Authors' note: We're combining point of views in upcoming chapters. It will say who's telling the story in italics. Kate may or may not have her own point of view.

Abby…

Sawyer continued purring as the three of us sat in silence, thinking. Well, it would be silence if you didn't count the part where I was still eating Doritos, but I was eating them much slower than I had been.

Also, more quietly.

"So, is this the Sawyer you were talking about earlier?" Kate looked pointedly down at the cat, who was stretched across her legs and half the couch.

I smirked. "Sawyer? No, she just named the cat after the real one."

I regretted letting that slip as soon as I said it, but Kate just nodded. She probably thought I was talking about the one from Mark Twain.

Sarah smiled in that way people get when they talk about their pets. "It fits him. His breed is supposed to be all mellow and loving, but let me tell you, Sawyer's got some attitude problems. Don't you, Sawyer?" she cooed, reaching over to pet him.

He just closed his eyes and nestled further into Kate's shirt.

"I think all cats have attitude problems, it's just whether or not the problems bother people." I started saying what was on my mind. "Like, once, my aunt had this cat, Bibs, and she just did not like me, and she scratched my face."

"But," Sarah cut in with a loving glance at Sawyer, "he's not like that. He just gets cranky. Like Nala."

I grinned. "Sawyer's not as fat as Zoey's cat. Yet…"

"Sawyer is not fat!" Sarah laughed. "He's just fluffy. Anyway, he runs around all the time."

Kate carefully placed Sawyer, whose eyes were now closed, on the couch and stood up awkwardly.

"Would you mind if I used your shower?" Kate stopped petting Sawyer and looked at Sarah, who stood up, probably to get towels and whatnot.

"Not at all. This way." She started walking towards the hallway and Kate trailed behind her. Looking around when she thought no one wasn't looking. Probably checking for emergency escape routes.

I hear Sarah continue to talk about the shower, which I knew to be a clear indicator that she was nervous. "Sometimes the water pressure is pretty bad, but it's okay around the afternoon. There's shampoo and conditioner…"

A couple seconds later, the sound of the shower was accompanied by Sarah's footsteps as she came back into the small living room.

Grinning widely.

We were like two obsessed fangirls in the presence of a boy band. Except that Kate was way cooler than some boy band.

"How cool is this?" I spoke up after we'd been quiet too long for my liking.

"If you'd call helping a supposed criminal cool, then very."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, yah. But, it's Kate! As in, Kate from Lost! Lost as in, only the best show out there - that is suddenly real, or somethin', mind you! Are you seriously tellin' me that while on the outside you're calm, but on the inside you're not freakin' out?"

"Exactly." Sarah also rolled her eyes. "I'm freaking out."

"Well, you don't sound like it." I smirked.

Sarah smirked. "That's because I can hide my emotions better than you."

"How do you know? Maybe I'm just pretending to be all crazed, when really, I'm calm. I'm a good liar, you know."

"I would say that you're just lying about being a good liar, but then, that'd just be proving your point." Sarah laughed and I nodded with a smile.

I started thinking again. So, now, instead of living with my cousin Sarah in California while I go to college, I'll be living with my cousin Sarah in California, with Kate Austen, and I could possibly go to jail.

Well. My friends back home always joked that I'd end up in jail, anyways. But it didn't matter. How are we to even get caught? Sarah didn't speed through any red lights, so the traffic cameras wouldn't have our picture, and when we walked up to Sarah's apartment it just looked like we were visiting relatives. Which, I technically was, but I wasn't really visiting, more like moving in.

But…

"Hey Sarah," I looked up at my cousin. "Aren't there like, tons of security cameras at airports?"

She nodded slowly.

"Don't you think if an escaped criminal got out, they'd be searching those cameras?"

She nodded again, eyes wide.

"What are we gonna do? I didn't plan on getting caught!" I stood up. "It's not like I would go back and reverse what we did, but cops could be coming! Then what? We all end up in jail, and my parents will murder me! Not to mention that it would be our fault that Kate got recaptured!"

Sarah looked worried for a minute but then relaxed. "Abby, breathe. Like you said, there's tons of cameras. Its going to take awhile for them to search and even get a glimpse of Kate in the first place."

I nodded slowly. It made sense. Kind of.

"When she gets out of the shower, then we'll talk about our next move." Sarah took the bag of Doritos from me. Smart move. If she didn't, then I'd end up with a massive stomach ache sooner or later. "You need real food."

"I wonder if she met Sawyer," I mused.

"My guess would be that we got to here before he did. Should we ask? She had the jacket around her arms, so she definitely made it out of the bathroom."

