#though in my defense the thing came to me with the words already gunked up.

[stolenlandsshitposts]

Thanks to @mountainashfae for consulting on this. I love being enabled.

[kabira]

02 | team project

pairing — spider-man!vernon x ofc

featuring — joshua, yeji (itzy), felix (skz), yangyang (nct)

word count — 2.6k

genres — spider-man au, marvel au, fluff, action, angst, humor

warnings — none

note — this is a little rushed, sorry ;-; i haven’t updated in two weeks despite only having posted the pilot so i was like !! ahh !! gotta update !! and here it is, your first ever (and very brief) appearance. i’ll edit it soon! as usual, send me an ask or dm if you want to be added to the taglist <3

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“Is this about me leaving Rhino on Midtown’s front porch?” Vernon demanded. “Because if it is, I’ll have you know that I left him in good hands—”

 "Calm down, Wonder Kid," Fury said. He didn't look amused like Vernon had hoped, which meant that whatever he'd come here to talk about was serious. Well, what else should he have expected from the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.? "It's not about that. Well—not entirely. It's about the good hands you mentioned."

Vernon narrowed his eyes. He'd met Fury a few times before, and never during favorable conditions. The last time he's seen the guy, Spider-Man had almost been pummeled to death by none other than the Goblin himself. "They said something about bringing him to S.H.I.E.L.D.," he muttered. "I should have guessed."

Fury didn't respond, instead reaching inside his jacket to bring out an envelope. He threw the open envelope onto the table in front of Vernon, making a few pictures half spill out from inside. "You know what that is?"

Vernon glanced at him suspiciously before slowly picking up the pictures and going through them. Each of them was a glossy shot of various locations in New York, and all of them had a major recurring theme—the places were completely trashed. Overturned cars, building walls with holes in them, bent lampposts. Wearily, he set the pictures down face-up on the table, then looked up at the man, who stared back with an unreadable expression on his face.

A beat passed. "Was that a rhetorical question?"

"Jesus, kid," Fury muttered. "All of those pictures were taken moments after a fight between you and one of your fanclub members. Now, I'm not saying I don't appreciate you taking care of a couple of minor criminals in the city—"

"Minor criminals?"

"—but I can't let you treat the place like it's your neighborhood playpen," he finished. Next to him, the pretty agent-slash-counselor sat with her legs folded, her surprisingly stern gaze fixed on Vernon. The attention made him squirm. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is a global defense organization, for god's sake. We don't have the time to clean up after kids who don't know even know their three Rs."

"Let me guess," Vernon said, "rock, roll, ramble?"

"Even your wisecracks aren't funny anymore, kid." Fury shook his head.

Ouch. "That hurt my feelings."

The man glared at him out of his one good eye. "You can't keep going like this forever," he said. "You're on your way to be one of the greats—don't look at me like that, hell if I'm gonna repeat that—but the big guys take care of their messes. They don't leave poor innocent civilians behind to get new paint jobs on their Kias. All that damage your careless fighting left behind, who's gonna take care of that?"

"Insurance?" Vernon suggested. Agent Fox cracked a smile, warming his insides. Her sitting aside in silence as Fury chewed him out was a little unnerving. He wondered if looking on silently while high-rankers lectured kids was something she had to do regularly. You gotta have a heart of ice to sit through that.

"You are," Fury said grimly, and Vernon blinked. "And you're gonna start today."

"What was it that you really wanted?" Vernon asked, crossing his arms over his chest, making his t-shirt stretch tight over his biceps. He really needed to go shopping. "You can't tell me the world's best spy came all the way to some backwater high school just to lecture a kid about cleanliness being next to godliness."

"You're a special case, Parker," Fury said, and Vernon placed a hand over his heart, mockingly going aw. "And you're right. I'm not here just to lecture you about your repeated careless mistakes, I'm here to help you fix them."

Vernon looked at him suspiciously, already wary of what was to come next. "And how do you propose I do that?"

"You've already shown me multiple times you can't do it yourself," Fury said. "Look, kid, here's the thing: you have a problem, and I have a problem. I also happen to have a joint solution to both."

