Thanks for all the reviews guys, Chapter 2 as promised.
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Kate felt like her chest was going to explode. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest, making her entire head throb. After everything she had been through and it had been a lot, she realized that she had never been more terrified in her life then she was right now. She didn't know what to do or where to start, and suddenly, she longed for the confinement the island offered; the limitation on where Ben could have hidden her baby sounding heavenly. Breaking the silence of her shock, a phone started to ring. Glancing down, she saw that hers was shattered, looking around though, she frowned, pulling a second phone she had never seen before out of a pocket of her purse. Checking the ID just to be safe, she felt rage consume her, Ben was calling.
"Hello Kath-"
"Give. Me. Back. My son." She said harshly, her breathing erratic as tears trickled down her cheeks silently.
"Now Katherine, its very rude of you to cut me off….after all, your son is my guest," he said, and Kate could see the smirk on his face, and the threat in his words made her tremble in fear.
"What do you want?" she said giving in, "I'll do whatever you want, just give me back my so." She pleaded her voice breaking.
"Good Katherine. Smart thinking on your part." Ben complimented her. In that second, Kate's mind flashed through all the different ways she wanted to kill him, how much she would draw it out to make it painful, and not quick like she had for Wayne. "Oh Kate, stop, your making me blush," Ben laughed.
"What?" she asked hoarsely.
"I know you were thinking about how to kill me Kate and I guarantee that isn't going to happen." He laughed again.
"How did you…?" she whispered, looking around frantically for a camera before reminding herself that she had only thought of killing him, so him seeing her was useless.
"Remember the time you spent in captivity with us Katherine. We knew you would go to Sawyer, that's why we brought him," she flinched at the memory, she hated thinking about her time in captivity, about what it had done to him, to them, wasting precious time they could have had together. "We only ever needed Jack Katherine. But we know how your brain works, and we knew we could get you into Sawyers arms…though I admit, we did expect it to take a bit longer." She felt her jaw go rigid at his insinuation. "Just remember Katherine, we know how you think, and we are always 8 steps ahead." There was a pause as Kate pulled herself to her feet, teetering with fear. "Now pay attention, in the pocket this phone was in there is an address, go there, and you'll get further instructions."
Fishing out the address, she held the scrap of paper in her hand, a realization suddenly hitting her. "How did you put this stuff in my purse?" she whispered, her hands sweaty, pressing her back to the wall and staring at the door as if expecting an armed man to rush in and attack her.
Ben's laugh made her want to throw up, petrified, "We took your son out of his pre-school in less then 4 hours Katherine, a pre-school ranked in the top 5 for safety in the entire country. Do you really think it's a problem for my people to put a phone in a purse?" he whispered menacingly. "Get to the address now Katherine," he added, dully, apparently growing board of taunting her.
She scooped up the contents of her purse, excusing herself hurriedly on the way out, hollering to Allison over her shoulder that she was taking a sick day.
And Damnit, did she have to hit every red light on the way over?
Parking on the curb of the run down apartment complex, she ran inside quickly, paranoid as she saw two men watching her over the rim of their papers from across the street.
Getting to the apartment on the scrap of paper, she tried to turn the knob only to find it locked. Letting out a stressed laugh from adrenaline, she rested her head against the wall next to the door, utterly exhausted as the adrenaline left her, and knocked.
Jack woke to the sound of hammering, opening his eyes he winced as the light seeping in through the windows hit his face, and the pounding seemed to get louder, and therefore much worse. Sending an angry glare at Charlie, who as usual, insisted on loudly humming "You all everybody" every morning, he staggered off the floor.
"Aw damnit Boone, stop bleeding all over the carpet!" he cursed, grabbing a towel and walking towards the door where Boone was dripping blood to clean up the mess.
"Sorry," Boones rasp came, as Shannon helped him back over to the sofa.
Getting to the door to wipe up the blood, Jack suddenly realized the source of the hammering, and cursed under his breath again. Rent wasn't due for another 2 weeks…he thought. Grabbing his bottle of pills he groaned softly, last two, looked like he would be making a trip out after all.
