Chapter Text
Rodger had his rifle aimed, and Sayid his hands raised. Jack froze.
“Don’t fire that weapon,” Sayid shouted, “I’m carrying a nuclear-”
He didn’t get to finish before a shot rang out and he clutched his now bleeding stomach.
“No!” Jack shouted as he ran to him.
Sayid fell, halfway in Jacks arms. Jack mumbled something fast and more than likely unimportant. Sayid was on his knees, folded over and held up by his arm. Jack was standing now, shooting. One of the bullets hit Rodger, who promptly tumbled over backwards. Jack didn’t stop to think if that would change the timeline. Maybe they would’ve all disappeared if Rodger had died. Maybe not. Didn’t matter to Jack.
“Come on,” the doctor spoke quietly, maybe to himself.
He half-dragged Sayid away from the open area as more shots rang out. Some came from his gun, hitting two more Dharma men, but only knocking one down. The other seemed to be fueled by this new pain, screaming as he fired more bullets. That didn’t matter to Jack either. What mattered was Sayid, who was clutching the shoulder fabric of Jacks jumpsuit in one hand, the other arm snaked around the doctors torso. His face pressed into Jacks chest, eyes screwed shut in agony. Sayid hadn’t yelled. He hadn’t made much of any noise, apart from breathing through clenched teeth. His footwork was clumsy and the both of them almost toppled over as he tripped. He readjusted his grip on Jacks jumpsuit. Tighter this time.
After what seemed like far too long but was really under a minute, they found cover around the corner of a house. Jack bent his knees and lowered Sayid to the ground, pressing him to the wall as he did. He looked him over, dropped the now empty magazine out of the gun, and grabbed another from his shirt pocket. He clicked it in. Jack then crouched with his back to Sayid and his gun to the village in front of them. Someone ran in view of the corner, and Jack shot without hesitation. A moving figure in beige was good enough reason to fire at this point. Sayid was still quiet. Jack glanced to him, noticing that he didn’t even look to be in much pain. His hand covered the wound, soaked in blood. He had blood on his knees and chest as well. Jack also sported the red patches. At least he wasn’t in all beige now. Sayid was calm. Okay, he wasn’t calm, but he was level headed and adrenaline-pumped enough that the gunshot didn’t hurt too much. He would be fine, Jack thought to himself. He’ll be fine.
But they couldn’t hole up here any longer. Jack moved back to face Sayid and put his arms under the soldiers own. Sayid put his over Jacks shoulder and kept his other hand over the source of the blood quickly staining his clothes. The bomb almost fell out of his pack as Jack walked as fast as he could out of the village. A Dharma van approached, and Jack shot at that too. The van pulled in front of them and the door opened. Jack stopped, arm moving around Sayid to shield him from whatever the hell was about to happen. But it was only Jin shouting at them to get in. Jack smiled in relief, and in victory. His friends had come to save the day. He half-shoved Sayid into the van and hopped in simultaneously. Sayid ended up on the floor of the vehicle.
“Drive!” Jack shouted, but Hurley didn’t need the order.