DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTER!!!

Author's Note: WOOO Another chapter up! YAYYYYY!!!

Author's Note #2: I went back and edited this because I wasn't satisfied with it for some reason. enjoy!

Kate gave me a weak smile.

Chapter 8: Who Does He Love?

" Hey, Ri --" she broke off and glanced around. " Hey Lindsay."

" I told you I didn't want to see any of the Six!" I hissed.

Kate sighed.

" Well I'm here now and you'll just have to deal with it."

I sighed and opened the door the rest of the way.

" Come on in."

Her smile became more pronounced and as if I had just noticed Aaron was in her arms, I closed my eyes and said:

" He looks happy."

" He is, very." said Kate. " You never told me --"

" It was a girl," I said monotonously, " I named her Mary."

We both stared at the floor. It didn't take a genius to notice how uncomfortable the two of us were. After all, we'd been on and off enemies on the island, warring like petty teenage girls over the man we both wanted.

" So I hear you and Sawyer got close when Jack and Sayid went to get Shannon's meds," I said casually. Kate didn't miss the jealousy in my voice.

" Mhmm. It meant nothing." she replied bluntly, though I could tell she was lying. She had a pleased look on her face.

" Stay away from him."

She turned and looked at me like I was stoned off an illicit substance.

" Excuse me?"

" You heard me, Kate. Stay away from him." I knew she heard the threatening note in my voice.

" You're crushing on him aren't you?"

" So what if I am?" I said defensively, " at least I'm not playing two guys at once."

" What?" she said incredulously.

" I've seen how you flirt with them both." I said in a rush. " and I know how when one pisses you off you go right back to the other."

" Who do you think you are?" she demanded, " You have no idea who you're messing with. Back off."

" Riley? Helloooooooo, earth to Riley. Come in please."

I jumped and looked around, alarmed.

" Are you crazy??! Didn't he tell you -- you're not supposed to call me that!"

Kate rolled her eyes.

" He told me I can't call you that in public." she said. " They're keeping a closer eye when we all go out. Plus you're not recognizable with..." her voice trailed off as her eyes took in my deformity. She decided to change the subject. " So...what happened that -- that day? Jack said he didn't get any details on how you -- survived."

I got up and made sure the appartment door was locked and the blinds on the windows were closed before sitting down across from her.

" You remember what happened that day as well as I do." I said quietly. " and don't deny it."

She didn't.

" Riley come on!" shouted Kate as she grabbed my arm and started pulling me up towards the deck. " We've got to get to the chopper!"

" What? No!" I cried pulling my arm out of her grasp as we emerged on deck and she tried to pull me toward the helicopter. " Kate --"

" No!" she said angrily. " I'm not explaining to Sawyer why his girlfriend exploded!"

" Kate look Jin is still below!" I said, not having adequate time to process that this was the first time she had referred to me as Sawyer's 'girlfriend'. " I'll go get him okay."

" There's no time!" she cried as I turned and ran below. When Jin and I reached the deck the helicopter was taking off.

" NO!" I screamed as Jin ran past me, screaming something in Korean -- I assumed he was screaming for Sun.

Then the boat exploded and everything went dark.

" You wanted to know how I survived. I woke up under water. When i got to the surface, i floated into a part of the wreckage that was in flames. As much as I tried to prevent it, my face was terribly burned."

Kate was quiet for a moment.

" Jack said that Ben told him you refused to stick to the story they gave you unless you got to talk to -- to Sawyer."

Her voice was barely above a whisper as his name left her lips. I nodded.

" I gave them forty-eight hours to arrange it, but they refused." I paused, " I had something important to tell him...I didn't realize it til my last day in the hospital."

Kate kept her face impassive.

" You wanted to tell him you were pregnant." she said.

" Yeah," I whispered. We both looked down at my flat stomach. " Guess it's a good thing I never got to talk to him...he wouldn't have cared anyway."

Kate rolled her eyes.

" How can you say that?"

I met her eyes unwillingly.

