Title: Lucky

Author: Sassy
Rating; PG-13

Pairing: Sawyer/Kate, Boone/OC, OC coupling as well. Probably some Charlie/Claire as well

Disclaimer; JJ Abrams owns them. He has restored my faith in him by writing Lost

Summary: Sawyer stumbles upon three other survivors and he brings them back to camp. Boone's afraid of helping anyone due to his innate ability to screw things up, and that includes talking to the new girl in camp. And Sora, well, she just won't stand for any more traumas after the crash, but there's not much she can do to stop them.

Lucky

Chapter One

Over the Rainbow

Sawyer had hidden himself away in the jungle again. He always snuck into the thick trees when he wanted to disappear from all the disapproving gazes he had eyeing him constantly. Sure, not everyone completely despised him. Well, maybe that was a lie, but he liked to think that under their revulsion, they liked him just a little bit. Or at least Kate did. Kate certainly enjoyed bantering with him on numerous occasions. But Kate was a bit infatuated with Hero, or maybe even Prince Ali, so he didn't really stand a chance against such noble men.

Here he was, hiding in the jungle, where no one would bother him. Most people feared the jungle, even the geniuses living in the caves. They didn't go into is unless they were forced to, and they never went in alone. Sawyer found the peace in the jungle enjoyable, though slightly disconcerting. He had grown accustomed to the buzz of survival humming around him, and the silence was unnerving now. Still, he was glad to be away from everyone else, even if they avoided him for the most part unless they needed something. Sawyer continued his trek while he wiped sweat off of his forehead. The heat was suffocating, and that was the one thing he hated about the island. There was no way to escape the heat and it never eased. He was tired of feeling so sticky, but there wasn't much he could do to change it. He didn't control the weather. He didn't even control himself.

Sawyer stopped and leaned on a tree to take a few deep breaths while he tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm. His bandages were dirty and starting to soak through with his blood. A new battle scar courtesy of his favorite terrorist. He let a surge of anger run through him at the memory of being tortured by an Iraqi soldier while the good doctor stood idly by as if it were a new picture at the local movie theater. He sighed loudly, trying to ignore the images that ran through his head of Sayid's face when he rammed the bamboo up his fingernails. Tinkling laughter broke through the images and for a moment, Sawyer thought he was hearing things. Who would be laughing this far into the jungle besides the monster?

He listened more closely; trying to discern the direction the laughter was coming from. The chuckling was carefree and happy, not a sound common to the island. It only served to intrigue Sawyer farther. He followed the sound and found himself stopped just shy of a clearing. Two men and a woman sat around a campfire. The woman looked more girl than actual woman, her long black hair trailing down her neck damply, her cheeks dimpled childishly. The two men with her seemed to be best friends or perhaps even brothers, due to their similar mannerisms. At first glance, they seemed to be fighting animatedly, but as Sawyer's eyes narrowed in on them, it seemed more accurate that they were re-enacting something. The girl laughed again as the boy landed on his knees in front of her, his hands outstretched, his mouth wide. He was singing, Sawyer realized. Sawyer stepped in closer to hear what the men were performing, but he missed a rather large root in his path. Sawyer didn't cry out as he went flying through the air, but his face did show his utter surprise at being tossed in the air. The trio's face showed just as much shock as Sawyer's when he landed directly in front of the girl.

Sawyer ignored the pain that shot through his body as he shot the woman a mischievous grin.

"Well, howdy there, Sweetness."

She scooted backwards towards the two men as she saw the mocking amusement in Sawyer's icy blue eyes. One man made a move to stand in front of the woman in a protective stance. Sawyer saw that her leg was stuck out in front of her, a bad splint holding it together almost.

"Who are you?" He asked in a warning tone, his Irish accent unmistakable.

"I could be askin' you the same thing, Lucky."

Sawyer's easy smirk was back in place as his eyes scanned over the group in front of him. Now that he was closer, he could see oddly pretty the woman really was compared to the harshness of the island. She seemed unscarred by what had happened on that plane.

"We asked you first."

Sawyer rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he considered whether he wanted to answer or not.

"Well, since we're back in first grade then, the name's Sawyer. Now it's your turn."

The two men glared at Sawyer and he wondered briefly what he had done to make these two hate him so much. He was used to the hate. He typically deserved it; after all, he had become the man he had grown up despising. But he'd hardly even had a conversation with these guys and he'd already earned their open hostility. Well, he was becoming accustomed to it, so he didn't care, not really.

The woman waved her hand, signaling the boys to step back. She offered him an impish grin before she spoke in the same lilting Irish accent as the first guy.

"I'm Sora and I'd love it if you'd be leaving the leprechaun jokes out, man."

Sawyer chuckled at her response. She had spirit, he had to admit.

"What? No pot at the end of this rainbow jokes? No magically delicious puns? What am I supposed to talk about?"

Sora laughed melodically again. She didn't seem to hate him. In fact, she seemed amused by him. She shook her head.

