[Ami, Megabyte] Skipped Time (Day 8): Playing Catch Up (open tag)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

“This really would make a great resort spot,” Megabyte decided, tossing a broken shell into the waves. “You know, once you get past the creepy telepathic Neanderthals, telepathic smoke clouds and the still ever elusive probably biomechanical T-Rex.”

Walking beside him, Ami gave a laugh. “You advertise them as ‘attractions.’ Survivalist types would kill for the opportunity to be here. Pardon the pun.”

It was early morning and a majority of the camp slept. Megabyte had, in fact, been awakened by Ami far earlier than he would have liked. He told her as much, but any attempts to go back to sleep had been thrawted by Hurley’s sleep-talking and irregular snoring. So, in the end, Megabyte grabbed his swim trunks and joined Ami, curious about what was so urgent she had to wake him at The Crack of Doom.

She’d told him. All the little weird bits and things that she hadn’t shared with him before – starting with the Frenchwoman’s, Danielle’s, repeating distress signal. That had earned her some scorn and harsh words, but in the end he apologized, recognizing that he probably would have done the same in her shoes and it would have been to protect her. In exchange he told her about ‘porting Tommy and Emerson away from the Smoke Monster and how Locke learned that he was telepathic and able to teleport.

“Rose knows too,” Ami told him.

“Yeah, and so does The Doctor.” He scowled when he said ‘The Doctor.’

Ami shook her head. “No, The Doctor knows we’re telepathic. Rose knows about The Tomorrow People.”

“She didn’t tell him?”

“It’s not her secret to tell, so she hasn’t,” Ami said with a grin. “I think she likes knowing something that he doesn’t know, so I’ve been working on keeping it secret as long as possible.”

She confessed to her telekinetic demonstration for George, which prompted Megabyte's admission of telling George he was 'empathic.' That in turn led to explanations of *why* he'd had to explain and a good deal of teasing on his part and blushing on hers. From that point, the conversation naturally segued into talking about Scott, and as Ami had expected, Megabyte was completely non-pulsed by the whole half-alien bit. She hesitated before telling him that part, but in the end decided that the only way to really explain everything to Megabyte was to explain everything to Megabyte.

/Scott’s had some bad experiences with the Air Force and a government agency called the FSA. He didn’t – he couldn’t – trust you because of the fact that you work for WorldEx./ Ami held up a hand to stave off his objections, /He’s relented now or I couldn’t have talked to you about any of this. But you have to understand, Scott’s paranoia makes you look laid back when it comes to being cautious.

/And he doesn’t like you./

Megabyte shrugged. /Yeah, I got that loud and clear./

/It’s not as though you like him very much at all either,/ Ami pointed out. /Which is a complete and total pain in my arse. My best friend and my boyfriend hate each other./

/We got off on the wrong foot, which might not have happened if I’d know all this other stuff about him./ Off of Ami’s look, he sighed. /Ok, maybe the whole jealousy thing would still have caused plenty of problems, but knowing that there was some sort of weird telepathic mumbo jumbo going on? Would have helped a lot./

“I know,” Ami whispered quietly. “And I did want to tell you. I never wanted to keep you intentionally in the dark, Megabyte.” She reached out and took his hand, /You do understand that I hated hurting you like that? That if there had been *any other* way, I would have taken it in a heartbeat?/

/I know./ Megabyte gave her hand a squeeze and then pulled her to him in a tight, friendly and completely platonic hug. /Water under the bridge, now okay?/

Hugging him back, Ami smiled. For the first time in days, she truly felt like her friendship with Megabyte was back where it needed to be. After a moment, she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek and stepped back, catching his gaze. /There is a wee bit more./

Megabyte sighed. “There always is.”

"We're going to be stuck here for at least six months."

Megabyte didn't ask how she knew that, maybe he assumed that she had gained some precognitive knowledge of everything. He raked his fingers through his hair, "Gonna miss your birthday and Christmas."

