Chapter Eleven: Compromise

The distance was killing her. Jack had barely spoken two words to her since that night the Others had taken her hostage. Jack had gone off every morning on his own since then, probably continuing to search for Violet and Walt. It was killing her; Kate wanted to find Violet more than anything, and he wouldn't even ask her if she wanted to go with him. Men, they're all the same. First Michael, and now Jack. She sighed as she violently tossed a rock into the raging ocean. It's not like I meant for the Others to grab me from behind. I was only trying to find Violet, what the hell else was I really supposed to do? She wondered to herself, still torn by everything that had happened. One part of her had wished desperately the Others would have just have taken her, instead of releasing her back to Jack, Locke and Sawyer. That way, she would have been that much closer to finding Violet. On the other hand, what good was she to Violet locked in a room somewhere, or tied up somewhere, or worse, what if they had just killed her? What good would she be to Violet then?

Kate shook her head. What good am I to her right now, sitting here? She threw another rock into the sea. I just wish I knew if she was alright - really alright, from her own mouth. Not what they try to tell me. She sighed out loud, wondering where the hell Jack was. Even though he's mad at me, would he really go look for Violet without me? She wasn't sure anymore; after all, she had gone searching for Violet without him, even after they had both agreed not to go alone.

She found she was not as alone as she had thought she was. A tall man's shadow overcame her, as she peered up to see the outline of a new face beating down at her with the morning's sun. She hardly recognized the man, as he was from the other side of the island, but she remembered his odd name; Mr. Eko.

He sat down beside her and calmly stared at the sea in front of him. Kate looked down at the stick he carried with him wherever he went. She noticed there were carvings in it. She had never been religious, but she recognized the carvings as references from the Bible. She puckered her brow. Who is this guy?

"I have been told by Libby that there is a little girl who has been missing for quite some time." Mr. Eko broke the silence with his strong African accent. Kate turned to him. She recognized Libby's name; she was another of the people from the tail end of the plane. She had talked to her once, maybe twice. Mostly, Libby had been spending a lot of time with Hurley. That was probably how Libby found out about Violet in the first place. Hurley could be talkative when he got over his shyness.

Kate only nodded to Mr. Eko's comment.

"What is her name?" He asked. Kate swallowed hard. Trying to suppress all the wild emotions she was feeling, she spoke.

"Violet." Kate paused. "She's 14." Eko nodded.

"Still a child, still innocent. Why they choose to take the children, I do not know. But I will say a prayer for Violet. And also for you. You care deeply about her, don't you?" He asked. Kate swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat, and managed a nod.

"She will be alright," Eko stood to leave, "God is with her, and with you as well." He gave a small nod and headed off in the direction he came. Kate sighed to herself as she watched the man stalk down the beach. How can she be alright if we have no idea where she is? For all I know, she could be dead right now. Kate sighed, and forced herself to stand up. Maybe Jack was at the hatch - from what she heard from Charlie, he had been spending a lot of time down there lately. Why, she had no idea - he wasn't really talking to her.

As she walked through the jungle, held captive by her own thoughts, she instinctively kept her eyes and ears open for any sign of the Others, or of Violet. She knew she wouldn't hear or see anything, but still, she had to try. She owed that to Violet.

The hatch wasn't too far into the jungle, and as Kate approached it, she tried to think of what she would say to Jack if he was there. She had already attempted to apologize time and time again. All he did was nod, only to prove he had heard her.

She entered the hatch, pushing open the thick, metal door, to walk along an old hallway, with flickering lights on the sides of the walls. She heard voices, Jack's was one of them. She sighed to herself as she came into the main room, seeing Jack and Locke seated at the table, seemingly deep in a conversation that stopped as soon as she entered. She immediately felt anger bubbling up inside of her.

"You don't have to stop talking just because I'm here." Kate said as calmly as she could muster. Jack stared at her.

"Kate, this doesn't concern you." He said simply. Kate rolled her eyes.

"Why the hell not, Jack? I know you're still mad that I took matters into my own hands, trying to find Violet on my own! God Jack, it's over now. Stop shutting me out!" She snapped. Jack's eyes never left hers, struggling as to what he was going to say next. Kate decided to go on, calming herself down slightly.

"Jack, look, I know you're angry, but Violet is still out there. If we can't work together, what good are we to her?" Kate asked, not caring that Locke was there anymore. These were feelings that needed to come out in the open.

