'In Another Lifetime'

Summary – Jack and Kate have both been hurt before and have closed themselves off from emotion but a traumatic event causes them to have to rely on each other and in doing so each opens up for the first time in years. After so long of pushing people away, fear causes Kate to ignore her heart and do what she does best – run. But fate can work in mysterious ways and if now is not the right time, maybe they will meet again – in another lifetime.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything

Chapter 1

Kate's POV

Kate Austen stood in line at Central City bank waiting to withdraw her last $200 to pay off her increasingly exasperated landlord. This was the first time in years that she'd been in a bank – giving fake names to employers meant that she could only do cash in hand jobs so she had no need for a bank account. She did have one though; it contained all of the money she'd earned one summer before she'd left home. She'd put it in a bank account so that her family didn't find out that she had it, resolving to one day use it to get away and to only use it in emergencies. The last time she used it was to get away and she hadn't used it since but she wasn't getting paid until next week and she was already 2 months behind on her rent. She didn't want to use the money but as work had been sparse lately, she didn't have any other options.

Wearing brown combats and a white vest top Kate stood with a protective stance, arms folded across her chest. Always alert but with eyes dejected and saddened from years of betrayal and disappointment she surveyed her surroundings, taking in the rush of people - all thankfully too preoccupied with their own trivial problems to take any notice of her. Appeasing herself with this thought she took in the guy standing in front of her. She had given up on love a long time ago, her heart only capable of being broken so many times, and resolved to never let herself get emotionally involved again. She had learned that a smile could get her pretty much anything, like a free drink when she was low on cash or help changing a tyre when she had a flat, but once she had gotten what she needed she was gone. Attachment was bad - she was better off alone. Whilst she never got emotionally involved it didn't mean she couldn't look. This guy in front of her, although she could only see the back of him, was obviously good looking. About 6'2 with short cropped dark hair and broad shoulders he was the typical tall, dark and handsome. He was obviously rich too, wearing a crisp white shirt and suit pants with his jacket slung over his shoulder, she doubted he was here to take out his last dime so that he still had a place to sleep next week. She chuckled to herself – his watch probably cost more than her months' rent. He probably had the whole American dream going on – wife, kids, and a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Guys like him lived in a different world to her; a world she'd never be a part of.

Kate was broken out of her reverie by a commotion at the door. A shiver ran down her spine before she even turned to see what was going on, but as she did she realised that being kicked out on the streets would have been a better scenario than this.

"NOBODY LEAVES. I WANT EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR – NOW!"

Jack's POV

After an 18-hour shift at St Sebastian's hospital, the bank was really the last place Jack Shephard wanted to be, but after a phone call from the bank saying that there had been some unusual activity on his account he begrudgingly waited in line. At this point in time he really couldn't care less if some spotty teenager had hacked into his account and used it to buy 100 playstations, all he wanted was to go home, crawl into bed and block out the reality of his life for a few hours until he had to be back at the hospital again.

To an outsider Jack had it made – he was considered one of the best spinal surgeons in the state, and at only 35 that was pretty impressive, he also had a comfortable lifestyle because of his job. There was a time when he would have agreed with their opinion, but after his wife leaving him, a messy divorce, his father dying and his mother blaming him for it he really didn't feel that lucky. The main focus/the only focus in his life was his work because there he felt like he had a purpose – he could make things better, he could fix people. He didn't mind the long hours, in fact he embraced them – its not like he had anything to come home to, all he had was an empty apartment.

Tired and in need of some food, Jack was in no mood for queues. He was about to leave and go home when his day just got a whole lot worse.

"NOBODY LEAVES. I WANT EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR – NOW!"

Chapter 2

4 men wearing balaclavas and dressed all in black stood in the entrance to the bank, each pointing guns, which wouldn't look out of place in a war zone, at everybody in the vicinity. Frightened screams could be heard emanating from every corner of the room.

"DID YOU NOT HERE ME? I SAID ON THE FLOOR!", one of the gunmen boomed.

