Satine walked into the hatch just as Jack left. Kate looked up from the counter and gave Satine a smile.
"Tea?" Kate offered, as the pot was still hot.
"No thanks. Um, is Alex here?" she asked quietly, feeling very uncomfortable.
"No, she left," Kate put the cups away and turned around. "If I see her I'll let her know you were looking for her."
"Thanks," Satine nodded as Kate went to leave. "Um, Kate?"
Kate stopped and turned back.
"It was Dominic, right?" Satine said quietly.
Trying very hard not to be freaked out, Kate nodded and left the hatch. She shivered, something Satine often did to her. She just made her feel like she knew too much and it scared her.
Jack came out onto the beach and scanned it, although he knew Alex wouldn't be out here. She was probably back at the caves or something, trying desperately to be alone when that was almost impossible here. Someone would always come across you, and you'd lose that sense of privacy. Jack knew the feeling well.
He saw Sawyer heading up the beach and jogged up to him.
"Have you seen Alex?" Jack asked as Sawyer kept walking.
"No. Have you seen the kid?" asked Sawyer. "She didn't seem herself."
"That's what you get having two psychics," Jack chuckled but Sawyer had stopped walking.
"She's one too?" he asked curiously. "How do you know?"
Jack shrugged.
"We just assumed. She's kind of got the same thing Satine had going," Jack looked confused. "Why?"
"No reason," Sawyer shook his head and headed off in the opposite direction. Jack sighed and looked up.
Standing at the entrance to the path to the caves was Alex. She saw Jack and turned heel, practically running away.
"WAIT!" Jack shouted.
He ran after her but she was fast. He tried desperately to keep up with her but she was disappearing around the corners ahead. Finally he slowed to a jog and then walked, panting heavily, scanning the jungle for her.
It was getting later and the sun was low, casting long shadows along the floor of the jungle. Jack just stood there a moment and sighed but he could hear someone breathing heavily just around the bend. He slowly headed around and Alex came into view, breathing heavily, leaning against a tree.
She looked up and went to run again but found she couldn't. She was breathing too fast and Jack knew she might hyperventilate.
"Slow deep breaths," he instructed, moving closer to her. She backed away. "You're going to suffocate."
Listening to him, she slowly took shuddering breaths and it seemed to ease her breathing. When she had caught her breath, he gave her a light smile.
"Want to start playing tag again? I'll give you a head start," he laughed.
She just looked away in the jungle. He knew she was probably reeling from seeing Dominic again. Maybe she had just been getting over it when she saw him again.
"I'm sorry about Dominic," Jack began but Alex shook her head.
"No, I don't want to talk about it," she waved her hands. "No."
"Talking helps," he said quietly.
"Leave me alone," she said, her voice cracking as she tried to walk past him. But he grabbed her arm. She tried to wrench it away but he held on and she ripped it out of his grip, stumbling back and falling onto the path.
He bent in front of her but she put her arms over her knees and hid her face in them. He knew she was probably overwhelmed but wasn't sure how to go about it.
"It's always hard losing someone so suddenly," he whispered, sitting beside her. She was shuddering but was silent and he wasn't sure if she was really crying or not. "I…my father died. I was flying his body back to L.A. when the plane crashed."
Slowly Alex looked up at him.
"That's where the coffin came from," she whispered and he gave her a confused look.
"No I destroyed the coffin," he said, sighing. "Because he fell out of it when the tail section fell off."
He shuddered just thinking about it and she seemed apologetic.
"Dominic saved me," she whispered.
Jack nodded. He wasn't going to pry it from her, he would let her talk. He supposed that was what Kate would do.
"He was the one who told me all of it wasn't right. That people didn't live like we did. When we went to Australia I saw it for myself. That was when I knew it wasn't right. And he kept informing me. He was like my teacher. The boys knew more than we did," she sighed shakily.
Jack had no idea what she meant but wasn't about to get into it.
"I…I loved him."
That had surprised Jack more than anything else. He knew she was young, but she hadn't grown up in his world so she had no idea that sixteen was considered far too young for love. But he figured if she really had loved him, it had to be real because she knew no other kind of love. She knew no greed or lust, just pure love.
"And you buried him," she looked gently at him and a tear fell from hr eye. "You buried Dominic."
"I'm sorry," he said, wishing he could say more. "I really am."
She shook her head looking down and finally broke. She hadn't cried for him really yet, and now it all came out. Weeks of knowing he was gone, of believing she was moving on just collapsed in on her. The tears fell hard and she began to sob. Jack put a gentle arm around her and she leaned in.
"I wish there was more I could do," he said gently as she cried into him, shaking terribly.
"My mother," she leaned back, gasping. "I want you to bring me to her."
"I don't know if that's exactly the best idea," he said hesitantly as she continued to cry, wiping her eyes frantically. "You're upset and…"
"I've lost the most important person in my life. But I lost someone who should have been most important a long time ago. I think it's only right that I meet her properly," she said very maturely.
"You have to understand she's been alone on this island for sixteen years. That's a very long time, and it's altered her mind a lot. She's a little crazy," he said carefully.
"She's still my mother," she whispered.
Jack stood and held out a hand. Alex rose and straightened herself out, taking a deep breath.
"Anyone home?" called Kate into Sawyer's tent.
"SHHH!" Sawyer hissed, coming up behind her. Looking inside she saw Satine was asleep again. The girl seemed to sleep all day nowadays.
"Sorry," she apologized. "I was just wondering if you've seen Jack. I wanted to make sure he went to talk to Alex and didn't skip on it."
"No, I think he did," Sawyer said, moving away from the tent. "Can I ask you something?"
It was very rare that Sawyer asked Kate for anything and she raised her eyebrows in obvious surprise.
