I want to start this chapter off by saying THANK YOU for the feedback I received! Please keep it coming as I love to get some input on the different directions this could go.

So far, I've been writing more from the POV of Kate but I'm going to try and explore writing from Jack's POV in this chapter and perhaps, in future chapters, Sawyer as well.

The Hunting Party 2x11

"You're NOT coming," Jack said sternly, keeping direct eye contact with Kate. He could see it hurt her as her face slightly flinched from his unexpected harshness. It was the first time he had really said anything directly to her since she kissed him a few days prior. "You're staying. Alright?" he confirmed, wanting to put out any possibility she had in her head that she would be joining them on this trek to find Michael. Sure, she had come with on plenty of dangerous jungle missions before but everything seemed different now. He was supposed to be their leader and now Michael and Walt could be kidnapped or worse by these "others". That was on him while he was supposed to be in charge of everyone else. He couldn't afford to be distracted by any of the tension that currently remained between them since the kiss. They hadn't discussed it at all and he had no idea what was going through her mind since she ran away from him. The only thing he did know was that now she was spending most of her time with Sawyer. Going on a trek with the two of them, while potentially facing the dangerous natives of this island, seemed not only dangerous but also like his own personal hell.

"Let's go," he sighed, walking towards Locke and Sawyer so they could start moving. He glanced over at Sawyer to make sure he wasn't going to try and bring her along anyways like he had done before. Jack, for the first time, was thankful that Sawyer cared about her the way he did because he knew that after getting shot by these people, he would want her to avoid the danger in this situation at all costs.

Jack caught a glimpse of Sawyer giving her the apologetic look that he wished he had on his face when he was talking to her. He, unfortunately, had to play the bad cop in this situation. Any sign of wavering and she would have come with them. He needed her to know that it couldn't even be an option.

Thankfully, they still had Locke who was their best tracker. Granted, he was more familiar with tracking animals, but they just needed to know what direction Michael was headed in. He let Locke lead while he followed closely behind and Sawyer behind him.

Since Locke was leading, Jack didn't really have to think about where they were going but now was left thinking about what they would do when they finally found Michael and of course - her. It seemed ridiculous, they were in a life or death situation on this island every other day and one of their own just ran out to get his kidnapped son, he shouldn't even have time to kiss someone. Then again, she wasn't just someone. They had spent a lot of time together since they landed here 50 days ago. In that time, he had learned a lot about her and she also had learned a lot about him. He hadn't met someone like her before and most often, in between island emergencies, it was hard not to think about her.

No one in his life had understood him like she did or even really tried to. She was so intuitive and he thought he was too but now he was left still scratching his head on what to make of their kiss. Did she make a mistake? Did he make a mistake...again? He wondered, as he was reminded of his Italian patient's daughter, Gabriella, from back home years ago, who had kissed him under similar emotional circumstances when her father passed away after an unsuccessful surgery. That was a mistake. Why wouldn't this be a mistake? Maybe Kate was just emotional about Sawyer the same way Gabriella was emotional about her father. He was just there to pick up the pieces before they left his life again. All he could keep thinking were the words "I made a mistake," unable to believe he made a mistake but wanting to believe it was true since Kate seemed to regret what happened after she ran away from him.

"What'd she do to you?" Sawyer interrupted his current train of thought.

"What?" he responded quickly, caught off guard as his mind was just somewhere else and almost forgetting where he was. Jack of course wasn't surprised that he was relishing in their "falling out" just moments ago.

"Kate - what'd she do?" Sawyer clarified.

"She didn't do anything," he sighed. He hardly had time to himself to process the current issues with Kate. The last thing he needed was the guy who had fun at everyone else's expense digging into his business.

"Right. You yellin' at her 'cause she wanted to help get Mike back...makes a lot of sense."

"Why don't you go back and see if I hurt her feelings?" he finally snapped wanting this conversation to end. What was he supposed to say to Sawyer? "She kissed me while you were unconscious and ran away from me. Now she spends all of her time with you helping you recover. Meanwhile, her and I haven't spoken and while we go chase an armed man who may be in danger by armed people I can't be distracted by either her or both of you." After thinking the entire response through in his head he started to wonder how jealous he really was of the two of them.

"Just sayin'..." Sawyer said, finally backing down.

"Yeah I know…you love her." Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes as the words came out of his mouth, remembering when Sawyer mumbled those words to him just days ago while half asleep. That was the only reason that he continually put his nose in their business was because he had feelings for her and was constantly trying to gauge if he had a shot. Jack "yelling" at Kate was his perfect opportunity to see what his chances were.

"What'd you say?" he asked, making Jack instantly regret he brought it up. They needed to focus on getting Michael back and that was it. He was going to have to figure out what to do with Kate when they got back. He decided to ignore Sawyer and stay focused on the task at hand, finding Michael and making sure he wasn't in danger. Walking away from him, he went by Locke who seemed to be perplexed by the direction they were heading in and at this moment that was more important than anything else.

Jack couldn't even be surprised that she had followed them into the jungle. As much as he wanted every part of their trek to have gone differently, he should have known she was going to come with any way she could. Even when he tried to prevent any of their issues from getting in the way of getting Michael back, they still managed to do so. He didn't want to speak to anyone on their way back. All he could do was spend the time kicking himself for unsuccessfully getting Michael and having Kate put in danger.

The next steps were figuring out what to do about their newest threat, the Others. He couldn't continue to go to sleep every night knowing they were out there and a continuous threat to the other survivors in their camp. They elected him to lead and he needed to start doing so more seriously and avoid anything that could put him in a vulnerable position, like Kate. Even if he didn't care about anyone else, he still needed to protect her. If the Others are a threat to the rest of the camp they're a threat to her too.

