Lost Video Island

[Polarbear]

Ruth and Paul are way better than Jack and Steph that's all I have to say


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[mistojen]

Ruth--it was a GOOD guhhh, seriously! *drool*
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avatar: Plastic!Winchester Theater by anteka @ LJ; icon by me
sig by AlcoholicPixie

[Rocksiren]

Tee hee to both of you, especially you sexy lover man.
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"You are just an encyclopedia of weirdness." ~ Supernatural

[mistojen]

“Psst! Warren!” Jen hisses in his ear as she hovers over him while he sleeps.

Warren wakes with a start when Jen shakes his shoulder a little. “What?” he whispers, furrowing his brow with disoriented confusion.

“Shh...” Jen breathes. “Do you wanna go to the other island still?”

Slowly, Warren sits up, wide awake now. “Is everyone asleep?” he asks.

Jen nods.

“Okay, yeah, let’s go,” Warren replies in a hushed voice, throwing his covers off and standing up.

Jen steps back from the edge of Warren’s bed to give him room to stretch and they start tip-toeing toward the door.

“Hey,” Claire hisses.

Jen and Warren freeze. Jen’s eyes go wide and Warren frowns.

“Where are you going?” she asks.

As Warren turns around, Jen closes her eyes and hopes against hope that Warren will keep his promise. “We can’t sleep,” Warren says to Claire.

“That’s not what I asked,” Claire whispers back.

“We’re gonna go play cards, okay?” Warren asks, annoyed. The more Claire presses the issue, the less likely she is to buy what he’s trying to sell, and Jen won’t take him to the other island if she thinks someone is watching them.

“Can I play?” Claire asks. “I can’t sleep either. I’ve been laying here wide awake since lights out.”

Jen finally turns around. “Why do you wanna play cards with me, Claire? Count sheep or something.”

Claire sighs. “Okay, look...” she says slowly, standing up and making her way toward them. She ignores the fact that Warren has reflexively taken a step in front of Jen. “I’m over it, all right? We’re on the same team and I still kind of hate you,” she admits, looking past Warren, “but it’s over and in the past. We said we’d be civil for the team’s sake and I’m trying to hold to it. Can we both act like adults or am I on my own here?”

A long somewhat awkward pause falls over the three of them as Jen considers this and Warren waits. Jen looks around the room. Nikki is sleeping peacefully with her long blonde waves spread luxuriously out on her pillow. Charlie is sleeping on his stomach facing them, snoring. Marcus must be asleep. He is laying with one arm and one leg hanging off either side of his bed, his head turned to the side away from them and his chest rising and falling steadily under his t-shirt—his blankets crumpled together at the foot of the bed from being kicked off.

Turning her eyes back on Claire and thinking of a strategy for the end of the game, Jen pauses still. If the people that have been voted off are still there for a reason, Jen supposes that they’ll probably be the deciding factor between the last two people remaining. If that’s so, it might behoove her to prove to Sawyer that she’s not as bad as he thinks. Bringing Claire along on her trek with Warren might be just the thing.

Jen takes a deep breath and lets it out as a quiet sigh, hoping that she’s making the right decision. “Claire, can you keep a secret?”




When everyone had fallen asleep, Steph and Jack had snuck back to the shower room.

“I think you’re getting the hang of this,” Steph giggles as Jack lifts her off the ground and backs himself up against the wall, glittering kisses on her decollate and shoulders.

Jack smiles and looks up into her eyes. “Anything to not get stuck going out on the beach again,” he says, only half joking.

Steph only winces for a second when Jack turns them and gently pushes her up against the tiles. Since he’d leaned against it first, the tiles aren’t as bitingly cold on her bare skin, but they do still chill her slightly.

“You okay?” Jack asks, raising his eyebrows with concern.

Smiling, Steph nods and kisses him. When she pulls away, she looks into his eyes. “Never better.”




Claire trails slowly behind Jen and Warren as they whisper heatedly at one another on their way to the beach.

“I thought you said it was a secret!” Warren hisses.

Jen snaps her head toward him and stares. “It is. But listen, as much as I hate to admit this, Claire’s right. We need to act like adults and try to get along.”

“So why can’t we just play cards and you and I’ll go to the other island some other night?!” he hisses back, annoyed and feeling slighted that the secret he felt special to be let in on is now going to be revealed to someone else as well.

“What the hell, Warren?” Jen snaps, her voice raising almost to a normal volume. She pauses and calms herself to keep the whisper in tact so that Claire won’t hear. “Look, I don’t think she’s gonna tell, okay? And if she does, we’ll just deny it and everyone’ll think she’s crazy. No one will believe her if she says the three of us went and we act like we don’t know what she’s talking about, right? Just...come on.”

Warren furrows his brow, but nods and decides that he isn’t going to win this battle as the three of them cut through the back and behind the pool area onto the silent and uninhabited beach.

“Where are we going, anyway?” Claire asks quietly from behind them.

Jen slows her pace and Warren, grudgingly so, does as well, until Claire catches up to them. “You promised to keep the secret,” Jen reminds Claire as the three of them come up on the row boat.

“And I will,” Claire reassures her.

“We’re holding you to it,” Warren says with authority, not letting on that he’s in for almost as much as a surprise as Claire is.

“Okay!” Claire snaps. “I said I’d keep it to myself and I will; where are we going?”

Warren pulls the row boat out into the ocean and holds it steady as Jen climbs in and holds a hand out to Claire to help her in as well. When the two of them are seated, Warren gets behind the boat and pushes it further out before hopping in himself and grabbing an oar to help Jen row.

“See the lights over there?” Jen asks, pointing.

Claire looks around, confused. After a moment, her eyes settle on a twinkling light in the far distance. “Yes...” she says slowly.

Warren and Jen row harder and begin to make much faster progress toward the second island.

“We’re going there,” Warren says, hoping that Jen will keep her mouth shut. He’s still rather bitter that Claire is being let in on the secret.




