The Island Games
April Fools day on the island. Wackiness ensues!
Disclaimer: We do not own LOST!
Chapter 2: Payback
Sawyer decided that he needed payback for Kate's little prank.
He lay on the sand in the shade of a palm tree, thinking up his revenge. He decided he needed something bigger and better than she'd pulled if he wanted to discourage her from trying something else in the future. He needed something that would show her who was boss.
Before long, Sawyer had thought up a brilliant idea. The only problem was, he needed an accomplice. Jackass would never help him; he was too googly-eyed over Freckles to want to pull a stunt like the one he'd thought up on her. Ana-Lulu was out; she definitely wasn't the funny type. He could ask Charlie, but he probably couldn't keep a secret.
Just as Sawyer's mind wandered from Sayid to Hurley, Locke made his way down the beach, striding into Sawyer's line of vision. With one of his characteristic sly smiles, Sawyer sat up. He was perfect .
"Ah, the man of the hour," Sawyer said with a grin. "Just who I was lookin' to talk to."
Locke stopped, dropping the backpack he had slung over his shoulder onto the sand at his feet and wiping the back of one hand over his brow. He regarded Sawyer there beneath the palm tree, wondering just what the man wanted.
"What do you need?" Locke asked.
Sitting up from where he'd been reclining, Sawyer slowly stood and brushed the sand off of his jeans. He took a step forward so he was closer to Locke and surveyed the man. He had to choose his words carefully. He decided to take the old boar approach in asking what he needed to ask.
"I was thinkin' of setting up a boar trap outside o' my tent since the bastard seems to like it so much," Sawyer said wryly. "I was wondering if you could show me how to set up one o' those nifty snares."
"You won't catch a boar with a snare," Locke said pointedly. "You'll need a net if you want to catch anything bigger than a rabbit."
"Snare, net, I don't care, so long as it works," Sawyer said, rolling his eyes.
"Well it's easy," Locke began. "All you need is a net and a few lengths of rope."
"Rope and netting I got plenty of in my stash," Sawyer replied.
"Alright, well why don't you run along and bring some of those things back here, then I can show you how to do it," Locke suggested.
Sawyer surveyed him for a long moment skeptically, as though he thought Locke would run off and disappear if he left him alone. He nodded after a while and turned, heading up the beach to his shelter. After only a moment of digging he found what he needed. Before leaving the shelter again, Sawyer looked around just to be sure that nothing else had gone missing.
So far so good, he thought. Freckles hasn't been back.
With that, Sawyer turned and left the shelter once again, making his way back up the beach. When he reached the spot in which he'd left Locke, he looked around, not seeing the man. He groaned, thinking he'd have to wait for the other man to get back from wherever he'd been going to be able to play Kate.
Just then, Sawyer heard a rustling in the bushes near where he was standing. Furrowing his brows he stepped closer and peeked around the palm tree he'd been sitting under, seeing Locke bustling around in the underbrush, clearing some bushes away from the ground. Sawyer stepped into the small clearing and dropped the net as well as several lengths of rope on the ground at his feet.
"There it is," Sawyer said lightly. "Now what do I do with it?"
"Lay the net out on the ground first," Locke instructed. "You want it to cover an area big enough to hold whatever you're catching, but not so big that it'll leave a lot of wiggle room. You might have to fold it in half to make it small enough for a boar."
Sawyer nodded. He went about laying out the net. He grinned at the fact that its color was natural and mucky enough to disguise it well. It camouflaged with the jungle floor perfectly. Once he had it laid out, Sawyer stepped back and glanced up at Locke again, waiting for more instructions.
Meanwhile, in another part of the jungle as the two men were laying nets, Kate hiked along towards the caves. She chuckled to herself, still feeling smug about the fact that her prank had succeeded in pissing Sawyer off. She toyed absent mindedly with the water bottle in her hands. She could just imagine Sawyer sitting in his tent, still stewing over the fact that she'd gotten the upper hand.
She strode into the caves, waving to a few people she passed. She reached the waterfall and knelt at the edge, dipping her water bottle into the rock pool, watching water swirl into it. She was lost in the memory of the look on Sawyer's face for a long moment until she heard a voice behind her.
"You're looking pleased with yourself," Jack said as he walked up behind Kate, raising a quizzical eyebrow.
Kate only grinned and tossed a sly look over her shoulder. She waited until Jack had reached her side before looking up at him and speaking.
"What, you wouldn't be pleased with yourself if you'd managed to pull one over on the con man himself?" Kate asked with a chuckle.
Jack looked at her questioningly, waiting for an answer.
