The Regulators
Chapter Four
"So how's the married life?"
Jack turned from his spot on the pier at the sound of his father's voice.
"How'd you find me here?" Jack asked, surprised to see him.
After he had gotten off of work at eight, Jack had drove down to the pier that stretch out into the Atlantic ocean. The summer's sun was setting above him in clouds of pink and purple, and the site had always had a way of taking his breath away, even for a kid, and he had learned not to care how cheesy that sounded. Now, his father sat next to him, taking off his socks and shoes as he eased his feet into the salty water below, letting the waves crash against them.
"I got one of my coworkers to follow you to work and then they called and told me where you were," Christian joked as he sat down, and then followed Jack's gaze out to the sea. "You know, you've been coming out here since you were a kid."
"Yeah," Jack nodded, "I know."
"So I guess you never forgot about the place?"
"No," Jack admitted, "I come here anytime there's anything on my mind."
"So what's on your mind tonight?" Christian asked, on top of Jack's thoughts.
Jack let his hands dangle between his legs as he looked down at the sparkling, navy blue waters that reflected his tired image back to him.
"Sarah's pregnant," Jack said finally.
"I know."
Unable to look at himself any longer, Jack turned to his father.
"Sarah called me," Christian explained, "she said she though I should know."
Christian's eyes narrowed and Jack knew the end of that sentence would be 'because she didn't think that you would tell me.'
"I don't know if I can be a father," Jack said, remembering a similar conversation he had had with his father the night before his wedding.
"I think we've talked about this before," Christian said, reading Jack's mind.
"I don't think I can do it," Jack said, surprised to hear his voice breaking.
"We haven't had the best relationship," Christian admitted, looking at Jack, "but all I've been trying to do is to teach you that life is hard. It throws things at you when you don't want it, but you have to deal with it anyway. And I know that from it you learned all you need to know about how to pull through. You've already done it once, and I know that you can do it again, and this time, I'll be on your side."
For the first time Jack looked up at his father, and as he did, he knew that he was hearing the truth.
Jack's hand shook as he held the gun, and he felt himself turning sick inside. His head told him no, to pull back, but his muscles didn't agree, and he had therefor spent ten minutes just standing there, holding the gun on Sawyer, staring at him. Sawyer had managed to relax a bit, knowing that if Jack was really going to do it, he would've pulled the trigger a long time ago. Now his biggest problem was the bark that was cutting into his back. For Jack, though, he couldn't back down, almost as if something else was controlling him, but at the same time..
Don't do it Jack.
The odd part was, it was like the voice wasn't even his.
(A few minutes earlier)
Locke stared at the screen determined to think up a plan as voices of the castaways thoughts filled the air.
Don't do it..
Please Jack, don't do it..
Now this is just getting old..
Then finally he thought of something.
"Boone, tell Jack not to do it," Locke told Boone suddenly.
"What?"
"Just do it!"
"Jack," Boone said with uncertainty, echoing Kate's voice, "Jack, don't do it."
(Space)
"So are you going to do anything with that gun or am I just acting as a shelf here?" Sawyer said after it had been an half an hour.
Most of the crowd had lost interest in the fight, and drifted back to whatever it was they were doing, only leaving Kate and Sayid.
Jack, don't do it, said a voice in his head.
"Jack, you know why you're doing this," Kate said in a pleading tone from behind him.
Along with Kate, Sayid also knew why Jack was standing here, acting like he was about to murder Sawyer.
"He's not worth it," Sayid said, and at that, Jack finally decided that they were right, and lowered the gun, letting out a breath as Sawyer lowered his head, and then looked back up at Jack.
"It's about time," Sawyer said roughly, "but I knew you couldn't do it."
With that, Jack swirled around, and stormed back off towards the caves.
"Jack-" Kate began, reaching out and grabbing Jack's arm.
Jack stopped, and gave her one good look before throwing her arm off, and continued back towards the caves, leaving Sayid, Kate, and Sawyer standing in silence, until Michael interrupted.
"Hey, Kate, Sawyer," Michael greeted, walking up to them.
In the mist of what happened, Michael looked like the happiest guy in the world right now as he approached them.
"I'm going to go check on Shannon," Sayid whispered to Kate, "want me to go check on Jack as well?"
"No," Kate said quietly, and as Sayid left, turned to Michael, "what's up?"
"I just wanted to let you two know that the raft is ready to sail," Michael informed them, "we're heading out this afternoon, hoping to catch some patrol ship or something."
"Why are you telling me this?" She asked after exchanging a glance with Sawyer.
"Claire decided it be better if she'd stay on land," Michael continued, "where there was a doctor to help her- she thinks she'll be going in to labor soon, and Charlie wants to stay here, so there's an extra seat on the raft, if you want it."
Kate turned and looked at Sawyer, who was smirking, and seemed to know that this wasn't the first time the situation had popped up.
"Thanks," Kate said quietly, "I'll think about it."
"Well, we kind of need to know something now," Michael said, "just in case we needed to offer the spot to someone else."
Kate bit her lip, turned in two. She knew she needed to be here, for Jack's own benefit, for situations like today, but then again, with Sawyer gone, there might not have been another situation like today, and she began to wonder if other than that, she was just a bother to Jack.
"All right," Kate nodded finally, "I'll come."
"All right," Michael said, smiling, "see you then."
He turned and left, and she went back to Sawyer, who was still smirking.
"Doc ain't good enough for ya?" He smirked.
"That's not it," Kate said, barely able to get words out.
"Don't worry," Sawyer said when he knew he wasn't getting an explanation, taking a good grip on her arm "your secret's safe with me."
Kate looked at him, and then jerked away, leaving Sawyer to watch as she escaped to the caves.
Author's Note: Yes I know, all these short chapters, but good news, only a chapter or two left! I need to know though, would you rather me make the next part a separate fic, or keep it in the same? It could really go either way. Thanks for all the reviews today!
Next up, on "The Regulators":
The raft sets sail, leaving Jack in a depressed state, but it's not out for long. And on top of that, Boone makes a confession to Sayid that could cost his reputation, but if he keeps it secret it may cost his sanity. Or what little he has left after getting out of that hatch.
Until next time..
October Sky
