Disclaimer: Lost is owned by ABC Television and was created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof. I don't own it but I love it.
"You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it's better to listen to what it has to say." - Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist
Kate and Jack trudged through the dense part of the jungle. They both were sweating profusely in shirts and jeans and were carrying backpacks and bags full of fresh water for the survivors on the beach. Water had run out so there was a dire need to get back quickly. Charlie and Locke would bring their bags later.
Kate was still mildly irritated with Charlie for his rude comment to her. Jack and Kate left the large, connected caves that had the fresh water supply. She was glad he stayed behind with Locke to look for medications for Jack's make-shift infirmary. Charlie was on her bad side for now.
Earlier, Charlie didn't listen to Locke when they tried to cover the beehive he stood on. All he had to do was hold still a few more seconds. They almost had it covered when he panicked, stomped and cracked the ground hive, launching the swarm of bees that began to attack and chase Jack, Kate, Locke and Charlie. Jack and Kate made it to the caves first, shirtless by then. Their tops were crawling with bees. Her t-shirt was missing from when she tossed it.
Charlie found it. He handed it to her several minutes later looking down. When she tried to explain it was full of bees, he said "I'd have thought C's actually," referring to her bra size. She glared at him, disgusted. He looked down trying not to smile while pretending to be contrite.
Yeah, keep grinning, she had thought. She was tempted to punch him, but held back.
What made it worse for her was that the crass comment had singled her out, partially dressed, in a cave with two other men she had been working with. She was one of the leaders of the survivors. A small group made decisions and did things that kept everybody alive and she was the only female member.
She put her shirt on quickly and took a breath. Ignoring Charlie would be better while she mentally cooled off. It wasn't worth her time. She didn't see the look Jack gave him but heard a short laugh, the kind one would give an idiot, and turned to see him shake his head and then look at those damn, gummy bodies again.
Kate's good mood was restored outside despite the heat. She and Jack had a long walk alone now, something she enjoyed. She liked time alone with him, even when out in the open where others could see them. She could feel the perspiration running down her back, her chest, down the back of her legs in her jeans, everywhere.
She wiped some beaded sweat off of her brow and felt a few curls brush her arm. Her hair was down but pulled back and drenched. What she wouldn't give to strip to her underwear and swim in the cove far from camp, even though the water was warm.
Both of them were breathing hard from the load and pace. Two large trees were ahead to the right of the path. Kate stopped at the farther one, taking off the large, blue duffel bag to set down so she could fix her shoe laces. She bent over to retie her hiking boot.
The smallest of breezes ran over her lower back as the backpack weight shifted forward from her position. It dragged her t-shirt up to her waistline.
She felt the weight of eyes staring at her bottom and exposed back. She knew the feeling well. It was a sixth sense she developed years ago and she was never wrong. "You checking me out?" Kate glanced back playfully and asked him. Her tone didn't discourage it.
Jack continued to stare at her backside and bottom, his eyes transfixed. It took a few seconds for her words to register with him. They had been flirting that morning, both looking at each other during the banter, bodies close while she fixed his backpack before the hike to the caves.
He had glanced down her gaping shirt more than once, not looking away, as she had bent over him to untangle his bag. The chemistry was palatable.
She had noticed the trail gooseflesh left behind on his muscular shoulder when she grazed the tattoo she had been questioning him about. It was hot outside, even then, too hot for goosebumps.
Why didn't he stop listening to that big brain of his and listen to his own body?
"What?" Jack was leaning against the tree behind her hard, still a little short of breath despite his strength and endurance on hikes.
Kate smiled, still catching her breath. "No harm in it." He was still staring at her bottom. Listen, don't think, Jack, she willed.
"Trust me, if I was checking you out, you'd know it." Jack looked away when he started talking and laughed disingenuously. He shook his head once while using his hands to gesture in the corniest manner, using the hand gun gesture pointing at her when he said 'you'd know it.' It was so fake.
Kate could call a bluff and this was the worst one she had seen in a while. This was not how he acted normally, or ever.
