Hey y'all I must start off by apologizing for what may have seemed like a super long wait, the alerts weren't working on this site. Anyhoodle, clarification point: the Sawyer (James) about to shoot Kate scene in A Clean Slate hasn't happened yet. However the conversation Kate remembers in A Clean Slate is the one y'all just read in chapter 3!

I generally use italics for large passages or certain quotes when they are memories/flashbacks. Obviously italics on the odd word is just to emphasize:)

I have to warn y'all there is a bit of angst in here and some profanity and some sexual situations but not the kind y'all are thinking of! I haven't forgotten my promise to go easy on the angst but it was necessary here!

My awesome beta Bud has been unavailable all week so just to warn y'all if she gets the time to read this chapter and flags something as super-craptastic I may just change it.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Kate wrestled with her decision to get up from her position underneath the tree but when she heard James open another bottle of beer he'd gone inside to get; she knew she the decision had been made.

Stiff from the hours of inertia she sat up with great effort; biting her lip she muffled her groan as her muscles and joints screamed in protest. The ground got surprisingly cold after the sun set! Holding onto the tree trunk she pushed herself up off the ground, wincing when she felt her slightly sprained ankle twist on the broken boot heel. Bending over she unzipped both of her boots off and picking them up with a chagrined look on her face, threw them through the barely hinged, open driver's door. They crashed against the passenger side window with a satisfying thud. Limping over to the car she realized that James had already taken her bag inside, without asking her. Incensed, Kate stomped resolutely on the edge of the gravel driveway and up onto the porch where James sat watching her.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to grace us with her with her presence!" James remarked cheerfully, an amused look on his face.

"Where's my bag? What did you do with it?" Kate snapped at him.

James took a swallow of his beer before he set it down by his feet, standing up he raised an eyebrow at her as she stepped back warily.

"Relax, I ain't gonna touch you. I thought I'd lead the way an' show you the river I dumped it in." James replied his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Kate's eyes were practically popping out of her face and she looked like she was about to have fit.

"You threw my $4,000 Louis Vuitton in the river!? I had a business plan in there! And makeup, a change of clothes, underwear, my toothbrush… my tazer and my gun!" Kate was screaming now, getting angrier by the second.

James bit his lip hard trying not to burst out laughing, but a chuckle slipped out anyway. She was quite the picture, hyper-ventilating with leaves stuck in her no longer straight, expensively styled hair, dirt smudged on her face and on her formerly white tank-top, she was barefoot and her feet were practically black with mud.

"Calm down Sticks, I put your collector's edition Speedy 30 on the dinin' room table."

Kate stared at him like he'd grown another head, "Really? And how do you know it's a collector's edition Speedy 30?" She asked him suspiciously.

James rolled his eyes as he walked into the house, slamming the door in her face when she tried to follow.

"Not with those dirty feet you ain't!" He said to her over his shoulder.

Kate slapped the door-jamb and almost sprained her hand in return. Turning around she picked up the beer he'd left behind and downed it in record time. When James opened the door she dropped it guiltily. The thud it made incriminating her, she winced as James detachedly observed her flushing to a very pretty shade of dusky rose.

"Got you some slippers an' I got your bag too, are you gonna come in or did you want me to just hand you the bag?" James asked softly. He hated himself for this but despite everything he hoped she would decide to stay.

Kate stared at him without saying anything slightly stunned by her inability to formulate a response. Her brain was screaming, 'No! Take your bag and run!' But her heart and her feet were staging a protest, preferring to stay right where they were or preferably follow him into the house.

Sighing in resignation, James stepped out onto the porch and handed her the bag. Turning away from her he reached for the door handle to go back in the house.

"James!" Kate cried out. To her consternation there were tears in her eyes. 'What happens to me when I'm around him?' Kate asked herself, not deliberating on the question long enough to answer her own question.

James turned around slowly, angry again and ready to tell her to get the hell of his property but the tears in her eyes stopped him. His face softened as he saw the conflicting emotions on her face.

