A/N: This chapter takes place from Sawyer's point of view. It kind of starts up where chapter two leaves off, but goes further than where chapter three ends. I might do more chapters from his point of view, or two dual POV chapters, depending on how well this works out. If you have any thoughts, please let me know.
Sawyer can feel their eyes on him as they enter the camp. He clutches the suitcase tightly, wondering if it's too late to remove some of the guns for his stash.
Kate has made a good point, though. Sawyer can't afford to alienate the doc after the incident with the medication and the blonde girl. Whatever the hell her name was. Jack seems like a reasonable guy, but Sawyer knows better.
Besides, he stole Kate from under the doc. Maybe she thinks the two were never together, but he sees how Jack looks at her.
It's kind of pathetic, because Jack might care about her but he doesn't accept her. It's like anything she does won't be good enough. He'll sigh and clean up her messes, but make it clear that it's her mess and he's the one who's fixing things. Maybe he has this notion that he's a knight in shining armor, rescuing the damsel in distress. But Sawyer and—more important—Kate know better.
Sawyer likes that Kate is, or was, a fugitive. She's been a mystery since the first day, and this information feels almost as tangible as her wild hair or her freckles.
What did she do? It must have been awful for them to send a US marshal up to Australia to hunt her down. On the other hand, it could have been a misunderstanding. Like those people who get put on death row but were innocent the whole time.
What had Freckles said? Something like, "I helped save my mom from a bad situation." So, whatever she had done, it was to protect her mom.
Maybe her mother was the convict and Kate was taking the blame. Sawyer could picture her doing this. It wasn't inconsistent with everything else he had seen. Kate was always the go getter, the adventurer. If there was a life or death situation, she'd be there.
Sawyer wouldn't ask right away. He wanted to know, but he didn't need to know. He had what he wanted. He'd rather have Kate and no information than potentially false information and no Kate.
And the doctor giving him those smug "I told you so" glances whenever he saw Sawyer.
No, he definitely did not want that.
He would figure her out, though. Hadn't be done the same thing in prison? Conned the guards to get someone who had played even dirtier than him. Hell, he even got paid for it!
He still hated Cassidy for turning him in. Hadn't he made it clear he didn't want to rob her? That otherwise they'd try to kill her?
Women.
Now, Sawyer's looking around, but he can't find Kate. He thinks maybe she said something about showering.
He smiles to himself. A swim doesn't seem like such a bad idea. He rummages through his tent, finds a change of clothes, and heads to the caves. He doesn't bother removing his clothes before jumping in. Hell, this way it's two birds with one stone. After he's finished, he does swap the wet shirt and shorts for the dry one.
Sawyer heads to his camp, picks up Watership Down, and starts to read. He doesn't get far before he sees Kate walking towards her tent, carrying her old clothes over her shoulder. She smiles and nods at him.
Well, that's all the encouragement he needs. He stands up, heads toward her tent. She's trying to get comfortable under a blanket. "Trying" being the operative word.
He wants to make a comment about them not needing it except for pretenses, but catches himself. Kate actually looks tired. She clearly didn't sleep too well the night before, despite his being there as a pillow/bed combination.
"I got more of those," Sawyer says, nodding to the blanket.
Kate looks up hopefully, but doesn't say anything.
Damn it, he's going to have to be direct. "You want one?"
She doesn't say anything for the longest time. Sawyer's about to leave when he catches her nodding.
Maybe this whole thing is new to her too. He manages a smile. "Be right back."
He searches his things for the warmest blanket he can find that doesn't look too girly. He settles on a blue one, but reminds himself about the yellow one next to it. He picks it up, ignores the stares from the other survivors, and walks into Kate's tent as though he owns the place.
She's lying on the wet blanket. Sawyer rolls his eyes. That can't be comfortable. He shakes out the blue comforter and spreads it around Kate. At first, he's not going to do more, but when he sees her face soften, he does too. He tucks it in around her, relishing the opportunity to touch her. She's sighing now, her eyes closed.
Sawyer knows he should leave, but he can't. Stalling, he speaks.
"How's that?"
Kate mumbles something he can't understand, but guesses is positive. He sits down awkwardly, noticing all the hair in her face. Awkwardly, he picks up pieces of it and puts it behind her ears. He's not sure how she'll react to this, but she almost smiles.
Her eyes open. They're so green. He always knew she had green eyes, but they're striking.
"You going to stay?" she asks.
Does she want him to?
"If you want me to," Sawyer replies tentatively. He's not sure what game she's playing.
For once, he doesn't know the rules. Hasn't made them up.
Then again, maybe she just doesn't like falling asleep on her own. Sawyer's known women like that. They were probably scared of monsters in the closet as kids.
Sawyer can't picture Kate being afraid of much, but he's only known her a few weeks.
She doesn't object, so he sits down. He continues the long process of removing hair from Kate's face. She doesn't say anything, so maybe she likes it.
He does. Her face is soft and he has a good view of her freckles. There are so many of them. He starts to count them, but loses track. Kate's breathing becomes heavy and she rolls over on her side, nearly crushing Sawyer's hand. It takes enormous self restraint for Sawyer to refrain from jumping up and letting out a few swear words.
Kate's head settles back into position. Sawyer eyes her wearily. Kate's hair is back in his face, but he's not sure if he wants to risk losing a limb.
"Damn it, Freckles," he mutters under his breath. He begins moving the hair away. Slightly less gentle this time.
He's debating whether to lie down next to her when Kate starts snoring. It's so startling Sawyer has to work hard not to laugh. They aren't huge snores, more like grunts. It's cute. He knows he'll have to tease her about it later. A new nickname is in order. He ponders this issue for awhile.
Kate also moves around a lot in her sleep. Several times, Sawyer has to readjust the blanket. At one point, her moving arm almost smacks him on the nose.
