Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or any of the characters in it. I also do not own Gone With the Wind, Scarlett, or Rhett.
Notes: Yes, this story will end eventually. I just have no idea how. ) But here's the next chapter. Lots of Sawyer/Kate/Jack love triangle action. And for those of you who haven't seen/read Gone With The Wind, the line "What a woman!" was said by Rhett Butler. I've borrowed it in this story.
Summary: Sawyer and Kate meet up with a fellow castaway and learn of the fate of the raft.
"Rhett, Scarlett, and Ashley?"
The first sound that got his attention was the sound of a stick cracking. After that there was silence for a moment, as if the intruder was contemplating whether it was safe to proceed. Sawyer became very tense and very aware of his surroundings.
Hell if he was gonna let some loon get his hands on her again.
He was lying behind her, farthest away from the cave opening, in the classic spoon position. He pushed the hair away from her ear and lightly nudged her with his body. He whispered her name in her ear, trying not to announce their presence to the awaiting attacker.
"Sawyer?" She said in a normal tone. He winced at the volume of her voice.
"Shhh." He said with insistence. She took offense of this for half a second, until she noticed the shadow outside of the cave opening.
"They found us." She whispered in panic. She was beginning to shake again and he touched her arm in an attempt to comfort her.
"Shut up and just do what I say." He demanded. He knew she wasn't the type of girl to take orders, but in this situation he wasn't giving her an option. "Move slow and get against the wall." He gestured to the wall behind them. She followed his order, glancing at him in concern. He had no qualms about what he was doing. This was one situation where he felt he had complete confidence in his abilities. Once she was behind him he made sure he was blocking the majority of her body with his own. He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out the handgun he'd stolen from the doctor.
"Sawyer no…" Kate began. He knew what she was going to tell him.
"Save the confession Freckles I already know." He glanced at her, a serious look all about him. "This one has bullets in it sweet cheeks; you know the kind that kill people." She seemed to back farther into the wall, almost afraid of this new and intimidating man before her. He knew he must look scary at the moment, but that was just the determination. Sawyer didn't have much to fight for, but when he did he fought with his whole heart and soul.
He watched the shadow and listened to the footsteps. Half of him was focused on the person outside, the other half on the person he was protecting. There were no distractions. He could hear her behind him, breathing rapidly and trying to hold it together. But right now his main focus had to be on that shadow in the entrance of the cave and he mentally painted a big red target on the thing creating it.
The shadow moved closer and closer until the silhouette of a person was seen attempting to enter the cave. That was when he jumped into action.
"I got a gun pointed straight at the top of your head, friend. Now if you don't want to die tonight you might want to just step back a step." His southern accent made the threat sound even more psychotic and real. He knew this about himself and often doubled his accent just to intimidate people.
The figure began to back up slowly, leaving their little makeshift home. Sawyer watched until the shadow was outside of the cave entirely and then, gun first of course, took a step towards the opening. He glanced back at Kate a moment, meeting her eyes. When he spoke it was loud and with a purpose.
"Don't move. Me and my little friend will be right there." He winked as he spoke. This was both a threat to the man standing outside and a reassurance to the woman he was trying to protect. She smiled back at him, showing that she understood. He nodded a silent response and stepped fully out into the open.
"What the…" He began, staring at the presence before him. He stood tall with his hands held high in the air. He took the threat seriously and was obviously intimidated, yet at the same time amused. His clothes were torn and there were stains resembling blood on them.
"Hi Sawyer. Long time no see." Jack said, a slight sarcastic tone to his voice. Sawyer had no choice but to lower the gun, though he would have loved to keep it raised on this man.
"Well hey there Doc. Didn't figure I'd be seein' you anytime soon." His cocky grin had returned and his voice was sarcastic in tone. Kate obviously took this as a sign that it was ok to come out because she appeared behind him a moment later.
"Jack?" She said it as a question. She was obviously surprised and happy to see him. This made Sawyer slightly pissed off.
"Hey Kate. I'm glad to see that you're ok." What? Was what went through Sawyer's head at that moment. He spoke as if he gave a damn about her when just hours before he'd nearly chosen a goddamn raft over her!
"I'm glad to see you too." She did that shy smile that he found so damn sexy. And she was doing it at him! It made Sawyer sick.
"Excuse me! Would ya'll like me to leave so you can get reacquainted?" It was a joke of course, but Sawyer wasn't amused. Kate rolled her eyes at him. He just shot her a jealous glare. She walked out from behind him and stood between the two.
"Sawyer found me." She said simply and smiled at him. Sawyer couldn't help but feel himself becoming slightly less upset. "The others, Jack, they're really dangerous." Her voice cracked at the mention of the others. Sawyer instinctively moved a few steps closer to her.
And so did Jack, making Sawyer want to raise that gun back up in his direction.
"Yea, I know." His words were slow and serious. It caused both Sawyer and Kate to question his knowledge of this. "They've already attacked."