Jack immediately went into protector mode, motioning to the people in front of him to get on the floor. As they began to take his instruction he turned and noticed a young woman with long curly brown hair, probably in her mid-twenties, still standing just staring at the scene in front of her.

"Hey, Miss" he whispered, but with no effect. "Hey", he tried again, lightly shaking her arm.

Kate was frozen, she couldn't move, it was like she wasn't there but was just watching the scene play out. She was trapped, and that was what scared her the most. She was used to being able to run – to escape when things got too bad. That was the one thing she was good at, how she protected herself – running, but now there was nowhere to run and she didn't know what to do. She was broken out of her trance by someone shaking her arm. She turned to see that it was the guy she had been checking out earlier. He was indeed good looking and looking into his eyes she momentarily forgot the panic she had just previously been experiencing – those eyes, she had never seen such intense eyes before, it was like they were drinking her in. Looking into his eyes she recognized many of the emotions portrayed there – hurt, betrayal, loneliness, but overriding all of those at the moment was concern.

"We should get on the floor", the guy told her in a caring voice, still holding her arm. She flashed him a barely there smile but he caught it and gave her a reassuring smile back as they both sat down, leaning against the counter. "It's guna be ok", he told her, giving her arm a slight squeeze before removing his hand. In that moment when he was looking into her eyes, Kate believed him.

3 of the gunmen remained by the door, guns poised, preventing anyone from leaving, whilst the other grabbed an old woman and hauled her to her feet, dragging her over to the cashiers' desk. "You" he commanded, referring to the cashier. "Where's the manager?". The cashier swallowed and stuttered but didn't reply.

"YOU TELL ME WHERE THE MANAGER IS RIGHT NOW OR I SHOOT HER", the gunman yelled, pressing the barrel of the gun to the old woman's head.

The cashier looked on the verge of tears and opened her mouth to reply but before she could reply a man from across the room spoke up. "I'm the manager", said a man in a suit with neatly combed back grey hair. The gunman holding the old woman motioned to one of the other gunmen who swiftly went over to the manager. "Get up", he barked, pushing the gun into his back and marching him over to his partner, who took command again.

"Now this is how this is guna go down – you're guna take me, my partner and Grandma here to where the moneys kept. You try anything and you won't need money where you'll be", he sneered. "Johnny, you and Cain stay here. Anyone tries to escape – shoot them", he instructed the other two gunmen by the door, before shoving the manager and the old woman through the door.

Jack surveyed the room, checking that no one looked injured. To his relief everybody seemed relatively ok, frightened and anxious as would be expected, but thankfully no one seemed hurt. He turned and looked at the woman sitting next to him and really looked at her this time. Before she had looked so scared – he had never seen so much fear in someone's eyes before, even in all his years as a doctor. She was beautiful, he had noticed that before but now he realised that she was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was dressed casually, she had no makeup on and her hair was just loose and curly but she had that rare natural beauty that required no effort to portray. She must have realised he was staring because she turned her head to look at him. He gave her a small smile, "you ok?", he asked. She was so unused to someone caring how she was it was strange that a man she had met less than 20 minutes ago seemed so concerned about her well-being. Kate just nodded, maintaining eye contact as looking into his eyes took away some of her fear. Jack must have sensed that this was more than just fear of being shot as he reached over and took one of her hands, which were braced on either side of her legs, and laced his fingers with hers in a reassuring gesture.

"Its guna be ok", he said, repeating his words from earlier. Kate just nodded again, finally breaking eye contact but keeping hold of his hand. Normally she would never have allowed such a show of affection but this was an extreme circumstance she told herself – she could allow herself one moment of weakness. She was scared and this guy took away some of that fear, how she didn't know, but for some reason she trusted him, and that was beginning to scare her even more than being trapped.

Kate focussed her attention back on the situation around her and it was then that she noticed a little girl with her legs pulled up to her chest, cowering under a desk. She couldn't have been more than 5 years old, with long wavy brown hair. She was becoming more and more distressed and her cries had now attracted the attention of the gunmen. Just then the girl caught Kate's eye and she felt like she had been punched in the stomach. The girl reminded her so much of herself it was frightening. She looked just like a miniature version of herself. Kate remembered hiding in exactly the same position in a cupboard under the stairs when she was a child.

