`a little walk. (Richard).

[michelle]

Ariana stood on her porch gathered a few things she thought she would need for this little walk. She examined her gun that was given to her by Tom when she was accepted into the community. Ariana checked the gun to make sure it had bullets and placed the safety on the gun on. She gazed around the Barracks noticing that some of the community was looking at her as she played with the gun. She didn’t mind people watching her she always had a feeling that they were always watching her. She sighed as she decided that she would move to the docks. She grabbed her hand bag and placed the gun in it as she placed it over her shoulder and headed towards the docks.

Ariana wasn’t told where Richard and her were going, but she was just told to bring a bag and meet at the docks. She wondered what they were going to go and she hoped that Richard had informed her on what they were going to do. Ariana didn’t mind whatever they were doing it was just something to do on the island since watching pregnant women had been put on a short hiatus for a while. The redheaded anesthesiologist paused for a moment as she saw in the docks into the distance. She hoped that this was the right docks to meet at. Ariana sighed as she made her way to the wooden platform and waited patiently for Richard to show.

[Richard Alpert]

<sup>Richard had set out for the docks a bit earlier than Ariana to make sure the boat was ready to go. They weren't going very far, just to the smaller island to the Hydra station which was a trip that many of the others made quite often. He didn't have to bring much-everything that he did have was already in the boat. Glancing at his watch, Richard saw he had a couple of minutes before Ariana would be meeting him there. He walked briskly up the long dock, heading back up to one of the buildings where Tom was to speak to him until she arrived. However, just as he reached Tom to confirm something that would be happening later on that day, he spotted the familiar red head heading their way. Ariana didn't seem to see him, as Richard had been near the boat house though he exchanged a few words with Tom before following her back down the dock. He wasn't sure why Ariana was coming on this simple little trip, though perhaps it was because of the lack of work they had for Ariana to do, they figured she could use a couple of hours or so away from the community.

"Ready to go?" he asked as he walked up behind Ariana, seeing she had brought a bag. He began untying the ropes that held the boat to the dock before pulling it closer so Ariana could climb in. It was an old fishing boat that has been used for many years, though it was a simple way of transportation between the smaller island and back.</sup>

[michelle]

[Richard Alpert]

<sup>Richard waited until Ariana climbed into the boat before climbing in himself, making sure the boat was untied. He then started it up and began to pull away from the dock, glancing at Ariana as she spoke. He had assumed she had known where they were going, but perhaps Ben didn't explain very much when he told her what they would be doing today. Now that he thought about it, Ben likely had only told Ariana to meet Richard-he didn't see any reason for Ben to have gone into detail of their simple task that day.

"Yes," Richard replied simply as he allowed the boat to gain some speed once they were away from the dock. He turned the boat, driving it along the beach so they weren't going out to sea. Not before long, the smaller island came into view. Ocean water crashed up against the sides of the fishing boat as they headed towards the smaller island, although as they approached, Richard began to slow down. The fishing boat wasn't their only means of transportation to the Hydra station, but it was the easiest. Once they reached the island and the small dock for the boat, Richard jumped out of the boat and onto the dock, holding the boat steady so Ariana could get out while he tied it to the dock.</sup>

[michelle]

Ariana watched Richard get into the boat and watched him very carefully, for a moment or two as she watched the dock that they were at disappeared into the distance. She noticed that Richard simply kept the boat by the beach and soon enough the smaller island came into view. She remembered as a child one time that one of the adults went out to far into the water and something happened. Ariana couldn’t remember what it was and an order was set in place. Ariana assumed that that order was still in effect and didn’t mention anything to Richard. She probably thought she was annoying in mentioning stuff about her past on the island, so she decided to just brush off the mention.

The redheaded woman jumped out of the boat and landed on the dock. She had lost her balance when she landed on the dock, but quickly regained her balance before she could fall on the dock. She looked around hoping that Richard didn’t see her almost fall down on her face attempt. Ariana looked at Richard as she grabbed a bottle of water out of her bag and started to drink it. She didn’t say a word as she waited for Richard to instruct her on what to do.

[Richard Alpert]

<sup>Richard didn't speak as he finished securely tying the fishing boat to the dock. He reached in and grabbed the bag he had brought with him, although it was almost empty-there were a few files he had to pick up that had been left at the Hydra station. "We can head up there now," he spoke up, noticing Ariana had been waiting for him to say something. One thing he's noticed about Ariana lately is that she never seems to have much to say-different than some other people who had been recruited to the island. It seemed everyone always had questions about the island, but Ariana didn't seem to have any. Still, Ariana had been on the island when she was a child, so perhaps she understood things better than others had.

