Chapter 15

Considering that he had relinquished the role of leadership ever since they'd gotten rescued, Jack was a little uncomfortable in situations where he had to take it again. But considering that even more than two years later, many in the media considered him the spokesperson for the survivors, he realized that he was still the best person when it came to – there was no denying it –lying to the camera.

So when the press conference began that afternoon, even though the Oceanics were all together, Jack agreed to take the leadership role once again. The irony that he was now doing it to lie for John Locke – the man he'd spent all his time on the island disagree with – wasn't lost on anybody there.

"Thank you all for coming," he said to the crowd of reporters. "It's good for the ego to know that even after our fifteen minutes are up, we can still get you all here at a moment's notice."

There was slight laughter at this.

"I realize that some of you may wonder if there are still any new stories to tell about my friends and me after all this time," Jack continued. "It appears there are. I have a brief statement to read, and then my friends and I will answer some questions."

He took out the paper he didn't need to read, considering he'd memorized it. "After Michael Dawson and his son returned last year, it was the belief of my fellow survivors that they were the last ones to return from the wreckage of Oceanic 815. And as far as we knew, that was the case. But three months, a man returned to Los Angeles who had been on our plane. None of us recognized him because we had not seen him in the wreckage or known him for those same hundred days. But according to the flight manifest, he was on the plane in the tail section. Now as we've mentioned in previous statements, Michael and Walt washed up on the far side of the island that we were on. This man apparently was washed up even further. What none of us knew until we were leaving the island was that there was a smaller island about two miles off the coast." He paused. "Just like when he failed to search for survivors on the side of the island that Michael and Walt were on, we didn't bother to check this island at all. To be frank, we were all so eager to return home that we gave little thought to anyone else."

Jack put some of the guilt that had filled his voice so many times in leadership situations. "Three months ago, a man checked into St. Sebastian Hospital complaining of injuries to his back. During the intake procedure, he admitted that he had obtained his injuries during a period of more than a year while he was stranded on an island in the Pacific. He'd spent the last several months after getting back to civilization trying to remain off the radar and avoid a media frenzy around his return or a disruption in our lives. However, one of my former colleagues heard the story and reached out to me. After learning that many of his injuries were in my field to correct, I met with him and after several long conversations; my friends and I agreed to help him reintroduce himself to what we might call the civilized world. I would only ask that you would treat him with the same level of respect you have generally given to us."

Jack then took what for him was a dramatic pause. "Ladies and gentleman of the press, Mr. John Locke."

Those who had known him on the island watched as John took that same confident stride he had done so many times going into the jungle, whether to hunt boar or face the monster.

"I realize you all of a lot of questions," John said in his classic style of understatement. "I'll try to answer them the best I can, but I have a brief statement of my own. On the day our plane was ripped apart in mid air, I blacked out just as we dropped. I regained consciousness in the ocean. I found the strength to start swimming to the nearest land I could find. It was a small island, and I collapsed when I reached the beach. When I came too, I spent the next day looking for fellow survivors. All I found were bodies. After that, unsure when or even if rescue would come, I began preparing for the long haul."

"I gathered wood to build a signal fire and on my third day, I was able to get it lit. Fortunately, the island had a lot of fruit and fish for me to obtain sustenance. I spent the next week exploring the island, trying to find anything that might lead to hope of rescue. Aside from animals, there was no sign of life."

Locke paused. "I know there were many occasions where I might have gone mad, if only for lack of companionship rather than anything else. But the next few months I spent struggling to stay alive, I barely missed other people. Finally after nearly four months of solitude, I realized the only way I was going to get rescued was by myself."

"I spent the next several weeks constructing a raft, using the trees and other wreckage from the plane. This took a long time, nearly two months. I then had to wait several more weeks before I could safely set sail – not long before I started searching, what appeared to be monsoon season started. Finally, nearly eight months after the crash, I managed to set the sail."

"It took me more than a week to find land – it was a small fishing village, which I later would learn was on one of the smaller island of Indonesia. I managed to find land, and then nearly collapsed from a combination of heat exhaustion and dehydration."

"The villagers were very generous to me and helped me through the process of recovery, even though none of them spoke English. It took three weeks before I was in any condition to talk somebody. By then, I had learned that there were other survivors of my crash, and that they had returned to civilization." Locke gave a small smile. "Believe me, I had even more questions then your colleagues must have. But at this point, all I wanted was to go home."

