Chapter 1

The day was a drowsy one: soft warm sun, nice light breeze, lazy ocean humming under its breath like a mother murmuring a lullaby and nothing to do but lie there and bask in al it. And Kate intended to do just that: all day. No chores. No arguments. No jungle hikes. No fear. No pain. Just for today she was giving herself a break to lie around the beach in a prolonged haze of lethargic bliss. Until sunset that was: and then she would move inside and continue being blissful, just perhaps in a different, less lethargic sort of way. She smiled to herself and rubbed her cheek against her living pillow.

She and Sawyer had slept through all of yesterday, either in the tent or out here in the sun, and it was shaping up to be another repeat today which suited her just fine. She hadn't realised just how exhausted she was, how tense, until she had the opportunity just to stop. Now, lying peaceful and sleepy, using Sawyer's stomach as a cushion she let herself relax completely - all except for her hand. That, she slid underneath the untucked tails of his shirt, to splay around the now familiar curve of his flank. Her smiled broadened.

"What are you smiling at?" Her pillow suddenly murmured.

"Nothing." She replied, knowing full well that such a reply would make him crazy. She opened her eyes to look up at him where he lay propped against the side of the airplane chair, his latest book open and face down on his chest, and wearing ridiculous women's glasses that he had been given to him by Sayid as a sort of welcome back present. He looked as sleepy as she felt, and regarded her through heavy lidded eyes.

"Must be something." He went on, taking the bait.

"Nope."

"Fine." He said and returned to his book. Kate started counting to herself: one, two, three – "Oh come on Freckles, people don't just lie around smilin' like that for no reason." He said, taking the glasses off, his brow furrowing. She laughed, which only made things worse. God, he was so cute when he was frustrated with curiosity. A sudden rush of tenderness washed through her and she kissed his belly through his shirt.

"Read your book, James." She used the new name gently and deliberately, caressing him under the thin blue material. His gaze immediately softened. The muscles of his stomach flexed under her cheek as he curled toward her. She rose to meet the tender kiss she could suddenly see written all over his face, but he stopped just before making contact:

"Tell me." He whispered, expression shifting into a familiar foxy grin.

"No." She whispered back, all of a sudden holding in a laugh. She suddenly felt very silly, as if she might take off like a playful dog up and down the beach with Sawyer in similar pursuit – all in front of a startled audience that was still not entirely at ease with this new development – running and circling and pouncing and wrestling until things inevitably heated up again.

"Ooh, stubborn. Think I'm gonna have to resort to extreme measures." He tried to land that kiss. Only this time, it was Kate who pulled away. She jumped up from the sand and he watched her go, startled.

"If you can catch me." She backed away from him, watching his face, watching the playful grin become hot with desire. She backed up again, and ran into something solid. She bounced off, spinning around.

"Oh! Oh, uh Jack."

"Kate." The doctor greeted her with a nod, expression part neutral, part pained, part angry. Very much trying to be the professional, but unable to look at her for more than a moment. She felt her sun retreat behind a cloud.

"Doc." Sawyer greeted Jack, rising to his feet. His morning playfulness had been replaced with something that wasn't entirely friendly either. Kate felt herself grow tense. "Mornin'."

"Antibiotics." Jack offered by way of greeting. He unscrewed the bottle he was carrying, tapped out a white pill and dropped it into Sawyer's hand. The air was as thick as paste. "How is it this morning?"

"Hurts and its starting to itch." Sawyer reported. "Thanks for askin'."

"Let me see it." Jack ordered, unshouldering his backpack. Kate folded her arms across her ribs and watched as Sawyer shrugged out of his shirt and sat on the airplane seat. Jack pulled away the old bandage and went into doctor mode. He cleaned and redressed the wound without saying another word – neither did Sawyer, though he kept a sharp eye on the other man as he worked.

"It's fine. No sign of infection. You can put your shirt back on. Do you need something for the pain?"

"Nope. Can take care of that myself." Sawyer responded, obediently putting on his shirt. He stood back up to button the garment.

"Actually," Jack said after a millisecond hesitation. "You can't."

"What does that mean?" Sawyer frowned. Oh shit. Kate suddenly remembered, a day after the raft had sailed, the moment that John had come out of the jungle with Sawyer's secret stockpile. She remembered him dumping it right in the middle of the camp. She remembered everyone divvying it up…

"It means you can't Sawyer." Jack replied with complete seriousness. "After the raft sailed. We found your stash-"

"You what?"

"We found it," Jack went on, "and I took back all the medical supplies that you stole from the plane."