Comments

[Ami] Breaking the Ice (tag George)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

Ami was a woman with a mission. After her unusual morning discovery regarding Kenzaki, she remembered yet again her unfinished conversation with George and made it her goal to find the young woman, salvage that friendship and finish that conversation. Luck must have been with her because she spotted George coming away from the latrines, a faint smile on the woman's face and pep in her step – quite a drastic change from George's typical bored look. She seemed lighter on her feet and looked to be almost on the edge of bursting out into giggles. But it wasn't until George's eyes tracked across the camp and the smile widened and she felt a wave of lust, satiation, happiness and need rolling off the woman that Ami clued in to what had come over George.

Not willing to pass up an opportunity to return a favor, Ami jogged up to George and grinned mischievously and affected the best American accent that she could. "Holy shit! You got laid!"

[George] Breaking the Ice (tag Ami)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Ami's abrupt greeting startled George for a moment. Then she recognized her own words being thrown back at her. She grinned hugely at Ami.

"You got that right!" she crowed and offered Ami her upraised hand. Ami slapped her hand in a high five.

Ami studied George for a moment. "So?" she said finally.

George's grin didn't diminish in the slightest, but she felt her face growing warm as she recalled the previous afternoon's activities. Her gaze slid away from Ami's face for a moment; she was embarrassed by the sudden surge of lust she felt at the thought of Carlos and the urge to grab him and drag him off for another round.

It wasn't as though Ami was unacquainted with the feeling, though. George met her eyes again. "God," she said, "it was amazing!"

[Ami] Breaking the Ice (tag George)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

Ami smiled broadly, genuinely happy for George. Finding a good man (and he better be a good man or I'll find something to bean him over the head with,) had done wonders to improve George's overall disposition.

(Was I really floating on air like that the first time Scott and I shagged?)

George was a bundle of lustful and happy feelings that Ami had to shield a bit against. Those sorts of feelings were only going to call to the fore a few thoughts and memories of her own, and send her scurrying back to Scott. There was a reason that she'd slipped away this morning, and hadn't returned when she sensed him waking. Ami had things to accomplish - namely talking to Megabyte and George, and checking up on River and Sun, and she knew that once the daily camp grind was underway she might lose the opportunity to do that if she wiled away the morning making love to Scott.

As truly pleasurable as the thought was.

Ami giggled, glad for George's happy reception as well as the other woman's satiation. It meant that the one hurdle wasn't as big as she thought it was, their blossoming friendship was still in tact. "It always is amazing when you have a the right man in the driver's seat."

Blinking and wondering when she started to channel Jade, Ami waved her hands at George, indicating that she wasn't finished grilling her yet. "All right now, out with it, then. You did grill me after all. Who is it?"

[George] Breaking the Ice (tag Ami)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

George glanced around to check that nobody else was near. She wasn't sure why, exactly; it wasn't like she planned to keep the relationship a secret. It just seemed right somehow to lean a little closer to Ami and say quietly, "It was Carlos. It was...incredible."

[Ami] Breaking the Ice (tag George)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

Ami's eyes widened at George's admission, because it was totally and completely unexpected and it was absolutely the last name she expected to hear fall from George's lips. She didn't actually know what name she expected for George to reveal, but it hadn't been that one.

"Carlos? Oh ... that's ... wow," was about all Ami could get out because she was still trying to wrap her mind around the surprisingly intense relief she felt which mingled with amazement. (The man is *still* working fast, and I can totally get the whole incredible part. Pleasant memories; no comparison to the here and now, but definitely pleasant memories.)

Ami linked her arm through George's, leading the young woman towards the waterline. "How did it happen? You can skip the graphic details, just the fun, not so personal, how did you two 'hook up' bit. And when?"

[George] Breaking the Ice (tag Ami)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"Yesterday afternoon," George said, answering the last question first. "All afternoon," she added meaningfully. Yeah, she was boasting a little, but--Jesus, who wouldn't after a marathon like that?

"We talked a lot the other day, and then yesterday while we were drinking coffee Carlos said he wanted to talk to me alone. So when it started raining, we ducked into a shelter to talk. And--and we did," George said. "Talk, I mean. At first."

