Hey! I finally figured out how to do this! Ok, so I was writing this story about a year and a half ago on Lost-forum but things happened and I wasn't able to continue it until now. Of course I've changed things up a bit but not too much... I found this site and I thought I would give it a go on here and see if people like it. So yeah, I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Lost but the people that do are sooo Awesome!

Rated T for violence mainly.

Chapter 1: Confessions

Jack's arm dropped to his side with Naomi's radio/communication device still in his hand. He looked around at all the excited and smiling faces of his fellow survivors, jumping up and down and laughing.

Is this real? Jack watched as Sun and Rose hugged each other, as Claire kissed baby Aaron and whispered something in his ear, as Steve high-fived another one of the happy castaways. Or is this just another dream, like so many other ones I've had while on this island? After over 90 days of running from "monsters" made of smoke, living in an underground hatch with a button that had to be pressed every 108 minutes, then being captured by the creepy Others and forced to do surgery on their leader. Jack was finally going back to the real world. Finally going home.

Home. Jack had almost forgotten where his home was, his real home, his first home. For so long now they had all referred to this island, the beach, as home.
Jack glanced over at the dead body of Naomi. What had gotten into Locke? Where is he now? He walked over to the body and knelt down beside it, "Thank you for your help." He said. He grabbed his pack from off of his back and opened it up. He had a couple extra shirts placed in there and the walkie talkie he had taken from Ben. He took one of the shirts out and placed it over Naomi's head and wound. No one wanted to see that, especially not right now.

Will I ever see these people again? Jack stood back up and glanced over to where Kate was hugging a tearful Sun in her arms. Will I ever see Kate again? Kate caught him staring at her and smiled back at him.

Just a few hours ago Jack had confessed his true feelings for Kate. Does she love me back? Or does her heart truly belong to Sawyer instead? He couldn't tell. The way she looked at him sometimes, the way she smiled in Jack's presence, the way she had kissed him… He was sure she loved him. But then why had she chosen Sawyer?
Jack broke away from her gaze and turned away. He couldn't stand the thought of those two together anymore. The sight of them together… It repulsed him.
Will they leave the island together?

Jack couldn't stand the thought of losing Kate anymore. He needed some time to himself. Some time to gather his thoughts.

Kate watched as Jack turned from her and walked away with a clouded expression over his face. What's gotten into him? Even as she thought those words she knew it was because of her. Was he thinking the same thing she was?

Would she ever see Jack Shepherd again? The heroic doctor who had saved her life so many times; the man who had won her heart the first time they'd met, but he didn't know it. She couldn't bear the thought of never seeing him again. She hated to admit it but she needed him in her life.

"Kate? Did you hear me?" Sun's voice broke through her thoughts as Kate brought her eyes away from Jack's body disappearing behind the tall trees of the jungle.

"What?"

"I was wondering if Jack is going to let the others on the beach know that we've made contact. He still has the walkie talkie that he took from Ben. I would really love to share this excitement with my husband."

"I'll go find out for you." Kate said and headed in the direction Jack had gone. She was not only going to talk to him for Sun, but also for herself. It was about time she told him how she really felt.

"And, Kate," Sun called, "You'll be able to know if Sawyer is all right too."
Kate ignored that last comment from her friend as she kept walking. She could really care less right now about James Ford.

Kate was about to go into a jog when she was stopped by Claire.

"Kate, can you believe this is happening?" Claire smiled as she held a sleeping Aaron in her arms.

"It's like a dream." Kate tried to smile. She was going to lose him.

"Do you think Charlie really did it? Do you think it was really him who got the radio to work?"

"I'm not sure." Jack, where did you go?

"I just hope he gets back safe and before the rescue gets here."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." What if I can't find him?

"It's going to be a little weird though…Being back home and all."

"Huh?" Kate hadn't heard a thing Claire was saying. She was too busy thinking about what she would say to Jack when and if she caught up to him.

"Are you listening to me, Kate?" Claire asked, her head cocked to one side in confusion.

"I'm sorry. My mind is kind of jumping all over the place right now. I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed from all the excitement."

"Oh, well I understand."

"I think I need some time to adjust to all this. I promise we can talk later though." Kate smiled and hugged the small Australian women, trying not to disturb the sleeping baby in the process.

"Just think, soon we'll finally be rid of this horrible place." Claire said.

"Yeah." Just think.

Kate hurried towards the trees and disappeared behind them.

