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One week before the crashAmelia County, Wyoming, Acosta Family Ranch----------------
“Mari!” Roman, her older brother by 10 years helplessly called out to her in the dark. They were both in the shed, along with her second oldest brother, Richard, who was named after their father and grandfather. Richard was only seven years older than her but he was by far the most sensitive sibling of the three present. “Shut the hell up, Ro! You're gonna wake up Grandpa and Grandma. Is that what you want? You want them to come out here and see this shit? Because we both know that grandma won't hesitate to call the police… no matter who it is.” Marceline huffed as she grabbed the foot that was hanging out from underneath the dark blue tarp in the back of Richard’s pickup truck. Her boyfriend of five years, Perry, steps out of the passenger side clearly panicking.
Marceline had met Perry in high school and had a crush on him for a while before he had met his then girlfriend, Rebecca. The two had a child together before Rebecca had eventually left, leaving a heartbroken Perry and a motherless nine-month-old Amy. Perry and Mari hadn't got together until Amy was around two years old. The young girl is now seven and looks at Mari as her mother figure. Thinking about her sweet Amy had made Mari pull the now deceased man out of the trunk, making sure to keep the tart over him as best as she could as she did not wish to see a face she had once known. “What happened?” her older brother Roman asked as he had grabbed the man's upper half and helped his younger sister set him on the ground. He sounded breathless, from the fear of the situation or from having to set the large man on the ground, she doesn't know. Once the man Is set on the ground, she wipes her hands on her jeans and looks up at the second oldest and the long-term boyfriend.
“‘S an accident…” was all her boyfriend had managed to muster up as he looked down effectively hiding his eyes underneath the rim of his hat. He stood there, eyes downcast and hands nervously stuffed into his front pockets. “An accident?!” Mari looks at Perry in disbelief, not knowing what to say and not wanting to hurt his feelings, knowing how sensitive her boyfriend tends to be. She couldn't say she was surprised that this had happened, she knows that her boyfriend has had some “anger issues” in the past but she never would have thought that he would have actually killed somebody. If she was being completely honest she would have thought that it would've been her 24-year-old sister, Mireya, or her father. “How was this an accident, Perry? How do you accidentally kill somebody? You have a daughter, y'know? You can't go around doing this kind of shit anymore!” She told him her voice slightly rising at the end as he still hadn't managed to look her in the eye. This had only seemed to anger her more even though she knew that this had been a terrifying experience for him, so she took a deep breath and bit her tongue.
“It was my fault!” Richard had suddenly spoken up, taking too long to make it believable. Roman scoffed under his breath and shook his head in disbelief before he looked over at Mari and nodded his head toward the still-covered body. “What are we gonna do with it?” he asked her. She shook her head as she paced back and forth for a few seconds. “Wrap ‘em up real good… use some rope… Ro, ‘re gonna come with me, get your horse ready. Perry and Rich are gonna clean out the back of the truck and wait for us until we get back. Got it.” She instructed them, not waiting for their response as she went to get Miguel, her horse. After the body is set onto the back of her horse, the two siblings take off, they head towards the trail, heading deep enough into the mountains before they break right and head as far from the main trail as possible. They dump the body and head back towards the ranch, the ride back is silent, both of them thinking about what had happened and what they had just done, they had returned close to midnight.
Richard and Perry are sitting on the hay strewn across the shed, heads in their hands as the gravity of what they had done has finally been made clear to them. Marceline looked at the man she loved dearly and took a seat next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder to offer him some sense of comfort. “What happened, baby?” She quietly asks him, not wanting to startle the shaken man any further. He shakily explained the situation with the help of her second oldest brother. Mari had guessed correctly, his anger had gotten the best of him and she didn’t know what to say. “Did anyone see you two alone with him… Did anyone see what had happened?” She had asked, nervously wringing her hands together as she thought about the deceased man's two brothers finding out. She didn't have much time to humor that thought before the loud sound of metal banging and the whir of multiple engines could be heard. His brothers had arrived.
Needless to say this Random Tuesday night had ended with blood, multiple wounds, two dead bodies, and a lot of explaining to her grandfather and father. Marceline had just killed someone… for the first time since she had left the military. She had killed Trevor's (the deadman) older sister, Amelia. She had sat in silence next to her lover, surrounded by the men of her family. Roman had taken the second body as deep into the mountains as the other one. her father had since taken off to go track down the other two boys who had gotten away. He would take care of that… it was nothing that she needed to worry about… that they needed to worry about, her father could handle it. “The rain should wash away the tracks… any evidence that was left behind… the crime scene should be clean… like they were just left there. There wouldn't be any evidence pointing back to us, right?” She asked no one in particular. That night Perry and Mari had headed back to his family ranch in a tense silence, neither of them knowing what to say.
“We should go… somewhere far from here. We can tell them that we are taking a vacation or something; Amy's 8th birthday is coming up after all. She's always talking about going to Australia and then we can go to L.A or-or New York. We don't have to tell anyone about that.” She says as she gets comfortable on her side of the bed. Perry seemed to perk up at her suggestion and for the first time since the incident earlier he smiled and it did nothing but fill her chest with love for him and pride that she was able to make him smile. “Yeah, we could do that…” He softly agreed with his country accent filling the space between them as he got into bed beside her.
By lunch the next day three tickets to Sydney Airport had been booked and they had decided to surprise Amy at dinner, not daring to mention the real reason for their spontaneous birthday trip. The young girl was excited, to say the least, Marceline lovingly smiled at the young girl she considered her own daughter and smiled at her boyfriend. “Well, we leave tomorrow. We stay for three days, spend your birthday in Sydney, and leave the day after for another super secret surprise.” Mari dramatically says. No matter how happy she is for Amy, her stomach is twisting itself into knots from how nervous and anxious she is.
She hopes everything goes well.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The day after Amy's birthday~~~~~
Marceline checks the hotel room one last time, making sure that the three of them have everything packed for their flight tomorrow morning… well, for Amy and Perry’s flight tomorrow morning. Marceline would not be going along with the two just yet; as much as she loved her boyfriend and his now eight-year-old daughter, she needed time alone to think about what had happened and what she had done. She knew what she had done was wrong… hiding the dead body was wrong… killing that woman was wrong, but it was too late to take it back now.
