Chapter 12

Thank you all so much for your kind reviews! I absolutely love reading them and I love writing this, so I'm grateful you're wasting your time reading this. Anyways, on with the show.

Just wanted to let you know, in case you're getting antsy, everyone is going to be flying the coup next chapter. i.e. escapage!

I can't promise they'll be all in one piece, though.

Anybody see the extremely hot looking preview for next week? Skate: 28374928374239, Jate: 0. Intense. Especially the end of the preview.

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Sayid and Jin's trek through the jungle had been rather successful. Not only had they located what seemed to large, central point of the Others' dominion, but they had glimpsed Kate a few times as well. It had been Jin who saw her first, squinting into the dim morning as the sun rose. He had pointed out a thin, defeated looking brunette being escorted to and from places by armed men and a shorter dark haired girl whom Sayid immediately identified as Alex.

So far, they hadn't run into any trouble. It seemed as if the Others thought that the group of castaways would heed the warning brought by Hurley, and didn't seem terribly concerned with guarding the perimeter. Alex also sometimes walked around on her own after dark, Sayid had noted, and therein lay their chance of getting her and speaking to her again.

Jin shifted in uncomfortably. They had been sitting high up in the trees, the natural foliage perfect for disguising their location. At night, when all was calm, they would climb down and retreat to the little cave they had found and light a fire. Sayid could tell Jin was getting impatient and wanted to go back to see Sun, not wanting to spend much time away from her in her delicate state.

It was a particularly ideal for Alex to go wandering by herself. It was a new moon tonight, so there was no natural lighting at all, save for the stars. Sayid, however, could see quite well as he had been sitting in the dark for some time, giving his pupils time to dilate and see extraordinarily well for the poor conditions. His ears were also finely tuned, filtering the ordinary sounds of the night- the rustling of the trees, the noises of animals and the far off sound of the rolling ocean waves- from the sounds that were man made.

"There," Jin whispered sharply, pointing at a dark figure who was quickly scurrying across their line of sight.

Sayid leaned forwards and squinted, trying to confirm his suspicions. "Yes, that's her. Let's go."

They quickly climbed down and crept through the night, intent on catching Alex again.

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"What's your name?"

Kate snapped back to, looking for the source of the voice that had brought her back to reality. Wait… had she been just daydreaming, or had she been sleeping? It didn't seem to matter… everything was fuzzy, but in a warm, safe kind of way.

The woman speaking was seated to her left in a big, comfy leather chair, wearing an expression similar to Kate's; the vacant look of someone injected full of enough sedatives to kill a horse.

Kate let her head droop to the side facing the woman. She was pretty, blonde, and wrapped up in a fuzzy looking wool blanket just like Kate's. "I'm Kate," she said, slurring somewhat. "Do I know you?"

The woman shrugged, as if she wasn't sure how to answer. "I'm having a baby, you know," she said, smiling a wide, dopey kind of smile.

Kate looked down at her stomach, as if this reminded her of something. "I think I am too," she said, absently rubbing her still flat tummy.

"Oh," the blonde woman said, sounding slightly disinteresting. "Do you want it to be a boy, or a girl?"

Kate shrugged, having not considered this at all. "I don't care. I don't really want it anyways. I wasn't supposed to be having it."

The blonde woman looked at her with a confused, though somewhat sympathetic look. They didn't speak for a moment, until the other woman opened her mouth, as if she were trying to recall the words she was going to use. "My name is-"

"And how are my favorite ladies today?" A male voice called out, followed by Henry sweeping into the room carrying a tray with two sandwiches, two glasses of milk and a vase with a rather dilapidated looking carnation.

Kate peered at the man, getting the feeling she knew him from somewhere, but simply couldn't place. Henry seemed to notice her look. "It's Ben, Kate. You must be a little groggy from your nap."

She nodded slowly, accepting his explanation simply because she didn't have one of her own.

"I made you grilled cheese, Kate. I know it's your favourite." Henry said, putting the tray down beside her. She looked up at him in amazed, adoring wonder, the way a child would look at someone they admired.

Ben smiled back, quite pleased with results of the injections.

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"Goddamnit, Sawyer, you have to eat something," Jack said exasperatedly, trying to shove a plate of food towards Sawyer for the umpteenth time that day. Kate had been taken barely two days ago and Sawyer hadn't done anything since. Anything. He'd been sitting on the couch, staring at the white, sterile looking wall, getting up only to slink to the washroom to relieve himself. He hadn't eaten, showered, or slept, as far as Jack could see.