Kate immediately noticed Locke was staring at Jack, raising his eyebrows slightly, as though passing some hidden message just by looking at him.

"Jack," Locke muttered softly, and Jack shot him a reproachful look.

"No," He said simply, and stood, making his way past Kate, over to the refrigerator.

"Jack, I think we should tell her." Locke said again. Kate puckered her brow, looking from Jack to Locke, for any sign or hint as to what was going on, finding none.

"Tell me what?" Kate demanded.

"I don't think she should know." Jack pointed out to Locke, seemingly ignoring Kate's presence. Kate's anger was sparking inside her rapidly.

"Why the hell not, Jack? Is it something about Violet? I have a right to know, if it does!" She paused. "Stop shutting me out, Jack." Jack sighed audibly, as he glared past Kate at Locke, who spread his arms innocently.

"I don't want you to go ballistic, Kate." Jack said simply. Kate raised an eyebrow. What had they been keeping from her? It must have been important, if Jack thought it would seriously upset Kate.

"Just tell me." She replied, crossing her arms, bracing herself as best she could for the unknown news.

"Alright, Sayid was in the jungle a few days ago," Jack started, still obviously torn by whether or not he should share this information with Kate, "Danielle, you remember the French woman, she caught someone in one of her traps. She thought...that he was...one of them." Kate's face dropped.

"What? One of the Others? Did you find out anything about Violet?" She asked, stepping forward a little. Jack raised a hand impatiently.

"Can I finish, Kate?" Jack asked. Kate crossed her arms nervously, but obliged.

"Sayid brought him back here. We've been questioning him ever since."

"He's here?" Kate asked, unconsciously scanning the room for any sign of a stranger.

"Yeah Kate, he's here. We locked him in that room." Jack pointed to a closed steel door Kate had never really noticed before now. She sighed nervously.

"Did he admit he's one of them?" She asked, still staring at the door. Jack only had to nod, as he could already anticipate Kate's next question.

"Did you ask him about Violet?" She asked, fearing what she would hear. Was Violet still alive? Was she okay? Did Jack know where she was?

"Of course I asked him about Violet." Jack replied. Kate lost it.

"You talked to one of the people who took Violet away from us and you never bothered to inform me?" She yelled.

"Kate, this is exactly the reason I didn't tell you. I know you care a lot about Violet, and I don't have a problem with that, but your emotions right now are clouding your insight. I think you want to get Violet back so badly, you haven't been thinking about the dangers involved." Jack replied in a calm voice. Kate knew what he was referring to. She wanted to yell again, but she couldn't. She couldn't deny he was telling the truth. That day she journeyed to the place Sawyer had first encountered the Others, she was upset and angry. She really hadn't been thinking. She really could have been killed; she was lucky Jack, Locke and Sawyer had been there.

"Alright Jack," Kate sighed, forcing herself to sound calm, "You're right. I acted on emotions. I'm sorry. But please Jack, you have to tell me what you know about Violet." She waited as he considered her.

"Look, from here on out, we are in this together. No more playing miss independent, okay?" Jack looked her in the eye, and Kate knew he was taking this seriously, but Kate couldn't deny the fact that he was right. Two heads had always worked better than one.

"Deal." Kate said simply.

"Alright," Jack paused, before he continued his story, "The guy says his name is Henry Gale. At first, he came up with this story about how he and his wife were traveling in a hot air balloon and they crashed on this island. He claimed his wife died, and he's been trying to survive on this island since. Until Danielle caught him in her trap." Jack explained. Kate puckered her brow as the two moved over to sit at the table with Locke.

"Wait, you just told me you already know he's one of them, because he admitted it. How did you find out?" Kate asked.

"He told us exactly where he buried his wife, under his broken hot air balloon, because he wanted to prove his story, so Sayid went off into the jungle to find the balloon." Locke paused. "He found the hot air balloon and his wife's grave."

"So if he was telling the truth, how do you know he's one of the Others?" Kate asked, feeling more confused.

"Sayid was still suspiscious of this Henry Gale. He dug up the grave and found, not a woman, but a man with a wallet and identification. The corpe's name was Henry Gale." Jack explained and wasn't surprised to see Kate's eyes widen.

"So he made the whole thing up!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah and after Sayid had a few words with him," Locke said, shooting a significant glance at Jack, "Henry admitted he was one of the Others."

