A/N: Flashbacks will be in italics and some stuff from past episodes will be mentioned. Just a small detail. Thanks for the reviews btw!!

Chapter 3

"Dad?"

Jack's father inched closer towards him. Jack was so surprised that he fell to the ground. He stared at his father in disbelief.

"But...but you're...dead..."

"Not quite son," he replied.

"Oh no! They're hitting each other now," Charlie exclaimed, "Well...actually Michael's hitting Jack."

Kate looked up and saw Michael punching Jack. He had stopped yelling and was now using violence to get his point across. She ran towards them and stood in front of Jack just when Michael was about to strike him again.

"Kate, get out of the way," Michael warned.

"No Michael. You have to stop this okay. Walt...he needs you right now. So just go. Go to him," Kate said.

Michael nodded and dropped his hand to his side. Kate shifted her body and looked away from him.

"Bastard," Michael yelled.

When Kate moved he saw his opportunity to strike Jack again and he took it. Michael punched Jack in the face again. Kate immediately tried to push Michael away from Jack.

"Michael! Stop! You're acting like a complete savage right now. What would Walt say if he woke up and saw you like this?" Kate yelled, "Go! Go look after your son. Go!"

Michael stared at Jack angrily. He nodded to everything Kate told him and walked away. Jack breathed heavily and leaned against the cave wall. He wiped some blood off of his chin with the back of his hand and looked away from everyone else. Charlie and Locke headed straight towards Kate and passed Michael on the way.

"Hey are you okay man?" Charlie asked Michael.

Michael grunted and walked off.

"Okay than," Charlie said to himself as he and Locke reached Kate.

"Do you think he'll be okay? I mean Michael...he was bloody furious just now," Charlie said to Kate.

"I think he'll be okay in time," Kate replied, "Uh...I think I'll talk to Jack. Why don't you go see how Walt is doing."

"Okay. I can do that," Charlie said as he walked away.

"Do you know what you're going to say to him?" Locke asked as he glanced over at Jack.

"No clue. Not yet at least," Kate answered, "I haven't really thought of anything to say to him."

Locke nodded, "Take care of him."

"I will Locke."

"You're alive? But how? I saw you...I saw you in the morgue. You died in Australia. I checked the body myself. It was you! How can you be here? Standing, walking, speaking. You're dead!" Jack cried.

His father moved closer towards him. Jack crawled backwards away from his father.

"Stay...stay away!"

Kate walked towards Jack and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

Jack looked at her and nodded hesitantly. She studied his face and didn't realize he was more beat up than he looked until now and it wasn't all because of Michael's punches. From across the caves Jack looked fine give or take a few cuts. But as Kate looked at him closely she realized the severity of his wounds. There was a large cut on his lower lip that was beginning to swell. On his forehead was a huge open gash and the blood around it had started to dry up. She looked down at his right arm. The sleeve of his shirt was soaked with blood and ripped slightly.

"Oh god Jack..." Kate whispered as she touched his arm lightly, "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."

They walked over to the area where Jack usually treated the people who were hurt. Their shoulders touched as they walked together closely. She looked at Jack but he didn't return her glance. When they reached the area Jack sat down on the ground.

"I'll be right back okay. I'm going to get some water for you," Kate said.

When Kate returned she had two water bottles in each of her hands. She looked at Jack who had started to wipe some of the blood off of his face using the hankerchief Kate had given him that morning.

"Here let me," Kate said as she poured some peroxide onto a piece of gauze and dabbed it onto the gash on his forehead.

Jack winced when the gauze first touched his wound. He took a deep breath in. The both of them didn't exchange any words while Kate was cleaning his wound. They just sat in silence.

"What's wrong Jack? Not happy to see your own father?"

"How can you not be dead? I checked the body myself...I checked your body myself," Jack repeated.

"I am dead Jack. But on this island I am very much alive."

Jack shook his head and thought that this can't be happening. How could his father be alive? What kind of phenomenon (sp?) could have brought him back to the world? Then he remembered. The coffin that he had found in the caves. There was no body in it.

"But your coffin...I found it..." Jack stammered, "...you weren't in...it...dad are you really......alive?"

"No I'm dead," his father said simply, "Physically that is. Don't you understand Jack? I'm all up here."

His father lifted his hand and pointed to his head.

"I'm all in your mind. I'm nothing more that just a memory. A memory that will haunt you...forever."

"So what happened to you today Jack?" Kate asked breaking the silence between them.

Jack didn't answer. Instead he took one of the water bottles Kate brought over and drank from it. Kate finished off cleaning his wound and put a bandage on it as she waited for an answer. She nodded and sighed when she realized she wouldn't get one.

