-1 Jack stood outside the gym, watching cars pull up. He hugged his jacket close to him even though it wasn't that cold outside.

"Who are you waiting for?" Juliet asked as she walked up.

"What? No one," he shook his head.

"He'll come," she said finally.

He laughed sarcastically, his features turning into a grimace, "I don't care if he does."

Juliet smiled sympathetically, "Yes you do."

She pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "Game's gonna start soon. You'll probably be needed inside."

"Thanks."

Juliet left and Jack followed a few minutes after. He pulled his jacket off as he walked to the locker rooms to put his uniform on. He went through the motions automatically because he had done them so often. It didn't bother him that his dad wasn't coming to his last home game. His dad had never come to any of his games. There was no reason why this one would be any different. Somehow, though, he thought that if he knew his dad was watching, if he knew his dad could see what he had accomplished, he would be able to win.

The guys were gathering in the hall before running onto the floor, just like they had before the pep rally. Jack stared up at the florescent light above him.

"You ready?" Boone asked next to him.

Jack looked over and nodded with a grin. He was glad the other guys were really fired up about the game.

Locke walked through the team, giving a pep talk about the will of the team to beat Ajira and take them down once and for all. Locke turned and looked at Jack for reassurance.

"That's right," Jack called, all the guys turning to look at him, "We can win this. We just have to believe in ourselves."

They all nodded in agreement and began cheering loudly. As they burst into the gym, the stands erupted into cheers that the mascot had been unable to conjure up.

Kate cheered along with her fellow Oceanics and even Sawyer threw in a holler. Charlie remained sitting, but he was preoccupied with the girl sitting on his other side.

The first quarter started out what looked to be a fairly matched game. Right before one of the Oceanics made a shot, one of the larger Ajira players pushed against his chest.

Kate and several other kids began yelling foul. Sawyer stood up with the other kids.

"What does that mean?"

"What does that mean?" Kate repeated, "It's blocking. It's illegal, and the ref's not going to call it."

"Oh, right."

Kate grinned, "You don't know the rules of basketball, do you?"

"So what if I don't? You some kind of expert, Shaq?"

Kate turned her palms up, "Nope. But I've seen enough basketball to know the rules."

"Well I haven't."

"You're old man didn't teach you?" she teased.

She stopped when she saw his face tense for a minute and she knew she had crossed a line.

"Oh, Sawyer, I'm sorry,"

"What happens after a foul, Freckles? You can be my personal coach."

Kate finished her candy and took a little more joy than she had thought she would in explaining the rules of the game to Sawyer. All the while, though, the questions of his past were gnawing at her mind.

The game passed quickly, Ajira scoring then Oceanic scoring. Locke yelled encouragement from the side lines and even Jack let himself have some fun. The clock ticked away until there was 4 minutes left on the clock.

Jack was about to pass the ball when he saw Boone fall to the ground. The referee blew his whistle. Jack rushed over to Boone.

"What happened?" he called.

Boone had his hand on his side, "He elbowed me and tripped me."

"What?" Jack asked, shaking his head.

Helping Boone up he looked over to one of the Ajira guys, "He got me in the elbow and I fell."

With his hands on Boone's shoulder, he scanned the sidelines for Locke. He was heading over.

"Come on," Locke said as he pulled Boone's weight onto him.

"I think I can walk fine," Boone said.

"Did you see what happened?" Jack asked.

"Yep," Locke replied.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to do anything," he grunted as they moved to the sidelines.

"You're just going to let him attack our guys and not do anything?" Jack growled.

"Get back in the game, Jack. Keep your head here."

Jack pursed his lips and shook his head. The ref blew the whistle again and everybody began cheering. Oceanic took their free throws and missed.

Kate watched the guys run back and forth. Jack seemed to be getting more and more angry. As she looked from the stands, one of the larger players pushed against Jack. Something in him seemed to snap and he launched himself at the other player. On the back of his jersey was written Eko. With one solid punch, Jack was flung to the ground. Jumping back up, Jack began throwing punches back at Eko. Kate was shocked at the anger in Jack's face. Whistles began blowing and most of the kids settled into an eerie quiet.