As soon as Kate emerged through the shrubbery, she heard running water ahead and decided to proceed towards it. Immediately Kate saw Jack crouched over a small stream. His shirt was off and he was soaking it in the water. She could see the scar she had stitched up on him the first night of the crash. It was healing quite well. The shirt in his hands had been covered in sweat and blood, Ben's blood. She watched as he twisted the shirt until it was only damp, then he placed it on a rock beside him and pulled out a clean shirt from his bag.

Kate stood behind a tree, not sure whether she should go to him or turn back. She remembered a time when she had caught Jack watching her through the trees while she collected seeds for Sun's garden. It hadn't bothered her. She actually liked the feeling of him being close by. It was reassuring.

Jack pulled the clean shirt over his head and turned around. He knew Kate was there. He knew she would follow him. She never did get the hint when he didn't want her too. Maybe I do want her here this time though…

"Kate, you can come out." Jack called.

He watched as she slowly stepped out from behind the tree.

She brushed a strand of wavy brown hair from her face and looked at him sheepishly, "You knew I was there." She took a step toward him then stopped.

Jack nodded; "You don't need to spy on me." He smiled.

"Now I'm the spy?" She smirked, feeling a little more at ease once he had smiled and joked around with her.

"We're even now." He chuckled.

There was an awkward silence that followed as Jack walked over to his damp shirt that he had left on a rock and picked it up. He strolled over to a fallen log near the bank and sat down. Kate sat down beside him and looked down at the water instead of at him.

"It's weird," Jack broke the silence that had enveloped them, "we're finally getting off this island… But yet part of me is really going to miss it."

"I know what you mean. I've gotten so used to it that I don't know what I'm going to do without it. Like the sounds of the ocean to help soothe me to sleep; or the smell of the leaves to calm my nerves; and of course the people that I have come to know as my friends and family."

Jack nodded in agreement, "Especially the people. Mainly one person for me." He confessed as he looked at her with those deep brown eyes.

Kate knew that last comment was directed to her, she just didn't know what to do next. She could already feel her face blushing as she tried to keep her cool. She wanted so badly to tell him the same thing but she couldn't even open her mouth. She just started at him, lost for words.

Jack's eyes diverted her stare again. She knew she had hurt him. She was about to say something when he spoke first.

"Do you love him, Kate?" She could tell he hated even asking that question.

"Who?" She knew who he was talking about but she needed more time to think. She did love Sawyer, but not in the same way she loved Jack.

"You know who." He was becoming irritated as he snapped the words.

How do I explain it to him?

"Jack, I-"

Suddenly a gush of wind swept over them, making Kate's hair fly in the air, and a loud sound was coming from overhead. It sounded like… A helicopter?

"The rescue!" Kate jumped up.
They both looked at each other in stunned silence as they heard the loud machine landing by the tower.
"Already?" Jack asked as he stood up beside her.

It's obvious that she does love Sawyer… Jack thought as he started walking towards the copter sounds. He was tired of waiting for her to answer.

"Jack, wait!" Kate pleaded over the noise.

"It's time to go!" Jack shouted back.

As they got to the edge of the clearing, Jack looked up at the enormous black copter and noticed a familiar logo on it.

"Is that Dharma?" Kate asked from beside him.

Jack looked closer. Why would Dharma be on a rescue helicopter?

"Jack?"

Jack looked at Kate with no answer.

"Jack, I don't feel so good about this…"

"Neither do I."

Desmond hit the surface and gasped for air. He saw the small boat still afloat on the water and was surprised that the one eyed man hadn't destroyed it. He swam towards it, grabbed the edge of the boat and pulled himself up into it. Without even waiting to gather more than a few breaths, he began paddling the boat furiously. Whatever Charlie meant when he wrote on his hand, "Not Penny's boat" had to be awful. He had to warn the others before it was too late.

Or is it already too late? The thought made him paddle even faster. He didn't know if anyone would even be at the beach but it was the only place he could think of to go, so that was where he headed. Hopefully they were there and hopefully just them.

Lukas Dermont stepped out of the helicopter that had come to a complete stop now. He looked around at all the confused faces before him. The Hostiles? They didn't really look like the hostiles, the people that had overtaken their home and killed his parents many years ago. Wait… The man that he had talked to said they were survivors of a plane crash… But are they really?

Cainin and Dawson, his right hand men, stepped out on either side of him. They held their guns and waited for an order. They had long awaited this day with as much anticipation as him. Now they were finally here and ready for revenge.

There were about thirty people staring at them with bewildered looks upon their faces. He decided he'd better speak, "Where is Naomi?"

