The Key to Everything
Rating: T for language and sexual situations.
Summary: What if Kate had told Sawyer why she wanted the briefcase? Takes place during "Whatever the Case May Be", in season one. AU from there. My first Lost fic, so please r/r!
"Last chance."
Sawyer is hiding a grin as he says this. Damn him, acting so reasonable. He has to know that what he wants Kate to reveal is going to be, well, revealing. She doesn't want to tell him about Tom and how she got him killed. How what's in the case is the only reminder she has of him. Well, could have. If she could just get the case out of Sawyer's hands.
It's stupid. She's more or less with Jack now, even though Sawyer has made his feelings for her extremely obvious. Had Kate discovered the case with him, he would have let her take it, no questions asked. Unfortunately, she had to find it with Sawyer, and she had to give into her curiosity and ask him to retrieve it from the water plants.
Stupid. Idiotic. She knew where the waterfall was. Should have stayed silent, kept swimming, and then told Jack that night. Say that they found some items with the dead bodies that might be useful. That the marshal on the plane was carrying the case, so it probably contained at least one gun.
In case, you know, he needed to use it on her. The fugitive.
Instead, Sawyer had it. It was only a matter of time before he figured out how to break it open. Even without the key, there had to be ways on the island. Sure, throwing it off a cliff hadn't worked, but there were higher cliffs. Maybe if they sharpened enough sticks and threw the case down onto that…
Maybe one of Locke's knives would do the trick. Or, maybe Sawyer had something at camp that he could use to open the case, and was just trying these other methods to get at Kate.
The idea that Sawyer might have a way to get inside the case in his tent was enough to make Kate want to fight him for it.
Except, there were no saying that Sawyer had a way of opening the case. Kate, on the other hand, knew exactly where the key was hidden. Or, more accurately, buried. Sawyer had no qualms about stealing from the dead. He might make a snarky comment about Kate wanting to do the same, but it wasn't like digging up a dead man to find a key would come as a shock to Sawyer's mentality.
He is starting to walk off, and Kate feels her heart begin to throb as she made her decision. She could steal the plane. It's so small that Sawyer wouldn't even notice her taking it. He'd be too interested in the guns. And whatever else was in there. He wouldn't care about a toy. And even if he did, would he claim ownership of it? Yes, he hoarded medicine, books, and just about anything he could find, but a small airplane had no use to anyone.
"Wait." Her voice is shaky, and she hates this.
Sawyer, who had begun walking during her musings, stops short. He turns around to face her, clearly surprised.
"So you wanna play nice?" he asks skeptically. She wouldn't have noticed his suspicion except his eyebrows betrayed him. They always shoot up when he didn't fully believe someone.
Which was a lot.
"I know where the key is," Kate replies by way of explanation. "So unless you want to keep throwing that thing off of rocks…"
His eyes shoot up again. "How…?"
"It belonged to the marshal, who was seated next to me."
She waits a minute for this to sink in. Of course, if Sawyer remembers where the marshal was buried, then she has just given him all the information he needs.
Sawyer sighs. "You still won't tell me why you want it?"
Kate shrugs. "What do you think is in it? I'm guessing guns, and we sure could use those around camp."
"And you tried to steal it before instead of saying this…why?"
Kate doesn't answer.
"Fine, it's yours. On two conditions," he adds.
"And those are?"
"We open it together, and I get half of whatever's in it."
Kate laughs despite herself. "I think there would be a riot if word got out that you had guns."
"Who's to see there are any guns in there? For all we know, it's paperwork about an assignment and, maybe, his lunch."
Kate tried another approach. "Jack would kill you."
"Hell, I'm not scared of your boyfriend, Freckles!"
"He's not my boyfriend," Kate snaps, aware at how high school the remark sounds.
"Right. Sure." Sawyer rolls his eyes. "My apologies."
Kate glares at him. "We'll see what's in it and then divide the loot. Since I discovered it and know where the key is, which I'm guessing you don't since you want my help, I get some say over ownership."
Sawyer scoffs but nods. "All right, Freckles. We got ourselves a deal."
She extends a hand. "Give me the case."
"No way!" Sawyer laughs. "How do I know you won't just go off and hide it?"
"You really think I'd do that?" Kate asks, knowing Sawyer won't buy it. She doesn't buy it.
"You play dirty," Sawyer retorts. "So, yeah, you would. It stays with me until it's opened. Unless," he adds, grinning slyly, "you want to hold hands and carry it with me. 'Course, then we might get a little distracted with other activities."
