Sawyer awoke the morning after the attack on Sun, to see a very determined, but calm, Jin, waiting outside his shelter. He pretended to be asleep yet while he ran through various reasons why Jin would be there. "Damn Junkie ratted me out already?" being his first panicked thought, but then realized he would have had a much ruder wake-up call if that were the case. He didn't want to think in much detail about the end results of Jin knowing he was the mastermind behind the whole "Sun"-of-a-Guns job. He'd seen Jin wield that grappling hook while fishing on the shore and had no plan to get anywhere near it – especially if it was an irate Jin at the holding end! He slid his hand ever-so-slightly to get a firm grasp on his new bed-buddy….one of the rifles from his last night's prize stash…before stretching and rolling up on his feet to greet his early morning visitor.
After a few gestures and a sprinkling of one word exchanges, Sawyer came to understand that Jin had expanded his role of primary fish provider for the good folks of Beachville to now include Sawyer as one of his regular customers. Payment from Sawyer would be to provide Jin with an as needed supply of firewood. Sawyer, having the best accommodations on the beach, complete with a lean-to for sheltering firewood from the daily rain showers, was the obvious and only source. Even though most of the survivors went out of their way to avoid interacting with Sawyer about anything before, and more so now after last night's coup, Jin knew he had no other choice. Feeling guilt for not having kept his wife safe, Jin explained as best he could, that he was not willing to leave the beach or Sun, to gather his own wood from the jungle anymore. He was there at Sawyer's shelter to offer a sizeable fish, already cleaned, to seal the deal as a signing bonus of sorts.
The next morning Sawyer awoke and found that another freshly caught and cleaned fish had been deposited in the Igloo mini-cooler he had looted from the wreckage and decided that this room service arrangement wasn't too bad! "I have his wife snatched to get the guns, and he feeds me" - the irony was almost too much, even for Sawyer. With Michael's disappearance and Sayid's distractions, everyone needed wood for cooking and to stoke the eternal signal fire that most worshipped to be their ticket off this island, Sawyer saw the opportunity to exploit the wood-gathering muscle shortage by sweating a few hours a day playing" jungle-jack". He grimaced at the association with the name JACK in any form, but it had to be done. And It fit in nicely with his plan for the "next job".
"Honest work. Can't believe I got myself conned into doin' honest work, must be losing my touch," Sawyer mumbled under his breath to the last load of firewood he was chopping. Pulling this jungle-lumberjacking gig off was simply laying the foundation for his next series of cons. He never had a problem with wrapping his head around the details of any job. He was right at home with the analysis and planning, knew the importance of the details big and small, and could easily recognize when the time was right, but this time it seemed different. He didn't have the comfort zone of a long-drawn out plot that would take months to perfect. This time, he didn't have time. He felt pressured to push his agenda a bit faster than he would have liked so it was no coincidence that the spot selected for today's wood-chopping just happened to be near several very ripe fruit trees. No way around it, he needed to use her. Again.
"Whoa Girl, whaddya doin? I know women like big rocks but that ain't no diamond and it's way to big for your finger anyhow!" Sawyer called to Kate a bit deeper in the jungle as he watched her struggling to move a small boulder nearer the base of a tree loaded with fruit. Taking his time getting to her side with his long-legged strides and slow, sexy swagger, he continued to enjoy the view of her bent over, determined to budge that boulder.
"You gonna stand there ogling me all day, or can you honor your southern-roots and be a gentleman for once and give me a hand?" she replied while arching her back to release the tightness caused from the exertion.
With raised eyebrows and a wink, he cocked his head and said "I got a better idea". He gave her one of his charming, sly grins while bending to one knee to offer her a leg up, appreciating the opportunity to have a legitimate excuse to come in direct contact with her to mend some fences. He sensed a continuing thaw in her demeanor and was more than happy to test the waters. One of the pieces he needed, was falling into place.