'I managed to get on a clipper ship to Puget Sound a few weeks later. I got back to Seattle and then to California in July of 2005. But I had sustained severe injuries to my back and chest over this period, which required several medical visits. It didn't take long for the medical community to realize who I was, and that I was supposed to be dead. I might very well have faced more scrutiny, except that I had gone to St. Sebastian for my initial treatments." Locke hesitated. "As the world now knows, Jack had been an attending there prior to the crash."

"As you can imagine, there's a lot more to the story. But by now, you probably have enough questions for several days of coverage." Locke looked dead ahead. "I'll do my best to answer them now."

There was a rush of hands going up. "Mr. Locke, how exactly could you have survived on your own, when your fellow survivors had so much trouble even working together?"

"It wasn't easy. Fortunately, I had some experience. I had learned how to hunt and a lot of experience growing food after I spent about a year at a community in Bridgeport," Locke said. He sighed. "I have fond memories of that time, but as I'm sure you'll learn when you do your homework, the community grew large quantities of marijuana. Unfortunately, this was at a time when it was it legal, and quite a few people went to prison unfairly later."

They took this in. A reporter raised her hand. "The entire time you were marooned, you saw no evidence of the island your fellow passengers were on. Does that mean you never saw the boat that came and rescued them?"

Locke shook his head. "There were large cliffs along on the westernmost side of my island that blocked it off. I never felt entirely comfortable trying to climb them. I was afraid that if I were to fall while scale them, I would risk serious injury, something I didn't dare do with no one around."

"How long did it take you build the raft that got you to safety?"

"It wasn't just one raft. There were two prior attempts, both of which collapsed before I was able to get far from the shore." Locke said. "In that sense, I was fortunate. If it had fallen apart later…" He trailed off.

"How have you lived in the states for the last year and no one recognized you?"

"I had no living family," Locke said simply. "I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, I had a relationship with a woman which had ended years before, and I was raised in foster care. I'm not even a hundred percent sure there was even a funeral held for me after the plane was reported found in the ocean."

"And when you went to the hospital, you just happened to be referred to a doctor who was on your flight?" a reporter said skeptically.

"Don't mistake coincidence for fate," Locke said. "St. Sebastian was one of the few hospitals in my area that had a free clinic. I had no idea Jack had ever worked there. I consider myself fortunate that there was still someone there who knew him."

So far Locke had been doing fine, but he was on the verge of going into waters none of his fellow survivors were quite willing to travel into yet. Jack gave him a subtle signal, and he picked up on it. "I realize I probably haven't answered all your questions yet, but for now I would be grateful if we could call a halt for the moment." Locke said simply. "I'm understandably going to be dealing with a lot in the days and weeks to come and I have a feeling, I'm going to need my energy."

"Playing the invalid card," Jack said when the media was packed up nearly half an hour later. "That's not something I thought you'd ever be willing to do."

"I thought that at the very least it would buy us some time," Locke said. "Now that the story's broken, I'm going to need some advice moving forward."

"I'll help you with that part, dude," Hurley said. "They're gonna be all over you for the next week or so. You and Helen might want to move in with one of us for awhile. Keep the press at bay."

"Aren't they going to figure that out quickly?"

"They will. But it's still gonna take them several hours, maybe a day." Hurley assured them. "That at least gives you a chance that the national media will move on to something bigger."

"Also, you have to remember, the Oceanic story is more than two years old," James reminded him. "Gotta love the twenty four hour news cycle. Even with us calling a press conference, I don't think there were half the reporters when we were rescued. Probably there were less when Mike and Junior came back."

"Which is good, John," Michael said. "I think the media won't bother you for that long. A couple of week's maybe."

"Of course that's national," Kate said slowly. "Local media will probably hound you for at least a few weeks longer. My guess is, given your story, it'll be more like puff pieces than anything else, and those people don't have the patience."

"Bitter, Freckles?" James said, only half in jest.

"Hey, you ever get put on trial for all the cons you pulled over the years, I'll gladly testify as a character witness. See how that goes for you." Kate said, just as playfully.