"That I 'stole' from the plane!" Sawyer took a step forward, the morning frost melting into hot midday anger. "That I 'stole'? The dead don't own anything to be stolen, Doc. You're the goddamn thief in this picture. What I 'found' on that plane is mine."

"No Sawyer, it's the groups'. Especially the medical supplies." Jack replied evenly, although Kate could suddenly hear the cold anger in his voice. "You wouldn't be alive now if we hadn't found your hidey-hole."

"Put it back." Sawyer suddenly demanded, brows lowered.

"What?" Jack exclaimed, almost laughing with disbelief. And perhaps a little enjoyment in the fact that he had been able to so thoroughly piss the other man off. "No. We can't. Sawyer, it's all gone. You don't have a stash anymore so just get used to it."

The southerner stepped forward, but Jack did not move back, and suddenly the two men were an inch apart. One furious beyond reason, the other a radiating a false calm that was beginning to feel more and more like the second before a storm hits.

"Stop it!" Kate suddenly interjected. "Stop it both of you." She grabbed Sawyer's arm.

"Soon as he gives back what's mine." Sawyer replied and Jack's calm started to change into pure contempt.

"Is that a threat? Are you actually threatening me?"

"Only if that's the way it's got to be Doc. Just give me back what's mine and we'll let bygones be bygones."

"Go to hell, Sawyer." The doctor replied, not giving an inch. "And just so we're both clear: if you try to take any of it back, I'm going to carry through on the promise I made to you."

"I'd like to see you try." Sawyer responded heatedly, but somehow that vague threat had unsettled the southerner so that the sharp edge to his voice disappeared. Kate stared, apprehensively between both men. What had happened between them whilst she had been recuperating in the Hatch?

"No, you wouldn't Sawyer." Jack replied softly. He hoisted his backpack back over one shoulder; he pocketed the antibiotics and turned to leave. "No, you wouldn't." He repeated, and Sawyer watched him trudge away up the beach.

"What was that about?" She asked when Jack was out of earshot.

"Did you know?" Sawyer asked her, ignoring her question and still watching Jack walking away up the beach.

"Did I- What?"

"Did you know about him stealing my stuff?" He asked again. Kate swallowed, knowing where this was heading and dreading it.

"He didn't steal your stuff. John found it and brought it into the camp." She started. "Everyone-"

"And you?" He asked like he might have been asking about a weather forecast.

"Everyone." She repeated quietly, feeling as ashamed as if she was admitting some heinous sin in confessional although she wasn't Catholic and Sawyer was surely no priest. And anyway she hadn't actually stolen anything anyway because that stash had never been his – Jack was right about that. Not that Sawyer would see things that way, and not that she would stop feeling edgy about it. She watched his expression darken further, feeling helpless. "Everyone." She repeated.

He didn't reply and she watched his profile as he continued to stare after the doctor as the Jack stopped to speak to the new woman, Ana Lucia, before walking with her into the jungle. Kate watched the newcomer as she left with Jack and frowned. Something was going on between those two and she didn't like it. They knew nothing about any of the new arrivals and yet there he was… The seconds ticked passed and he did nothing.

Finally she could not stand Sawyer's brooding silence any longer.

"We figured you wouldn't need that stuff anymore, if you were bringing help." She started. "I mean-"

"I know what you mean Freckles." He suddenly said, finally turning to look at her. His expression was curiously flat, as was his tone, which was odd and not in a good way. "Its just people being people, is all. I left it behind, so it stands to reason I lose it. That's life." She frowned, suddenly remembering John's story about the foster home children hoarding their possessions. But also thinking that this was more than that. She wondered again just what promise Jack had threatened Sawyer with.

"It wasn't like that, Sawy- I mean James. Sorry that's going to take some time to get used to." She smiled, hoping to get an answering smile from him. She didn't and her unease grew. She stopped smiling. "It wasn't like that. We didn't take it because you left it. We took it because we needed it. And you didn't." God, that lame reasoning wasn't going to help any – it just echoed his own reasoning and ended up with the same result. She bit her lip. How could she make him understand?

"Yeah, I heard you." Sawyer suddenly reached for her, grasping her forearms and pulling her to him. He put her hands around his waist and put his own around hers. There was a faint grin on his lips that didn't look entirely forced. "Its just stuff. Don't sweat it darlin', I ain't mad at you or anybody else on this rock, and I ain't about to go chargin' around gettin' it all back." He paused to slide his hands down over her backside and squeeze. "Too lazy for that. Besides, got better things to do than that now." He kissed her with heated purpose. She kissed him back and tried to ignore blazing red warning light that was going off inside her head.

End chapter