Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 1!

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Chapter 2

Meanwhile, back on the beach, Sawyer was gathering wood and had found another unused tarp. Why were there so many tarps on the plane? he wondered. He measured the bamboo with a piece of wire from his stash. Two eight foot pieces and two three foot pieces. He laid them in a rectangle and tied the tarp between them. Then he slid a thinner slightly longer piece of bamboo through one of the eight foot pieces and hooked that piece up to the top front corner of his tent and stuck the bottom into the sand to act as a hinge. Perfect door, he thought. That oughta keep Jacko out next time me and Freckles are busy. He flashed his dimpled smile as a sign of satisfaction.

"Dude. Nice uh… door?" Hurley stated, more as a question, as he walked up to Sawyer.

"Think it'll work?" Sawyer asked.

"Work for what?" Hurley was confused.

"To keep out unwanted intruders."

"Dude, I think if the Others show up, no tarp door is going to stop them from --"

"Not the Others, Stay Puff, I mean the Medicine Man. If he shows up here one more time, uninvited, all my new-found tolerance for him is gonna be shot to hell, and Freckles'll be pissed at me."

"Oh. Uh, yeah dude, I think it'll work. Uh, I gotta go, uh… see Charlie now," Hurley stammered, quickly walking toward Charlie's tent. Even though they got along, he was still intimidated by Sawyer's presence at times.

Sawyer smiled and shook his head, checking to see if he needed to reinforce the door.

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"Jack, this is going to be so much fun!" Kate exclaimed. "I can't believe you actually thought of this!" She was absolutely giddy with excitement.

"Well, Hurley had a little to do with it. And when I mentioned it to Charlie and Claire, they thought it was a great idea too. Even Sayid said he was in."

They continued walking to the spot in the jungle that had been designated for this spectacular affair. When they arrived, they found Jin, Sun, and Locke already working. Even Rose and Bernard were contributing to the festivities in their own way. Two other people, whom Kate recognized as always hanging around but never participating in any of the politics or adventures, were standing around watching everyone bustling here and there.

Kate and Jack began working and before long, realized they needed some rope. "I know where I can get some," Kate said. "Be back in 20 minutes." She headed off toward the beach, smiling to herself.

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"Well, Freckles, I didn't expect to see you back so soon," Sawyer said, putting his book down and grabbing her hand, pulling her into his lap.

She gave him a quick kiss and stood up. "I'm just here to get something. Can't stay." She went into the tent. Sawyer followed.

"Where's the fruit?"

"Oh. We haven't picked any yet. Couldn't reach it," Kate lied. "I need some rope." She began digging through the suitcases in the corner of the tent.

"Rope? What the hell for?"

"To reach the fruit. I climbed some trees, but the bananas were too far out on the limbs. If I went any further, the limbs might break." It amazed her how easy it was to lie, even to the man she loved. He'll understand in the end, she reasoned with herself. "I'll make a lasso, pull the bananas down."

Sawyer looked at her suspiciously. "Where's Jack?"

"He's still out there. I knew I could make it back quicker alone. Found it!" She pulled some rope from the case and stood up. "I might need this too, to make a pack to carry them in," she said as she picked up the blanket. "Be back later." She quickly kissed him and ran back up the beach.

Sawyer watched her disappear into the jungle. "Dammit," he swore, as he grabbed his backpack and a bottle of water and headed the same way.

He didn't know what bothered him most, that Jack wasn't watching out for Kate like he said he would, allowing her to come back to the beach and then go back there alone, or that Kate was here getting rope and a blanket and heading back out to meet Jack. He couldn't put those thoughts out of his head. If Jack wasn't watching her, the Others could show up and kidnap her again. He didn't buy her story of needing to lasso the bananas, and his mind went to the kinky thought of what else the rope and blanket could mean. And I thought she loved me. He trudged through the branches in the general direction Kate had gone, the thought that she could be cheating on him consuming his mind and clouding his judgment. Before long, he had lost her trail, and discovered he was going in circles. He sat down on a fallen log, and closed his eyes.

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Sawyer opened his eyes and looked around. He could hear voices a little ways away. He got up and walked towards them. The voices grew louder as he got closer. "Jack, don't tie it like that." It was Kate. He slowed his pace, trying to be as silent as possible.

"Why not? I think it'll work," he heard Jack say.

"It needs to be tighter. Make it tighter, Jack." There was a pause. "Yeah, that's better."

"Sawyer, what are you doing?" Sawyer jumped at the voice behind him.

"What's it look like, Mohammad?" he addressed Sayid.

"What it looks like, is that you are trying to spy on someone," Sayid said matter-of-factly.

"Well, there you go. What'd you ask for?"

"I think you had better come with me." Sayid put his hand on Sawyer's arm.

"I ain't goin' nowhere. Now leave me alone." Sawyer yanked his arm away and turned back towards Jack and Kate's voices, which were muffled now so he couldn't understand what they were saying.

"I am sorry to have to do this, Sawyer," Sayid said, as he hit Sawyer over the head with the handle of his gun. Sawyer fell to the ground, unconscious.

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When Sawyer awoke, he was sitting in his usual spot, the airplane seat in front of his tent. He had a splitting headache, and remembering what happened, he reached up and felt the back of his head. He jumped up and headed for Sayid's tent. Not finding him there, he headed off toward the jungle.

"Sawyer!" a voice called from the beach. He turned to see Kate standing outside his tent. Angrily, he stomped back to his tent. "Where the hell you been, Freckles?" he questioned.

Kate wrinkled her brow, not understanding his hostility. "Getting bananas. You knew that," she answered.