"Shut her up!", Johnny yelled at Cain.

The little girl looked with wide eyes from the gunmen back to Kate with a heart breaking pleading look on her face. Johnny went over to the girl and pulled her by the arm from under the desk. "Stop crying!", he yelled at her, which of course made her cry more. "Where's your parents?", he tried in an annoyed but slightly quieter tone.

"Th-the bad man to-took my nana", the girl sniffled, tears streaming down her face.

Johnny stood back up. "Fuck! What do we do now?", he yelled at Cain.

"Just shut her the fuck up!", was his angry response.

Kate couldn't take it any longer and before Jack could stop her she broke away from the relevant safety of holding his hand and ran over to where the gunman was holding the little girl, putting a protective hand on her shoulder. "Leave her alone!", she commanded in a confidence she didn't know she possessed.

"I thought I told you to stay on the floor!", Johnny yelled, getting increasingly annoyed. Kate however refused to back down, and with years of practice of hiding her feelings, tried to reason with them.

"She's just a child – let her go".

"And why would I want to do that?"

"If you let her go you won't have to listen to her crying", she offered, hoping that this would be an incentive.

He paused, thinking it over and then sneered, "Looks like we got ourselves a wannabe hero here. But I am getting kinda sick of the kid's wailing". He bent down to the little girls height, "Hey kid, looks like it's your lucky day. Get outta here", he barked, shoving her roughly towards the door. The little girl stumbled and looked back up at Kate as if asking for permission. Kate nodded and smiled at the girl who gave her a look of gratitude. "Move kid" Johnny yelled. With one last look at Kate the girl tuned and ran out of the door towards one of the many police officers that had now surrounded the bank.

Jack watched in awe and terror as the woman who not 5 minutes ago seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown had put her own fears aside to save the life of a child. Kate now satisfied that the little girl was safe, turned back to return to her seat next to Jack. She got half way before she was stopped by the Johnny's voice.

"Hey lady", he yelled, "This is what I think of heroes".

She turned around just in time to see him cock his gun and point it at her. 'BANG', a shot rang out and before she knew what was happening she was lying on her back on the floor, briefly hearing the seemingly distant screams emanating from around her.

Kate was in such a shock that it took her a moment to realise that there was someone lying on top of her. On closer inspection she realised it was the guy whose hand she had been holding whose body was now draped over hers like a shield.

'I'm alive, I can't have been shot', Kate thought in a daze. She was quickly snapped out of it though as she realised the guy on top of her was not moving. "Hey, hey" she said, gently pushing his chest, becoming more and more frightened. To her sheer relief she could feel his heart beating through his shirt and he seemed to be responding to her voice.

"Ughh", Jack groaned as he rolled off of Kate, realising that he must have blacked out for a few seconds. Remembering why he was in this position he quickly looked over at Kate sighing with relief when he realised she was ok, and seeing the same expression of relief reflected in her eyes as she looked back at him.

Kate reached over and helped him to his feet but froze when she looked down at his arm. Jack followed her gaze and grimaced when he saw what she was looking at. His once crisp white shirt was now a sickening crimson. He looked back up at Kate and saw that the fear that was there previously had returned, and now if it were possible, it was even greater. "I'm ok", he assured her with a smile, knowing that if it were serious and had hit an artery there would be a lot more blood.

"Another fucking hero!", Johnny spat, waving his gun and marching over to Jack and Kate, "What is it with you people!".

He was stopped however by Cain who grabbed his arm, yanking him around to face him. "Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?", he yelled, "shooting people was never part of the plan!".

Yanking his arm away Johnny gave Cain an icy stare before continuing towards Jack, who now stood protectively in front of Kate, placing a hand on her side to keep her behind him. This only served to make Johnny laugh, "Ah look at that – the hero's protecting his girlfriend", he sneered, "Looks like you found yourself a Prince Charming there darling".