I shrugged and moved to the couch, sitting by Sawyer. He was sitting right in the middle where Kate left him. I played with his tail as he lay on his back and purred, as though to say, "I am such a nice kitty."

Ten minutes later, we were still waiting. Turns out, Kate takes long showers. Or maybe she was just lost in thought. I know I would be if I were her. I mean, she was just taken by two girls, one barely out of high school, practically forced into the backseat of a car, and lead into a house while being told that "we're here to help you".

I think I'd end up having an asthma attack - and I don't even have asthma in the first place.

I wondered what she thought of us…I know the reaction I usually got from people was along the lines of: Wow, you're a really loud person who speaks fluent sarcasm. But, still. Kate just met two people, who she has never, ever met before, who were willing to help her even though they know full well what she's done. And, they believed her to be innocent.

Not just believed, but helped her escape.

Even if we did kind of kidnap her in the process.

Still. She could leave whenever she wanted. Kate knew this.

Yeah, I'd say we're a bunch of crazy lunatics.

Once I heard the shower turn off though, I went to my bag and grabbed out my laptop. As I sat back onto the couch, I saw Sarah giving me a weird look.

"What?"

"Did you just go into a random bag and find your computer, or did you know it was in that specific one?"

I laughed, hitting my power button. "I knew it was in that bag. Besides, it'd be more of a random choice had I not decided to ship all my books here - cause I have tons."

"I've realized…so, what are you doing?"

"Well, she's gonna need clothes, right? And you said we should order them online. That's what I'm doing. I'm just getting my Internet up so when Kate's done in the bathroom, I can just give it to her to find what she needs."

"…Good point."

Sarah…

Kate emerged from the shower wearing one of my bathrobes and a nightgown that ended a few inches below her knees. It had been longer on me, but I had read somewhere that Evangeline Lilly was five foot seven, so Kate had to be about that tall. Right? I mean, if Kate's a real person, then the actress' height or personality or whatever shouldn't have anything to do with her. Well, anyway, Kate was taller than me. I guess I reached her chin when we were both standing?

She had to feel uncomfortable. As uncomfortable as I'd feel wearing pajamas in front of strangers.

"You sure this is okay?" Kate asked me, gesturing towards my clothes.

Well, nightclothes? Nightgown?

Whatever.

"It's fine," I said, at the same time Abby chirped, "Sorry, nudity is a requirement here."

I felt my face turn bright red. "She's just kidding."

"Well, duh." Abby smiled angelically. "You look great. I mean, you always look great, but you look…"

"Abby, shut up or else she's going to think you're some kind of deranged celebrity stalker," I hissed.

"Um…celebrity?" Kate took a seat on the couch.

Sawyer immediately jumped into her lap. Kate stroked his ears.

"Well, you are kinda famous," Abby replied by way of explanation. "And no offense, but you probably couldn't get away with wearing that outside. You'd attract attention."

Kate smiled wryly. "I'm not offended."

"I'd offer to let you borrow some of my clothes, but they're probably not what you're used to." I gestured towards my current outfit, which consisted of an old navy t-shirt and an ankle length peasant skirt that had yards and yards of fabric.

One of the reasons I moved to California was so that I could always dress in my spring and summer wardrobe.

Actually, the shirt might fit Kate, but she was taller so our sizes were probably different…

Kate smiled at me. "I'm pretty tired."

"No one dresses like Sarah," Abby interjected. "People think she's Amish. Or Mennonite. Or an orthodox Jew. Or one of those extreme Mormons…you know, the kind that have a bunch of wives? But she's not."

Kate nodded politely.

Now was so not the time for Abby to bug me about what I wore. So what if it was unconventional? I liked it, the people at my job had no problem with my taste, it was a lot more modest than what Abby or most of my friends wore, and I wasn't hurting anyone. Excuse me if my taste did not conform to "fashion". I set my own rules. As far as I was concerned, Abby and her friends were the ones who had no taste.

Breathe, Sarah.

"I own pants," Abby added helpfully, "but you're like five inches taller than me. They'd reach your knees."

Kate shook her head. "It's not a problem. Look, I can just wear what I had on. I don't even need to wash them that often…"

It was my turn to object. "No, if anyone saw you they'd recognize you immediately. We're gonna have to buy you clothes online."

"I have money," Kate offered. "I worked for this guy in Australia and he paid me before I left. A lot of it got lost with my luggage, but I still have almost five hundred dollars left."

"Keep it," I insisted. "You might need it later. Besides, I always use ebay and you can get stuff super cheap there."

Kate raised her eyes but I shook my head.

"Consider it compensation for kidnapping you," Abby spoke up.

Kate snorted. "If you hadn't, I'd be on my way to jail now."