Ruth wakes up and looks around. Everyone seems to be sleeping although there are three empty beds. One was Paul’s, Ruth realizes with a pang of sadness that pushes a frown to cross her pretty face. A short moment passes as she considers who else is missing and it dawns on her that the other two empty beds belong to Jack and Steph. The thought makes her feel even lonelier without Paul.

Crawling out of bed slowly and tossing the blankets back up on the bed so that it looks haphazardly made, Ruth makes her way across the room, careful not to wake anyone, and she pulls down the blankets on Paul’s empty bed. She stands there for a moment, looking down at it and frowns again.

With a quiet sigh, Ruth gets into Paul’s bed and pulls the blankets up around herself tightly, rolling onto her side and noticing the subtle hints of Paul’s scent still on the pillow cases. Closing her eyes, she fights against the tears welling in her eyes and tells herself that she and Paul weren’t all that close and that she’ll call him when she goes home from the game. Finally, Ruth relaxes at that thought and drifts off to sleep with the smell of Paul’s cologne surrounding her and the thought of him hopefully to fill her dreams.




“Okay, we have to be super quiet,” Jen tells Claire as the three of them step out of the row boat and Warren pulls it up onto the beach.

Claire nods, choosing not to respond vocally and when Warren approaches the two girls, Jen presses a finger to her lips, cocking her head to the side as Sawyer’s voice fills their ears.

“Aislynn...you promised we could go spy on them tonight,” he says, sounding frustrated.

There is a short pause. Claire’s eyes go wide and Warren tries unsuccessfully to hide his own surprise.

“If you’d rather spy on them sleeping, then fine,” Aislynn replies hautily, “but I thought we were going to have a re-enactment of the Charlie and Jen shower thing...” she finishes casually.

Jen closes her eyes and winces, dropping her head with shame. She can nearly feel Claire’s anger rising.

Warren looks over at Claire on his left as she stares past him at Jen who is standing on his right.

“How did that all go again?” Sawyer’s disembodied voice asks, floating out to them from the cast-off Community Room.

“Oh God...” Warren whispers. “You guys, let’s just go. We’ve seen it, now.”

“No,” Claire whispers back, turning her stare to Warren. “Wait.”

Jen sighs and shakes her head a little.

“It’s not a good idea,” Warren whispers back firmly. “Let’s go.”

“They, like...” Aislynn pauses to giggle, “Charlie must’ve tried to throw her up against the shower door, or something, because I heard this snap and then the bang from the door flying open and hitting the wall and then they fell out on the floor and...” Aislynn pauses again to laugh, “oh, my God, I wish I could’ve taken a picture of the looks on their faces when they saw me standing there...”

Sawyer’s hearty laugh joins Aislylnn’s.

“Fantastic,” Jen mutters and turns, leaving Warren and Claire behind as she goes back to the boat to wait.

Claire starts toward the Community Room.

“Claire!” Warren hisses. “What are you doing?!”

“I want to talk to them,” Claire replies quietly. Her eyes meander past him and lock on Jen for just a second. “Sawyer couldn’t have seen the same thing, so there must have been more than one incident with the two of them...Jen and Charlie, that is,” she adds.

“No,” Warren replies, shaking his head and frowning, “come on, just let it go all right? Let’s go back.”




Jack and Steph tip-toe back into the Blue Team Hut.

“Well...good night,” Steph whispers.

Jack frowns a little as she starts away. “Hey...”

Steph turns back and looks over at him, raising her eyebrows.

“You can sleep with me tonight,” Jack whispers, quickly adding, “if you want.”

A small smile forms on Steph’s lips as a blush rises hotly in her cheeks. “Yeah?”

Jack’s nervous anticipation melts into a smile to return to her. “Yeah.”




“Claire, let’s go,” Warren tries again. “I’m tired. You’re tired and upset. Jen’s tired...she didn’t have to show us this place, you know,” he reminds her.

With one last longing glance at the cast-off Community Room where her former solace and alliance is hidden from view, Claire sighs and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, all right,” she finally relents, only because she knows that he’ll get her back to the boat one way or another, and she’d rather go on her own terms.

“Good, come on,” Warren repeats and the two of them go back to the boat where Jen is waiting.




Ruth pretends to sleep as she watches Steph make her way back to Jack and the two of them crawl into his small bed together.

Jack gets in first and Steph slides in beside him. Jack pulls the covers over the two of them and drops an arm around Steph’s middle as he settles his head beside hers on the pillow and closes his eyes.

Closing her own eyes, Ruth lets out a small sigh. She’s missing Paul even more, now.




Warren helps the girls out of the row boat and begins to pull it up onto the beach when Claire storms off quietly, leaving he and Jen behind.

“I knew it was a bad idea,” he mutters to himself.

“I was trying to be nice,” Jen snaps.

“She’s gonna tell,” Warren says, letting go of the boat when he’s satisfied that its high enough up on the beach not to be pulled away with the tide.

Jen shakes her head. “I told you, if she tells, we’ll deny it.”

“They’ll all still look for it if she says anything, though,” Warren insists, “and they’re gonna find it.”

“She won’t tell,” Jen says, “she’ll think no one will believe her.”

“Come on,” Warren sighs, “let’s go to bed.”

Jen shrugs and frowns. “That was horrible,” she whispers, referring to the ridicule she endured on the other island.

Frowning sympathetically, Warren puts his arm around Jen and starts to lead her away from the beach and toward the Red Team Hut. “Sorry,” he says.

Jen looks up at him and raises an eyebrow. “Why?”

Dropping his arm off her shoulders, Warren shrugs. “That you had to hear it.”

“You and me both,” she sighs. “I’m even sorrier that Claire heard it...”

“I won’t say ‘I told you so,’ then,” Warren jokes with a small smile, gently jabbing her ribs with an elbow.

Finally, Jen smiles a little as they reach the door of the hut. “Hey, thanks,” she says quietly, looking him in the eye. “You know, for trying to get her to leave there sooner. And for being so cool about the bullsh*t drama between Claire and I.”