"I hate heroes", he stated, pushing Jack along – who had now manoeuvred Kate in front of him out of direct contact of Johnny. "Move", he commanded, poking the gun into Jack's back. "Get in there – and stay in there". Giving Jack one final push, Johnny shoved them both into what seemed to be an office supply closet before locking them in.

Chapter 3

Flicking the light switch, Kate realised that the room was indeed a supply closet, and trying the door she realised that there was no opening it. "Looks like we might be here for a while", she said, more to herself than anyone else. Turning around she saw Jack sitting on a desk and gave him a shy smile, who returned the sentiment. Walking over to him she once again noticed his arm. "You're hurt", she stated with a pained expression.

"I'm ok, it's just a surface wound"

"How do you know?"

"I'm a doctor"

Kate smiled, 'figures', she thought. The stubborn side of her kicked in however – even if he was a doctor she needed to see for herself. "Take off your shirt".

Jack raised his eyebrows teasingly at her. Kate blushed, which Jack thought made her look even more beautiful.

"I want to check your wound", she reasoned.

"You a doctor too?", Jack teased.

"Just take off your shirt"

Jack smiled at her babying him but obeyed none the less. "Yes maam".

Reversing the roles of doctor-patient, Kate helped him undo the buttons and slide his shirt off. With the shirt pooled on the floor she couldn't help but stare at his toned, muscular, slightly haired chest. He was the absolute definition of gorgeous and an unconscious sigh escaped her lips. "You checking me out?" Jack teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Kate's face flushed red but she managed to maintain her composure. "Trust me, if I was checking you out – you'd know about it!" Jack grinned in response.

Even though she had been, there was no way she was going to admit to it. Finally realising that the purpose of undressing him was no to ogle him but to check his wound, she switched her gaze from his impressive body to his shoulder. Reaching over she lightly grazed his arm with her fingers and realised that he was probably right about it being a surface wound – it was clean, the bullet had just skimmed the surface, but there was still a small trickle of blood seeping from the wound. "We need something to stop the bleeding", Kate commented as she looked around the room for something that could be used as a tourniquet, "erm…here, this will work", she said holding up Jack's tie that had been discarded along with his shirt. She proceeded to gently tighten his tie around his wound, trying not to cause him any more pain. " There", she said with a smile, satisfied with her work, "all done".

Jack was more than willing to be the patient for once and smiled inwardly at having caught her checking him out. He couldn't deny that he was enjoying the feel of her hands on his skin and was more than a little disappointed when she had finished. It had been quite a while since he had had any kind of physical contact with a woman, and this stranger whom he had known for less than an hour and had just gotten shot in order to save, was awakening feelings inside of him he'd thought were long dead and was making the little hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. She stood proudly in front of him awaiting his approval, "Thanks", he told her, giving her a warm smile to show his appreciation.

Kate smiled back, "You're welcome".

Ever the gentleman and not wanting to make her feel embarrassed, Jack reached down to pick up his shirt. Seeing what he was about to do, Kate took the shirt from Jack's hand, eliciting a confused look from him. In response Kate used the bullet hole for leverage and tore the sleeve completely off. "So I can see your shoulder better", she stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Kate then helped him put his shirt back on, being extra careful with his injured arm, and even did the buttons up for him.

Even though Jack could have managed this particular task himself he allowed her to do it for him, watching her intense concentration as she manoeuvred his injured arm, afraid that she might hurt him. It was nice to have someone show him some compassion after so long, and the fact that it was a woman whose beauty took his breath away that was dressing him was an added bonus – he doubted that he would be as inclined to let a 300 lb trucker attend to him in the same way.

"Maybe you should be the doctor instead of me", he said, giving her a warm smile.

A wistful look passed over Kate's eyes; "I doubt it, I'm no hero, when things get intense I tend to run for the door"

"No, I don't think that's true – you're not running now"

Kate averted her eyes and looked at the ground. She didn't know why she had told him that, she never talked bout these things with anyone. "…and you didn't run out there either - you saved that little girls life in there. You didn't have to get involved but you did, even though you were scared you did it anyway, and because of you she's safe. Don't put yourself down", he added, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Kate looked into his eyes and didn't see any sign of deceit – he meant what he was saying, even though he barely knew her he believed in her and thought she was a good person, and Kate couldn't understand why. Not knowing what to say and uncomfortable with showing any signs of affection, she broke his gaze and changed the subject. "Do you think they'll be alright in there?"

