Sorry for taking so long... Thanks to the people who are still reading and reviewing. If you really want me to continue just let me know...

Chapter 6

Trust

Jack led the way through the dark jungle with Kate right behind him and following behind were: Sayid, Juliet, Desmond, Jin, Bernard, and Hurley. They all ran hard, being guided by the torch that Sayid had given Jack before he had taken off.

"Get your guns ready!" Jack called.

Sayid ran up beside him and grabbed Jack by the arm, pulling him to a halt, "Jack, before you even think of moving on I want to know what exactly is going on?"

Jack looked at him with a furious expression, "There is no time right now!"

"You are leading us through the jungle during the night telling us to make sure our guns are ready. I want to know why?"

"Sayid, we need to hurry!" Kate said from behind them.

"Hurry for what?" Sayid shouted.

"Sawyer is in trouble! He could already be dead for all I know but we need to get to that beach immediately!" Jack yelled and pulled away from Sayid's grip. "You cannot stop me from trying to save a fellow survivor, Sayid."

"I want to know why we need these guns and who Sawyer is in trouble from?"

"I don't know who they are, but I know they are dangerous."

"Sayid, we need to go." Kate pleaded.

Sayid eyed them both and hesitated before stepping aside, "Then let's go."

Jack and Kate sprinted past him back into a run.

They finally arrived at the beach and saw through the tress that Sawyer was being held at gun point and there were men surrounding him. Jack looked beyond them and could just make out a boat in the ocean. A man was walking towards the gathering of men and their captive.

"Let's go." Jack said with the gun he had taken from Lukas in his hand.

"Jack, wait!" Sayid grabbed his arm before Jack could leave. "Let's see what happens first. We can't just run in there with our guns blazing."

"They have Sawyer at gun point!" Jack whispered harshly.

"Just wait."

They all huddled together and watched as the man came closer and stopped.

"What did he say?" The man pointing the gun at Sawyer asked him.

"I am going to ask you one more time, Mr. Ford, who are you really?" The man asked Sawyer.

"Well I know you sure ain't the rescue. That's for sure." Sawyer answered.

"Cooper, what did Lukas say we do with this hick?" The man with the gun asked again.

Lukas! Rage started to build up in Jack as he heard that name.

"Fine, Mr. Ford, you don't want to tell me…" The man named Cooper said. "Wesley, kill him."

At those words Sawyer suddenly pulled a gun out from behind him and before the man named Wesley could shoot, Sawyer put a bullet through the man's shoulder making him drop his gun and fall to the ground in pain.

All the other men stood around in shock as Jack, Kate, Sayid, Desmond, Juliet, Jin and Bernard jumped out from behind the trees each holding a gun they had stolen from the others.

"The Hostiles!" One of the men shouted as they all whipped out their guns as well.

Sawyer also looked at them in shock as he still stood there with his gun extended, "Doc, you actually came?" He looked at Jack.

"Sawyer, look out!" Jack shouted as a man from behind Sawyer was about to shoot him. Jack pulled the trigger and the man went down instantly.

Sayid smacked the butt of his gun over the head of another man who tried to attack him, and they all stood around with guns aimed.

Jack walked over to the man named Cooper, as he had heard him be called, and aimed his gun at the man. "I want to speak to Lukas!"

"Whoa!" The man held up his hands in surrender. "Who are you?"

"And tell your men to drop their guns!" The man hesitated and Jack pointed the gun right at his head, "Now!"

"Drop the guns!" Cooper ordered to all the men. They looked at him and saw the gun being pointed to his head then got the hint and dropped their guns.

"Now, get a hold of Lukas, I want to speak to him!" Jack commanded.

"How do you know Lukas?"

"Call him!"

Lukas heard the radio beep and grabbed it from his pocket. He pressed the button and put it to his mouth, "Cooper, did you do it?" He asked.

"Cooper is unavailable at the moment." A familiar voice that wasn't Cooper's came over the other end.

"What do you mean? Who is this?"

"How's your face, Lukas?"

Lukas felt his cut lip and the black eye he had received from the hostile who had escaped with that woman into the jungle. His face turned red with anger as he realized who it was he was talking to, "It's you! How did you get that radio? Where is Cooper?"