Vernon slumped in his chair. Here it comes. "What problem could you possibly have? Nuclear warheads threatening to destroy civilians' Kias in Manhattan?"

"You really gotta work on those one-liners." Fury sighed. "There's a group of kids in the Helicarrier like you—up-and-coming superheroes in need of some real-world experience. They've got the training you need to handle jobs with efficiency, and you have the practical experience. They've got the goods—just like you—but nowhere real to practice them."

"You mean those guys," Vernon said, sitting up and recalling the three who had helped him in the fight against Rhino. "You mean—you want me to teach them?"

"I want you to work with them," Fury said. "Train with them, fight with them, lead what could be the next greatest team of post-humans."

"So basically, your solution is to sic a bunch of newbies on me as some kind of damage control," Vernon said angrily. "And what if I refuse?"

"Nothing," the spy answered simply. "You're not under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s official jurisdiction yet, so I can't do anything to you even if I want to—unless, of course, I absolutely have to. You're allowed to walk out of here right now, but I can't guarantee that that's gonna work out for you."

Vernon considered this. He knew a threat when he heard one, even when it wasn't a yell of SPIDER-MAN, I'M GONNA KILL YOU, but he also knew that Nick Fury's threats weren't always real threats. However, he did not like his chances.

"As long as they stay out of my business," he muttered, knowing that was the one thing they were least likely to do. He knew how closely teams operated, and it didn't take his spider sense to figure out that this team was going to be much nosier than that. He recalled the annoyed scowl on that Nova guy's face, and internally shuddered.

"It's a deal," Fury said pleasantly, as if Vernon had any choice but to accept the so-called 'deal'. "I'll be checking in regularly, so bear in mind that I'll know if you ever kill one of your teammates and throw their body into the East River."

"I would never go to that much trouble," he replied equally pleasantly, getting up. Then he glanced at the clock, and scowled. "I can't believe you made me skip my biology quiz for five minutes of parental guidance."

"Oh, I'd never lie to a teacher, kid," Fury said, patting his shoulder as he passed him. "A counseling session I promised, and a counseling session you will get."

Vernon glanced at the other agent in dismay, but she only smiled—whether in amusement or reassurance, he couldn't tell. She clicked her pen, picking up the pad, her eyes twinkling. "Settle down, Spider-Man," she said. "This will only take forty minutes."

Vernon almost considered opting out of eating in the cafeteria, but changed his mind at the last moment, knowing it was the only time other than first period biology he got to see Joshua on Mondays. He desperately needed to vent, and his bespectacled friend was the only one who even came close to understanding to the layers of his identity, one of which was a deep-rooted hatred for the universal authority on superheroes.

So he stalked right into lunch, barely noticing the gunk of whatever-it-was thwacking into his plastic tray, and headed for their usual table in the corner of the cafeteria. He didn't need to go that far to get to Joshua, however, as the blue-haired boy almost walked smack into him as he made his way there.

"Woah, woah, steady," Joshua said, grabbing his bicep to prevent them from colliding. "Why are you making like a steamroller towards that innocent little table? And what the hell were you during biology? What was that about?"

Vernon cast a careful glance around the cafeteria, at the crowd of people, one of which could easily overhear them in the close range. "I'll give you the details later," he murmured. "The cusp of the matter is: Fury blackmailed me into signing up for a team activity."

"Wait, wait, wait, Nick Fury?" Joshua asked in awe as they walked over to the table, gripping his tray tightly and hunching his shoulders, leaning slightly towards Vernon in interest. "You mean he was here, in this school?"

"Not even the first time, Josh."

"Not the—" Joshua shook his head, as if shooing away the thoughts. "Okay. Filing that information away for further perusal later. So you're telling me Nick Fury, super-spy, came to this place—" he spread his arms, indicating the school— "to talk to you. Man, sometimes I forget Spider-Man's supposed to be a household name."

"Shut up," Vernon hissed, casting a furtive glance at a heavily tattooed blonde who passed them by closely. "But yeah. And he asked me to team up with these noobs from the S.H.I.E.L.D. future program or something."