Warren smiles back. “No problem,” he whispers, opening the door of the hut for her. “Bed time.”

“Thank God,” Jen whispers back as she walks into the hut and goes straight to her bed, getting in. “Night,” she adds.

“Night,” Warren whispers back as he crawls into his own bed and rolls over, closing his eyes to let sleep overtake him.
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avatar: Plastic!Winchester Theater by anteka @ LJ; icon by me
sig by AlcoholicPixie

[AlcoholicPixie]

Great new chapter, Jen! Am loving the Jack-and-Stephness, it's all so SQUEE! It makes me go all giggly and 'awwww' like some pre-teen fangirl! *Huh?* Uh, wait... no!! You can't call me pre-teen!!!!! Mwahahahahahahahahaha!

*ahem* Anyways. Like I've said many a time before, can't wait for the next chapter!
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Supernatural Video Station

[mistojen]

it's already in progress. should be up in a few days, would be my guess, and it'll be a Challenge episode.
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avatar: Plastic!Winchester Theater by anteka @ LJ; icon by me
sig by AlcoholicPixie

[SuperKC]

Le sigh. I guess Claire's not jealous of Sawlynn. After that kiss and now they wanna re-enact Charlie's infidelity. LOL. Maybe next chapter. HAHAHA.

Great chapter! (Conmama lives on in my heart.)

[SuperKC]

Double Post!

[Rocksiren]

Okay this is way before it was "official" for "Jeph" hehe.

Sorry I didnt finish it before.

To my fellas, ooooh
Good God, I like the way you work that
To my ladies, woo
You sure know how to work that, good God


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"You are just an encyclopedia of weirdness." ~ Supernatural

[mistojen]

WOO! Ruth you racy little thing, you!
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avatar: Plastic!Winchester Theater by anteka @ LJ; icon by me
sig by AlcoholicPixie

[mistojen]

A/N: Colin, this is one episode, two parts.

Part One

The next morning, the teams make their way to the vans and are whisked off to the site of their next Challenge.

“Guys, I wrote down the clue yesterday and we still haven’t tried to work out its meaning,” Nikki says as the Red Team van rumbles down the dirt road away from the Community Room.

Marcus frowns. “It’s worded funny,” he says, “I mean, it says we have to push past our differences, basically, or we’ll be left in the cold, right?”

“...yeah...” Nikki replies slowly, raising an eyebrow at him as she turns in her seat to face him.

“Okay, but then it says something about a meltdown and that contradicts the cold...” Marcus says, his voice trailing off.

“Clearly the ‘left in the cold’ thing is telling us that its something we’re going to have to work as a team for,” Warren says, “but, why the other?”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Nikki and Jen reply together.

“Maybe they’re connected,” Charlie suggests.

“How is a meltdown related to being in the cold?” Marcus asks, a nasty, dismissive tone in his voice.

“Ice is cold and it melts,” Claire says, shrugging, turning to face Marcus.

“It doesn’t say melt,” Warren says, “it says ‘meltdown.’”

“Maybe she’s right, though,” Jen says thoughtfully, surprising everyone, including herself, by agreeing with Claire.

Charlie looks back at her from his seat in the front of the van. “How?”

Jen shrugs. “Maybe that’s what they mean by meltdown... Maybe...” she stops and shrugs again at him.

“We have to melt ice?” Marcus asks incredulously, looking over at Jen, “I don’t know, Mon Amie...” he adds doubtfully.

Nikki reads the clue aloud again.

“Well, I mean, think about it,” Claire says, looking back at Marcus, Warren, and Jen in the back row, “what if its something as simple as melting ice, but if we’re all fighting and not working together, it’ll slow us down?”

“Hence, left in the cold...” Charlie says, nodding and raising his eyebrows thoughtfully.

Marcus and Warren exchange thoughtful glances.

There is a short moment of silence in the van as everyone considers this, and then,

“I still don’t get it...” Nikki sighs.




When the Blue Team van stops, they all file out.

“I hope I’m paired with you,” Colin whispers to Steph, “we haven’t been paired together, yet.”

Steph smiles and reaches over, ruffling his hair with a wink. “Who says that this one is a paired Challenge?”

Shaking his head out from under her hand and glaring a little, Colin shrugs. “Don’t do that.”

Steph laughs a little and nods. “Yeah, all right. Fine.”

“Look,” Kate says, coming up beside Ruth, pointing. A short distance from where they are standing, there are two large square-shaped things hiding beneath silk cloths. One is red, the other blue. “What do you suppose is under there?”

Ruth shrugs. She’s trying to get her head in the game, but she can’t stop thinking about Paul. “Dunno,” she sighs.

The Red Team files out of their van next and Ben beckons the teams over to him.




“Hurry, Paul!” Aislynn squeals, taking a seat, Indian style, beside Sawyer on a couch and putting a huge bowl of popcorn in her lap for her and Sawyer to share.

“I’m coming!” Paul calls out from the kitchen. He appears in the doorway to the Community Room with two beer bottles in hanging from the necks in one hand, a can of soda under his chin and another can of soda in his hand.

Sun reaches over from her chair and takes a slice of pizza out of the box open on the coffee table as Aislynn turns up the volume on the television.

“Sawyer,” Paul says, holding out the hand with the beer bottles in it. Sawyer takes one.

“Thanks,” he says as Paul moves over to Aislynn.

“No problem,” Paul replies and hands Aislynn the can of Cherry Coke in his other hand. As she takes it, Paul removes the other can from beneath his chin and makes his way over to the vacant end of the couch closest to Sun.

“Thank you,” Aislynn says with a smile, cracking open the can and taking a sip.

Paul nods and smiles, handing the last can of soda to Sun before knocking back a swig of his beer and grabbing his own slice of pizza. “God this is the life,” he laughs, setting the beer bottle down on the table. “Screw actually playing all that crap; it’s better watching.”