"So you said you asked him about Violet." Kate said, ignoring Locke's comment, wanting nothing more than to make sure she knew everything there was to know about Violet.

"Yeah. I went in and talked to the guy," Jack replied, "He claims his people will come back for him. But I did ask him about Violet."

"What did he say?" Kate asked, attempting to brace herself for the worst.

"He didn't say much. But he claims she's fine, and safe. He even went as far as to say he thinks she's starting to trust them." Jack replied as he rolled his eyes. Kate shook her head fiercely.

"That's ridiculous! Why would Violet trust those monsters? She knows what they are, and what they did to her. How do you trust people who drag you, unwillingly to some unknown place away from people who care about you?" She asked angrily.

"Kate, I don't believe it anymore than you do, but that's what he said. I tried asking him where they have her, but he won't talk. He just keeps telling me she's safe and they're looking after her." Jack replied. Kate didn't know what to think. A large part of her wanted to believe this Henry Gale, that Violet really was fine and safe, but he was still one of the Others. How could she really know Violet was okay?

"We have to ask him again, Jack! Come on, we actually have one of them here! There's got to be a way to get him to talk." Kate said desperately, but Jack shook his head.

"Kate, I have been in there everyday since he's been here. Sayid has tried other techniques, not so nice ones I might add, and he still hasn't cracked. But don't worry Kate," Jack's face grew determined, "I have a plan."

"A plan? To get Violet back?" Kate asked. Jack nodded.

"Are you in?" He asked.

"If there's a chance we could get Violet back, then of course I'm in!" She replied, without another thought.

"Okay, we should head out now then." Jack said as he stood from the table, turning to address Locke. "Keep an eye out."

"Wait, you never told me where we're going." Kate pointed out as she stood as well.

"I'll tell you on the way." Jack grabbed his knapsack and headed out of the hatch. "Let's go."


"Jack, how do you know that's even going to work? Don't you remember the last time we came up here?" Kate asked as the sun began to set. The two had been walking for a while now, nearly an hour, and Kate knew they were getting close.

"Yeah, Kate, I do remember what happened. But we have the advantage now, not them." Jack replied as he trudged up the final hill toward the familiar place Kate had been only days earlier. "I'm going to demand they give us back Violet, and Walt too. If they want their man back, they'll have to trade the kids for him." Jack stopped as he circled the clearing where Kate had been held at gunpoint by one of them. This was the place.

"What makes you think this Henry Gale is important enough to the Others that they will trade?" Kate asked, as she nervously lowered herself to sit on a log. Jack shrugged.

"I don't." He turned and looked at Kate. "But it's worth a shot." As he began yelling out for the Others to come out and talk to him, Kate couldn't help but feel afraid. This was the line they weren't supposed to come to again, and here they were. Kate held herself for warmth, trying to imagine what would happen if they really would agree to a trade. She imagined Jack pushing Henry Gale through those bushes, only to have Violet pushed through those bushes, out into this clearing, safe and sound. Kate nearly cried at the thought of seeing Violet okay again, wrapping her arms around her, holding her, and assuring her she was safe. Kate forced herself to ignore that thought - she couldn't get her hopes up like that - these were the Others they were dealing with.

"We have your man! If you want him back, you'll have to give us back the kids! Violet and Walt!" Jack was yelling into the empty bushes. Kate sighed. How could they be sure the Others were really around here anyway? Kate watched as Jack continued to yell at the bushes, over and over again, for twenty minutes straight.

"Jack, I don't think they're here." Kate said finally, feeling all hopes disappating quickly. "We should just go back." Jack whirled around.

"No, we're not going back! We're here, and they have to listen eventually." With that, Jack continued shouting and Kate rolled her eyes. Men are so stubborn. But just as she thought Jack were wasting his breath, she heard a noise emerging from one of the bushes. She jumped up and Jack motioned for her to be quiet. He pulled out the gun he had been hiding in his pants and pointed it at the bushes.

"Come out of there!" Jack shouted at the moving bush. "You'd better have Violet, or so help me, I-" But the person who emerged from the bushes was in trouble. He stumbled as he was able to clear himself out of the bushes into the clearing, and collapsed to the muddy ground immediately. There was something oddly familiar about this body, Kate thought, and she approached him carefully.

"Kate!" Jack yelled, still holding his gun at the unconscious man. Kate ignored him and approached the man slowly, grabbing hold of his shoulder and turning him over to face her. Jack and Kate both gasped as they stared into the face of Michael.