Joshua frowned. "But that's kind of cool, though, right?"

"Not if they're gonna slow me down," he replied. "Spider-Man's always operated alone, and—wait, what the hell?"

He stopped in his tracks right before the table, a stunned expression on his face. Joshua raised his eyebrows, following his gaze to the table, which was, surprisingly enough, already occupied.

She was there, of course, at her usual seat, the third from the left, except she was not alone. There was another girl, with dark hair and piercing eyes, picking at a soggy fry with her lips pursed. Next to her was a brooding blond with freckles that stood out against his shockingly pale skin. Last, but not the least, was the boy with the tanned skin who was making Vernon's best friend laugh so hard she was doubled over, a familiar cocky edge to his smile.

"Ah," Joshua said.

Lucy Langdon was one of Vernon's, and therefore Spider-Man's, biggest pressure points. She was also one of the only ones who had been left virtually untouched by all his superhero shenanigans, and he wanted to keep it that way. Though she was smart enough keep up with a few new trainees, as far as Vernon was concerned, she was strictly off-limits. Even to superheroes who could fly and called themselves Nova.

Vernon stalked over to the table and slammed his tray on the surface so hard he made everyone jump. Then he glared at the boy sitting next to her, the one with the bronzed skin, as Joshua stood by awkwardly. "You're in my seat," he said pointedly.

The boy cocked a lazy eyebrow, gesturing to the unoccupied seats opposite him. "I don't see your name on it."

Vernon ground his teeth, raising his hand (no doubt to petulantly slam it down on the table next to his tray) but Joshua grabbed his wrist, giving him a meaningful look. "Don't start anything that can be easily avoided," he muttered to the boy, and Vernon relented, albeit grudgingly.

"You're late," Lucy said conversationally, though your voice was higher than usual, probably because of the sudden tension that had descended upon the table. Vernon sat down slowly, still glaring at the boy, and she glanced at Joshua, who only shrugged. "These are, uhm, they're new."

"I figured," Vernon muttered.

"Three in one day? And this late into the year?" Joshua wondered aloud, raising his eyebrows. "Now I'm curious."

"Nothing worth your curiosity, I'm afraid," the new girl replied. Her eyes, when they swept over Vernon, were watchful and aware. "Just a coincidence. I was supposed to join earlier but there was a family emergency. As for these two, I can only guess." Her smile was small but sharp. "I'm Yeji."

"Felix," said the blond. He looked gloomy, but maybe it was just because of the unhealthy-looking pallor of his skin.

"And I'm Yangyang," the last boy said, with an impish grin that rubbed Vernon the wrong way. He already knew who these three were supposed to be—actually, everyone was supposed to know Felix, since Iceman was already a pretty famous member of the X-Men. Surely dyed hair couldn't be the only change needed to disguise that face? "Me and Felix are cousins, actually."

"Felix and I," Vernon mumbled under his breath, and Lucy gave him a look which he ignored. "Since when did you start taking people in for charity?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Be nice," she said. "They were in my Home Economics class, and if it hadn't been for Yeji here, I might have blown up the marble cake I was supposed to be making."

Joshua frowned. "How?"

"A story for another day." She smiled an unreadable smile, dark eyes sparkling. "Now—"

"No," Vernon said.

She glanced at him. "Excuse me?"

"No," he repeated. Then, as jerkily as he had sat down, he got up, and jabbed a finger at the new arrivals in turn, before pointing over his shoulder. "You three," he said venomously, "to the corridor. Now."

"Aw, man, I can't believe you're being so sensitive about this," Yangyang—Nova—complained loudly, though there was a shit-eating grin on his face as he followed Vernon into the hallway. "So Fury transferred us into your school without checking with you first. Big deal. What are you supposed to be, the queen of England?"

Vernon gave him a spiteful look, but otherwise ignored his remark. Instead, he focused on Yeji, who was watching him patiently, because she looked like the most sensible member of the group. He stared at her for a long moment, struggling to find the words that would convey the exact measure of his indignance. "Why?" he asked finally, giving up.