"Cooper is busy staring into the barrel of the gun I have pointed to his face right now."

"What are you talking about?" Lukas tried to get Marcus' attention as he knelt to the ground making a fire.

"You ordered Cooper and his men to kill one of my people."

"Your people said they did not know a James Ford."

"Who is James Ford?"

"That man over there said his name is James Ford!" Lukas heard Cooper shout over the radio.

Marcus finally looked over and immediately got up and headed over to him.

"Jack," Kate shouted. He looked at her as she spoke with a gun pointing to one of the men's heads, "Sawyer's name is really James Ford!"

"What?" Jack asked.

"I thought they were rescue, so I told them my real name." Sawyer shouted also.

"You hear that, Lukas?" Jack turned his attention back to the radio.

"Well that's his fault then. That still doesn't change anything about you and your people killing mine."

"We haven't killed any of your people."

"Stop lying! Will you just admit already that you are the hostiles?!"

"I am not lying. How many times do we have to tell you? We are not who you think we are. We are the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815, we crashed here on September 22, and all we want is to go home! Now let my people go!"

"What are you Moses now? Until I see some proof, Jack, that you and your people are survivors of a plane crash, you and your people are not going anywhere."

"You know that I have all your men here at gun point?"

"I have more than just twelve men."

"Lukas!" Cooper yelled in rage. "You can't leave us like this!"

"Unless you can show some kind of proof-"

"I can take you to a hostile!"

"Oh really, just one?"

"He's their leader."

Lukas was silent.

"Lukas, don't trust him!" Cooper shouted.

"Shut up!" Jack shoved the man to the sand and waited for Lukas to reply.

"Let me speak to Cooper first," Lukas said.

Jack sighed then gave the radio to Cooper, "Don't try anything funny."

Lukas spoke into the radio, "Coop?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Are you actually going to trust this guy?" Cooper whispered.

"How is everyone there?"

"Wesley's got a bullet in the shoulder, Lee's got a head injury, and Tyler's got a bullet in the knee. Everyone else is fine so far."

"Get someone to take those three back to the ship and then I want you to meet us at the cliffs with Jack and his people."

"Lukas!"

"Do as I say, Cooper."

"And how do you expect us to get to the cliffs without the boat?"

"You'll have to walk. You're not that far from the cliffs anyway. It'll take about a days walk. You have the map right?"

"Yeah."

"Take it with you."

"I still don't trust them."

"And you think I do? As soon as something doesn't seem right, you call me."

"And what if I can't?"

"Then use the back up plan."

"All right."

"Put Jack back on."

Cooper handed the radio back to his captor with a scowl.

"I will meet you tomorrow. Cooper has a map to where I want to you to go." Lukas said to Jack.

"And where is that?" Jack asked.

"I am agreeing to not harm your people but if I find out that you are lying, they are all dead."

"Trust me. You won't be disappointed."

Jack lowered the radio and turned it off, "Let them go." He told the other survivors who were still holding the men at gun point.

"Jack, can I speak to you for a moment?" Kate walked up to him and asked.

"What?"

Kate grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the man named Cooper and the others, "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rousseau took Ben. Who knows what she's done with him by now… How do you expect to take Lukas to him? We don't even know where they are."

"I know where they are."

"How?"

"I just do."

"Jack?"

"Why don't you go make sure everyone is okay?"

"They're fine, Jack. What is going on?"

"Hey, Jack!" Cooper called. "We need to talk now!"

"I have to go, Kate. Everything is going to be fine." Jack said and then walked over towards Cooper and his men, leaving Kate standing there totally lost and confused.

Kate watched as the three injured men were boarded onto the small raft that would take them to the boat that was floating about a mile away. They used flashlights to see what they were doing. Some others had set up torches and fires along the beach as well for even more light.

"How does that guy know Lukas?"

Kate heard two men talking a few feet away from her and decided to walk over to them and have a chat.

"Is Lukas your leader?" Kate asked.

Both men turned to look at her, completely caught off guard by her approach. They were silent as they stared at her with no expression.

"Look, we're not going to hurt you and your people. All we want is to go home." Kate said calmly.

"Cooper said not to trust you and your people." A chubby guy with an Irish accent and red hair said to her.

