5 December 2032
It was ten past ten according to the ornate, hand-crafted grandfather clock that stood in the corner of Kate's room. Ten past ten in the morning, but it was still so dark outside her window.
Kate pressed her hand to the cool glass and scanned the gloomy streets below. She'd spent so many hours like this in the last weeks, looking for the slightest movement, the briefest shadow. She rarely saw anyone. Even in the daytime, Central was a ghost town. A stranger who stumbled across it would think that no civilians lived there at all. Kate saw plenty of guards patrolling, and she had mentally noted their routine. She knew the shift changes, the routes they took, the times they took them. Not that any of it would do any good. It was just automatic.
She'd once felt like she owned these streets. She'd been so bold and had felt so free. The only person in the slums who could go in and out of Central whenever she wanted. She knew all the shortcuts through the complex and ancient networks of streets and alleyways. She knew all those secret hiding places. If only she could get out of this room.
She was being watched from the building across the street, snipers ready for any sign of a break-out. Two guards had been permanently stationed outside of her door, and they weren't the usual Central grunts. They were smart, and strong, and brutal. Ben's finest. Only the best for her, she thought wryly, looking around the luxurious suite.
She sighed heavily, and returned to the arm chair where she had sat so hopelessly in for these past weeks, with nothing to do but think. Her mind wouldn't stop. It tortured her constantly. A thousand thoughts competed for her attention. Her last words to Sawyer, the five minutes between being able to help Locke, and his murder. Central, the slums, Ben Linus. Penelope. The time she had spent outside of London, the forest they had found, the expectation of the people of the slums, how she had let them down. Worst of all though, were her thoughts of Sawyer. The good memories caused her just as much pain as the bad. What he was going through… she couldn't even imagine. The only thing she could cling on to, was the thought that at least he was safe, he was still alive.
She hated that she wasn't with him, and she felt like every moment she stayed in this room, was another way she was betraying him. She couldn't help herself to help him. For the first time in her life she was trapped and she couldn't get out.
When her torturing mind allowed her respite to hope, Kate thought about what Sawyer's plan was. Because there was a plan. There had to be. If there was one person she could rely on, if there was one person she could trust in this world to never leave her behind, it was Sawyer.
But then she would remember that it could get worse for him if he did try and help her. She was terrified for him. Scared of what he would do. Most of all though, she was scared that his plan wouldn't work. What would that do to him? What if he had to watch her die today?
The door to Kate's apartment opened with a creak and she looked up to see Penelope walk in. She carried a fine china plate consisting of a meagre meal of thickly sliced meat, bread and cheese. A blunt, shiny polished knife rested on the side, mocking Kate with its impotence. Kate watched Penny warily as she entered the room, closing the door behind her.
Penny placed the plate on the small table by the armchair without meeting Kate's eyes. Then she crossed the room and leaned against the back of a desk, folding her arms across her chest. She observed Kate through narrow, curious eyes. Kate had gotten used to it. She always looked at her this way. As if Kate was a puzzle she couldn't figure out, a forgotten word that was just on the tip of her tongue.
'Can I help you with something?' Kate said coldly.
Penny seemed to wake up, and she stood up straighter, a mild look of shock on her face that she failed to hide before it hardened.
She nodded her head over to the plate of food. 'Thought I'd bring you your last meal.'
'I'm touched,' Kate said sarcastically.
Penny shrugged. 'It's almost time to go, Kate. Eat it, don't eat it… it makes no difference to me.' She pushed herself off the desk and crossed the room. 'I'll be waiting outside,' she said, as she opened the door. 'You've got ten minutes,' she added, closing the door behind her.
A wave of nausea passed over Kate and she pushed the plate away from her. She felt panic start to rise, from the pit of her stomach, in waves through her body. She looked down at her hand and clenched it into a fist when she saw she was trembling. She felt like her lungs were constricting and she gasped for air, trying to take a deep breath, trying to steady her dizzying mind and calm herself down.
There was no way out, nowhere to run. She had to face it. She had to accept it. She repeated those words, over and over in her head, like a mantra, and slowly her breath came back to her.
Ben Linus's words came rushing back to her in a flood, and she realised, with the heaviest of hearts, that he was right. She'd always known what would happen if she was caught in Central, she hadn't cared. Life in the slums hadn't been living, it was mere day-to-day survival, so she'd taken the chance and chosen to live. Her way. Even now, even after Sawyer, she didn't regret a thing. If this was the penalty for the life she'd led, she'd take it. She wouldn't cry injustice.
