This took a ridiculously long time to write and I'm sorry. But it's September, and everything always gets hectic. Plus I've had a lack of good ideas. I have two ideas that I'm really excited about for new stories, but I'll finish this one first. Promise. So please, please leave a review. I'll seriously update faster if you do.

Oh, and I'd feel worse about taking so long if there wasn't a lack of jate udpates recently. It's been wierd.

Stay for a moment and
I promise that I will be different
and you'll see me
Wait, Wait
And I'll show you
There is more to this if you will listen
And you'll soon believe
-Headlines Read Out, We The Kings

"Would you stop doin' that?" Sawyer's voice broke through the silence. "There's no reason you need 'ta keep that gun on me. How do you know Zu Fong over there won't make a break for it, or try and kill you all?"

Jin looked up obliviously, and Sawyer shook his head.

"Beacuse," Ana Lucia began, "You annoy the hell out of me. So you should know, I'm just looking for an excuse to add to your bullet hole collection."

Jack laughed, and Sawyer shot him a glare. The rest of the group trudged on, following Michael's lead back to the other survivor's camp.

"So, Freckles," Sawyer began, turning to Kate. "I have to ask. What exactly do you see in the doc over here? You already said it wasn't the money, so I was just wonderin'. You know, for future reference."

Kate sighed, and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jack was clenching his fist. "For starters, he doesn't ask me things like that."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sawyer retorted.

They soon stopped for a rest, and Jack and Kate sat on a log slightly off the path from everyone else. She followed Jack's gaze, and noticed he was glaring at Sawyer.

She smiled. "He's just trying to get to you," she reminded him, and he nodded.

"I know. I just wish Ana would make good on her promise and shoot him already."

Kate laughed as she stepped up from the log, reaching out her hand to help Jack up. He took it, and they walked back to the group. Jack couldn't help but feel surprised when she kept his hand even after they had reached the others.

"Are we getting close?" Ana Lucia asked Michael.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied.

"You think so?" Ana Lucia said slowly. "You better not think you know where we're going, you better be sure of it."

"Yeah, I know where we are," Michael retorted. "I just don't remember the exact distance between here and the camp."

"Fine," Ana Lucia snapped, "Let's move."

So they did, walking through the rest of the day without much incident, only the occasional death threat from Ana to Sawyer. When night fell, they decided to make camp and continue on the next morning.

Jack and Kate picked a spot once again a small ways from the group, laying out the blankets they had brought with them from the camp.

"It's going to be weird," Kate whispered softly.

"What is?" Jack asked.

"Being with over forty people. It was just us for so long, and then even with the Others and with Ana's group, we still had time to ourselves. Will we still be able to do that?"

Jack leaned over to kiss the top of her head. "We will. We'll make sure of it. I'm sure they won't need us every second of the day."

She let out a contented sigh, leaning in closer to him. "You're right."

They continued to lie awake, neither of them able to slip off into sleep. "Jack," Kate whispered, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah," he replied just as quietly.

"This is going to sound pretty random," she warned. "But, when did you know you wanted to be a doctor?"

"I've told you before, Kate," he reminded her. "It's just been kind of a family thing. My dad-"

"Yeah, you did say that," she told him, her face scrunched a little in thought. "But I don't think you would do something just because your dad wanted you too."

Jack was silent for a while, and then replied. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I've just always said it was my dad because that's what everyone expected me to say."

She smiled, glad that she had in fact read him right. "So why'd you do it?"

"When I was sixteen, I still thought I was going to be a surgeon, but I didn't want to. I just didn't know what else to do. Then, this girl in my class... she died because of a complication from a surgery. I just knew then, that I wanted to stop it from happening to other people."

Kate placed a hand on his arm, and he smiled at her. Then the smile transformed into a frown.

"It wasn't until later that I found out who her surgeon was."

Kate felt her stomach drop. "Who?" she asked, even thought she was sure she knew the answer.

"My dad," he replied roughly. "He told me when I was in college. Turns out it really was because of my dad that I became a surgeon. Because of his mistake."

Sensing his pain, she leaned forward to kiss him gently. "I'm sorry I asked," she told him. She hadn't thought that the question would upset him.

His brow furrowed. "I'm not," he replied. "It feels good to tell somebody."

