Quickie:

bonboni & xox-emily-xox - Correction: She is allowed out of Iowa. That's what the tracking device is all about.
SassyLostie - I believe it's been...sheesh I don't even remember. She's been in prison for a few months though. Three, I think. Which makes things a little less realistic when it comes to a pregnancy...shrugs sheepishly (I blame myself. I wrote this a long long time ago without doing the proper research. I do do the research now though.)

Hm. I think this chapter could've been better but I couldn't edit it anymore than I already have. Oh well. Enjoy it.

Chapter 25

In a mess of ten minutes, Kate was shuffled out of her cell and out to the parking lot into Johanna's car. She looked at the clock when they started driving. It was now eleven thirty. Kate sunk into the seat and Johanna finally had started to drive. About an hour into it, Kate realized she had no clue where they were heading.

"Where are we going?" Kate asked, yawning.

"Nowhere special. Just away from here. I'd go back to sleep if I were you. It's going to be a long ride."

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you get around the bail?"

"It's been paid."

"It...has?"

"Yes. And that's all you need to know."

Giving up on that thought, Kate looked out the window watching the trees go by. The sky was clear and she could see dozens of stars and the moon was half-full. It had been a long time since she'd been able to see the sky that much.

She leaned her head against the window. A long ride. Where were they going? Well, wherever it was, at least it was away from that jail. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. But she couldn't, now. She'd just been sleeping. She looked down at her ankle, and saw the red light blinking. She sighed again and, instead, she focused on looking out the window. Her eyes began to grow heavier and heavier until eventually, she, indeed, fell asleep.

The next morning, Sawyer forced himself to wake up early. Yet, his idea of early was at ten o'clock. He ate a quick breakfast and showered, hurrying to get out of the house. He was going today to get Kate, no matter what. No one was going to stop him. He'd sent out the check to Johanna three days ago, so he was sure that she'd have it by now. Which meant things should be cleared for him to go and retrieve Kate.

An hour later, he was getting his jacket on, ready to go. Just as he grabbed his keys from the mantle, a loud constant knocking sounded the door.

"Christ," he said to himself. "Now what?"

He threw the keys back on the mantle. Sighing, he opened the door and there was Johanna. But he hardly saw her. His eyes were glued on Kate's eyes staring at him. He gaped. She was dressed in the same clothes he saw her leave in, her hair tied back tightly. She looked tired, and yet, at the same time, awake and aware of everything that was going on around her. Still, there was something about her that didn't seem right. He couldn't figure out what.

Johanna watched them staring at each other. She sighed and gave Kate a little shove, and she stumbled toward him, looking away nervously. She glanced at Johanna accusingly. Sawyer didn't know what that meant, but he was too full of shock to contemplate it. He looked back and forth between Johanna and Kate. Sawyer stepped aside, leaving the doorway open for Kate to step in if she had wanted to. She glanced one last time at Johanna, and walked in, looking around as if she'd never been there before. After watching her curiously for a moment, Sawyer turned back to Johanna.

"As promised," she smiled, nodding toward Kate.

"She's…different," he said, looking back at Kate again.

"You think you'd be the same after being locked up for a while like she was?" she retorted.

He imagined Kate behind bars, locked up. Kept in a cage. It was too painful to imagine.

"Like a damn dog," he muttered, feeling the flood of possessiveness for her come back.

"What's that?"

"Nothing. So...what now? She's free?"

"Well…Technically, she is. But she's on probation." She took a step closer to him and lowered her voice slightly. "She's got an anklet tracker on. And it won't be removed until all her probation time is served."

"How long's that?"

"A year."

"That mean she can't go out?"

"No. She can, but I wouldn't advise it just yet. But if it's absolutely necessary, only for short periods of time. Just be careful. She's not officially off the hook yet." She paused. "I really need to get going."

She turned to leave, but stopped in her tracks and looked back at him.

"Take care of her."

He nodded. Like he really needed her to tell him that. He watched her drive off, then headed back inside. He shut the door but to his surprise, found Kate was gone. He found her quickly, standing at the sliding door, staring out. Her old favorite spot when something was on her mind. He walked toward her cautiously. She looked the same, but something was different…

"How you been?" he asked softly.