"Is this something I'm going to be hearing about later?" Jack asked wryly. "Is this going to turn into one of Sawyer's laments?"
"If it does then I'd say it's pretty pathetic," Kate replied. "It was just a joke. A little fun never hurt anyone."
"A little fun to you might not be a little fun to Sawyer," Jack said pointedly.
"I strung some of his stuff up in a tree," Kate replied. "It i is /i April Fool's day today, you know."
She smiled wickedly and sat back on her haunches, bringing her water bottle, now full, to her lips and taking a long sip. Finishing up, she lifted the water bottle over her head and tipped it up, letting some of the water inside spill over her hair, cooling her. She blinked the excess water out of her eyes and glanced back over at Jack, who was looking at her torn between incredulity and amusement.
"What?" Kate chuckled.
"You know he's not just going to let you off the hook," Jack commented. "He's going to think of something bigger, something better, and he's going to get you back."
"He wouldn't dare," Kate said with a grin.
"Oh yeah?" Jack asked. "Well if he pulls one over on you, don't say I didn't warn you."
Jack smiled down at Kate once more before turning around and disappearing back into the heart of the caves. Kate watched him go and stood slowly once he was out of sight, screwing the cap back onto her water bottle. Looking around one more time, Kate began to make her way out of the caves and into the jungle, heading back to the beach.
Sawyer watched Locke as the other man made his way off into the distance. He grinned darkly and held the rope he needed in one hand and the net he needed in the other. Locke's demonstration hadn't taken long and Sawyer figured he still had ample time before Kate was due back at her tent.
He made his way to her tent quickly, looking around to be sure that no one was paying him any mind as he snuck by. He didn't fancy being caught so early in the game. It wouldn't be fun, being busted before he'd even had the chance to set up. If he got caught, he'd never get his revenge and he wouldn't get to feel the satisfaction of seeing the look on Kate's face when she quite literally got caught in his trap.
He made it all the way to the front of her tent and no one was the wiser. With a grin, Sawyer set about setting up his revenge. He moved about stealthily, tying ropes to trees, stringing up a net, kicking some sand over it to cover it up. He finished up quickly and stood back, admiring his work.
"Well I'll be damned," he commented. "It's perfect."
Kate walked at a leisurely pace, watching the trees pass her by as she made her way to the beach. She smiled as she turned her face up to the sun which peeked through the canopy of trees above her, letting it warm her pleasantly. She glanced back down at the path again moments later and realized it had taken her all the way to the beach already.
Stepping out onto the hot, white sand, Kate kicked off her shoes. She stopped a moment to pick them up before continuing on, heading towards her shelter. She glanced around as she walked, waving occasionally to someone she noticed on the beach, stopping once or twice to chat with another survivor. Soon she'd reached her shelter and she paused outside for a moment, glancing around.
What she didn't expect when she took another step towards the open flap of her shelter was to be whisked up off of the ground and captured in some sort of a net. She screamed, struggling against the ropes she was trapped in, trying to wriggle free, despite there being very little wiggle room. She cried out as she attempted to thrash, looking around to try and locate the culprit.
At the same time, Sawyer stood at the side of Kate's shelter, watching intently. When she'd gotten herself caught in his trap, he laughed and watched her struggle. Yes, he decided, revenge was sweet. He slowly made his way around to the front of Kate's shelter, looking up at her where she hung in the net. A small crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle and Sawyer waved them off. He was cruel, but not i that /i cruel. He decided that Kate didn't need an audience.
Kate slowly started to calm down and stopped flailing helplessly, looking down from where she was strung up in the net as it spun slowly on the rope from which it was hung. Her lips were set in a thin line when her eyes fell on Sawyer. He was the one who'd done this to her.
"You," she snarled dangerously.
"Gotcha, Freckles!" Sawyer laughed. "April Fools!"
Kate fumed.
"Alright, alright, you've had your laugh, now get me down!" Kate snapped.
"No can do, Freckles," Sawyer said with a grin. "I think I'll let you sit up there for a while and think about what you did."
Kate scowled and glared at Sawyer as he turned his back on her and made his way slowly down the beach. She couldn't believe that she'd gotten herself stuck in his trap. She deserved it, she figured. As she sat there, her eyes burning into the back of his retreating head, she was already thinking up her next practical joke. She needed to go bigger; better. She needed to think up something that would scare Sawyer, and perhaps a few of the other islanders as well, so much, that they would never again tangle with the likes of her.
First, however, she had to get down.
A.N.: Let us know what you think! This one was written by Jules (Moon's Tear) and beta read by Dani (SiriusStarr).