Forget Me Not
Chapter Ten
Locke woke up a few hours after Sayid and Boone carried him back. Jack could find no diagnosis for his condition, and Locke couldn't explain a reason for falling unconscious. Sayid held up his promise of not telling Jack about the hatch, and by sunset, things were back to normal.
"Wild day," Kate commented to Jack as he cleaned up around the caves.
"Yeah," Jack agreed and stood to greet Kate, "you've been awful quite."
"So have you," Kate said and then sighed, knowing that if they kept this up, the conversation would get no where, "it's that stuff I found about Sawyer. Well, not Sawyer but-"
Right on cue, Sawyer entered the caves to refill his water, and offer some smart remarks to Charlie on a haircut Claire had recently given him.
"Why don't you tell him," Jack suggested, not in a mean way, but in an advise giving way.
Kate nodded and turned, following Sawyer out of the caves. Jack watched her go. That's when he noticed Alex entering the caves. He hadn't seen her since early that morning(which seemed to Jack like an eternity ago) and hoped that she wasn't the kind to hold a grudge.
"Hey Alex!"
Jack caught her just as she was about to ask Claire something. She studied Jack for a moment, as if trying to decide if he was worth talking to, and then after bidding a farewell to Claire, walked over to him.
"What's up?" She said casually, though it was clear that talking to him wasn't one of her top priorities.
"I was wanting to talk to you," Jack said, knowing that getting the truth out of Alex was going to be just as hard as getting the truth out of Kate.
"I was actually going to stay up here for the night," it was then clear that she was either still mad at her mother about the hatch thing, or something new all together, "can it wait until-"
"It's kind of important," Jack tried saying it so that he boxed Alex in, giving her no choice.
"Fine," Alex sighed, and followed Jack outside.
(Space)
Kate had followed Sawyer back to the beach, though she could have let her presence be known at any time. She watched as he failed miserably at lighting a fire with a well-used lighter and chuckled at his faults. He was worse than Jack. From their skills, it had appeared that neither had stepped foot off a dirt road, which seemed odd coming from Sawyer, since he was from the south.
"Need a light?" She said, approaching him from behind with a small smile cracking at the corners of her mouth.
Not having any other choice, Sawyer held his hand out, and Kate tossed him the lighter, easily replaying a scene from their first month on the island.
"So what's on your mind?" Sawyer said, leaning back after getting his fire going. "Doc boring ya?"
"Hardly," Kate replied dryly.
She took a seat next to him and stared into the fire, realizing for the first time how hard this was going to be.
"You gonna say somethin' or were you wanting me to ease your worries?" Sawyer said, annoyed by her silence. "'Cause I ain't no therapist-" his eyes narrowed, "-unless there was something else that you wanted."
"You're a pig Sawyer," Kate said, as equally bitter as before.
Sighing, Kate finally worked out what she was going to say.
"When we went to the Black Rock," she began, "we found some stuff."
"Found some stuff?" Sawyer repeated, uninterested.
"Yeah," Kate said, "stuff like this."
She showed him the manila envelope which he immediately recognized it. Kate felt her heart lift in hope that maybe for once she'd get something out of him, but instead Sawyer stared at the envelope with eyes of fire. It was clearly something that he never planned on seeing again and now it was coming back, haunting him. For a moment it seemed like Sawyer was going to say something, and Kate prepared herself for the worst, but it never came. Instead he leaned forward towards the fire, letting the envelope dropped until Kate stopped him.
"What the hell are you doing?" She demanded, pulling him back.
"Burning it," he stated through gritted teeth.
"What do you want to do that for?" Kate questioned.
"You don't catch on very fast, do you?" Sawyer said, and stood up.
"Where are you going?" She said, standing up and following him.
"You want to fix my life?" He said furiously, turning back to her. Sawyer thrust the envelope into her chest. "There, take notes, be my guest."
He began to storm off towards the jungle, leaving Kate by herself with the fire and packet.
"Sawyer!" Kate called desperately.
"What?" Sawyer spun back around.
Something suddenly came to her out of nowhere. Actually, it was a piece of information that had struck her a while back, but with everything that had gone on, she repetivly forgotten to mention it.
