One Man Left Awake by Mnemosyne (R)

[teawith.livejournal.com]

Fandom: LOST
Pairing: Charlie/Claire
Author on LJ: literarylemming
Author Website: Lost Fanfic Archive
Why this must be read:

This is possibly my favourite Lost fic ever. It's dark, and angsty, and twistier than than a barrelful of snakes. It's also been Jossed to hell, but you can't have everything. Read it anyway, as long as you don't mind that the R rating is because of the violence and character death, rather the porn. In this, Claire has come back from the Others, but without her baby. Unfortunately, she may have brought something else with her as well. Spoilers up to Hearts and Minds.

Charlie did all he could -- talked to her, sat with her, held her to his chest and told her she was Claire, in case she'd forgotten, and he missed her. Charlie missed her. He'd come back from the dead, did she see? He'd come back from the dead for her. "Please, Claire, look at me."

"Why?"

He never answered the question, because when a man comes back from the dead for you, you shouldn't have to ask him why.

One Man Left Awake