She shrugged helplessly. "Look, we didn't ask for this, either," she answered. "We're under orders, so it's not like we can just up and leave. Huddling in the hallway isn't a smart decision, either—we already have all eyes on us because of being the three new kids who randomly joined on the same day, and this is only making us look even more suspicious."

Vernon glared at her, trying to think of a good argument, then gave up. He turned on Felix, who was standing off to the side with folded arms, still looking uninterested in the conversation. "You," he said, narrowing his eyes, "you're Iceman."

Felix looked at him neutrally. "Yes."

"You're not under S.H.I.E.L.D.," Vernon said, pointing an accusatory finger. "And you have enough real-world experience, so there's no reason for you to be here instead of with the X-Men—"

"Dude," Felix said frostily; no pun intended. "Drop it."

Yeji nodded, giving Vernon a meaningful look he could not decipher.

"Aw, come on, web-head," Yangyang interjected. "We saved your life and you didn't even thank us, but I'll let that go since your manners aren't exactly polished. But this is just boring."

"It is not," Vernon seethed. "I'll talk to Fury—"

Yangyang snorted. "Good luck with that."

"—or the principal—"

"The new principal," Yeji muttered. "Agent Coulson."

Vernon made an exasperated noise. "The only reason I even agreed to Fury's stupid offer was because I thought it would get him off my case!" he yelled. "School is the only part of my life that's separate from all the wacky crap I have to deal with otherwise, and now even that—" He clenched his teeth. "If I'd known it meant having you people barge into my life like this—"

"Then you couldn't have done anything about it, even knowing," Yeji said, gently cutting him off. "Face it, hero. You're stuck with us as much as we're stuck with you—whether any of us like it or not."

[get-lost-in-fanfiction]

LOST - Another Story

Rating: M

Word Count: 3.0k

A/N: I cranked this out fast, and I’m pretty proud of it. Enjoy Hearts and Minds!

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Hearts and Minds

When Hearts and Minds rolls around I find myself seeking Sun and her garden out. I figure I haven’t spent a lot of time with her, and I want to make it count knowing the months ahead. I can’t exactly remember where Sun’s garden is, but I figure if I wander around in the jungle I’ll find it eventually using the magic of the Island (or maybe TV).

So I spend half a morning trekking through the jungle through already worn paths to try and find Sun’s garden. I’m about to give up when I hear a non-jungle noise and I push back some brush to see Sun. She looks up in worry when I rustle the leaves, but gives me a smile when she notices it’s me.

“Hey Sun,” I call, setting my pack down on the outskirts of the garden, “This place is well hidden.”

“Yes it is, that’s why I picked this spot,” Sun replies, covering her forehead with her hand to block out the sun.

I laugh, “Well I came to find you, since well, I knew you’d be here. Maybe we can just chill and talk? Kate is going to come by as well though.”

Sun just nods with a smile, “Yes she already had come across me,” she says as she plants some herbs. I push the sleeves of my shirt up to my shoulders and get to work with Sun. We work in silence, but it’s not an awkward one. I can tell Sun wants to ask me questions, but can’t seem to formulate the words to ask them. I realize I don’t know how to start a conversation either, and so I resolve to keeping the silence.

Sun and I break the ice when she asks me if I want to learn a few words in Korean. Obviously, I say yes, and she coaches me through pronunciations of a few of the plants we’re planting. I laugh when I can't get the syllables right, and Sun just commends me for doing my best. It's about midday when Jack and Kate come. I can hear their conversation, as does Sun, and we get back to working in silence.

“Please tell me you found a coffee bar,” Jack’s voice says as he approaches.

“Not quite,” I hear Kate say and as I look up they appear. Jack’s face lights up as Sun looks up at Jack then to me.

“When did you do all this?” Jack asks Kate but also looking at me to direct the question my way.

“I didn't. It was all Sun,” Kate says, pausing to look at me, “And Amelia too apparently. I just wandered into this place the other day when I was out picking fruit.”