"You're sick."
Sawyer just laughs. "You kissed me once already. You think doing more wouldn't be fun?"
Kate's face turns hard. "That was a dirty trick. I had actually thought you were okay until you made us believe you had Shannon's medicine."
Sawyer stops walking. "Hey, did any one of you ask? No, just assume that Sawyer took the meds. Well, let me tell you something, Freckles. When you assume…"
"Yeah, I know the expression. Still not buying it. That went beyond being a jerk, and you know it."
Sawyer doesn't say anything, partly because he knows it's true, but mostly because Kate looks unbelievably cute when she's mad and he wants to enjoy the view for a little.
"Let's go back and get some supplies."
Sawyer nods. Once they reach the camp, they receive some odd looks as Kate grabs her bag and two makeshift shovels, but she ignores them. Jack's not there. He's probably helping some hypochondriac with a headache who's convinced it's a brain tumor.
They walk in silence for awhile, and finally Kate speaks up.
"Okay, we're here. Start digging."
"You're not gonna help, Freckles?"
She exhales loudly, getting on her knees. Her jeans are going to be disgusting by the time they're finished. Not to mention her arms. She'll need to go for another swim just to get out half of the dirt. Once again, she misses the convenience of having a washing machine. Even of having soap.
They dig for awhile in silence. They've almost reached the body when Kate's stomach starts to growl. She ignores it, but Sawyer snickers.
"Hungry, freckles?"
Kate wipes her dirt encrusted hands on her shirt. "I've got food." In response to Sawyer's look of surprise, she explains. "I told you, I was out looking for fruit before you decided to stalk me."
She takes out an apple and begins to munch on it. Sawyer continues to dig, but soon Kate hears his stomach growling.
Before she can laugh, he asks, "Got any more of those?"
Kate looks up from collecting the seeds from the core—it can't hurt to try and plant them, even if it will take several years from them to produce fruit—and nods.
"Well, can I have it? I'm about starving here, and you're on your lunch break." His voice drips with sarcasm, but it has been several hours since they've had breakfast.
She tosses the seeds to one hand, reaching in her bag with the free one to remove a second apple. Sawyer takes it eagerly, more so than he normally would, and begins to chomp on it. He doesn't even wipe his hands off on his jeans, so dirt covers the apple as he eats. Kate, who is not exactly the cleanest person in the world, makes a face at this.
"You're eating dirt."
Sawyer laughs. "I read somewhere that humans swallow a certain amount of dirt every year."
Kate doesn't reply, but continues to dig. Just a few more inches and they'll have the body. And, hopefully, the key.
Sawyer interrupts her reverie. "Got any more?"
Kate sighs, not completely due to her thoughts being disturbed. "Yes."
"Well, can I have another piece of fruit?" he asks with exaggerated patience. "Maybe you're not hungry, but I ain't a freakin' bunny rabbit."
It isn't that she minds that Sawyer never helps out around camp while she, Jack, and a few other people do most of the heavy labor. Nor that Sawyer's asking her instead of just taking it, which is more like his character. She can't place it.
Wordlessly, she takes another apple from the bag and hands it to Sawyer.
"Thanks, Sassafras," he says as he devours the piece of fruit.
"Give me the core when you're done. We can plant the seeds," Kate commands, not looking at him as she resumes her digging. She can almost see an arm, so the pockets can't be far off. Hopefully the key is still there, and hadn't fallen out with all of the commotion on the plane.
Sawyer grunts noncommittally. A few minutes later, he resumes digging, but not before placing the core aside.
It's starting to get dark, and even with the progress they've made, Kate knows there's no point in continuing until the following day. Even with a fire, they won't be able to distinguish the key from the dirt.
Still, it's stupid to try and sleep without a fire. Kate looks around for wood for a few minutes, returns to the grave site, and lights a match.
The temperature feels like it dropped twenty degrees, but Kate tries to ignore it. She clenches her teeth together so that Sawyer can't see them chattering. Maybe he's doing the same thing.
She notices that he's also been looking for wood. His pile isn't as large as hers, but it's something. She stretches out on the grass about five feet from the fire. She puts her face towards the flames and smiles, involuntarily, as it starts to warm up.
They should have brought blankets, but the project took a lot longer than either of them had expected. Sawyer's lying down now, next to Kate. They're maybe one foot apart. Well, if he thinks she's going to give him that, he's mistaken. She rolls over on her side away from him, and he snickers.
She wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night. Sawyer's putting more logs on the fire. He's looking at her with something almost resembling fondness.
"Hey, Freckles," he says as he piles the last log on the flames. "You warm enough?"
Kate doesn't answer, but when Sawyer goes to lie down next to her, closer this time, she doesn't turn away. His arm falls over her head and even though she shrugs it off, she finds that she's moved closer to him. They're not cuddling, but her head is nestled around his arm. When he pulls some hair out of her face, Kate doesn't turn away. Of course, she's half asleep by then.
They must have moved closer during the night, though, because when Kate wakes up she finds that Sawyer's arms are wrapped around her neck and she's using the edge of his stomach as a pillow. The realization almost makes her jump out of his grip, but the island is still cold at this hour and the position isn't horribly uncomfortable.
Sawyer does wake up before long, and Kate tries to extract her upper half from his arms before he can figure out what happened.
Not that it does much good.
"Sleep well, Freckles?" he asks after stretching. "Was I warm enough for you?"
She flushes and doesn't answer. She concentrates on the fire or, to be more accurate, the pile of burnt logs. She wipes her hands on her jeans and searches her bag for more fruit. This morning, she's starving. She knows there were five apples when they started, and she's hungry enough to eat the entire two remaining. Cores and all. She finds one but can't find the second.
"Yeah, I ate it last night," Sawyer explains when she glances at him. "Count it as breakfast."
Kate tries not to let her frustration show. After devouring the last apple, she's still hungry, but there's no fruit around here. Best to just keep digging, find the key, and then return to camp. There, she'll look for food and spend at least an hour trying to get the grime off. She's never felt this dirty before.
They find the key in under an hour—or rather, Sawyer does—and Sawyer unlocks the briefcase. There are, as Kate had predicted, guns and ammunition inside. Also cash, which Sawyer grabs eagerly. Realizing that it's useless on the island, Kate lets this go. She does, however, spot the white envelope with the words "Personal Effects" scrawled on the front. She takes his before Sawyer can claim it, hands shaking.
"What's in there?" Sawyer asks as Kate's about to pocket it.
"I don't know. But you took the cash, so this is mine."
"That ain't fair, Freckles. We don't even know what's inside."
Kate opens the envelope and, sure enough, finds Tom's plane. Sawyer, if anything, looks disappointed.
"Keep it," he says. "Piece of junk." He glances at the guns and ammo. "I guess you want two of 'em?"
Kate stands up. "I think we should give them to Jack for safe keeping."
Sawyer rolls his eyes. "Tell you what. You can give yours to Jack. I'm keeping mine."
"He'll know you have them."
"Yeah? What's the doc gonna do?" Sawyer almost sneered.
"Your choice."
Sawyer places the guns back in the case and shuts it. "Why'd you want the plane?"
Kate doesn't say anything.
"That's why you wanted the case, ain't it? You didn't care about the guns."
Kate stays silent, but knows that the pieces suddenly fit together in Sawyer's head.
"You knew him, didn't you? Were you the fugitive?"
She faces Sawyer, face hardened. "You better not say anything to anyone."
Sawyer puts his hands up. "All right, all right!"
Kate realizes she's breathing hard. "I mean it, Sawyer."
"I won't say a thing to anyone." Sawyer looks sincere, almost concerned. "But the airplane?"
"It's personal, okay?" Kate almost snaps. "I don't owe you an explanation."
Sawyer rolls his eyes. "Someone's cranky today. Look, Kate…" She turns away and he reaches out to put an arm around her shoulder. "I won't tell, okay? Mum's the word. Not that anyone would believe me." He paused. "Does anyone know?"
"Just Jack."
"What did you do?"
Kate sighed. "I helped get my mom out of a bad situation. I did what I had to."
"Kate…"
"Forget it, okay."
It's not a request.
Sawyer tries not to wince. Even without knowing the whole story, he's on Kate's side.
"All right, Freckles." Before he loses his nerve, Sawyer wraps an arm around Kate's shoulder.
At first, it seems like she's going to pull away. Maybe even hit him. But she doesn't. She even—and maybe this is just Sawyer's imagination—leans into the hug.
They stay like that for a few minutes. Awkwardly, Sawyer pulls his other arm around Kate's back. It's a definite hug now. If anyone at camp saw them, he'd never live it down.
To hell with the rest of them.
Sawyer's not sure why he does this. Maybe it's because Kate seems relaxed, wrapped in his arms. Maybe he has some kind of a death wish.
He kisses her.