Reviews for Almost Perfect have dropped again so I decided to explore a scenario inspired by the reunion scene in 4.12. I don't know about everyone else, but I felt really bad for Kate when she was left standing alone, so I wanted to rectify that. Although there's some blink and you'll miss it Jate (Jack seeming to forget about her was another thing that bothered me), it's not really a Jate piece, but I have an idea for a Jate-ier companion fic (Margo asking Jack about their relationship) if people are interested... ;)
TWO LIES
Kate stood at the foot of the gangplank as she watched the other members of what they'd been told the media were referring to as the "Oceanic Six" step off the plane, into the arms of their families. Ahead of her she could see Hurley with his parents; Sun with hers; even Jack was met with a warm embrace from a striking dark haired woman that could only be his mother. Only Sayid was greeted without fanfare, but when Hurley's mother welcomed him with an enthusiastic hug, she began to feel more alone than ever.
Still clutching Aaron, she scanned the crowd for a familiar face, but there was no one.
No one had come for her.
No one cared that she'd survived.
It almost made her wish that she hadn't.
In the silence that followed this crushing realisation, she remembered something that her mother had said to her a long time ago:
"I made my bed, Katherine."
She'd made hers too the day she killed Wayne. She'd hurt the only people who were supposed to care enough to be there for a moment like this, and this was the price.
Aaron whimpered at the commotion around them, his tiny fists grasping at her, reminding her that she wasn't the only one who'd been orphaned. He was counting on her for love and protection. He was her family now.
She hugged him closer against her, pressing her lips to the downy fluff on top of his scalp, taking as much comfort from his presence as she hoped he was from hers. He was her fresh start, her reason for getting her life back on track. From now on she would do better, for him.
"Katie?"
Her head jerked up at the sound of her name; she glanced around at the sea of people on the runway, confused as to who could be calling her that. To everyone on the island, she was just Kate. Sawyer was the only one who'd ever given her a nickname.
She froze when her gaze fell on a man in a military dress uniform, standing apart from the rest of the soldiers. His eyes glistened with tears as he acknowledged her with a smile that was one part wary, one part hopeful, seemingly in two minds as to whether or not he should approach her.
She wasn't sure how she should react to him at first, knowing that he could have betrayed her, but then she found herself rushing to meet him, overjoyed that he at least hadn't forgotten her.
She threw her free arm around his neck and he wrapped both of his around her, burying his face in her dark curls. She heard him take a deep, shuddering breath, and felt him shaking against her, and she realised that he was crying.
"I thought I'd lost you," he whispered, kissing the top of her head, sighing as he rested his cheek against it. "I'm so sorry, Katie. I should never've threatened to call the Feds on you. But I didn't – I just want you to know that. I couldn't."
She squeezed him tighter to let him know that she forgave him, that it didn't matter anymore, not when he'd proved himself by coming to see her.
Over his shoulder, she could see Jack was watching their reunion with a tiny smile, his eyes signalling to her that he was glad she was okay.
She returned it with a grateful nod before her father released her so that he could look at her again.
Once he'd assured himself that she was real, his attention shifted to the squirming infant in her arms. "Is it true what they're saying?" he asked, as if he were having trouble believing it, despite the proof in front of him. "Is he really yours?"
She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him so happy, so proud of her and what she'd accomplished; she knew then that even if she were allowed, she couldn't tell him the truth, not when he thought he'd been granted a second chance.
However he'd arrived in the world, Aaron was hers now, just as she was Sam's. She nodded. "His name is Aaron," she told him with an affectionate grin, patting the baby's back to soothe him. "Aaron Austen."
"I like it," he agreed, his face lighting up with pleasure as he lifted a tentative hand to stroke the back of his head. "Do you think…?" His look was almost shy as he held his arms out to her. "Would you mind if I…?"
She smiled when she realised what he was after. "No, it's okay. Here."
She transferred the baby to him, still unsure if she was doing the right thing when he settled him against his chest. As he took in each detail, she wondered what he thought he was seeing; if he was looking for her, the same way she'd looked for him in herself before she knew how impossible that was.
"Hi Aaron," he said. "I'm your…" He looked to her for confirmation.
As far as she was concerned, he would always be her father, the only real father that she'd ever known. He was the first man she'd called Daddy, and he would be the last, regardless of whose blood ran in her veins.
She nodded, swallowing against the lump in her throat when his worn expression softened and she saw how happy she'd made him.
"I'm your grandpa," he finished, laughing as these words sank in and his eyes welled with fresh tears. "I'm your grandpa."
As a child in Sunday school she'd been taught that two wrongs didn't make a right, but watching them together, her fake father and her fake son, Kate decided that maybe – just maybe – two lies could make a family.