this in the jungle" Michael informed them, holding out some handcuffs.
"And this guy was sitting in the back row of business class the whole flight. Never got up. Hands folded underneath a blanket. And for some reason, just pointing this out, the guy next to him didn't make it" Sawyer explained, as Kali held onto his arm to stop him from going for Sayid again.
"Thank you so much for observing my behaviour" Sayid commented, which Kali found a little funny.
"You don't think I saw them pull you out of line before we boarded?" Sawyer questioned.
"That's enough!" Kali insisted, getting in between the pair once again.
"He could just be crossing the damn street and be pulled out of line, that's racism not suspicious behaviour. And you need to calm down" Kali explained, as both men put their hands up.
"She's right. Look, we found the transceiver but it's not working. Can anybody help?" Kate asked.
"…Yes. I might be able to" Sayid offered.
"Oh great. Perfect. Let's trust this guy" Sawyer yelled.
"Hey, we're all in this together man. Let's treat each other with a little respect" Hurley suggested.
"Shut up, lardo" Sawyer mocked.
"Seriously? Are you trying to alienate everyone?" Kali questioned.
"Whatever, lifesaver. Put your trust in that guy, see where it gets you" Sawyer told her.
"Your friend is one serious hothead" Hurley stated.
"He's just the guy I was sitting to on the plane…he's not my friend" Kali replied.
"Oh…huh. I thought you guys had known each other for a while" Hurley admitted, as this seemed to surprise the rest of the group too.