Chapter Fifteen: Merciful Murder

"I didn't murder him." Kate told Miles, trembling slightly.

"Yes, you did!" Miles cried. "You suffocated him with a pillow, Kate!"

"The pain medicine wasn't working!" She sobbed, tears filling her eyes. "He kept groaning and twitching in his sleep! He was in agony, and I didn't want him to suffer any more!"

"That wasn't your decision to make!"

"It's the decision he would've made if the situation had been reversed!" Kate exclaimed. "There was a man dying at our camp when we first crashed, and Sawyer shot him because he knew nothing else could've been done!"

"I heard him talking to Juliet about that— the guy asked him to do it!" Miles spat. "He wasn't unconscious!"

"Sawyer would never have asked!" Kate moaned. "You know he wouldn't have!"

"Because he didn't want it done!" Miles roared. "You murdered him, Kate!"

"He was going to die anyway!" Kate cried. "So I put him out of his misery!"

"Humans aren't animals!" Miles yelled. "That's not up to you!"

"Hey, guys, I just found out something." Hurley said, startling both Miles and Kate as he suddenly appeared.

"How did you—" Miles began confusedly.

"Doesn't matter, dude. We've got a mystery on our hands." Hurley said. "Ben just told me that the spider-bite shouldn't have killed Sawyer. It was a con to scare people into thinking they were dying, cause the original one that you have the manual for died in the incident deal. He should've got better, and I think someone might've killed him, but I don't know how, cause you were here, Kate."

Fury rushed through Miles as though he'd been doused in it.

"Kate killed him." He hissed.

"He would've recovered?" Kate whispered, more tears flowing from her eyes. "You're sure of it?"

"Yeah." Said Hurley disgustedly, backing away from Kate. "Is it true?" He asked. "Did you really kill Sawyer?"

"Yes, she did." Miles said furiously. "She thought he was gonna die anyway, so she suffocated him, and he was too sick to fight back!"

"I thought you said he was unconscious!" Kate sobbed.

"Not for that last bit, he wasn't." Miles said.

Kate was crying to hard to answer, but Miles felt no pity for her, only disdain.

"You murdered him, Kate." He said again. "And he trusted you."

"It wasn't my fault." Kate mumbled. "I didn't—"

"Of course it was your fault!" Miles cried. "Everything was your fault! Everyone still would've been fine if it weren't for you and Jack! You came back to the island, and you got everyone killed!"

"I came back too, dude." Hurley said guiltily.

"You're exempt." Miles spat. "You didn't initiate any trouble like they did!"

"We didn't initiate any trouble!" Kate cried.

"We were happy in Dharmaville!" Miles yelled. "And then you guys showed up! You got Faraday killed, you got Juliet killed— and I hold you more responsible for that than I do Jack!"

"Me?! Miles Straum, you were helping Jack, not me!"

"Yeah, but Sawyer and Juliet wanted to leave, didn't they? And then they magically show up! I wonder why? Even if you wanted to stop us, you should've let them go!"

"Juliet convinced Sawyer to help, not me! I didn't want him to nuke anything!"

"Who do you think convinced Juliet, huh?!" Miles yelled. "You! You're a human wrecking-ball, Kate! Oh, and look who else got killed- Jin and his wife!"

"That wasn't my fault!" Kate said. "If anyone's to blame for that it's Sawyer!"

"That wasn't anyone's fault." Hurley interrupted. "That was the black smoke guy."

"Oh yeah, and I suppose the Black Smoke Guy killed Sawyer, too?!" Miles asked sarcastically. "Oh no, wait. That was Kate."

"Why don't you go, Miles?" Hurley asked softly. "Let me talk to Kate."

"Fine." Miles snapped. "But if she tries to kill you, call me, okay?"

Hurley watched as Miles exited the room, and looked at Kate, who was shaking. He sat down, and gestured for her to do the same. He was mortified at the idea of what Miles had said, and he hated to take control of the situation. But it was what Jack would've done.

"Did you kill Sawyer, Kate?" He asked quietly.

Kate nodded numbly, tears continuing to fall from her eyes.

"Why?" He asked, feeling sick to his stomach.