"At first," Ami said with a knowing smile.

George nodded. "Yeah, at first. But one thing led to another..."

"Uh huh..."

"And then Rose and Sue walked in on us."

"They didn't!"

"They did. We were just fooling around, though, so it wasn't totally embarrassing. After that we took off for a spot down by the river and, uh--shagged?--yeah, shagged ourselves senseless." George's grin became huge. "It was fun!"

[Ami] Breaking the Ice (tag George)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

"I'd daresay that I hope 'fun' is a big understatement," Ami laughed at George's enthusiasm and excitement, and decided to let the other woman have her spot of boasting and bragging. (The difference between men and women, women do not feel the need to one-up each other. If I were male, I'd have to step up to the plate now and tell her how my boyfriend is better. Hooray for estrogen.)

"Senseless shagging was apparently the order of the day yesterday," Ami said, then blushed as she realized she'd spoken aloud. Not that it mattered, George was happily all about the sharing, but Ami still didn't feel that bold, no matter how obvious it was to the entire camp that she and Scott couldn't keep their hands off of one another.

"I'm happy for you George, and Carlos is a fine bloke, he knows how to treat a lady," Ami told her friend. She sobered and turned quite serious, "What spot down by the river? I'm only asking because it would be really awkward and embarrassing to stumble on each other there when we're ... otherwise occupied."

(Really, really awkward and embarrassing.)

[George] Breaking the Ice (tag Ami)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"...yeah, it would be," George said. She hadn't considered that. Now she kinda wished Ami hadn't mentioned it. The thought that she might be caught in the act could well make her feel self-conscious, and self-consciousness was exactly what she didn't need.

George explained to Ami how they got to their clearing. "So if that's not your little love nest," she finished, "I call dibs!"

[Ami] Turning Serious (tag George)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't worry much about it, Scott and I haven't been caught out yet," Ami assured George, "And we favor a spot a juat a litte bit more north of there, the river is wider, and it's perfectly good for bathing ... and other things."

Ami averted her attention, suddenly feeling like she was in the midst of her first year at uni, gossiping about things she didn't know about. It wasn't like she was sharing intimate details with George, and there were certain logistics that had to be worked out. Yet, there were times when her far too purient upbringing and her mother's almost success at turning her into a proper lady came back and hit her in the head.

"I have to say, I can't believe that I'm having this conversation. I haven't had a conversation like this since uni and back then I didn't have much to offer in the way of participation," Ami turned her gaze back to George, fighting off the embarrassment that there was no reason to feel. "If worse comes to worse, we can always start tying red or white scarves to trees, I suppose."

She stopped and turned serious, not that the logistics of mapping out how and when to use the public shagging areas wasn't serious, but she didn't want to miss finishing her conversation with George. "Actually, George, there is something else I want to talk to you about. I was hoping that we could finish our conversation from the other day?

"I think you were trying to explain something to me, and," Ami gave her a shakey smile, "There are a few more things I'd like to explain to you as well."

[George] Bombshells Away! (tag Ami)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

George felt her grin fade. "Oh," she said. "That." She thought about their aborted conversation several days ago, realized she was still a little hurt that Ami had walked off in the middle of it. Well, maybe she'd been dragged off--but it still hurt.

On the other hand, the reason she'd decided to fess up was still out there. The Other Reaper. Her friends needed to know what they were up against. They hadn't heard from the Others again but there was no guarantee that their luck would hold.

George sighed. "I already told you some of it. I died--and now I'm...undead. I'm a Grim Reaper." With every word, George watched Ami's eyes get a little bigger. "I take the souls of people who are about to die." There--that was the biggest hurdle. The one Ami would probably have the most difficulty with.

George stopped walking and dug into her various pockets, eventually pulled out a badly creased sheet of folded paper. She unfolded it and looked at the long--long--handwritten list of names and seat assignments. "There's a reason I was on this flight, Ami. Oceanic 815."

