Ah, I'm too good to you guys lol, 2 updates in less then 12 hours. Lol, actually, I'm not good to you guys, sicne this chap. is pretty darn jangsty...like...severly.

Disclaimer- If you find yourself thinking "Gee, My life seems exactly like Jacks" GET HELP um...yeah...Don't act like Jack does in this chapter pretty please!


Jack woke up with a searing headache. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was 3 in the morning. He hissed in pain, untangling Kate, who was wrapped protectively around his body, he set her down, replacing a pillow into her arms, which she hugged close, murmuring his name. He smiled, looking at her soft innocent face before another wave of pain hit him. He went to the sink, cursing he realized he couldn't take Advil. He was still fighting his way through withdrawal, if he put something in his system…he didn't want to think about what might happen, but it would probably set him back and glancing back at Kate, he knew he couldn't have that. They were on borrowed time together as it was. He hissed as the pain got worse, refusing to take the pills. He sat down next to Kate, burying his face in her neck, trying to focus on something other then the pain. Kate smiled softly, still asleep, and muttered his name, wrapping her arms tightly around his head, pulling him closer. He tried to drift off to sleep; the pain seemed to be easing into a dull throb as opposed to stabs. He smiled against Kate's skin, breathing her in.

"Daddy?" he heard a small familiar voice ask. He froze, before slowly turning over to see Aaron staring at him, dressed in his favorite Batman shirt, and holding his action figure.

Jack's breathing stopped, and panicking; he shook Kate fiercely, waking her. "Jack what...?" till she saw his face, which even in the dark looked extremely pale. "Hey, you okay," she asked concerned.

She was staring right through him, Jack realized. Which meant she couldn't see him. She couldn't see Aaron, who was still standing right there, smiling brightly up at him, only now he was holding his Alice in Wonderland book too. And the only people Jack saw that Kate didn't were dead ones. He felt his throat constrict violently, suddenly unable to breathe.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked again still half asleep, shaking him slightly as she pulled herself from his side up to sit in front of him, breaking his eye contact with Aaron. He let out his breath slowly, before making eye contact with her. Her bright green eyes sparkled, even in the dark of night, and he offered her a weak smile. There was no reason for him to tell her, no reason to upset her.

"Nothing," he said quietly, forcing his voice to come out normally, offering her a small smile. She frowned not quite believing him. He kissed her gently, cupping her face, "Go to sleep, I'm sorry I woke you," he said gently, moving to lay her down. She gave him a small sleepy smile, too tired to really see or comprehend how freaked out he was; he had perfected the art of faking sanity over the last few months. "I'm gonna go get some water," he whispered and she nodded drowsily, burying her head in a pillow, a soft content smile on her face. He shifted out of bed gently, refusing to look at the spot where Aaron had been, shielding his eyes till he got into the bathroom. He splashed the water on his face, over and over, raking his hands through his hair.

There was no way Aaron was dead. That was the only hold Ben had over them, without Aaron, there was no way either of them would continue what they were doing. Jack swallowed hard, remembering the warning Locke had given him all those months ago, and he felt his throat constrict painfully. He couldn't watch Aarons ghost, or whatever it was playing monopoly and sitting there with a dead Claire and Charlie or the mangled Boone. He shivered, almost convulsing as he tried to come to grips with Aaron's death. He sank to the floor trembling. He couldn't be dead Jack thought to himself, but a tiny voice kept reminding him that he only ever saw dead people. He couldn't stop the tears as he realized he had failed his nephew, had failed Kate, he realized , the thought causing new waves of pain to over come him. He sat there shivering and trembling, too stunned to cry; he tried to return his breathing to normal, but it was hard. Every breath he took felt like large pieces of glass were lodged in his lungs, each breath painful and labored. The pain was so intense and real, Jack stumbled to his feet, clambering madly for the medicine cabinet, where the Advil was, taking a fistful of the pills and shoving them in his mouth. He splashed more water on his face, disgusted at himself, before he went back out to the bedroom, knowing he couldn't rejoin Kate's sleeping form in bed. She deserved better, she deserved more then he could give.

"Daddy?" he heard, freezing again, his head turning of its own accord, him wishing madly it would stop. He didn't want to see the little boy sitting there, dead but still living through his lost sanity. He felt his jaw tighten at what he saw. Aaron was sitting happily on his fathers' lap, scotch glass in one hand, an opened copy of Alice in Wonderland in the other, as he bounced the small boy on his leg. His father smirked up at him.

"You're all that's left Jack," his dad said simply, before turning his attention back to the book. "I wonder if I've been changed in the night," he read his voice steady and calm, just like Jack remembered from the rare nights his father had been home early and sober enough to put him to bed, "Let me think, was I the same when I got up this morning?" Christian glanced up throwing a knowing and challenging smirk at his horrified son, "But if I'm not the same, the next question is, who in the world am I," he was no longer looking at the book, reciting the lines from memory, Christians dead eyes unblinking as they stared back at Jack. Christian sat the boy on the couch and stood, walking over to Jack. "Are you the same Jack?" his father asked, obviously amused at his sons fear and horror at the scene he had just seen.

Jack swallowed hard, sending a pained glance at a sleeping Kate behind him. "You're not real," he hissed, but it sounded more like a question then a statement. "Your not here," he replied, his resolve getting weaker as over his fathers shoulder he saw Aaron playing with his batman figure on the couch. He wished the pills would kick in. Looking back to his father for answers, he was met with nothing but stony silence. He flinched as he suddenly heard a shriek of laughter, and glanced back at the couch to see Claire mercilessly tickling Aaron. He stared at the two of them for a long moment, suppressing a scream; at this point too disturb to even fully comprehend if he was furious, petrified, both or somewhere in between.