They kneel down, “This is, is beautiful,” Jack stumbles as he says to Sun, “It's great,” he then says to me, and Sun and I smile.

“She planted some herbs and some low growing stuff here,” Kate says, “And then she started a grove over there.”

“Smart. With the boar running out we're going to need as much food as we can possibly get,” Jack responds and I look away at the mention of the boar.

“Maybe it's not running out,” Kate suggests, and I decide to look up at her to seem less suspicious.

“What do you mean?” Jack asks, noticing my reaction. Kate looks at me as well, taking note at my expression.

“Well, you're half right,” I start slowly and choosing my words carefully, so as to not give away any information about the hatch, “Locke and Boone- are having trouble finding the boar. They're getting harder to catch.” I lie.

“Having trouble?” Jack asks, and I can tell he bought the lie. I don't look at Kate in case she knows I’m lying somehow.

“Yeah, more sparse, knowing that people are hunting them,” I explain, pulling all of it out of my ass, “They know the jungle better than us, obviously, and Locke and Boone are just inexperienced.”

Jack and Kate regard me for a moment, and by the looks on their faces, I can tell they believe me. I sigh in relief to myself and offer a smile externally.

Jack and Kate have a conversation and Sun goes back to work in the garden. I stare off into the distance thinking about how Boone is being manipulated by Locke and how Locke is going to tie Boone up. I shudder slightly, and that wakes me from my thoughts. No one is watching me, though, but I still decide to help Sun some more. Eventually, Jack leaves and Kate stays. I want to leave as well and try to help Boone. He's a bonehead but I don't want to see him struggle. Maybe I can even save his life in Do No Harm.

Kate is saying something, and I see out of the corner of my eye Sun just working. I can tell it's hard for her to keep the secret. It's been 3 weeks, and honestly, I don't think I could keep a secret that long either. Hell, I at least told someone my secret on the first day here. Maybe I'm pathetic.

“I can't believe we've been here for over 3 weeks,” Kate says and her words catch my ear. Only because I was just thinking them, “I was on my way to Bali. I travel a lot. I was looking forward to exploring the Island. Somehow I ended up on a flight to LA, instead. Guess that falls under the category -- be careful what you wish for,” I look up to see Sun smile, Kate’s face falls in shock, “You understood me. You did, didn't you, you just understood what I said? You speak English?”

“Please, don't tell anyone,” Sun says finally, and Kate turns to me.

“Did you know about this?” Kate asks and I raise my hands defensively despite her calm tone.

“I sought her out, actually. Knowing she had a secret I thought it would be good to have someone who understands what it's like,” I say calmly and Sun just nods. I realize my words sound odd and possessive, but I’m sure Kate doesn't think of it that way.

I don’t hear what Kate and Sun say next, I’m too preoccupied by thoughts of Boone. That makes me upset. I hate that I want to save him. I have to, though, or at least try. Maybe I can end his trip early and get him to see what a manipulative person Locke is.

“I’d really love to keep talking about this, but I have to run,” I say as I brush off my pants and hands, “Bye-” I say before running off into the jungle. I head in the general direction of where I think the hatch is, man this is a lot harder in real life.

I feel like I’m running around in circles, and time just drags on until I feel no hope of finding Boone. I hear the sound of a struggle and I think I’ve found him.

“Hold on Shannon, I'm coming!” I hear a voice shout, and the familiar dialogue alerts me to Boone.

“Boone? Boone!” I shout and I round the corner to see Boone struggling to try and reach the knife, but almost reaching it. I figure Boone can’t hear me, and I can tell from here his eyes are glazed over.

Boone struggles more and I decide to grab it before him, “Boone!” I shout and kneel in front of him.

“Shannon! Shannon!” Boone shouts and I flinch away from him since his yell is so loud.

“Boone, listen to me, listen!” I try and shout back, but when he struggles more I decide to stick the knife in the tree above him so I don't get stabbed again.

“Boone, listen to me. It's Amelia, you’re having a hallucination, Shannon isn’t here!” I do my best to speak loudly and clearly, but Boone is still struggling against his bonds.