Just as they got to the clearing of their camp Kate came up behind him, "I was just trying to help, Jack. When you told me not to go I just...made a mistake."

He instantly was reminded of when he had to tell his ex-wife, Sarah, that he also "made a mistake" when he kissed Gabriella. Sure, Kate was talking about making a mistake coming with them when he told her not to but it seemed that she may have a pattern of making mistakes. Based on the way she had avoided him after their kiss, he couldn't help but think that it was also a mistake in her book. The stinging feeling came back in his stomach the same way it felt after she ran away from him. He didn't want to have this conversation with her right now with Locke and Sawyer a few steps ahead.

"Hey!" she said, grabbing his arm to make him stop, "Could you just talk to me for a second?" he finally had to stop and look at her. It hit him all at once. As much as she had hurt him after the kiss and after she was caught by the Others he knew she was coming from a good place. She just didn't always execute the way she should or the way he wanted her to. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, maintaining eye contact with him.

He didn't feel good knowing that she was in a place of trying to get on his good side. They were on the same team and he didn't want to continue to push her away. There was no reason for it. Things had just gotten out of hand between them and maybe her apology wasn't just for following them. It was probably also for kissing him the way she did and putting him in a position where she couldn't come with them. His concerns for her regrets came true. She would rather stay in a platonic spot with him and continue to be able to be part of the group that fought the threats of the island than anything else. He swallowed the small lump that had formed in his throat before responding, "Yeah...I'm sorry too," he sighed before walking away. Once again feeling like the emotional punching bag for the women in his life. Just a stop along the way but never a destination.

Once they were back at the beach, Kate thought that things might be somewhat normal with Jack but he walked right past her like she wasn't even there. Sawyer tried to make her feel better by saying he would have done the same thing and that she shouldn't beat herself up but he, of course, didn't know that the added layer to this situation was their kiss. Did Jack really regret it that much? She didn't want to regret it, she couldn't stop thinking about it, but she did regret where things were with them now. She just wanted things the way they were when she was his first pick to go out in the jungle for dangerous missions. Now it seemed like she was his last.

She watched as he walked over to Ana Lucia on the other side of the beach. Was he doing the same thing she did to him? Using someone else to avoid dealing with each other? She hated that she could feel a sense of jealousy in the pit of her stomach as she watched them talk. She couldn't feel like this anymore. She was never going to know what he was thinking until they actually sat down and talked though what was happening between them.

Jack was supposed to have a shift at the hatch that night so she headed back that way in hopes of running into him there. A couple hours later, after she was able to shower and eat something, thankfully, he did show up for his shift. He once again seemed unpleasantly surprised to see her there sitting at the kitchen table. "Hey…" she said softly tucking her damp hair behind her ear.

"Hey," he responded while he started preparing some food for himself. "Did Hurley leave already?"

"Yeah, I told him that I would watch the button until you got here."

He nodded in acknowledgement while he was cutting some pieces of fruit and placed them into a bowl.

She took a deep breath before standing up and walking close to where he was at the counter. "I wanted to talk to you...about what happened the other day," she said quietly looking at him up through her lashes. They were the only ones in the hatch but both of them were somewhat embarrassed about the situation. She didn't need to make it any more uncomfortable than it was and she hoped she wouldn't have to elaborate further about what she was referring to.

He met her gaze while popping a slice of mango in his mouth. If he was nervous he was hiding it well, or at least better than she was. He still remained silent which she took as him wanting her to get to the point of what she wanted to talk about, so she continued. "Things have just been so crazy lately with everything. First, the raft, then the tail section, the others…and I know you've had a lot on your plate especially when Sawyer wasn't doing well. The last thing I wanted to do was add to the list of things you have to take care of."

"You're not on a list of things I need to take care of, Kate. You're one of the few people on this island that does a pretty good job of taking care of themselves."

"Until I get caught in the jungle following you…" she sighed looking at the floor.

"You already apologized. I don't expect you to keep apologizing for what happened out there. They weren't going to lead us to Michael whether you were there or not."

"I'm not apologizing...I just...I want things to go back to how they were before. Before, when we were just running from monsters and trying to find radio signals," she said with a small smile looking back up at him.

"Just running from monsters?" he said meeting her smile with his own.

She felt a wave of relief wash over her seeing him smile at her. She felt like it had been ages since she had seen him smile and she couldn't help but feel like that was her fault. "We're ok, right?"

"Yeah…" he replied "we're ok," he reached over and placed his hand lightly on top of her hand that was resting on the counter.

His hand felt so warm and comforting. She had the same electric feeling that led her to kiss him the first time. She felt them get closer and she wasn't even sure if it was her or him that moved closer but now they were just inches apart. Was he going to kiss her? She didn't want to make him uncomfortable but what if he wanted her to kiss him again? She wet her lips with her tongue while maintaining their eye contact. His head started to move closer to hers and she felt every single nerve in her body react. Suddenly, she heard the hatch door creak open loudly, making him pull away quickly. She involuntarily let out a loud sigh immediately frustrated but met with confusion just like the first time they kissed. She was continually left wondering what he wanted. Locke walked in giving them both a nod before heading to the safe to return a gun he had taken out. The 4 minute warning for the button started beeping.

"Have a good night, Kate," he said while grabbing his fruit bowl before walking away to enter the code.

"Yeah...good night," she said quietly, grabbing her pack off of the floor to head back to the beach. He gave her no indication that he wanted her to stay and she took the hint that Locke probably just prevented another kiss that would cause more confusion and tension than there already was. She couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to kiss him even though they went their separate ways and she wondered if she would ever know if he felt the same.

Longer chapter and future ones will be as well. The tension is building and I'm wondering if I should do more Jack and Kate or focus on more Kate and Sawyer now. Let me know what you think! More to come! :)