Richard swung the bag over his shoulder before glancing to the boat, making sure he wasn't forgetting anything, before to Ariana, seeing she had taken out some water for a drink. Not wanting to waste any time, he began heading down the small dock and towards the beach. The Hydra station was quiet at the moment although there were some plans and they would start to go into effect soon. As of now though, the station was quiet empty and quiet. As he began approaching the station, he could see the buildings and the cages in the distance. As he had began walking, he also pulled out a water bottle he had brought along and took a drink.</sup>

[michelle]

Ariana stood in her exact spot for a moment as she heard Richard speak up. She nodded in agreement and stated, “Okay” as she took a drink of her water. She was thirsty and had a slight medical condition. It wasn’t anything serious, but being a diabetic had its disadvantages. She felt like she was forgetting something and opened her bag to see if she forgot anything and sighed in relief when she glanced into her bag finding her tester kit was in her bag. She wasn’t sure how long they would be at Hydra station, but it was always a good item to carry around.

Ariana closed her bag shut and noticed that Richard was already starting to walk towards the station. She sighed and decided to bring up the rear. She didn’t want to get into his space as they walked. She figured she would be the follower it was always better in the back. She bit her lower lip and decided that she would test to see where her blood sugar was. Her blood sugar on the main island was weird it always was in the low 90’s. She wondered if her blood sugar on this island would be the same. She placed her hand her in bag grabbing her tester and started to poke one of her fingers as she walked behind Richard. She got blood off of her middle finger and placed a strip in the tester as she whipped the blood that she poked onto the strip. Ariana suddenly stopped as she waited for the machine to go beep and tell her what her blood sugar was. A few moment later, it went beep telling her it was 145 and she quickly placed the tester back in her bag.

[Richard Alpert]

<sup>Richard hadn't really noticed what Ariana was doing as he headed up to the main building where the operating room was. There were some files that had been left around the operating room as they had assumed they would come into use, but in recent events, the operating room was no longer to be used for the case. As he reached the building he glanced back to Ariana, as he could tell she was walking behind him. He spotted her poking one of her fingers with a tester, though didn't mention it. He had read her file and knew she was diabetic.

"You okay?" Richard asked as he reached the door and began unlocking it, glancing back to Ariana as the door swung open. He wanted to get this simple task finished with for the day, but if Ariana was not feeling good, it would delay them. Luckily their simple mission was not one of much importance and likely it would not matter if they were delayed for various different reasons, but Richard always liked to be on top of things and get them done. Still, if Ariana had to stop for whatever reason, he wouldn't protest. Richard stepped in the building although he paused in the entrance as he waited for Ariana and her answer.</sup>

[michelle]

Ariana shook her head as the tester read 145. She wondered how that could be. Because ever since she was on the other island her blood sugar had been stable; of course, Ethan always said her blood sugar should be fewer than 150. One forty-five didn't seem to bother her, but it seemed to raise some questions. She decided to make a mental note and talk with Juliet about the blood sugar readings. Ariana was lost in her own little world when she heard Richard ask if she was okay. She snapped out of her little day dream.


"I'm fine" She replied as she headed up to the main building where the operating room was. She didn't want to slow down Richard because he seemed to be in a hurry rather and she wasn't going to have her lovely diabetes get in the way of the simple task that was laid before them. She finally reached the main building entrance and stepped inside.

[Richard Alpert]

<sup>Richard's gaze moved slowly from the young woman to the dark building he had stepped into, which was completely silent. He flicked the switch next to the door on and immediately the lights turned on. Although the building was not currently in use, it showed no signs of not being used in the past week or so. Allowing his eyes to scan the room, Richard glanced back to Ariana. "I have some files to bring back to the island, but everything in here needs to be put away. It can all be stored away in the shelves," Richard explained, motioning around the room. On th various tables and counters were some packages of the tools and devices used in operations, although all of them were packaged and unused.

Richard disappeared into another room in which held the files he was after. He flicked on the light as he stepped in and immediately headed for the counter on his right. Opening one of the drawers, he rummaged around for a moment before realizing it was the wrong one. He closed it and opened the second one, finding a couple of folders that he had been after. Taking them out, he closed the drawer and placed the files in his bag. After swinging the bag over his shoulders, he scanned the room once more, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything before turning the light off and heading back into the room he had just previously been in.

Seeing there were quite a few tools and devices that still needed to be put away, Richard dropped the bag down near the door and began to work. He glanced to Ariana, figuring he should start some conversation. Ariana seemed fairly quiet, only seeming to say a couple of words in response to any of his questions. She may simply just be shy, or have nothing to say. "What made you decide to go to medical school?" Richard spoke up, in an easy attempt to start a conversation to fill the empty silence between them. He grabbed a few chemicals and put them away up in a shelf with the others. It was quite a mess in there, but at the time of the last surgery they had been in need of surgical instruments and hadn't had time to put everything back. They had also gotten a few new supplies of tools and devices needed, but someone hadn't put them away.</sup>

[michelle]

Ariana nodded as she watched Richard leave the room. She started to place the boxes on the shelves since they weren’t going to be using them for a while. She sighed and wondered if maybe she could be the genie-pig for the community. Ariana knew the risk and certainly didn’t mind doing it. She wanted to ask Ben personally, if that would be alright, but she handed talk to Ben since last night and it was only brief. She wondered if mentioning it to Richard, he would then mention it to Ben. It probably wouldn’t hurt to ask. She decided that she would ask as Richard came back into the room. She was about to ask when he started to make conversation with her about medical school.


