Claire-Littleton: Normally I don't do the whole postisland/rescue thing, but I have a lot planned for this fic so I decided long ago I was going to do it, but not until Lily was old enough to understand it all. I really want to convey how hard the transition into normal life would be for the kids and especially Kate, and Kate and Sawyer's relationship. On the island, Kate could escape being a wanted criminal but she's still in the criminal database all these years later, so I really want to see what affects that will have on her, her children and her and Sawyer/James's relationship :) Things shall get pretty interesting/good from here, so I hope I don't disappoint you guys :)
-Kate
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Kate ran as fast as her legs would carry her. It wasn't easy being five months pregnant and running through the jungle at top speed, but nothing could stop her. Not even the voice in the back of her head, begging her to be reasonable. It was like a nightmare that had become painfully true. She had never been so happy in her life, raising her children when her own bona fide prince charming (though at times he wasn't exactly charming, to her, he was every part the prince), the tears began to stream down her face and she stopped, only for a moment to catch her breath. She thought, long ago, that she was done running. It was instinct to her, before she could even process the thoughts she had taken off, leaving James and the children in her dust.
She stopped as she thought about her poor children, sitting in the hatch, unaware of everything that was about to happen. If they were truly being rescued, Lily could get proper medical care for her leg, she could dance and go to school and be successful. Jamie could rides horses and be a genuine cowboy. She touched her belly and sobbed. She hoped with every fiber of her being that her crimes were forgotten. She feared living the rest of her life in a jail cell and her heart stung.
She couldn't run anymore. She could hide out, but she knew if she did. James wouldn't leave without her and she knew, in the end, none of them deserved to keep living as they did. Even though it was their seemingly peaceful Utopia, at least now they could escape the wrath of the Other's. She thought about Alex Rousseau, who during a battle with the Other's years ago was brought back to the Castaway camp and reunited with her mother. Alex and Danielle would have normal lives now, for the most part...and it almost made Kate smile, until she thought about her own cemented future.
Sighing she went to the one place and could feel safe in her last moments of freedom, the small fort they had all built long ago for the children. She smiled at the worn flag that Claire had sewn as it whipped around in a cool wind.
She pulled her legs in close as she sat inside the shelter. The baby in her belly wildly kicking at her thighs as she hugged her knees.
This was it, this was her unhappy ending.
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"Kate took off?" Jack asked, sincere worry growing in his eyes.
"Yes," James cried out, clearly upset. "Carry Lily back to camp, take the kids to the beach, it looked like it was landing."
Jack nodded and gathered all the kids to walk back with him.
"You're going to find her?" Jack asked.
"Ain't a matter of findin' Doc, I KNOW where she is." James stated. Jack picked Lily up and they started off towards the beach, as James took off into the Jungle.
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Jack and the kids made it back to the beach camp in record time, and Jack stopped, shocked as he eyed the Helicopter on the beach. Even though James, Seth, Aaron and Ki-min all exclaimed there was a helicopter, it didn't hit him until he saw for himself.
There were two men, walking the camp, asking questions. One kneeled before the twins, checking over their limbs and looking into their eyes. The other man held up a picture as he walked from person to person.
Jack walked over the Libby and Hurley. Libby was sobbing into Hurley's chest, happy tears, Jack hoped.
"Dude, I...I can't believe this is real." Hurley sighed.
The second man walked over to Jack, holding up a picture of Kate. Jack swallowed hard as he asked where she was at the moment.
"She's coming." was all Jack could squeeze out.
"I'm Agent David Foster. I'm here representing the United States Marshals, this man is Matthew Carradine, with the United States Rangers, he's here for the recovery aspects of our mission."
Jack nodded.
"It's taken us a long time to trace your location. We have many questions but our number one concern at the moment is getting everyone off the island and back on American soil."
Jack felt angry, he knew that it wasn't David's concern at all. David anxiously stared around the camp, waiting for Kate to make her appearance.
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"Shit, Freckles, shoulda told me that you wanted to play Blue Lagoon, I got a couple scenes we can re-enact." James winked as he peered into the kid's fort.
Kate wiped the tears from her eyes with a sigh.