"Okay, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to," Kate told him, "At least tell me where you went today."

Silence. Jack didn't say a word.

Kate nodded, "Okay. At least answer this, how am I doing as your doctor right now?"

Kate gave him a small smile as she cleaned the blood off of his swelled lip. Jack let out a small laugh and looked at her.

"You're doing fine," Jack replied.

She smiled at him and put the bloodied pieces of gauze onto a rock beside them. She took his right arm and pushed the sleeve of his shirt up slowly. She moved his arm slightly to determine where the blood was coming from. On his forearm was a large cut that was at least four inches long and very deep. She cringed at the sight of it.

"It's okay Kate. I can take care of this myself," Jack told her as he raised his head slightly to meet her eyes, "But...thanks."

"Oh no. You're not getting off the hook so easily Jack," Kate said, "How did you get this?"

"Kate, I can take care of this by myself," Jack said.

"So what do you think you've become on this island Jack? A hero? A saviour? A leader? Maybe even a real doctor who makes sure no one dies on his operating table."

"Why are you doing this?" Jack asked.

"Let me ask you something," his father said without acknowledging (sp?) Jack's question, "How do you save the others around you when you can't even save yourself from the guilt of what you did to me?"

"I...I had to dad," Jack mumbled, "You needed help. You drank before doing a god damn surgical procedure. You're hands were shaking. What was I supposed to do? Let you kill a patient?"

"Well you see Jack. The patient would've died even if I had done the surgery myself. But you were the one who ultimately sent the patient to the morgue. You were the one who started and ended the procedure. You're the one who always makes the mistakes!"

"No...no..." he shook his head.

"A natural born failure...I've said that before and I'll say it again because it's true in your case. It would be a lot better for these people if you weren't on the island then they wouldn't have a terrible doctor trying to heal them."

"How...How can you say that...to your own son?" Jack cried, "You're my father!"

"I am your father, yes. But I can't help it if you're an accident waiting to happen."

"You're a bastard!" Jack yelled, "Get away from me! Just please...Go Away!"

"No Jack...talk to me. Please. If there's something out there that's hurting you then I want to know about it. Maybe I can help or something."

He shook his head and looked away from her.

"Jack, you can't just run off and...and come back here with cuts and bruises and expect me not to ask you questions about where you've been and what happened, " Kate said angrily, "There was a kid here today that almost died today. Do you know what we could have been doing right now if Walt didn't get any help...we would've been burying a body. They needed you today and you were no where to be found. Locke, Sayid and Charlie were searching for you today but they couldn't find you anywhere. So please Jack explain to me what happened because I am god damn worried about you right now."

"You ran off today Kate not me," Jack answered, "You ran away from me without a reason so why should I give you an explanation of where I've been?"

"At least I didn't come back here with a bloody face."

"You know what Kate, I was worried about you too...when you took off from the beach. I was worried that I had made you upset and I know I did. I didn't think that what I said would have that sort of an impact on you," Jack said raising his voice slightly, "As for Walt, I'm sorry that I wasn't here to help him. I'm sorry that because of me he almost died. I'm sorry for all the things that happened today. I know that won't change the outcome of today but that's all I got Kate."

Kate was stunned by what she had just heard. She didn't know what to say. She just stared at him and then at the ground. She parted her lips to speak but then closed them when no noise came out. She didn't say anything. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she remembered about Jack's arm. She took a piece of gauze and poured some peroxide onto it. She cleaned his wound and wrapped it up with a long strip of gauze. Just when she had finished Jack spoke again.

"I'm not a hero Kate," Jack said as he looked into her eyes, "Not like everyone thinks I am."

"What?"

"I'm not a hero. I'm not a leader. I just...I just don't know how to be one," Jack said quietly, "Who appointed me leader? Why am I the one everyone calls a hero? Who even thinks of me as a hero? Cause whoever they are, tell them that I can't do it anymore. I can't pretend anymore. I can't be something that I'm not. I...can't..."

Kate looked at Jack whose eyes slowly became filled with sorrow. She moved herself so she could sit beside him. Her hand moved on top of his and held it. Kate didn't know what to say or do that would make him feel better. She just sat beside him quietly. Jack lifted his head to look at her. He put his arms around her and rested his forehead on her shoulder. He let out a shaky breath. She put her own arms around him and held him close.

'Oh Jack...what happened to you out there...' Kate thought to herself.

-- - -- - --

"You ran off today Kate not me...I was worried that I had made you upset...I'm not a hero Kate...Not like everyone thinks I am."