"I don't think they intended to shoot anyone, I think they just want money. One of those guys out there is relatively sane – he'll stop the other one from shooting anyone else. Besides, the bank's surrounded by police, and now they've heard a shot they should be in here pretty soon."

"How do you do that?"

"What?"

"Make a completely awful situation seem ok"

"I'm a doctor – it's my job", Jack smiled, causing Kate to laugh lightly.

Kate looked at him, contemplating whether or not to say it, but deciding that she should. "Thank you".

"For what?"

"For saving my life! You got shot so that I wouldn't. You shouldn't have risked your life for me but I'll never forget that". She gave him a small smile, trying to show him that she was sincere.

"No problem" Jack replied.

Kate moved and sat next to Jack on the desk, legs pulled up to her chest and leaning against the wall. Jack followed suit and scooted back against the wall too so that he didn't have his back to her. "I have a cell phone in my jacket if you want to call anyone, let them know you're ok", Jack offered.

Kate gave him a sad smile, "thanks, but there isn't anyone. You should call though, you're wife will probably be worried about you"

Jack snorted, "I doubt it – we got divorced 6 months ago"

"Oh, I'm sorry", Kate replied, mentally slapping herself for causing him to recall it, but secretly pleased at the knowledge that he wasn't married, even though a guy like him would never be interested in a girl like her.

"Don't be. We weren't right for each other…took me a while to realise that but it was never guna work". Jack couldn't quite believe that he was baring his sole to a relative stranger when both his mother and his friends had long since given up on trying to get him to open up and labelled him as a lost cause. But for some reason it didn't feel awkward or forced to talk to her – it felt completely natural. "So how about you, you ever been married?" From the look on her face he knew the answer before she even spoke.

"Yeah", she replied, looking at her shoes, "but it didn't work out". She didn't offer any more and Jack realised he'd hit a sore spot and so changed the subject.

"So, you from LA then?"

Kate hesitated, alarm bells ringing in her head - she barely knew this guy, should she really be discussing her life with him, especially as she had come to LA to escape from her past. She never gave details about herself to people, always being vague and brushing them off. Something inside of her though, and she didn't know what, wanted to talk to this guy – something told her that she could trust him. Trust. Trust was something that had hurt her too many times in the past…so why now was she willing to trust a guy whose name she didn't even know? Maybe it was because he had saved her life, or maybe it was because he had been hurt too. She couldn't explain it but there was something about him that made her feel that she could trust him.

Jack sensed her hesitance, "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry"

"No, no it's ok", she reassured him, "…and no I'm not from LA, I'm from Iowa"

"Iowa - you're a long way from home"

"Yeah, well it wasn't much of a home", she said, with a far off look in her eyes.

Jack studied her, a questioning look on his face as if asking for an elaboration. 'Why am I telling him this stuff?' Kate wondered but continued anyway, "…I left 7 years ago when I was 18"

"How come?"

Kate sighed deeply, what was the harm in telling him – it had been so long since she'd had a meaningful conversation with anyone it felt good to finally get it off her chest. Besides, its not like she'd see him again after today anyway. "My mom married this guy – Wayne when I was about 5 and things were bad from then on…he used to hit my mom, beat her up – she always made excuses for him, said she walked into a door or something but I knew she was lying. He never hit me though, but one night when I was 13 he…he, well lets just say he did un-fatherly things to me. And it was like that for 5 years. I was just a kid I didn't know what to do. When I was 18 I told my mom but she didn't believe me – called me a liar, said that Wayne would never do that. She told me to leave – said she couldn't live with a liar. I asked her how she could live with him then, and she hit me. I just turned and ran", Kate swallowed and pulled her legs tighter against her chest, resembling the little girl cowering under the desk. "I didn't have anything with me so I waited 'til they'd both left, at least I thought they'd both left, and snuck in to get my stuff. I'd got as much as could fit in my bag and was just about to leave when Wayne came in. I could see in his eyes what he was guna do, but something in me snapped – I wasn't going to let it happen anymore, so I hit him - as hard as I could. He wasn't expecting it and he tripped; hit his head on the dresser. He wasn't knocked out though, he tried to grab me but I was too quick. He looked at me and I've never seen anyone with so much hate in their eyes before. He told me I could run but he'd always find me, and when he did he'd kill me. I ran, got on the first bus I found and I haven't been back since".