Sawyer gave him a stony look and resumed staring at the wall.

Jack let out a long breath and decided on a gentler approach. They had, after all, suffered another upheaval. "Look, you aren't going to be any help to Kate if you just sit there and waste away. We have an opportunity to bide our time and save our strength here."

"Jack," Sawyer said, looking like he was about to say something important.

"Yeah?"

"Fuck off."

"Fine," Jack snapped, feeling his charitable mood slip away. He threw the plate of food haphazardly on the coffee table and stalked away. He was so tired of the push and pull… the constant switching of roles. Jack and Kate fell apart, Sawyer kept them together. Sawyer and Kate fell apart… Jack kept them together. And that seemed to be what was happening the majority of the time.

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"Hey Kate?" Sarah asked, looking around their shared room with mild interest. "Our babies are going to grow up together!"

Kate smiled a wide, dopey smile. She had met this woman barely a day ago- but she didn't care. It seemed they had known each other all their lives. After lunch, Ben had taken them to the nursery, which had two beds and two cribs and lots of books and toys. Both women had been delighted. "If you have a boy, and I have a girl, they might even get married!"

Sarah giggled, but then frowned. "Why do you get to have a girl?"

Kate shrugged. "I've always wanted one."

"So have I," Sarah said petulantly. "How about we both have a girl?"

"Fine," Kate scowled, as if she wasn't completely happy with the proposition.

The door swung open and Ben came in, a tray with two bottles of medicine and needles in hand.

"Ben, not again!" Sarah whined.

"You don't want the baby to get sick, do you Sarah?" Ben asked sternly, drawing the liquid out of one of the bottles. "Kate doesn't mind, see?" Ben said, slipping the needle into Kate's arm. Kate bit her lip but said nothing.

"Fine," Sarah said, rolling up her sleeve. "I can be brave like Kate too."

"Atta girl," Ben said, smiling, and gave her the needle. "Time for your check up, Sarah. Come with me, please."

Sarah got up and let Ben heard her out of the room. As soon as they were gone, Kate sunk back into her chair, suddenly feeling very unsettled. Needles had never upset her that much, had they?

Suddenly, broken, distorted images flooded her brain-

She was screaming like she'd never screamed in her life- and she wasn't sure why. Maybe she'd finally realized just how royally fucked she was. Or maybe it was those maternal instincts kicking in, because she knew they were going to hurt the baby. Her baby. If it wasn't motherly love, it was at least a fierce sense of possession.

Her wrists and ankles and middle was bound to the table with thick leather while faces floated above her, wearing masks and holding needles and knives. Perhaps they were low on sedatives- not that that had seemed to be the case for the last few weeks. Maybe it was just the sadistic pleasure of watching a woman scream bloody murder because she couldn't protect her child. And what was she screaming, anyways? It was Sawyer, Sawyer, Sawyer and even a desperate Jack every now and then until her vocal cords were damaged beyond repair and she was hysterical and crying until she was breathless.

And then as quickly as the images had come, they spirited away, leaving a very sane, conscious and undrugged Kate crying and shivering in her chair. She looked around desperately, wondering where the hell she was and what the fuck was going on. More importantly, where was Sawyer? Jack?

Thoughts floated hazily through her head. They had drugged her, and she was pretty sure Henry- Ben- whoever, had just drugged her again. But why wasn't it working? Maybe it was some window, wherein the last batch of drugs wore off before the new ones kicked in. It seemed to be the only possible explanation. But where would that leave her? Stuck in a room... with some blond woman, named Sarah. Had she been on the plane? Kate didn't recall.

Suddenly, she couldn't remember what she had just been thinking about for the life of her. She gulped, knowing the drugs were kicking in again. No, no, no no no! She though desperately as her memories slipped away again like dry sand through limp fingers. She gulped. Sawyer, think of Sawyer. You love Sawyer. Sawyer Sawyer...

Who?

And then it was all gone again.

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"Hel- oomph!" Alex felt the breath fly out of her lungs as someone knocked her legs out from beneath her. Blind panic enveloped her for an instant, but annoyed realization came to her as soon as she made out the figure standing above her. "Sayid!" she hissed, getting up and brushing herself off, "you don't have to kidnap me if you want to talk to me!"

"I'm sorry," he said, almost smiling. "Next time I will just come to your camp and ask politely if you're around." He extended a hand, which Alex took, and pulled her up off of the ground. "We need to know where your loyalties stand," he said, getting right down to business.