From the side, Locke jumped to pull Jack away. There was blood on his face, but he didn't look like he was about to give up. Without knowing why, Kate felt herself getting ready to run down to him. She stopped when she noticed Juliet heading that way.

As Locke pulled Jack off the court, Juliet nearly broke into a run. She slipped out where they were standing in the hallway.

"What was that all about Jack?" Locke cried.

"What was that about?" he countered, "That was about showing them that they can't push us around, Coach. That was about showing them that they can't just hurt us and get away with it. Because you were just going to let them go, weren't you?"

"You cost us the game, Jack." His cold eyes stared at Jack's bloody face.

"Is that what its about? You're willing to let Boone get hurt to win the game?"

"It wasn't fatal. It was just a little bruise. So he got hurt, he'll live. We could have won that. Now we'll be penalized."

"That's right. I should have just took it. Is that what you're saying?"

"I think you need to cool down, Jack. Go home."

"No," he shook his head, "No, I'm going to finish this."

"You already have. You need to leave."

Locke turned and went back into the gym, leaving Jack with his hands on his hips, staring at the ceiling. Juliet approached from her spot against the wall.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Don't," he shook his head.

"I'm just trying to talk to you."

He clenched his jaw and shook his head.

"I'm on your side. I always have been…" Juliet said as she raised her hand.

"I know."

Jack moved over to the wall and slid down, his hands on his knees. Juliet walked over slowly.

"Why don't you go home and rest and we can hang out some other time. Monday we could meet in the library to study."

Jack nodded. She tapped him on the shoulder before standing up.

"I'll see you Monday, Jack."

It was getting closer to the end and some kids were walking into the hall way to leave early. Jack stood up to go to the bathroom to wash his face off. As he turned the corner he saw someone coming after him. It was Kate.

"Hey," she said with a small smile, "Do you want some help?"

"I'm just going to the bathroom to wash this off."

"Okay," she said following him.

"Kate, I'm going into the boys bathroom."

"Come on. I'm just helping you with your face," she rolled her eyes.

They walked in and Kate wetted a paper towel. Moving to Jack's face, she dabbed at the blood. He knelt on the floor, her leaning over him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said trying not to move, "I just," he stopped, "I just got angry at the thought of them harassing Boone and then when he tried to push me,"

"I didn't know you were so close to Boone," she said.

"I'm not," he sighed, "I just feel responsible for them, you know."

"Yeah," Kate said, though she really didn't know.

"I would offer you a ride home, but I came with Charlie."

"You did?" he asked, surprised.

She smiled, "Yeah, he picked me up at a gas station on my way here."

"Oh. Don't worry about it, my car is here."

"Okay," she looked into his eyes, "I know you think you did the right thing."

"But you don't think so?"

"I didn't say that."

Jack looked back at her, but didn't say anything. He laughed lightly and took the paper towel from her hands. His eyes crinkling at the edges.

"Just because you didn't score the most points, doesn't mean you didn't win," she said softly.

Their faces were inches away and Jack looked into her eyes searching for some signal, but saw nothing. There was a sound from someone pushing in the door and she pulled back, startled.

"I'll see you Monday, Jack."

"Thanks, Kate," he said.

She nodded and pushed the out door.

"There you are," Charlie said, looking confused. "What were you doing?"

"What? Nothing," she said with a smile, "Are you ready?"

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me what you were doing in the boys bathroom, then don't tell me."

"Would you believe me if I said I was looking for you?"

"No."

"Alright then."

They walked out into the night and passed Sawyer talking to Juliet. Kate tried to look away from both of them. She hadn't talked to Juliet, but already she was afraid things would be awkward. As they made their way to the parking lot, Kate noticed Jack's car. There was an older man leaning against it with his hands crossed. She wasn't sure, but she had a pretty good guess this was Jack's father. They had the same intense eyes and he looked mad as hell.

"You wanna go get a drink or some food?"

"Can you just take me home, Charlie?" she asked as she slid into the car.

"Yeah, sure, no problem."

Kate watched the back of the man's head as they pulled out and wondered what it was like at the Shephard house. It may be more like her house than she would want. She dreaded each passing moment that brought her closer to going home. There was nothing for her there.