“Except for the part where we don’t get to win the million dollars,” Sun sighs, opening her soda, “thanks, by the way.”

“Yep,” Paul says.

“Personally, I swear to God if Claire is sitting this one out, I’m gonna be pissed,” Sawyer says, taking another drink of his beer and grabbing a handful of popcorn out of the bowl on Aislynn’s lap.

Aislynn smiles a little. “Guess we’ll see...”

“What are you gonna do about it?” Paul challenges.

“Go back over there and bust some heads,” Sawyer replies easily as though the thought was already in his head.

Paul raises his eyebrows and grins. “Well, then...” he laughs.

“Shh! It’s starting!” Aislynn squeals excitedly, bouncing excitedly in her seat.

“Easy, Sticks,” Sawyer says, grinning.




The two teams stand in semi-circles around the hidden square objects and look up at Ben, waiting for their instructions.

“Welcome to your next Challenge, ‘Meltdown,’” Ben says with a smile. “Today you’re going to have to work as a team in order to survive. Beneath the cloths are two blocks of ice.”

“I knew it!” Claire hisses.

“Jesus, those are big blocks of ice...” Jack mutters under his breath.

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Locke whispers to him.

“You will need to melt the ice block as a team. In the center of each block of ice, there is a set of keys with every player’s name on it, including those who have been voted off. Therefore, there are sixteen keys on each ring. When you get the keys, you will race down the beach,” Ben says, pointing to a path made by blue and red flags blowing lightly in the breeze, “and you will need to unlock the chest at the end of the path. You can do this by trial and error, or you can read the clue on top of the chest to try to figure out which person is the key to your success.

“Inside the chest there will be a flag of your team color. When you find this flag, you will race to the flagpoles at the end of the beach and once your entire team is present, you will raise your flag. Every member of your team must be touching the flagpole with at least one hand to be allowed to raise your flag. The first team to raise its flag is the winner. Questions?” Ben asks.

Nikki raises her hand and Ben looks over at her.

“Yes?”

“Um,” Nikki starts, feeling a little foolish at being the only person with their hand in the air. She lowers her hand, dropping it back to her side. “How do we, um...melt the ice?”

Locke smiles to himself. He’s pretty sure he already knows.

“Smart girl,” Ben replies with a grin.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Colin whispers to Steph, who bites her lip not to giggle.

There’s a short pause.

“So what’s the answer?” Jack snaps, furrowing his brow.

“You will use your own body heat,” Ben replies. “You can scratch at it with your fingernails, if you like, but there will be no use of outside instruments.”

“Oh, my God,” Charlie groans, “sounds like loads of fun.”

“Seriously though,” Ruth mutters, shivering at the thought. They were told to wear sneakers, swimsuits and their team colors. Ruth wanted to save time and just wore her blue bikini instead of putting on her jersey. She figured it’d be fine.

“I see that Nikki, Jen, and Ruth have failed to sport their team jerseys,” Ben says, almost as though on cue at Ruth’s thought.

The three girls exchange looks and then turn their eyes back on Ben.

“That’s unfortunate, as you’ll just have to use your bare skin instead of creating a barrier with the jerseys. In any case,” he says, pulling on a string that raises the cloths off the two blocks of ice and into the sky, “is everyone ready?”




“Oh yikes...” Aislynn murmurs, shoving another handful of popcorn in her mouth.

“How horrible for those three,” Sun says, looking sympathetic.

“Turn it up?” Paul asks.

Sawyer obliges and drapes an arm around Aislynn as he takes another bite of his pizza. “Sucks to be them. At least one of ‘em deserves it,” he says with his mouth full.

Aislynn looks over at him. “Jen, you mean?”

Sawyer nods.

“She’s on our team!” Aislynn hisses, disapprovingly.

“Not ‘nymore, Sticks,” Sawyer says casually, “in case you haven’t noticed, we’re not playing anymore.”

“Good point,” Paul says, pointing the neck of his beer bottle at Sawyer in agreement.

“But no one deserves to freeze their butt off just because they did something questionable,” Sun points out.

“She does,” Sawyer insists.

“Oh, come on,” Aislynn says softly, “she made a mistake.”

Sawyer grins. “Is it a mistake if you make it numerous times and try to hide it? I should get a dictionary...”




Ben blows a whistle and the teams rush toward their blocks of ice.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Warren whispers to his group as they huddle together. “Jen and Nikki, you guys just kind of stand around as back-ups for when we can’t take the cold anymore, okay? Since you’re not wearing the jerseys,” he adds almost disapprovingly.

“No, that’s bullsh*t!” Nikki hisses at him, “I can do it!”

Marcus’ eyes go a little wider with surprise. “Why don’t we all just sit on it and see what happens?”

“That’s a crap plan if I ever heard one,” Charlie snorts, “we have to cover as much space as we can.”

“Got a better idea?” Marcus shoots back.

“Stop it!” Claire hisses, “if we can’t work like a team and we stand here fighting all day, the ice will never melt!”



Colin takes his jersey off and hands it to Ruth. “Here,” he says, sitting down against one of the sides of the ice block, shivering. “I’m okay without it.”

Ruth smiles and pulls it on over her head gratefully. “Thank you.”

Colin nods.

“Okay, uh...someone should lay on the top of it,” Jack says, as Steph sits down beside Colin, wincing as her back comes in contact with the ice and is instantly wet with the water dripping down the sides as it melts slightly in the sun.

“I will,” Kate offers.

“Me, too,” Ruth says. “If we both do, we’ll cover more space.”

Jack nods. “John?”

“I say you and I just follow Colin and Steph’s lead and take the opposite side,” Locke replies, grinning at Colin and Steph.

Colin smiles to himself, puffing his chest out slightly, proud of being the one to come up with the idea of sitting against the block to melt the sides.



“Charlie,” Warren says, “you and I are the bulkiest...we’ll lay on the top,” he adds, nodding over at the Blue Team as Kate lets out a yelp from the surprise of the cold on her back. “Like that.”