"What name did you give Hurley for the manifest?" She asked, stepping towards him.
"Why the hell are you asking me that now?"
"Just answer the question," she sighed.
"Fine," Sawyer huffed, "my real name. Figured I might as well give it to them in case they asked for the real manifest."
"And you're real name's the one that's on the manifest, right?" Kate said, walking towards him.
Sawyer couldn't see where she was going with this.
"Yeah."
Soon Kate was right up in his face, inches from him. If Sawyer wasn't so determined to know what was going on, he probably would've tried to kiss her.
"Did you ever wonder why no one brought up the fact that no one mentioned your alias on the manifest?" Kate stared straight into her eyes, searching for an a reaction.
"I just thought that they were so concerned about Ethan that-"
"Sawyer," Kate said, annoyed with his denial, "think about it."
For the first time, Sawyer did, and when he realized what she was talking about, he cursed, turning to the ground, not wanting her to see his face because he knew that Kate could read right through it.
"Sawyer," she said again, more soothingly, and touched his arm.
Sawyer jerked it out of her grip, and whirled around, heading back towards the jungle as if the conversation never happened. Kate started to follow him, but Sawyer was moving to fast and was soon out of sight before she could even make out a trail. Angry with herself, Kate sunk back down into the ground, staring into the fire that she didn't have the strength to put out.
(Space)
On the other side of camp, Alex and Jack were nearing the beach when Jack realized that he hadn't said a word of the conversation he knew he needed to start.
"When we were at the Black Rock," Jack began finally, starting out his conversation with Alex similar to the way Kate had begun hers with Sawyer, "we found some things that had been taken from the island; and one of the things I found..scared me."
Alex let out a laugh.
"I'm not a kid, Jack," she reminded him, "you can use 'big people's words' around me."
"Right," Jack chuckled and then grew serious a little too quickly for Alex's liking, "but one of the things-" he was going to say 'was about you' but decided against it at the last minute.
He showed her instead the envelope he had found. Alex took it cautiously, eyeing him before opening it. When she did, Alex took a minute to look through the pictures and it wasn't until the third that she realized what she was looking at.
"I never saw these," she said quietly, "they were his."
"Was it his plan?" Jack asked calmly. "Whatever you two were doing working on a cruise ship with guns?"
"Did you find the drugs?" Alex said with a snicker.
How ironic it was that around the same time she decided to start over completely, someone found her out.
"Drugs?" Jack repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Alex said, handing Jack the envelope and stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans, "apparently I didn't appear to want to go along with the plan, so some of the guys he was with drugged me."
"Like what?" Jack said, horrified at this new information. "A kidnapping."
Alex shrugged.
"Whatever you want to call it."
She turned and continued walking towards the beach, forgetting all about staying at the caves.
"What was the plan?" Jack asked, curiously, stopping her.
Alex stopped, but didn't turn around.
"It was his plan," she began quietly, "we went to Europe for a week, and ran out of money."
"Why were you in Europe?" Jack tried asking, but Alex ignored him.
"We needed to get out of the country," she continued, speaking so softly that Jack could hardly hear her, "so he got us a job on that ship. Thought we'd rob it. He got together a gang to help us and by the end of the night-"
She turned around and looked at Jack, somewhat pained about the story she was telling.
"We had stolen over twenty-six thousand dollars," Alex finished, and Jack let out a low whistle, "we only ended up getting some of it though. Some guys came after us, we jumped the ship and a couple of those guys he had hired to help us were waiting for us in this motor boat. I jumped too close though, and that's how I got this-"
Alex showed him a scar just above her wrist that Jack had never noticed before, but knew that now he would recognize it every time he looked at her.
"But if it makes you feel any better," she went on, dropping her hand, "I took no part in the robbery. I just kind of stood on the sides while they stashed away the money."
"I should've known, you know," Jack said, "when you said you'd never been on a plane."
"I guess I thought that you'd never catch on," Alex said with a smile, "you seemed kind of slow."
"Funny," Jack snorted.