No one answered him or even made eye contact. Something happened to her, he could feel it. Then he noticed a body lying off to the side with something covering the head. Naomi? He walked towards it and knelt down. Someone had laid their shirt over top of it. He removed it and saw the knife in her back right away. She hadn't been dead for long. He turned the body over… It was Naomi all right. They had killed her.
Lukas was angry now. He didn't care if these people were the hostiles or not, they had killed one of his own.

"Naomi!" Dawson ran towards the body and cried in fury. "This is your fault!" He pointed at Lukas. "You knew this could be dangerous but you sent her anyway!"

"Control yourself!" Lukas demanded.

Dawson knew better than to argue with his commander and shut up right away.

"Who is in charge here?" Lukas shouted.

"A-are you here to rescue us?" A young blonde woman with an infant in her arms asked in an accent.
"Who is in charge?" Lukas yelled.

"Jack, we have to do something. I don't think they're here to rescue us." Kate whispered from Jack's right.

"I know."

Jack had been watching as the tall man with blonde hair and combat boots stepped foot out of the helicopter. His face had a long scar down the left cheek and he did not seem happy at all to see Naomi dead. Are they from Dharma? He couldn't tell. The other two that had come out with him held guns. What are we dealing with here?

"Stay here." Jack told Kate as he stepped out from behind the trees.

"Jack, what are you going to do?" Kate grabbed his arm but he pulled away and kept walking.

"Who is in charge? Who did this?" Lukas tried to keep his cool but he was losing patience.

"Are you from Dharma?"

Lukas turned around to see a man in about his late thirties walking towards him.

"Who are you?" Lukas asked.

"What do you want with us?" The man kept walking.

"Are you the one in charge?"

"I am the one you spoke with. Are you here to save us or not?"

"Did you kill her?" Lukas asked. He could tell Dawson wanted to pounce on this guy. He held his hand out to tell him to stay calm. The small man stayed still but held his gun tight and glared.

"No, I did not kill her."

"He's lying!" Dawson yelled and pointed his gun at the man.

"Hey, I did not kill Naomi! She was trying to help us. Who are you people?" The man shouted as he held up his hands in surrender.

"How am I to believe that you people are from a plane crash?" Lukas challenged.

"Oceanic Flight 815." Someone said from behind him.

"815?" Cainin walked over, his bald head glowing in the sun. "Those people are all dead."

"We're right here. Our plane crashed on September 22."

"They're lying!" Dawson screamed. "He killed Naomi!" He ran up to Jack and pointed the gun in his face. "Tell the truth or I'll kill you!"

"Dawson, put the gun down now, that is an order!" Lukas yelled.

"He did it! He killed her!"

Kate watched with horror as the man called Dawson pointed a gun to Jack's face. She couldn't just stand back and let these people kill him. She had to do something quick.

"Look, just calm down. Please listen to me." Jack tried to reason with these men.

"Just tell me that you did it!" Dawson yelled, sweat pouring down his face.

"Dawson, I command you to listen to me. We will settle this in a different way." The man in charge said.

"These people killed our families, stole our homes, and now just killed the love of my life! How can you even speak of another way to deal with them, Lukas? They deserve death! He deserves to die for what he has done!"

Dawson was about to pull the trigger when Kate came running out of the jungle, "Don't kill him!"

"Kate, no!" Jack yelled.

"He's telling the truth! We are the survivors of a plane crash, and Jack did not kill Naomi!"

"They are all lying! They're the Hostiles!" Exclaimed Dawson, his gun still pointed at Jack's head.

"If we were them, then why would we be trying to get rescued off this island?" Jack asked.

"Dawson, I will not tell you again. Lower your weapon and step back!" Lukas ordered. He was becoming very irritated.

Dawson looked at Jack and scowled. He looked back at the man in charge, hesitated, and then he finally lowered the gun and did what he was told.

Jack let out a sigh of relief and looked back at Kate who stood a few feet away from him.

"Dawson, go back and call the others. Tell them to get over here immediately." Lukas told the short man with dark hair who listened and ran back to the copter.

"What are we going to do with them?" Cainin gestured towards the thirty people all standing around with fear in their eyes.

"Question them. I want to know everything."

"And him?" He pointed towards Jack.

"Take him to the helicopter. I'll deal with him myself."

"No!" Kate yelled.

"Kate!" Jack gave her a look that said "be quiet".

Lukas looked at the man and woman and grinned, "Actually, Cainin, take her too. I have a feeling that if we want answers we'll need the two of them together."

Ok, so that's the end of Chapter 1. I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think. Reviews are greatly appreciated!