The wheel on the drink cart was coming loose. Passengers winced as it rolled by them, pretending not be affected by the high pitch screech that interrupted them from their sleep. In their defense it had been several hours before any of them had felt solid ground beneath their feet, and for many, it would never happen again. By the time the drink cart rolled up to seat 21A many passengers wanted to send it flying out the exit door, but not the man in black who was handed a scotch on the rocks. He took it from the flight attendant and smiled, showing a row of white teeth.

"Thanks, I needed this." The man said, tipping the glass to the side to hear the satisfying clink of the ice and then, down the hatch it went. As he placed it on his tray he glanced over to the woman sitting across the row from him, who hadn't stopped staring at him the whole flight.

"M'am? Would you like something from the cart?" The flight attendant asked the lady, but she was too busy staring at the man in black. She couldn't help but notice how his tie was coming loose from around his neck, and she couldn't help it but, she pictured herself undoing it in another time and place, so far in her past it felt like a dream.

"M'am?"

"Oh," Kate snapped out of it, her eyes focusing in on the seat where Jack had been moments before but was seamlessly gone in an instant. "Sorry, no I'm okay."

The flight attendant rolled her cart on to torture more passengers before she would make her next stop. Kate sighed and shifted her weight in the seat, tugging at her jean jacket she had recently began to regret wearing. Everyone looked cozy, comfortable, even, tucked into their airline provided blanket and their heads resting on the cheap, polyester seat pillows. A child's cry interrupted Kate from her thoughts and she took a sharp breath in when she saw those cries came from a baby, swaddled in blue fabric who was being held by a young mother, blue eyed and bleach blonde.

"No." Kate whispered to herself, closing her eyes and then opening them again; young Aaron and Claire had vanished. Looking for any sort of escape from sitting in her cramped airline seat, she looked back to the lavatory which, to her dismay, still read 'occupied'.

"Waiting on somebody, freckles?"

A knot tied in Kate's stomach and tightened, threatening to shut down her system all together. But, it wouldn't be so bad, she thought, to suddenly drop down onto the floor, she wouldn't have to endure the rest of the flight conscious. Sawyer stood above her, leaning on the seat in front, one hand in the pocket of his faded jeans. The sunlight that shone through the window warmed his golden yellow hair, appearing to form some sort of halo. Kate chuckled.

"Always." She smiled, half gesturing to the empty seat that held Jack Shepard moments before.

"May I have a seat?"

The seat next to Kate was occupied but, that person had gotten up and left momentarily leaving only a cup of water on the drink tray and a few crumbs on the blue fabric seat. Kate could tell Sawyer was dying to get into that seat, ask her questions she herself didn't quite know the answers to. She owed him a few explanations and a few apologies for how she had treated him over the years, but now was not the time.

"You know I'm actually-"

The ding of the seat belt sign interrupted her.

"Good afternoon everyone," the captain spoke over the loudspeaker. "We're experiencing some slight turbulence so if you could go ahead and fasten your seat belts it would be much appreciated. Once again, we are on schedule and in a quick three hours we will begin our decent into Bangkok."

Sawyer smiled meekly and backed away, returning to his seat just a little ways up the aisle. Kate watched as he buckled himself into the seat with ease, and flipped open a magazine he had been reading. Just to make sure, Kate shut her eyes tight one last time, but to her dismay, he was still there when she opened them.

The plane dipped down sharply, erupting a gasp from every passenger that was awake to feel it. The 747 wasn't at its normal capacity, and it certainly showed in the amount of vacant seats sporadically situated in the fuselage. Kate found her nails digging into the seat handle, her mind flashing back to the previous two plane crashes she had been involved in; not counting the one that crashed upon landing after returning from the Island the second time around.

But two of those... two of those had been with the one person she couldn't let go of.

The turbulence of the plane became worse. Kate looked around and saw an elderly woman praying, a few people crying and, Sawyer, casually reading his magazine, flipping through the pages to look at all the pictures. The plane dipped down again and then rapidly came up, making those who hadn't listened to the seat belt sign jump up in their seats and some, even fall to the floor. The squeaky wheel of the drink cart began to roll forwards and before the flight attendant could lean forward and grab it, the cart was sent cascading down the aisle way and towards the front of plane, spilling sticky beverages along a few unlucky patrons. When it hit the wall, that's when Kate realized they were in trouble.

She quickly glanced to check on her seat buddy, but, they still hadn't returned from their walk to stretch their legs. Still clinging to her seat, Kate looked back to see the lavatory sign was still on; perhaps they had gone to the bathroom and were wedged in between the walls, holding their balance and hoping for the best. Before Kate could get up and check on her seatmate, the plane dropped down once again and this time, there was no stopping it. Screams erupted from all ends of the plane, some cursing and some sobbing. Luggage began to fall from the overhead compartments, knocking some people upside the head and the heavier suitcases narrowly missing others.

"It's okay, it's going to be okay!" Kate yelled to no one, frantically searching for the one person she wanted to comfort the most, but once again, found they weren't there.

Everyone seems to leave me.

Kate thought to herself, one of the last thoughts she would have before hearing the round of metal tearing and air whooshing past her head and in through her ears. The smell of blood filled the air and in an instant, most of the screaming stopped. She closed her eyes, fearing for the worst but still, hoping for the best.

"Kate!" Sawyer shouted from in front of her. "Kate!" His voice sounded strained, as if he was using all of his willpower just to scream her name.

Another appalling sound could be heard from behind her, and Kate's heart flipped and flopped; the plane had surely been separated into pieces, and if anyone would wake from this disaster they would inevitably find themselves miles and miles apart. Kate still refused to open her eyes.

"Jack!" she found herself shouting. "Are you there?"

The wind answered her call, beckoning her forwards by uprooting her seat from the floor and sending her to what Kate thought was a death well earned. But, little did she know that was not what was going to be waiting for her when she opened her eyes.

"Jack!" She called again, and then after, something else that no one could hear and would be lost in the ears of the storm. Something hard hit her in the back and shooting pain began to crawl up her shoulder blade and into her neck, creeping slowly until it was too much to bare alone. She clawed for something, for someone, to hang onto. She felt her body hit down on something rough and then, water began to seep into her clothing and pull down her hair in a strong current. The salty liquid burned her nostrils and sparked a fire in her lungs and as she tried to scream, it chocked her from being able to.

Alone again.

She thought before darkness embraced her in a rugged hold and then, slowly let her go until she felt as if she was dancing underneath a starry sky.