Kate sat in a trance, her eyes focussed on the wall. That was the first time she had ever told anyone that and she felt oddly relieved that she finally had. She was brought back to reality by the feel of Jack's hand gently brushing stray tears, that she didn't realise had fallen, from her cheek. She looked up at him, and where she thought she'd see disgust or pity in his eyes she was surprised to see understanding, care and even anger. Confused, she pulled away from his touch and wiped away the rest of her tears with her hand. "Sorry", she said, choking out a laugh, "I didn't mean to break down on you".

Jack was stunned at what he had just heard, he couldn't imagine the pain she must have gone through. He felt protective over this woman, even though he had known her for less than 2 hours, and so could feel his blood boil as she recounted what her step father had done to her. How could anyone do such a thing to this beautiful woman? He could say with absolute clarity that if he ever met this guy, he wouldn't think twice about killing him. He suddenly realised that that was why she looked so scared before – she had nowhere to run and that scared her more than anything. "Hey, don't apologize", he told her soothingly, "you've got nothing to be sorry for. It's your bastard step father that should be sorry!"

"Yeah, well I can't see him ever being sorry"

"So you've been running for 7 years?", he asked in awe.

"Mmhmm", she replied, "gotten pretty good at it too. Never stay in the same place too long – less chance of being found"

"But what about settling down…having a family?", he asked.

Kate smiled sadly at him; "It wouldn't be much of a life for a kid having to skip town every 4 months"

Jack dropped his gaze to the floor. "Hey, it's not all bad", she added, trying to lighten the mood, "I've seen most of America and I'm only 25, I'd say that's pretty good going". She smiled at him, showing him an incredible strength that must have been what had gotten her through the past 7 years. Jack smiled back, but not in pity of the hardships she had to endure, but in appreciation of the amazing woman he was just discovering.

Kate let go of the death grip she had on her legs and switched to a cross-legged position facing Jack. "So…I've bared my soul, what's your story?"

"Trust me, my story's not worth telling", he told her sadly.

"Come on, I bet that's not true", she told him encouragingly, "What happened with your wife?"

Jack looked up at her, they had known each other for a matter of hours and yet here he was talking to her about things he had never talked to anyone about. He couldn't understand why it was so easy to talk to her, why it didn't feel awkward. He took a deep breath, about to recount one of his life's greatest failures. "She was one of my patients – Sarah, she was in an RTA, came to me with a crushed spine. The doctors they told her she'd never walk again. She was engaged and she told me she wanted to dance at her wedding but I told her she shouldn't build her hopes up – her spine was badly damaged. I operated on her and just before she went under she told me she trusted me. I was in there for hours working on her and I repaired her as best I could. When she came round I told her that there was a good chance she'd be paralysed from the waste down…but she asked me why she could move her foot then. I couldn't believe it and neither could anyone else – I'd done it, I'd fixed her. She wanted to dance at her wedding…and she did – she danced at ours". Jack smiled at the memory, even though it ended badly he would never regret enabling her to walk again.

"Wow", Kate replied, "if I'm ever in an accident I'm asking for you!"

Jack laughed, "Lets hope you never need to do that"

Kate smiled, "So what happened?"

"To cut a long story short – we drifted apart. I was working long hours at the hospital – when I got home she was already in bed and when I got up she'd already left. I guess we just stopped communicating. One day I came home from work and found her with her bags packed – she was leaving me, she'd found someone else. Even though we were almost strangers by then it was still a shock. She said she couldn't live like this anymore, that I'd always need something to fix", Jack laughed sadly at the last part, "…so she left".

