Famous Last Words
Chapter Six
Author's Note: I gave Sawyer a real name before "Outlaws" aired, and as a joke, I named him Jude after the Beatle's song "Hey Jude". So for sake of confusion, I'll make his middle name James, therefor comes the nickname J.J.
Disclaimer: "Angel" was written and performed by Sarah McLachlan. I do not own it.
Nearly five hours later Jack and Sawyer were walking back down the hall to Jack's apartment. Both had avoid saying anything to the other, though Jack couldn't hold back from snickering when Sawyer was forced to come forward with his real name at the police station. Some how, Sawyer being named after Beatle's songs and bibliogical characters just didn't fit, but Jack kept that opinion to himself, though he jokingly asked him in the car if he ever went by the nick name J.J. He was sure that comment would've received a punch if Sawyer had regained his full strength back, but luckily, he hadn't.
As they neared the door, Sawyer stopped suddenly, and Jack was about to ask 'what now?' when a soft voiced answered from him. Singing. Coming from his apartment, along with a piano accompanate. From the vandalism, Jack knew all of his cds had either been stolen or destroyed, so there was only one other solution..
"I thought she sucked at piano," Sawyer commented.
"Did she ever tell you she could sing?" Jack asked, and Sawyer just shrugged.
It wasn't until they neared the door that they could make out the lyrics, which neither of them recognized, thought it was really "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan.
Jack knocked on the door and the music stopped shortly on the next chord, making Sawyer smirked as they heard the sound of someone scurrying to put something away. When Jack finally opened the door, they found Kate pretending to sleep on the couch. She 'stirred awake' at the sound of them entering.
"Sorry," she said, jumping up, "must've fallen asleep."
"You know," Jack chimed, "of all those years watching the Brady Bunch, I don't remember Alice ever falling asleep on the job.."
Kate flushed while Sawyer went right to the topic of his interest.
"So who taught you how to play?" He said with a sly smile.
"What?" Kate asked innocently. "Oh. That. Around."
"Bar hopping?" Sawyer smirked.
"Funny," Kate said with a sarcastic smile, "anyway, I think I got the place pretty good. The walls were hell though."
"They were all ready hell," Jack said, "the paint was just a decoration."
"How do you supposed someone managed to drag all of that stuff to wreck the place with and do all of this without anyone noticing?" Sawyer said, picking up a dirty sock that Kate grabbed out of his hands.
"Through the window," Jack said, standing at what used to be the balcony door, looking down at the city below before turning to Kate, "I don't guess you noticed any signs of suspects?"
"No," Kate said helplessly, before her eyes lit up, "oh, but you did get a call."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
"From who?"
Kate shrugged.
"Someone named Sarah," Kate said, causing Jack's expression to become grave, "she wanted to stop by. I told her you were out, but I didn't think you would mind if she came-"
Jack groaned in the middle of it, collapsing onto the couch(now turned right side up, though there was some tares in it.
"Later," Kate finished, "that wasn't a good thing to say, was it?"
"To make a long story short, no," Jack said, and leaned back against the cushions, staring up at the ceiling.
What could Sarah want? It had been nearly a year since she had left him, since she had permanently damaged his ego, and every last bit of the romantic that was left in him. On perfect timing, there was a knock on the door.
"That the lucky lady now?" Sawyer said, enjoying the moment.
But Kate, who had no clue what was going on, eyed him, as Jack got up with a sigh, forcing himself to walk towards the door, every step lasting a eternity. Finally the door was opened, and he found himself facing Sarah, a year older with the same long, blonde hair, though the lump in her stomach was now flat, and the baby that was once growing inside was now resting in her arms.
"Hey," she said softly.
But Jack could only stand there staring, and he realized that he was almost afraid to find out why his ex-wife was there.
"Hey Sarah," he heard himself greet in return, and then blurted out, "look, if you're looking for money-"
"I'm not," Sarah said confidently, "I'm fine. I actually came to see how you were. I heard about the crash and everything on the news, and your father- I'm so sorry, Jack. He was a good man."
"Yeah," Jack nodded, momentarily drawn from his worries, "he was."
"I was just wondering if we could catch up," Sarah said, obviously having to work up the nerve to do so.
That was when they both heard soft giggling from inside, and Jack had to mentally remind himself to kill Sawyer later.
"But I see you have company," Sarah said quickly, embarrassed.
"No, it's fine," Jack said, closing the door behind him, "we can just- talk out here."
He leaned back against the door casually, trying to give himself sometime to pull himself together.
"So.." he stuttered, trying to find somewhere to began, "he looks healthy. The baby, I mean."
