These Past Unpleasantries
Author: Elizabeth5
Disclaimer: I own neither the show nor the characters. Sadly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A steady throbbing was the first thing to assault Sawyer's senses as he woke. The next was that his wrists were bound and that he was propped up against some sort of tree. Memories of being tortured by Jack and Sayid flooded his mind; but weeks had passed since then. As his memory finally wrapped around the events of the afternoon, his eyes widened in panic. "Kate?"
"Don't worry." Bill came into view, carrying a bound and gagged Kate. Her face was stained with tears but she seemed otherwise unharmed. "The whole gang's here, Thatcher, just waiting for you to wake up. I didn't want you to miss the show."
Sawyer felt overwhelmingly sluggish and drained. "What's wrong with me?" he inquired.
"You got shot in the chest, little brother," Bill reminded him. "It isn't a fatal wound, but you are bleeding pretty badly. It'll probably take you a few hours yet to drain. But don't worry– I've heard it's a slow and painful death." Bill let his words sink in, then continued, "But what to do to pass the time? I know." He pushed Kate in front of him, forcing her to the ground. "How about Freckles?"
"Don't..." Sawyer began, but he was finding it difficult to speak.
Bill cupped a hand over his ear. "What's that, Thatcher? I can't quite hear you. Sounded almost like you said 'don't'. But that's ridiculous. We're brothers, remember? We share everything."
Sawyer mustered what little strength he could. "She's not...a part of this. Let her go."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Bill returned, moving so that he was standing over Kate. "You see, I'm a curious man, and your little nickname has me wondering. Freckles. Do you only have those freckles on your face, sweetheart, or are they other places, too?" He bent down over her ominously.
"Stop," Sawyer begged, struggling vainly to free his hands.
Bill seemed to consider this. "You have a point. This isn't right." He grabbed Kate by the wrists, positioning her so that her back was propped up against a rock and her face was in clear view to Sawyer. Bill smiled at him maliciously. "It just isn't any fun if you can't see her eyes."
Sawyer met her gaze, trying to communicate all of his regrets and apologies to her in that glance. He wouldn't give Bill the satisfaction of hearing it out loud.
"And the final touch..." Bill removed the gag from Kate's mouth, smiling at her. "Personally, my favorite part is the screaming."
"Let me go," Kate commanded, though the trembling in her voice made it hardly daunting.
"Relax, sugar," Bill soothed, "this is the easy part for you. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. I promise your death will be quick and painless, unlike Don Juan over here."
Kate met his gaze determinedly. "The others will be looking for us. We've been gone a long time. When they find us, they'll know what you did."
Bill laughed aloud at this. "You know, that is the truth, my dear. Guess I just won't go back. But this jungle doesn't seem like too bad of a place to live. I got food, shelter, and when I get bored, I'll go grab one of the girls. That blonde one looked like she'd be good for a test drive. And I've always wanted to do a pregnant girl."
His hands reached for the front of Kate's shirt. "Now, enough talk. Let's get this party started. I wouldn't want Thatcher to die before he gets to watch me kill his girlfriend."
Kate pressed her eyes shut, but not before Sawyer could see the naked terror in them. "Stop!" he cried suddenly, with all of the energy he could muster.
Bill turned back to him slowly, smiling. "What was that, Danny-boy?"
"Stop," he repeated, "please. I'll do anything."
Slowly, Bill made his way over so that he was standing in front of Sawyer. "I wish I could, brother," Bill said quietly, "but there's got to be an eye for an eye. I loved my wife. We were gonna have a family together, and a future. Then you came in and stole that all away. You made me kill her. I watched the woman I loved die right in front of me, because of you. And now you're gonna do the same."
With that said, he turned and advanced on Kate once more. She tried to thrash at him, but her arms and legs were bound, and it was a mostly futile gesture.
"Stop!" Sawyer cried again, not knowing what else to do. "Stop!"
In the woods, there was a low rumbling.
Sawyer and Kate snapped to attention as the nearby trees began to rattle. Bill seemed oblivious to the sound, his face twisted in delight at his own perversion. "Well, well, well," he cried, "look at the freckles I've found!"
"Quiet," Kate instructed.
Bill smiled at her suggestively. "Is that your thing, sweetheart? 'Cuz it's kind of kinky."
"I'm serious," Kate hissed, "be quiet. Can't you hear it?"
"Better listen to the lady," Sawyer warned quietly, struggling to hold onto consciousness, "that is one mean beasty."
The snapping of the trees was getting closer and closer. Bill looked back and forth between them uncertainly. "You're kidding, right? You expect me to believe there's some kind of dinosaur or something on this island?"
He picked up his gun from the ground, marching toward the forest. Kate looked as though she was about to call after him but clamped her mouth shut. She met Sawyer's gaze, filled with a mixture of fear and hope.
In the nearby cluster of trees, they could hear Bill's voice floating back to them. "Is that some big bad monster out there? Come on! Show me your worst!"
The roar of the creature was nearly upon them. Sawyer and Kate held each other's gaze, silent, waiting.
There was a crackling in the woods, then a scream of terror and a horrible splattering noise. Kate pressed her eyes shut, and Sawyer let his own eyelids droop out of relief. He waited until the noises had stopped and then opened his eyes tentatively. "Is it still there?"
