1 Disclaimer: Though I think we all know Lost isn't mine at all, I will clearly state it just for good measure... Lost isn't mine at all. There.

A/N: Sayid is definitely into Kate. And Kate is warming up to Sayid. (Maybe not in the show but it is all a part of my brilliant plan to take over the world make chapter three!) Trying to make longer chappy, As I was asked. I'll take that as a complement.

Special thanks to my reviewers! May it always rain chocolate and snow good fortune on you!(That is if you continue to review... nudge, nudge)

Chapter three:

The heat wouldn't let up. The cool day they had started out on was the last of a string of them, and now there seemed to be a heat wave passing over the island. The air was impossibly heavy and humid.

'I just want to curl up in that little patch of ferns and sleep'... thought Kate as they trudged on in single file. There was a trail Sayid was following, and they were definitely making progress, but the jungle was making the going slow and miserable. All she could think about was the next cold water they could refill at, and sleeping. The trouble was, Sayid was being a stubborn slave driver. Get up before dawn, stop twice a day and don't make camp until you cant see your hand two feet in front of your face.Of course she never complained because not only would that be irritating as hell, but it was her decision to follow him.

Sayid wished they could make a fire every night for camp. They had been on the trail for two and a half days now, and the genuine heat of a fire replacing the putrid humidity of the climate would be welcome. But they couldn't risk the attention, and he didn't want Ethan and whoever else there was out there to know they were following them. They might already, but if they did, they weren't telling. He looked back at her and saw that she was quietly struggling through a dense thicket-like area a few yards behind him. He wanted to help her, but didn't want to annoy her either. 'She can take care of herself, Sayid.' He reminded himself often. He wondered how much longer it possibly could be before they came on the other side of the island, or the trail ended. He would follow it to the end no matter what. He told Charlie he would, and he intended to.

It was getting very dark. He looked along for broken twigs or footprints, but couldn't see well enough to look for small details.

"Poor Claire." Kate said from behind him.

"What?" Sayid asked, catching his breath.

Kate almost forgot what she had been abut to say when he turned around, she was suddenly too focused on the way his white muscle shirt clung to his chest with sweat and how his eyes focused in on her with dark intensity. At her delayed response, he raised his eyebrows.

"Another night with them....Whoever they are." She continued. " And considering what they did to Charlie, they don't seem very pleasant." She said. Sayid considered this for a moment.

"They want something. Something to do with her. The baby of her's perhaps? So hopefully, whatever their purpose is, it has to do with the child."

"And why would that make it any better?"

"Because then they wont hurt Claire, for fear of harming the baby."

Kate and Sayid stopped where they were and stayed for the night. They ate what they had left from lunch so they didn't have to find food for dinner, and Kate fell asleep within minutes leaning on a tree beside him. Inconveniently, the temperature decreased rapidly. Sayid was going to put on his coat, but thought better of it. He leaned over and draped it over her bare shoulders hoping that wherever Claire was she had something warm, too. Sayid remembered the last time he had left to venture out into the island. He had left in shame of what he had done. He still couldn't believe he had tortured Sawyer. He was surprised that Kate actually still respected him and liked him after something like that. Of course, even Sawyer was somewhat forgiving him. Everyone had who knew about the incident. Everyone except himself.

Kate stirred and scooted herself down to a more comfortable position. He followed suit, closing his eyes but listening intently for any sound out of place. He wondered what would happen if they were captured. He wrapped an arm around Kate's shoulders protectively, and instead of shying away from the touch she leaned into it, sighing contentedly in-between awareness and sleep.

It wasn't morning yet. Not by a long shot. When Sayid awoke to the sound of footfall, he guessed it was before three in the morning. They were to his left, then his right. He found shaking sleep off easy as he jumped to his feet, the world around him coming sharply into focus. Kate was jolted awake when her head-rest had jumped up so quickly, and she, too, scrambled to her feet, listening for the slightest noise. All they could hear was the rush of blood in their ears and their own heartbeats. The silence was heavy and eerie.

"Sayid." Kate breathed. "What is it?"

"I heard something. Footsteps." He replied in an equally hushed tone.

"Do you think its them?" Fear crept into her voice, making it waver. Sayid turned to look at her.

"I don't know. They're gone now though." Sayid hadn't finished the sentence when a flock of birds rose above the canopy and flew, screeching, over their heads and away in the direction Kate and Sayid had come. They were flying from something. A disturbance in the trees. Suddenly out of nowhere came a crashing figure. It was huge, whatever it was, though neither of them stood around to find out what exactly it looked like. Kate turned on her heel and Sayid pushed her in the opposite direction of the thing.

