Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew, borrowing for some non-profit fun. Takes place post Exodus pt2, spoilers to that point. Jack and Kate enjoy the return to the beach, and each other's company, after opening the hatch. Enjoy!

Lost – A Feeling
By Mystic
May 30th 2005
They were back at the ocean. Jack couldn't remember the last time it'd been so long since he'd seen it. He didn't realize he'd missed it so much – hearing the waves crashing on the sand, seeing the froth it left behind, and smelling the salt. Jack stretched his aching muscles and took a long breath into his lungs, feeling it burn just slightly. The sweat that had drenched his shirt was now cooling him off with the breeze the water brought with it.

He felt Kate moving slowly behind him, breaking out of the jungle and coming to stand at his side, her eyes closed and her arms hanging limp, exhausted. He couldn't remember a time he'd sensed that from her. Jack listened to the sound of her boots rubbing together, being kicked off and discarded as she removed her backpack. Touching his arm gently, she smiled at him when he looked down at her and she made her way to the ocean to drench her feet in the cold water.

Kate rolled her head back to crack her neck as the water lapped at her ankles and the sand buried her feet. He reached her slowly, brought his hands up to her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. She didn't jump or jerk or give him any sign of resistance like he'd been expecting. She just let her head fall forward, as if asking him, exposing the skin that was still damp and glistening with sweat and streaked with dirt. Jack blew out a breath, watching the small curls at the base of her neck sway gently and she shivered.

She raised her shoulders into his hands, begging him, and he began to press into the muscles there. They were taut and she hissed in pain when he pressed too hard, but she didn't move away. Jack slipped his thumbs underneath the straps of her tank top and sports bra and rubbed circles there, watching her body move with his hand's motions. He slid his hands down to her waist and watched the way her head tilted slightly, turning just a bit, as if to look back at him, but he began pressing into her lower back and she straightened.

Jack kneaded the skin through her cotton top and then he stopped, shaking his head. "I can't do this."

"Huh?" She managed, turning just as he slipped his hands underneath her top and pressed the bare skin there that was warm and slightly sticky. Jack watched the way her fingers flexed as he rubbed into her lower back.

Smiling, Jack raised her shirt slightly as he made his way up her back and then back down again. Jack swallowed hard, biting his bottom lip as he pressed firmly up and down her back a second time. "This isn't healthy, Kate."

"What?" She asked him quietly, her voice caught in her throat.

"You're like a brick." Jack pulled his hands out from underneath her shirt. He straightened it over her jeans, looking away when his hands brushed her backside as he let them drop.

"What do you suggest, doctor Shephard?" It made him fluster, the way she laughed as she asked. He could feel his cheeks grow red taking in the teasing tone. Jack hated that she didn't look up at him. She'd been avoiding his eyes since their shouting match over the hatch. He was just concerned; she didn't understand. He wasn't about to let her go repelling herself into the hatch because Locke insisted she was the smallest and lightest.

He put his hands back down on her shoulders protectively and shrugged. "In a normal setting? A day at the spa?"

Kate smiled and glanced up and down the beach. He tried to read her expression, but she was so good at covering her emotions. Her eyes were still avoiding his and he clenched his jaw as she responded, "So what do you suggest for the not so normal setting we're in?"

Jack gripped her shoulders and pulled her back against his chest. It was impulsive; something Jack wasn't prone to doing. He preferred to let his brain think things through, but he was afraid. He wrapped his arms around her and waited to gauge her reaction. He felt her take in a sharp breath and he felt her back tense up. Her hands came up and wrapped around his forearms, but the grip loosened quickly and she let out her breath and she relaxed.

"What's wrong?" She asked him.

He wondered how she could read him so easily. Kate took a step back, into him, and he pressed his left cheek into her right temple. He was the leader. It was his job to make sure they were all safe. He had to protect her. Jack wondered when he had started to think of Kate as his own. When had he become a possessive man?

"Jack?" He heard her whisper and he held her tighter knowing he didn't have an answer for her concerns.

Finis