A/N: ok this chapter definately has somethings that may not be appropriate for everyone, but it still rocks! over 5,000 words! so yeah...um i want to give a huge thanks to my friend Elizabeth who helped me with my story. YOU ROCK ELIZABETH!

Chapter 3: The Forgotten

"I don't know what you want with this Freckles," Sawyer stated, "it's just some pills..."

"Then give it to me!" she cut him off in absolute anger. A ball of tears was forming in her left eye. That red bag wasn't just a piece of luggage containing medication; it belonged to someone very important to her. "Sawyer...please...please give it to me." A single strand of tears slid down the side of her face.

Sawyer dug the heel of his shoe into the ground and quickly disappeared. The tears in her eyes began to fall faster and faster until she realized that she had broken into a sob. Jack had never seen her cry like this before. He slowly approached her fragile body that lay motionless in the sand.

"Kate," he said putting a reassuring hand on her back, "it's alright." He tried to calm her down, but she was really upset.

She turned around to face him and laid her head on his chest; her tears were soaking his shirt now. He was at a loss for words. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her closer to his body.

Kate had slept in the caves last night because she wanted to get as far away from Sawyer as she possibly could. Jack stayed by her side the entire night trying to calm her down. Maybe this was a sign, should she stay in the caves with Jack? For now her answer was "yes." There was no where she would rather be.

Claire was due in about a week and she had come to talk to Jack. Kate was still sleeping when the two of them had begun to talk about her pregnancy. Claire felt like the baby could come any second, and she was afraid, so she asked Jack.

"I had contractions yesterday, it could have been a false labor, but I'm not really sure."

"I have pain medicine if you really need it; you're probably right about it being a false labor. I wouldn't worry about it right now. You're gonna be okay." Claire was reassured.

"Alright," she said in her strong Australian accent. Carefully she lifted herself on the ground and wandered back over to the cool spot Charlie had been sitting in. Part of Jack envied the two of them. Last night Kate and he were closer than they've ever been before. He wished Sawyer hadn't interrupted them...

Jack got up of the dirt floor and walked into the jungle to find water to refill his bottle. He hadn't filled his jug since last night, and it was almost empty. His pace was slow and steady, and for once he wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere or do anything. Then he heard it...a long shrill scream for help coming from deep in the jungle. He shut his eyes for a brief moment and counted, "1...2...3...4...5." Then he took off to find the person creating the noise. Sometimes it was hard being the hero...

Penny was dangling upside-down from a tree screaming her head off. Something had been chasing her through the jungle and she ran for her life to get away from it. The object nearest to her was the tree she was currently stuck in. She climbed as high as she could to get away from the unknown danger. She sat on one of the highest branches shivering with fear and concentrating on maintaining her balance. She sat on the limb for what seemed like hours until she finally saw the mysterious figure back away from the tree. The descent down the tree wasn't easy. Without the adrenaline pumping through her, she was in less of a rush because she knew the deadly beast wasn't after her anymore. The branches below her were heavily entwined; she had to zigzag her way through them. She was about fifteen feet off the ground when her leg got stuck between two limbs. She knew she could pull her leg free if she tried, but she panicked and ended up hanging by her leg in the tree. She thought it was bad enough, but then she heard the disturbing popping sound from above her head. It was then she felt the sharp pain and recognized that her knee had dislocated. She started screaming for help. If she had just stayed calm, everything would be alright...

Jack found Penny within seven minutes of searching. Her body was swaying invertly back and forth. He wondered if he was too late. Penny's shouting stopped when Jack yelled up to her. "Everything's alright! I'm coming up to help you get down!"

Penny was crying when she replied, "My leg's stuck, my knee...it's...it's not in the right place...I think it popped out!" Her face showed signs of pain. Her eyes were shut tightly; she bit her upper lip and tried not to think about the pain. A trial of blood from her lip started to flow down her face and into her long wavy dirty blonde hair. She knew that her leg was a mess, and she could only imagine how much it was bleeding.