"If you don't mind, I…I'd like to stay. I don't have any way of getting back to Marshall apparently everything around here shuts at 4 o'clock." Kate said in a voice that sounded strange even to her own ears.

James silently offered her the slippers he'd been holding in his left hand and Kate reached forward and took them. Dropping them on the floor and slipping them on, she slung her bag over her shoulder, wincing a little in pain as she put too much pressure on her tender ankle.

"Lead the way Tex, I'm thirsty and I'm starving, you better- I hope you have some more of that cornbread I saw you eating." Kate said with a confidence she was quite far from feeling.

James nodded and gallantly held the door open for her as she gingerly shuffled into the house. James turned on the front security and driveway lights then he followed her into the kitchen.

"I got some food here, why don't I fix you a plate while you… freshen up?" James suggested diplomatically.

Kate who was eyeing the simmering gumbo with great expectation, brought her eyes to meet his and it took her a second to realize what he was saying. Bringing her hands up to her now frizzy hair, her mouth formed a silent moue. She spun around frantically and looked at her reflection in the kitchen window.

"I look like Rousseau!" Kate exclaimed as she shuffled painfully to the kitchen sink and started scrubbing at her grubby hands and arms.

James watched her for a second shaking his head in amusement at the mention of the French chick. He thought back to the first time they had been captured by the Others and had been placed in the bear cages. Kate had definitely borne a striking resemblance to Rousseau back then too. But that too was another memory that only his mind had seemed to retain.

Mentally shrugging he poured the gumbo in a bowl for Kate and took out the small loaf of cornbread he'd made for her; cutting it up he sneaked glances at her frantic scrubbing as she abraded her face with a paper towel. No matter how much he tried to deny it to himself, it was good to see her.

Giving up with a sigh of frustration she turned to him and saw him watching her with that strange look on his face he'd had when she'd seen him at the anniversary party in California.

"Is that for me?" Kate asked with childish excitement as she eyed the food on the tray he was holding.

James nodded, suddenly robbed of the power of speech. With all the makeup off her face, and her hair curly and waving freely in the slight breeze coming in from the window behind her, she looked like his Freckles again. 'Yeah except she ain't yours an' doesn't remember ever bein' yours.' James reminded himself sharply as he led the way back out onto the porch.

Kate took in her surroundings as they walked back out onto the front porch; the furnishings were modern, tasteful and all very comfortable-looking. In what would have been the parlor in the days gone by she observed there were plenty of photographs on the wall but she couldn't see them in the dim lighting shining in from the porch. 'I never would have thought he lived in a place like this. I guess I really don't know this guy at all.' Kate mused to herself thoughtfully.

James sat in the rocking chair and gestured to the bench next to it as he set the tray down on it. Kate took this to mean that was where she was going to be sitting. Taking her seat, her mouth practically watered with anticipation as she looked at the food.

James reached in the cooler he'd brought out with him when Kate had still been lying out in the front yard; and took out two ice-cold beers. Cracking one open with his teeth, he set it next to Kate and she smiled up at him in thanks as she set to work on the gumbo. James inclined his head in her direction before opening his beer and taking a long healthy swig. He stared out at the driveway and the abandoned silver Mustang that looked decidedly forlorn with its door hanging off.

Kate finished the food in record time and setting the tray down with a satisfied smile on her face she picked up her beer and sucked on it so vigorously, James found himself staring her with avid fascination. Watching her do something so normal, with such zest was having a very powerful effect on him and he tried to tear his eyes away from her delineated profile. The porch-light enhanced each swallow as her pursed lips kissed the bottle top. She set the bottle down on the bench and wiped her lips with the back of her hand before she risked glancing his way.

"Stop that." She ordered, she shook her head at him and then turned her face away to hide the small smile that the look in his eyes elicited. 'He still finds you attractive Katherine!' She thought to herself proudly.

James kept watching her, waiting for her to turn back to face him.

"I guess I'm just a bit surprised to see you drinkin' somethin' as common as beer. What with all your new airs an' graces… I would've figured you don't drink anythin' that doesn't come in crystal an' without an umbrella." He commented probingly.