Kate pulled herself off the chair and walked over to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the gold-rimmed mirror that hung above the polished marble sink. She saw the reflection staring back, and gave herself a smile. She picked up a jug of water by the sink and poured some into her hand and rubbed at her face. She ran her hands through her hair, pulling out the tangles, smoothing it down. And then she walked to the front door, opened it and said, 'I'm ready.'
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Sawyer stood in the middle of the heaving crowd that had gathered at the gates of Central. All around him was movement, pushing and shoving and pulling, but Sawyer stood, immovable as a rock among the gathered people of the slums. His whole body was strung tight, primed. His dirty blonde hair hung in his green eyes which were flashing with barely contained violence, staring intently at the gates, waiting, waiting.
Sawyer had never seen so many people in one place. It was as if the entire slums had turned out to watch the spectacle. But despite the crowd, it was deathly quiet. When people spoke, it was barely a murmur, when they moved, it was slow and shuffling.
A light drizzle of rain covered everyone and everything in crystal drops, and a thick fog hung low, kicking up in wisps at their feet.
Sawyer caught a glimpse of Desmond's shaggy brown hair further ahead, near the main gates, and he focused his eyes. Desmond's face appeared calm. His usual, anxious demeanour was nowhere to be seen. To the casual observer, he was just another spectator from the slums who'd come to see the show. So far, so good, Sawyer thought. Desmond would have placed his explosives by now. Sawyer followed the line of the wall eastwards and caught sight of Cid. He stood a foot higher than all around him and was easy to spot. He caught Sawyer's eye and nodded slightly. Sawyer smiled to himself.
This was going to work, he could feel it. In one hour, everything would change, and no one knew it but them. The walls were coming down, and he was getting Kate back. He was ready for this. The last two weeks, he had done nothing but prepare for this moment. He'd gained weight, he'd trained hard, he'd planned over and over, he'd traced the steps he would take, he'd traced the steps Desmond and Sayid and Cid would take. Nothing would go wrong.
A soft roll of thunder echoed out across the city and Sawyer tensed. The crowd around him seemed to still at once, as if they were one. The thunder grew louder and Sawyer narrowed his eyes. That wasn't thunder, he realised with a grimace, his stomach lurching. It was drums. A low rumbling of drums, that was drawing closer to the crowd, from behind the great expanse of wall that separated them from Central.
Suddenly a loud screech pierced through the relative quiet of the morning, causing everyone around Sawyer to jump. But Sawyer stayed motionless, staring at the gates. They were opening. The crowd saw glimpses of the imposing castle and the river that ran beside it and the bridge that had once crossed it, but now lay in ruins, as the gates opened wider.
And suddenly there she was. Sawyer saw her straight away from the commotion and chaos that surrounded her.
His heart stopped beating in his chest. It was all he could do to stop himself from breaking away from the mass of people around him and running to her. He'd crush every one of them to get to her, he didn't give a damn, but he had to wait. It wasn't time yet.
He strained to catch another glimpse as the excited crowd began to surge forward against the human barrier that the Central guards had formed to keep them out.
He shoved a burly man in front of him out of the way impatiently and Kate came into view again. She was so beautiful, he'd never forgotten it, but it was always a mild shock when he saw her. Her green eyes were narrowed against the rain, her curly brown hair was pushed behind her ears, revealing her proud face that looked as if it had been sculpted from smooth, pale marble. She looked so small. She looked so defiant. She looked like an angel.
A smile broke across Sawyer's face of pure pride. She was engulfed in Central guards, being pushed and prodded towards a platform that stood just at the gates where she was to be shot dead, and still they hadn't broken her. She still held her head high and no one would know she was scared… except Sawyer. He saw it, in the hard line of her cheekbone, the shadows in her eyes, the stiffness of her walk.
Audible gasps of excitement were ringing out around him, bringing him back to reality. He knew it was for Central, for it's grand spires and it's clean streets, and tended grass and pristine roads. He knew it was for the sight of Kate Austin, who had been nothing more than a whispered legend for so long, a hero and a mirage. But all he could see was his Kate, the real woman, who dreamed of stone cottages and a peaceful life. He turned away from her and looked towards the back of the crowd, reassuring himself that Sayid was where he should be, waiting to detonate.
He saw the other man, a black silhouette against the white cloudy sky, crouching on the roof of the pub, which stood next to Sawyer's now demolished town house.
He quickly looked back at Kate, not wanting to let her out of his sight for more than a second. He saw her green eyes darting left and right through the crowd and Sawyer realised with a stab to his heart that she was looking for him. He wanted to shout her name, tell her everything was going to be ok. That he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. He hadn't seen her in so long, hadn't held her in his arms. Being this close to her and not being able to touch her, reassure her, it was torture.