"No, you wouldn't," I replied, remembering what happened on "What Kate Does".

Abby nodded. "Yeah, you totally would have found a way to escape. But this is better than hiding out in the streets until you meet Sawyer."

Kate glanced down at my cat questioningly. Sawyer yawned at her and rubbed his head against her legs. Abby realized she had said something stupid, and wisely fell silent.

I handed her Abby's computer, then took it back. "I forgot…have to log in first."

I typed in my user name and password before handing Kate the computer. "Here you go. Need anything else?"

"Sarah…"

"Just try to keep it under three hundred dollars. For a week or so. I don't want the credit card company to get suspicious." I turned to Abby. "Help me unpack your things."

"Which one is my room?" Abby asked, getting up.

"Our room is to the right. Kate's room is across the hall."

As soon as we were out of sight, I explained. "She has to have privacy, Abs, and there are only two rooms. But look, I have a couch that pulls out into a bed, okay? It's really comfy."

Abby pouted for a minute before realizing that I made some sense and besides, this was for Kate.

"Oh, all right," she grumbled.

Two hours later, I was out two hundred dollars. In theory. In reality, Kate had only spend 87.92, but the charge with the rest of the auctions would come down to just over two hundred dollars. Assuming the bids didn't go past what they were.

A big assumption, but then again, Kate showed a lot of restraint. She didn't go for fancy names or anything, just clothes that were her size. Mostly jeans and t-shirts/tank tops. A couple of bras and underwear. One set of PJs. On Abby's insistence, a light sweatshirt.

It never got cold enough to need anything heavier than that in San Diego.

Kate's choices generic to the extreme.

I always believed you could tell a lot about someone by their clothing. Take me. Long super full ankle length skirts covered with flowers, and shirts from Old Navy. Sandals or old sneakers. Clearly, I was a girly girl but hadn't inherited the love of shoes my half of the species was known for.

Kate was obviously trying to look inconspicuous. Part of a crowd. Even though she had to know that she wouldn't be going out in public right away.

Or maybe she just didn't want to spend too much of my hard earned money.

Sawyer had taken an instant liking to Kate. Right now, he was curled up in her lap, purring away as though he didn't have a care in the world.

Well, of course he didn't. He's a cat.

Anyway, while Sawyer napped, Kate shopped, and Abby munched on some carrots and a peanut butter sandwich, I just sat on one of my chairs feeling awkward. Sure, this was my apartment, but it was now being inhabited by a cousin I hadn't seen for years and a supposed criminal. I adored the Kate I saw on TV—I often said that the writers could kill everyone else on the island but if they had Kate and Sawyer get together for good by the end of the show, I'd consider that a happy ending.

It was a little different being with Kate in real life. This wasn't Evangeline Lilly—who I had never met. This was a person who was a fugitive and had escaped the country and possibly killed her own father. Yeah, her father was a creep who had abused her and her mother and probably deserved it, but still.

Actually, she hadn't. This was the alt timeline. So someone…probably Juliet or one of the other characters I disliked…had done the killing. Had framed Kate. So, Kate was still on the run, but she may not have been on the run for several years. I wondered how the police found out. Maybe whoever committed the crime alerted the police.

What if it had been Kate's mom? Now there was a twist.

As nervous as I felt around my favorite character from Lost, I knew Kate was safe. She wasn't a murderer. She was harmless. Humans reacted toward danger with fight or flight. Kate used flight. So, she was as scared of us as we (well, I) were of her.

Except my fear came from celebrity hero worship and not from the fear that I was sheltering a murderer. Because of course celebrity hero worship fear cancels out real fear.

Even though she was innocent.

Now, especially, Kate looked harmless. More than that, she looked kind of scared. As though me and Abby were working for the cops and had a gun ready to use on her if she refused to cooperate. I tried to smile at her, but I think I just ended up scaring her. I tend to do that when I give what I call "awkward smiles". Basically, when I try to do the socially acceptable thing but don't feel it and think I'm just acting and everyone can tell I'm acting.

"Well," I said, for lack of anything better to say. "Abby, did you unpack most of your stuff?"

"Some of it," Abby replied, brushing some hair out of her face. "I don't know where you want me to put everything."

"You start classes a week from Monday, right?"

Abby sighed. "Classes start a week from Monday but I have this stupid orientation thing all of next weekend. It's a requirement. It's so stupid because it's not like I'm even living on campus…"

"Exactly. So, it can't hurt to get to know some of the people you'll have classes with."

Abby rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting. At least audibly. Her stomach began to growl. I glanced at the clock. It was almost 6:30 at night. Early. Then why did it feel so late?

Authors' note: Sawyer the human will probably show up within the next chapter or the following chapter.

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