"Who in the world are you Jack?" his father asked suddenly, snapping him from his thoughts. He felt his chest constrict and suddenly he couldn't breathe as he stared at his dead family. His jaw clenched as he looked at his father furiously. "Get out of my head," he said, his voice cracking in fear.

"Who in the world are you Jack?" he heard Claire's thick Australian accent ask from the couch, and he froze. She had always been on his side, what the hell was happening. "How could you let this happen to Aaron?" she said, her voice icy as she glared at him, holding Aaron protectively. Suddenly Aaron vanished from her arms, and he shivered, finally feeling the pills take effect.

"Daddy?" his innocent voice called, and Jack spun around, seeing the boy standing in the door way. "Follow me daddy," he called, running out the door.

"No Aaron! Don't play in the street!" he said, running out and slamming the door behind him. The boy was across the street by the time Jack was in the parking lot of the motel.

"Daddy!" he called again, waving at him. A truck zoomed in front of him, and he vanished again. Jack ran across the street, oblivious until a car honked angrily at him, missing him by inches. He saw Aaron running down the street, laughing. He followed running at full speed and yet somehow unable to catch up to his three year old son.

"Aaron!" he screamed again, fearful as Aaron seemed to be hit by car after car as he ran through the street, emerging from each seeming crash without a scratch. He stopped when he got to a side walk by a bridge. Aaron stopped, standing on his tip toes to look down at the water a good 70 feet below them. Claire was suddenly holding the boy, letting his feet swing freely over the side of the bridge as Aaron giggled happily. "Claire, get him away from there!" he screamed panicked. And suddenly Aaron was falling, and Claire had jumped in after him, and he ran to the edge horrified. "Aaron!" he screamed, gripping the side railing, his knuckles white as he waited to see a body emerge from the water.

"Go after them Jack," his father said, suddenly at his side. Jack stared at him horrified for a second, before using his good arm to pull himself up onto the railing. He looked down at the raging water below….

Kate woke with a start as she heard the door to their motel slam. "Aaron!" she heard Jack yell loudly as he ran out of the room, and Kate froze, momentarily panicked, before she scrambled into cloths, pulling on his button up shirt , buttoning it as she ran out of the motel barefoot, following Jack down the street. She cursed as she ran behind him, without shoes unable to keep up. She watched as he erratically ran forward before making a sharp turn down the street, the whole time yelling for Aaron like a mad man. She watched as he approached the bridge, and yelled suddenly at Claire, before running over to the side of the bridge. Her eyes widened in horror as he started to pull himself onto the ledge, breaking out into a fuller and faster run then she had even known she was capable of, her heart pounding in her ears as adrenaline again coursed through her. Cursing slightly she didn't break her stride as she felt something rip open the bottom of her foot, blood suddenly trailing behind her.

"Jack!" she yelled as she stopped, within arms reach of his legs. He stared at the water a moment, as if not comprehending her presence, before looking at her sadly, tears in his eyes.

He looked at her defeated, glancing between her and the water before saying by way of explanation, "I have to go after them," his voice cracking.

"No! Jack no one is there," she said deliberately, trying to talk him down, taking a shaky step towards him.

He shook his head, "No Kate, Aaron and Claire they just…they just went over the edge…" he trailed off, looking back to the water. "I have to save them," he said again, his voice pleading, and Kate froze, seeing the dullness of his eyes and realizing he was stoned. He couldn't tell that the ghost, or whatever the hell it was he saw, weren't real when he was like this, that's why he'd taken the pills to begin with he had told her. She swallowed hard, trying to reason with him again.

"No one is there Jack, its all in your head," she plead back, tears streaming down her face now.

"Jack, stop wasting time," his father's voice scolded.

"Shut up dad," he whispered angrily, suddenly oblivious to Kate's presence on his other side.

Kate let out a mangled breath as she heard him say that, realizing he couldn't be talked down rationally. She took a deep breath and, ignoring the suddenly searing pain in her foot, jumped up onto the railing next to him, finally recapturing Jack's attention.

"Get down Kate," he commanded sounding angry as she joined him.

Her voice trembled with fear and anger, "No. If you jump we both do Jack," she spat, unable to contain her anger as he stood there, seconds away from taking himself away from her, away from Aaron; abandoning them again, this time for good.

"You're not supposed to do this," he said, turning to her almost pleading, turning back to the water below them.

"I'll do it Jack," she threatened, raising one foot theatrically, as if about to take a step off.

Jack cringed, and nodded slowly in defeat. He had failed her, he had lost Aaron, but he couldn't let her be added to the list of his phantoms too, especially not like this. "Okay," he said nodding quietly, moving to get down. Kate watched him there, foot poised to jump, glad he'd believed her. Once he was finally down, she turned to move down besides him, but her foot flashed violently with pain, and the blood from the cut caused her to slip as she pivoted around, and felt her stomach fly into her throat as she started to free fall.


give me reviews...and maybe Kate won't end up in a coma (okay thats a mean threat-I will tell you THATS not what happens) but till I get reviews you won't get anymore then that from me.

Additional disclaimer- entering into a suicide pact like thing like Kate did is stupid and doesn't work int he real world, so don't do that if someone you know is threatening to kill themselves. It won't work. So yeah...don't emulate my fiction cause life would totally suck for you if you did.

8 reviews and you find out what happened to Kate, and a person from the island reappears-with some unexpected news about our favorite Southerner