"Well, in that case," she paused to once again meet his lips, "I'm glad you told me." She kissed him again, and didn't pull away this time.

Jack deepened this kiss, and he could feel her smile against him. He rolled so that he was on top of her, leaning on his arms to support his weight. She let out a little sigh of contentment, and his hands reached under her shirt.

She opened her eyes lazily, watching as his hands lowered to her pants. "Jack," she whispered, a giggle escaping her lips.

"What?" He voice was muffled against her.

"We can't do this now. We're only about twenty feet from Jin and Sawyer," she reminded him.

It didn't seem to faze him. "So?"

"So," she replied, trying not to laugh again. "They'll hear us."

This time she could feel his smile. "So?"

"Jack!" She hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Goodnight!"

He placed one more kiss on her lips before returning to his side of the blanket. "Goodnight, Kate."

The next morning they were led by a grumpy Ana-Lucia, who hadn't slept much last night. Apparently she hadn't slacked off on guard duty.

"We better be almost there," she said icily to Michael, who looked scared that he would make the wrong move to upset her. Nobody particularly wanted her to snap.

"It won't be long now," he assured her.

One of the survivors, whose name neither Jack nor Kate could think of at the moment, could clealy sense the tension in the air.

"Hey, why don't we play the name game?" she asked.

The group could almost feel Ana's annoyance.

"The name game?" she practically hissed.

"Yeah, you know, my name is Abbey and I like apples. That kind of thing. You must have played it in school, you know, first day. I do it all the time with my first graders."

Jack and Kate exchanged a look, but Abbey clearly didn't feel everyone else's lack of enthusiasm.

She turned to Sawyer. "Why don't you go first?"

Kate thought that Sawyer's eyes would practically bulge out of his head. He recovered quickly. "My name's Sawyer and I like people who don't suggest stupid activities while stranded in the middle of a freakin' island!"

Abbey just laughed. "You're doing it wrong. The thing you like has to start with the first letter of your name. Come on, try again."

Sawyer scowled. Jack had to wonder if this woman could take a hint.

"My name's Sawyer and I like sex."

Abbey's face went black, and then she nodded. "Okay, that's a new one. Don't hear that alot from the first graders. Umm, how about you?"

Jack had to suppress a laugh as Jin just stared at the woman. "Huh?"

"You know, maybe this isn't such a good idea," Abbey said, then headed back to the end of the group.

"Someone ought to tell that woman she should keep her mouth shut," Sawyer grumbled.

"Oh, she was just trying to be nice," Libby replied.

"Yeah, well maybe I don't like 'em nice," Sawyer told her, showing off a set of dimples.

"Shut up," Ana interrupted.

"See, neither does Little Miss Ray of Sunshine over here," Sawyer smirked.

"Do you ever stop talking?" Kate asked.

Sawyer turned his attention on her. "Hey, I don't wanna hear no complainin' from you. Do you realize how hard it is to get to sleep when you're making out with your boy toy a few yards away? It's a little distractin'."

Kate pinked, and Jack sighed. "Shut up, Sawyer."

"I second that," Ana Lucia grumbled.

"Why have you got such a big problem with me?" Sawyer asked her. "I ain't done nothin' to you."

"You're an ass," Ana replied simply.

"Nah," Sawyer replied. "You want me," he smirked. "And you're mad as hell about it."

"Where in the hell…?" Ana's voice rose, "The only place I want you is in a hole six feet under," she growled.

Sawyer just smirked again, and then headed further back into the group. Ana was fuming, so Jack and Kate followed his lead and left her area, but in a different direction.

"I hope we get there soon," Kate mumbled. "I can't stand much more of either of them at this point."

"I know the feeling," Jack agreed. "Plus, the sooner we get there, the sooner we can…" he didn't finish; instead he lifted his lips to hers, kissing her hard on the mouth and leaving her breathless and taken completely by surprise.

He broke the kiss and started to walk back towards the group, who had moved up a little during their brief pause. Looking back, he saw that she hadn't yet moved. He laughed amusedly at her. "Come on, Kate, you're holding up the group," he teased with a wink.

Next chapter: They meet up with the middle section survivors, but will things be that same? Nope. Without Jack and Kate around, there are alot of things that would have gone differently.

Leave a review and maybe I won't kill off your favorite! :)