She knows that she should say their names… acknowledge that they were people… people she had known since she was young, people that she had gone to school with but that just made the situation so much worse. She was trying to be strong for both Perry and Amy but she didn’t know how much longer she could keep it up. She needed to be on her own for a bit, she needed time to think and sort through her emotions and she couldn't do that with them around. It was hard enough helping her boyfriend sort through his feelings and giving him comfort. She wasn't trying to be melodramatic or anything but she preferred to suffer in silence than to burden anyone else with her problems… it was just out of her comfort zone.
“Do you have everything packed up? make sure you leave an outfit out for tomorrow.” She says, looking Perry in the eye, knowing that he would forget otherwise.
As much as she loved Perry she knew that he would never truly move on from Rebecca, his first love, the woman that had given him his child. She would bet her life savings that if Rebecca randomly knocked on their hotel room door he would go off with her and never look back. It's not like she could blame him though, the two went through a lot together. She knew just how much Perry had loved Rebecca… She had seen with her own eyes, after all She did have a crush on him while she was still in high school; every time he would come over after working on his family ranch, all she could hear him talking about to her older brother, Richard, was Rebecca.
Perry was about 27 when Amy was born by that time Maraeline was already 20, She had witnessed their relationship up since she was about 16. By 22, She was in a relationship with Perry, something she could only dream about for years. Amy was 2 years old by then and Perry was 29… something her father and grandparents were not happy about but she clearly didn't listen to them.
She loved him though … loved him enough to hide a body for him… loved him enough to kill for him… but she couldn't help but wish that he had just left her to go search for Rebecca. They won't admit it or even entertain the thought of it, but they both know that it's what he really wants. She won't leave him because she loves him and Amy and he won't leave her because he doesn't want to be alone.
As Amy calls her name Marceline is suddenly knocked back into reality; she looks over at the small girl, waiting for what she has to say. “Can you brand my hair so it could be wavy tomorrow?“ Marceline nods and gestures for the young girl to come sit between her legs.
A few more hours go by until Perry finally notices that Marceline hasn't said much, he shoots her a questioning look as he takes a seat on the edge of the hotel bed. “You alright, Darlin’?” She nervously chews on her bottom lip before she exhales and looks at him, ”I'm not going, Perry. I'm not going to L.A. with you… at least not yet.” It takes a few seconds for her words to sink in, but when they finally do he opens his mouth to disagree. “ I'll only be here for a few days… I just need time to think. Besides, it gives you more time to spend with Amy, she would love that.” She cuts him off, not wanting to argue about it.
"Well, What are you gonna be doing out here all alone? You don't know anyone that lives out here. Tomorrow is Monday, what could you possibly be thinking about for a few days?”
"Everything!” Marceline replies, trying to keep her voice down to not wake Amy up. " Everything, Perry… I don't know what to do. I don't know why I did it. I just need to be alone for a bit. I'll be coming back before the end of the week, baby. I won't be gone for too long. The plane tickets and hotel room are already organized for you two, there's nothing you need to worry about.” Perry scoffs and shakes his head in disbelief but doesn't bother to argue anymore knowing that there's no changing her mind now.
The next morning is tense between the two, and Amy seems to notice as she quickly skitters off to get ready.
~~~~~
Marceline is driving back to the hotel alone this time. She had just dropped off Perry and Amy for their flight and as guilty as she feels for admitting it, she is glad to finally be alone. The quiet is comforting. The quiet is peaceful. The quiet is what she needs right now.
She spends her night at the hotel doing exactly what she told Perry she was going to do, thinking.
The next day she went out, exploring and shopping for some more clothes. On her way back to her rental car she had bumped into an obviously drunk man, and she went to step around him. “The sad thing is that he doesn't even have a shoulder to cry on without you… he’s on his own when he needs you most. Are you really going to leave him alone?” Marceline had sworn she heard the older man say. “Excuse me?” she asked, trying to see if he would repeat it. “I said sorry… I had a little too much to drink. clearly.” He replied, scoffing and dryly finishing his sentence.
After that incident, she drove back to the hotel in silence wondering if she had imagined that or if it had actually happened. Marceline had concluded that it was probably the guilt of sending Perry off with Amy alone, leaving him alone when he needed her the most. She sighed and leaned her head against the steering wheel as she decided that she was going to leave tomorrow, she shouldn't leave Perry on his own for too long.
~~~~~
She places her luggage in the back of the rental and lets out a sigh of relief and slight stress about going to rejoin the two, not that she was dreading it but she wasn't exactly looking forward to it.
Sometimes Marceline wonders what Perry would do without her.
Marceline was waiting in line to buy her ticket when she heard a man's voice begin to get louder, clearly upset over a funeral or something related to that, she wasn't listening as it was none of her business. She once again zones out focusing on a loving Asian couple, she tries to imagine herself with Perry but she can't. Why can't she picture herself being affectionate and loving with her long-term boyfriend? She can do all this illegal crap for him but she can't imagine herself being sweet with him. She scoffs at how stupid she sounds. “Maybe this was a side effect of being in war.” She mockingly thinks to herself.
She bought her ticket for the next flight to Los Angeles, took her luggage, and sat down across from a little boy and his father. As she continued to watch them her pity for the man continued to grow, the young boy ignored the man without fail, never once looking up no matter how many times his name was called. The boy whose name she had now learned was Walt. After a few more failed attempts at starting a conversation, his father eventually gives up and heads for the payphones leaving Marceline sitting across from the boy; it seems as if as soon as his father leaves Walt looks up and smiles at the woman.
She smiles back, "What was that all about?” She asks, eyebrows raised and a teasing but friendly smirk on her full lips. "He's not my real dad.”
"Oh.”~~~~~~She is one of the last ones to board the plane, nearly missing her flight because she is still caught up in that awkward conversation, if you could even call it that, with Walt. She is flushed from both the embarrassment and anxiety of almost missing her flight. "Damn, Pinky, you alright?” She hears a rather deep voice with a southern twang. “Huh? Oh, I'm alright.“ Marceline quickly replies with a huff as she finally manages to put her carry-on up.