"Look Rent isn't-" He said angrily as he wiped the door open. "Oh," he said his eyes widening momentarily as he saw Kate standing before him. Her eyes widened as though surprised and her jaw clenched like she was steeling herself for whatever was coming. They made eye contact for all of a second before her eyes found their way to his hand and the pills. She looked up at him again in disgust. He popped the pills in his mouth pointedly, not breaking eye contact.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything important," she said with scathing sarcasm.
Jack was too weary to lie, "Nothing new, just me and all my friends hanging out," he said candidly looking back at his full living room.
Shooting him an icy glare at his sarcasm, she changed the topic, "You have to be kidding me, this is your new apartment?" she asked, irritated that this was where Ben had sent her.
"Same place I've been the last 8 months Kate," he said dully, but opening the door wider, a silent invitation to come in. "Do you need something or—wait watch where you--…" he started as he remembered Boone's blood on the floor, pointing at where it had been, he quickly saw it had vanished. He flushed red, and glared over at the congregation of dead friends in his living room, all of whom looked extremely amused at his predicament.
"Watch what Jack?" she asked angry and tired.
"…Never mind," he said quietly, for the first time noticing the red tear tracks on her cheeks and how tense she looked. Sighing, "What's wrong Kate?" he asked sounding just as tired and wary.
"Has Ben contacted you recently Jack?" she asked him as he shut the door and proceeded over the mess of take out trays and paper to sit next to Charlie and Claire on the couch.
Guilt flashed over his features momentarily, he masked it quickly but she knew his expressions to well and saw it. She sucked in a breath, the room spinning, unable to believe he would actually help Ben. "How could you?!" she yelled, marching over getting right into his face, "You bastard," she whispered, stepping back repressing the urge to strangle him.
Standing up, Jacks face reddened, "What the hell are you talking about Kate? You come to my apartment and accuse me? Of what?" He yelled back at her. Jack bit the inside of his cheek, swallowing down the urge to use one of the many nastier retorts Charlie was suggesting from his place on the couch.
"Ben took Aaron Jack," she said glaring at him her tone just as accusing until she saw his pale skin turn even whiter and the bottle of scotch in his hand drop with a thump to the ground, not breaking as it gently thumped into a pile of dirty clothes.
"What?" he whispered his throat suddenly dry as he sat down, unable to comprehend what she had just said. Running his hands through his hair in his old frustrated way, Kate momentarily expected him to know what to do, just like he use to. "When?" he simply croaked instead.
Her face falling slightly in disappointment, a reminder of what Jack had become, she said quietly, "Within the last few hours. Ben called me and told me to come to this address," she explained.
She watched him as he sat quietly for a moment, his head in his hands, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Jack head killed, and if he didn't feel bad enough, Claire was screaming at him suddenly, tears running down her face "Get him back JACK! Don't you DARE let him get hurt!" over and over as Charlie piped in, "What the bloody hell are you going to do man; you can't just let Ben take Aaron!" Ana Lucia said something about guns and shooting Ben, causing Shannon to comment that Ana should never be given a gun ever again, and soon they had knocked over the coffee table as Mister Eko and Artz tried to pull them apart. Glancing up, Christian just stared stoically at his son. "Well," Charlie asked again, "what are you going to do?"
"I don't know!" he said suddenly and harshly, causing Kate to jump.
"You don't know what Jack?" she asked, more scathingly and exasperated then she meant to, nerves getting the best of her, she just wanted her son back.
He looked up at her, as if aware of her presence for the first time, and a tiny part of her was afraid of what he was about to do, the other part of her, the less rational part of her, simply watched transfixed as he licked his lips, his dark eyes, even completely stoned, seeming to bore a hole straight through her. He shook his head slightly letting out a ragged laugh.