She couldn't see Jack climbing the tree, but she could hear him, and she knew he was close. Silently she prayed that he could help her and that by some miracle she would live to see her mom again.

Jack saw the mangled disaster that was once was her lower left leg. He rushed to reach her before she lost too much blood. When he was finally within two or three feet of her, he ripped the sleeve off his shirt and used it to tie above the knee cap. He couldn't pop her knee back in place at this great a height, so she would just have to wait until they reached the ground.

"Do you have anything I could use to tie around your leg?" Jack didn't know if Penny would respond. She was hypervenilating. "You have to talk to me."

"My belt…untie it…hurry, it really hurts," Penny tried to keep herself under control, but she was whimpering in pain. "Hurry please…"

Jack untied the belt and tied it below the knee cap. It wasn't much, but for now it was the only thing he could do to help her. He managed to untwine her leg, but unfortunately, her ankle was badly damaged and bleeding. The poor girl was a mess. He lifted her upper body slowly to a sitting position.

"Can you climb by yourself?" He asked her, although he knew what she was going to say.

"No, I can't even feel my leg. I have no idea how we're going to get down though. It's impossible," it seemed that Penny had already given up. The man couldn't carry her and descend at the same time. It was going to be hard to get down.

"Nothing is impossible," Jack reassured her, but he had to admit that climbing down was going to be even harder, especially when he had to support another person.

Penny leaned against the right side of Jack's body. Her left leg was almost paralyzed and virtually useless. They took it slow. Taking a branch with one hand, and stepping down onto another one. It took longer than Jack expected, but he was glad that he was able to help the girl.

Once they were safely on the ground, Jack decided to undergo the process of relocating her knee cap that had indeed popped out of socket. Penny lay on the ground trying not to think of the pain, while Jack slid her knee cap in place as quickly and painlessly as possible.

"I really thought I was going to die up there," Penny said to Jack as he wrapped her left ankle, "I thought it was my time to go."

"I don't think you should be worrying about that at your age," He replied looking at the girl who was still in pain.

"You're not the first to tell me that." Penny quickly looked away from Jack. She remembered the first time she was told her life was in danger. It was about twenty-four days ago.

Penny's mind drifted away into the past. She recognized the day she learned of her fatal diagnosis. She had to the hospital because her breathing had been very abnormal that day. Her mother picked her up from her dance lesson to take her to the doctor's. Neither of them expected that there was anything terribly wrong with her.

"Take a deep breath in," Dr. Keller told Penny, "and now release. Good…once again…OK thanks." She scribbled down notes on her clipboard and then, turning to her mom, she said, "Can I see you outside Ms. Ryan?"

"Sure…" her mom responded.

Penny grabbed her mother's arm before she left the room. "What do you think is wrong with me?" Penny was scared and her mother could tell.

"It's OK Penny, she probably just wants to talk about medication, or something like that." She smiled at her daughter trying to keep her own fear undiscovered. She followed the doctor out the door and closed it behind her.

Penny sat anxiously waiting for her results. Her mind had drawn to several conclusions, but in the end she convinced herself that it was just a minor breathing problem.

Her mother's voice became louder from outside the door. She could hear them arguing, and then abruptly they stopped. She didn't realize what was going on at first, but then she heard her mother crying.

"I'm sorry Ms. Ryan," she could hear the nurse say through the door.

The nurse opened the door and called to Penny, "Let's go down to the X-Ray Room, OK?"

The question was evidently rhetorical. She followed behind the nurse looking left and right, trying to find her mother. Penny slipped into the bathroom to change out of her clothes and into the hospital-type smock. She was nervous, what had made her mom so upset?

Her mom was there to greet her when she left the bathroom. "What's going on?" Penny asked her mother.

"They just have to take some X-Rays," she told her daughter without exposing her fear.

"Mom," Penny said, "I'm scared."

Ms. Ryan pulled her crying daughter close to her. They were both so afraid.

She walked into the X-Ray room trying to be fearless. The bed that the doctor instructed her to lay on was cold and hard to her skin. She wished she was somewhere else; anywhere would be better than here.

