Jack watched as Sun got Kate up onto her feet and escorted her slowly across the beach. His gaze followed them until they disappeared from his field of vision. The mood of the beach camp had become subdued again; uncertain murmurs and hushed voices, and it made him uncomfortable. The last thing everyone needed was for even more apparent weirdness to descend on them, but it was happening yet again, and Jack felt powerless to stop it.

He was kicking himself inwardly, and had been since this all started. He'd never believed Claire when she'd told him about her nightmares, and look where that had ended up. Regardless of the fact that things had more-or-less righted themselves in the end, what mattered to Jack was that he'd failed her in the first instance, and he sure as hell wasn't going to fail Kate, or anyone else for that matter. If only she'd just talk to him...

But then maybe his father was truly about him right after all. He just didn't have what it takes, and that thought cut him to the core. All these survivors, these people, still looked to him for leadership even after everything that had happened. 6 days in, Joanna drowned, and he never uttered a damn word to her. He'd so nearly lost Charlie, and Claire to Ethan. Steve, or was it Scott? He'd lost his life because if Ethan too. That had been inexcusable. He'd lost Boone completely, something he'd taken very hard indeed, and something he still hadn't entirely forgiven Locke for, even if it was a foolhardy, albeit selfish, mistake on Locke's part. Shannon had been an accident, but he still stupidly felt in some way responsible, and he'd felt so deeply for Sayid. Artz too, that had been jarring to say the least. He barely knew the guy; all he wanted to do was help, to feel a part of everything. And if he'd just had the gall to step up to Michael that first time, Ana-Lucia and Libby would still be alive. It was all mounting up on him, slowly burying him alive. He felt he couldn't handle the position of responsibility that had been thrust upon him, unwittingly, that very first day, because he just wasn't supposed to be that kind of person.

And then there was Kate. A free spirit the likes of which he'd never encountered before. He'd been so encapsulated with life in Los Angeles, surrounded by spoiled, synthetic women and vain, adulterous men all his life he'd never even realised someone like Kate could actually exist in this world.

When he'd first laid eyes on her the day of the crash; smudged eyeliner, tailored shirt, and the faint trace of a floral perfume on her skin, he'd thought maybe she was just another one of those privileged girls. But then she'd touched him so gently, sewn him up with the very scantest of essentials, and with barely a flinch or complaint, he'd immediately come to understand just how different, how special she was. It didn't matter what she'd done in the past, and he so regretted pushing her after he'd eulogised so succinctly to her about fresh starts and new beginnings. He'd gotten angry and frustrated; possessive again, when he clearly had no right to be, and he'd so nearly wrecked his own supposed chance at 'starting over'. He was sure she still held that against him.

Jack leaned back against the tree and took a long swig from his water bottle, before settling again and resting his elbows on his knees. He closed his eyes to the night in defeat.

"Hey, Jack. Jack."

Jack opened one eye and looked up. Charlie was hovering nervously above him.

"What is it Charlie?"

"Is Kate alright? What's happening?"

Jack was loath to repeat himself yet again, but he did anyway. After all, isn't that what Doctors are good at?

"I don't know. I'm waiting for Sun to get back." He glanced in the general direction of Kate's tent. "Maybe she'll know more. Or maybe not…" he added quietly, more to himself than to the young man in front of him. Jack decided to change the subject quickly.

"How's Aaron?"

"Aaron? Oh, he's fine. Claire just put him back down. I think Kate woke him up, along with half the bloody Southern hemisphere…"

Jack gave him a stern, reprimanding look that made Charlie suddenly feel exceptionally guilty.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just, you know… With what happened to Claire and all, I, er, I think I'm just going to stop talking now before I regret it."

Jack didn't say anything. He just held the look a little longer.

"Right, well. Good. I'll... I'll just be on my way. Yes. OK then..."

Charlie slunk away into the dark like a scolded child and Jack finally let out a deep breath. He really wished people would stop asking him what was going on, especially since he was just about as clueless as they were.

Jack poked the dying embers of the small fire when he was aware of someone else approaching. He didn't look up, preparing to give whoever it was an earful if they asked the same question he'd heard a thousand times in the past few days, but wrenched his eyes up and dropped the stick when he realised that it was Sun sitting opposite him.

"Hey."

"Hello, Jack." Sun leaned forward slightly, frowning, and keeping her voice low.

"How is she? Did you make any progress?" Jack pulled himself forward a little, too.

"She's OK, but we're not much closer to the truth, I'm afraid."

"Did she say anything at all?"

"Only that she's definitely having nightmares. The way she put it though, it seemed like it's been the same one, and that it's very, very real. She said it was like it's really happening, that she is experiencing it, or rather... will experience it."

"Will experience it?" he questioned.

"I can't really explain. She said it's like a vision, but that doesn't make any sense does it? But it doesn't matter, she won't tell me what she's seeing, only that it's upsetting her greatly. She doesn't even know why this is happening to her."

Jack slumped against the bark, finding little solace in its uneven surface. Sun was right; none of this really made any sense. It was just a recurring nightmare, wasn't it? Even so, from his limited experience, they were rare. People were known to have recurring dreams, yes; even he'd had a few in his time. But not usually day after day after day. But shocking, vivid nightmares? No. Not like this. Jack stroked his jaw preoccupiedly, wondering what the next approach should be until he realised he'd left Sun hanging. He drew himself back up to speak.

"Listen... thanks, Sun. Really. I'm sorry I dragged you into this. Jin must be wondering where you are."

"It's OK, Jack. I'm glad to be able to help. To try to, at least."

Sun got up and smiled, touching him on the shoulder reassuringly. Jack smiled back, thankful he wasn't trying to do this on his own.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Jack."

"Goodnight, Sun."

He watched her walk up the beach before he too got to his feet, leaving the comforting warmth of the low fire for his own tent. As he walked, he was half-tempted to check up on Kate, her small tent lit up with a low, flickering light, but he had long ago learned that unwanted attention didn't go down too well with her, so he resisted. He knew she wouldn't sleep tonight, and the thought worried him. If she didn't get some uninterrupted rest soon, things would start to go very badly for her, and he didn't want that to happen. Apparently there was nothing he could do though, so he allowed himself one last glance at her shelter before moving off.

Reaching his own tent, he clambered inside, shedding himself of his jeans and shirt, and climbed unsteadily into bed, eventually falling into a restless torpor.