What would you do if you could hear the thoughts of those around you? Well, Jack's about to find that out. People's thoughts are in italics. The idea came to me after watching What Women Want.
Angel
Xxx

It was strange to admit, but he could hear into their heads. If you told him that in the morning, he wouldn't have noticed. Instead, the day had gotten progressively stranger until eventually he just accepted it, figuring that nothing else would get weirder if he went along with it. It had stared with Claire waking him up, saying that Aaron was sick, and he could hear her worrying even though her lips weren't moving. Then he could hear Charlie worrying about Claire and Aaron, then Sun thinking about what she would do that day, then Jin, even thought it was all in Korean, then Hurley complaining about the heat.

At first, Jack had used it when people were coming to him so that he knew what had really happened when they got that scratch out 'walking' and when people were dragged to him by other insisting that they were 'fine'. Now, the afternoon was in its highlights, with the sun shining brightly on a beautiful day, and he wanted to have some fun, even if he was sure that he would wake up in the morning and have dreamed everything. For once, he just wanted to relax, and let out the playful side of him that had been contained for most of their time on the island.

He walked down to the beach, and looked around for the person he wanted to have some fun with. He knew exactly who he was looking for. He didn't know how long he was going to be able to hear people's thoughts, and he wanted to be able to use that to his advantage by getting his girl finally.

Oh, happy day, here comes the Doc, looking for Freckles again…I swear they're getting it on in the jungle, she always looks a bit too happy when she comes back from a walk with him. Walk my ass.

Looking over, he spotted Sawyer looking at him over the top of his Watership Down book. All Jack was thinking about however was the fact that Kate looked happy when she came back from walking in the jungle with him when they collected fruit. He walked over towards Sawyer.

And now he's going to ask me if I've seen her.

"Sawyer!" He called as he got closer. "Have you seen Kate today?"

Damn straight I saw her. I saw her when she was taking herself a nice little bath in the sea this morning in just her underwear. At this thought, Jack resisted hitting Sawyer, "Sorry, doc, not seen her. Why, you lost her?" Would have thought she'd been following him around all day like a love-sick puppy.

"Just going into the jungle, wondered if she wanted to come along." He said innocently.

They're totally going at it. Against a tree. "She ain't around here." Sawyer told him, turning a page in his book. "Sure she isn't stalking you?" Maybe that was why she was with the Marshall. Kate Austen: notorious doctor stalker.

"Sawyer, grow up." Jack told him and walked away.

I'll grow up when the two of y'all admit that your crazy about each other

Thankfully, with his back turned, Sawyer couldn't see the embarrassed grin that covered Jack's face as he walked away. He saw Claire sitting over in the shade of a nearby tree, and went over to her.

"Claire, how's Aaron?" He asked, sitting down beside her.

"His temperature's still high, but he's sleeping at least." Thank god. I thought he'd never stop crying. If he carried on much longer I think I might have started crying. He heard her inside his head, and frowned.

"That's good." He said, noticing the baby laying contently in her arms, definitely looking less red and angry as he had done that morning.

"What do you thinks wrong with him?" Claire asked worriedly. I bet its something I've done. I'm a terrible mother. Bloody awful. No wonder he's always sick.

"It's probably just a bug, I've seen a few people with a cold recently." He told her, still thinking about what he had heard her thinking. He smiled at her. "You remind me of my Mom sometimes." He told her. "She worried a lot too."

"Did she need to?" Claire asked.

"Don't you always with kids. One day, I came home, and I'd been in a fight." He noticed Claire's shocked expression. "One of my friends was being beaten up, and I stepped in to help him. My dad went mad, but Mom fussed, and gave me that attention that I never got from my Dad, and I loved it."

"You did?" Maybe I'm not going overboard after all.

"Absolutely. Doesn't every boy love being smothered by his Mom?" Jack laughed, and Claire followed suit. "Deep down, we're all Momma's boys, especially this one." He said, nodding at Aaron.

"Well, he doesn't exactly have much choice." Claire told him. Thomas won't ever be here to be his father

"If worst comes to worst, and he grows up on this island, he's going to need all this love he's getting from you." He told her. "If you think about where we are, and the fact that we haven't got anything here to help us, it's probably hardest on you without things to help you with him."

"You've got no idea how much I'd like to bottle feed him at the moment." Claire laughed.

"That's why I think you're doing an amazing job." Jack told her.

Claire smiled softly. "You do?" A good job? Really?