The doctor moved the snake-like arm of the camera over Penny's chest. "Stay still, and when I tell you take a deep breath in and hold it."

Penny's heartbeat quickened, and her breathing became shallower. "Calm down she told herself." The doctor gave her the signal to hold her breath. She took three pictures until she was satisfied.

"How long will it take to get the results?" Ms. Ryan asked the doctor.

"About an hour or so. You can come back later."

"No, that's OK, we'll just wait."

They sat there in silence fearing the worst. Penny was shaking back in forth. The doctor was making a big deal about something that was probably just asthma, or something to that extent.

"Come with me," the doctor finally said after seventy-three minutes.

The three of them walked down the hallway speechless. Penny looked at her mom who was staring straight ahead, trying not to think of the possible conclusions.

"I know you guys have been here awhile, so I'll just get right to the point. You see these white patches?" the doctor asked displaying the first X-Ray. "These patches are created by an infection; in your daughter's case this would be cancer."

"WHAT?" Ms. Ryan was screaming at the doctor.

"I know this has come as a shock, but if we don't do something fast, she only has about a month."

Penny was silent, she didn't know whether to accept this or not.

Back on the beach, Claire, Charlie, and the newly reunited Bernard and Rose, are having a conversation.

"So how are you feeling Claire?" Rose asked the pregnant woman.

"I'm alright now, Jack says he's due in about a week," Claire answered.

"He?" Charlie questioned. He never heard Claire say anything about the gender of the baby.

"Yeah, I think it's a he, but you never know. I could be wrong."

"Do you have any names picked out?" Bernard inquired.

"No, not yet. Guess I really haven't been thinking about names."

"This must be scary for you," Rose said.

"Yeah it is, but I'm really excited you know."

Kate was standing detached from the rest of the group. She had waken and realized that Jack wasn't there. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to have a little chat with a certain person. She looked over by the direction of his "tent," but he wasn't there. Maybe she should just sneak in and take it…

She approached his tent looking for him in all directions. She could find him anywhere, so she began to tear the place apart searching for the red bag. It was no where to be found.

"Damn you Sawyer," she said under her breath. She was beyond frustrated with him. He had been a jerk last night, he knew the bag was hers, and he also knew how much she wanted it back.

"Somethin' I could you with Freckles? Or do you just like rummaging through my stuff?"

Kate didn't look at him, she didn't stop either. Then she realized where the bag had ended up.

"Looking for this?" he asked her in his cocky tone, holding up the red bag.

"Give it to me," she demanded.

"Oh I'd be happy to, for kiss."

She hit him across the face, "Give it to me… now."

"Sorry Freckles, offer stands."

"Fine!" she sneered in his face and stomped off. He liked to push her buttons. Ever since Shannon had gotten sick and she had to get the medicine from Sawyer, he had been thinking that Kate actually enjoyed kissing him. He was disgusting…

"Let me help you up," Jack told Penny who was still lying on the ground.

"OK," she answered. He grabbed her arms and helped to pull her up. Her injured leg was still pretty much immobilized by her fall, but she used her strong leg to walk. She didn't get very far though. In a matter of about two minutes she found herself on the ground in a heap again.

"Why don't I just carry you?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, that might work a little bit better," Penny laughed for the first time in weeks. Jack put her right arm around his neck, and swooped her legs up. She didn't weigh that much, but it still surprised Penny. It felt good to be in his arms knowing that she didn't have to walk again, at least not for awhile.

"So what's your name?" Penny questioned.

"Oh it's Jack," he replied, "and you are…"

"Penny."

"Penny…" Jack recalled what happened last night on the beach. He remembered the little red bag with her name on it. "Somebody found your bag yesterday."

"The red one?"

"Yeah, you're medication."

"I've been looking for that bag for about five days now…"

"Don't mind me asking, but what is the medicine for?"

"I have lung cancer…" Penny stared away from Jack and at one of the many trees around her.

"You weren't on chemotherapy?"