"How hard are they going to look for my skeletons?" Locke asked.

"Well, you revealed the biggest one in your press conference," Jack said. "As for your father…" He trailed off. "The man has been missing for more than seven years, and I seriously doubt even the cops are looking that hard any more. Besides, given the wreckage he left behind, he will not be missed. I realize you may doubt us on this part, John, but the hard stuff's over."

Locke smiled for the first time since the press conference. "The hard part was over a long time ago. Now we just have to see if there is such a thing as a normal life for someone like me."

"None of us who survived had normal lives before we got on the flight," Sayid reminded him. "I think getting them now is our reward for surviving."

"You never struck me as the type who believed in fate or even karma before, Sayid," Locke said. "As I recall, we had quite a few arguments on the subject."

"What can I say, John?" Sayid said. "If I had believed there was such a thing, I was more likely to be punished than rewarded. Given how things have gone since we got back, I've had more than one occasion to rethink things. I got a happy ending, and it's starting to look like you did as well."

"I wasn't ever the type to believe in that shit," James agreed. "But what the hell. It seems I was wrong, too."

"Here's to being wrong," Jack said. "And let's keep being wrong."

"As long as we admit it to ourselves." Kate agreed.

SEATTLE GRACE

TWO WEEKS LATER

"You know, it's hard to believe that Jack had to push us into accepting you for this clinical trial," Derek told Denny.

"Still undefeated!" Denny said with his typical ebullience. "I'm actually glad to see I was on the right side with this one."

Denny had come in for his final treatment the day before. Derek and Meredith had remained true to their word and – to what would've surely been the amazement of his fellow partners at Crane, Poole & Schmidt – so had Denny Crane. They didn't know if he had been receiving the drug they were testing – though they admitted they had a pretty good idea – and he hadn't told anyone outside of Alan about the promising results.

"Just out of curiosity," Denny asked with a little more seriousness. "Assuming everything goes according to plan with your hospital and the FDA and everything else…"

"Which being government adjacent is a very big if," Alan admitted.

"How long do you think it would be before this drug is available on a more widespread level?"

"No idea," Meredith admitted. "Alzheimer's is one of the greatest concerns facing medicine today and the medical world wants to get any viable treatments out as quickly as possible. But they're basically tied to the same standard as so many other drugs. If we got into a wider practice, it would still take months."

"You're still eligible to receive it, Denny," Derek reminded him. "All participants in this study will continue to get the drug."

"It's not that," Denny paused. "Late last year, my colleague at the firm, Shirley..."

"We know she's more than a colleague to both of you," Derek said.

Alan smiled before turning serious. "Her father was in the late stages of the disease. Far worse than your mother, Meredith. It wasn't a pretty picture. Shirley asked me and Denny to do something I don't think she would have asked anyone else." He turned away for a moment. "It was basically an argument for physician-assisted suicide."

Meredith and Derek were, mercifully, less appalled. "I didn't think that was legal in Massachusetts," Derek said.

"It isn't." Alan told them. "It was a hard case for all of us, not just Shirley. I had to do something I basically spent the last three years avoiding and face what I thought was my best friend's inevitable fate. I don't have to tell either of you how hard that can be from a personal standpoint. But it was one victory I really would have been grateful not to have."

Meredith and Derek understood. "We're not that far from Oregon," Derek said sadly. "It is something that comes up more often than either of us would like to admit."

"I never got a chance to go through it with my mother," Meredith admitted. "It hit her so fast we never got close to having a rational discussion about it. I was still hoping there was going to be a drug like this in time to help her when she passed."

Denny paused. "Was it…"

"Heart failure," Derek was looking away. "Meredith never even got to say goodbye to her."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up," Denny said quickly. "It's just…" He paused. "When the case was over, I basically asked Alan if he'd do for me what he'd done for Shirley's father."

"I didn't hesitate." Alan told them. "I said yes. You see, both of us live in the real world. Different parts of it politically, but it's still the real world. And that world, sad to say, there is little room for hope."

"And that's why we wanted to thank you," Denny said. "You actually have given us both hope."

"It means a lot to us, too," Meredith said. "In our jobs, giving good news is something that doesn't happen often enough. That's part of the reason we do these kinds of trials in the first place. We want to give good news."

