FIC: "Are We There Yet?" - Charlie/Claire (PG)

[hopelessfangirl]

Title: Are We There Yet?
Fandom: Lost
Characters/Pairing: Charlie/Claire
Rating: PG
Word Count: 482
Spoilers: Vaguely, not specifically, for the series up to 5x17 - The Incident
Summary: Charlie, Claire and the 815 passengers find themselves in a familiar situation.
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost. At all.
Author's Notes: For emiliglia, who requested S6 Speculation and hitlikehammers who requested airplanes at lostsquee's 2009 Luau. Now, I'm not sure if this has any actual likelihood of happening, but it's what I would like to see happen next season somehow. I like the idea of the "reset," but with memories remaining intact. I hope you like it!


_________________________________

Charlie's eyes shot open. His skin was crawling; he needed a fix.

Wait--

He needed a fix?

Charlie blinked around, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He was on a plane. Not just any plane -- the plane. Oceanic 815, heading from Sydney to L.A.

Shouting and screaming surrounded him. He could barely hear himself think. It reminded him of all of the commotion after the plane had crashed, only this time everything was still intact and no one was hurt. This time, he realized as he heard a chorus of Kate!s and Jin!s and Sayid!s, everyone knew each other's names.

Charlie quickly unbuckled his seatbelt on a mission to look for Hurley or Jack or someone who might know what the hell was going on. He spun around and bumped into someone who was standing frozen amongst the chaos in the middle of the aisle.

"'scuse m--" The rest of Charlie's words caught in his throat when he saw what he had made contact with. Claire was staring at him, her eyes frightened and her mouth agape. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

Charlie took in the sight of her and stared back with equal astonishment. Both of her hands cradled her huge, protruding belly. Charlie fleetingly wondered if the withdrawal hallucinations had started.

Cautiously, Claire brought a hand to Charlie's face. She was still expecting him to be a mirage; that her hand would go straight through him and he would waft away like smoke. She let out a sob and a sigh of relief when the backs of her fingers brushed his stubbly cheek. Charlie leaned into her touch and closed his eyes. He reached for her hands and locked his fingers in with hers.

"You were gone, Charlie," she said. "And Aar--" -- she looked down at her stomach -- "...I don't understand what's happening."

"Neither do I, love," he replied, shaking his head. "Last thing I remember, I was visiting Hurley somewhere."

Charlie glanced around. Rose and Bernard were holding each other outside the bathroom door, looking concerned. Sun and Jin were hugging Walt and Michael. Boone and Shannon looked utterly bewildered.

The intercom light came on but its message could not be heard over the noise. Suddenly the plane jolted and everyone let out a collective gasp. Charlie steadied his footing and guided Claire into a seat. "It's okay, we're gonna be okay," he said desperately. They both shut their eyes as tight as their grip on the other's hand, bracing for the impact.

When the plane began steadying, Claire opened one eye and looked out the window. She saw tarmac lined with palm trees that feebly hid the tall buildings behind them. "Charlie," she said. He opened his eyes. "Are we in--?"

Charlie looked out the window, then back at Claire.

"L.A.?" they both said in unison.

The baby kicked.

 

Comments

[valhalla37.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, I really, really like this. I love the idea of a reset only in the context of them grappling with what to do with those new memories, and the layered chaos here -- Charlie craving a fix, Claire stopping short of Aaron's name -- is so fantastic. And what a phenomenal ending! Just perfect.

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I don't know if they could make an entire season out of having everyone remember the island if the reset worked (or maybe they could), but I would definitely love for this to happen. I'm so glad you liked it!

[devdev1.livejournal.com]

I liked this a lot. Just the simplicity of it was nice and wonderfully executed.

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I didn't want to get too complex with it because honestly, I don't even know where it can go from there, but I certainly hope something like this happens on the show for real!

[cielo-claro.livejournal.com]

I LOVE THIS! Oh my goodness, I sincerely hope this'll be what S6 looks like because otherwise I think I may have a panic attack.