He really wanted to understand what had her acting like such a snob. He would never have pegged her for someone who would take herself so seriously just because of the kind of money she made. It really disappointed him.

"First you called me Shannon, and now you're accusing me of having airs and graces. Any other compliments you wanna throw my way Sawyer? James! Whatever!" She let out a breath of aggravation. He leaned back in the rocking chair and took another swig of his beer.

"Why the hell didn't you keep in touch after the party?" Kate demanded, whipping around to face him with her expressive green eyes.

"Yeah 'cause you were so cut up over my not keepin' in touch that you tried to find me?" James shot back. He turned to glare at her, searching her eyes for the answer.

"Touché… I guess we're both at fault." Kate observed, never taking her eyes off his.

"Speak for yourself Sassafras; I had no intentions of keepin' in touch with you or anyone else from that craphole island. Like I said before-"

"Some things are best left dead and forgotten." Kate finished off for him.

"Exactly." James agreed.

He studied her face to see her reaction and hoped to hell that he wasn't giving away how much he wished that wasn't the case. Kate didn't notice, her gaze had turned inwards and she stared at the beer bottle in her hands in silence. James turned away from her and resumed staring out onto his driveway. They sat like that for a few minutes, and although it had started off awkward, it became companiable.

"I've really behaved like a spoilt brat today, huh? It's weird but ever since I saw you in that boardroom it's like I've been possessed… I even commissioned a research report into exactly how many people thought they were reincarnated from dung beetles." Kate said with self-deprecation.

James didn't react or look at her; he just took another swig from his beer and rocked his chair gently.

"Don't you want to know how many people there were?" Kate asked her tone playful.

"More than 10 million?" James wagered, turning to look at her at last.

Kate smiled, "8.7 million last time I checked on the results, which was this morning."

James smirked at her, "So what's your point?"

"My point is that I'm here to talk business with you and you don't have a leg to stand on, your theory didn't work out. Katherine one, James zero." Kate said with an annoyingly superior tone.

"Hmm… well Sassafras I guess you got me there, except for one thing, your results aren't complete so you don't win shit. You turned up here unwanted, unexpected an' uninvited, if I'd known you were comin' I might've commissioned a report myself." James said the grin on his face spreading as he saw her nostrils flare with indignation.

"Are you even going to consider my proposal?" Kate blurted out.

James shook his head, "Hell no. I read your proposal an' as pretty as the words an' dollar signs looked on the second page, I don't think so."

"You went through my stuff!"

"Payback's a bitch ain't it? When I went out on the raft with Mikey, Jin an' Walt y'all divvied my shit up without askin'-"

"You have got to be kidding me, you're comparing going through my handbag to other people not including me taking the stuff you stole off the dead?" Kate asked incredulously.

James nodded vehemently, "Hell yeah, it's still stuff an' it belonged to me. When we first crashed no one was interested in salvagin' anythin' useful so I did. I for one saved for a rainy day, an' when we didn't get rescued I suddenly had some currency of my own. That is one of the founding principles of capitalism Sweetcheeks, supply an' demand."

Kate stood up abruptly, picking up her tray and empty beer bottle she headed for the house laughing incredulously at James' argument. Juggling the tray and the beer she pulled the door open and bracing herself for the pain; stuck her sprained foot in it before squeezing through and heading for the kitchen.

James got up and walking into the kitchen watched her finish washing the dishes in the sink before she called out to him thinking he was still on the front porch.

"So if all you did was uphold capitalism why won't you let us expand out here? We're doing the same thing!" Kate hollered at him.

James chuckled softly. Jumping in shock; Kate dropped the kitchen towel she was using to wipe her hands, turning around to see him standing in the doorway watching her with those intense blue eyes of his.

"For starters, there's a 5 second expiry date on a comeback Freckles, second of all we don't need your services I've seen the figures for the rise in gun related deaths in the areas you've spread your product an' thirdly… What was third? Oh yeah, I don't want you hangin' around my neck of the woods, there's a whole world out there for you terrorize." James said with brutal honesty.