Charlie nods and takes off his jersey. “Y’reckon it’ll be better if we let out skin touch the ice directly? Hotter that way than through the fabric?”

Warren pauses for a moment and then nods, taking his own jersey off, too, tossing it to Nikki. “Put that on,” he says to her and sits down on the block of ice, shivering violently before laying down on it on his stomach.

Nikki pulls the jersey on over her bathing suit and looks over at the Blue Team. “I’m gonna lean up against one of the sides, like that, I think,” she says.

Sitting down on the block beside Warren, Charlie shudders as the cold hits him. “God damn,” he swears and throws his jersey to Jen. “Put it on.”

Claire glares over at Charlie.

“She’s not got one, Claire!” he shouts at her, furrowing his brow.

Jen holds the jersey with Charlie’s name on it in her hand for a moment, looking at him uncertainly.

“Go on, put it on, Mon Amie,” Marcus says as he sits down leaning up against the other side of the ice block, “then get over here and help me.”

Still holding Charlie’s jersey, Jen looks over at Claire again, raising her eyebrows as if to ask permission.

Claire rolls her eyes and shrugs, walking away from Jen and taking a seat beside Nikki, shivering violently when her back comes in contact with the ice and the melting water seeps through her shirt.

“Jen, now!” Charlie shouts at her, angrily. “Hurry up and get over here!” he says before turning over and laying down on the ice on his stomach beside Warren. He curses at the cold and hangs his arms over one uninhabited end of the ice block, pressing his hands hard against the frozen water.

Jen pulls on Charlie’s jersey finally and sits down beside Marcus, leaning up against the block.



“Oh, my God, I can’t take this!” Kate shouts, her teeth chattering as she rolls over onto her stomach, letting out a heavy gasp of surprise at the renewed cold.

“You’re doing fine, Kate,” Locke assures her.




“I’m out of beer,” Sawyer says, frowning and setting the empty bottle down on the coffee table beside the now empty pizza box.

“Geez, I can’t believe those girls are still up on that block...” Sun says quietly, shivering at the thought.

“My team is kicking your team’s ass,” Paul jokes to Sawyer.

“They ain’t my team, Hoss,” Sawyer snaps, “and they ain’t your team, either. In case you forgot, they booted our asses.”



Half an hour in, Warren’s lips are purple and he’s shaking something awful.

“Oi, mate, sit out for a minute...” Charlie says, concerned, when he looks over at Warren as Warren flips himself over on the ice block again. His stomach and chest are painfully red.

“I’m okay,” Warren lies, shuddering with cold.

Jen turns around and looks. “Oh, my God, Warren; take a break!”

“I’ll get up there,” Marcus offers. “Sit out for a minute and warm up.”

Warren frowns, feeling defeated, but he can’t stand it anymore. Every time he turns over he feels like someone is seering him with a brand the size of his whole body. The ice has his skin so sensitive that it no longer feels cold, it feels hot and stingingly painful.

“Get up, Warren,” Nikki snaps. “Get off the ice.”

“I’m fine!” Warren shouts at her.

“You’re bloody well not,” Charlie counters.

“Just take a little break and then you can come back,” Claire says.

Jen shivers hard and scoots closer to Marcus.

“What are you doing?” Marcus asks, giving her a funny look.

“I’m freezing, Marcus, just let me sit closer to you, all right?” Jen snaps at him unintentionally.

Marcus raises his eyebrows and frowns. “I’m sorry...”

“No, it’s okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be nasty. Just...I’m cold,” Jen sighs.

“Warren, get off the block,” Claire says, “take a break, and then come back when you’re warm. Your whole body is cold; you’re hindering...you’re not helping.”

Finally Warren gets up and walks away from the block, kicking angrily at the sand as he shivers and looks over at Ben. “Can I have a towel or something?” he asks their host.

Ben looks up. “Did you bring one?”

“Of course I didn’t,” Warren spits, shuddering with cold.

“Then, no.”

Jen shudders again and scoots even closer to Marcus.

“Mon Amie, get away, you’re making me colder,” Marcus complains, moving away from her.

“Marcus please?” she whines.

“Take a break with Warren,” Marcus replies, frowning.

“Yeah,” Nikki says as she stands and makes her way over to where Marcus and Jen are sitting. “Jen, get up and take a break. Marcus, get up and get on top of the ice like you said. I’ll take over here and Claire will move over to the middle of our side of the block. All right?”

Charlie shudders again and forces himself to stay in the same position. It hurts too much to move.

Jen looks up at Nikki and then over at Marcus. Both of them, in turn, nod at her and she frowns, getting up and making her way toward Warren.

“Okay, Charlie, how do I do this?” Marcus asks, standing and letting Nikki take his place.

Charlie winces as he moves over to allow Marcus some more room. “Just lay there, mate. That’s all,” he replies, teeth chattering.

“We don’t get a towel or anything?” Jen asks shrilly.

Warren shakes his head.

“Warren, I am f*cking freezing!” she snaps.

“I can’t help you!” Warren shouts back at her angrily. “I don’t have a towel either.”

“Shut up over there!” Claire yells at them, shuddering and rubbing herself back and forth on the block to get an itch.

“We’re sorry,” Warren says.

“Like hell we are!” Jen snaps.

“Just hug each other or something and shut your damn mouths, will you?!” Nikki screams, “you’re driving me nuts!”

After a short pause full of tension, Jen takes Charlie’s jersey off and spreads it out on the sand, sitting down on it, leaving room for Warren.

“Close quarters much?” Warren asks her as he lowers himself onto it.

“Wanna get warm, or not, Warren?” Jen asks, annoyed, as she scoots over closer to him and wraps her arms around him, dropping her head on his shoulder.

“Fair enough,” Warren replies, instantly feeling a little warmer when she does so. He wraps his arms around her and they hug each other close trying to warm up.

