Authors note: I would like to think I took more time and made this a more detailed and overall better chapter, so hopefully everything paid off! :)
Jack Shephard had recently become a very troubled man. Over the time that the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 had spent on the island, every step backward, every wrong decision, and every casualty that had transpired was immediately placed on his shoulders. Everyone, including Boone, Shannon, and now Libby... It had been his job, as the unanimously crowned leader, to protect them—but he couldn't. He just hadn't had what it takes, just as his father had always predicted. But with this new blood on his hands, it was time for a change. Jack wasn't going to let the island get the best of him. He had spent over a day now in the hatch without leaving, thinking up a way to protect the people, his people, from the dangers that may await them.
He slowly opened his eyes, examining the dusty white ceiling of the Swan Station above him. After a moment of getting his head together and waking himself up, he carefully rose from the bed and pulled his legs to the side, planting his socks on the shaggy carpet below. 'Did I really fall asleep in this place? He questioned to himself. It wasn't like Jack to sleep in the Hatch. He disliked the feeling of sleeping on a clean bed while everyone else were forced to face the elements of the island, and highly preferred the caves as his place of residence. Obviously, the Swan was more equipped to do his Doctor duties in, so his makeshift office in the caves had been getting little to no use compared to what it previously had. The last thing he could remember doing in there was...operating on Boone. Whether it was in fact the last thing he had done in the caves or not didn't matter, because it continued to haunt him as if it happened yesterday. He slowly slid off the bed and began walking out of the room, almost tripping over his knotted up shirt lying on the floor before smelling the delicious scent of bacon and eggs, and hearing the delightful sizzling of a frying pan. Someone was making breakfast.
He entered the small hallway, looking over into the room at the other end to see Michael laying asleep in bed. He had been shot in the arm by the escaping Other, but was making a decent recovery. Holding himself up with a hand on the wall to get over his feeling of grogginess, his yell echoed down the hall, "Locke, a little early to be making breakfast, dontcha' think?" He asked in a half-asleep voice before turning the corner and seeing Kate managing the pots and pans over the bar in the kitchen.
She was surprised to both see and hear him this quickly, "Oh. Sorry, it was supposed to be done before you woke up." She explained in slight disappointment.
Jack looked on in amusement, scratching the back of his head and shaking his eyes wide open, "Wow. No, it's fine. I didn't expect to see you in here so early, let alone fixing me breakfast." He told her before walking over to the bar and placing his elbows down to hold himself up, "Is there any reason in particular why you are making me breakfast?" He said with a slight chuckle.
She rolled her eyes, "Oh, nothing. Just figured if someone needs breakfast made for him on this island right about now, it'd be you."
He looked down at the frying pan to see the bacon popping, giving off an amazing smell. She was right, this was something he needed. He needed someone showing that he was appreciated, even when he had let them—or, himself, down. He thought for a moment, and then placed his right hand on her left wrist, looking her straight in the eye, "Thanks, Kate. You're right. I don't know what gave you the impulse to do this for me but I really needed it, and I really appreciate it."
She returned the look, relishing in the thankfulness and appreciation she received from him, And that is what makes it worth it, she thought to herself. "You're welcome. You do enough as it is for me, for all of us, really. Where would we be without you, Jack? Nowhere. Think of this as my thanks to you." She thanked him, before both of them turned their head to see John Locke entering the room, stomping with a purpose.
He quickly acknowledged their presence while still walking toward the computer room, nodding at each of them, "Hello there, Kate. Jack." They both nodded back before watching him slide into the rolling chair and slowly type in the code to set back the timer. They had been so caught up in the moment and the loud sizzling of bacon that neither of them had realized the alarm sounding off in the background.
Locke slowly walked back into the main room, approaching the bar slowly, "That was on you, Kate." He pointed at her, "You told me that you had the hatch covered for this morning and to take a break—please, don't give me a reason to worry the entire time I'm away from the computer, okay? It's of the utmost importance."
Kate looked down in embarrassment, while Jack quickly gained an angry expression on his face, "Kate can handle hatch duty, okay? Don't worry about that. And no, John, the button isn't of utmost importance." He aggressively scolded Locke, walking over to the laundry room to grab a shirt, "In case you've forgotten, there is a crazed lunatic set free in the jungle right now that already shot down one of our people. But that just isn't important to you, is it?-
"Jack, stop." Kate interrupted, before tossing some eggs and bacon onto a plate and bringing it to a small table near the kitchen. "I'm tired of you guys always arguing. Can't you just get along? You both want what you think is right, but when two leaders don't agree, who really suffers from it?" She slid the plate over in front of the chair adjacent to her.
Locke glanced at the floor, and then back up to Jack, who was also staring at him. The two shared a war of minds for a couple of seconds before Locke looked away, opening the refrigerator to get a plate of leftover boar and begin approaching the table. Jack had grabbed a blue shirt and flung it over his body before he, too, took a seat in the chair were the breakfast plate sat. He looked at Kate and gave her a cheerful nod once more before beginning to cut up the eggs and bacon.
