Remember the Rain – Part 2

"Hey man. I thought you might want this."

I'm holding out Charlie's little black hoodie for him. It's not all that cold, but the hoodie is like Charlie's comforter or something. And when he puts the hood up he looks like a Sith Lord, which I totally dig.

Charlie doesn't take the hoodie. He's still ignoring the world and everything in it. Desmond sits next to him, gulping from a bottle of Dharma Scotch and babbling on about…classic novels or something.

Dude, I'm not sure I can take a whole night of this. I lay myself down on a blanket behind the two of them. Desmond turns to me with a big toothy grin and waves his whisky bottle from side to side.

"Come on, brother. You've some catching up to do!"

"No thanks, dude. I'm waiting for a crate of cold beers to fall from the sky."

Desmond seems disappointed. "Looks like I'm at this party on my own then." He takes another mouthful and then points the bottle at Charlie. "Are you sure you don't fancy drowning your sorrows, brother?"

"I'm not your sodding brother," say Charlie.

Hey! Charlie's talking again. Knew we couldn't keep him quiet forever.

Desmond nods, smiling. "Aye, you've got a point there. That's just what I like to call people, friend…maybe because I never had a brother of my own. What about you, Charlie? You got any brothers?"

Whoa dude…don't even go there.

"For my sins I've got a brother," says Charlie. "And I'm not looking for another one. Especially one who can't stay sober for two minutes."

Desmond looks hurt. Poor guy didn't know he was hitting a nerve with the brother thing. Charlie's told me a bit about Liam – how he got him into drugs and then stole his piano. The guy sounds like a tool. But still I think Charlie's lying when he says he's not looking for another brother. He goes around playing little brother to almost every older guy on the island.

"I'm just trying to help, pal," says Desmond. "It's not healthy for you to be off on your own, not talking to people. I should know…"

Charlie stares at Desmond for a moment. Then he shuffles round to face him. Seems like Charlie's conversational all of a sudden.

"Okay then," he says. "If you want to talk, let's talk. It just so happens that Hurley and I have some questions we'd like to ask you."

"Yo dude! Why are you bringing me into this? I haven't got any issues."

"Quit lying, Hurley!" Charlie snaps. "I remember what you said on the beach. You were looking at him." He jabs a finger at Desmond. "And you said you had déjà vu. You know damn well what I'm talking about."

Desmond plants his bottle in the sand and leans in towards Charlie.

"Would you care to elaborate, brother?" he says.

"The rainstorm." says Charlie. "You knew about that rain before it came. You knew where the lightning was going to strike. I saw your little experiment. Very impressive. Round of applause. But you knew about it then you could have at least told Claire so she could have taken the baby far away from there."

Desmond splutters like he can't believe what he's hearing.

"If you remember I was trying to get Claire to move down the beach before you came over and gave me my marching orders! Did it not occur to you Charlie that I might have saved her life with that lightning rod?"

I huddle down on my blanket and make out I'm sleeping. Which is, like, so not convincing, because seriously – nobody could sleep with these two going off at each other. Desmond is sort of gnashing his teeth while Charlie is giving him the stink-eye. Man, British people are so uptight.

"Sure. You're a real bloody hero," says Charlie, not at all sincerely. "Tell me, Des – what good were your super powers to Eko?"

Great. Here's where Charlie starts blaming other people for what happened. I know he's upset and all, but why does he have to take it out on Desmond? Why can't he just squirt some tears and let us look after him?

"Eko?" says Desmond, confused by Charlie's attitude. "What have I got to do with what happened to Mr Eko?"

"It wasn't a bear that killed Eko," says Charlie. "He survived the bear. No way does a man like that get taken down by a sodding polar bear anyway. I know exactly what killed him and I reckon you do to."

Desmond shakes his head, rolling his eyes a little.

"You've got the wrong idea about me, Charlie boy," he says. "I didn't know anything about Eko's death. I never saw it coming. I didn't see it when it happened. I certainly didn't see it before it happened."

"I've seen it!" Charlie hisses. "I watched Eko stare it down! He wasn't afraid of it. He stood his ground. It might have got him in the end, but at least he didn't run. At least he didn't hide. Most people would have run from that thing…even those who could have done something to save him."

I'm totally lost now. I'm guessing that in the time Charlie hasn't been talking, he's been messing up his head with crazy theories about Eko's death and how he thinks Desmond could have stopped it.

"Charlie, what do you want from me?!" asks Desmond. "I'm not all seeing and all knowing. I'm not in control! I swear that if I had seen something then I would have done something. I'd help any of you if I could!"

"Bollocks mate. You're not interested in helping us. About a month back you pissed off on your sodding sail boat. Didn't offer it to the women and children now did you? You were too busy saving yourself. You left us with your doomsday computer going haywire. You didn't give a toss."