She finally takes her seat just as a large man rushes past her causing her to flinch back in surprise. "Sorry, dude!” That is all she heard in response as he made his way to his seat. "What the hell…” She mutters as she relaxes against the seat. " Whoa there, Santa Maria. You almost got flattened by Jabba there…” The handsome long-haired man said with amusement clear in his voice and on his face, highlighting his prominent dimples.
"What the fuck.” Marceline thought to herself. Unfortunately, the Military had prepared her for this type of humor, If you could even call it that. She just wasn't expecting it since she hadn't even met yet. "And you are?”
"The name’s Sawyer, darlin’, don't wear it out.” He replied with a cocky smirk.
“Marceline.” She dryly replies.
She doesn't think it was too much longer until the turbulence began. The first time it happened it hadn't startled her much. The next was stronger, and rougher, making Mari finally begin to panic. Then they were told to put the seatbelts on right before everything went to shit. The Oxygen masks fell and at that point, Marceline swallowed down her fear and blocked out all the screams and panic around her as her body began relying on pure instinct.
She quickly put the mask on before checking to see if Sawyer needed any help. The last thing she remembers is tightly grabbing onto whatever she could and that just happened to be Sawyer’s forearm.~~~~~She wakes up on the far end of the beach, dazed and blinking up at the bright blue sky. She looks around confused for a few moments realizing that she is on a beach and no longer on the plane. It's at that point when the sound of the screams and loud whir of the engines fills her ears and sends her into action. She helps the few people that she can and makes her way towards the screaming blonde woman standing in the middle of everything. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?” Marceline asks, the worry clear in her voice but her demeanor is as calm as she could keep it. "Boone! My brother, I can't find my brother!”
"It's okay, It'll be okay. Let's go find somewhere to calm down. When everything calms down a bit more I'll look around for him, okay?” Mari says as she leads the blonde woman to an abandoned log a little ways from all the wreckage. "Now what's your name? And your brother… Boone, what does he look like?” She shakily inhales and answers the questions.
"Well, Shannon, my name is Marceline and I'll be back as soon as I can.” After getting all the information she needs she goes off, leaving Shannon behind with a few more words of comfort. Though she is looking for Boone, it's not her priority; her priority is going to be helping as many people as she can. She spots a man that matches Shannon's description giving CPR to an older black woman and quickly rushes up to him. "Hi, are you Boone?” She asked as she knelt beside him, correcting the woman's position as she did so. “I'll help this woman here… You go, your sister is over there looking for you… Well, more like she was screaming for you… but same difference.”
He looks at Marceline in disbelief for a few seconds, blinking rapidly before nodding his head and rushing off to where Mari had pointed. A few more chest compressions and the elder is gasping for breath. "There you go, you're okay.” She says as she helps the woman sit up. A few moments pass as the woman finally catches her breath, Marceline finally begins to calm down, the pain from her unnoticed injuries finally registering in her mind. She has a couple of minor cuts that are bleeding, on the front of her left shin, her upper left thigh, and her right bicep.
"You're hurt. Let me help you.” She looks up, seeing the brown-haired man in a suit. "What are you, a doctor or something?” Marceline asked. He chuckled and Kneeled beside her, "You could say that… I'm a spinal surgeon.”
“Ooo, just our luck; we crash-landed in the middle of nowhere with a spinal surgeon.” She laughs in disbelief. "Thank you, by the way. I'm Marceline.”
“Jack.” He replied with a smile as he focused on treating her wounds.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Island~~~~~Their out-of-place moment was cut short by a loud creaking noise, the brunettes looked towards the noise and panic had once again overtaken them. Jack quickly finishes wrapping her shin before he is up and running towards the people underneath the unsteady wing, Marceline watches him eyes wide with surprise as he fearlessly runs towards them shouting. "Some kind of spinal surgeon, huh.” Before she could make her way towards the trio to check on the pregnant woman a large explosion goes off throwing the three face-first onto the sand, the explosion causes the screams and panic to grow louder. She hurriedly makes her way towards the trio to make sure they are alright. She helps the pregnant woman up but before she can ask her anything Jack has already told the large man to stay put and has pulled Marceline up by her uninjured arm, rushing away.
"I need you to find me a sewing kit. If you find some gauze and tape, keep it and find me, okay? I'll be looking around too.” He tells her, even if he makes it sound like a question, it's not, and that much is clear. As much as she didn't want to go through random people's stuff she didn't have much of a choice now. Thankfully, before she had to go through anyone's stuff she had spotted her two suitcases and let out a sigh of relief; she knew she had a sewing kit in there. After securing her luggage and the kit she's off to go find Jack, which doesn't take too long. "You get it? I found a first aid kit…” He asked, slightly panting and face displaying discomfort. Marceline holds up the small sewing kit and slightly shakes it.
"Okay… good.” He once again grabs her, pulling her by the wrist into the jungle to find a secluded spot before he finally lets out a groan of pain as he holds onto a tree trunk and gets onto his knees. He sets his blazer down beside him before he hastily unbuttons his shirt, groaning in pain. Marceline snaps out of her surprise and finally notices the blood seeping through his shirt and rushes to him, kneeling beside him as she helps him slide his shirt off of his shoulders. "Oh my gosh! Jack, Why didn't you say anything earlier?” She asked as she tossed his shirt to the side. "Other people needed help, Marceline-“ She cut him off, "and so did you, Jack.” He shakes his head but doesn't bother arguing back. “So do you know how to sew? Can you help me or do I need to find someone else to do it?” Jack asked with an attitude clear in his voice.
"I can help you. You don't need to get an attitude with me now.” She grumbles under her breath as he hands her the small bottle of Alcohol. "Use some for your hands and save the rest for my wound.” Marceline doesn't say anything else as she does as Jack said; she places her free hand on his upper back, silently warning him before she slowly pours the alcohol over his wound making him let out a guttural groan. “Any color preferences?” She asks in an effort to lighten the mood, and it seems to work as Jack replies with amusement clear in his voice, ”Ha, standard black is fine.” Marceline snickered as she continued to stitch his wound, her hands shaking slightly from how much pain Jack was in.
