Little Writings

Claire, To Liam

"That's just who he was." Claire's throat burned as she thought back to Charlie. "I met him the first night of the crash. He was so nice and welcoming. Funny and charming. Just a really, really caring person. He looked out for me — the pregnant girl, the girl everyone avoided — when no one else would."

Liam's eyes widened. "You were pregnant on the island?"

Claire chuckled. "Yes. Everyone avoided me like the plague. I was a ticking time bomb. Seven months.. no one wanted to deal with it." She blew out a sigh. "There was a lot of tension during that time. Jack wanted to go to the caves, Sayid wanted to stay on the beach, Hurley wanted to make a list of everyone... of course, one thing led to another and.." She trailed off. Claire hadn't ever told anyone in the real world about this, but she figured Charlie's brother deserved to know everything.

"And?" Liam prompted gently, leaning forward, eating up any information he possibly could.

"There was a man who infiltrated our people. Pretended to be one of us." Claire's voice fell into a snarl. "Charlie and I had a fight and I started having contractions. He ran off to find Jack, in case the worst was happening.." She tapped her forehead with her fingers as the memories flashed over her eyes, not seeing Liam's horrified look. "Instead, he found Ethan. He kidnapped me, then Charlie when he found me again. Ethan killed another one of our people and warned everyone to stay away, to not look for us. They didn't listen, so he hung Charlie from a tree, or so I was told."

Liam choked, closing his eyes when the pain clearly became too much. "And he died?" he murmured.

"No," Claire said quickly, watching Liam's head snap up in shock. "Jack revived him. He was okay. But me..."

"Ethan took you?" Liam asked slowly, chewing on his bottom lip. "Did they do anything?"

"They stuck needles in me to make sure Aaron wasn't going to be born with a disease, I think. They drugged me and Ethan convinced me that it was a good thing I was there." Her voice hardened and her jaw pulsed. "I believed it, but a teenage girl saved me. I returned to camp and didn't remember anyone. Charlie was traumatized from what had happened, but made the effort to reconnect with me.." She was surprised to find wetness trailing down her cheeks. She hadn't cried over Charlie in so long. It almost felt foreign.

"He cared for you, a lot, didn't he?" Liam tried to smile but it was dull and weak.

"He did." Claire nodded slowly. "More than anyone else there. I think he really loved me, and... well, I loved him back. And when Aaron was born, it was like we were meant to be."

"What about the drugs?" Liam winced after the words came flying out of his mouth. "I... assume you knew about that..?"

"The heroin? Yes." Liam's eyes widened at how coolly Claire spoke about it. "He didn't relapse, not once, even when we found a plane full of drugs later on. I was suspicious at times, but I was a new, paranoid mother."

Liam thought. "And Ethan — what happened to him?"

Claire narrowed her eyes, thinking back to that day in the jungle, when she'd been soaked to the bone in rain, when she'd seen Ethan claw his way out of the foliage and attempt to drag her back to that station, when the gunshot had rung in her ears.. "Charlie killed him. He had to."

"He... he killed someone?" Liam asked, shocked. His breathing became irregular. "That doesn't sound like him."

"The island changed all of us. For some, I can't say for the better. But Charlie did it to protect me. He did it so I'd know I was finally safe. Ethan's people — The Others — they were just as ruthless, though..." She smiled. "We eventually became friends. Isn't that such an odd thing?"