Desmond swallows. "I came back though. That day in the hatch…I tried to help! I tried to save us all. I…I blew the dam!"

Charlie squints at him. "You what?"

"The failsafe. I turned the key!"

"Oh really? And what happened then?"

Desmond shakes his head, like he's giving up on trying to explain. He picks up his bottle and starts walking away towards the signal fire. Charlie shoots me a smug look like he thinks he's won the argument. Then instead of piping down he gets to his feet and starts ragging Desmond some more.

"Hey, I don't know what you're doing," he calls after him. "You best tell us!"

Desmond doesn't react to this, which makes Charlie even antsier.

"Oi! Don't walk away from me! I don't know how you're doing what it is you're doing, but I know a coward when I see one."

Desmond spins around with this real scary-ass look on his face. I can remember being mad at Charlie this one time when he kept calling me a nutjob, but Desmond looks ten times more pissed at Charlie calling him a coward. Before I know what's happening Desmond charges at Charlie, ramming into his shoulder. Charlie's sneakers are lifted off the sand for a moment before he lands sprawling on his back. Desmond's got him pinned like a cat that's just pounced on its prey.

"You don't want to know what happened to me!" Desmond yells in Charlie's face. "When I turned that key…"

"Get off!" Charlie screams.

"You don't want to know what happened to me…"

Jesus, man! Desmond's losing it. He's got Charlie by the throat and he won't let him go. Seeing Charlie being throttled makes me think of that week when he was walking round with a big ugly rope burn on his neck.

I'm on my feet, grabbing Desmond around his chest and trying to wrench him off Charlie. I can't move him. It's like they're super-glued together. And now I can see that Desmond's thumbs are really digging into Charlie's windpipe. Charlie's face is all screwed up and turning red.

"Dude, you're killing him!" I yell.

As soon as I say that Desmond yanks his hands away – like he hadn't realised and the thought of it really frightens him. I pull him to his feet and drag him back a little. Now Desmond is just sobbing and trembling in my arms like all the fight has gone out of him. Whatever is going on with Desmond it must be heavy, because as I'm holding him it feels like he is just aching inside.

Charlie is already getting to his feet, gulping for air and rubbing his shoulder. Tough little guy Charlie. You wouldn't think it to look at him but his puny body can take a lot of punishment. Which is a good thing, I guess, because he's always asking for it. Predictably he's looking knarked about getting his ass-whipped, but when he sees Desmond crying, he softens up a little.

"Remember the rain?" says Charlie, his voice calm and misty all of a sudden. "Yeah, I remember, Desmond. I didn't at first, but when the storm came and the lightning…I remembered then. From the looks of things you remembered the rain too. But you don't remember me, do you?"

Desmond's sobbing starts to die down. He looks at Charlie in confusion. I'm staring at him too because I'm starting to feel like I've just skipped over five pages at once. What in the hell is he talking about?

"Have I…met you before, brother?" asks Desmond.

Charlie has that haughty look in his eyes again.

"I was a kid. Just out of Manchester and living in a poxy London bedsit. Busking on street corners just to make rent. One night I'm playing near the tube station when this mad drunken Scotsman staggers towards me. He starts pawing at me, touching my face like he knows me. Like we're old friends. For a moment I think I'm about to be sodding molested. And then the Scot says to me – "Remember the rain? This is happening!" He says it too me over and over. He tries to pull my shades away so that he can look me in the eyes, but I won't let him. In the end he gives up and heads down into the Underground."

Desmond steps out of my arms. He's frowning and shaking his head like he's trying to jolt some memory back into place.

"That was you, Desmond," says Charlie. "You knew about that storm all those years ago, didn't you? You knew where the lightning was going to hit. That was why you were asking if I remembered the rain. Right?"

Desmond eyes go wide. It seems like something has clicked into place.

"No Charlie…you've got it wrong. It wasn't that!"

"What do you mean I'm wrong? You said 'Remember the rain'!"

"I know I did. But it wasn't that rain."

"You said it over and over. 'Remember the rain. This is happening!'"

Before Charlie finishes these words, I feel something brush against my cheeks. Two drops at first and then suddenly the clouds burst and it's a downpour. Dude, you have got to be kidding me. Rain is, like, pounding the sand all around us, drenching our clothes. Desmond turns his head up to the skies, holding out his arms and laughing to himself, letting the rain fall into his open mouth.

Charlie stands rooted to the spot, his eyes bulging out of his skull. He's looking at Desmond like he's the new Messiah or something. Come to think of it with his beard and long hair Desmond does look kind of Jesusy. Especially when he's standing with his arms stretched out like that.

Desmond shakes himself like a wet dog and strolls over to Charlie. He puts his hands on either side of Charlie's face – like the two of them really are good friends, even if Charlie doesn't know it yet.

"Aye brother," he says. "I remember now."

The End