His words were all Kate could think about now. She couldn't get him out of her mind. It was the next morning and she was the first to wake up. She couldn't get a good nights sleep last night because she kept thinking about the conversation that she and Jack had. She had gotten changed and was now sitting on a rock by the fire pit. She took a drink from a water bottle she filled this morning.

'What made Jack say the things he said last night?' she thought, 'What made him bring up the subject about heroism? Why...'

A voice interrupted her train of thought.

"Hey Freckles. What happened to Jacko last night?"

Kate turned around and saw Sawyer filling up his water bottles by the waterfall.

"What?"

"You heard me. What happened to him?" Sawyer asked again.

"How did you know something happened?"

"I heard about it last night," he said.

"Really?"

"Uh yea Freckles. Word about these things get around fast on this island."

Kate nodded and said sarcastically, "So people do talk to you."

"God no Freckles. Why would anyone want to talk to me?" Sawyer said, "I just overheard a conversation about it last night. So how is the ol' doc doing?"

"Why do you care Sawyer?"

"Just curious. I mean it's not everyday that you hear about Mr. Hero coming back to cavetown with blood all over his face. So what happened to him?"

"I...I don't know. He just came back with cuts and bruises and he didn't say where he was or how he got that way."

"Damn.." Sawyer replied, "He must've had some day."

He finished filling his water bottles and made his way towards her.

"And what about you Freckles?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"What about me?" she said.

"What happened to you yesterday? I mean you seemed pretty upset with our conversation about...oh damn what's his name again?" Sawyer said, "Oh yes Jamie."

When Kate heard that name again she shot up and looked around. She looked back at Sawyer and narrowed her eyes.

"What did I tell you about saying that name Sawyer?" Kate growled.

"Oh...give me a second...yea. You said something about praying to god that you won't hurt me or something," Sawyer replied grinning.

"Yea so you better start praying."

Kate smacked Sawyer across the face and when she was about to do it again he grabbed her arm.

"Ouch Freckles. That really hurt," Sawyer said, "Maybe you should kiss it better."

He grabbed her other arm and moved in closer to her.

"Let go of me Sawyer!"

His mouth slowly covered hers. Kate tried to resist but she couldn't get her arms out of his grasp. After a few seconds she stopped resisting and gave into his kiss. Sawyer slowly let go of one of her arms. He put his hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer towards him.

'Oh god what the hell am I doing?' Kate thought.

She kicked him in the shin and Sawyer pulled away wincing in pain.

"God Freckles! What the hell!" Sawyer cried.

"Don't ever do that again," Kate said sternly.

Sawyer rubbed his shin and looked at Kate straight in the eyes.

"Now Freckles. You can't say that you didn't enjoy that," Sawyer said.

"You're disgusting Sawyer."

The truth was she did like it but she didn't know why.

"Oh come on. It was fun wasn't it?" Sawyer laughed, "We should do it again some time."

Kate lifted her arm and was ready to smack him in the face again when she saw Jack standing several feet behind Sawyer.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

Sawyer turned around and grinned.

"Oh nothin' doc. Just having a little early morning conversation with Freckles here," Sawyer said, "I think I'll be goin' now."

He grabbed his water bottles and turned to Kate.

"I'm sorry that I made you hit me more than once but I've been waiting to do that for a while now and it felt great," Sawyer whispered into her ear, "See you later Freckles."

Kate watched as Sawyer left the caves. She sighed. What Sawyer had just said was another thing for her to think about.

"What was going on with him?" Jack asked.

"Huh? Oh it was nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea Jack. Everything is fine," Kate said, "What about you Jack? How are you feeling today?"

"I'm okay. Just a bit sore," Jack lied.

He felt like crap. Every part of his body hurt but he didn't want Kate to worry.

"Does you arm feel better?"

"Yea. It's fine Kate. Just hurts a little when I move it or pick up anything," Jack replied.

"I'm glad that you're okay."

She hesitated for a seconds and pondered the thought of asking him about their conversation last night.

"Jack, about last night..." Kate started, "About what you said..."

"That? Oh forget about it Kate," Jack said quickly.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yea," Jack nodded.

"Okay. Well I'm going to go bring some water to the people at the beach," Kate said, "I'll see you later okay. And be careful. You're still in a lot of pain...I can tell. Don't strain yourself."

She smiled and turned to walk away but Jack grabbed her arm quickly. She turned to look at him again. He smiled awkwardly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She looked into his eyes and touched her cheek slightly. She had a what-was-that-for look on her face.

"Thanks Kate...for taking care of me last night," Jack said.

Kate gave him a smile and nodded. She turned around and walked away.

'God Kate. First Sawyer now Jack...what are you going to do...' Kate thought.

TBC...