Kate drew back, deeply offended, "You can be so cruel." She breathed out, her voice giving away how much that hurt.

"I'm bein' cruel to be kind Freckles." James said softly, he didn't show it but the hurt on her face was making him feel guilty.

"Is that why you stole the guns back on the Island? To be kind!? Is that why you turned your back on everyone when we got rescued? Is that why you turned off the lights out front there and left me to lie there in the dark!?" Kate yelled at him, reveling in the welcome comfort of her self-righteous anger.

James set the empty bottle down on the counter-top and strode towards her so that they were standing toe-to-toe.

"I don't need to explain myself to you. As a matter of fact I don't owe you anythin'. You turned up at my house uninvited, an' decided to act like a spoilt princess, so I left you there, wonderin' how long it would take you to get over yourself an' start actin' like the woman I knew!"

"You don't know me! What would make you think that you have any idea who or what I am?" Kate threw back at him. Her blood was pumping furiously in her veins and her palms were itching to slap his face or scratch his eyeballs out. 'God I hate him!' She thought to herself.

James grabbed her arms viciously, practically lifting her off her feet a little as he searched her face, looking for a sign, anything to tell him that she hadn't written him out of her heart as well as her mind.

Kate struggled against his hold on her; unsettled by the sparks she could feel flying between them. It felt like his hands were on fire and they were generating enough heat to ignite an equal fire in her that threatened to burn her alive.

James held onto her for a few more seconds before he let her go abruptly, the momentum carried her backwards and she hit her head on a cupboard door.

"Ow! F# that hurt! What is your problem with me!?" Kate bit out angrily the back of her head smarting. James didn't seem to hear as he stormed out of the kitchen and headed towards the dining room.

Kate felt tears of pain and frustration prick her eyes, for the hundredth time that day she asked herself, 'What am I doing here?' Hurrying out of the kitchen she saw James standing in the parlor, holding a bottle of Hennessy and two crystal tumblers.

"Join me or don't, I think I'm gonna need to get seriously drunk if there is to be any hope in hell of me not throttlin' your scrawny little neck." He said in way of invitation.

Kate frowned, approaching him warily she took a glass from him; careful not to touch his fingers. He cocked an eyebrow at this but thankfully didn't say anything else. Indicating towards the staircase he strode up the stairs without looking back. Kate wasn't sure if she was meant to follow or not.

"You plan on drinkin' air?" James called out from the top of the stairs.

Kate rolled her eyes in irritation and followed him into a comfortable looking living room decorated in brown, cream and black. There was a large screen television and fancy looking sound-system on the wall facing the doorway, and a large mirror on the wall opposite the French windows that led out onto a balcony.

James was sitting in the only Lazy-boy in the room and he set the decanter down on the side table next to it. Kate took this as her cue to sit in the armchair parallel to the Lazy-boy.

Pouring herself some of the brandy, she took a tentative sip, not looking forward to humiliating herself anymore than she had already done today. This time the silence between them was strained. Kate wished he would just turn on the television, like she did at home with Jack. It always made it easier.

"I never stopped wondering where you were or what you were doing." Kate volunteered timidly before taking a drink.

James turned to stare at her in surprise and when she set her glass down she wiggled her eyebrows at him in expectation. James gave her an apologetic eyebrow lift before he lifted his glass and drained it. He kept his eyes trained on her as he gauged her reaction while he poured them each another drink. Kate didn't take her eyes off him as she lifted her glass from the table and raised it to him silently.

"I never slept with Ana-Lucia." James said quietly. Kate watched with sadness she couldn't explain when James drank.

"I never forgave you for telling everybody I was a criminal." Kate said huskily, her feelings although not present in her face were manifesting themselves in her voice. She took a healthy sip from her glass.

'I never forgave you for forgettin' 'bout me an' runnin' off with Jack.' James bit his tongue to stop himself from saying it.

Instead he said, "You're ruinin' the game Freckles. How about this… I never had sex with more than one person at the same time."

Kate's eyes widened as James drank. She wanted to find out more and she was horrified by her own curiosity.

"How many is more than one?" Kate asked in an amused but concerned voice.