They ran and ran, blindly crashing through underbrush and leaping over fallen trees. Kate turned a corner and Sayid skidded after her. They could hear the crashing approach of the creature behind them, gaining every second. Sayid felt the topmost branches of a tree that was being knocked over hit him in the back of the leg and he stumbled before re-gaining his balance and sprinting on.

Kate couldn't remember being this scared. She remembered being scared of her closet at night when she was a little girl, and she remembered when she was twelve she was afraid to be alone in an unlocked car at night in the city. She remembered being scared when she and Jack and Charlie were running from the Thing after they retrieved the transceiver from the cockpit. But this had a different element of realness to it, a familiarity that flipped her stomach.

Just when she thought she was going to collapse, and that she couldn't run any longer, the noises of the creature stopped, and everything was deathly still. She was having trouble catching her breath, and her adrenaline was still coursing through her. She looked about for any signs of a great looming monster ready to pounce of something moving the trees, but was greeted by silence. Waves of dizziness passed through her head and she staggered. The visions of trees started to blend and dazzle her, a kaleidoscope effect. With the rush of blood getting louder and louder in her ears, she collapsed.

"Kate... Kate wake up." Someone was calling to her. She came to consciousness slowly, as if she was holding onto an imaginary rope and pulling herself heavily out of the black vastness of her mind, back through the tiny peephole of light, and into awareness.

"Unngh." She moaned and opened her eyes. She wasn't where she last remembered being, but in a clearing she hadn't seen before. It was small and there were small groups of little trees in the middle, but it was mostly a fern bed. She was welcomed by dark-blue night sky with blinking stars gleaming down at her. She looked to the side and saw the concerned face of Sayid. With some further exploration of her re-awakening senses, she discovered that she felt in good health except for a scratchy throat. Had she been screaming? She hadn't realized it when she was running. Sayid pressed his hand to her forehead gently.

"You seem in good shape. Can you sit up?" She tried soon found that apart from a slight light-headed daze, she was fine.

"Were you right behind me when I passed out?" She asked.

"No. You took a corner and I went the other direction. It stopped chasing me and I doubled back thinking it had followed you. I found you an hour or so back, you've been out for a while."

"Oh." She said stupidly. Her thoughts still were processing slowly, like a computer than needed to be cleaned out.

"It must be getting close to daylight now." Sayid informed her. She tried to get to her feet, but felt a firm hand on her shoulder.

"You may not want to get up for a few minutes."

"Sure. Not complaining about that." She was exhausted. She wanted to find Claire. She wanted to go back. She wanted to sleep. This last one was the most in her reach, and so she drifted off, slipping quickly into sweet rest.

Sayid watched her sleeping. Kind of a creepy thing to do, he knew, but he had nothing else to do and he liked the way her face was lit in the pale morning light. Her lashes made long sweeping shadows down her face and she looked so peaceful, and much less worried than she did upon waking. He would have to wake her soon, he knew, for they had a lot of ground to cover today. He had a feeling they would find something soon. More than just a trail. If he wasn't such a good tracker he would be worried that they were following the trail of some animal, but the signs read clear. He knew that their time was running out. He had to find her. He had to bring her back to Charlie, and watch him take her in his arms and ask her what had happened and fuss over her every bruise and scratch. Sayid prayed that would be all that was wrong, when he found her.

He roused her by shaking her shoulder slightly, and she awoke quickly, blinking sleep from her eyes.

"Come on, we have to find Claire. Soon."

She nodded her agreement and Sayid helped her to her feet, brushing dirt from her back as he did so. They were off again, shouldering their packs and walking as quickly as the terrain would allow.

There was a scream somewhere far ahead of them, but still in hearing range. A female cry, panicked and pleading. It rang out and fell upon their ears. They looked at each other. Another scream. Was that a 'help'? No time to ponder it.

Claire.

Before another sound could be uttered, Claire was gagged roughly by an angry Ethan. He knew he shouldn't have removed her gag for even a second, not even to re-knot it. He could only hope that she went unheard. With a blow to her temple, he released some of his frustration. She fell on her side with a strangled cry and he knew they would have to get moving again.

"Get up." He muttered.

Sayid and Kate took of at sprints.

"It came from this direction." Kate said. They could waste no time.

TBC

A/N: You guys asked for longer chapters, and hopefully that was satisfying. Please review! I know it was a cliffy, but I just cant help myself sometimes.