"Don't look so shocked," he snapped. "Do you think the kid and that new girl Alex have…something in common?"
"Jack mentioned something about that but I don't see how it's possible. She came here from that cruise ship, the evidence is all there. Unless it was some really elaborate lie," Kate said, crossing her arms. The sun was almost set and she could barely see Sawyer's face on the darkening beach. "Why?"
"That other girl, she knows a lot just like the kid. But I don't think she knows as much. I feel like it's a battle of the minds," he shook his head laughing. "I'm going nuts."
"Any other time, and I'd agree," she sneered and he shot her a look. "But I see that too. I haven't seen them speak a word to each other though."
"We should try it and see what happens. If they're both from here won't they butt heads," he suggested.
"Like magnets?" she laughed. "I don't know but two psychics together usually doesn't mean anything good."
Sayid came hurrying up the beach towards Kate and Sawyer. He stopped before them out of breath.
"We have a problem."
The three of them stared down into the armory where at least five inches of water sat. The armory was lower than the rest of the hatch with the raised doorway and it was holding water as it came dripping in from the ceiling through the vent. Sawyer knew the airvent was being flooded in.
"What can we do?" asked Kate. "If we don't stop this it could flood the whole place and mess with the wires."
"I don't know where that vent leads to," Sayid said, crossing his arms. "And John sealed it from the inside so no one could escape through it."
"There's a pipe about twenty five meters from the path to the left of the hatch," said Sawyer. "It's coming in through there."
"You knew of another entrance and never told us?" demanded Sayid angrily. Kate backed away, knowing things between them were hostile.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't write it on the bulletin board, Jabar," snapped Sawyer, turning around and heading for the exit. "I'm out of here."
"We need you to show us this vent!" Kate shouted after Sawyer. "It could be important."
"Yes in case the mouse people decide to invade," Sawyer said from the doorway, his hand on the doorframe as he looked back at her. "It's too small for even a hand to fit into."
"But it could mean there are other ways to get in. Plus it's an easy way to sabotage, possibly drop fire or bombs," Sayid said.
"Yeah you'd know all about that," Sawyer started.
Sayid began towards him but Kate jumped forward putting a hand on his chest and looking at him firmly.
"Let's go find this pipe and seal it up. There wont be an air vent for the armory anymore, though," Kate said worriedly.
"We can connect it to the main air circulation system. It's only not connected because it's slightly below the rest of the structure. Almost like it was the last thing built on this hatch," said Sayid, eyeing the structure.
"Alright, Bob-The-Builder, and what do you propose we do, find all the extra vents and seal them in case another Arab on this island decides he's jealous of you?" Sawyer said, crossing his arms.
"You're pushing it," Kate warned him, pointing her finger at him. "Watch it, Sawyer."
Sawyer raised his hands as though to say he wasn't doing anything wrong. Sayid was giving him the death glare as the three of them left the hatch to find the vent.
"She did try to get you back, you just have to understand she's one woman and they're…"
"Like a city," said Alex as she followed Jack down the path. "I guess I was just mad because I know she came with other people."
"How?" Jack asked curiously but Alex looked nervous.
"Um, someone told me," Alex shrugged. "How do you know where she is?"
"She probably didn't go far from camp because you're here," Jack said, scanning the area. "We'll find her soon enough."
They walked in silence and Jack was glad that Alex was putting her grief into something productive. She seemed to have gotten the crying out, and wanted to move on to the next crucial element of becoming her own person outside the compound. Jack only wondered what would happen to her once they got back to civilization, if they ever did.
They came to a clearing and Jack knew Rousseau was nearby. He'd heard someone following them and supposed she was waiting for him to give her a sign that it was okay to come out.
"Why did you stop?" Alex asked curiously.
Out of the bushes ahead came Rousseau, her rifle strapped to her back as usual. She looked unusually weary as she strode towards them hesitantly, her eyes never leaving Alex. Jack felt Alex retract beside him.
"Hey," Jack said, walking towards the thin woman.
"Hello Alex," Rousseau said practically ignoring Jack.
"Hi," Alex said a bit fearfully.
"I think Alex wanted to talk to you for a while," Jack suggested carefully, looking at Alex who looked terrified. But he knew she wanted this.
"Will you wait for me?" Alex asked Jack who had begun to walk away.
"Sure," he said, looking around. "I'll gather some fruit over here and I'll wait for you to come back."
She gave him a grateful smile before looking up at her mother and walking to her side. Rousseau didn't show much expression but it was very obvious in her eyes that this was probably the moment she'd waited for sixteen years, to finally have her daughter back with her again. Jack watched them walk away and sat down.
Sawyer waded through the knee deep water to the vent and pointed angrily at it as Sayid and Kate came up behind him.
"Happy?" he said, pointing to the pipe that was now under the surface of the water. "Can I leave now or are we crocodile hunting?"
"This is no pipe," Sayid said worriedly, bending down and peering at it just below the surface of the water. "It was a structure."
"What?" Sawyer said confusedly. "No, it's a vent. I could hear the kid through it."
"They might have hit the ventilation shaft when creating it, but if you look, the pipe extends out to the right. There is no hatch to the right," Sayid pointed at pipe running along the ground that had been uncovered but was flooded. "And look."
Sayid hurried through the water to a place a few yards away.
"Another one, but it has broken beams attached," Sayid was breathless with anxiousness as he slowly walked back over to Kate and Sayid. "I think something was built above the ground here protecting something underneath that we can't get to. Like there are walls underneath here but there's no way there can be open space below this, it's too marshy."
"But what was it?" Kate asked curiously, looking slightly nervous.
Sayid looked around and then turned back to them.
"I think it's a tomb."