Marcus looks over at them enviously as he rolls onto his stomach. “Must be nice...” he sighs, shivering.




“Aww look at Jen and Warren!” Aislynn coos, grinning. “How cute is that?!”

Sawyer rolls his eyes. “This is sort of boring, don’t you think?”

“I’m bored,” Paul agrees. “Poker in the kitchen?”

“Got money?” Sawyer asks.

Paul shakes his head. “I got CDs though...”

For a moment, Sawyer mulls it over. He supposes whatever he wins, he can sell when he gets home, anyway. It’s almost as good as money. “Beats playin’ for fruit or medicine,” he says and stands up.

“You’re just gonna leave?” Aislynn asks, pouting and giving him the puppy dog eyes, protruding her bottom lip just slightly.

“I’ll be back after we play,” Sawyer says, “I’m just goin’ to the kitchen, anyway, Sticks.”

“Let them go,” Sun says to Aislynn, “if they’re bored and we make them stay, they’re just going to annoy us.”

Paul looks back and forth between the women and finally Aislynn sighs and nods, waving the two boys away with one hand. “Go on, then,” she mutters, fighting hard—unsuccessfully—to hide her smile.
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avatar: Plastic!Winchester Theater by anteka @ LJ; icon by me
sig by AlcoholicPixie

[mistojen]

A/N: geez, I really got on a roll, here. Thanks to KC for the push. I thought it'd be at least a few days til I finished this episode since both parts are so long! Anyway, surprise, I'm done! Enjoy

Part Two

“I can’t take it anymore,” Kate says, her teeth chattering loudly as she sits up, taking off her jersey and tossing it onto the sand. The skin still unhidden by her bikini is raw red and her body feels as though all of her muscles have turned into rocks. “I’m getting up,” she adds, standing.

“Colin you’re looking like you could use a break, too,” Steph says, concerned when she watches Colin’s body shake heavily as he holds himself still in his place against the ice.

“I’m okay for a little longer,” Colin replies as he watches Kate sit down on her shirt in the sand, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. He sort of hates her for not being up against the ice anymore.

“Sure?” Locke asks, looking over his shoulder at her as Jack moves onto the top of the block with Ruth.

Colin nods. “I’m good for now.”

“How’re you doing up here?” Jack asks as he lowers himself down onto his stomach, shivering.

Ruth looks over at him. “I can’t feel my body,” she tells him honestly.

“Does it hurt yet? You feeling tired?” Jack asks, worrying about his teammate.

She shakes her head. “Too numb to hurt, too cold to get tired,” she laughs a little, and admittedly the laughter hurts her stomach, but she wills herself not to flinch.

Colin makes it another fifteen minutes before he feels his muscles stiffen painfully. “Sh*t.”

“What?” Steph asks, looking over at him. Her teeth are chattering loudly, but she’s more worried about Colin.

“I can’t,” he says and stands, shuddering when the breeze hits his wet back as he does so.

“Go ahead and sit down, Colin,” Locke tells him, “go warm up with Kate and you guys can come back when you’re ready.” He, too, however, is nearing the point where he will need to take his own break to warm up, though he doesn’t let on to his teammates.

Colin sits down beside Kate and shivers once again. “Can’t believe we can’t have towels,” he mutters to her.

“I know. It’s cruel, isn’t it?” she asks, frowning. “Here, sit closer and we can warm each other up,” she suggests, scooting closer to him so that their arms are touching.

Colin shrugs, teeth chattering. “Don’t see how it’ll help if we’re both cold, but okay...”



Half an hour later, Locke is beside them and Kate is shivering in his arms. His skin chills her again after she’d warmed up, but his eyelids are drooping and she worries that he’ll pass out from the cold if she doesn’t try to warm him up.

“Help me,” she tells Colin.

“What?” Colin asks, looking at her incredulously, “no way!”

“He’s fine,” Locke says slowly, “I’ll be all right, Kate. I’m making you colder this way.” He opens his arms and moves away from her, shuddering with cold and rubbing his arms with his hands. “I’ll be okay, really.”

Kate looks to Jack to see what his input is, but Jack is too busy chatting with Ruth and Steph to keep them alert.

“Steph, come up here with us,” Ruth says. “If we squish up here together, we can all warm each other up at the same time as we melt the ice.”

“Good plan,” Jack says, willing his teeth not to chatter and betray his outward facade of not being as cold as he truly is.

“My body hurts,” Steph replies, shivering. “I don’t want to move...”

“Come on up here, Steph,” Jack says, “we’ll keep you warm.”

Steph stands slowly, shuddering with cold and makes her way to the other side of Jack. He moves slightly to give her a little room and the three of them lay together on the block with their arms around one another trying to keep warm.




“Are they still working on the ice?” Paul calls out from the kitchen.

“Yes,” Aislynn calls back. “Looks like they’re all making progress, but the Blue Team looks like they’re pulling a little ahead.”

Sawyer looks over at Paul and sighs. “Sticks, let us know when they’re doing the interesting part,” he calls out to her, dealing Paul another hand.

“Okay,” Ais calls back.




Two hours and forty-five minutes have passed, now. Claire is the lone member of the Red Team shivering on top of the block while her teammates huddle together in a tight group hug. Jen and Warren are plenty warm now, but neither of them particularly wants to freeze themselves up again to help her, even though they know that they should.

Ruth and Steph stand up and get off their team’s block. There is a sizable amount of melting at the top and they only need a little more to melt until they can scratch and poke their way into the center.

Claire’s block, however, is not nearly as melted.

Jack looks over as Claire turns her head toward the Blue Team and closes her eyes.

“Hey!” he calls out, taking a step away from the girls on his team that he’s been warming. “Claire!”

“Mind your business!” Marcus snaps at Jack.

“She’s passing out, you idiots!” Jack shouts back at the Red Team. “Help her out!”

Charlie takes his arms out from around Jen and Nikki’s shoulders and stands quickly. “Claire?”

She does not respond to him.

