Lost and its characters belong to JJ Abrams, Bad Robot and the Others. As a show of faith, Sawyer's given five minutes to speak to Kate while in captivity. (Inspired by spoilers I believe are absolutely false, but worked out so this story goes in tandem with a story I wrote before called "Choices".)

Lost – Indecision
By Mystic
August 24th 2006

He didn't like the games. At first he fought them, screamed and argued and called out for the others. Eventually he calmed, figuring he'd play into it. He answered the questions and he went along. It seemed ridiculous. They took his blood; they tested him with card tricks and inquiries. Sawyer even began to enjoy his room. Surrounded by barstools and empty liquor bottles.

But he'd gone back to being stubborn and they'd gone back to being frustrated. They'd get what they wanted, that's what Klugh assured him. She smiled, her hair styled now, brushed neatly into a bun at the back of her head. He nodded his head at her, watching the way she straightened her lab coat over her clothes – dark grey dress pants and a pink button up blouse – and left the room.

It was when they told him he'd get five minutes with her.

Kate.

It wasn't what he asked for, but it was what he wanted. And they knew it. The anger that bubbled inside of him because of that fact couldn't be contained and he smashed a fist into a wall, feeling the pain vibrate through his knuckles and up his arm. She entered the room not long later, her eyes dropping to the hand he cradled against his chest with concern on her face. Of course she thought they hurt him.

"Are you ok?" She asked quickly, her steps rushed towards him and she touched his elbow, trying to pry his arm out.

It was glowing red and it throbbed under her cool touch. But he shook his head, watching her scan his skin, following the trail of her fingers across the back of his hand. She looked up at him; her eyes bright green in the dim light – bar lights – and she shook her head. It was obvious she'd been crying, the dark circles under her eyes were puffy; her nose red.

"You alright?" He asked her, his voice thick with rage.

She picked up on it, her hands falling away from him as her head ducked down slightly. "I'm ok," she responded. "Have you heard from Jack?" Her head bobbed from side to side pathetically. "They won't talk to me about him."

Sawyer turned his back on her, walked towards the portion of bar in the corner of the room. "Oh, nevermind me then."

"I asked you how you were," she shot. "You side-stepped the question."

He could hear the frustration in her voice and he half-turned, his hand coming up to usher her towards a stool. "Can't offer you a drink. One of their games. Lots of bottles, no alcohol."

"Probably for the better," she uttered, grunting as she pulled herself into a stool, her hands folding on the slick countertop in front of her. "You get a bar; I get a barnyard. Jack's probably stuck in a cage."

"Lab rat," Sawyer chuckled. "Maybe they got him inside a giant test tube."

Kate managed a smile.

"Bet that's the first time you smiled in a while."

Her head rolled away from him and she eyed him. "How about you?"

"Oh no, I think this is all a ball of fun, Freckles." He laughed, fake, and she nodded slowly at him. "What'd they tell you about this?"

"Just that you get five minutes." She sighed. "So what did you do? I mean, YOU get five minutes."

Sawyer frowned, pressing his fist into his palm and he shrugged. "Dunno. Guess it's a show of good faith. They let me see you're alright, let me spend a couple minutes talkin' to you and then it's my move." He wanted to reach out, touch her hair, a mess over her shoulders like it always was. "How about you? You playin' into this game?"

"Nowhere to run," she whispered, then added, "Don't have much choice."

Sawyer watched the way she hesitated with her words. She didn't look at him now. Kate stared at her hands on the bar in front of her and her eyes came up to scan the wall of empty containers. "What are they holdin' over you?" He asked her curiously. Her head dropped, eyes back on her fingers as they fidgeted together. "What, Jack?"

Her body jerked away from him and she stared at him in frustration. "Stop being so jealous. You think Jack's the only person I care about?" She spat. "If I don't cooperate, they'll hurt you both."

There was a pause, his eyes meeting hers and watching them search his, bewildered, before he lowered his vision to the counter. "Checkmate," Sawyer said softly, his hand reaching out to take hers, watching her face struggle with letting him take hold of her. But she let him, her cold fingers wrapped in his warm grasp. "I'm sorry," he uttered.

"They keep asking me to make a choice. Pick you or Jack." She shook her head and didn't meet his eyes. "But I don't know what that choice means. What they'll do." She shrugged away from him, slipping off the stool and taking a few steps away. "It could mean something good, might mean they let you go. But it could mean they'd kill you. And which is it? The person I choose or the person I don't."

Sawyer waited, letting her put distance between them, knowing he didn't want her to. Time was running short and he hasn't held her the way he wanted to. Told her what he wanted to tell her. She put her left arm around her waist and bit the thumb of her right hand. This was their game with her. One of several, he figured. Her mind was working, even now, on the decision, and he wondered, how long before they gave her the answers that helped her decide.

Standing, he crossed the room to her as the door opened behind her. "Kate," he sighed her name as they ushered her out and slammed the door in his face. Had she even heard him? He wanted her to hear him say her name. Not call her Freckles, or Sheena, or some other stupid nickname, but HER name.

He went back to cooperating. To answering the questions and going through the routine. He found liquor in his room when he returned one night, a welcome surprise and he gulped it down eagerly, feeling it burn his throat. It made him groggy and he slept better than he'd slept in days.

But when he woke, disoriented, the sound of crickets chirping in his ear, the smell of wet grass and dirt invading his nostrils, he shook his head. He thought it was a joke, he said it was a joke, and Henry laughed somewhere not too far from him. His eyes opened, his vision blurred, but he could make out the man's figure several steps away. Tom was with him, walking away as Henry turned back to kneel beside him.

Henry grinned, putting his hands on Sawyer's shoulders as he tried to get up. "You should rest. You have a long walk ahead of you." He pointed to a stream a few feet away. "Follow the stream, it'll grow into a small river and then become a waterfall you might find familiar. I'm sure you can find your way back from there."

"What?" Sawyer managed. "Where's Jack? Kate?"

"Oh, they're staying with us."

"What'd, I get the pink slip?" Sawyer slurred. "What happened?" He added, his head dropping back onto the soft ground, a dull pain starting between his eyes.

"She chose you."

Finis