After she is finished sewing his wound shut she ties it off and covers it with gauze; she gently squeezes his shoulder to signal that she is done and stands up. “All done. How does that feel? We both know it's not a professional job but I tried my best.” Marceline awkwardly chuckled as she helped him stand up, "Are you gonna put your bloody shirt back on or do you want me to get you another one?.. Unless you've found your luggage already.” Her awkwardness starts to shine through as the tense situation melts away. He struggles to hide his amusement but nods, "If you have a shirt I'll take it, I haven't exactly had time to look for my luggage yet.”
"Oh, right. Ha ha, I'll be back in a second, I should have one of my boyfriend's shirts in my suitcase.” She says before rushing off to avoid staring at his shirtless body for too long, It was starting to make her feel a bit guilty and she can't say that she is enjoying the feeling, no matter how attractive he is.
She goes to look through her suitcase for Perry's shirt before she is interrupted by a familiar Southern accent. "Missing something, pinky?” She looks back at Sawyer and sees her carry-on dangling in his hand. He tosses it to her with a smirk, his dimples on full display as he sees her surprised look and wide smile. “Thank you! I honestly thought that I wouldn't have seen it again.”
"Just didn't want you flipping out without your meds. That's the last thing we need right now. You’ve just got to share all that music with me whenever I ask though and I'll keep quiet.” Sawyer says the cocky smirk never once leaves his face, even as hers falls and she breaks eye contact to look at the sand beneath his feet. She abruptly stands up with Perry's shirt in her hand. "Shut the fuck up, Sawyer.” She storms away in Jack's direction, the anger clear on her face as finally arrives. She sees Jack talking to a woman with slightly curly hair and awkwardly smiles at her not expecting to see someone else there. "Here you go, it should fit you.” Marceline says as she hands Jack the shirt before she turns towards the stranger. "Hello, I'm Marceline.”
"Kate.” She simply replies with a forced smile.
A few awkward moments pass as Marceline tries to think of something to say to break it. Jack finally speaks up, “Well, thank you, Marceline.” She quickly nods and reaches down to grab her small sewing kit. "Yeah, of course, anytime… Well, I'm gonna get going. It was nice to meet you, Kate.” She says before she quickly walks off the same way she came. By the time she gets back to the beach, everything has calmed down a bit more, she completely ignores Sawyer’s presence and the large amount of dead bodies as she takes a seat on the sand away from everyone else. She takes her CD Walkman out and presses play, not bothering to change the CD out as all she needed right now was a distraction. Paint It Black plays through her headphones as she watches the waves. Not too much time passes by until she is interrupted by someone sitting next to her, it's the large guy from earlier. She puts her headphones around her neck and looks over at him. "Did you need something?”
"Nah, dude. Just thought you looked lonely… We could listen to music together…” He awkwardly trailed off causing her to chuckle. "Anyways, I'm Hurley.” She smiles in return, taking an instant liking to him. "I'm Marceline. You can call me Mari though. What are you listening to, Hurley?“ They continue their conversation for a while before they are interrupted by the pregnant woman. Marceline had found out her name was Claire and she was 8 months pregnant. The three spend a lot of their time together talking and joking around as they try not to think about the fact that they are stranded. As night falls Hurley leaves the two women alone. "How is it like being pregnant, how does it feel?” Marceline asks the blonde woman, curiosity clear in her voice and on her face. The two girls continue to talk about random things until Hurley joins them again, this time with food.
The trio's time together is cut short as a roar comes from the jungle, everyone gathers around and waits for whatever it is to come out. The growling and stomping seem to grow closer as trees are seemingly getting plowed over; Marceline looks at Claire's confused face and subtly stands in front of the pregnant woman. "Did anybody see that?” Marceline and Hurley reply at the same time, seemingly breathless, "Yeah…”
"I should've gone to L.A. with my boyfriend when I was supposed to.”
Claire and Marceline decide to bunk with Hurley in his makeshift shelter as they are too anxious to sleep on their own, Marceline just wants to make sure Claire and her baby are okay. “I'll be right back, you can go ahead and look through my CDs if you want.” She tells the large man before she makes her way over to Jack and Kate. "Hello, Kate. How are you feeling Jack, the stitches didn't open or anything, right?” She asks worriedly. Jack chuckles at how worried she seems and waves her off, "I'll be fine, Marceline, your work is holding up pretty well.” But before she can reply her newfound companion is calling for her. "Mari! Bro, come here! I wanna show you something!” Jack raises his eyebrow in curiosity, "Mari?”
"Yeah, I told Hurley he could call me that; it's just an old childhood nickname…”
"Well then, Mari, how would you feel about going with me to find the cockpit tomorrow-” Jack is cut off by Kate, "I'm going. I showed you where the smoke was coming from. I'm going.” She doesn't even give him a chance to argue back and Mari silently admires that. Marceline silently nods her head in agreement, "Yeah, I'll go with you two… but I should get going. I don't want to keep Hurley waiting for long. Bye, Jack. Bye, Kate.” She quickly walks off leaving the now awkward conversation.
While Hurley was going through her music collection Charlie had come up behind him and had noticed a DriveShaft CD. That's what he had wanted to show her, he had wanted her to meet Charlie, a member of the band. "How sweet.” Marceline thought about Hurley. The two had quickly bonded over their love of music and became quick companions until it was time to call it quits because almost everyone was asleep. That night Marceline’s thoughts were filled with Perry and Amy. Have they found out yet? How did they find out? How did they react? How did her family react? With that being said, Mari didn't sleep much; she was in an unfamiliar place with people she didn't know or trust.
The next day, Marceline is up as the sun first starts to rise. She takes her small bag and silently leaves the shelter, being careful not to wake anyone up as she goes to sit by the water. She sits on the sand, taking in the scenery for a few silent moments before she finally takes her hair out of the low bun, letting her long strands flow down her back. She takes her medication like she does every morning, enjoying the sound of the waves and the time she has alone. She brushes her long hair and puts it in a French braid, She prefers hairstyles that keep it out of the way. Her peace and quiet is interrupted by the last person she wants to see or be anywhere around right now, Sawyer. "Mornin’, sunshine. You're up bright 'n early.” He says with his signature smirk. "What do you want?” Marceline replies with the smallest hint of irritation in her voice.