"And here comes our other good Shephard," Denny said, as Jack walked up. "How are things going for John?"

"Pretty good. The press isn't bothering him nearly as much as it did as it did us at its peak," Jack said. "I don't know whether I should be happy or jealous."

"That is what you wanted," Alan said.

"Old feelings. Trying to let them go." Jack shook his head and looked at Derek and Meredith. "I understand I'm looking at a success story."

"There's been a lot of progress for this drug," Derek said carefully. "We don't publish for another month, but it's looking very promising."

"That's Derek Shepherd speak for 'Yahoo!" Jack said with a smile. "I guess this means we won't be seeing you as often."

"That's usually what an attorney wants from his client," Alan said. "But I know the feeling."

"It's been an honor to meet you, Denny," Jack offered his hand.

"I've only said this to a handful of people," Denny said as he took it. "But the honor is mine."

"And it's not like we're going to stop seeing you," Alan said. "I still have to work out a lot of details with James' book when he finally gets it published. By the way, he owes me a signed first edition when it comes out."

"He may ask you to give a book report on the first one," Jack said with a smile.

"Fine. If I get a ticket to whatever movie deal he makes," Alan countered.

He then pensively turned to Derek and Meredith. "By the way, there's something I've been working up the nerve to ask you," he said. "You said that before you came to Seattle Grace, you lived back east."

Derek nodded. "Yeah, in New York."

"You never lived in Dorchester?"

Denny grabbed Alan. "I'd shut up right now before I embarrassed myself again."

"Look who's talking," Alan said. "I'm just saying…"

"There are weirder coincidences out there. Let it go."

Alan nodded. "Sorry, you just remind me of someone I used to know."

"A close friend?" Derek asked.

"I thought he was." Alan replied. "Anyway, I don't want to spoil the mood. Thank you for everything, and if there's anything we can do for you, just give us a call."

"Just don't kill a patient in order to see us," Denny said. "That's a little extreme. Though honestly, that is how we've made a few friends."

"Sometimes I don't know if he's kidding," Derek said.

"Sometimes you don't want to know." Alan said. He looked at Jack. "See you later tonight."

Jack nodded. "Another one of your island gatherings?" Meredith said, only half in jest.

"That's the other reason I came, actually." Jack told them. "We're having a small celebration to say goodbye to Denny and Alan and officially welcome John back to the land of the living. Considering how much you've done for him these past few months, I was going to invite you and Meredith to come."

"Who else from the hospital is coming?" Meredith asked.

"Callie will be there, of course. And Alex and Izzie. Right now, we're only inviting people from the hospital who know basically the whole story about what happened to us," Jack told them. "But considering what you did to help Denny and that we've recently let you in on the story, we figured you were more than due an invitation." He paused. "And frankly, it's also an apology."

"For what?" Meredith asked.

"I should've let you both in on what really happened to me and my friends after you fixed Claire's mom," Jack said sincerely.

"We kind of figured that was why you invited us to your wedding," Derek said.

"I know. But we should've told you before." He gave a sad smile. "What can I say? We've always had trust issues. Hell, we didn't share our own bios until we were off the island. Juliet may have known more about us there than we did."

"I think you've made up for it since then." Derek looked at Meredith. "We'd be glad to come."

BLBLBL

"You're serious," Denny said.

"Hey, why do you think I didn't believe me when they told me about it?" Jack said. "They actually rolled in a TV and showed me a recording of the final out."

"And you didn't bother to ask why they recorded it in the first place," Alan said doubtfully. "Or how for that matter?"

"You know how I said we didn't ask any follow up questions when we were on the island," Kate said. "A lot of that was about what was happening right then."

Alan looked at Locke, who was standing with his arm around Helen, laughing at a joke. "People's exhibit 1 right there," he said softly.

"I was the rational one in the group," Jack said. "Everyone was looking to me to get them to safety and to deal with the craziness. Unfortunately, my approach to the craziness was to basically bury it and keep moving. I have a feeling that almost everyone else followed my example."

"Except John, for obvious reasons," Denny said in a sotto voice (for him) "How would you have handled things if he'd told you flat out why he knew the island was special?"

"You know, I've been thinking about that even before John became back," Jack admitted. "And the sad thing is I probably would've thought he was delusional and just ignored him. Locke and I clashed over just about every possible thing we could on the island."

