The Woman from the Plane [Lost Fanfiction]

Chapter 24: The End of Eternity

Ben eyed Valerie closely, noticing the concern on her face. She didn't seem happy about the call with Jack, but he wasn't sure if it was due to Hugo's institutionalization, or something else. "What's wrong?" he asked cautiously.

"I don't think Eloise is going to be happy with me."

"What? Why not?"

Valerie avoided eye contact for a moment, pursing her lips as she tried to find the best way to answer him.

"I may have broken a few rules," she offered evasively.

"Whose rules?"

"I mean 'rules' is probably not the right word."

"Valerie. What did you do?"

"You are glad you met me, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Ben answered hesitantly.

Valerie pulled her short hair into a ponytail and started pacing around the living room. "The thing with trying to change the past is that you inevitably change the future—like, no matter what happens next, I'm not going to show up on the beach in seven years, because in this timeline I'm dead—and you're not going to have let Martin Keamy kill Alex, and Charles isn't going to be alive to take Desmond back to the Island."

Ben frowned at her.

"The bigger the change to the past, the more different the present would become. And our present was pretty good. We'd kept the Island safe."

"What are you saying? What rules did you break?"

"We agreed that that I would go back on the condition that I would hide alone in the jungle until I could intervene and save Alex, changing as little as possible, and not contacting any of you."

Ben gaped at her.

"Which is not exactly what I did."

"Val."

"For what it's worth, you were fine with it. We both argued that changing anything would require interference. You believed that the Island would make sure the important things happened. You said as long as you didn't know who I really was, it should be fine."

"Oh dear."

"The thing is, hon, you were right. The same people left the Island. The same people died."

"Except Alex."

"The same Oceanic Passengers. Alex, Danielle, Karl, Ethan—they're all fine. There are others, probably—I only know what you guys told me. Maybe it's not exactly the same, but we do keep getting pushed on to the same general path."

He grimaced.

"I'd just lost you," she continued defensively. "As soon as I arrived at the hotel in Tozeur and saw that I'd made it to the right year—my only thought was that you were alive in this world. How could I not want to find you? Besides—you have memories of your life—none of us expected that."

"Who are the others? You keep saying 'us.' Who are we talking about?"

She was silent for a moment. "Walt was there—I guess I can tell you that. And Desmond came to visit sometimes."

"Walt? Michael's son?"

"He grew up to be quite a formidable scientist," Valerie said with a wistful smile. "He's the one who figured this all out." She locked eyes with him, then looked away with a sigh.

"What aren't you telling me, Val?" He asked gently.

She sighed. "Jacob's replacement—that's what all of this is about."