And then the drums suddenly stopped, and all fell quiet.
Kate was roughly pushed up on to the platform. A burly Central guard grabbed her by the wrists, and shoved her to the other end of the platform, facing the crowd. Six soldiers climbed up after, smiling and walking with a gait that suggested they were famous actors, not executioners. They waited on the corner of the stage for their cue, assault rifles at the ready. Sawyer watched them through flashing eyes and gripped the grenade launcher under his coat, pulling it out slightly. Any minute now.
And then he saw something that brought him completely into focus. Reminded him exactly why he was here. Ben Linus.
The small, slight man climbed up on to the wooden platform and walked over to the centre of it. He smiled at Kate with his thin lips as he walked to the centre of the wooden stage, and it was almost enough for Sawyer to pull out his pistol and shoot him between the eyes, there and then.
Linus looked out at the crowd, a smile twisting across his face that Sawyer took for pride. Of course it was pride, Sawyer thought darkly. The bastard was in his element. He'd waited so long for this moment. The amount of time and energy he had spent thinking about Kate, trying to track her down, Sawyer knew better than anyone. He'd been a part of it. She'd made a fool of Ben. She'd made a fool of all of them. Linus had been waiting for this day since the first time she'd crossed the line into Central. Ben held up his hand, for quiet that he already had, and spoke.
'I'll make this short,' he began, his tone deceivingly melodious and a warm smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. 'Thank you for coming. It's not often I have a chance to see you all, and it really is my pleasure.'
The crowd remained in stony silence, as Sawyer looked on fuming. Linus was talking as if he was making a speech at a party, and they were his guests, instead of the people he'd murdered and harassed and oppressed for so many years.
Ben stiffened at the silence he was met with. He scanned the crowd with his bulbous, fishy eyes and Sawyer ducked behind the tall man he'd shoved out of the way earlier. He lowered his head, letting his hair fall into his face.
He heard Ben clear his throat and speak again, his tone now void of any of the warmth it had contained moments ago. He turned to Kate.
'Kate Austin, you've been found guilty of ….well,' he said, risking another charmless smile at the gathered crowd. 'Too many crimes for me to list standing here today. Not only have you wantonly stolen my own personal possessions and damaged and vandalised the walls and buildings of this great city. Not only have you wilfully assaulted countless soldiers in the Central Guard and caused them to divert much needed manpower away from protecting the people.'
Sawyer watched as Ben grew red in the face, his eyes bulging with unchecked rage, his voice louder and louder.
'But you have also failed to show any compassion for the people gathered here today. You have put these good people through unnecessary bloodshed, you have caused the deaths of thousands through your complete disregard for the laws and people of this city.'
He paused for breath and stilled a moment, and Sawyer knew he was loving this, that he wanted to prolong it for as long as possible. He wasn't satisfied to have Kate killed. He wanted to humiliate her, break her, utterly. Sawyer felt his own rage growing inside as he looked at the man. He wouldn't even use a gun. He'd kill him with his bare hands.
'Not only that!' Ben continued, his voice taking on an air of incredulity. 'You have also brought suffering to those closest to you. John Locke - a great man,' Ben paused again for effect, shaking his head in sadness. 'A man who took you in, who saved you from starving to death on the streets is dead. After all he did for you, this is how you repay him?'
He turned back to the crowd and Sawyer raised his head. He didn't give a damn if Ben saw him. He willed it. He wanted him to see what was coming his way. He looked over at Kate and saw she was trembling, her pale face stricken with horror.
'While all of your people dying,' Linus said, addressing the crowd. 'Kate Austin was hiding away, stalking the sewers like a rat. But now…' he said turning his beady eyes back on Kate 'It ends. It's over. You will die here today, in front of all of these people. And you will serve as a lesson. A fairytale mothers will use to scare their children into behaving.'
Ben faced the crowd again, standing taller now, his chest puffed and proud, his voice oozing with misplaced superiority.
'We have rules and if you break those rules, we must take actions to maintain the order of this…once great city.'
He turned his head to the firing squad on the corner of the stage. 'When you're ready,' he said flippantly, before he walked to the edge of the platform and stepped off.
And Sawyer, burning and brimming with days and month and years of barely contained rage, a man who had lost everything and everyone he had ever loved, lifted out the massive grenade launcher on to his shoulder and started squeezing the trigger.
At the same time, the six men who made up the firing squad took their places, no more than fifty metres opposite Kate, and raised their own weapons to fire.
And then the whole of central London descended into utter chaos…