"She," Sarah said, smiling proudly, "and thanks."
"Anything in particular you wanted to talk about?" Jack asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"Just your normal, every day conversation," Sarah said, clearly nervous.
They grew quiet as each tried to think of something to say.
"So who's the father?"
Jack could've kicked himself. Not only was that none of his business, but just the fact that the question was bothering him irked him.
"Actually," Sarah said, biting her lip, "you are."
Jack froze. He had heard wrong, surely.
"What?" He asked, looking at Sarah, puzzled. "I'm sorry, I though you just told me that I was a father."
"You are," Sarah said, and sighed, "look Jack, I lied about having an affair, and truthfully, since we were married, I haven't been with anyone else. I swear."
"I don't understand," Jack said, shaking his head, trying to make sense of it, "I was scared Jack. Afraid."
"What did you have to be afraid of?"
This didn't make any sense at all to Jack, and he was once again getting the feeling of being back in high school, and being turned down by another date.
"Jack," Sarah said slowly, and Jack got the feeling that if she wasn't holding the baby that this would've been the point in the conversation where she would've reached out for Jack's hand. "We both know that you aren't the most stable person."
"Stable person?" Jack repeated, unable to believe in what he was hearing. "I just spent three months on a God damn island, and I had to treat just about every kind of problem you could thing of with as many of a variety of people as you could think of, and I had to just go through so God damn much-"
"I'm sorry," Sarah said, cutting Jack off quickly, "I shouldn't of come."
She tried to turn around, clutching the baby in her arms, but didn't get far before Jack grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"No," Jack said, a little more calmly, "I want to know."
"I talked to some of your friends-"
"My friends don't know anything," Jack said, sighing drastically.
"No, I think they do," Sarah said thickly, "I just wanted what was best- for the baby."
"What's best for the baby?" Jack said, beginning to shake a little. "I have a steady job, I was going to be able to finance-"
"That's not what I meant," Sarah said, and then held the baby in one hand while stroking Jack's arm with the other.
Jack pulled away.
"You think I'm crazy?" Jack said in disbelief.
"No," Sarah said quietly, "I just think that you need some help."
"I don't believe this," Jack said, and reached for the doorknob.
"Jack, stop!" Sarah said, making him turn around and stare at her, as if just daring her to go on. "I'm sorry, I know those three months must've been hard-"
"You have no idea," Jack muttered, looking down.
"But what if you hadn't been rescued?" Sarah said. "What would've happened then? I worried about you so much. There was coverage all over the news- everywhere you went. Signs. Billboards. Pleas for family members to come home. It was..horrible."
The impact of that statement hit Jack like bricks as he realized he had never thought of how the rest of the world was dealing with the crash and its aftermath. And now he felt even worse, in guilt and selfishness. What of those families now? With the news of rescue, everyone must've been overjoyed, but what happened with the families of the dead?
"It would of never worked out between us," Sarah continued, "and I think both of us know that."
"I still don't-" Jack shook his head, "look, why don't you come in? I'll try and get them to get out for a while, and we can talk this through."
Sarah hesitated, and then agreed. Jack opened the door, and let her in. Sawyer opened his mouth to say something, probably sarcastic, but Kate nudged him just in time, stopping him.
"Um.." Sarah stated nervously, "hi."
"Oh, right," Jack said, "um..this is Sarah."
"Hi," Kate said, smiling kindly, "you have a beautiful girl there."
"Thanks," Sarah said, returning the smile.
"Mind if I hold her?" Kate asked, seeming completely obvious to the amount of angst in the room.
"No!" Sarah said. "Go right ahead. I could use a break."
Carefully, she allowed Kate to take the baby in her arms, and even Sawyer had to admit that she was adorable. Though to him, both Kate and the baby.
"If you don't mind me asking," Kate said, stroking the baby's soft hair, "who's the father?"
Sarah glanced nervously at Jack, wondering what to say, Jack cleared his throat, and answered for her.
"Apparently," Jack said, leaning back in the couch, sighing, "she's mine."
Sawyer choked on his breath in a snort, and Kate just looked shock.
"We..uh..used to be married," Sarah said, suddenly feeling very awkward.
She didn't even know if Jack had wanted the two to know that.
"And you're divorced?" Sawyer said slowly, though obviously getting a kick out of the situation.
"For awhile," Sarah nodded.
An odd silence drew over the room, until Kate finally decided to speak up.
"What's her name?"
"Kate," Sarah answered in a more pleasant tone than before, "Katelyn actually."
"How ironic," Sawyer snorted.
Sarah just looked at him, puzzled.