" Well it's not like he was ever mine. Who was it he slept with when you, him and Jack were taken prisoner?"

" Who was it he was happiest to see when he and I came back?" she demanded, then in a whisper, " He loved you more than he ever loved me. I know he did."

" He didn't want a family," I said bluntly, " especially after what Juliet said about pregnant women. He chose you."

" He chose you." she corrected me. " He told me -- he told me he thought you might be pregnant. After he came back with Aaron and Miles. He told me if we got off the island --"

I held up a hand to silence her, my heart pounding. The phone was ringing.

" Hang on." I rushed over and picked up the receiver. " Hello?"

A gruff, familiar voice answered me with one simple sentence:

" It was always you, Snake."

Click! The line went dead. My heart was going a mile a minute as I put the reciever down. Kate mistook my expression.

" What's wrong?" she asked, looking alarmed. " Who was it? Riley?"

" You were right," I managed to croak. " It was me. He loved -- loves me."

" That was -- that was him?" she said in a whisper. I knew by the look in her eyes that she still had feelings for Sawyer. I nodded mutely.

" I love him, Kate." I said, my voice cracking. " I can't stand being separated from him like this."

" You'll see him again," she told me, " Someday, you'll get to be with him."

" Jack said the same thing when he visited me in the hospital." Kate didn't miss the bitter note in my voice.

" This charade we're doing," she said, " It won't last forever. Some day we're gonna be able to tell people the truth."

I glanced at the paper lying on my table.

" It's been two years," I said miserably, " and you and the rest of the six are still being watched! I can't do anything without fear of attracting attention to myself!" I glanced at the opposite wall. " So...what was it you were going to say before the phone rang?"

Kate was preoccupied by Aaron who was crying.

" Shush, Aaron. It's okay." she looked at me. " Sorry?"

" What did Sawyer tell you when he got back after the attack on the barracks?" I said.

Kate looked thoughtful.

" He asked how you were. I told him you were sick, and being a total bitch to Jack --"

" I bet he loved that, especially with Jack right there." I laughed.

Kate started laughing too.

" He gave Jack this look. It was hilarious." she said. "Anyway, he said 'You don't think she's pregnant do you, Freckles?' and I told him it was a possibility. Jack tried butting in, wanted to know when your last cycle was." We both made faces and then Kate said. " Sawyer said if we got off the island and you were pregnant, he..."

" What?" I prompted.

" He said you and that baby would be the only thing worth going back for." she looked at the floor.

" You thought he got you pregnant too." I said, realization hitting me like a bullet in the gut. " After you two slept together in the cages."

She nodded.

" He didn't want a family with me though. I figured it out -- he only wanted me when he knew it would piss you off." she smiled. " You're really lucky, Riley."

A tear rolled down my cheek.

" I don't feel lucky, Kate," I said, " Not when I'm trapped here, unable to be with him...dreaming about him constantly dying..."

" How bad has it gotten?" she asked, remembering our previous conversations. Conversations with the Six had to be staggered in case one of Widmore's men traced the call or was listening in.

" I'm still killing him," I whispered, " but now when I wake up screaming I feel guilty...like I actually did it."

Kate stared at me sympathetically.

" I'm sorry."

I laughed mirthlessly.

" Don't be. You're not the one causing them."

Just then someone knocked on the door. I looked at Kate then got up.

" Be right back." I said. I went and opened the door. To my surprise, I found Steve standing in the doorway.

" Yes?" I said, trying to sound as if I did not know him. He had been a friend to Marissa, not Lindsay. " Can I help you?"

" Oh come on, Riley," he hissed scathingly, lifting his left hand. I saw the muzzle of a nine-millimeter gun being aimed at me. " Don't pretend like you don't know me. I know the whole sleazy story. Now, are you gonna let me in, or do I have to make you?"

" Lindsay?" I heard Kate call. " Who is it?"

" No one," I called back, my voice an octave higher than I meant it to be. " Just keep Aaron in there okay."