"Please say I was hallucinating. Its like the horse right, it's not really there."
"You still think about that horse?" James smiled.
"All the time."
"'Fraid this isn't just a horse, sweetcheeks, this is salvation."
"That horse was my salvation..." Kate mumbled. "A helicopter? That...that screws everything up. I'm a wanted criminal, even though we've been here for years... I doubt that changes anything. Things are perfect here...I don't want to loose this, loose you..."
James sat next to her, placing a gentle hand on her thigh. "You never gotta worry about losin' me, Freckles."
"I'm scared." Kate sadly muttered, her lip quivering a little, just enough to make James's heart sink.
"I love you, no helicopter horse, or shit even doctor will change that. I'll be first to admit I'm a prick, but I ain't goin' nowhere. You and my kids...that's the only good I ever done in my life and like hell I'm gonna loose YOU." Kate smiled faintly at him, and he grabbed her, pulling her into loving embrace. "We fight the law, we do what we gotta do..."
"No law fighting, Tex. Not with the kids involved."
"They ain't gonna take them are they?" James asked, a worry in his eyes that seemed new to Kate.
"I...I don't know."
James held Kate tighter and then whispered, "We better get back to the camp."
"Just stay here...for a moment, just stay and hold me...before my whole world comes tumbling down."
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Lily yelped as Matthew Carradine pressed his fingers into her leg. David Foster stared down at the girl, shaking his head.
"Problematic." David groaned.
"What?" Matthew asked. "Didn't catch that."
"We've got problems! Well, I have problems." David sighed, pressing his fingertips into his temples. "Problems like the girl I'm ordered to bring back got a low down tingle, got lucky on an island and reproduced twice."
"Three times." Hurley butted in.
"Shit, where's the other one?"
"She's uh..."
David searched Hurley's face for an answer. "She's knocked up?" David groaned.
Hurley nodded.
"Prison's an excellent form of birth control." David stated, staring down at Lily who was glaring at him, her cheeks getting warmed and warmer and her fist clenching tighter with every word he spoke. Lily prayed for her strength so that she could kick the tall, pale man in the shin.
David looked off into the distance as two figures emerged from the jungle. Smiling he turned to Matthew.
"Assist me in apprehending the subject." David ordered with a proud smile.
It happened so fast that Kate couldn't even think to fight back, they were much stronger then her, they cuffed her small hands behind her back, lifting her by her upper arms and dragging her feet through the sand.
She didn't cry out, not even when a broken seashell cut through the top layer of skin on her shin as he legs dragged through the moist sand. Everyone stared, saying nothing. Some were shocked, other's worried and Libby, Claire and Sun all struggled to fight back tears as someone they considered more like a sister then a friend was treated like a convict. In the end, that's all David Foster saw her as. A convict who got lucky on an island and produced some kids. But to everyone on the island, she was worth much more then that.
Lily struggled to get back up on her crutches, dropping them as she threw herself at David. Biting him in the forearm as hard as she could. David cried out, letting go of Kate for a moment as Matthew helped Kate to her feet. Lily unclenched her jaw, letting the mans arm go.
"You've got some nerve." David growled, hitting Lily hard in the face with his forearm, knocking the girl back into the sand.
"Lily!" Kate cried out.
James ran at full speed into David knocking him hard into the sand. Jack ran, struggling to pull James off of David as James unleashed his rage on the unsuspecting man,
"Bastard!" James yelled. Over and Over.
"James, stop, stop please, he could slap you with assault."
James caught his breath and calmed down, walking to his daughter and taking her into his arms.
"Where's my son?" He called out, Jamie ran over and locked his fingers into James's belt loop.
"We go with her." James growled, as David wiped sweat from his brow.
For a moment, he felt guilty staring at the young girl in James arms, her lip dripping blood.
He stared off into the distance, as a handful of larger helicopters made their way over the horizon.
Matthew nodded. "Let them come."
"David smirked. "I guess its only fair you spend some quality time with the misses before she gets cozy in her cell at Valley State."
James tried, with every fiber of his being to not fight back. Instead he locked eyes with his beloved, as tears streamed down Kate's cheeks.