"That's my name," Kate explained, and Sarah let out a little 'oh'.
Of course, it was only a fake name, but still.
"Oh- God," Sarah said suddenly, "I didn't know what time it was. I was going to go eat at my mother's."
She turned to Jack.
"And you know how she is about being on time."
Her comment caused Jack to smile a little in memory.
"Yeah," he said, "here, let me walk you out."
Kate gave little Kate back to Sarah, still smiling as sweetly as she could, and Sarah followed Jack out the door.
"Listen," he said before she could go, "I don't care what happened in the past. If you ever need any help- if you need anything at all, give me a call, okay?"
"Don't worry," Sarah said, smiling, "when this kid gets to school, you'll be the first name on the emergency list."
Jack smiled back, and then said, "If she's really mine-"
"She is, I swear," Sarah cut in.
"Then I still want to be apart of her life," Jack continued, "rather we're together or not."
Sarah nodded.
"I appreciate it," Sarah said, "really."
Leaning forward, she couldn't help but to give Jack a little peck on the cheek, causing Jack to blush, knowing Kate and Sawyer's eyes were boring on him.
"Thanks."
With that, she turned, and began to sweet talk baby Kate as she sat her into a stroller that Jack didn't notice was there, and just as soon as she had arrived, Sarah disappeared down the hallway.
Famous Last Words
Chapter Seven
Sighing deeply, Jack leaned against the door, closing his eyes. The last time he remembered life changing so quickly before his eyes was the day of the crash, though then again, he guessed that you could also count the day of the rescue. He tried to take in all the information given to him, but knew that it would take him days and sleepless nights to get used to it, if he was able to at all. It had really hit him hard, what Sarah had said, her reason for leaving him. Because he needed help. He had never felt so selfish in his life. Now that baby was going to grow up without a daddy, or worse, Sarah would remarry, to a man who would be half the father that Jack knew he could be. Not if he could help it.
The room filled with deadly silence that none of the three seemed to be able to handle. Sawyer stared at a scar on his finger from the long ago torture section with Sayid, while Kate watched him, and Jack watched the two of them. The scene didn't help his guilt at all.
"I'm going to, uh-" just as Jack was about to make an excuse to leave, the phone rang, and Kate, nearest, answered it.
"Hello?" She asked simply, unsure how Jack normally answered his phone.
She then glanced at Jack and handed him the phone.
"It's for you," she said quietly as Jack walked over, "it's your boss."
"Hello?" Jack said as he took the phone, cupping it in his hands. "Yes. I'm fine. No- don't worry about me."
Kate raised an eyebrow.
"Um..yeah, sure," Jack said next, and then stopped cold, his throat closing up, "um..yeah..I understand..no, really. I enjoyed working with you too."
Kate and Sawyer glanced at each other, both listening hard for the voice on the other end. Furiously, Jack hung up the phone, and threw it against the wall. The phone struck the spray-painted sheets of brick with a crack, and broke into pieces on the floor as Jack gave out a curse of frustration, and fell onto the couch, holding his head in his hands. Not knowing what to say, Kate waited a moment to try and give Jack a chance to calm down, though she knew that that probably wouldn't be for awhile.
"What's wrong?" She asked finally.
Jack sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and eyes, which looked moist.
"I just lost my job."
Author's Note: I have an explanation! Don't kill me yet! Actually, you probably hate me anyway. But I'm planning a happy ending, truthfully! I'm not sure what I want in that chapter yet. Too many ideas! Anyway, yes, I know, I'm evil to poor Jack. Oh, and btw, because of stupid new rule concerning songfic, I've moved all my songfic chapters to my exanga page. The link can be found in my bio. Thanks for all the reviews!
FanOfLost- aw..hugs I heart you too! In fact, I heart all of my reviewers! You guys are the best!
Shanters- I'll give you a hint, the culprit has nothing to do with neither Jack nor Sawyer, and he strikes again. Soon.
Coming up next in(or in the near future) "Famous Last Words":
An old friend visits, and brings some news down on Jack of something that happened in the past that Jack didn't know about, which sends him in a frenzy(funny word there) to his mother's. And if there's room, Jack and Kate have a conversation about Jack's life, and Kate tries desperately to help him, as Sawyer picks back up on some old habits, which may cost one of their lives, but not in the way that you think.
Hm..that last sentence reminds me of one of the old death spoilers. Locke's envolved but not in the way that you think. But that has nothing to do with what's going to happen next..I think..(insert evil grin here).
For the news for Jack, I've mentioned it before, in a past fanfic where I talked about this story. You've seen it. Thanks again for the reviews!
October Sky