If he really wasn't looking, his response would have been simpler with no gestures. She could see the flush in his face and his breathing had not slowed down. He wasn't that out of shape. She was ready to call him on his b.s.
"Yeah, so then what were you thinking? Right now?" She stood and turned to face him. She gave him an inviting smile, one that she saved only for Jack.
Jack returned it, smiling back softly, then his eyes widened. She was looking into his brown eyes carefully. They beautifully reflected some of the greenery around them. Hesitation and slight fear flashed for only a moment in them before he buried it. She had sensed before that some woman must have really burned him.
She then saw that behind his eyes the gears were beginning to move in his brain as he verbally began to backpedal. "Well I sure as hell wasn't thinking that." The words were empty, not credible, with no emotion behind them. It sounded like he was stalling, grasping for a response.
She had him on the line and wanted an answer, a real one. "Don't stop to think. Just tell me." She wasn't going to cut him loose, yet. They had been doing the same dance for days with the tempo slowly increasing between them.
She tried to slow her breathing down from exertion but he was a site to behold. He was sweaty, just like her, but had a faded, maroon top with the sleeves taken off. His tan, muscular arms, biceps and that damn tattoo were showing as he stood in those jeans that fit him too perfectly. He was just a few steps away.
She saw the lightbulb turn on over his head as his face grew serious and demeanor changed completely.
Uh oh. Here we go, she thought. She knew what was coming next.
"I was thinking that if we were living at the caves we could build a dam around that spring so that everybody could have fresh water and we could get the infirmary off the beach. You think it's a bad idea?"
So predictable. She looked down, disappointed as soon as he started talking. He rattled off his idea too fast, another non-Jack trait showing he was covering his tracks, retreating. He was more relaxed when talking about it before at the caves. She had discovered his "tells" for when he was lying or deflecting. That was only one of them.
She looked over at him, pushed off of the tree she had been leaning on to rest. She picked up the heavy duffel bag and put the strap cross-ways over her opposite shoulder so she could balance the weight on her hip. "No, no. That makes sense." Her tone, if he was paying attention, was to placate him, like she might a child.
She looked forward and settled the strap pad on her thin collar bone and pulled her hair out the strap from under it so it wouldn't be pulled. She stopped making eye contact with him.
He stood, ready to go. This time he actually listened to her tone. "But?" He sounded concerned. He wanted to make sure she understood, agreed with his idea about becoming a cave dweller.
"No 'but'." Kate said. She smirked inside at the double entendre. Not today I guess.
Jack started walking with his long stride. He was still talking, wading through plants waist high. She was already turned off by the living in the caves idea when it first came up for personal reasons.
He was so obsessed, he didn't pick up on it or ask her why. Normally he was sensitive and picked up on things, but not when he was on a roll apparently.
He kept talking. "Good, because a lot of people are still hoping a rescue boat is going to show up. They're not thinking about their own safety. We're going to have a lot of convincing to do."
She started walking, following him without rushing. It didn't change her growing feelings for him. It amused her instead. "We? You still haven't convinced me."
And you still haven't convinced me you weren't checking me out, Jack, she added silently. And, you lied to me.
Her spoken words caused him to pause and he turned around to look at her with surprise and disbelief. He must have thought during his blind rant in the caves and here he made her a believer.
Guess again, Jack Shephard, she thought. She was no lemming.
He might have done a better job convincing her to think about it by pinning her body up against the tree, kissing her with the pent-up passion brewing between them, making her want to be with him, even in a place she didn't want to be. Instead, he lied, then followed it with the useless words he spent on her.
If he had listened to their bodies and strengthened their connection, she might have trusted him enough to tell him why she didn't want to do it. The roots went deep.
Instead, he mentally ran and jumped full speed into a campaign she wouldn't support.
He was still talking about the caves.
She walked and didn't have much else to say.
She daydreamed about swimming.
A moonlight skinny dipping session with the man ahead of her would be ideal, if he would stop going on about those damn caves.