"I'm sure you'll find something to talk about, Mr. Sawyer. You don't seem like the speechless type."

"Just Sawyer, Blue Eyes."

The amicable silence that descended between the two almost battled for control between the tensions the men consistently held onto. Sora looked down at the fire, her splint dangerously close to the flames. Sawyer took note of her leg and wondered just how much pain she was in. She didn't exactly have a bottle of painkillers with her. He involuntarily touched his arms where his bloody bandage was. He knew he wished he had painkillers. He cursed Sayid once more.

The four seemed content to look at each other, as if they believed staring would teach them something vital. Finally, Sora asked the question that had been hanging in the air.

"Are you a plane crash survivor, then? From the Australian airline?"

Sawyer nodded slowly. He realized there had to be a reason that they asked that. Were there others on the island, besides that French woman, that weren't from the same plane crash? "Are you?"

"Yes. I thought we were the only ones that made it. Then again, we haven't really been up to explorin' the island with my bum leg. These two won't leave me alone, and they won't go into the jungle alone either."

"There's something in the jungle, Sora, so they were right not to leave you alone."

"You're alone, aren't ya? I would have been fine. Sitting here has been just about as exciting as watching paint dry."

"Well, it's not much better on the beach, darlin'. It's the whole deserted island catch."

"You're not the only other one that survived?"

"Naw. I came out here to get away from the others. They don't like me much. They'd probably like me to get gobbled up by that monster out there. And I'm not afraid of the boogeyman, so I chose to come out and explore. And look what I found over the rainbow."

Sawyer smirked at his joke and Sora could stop herself from smiling, even if the joke was bad.

"Hey! I told you no leprechaun jokes, Dorothy."

Sawyer laughed at the girl's Wizard of Oz joke. He'd deserved it and he enjoyed how sharp this girl was. He might not mind having her around, though her friends were a different story. Sora had the same charm Kate did. He liked having Kate around, most of the time. The difference between Kate and Sora, other than the obvious differences, was that he wanted to kiss Kate. He didn't want to kiss Sora.

"You know, we've got a little civilization growing at the beach and a cave. We've even got us a doctor, even if he does have a hero complex, that might be able to fix your leg right."

"Except I can't really walk with my leg being messed up."

"I'd carry you, but my arms injured. Unfortunate ending to a torture session by a terrorist and a doctor who mistook Hippocratic to be hypocritic. I can't help you to get to the beach, other than lead you."

The man who stood behind Sora finally spoke again.

"We can carry her. If we choose to come with you. You could be leading us to…"

"The polar bears?" Sawyer said smartly.

"The polar bears?" Sora asked quietly. They were on a tropical island. How would there be polar bears? "I haven't seen any polar bears, Tom."

He grinned at her little nickname for him, and for once, he didn't hate the name Sawyer.

"That's because I shot it, Blue Eyes."

Sora looked at him disbelievingly.

"Honest to God truth. Got witnesses back at the camp. Now I wanna get back before it gets dark out, so you're either coming or you're not."

Sora looked at her companions pleadingly. Sawyer realized how lonely they must have been out there, believing they were the only survivors of the plane crash. They must have felt so isolated and hopeless, with no real thought of being rescued. Even he held onto the hope of rescue while he was being fried under the beach's sun. Sawyer watched the other two breaking down like putty in the girl's hands. They'd obviously do anything for her, just to make her happy.

"We'll go."

One man, the one with red hair, made a move to put the fire out.

"Before we do go, buddies, I'd like to know some names. I've got Sora here and…"

"They're stubborn brothers, the lot of the O'Reilly clan are. Patrick here is my boyfriend. And the one putting the fire out is Avery, Patrick's brother, who likes tagging along with everything we do. He was tagging along with us to the States, like he always does. He's learned his lesson now, what with the crash and all."

She shot a taunting look to Avery, who ignored her comment. That said more about their relationship than anything that could have been said. Sawyer didn't have too much time to consider what he was seeing because Patrick swept the girl in his arms, careful of her leg. Avery straightened up as the smoke fizzled away after the fire had been covered. He followed closely behind Patrick and Sora, in case he needed to take over if Patrick became tired. Sawyer was almost confused by how wordlessly the trio divided everything up into a neatly defined system. He watched them for a moment more before turning on his heel and returning into the dense jungle with no warnings to watch out for offending roots.

Kate stood at the edge of the jungle, watching for Sawyer to return from his mysterious trek into the trees. He had disappeared after he had rested from the injury he had. He was still weak from blood loss and Kate actually feared for him. Sawyer was a stubborn ass, but he wasn't invulnerable to basic human weakness. If he collapsed in the jungle, no one would know and no one would be able to help him. She hated that she worried about him. She shouldn't. Sawyer could take care of himself. He didn't deserve her worry anyway. He blackmailed her into kissing him when he didn't even have the inhalers!