“I wanted a challenge because my mother said I couldn’t be a doctor and I proved her wrong.” Ariana started as she continued to place boxes on the shelves. She knew that Richard had read her file everyone in their community had read her file. “I’m not as dumb as you people think, and I’m just going to come out with it” She said biting her lower lip as she turned around from the shelves she was at. “This has been in my head since I got here, and this little community isn’t Dharma, the Hostiles being you people killed them out” She paused “I don’t know how, but I remember that smile anywhere, you were the one that my brother and I ran into the night that we went looking for that stupid Orca” She trailed off for a second, “I don’t really care that you people killed all the Dharma people they were just assholes anyway especially Goodspeed” She had to get that off her chest she just needed to vent. She than changed the subject. “And I have been thinking and I know Ben hasn’t asked anyone in the community, but I was thinking of helping out the cause and getting pregnant” She pause “I know it’s a death sentence, but you people don’t really need an anesthesiologist and I don’t even know why you would even recruit me anyway”

[Richard Alpert]

<sup>Richard closed the drawers as he placed a few more supplies inside before straightening up as Ariana began to speak. Her speech slightly surprised him as he had been expecting another reply consisting of only a few words. He listened to her words carefully-it seemed she was more aware of what went on in their community than she let on. He hadn't expected her to believe that this community was still the Dharma Initiative-he had originally said it was for the Mittelos Bioscience. Richard was now aware that Ariana was not content with simply reading and finding various things around the community to do until a new project started.

"What makes you think we don't need an anesthesiologist?" Richard spoke up finally as he picked up another smaller box of supplies and placed it on the correct drawer of supplies before glancing to the young woman once more. He skipped over the fact that she knew that the Hostiles had killed the members of the Dharma Initiative and that she recognized him from many, many years back. Ariana was going to choose her death sentence just because she thinks she isn't needed in this community? Richard turned away for a moment as he put another device away and closed the cupboards before facing Ariana, a slight smirk playing across his face. "I am not sure if you are aware, but we have a new case of a pregnant woman on the island. It would not be necessary for you to risk your life."</sup>

[michelle]

Ariana stepped away from where she was and started to place the rest of the boxes away. She wondered to herself if she shouldn’t have mentioned all that stuff she had bottled up inside. She should have just kept her month shut and just stayed on the subject of why she went to medical school. She had many reasons why she went to medical school, but the reason she gave Richard was the number one reason why she wanted to attend medical school and another reason was her boyfriend at the time, but she decided not to mention that. She wondered when he would ask about her boyfriend. A few days before Richard recruited her to the island, she learned that her boyfriend was killed in Iraq.

“We don’t operate on people I’m used to.” She paused “Hell, I’m used to brain surgery and heart operations. I love helping out the fertility issues here, but sometimes it feels like an anesthesiologist isn’t welcomed here. Heck, I would love to get some variety rather than seeing the same stuff again. Like a tumor or an appendix” She chose her words very carefully as she spoke to Richard. She didn’t want to see the Sheriff of the little community or be killed in this little community. “Interesting” replied Ariana as she heard what Richard had said, “Well, that is fine with me” Ariana annouced as Richard mentioned that it wouldn’t be necessary for her to risk her life. “So um…just disregard that little mention”

[Richard Alpert]

<sup>Richard was quiet for a moment as he finished putting a few boxes away on the shelves before straightening up. He scanned the room once more, seeing mostly everything had been put back. With Ariana's help, it hadn't taken very long. He closed up one of the shelves before turning to the young woman, deciding as for now, to drop their previous conversation. Her willingness to become pregnant had been a bit surprising-Ariana's previous quiet nature had allowed Richard to think she didn't mind the lack of work on the island.

"Looks like we're finished here," Richard spoke up abruptly as he went around the room, making sure everything had been put away. Seeing everything in the room was put away, it didn't look like there was much else for them to do. A few new projects would be starting up with the Hydra station quite soon, so they would be coming back to the smaller island for those within the next few weeks or so. "Was there anything you needed to do before we leave?" Richard asked-he wasn't sure if anyone had told Ariana to specifically do something on their little trip before coming back or not. He didn't think so, as Ariana to have just been following what he was doing.</sup>

[michelle]

Ariana noticed that Richard was a bit quiet and that he dropped their previous conversation. She sighed as she shook her head. The males in this community were odd and seemed to drop the conversation at times. It must have been a trend in the community. Ariana bit her lower lip as she heard Richard speak.

“I was told to check on how on the anesthesia supply, it will just take a few moments” Ariana replied as Richard asked her if there was anything she needed to do. She quickly exited out of the room that they were in and headed towards a medical supply room. She quickly entered the medical supply room, turning on the lights, and started to check the readings of the anesthesia. She took out a piece of paper from her bag and began to write down what kind anesthesia medicine they needed. She placed the paper in her bag and walked out of the medical supply room turning off the lights. Ariana then headed to where Richard was. “All finished we can go” were her only words when she arrived back in the room that they were in.