James leaned his head back and smiled seductively, "Quite a few more."

"How did you… satisfy all those women at the same time?" Kate asked, more than a little intrigued by this conversational topic.

James turned to look at her with a very masculine grin on his face, "I got two hands, a mouth, a-"

"Got it!" Kate cut him off rolling her eyes at him with a begrudging smile on her face.

James chuckled. She stared at him for a few moments, struggling with the decision on whether to ask for the more sordid details or not. James could see her internal struggle as she sat so primly, back ramrod straight; on the edge of her seat, cradling her glass and biting her lip.

"So does that mean you've done everything?" Kate asked finally, not daring to look at him; she kept her eyes on the blank tv screen.

"That depends on what you mean by everythin'." James teased; his smile grew a little wider as he saw her cheeks flush again.

Kate rolled her eyes, flailing her left hand in annoyance she said, "You know… everything."

"I ain't ever done anything with another guy or animals but otherwise yeah, I guess so." James mused; taking a sip of his drink to hide his smirk at Kate's widening eyes.

"That must be a lot of one-night stands." Kate dead-panned.

"Hey now, I've been in some relationships!" James protested good-naturedly at her unspoken assumption.

"Really? You don't strike me as the type." Kate remarked truthfully, her nose wrinkling prettily.

"Well I'll have you know the wildest sex I've ever had was with the ones I was involved with more than just sexually." James told her, his blue eyes dancing mischievously.

Kate searched his face for a sign of him teasing her, and she didn't see one; so taking a deep breath she took the bait.

"Anyone that stood out in particular?" She asked, genuinely curious.

In the back of her mind something about her attitude throughout this conversation niggled. James searched her face for a second before he tore his eyes away from her and stared at the bottom of his glass. Drinking the remainder of the whiskey he set the glass down and unscrewed the bottle cap in order to pour himself a few more fingers.

"Oh yeah… there always is one, isn't there?" James said enigmatically, he looked up at Kate who held out her glass for a top up. James obliged her.

"I don't know is there?" Kate asked him, her green eyes questioning.

"Alright Sassafras, you really wanna hear 'bout this?" James asked her seriously.

Kate nodded licking her lips in an unconscious sensual move as she gratefully accepted her glass from him; watching him through her lashes she took a hearty sip. James had picked up his own glass and sniffing the expensive liquor he took a small sip.

"Whatever the lady wants." He muttered under his breath, smiling at her as she raised an eyebrow at this. Strangely he was finding her out of character propriety more than a bit of a turn on now.

"There was one… she was the embodiment of Madonna/whore. Smart, classy an' sexy as hell without tryin' to be, I guess she was just born that way." James laughed to himself a little in memory.

Kate found herself smiling along with him and she scooted back in the armchair, turning her body to face the Southerner as she listened and observed.

"I met her at a crazy time in my life, I was so lost an' she was the perfect weapon of choice to get myself into an even darker place." James said ruefully. He risked a glance in her direction as he finished speaking; Kate was so focused on him, that the intensity in her gaze unsettled him a second.

"We did some wild things, things I can't even spell or describe. There was no surface in our house we didn't cover. No position in the kama sutra we didn't do or reinvent an' I'm pretty sure there are some trees out there that will never be the same again. Anythin' I wanted she knew an' she provided 'cause she wanted it too, I never had to say anythin'. We didn't talk too much, not about anythin' with meanin'. We were so in sync with our appetite for self-destruction an' nothin' fed it more than our relationship."

"It was just animal lust." Kate stated. A little part of her happy to hear that this all encompassing affair he'd had wasn't anything to be jealous of.

"There was a lot of that, but it wasn't just animal lust, there was a whole lot more to it. We understood each other in a way that just didn't need much talkin'." James corrected her.

"So then what happened? Why did it end?" Kate asked. 'Katherine Dorf is that jealousy stirring in your heart? What the hell for?' She berated herself sternly.

"I learned that there were other things more important, than me or her. Other people that depended on me to do what was right." James said wistfully, staring at her hands as they cupped her crystal tumbler.