"Right. Must have forgotten," he smirked. "Mind if I have one? Where are they?"

Kate ducked into the tent and came out with a small bunch and handed them to him. "Here you go." She smiled and leaned up to kiss him. When he didn't affectionately return the kiss, she knew something was up with him, but she kept her cool and didn't question him about it.

"So were you a construction worker in a previous life?" Kate asked, admiring the new door.

"The hell you talkin' about?"

She ran her hand over the bamboo at the corner of the tent. "This. The fancy new front door. Not bad."

"Yeah, well, as long as it keeps out uninvited guests." He stressed the word uninvited, and looked toward where Jack was sitting in the makeshift kitchen, having lunch with Juliet.

Kate glanced in that direction and grinned. "Seems like those two are pretty chummy, don't you think?"

"It would seem that way, wouldn't it, Freckles?" Sawyer looked at Kate suspiciously.

Kate noticed his glare. "What is your problem, Sawyer?"

"I ain't got any problems. Everything's just peachy," he stated bluntly, sitting back down and picking up his book.

Kate just stared at him for a few seconds. She didn't know what had gotten into him since she'd been gone. But she also knew that when he was like this, there was no need in trying to pressure him to talk because he wouldn't.

She walked into the tent, collected all the dirty laundry that was lying around, and threw it in a basket. Emerging from the doorway, she told Sawyer she was headed down the beach to the laundry area. Since the hatch imploded, destroying the washer and dryer, Bernard had built a provisional laundry room complete with a bin that collected rain water, shelves for the Dharma detergent, and a community clothesline.

Sawyer wasn't in his airplane seat when Kate returned to the tent. She went inside and found him asleep on the reclined double seat that they used as a bed. A small smile appeared on her lips as she thought of how innocent and boyish he looked at that moment. She couldn't believe how much she loved him. Dropping the laundry basket, she kneeled down, brushed the hair out of his eyes, and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Almost instinctively, and without opening his eyes, Sawyer put his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. Kate stretched her legs out and snuggled into him, her head under his chin.

She could feel his heart beating and his warm breath on her cheek. She breathed in his masculine scent, mixed with the cologne that he still insisted he didn't wear. As she grazed her hand over the bare skin of his chest, she could feel herself getting aroused and slowly moved her hand downward, past his navel, to his belt buckle. As she began unbuckling him, his fingers started twirling the curls of her hair. She looked up into his eyes which were silently apologizing for snapping at her earlier. Forgiving him, Kate leaned up and pressed her lips to his. Sawyer quickly rolled them over so he was looming above her. He gently raised her hands over her head, then reached down and slipped his hands under her tank top, pulling it up and off.

"You are so beautiful," he breathed as he brought his lips crushing down onto hers. She opened her mouth to accommodate his tongue. With each breath taken, each moan escaping, Kate felt as though she was losing control. As his calloused hands softly but swiftly moved down her body, Sawyer kissed her neck, and then moved to her breasts, kissing and sucking gently.

By the time his hands reached the button on her jeans, she was writhing under him. "Oh, James," she breathed.

He undid her pants and slid them off her slender legs, revealing nothing underneath. "Ooh, going commando, Freckles? I like it," he whispered, smiling suggestively.

"All my panties were dirty," she explained between heaving breaths.

Sawyer leaned down and kissed her belly, and as he moved his lips lower, he heard a knock on the new door. "Sonuva bitch," he muttered, sitting up. Kate sighed and grabbed her top. Sawyer stood up and picked up Kate's pants and dropped them in her lap.

There was another knock on the door. "Cool your jets," Sawyer barked. He pushed open the door wildly, almost banging Jack in the face. He walked out, buckling up his belt. "What the hell you want now, Doc?"

"Nice door," Jack commented, nodding his head and tugging on the frame.

Kate grabbed a clean pair of panties out of the newly laundered clothes and slipped them on followed by her jeans. She looked at the watch Sawyer kept on the table by the bed. Time means nothing on the island, but there were still a few watches with batteries that worked, and some things needed to be synchronized. This was one of them, and she couldn't believe she had almost forgotten to check the time. She quickly stepped outside and cut in between the men. "Hey, Jack. I was just getting changed. We'll be there in about 10 minutes."

Sawyer looked at Kate, perplexed. "Be where?" he asked.

Kate just smiled. "Ok, great," Jack said, winking at her, then turned and walked back toward his tent.

Sawyer caught the wink and scowled. "Mind tellin' me what's goin' on here, Freckles?"

"You'll see soon enough." Kate grinned and went back into the tent to get her shoes. Sawyer appeared in the doorway. She threw a clean shirt at him, which he caught as it hit him in the face. He glared at her. "You might want to put on your boots too," she said as she handed them to him and walked past him through the door. He turned to face her outside, still holding his shirt and boots in his hand, an inquisitive look on his face. "Come on, let's go, get a move on, James," Kate ordered as she clapped her hands together, then stood waiting with her hands on her hips.

Sawyer shook his head, and finished getting dressed. Kate grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the treeline. Sawyer looked around. "Hey, Freckles," he began. "You notice anything strange here?" He continued looking from one tent to another as they crossed the beach.

"What do you mean, Sawyer?"

"I mean, nobody's around. Jin's not fishin'. Baby Huey's not cryin'. Doughboy and the Rockstar ain't makin' their own kind of music. Where the hell are they?"

"People come and go as they please here, Sawyer. How would I know where everyone is?" Kate grinned, as she squeezed his hand and kept walking.

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Where is everybody? Find out in the next chapter! Please review:)