"What's the matter, woke up on the wrong side of the sand?” Marceline scoffs in amusement, unable to bite back her smile. "No, just don't want to be around you right now.” She sarcastically replies with an obviously forced smile on her lips. The two continue to banter back and forth for a while until more people start waking up. When she turns around she avoids looking at any of the bodies strewn across the beach. "Well, that was surprisingly enjoyable. I hope we never speak again,”
"Enjoyable? I can give you something that you'll really enjoy, sweetheart.” His dimples once again show through. “As if.” She plainly replies, obviously not taking his perverted comment seriously. She heads back to the now awake Claire and Hurley, mindlessly talking to them as she grabs a change of clothes. She finds a secluded spot and changes into her bootcut jeans and a red long-sleeve v-neck, with a white spaghetti strap underneath. Before she has a chance to tell them anything, Jack is already telling the Small group of survivors where the three of them are going, with the new addition of Charlie.
The first hour of the hike to the cockpit is silent and quite frankly a bit awkward, Marceline is walking behind Jack, silently taking in her surroundings and a bit tense from what they had all witnessed last night. In an effort to distract herself she takes an orange that some old man had given her on the beach out of her bag and starts peeling it, Jack seems to notice the smell as he turns around with a look of confusion on his face. "Cute.” Marceline thought. She holds a slice out for him to take, "Want some?” Marceline looks back at Charlie as he tells Kate he was in Driveshaft. "It's hard to believe, right? I was surprised too.” Marceline and Kate watch Charlie clearly enjoying him messing around on this long walk to the cockpit. The three of them continue talking about the band until they are interrupted by Jack. "It's okay, Charlie.” Marceline says, clearly finding the situation amusing, "Maybe he just doesn't listen to music.” She finally lets out a laugh she was trying to suppress.
They continue walking, now, In silence as the sky quickly darkens and out of nowhere, rain starts pouring down drenching the four of them. "Hey, guys, is this normal? kind of day turning into night, you know, end of the world-type weather…” Marceline shrugs and eats a slice of her orange. "It's an island in the middle of the ocean, who knows.“ They continued walking through the storm, every once in a while the thunder would become louder, startling Marceline enough to make her grab onto Jack's forearm, her eyes quickly scanning the jungle around them for any signs of danger. They eventually find the cockpit partially stuck on a large tree and quickly head towards it, eager to finally escape the storm. Marceline tries not to focus on the numerous dead bodies, after seeing so many during her time in the military she'd rather not think of those unpleasant memories.
The two women make it to the top with Jack's help. Marceline quickly moves out of the way as he drops the fine extinguisher, nearly hitting Charlie. "Are you two alright?” Jack asks the two women. Marceline doesn't reply as she turns to look at Charlie, "Are you alright, Charlie?” She asks quickly, cutting him off before he can complain about being left out. Jack helps Kate into the cockpit before he pulls Marceline up. “Holy shit, Jack… not to sound rude or anything but you're surprisingly strong.” She says lightening the mood. He simply chuckles and shakes his head. As they are looking for the transceiver the pilot abruptly wakes up, making Kate jerk her head back and shout in fear which in turn effectively hits Marceline’s face, giving her a bloody nose. "Ah, shit!” Kate begins to profusely apologize but Marceline simply waves her off with the hand that isn't holding her nose knowing she didn't do it on purpose.
Marceline doesn't see anything she can use for her nosebleed and begrudgingly grumbles to herself as she quickly takes off her backpack before taking off her red long-sleeve, leaving her in her white spaghetti strap. She quickly covers her nose with one of the sleeves just wishing she could use toilet paper from the bathroom but knowing it would be useless as soon as they stepped back out into the rain. She isn't paying much attention to what the pilot is saying as she is a bit preoccupied but she does hear him say that the rescue team is looking in the wrong place… they were off course by at least a thousand miles. Before the five even have time to react to the devastating news the same roar from the night before could be heard nearby causing the plane to shake.
"It's right outside.” Kate fearfully whispers as she crawls into Jack's arms. "What? What's right outside?” The pilot asks, equally as scared. Jack and Marceline shush the man as she pulls Charlie against one of the walls with her, keeping him close to her and away from the windows. They all looked at each other in fear as the heavy footsteps and dark shadows passing along the windows could be heard. The three begin to try to get a look at the creature but Marceline keeps her hold on Charlie, refusing to let him go as she feels like something bad is going to happen. “Always expect the worst. Better to be safe than sorry.” She told herself, something that had saved her and her team's life more times than she could count.
"You shouldn't do that…” Her warning falls on deaf ears as the pilot continues to stick his upper half out of the broken window to get a closer look. He is quickly pulled out by the creature, his body is roughly jerking and his legs are kicking as his screams fill the cockpit and surrounding jungle. It's only a few seconds later until he is pulled completely out, his screams stopping for a second before his blood paints the windows red.
The four look at each other in fear before the broken plane begins to rock and it is violently knocked to the ground, making them bump into their surroundings. Jack quickly grabs the transceiver despite the group's warnings before they all take off running. Kate is leading with Marceline quickly following after her, leaving the two men in the back. The rain washes the continuous stream of blood from her nose down her neck and chest effectively staining her shirt red. The monster roars behind them as Marceline continuously looks back to check on Jack and Charlie. She hears Charlie's faint shout and quickly looks back at the fallen rockstar before following Jack back towards Charlie to help him up. " Run, Charlie!” She shouts at the blonde once Jack and her had freed him.
Marceline quickly grabs Jack's hand, pulling him towards a cluster of trees as the stomping and roaring grow closer to them. The two stay huddled together, Marceline tightly holding onto Jack's arm as they wait. The stomping and roaring seem to abruptly stop along with the rain but the duo stay there for a few more minutes, neither of them speaking or moving until they are sure the creature is gone.Marceline slowly lets go of Jack's arm and steps away from him as she cautiously steps out of the trees, she takes in her surroundings before she looks back at him, motioning with her head to follow her.