She didn't respond or make any movements.

"Freckles?" he tried to sound casual and make her feel more at ease. "You hear me?"

Still nothing.

"Kate?" he said finally.

He saw her flinch, but nothing more.

"So you ain't gonna talk now?" he asked, of course getting no response. "All right. Never did like the chatty girls anyhow," he joked.

No snicker, not even a smile. This was getting frustrating. Sure, Johanna had brought her back, but a totally different person. This wasn't his Kate. This was some mute zombie Kate. He hated it. He wanted her back to the way he'd always known her. Could it really just have been the jail time that made her like this?

"Maybe you wanna sit?" he suggested, but as usual got no response.

Well fine, he thought. Don't mind if I do then. He sat and took a cigarette out and lit it. Just after he let out a puff of smoke, she coughed lightly. He looked at her questioningly, and she coughed again, louder. He rolled his eyes and put it out, unaware that she was watching him out of the corner of her eye. Even without speaking to him, she still knew which buttons to push and how to get her way with him.

"Hope they treated you okay over there," he said. "Have to kick their asses if they didn't."

He slid his lighter back and forth on the table, unsure of what to say next.

"I'll bet you didn't miss me," he smirked, jokingly.

She blinked a few times, frowning. She slowly lowered her eyes to the floor. He watched her, but could only see the back of her head. His smirk quickly faded. He'd hoped she'd give him an answer to that, at least. He slammed the lighter down on the table finally, and she jumped. She turned her head slightly to look at him. His face was pained. He got up finally, and she turned to face him, unintentionally in his way. They stared at each other for a moment, then she took a step away, letting him through. He shook his head and walked out of the kitchen. She heard his keys jingle, then the door opened. She went to the doorway just in time to see him pull the door closed.

Her shoulders slumped and she went back into the kitchen, taking a seat on the chair. She picked up the lighter from the table, staring at it for a while. She sighed, lost in a mess of thoughts. It was strange to be back here again. Everything was the same as it was when she left, yet somehow different. And Sawyer was different too. Of course he was the same Sawyer he'd always been, but there was something that wasn't the same about him. Or maybe it was her…

Not only was she too speechless and stunned to even look at Sawyer, but she'd just woken up to see Sawyer's house right in front of her! Ever since, her heart hadn't stopped pounding, nor had the butterflies left her stomach. She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach. She hated surprises. Leave it to Johanna to concoct a surprise like this…

She got up and started walking around the house, leaving the lighter back on the table. Living room was the same. Same musty couch. Same old television set. Same mess of magazines still lying on the coffee table. She wandered down the hall to the room Allison had stayed in. She peeked her head inside, but it looked the same too. Only different. That seemed to be the theme this morning, though. She backed away from it and went toward the stairs instead. She grabbed the railing but then stopped, and looked up them. She felt her stomach rise to her throat. It was eerily similar to her dream.

Hesitantly, she walked up the stairs. Halfway up, she turned and looked over her shoulder. They didn't look endless. There was no baby wailing. She sighed in relief and continued up the stairs. As she kept walking up, she was flooded with memories of times in the house. Times with Sawyer. She passed the bathroom and stopped by the door of it. A tremor ran through her, and she was reminded of the night when they made love in the shower. She didn't know why, but now, it seemed almost too painful to remember. She forced her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she was staring at the toilet.

Johanna was wrong. There was absolutely no way she could be pregnant. Last time, she was sick every morning. Not random mornings. She had no other symptoms. And besides, she hadn't had sex with Sawyer in almost four months. Her hand wrapped around the knob of his bedroom door, and then she froze. She'd had sex with Damien in her cell. But…it couldn't be…

She shook her head and forced herself to open her eyes and breathe. It wasn't Damien's. Because she wasn't pregnant. It'd just been a reaction to the nightmares. Maybe they'd stop now that she was with Sawyer again. Maybe everything would be okay now. But...she didn't know if she could speak to Sawyer so soon. She wanted to. She wanted nothing more than to jump in his arms and waste days away with him. But…he'd just left her there. He wasn't making an effort to go find her. He didn't seem to want to find her. And the thoughts still upset her…