"No, my mom and I had two choices; I could take chemotherapy, or I could take this experimental drug. We decided to go with the second one. The doctors told me I only had about a month to live and they said that if my system responded well with the drug, the tumors could shrink, or maybe even vanish if I was lucky."

"I'm sorry."

"Oh it's OK, believe me."

Jack didn't know how to respond. It was very unfortunate for a person as young as Penny to be dying. He walked around the trees and low bushes in the jungle. He almost tripped over a log, but he managed to keep his balance. His arms were getting tired off holding the girl, but he knew he couldn't give up now. They were getting close to camp. He continued telling himself that they could make it…

Kate was upset that she had been caught. She sat alone again on a boulder watching the waves break. It was peaceful, but she was too frustrated to admire the beach's pure beauty.

She rose to her feet and walked over the water's edge. The warm water lapped at her feet making her "sink." She squatted down in the spray and ran her longer slender fingers through the ankle-high water. She felt very low and alone. She wondered where Jack was, she wanted to be with him just like last night.

The water felt silky and smooth to the touch. She sat down in the water, soaking her clothes. She didn't care though; she enjoyed how cool the water felt on her skin. Jack had been gone for most of the day. None of the others had seen him, and no one had an explanation for where he went. She was afraid that something had happened to him. There were too many dangers on the island; the bears, Ethan, the French woman, and whatever that thing was that attacked the pilot the first day that had arrived on the island. She sat in amidst the waves thinking of him.

Jack knew that he couldn't carry Penny much longer, but he knew that they were within hundred yards of the camp, any minute now he would see the countless fires on the beach. Penny had been anxious to return to the camp, although, she ended up falling asleep. Jack knew that he had to return to the camp as soon as possible to make sure her leg hadn't become infected. A small ring around her ankle had almost been stripped entirely of skin; the wound could definitely be contaminated.

Jack wondered what Kate was doing. He felt bad for leaving her for so many hours without telling her where he was. He hoped she wasn't worrying about him. He thought of how she would react when he brought Penny back to the camp. He knew that she was a very important person in her life.

Up ahead, he could see the beach through the trees. Finally, they had come home, back to where they belong. He couldn't see Kate, but he knew she was out there. His pace quickened, when he realized he was going to make it.

He brought Penny inside the caves. Instantly, people swarmed over him asking questions about where he was and who the girl was.

"I have to tend to her leg," he said, "she's been badly injured." The people quietly accepted their leave. He found a clean washcloth to soak and sanitize her wounds. He first took care of the ankle by gently washing it and rewrapping it with medical tape. Then he checked on her knee to make sure it was where it was supposed to be. He wrapped the entire region around her knee with medical bandages also.

Back on the beach, Kate was still sitting in the water.

"Jack's back," Hurley said to her, "and he brought back a girl with him."

"What?" Kate tore past Hurley before he even had time to explain. Her heart skipped a few beats and accelerated.

She walked into the caves past Claire and Charlie who were sitting on the ground laughing about something. "Where's Jack?" she asked Charlie who was saying something about peanut butter…

He stuck his right arm out and pointed. "He's over there by the waterfall."

Kate dashed of in the direction Charlie's index finger was pointing towards. She needed to find Jack. She ran through the dirt, sprinting past survivors that were sitting on the ground talking to each other. Some of them said "Hi" to her, but she was oblivious to their greetings. Then she saw the two of them; the dark haired, hazel-eyed Jack, and the blonde, blue-eyed Penny.

"Penny…" Kate had no idea what to say to her.

"Hi Kate," Jack said smiling.

"Mom, is that you?" Penny asked crying. Kate came to her side and kneeled in the dirt. They looked at each other and shed tears. Penny struggled to sit up and Kate embraced her daughter in her arms.

The two of them sat by the orange glow of the fire, entangled in each other's arms. Penny's salty tears scattered across her mother's medium green Henley. Kate was also crying, loudly. She didn't care who was staring at her. She finally found what she had been looking for. After a month of searching, her daughter was at last safe with her. She was relieved.

Jack, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. He couldn't believe that Kate had a daughter. Why hadn't she said anything about that before?