“Sh*t!” Warren shouts. “CLAIRE! HEY!”



“Oh, my God!” Aislynn shouts, standing up with anxiousness. “Jeez, is she okay?!”

“Who?” Sawyer calls from the kitchen.

“Claire,” Sun replies, wringing her hands a little, “she passed out.”

Sawyer hurries back into the Community Room and stands in front of the television. “What?! Wait, what?”

“She passed out. Look,” Ais says, pointing at the screen as Paul comes back into the room, too.





“Get her off the ice!” Jen snaps, running forward and putting one of Claire’s arms around her shoulders. “Claire? Hey, Claire...wake up, Claire...”

Marcus pushes past Charlie who is standing uselessly aside, staring in shock. “Here, give her to me,” he says to Jen, lifting Claire off the ice and bringing her over to Nikki and Warren, laying her down on the sand. He taps her face with one hand. “Claire, come on...”

Claire’s eyelids flutter lightly, but she says nothing. Her lips are purple and she’s still shivering.

“What’s happening to her?” Nikki calls over to Jack.

Jack starts over, but Locke grabs his wrist and pulls him back. “If there’s something wrong with Claire, they’ll bring in medics. She’s okay, Jack.”

Grudgingly, Jack stands his ground, not going over to help. “Warm her up,” Jack calls back, hating that he can’t help because Claire isn’t on his team and his team needs him now.

“Guys...?” Steph calls over to her team. “We need friction. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before...”

“Claire...come on, Claire, get up, sweetie...” Nikki says, pushing a piece of Claire’s hair out of her face and rubbing her hands up and down on Claire’s arms harshly trying to create warmth from friction. She stops. “Oh, my God, you guys, that’s it!”

Jen and Charlie look over at her and raise their eyebrows.

“Friction on the ice!” Nikki shouts at them. “Go rub on the ice!”

Nodding and taking off toward their block again, Jen and Charlie hop up onto the ice block, rubbing their bottoms back and forth on it to try and hurry the melting process.

“She okay?” Charlie asks, shivering again.

“She’s passed out,” Warren replies, frowning. “She’s breathing fine and everything, though...”

“Go back and help them,” Nikki says to Warren. “Marcus and I will keep her warm, okay? The Blue Team is already almost at their key,” she adds, nodding over.

Ruth and Steph have found an opening in the ice and are rubbing their fingers around the edges of it trying to open it further. Their teammates have started rubbing their jerseys against the ice surrounding the hole in a similar effort.

“Sh*t, you’re right...” Warren sighs, standing and running back to the ice to help Charlie and Jen.

“This isn’t working,” Jen whines, standing up again. “There’s too much ice...they’re going to win.”

“Don’t give up, Jen,” Warren says. When Charlie stands, too, Warren lays down on the ice on his stomach. “Get on top,” he says to Jen.

“Do what?!” Jen yelps.

“GET ON TOP OF ME, I SAID!” Warren yells at her. “Lay on me and give me some extra weight. Charlie, push and pull my legs and rub us up against the ice so we can break it down enough to get into the center.”

Jen stares at Warren. “You’re kidding, right?” she asks.

Charlie bites his lip not to laugh, reminding himself that not only is their team falling painfully behind, but Claire is unconscious from her sole strong effort toward this game. The guilt and severity of the situation sobers his giggles and stifles them before they surface.

“No, I’m not kidding,” Warren says, “I need the weight and then Charlie will pull and push us back and forth to create the friction. It’s probably the only thing that will even give us a fighting chance, now get up here.”

Feeling a little weird about the whole thing, Jen lays on her stomach on top of Warren’s back and rests her head on his shoulder, hanging her hands down on either side of the ice beside Warren’s, limply.

Charlie takes Warren’s ankles in his hands and pulls the two of them down on the ice and then pushes them back up.

“Faster, Charlie, or we’ll never get any progress,” Warren sighs.

Charlie does. He looks over his shoulder. “Is she awake yet?” he asks, worried.

“No,” Marcus frowns. Claire lays limply in his arms and Marcus rubs at her arms with his hands while Nikki hugs him, putting Claire in between their hug.




“Someone needs to help her!” Sawyer shouts angrily, stamping his foot. “They’re just going to let her stay like that?!”

“It’s like I said, Sawyer,” Sun replies gently, “if she was in actual trouble, they would send in medics.”

“Jack is right there!” Sawyer growls.

“He’s not on her team,” Aislynn says.

“So the hell what?!”

Paul looks down at his feet. If he were in Jack’s shoes, he wouldn’t bother with her, either. He doesn’t say so, however.




“Ow, stop,” Warren says, “get up,” he adds to Jen.

Jen quickly gets off him and stands to the side to let him up.

“We broke the ice,” he says, “help me dig out the keys.”

There is a small hole in the ice and the surrounding areas are thin as well, so Jen and Charlie rub their hands and fingers around the hole to widen it while Warren shudders from the cold and goes back to check on Claire.




A few minutes after the Blue Team has extracted their keys and is sprinting toward their chest, Charlie hooks his pinky around the Red Team’s key ring and pulls it, with effort, out of the block of ice.

“Let’s go!” he shouts, hurrying back toward Nikki, Marcus, and Claire. Claire’s awake, now, but she’s in and out of consciousness. Charlie tosses the keys to Marcus and lifts Claire into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder as he tries to keep up with his team.

Warren and Jen bolt down the path right on the heels of the Blue Team. Marcus and Nikki aren’t far behind and Charlie trails as he tries to run with Claire in his arms.

“Take your time, Charlie,” Jen calls over her shoulder. “We have to get the right key, remember.”

With that, Charlie slows significantly, panting as Claire’s head lolls to the side and she opens her eyes again.

“Hey...” he says softly, smiling a little. “You okay, Claire?”

Claire blinks slowly at him. “What happened...?”

“You passed out from the cold...” Charlie says, “I was really worried about you...”