Alex looked taken aback by the abrupt question. It wasn't as if she hadn't thought about it, but she still hadn't come to a decision. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight, looking antsy.

"Well?" Sayid asked, his tone indicating that he was in no mood for nonsense. After another moment's silence, he started again. "Alex, you need to-"

"Fine!" She snapped. "Yes, ok, I'm with you!" She was obviously nervous and riled. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

Sayid looked at her sadly. "We'll do our best, I promise."

"I want come back with you guys," she said, suddenly feeling very small. Tears came to her eyes. All her life she'd been so grown up, and she just didn't want to be anymore.

"You know that's not possible right now," Sayid said gently. "It would put many lives at risk if you disappeared. But the time will come, I promise."

"What do you want then?" she asked, voice quavering.

"Just some information. Where are our people being held?"

"In- in the medical station," Alex sniffed, trying to keep her crying under controlled. "God, if they ever found out that I told you…"

"I promise that we won't do anything until we make sure that you and your mother are safe with us, alright?"

Alex nodded, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath. She looked around, as if you make sure no one was watching and then threw herself forward and enveloped Sayid in a huge bear hug. Sayid's eyes widened, but he couldn't help but wrap his arms around her. Jin couldn't help but smile. This was the sort of thing that crossed all language barriers.

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Nothing had changed in the flat from hell. Jack was still pacing restlessly and Sawyer, who was practically catatonic, was still sitting on the couch staring listlessly on the wall.

It wasn't until many hours later that the door swung open.

"Henry," Jack spat, "what have you done with her?"

Sawyer pushed himself farther back into the couch, knowing that if he moved a muscle it would be to break that bastard's neck.

"You can call me Ben, Jack. That's my real name."

"I don't care, what your real name is, Henry, I want to know where Kate is!"

"Kate is fine," Ben said, waving a hand dismissively. "And it's your lucky day. We're letting you go."

"What?" Jack asked, hardly daring to believe his ears.

"I'll have someone escort you two off our premises. There is one catch, Jack,"

"What?" he said icily.

"You are never to set foot here again. If any of your people ever set foot here again, you will regret it."

"What, did you think we were going to come back and visit?"

"Jack, I'm serious," Ben warned. "We will kill her if you ever come here again."

Jack blanched. "I though you said you were going to let us go."

"I'm letting you two go. Not her. Not until she has the baby, anyways. We don't care about her. We just care about getting your child, Jack, because you're special. And not special like your mommy always said you were," Henry said smiling a little, thoroughly enjoying the reaction he was getting. "Oh, and Jack," he said, wanting to add just one more thing, "it is your child."

Sawyer stood up abruptly.

"How can you know that?" Jack snapped, "she's barely a month along-"

"We have our ways. Now get ready to leave, someone will be along to escort you out in a moment. James, what are you doing?"

Sawyer was rummaging through the kitchen, pulling cans and boxes off shelves and things out of drawers. "I'm stockin' up for the walk back. You got a problem with that, Darth?"

"Be my guest," Henry said. "I'll put it on your tab."

"Jack," Sawyer said suddenly, "stand in front of the door, and don't let him through."

"What?" Jack and Ben asked at the same time, confusion in Jack's voice and slight panic in Ben's.

Sawyer turned around, menacingly holding a large kitchen knife.

"James, I think you need to put that down," Henry said, trying to back away, but Jack had stepped in his way.

"No, I don' think I do," he said, taking slow, deliberate steps forward. He knew that he had all the right reasons to kill this man.

"You don't want me to kill her, do you?" Ben said, starting to panic.

"You can't kill her if he kills you first," Jack said, suddenly realizing what Sawyer had in mind. The strange thing was that he had absolutely no objection. Even after all those years of being a doctor and 'do no harm' and all that, he didn't think he'd mind if Sawyer stuck that knife though Ben's gut. Had they really all come to this? Become this?

"Where's his heart, Jack?"

"Here," Jack said, indicating the location on his own chest. Sawyer wasn't going to make the mistake he made with the martial again. "Make sure you slide the knife in so that it's parallel to his ribs. That way it'll slip through his ribs," he said with cold, medical precision.

Sawyer lunged forward and drove the knife through Ben's chest without a second thought.

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Dundundun. Just a heads up, all of the Losties are getting out of Other-hell next chapter. I don't anticipate that this story will be more than twenty chapters long, but I do have a sequel in mind:D