"I think it's gone," Kate whispered back.
They waited a moment longer to be certain, and then Kate began to inch her way toward him. "Do you see anything I can cut the ropes with?"
"The knife," Sawyer said tiredly, "it's right by your feet." His head lolled forward and he struggled to open his eyes again. When he finally found the strength, Kate was free of her bonds and was hurrying to do the same for him. He felt the release of the ropes on his wrists and fell forward with nothing left to support him.
"Sawyer!" Kate took his head gently and rested it in her lap. There were tears pooling down her cheeks. Her fingers brushed over the bloodstain on his chest. "Is it bad?"
"Not too bad, Freckles," he assured her, reaching up to grasp her hand. "But I'm having a hard time staying awake."
She was silent for a moment. "Sawyer," she said finally, "I need to go back to camp and get some help. I can't carry you by myself."
He knew that her words were rational, but something about bleeding to death in a jungle of mystery made him a little less than logical. "Don't leave me alone," he whispered, "They'll find us, eventually. I don't wanna be out here alone."
In response, she kissed the top of his head and brushed the hair from his face. "Okay," she murmured. "I'll stay. But we have to find something to stop the bleeding…"
A moment later, he heard his shirt ripping. Sawyer gave a lopsided grin. "Freckles, really, now isn't the time."
Ignoring him, Kate pressed the cloth down against the wound. "There, that's better," she murmured. "Is there anything you need?"
"Yeah," he said, smiling up at her, "you can sing for me."
She laughed through her tears, shaking her head. "Trust me, no one wants to hear that."
"It can't be that bad."
"Remember, you asked for this." Clearing her throat, she began. "Bye bye Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levy but the levy was dry, and good ol' boys are drinking whisky and rye singin' this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die."
She stopped, waiting for some sort of response. Sawyer couldn't help but laugh. "Boy, Freckles," he said, forcing back the pain that his laughter caused, "you sure weren't exaggerating."
Kate smiled apologetically, continuing to smooth down his hair with her fingers. "I told you."
"That you did," he said drowsily, "but don't stop. I think it'll grow on me."
Holding his hand, Kate continued to sing as Sawyer fought off the darkness.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Sawyer came to again, he was back on the beach, lying underneath his old tent. Somewhat dazed, he glanced over to see Kate sleeping in a chair next to him. The memory of that night came flooding back to him. It was over. It was really over. And she was safe.
As though she could feel his gaze on her, Kate's eyes fluttered open. She looked at Sawyer in confusion for a moment, then smiled. "Hey."
"Hey." He glanced down at his now-bare chest, his eyes falling upon the huge bandage over the gunshot wound. "So what's the prognosis? Will I live?"
Kate nodded. "Yep. And according to Jack, the wound wasn't even all that bad. He says you were probably milking it."
Sawyer frowned at this. "Yeah, well, let's shoot him in the chest and see how he likes it."
"Maybe later." Kate agreed. She leaned forward, taking his hand. "So are you all right?"
"You heard the doc," he retorted, "apparently I should be running a marathon right now."
Kate shook her head. "No, I mean…are you all right?"
He looked down at her hand intertwined with his own. "Yeah," he said, "I think I'll pull through."
There was a moment of silence between them. Kate looked down at the ground, clearly brooding over something in her mind. "Sawyer," she said finally, "about what happened between us…"
He felt his heart sink. So here it was. He was out of danger now and so he was being booted to the corner. Well, it figured. Women always went for doctors.
"Don't worry, Freckles," he said with more lightness than he felt, "what happens in the jungle stays in the jungle, remember?" He kept his gaze downcast, afraid to look at her. But finally he could stand it no longer and glanced in her direction. He was surprised to see the look of mischievous seduction on her face.
"Well," she said, tilting her head to the side, "maybe we'll just have to go back to the jungle then."
Sawyer blinked at her for a moment then grinned, struggling to sit up. "All right. Let's go!"
Kate laughed, gently forcing him back down. "Later," she suggested, "first you have to recover."
"Oh, I'm fine," Sawyer insisted, "you heard the doc. It's just a scratch."
"Sawyer…"
"Damn." He shook his head. "Save the whole group and now I got to lie around in bed all day doin' nothin'."
Kate shrugged. "I don't know. Bed isn't such a bad place to be sometimes." And before he could respond, she had crawled onto the bedroll next to him and was snuggling up against him.
Pleased, Sawyer wrapped one arm around her and rested the other underneath his head. "Maybe you're right," he said, grinning, "Suddenly this whole recovery thing doesn't seem so bad after all…"
The End.
Author's Note: So, yeah, it's over. I think this is one of the first fics that I'm actually sad it'sfinished and not relieved to have it done. I thought about making it longer but I think this is as far as thisstory needed to go. Thanks for all of your support! Seriously, you guys rock. I wish all of my stories had such devoted readers. And just to throw in a little self-promotion, I'll be starting a new fic soon (cuz I have no life. Which is obvious, since I'm posting this story on a Friday night and have posted it pretty much every night before that. My life is sad.) Oh, yeah, and let me know what you think!(Remember, my life is sad. This is pretty much all I live for. Just kidding...kind of).