[Ami] Bombshells Away! (tag George)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

As George spoke, Ami listened growing more and more surprised with each word. Her entire world had been shifted and turned upside down since crashing on the island: time travel was a reality in the future, magick was real, and now . . . grim reapers were not just a made up story. She wondered why any of that should be surprising considering that she was a telekinetic, teleporting telepath. Perhaps it was because she'd been wired to live science fiction, but not so much fantasy.

But aside from her natural shielding, George felt as alive as anyone else on the beach. Her emotions were real, and right now there was fear and trepidation coming from her. What was she worried about? That Ami would run scared? Think George was right barmy? Both?

(Grim reapers collect the souls of dead.) For some reason Ami thought of the Piers Anthony novel, "On a Pale Horse," and briefly found her mind wondering if that was how it really worked, if maybe Anthony's inspiration had come from one of those art imitating life moments. And if there were truly grim reapers . . . or was there only one?

(No, George said, 'a grim reaper,' singular.)

Her attention shifted to the paper in George's hand and back to the woman's face. "Is that why you survived? So that you could collect the souls of everyone who died? What did you do with them?"

Another frightening, horrible thought occurred to her. "Is that why you're here? Are more people going to die?" Before she could stop herself from asking, the predictable next question tumbled forth, panic and fear shaking her. "Is Scott going to die? Mega – Damon?" Ami didn't so much worry about herself, but she couldn't stomach the thought of losing either of them.

[George] Bombshells Away! (tag Ami)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"No," George said promptly, answering Ami's last question first. She wanted to calm Ami's fears. "Nobody's gonna die. Scott and Damon are safe." Honesty prompted her to add, "As safe as anyone else, I mean. I don't know any more about what's gonna happen than you do."

She waved the list. "I had a list when I got on the plane, but now?" George shrugged. "If...anything...happens to somebody, I'll take care of them. Send them on to their reward."

Ami was taking this better than George had hoped. Shocked, certainly, and curious. But not angry. She hadn't blamed George for all the deaths, the way she'd feared she might. That happened sometimes, even with the newly dead. It was hard sometimes for people to grasp the distinction; reapers didn't kill you, they were there to help you deal with death. You died--or got killed--all on your own.

[Ami] Questions (tag George)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

Ami breathed a sigh of relief and managed to pull herself back together at George's reassurance. "How do you know? Do you just 'know' like intuition or something? Who's going to die I mean.

"How do you know what their reward is? Whether they go to heaven or hell?"

Ami stopped and then asked the most important questions of all, "You said you died, so you weren't always a reaper. How did this happen to you?"

[Carlos] Rut-roh, Raggy. (tag Ami, George, open)

[undead-shot.livejournal.com]

Carlos had been puttering around all morning since he and George temporarily parted company. He really wanted a machete by this point, but he made do with a borrowed knife from Locke and his multi-tool.

He had cut several good walking sticks from saplings and was now stripping the bark off and cutting the ends off square as he sat beside the fire. He'd already promised a number of them--and the bamboo practice-staves--to Blaise for his class; currently, he was trying to make George's look and balance as nicely as possible. /I think she'll generally be a happier and more fulfilled person once she learns to whale serious fucking ass in her own defense. Heh./

He sat up looking for her--and then blinked. Oh...dear.

/There's two people it turns my ears red just to see talking together..../

"I think I'm in trouble...." he commented quietly, and went back to work with a little TOO much studious concentration. For about three seconds. Before he looked over at them with an expression of comical uneasiness again.

[George] Deep, Dark Secrets (tag Ami, Carlos, open)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"Heh," George said, feeling the no doubt dopey grin spread across her face at the sight of Carlos. She waved to him. "Well of course he can't," George said to Ami. "Am I not gorgeous?"

Then she looked at Ami and got serious again. "Locke and Tommy and Carlos know about me and--about me." George glanced at Carlos again and smiled. "Locke and Tommy have seen enough to convince them, but I'm not sure Carlos believes me. He only knows what I told him."

