Hi! This chapter isn't very long, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I'm moving at the end of the month, so it might take a while before I'm able to post the next one. Too bad: there's something pretty nice coming up for you skaters.

Thanks for reading!!!

Chapter 10

Kate couldn't believe she'd just told Sawyer she was falling for him. How could that have happened? Now she was convinced he'd never speak to her again. It had been too much, too soon, but she hadn't been able to stop the words from leaving her mouth.

Had she lost him for good, she wondered as she ran away? She had been so stupid! But she knew she was only getting what she deserved. She'd better accept it, she told herself as she finally slowed down, her teary eyes making it hard to see where she was going. Swiftly, she wiped the tears from her face.

And then she saw him.

Charlie.

For a second her mind couldn't process what she was seeing. Just a second. Then the enormity of what was in front of her sank in, and she froze, staring at the horrific scene in front of her.

Charlie was hanging from a tree, unmoving.

A small scream managed to escape her lips. The rest of her body was paralysed.

"Go and get the axe, I'll hold him up!" Sawyer suddenly shouted from behind her, startling her. "Quick!" he added, his voice finally causing her to come out of her trance.

There was no time to go back for the axe, she knew that. Every second counted. In a flash, she reached for the gun she had taken from Sawyer and, unbeknownst to Jack, tucked into her waistband. As Sawyer supported Charlie's weight, she took aim, and fired, cutting the rope in two. Charlie fell into Sawyer's arms.

He settled the Englishman on the ground and shot Kate a surprised look. Too worried about Charlie to react, Kate knelt down by his side.

"No pulse," Sawyer told her, obviously distressed.

Without wasting another second, Kate started to perform CPR on Charlie.

"Come on!" she yelled desperately after what felt like an eternity, when Charlie was still showing no sign of regaining consciousness.

"Kate," Sawyer said gently, but she ignored him. She knew what he was trying to tell her and she just couldn't face it. "Kate!" he said louder as she furiously banged her fist on Charlie's chest.

"He's gone, Kate," he told her softly, cupping her face to force her to look at him. "We did what we could."

"No," she replied, repressing a sob. "Not another one."

Sawyer was looking at her with such gentleness that Kate wished she could hide in his arms and never leave them again. But he had pushed her away just minutes before and her admission certainly hadn't improved things between them. Right now, it seemed as though he didn't mind being close to her, but this wasn't an ordinary situation. Who knew how he'd act towards her when things got back to normal? She wasn't going to throw herself at him. If he wanted to be with her, he'd have to make the first step, she resolved.

Suddenly, to their surprise, Charlie gasped and opened his eyes. Sawyer let go of Kate and, stunned, they stared down at him.

"Charlie!!" Kate exclaimed at last. "Are you okay?"

Charlie nodded feebly as he slowly sat up.

"Claire," he said with difficulty, his voice raspy.

"What?" Kate asked, unsure she had heard right.

"Where's Claire??" he asked, clearly alarmed.

"We haven't seen her, Charlie. She's probably at the beach," Kate told him gently.

"Ethan took her! He bloody hung me up there!"

"Who the hell is Ethan?" Sawyer asked gruffly.

"He's a survivor, too, and he took Claire! He can't be far; we've got to stop him!" Charlie exclaimed. He was frantic.

"Take him back to the beach, Freckles. I'll find that Ethan guy," Sawyer said resolutely as he got up.

"You're not going to get rid of me that easy, James," Kate countered, getting up too and locking her gaze into his.

For a couple of seconds Sawyer just stared blankly at her. Kate wondered if he had got the double meaning behind her words. Had her involuntary admission cut all bridges between them? Anxiously, she waited for him to push her away once more. But then she saw the corners of his mouth twitch and he smiled.

"I hope not," he replied, still grinning but looking at her intensely.

How in the world could he affect her like this? Why was it that he only had to smile to reduce her to a puddle of goo? With difficulty, she tore her gaze off him and looked at Charlie.

"Do you think you can make it back to the beach on your own?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded as he stood up.

"Tell Jack to send us some backup, just in case," she instructed him.

"Okay. Now go and find her. There's no time to waste," the musician urged them before he went his own way.

Frenzied, Kate began looking around, trying to figure out which way Claire and Ethan had gone. Soon, she found what she was looking for.

"This way," she said, and off they went.

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"Are you sure they really went this way?" Sawyer wondered.

"I think so," Kate replied as she studied the ground. They had been uneasily following Ethan's track for a few minutes now, but still no sign of Claire. "I wish Locke were here. He seems to be a much better tracker than I am," she added gloomily.

"Who the hell…" Sawyer began before pausing, and then adding, "Ah, I know. You mean Mr Clean."

He hadn't even tried to be humorous, but still he saw a smile creep up on Kate's face.

