"So, can you do it?"
Kate sighed. She didn't know what to think of all this. On one hand, she was simply happy that Jack was finally speaking to her again. Before now, she had noticed a visible drop in temperature whenever he was within 20 feet of her. On the other hand...
She looked down at the bottle of scotch in her hand. "I still don't believe you found this."
Jack laughed, the humor not quite reaching his eyes. "A hatch that has ranch dressing and potato chips, and you're surprised I found the booze? Anyone spending that much time in this place would NEED the occasional shot." His remarks to her were still dry and cutting, and he hadn't given her one genuine smile since they had kissed. She sighed. It felt like she had been catapulted back to junior high.
"Alright, so I go in, I make nice..." That would be difficult. After all, she had trusted Sawyer. She'd genuinely missed him and his cranky Southern ass when she'd thought he was dead. She'd taken care of him, helped him recover, and in repayment for her kindness, she'd gotten played.
"Get him nice and liquored up and try to get him to spill the location of those guns." Ana-Lucia replied, unnecessarily. Kate knew her mission. She just wasn't happy about it. And she certainly wasn't all that thrilled that Jack AND Ana were the ones who had dragged her into this. Ana had shifty, suspicious eyes. Kate didn't like her all that much.
"Come find us when you're done," Jack finished, turning away from her. Kate knew she'd been dismissed. Ana gave her a mildly sympathetic smile. Don't pity me, Kate thought bitterly to herself, channeling shades of Sawyer. Hadn't it always been this way, though? In spite of the affection for her that lay under his Doctor Sheppard surface, she had always felt a bit like a child sitting at the big kid's table with Jack. And here was this woman who had SHOT one of them, being treated like an equal.
She stuffed the bottle of booze in her backpack and started making her way back to the beach, where she knew he'd be. Reading, probably, his new glasses making him look like a flannel-clad bug. She allowed a brief smile before continuing.
She wondered if anyone had spoken to him all day. He wasn't exactly the most popular person at the camp to begin with, and now most people looked on him with mingled fear and disgust at how he'd tricked them all. Her included. And now it was her turn to play him.
He wouldn't be too suspicious. After all, he would be expecting her to return the gun she had borrowed to hunt for Rousseau with Claire. That had actually been the biggest surprise. She knew Sawyer's tendency to be somewhat hot-tempered and was expecting more of a fight. After goading her into telling him why she needed it, he coolly and logically assessed the situation, offered his assistance, and then handed her a 9mm without argument.
She tried to picture Jack or Locke in the same situation. Would they have been as reasonable? She suspected Jack would have sat Kate down like a troublesome child and taken over. Locke... you just couldn't tell with him. He was a nice man whom she genuinely liked, but at times his decisions were rashly made and a little too emotional for her liking.
The sky was darkening quickly. She hastened her steps, the bright firelight from the beach just up ahead. Taking a deep breath, she looked around. There he was, emerging from the water. He smiled upon seeing her.
"Didn't expect to see you in my neck of the woods, Freckles. How'd the girls' night out go?" She remembered why she was there and plastered a semi-sincere smile on her face. "It was... interesting." She followed him to his makeshift home and filled him in briefly as he pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt.
Sawyer shook his head. "So Loony Lafleur was tryin' to help her get back here? The same woman who stole Claire's baby and tried to just hand it over to the Pirates of Penzance a week ago? What do you think of that?" His eyes met hers without a bit of his usual sass. She was reminded, yet again, that when the situation called for it, Sawyer could be as serious as a heart attack. Like yesterday. Like the night Boone died and she had needed all of his alcohol.
She shook her head. "I don't know. It's hard to tell. Claire seems to trust her, though. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed that she doesn't take advantage of that."
"And watch her like a damn hawk," Sawyer muttered. "Speakin' of which, where's my gun?"
"Right here," Kate grinned. Reminded herself to grin as she handed it over, although it wasn't as hard to do as before. "And I brought you a little thank-you gift." She reached into her pack and pulled out the scotch bottle. Seeing his confusion, she added, "Hatch."
"I figured. What I don't understand is..." The wariness came back.
"Look, Sawyer. You did us a favor. Claire and I are both grateful. You're not in my good graces yet," she added. Don't want him to get suspicious, she told herself. "But I do owe you one."
"Don't mention it, Sugar bear. The situation called for it, and you're a big girl. I trust you won't shoot yourself in the foot." He relaxed in his seat, and motioned for her to join him on a comfortable-looking pile of blankets. "But this is a big bottle. You expect me to finish it alone?" He grinned.
She pretended to hesitate. "It's getting late. Plus I don't have a glass." In response, he pulled two out of a suitcase. She laughed, a little more genuinely. "Alright, I'll stay. But let's make this interesting."
"Interestin,' how?"
"Truth or Consequences. Call it a way to get to know each other better," she smirked, throwing a Sawyer-ism back at him.
"You mockin' me, Sassafrass?"