"Is he your leader?"

"Cooper is in charge of the people on the ship, but Lukas is in charge of him and the people on the ship." A younger guy with blonde hair that was pulled over his right eye said.

"Paiten, don't talk to her." The Irish man advised his friend.

"So Lukas is the leader of your people?" Kate ignored the chubby man.

"No. He's just in charge of the mission." The young guy ignored his buddy too.

"What do you guys want with Ben's... uh… the other people, the real Hostiles?"

"The real Hostiles?" The Irish man snorted. "How do we know that you aren't the real Hostiles?"

"So you still don't believe us?"

"What's there to believe? Oh sure I believe that you are the spirits from Oceanic Flight 815. Ha. Of course you are." He laughed with sarcasm.

"Daren, just quit it. You never know... They could really be..."

"Survivors of a plane crash?" He spit to one side. "You seriously believe them, Paiten?"

"Well..."

"Paiten..." Daren gave him a warning glare not to say another word.

"What did they do to you people to make you so untrusting?" Kate asked Paiten.

"They..." Paiten began to speak but Daren interrupted him.

"It's none of your business lady! If you want to know so badly why don't you go and ask your Hostile family!" Daren barked.

"Look, you're not the only ones that have been through hell with those people, so just back off!" Kate shouted. She was becoming fed up with trying to explain herself to these men.

"Are these guys bothering you, Freckles?" Sawyer suddenly came up from behind her and stared at the two men with a scowl.

"What's it to you?" Daren snapped.

"Daren we don't want trouble." Paiten said and looked at Sawyer. "We don't want trouble, Mr. Ford. I am sorry for the way my people have been treating you and your people. You need to understand that they have been through a great deal since they were children and have major trust issues since the..."

"Paiten! Enough already!" Daren whispered with a harsh tone.

"What are ya'll fussing about?" Sawyer asked with confusion.

"Paiten!" Before he could say another word Paiten's name was called by Cooper who was standing near the raft waiting to be ported out to sea.

"You better go see him, boy. And I had nothing to do with any of this." Daren said as he walked away, taking one more nasty look at Sawyer.

"Please excuse me Mr. Ford and..."

"Kate." Kate said.

"Kate." Paiten nodded turned to leave.

"Maybe we can talk again...?" Kate said.

He kept walking and didn't say another word.

Kate glanced at Sawyer and then turned to walk away also.

"Kate." Sawyer grabbed her arm.

She pulled away from his grip but she turned around, looking down at their feet in the sand.

"You not talking to me? I was almost killed you know?" He smiled.

"But you weren't." She didn't smile.

"What's going on here?" He looked around at all the people.

Men were loading guns and talking quietly amongst each other, eyeing the survivors suspiciously; Sayid was talking to Desmond; Jin and Bernard both stood around with worried expressions over their wives; and Jack was standing with Juliet.

Wait! Jack is standing with Juliet... Kate watched with envy as Juliet and Jack were talking about something and Juliet was smiling that creepy smile she always had. They were laughing about something now. What's so funny? What is he saying to her? Juliet suddenly put her hand on Jack's face and was inspecting his cuts.

Kate recalled the first week of the crash and how protective Jack had been with her since the start. The day she went hunting with Locke and Michael (two men she despised now) and how Jack had wanted to go with her to protect her. When she had returned he grabbed her face immediately and inspected the cut she had received when that boar had come after them. The way his hands felt on her skin... the way they held her face... It made her blush just thinking about it. She always wondered why a man who had barely known her a week would care so deeply about her?

"Hey. Are you even going to acknowledge me?" Sawyer broke through her thoughts.

She caught Jack look her way for a second and she turned her attention to Sawyer.

"So, why only you and the doc back?"

"It's a long story."

"Well I'd like to hear it."

"We escaped."

"Escaped who? That guy that Jack called?"

She nodded, "Lukas."

"And who is Lukas?"

"I don't know. He's like they're leader or something... He thinks we're The Others."

"That's ridiculous."

"I'm guessing Ben and his people did something to them in the past and now they're out for revenge."

"You sure it's revenge?"

"Hence them almost killing you."

He was silent for a moment and then he spoke again, "So what happened to you out there?"

