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Disclaimer: I still do not own any of these characters.
Reconnecting
Deborah was in complete shock as she watched Kate and Jack's retreating form. How could someone kill three people in cold blood? How could I allow someone like that to remain under my roof?Jack may be willing to let the past go and give that girl a new start, but I want her in jail! Shaking, she walked over to the phone and began to dial. 9. 1. 1. She tried to force away her hesitancy, reminding herself again of the horror of Kate's crime. It was so easy to condemn, and yet…
Nagging at the back of her mind, small but most definitely present, was a whispering little voice that could somehow understand. A voice that reminded Deborah of what she would be willing to do to hang on to something of the man she had loved. Slowly, she hung up the phone.
Taking a deep breath, she walked into the living room where her son and the convict were watching the morning news. Something about a breakout from the hospital's psychiatric ward and how upset a Dr. Rom was? She couldn't care less. The only thing that Deborah noticed was that Jack still respected this woman. He did not shy away from her or act scared or angry. And, added the little voice. It's not like she's going to ruin his life or anything in just a couple of weeks, right?
She finally spoke. "Kate?" Both figures on the couch turned around. Kate's face was filled with anxiety, she obviously as expecting Deborah to ask her to leave. "It seems that you need some new clothes. Would you like to come shopping with me?"
Both Jack and Kate broke into grins.
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"We did it!" Claire smiled for the first time in days as she looked around at the serene beauty of the small park that they had stopped at. "We really escaped."
Charlie nodded happily and watched her look up into the sky. She began to laugh as the sunshine sprinkled sown onto her upturned face.
Still laughing, she turned to him and cocked her head. "I love you," she stated simply and sunnily. Before Charlie could react to this with words, Claire threw her arms around him and gently kissed his lips.
Charlie was momentarily taken aback. In his rock star days, he had been with many, many girls, but he but none of them even came close to make him feel like this. Claire made him feel happy and fluttery, like he wanted to sing and laugh and be with her forever.
But Charlie had never been able to put his feelings into eloquent words. So, instead of saying anything at all, Charlie pulled Claire closer and kissed her harder. She felt like jumping for pure joy.
They were so caught up in each other that neither heard the suggestive cough of the elderly woman who stood beside them. Irritated, she finally said loudly, "Excuse me, sir and madam. I said, EXCUSE ME."
Gasping for air, they both turned to face her. "There are children in this park. Could we please try to keep the public displays of affection to a bare minimum?"
Charlie and Claire blushed red. The woman's keen eyes took in Claire's pregnant belly and the absence of wedding rings on the couple's fingers. Crossing herself, she whispered, "God have mercy on you," and walked away as quickly as her frail legs would carry her. It was all Charlie and Claire could do to keep from laughing until she had gotten out of hearing distance.
Chuckling, Charlie said, "So, she was not-so-politely telling us to get a room?"
Claire laughed. "Good advice, actually. The sun is beginning to set and we need a place to stay for the night."
Charlie slowly tried to focus in on studying the map and finding a suitable hotel. He was having quite a bit of trouble accomplishing this, as his mind kept drifting back to thoughts of Claire and what it and felt like to finally kiss her.
"Do you see anything?" she asked.
"Um, well, it looks like we're on, um, actually I'm not quite sure. Never had to read a map before, you see. I know all the great party spots, though, there's a club down that street over there that is absolutely amazing, but that's probably not going to help us now. Hotel, we need a hotel. I wonder…"
Claire interrupted his musings with a tap on his arm. "Oh my God. Charlie, is that…?"
"One minute, love." Charlie was growing frustrated in his attempt to read this map correctly and he did not appreciate his attention being broken.
"No, Charlie, look!" Claire grabbed his arm and pointed across the street.
Finally, Charlie looked up. He fell speechless. All he could do at this point was feel a new wave of appreciation for Carl Jung.
Standing in front of them, waving happily, was none other than Hurley.