Kate could see the pain in his eyes, it was a pain she recognised all too well – betrayal. "She's an idiot", Kate stated.

"Huh", Jack replied, confused at her response.

"Your wife – ex-wife…you're a catch!", she told him, earning a laugh from Jack, "If she can't see that then that's her loss but if I had you I wouldn't let you go"

Both Jack and Kate were shocked at such at such a remark. Kate now feeling embarrassed looked away. Jack however just looked at her trying to figure her out. He'd never met anyone like her before – she was broken but at the same time she was incredibly strong, and cliché as it sounded, it felt like he'd known her for years rather than hours.

"Look at us", Jack chuckled, "is it weird that we've only known each other for a couple of hours but you probably know more about me than people who've known me my whole life?"

Kate smiled at the thought, "yeah, you're the first person in 7 years I've talked to about my past. Its weird but it doesn't feel weird…if that makes sense"

Jack grinned and nodded, "yeah, it makes sense"

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, both content with just the presence of the other. It was Kate who finally broke the silence, leaning forward so she could see him, "Can I ask you a personal question?", she asked, "you don't have to answer if you don't want"

"What" Jack asked warily.

"What's your favourite colour?, she asked smiling, which caused Jack to laugh and a huge grin to spread across his face.

Chapter 4

Jack and Kate continued to talk, as if they were old friends, the conversation taking a less serious turn with them learning little trivial things about each other like Kate's favourite ice-cream flavour – vanilla, and that Jack had to have at least 4 cups of coffee a day. When they weren't talking they sat in comfortable silence.

"So how come you wanted to be a doctor?", Kate asked, breaking the silence.

"I was kind of born into it, my father was a doctor and ever since I can remember it was always expected that that was what I would do too"

Kate nodded, a thoughtful look on her face, "what kind of doctor are you?"

Jack smiled, "spinal surgeon"

Kate looked up at him, clearly impressed and then noticed the tattoos on his exposed shoulder, "So are you some kind of hard-core spinal surgeon?", she asked smiling, "its just that you and your tattoos don't add up"

Jack followed her gaze and chuckled, "hard-core…I like it"

"…so you're not guna tell me about your tattoos then?

Jack smiled, "that's a story for another time"

Kate however stopped smiling, "another time?", she asked. There wasn't going to be another time – as much as she liked this guy, and the more time she spent with him the more she desperately wanted there to be another time, she couldn't let herself get attached because it would only be harder when she had to leave.

"Yeah, another time", Jack repeated, refusing to break eye contact. He liked this girl and that scared him, but it was a good scared and he wanted to see her when they weren't being held hostage. There was a connection between them, and he knew she felt it too.

Kate looked away, not wanting to admit that there wasn't going to be another time. Jack sensed the change in her and wondered whether or not he should say what he was about to, after all he had only just met her – he had no right to interfere. Being who he was though he couldn't not try to help. "You should go to the police…about your step-father – there's people that can help", he suggested hesitantly.

"I can't", Kate replied instantly, sliding off the desk and moving to the opposite side of the cupboard, which wasn't very far but she didn't like where the conversation was heading. "They won't believe me", she explained shaking her head.

"Yes they will!", Jack insisted, going over to her and taking her hand in his, "…and then you could stop running".

"Don't", Kate pleaded looking him straight in the eyes, "you don't know what it's like, what he's like – he'd kill my mom. It's better this way"

Jack couldn't stand the pain he saw in her eyes, it was like someone was twisting a knife in his heart. "Everyone deserves a second chance. It doesn't have to be like this – I can help you"

Kate's heart soared at his offer, the fact that he wanted to be associated with somebody like her, but her head told her that this was a good man and it was unfair to drag him down. If she got involved she knew she would only end up getting hurt, but worse than that she would end up hurting him – and that was something she was unwilling to do. She pulled her hand away from his and went back to sitting on the desk. "I can't be saved…I'm better off alone. You and me…we're from different worlds", she told him sadly.

"We're not that different", Jack replied giving her an adorable smile that made her heart ache with the knowledge of how her life had to be.