"I thought he was dying, Hurley." She whispered. "I didn't know he would've recovered. . . he'd been asleep for about a few hours. They had him on heavy medication, but he kept squirming. I looked at his face— it was like he was having a nightmare and couldn't wake up. I knew he was suffering, and I felt so helpless. I wanted to help him— I thought he'd been through enough, without having to slowly die. So I. . ." She choked on the words. "I suffocated him with a pillow. Miles is right, Hurley! I murdered him!"

"You didn't know, Kate." Hurley told her quietly.

"I killed him." She repeated, voice breaking. She was beyond reason now. Nothing could convince her otherwise. She had lost everyone she'd cared about in the span of a week, and the strain of inadvertently murdering Sawyer. . . it would break her.

"No." He told her. "You didn't. It was an accident, and you were just trying to help. You can't blame yourself, Kate. No one else does."

"Miles does." She sobbed. "And I don't blame him. He's right. . . I'm a wrecking ball."

"You stay here." Hurley said firmly. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

Miles was in the hallway, crying. Hurley supposed he was just as upset as Kate. He'd lost everyone too. . . his friends, and in a strange way, his parents.

"Kate's really upset." Hurley said, sitting down next to him.

"Good." Miles replied, wiping away tears and resorting to sarcasm.

"She didn't mean to, dude." He continued. "And as for everyone else, that wasn't her fault either."

"I know." Miles said. "But I don't care. This was the last straw."

"It was for Kate, too." Hurley said. "She just lost Jack and Sawyer, and she just found out Sawyer would've been fine. . . so it's worse for her."

"No one made her kill him." Miles answered tonelessly.

"She's seen a lot of people get hurt, dude." He said. "She thought she was helping."

"Tell that to Sawyer." Miles said shortly.

"I think I will." Hurley said. "Hang on a sec."

Hurley stood on the beach. It was so dark he couldn't see anything, but he could hear the waves crashing.

"Sawyer!" He yelled. "Sawyer!"

But no one came. No one came at all.

He was truly alone.

"Come on, guys!" He shouted. "Jack, Sawyer, Eko, Charlie, Jacob! Sayid, Jin, Sun, Ana Lucia!" He paused a moment. "Libby!"

There was no answer. No friendly ghost walking along the shore.

"You guys know I wasn't cut out for this!" He yelled. "You keep telling I'm the leader, but I'm not, okay?! I'm just me! Just Hugo! I can't do anything! I can't fix anything, and I can't help the island! I couldn't even help you guys! I don't want to be in charge!"

I don't think Jack did either.

He didn't know when he'd said it, or who he'd said it to, but he knew that he'd said it.

And he was right.

It was time to take charge, and suddenly, he knew he could. It was what he was meant to do. And he had helped them. He'd been there for all of them. He'd followed all of them. He'd learned, and he'd watched, and he could lead.

"Miles, Kate, come here." Hurley said, walking into the hospital room.

Kate glanced up at him, and Miles glared in his direction.

"I just talked to Sawyer, okay?" He said. "I talked to him about what happened, and he told me to talk to both of you."

"What if you're lying?" Miles asked angrily.

"Kate knows I can't lie." Hurley said solemnly. "I have problems with being dishonest."

"He's right." Kate said. "He can't stand it."

"And I'm supposed to believe her?" Miles asked dryly.

"Yeah, you are." Hurley said. "Because it wouldn't do her any good to lie. She feels even worse than you do right now. So do you wanna here what I have to say, or not?"

Miles nodded. So did Kate.

"Sawyer said that he didn't even realize he would've survived. He was surprised when I told him. He said that until he heard that, he didn't blame Kate— he says he still doesn't, she was just trying to help, and that even if what she did was wrong, he knows that people do weird stuff under strain. His exact words were, "Tell Freckles not to blame herself, her heart was in the right place, and serves me right for what I did to the marshal." And as for Miles, he said thanks for all the support, he appreciates it. But he said not to blame Kate, because if anyone had a right to blame her it's him, and he doesn't, so lay off. And then he looked like he was gonna get sentimental and say he loved you guys, but changed his mind, said, "Good luck handling them, Jabba," and disappeared." Hurley told them.

Kate started crying again, and Miles looked grim, but they bought it.

And for the second time in his life, Hurley didn't feel guilty for lying.