"And what about her? What happened to her?" Kate pressed.

James looked at Kate with sadness, "She's still lost, an' I don't- didn't know how to reach her… so I let her go."

"What was her name?" Kate demanded. She was just as surprised as he was at the sharpness in her voice.

"I don't remember." James replied in a tone that discouraged any further discussion.

He brought his eyes to meet hers; something in his eyes and voice shook Kate to her very core, she felt like she related with his story, that she was connected to this woman and to him. She noticed her hand shake slightly, why was this story having such a powerful effect on her?

Kate lifted her glass up and drank half the liquid in it before she choked and coughed violently. James reached over and took the glass from her waiting to see whether or not she was going to be okay. When she continued coughing he got up from his seat and setting the glass down, walked over to the armchair and perching himself on the arm-rest; thumped her soundly on the back.

James' right hand patted and rubbed her back soothingly before moving up to her shoulder when she finally stopped coughing; Kate brought her left hand up to clasp the hand on her shoulder, effectively keeping James there. Wheezing slightly she turned to look up at him; the naked hunger on his face and in his eyes didn't scare her in the slightest, in fact it excited her.

"I kissed you first, how could you sleep with Ana-Lucia and not me?" She demanded indignantly.

James' face was impassive, and he lowered his lids so Kate couldn't see what he was thinking. He didn't think he could bear this pain much longer, and he was worried he would say something he wouldn't be able to take back.

"Didn't know you were that interested Sweetcheeks." James said eventually.

Kate turned awkwardly so that her entire body faced him and when his hand slid off her shoulder she held it in hers resting their intertwined hands on her lap. When she looked down at them something triggered in her mind but once again she couldn't remember what.

"Oh my God, I just had déja-vu." Kate whispered in wonderment.

James' heart skipped a beat in excitement. Was this the breakthrough he'd been waiting for all these years? Kate shook her head as if to clear it and looking up from their entwined fingers smiled at him dismissively.

"Weird huh? Maybe it's a memory from when you came back from the raft and you were unconscious." Kate offered in explanation. Just like that she punctured his briefly inflated hopes.

"So what happened between you an' Jacko?" James asked changing the subject.

It was really unsettling him having her here in his home, and their interlinked hands were aggravating him. She made a face at his chosen topic.

"We kind of fizzled out. The pressures of our careers… my issues, his issues… his not being able to have children… the Island… you." Kate said the last word casually; reaching over with her free hand she lifted her glass up and sipped its contents very gingerly.

"Me?" James asked in disbelief. His mouth hang at a slack angle as he sat there waiting for her to elaborate.

"Yeah, I guess it was kind of a turn off when I kept talking about how I felt like a part of me was missing… and I thought you could fill in the blanks." Kate said in an offhand tone as she concentrated on setting the glass back down on the coffee table without relinquishing her hold on his hand.

"Now why would you think a thing like that?" James asked with curiosity, he was staring at her intently.

Kate rolled her eyes and stood up suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic, she walked around the room noting the books and paintings up on the wall facing the flat screen. There were no pictures in this room.

"Katherine." James pressed from his position on the chair; he'd sat down in her place, shocked to hear that he'd been the reason for their break-up. Well, at least one of them.

She turned around to face him crossing her arms on her chest, she sighed tiredly.

"I don't know! It was just a feeling I used to have. It kind of went hand in hand with the dreams and the sometimes waking up in a strange place with no recollection of how I got there. Which isn't too crazy seeing as I don't seem to remember an entire 19 months of my adult life, right? I mean none of us do, and I'm the only one who can't get over it. I just felt and still feel like there is something so important… so big, that I have to remember it. And then I feel like shit because everyone else is telling me I'm crazy, and then they were giving me medication and then sometimes I get confused…"

"What kind of medication?" James asked in a dangerously low voice.

"I don't know the one that all of us were given after we started the therapy sessions."

"Is everyone else still takin' it?" James pressed. He didn't like the idea of doctors and psychiatrists messing with her head.

"I think so, I don't know. All I know is that I've been on a different kind because of all the confusion and stuff."

