josia hughes ◆ benjamin linus (cptnbunnykiller) wrote in thereincarnates, @ 2010-08-31 10:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | josia hughes, kane lewis |
Who: Josia Hughes and Kane Lewis
What: A moment with creepers. Slash what Josia's been doing for the past few weeks! Kinda.
When: Early Tuesday morning, August 31st
Where: New Otherton, The Island
Warnings: Creepy?
The small ghost town with the yellow houses and neat walkways had been christened with many names over the years, largely thanks to one James "Saywer" Ford. Dharmaville, New Otherton – Sawyer's names were endlessly creative, but to Ben, it was simply home. The only place he had ever belonged, even when everything went to hell (which, here, happened more often than not). Most of Ben's memories of this place were painful, but Josia couldn't deny that it felt good to be here. It felt right. And it felt even better that he was alone. For once, there was no one else to deal with. No John, Jack, or Jacob to ruin his day. Finally, the Island was his.
Every morning, Josia took a walk. It was a short walk, only five or ten minutes, but it was necessary. Helped him think, and these days, he had a lot to think about. The truth was, things were not going the Resistance's way. One isolated event had cost them three valuable men, and their numbers had been painfully small to begin with. They couldn't afford this. Unlike the "loss" of the Logan's brother, this blow was going to take considerable time and effort to recover from. Josia had never put much stock in Leon, and no one could say that his supposed suicide hadn't been something of a relief. But this was different. Ross could've been a great asset. Bryant had had promise – with his clearly psychotic girlfriend, he'd accomplished more in the past few months than most of the other fugitives combined. And Charleston... Josia didn't know what to think of him anymore. He wasn't who they thought he was, and he had cost them. He'd pay for that one day, Josia would make sure of that, but for the moment he couldn't be bothered. There were more important things to take care of.
As he walked along the sidewalk, hands in his pockets and surveying the empty houses, he mentally ran through his checklist. The preparations. That was done. Everything was ready here for the rest of the Resistance. The Island was safe, secure, and impossible to find. Ideal for their nefarious purposes. Recruitment. He needed to talk to Sam about that. They needed bigger numbers if they were going to take care of those pesky heroes, let alone take on Camelot. Objectives. Now that he'd had time to think, he had a plan. A good plan. But they needed more people before it could be implemented. Another thing to discuss with Sam. Retaliation. A trickier endeavor, but it would have to be done. After their betrayals, Ross and Charleston could not be allowed to live happily ever after.
An unrelated thought occurred to him then, and he turned to call out to Logan, wherever she was, but stopped short when he saw a man striding across the lawn. It took Josia a moment to realize that it wasn't the mysterious Richard Alpert, but the mysterious Kane Lewis instead. The assumption was automatic – who else would be walking across the empty Island with such (for lack of a better word) swagger? – but it was the realization that shocked him speechless. How did he get here? Mysterious indeed, this Lewis. And not to be underestimated. Josia made a mental note of that.
"Well, this is unexpected," he offered casually in lieu of a greeting once Lewis was in earshot. One eyebrow was raised, but his face was cool, if not a little disapproving. Lewis clearly picked up on that, because he smirked then, proud of himself. Which only made Josia twitch. "How did you find this place?"
"Wasn't looking for it," Lewis answered cryptically, still smirking. "I was looking for you. With the right incantation, you can find anyone."
Josia frowned in annoyance and waved his hand dismissively. "I'm sure. Stop patting yourself on the back, Lewis. Tell me why you're here." He wasn't usually this short, but he didn't appreciae being taken by surprise like this. Ana had been right to recruit this bizarre man, but Josia had a feeling about him. Not a particularly good one. He'd done his research on Lewis's reincarnate – Christopher Carrion was powerful in ways that Benjamin Linus couldn't even begin to fathom, and that worried Josia. He'd have to keep a careful eye on this one, just in case.
Kane ran his a hand through his red-and-black hair, glancing around Dharmaville with little to no interest. When he finally turned his attention back to Josia, the smirk was gone, and he spoke without hesitation, as one leader to another. "I have a few things to offer you. First, a faster way to travel here. I've seen the show. Submarines are a little passé, don't you think?" There was that smirk again. Annoying. "Second, a network of virtually undetectable spies. They're mechanical and... No, never mind, we'll get into that later. Too difficult to explain without a demonstration." He paused and took a breath. "Finally, and most importantly, Carrion's domain. It's a large and unwieldy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure you can find a use for it."
He finished curtly and looked at Josia, face impassive as he waited for his answer. Josia, in turn, silently considered this proposal. Lewis was offering these things up unasked, and he wasn't asking for anything in return. Unusual. That made him instantly suspicious, but at the same time, he couldn't see a downside to this. He was giving away magic, technology, and territory for free. He was giving away power for free. Maybe Josia didn't have to worry about him after all. But he couldn't stop himself from asking one simple question.
"Why?"
Kane grinned widely, and Josia was suddenly struck by the hollowness behind his eyes. "Why not?"