A/N: Here's chapter 4! I hope everyone enjoys this one, there's some cutesy moments, and at the end Jack gets some payback for something Kate did in "The Greater Good." Don't worry, the next chapter, Kate dreams about the island and you'll learn why she and Sawyer had a falling out.

KATE

Kate saw the look of utter happiness in Jack's eyes when he mentioned his new job, and she couldn't help being proud of him. He couldn't accept his hero status, and yet here he was, playing hero again, whether he knew it or not. She beamed at him, and, to her surprise (which soon turned to smug satisfaction), his cheeks were tinged with pink.

Until this point, Kate's happiness at being with Jack again, at being able to laugh and smile with him, had been wonderful. But she did not miss his clear omission of Sawyer. A part of her still hated him for what he did. It was a small part, though, and it had only diminished as she sat for seven long months in a lonely jail cell, thinking about Jack, who she adored, and Sawyer, about whom she wasn't sure what to think. Kate chewed her lip and glanced up again at Jack. She'd barely opened her mouth when he said plainly,

"I haven't heard from him."

"Oh," Kate hadn't meant to sound so low. She picked at loose threads in the quilt, fuming. He probably thinks I don't appreciate all he's done. I shouldn't have brought it up.

She watched him from the corner of her eye, as he cursed and sped from the room. She fell back against the pillows in a huff, and then wished she hadn't. Something that smelled like burning rubber was sifting into the room. She wrinkled her nose as Jack came back into the room to explain the smell. She only feigned disappointment; she hated spaghetti.

"Vegetable Fried Rice," she said automatically, in reply to his question, sitting up again. She began sifting through her brain to remember the last time she'd had it. It was long before the crash, she knew that at least. She'd missed so much…

Jack returned from the kitchen with a glass of orange juice and a phone book. Kate starred at him—when had he left? She must have been dreaming, because he was gazing at her with an odd look in his eyes. He handed her the glass as he came to her side of the bed and sat on the edge, picking up the phone while searching through the book. Kate took a sip of the juice. It tasted funny, but then again, she hadn't had real orange juice in a long time.

Without thinking, he leaned back gently against her legs as he placed the order. Kate didn't protest; on the contrary, there was something comforting about feeling him nearby. His back was warm against her bare legs, but noticeably tense. She sat up, and he moved up, probably thinking it was making her uncomfortable. As he began ordering, she placed her hands on his shoulders and massaged them gently. Jack clearly wasn't expecting that, as he stifled a groan and nearly dropped the phone. Kate pulled back, embarrassed, biting her lip. He gave her a funny look, one she'd never seen him give before, as he muttered something that sounded suspiciously like an apology into the phone, waited, then hung up, before turning to face her, his eyes wide.

"Sorry," she muttered, blushing. He blinked, apparently at a loss for words. A fire inside of Kate suddenly roared, and her heart was beating wildly. She tried not to look at Jack, yet the feeling was just getting stronger and she couldn't tear her eyes away from him, and she was afraid to feel this way. She felt vulnerable the way he was staring at her, like he was some animal and she was his prey. It was a tense moment, and neither of them broke it, until suddenly, Jack leaned forward and his lips were on hers and she thought any moment she might go on fire. It had been months since she'd had close physical contact like this with anyone. She'd watched the other girls in her cellblock, dangerous hardened girls who catcalled the new girl. The first day that one had started flirting with Kate, she'd given the girl a black eye. They didn't bother her after that.

This was not their first kiss, but it was by far their most passionate. Their first, if it even counted, had been Kate kissing Jack on the cheek in gratitude. That was two months after the crash, and there was rarely an opportunity for them to get away; Jack was in charge of the caves, and Kate, having moved there with the others after "the Others" scare, was working twice as hard with Sun to grow more food in their little gardens. Sneaking quick kisses on an island full of people was no easy task; spending time alone was even rarer, and they had to content themselves to limit their interactions even in private, discussing the daily happenings of the island; there was no telling when someone like Walt could walk in on something very intimate. The other couples were careless; Jack and Kate took their time.

It was Jack who pulled back first, looking down, his face a deep crimson. Kate bit her lip for what seemed like the fiftieth time—why do I always do that when I'm embarrassed? She asked herself—and turned away. She felt Jack's eyes on her face, and was suddenly self-conscious of her too-thin body, limp hair, the hardness of her eyes.

"We're not on the island anymore," she said softly. "There are no safe places here. They'll put me back in jail for breaking parole. I only need a place to stay for a while. I don't want you to get in trouble. I can't—we can't."

"We're not on the island anymore," Jack repeated, his voice dangerously soft. "No one's going to put you back in jail. I won't let them."

"Jack, I broke parole! Don't you understand? I wasn't supposed to leave the county, but I came all the way out here and—"

He grinned, a cheeky, sly grin that only made her angrier. "I looked at your papers. I called around, pulled some strings. You didn't break parole. They misspelled "county" and wrote "country" instead. So as long as you don't feel like globe hopping, I checked, I can let you stay here. I had to point out their error, but since you already left, they can't do anything."

Kate's brain went into overdrive with all emotions competing to be the one she expressed. Her anger faded into confusion, then appreciation, then suddenly completely thrilled. She threw her arms around Jack, letting tears flow.

"Thank you. You really are my hero. You're too much, Jack."

He held her and let her cry out her tears. She suddenly felt very tired. Releasing her grip on his arms—I didn't think they'd be so muscular, Kate thought absent-mindedly to herself—she glared at him.

"I need you to get some sleep before I have to go pick up the food," he told her firmly, releasing his own hold on her and peeling back the blankets to help her in. She blinked several times at him.

"You—put"

"Sleeping pills. In your juice." His voice was serious, doctor-like, but his eyes were teasing. "Payback, you know. Here, lay down, Kate. I'll be right here for a while. You'll be so knocked out you won't mind if I'm gone for a half hour."

"Why would you—crush—pills?"

"Just lay down," he told her again. "You should be asleep within five minutes. I've got to clean this place up; you haven't seen how messy it is. I have to do something so that you'll be proud of me."

Kate's voice fell to a soft murmur, as her eyelids closed and she drifted of into sleep, "I already am, Jack."