"Yeah," Jack grinned. "Trust me, you're doing a fantastic job." She gave him a strange look. "Claire, I'm a doctor, if you should be doing anything differently, I'd be the first one to tell you."

And he hasn't said anything…I must be doing all right then.

Jack was glad that he was able to use this strange thing he had going on to help someone, but now, his need for fun had increased. "I don't suppose you've seen Kate at all?" He asked.

"Yeah." Claire nodded, "She took a walk along the beach about fifteen minutes ago." She told him, pointing in that direction.

"Thanks." He said, getting up on his feet. "I'll see you later." He said.

"Bye, Jack." Maybe she'll tell him what she told me.

That was the second time he had heard something that almost made him stop in his tracks. Why was everyone seeming to think that something was going on with him and Kate? Nothing was. Was it?

He spotted her down the beach, sinking as usual, and as he got closer to her, he stopped when he began to hear her thoughts. She hadn't noticed he was there yet.

Maybe Claire's right. Clearly we're not going anywhere for a while. Maybe I can be happy? What am I thinking? I can't do that! It would never work. As soon as I start to get comfortable then that's when we'll get rescued, and I'll have to leave again. I'll be arrested and I'll never see him again. It doesn't matter what I feel for him. He's a good person, he'll go back home to his family, back to his job, back to his wonderful life, and I'll go to prison. End of.

Was she really talking about him? And what exactly had she told Claire?

Claire's wrong. She has to be. I can't tell him, but I can't help but think about it whenever he's near me. We always have an amazing time doing the simplest things. Why can't I just have a normal relationship with someone for once? Can't I at least have that? But Jack would never want it. Not with me.

He stepped forward in the sand, knowing for sure now that she was talking about him. She did care for him. As he came to stand beside her in the sand, he saw that she had her eyes closed, and a worried expression over her face.

"If I didn't know any better, Kate, I'd say that you were worrying about something." He said, seeing her jump at the sound of his voice.

She opened her eyes, laughing at herself when she saw him standing there. "Jack! You scared me." She laughed. Fantastic, just what I need. Calm down, girl, nothing's going to happen, at least he doesn't know. It doesn't have to be awkward.

"Everything okay? He asked, "Usually you hear me coming a mile off?"

She shrugged. "Just got stuff on my mind." She said. I've got you on my mind, and I just can't get you out of it.

"Looks like pretty confusing stuff." He commented, if only to hear what was going through her mind.

You're a confusing man, Jack. "Yeah, it is kinda." She said awkwardly.

"Anything I can help with?"

Not in a way you'd want to "Not really, just something I have to figure out for myself." Of course, it would be easier if you could just kiss me like…Kate, stop thinking!

Jack resisted a chuckle at this, but simple nodded. "Well, if you've got a lot on your mind, how about an afternoon to take your mind off of it?" She looked at him, turning her head. Is he serious? Calm down, girl, it's not what you think. "What do you say? A get-away from all the stress around this place. It's driving me nuts." He smiled.

She gave him a smile. Maybe a stress-free afternoon is just what I need. "Sure." She said.

"Let's go." He said, and they walked away from the beach and into the jungle. They walked through the jungle in near silence for around thirty minutes because Jack turned to her, seeing a peaceful expression on her face. "So, how have things been other than your confusing stuff?" He asked her casually.

An absolute nightmare. Sawyer won't leave me alone - all he does is try a different chat up line every day. "Yeah, things are great." She smiled.

He smiled back, enjoying listening to the way that she controlled herself to make it seem that everything was alright. He wasn't happy about Sawyer, though. At least he had the reassurance that it was driving Kate mad, and not driving her close to dropping her guard with him. The last thing he wanted was to see Sawyer all over her and her responding to him.

"Haven't seen you around the caves recently." He added casually.

That's because whenever I see you I can barely control myself. "That's because I haven't needed to be there." She told him. "I've been lucky with my tree climbing - no injuries or sickness to report to the doctor with." Just a stupid, pathetic, love-sick fool.

He shook his head gently. "Kate, you don't need to be hurt or sick to come to the caves." He told her. "I miss seeing you." He admitted.

Well, it wouldn't kill you to come down and see me. "Maybe you should start coming down to the beach more often, not just when you need to top up your tan." She told him, blatantly flirting with him. I'd be more than happy to be the reason to trekked a mile every day. In fact, I'd be more than happy to be your reason full stop.

Jack smirked, wishing that he could tell her that she already was his reason. "I might take you up on that sometime." He flirted back, giving her a raised eyebrow and watching the gentle blush forming on her cheeks.

