Chapter Text
It almost felt like a fever dream, getting off the Coast Guard’s plane. A crowd had gathered, cameras flashed - Shannon had forgotten how noisy the “real” world could be. It was jarring. Hurley went out first and reunited with his parents, then Sun with hers. Jack hugged his mom, while Kate was quickly pulled over by Hurley to meet his parents, leaving her and Sayid unaccompanied.
Shannon had given the authorities Sabrina’s name when they’d asked everyone whom to contact, but she knew there was no way her evil stepmother would show up. Not without Boone there to greet her. In Sabrina’s eyes, it would be just another thing Shannon failed at: failing to die in place of her precious son.
She was proven correct. There was no one there to greet her or Sayid as they exited the plane, but of course, Hurley welcomed them into his family, too. Carmen and David were elated to see their son, and they welcomed his fellow survivors with equal enthusiasm. Shannon teared up as they hugged her; it had been so long since she’d felt a truly parental embrace.
In all honesty, Shannon was glad Sabrina hadn’t come. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and having to fake a happy reunion with someone who hated her was not something she’d have had the energy for. Still, a tiny part of her couldn’t help wishing it were different. That maybe the crash had caused Sabrina to regret how she’d treated Shannon, and she’d arrive with open arms, crying and asking forgiveness…but that was a pipe dream. Shannon was an orphan, she had been for a long time.
No, there would be no family reunions for her, but she had Sayid. He was there, holding her hand and loving her, and that felt like all she’d ever need.
Neither of them saw a petite female figure watching the reunions from a distance.
—
“I think we should pay her a visit,” Sayid said as they snuggled in the king-size hotel bed the next morning. The press conference the day before had gone about as well as could be expected, and they’d been put up in the hotel for the night. As fucked up as it may have been to think such a thought, Shannon hoped it stung Sabrina when they’d told the press Boone had originally survived the crash, only for him to die later on.
Her nose scrunched in an expression of disapproval at Sayid’s suggestion. “Unless you’re talking about Sun or Kate, the answer to that is no freaking way.”
“You know who I’m talking about. Aren’t you curious why she didn’t come here?”
“I know exactly why she didn’t come here, and it’s spelled B-O-O-N-E. He’s gone, and now so are any ties she had to me.”
“Then perhaps we ought to show her you’re not the person she thought you were. Perhaps she should see for herself how strong you are now.”
“If I am, it’s because of you.” She knew she’d endured her fair share of crap - losing her dad, missing out on the internship, the crash, losing Boone, surviving a gunshot wound - but she’d never truly felt strong until she’d had Sayid by her side. He brought out the best in her; he believed in her in a way no one ever had, and it made her remember what it was to believe in herself, too.
“No, Shannon,” he corrected her, brushing her hair out of her face, “It’s because of you.”
When he said it like that, she believed it. “I love you so much,” she said, before pressing her lips to his.
“I love you, too,” he confirmed, and they spent the next hour or more proving it to each other.
—
How had he talked her into this? Oh yeah, sweet talk and kissing. Shannon almost laughed to herself; was this what life with him would be like? Her not wanting to do something and him talking her into it genuinely just by being himself? What had she gotten herself into? (She wouldn’t give it up for anything.)
They stood together on Sabrina Carlyle’s doorstep, hands intertwined. They’d gone over their story enough times now that it almost felt like the truth. If she asked questions (which Shannon doubted, unless the question pertained to Boone), they knew exactly what to say and how to keep their answers short and sweet.
It took a minute, but Sabrina finally opened the door. She looked exactly as Shannon remembered her, if not slightly more shell-shocked than usual. “Shannon,” her stepmother said, almost tentatively. Shannon wondered if there was anything genuine behind it, anything beyond wanting to know more about Boone. Probably not, if she had to guess. “I didn’t—I thought it was a scam or something, until I watched the press conference.”
“Not a scam,” Shannon confirmed. An appropriate excuse, though she couldn’t detect how true it was. “This is Sayid.”
