A/N: First I'd like to thank all those lovely people who reviewed the first chapter. I've decided to make this fic a tribute to SANA, the ship that will never float… tear .

B is for Bribary

Ana-Lucia sat, shocked.

She didn't know just long she'd stood there, her heart thudding, her body mentally aware of everything going on around her.

An involuntary shiver ran up her back as Sawyer's eyes fixed onto hers, challenging hers with that smile. Except this smile wasn't cocky or self-assured-- God, it was almost menacing.

He walked away, the gun still slung over his shoulder.

The rest of the camp was left in stunned silence, before breaking into murmurs.

Ana caught Kate staring after Sawyer with teary eyes-- the urge to slap the girl was immense-- Kate's eyes turned to her.

'What?' she swiped at her eyes, pretending to be vicious.

'Freckles isnt it--'

'Don't call me that!' Kate snapped.

Placing her hands up Ana took a step back from Kate, 'Fair enough--don't go shooting the messenger… oh wait, we don't have any guns.'

Kate lunged at her, but Jack drew her back.

Ana couldn't care less.

She made her way back to her tent, walking slowly away from the growing murmur and conversation.

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'Princess…'

'How's it going boss-man?'

It was no longer 'Cowboy' in private. 'Boss-man' was now Ana's favorite nickname for Sawyer whenever they were alone.

Which was increasingly frequent since he hadn't made friends with Kate again.

The day after the relvelations, everyone had been weary around him. He'd followed Ana into the woods, but instead of demanding he stayed away from her, all she gave was a little knowing smile.

'So I'm your second choice eh?'

He didn't know what to make of her.

He was a con man.

One of the best.

He knew how to read people and understand them. It was only Ana, with her police training (his total opposite in so many ways) that had been able to keep her feelings hidden from him.

It intrigued him.

'Where ya going?'

'I like to keep fit.'

His eyes wandered over her lithe body and whistled appreciatively, 'and may I say ma'am you do an excellent job!'

She winked at him and tapped him on the leg with her stick, 'You coming then?'

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'You want a gun don't you?'

Ana couldn't help it, she laughed out loud.

It was another day gone and at present, she and Sawyer were standing face to face in the forest, faces inches apart from each other.

She'd purposefully lef the diary he'd given her in his tent, with five or so pages with steamy writing which could have made any romance novelist proud. It was all to soothe his ego of course.

Now, he'd confronted her and instead of blushing-- she'd taken the initiative and stepped towards him-- running a hand through his beard.

'You could say that, boss-man.'

She took a step back.

'Just so you know-- it'll take more than five pages to convince me…' he said, it was his turn to take a step towards her and trace her jaw with one hand.

Ana had met guys like Sawyer in her lifetime. Suave and with a charming smile-- but not one that had been so potent.

The urge to kiss him was immense.

But she didn't do it.

Selp-deprivation was something that you learnt in the police force. Instead, she met his gaze head on-- and even when she began to be light-headed, she refused to look away.

'I thought it was fitting enough…'

'Princess-- you went about it the wrong way. If you want to bribe me, do it with food-- or shaving cream-- or,' he winked, 'I don't need diary entries to make me feel better.'

'Bribary is subtley.'

'The things you wanted from me in page four were hardly subtle.'

Damn it, she blushed. She clenched and unclenched her fists, willing herself to calm down.

'Are you gonna give me a gun or not?'

'Full efforts for trying, Princess. I'll think about it.'

And touching his nose on hers, he sauntered off in the other direction-- leaving her slightly unstable-- whistling without a care in the world.

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a/n: I hope you all enjoyed. Sawyer and Ana would've been great together, but I'll get over it sooner or later… Kei