Kate smiled back at him, "you know, my first impression of you was wrong"

"Why? What was your first impression?"

Kate laughed lightly as she recalled her first thoughts about him, "When I was standing behind you in the queue, I looked at you and I thought you were one of those stuck-up, rich business guys"

Jack smiled at the description, "well I'm glad I proved you wrong", he told her, "…so you were checking me out then?" Kate chuckled which made her eyes light up, which in turn made Jack's smile widen. "I'm really glad I took that bullet for you", he told her sincerely, "…can I see you again – outside of this store room?".

Kate looked at him, wanting more than anything to say yes, to be able to see him again. 'It's not fair!', she thought to herself. She had only known him for mere hours but already in that time he had been able to break through the barriers she had constructed around her heart – and that was the reason she knew she had to walk away.

Jack could see the mix of emotions and could tell that she was going to say no, even if she didn't want to. But looking into her eyes he knew that he couldn't just give up. He reached up and brushed a stray curl away from her face and then cautiously leaned his face in towards hers.

Kate didn't pull away from him - she couldn't, her body wouldn't let her turn away. His face was mere centimetres away from hers and she could feel his breath on her lips. She closed her eyes, going against every instinct that told her to run, waiting to feel his lips brush hers.

Jack leaned forward, his lips a hairs breath away from hers, and was about to finally connect them when the door suddenly flew off its hinges, ruining the moment. Kate's eyes snapped open and her head snapped towards the door where 2 police officers now stood brandishing guns. Unconsciously when she had heard the noise she had grabbed Jack's hand and was now holding it in a death grip.

The officers, realising that it was just Jack and Kate in the room lowered their guns.

"Sir are you ok?", one of them asked, "Miss?".

"Yeah, we're ok", Jack told them.

"The bank's secure now - the 4 guys have been arrested. You're safe now"

'Safe' Kate thought, 'I'll never be safe'. Suddenly realising that she had grabbed Jack's hand she quickly let go.

"If you both follow us we'll get you out of here", said one of the officers, motioning for them to follow him, "you must have had enough of being cooped up in here".

Jack forced a smile, the truth being the complete opposite.

Once outside they were met by a sea of police officers and ambulance crews. "Sir, we'll need to get that arm looked at", one of them told Jack.

"It's ok…just give me a minute", he replied, turning to Kate and gently pulling her away from the crowd.

"You should go and get your arm fixed", she told him.

"It can wait. Besides, you did a pretty good job with it", he replied smiling.

A sad smile crossed Kate's face at his praise, "I should go", she said, looking away.

Jack's heart sank at her words, and looking at her face he could see that there was no changing her mind, but he was unwilling to lose all contact with her.

Kate sighed, mustering all of the strength she knew she would need and turned to leave.

"Wait", Jack pleaded, "I don't know your name"

Kate smiled, had it been anyone else she would have replied with one of her many aliases, but he knew the real her and he deserved to know her real name. "I'm Kate"

"Jack", he replied smiling.

Kate returned his smile, albeit a sad one, "Goodbye Jack". With every ounce of strength she had left, she stepped away from his touch.

Suddenly having an idea, Jack quickly rifled through the pocket of his pants and pulled out a slightly crumpled business card. "Here", he said, stepping towards her and holding the business card out to her, an air of desperation about him, "If you ever need me, call me – anytime, day or night".

Kate took the card from him and carefully placed it in her pocket. "Thank You", she told him and looking up at him she did something she hadn't done for 7 years – she let her heart rule her head. Placing her hands on either side of his neck she brought his head down to hers in a crushing kiss that was both sweet and desperate at the same time. What was left of the barriers around her heart, Jack had now completely demolished and a silent tear ran down her cheek.

Jack was frozen to begin with, but soon responded to the kiss. He couldn't believe it – she was kissing him. Kate was kissing him, and nothing had ever felt so right. But before it could deepen any further, Kate pulled away.

With one last look and one last heart-rending smile, she turned and ran.

A/N: This is not the end! I'm working on the next chapter. Please R&R, be nice – this is my 1st fanfic.