The duo eventually find their way back to Kate and Charlie Who had just discovered a dead body in a tree. Kate quickly rushes towards Jack, and Marceline steps away to give them some space. "You know, we should do that again…” Charlie speaks up with a horribly concealed grin on his face as she gets closer to him. “Do what again? Get chased by a massive… whatever the hell that was?” She sarcastically asks the Englishman. “Nooo… before that. Yknow, when you practically smashed me against your chest to keep me away from the window…”
"You're such a pervert, Charlie. Fuck off.” She stiffly replies with an eye roll, before looking back up at the mutilated body of the pilot.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
~~~~~"You're such a pervert, Charlie. Fuck off.” She stiffly replies with an eye roll, before looking back up at the mutilated body.~~~~~
As the four continue to make their way back to the beach none of them dare bring up what could've done that to the pilot. Marceline quietly walks at the back of the group, Seemingly taking guard as she takes in their surroundings and mentally keeps track of the three. Even if Marceline doesn't outwardly show it, she is honestly terrified of whatever had happened earlier. Why couldn't they have crash-landed on a normal island? She is shaken out of her thoughts as Charlie once again speaks up, "Anything?” he asks, referring to the transceiver Jack has been fiddling with for the last 30 minutes. "You keep asking if there's anything.” Jack replies, annoyance starting to creep into his voice. "Well pardon me for appearing desperate, but before the pilot was ripped from the cockpit, he did say that no one's gonna find us unless we get that transceiver working… So is there anything?”
Jack signs as he seems to give up on the transceiver for now, "No.” Marcelline finally speaks up for the first time since they started walking back, “Maybe there's someone on the beach that would be able to fix it. You never know.” She says in an effort to both help Jack and Charlie feel a little better about the situation and to keep their hopes up; she's witnessed first hand what the loss of hope feels and looks like and she would rather not go through that again. "Mari is right. When we get back to the beach we'll tell everyone that we found the cockpit and the transceiver and ask if anyone can fix it.”
They eventually make their way back to the beach, being welcomed by a fight between Sawyer and some other man she hasn't met yet. Marceline doesn't rush up to the fight, opting to stay back and observe from a distance. She doesn't pay much attention to the growing crowd around Jack and instead goes to get another shirt and clean herself up a bit. She changes into a clean white tank top and makes her way to a less crowded area of the beach. She puts on her headphones, humming along to Fade Into You as she begins to clean the dirt and whatever leftover blood might be on her face. She flinches as she feels someone touch her shoulder, her body is tense with fear as she quickly turns around."Jesus, Sawyer. What the hell are you doing?” He puts his hands up in mock innocence. “Now now; Sonya. I didn't mean to scare ya.” He sits next to her, dramatically flipping his hair out of his face as he always does. "So what happened?... To make you fight that man, I mean.”
"Ain't nuthin’ you gotta worry about.” Marceline shrugs, not finding it worth the effort to argue. "Whatever you say, Sawyer.”
The two sit in silence for a few moments, enjoying each other's company but neither of them would admit that out loud. Sawyer eventually leaves, probably to irritate someone else and Marceline goes to find Hurley. She finds him with Jack, helping out by filling up the water bottles.
"Hey Mari, where have you been, man? I haven't seen you since you left this morning.” She shrugs and sits next to Jack as he checks on the bloodied man. "I almost forgot to ask you, who are those people you have written on some of the CDs? Y'know, like Rhett, Perry and a few weird nicknames…” Hurley trails off, his confused face Makes Marceline chuckle. Marceline smiles as she looks towards the likable man, "I made them for people I was close to, songs that made me think of them. Did you listen to any of them? There's some pretty good stuff on there.” They continue to converse quietly not wanting to disrupt Jack too much.
Kate eventually jogs up to check on the unknown man and let them know that Sayid had fixed the transceiver… and that she was going on the hike to higher ground. Jack quickly grows upset with the situation and tries to convince Kate not to go along after what they have seen but she has already made up her mind and at that point, he tells her to wait for him; after promising Jack that she would run if she sees anything Kate turns towards Marceline. "You comin'?” Before she even had a chance to respond, Jack had. “No no. She is not going. I need Mari to be here in case I need help with the shrapnel.” His excuse was spoken firmly, letting the two women know that he wasn't going to be changing his mind.
"Well, Hurley is here to help… He's already been helping you more than I have. I think you'll be fine, Jack.” Marceline spoke gesturing towards Hurley, not understanding why the doctor was so upset.
“Umm… I don't think so, Mari. I really don't do so well around blood…” Hurley says with guilt clear in his tone and on his face. After a few silent moments, she finally sighs and shakes her head towards the other woman. “Be careful, Kate. I'll see you soon..” She watches as Kate heads towards Sayid and hides her disappointment. "I'm sorry, dude.” Hurley speaks up, a guilty smile on his lips. “It's alright. You don't have to apologize. Haha, we don't need you passing out, now do we?” The two newfound friends joke.
"So who were they? The people on the CDs, I mean.” Hurley asks again, his curiosity getting the best of him and Jack too as he seems to perk up a little, though he hides it well. Mari tells Hugo that she'll let him ask about three people and he chooses Rhett, Perry, and Rocket Man. She smiles and shakes her head at his last choice, “Well, he's called Rocket Man because on his first actual field mission, he had three very close calls with RPGs… Thankfully, he's still alive. Umm, Perry is my boyfriend and Rhett is his younger brother.” The two men sit in silence, taking in the information they just learned. “RPGs, field missions, what?” Hurley asks. "Well, I was in the military.” Marceline replies shortly.
"Dude, What? I don't even– you– you were in the military? I don't believe it.”
“I– what's that supposed to mean? You don't believe it… asshole.” Marceline mutters under her breath. Jack laughs, shaking his head at Hurley and the new information he learned about Marceline as he stands up. "We’ve got to find some medication. Go through the luggage, and take whatever bottles you find.” He nods his head towards the injured man lying on the ground. "Mmm, so that's why you wanted me to stay? To dig through luggage? I think you and Hurley would've had this covered.” She chuckles before the three of them go their separate ways.