She sure is violent. Sleeping with her, in any sense of the word, might get him killed.
He can tell that her hair is still wet, and droplets are falling onto the blanket. She's getting cold again.
Sawyer heads out to his tent, removes the yellow blanket, and drapes it over her. It's more soft than warm, but it looks big enough to be king sized, so it can't hurt. On his way back, he runs into Hurley.
"Hey, dude," the obese puppy greets.
Sawyer grunts. "Do me a favor, okay?"
The puppy grins uncertainly. "Sure, what do you need, Sawyer?"
"The doc asked Kate to get some wood, but she's…not feeling well." Sawyer smirks. "Can you do it?"
"Sure, dude, no problem!"
Sawyer lets out a sigh of relief as he heads back to Kate's tent. Granted, now everyone will know about their relationship before noon the next day. That could be a problem.
He shrugs. He'll deal with it later.
Her snores are sporadic now. Sawyer remains seated, wanting to lie next to her, but not daring to take that step. She wants things slow, and the last thing Sawyer needs is the doc to accuse him of rape.
Sawyer keeps a close eye on her but finally leaves the tent to get his book. He's read three chapters before she starts to stir.
Sawyer lowers the book. She's smiling, nestled under the blankets. Freckles rubs her eyes, probably confused, and then looks around the room.
"Well, hey there, sleeping beauty," he greets, watching her.
Her response is more reserved. "Hi, Sawyer."
"Sleep well?" he asks, though he's watched her practically the whole time.
"Pretty good," she mumbles.
Her hands finger the blankets, and Sawyer knows that she knows that he gave her an extra one while she was sleeping. Sawyer wants to make a remark about her looking cold, but doesn't. If Kate thinks he's being sweet for doing it, then he's not going to try and change her mind.
"Were you here the whole time?" she asks suddenly, looking up from the makeshift bed.
"No. Had to get the wood while Miss Sleepyhead over here got her beauty rest."
Well, so he had Hurley get the wood. Same thing.
Kate makes a face and Sawyer wonders what she thinks of her new nickname. Is it too much? He'll wait a few days before using it again.
"Well, unless you want a zombie on your hands…"
Sawyer extends his arms as though she's going to shoot him. "I'm just teasin,'" he mumbles.
She's smiling at him now. Sawyer feels his heart skip a beat.
"I know." He voice is soft, almost reassuring.
It's Sawyer's turn to speak, so he does so without thing. "So, what d'you want to do today? Got any more adventures to get you?"
At this point, he's helping her up, only to realize too late that Kate's not the type of person to enjoy being helped. At anything. Hell, she'd rather bleed to death than be carried back to camp.
"I can walk by myself," she grumbles, trying to fight him off.
Yeah, she sure is stubborn.
He makes some remark about shoving her in a ditch and then verbal banter resumes. She's actually pretty good at it, and Sawyer's grinning like an idiot before long.
Kate goes too far when she says the polar bear should try to help the inane boar to kill him. He grabs her and tickles her, something he's never actually done but has seen on TV a few times.
Oh shit, she's gonna be pissed, Sawyer realizes too late.
She is, but not horribly. Mostly annoyed, probably wondering how Sawyer found out.
Well, duh. Weren't all women ticklish?
"You almost broke my arm earlier," he complains.
Kate raises her eyebrows. "When was this?"
"In your sleep."
Kate nearly snorts. "I must have had a good reason."
"You didn't."
"Uh huh…"
She moves toward one of the trees and begins climbing. "Want one?" she calls down.
"What are they?" Sawyer asks.
"Looks like apples or mangos. Can't tell from here." She's halfway up the tree now.
Sawyer starts to follow her. The branches are thick and sturdy. He's not exactly fond of climbing trees, but Kate will tease him if he refuses. Besides, he doubts that he'll fall if he takes it slow.
It's harder than it looks. By the time they reach the middle of the tree, he's panting. The tree has this forked indentation in the middle, wide enough for a few people to stand, or lean on branches, if they can climb that high. It's also near all the fruit. Kate's made it this far easily and now munches on an apple.
Kate watches him tackle the last few feet in amusement. He's concentrating so hard. She resists the urge to throw the apple core past him. It wouldn't hit Sawyer, but the surprise might make him fall. She manages not to snigger at the image.
"Need some help?" she asks. She extends a hand, which Sawyer ignores and promptly wishes he hadn't.
"Stubborn…" she grumbles.
He's reached the break now. Still panting, he slings himself over one of the thicker branches, glad to be able to sit down. He's inches away from Kate.
"You made it." Kate grins.
"Barely." He closes his eyes. "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"Lots of trees where I grew up," she explains. "Besides, the best fruit's higher up."
"I'll take your word for it, Freckles." He grabs an apple and starts to chew. "You want the seeds from this one, too?"
Kate's trying not to look pleased that he remembers. Sawyer makes a mental note of it.
"Where are you going to plant them?"
"Sun started a garden a few days ago," Kate explains. "The boar have been scarce, so it makes sense to start planning ahead."
"Did she tell you this?"
"No, I just found her working on it. I've been helping."
"How? Not like you two can communicate."
Kate rolls her eyes. "It's not brain surgery. I show her the seeds, she points where to plant them. We do a lot of digging and weeding. The ground hasn't been used for this, or not in awhile, so we have to start over." At Sawyer's puzzled look, she clarifies. "No fertilizer. No mulch. That kind of thing."
"Can you show it to me?"
"Sure, if you can get down from the tree without breaking your other leg."
With that, she climbs down easily, leaving Sawyer to ponder how to accomplish the same task. He looks down. He's easily fifteen feet from the ground.
"Can you make it?" Kate calls.
"I got up, didn't I?" Sawyer retorts.
"Barely," he hears her mutter.