But it was too late. Kate entered the hallway with Aaron peeking out from behind her leg.

" Linds--"

" Go back in the living room, Kate!" I screamed as Steve suddenly pulled me against him and put the gun to my neck. Kate grabbed Aaron and ran back into the living room. I could hear her knock several things over as she found her 'son' a place to hide. Seconds later she was back and she had a gun of her own in her hands.

" Kate what are you doing?!" I cried. " Get Aaron and get out of here!" I tried twisting away from Steve but he pushed the gun harder into my neck. " Steve please --"

" Shut up," he hissed, " Just shut up. Now you're gonna be a good girl and do exactly what I say right? Aren't you?"

" Put the gun down!" shouted Kate. " Now!"

" Answer the question, Riley," snarled Steve, completely ignoring Kate," Are you gonna be a good girl or not?!"

" Kate just go," I begged. " Please!"

" DO YOU WANT TO DIE?" roared Steve. " ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!"

That was when I broke down.

" Yes," I sobbed, " Just let Kate and Aaron out of here unharmed please!"

Steve looked at Kate.

" You heard the woman," he said, " Get your kid and get out. Now."

Kate's arms shook slightly as she kept the gun level with Steve's head.

" Please," I cried. " Take him and get out!"

I was sure she'd say no, that she would fire at Steve. I was shocked when she lowered the gun and ran back to the living room. Seconds later she tore past us, clutching Aaron by the arm.

" Alright," Steve breathed in my ear. " Where's your bedroom?"

No! I thought frantically, He's going to rape me! I have to do something...have to fight. I tried pulling away from him again.

" Get your damn hands off me," I gasped.

" I don't think so!" he pulled me further into the apartment towards what he guessed correctly as my bedroom. " We're going to have some fun, you and me. Try anything and I will kill you."

" I won't let you violate me," I said angrily. " I won't!"

He threw me down on my bed and stripped me of all clothing.

" NO!" I screamed. I was fighting him tooth and nail. When I sank my teeth into his wrist he struck me across the face. Suddenly there was a commotion. I heard a gun shot and my tormentor collapsed on top of me -- he wasn't dead but he'd been hit with some kind of gun. I pushed him off of me.

" Who-" I rasped, struggling to regain my breath.

" Are you okay Riley?" I looked over to see Sayid standing there, the stun gun in his hand. Kate was next to him. She had a suitcase clutched in her hands.

" Yeah." I said shakily. I looked over at Sayid. " Did you kill him?"

The Iraqi shook his head.

" No, I shot him with a tranquilizer gun. You're lucky I was in the area or Kate might have killed him." he said.

Kate shrugged.

" He'd deserve it, considering what he just tried to pull." she muttered as Sayid left.

" It's not worth it," I said as I grabbed my phone and quickly called the police, letting them know what had just happened and they said they would come and pick up Steve. My eyes fell on the suitcase Kate was holding. " What the hell is that for?"

" You need to get out of here," she replied, tossing me some clothes to put on and dropping the suitcase in the process. " Then leave tonight and meet Sayid at this address. He'll take you somewhere safe."

I stared at her in disbelief.

" What?"

" Look I'm not sure but I think Steve might have followed you to LA on Widmore's orders," said Kate.

" Are we going back?" I asked.

Kate turned to leave.

" I dunno. I honestly don't know Riley." she said quietly.

She left the room and a few minutes later I heard the door of my apartment shut as she and Aaron left. I scrambled around the room to get dressed and was waiting when the police arrived. They took my statement and carted him away. After I heard them leave I threw some clothes into a suitcase along with the nine milimeter I kept with me at all times. Just then the doorbell rang.

" Coming!" I yelled.

When I opened the door I found the last person I expected to be in the doorway: Jeremy Bentham.

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAH YES IT'S A CLIFFHANGER! lol why is Bentham visiting her? What does he want? Stay tuned! while you're here do me a little favor and please review!!! NO FLAMES!!!!!!!

and on a side note...SEASON 5 STARTS TONIGHT!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!