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"Thank you so much, Ms Shepard. I will pay you back, I promise."
"Oh, don't worry about it. You needed the clothes – it was nothing at all. Now, I'm going to go have some coffee, why don't you go upstairs and try on some clothes?"
Kate could tell that Deborah could not wait to be left alone. A whole morning of pretending to be nice for her son's sake had most definitely worn on her. "Okay. Good idea."
Kate picked up her bags and walked upstairs. Even if Deborah's friendliness was temporary, it was by far an improvement over before and it had put Kate in a better mood. She had hated revealing the tale of the bank robbery, but she had seen the newspaper. They would have found out anyway, better they heard it from her.
But that was all over now and it had turned out okay. Kate was finding herself in a much better mood. Entering her room, she pulled out one of her new outfits – dark pants and a pretty, lacy peasant blouse. She slipped into them and fixed her hair into a loose bun.
She began to look into more of her new stuff when there was a knock at her door. She opened it to find Jack standing there holding a change of sheets for her bed. Apparently, Deborah was big on freshness.
"Hi. I have your sheets."
"How do I look?" she asked lightly.
He placed the sheets on the floor and slowly looked her over. "You look beautiful," he said sincerely.
Kate was taken aback by his serious tone. She suddenly felt uncomfortable, like she was losing control of something. Quickly, she tried to move back to a joking tone. "Well," she began, with more confidence than she felt. "It's nothing special really. Just everyday stuff – no big deal."
Jack looked hard at her. Abruptly, he stepped into her room, letting the door close behind him. "Kate," he said, suddenly smiling. "Think we'd have a chance?"
She forced a laugh. "In your dreams."
"In both our dreams, actually. Do you remember, Kate? That last day before we woke up?"
Kate blushed as she recalled the kiss they had shared that day. Her eyes fell to their arms, where the matching scars still lay visible on their skin. "I remember. I asked if… if it meant anything."
"I didn't know then. But now…"
"What do you think now?"
"I think maybe everything does happen for a reason."
"So we were meant to be? Regardless of life, of reality?"
"Don't you feel it?"
"I don't know. I don't know anything anymore."
Jack stepped forward and kissed her gently, bringing his hand up to the nape of her neck. She slowly began to kiss him back, feeling warmth rush over her body.
He whispered against her mouth, "don't you feel it? Mean to be, maybe?"
She responded by throwing her arms around him and pulled him even closer, closing her mouth on his. Both could feel themselves getting caught up in each other. Kate pulled back a moment to pull off first his t-shirt, then her own, then she began to kiss him hard again. She stepped backwards and fell back on her bed, taking Jack with her. She ran her hand over his arms and back, feeling all of his smoothly defined muscles. She was completely losing herself in him. She didn't stop – there was no going back now…
"Jack Shepard! You bastard! What the hell are you doing?"
Hastily, Jack and Kate pulled apart, still panting for air. Jack's eyes widened when he saw who it was. "Lorraine?" he gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Your mother sent me up here, said that you wanted to talk to me and that she had gotten some nice theater tickets for us and that you were getting ready. Apparently, she forgot to mention that while you were getting ready you were also screwing some bitch that I've never seen before."
"Listen, Lorraine…."
"Look, I don't want to hear it Jack. I know what I see. Just don't talk to me again, okay?" Hurt and on the verge of tears, Lorraine rushed out the door and down the stairs. Jack grabbed his shirt and began to follow her out. He paused at the door and looked back at Kate, obviously torn.
Kate put her shirt back on and looked coldly at him. "Go."
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"Charlie! Claire! What's up? What are you guys doing here?"
"Well, we're, um…" Charlie tried to think of a way to phrase a response that did not damage his ego.
This proved fruitless as Claire responded, "We're lost because Charlie can't read a map. Now we need to find a hotel."
"Hurley laughed. "Wanna crash with me?"
Charlie smiled his appreciation. "That would be great."
"One thing I should warn you about, though."