Dusk had fallen on the camp, and word of Penny and Kate spread like wildfire amongst the forty-six people. They all had questions about the sudden appearance of the teenage girl, but only one of them had the answers, and she would only tell Jack. The others didn't know how to explain the relationship between Kate and Penny, but they knew something was being left hidden; something that she may not want them to know.

Jack was squatting on the ground checking the sleeping Penny's breathing and pulse. He made sure everything was in order with her leg. The bandages on her leg were rewrapped and the wounds cleaned again. Jack worked in the caves by the fire in silence; however, he was aware of the young girl's mother looming over his head watching him carefully. She hawked him like a mother hen to her chicks, waiting for him to make a mistake, but hoping nothing went wrong.

"I'm not gonna bite," Jack said to Kate whose eyes were fixed on her latent daughter.

"I'm sorry…" her voice drifted off. Jack wondered what world her mind was floating in.

"So…" Jack didn't know how to start the conversation. He wanted to know more about the story behind Penny. Something about Penny was painful to Kate. There was something that she was afraid to tell him, but he was going to suck it out of her. He was anxious to ask her about this mysterious memory buried beneath her, but he didn't want to ruin what the two of them had started by poking around in her private memories. Jack had to know, he needed to know.

Kate sat muted staring into the closed eyes of Penny. Jack had something deep on his mind. She could tell by the look on his face. It seemed she knew him too well. "So what?"

"How are you doing?"

Kate stared at him raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean? You found my daughter, I haven't been this happy in awhile."

"And yet you seem so down. What's wrong?"

"Jack…she's dying. And by the looks of her…she's not going to survive much longer."

"You're talking about her cancer?"

"Yeah, how did y…"

"Penny told me in the jungle. She's worried about you. She's afraid of what's going to become of you if something should happen to her. You're all she has."

"I know. I feel horrible for everything I did to her. She shouldn't have been on the plane. She should be back home in the hospital continuing her treatment. She doesn't deserve this, not after all she's been through."

"I'm sorry…"

"It's alright…after a month you'd think that I'd be ready for this, but I'm not. I still can't believe it."

Jack gazed at her engulfed in her beauty. The slim golden light in the horizon and the red orange glow from the fire lit her face up and made her face illuminate.

"Kate…I was wondering…I don't know how to say this but…Penny's…"

She cut him off. "I didn't know him. I never even saw his face." She sounded ashamed. Her eyes darted to the ground and locked on to the wood crackling in the fire. "It was around my fifteenth birthday." She began to tell him her story, whirling the two of them back into a flashback.

Her older sister, Maura, of 17 was out partying again. Like the previous times she ran off, she knew her little sister Kate would be out looking for her, trying to find her. Maura didn't care about Kate, or the danger she was putting on her by forcing her to track her down. She was reckless, and destroyed her life at a young age. Their parents died shorter than 3 weeks ago, and Maura had already blown most of the money left to them on drugs and alcohol, but she didn't care. She dropped out of high school and usually left Kate alone in their small two bedroom apartment. Her life changed for the worse and at this point she had absolutely no control over her actions.

Kate walked down the dirty city streets of Manhattan looking for Maura. She had been deserted yet again by her foolish older sister. The alleys were frightening to the young teen; she hated walking at night when there could be anyone on the streets waiting to take her away. The crime was horrible in this place she called home. Anything could happen to her…anything at all.

Her feet ached from walking almost five city blocks to find her sister. Neon Light, the club owned by her sister's best "friend," was only a block away. She knew her sister was there. It was the only place she could get in free of charge.

She opened the beaten down door and found the owner, Star. "Where is she?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Well look who's come back. Couldn't stay away from the fun now could you Kate?"

"Just tell me where the heck she is!"

"You stupid little bitch, you actually think I'm going to tell you. Look shrimp she's busy right now."

"Yeah I can only imagine what she's up to." She pushed her way around Star and began trying to fight through the crowd.