"I think you're right about telling Daniel. As far as I can tell, everybody on this fucking island has a deep, dark secret--but whoever dumped us here knows all about all of them. I don't think we're doing ourselves any favors by keeping secrets from each other."

[Ami] Deep, Dark Secrets (tag George, Carlos, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

"That's what I keep thinking, and it does make perfect sense. At least here, on the island. But once we get rescued. . ." Ami trailed off, chewing on her lip. As always it took her a moment or two to realize she was doing it and she forced herself to stop. "I like Daniel. I trust him. My gut instinct tells me that he's a good guy. But he's United States Air Force."

At George's inquisitive look, Ami continued, "You think that what I am and what I'm able to do is cool, right?"

"Hell yeah. Teleporting?"

George's enthusiasm made her smile a bit before she turned serious again. "There are plenty of people who think the same, but on a different level. People and agencies who would like to have a teleporter all their own – or to dissect one and see how I work. I know, because I've been there before." She hugged herself as she said the last; in the wake of the attempted kidnappings by the Others, the memories of what had happened to her nearly a decade ago ran strong. Ami shivered despite the warmth of the beach and looked down at the sand while she struggled to get herself under control and not betray to George the true horror that she felt.

Closing her eyes, she reminded herself that she was safe here – relatively speaking – and that it was in the past. Ami took a deep cleansing breath and let it out slowly, forcing a smile to her face as she looked up at George. "Anyway, there are reasons to keep silent. Trusting Daniel doesn't amount to much of anything if when rescue comes, his superiors find out about me. And not just me, George. There's Tara and her magic. What about you? It's a fine line and it has to be walked carefully."

[George] Deep, Dark Secrets (tag Ami, Carlos, open)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Ami had a point, actually. "Yeah, Rube would pitch a fit if he knew anyone knew about me. I don't even want to think about what he'd say if he knew I told anyone. Rube's my boss," George added, noticing Ami's confused expression.

"The thing is," she continued, "the wrong people already know about us. All of us. We're all here for a reason--and they killed almost three hundred people to do it! So the only people we're probably keeping in the dark is each other. The bad guys already know all about us."

Ami didn't look convinced, though. "So...maybe we don't tell everybody, or we don't everybody everything, but the more of us who know the score, the better."

[Ami] Deep, Dark Secrets (tag George, Carlos, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

George was right, and Ami knew George was right, but that nagging sense of self-preservation clung to her. "Are you willing to tell Daniel ... or someone in charge about you? I'm not sure I would tell him everything, I've spent half my life hiding this to protect myself and I can't just turn it off, but maybe we should tell him something. Someone something, at least."

(Except how do I convince Scott and Megabyte that this is the *right* thing to do?)

[George] Deep, Dark Secrets (tag Ami, Carlos, open)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"Willing," George admitted. "Not jumping-for-joy excited about it, but willing." She sighed. "See, the reason I decided to tell you is because They have a Reaper of their own. The other night when they attacked our camp, I tried to question one of the dead guys and she came running to kick my ass. She was like, 'Mine! Mine!'"

"You know those prisoners Daniel released after Tara put the whammy on 'em? That was a better idea than they know--it's not like killing them would have kept them quiet. She could have talked to them, learned everything they found out. And that's not even the worst she could do."

"So...yeah. Keeping secrets is so not the best plan."

[Ami] Less than Subtle Change of Subject (tag George, Carlos, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

Ami decided that she didn't want to know right now what the worse another reaper could do was. Her mind was still grappling with the fact that there were really Grim Reapers, and that quiet, cute little George was one of them.

She changed the subject, not wanting to expound more on the telling Daniel thread, particularly since she was going to have a difficult time convincing Scott and Megabyte of the wisdom of such a thing; ultimately, it might result in two arguments that she didn't want to have. (Imagine that, though, it would actually be Scott and Megabyte agreeing about something.)

"You didn't tell me, how did you become a reaper?"

[George] Let Me Sum Up... (tag Ami, Carlos, open)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"Oh...that," George said. She wasn't eager to talk about her death, but it was a reasonable question. "I was walking around downtown Seattle one day eating a burrito. I was on my lunch break from work. This weird guy asked me what time it was, so I told him. Then he asked me my name."