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

Oh, you and me both! I want so badly for the reset to have worked, but I would be so distraught if no one remembered a thing. D=

[hobbitofkobol.livejournal.com]

awww I wish THIS was what's going to happen in S6!

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Thanks, hun!

[emiliglia.livejournal.com]

I think this is the first one I read where everyone instead of just one or none of the characters remembers, and that's certainly an intriguing angle! Wouldn't be all these relationships that were built up for nothing. I liked it!

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

"Wouldn't be all these relationships that were built up for nothing."

Thank you! That's exactly the thing -- I think it would be a shame for the audience AND the characters if the reset worked and no one remembers anything. It would be great if they could break the Daniel's theory that "whatever happened, happened" and be able to change their destiny having knowledge of what's to come so that they don't make the same mistakes. =)

I'm glad you liked this!

[facethestrange]

Aww, I loved it! I want this to happen in S6 <3

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Let's keep our fingers crossed that something like it does! =)

[siluria]

Oooooh, I really like the reunion between Claire and Charlie, and I really like that everyone remembers! Nicely done!!!

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I really hope this happens... and that there's also a repeat of what's going on in your icon. ;)

[siluria]

That would be awesome!!! And I love your icon so much *dies*

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

LOL thank you! mysticxf pwns so hard. I just found this one again recently and knew I had to upload it immediately. ;)

[mollivanders.livejournal.com]

I really liked this :) I love Charlie/Claire, of course, and then there's the idea of them remembering everything! good job! :)

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much! I really do hope everyone remembers. That would be lovely!

[tellshannon815.livejournal.com]

Interesting idea of everyone remembering! Great job, would like to see this happen!

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I'm very much longing a big ol' Lost reunion/the show getting back to S1. =)

[ozmissage.livejournal.com]

Can we just send this to Darlton as a template for next season?

This is such a nice, original take on a reset. And I loved that it focused on an alive again Charlie . Awesome work!

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm very obsessed with the idea that everyone remembers what happened after the reset, and considering all that's happened to C/C over the duration of the show, I thought it was best to try to convey that through my OTP. =) I'm really glad you liked this!

[aurilly.livejournal.com]

This was so trippy and cool! I loved the idea of the reset happening but everyone remembering stuff as if in a haze. I loved Charlie's line about having been visiting Hurley somewhere. Hee!

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you liked the little details!

[invisiblelove.livejournal.com]

YES. This would be such a flaily end to the show! Everyone's all safe and sound but still has their memories, so they're just all "Well that was effed up! LOL!" BUAH, that would be so ridiculously excellent.

Aww, Charlie and Claire <333 You write them so well, my dear! Now they're gonna go and get a house and have domestic happy tiems!

...and Jack and Sawyer will totes already know how much of a pain in the ass Kate is and also frolic off into the sunset to be domestic and adorable and AWESOME.

Loved this, sweets!

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

"Everyone's all safe and sound but still has their memories, so they're just all "Well that was effed up! LOL!""

LOL RIGHT? I'd love for the show to end on a collective "What the FUCK was all that about?" moment.

Thank you so much, my dear! I'm glad you liked it!

"...and Jack and Sawyer will totes already know how much of a pain in the ass Kate is and also frolic off into the sunset to be domestic and adorable and AWESOME."

As Jorge said, she needs to go ruin someone else's life. ;)

[hitlikehammers.livejournal.com]

I am soooo late on commenting on this, it's disgusting (and I'm so sorry for that, really; I apparently suck and am utterly incapable of juggling real life and fandom of late) - but I wanted you to know that I think it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. If a reset does indeed occur, this needs to be how it goes down, plain and simple. Thank you so much for writing it! (And for my request, too!)

[hopelessfangirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry about it! I'm just glad you didn't miss it completely! =)

Thank you so much. I'm so glad you liked this! I'm not quite sure they could make an entire season of something like this, but I would certainly like for it to happen this way.