~~~~~
After some time of searching and making conversation with the other survivors, she heads back to the doctor's office to hand over whatever prescriptions he had found in the abandoned luggage. She sets several bottles onto the sand and sits near the impaled man's head. “Did you and Hurley find anything? That's all I could find for now.” Jack nods and quickly looks over the medications she brought back. “Well, if we don't need them now; we'll need them eventually. But now I need your help, okay? Now, he's unconscious, but I'm gonna pull out the shrapnel and if he wakes up I need you to hold him down, alright?” Marceline nods her head once, under what she has to do.
“Are you sure you want to be here, Hurley? Earlier you said that you didn't do too well around blood.”
“I think I'll be alright, dude. Nothing to worry about over here.” He replies, already sounding a bit queasy in Marceline’s opinion. “Umm… are you sure he's really out, Jack?” A couple of moments of silence pass. “Yo! There's a rescue plane! We're saved! Yay!... You should be fine Mari.” She laughs at her friend's antics and shakes her head. “What? You don't think I could hold him down or something? Thanks for checking but I'm sure he won't be waking up soon anyway.” She says as she watches Jack get everything ready. Hurley looks surprised at Marceline's playful accusation.
“No– No! That's not what I meant, man. I'm sure you could… but what if– you know what, I'm gonna stop talking, y'all let me know if you need anything.” Jack smiles and Marceline laughs, happy she was able to take her friend's mind off of what was currently happening.
As Jack begins to wipe clean the area around the stranger's wound she leans forward over the unconscious man, holding his arms down against the sand. Jack leans in closer, only a few inches away from Marceline's face as he looks into her eyes. “Don't look.” He says, his hazel eyes staring into her dark brown ones causing her heart to jump in her chest; though it doesn't show on her face. “I'll be fine.” This is all Marceline can think to say before he is once again focusing on taking the metal out of the stranger's abdomen.
Jack pulls out the large piece of metal, blood quickly flows from the wound as he quickly rushes to cover the wound and stop the bleeding. As Hurley watches from over Marceline's shoulder he begins to feel woozy, his surroundings slightly spinning as his stomach churns; he can’t hear Jack asking for more cloth. Before Marceline could fully reach out and grab what Jack is looking for, the larger and significantly heavier man faints, his weight falling onto her. “Oh, shit.” Marceline grunts and slightly wheezes as she struggles to hold herself up to not crush the injured man underneath her. “God damn it, Hurley… What the fuck?” If they weren't in such a serious situation, Marceline would have laughed… She wanted to laugh, but she was struggling to hold up her weight and at least half of Hurley’s. She knew for a fact that Jack is already pissed off and even if she won't say it out loud, she is quite scared of the older man so she wants to avoid angering more than he already is.
After that whole disaster, Marceline decided to leave Jack on his own in favor of having Hurley carry her around. “Y'know, you're surprisingly strong. Since you fainted on me and all that… you know what else you could do to make it up to me?” She asks him, her tone sickly sweet as she bats her eyelashes waiting for his answer. “What?” He sighs and looks at the ground in a dramatic show of disappointment. “Walk along the edge of the jungle, I'm sure there has to be coconuts somewhere and I've been craving one since last month.” She exaggerates. “I would suggest actually going into the jungle and looking for some more food but I don't really feel like getting in trouble with Jack. ‘S not really at the top of my list right now.” That was something the newfound friends could agree on.
The time quickly passes for Marceline between spending her time with Hurley and Claire and helping a few of the other survivors with whatever they need, before she knows it the sun has set and the beach has grown dark. Claire and Marceline spend their time joking around before the ex-soldier straightens up, “We should think about trying to build a shelter, I mean especially with you being pregnant and all– we have no idea when help will be coming… I can try to get Hurley to help us.” Personally, Marceline doesn’t think that they'll be getting rescued anytime soon but that's a thought that she'll be keeping to herself for the unforeseeable future; it would only spread fear and panic and who knows what else.
Not even ten minutes later Hurley is quickly rushing towards them with a poorly hidden look of shock and slight fear. People should know that if they wanted to keep something secret, Hurley shouldn't be their first choice. Apparently it hadn't even been a full five minutes since he had discovered Kate’s secret. The way the words hurriedly left his mouth made Marceline believe that he probably would've died if he had kept the secret any longer. Marceline makes sure her friend understands that he can’t go around telling people that (even if he doesn’t like it or agree with Marceline). “You probably shouldn’t have even told me… Just make sure you don’t tell anyone else alright?”
The night passes by smoothly with Claire only waking up a few times due to the baby.
~~~~~
Marceline is talking to the pregnant woman about where she would want to build her shelter; normally she wouldn’t go out of her way to do any of this for someone she doesn’t know nor would she have talked to the blonde woman first but Marceline had always had a soft spot for children even if they are not related to her. She quickly shakes herself out of those thoughts and focuses back on the hesitant woman in front of her who seems to think that building a shelter means that she has given up hope of being rescued. “Okay, then… think of it this way, you’re making a shelter to protect you and your baby until help arrives.” Marceline continues to convince her friend, Marceline doesn’t know what else to call Claire, but she thinks that anything else would probably hurt her feelings even if she couldn't hear her.
To Claire’s luck Marceline is interrupted by Sayid’s group returning to the beach and much to Marceline’s luck their findings seem to back up her point perfectly, she offers Claire a smug smile before walking away from the woman with a clear pep in her step.
“So, how'd it go, Sawyer? I mean it couldn’t have gone too well if you come back looking all disappointed.” She asks the usually crass man. “What’s it to you, sweetheart? Worried about me?” She rolls her eyes as she sits next to him on the sand muttering about how he’s so irritating, for someone who keeps complaining about his behavior she never seems to ever take it seriously or get too irritated with him. “Now, I’m gonna tell you something and I expect you to keep it to yourself, ya understand?” Sawyer harshly speaks up after a couple of moments of silently debating if he should tell her what the group has discovered.
~~~~~
“Well, I kind of assumed that we were going to be stuck here for a while but this– this is gonna keep us here longer than any of us had expected…” Marceline trails off as she thoughtlessly looks out at the waves… “I'm sure Sayid has already thought of another way or is already trying to think of one, I haven’t spoken to him yet but he seems smart enough.” The two sit in an unexplainable calm but tense silence for a few moments as the weight of their conversation seems to weigh on their shoulders. Their moment is interrupted as Hurley shouts out her name, effectively pulling the both of them out of their thoughts, Sawyer puts on his usual cocky expression, and Marceline, her usual stoic, unbothered expression; neither of them mentions it or even acknowledges it as they go their separate ways.