“No no Shannon! The monster! the monster! Shannon!!” Boone shouts again. I huff and slap him across the face. To my surprise it works and Boon stares at me completely afraid.

“Boone…” I sigh, feeling really out of breath through the struggle and the shouting.

“Oh my god, Amelia what happened?” Boone asks, slumping against the tree and looking up to see the knife above his head.

“Locke happened, do you remember?” I ask as I yank the knife out of the bark and move around to cut him free. When I do he rubs his wrists in pain.

“We were talking about the-“ Boone begins but stops suddenly and looks at me in terror.

“I know about the hatch Boone, continue,” I say to his expression, and it softens a little.

“We were talking about the hatch and how I wanted to tell Shannon. But Locke knocked me out, tied me up, and put this weird stuff on the wound,” Boone says and I’m relieved he remembers. I hesitate for a moment, then rip a strip from my shirt and wipe off the gunk on Boone’s head.

“Well the important thing is that you remember what happened,” I begin and sigh to myself, “I just don’t remember why Locke did this in the first place…”

“To keep the hatch hidden, right?” Boone asks and I nod slowly in agreement.

“I suppose..” I trail off in thought. I go to stand up, but Boone catches my wrist.

“Thank you for saving me,” He says as he pulls me back down. I’m powerless to stop this, though. He kisses me, which is exactly what I thought would happen. I don’t resist, though, maybe because I’m actually shocked he would do that.

I push away, feeling lightheaded and kind of sick. I’m not with Sawyer and Boone is free so what’s the harm? The harm is that he’s going to die, Sawyer isn’t going to die. Yet, I changed this scene. Right here, right now, Boone isn’t having a hallucination. Maybe I can save him.

“Amelia?” Boone whispers to me, and I can feel his hot breath on the shell of my ear. It only makes me feel nauseous.

I shove Boone away and stand up, “No Boone,” I say, crossing my arms over my body protectively.

“Amelia wait- I thought you wanted that?” Boone says and I just shake my head. I feel like I’m going to pass out.

“Can we go back to camp?”

“Amelia-“

“Can we go back to camp?” I ask again with way more force this time.

“Yeah…”

We make it to camp and it's not even sunset yet. I guess when you’re upset you walk fast. I grab around my back to get my pack but I realize I left it at Sun’s garden. Shit. I mentally smack myself. I look around for Kate. I don’t know if she and Sun made it back yet. I feel like so much has changed, yet so little. I don’t even know if they’re at the beach.

“Blue eyes you seem lost!” I hear a southern voice call, and I look up to see Sawyer talking towards me. Then I catch Boone out of the corner of my eye and I don’t react in time.

“Back off her!” Boone shouts in an obvious display of overreaction and runs at Sawyer.

“Boone!!” I shout as well, running forward to try to get between Sawyer and Boone. Somehow I make it and press my palms into both of the men’s chests.

“What are you talking about, boy?” Sawyer taunts, pressing into my hand and making my arms shake in exertion.

“Sawyer?!” I cry out, and he stops immediately.

“Amelia, are you okay?” Boone softens his voice immediately and again I feel disgusted. I push him with both my hands and back up into Sawyer’s chest. He catches me with his hands on my shoulders.

“Go away Boone,” I say firmly, tears springing to my eyes.

“But-?” Boone tries to say, moving towards me.

“Just go!” I shout and he backs off. I can tell he’s shooting daggers at Sawyer. He bumps into people as he walks away, and they look at Sawyer and I.

Then Sawyer is leading me back to our tents. I feel numb. This is not how I wanted this “episode” to go. I just wanted to save Boone, but as the sun is starting to set I can tell he’s off to find Locke again. Tears stream down my face silently, and my whole body feels like a tightly wound coil. Like I might spring up any second and lose all my cool.

Sawyer steers me to his makeshift bed, and makes me sit down. He kneels in front of me and regards me with the softest expression I’ve ever seen Season One Sawyer make. Maybe if I wasn’t so distressed right now I could appreciate this moment of sincerity. He doesn’t speak for a long time. He lets me cry, even though it's quiet. I find myself wishing he’d hold me.