Locke, meanwhile, was digging into a slab of cold boar. There were moments of awkward silence, just the tearing of meat and clattering of silverware to be heard. Kate was between two men, two beasts in their own right. Did she really want to be in the middle, keeping them in check? It would definitely be prove to be a difficult job to perform.
Just as she thought this, Locke broke the silence, "Kate's right, Jack. I have my opinions. You have yours. Let's agree to disagree." He proposed sincerely.
Jack slowly stopped eating for a moment to raise a towel to his mouth and wipe some egg from his bottom lip, "I'd really love for that, John, but are you really capable of that? Someone who relies so much on faith, to listen to someone of science, like myself, for one moment," Jack paused, motioning with his right hand toward his forehead, "just, one moment to really see what's wrong and what's right for all of us?" Jack begged, getting slightly emotional now.
Locke raised back, also wiping his mouth with a towel that had been laying on the table beforehand, "You know very well that I, too, could be asking the same question of you. And I believe that scares you Jack. It scares you that, even after everything that has happened, everything single coincidence that has happened, you still can't grasp the idea of faith over science. Is that it-
"NO. That's NOT it. Listen, Locke, you don't know what it's like to have blood on your hands. But I do! Those people out there?" Jack pointed toward the direction of the hatch exit, "They don't rely on you. They rely on me. They rely on me to get them where they need to be. And that is off of this island. Now, I'm going to have to ask that you cooperate with me. For the good of everyone, will you help me?" Jack was practically screaming now, yelling at Locke from across the table. As he awaited Locke's response, he noticed that Kate had gripped his right forearm, trying to calm him down. She steadily let go.
Locke stared at Jack now, seemingly studying whether or not he should agree to help Jack or disagree completely. He glanced at Kate, who also glanced back at him for a second before both of them turned to Jack once more. Locke cleared this throat, "...Alright."
Jack looked on in disbelief, "Alright? What do you mean al-
"Alright. I agree completely. Arguing isn't getting us anywhere." Locke scooted back his chair and stood up, stretching his arms and picking up the plate of boar. He began walking over to the trash can.
Jack's mouth had dropped, and remained in that position. "That's...that's great. But...what made you change your mind?" He asked in confusion.
Locke dumped the remaining meat and bones into the trashcan and placed the plate into the sink. He then started looking for something in the cabinets of the kitchen, "You ever been on a walkabout, Jack?"
Jack made an intrigued expression, looking at Kate who returned the same look. He looked back up toward Locke while getting a bite of egg, "No. I can't say I have."
Locke looked back at him, smiling in a way, still searching the cabinets, "It's a spiritual journey. Man versus wilderness-
"I know what it is, John. I just, don't see where you're getting at."
Locke managed to find what he was looking for, a dull pocket knife. He grabbed it from under a small cup and rose it up to the light, examining it while taking quick glances over to Jack and Kate. Eventually he walked over to them, removing a small, rectangular stone from his pocket and raising it up beside the knife, "On a walkabout, you have to survive on your own. I'm a survivor, Jack. And so are you. Know what survivors do?"
Jack giggled a bit, once again looking up to John with a playful face, "I don't know. They survive?"
Locke began to scratch the knife against the stone, sharpening it's tip. "That's right, survivors...survive. And, do you know how they survive? They hunt. And, Jack, that is how I see all of this. It's one big hunt."
Jack looked at Locke with confusion, but before he could speak Locke interrupted, "Ya see, everything before a hunt, everything in preparation for the hunt, increases the chance of killing an animal. And what do you call this? What is it, that we are doing right now, making critical decisions, talking to each other, agreeing?" He asked, still rubbing the knife against the stone, examining it carefully, before stopping quickly and looking back at the two who were watching him. "Well. We're sharpening our knives, of course." He said with a small wink before walking turning around and walking out of the kitchen. Jack and Kate heard the hatch door close shut seconds after as they contemplated in silence the true meaning behind Locke's speech.
Jack looked down, realizing he had just finished the last bite of his breakfast. He looked back up to Kate, who seemed to be deep in thought, "So...What can you make of everything he just said?"
She snapped out of her frozen state, looking up to him with an amazed expression, "I don't know. Something about knives. That's about all I understood."
Jack laughed, before sliding out of his chair and standing up, packing his plate over to the kitchen sink. He looked back at Kate, giving her a happy expression and walking back to where she sat, "Thanks again for the breakfast." He told her.
She looked back up at him before standing up from the table herself and meeting him halfway, "You're welcome. Just know, you totally owe me one sometime in the near future." She teased.
"Definitely. I'm gonna go see what's going on at the beach. Wanna come?" He asked, "Once we check out what's going on with everyone, we'll get a couple of people and have a meeting here in the hatch. Sound like a plan to you?"
She nodded obediently, "Sounds like a plan to me."
Ooh, big scene coming up. Expect many more characters to make appearances soon!