“So worried, in fact, Mamacita, that he left you with other people so that he could keep playing the game,” Sawyer spits at the television. “Jesus, I can’t stand him!”

“Sawyer, calm down,” Sun says.

Aislynn looks over at Sawyer and frowns. “I know she’s your friend, and everything, but...” her voice trails off as she decides that there’s no way for her to word her question and not sound much more horrible and emotionless than she means.

Raising his eyebrows at Aislynn, Sawyer waits.

“Well, I mean...she’s okay, so why is it so infuriating to you that Charlie is being a good boyfriend again?” Aislynn asks timidly.

“Because he ain’t, Sticks,” Sawyer replies bitterly. “He’s a loser and she deserves better.”

Aislynn nods and blinks slowly. “What, like...you?” she asks, instantly regretting it when the room goes silent and all eyes fall on her.




“‘Professional, intelligent and never willing to turn his back
the key to your success is the Blue Team’s member named...’” Nikki reads the clue of their chest as the Blue Team shoves each of the keys, in turn, into the lock, trying it.

“Jack!” Jen shouts. Jack looks over at her but only briefly, upon hearing his name. “The key to our success is the Blue Team’s member named Jack!” she repeats and Nikki looks through the keys until the finds the one labeled with Jack’s name.

“Got it!” Colin says and tosses the keys off to the side, pulling open the chest and handing the flag up to Locke. He stands as his team sprints down the beach toward the flagpole which is already surrounded by spotters to check that everyone has a hand on the pole before raising the flag.

Claire closes her eyes again and falls back into unconsciousness in Charlie’s arms as he reaches his team.

Nikki finds the key with Jack’s name and shoves it into the lock of their team’s chest.

“She’s out again,” Charlie says, “and I can’t carry her anymore...” he adds defeatedly. His arms feel like they’re made of rubber. He’s already in pain from the cold and her weight in his arms is too much.

Warren stands up. “Put her on my back, I’ll take her,” he offers.

“Got it!” Nikki shouts, snatching the red flag out of the chest and dropping the keys into the sand.

“Go!” Marcus yells and he, Jen, and Nikki take off toward the flag pole.

“Wait, they can’t–” Charlie starts.

“Leave it,” Warren says as Charlie puts Claire on Warren’s back, wrapping her legs around Warren’s middle and guiding her arms around Warren’s neck and her hands into Warren’s. “They can get the flag ready to raise and we can do it as soon as we get there.”

The two of them take off, Charlie keeping Warren’s slightly slower pace, just in case he needs help with Claire.

When the three of them reach the flagpole, they hear the spotters telling the Blue Team to unpin their flag and start again; Ruth’s hand was not on the pole when they started to raise it.

Warren finally reaches a point close enough that he can get Claire’s hand on the pole. He closes one of his hands around hers to hold it in place. “Hang onto her, I need to use my other hand to touch the pole,” he tells Charlie.

Charlie uses his free hand to hold onto one of Claire’s arms as he clasps his other around the pole.

Jen and Nikki put their hands on the pole and Marcus pins the flag, putting his own hand on the pole and raising their team flag. As it nears the top, inches away from their victory, a whistle blows and everyone on the Red Team snaps their heads toward the sound. The Blue Team’s flag flaps in the breeze at the top of the flagpole. They have been edged out of a win by the Blue Team once again.

“Dammit!” Jen shouts angrily, kicking the sand and dropping herself down onto it Indian style.

Warren and Charlie lower Claire down to the sand and collapse on either side of her, spent from their efforts.

Claire opens her eyes again, eyelids fluttering. “Well...?”

“We lost,” Charlie grunts.

“We...lost?” Claire asks, tears springing to her eyes. “All that for...nothing?”

“I’m sorry,” he says sadly.

“We were really close, Claire,” Marcus offers, sitting down beside them all as the Blue Team ends their victory in a group hug, jumping up and down excitedly and shouting happily.

“Really, really close,” Jen adds. “You were amazing, Claire. I mean...wow.”

Claire looks over at Jen sleepily. “Thank you,” she whispers, closing her eyes again.

Nikki leans against the flagpole and wipes at tears in her eyes. “We were so f*cking close! I don’t want to vote anyone away...” she sobs.

It’s as if Nikki’s tears are contagious, because Jen, too, breaks down at the thought of having to send someone home after such a tough Challenge in which everyone had tried their hardest.

Marcus rubs Jen’s back with one hand. “It’s okay, Mon Amie...” he comforts.

She shakes her head. “I hate this stupid game!” she shouts at no one. “I want to go home!”

“Don’t say that,” Marcus tells her quickly.

“I hate, hate, hate this game!” she goes on.

“Jen,” Warren says, “calm down.”

“This is just so damn frustrating...” she says, wiping her eyes. “No, I don’t want to go home, but I do, too, you know?” she asks, sniffling.

“Believe me,” Warren replies solemnly to her, “I do.”

The teams load themselves into the vans to go back to the Community Room now that the game is over and the Challenge won.

Now comes another difficult vote and the end of another day. Each and every player on either team, in their own way, is more than relieved for the night to arrive.

And so, when it does...they all fall into a deep and restful sleep, physically and emotionally drained. Tomorrow is another day.
_________________
avatar: Plastic!Winchester Theater by anteka @ LJ; icon by me
sig by AlcoholicPixie

[SuperKC]

I LOVED the way you revealed the correct key. That was very clever. Like I told you before, it is really impressive how you handle all of these characters. I am just amazed.

YES! Conmama lives! I cannot WAIT to see what happens on 'the other island' next!!!!! yayayayayyasqueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee*dies*

What a great update!

[AlcoholicPixie]

That was yet another amazing two-parter Jen! I feel so bad for Ais, I would be damn jealous too!
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Supernatural Video Station

[Rocksiren]

Yep even though I should be getting ready for work, I HAD to read it. Yayness! I might even be able to do the graphics of this one, lol!

Other island fun!
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"You are just an encyclopedia of weirdness." ~ Supernatural