"In your defense, you got on your high horse a lot back then," Kate said with a knowing grin.

"Hell, it wasn't just Tiny Tim you were going off at," James said loudly. "I mean I get your snarling at me, but hell. Claire tells you someone's trying to take her kid while it's still inside her, and you basically laughed it off like a woman's complaint. And you were suspicious when she came back with amnesia. You're lucky your little sis doesn't hold grudges."

Jack heaved a sigh. "Like I said, we all needed a heavy dose of therapy."

"Of course, you are a doctor. Some would say we have complexes just taking the job," Juliet said.

Jack's mood immediately improved. "You've met a lot of the residents and attendings here. Can you blame me for thinking that way?"

"Some attorneys have complexes too," Denny reminded them. "But if I landed on an island and I saw the trees shake and the ground start to explode, I'd want to know why before I started rubbing two sticks together."

"Denny, you wouldn't be able to start a fire if I spotted you kindling and your lighter," Alan reminded him. "That said, I agree with you on the basic thesis of your statement."

"To be fair, I'm not sure my perspective would've helped much on the island," Locke had overheard the last minute of the conversation and had wandered over. "The minute I found that I was able to walk after four years in a wheelchair, I took the impression that the island was a miraculous place and that destiny had brought us there. The problem is, once you have taken the perspective that fate has brought you here, it excuses all manner of sins."

"If I'd been in your shoes, I may have a similar conversion," Alan admitted. "And that's coming from a diehard agnostic."

"The thing is I thought we were supposed to be here and it didn't matter why." Locke said. "One of the constant thoughts that was always going through my head was 'I don't understand.' I was looking for destiny to reveal itself to me. First it was the hatch, then it was the button, then it was an inscription on a staff." He held up a hand. "Long story and it's not entirely mine to tell. The thing is, I was finding destiny literally under every rock, and I was listening to it rather than my fellow survivors. No wonder everybody thought I was crazy."

There was a pause. "If you're waiting for us to say otherwise, John, we're not about to disagree with you." Jack said.

"Ditto" James added. "Not just because you didn't share your secret. That was a major character flaw we all shared. But the fact that you basically decided you were going to be the loner, that didn't help your case any. You were preaching, but you didn't try that hard to get a flock."

"Yeah that was the main problem," Hurley said. "You didn't follow Jack, but that was okay. He had a lot of detractors. You tried leading for awhile and you kinda sucked at it, but that's okay. Some of us just aren't cut out for it. What bothered us was that you didn't seem like you were listening to anybody else."

"The old me would've said I was listening to the island. " Locke said. "Which would've led to the whole crazy part. "

"Well, the Lorax's who spoke for the place, they weren't exactly leveling with you either," James reminded him.

"Based on the little we know, it sounds that they had trust issues themselves," Alan pointed out.

"Understatement of the century" Juliet said wryly. "Why do you think I wanted to leave as much as you did?"

"Well, we've finally gotten to the point where I think we can no longer even glimpse it in the rearview mirror," Kate said. "Which is amazing, considering how big it was."

Claire walked up to her brother. "You ready, Jack?"

"You know me," Jack said with a smile. "I can never resist the opportunity to give a good speech."

He walked up to the center of the room and took a glass with a Coke in it. "Friends, old and new. All of you know our story. So you know that every time a large group of us gather together, I am required by our laws to give a loud soaring speech with a shaking voice."

Everybody laughed at this one.

"It's been almost three years since our plane crashed. Our lives were forever changed not just by surviving the crash and the island, but by meeting each other and getting to know each other. "He paused. "Destiny is a funny word. I once said I didn't believe in it. And even after everything that happened and what we know now, I'm still compelled to not entirely believe in it."

There was a long pause as everybody thought about this.

"Hugo, who is a wiser man than his demeanor would have us believe, has told us on more than one occasion that he both believed in curses and that you make your own luck." Jack said slowly. "In hindsight, I think that's where I come down. I believe I've made my own path in my life, but meeting the rest of you – my friends,' He looked at Kate. 'My wife. Meeting you, that's the destiny I believe in. Our paths lead us to each other. And in that sense, I feel truly blessed." He raised a glass. "So here's to the man who has come the farthest to be here tonight. The man who challenged us all. And now, here are four words I'm willing to bet none of you would have ever thought you'd hear me say: Here's to John Locke!"

