A/N: Just a short, pointless Skate drabble. Set at the beginning of season four when Kate is staying with Locke's group. Please review!


Monopoly:

Kate stared around the room boredly. She was currently locked in a bedroom in one of the Others' houses at The Barracks. Locke had given Sawyer specific instructions not to let her get out, and though she would like more freedom, she didn't really want to return to Jack and Sayid's group. She had a feeling that the people who had parachuted onto the island were up to no good, and therefor wanted to stay as far away from them as possible. But lest she appear disloyal, she had to pretend to want to leave.

Her head snapped up when the door opened. Sawyer was standing there, holding a box and wearing a smirk. "Mornin', Freckles," He greeted, nodding. "Hey," She replied. She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when she looked at him. He may have been keeping her captive, but that wasn't so bad, really, when he came and visited her every other hour or so.

"What's that?" She asked, of what he was holding. It looked like some sort of board game.

"Well, Freckles, I thought ya might be bored. So I brought Monopoly!" He waited for her enthusiasm, which never came. "How do you play?" She asked, when he set the game on the ground a lay on his stomach in front of it.

"Ya mean you've never played Monopoly before?!" He questioned, astounded. Kate nodded. "Well, in that case, here's how ya play..."

Kate sat beside Sawyer on the floor, listening to the instructions he was giving her. Only she didn't know that he had mixed them up a bit.

"So, if I land on Free Parking I give you all the money I win, as well as one hundred dollars of my own?" She asked afterwards. "If you land on it do you have to give me money?"

Sawyer shook his head. "Nah, I rolled higher than you at the beginning so it's only you that has to pay me. And if you don't have enough money you go to jail."

Kate frowned. "Okay, I guess. You're the one who knows how to play."

"That's right, Freckles. And if you land on one of the places I bought, ya give up two o' your turns and have to pay me twice the ammount it originally woulda been."

"That doesn't make any sense! Why should I have to pay you twice the original amount? And why would I have to miss two turns?" She demanded. Sawyer shrugged. "That's just the way it is, sweetheart."

So they played the game, and Kate wasn't very lucky at all. "No, I'm in jail again!" She cried impatiently.

"Aww, that's too bad, Freckles. Meanwhile, I'm getting richer with every turn!'

Kate rolled her eyes. Why was he so lucky?! Yeah, she may not have ever played the game before, but it wasn't really that hard. One of the worst things, though, was that Sawyer had bought so much property that she always landed on them, and therefor had to pay him, like he said, twice the original ammount.

Kate was about to give up when Claire entered the room, bouncing baby Aaron in her arms. "Hey, guys," She said, smiling weakly. Charlie had just died and she was still grieving.

"Hi Claire," Kate was concerned for her friend, but didn't show it. She knew Claire would dismiss her worries if she knew.

"What are you two doing?" Questioned Claire, sitting down on the bed and looking down at them.

"Playin' Monopoly," Replied Sawyer.

"Oh," Claire nodded politely. She watched them as they resumed playing. When Kate landed on Free Parking and grudgingly handed her winnings and one hundred dollars of her own money over to Sawyer, she interrupted them.

"Why are you giving him the money?" She asked Kate curiously.

"You're supposed to. At the beginning of the game he rolled higher, so he gets my money when I land on Free Parking."

Claire's brow furrowed. "No, I don't think so. I've been playing Monopoly for a while, and that's never been part of the game."

"Are you sure? Sawyer said that-" Kate broke off as realization dawned on her. She turned to Sawyer, who was looking at the floor and appeared to be trying to hold in his laughter.

"You!" She cried, glaring. "You cheated, you dirty, rotten liar!"

Sawyer nodded, smirking. "Ya caught me at last, Freckles. I wondered if ya were ever gonna catch on."

"You are so unfair," Complained Kate. "Cheater!" She shot at him, feigning anger. She wasn't as shocked as she had been at first.

Claire watched the two arguing and smiled to herself. They were just too funny. Kate stood and reached over to Sawyer's extremely tall money pile, helping herself to it. "Freckles!" He exclaimed, but she simply laughed.

"It's what you get!" She responded, sticking her tongue out at him.

Sawyer got to his feet as well, and chased after Kate, who was now running around the room with his money. He knocked over the houses on the Monopoly board and scattered the rest of the money in the process. "Thief!" He shouted teasingly, catching up to her easily. He grabbed her around the middle and threw her down on the bed, proceeding to tickle her. She gasped for breath, laughing madly. The two only stopped when Claire cleared her throat loudly.

"I think I'm going to leave," She said, smiling a bit sadly. She had managed to step away from the bed right before Kate was tossed onto it by Sawyer.

"You don't have to!" Pleaded Kate. "You can stay if you want."

Claire shook her head, smiling more widely. "That's okay, Kate. I'll leave you two alone."

"I hope she's okay," Said Kate after Claire had left.

Sawyer chuckled. "She'll be fine, Freckles," He assured her. Kate nodded. "I hope you're right."

Kate went back to the mess her and Sawyer had made and started to clean up. She looked up when the door opened and someone entered.

"Hey dudes, what's been going on in here? We heard like, mega commotion." Hurley stood before them, staring around the room.

"Aw, we were just having some fun, Pork Chop," Responded Sawyer, smirking.

Hurley took in the mess and nodded, his eyebrows raised. "I see." He then turned his gaze to what Kate was putting away. "What's that?" He asked.

"Monopoly," Kate replied.

"Cool. I've never played."

Kate turned to Sawyer and grinned knowingly the same time that Sawyer turned to her. "D'ya wanna play, Lardo?"

"Sure, man."

Kate took out the board and games pieces and set it up. They then each took a turn rolling the dice.

"Well, the first thing you have to know about Monopoly is that when you land on Free Parking you have to give all your money to me," Kate explained to him, biting back her laughter.

"And when you land on our property you have to pay us twice the usual amount and miss two turns!" Added Sawyer. Kate smiled. This was going to be fun.


A/N: So, I hope that was in character and that everybody enjoyed it! Please review! Sorry, I couldn't resist putting Claire in there.

xox Sacha