"Well," Alex said, looking for an excuse out of the conversation, "I guess I'll see you around."
"Yeah," Jack said.
He wanted to ask more about her past, or at least get some clues, but Jack didn't want to push her, as he had made the mistake of doing so to Kate a few times. They parted, going there separate ways.
(Space)
Shannon found Boone sitting at a fire by himself, near the jungle line. She sat down next to him, and handing him a plate of food(which was really an old paper plate with fruit and a small piece of fish on it).
"I figured you should eat," she said when Boone didn't acknowledge her presense, "you need the energy, out there with Locke all day and all."
That made Boone smile a little, and he took the food.
"Thanks."
He had declared that Shannon won the bet, though she said it was only because Boone felt bad about the asthma attack. And she was write. Of course, Boone hadn't told her that.
"So you and Sayid seemed to be on good terms," Shannon went on, tempted to keep talking to him.
"Sure," he mumbled.
"You know I still love you, right?" Shannon said, out of no where.
Boone looked at her. What exactly was that supposed to mean? Shannon rolled her eyes.
"As a sister, I mean," she assured, though it wasn't really all that assuring to Boone, "no matter what crazy secret you and Locke are keeping."
"Right," he muttered and added sarcastically, "love ya too."
"Good," Shannon said, satisfied, "and as a brother, right?"
Boone had to keep himself from biting his lip. Only he knew the truth on that one.
"Right," he lied.
Shannon stood up, but stopped just before leaving, remembering something else that she was going to mention.
"Oh, and by the way," she said in her usual snotty tone, "I know that you told Sayid what you and Locke have been up to. He saw what was in the hatch, and trust me- I'll find out."
"I'm sure you will," Boone said as if it didn't really bother him.
And it didn't, as long as Locke didn't come after him the next day.
"Goodnight Shannon," he said, making it clear that he wanted her to go away.
"Night," she said, rolling her eyes again as she walked away.
(Space)
Minutes earlier from nearby, Kate was watching Jack and Alex talk from a distance, barely able to make out there figures. She had learned shortly after Sawyer's leaving that his fire wasn't that far away from everyone else after all. Or, at least, not that far from Jack and Alex. She had gotten herself so into the game of trying to guess what they were saying that she didn't notice Charlie sneak up behind her.
"Star gazing or waiting for a date?" He said cheerfully as he invited himself to sit down beside her.
"More like people gazing," Kate replied, "any idea what Jack's talking to Alex about?"
"What?" Charlie said, looking there way. Then his expression turned to amusement. "Are you jealous?"
"Jealous?" Kate said with a snigger. "Of who? Alex or Jack?"
"Well he has been spending a lot of time with her," Charlie teased.
"Come on," Kate said in disbelief, trying to figure out if he were serious or not, "if he didn't, she'd just sit there and rot."
"Kind of like how you would?" Charlie spoke in a soft tone.
"Are you trying to make me feel better or something?" Kate really just wanted to be alone.
She didn't know why she felt this way. Take that back. Kate didn't know how she felt period. She knew that she loved Jack, and he loved her- or at least she thought he did. It seemed so long ago since he said it, and he hadn't since that night. They didn't exactly have a blooming relationship, and it was almost as though Jack was embarrassed to be seen with her around everyone else. He'd act all romantic and 'I'm there for you' when it was just the two of them, but with the rest of the group, it was as though any kind of relationship didn't exist. And what he did show, she had to hunt for. Of course, it wasn't really his fault. Jack was supposed to be "the leader" and "the hero", and he couldn't drop all that for her. She didn't want him to.
"Earth to Kate.."
Charlie's voice brought her back into reality.
"As I was saying," Charlie said in mock annoyance, "I just want you to know, that if Jack ever hurts you, you just come to me, all right?"
"Right," Kate said, rolling her eyes, "and what are you going to do? Play the guitar until his eardrums burst?"
"Well.." Charlie chimed, "that could work. But I was thinking more of Claire's horrible singing voice."
"Charlie!" Kate exclaimed, surprised that he would talk about Claire that way.
"I'm joking," Charlie said, "but seriously..never suggest a sing-a-long around her."