"I don't know…where you get off coming in here and accusing me of stealing your son," he said rising to his feet, this time getting in her face. Breathing down on her, she had to turn her head a way, the smell of alcohol was so strong on his breath. He didn't move, instead looming over her, silently begging her to fight him back, to give him something, anything real to respond to. His stomach sunk as in his desperation he realized that he didn't care if she slapped him or kissed him, hated him or loved him, needing anything real to cling to to keep from drowning in his insanity.
Kate closed her eyes, the knife in her heart twisting around making it harder to breathe around him with every second that passed. There was nothing sexual about the way he was standing over her, anger was the only emotion she read off of him, but she couldn't help the way she wanted to respond to his closeness. Unable to fight it much more, she racked her brain for something awful to say, something that would push him away physically before she could pull him closer, all that came out was his name though, as a ragged whisper. The tenderness of how she said it, escaping him in his stoned stupor.
The phone rang and Kate let out a sigh of relief for two reasons, brushing past him to find it, grateful that this ordeal was moving forward again.
"Hello?" she said, regaining her composure.
"Turn to channel 8," was Ben's stoic response from the other end of the line, hanging up abruptly.
"Jack the remote-channel 8," she said, the terror she felt for Aaron resurfacing and crashing on her like a wave.
He found it quickly, and turned the channel, taking a step back, as Ben's face came onto the screen, his bug eyes staring intently at them, from in front of Sawyers Alcatraz cage. Inside the cage, Aaron was playing with a Batman action figure, the door to the cage open as he strolled around behind Ben.
Kate's breath caught, "How the hell did you get him back there?" she whispered mystified, knowing now that she was completely at Ben's mercy to get Aaron back.
Jack stiffened as he saw Kate's horror, and rubbed his hand over his face confused. "Ben where the hell are you, really? Locke told me you were banished or something, and could never go back to the island," his brain over loading, and he scratched his arm nervously, wishing desperately that he had bought more pills on the way home last night.
Ben's gaze turned to him for the first time, his leering smile slowly curling over his features like the Grinch. "Jacob and I have an agreement Jack, I'm allowed on Alcatraz, just not the main island…. At least for now" he added as an after thought.
"What is it you want from us," Kate whispered, Jack noticed she looked almost more catatonic then him. She, he realized, was resigned to doing whatever it would take to bring her son back.
"I'm glad, I knew you would come around Katherine," he said with a small smile, like he was admiring his handy work, before getting back to business, " There is a series of….errands that I need you to run for me, before I can allow you to see your son again Katherine. Listen carefully, because I do not like to repeat myself. Once I am done talking to you, you will have exactly an hour to be on the road, headed out of the state. You will check into the 'Billy's Colorado comfort inn, in Denver Colorado as soon as possible under the names Mr. and Mrs. Pace," they both flinched at the use of Charlie's name, "to await further instructions. In between these errands you will be shown a current picture of Aaron, as a sign of good faith on my part."
"Ben," Kate said quietly, " My parole, I can't go out of state, you'll get me thrown in jail and then I won't be able to…do whatever it is …"she finished lamely, still barely able to talk.
"That's unimportant and taken care of Katherine, you won't have to worry about that," he said with a falsely sweet smile that made her shiver repulsed.
She glanced over and noticed that Jack hardly seemed interested. Anger hit her again like a brick wall, and she wanted to hurt him for his seeming indifference. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "What about Jack, he doesn't even seem to care? Why do I need him to come?"
Jack wheeled around, suddenly ignoring the voices and suggestions his "company" was giving him, almost hissing in pain at Kate's declaration that he didn't care. Kate stood staring straight a head, unable to meet his hurt eyes.
Ben smiled again, this time sincerely amused it seemed by their discomfort and suffering, " I'm glad you brought that up Katherine, I thought you might," he added giving her a meaningful look as if to say, see I do know what you think, just like I knew how to put you into Sawyers arms. Turning to address Jack directly, "How's your pill stash these days Jack? Running low?" he smirked as Jack stiffened. Kate closed her eyes, not believing the bait Ben was using on him, and even more horrified that it was working. "If you don't accompany Katherine Jack, you'll never get the pills you need for your….problems," he gave Jack a knowing smirk, "especially since we already had your medical license suspended," he added candidly.