"What type Freckles?" James practically growled at her.

"Anti-depressants, mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics like Thorazine, Valium, Xanax, Nardil and Halcion if I have an episode." Kate replied testily.

She looked at him expectantly waiting to see if he recognized any of the drugs she had listed. Throwing her hands up in exasperation she shook her head and strode past him and out onto the balcony.

James remained where he was sitting for a few minutes, staring at the half empty bottle of Hennessy. His vision was slightly blurry and his brain wasn't working as fast as it usually did, but he was well enough aware to know that Kate was taking a most lethal cocktail of drugs. 'What did they do to her to make it necessary for her take all that shit?' He wondered. Sighing he pulled himself out of the armchair and walked out the open French doors to join her.

Kate heard him walk out to join her in the moonlight, but she didn't turn to acknowledge him as she inhaled the rich scent of damp earth and magnolia. Smiling to herself she surveyed the front of the house; it was well lit now and the grass was perfectly maintained. Her bright green eyes took in the trees lining the driveway and she smiled a little brighter at the sight of her pitiful looking Mustang as it remained where she'd left it, the door hanging on to the main frame of the car by a mere hinge.

"So Canada didn't last, hey?" She said conversationally, smiling at her lame joke. James didn't respond and Kate shrugged still peering out into the well lit front yard.

I can see why you've settled down here, it's absolutely beautiful… if it wasn't for my car over there we could be in the Old South." She remarked, turning to look at James expectantly.

"There was a land of Cavaliers an' Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights an' their Ladies Fair, of Master an' of Slave." James quoted with the ease of someone who had spoken the words countless times before.

"Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind..." Kate finished off for him, beaming with pride when he raised an eyebrow of surprise. He turned to face her, his eyes searching her face, a frown marring his brow.

"Is that what you're here for? Some moonlight an' magnolia?" He was scowling now and his voice was harsh.

Kate swallowed audibly, "No. I came to talk to you, to convince you that Securicare-"

"You're not here for Securicare so drop the act. Why did you really come here Katherine?" James interrupted her angrily, his eyes practically spitting fire as he took a menacing step towards her.

Kate took step back with a gasp, James reached forward as if to grab her arm but wrapped his hand around the railing instead. In another move he'd used his other hand to grab the railing to the left of Kate, effectively trapping her in his unyielding arms. Somewhere along the line, both their breathing had changed, their chests heaving slightly as he detachedly noted her wide-eyed fear, flattering her all the more in the moonlight.

"I thought I was Freckles." Kate smiled shakily.

"Answer the question." James enunciated slowly.

"I wanted you to agree to my proposal, and I also just wanted to see you again." Kate said finally.

"Unh huh." James said knowingly, his eyes undressing her as he eyed her assets.

"See you again Sawyer not sleep with you! God, you're such a pervert."

"The name is James, Sweetcheeks." James said in a velvety voice that raised the hairs on the back of Kate's neck.

"Okay, James, do you mind getting off me? I'm pressed against the rails here and they aren't warm." Kate said coldly. Her mouth pursed tightly.

James relinquished his hold on the rail with his right hand and gestured for Kate to move. Eyeing him cautiously she stepped away from him primly, her nose lifted slightly as she sniffed in disdain.

James grabbed the back of her neck and spinning her around fast, he slammed her against the wall, choking the breath out of her slightly with his grip. Leaning into her he nudged his knee in between her legs and bent his head down to whisper in her ear.

"You don't fool me. Saint Jack of no personality or complex emotions that don't involve cryin' might have let you get away with this act cause he couldn't give a shit, too busy savin' the world an' all but I got news for you Peaches I ain't him."

Kate gripped his wrist and pulled on it hard gritting her teeth from the effort; tears pricked her eyes. James released her neck but remained pressed against her for a second before he pulled away and grabbing her upper arm shoved her onto one of the wrought iron chairs on the balcony. Kate immediately stood up, her eyes flashing and hair practically quivering with the force of her anger at his rough treatment; she was ready to do battle.