"You're funny," she told him evenly before resuming her walking.

Behind her, Sawyer was grinning so widely he felt stupid. Why did it make him so happy to know she found him amusing? Because it was a sign that maybe everything wasn't lost between them? Minutes ago, she had tried to let him know she was willing to wait on him, hadn't she? He was pretty sure she had, but he wasn't going to look for confirmation. Whatever her answer would be, it would disturb him deeply and he wasn't ready for that.

"So Jack gave you a gun after all?" he said, trying to think about something else.

"No," Kate replied without looking at him. "I took it from your pack."

Reminded that had the transceiver worked he would have lost her forever, Sawyer stayed silent. Sombrely, he wondered if that was why he was trying to find Claire. Was it because he knew how devastated Charlie would feel if he lost Claire? He hadn't been on the beach long, but he'd had time to notice how close the two were growing.

Realising how much he'd changed over the last three days, Sawyer cringed. What the hell was going on with him, wanting to help people he didn't even know? Falling for the first woman he had laid eyes on?

Annoyed with himself, he tried to focus on what they were doing. One question was bugging him: how come they still hadn't caught up with Ethan? The guy was either dragging or carrying a pregnant woman. That had to slow him down…

As if she had read his mind, Kate suddenly stopped walking.

"Something's not right," she murmured. "I don't understand. How can he be faster than we are? I don't think Claire is following him willingly."

"Did you ever think Charlie might be lying?" Sawyer asked her, without really believing in that possibility. "Maybe he hung himself, had a suicidal urge or something."

"Why would he do that?" Kate wondered with disbelief written all over her face.

"Maybe he's a junkie in need of a fix? You know these rock stars, Freckles. Maybe he's delusional and stuff?"

"It makes no sense, James," she told him absently as she studied the ground again. All of a sudden, she froze. "Look. There are two trails."

"You think Claire could've escaped?" Sawyer asked, hopeful.

Kate sadly shook her head.

"No. The footprints are too big."

"Then what?"

"If Ethan knows that we're behind him, he could be setting up a dummy trail. Take off in one direction; double-back his own footprints."

"Damn," Sawyer muttered. "What do we do now?"

"We split up," Kate replied with determination.

"No way."

If she thought he was going to let her go alone after some crazy guy, she was wrong.

"We don't have - " she paused abruptly, bringing her hand to her forehead. She swayed a little and Sawyer, noticing how pale she'd become, moved towards her. Not a moment too soon; she started to fall, and Sawyer managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Kate! What's going on?" he asked, clearly alarmed.

"I'm okay," she said feebly, trying to get up. He tightened his hold on her, determined that she not try to stand until some of her colour had returned.

"You've been walking almost non-stop for three days, Kate. Have you eaten at all today?" he asked, concerned.

"I… I had a mango on the way to the caves," she admitted, knowing she should have taken better care of herself.

Sawyer was about to sit her down on a rock and force her to rest when he heard some noise behind him. Swiftly, he got a hold of the gun Kate had tucked into her waistband and aimed, ready to fire.

A couple of long seconds later, Locke emerged from the bushes. When he noticed Sawyer and the gun he was holding, he didn't flinch.

"Hello there," he greeted Kate and Sawyer with a big smile as Jack and Charlie appeared behind him.

Relieved, Sawyer lowered his arm, but not before Jack noticed the firearm.

"Where did you get that gun?" he asked heatedly.

Sawyer kept his cool, but his dislike of the doctor increased exponentially. He got up to face him.

"Well, maybe the marshal had three after all," he replied cockily, making Jack even angrier.

"So you lied to me? To us?"

"I guess I did," Sawyer answered smugly.

The two men stood in front of each other, seemingly ready to fight.

"There's no time to waste over that, Jack," Charlie intervened. That seemed to calm them down. After one last menacing look at Sawyer, Jack spoke again.

"John, you go first."

"Wait," Kate said, and all eyes converged on her. "There are two trails."

"What?" Jack asked, surprised. "Now you're a tracker?"

To Sawyer's pleasure, Kate dismissed his comment and quickly showed Locke the trails. The bald man agreed with her.

"So, we've got two trails. Let's split up," Jack decided. "John, Charlie and I will take that one. Kate and Sawyer will take the other one."

"No. We should stay together, Jack," Locke disagreed.

"Why? We've got two trails, and apparently, two trackers. And they have a gun," he added bitterly. Sawyer didn't even try to repress a smile, which got wider when he caught the meaningful look Kate sent his way. Maybe she wasn't as impressed with the doc as he had assumed she was.

"So let's go," Charlie urged them and he sounded so desperate, so worried about Claire that no one argued.

"Be careful," Locke warned Kate and Sawyer as they set off on their separate paths.