Oh my god, is he flirting with me? Kate, you're acting like a schoolgirl…what the heck, he's flirting back! "So what brings you away from the caves?"

"Something other than people wanting me to stitch up Papercuts." He laughed. "I've had enough of playing doctor for a day."

Shame…

That caught him off guard, and he stumbled a bit.

"Jack?" She asked, trying not to laugh as he picked himself up.

"I'm fine." He covered quickly, and turned to see her laughing away. "It was a…uh…tree root."

Clearly she didn't believe him, as she raised her eyebrows and stepped closer to him. "So, where are we going, Jack?" She asked him curiously. Seeing as we've been walking out here for half an hour and we're still looking at the same jungle we were before.

"Somewhere I found a few weeks ago." He revealed to her. "It's where I go to be alone." He grinned.

"Alone? Are you sure you wanna tell me where it is?" She checked. Kate, what are you doing? He's taking you somewhere to be alone…stop thinking about bad things and just relax for once.

"Well, considering that you've got just as much on your mind as I have, it would probably do you good to relax." He shrugged, and carried on walking.

She followed him for another ten minutes until they came to a clearing. Beyond that clearing was a large body of water with a waterfall. It reminded Kate of the waterfall she had found with Sawyer, but it wasn't this one. This one had clear water, not murky water that held decomposing bodies underneath it. Wildflowers were growing around the edge of the pool, in the thick grasses and between the rocks. It looked like something out of a painting, and Kate let out a gasp.

"Jack, this place is beautiful." She smiled, unable to stop taking the scene in around her. How did he find this place? No, that doesn't matter. It's gorgeous.

"I know." He nodded. "I figured that if I'm going to have a place to clear my head, I may as well pick a nice place…maybe you could clear your head here as well."

If I cleared my head here I'd end up taking you behind that waterfall and doing bad things with you. "Maybe." She smiled innocently, still looking at the water.

She got a wild smile, and then raced over to the edge of the water, taking off her shoes as she went. "What are you doing?" He called out after her.

What does it look like I'm doing? "Going for a swim." She said simply.

Jack watched in awe as her hands went to the zipper on her jeans. He swallowed, letting out an exhale as she lowered the jeans to the ground, revealing her skimpy underwear. He realised that he was staring, and that staring was rude, but he didn't care. He could see Kate undressing in front of him, and nothing else mattered. He had definitely made the right choice in choosing to have some fun today.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that staring was rude?"

He looked up and met Kate's eyes. He was totally checking me out!

"What are you waiting for? Come on." She said, and stepped down into the shallow water.

A little disappointed that she hadn't discarded her top as well, Jack wasted no time in following her order. Kate waded out further in to the water, and settled back as she turned, treading water. She saw Jack just kicking off his jeans, wading into the water already. His shirt was already gone, and she found herself staring at him in just his underwear.

Holy shit! I forgot how nice a chest he's got. It's so…natural. Jack had to smile, as she looked over and saw her eyes looking downwards and her eyebrows raised. Whoa…just….wow.

Jack dived into the water, if only to hide the smug smile that would have crossed his face otherwise. And she had mentally accused him of checking her out? When he surfaced, he saw that she had swum a little further out, and followed after her. The water was so clear that he could see her top now sticking to her wet body.

Hmm…whatever it is he does, it agrees with him. "Water's good." She said, oblivious to the fact that Jack could hear everything in her head and was thoroughly enjoying himself.

He remembered what he had heard her think earlier about bad things behind the waterfall, and smirked to himself. Should he tempt her? He definitely wanted that. He wanted her, all of her, and had done for a long time. Their kiss in the jungle was many weeks ago now, and he was ashamed to admit that he had forgotten the touch of her lips. He needed to replenish that memory, and wanted to make new memories with her as well.

He looked over in the direction of the waterfall, and she followed his gaze, looking back at him afterwards. "Let's check it out." He said, gesturing to it.

Okay, it's just a waterfall, ignore all the things that you want to do. Ignore them completely.

Kate swam after him, and they pulled themselves up onto the rocks. Several times, Jack found himself staring right at her behind when he pulled himself onto a higher rock. Forcing all his subconscious down, he controlled himself and they soon found an opening behind the waterfall.

They stepped into it, and immediately the lack of sunshine affected them, but that wasn't what caused Kate to shiver. What send ripples across her skin was the way that the light through the waterfall reflected off of Jack's skin in a pale blue light.

God, he's handsome.

Jack turned to her, and smiled before giving her a slight frown. "Are you shaking?" He asked her stepping close to her.

"No." She answered in reply.