“You called?” She asks, forcing herself to smile at Hurley, her newfound knowledge hanging heavy in her mind and wanting all of her attention on it. “What did you need?”
“Well, Jack wanted me to help him look through the plane for medication, but we all know how well I do around blood… so we thought you could help out instead.” She nods in agreement, knowing that she can’t really say no, especially to Jack; even though Marceline has barely met the man, she is somewhat intimidated by him.
She finds Jack in the destroyed plane and speaks up, deciding against scaring the man while he is surrounded by dead bodies… that would be in poor taste. “There you are, Hurley told me you needed help looking for medication.” She kneels beside him as she begins to rummage through the abandoned suitcases, she passes whatever prescription bottles she comes across to Jack as she mindlessly hums to herself. However, her relaxed demeanor comes as a surprise to Jack but he decides not to mention it, even if the faintest part of him is worried and somewhat curious as to why she is seemingly comfortable in this environment.
The two quickly sit up straight as they hear rustling and thumping from another part of the plane, Marceline’s relaxed facade quickly falls away and is replaced by a stony expression and a standoffish aura as Jack puts his arm out, keeping Marceline behind him as he goes to check it out. “Boo.” Sawyer’s familiar accent fills the tense silence causing Jack to roll his eyes in annoyance as he calms down and Marceline to scoff in both amusement and irritation. “That face you had on right there looked just like the photos, sweetheart? Is that your war face?” He asks with his signature cocky smirk on his lips. Marceline is stunned into silence at his mention of her photos. The only photos she had with her were the ones she had always carried, no matter where she went… the ones she thought were destroyed in the crash. Lost in her thoughts she misses a majority of their conversation, if you could even call it that, and only catches the end.
“You’re just not looking at the big picture, doc. You're still back in civilization.”
“Yeah, and where are you?” Jack asks Sawyer as Marceline finally makes eye contact with the long-haired man. “Me. I’m in the wild.” He replies a wide and somewhat taunting smile spreads across his lips as he reaches into his back pocket and tosses the small photo album back to Marceline before he leaves. She silently catches the small camo-covered album as Jack watches him leave with disbelief displayed clearly on his face. The woman is so happy, so relieved she could cry right now, she doesn’t even seem to think about how Sawyer had managed to get it or for how long he had it, she’s just happy to have it back. Marceline quickly puts it in her back pocket before gently placing her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “We should finish looking for whatever it is you need, someone’s gonna need you sooner or later.”
“So, what was that all about?” Jack finally speaks up after about 10 minutes of them working together in silence. “Sawyer mentions the photos and– and you just zone out.” She silently listens to his question before putting on her seemingly unbothered facade and shrugging, “Just surprised… I thought they had been destroyed in the crash or lost, never to be seen again. Buuuut apparently they're not. How did it go with Sawyer anyway? You looked– umm, I mean you looked a bit unsettled before he left. In the short three days that I've known you, I haven't seen that look on your face before.” She says with a slight teasing smile, he chuckles in surprise and shakes his head. “Yeah well, he's Sawyer, you never know what's going to come out of his mouth next.” Marceline laughs, “Well, so far, you two seem to have that in common.”
The two spend at least another 30 minutes searching through the luggage until Marceline decides to break the silence. “Y’know, we've been stuck on this island for about 3 days now, and I have no idea what your last name is, all I know is that you're a spinal surgeon.”
“Shephard.” He replies after removing the flashlight from his mouth, he wipes his sweat from his face as he turns to look at her. “Yours?” Marceline's mouth seems to go dry at how attractive Jack looks; she gulps and quickly looks away from him and back at the suitcase in front of her. “I have two last names but I prefer to only use one. Acosta.” She begins to feel guilt slowly creeping into her stomach as she looks back at the doctor. She knows that she hasn't done anything wrong but it feels as if she had betrayed her boyfriend, Perry, by having those thoughts about Jack. “I think we've looked enough for the day, Jack. We can have a few people take the luggage out of here so we don't have to look surrounded by bodies.”
The doctor agrees, clearly hot and sweaty. “Yeah, good idea… I'll have Hurley get a few people in here later, I've gotta go check on the Marshall.”
“The Marshall?” Marceline asks in faux confusion, not wanting to give Jack any idea that Hurley has already told her everything. “Yeah, the man with the shrapnel– well, he woke up for a bit earlier, turns out he's the Marshall.”
~~~~~
The two had gone their separate ways and Marceline found a secluded spot by a tree, a spot where she could look at her photos in peace. They had always managed to calm her down, even in the toughest situations, the photos brought her more comfort than she could put into words. Pictures of her massive family, her friends, her platoon, her dog. As she flips through each picture that she's sure she's seen more than a hundred times she feels a familiar sense of relief and comfort fill her. Her head is clearer than it has been in the last few days and in a sense she feels lighter.
“What are ya doin’ all the way out here, Santa Maria? You finally able to get away from the doc?” Sawyer snickers at his joke as he leans against a tree diagonal to her. Marceline completely ignores his question, causing him to roll his eyes and groan. “Where did you get this?” She asks, holding the travel-size photo album up.
“Does it matter? You have it now don't cha? I could've kept it to myself and never give it back. You should be thanking me, sweetheart.” She scoffs in response, rolling her eyes at the sheer audacity this man has. How he continuously acts this way and hasn't been beaten by half the survivors, she doesn't understand.
This man standing across from her knows more about her than anyone on the island and none of it was done on her own accord, but surprisingly she isn't mad… Sawyer has an odd sense of familiarity about him, his attitude, his sarcasm, and poor sense of humor, reminds her of people she used to work with. His off-putting persona reminds her of some people in the military, in her platoon, people she had done countless operations with. In a way, being around Sawyer allows Marceline to treat this traumatic experience as just another military operation. He brings her an unexpected feeling of comfort that she'll probably never admit to.
She's done this before. She'll be fine.