The Woman from the Plane [Lost Fanfiction]

Chapter 16: The Best Laid Plans

Valerie had spent the better part of two days making methodical sweeps of the jungle, looking for Alex. There were a few spots nearby that were particularly suited to lovers' trysts, and she'd checked those first—to no avail.

That left Rousseau. It had been weeks since Alex had learned about her mother—it wouldn't be all that surprising if she'd decided to take Karl and go looking for the French woman. Alex was smart enough to figure out where Rousseau's camp was. That's where Val was headed next.

Ben hadn't told Alex about the freighter and the threat that it carried—she'd have no reason to think that the Barracks could be evacuated at a moment's notice. And her father had been distracted lately—while he'd managed to undo some of the strain on their relationship, he still put his work first.

Valerie knew that she had been a distraction to him as well. Since learning who she really was, he'd been in a strange sort of state. He looked at her differently—there were shades of her version of him in his eyes now. She wondered whether he felt any of it, or if those looks were because he was just stunned to learn that someone had loved him.

She wasn't sure how to feel about him. He wasn't her Ben. She'd loved that man very deeply, but he was gone—she'd held him as he died. But this man was still Ben—and she felt the same magnetic attraction to him that she'd felt when she'd first met her Ben—and, in spite of everything, her body wanted to do something about it.

She'd considered the moral implications of acting on that attraction. It had only been months since he'd died, so, in theory, it seemed too soon—but it wasn't as though she had moved on. The only reason she wanted to sleep with Ben was because he was nearly the same man, and she loved him in the same way. Perhaps love wasn't the right word. Then again, perhaps it was. In any rate, she hadn't figured out what to do.

The sound of footsteps startled her out of her daydreaming. She darted behind a tree and held her breath.

"We have to find Naomi—if something went wrong with her chute—"

"She's fine."

"You can't know that, Miles."

Valerie peered out from behind the tree. There were three of them—a tall redheaded woman, a scrawny, scraggly looking guy, and an Asian man—Miles, she gathered from the conversation. She exhaled—they weren't mercenaries. They were the scientists that had been sent along on the mission. She knew a bit about them—Miles had stayed in touch with Hugo, for a time. And Desmond had told her about the physicist—Daniel. Daniel was the reason she'd stashed a photo of Ben in her pocket.

She stepped out from behind the tree. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Holy fuck!" Miles shrieked, fumbling with his gun.

"Calm down, Miles," she instructed, holding her empty hands in the air.

"How do you know my name?" he demanded.

"I was eavesdropping."

"Who are you?" the woman asked, eyeing Valerie. "Were you on Oceanic 815? Or are you from here?"

"A little of column A, a little of column B," she answered opaquely. "Can I help you?"

Miles glanced at his teammates and back at Valerie. He pulled a photo from his pocket and showed it to Valerie. "Can you help us find this man?"

She started laughing—it was a surveillance photo of Ben. He appeared to be in line at an airport.

"Who in the name of fuck let him go out in public wearing a white vest? Jesus."