He stood before her, seeing the Goosebumps on her shoulders. "You're shaking." He confirmed.

"I don't think so." She smirked, shaking her head.

"Are you cold?" He asked her, regardless of her answer.

"I don't think I am." She told him straight.

He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she shuddered again. God, how does he do that to me? "Then why are you shaking?" He asked her, enjoying the fact that he was bringing her to her knees so easily.

She let out a shaky laugh. "Must be happy." She shrugged. Or maybe its because you're standing so close to me, and you're touching me.

He smiled. "I know I'm happy." He told her, and she looked at him curiously, but didn't think a thing. "A lovely waterfall, beautiful scenery, and a beautiful woman for company, who could complain?"

Kate blushed, and he could see it even in the blue light that bathed them. He thinks I'm beautiful… "Stop making me blush." She chided him playfully.

"If I was going to make you blush, I could think of a lot better ways than that." He told her innocently.

He's not seriously suggesting….

"I could embarrass you in front of everyone, for example." He said.

Did her smile fade then? Or was it his imagination? All he knew is that for a moment, the corners of her lips seemed to drop as he steered away from their flirting. He had a sudden desire to fix that, and on impulse, leaned closer to her as she looked up at him with those wonderful eyes.

"Or I could just do this…" He said, and swiftly leaned downwards. The last thing he heard Kate's mind say before his lips pressed against hers was: Finally…and then as soon as their lips connected, her mind ceased to think.

His kiss was soft at first, and to his surprise, Kate wasn't the one to deepen it like last time. Instead, after a few short moments, he traced his tongue along her lips, begging entrance to her mouth. She parted her lips, allowing him to slip his tongue inside and duel with her own. Slowly at first, their mouths slid over each others, tasting and exploring to their hearts content. Kate's hands were wrapped around his neck, drawing her closer, and he used his arms to keep her upright when her knees failed to support her. She let out a gentle moan, more like a whimper, against his mouth, and their kiss intensified; her sound of appreciation spurring Jack on. Once he heard that sound, he wanted to hear it over and over again.

Kate moaned again, and pressed her body against his, the most intimate parts of their body flush against each other. This time, it was Jack's turn to groan, and she pulled away from the kiss to look into his eyes.

I can't believe this is really happening.

"Kate…" He asked, his voice husky, but not allowing her to move away from him. "Is this what you want?" He asked, not wanting to continue if she was going to regret anything.

She nodded. "More than anything." She confirmed. All I've wanted for a long time.

They smiled, and Jack stepped forwards, still supporting Kate in his arms as he returned his lips to hers. He moved them inch by inch backwards until Kate's back was against the cave wall. His hands travelled up her sides, and he realised that her wet t-shirt was still clinging to her. He broke the kiss only long enough to remove the top, and throw it carelessly to the ground. He took in the sight in the sight of her near-naked body and smiled to himself.

Somebody's happy…

Jack smirked at her thought, realising just how revved up he was. Realising that the harshness of the cave wall was probably going to hurt her back, he gently lowered her to the floor, leaning over her for a moment before returning to her lips again. For a long time, their hands roamed, and explored all of each others bodies in return for the gasps and moans of satisfaction. Jack had never been more pleased to be able to hear someone's thoughts.

Jesus Christ

Oh my God

How does he do this to me?

It wasn't long before Jack was barely aware of what was going on in Kate's head and what was coming out of her mouth. All he knew is that after their underwear was discarded, he used all of the thoughts in her head to make it the best she had ever had. She wasn't disappointed either.

By the time the pair got back to camp, the sun was just setting. They walked back in silence to the camp, and all Jack could hear was Kate muttering the words 'amazing' and 'brilliant' in her head, matching the dazed, yet peaceful smile on her lips. He kept his arm around her shoulders, holding on to her, but it didn't matter, because it was clear that she wasn't going to leave his side after the afternoon they had shared.

When they walked back to camp, his arm still slung around her shoulders, both of them smiling happily to themselves and each other, the rest of the castaways watched on in amazement. As Jack and Kate headed back to her tent for the night, in much need of some rest, although they doubted that they would get any, Jack smirked as he heard the thoughts of the castaways.

Oh…my….GOD

He's got his arm around her…she's got her hand in his back pocket?

Well, well, well, looks like the Doc and Freckles finally got it on.

Dude, someone got laid.

Aww….so cute!

Its about time they got it together.

Yes! Sawyer owes me twenty bucks!

They look so adorable together…like they were made for each other.

Perhaps good things could happen in this dangerous paradise they'd found.