But that kiss hadn't been all about the inhalers; she knew it even if she didn't want to admit it to anyone. It had been about him and her and the undeniable connection of pain and betrayal and misplaced desires of being okay for just a moment. She had seen his heartbroken look right before their lips had met. It was too real to be a con for her benefit to extract some sympathy from her. He had wanted her and she hated to even think it, but she wanted him. It shamed her, at least at that moment, but she had given in. Then slapped him out of disgust with herself for wanting it. She wasn't as ashamed of the kiss as she had been at first. Perhaps because she now understood Sawyer's driving force. His self-loathing and hate of the man that had sent Sawyer's life into a downward spiral was a powerful force. Or maybe she wasn't ashamed because she had realized she didn't have to impress anyone on that forsake island. They were stuck with her no matter what they thought of her. Whatever it was, it had sent her to the edge of the jungle to wait impatiently for Sawyer's return.

Kate didn't know how long she had been standing outside the jungle, staring into the greenery. It must have been quite awhile because Boone approached her quietly, so quietly that she hardly even noticed his presence.

"Are you all right, Kate?"

Kate turned to see Boone studying her. She hadn't really talked to Boone much. She'd been too occupied following Jack around and battling Sawyer to talk with him. She didn't know him, but he was perceptive enough to know she was worried.

"I'm fine, Boone. Thanks."

She tried to make her facial expression convey her lie of being fine, but she failed miserably at it. How sad that her, an expert liar, couldn't lie properly on that island. People could see the truth just by looking at her.

"You've been staring into the jungle for an awful long time to be fine, Kate. Are you worried about Sayid being out there alone?"

"Sayid, yeah, I'm worried about him. But he can take care of himself. I know that. He's trained to take care of himself. He's a soldier."

"Well, if you aren't waiting for him, whom are you waiting for?"

Kate glanced down at the ground guiltily, all of her previous feelings of not being ashamed about Sawyer having disappeared. Her hair fell into her face, hiding her expression. Of course, her ducking her head said a lot to Boone. She was worried about someone. Who?

"Sawyer." She whispered his name, perhaps out of hope that Boone wouldn't hear her, but she could say she answered his question. Unfortunately, Boone did hear.

"Sawyer went into the jungle? By himself?"

"Yes."

"So he may be killed by the monster?" Boone couldn't hide the pleasure of that thought from his face.

"Boone!"

"Come on, Kate. Everyone in this camp wishes Sawyer would just disappear."

"Not everyone. I don't!"

"He's a horrible man. He probably deserved to die in that plane crash more than anyone else on that plane! He pretended to have my sister's inhalers when Shannon was really sick. I have plenty of reason to wish him gone. Don't act like I'm the bad guy."

"Well, he's also helped-- well, at least he finally admitted he didn't have it."

After that kiss, Kate silently added in her head.

"He attacked Sayid. He fought Jack. He harasses Shannon."

"Sawyer harasses everyone. And he was tortured and stabbed by Sayid. Jack, our good doctor, stood by and watched."

"That doesn't excuse his behavior. That only recently happened. What was his excuse for being a jerk before? Tormented childhood? We all have problems, Kate. That doesn't give Sawyer a license to be a bully."

Kate knew Boone was right, but she also understood where Sawyer was coming from. Self-loathing was a powerful force that led to cruelty to others. She understood he was also cruel as a self-protecting method as well. Hurt everyone else before they hurt you. She'd used it several times and Sawyer's use of it was working charmingly. Besides, she knew Sawyer could be completely charming if he wanted to be. Boone didn't really know Sawyer. Actually, none of the survivors really knew each other, no matter how much time they spent with each other.

"I realize that. I just-"

Kate trailed off as she saw Sawyer emerge from the brush. He looked a little pale, but otherwise unharmed. What shocked her was the trio that followed him. She'd never seen them before, but they looked like they'd been on the island for a while. Two men held a woman between them, her leg stuck out in front of them. Kate realized it must be broken. She rushed forward to help the men while calling out for someone to find Jack.

Boone seemed to be frozen to his place in the shade. Kate had hurried over to help Sawyer with the three new people added to his group. The two men looked not much older than he was, but it was the woman who caught his attention. She wasn't exactly what he would describe as stunningly beautiful. In fact, she appeared to fairly average as far as looks were concerned, but of course, she was far away. She had also spent quite a bit of time on a deserted island and they all kind of looked rock hard and weary. Still, there was something about that drew Boone towards her, mad him want to know her. He hadn't felt that way about anyone on the island so far. He knew deep inside that he should help them get her some place comfortable. She looked like she had been injured. But Boone didn't think he could actually move towards them. So he faded into the shadows and watched as Kate and several others went to help. He preferred observing anyway. He always seemed to mess things up when he tried to help. Look at the time he tried to save that woman. He'd ended up sentencing her to death. And when he packed Shannon's inhalers in his suitcase. If Shannon had kept them, they would have the inhalers right then. Boone would be helping her by keeping his distance.