George stared into the distance, seeing the events of that day again. "He told me to hurry because I was gonna be late. When I turned to walk away, he stroked my hair. A minute later I looked up and saw something come roaring out of the sky straight at me. I had just enough time to think, 'Oh shit.'"

"The next thing I know, I'm standing there in the middle of chaos, watching people running and shouting and bleeding. One guy ran right through me. I couldn't believe it, and I kept saying so over and over again until Rube told me, 'This is as real as it gets, little girl. You're dead.'"

George stared out at the sea for a minute, one hand idly rubbing her other arm. Then she looked at Ami again and gave her half-hearted smile. "I spent three days as a ghost. I got to see my own autopsy, and my funeral. Afterward I asked Rube what happened next."

"That's when he told me I was going to be a Grim Reaper. 'No pearly gates for you. No choirs of angels, neither.' I thought he was sending me to hell, but he said, 'Don't flatter yourself, you're not that interesting.'"

[Ami] Let Me Sum Up... (tag George, Carlos, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

"Rube sounds like quite the charmer," the words came out before Ami could stop them. She didn't try to take them back, however. "Really, there has to be a better way to tell someone that they're dead."

(Only on this island could I say that as though it were a completely normal sentence.)

Another thought occurred to Ami, "If you're already dead, does that mean that you can't die again?"

[George] Let Me Sum Up... (tag Ami, Carlos, open)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

"Pretty much," George said. "One of the perks of being a Reaper--that which does not kill you just hurts a fucking lot. But you get better in a hurry. And you can drink all the tequila you want without getting a hangover."

"If, you know, we had any tequila."

"And Rube's not really so bad. He has a hard job, and I didn't make it easy for him. I wasn't happy about being dead, or being drafted to replace the guy who reaped me, or--anything, really. I was a real pain in the ass."

George paused, surprised by her reaction. When had she mellowed so much? Maybe about the same time Rube had, she supposed. Something had happened to him not long before he sent her and Daisy to Australia. He'd become a lot more relaxed, less rigid in his views on how his Reapers should behave.

Working with him had become almost...comfortable toward the end.

[Carlos] Excalibonk! (tag Ami, George, open)

[undead-shot.livejournal.com]

It was finally done, and George and Ami were /still/ talking intensely. /Yeah. In trouble. Definitely in trouble. Still...no putting it off now./

He stuck the other, untrimmed, uncarved walking sticks up in a tree to cure and bleed out their sap, and grabbed the fresh-peeled, sap-smelling one he had just finished carving up for George.

It wasn't bad. It had a spiral grip, a fat knob on the top, and two mottoes: "Sweet Reason" on the one side, and on the other, in teeny letters: "If you can read this, bright boy, you were standing too fucking close." He walked away from the fireside and swung it experimentally a few times. They'd have to stick it up in a tree for a week before it was properly dried, but they'd be practicing with bamboo anyway.

He headed over there, steeling himself for a teasing question or two. "Hey!" he called, waving and holding up the walking stick. "Excalibonk's done!"

[George] Excalibonk! (tag Ami, Carlos, open)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

George laughed. "Excalibonk?" She reached for the walking stick and hefted it. It wasn't as heavy as she'd expected, though plenty solid. But you wouldn't want something really heavy--it'd be a pain in the ass to carry with you all the time.

She grinned at Carlos when she saw Sweet Reason carved into one side of the stick. "Cool! Thanks!"

"Check out the other side," Carlos said. George turned the stick and read the tiny print, marveling at how he'd carved it so carefully. "Heh." Then she grabbed the stiff by one end like a bat and waved it menacingly. "'Bonk, bonk, bad grup!'"

At the confused looks she got from Ami and Carlos, George said, "Star Trek? Captain Kirk versus the three hundred year-old teenage delinquents? Hello? Buehler? Am I the only one here who wasted her life watching tv?" She sighed dramatically. "These kids today...."