"Oh, we don't mind a mess or anything."
"Well, one person, I should say."
Claire's curiosity was piqued. "Who?"
"Sawyer."
Charlie and Claire were shocked. "Sawyer?! But why is he staying with you?"
"He had nowhere else to go, and I just didn't have the heart to turn him down, you know? Anyways, follow me. I live in the apartment on the top floor of this building here."
The two followed Hurley into the building. As they walked, Charlie murmured in her ear, "Wow. Hurley is a far better man than I. Not in a million years would I willingly accept Sawyer into my home."
"Claire smiled. "You are a great person, Charlie. Not taking in Sawyer isn't being cold, it's having common sense!"
"Here we are- my humble abode." Hurley opened the door to apartment 4C happily. Charlie and Claire entered cautiously, as if afraid that Sawyer would pounce at any moment. They took in the layout – a main living room with access to dining room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen which was, as they had expected, stocked to the brim. The apartment was messy, but somehow gave the impression of being simple and homey.
Hurley smiled proudly. I call it: organized chaos."
"Interesting."
"Oh, it's just fascinating. Trust me, it'll be even more fascinating when he's told you that for the eight-hundredth time in two days."
"Hello, Sawyer."
"Charlie, Claire. Long time no see. Are you guys going to stay here?"
"For a little."
"So this is like a rehashing of fantasy island, fatso?"
"I guess so."
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The hot water from the shower was a relief. Kate closed her eyes and felt the near scalding water numbing her slowly. He said we were meant to be. And he has a girlfriend. She didn't know whether to feel sad or angry or relieved, so for the moment she just didn't want to feel anything. Finally, when she felt that she couldn't take the heat anymore, she turned off the water.
Pulling on her clothes, Kate hung up the towel and walked back to what had become her room. She pushed open the door and came to a standstill in confusion. All of her stuff was gone. Confused, Kate walked downstairs and was surprised to see a suitcase packed next to the door in the front hall. Deborah stood next to it, watching her.
Kate did not want to talk to her at the moment. "Where's Jack? I need to talk to him."
"Out. Trying to make up with Lorraine, who I finally managed to convince to give him another shot. Thing is, sweetheart," she continued bitterly. "You were just a fling, a temporary distraction. We all know that Lorraine is his real future, and we're not going to let anything screw that up. Got it?" She gestured towards the door.
"If you're waiting for an apology, you're not going to get one."
"I'm not waiting for an apology. I'm waiting for you to get the hell out of my house." Deborah stepped forward and pulled open the wooden door, gesturing for Kate to walk through.
Kate stepped forward, seriously considering leaving. What is left for me here anymore? He's done enough…
"You should be ashamed to be still under this roof. Don't you understand, girl? You ruined his life."
Kate ran. Without thought, she simply could not stand to be in that house an instant longer. It was only when she was three blocks away that she realized that she had forgotten the suitcase, but there was no way she was going back.
Suddenly, thunder lit up the darkening night sky. She cursed under her breath and ran faster, searching desperately through the streets for some form of shelter. She slowed as she approached a series of alleys. Fear slowly began to creep down her spine as she realized that there were no lights to be found. I need to get out of here.
Blindly, she plodded down the first alley she came to. It twisted and turned and led her back to where she started. Panting, Kate thought she saw a glimmer of light down the second alley. She hit a dead end.
Whirling around, Kate began to run. The darkness, the harsh whispering of the falling rain, the futility of the search – she felt trapped in a real-life version of her dream. Only this time, she knew she wouldn't wake up and find Jack's comforting arms. All she would find from now on would be cold and dark.
Shivering, Kate crouched under a windowsill and wrapped her arms around herself. She passed out the instant she leaned back against the brick wall. Her slumber was so deep that she did not feel the hands grab her, lift her up, and carry her away…
I hope you enjoyed this chapter; I had a lot of fun writing it. Please continue to review and let me know what you think!