There was a round of applause. Locke acknowledged it. "I've never been much for speeches, so I'll keep this brief. A long time ago, I told Kate and James that I was never the most popular kid. You all know my history now and you know why. About twelve years ago, I thought I'd found a family after my real one had been such a disaster." He looked out to the distance. "It wasn't true then. I had a chance for another one on the island, and I thought I'd blown that, too. But now, looking around, I see that I haven't. And for the first time in a long time, I agree completely with Jack. However, I'll put it differently. I've finally found a home. So let's toast to that."

Everybody said it together. "To coming home."

"Speaking of which, we should probably be on our way," Alan said quietly.

"Just make one promise before you go," Jack said quietly. "If, God forbid, things start to go south for you, don't by any tickets for Sydney."

Denny shook his head. "Believe me, I've thought about the ways I want to die before this trial. Having met you, I can now cross plane crash and living on a mysterious island off the list."

"Trust me; there were far too many other ways we found out when we were there, "Sayid said.

"I'm fine not knowing them, and I'm pretty sure Alan is too," Denny said.

"Just out of curiosity, is dying in bed at age a hundred having just had sex with Catherine Zeta-Jones still on the top of the list?" Alan asked.

"Throw in Rush Limbaugh announcing Condi Rice being elected President and you've hit the trifecta," Denny said slyly.

"There's so much about you we don't know," Kate said. "And sometimes I really want to keep it that way."

Alan took Kate's hand and gently kissed it. "Stay out of trouble," he said. Then he looked at James. "That goes for you, too."

"Hey, I never went to court," James turned serious. "Hope we never need your services for such serious matters again."

Denny looked at Derek. "I echo his sentiments."

ONE HOUR LATER

"I'm not sure what is more unbelievable about this whole episode," Alan said as he poured Denny a Scotch. "Their story of survival or the fact that one of their friends was able to help you."

"Even after everything we saw, you know I'm still having a hard time believing a lot of what they told us," Denny admitted. "Don't get me wrong; they're definitely telling the truth, it's just hard to fathom."

"This from a man who DVR's Glenn Beck every day?" Alan said with a raised eyebrow. "Truth be known, I agree with you on that point. I can understand why they waited so long to tell even their closest friends, much less us."

"What about that talk about fate vs. free will?" Denny asked. "I mean, think about it. If you hadn't been Kate's lawyer, I would've never come along in the first place. And if that hadn't happened, I'd never have gotten involved in this trial, and this Mad Cow wouldn't be nearly beaten. People like Locke might very well see the hand of a higher power here."

"Are you one of them?" Alan asked.

"Hell no," Denny said firmly. "I made the choice to come here. I made the choice to stick with you. There's only one person who changes Denny Crane's fate. Denny Crane."

"Good to hear you say that," Alan said with a smile.

"Oh there are going to be some changes when we get back to Boston tomorrow," Denny said firmly. "Now that I've got more of my mojo back, we're going to going be even busier than ever. They'll see us in places you would never think to look for us."

"Los Angeles?"

"Sure thing."

"Chicago hospitals?"

"They'll hope in vain!"

"Rome, Wisconsin?"

"They'll have to put up a fence to keep us out!"

Alan shook his head. "I always knew Boston couldn't hold us."

Denny held out his glass. "Here's to being back."

Alan toasted him. "It's like we never went away."

THE END (for now)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

For those of you who weren't Boston Legal fans:

Patrick Dempsey's return to superstardom actually began with a three-episode arc in which he played an old friend of Alan's who was accused of murder. I just couldn't resist playing with that.

I thought it would be fun to close out this story with the end of a typical Boston Legal. Kelley was fond of breaking the fourth wall on that show, so I figure why not try it in fanfic? Bonus point if you can identify the David E. Kelley injokes I made on the last page of the story.

I've now decided I will continue writing installments in this series as long as the inspiration comes. I actually have an idea for the fifth story right now, but I'm taking a break to work on another series that I spent much of 2020 working on. Rest assured, though; sometime this year, I will begin working on it.

Til then, to paraphrase Desmond, see you in another fanfic.