Too many people were crammed into the small space and the stench of sweaty dancers nauseated Kate. She kept her head forward and followed a path to the door leading to the backroom.

She threw open the door in rage. Her sister was in there as she expected, with a guy.

"Who's this? The boy toy of the day?"

"Shut up Kate, what the fuck do you want?"

"You took 100. I need that money to buy food."

"Like I care, just get out."

"I'm gonna starve!"

"Why should I care?"

"What's wrong with you? You're not the Maura I knew. You're not the one that was on the honor roll and worked as a babysitter; you're just some lame drug addict." Kate turned to leave when Maura grabbed her arm.

"You want to have some fun with me like the old days?"

"What…what do you mean?"

"Yo Mitch!" she shouted to a guy standing in the shadows eavesdropping. His face was covered by what looked like a mask a robber would wear. "I got something for ya!"

"Maura!" Kate screamed at her sister and struggled to break free. "What are you doing?" Kate wasn't like her sister. She was afraid, and she definitely didn't want to follow her sister's commands. Kate used her last resource. "HELP!" she shouted to anyone who could hear her. Not even one pair of eyes turned towards the terrified girl. Maura threw her at the mysterious Mitch, who grabbed her and shoved her into the locker room behind him. She was crying immensely and tried to fight the man who had pushed her into the room, but he was too strong for her. She was defenseless.

Kate spoke her words quietly, as if she would break into sobbing any moments now. Kate stopped her story, in to much pain from recollection to go on. Her eyes lost focus on Jack's face and reverted to watch the wisps of gray smoke coming off the fire. She tried to continue, "he…he…" she started in a shaky voice with tears balling in her eyes. "It was horrible." she paused. "He…" the ball burst and she turned away from Jack covering her face, trying to hide her flood of tears.

"Kate…" Jack said, obviously concerned for the woman he cared about.

She turned to him and raised her head, with wet tears streaming down her cheeks. He slowly approached her and sat down resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder and wiping a strand of tears with his right thumb. His hand was warm on her face. She gazed into his beautiful hazel eyes, and began to cry again. She laid her head on his chest and let the tears flow from her eyes on to his navy blue shirt. He made no intention of wanting to stop her. She dug her nails into his back slightly in frustration. Jack wrapped his big arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. He talked to her slowly and gently, like a mother would to a young child. He allowed his fingers to run through her long dark gorgeous wavy locks. She pulled away from him slowly, catching his gaze. Then she realized what had happened…

Back on the beach, Locke was giving Walt hunting tips. He was explaining how to use the different knives in his case. Walt, like always, was eager to learn anything about hunting. His father, Michael, was upset that Locke and Walt were friends, but he seemed to be less angry lately. Michael quietly advanced towards the two of them.

"Hey Locke, Walt. Whatcha doin?"

"I was teaching your son how to use different knives for hunting. He's a special person Michael. He's very special."

"Really…that sounds interesting."

"Dad, you couldn't really be interested in something that has to do with hunting are you?"

"Yeah, I think I am."

"Cool," Walt was excited that his father had finally considered how interesting hunting could be.

"Well, I'm going to go to bed," Locke told the two of them. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Mr. Locke," Walt replied to the old man.

Michael watched the man's shadow disappear before turning to his son. "I wanted to talk to you about your mom."

"What about her?"

"I just wanted you to know that I always loved you Walt. I wanted to be a part of your life, too. Your mom, however, took you and didn't let me see you. I made you those cards, hoping that your mom would send them to you, but unfortunately you haven't seen them until now. Walt, I'm sorry if I've been a horrible father to you, but I'm just worried that something is going to happen to you."

"Dad, you're a great father."

"And Walt…"

"Yeah?"

"Locke's a good person."

The orange flames of the cave's fire were dying down. On one side of the fire, the two newly reunited couples were already sleeping. On the opposite side, Penny was resting and Jack was no longer awake. Kate, however, was still up watching the fire's flames dance. She wondered if what happened earlier between her and Jack was a dream, but she knew it wasn't. She knew that what she realized was indeed correct. Jack was in love with her.