Jack sucked in a breath, "You did what?" he whispered. True, Jack was unemployed, he knew he couldn't be trusted in a surgical room, with Charlie asking him what each instrument meant, and Shannon vomiting in disgust in the corner, while Boone's ragged breathing echoed in his ears, but if he ever wanted to resume work, he knew his license was still there. The knowledge that it was still there, some part of his life that he could get back to if he ever fixed himself, was what helped him get up in the morning. That there was something left, something small and trivial to him in the wake of losing Kate, but still, Jack knew beggars couldn't' be choosers.
This time Ben laughed, hard, tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry Jack, since you really won't find it funny. See, I had the autopsy of one of the last procedures you performed falsified, the cause of death is now believed to be surgical error, due to intoxication of the performing surgeon. You can see why I would find that funny though right?" he laughed again.
Kate watched as Jacks shoulders slumped and for a second she thought he might throw up. She knew the story, how his dad had lost his license for that, and she wished more then ever she hadn't forced the issue of his loyalty.
Ben continued, " Of course, we can have them reevaluate the autopsy, if I ever want to, but until then Jack, your reputation is ruined, and you'll never get your …'meds'." He said, moving towards the camera, "You have one hour," and the screen went black.
"I would have come anyways," Jack said weakly staring at her, hurt, and as the realization of his new inability to get a fix hit, she saw his eyes grow hungry and panicked like a starving animal.
Suppressing the urge to role her eyes and failing, she walked past him, "Let's just go Jack," she said, exhaustion creeping into the edge of her voice.
Hiding his hurt, he grabbed his keys and followed her out, not remembering to lock up until Claire had yelled at him to not be stupid and unsafe.
"My car's this way," he said gesturing towards the complexes garage.
"You actually think you're driving," she asked, amused and horrified at the same time.
Shoulders again stiffening, growing weary of her accusations and of arguing he sighed. "My trucks bigger, it'll hold more stuff, you can drive, I don't care Kate," he said simply, suddenly realizing that everyone was standing behind Kate, Boone rasping in her ear, blood trickling onto her shoulder as he coughed up blood.
"Woo-whoooo! Road Trip!" Charlie yelled excitedly, "Jack this is so bloody cool, it'll be just like when Drive shaft was on tour!"
Closing his eyes momentarily, "On second thought, we can take your car," he said swallowing hard, knowing it would only get worse as the pills worked their way out of his system.
"No, that makes sense," Kate said, sensing the exhaustion and defeat in his tone as much as hers, and feeling the irrational need to let him win one after what she had said in his apartment.
"No, really Kate it's—," he tried to say, cut off by Charlie again.
"Aw, come-OOOON Jack, "Charlie wined, "The more the merrier right?" Jack sent him a seething glare once Kate brushed past him towards the parking complex and his truck, again biting back a response, in an attempt to at least not seem crazy in front of the only living company he had had in months.
Sitting in the passenger seat of his car, Jack winced as Kate turned on the radio, determined to dull out what to her must have been an uncomfortably long silence. Jack winced, turning towards the window, the blaring music for him just added to the chaos; as he listened to Charlie sing and tell jokes to Claire, who he had learned over the last few months was not a quite laugher, a row back he heard Shannon and Ana continue to argue over Boone's rasping breath. Jack looked in his rear view mirror, and saw his father's stoic face staring back at him. Shivering in fear, Jack turned his head, putting his hand up to avoid looking at him, knowing that without the pills his father would start talking soon enough. That's what they were for really, no matter how much Jack took, he couldn't drown out everybody, but they were really only for the one voice anyway, and the second the pills wore off Jack knew there would be hell to pay for ignoring his dad for so long.
Just to clairfy incase there is any confusion, Jack didn't have anything to do with Aarons abduction.
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