"I'm sure Claire's a fine singer," Kate sighed, and turned her gaze back to Jack.
Charlie followed her eyes, and watched the two chat with her for a little while.
"He seems great with kids," he commented, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," agreed Kate, "he probably would've been great with Claire's baby if-"
She trailed off, realizing what she was saying.
"Yeah," Charlie said quietly, the enthusiam suddenly drawn from his voice.
"Hey look," Kate said, feeling bad about bringing up the topic when Charlie seemed to be in such a good mood for a change, "you guys did your best-"
"I know," Charlie said, and after clamping his hands firmly on his knees, stood up, "I think I'm going to turn in. Tell Jack I said hey."
"I will," Kate said, and then turned back to Alex and Jack as he left.
She watched them for a few more seconds and then felt guilty about butting into Jack's private life. Tomorrow, Kate told herself, she'd talk to Jack; but first, she was going to go after Sawyer and make sure that he didn't do anything stupid.
Author's Note: Ah, another ending. I have to sadly say that the next fic won't have a lot of Jate in it(if I do the on-island one, that is) but don't worry, the one after them are full of it. I thought that Sawyer deserved some much-needed attention, and I miss writing him. Thanks you guys for sticking around! You guys rock! (hugs) If you go to lost-forums, make sure that you look for my 'Fated' banner, advertising my series.
Okay, this is where the people get to voice there opinions(but please, in replies, describe which one you pick, don't just say 'I like number 1 and number 2 because I'll forget what they said):
Choices! Choices! Choices!
1. I do a Sawyer-centric on-island fic, along with a Shannon/Boone/Sayid plot where Shannon secretly reads Boone's journal that she steals(yes, he keeps a journal!).
2. Same Sawyer fic, but Sayid reads the journal. I kind of like this one, because of all the Locke stuff, but we all know what Sayid said about Charlie reading Claire's diary.
3. Same Sawyer fic, but with working in a plot of Shannon finding Nadia's pictures, which I actually meant to do in this fic but..um..forgot.
4. An off-island fic, picking up where "Famous Last Words" left off, centered around Sawyer, Kate, Jack, and their apartment life with many visits from Sarah and baby Kate.
I'll try to incorporate titles to the fics more, which I didn't do in this story. I meant to use 'forget me no' with the Shayid thing, but um..I did forget. How ironic. I'm terribly sorry about that, I haven't done that great of a job with that lately, mostly because I'm running out of title ideas. Speaking of which..
Which title sounds better for this fic:
A patient of Jack's has a past connection to Sawyer, and a journal spills some secrets- and island secrets- that should've stayed hidden. Or should they?(or the plot with Shannon, Sayid, and Nadia- I have to tell you, I think I'm doing the journal thing because of how I'm planning the beginning).
The Last Goodbye
or
Falling Up
I kinda wanted to use "Falling Up" for a fic with a Jack plot, but the ones I have for him already have titles. Both titles with probably be used at one point or another.
I also need help with a Sawyer flashback..any ideas? I want it to deal with Hibbs and "the Tampa job"- whatever that's supposed to mean. I kinda have one, but it's a little foggy.
Here's the summary for the off-island fic which..um..doesn't have a title either. Maybe I'll use "Falling Up" for it..
Jack deals with issues with an ex-wife, while Sawyer deals with past issues of his own. J/K with Sawyer. Post-island.
That's not much of a summary, so let me narrow it down. The whole thing with Sawyer killing that guy in Australia comes back to haunt him, and Sarah gives Jack a lot of trouble, everything from parenting responsibilities(too much of them for a busy doctor like Jack), custody issues(kind of the same thing, I guess) and all at the same time she has this crazy idea of getting the two of them back together. Let's just say that Jack gets into some trouble in this fic, but only because it's all put on his shoulders first.
Well if anyone read all that, I'd love your advise/suggestions.
Thanks again and I really hope to see you guys back for the next fic, whatever that one might be(hm..sounds like "Whatever the Case May Be"..okay, now the night's getting to me..). Just look for my screen name! YOU GUYS ROCK!
Until next time..
October Sky