When the sun is beginning to set, and I’ve calmed myself considerably, Sawyer gets up and sits next to me. I wipe my tears and look away from him. Suddenly I’m embarrassed by my show of emotions because I’m not one to get worked up so easily. I know Sawyer is going to ask what happened, and I’m not sure I want to tell him. I don’t want him running off and beating Boone up again and getting us into another torture situation.

“Amelia,” Sawyer begins with a sigh and I can tell he’s serious if he’s using my given name.

“Yes James?” I reply, surprised at how weak, small, and scared my voice sounds.

“Damn blue eyes, what did he do to you?” Sawyer asks with genuine surprise. I have to swallow a sob that wants to tear out my throat. It’s not that big of a deal, yet somehow it is.

“He kissed me,” I say slowly so as to not cry again, “He kissed me and I think I kissed him back and maybe he got the idea I liked it when I didn’t.”

Sawyer sits in silence, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I look at him, and in the dying light I have trouble making out his face. His hands seem normal, so maybe that's a good sign he’s not fighting the urge to sock Boone in the jaw.

“Sawyer say something,” I say cautiously after a whole 5 minutes pass.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Sawyer says with murder clear in his voice. He makes to get up but I jump off his bed and hold his arms. I know that if he really wanted to do something he could just push me aside, but in his moment my hands stop him.

“Sawyer it’s not a big deal, look,” I say as I take a step back from him, “I’m okay, I’m not hurt, and I can’t even blame him.” Sawyer eyes me for a solid 30s seconds before he pulls me back to sit down.

“I’m going to stick by you a lot closer,” Sawyer says possessively and I feel my heart pound, “I'll make sure that jackass doesn’t get near you.”

“James, that’s not necessary,” I try to reason and fight playfully against the strong arm that's keeping me from standing up again. Sawyer loosens his arm at the mention of his real name, and I know I convinced him.

“Alright, Amelia, but if I hear he did something to you, he’s gonna be dead,” Sawyer tells me in a half growl.

“Noted,” I say with a breathy laugh and I hope that he can't tell he makes me nervous. I slip myself away from his arms, and he watches me go. I walk away slowly from him, and go to try and find Boone.

I don't have to look very far, thankfully, as they’re at a fire not far away from where Sawyer and I’s tents are. I lurk in the shadows and catch part of their conversation.

“Did you see what you needed to see?” I hear Locke ask, and I flinch knowing what he means.

“No, what was I supposed to see Locke?” Boone asks angrily, and I can tell from the shift in the air Locke is getting defensive.

“You were supposed to be given an experience that I believed was vital to your survival on this Island,” Locke sas carefully, manipulative as ever. It makes me more sick than my kiss with Boone.

“So it wasn’t real?” Boone asks and I have a feeling he didn’t believe me when I told him he was having a hallucination.

“It was only as real as you made it,” Locke says and I shudder at the context.

“I saw her -- I saw her and we kissed,” Boone says and my heart stops for a moment. My breathing picks up and I struggle to stay quiet.

“How did you feel? When she kissed you?” Locke asks and I feel even worse. Maybe I should let Sawyer kill Boone after all.

“I felt -- I felt -- I felt relieved. I felt relieved,” Boone finally manages to answer and I think I’m going to throw up.

“Yes. Time to let go,” Locke says as he gets up and grabs his pack, “Follow me.”

Boone follows and once they’re out of sight I puke into the sand. It’s mostly water and the act does nothing to quell the now seemingly permanent stomach ache that’s made it’s home at the base of my stomach.

Then Kate runs up to me, and Jack as well. They sit me up and give me water. Kate asks what happened and Jack presses to see if I’m feeling alright and what I’m eating. I tell them that I’m fine and that I’m probably dehydrated. It’s a terrible lie, but they buy it anyway. They lead me back to Sawyer and my tent, and he raises an eyebrow at me. Kate walks me to my tent and gives a warning look to Sawyer. I don’t look back at him after that. I crawl into my makeshift bed and fall asleep feeling awful.

LOST

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