"Sit down, 'cause for once in your life you're gonna let me have my say an' accept it for the truth. I ain't got no reason to lie Babycakes, I can guarantee you there is nothin' I want from you but some honesty." James said to her in a voice that scared her.

She did as she was told, sitting down on the cold white chair. She brought her arms up to try and trap some body heat. He walked over to her and gripping the arms of the chair looked her right in the eye as his towering form crowded her. Kate didn't recoil, she simply stared at him with brazen defiance.

"You can fool your therapist an' everyone else around you, but you don't fool me. I know exactly who you are. You're fire through an' through. So Katherine this sexually repressed, anally retentive, ice queen Bree Van De Kaap act might hold water with all the other chumps but it doesn't wash with me. People like you an' me; we go our own way in this world. We ain't spectators, so stop buyin' your own bullshit an' be straight with me or get outta my house an' don't come back." James' voice was deceptively sensual.

Kate didn't move she merely stared at him in muted shock, the veracity of his words echoing through her. Silence and tension hung over them for about a minute then without thinking she ran her hands up his well-toned arms and over his shoulders to cup his face in her hands. Something about this felt so very natural and familiar yet different. And looking into James' eyes which were churning with emotions Kate couldn't identify; she leaned into him and locked her lips with his. For a second they just were frozen like this on the balcony, lips pressed against each other, then as if a match had been struck, their tongues fused together in a fiery passionate battle for dominance.

The kiss changed at some point from anger to communication, their tongues stroking each other sensually in a quest to discover more. James was the first to pull away, physically tearing himself away from her he staggered slightly, completely stunned by the fire that was burning between them. Kate's eyes were still glazed with pleasure and she made to follow him but he held his hand up in weak protest. Shaking his head as if to clear it he took another step away from her, he did not take his eyes off her flushed face

"That wasn't so hard now was it?"

Tilting his head slightly in her direction as acknowledgment of what had just passed between them; James strode back into the living room. Kate remained on the balcony for another minute, her fingers tracing the heated print James' hand at left on her neck. What had possessed her to kiss him like that? To kiss him at all? 'I must be drunker than I thought.' She surmised. For a split second she saw a flash of rusted bars in a cage in a jungle but before she could dissect it any further it was gone. Swallowing heavily, Kate drew in a shaky steadying breath before she headed into the house.

Shutting the doors behind her, Kate turned around to find James standing in the doorway with a pair of buttercup yellow cotton pajamas in his hands that looked decidedly comical.

"I made up the guest room for you, there's a shower in there so you can get cleaned up before you get into my sheets. Shall we?" James said pointedly.

He seemed to have gotten his emotions under control now and appeared to be impatient to get rid of her. Kate pasted a smile on her face and nodded as James turned on his heel and led the way down the hallway which wasn't lit but Kate noticed was decorated with pictures. James stopped in front of a half-open door near the end of the wide hallway. Gesturing for her to go in, he held the door open for her as she walked into the room.

She gasped in awe as she took in the powder blue and white décor of the room, the white voile curtains that blew slightly in the magnolia scented breeze and the comfortable looking luxurious flat topped canopy bed that took up the majority of the room.

"Shower's on the right, it's a standard one so you shouldn't have a problem usin' it. My room is next to yours in the back of the house. So if you need anythin' that a healthy dose of usin' your own initiative can't get you, just holler." James said sarcastically.

Piercing her dancing green eyes with his blue eyes one last time he nodded and left her in the room shutting the door firmly behind him. Kate heard him walk down the a little further and then she heard his door shut loudly behind him. Smiling to herself a little, she took in her surrounding before pushing the door open to inspect the bathroom. It was beautiful; tiled in a sea blue that made the small space look bigger than it really was. Turning on the water Kate hummed a song to herself, as she began to pull off the sticky and stained Mustang Sally tank top she was wearing. She wrinkled her nose at it in disgust and dropped it on the floor, unhooking her bra then shucking her jeans and underwear as she stepped into the welcome spray of the hot water. She noticed her reflection in the mirror and shrugged, not really sure she cared to think about why exactly she was still smiling.

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