“Right, Sayid. You were in the plane crash too,” Sabrina observed, apparently recognizing him from the press conference. “Please, come in. Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you. We won’t trouble you for long,” Sayid answered for them as they entered the house, “We have many things to attend to, other people to see and so on, but we felt it important to stop by.”
“So you’re—”
“Together? Yes,” Shannon said.
“These last few months would have been unbearable without her,” Sayid said, giving her hand a squeeze, and Shannon knew it wasn’t a lie. It was just as true for him as it was for her.
“We got through it together.”
Sabrina nodded. “That doctor you were with, he said Boone had ‘tremendous internal injuries,’” Sabrina began slowly, tears welling in her eyes. There it is, Shannon thought to herself, and any hope she had to forge any sort of bond with Sabrina deflated. “What—how did he—”
“He was brave,” Sayid replied, just as he had at Boone’s funeral. “He fought, and Jack fought very hard to save him, but he knew he would not survive his injuries. He did not want us to exhaust the few medical supplies we had.”
“He wanted me to tell you he loved you,” Shannon lied, though for the first time in her life, she was lying in order to do a kindness to someone who had never been kind to her. Before knowing Sayid, she wasn’t sure she’d have been capable of such a thing. “That’s why I’m here, I promised him--” She couldn’t force the rest of the words out. It was a lie, but it was also still difficult to think about Boone. Sayid was the only one who truly understood.
“That’s the only reason you came? To keep your promise?”
“Yes.”
“So it’s not about the money,” Sabrina said, her attitude shifting.
“What money?”
“Don’t play dumb, Shannon.”
What was she talking about? Did she mean the money her father had supposedly “not” left her? She’d let go of that possibility long ago. Wait, they were all getting settlements from Oceanic because of the crash. Did Sabrina– “They gave you money? Because of Boone and me?”
“It’s already gone. I put it into Boone’s memorial.”
“Boone’s memorial?”
“I’m having a mausoleum built, it’s still under construction. Then there was the funeral, of course.”
“You had a funeral for us?”
“I had a funeral for my son,” Sabrina corrected her.
“And me? Did you even so much as get a plaque with my name on it, or did you just erase me from existence altogether?”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Shannon. He was my child, my baby. I carried him, I raised him, I worked alongside him. You and I were never close, and we hadn’t even spoken in almost two years.”
“And whose fault was that? I was your stepdaughter for over a decade, and you couldn’t even mention me when you thought Boone and I died the same way at the same time? You couldn’t even put my name on a piece of stone?” Shannon was incredulous. She hadn’t expected much from Sabrina, but this felt low even for her.
“It’s not like I thought you’d be around to see it,” Sabrina confessed. “They said they found your plane at the bottom of the ocean, no survivors.”
“That’s twice now you’ve taken money that was meant for me. Whatever, I don’t want it. I don’t want anything to do with you ever again. And you know what? I lied. Boone didn’t ask me to tell you anything, he didn’t mention you at all. He knew as well as I did that you’re a selfish bitch—”
Sabrina’s arm raised to slap Shannon, but Sayid (who had been suspiciously quiet up to this point) caught it in midair. “I would not try that again if I were you.” Sabrina looked even more shocked than she had when they’d shown up on her doorstep. “Shannon can fight her own battles quite successfully, but I will not stand by and allow you to continue treating her this way, and I certainly will not allow you to lay a hand on her, unless you want it broken afterward.” He released Sabrina’s arm, and she took a step back. Shannon had never been more attracted to Sayid than she was right then.
“So this is the kind of filth you’ve decided to bring into my home,” Sabrina said venomously. “I suppose dating a terrorist is very on-brand for you.”
Shannon stepped in front of Sayid before things escalated any further. “He’s a better person than you’ll ever be, and if you ever say anything like that about him again, I’ll break your hand myself. Let’s go, Sayid.” She grabbed hold of her boyfriend’s hand and led him toward the door.
It felt invigorating, to get the upper hand on Sabrina for once. Let her have her mausoleum and her big, fancy house. Shannon had something so much better. Shannon had someone she loved who loved her in return.