"You know how it is in the jungle." She was referring to her mud covered clothes and scratched up face.

"No, what happened between you and Jack?"

Kate didn't know how to answer this. She didn't want to answer, "Nothing." She replied.

"Nothing?" He knew she was lying but he didn't say anything more.

"What happened between you and Juliet?" It slipped out.

"What, you jealous of the Other?" He smirked.

She rolled her eyes and looked away from him. Her attention turned to Jack again. Juliet was no where in sight now as he filled his water bottle from the water trough. Her attention suddenly went to Hurley who hadn't really said a word since they arrived. He was sitting alone along the shore line just looking out at the ocean. It wasn't like Hurley to look so melancholy.

"What's wrong with Hurley?" Kate changed the subject.

Sawyer's face fell and he looked Hurley's way with sorrow in his eyes.

"What?" Kate was really worried now.

"Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Desmond's back... Alone."

The realization hit her in the gut and her eyes filled with tears, "Charlie?"

"He didn't make it."

"How did it happen?"

"Des said he drowned trying to save the rest of us."

Kate's thoughts immediately went to Claire. She's already been through enough and now this...

"The big guy has barely said a word since Desmond told us." Sawyer was still looking over at Hurley. "That was his best friend."

All Kate could do was cry. Sawyer tried to pull her into a hug but Kate pulled back and walked away, tears streaming down her face.

Paiten approached Cooper with caution. He had already gotten him angry by arguing about the plane crash survivors, so he knew this wouldn't be a very pleasant chat.

"Paiten, what were those people saying to you and Daren?" Cooper asked right away.

"Nothing, Sir."

"It sure seemed like something to me."

"Kate was just asking some questions."

"Kate?" He narrowed his eyes at him. "What kind of questions, Paiten?"

"Well... She wanted to know if Lukas was our leader and... About the incident."

"She knows about the incident?"

"No. She just wanted to know what the Hostiles had done to make us so angry and why we wanted them."

"What did you tell her?"

"Nothing. I knew not to say anything about it to her."

"And Daren?"

"Him neither, Sir."

"Good," he said and started looking Paiten over with a serious expression, "I want you to take the boat back to the ship with the injured."

"What?" Paiten was speechless.

"You heard me, I am not going to repeat myself, boy. It would be better if you went back to the ship."

"No." Paiten could not believe what he had just said. Now I'm in for it.

"Excuse me?" Cooper seemed shocked as he stared at the young man also in disbelief. "I am in charge here, so you will do as I command."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I would rather stay here and go with everyone else to the cliffs."

"Well that is not your decision, Paiten, you are going to the ship and that is an order that you better follow."

"I won't do it." Paiten did not know why but there was some reason that he felt he had to stay on the island. "Find someone else, Cooper, I am staying." Paiten bravely stated then turned his back on the man in "charge" and walked away.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jack asked Kate as she sat by the shore crying.

Kate looked up at him and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes as he sat down next to her in the soft sand.

"Hungry?" He looked at her and offered a piece of delicious looking fruit to her.

Kate took it as she tried to fight back the tears.

"Charlie's dead." She said and began to cry again.

"I know. Sayid and Desmond just told me."

Kate looked at him and noticed he had been crying too.

"I'm just so sick of people dying. I can't stand it anymore..."

They were quiet while they both stared out at the dark ocean with the moonlight shining off of it. Kate took a bite of her fruit, the sweet juices filling her mouth. She felt like she hadn't eaten in forever as she took a few more bites.

"Water?" Jack offered. He handed his water bottle to her and she gulped a few sips down.

"Thanks."

They were silent again until Kate decided to ask the question she had been wondering, "Do you really think we should trust these men? Trust Lukas?"

"No, but we have to. If we want everyone back safe and sound, we have no choice but to trust them."

"I just have a bad feeling."

"You trust me don't you?" He looked at her with those eyes that made her feel weak in the knees.

"I will always trust you, Jack." She stared back, gazing into his eyes.

Jack leaned forward and so did she. Kate knew what was coming. She had waited for this moment a long time. Their heads tilted, their lips inches apart...

Sorry to leave you hanging like that. I can't help it. I like cliffhangers. =] Please review and let me know if you want me to continue...