"Never. So do you want to go first, or should I?" It was working. Already, he was feeling more comfortable as he pointed a finger in her direction. He was even letting her throw out.
Time passed, the sky grew darker as the bottle emptied, the questions morphed from amusing anecdotes and childhood nicknames to more current events. "If you had to sleep with either Jin or Charlie, who would it be?" Kate had asked Sawyer cheekily. "Charlie, of course. Driveshaft is sooo dreamy!" Sawyer had answered in a high-pitched falsetto, causing Kate's first totally unorchestrated fit of giggles all night. Too much scotch, she told herself, refusing to admit she was having a great time.
Inevitably, the mood sobered. Sawyer, his eyes only half-open, whispered, "What happened with you and the Doc?"
She held her breath a moment. "We kissed."
His eyes closed involuntarily, but before they did, she saw the pain he tried to hide. "When?"
"It's my turn." She leaned her mildly drooping head against the side of his chair. "When did you start planning your hostile takeover?"
He drew slow circles in the hand with his finger before looking up at her. His eyes spoke volumes. "The night I saw you with a gun to your head."
"It wasn't because of Jack rifling through your things?"
"My turn." He sat a little straighter in his seat, looking her directly in the eye. Daring her to look away. "When?"
"When you were unconscious. I was having... strange thoughts. I needed to be alone. He found me, and we kissed."
"And it seems you haven't kissed since." She looked back at him openly, at this man who could be the world's biggest redneck jerk, but also knew what she needed without asking. Who she swore could sometimes read her twisted little mind.
"Your turn," he whispered gruffly. Now was the time. She would ask him, he would tell her, and this whole thing would be over. Jack would have the guns back, and everything would be back to normal. But there was one thing she needed to know first.
"Does it bother you at all?" she began. I trusted you... I helped you... I could have...how could you betray me? She had no idea how to express these thoughts into words... all she could do was look at him, moisture slowly forming in her eyes. Way to be strong and stoic, Kate, she told herself, disgusted.
Finally she realized that hers weren't the only eyes glistening with unshed tears. He spoke not a word, but pulled her roughly to him, wrapping his arms around her so she was curled up like a child in his lap. She didn't stop him. She didn't want to. She felt his lips graze her forehead, then each closed eyelid, then her nose. She waited, feeling his breath on her cheek.
After a moment, she looked back at him. Staring, captivated, at her lips, he reached out and played with a mahogany curl. "Thought I'd be used to this by now. Done it to other women for as long as I can remember, but I'm usually out the door too fast. You're the only one I've ever had to face the next day." He gently brushed the curl against her cheek, glancing up at her with uncharacteristic sadness. " Is there anythin' I can do to make this right?"
"Tell me where the guns are." Her voice was strained. She needed to get out of here. He was the enemy... or was he? She'd promised Jack she'd do this, but what would that get her? A pat on the head? A few less scowls during chance meetings?
He sighed, eyes full of weariness. "Waterfall. In a small, two-foot high cave behind the waterfall." Gently moving her back onto the pile of blankets, he stood up and brushed himself off. "Damn, Freckles. You do got me by the short hairs, don't ya?" He started to walk toward the jungle.
"Where are you going?" She jumped up and began to follow.
"To hide them again. Before you tell the Doc." She stopped walking and stood for a moment, staring at his retreating back. He really did know her better than anyone.
Or did he?
Kate was filling her water bottle as he approached. Hesitantly, like at the Black Rock when he was gently putting dynamite in his backpack. She'd been trying to avoid him all day. "Did it work?"
"No, Jack," she replied shortly. "It didn't."
He stared at her, puzzled. "He didn't tell you anything? Kate, I find that hard to believe."
"Believe what you want, Jack." Was it his condescending tone, or the hint of his disgust on his face that bothered her more? He let out an irritated sigh.
"Kate, why are you lying for him?" Interesting question. Even she wasn't sure of the answer. Jack shot her a disappointed look and turned away.
After wandering aimlessly with a million questions in her head, she found herself at the waterfall. Why had he come this far to hide them? Curiosity getting the better of her, it took her less than a minute to find the cave he had described. It was an excellent hiding place, set deeply into the ground and covered with a curtain of moss to hide its contents from view. Only someone who knew exactly where to look, or perhaps John Locke, would be able to find it.
She brushed the curtain away. The guns were still inside.
"My turn."
She turned to see Sawyer perched on a rock not ten feet away from her, trademark smirk lighting up his ocean-blue eyes. "I thought you were going to move them."
His grin widened.
"How did you know I wouldn't tell Jack." She felt confused, irritated, yet at the same time inexplicably happy. After all, hadn't he conned her? Why should it make her happy to realize she held his trust?
Sawyer stood up and joined her as she walked down the path. "Our little secret?" He whispered confidentially. She nodded, too confused to put her thoughts into words.
They walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own world. Finally, Sawyer turned to Kate.
"So, which one of us kisses better?" Kate stared at him incredulously, then whacked him in the shoulder. All tension dissolved with their laughter as they continued back toward the beach.