"Is everyone ok?" Was the first thing out of Kate's mouth. She reached out and grabbed Sawyer's arm. He couldn't help but smile at that small but important gesture.
Jack noticed it too. He obviously found it hideous and this made Sawyer all the happier.
"Um…yea everyone at camp is fine. They didn't attack the camp, Kate, they attacked the raft."
Sawyer looked at Kate and she looked back at him. Only the two of them could fully understand the impact of that statement.
"Sounds kind of stupid if you ask me." Sawyer butted in. "Why the raft when there's so much fresh meat roasting down at the beach?" He didn't realize what he'd referenced, at least not until Kate winced at his remark. Jack seemed to think it was equally appalling. Sawyer shrugged and gave Kate an apologetic smile. He refused to ratify himself to Jack though.
"Because…" Jack began. Sawyer sensed a long and heroic monologue in the wings and reached out with one hand and tickled Kate lightly in her side. She smiled at him and rolled her eyes, gesturing towards Jack and his impending speech. Jack looked back at them, obviously annoyed. Kate straightened up immediately and Sawyer cleared his throat, pretending to be the good student just to mock the man. "Because they didn't want everybody. They wanted one person." He paused for emphasis. Sawyer waited impatiently. "Walt."
"You mean they took Walt?" Kate asked, in fear. Sawyer saw her tense up and reached out to grasp her hand.
"As far as we know yea. We found everyone else." He paused. "Jin didn't make it, but Michael is ok minus a few scrapes." He reached up and scratched his head. Sawyer finally managed to move entirely behind Kate and hold her against him. He knew she wouldn't' like what he was about to say.
"OK. So we find the bastards and rip their throats out. Get the kid back. Can't be too hard." Sawyer was serious. The kid was smart, probably smarter then half of the so called professionals on the island. He was also one of the few people on the island who actually still liked him. He owed him a good rescue.
"No!" It was immediate. "No it's not that simple Sawyer!" Kate pulled away from him and went back into the cave. Sawyer watched her until she was concealed inside and then turned back to Jack.
"Ladies first." He gestured to the cave entrance. Jack rolled his eyes.
"This is serious Sawyer." He murmured and went in the cave after Kate. Sawyer mocked him under his breath and followed him inside of the tiny shelter.
Kate was there, curled up inside of his shirt. She seemed very aware that she was still in her bra and panties and little more. Sawyer figured that Jack's presence must be making her uncomfortable. At least he hoped it was Jack's presence.
"Kate, did something happen to you in the jungle?" He heard the words leave the man's mouth just as he entered the cave. Oh Hell No.
Kate was fidgety and trying to ignore his question. She had shut her eyes and balanced her head on her knees. "I told you that they were dangerous Jack. They're going to kill him if they haven't already."
Sawyer sat down next to her, throwing another twig on the fire. He reached out and put his hand on her lower back. The touch made her flinch and he quickly removed it.
"Well I actually kind of agree with Sawyer on this one…" Jack looked over at Sawyer, disdain in his glare. "We need to do what we can to save Walt."
"You would say that Doc." Sawyer replied. He couldn't even explain how much he hated that man right now. "If the lady say's no, then it's a no." It appeared to everyone that Sawyer was just trying to look better then Jack at the moment by agreeing with Kate. Truth was, he did agree with Kate. Going to rescue the kid would be the noble thing to do, sure, maybe even the so called right thing.
But Kate had been there. She had seen it all first hand. If she said there was no chance of a successful rescue then she was the one he would believe.
"Are you suggesting that we leave Walt out there, all alone?" Jack asked, glaring at Sawyer in particularly. Sawyer narrowed his eyes and stared back.
"Trying to imply something' there Doc?" He paused. "Hell Doc I thought you were polar bear food. Why would I go back to rescue a damn dead fish?" Kate perked up, not sure as to what was going on here.
"What are you talking about?" She asked immediately. Both men flinched back.
"Doc was trying to help me look for 'ya. Next thing I know I look behind me and all I see is a big white bear ready to kick my ass. You best bet that I ran!" He kept his stare on Jack the entire time. This was no longer about Kate, at least not right now. The bastard would hurt her if necessary, he could tell. He'd already done it enough times.
"I wouldn't expect any more out of you Sawyer, believe me." Was Jack's response. It was quickly becoming a verbal fist fight.
"Stop it!" Kate cried out, so loud that her voice echoed throughout the cave. She put her hands over her ears and stood up. "I can't take this anymore! Those animals out there are murders and rapists and who knows what else. Yet all you two can do is fight like a couple of six year olds instead of working together and figuring out how to fix this like adults!" She sighed and looked away. Sawyer felt a flash of shame go through him. He wasn't usually the kind to be ashamed of his own behavior, but she had a good point. When he'd come into the woods it had been all about Kate, finding her and keeping her safe. When Jack showed up that had all changed. "You know what? You two do what you want; I'm going for a walk." And she walked outside, into the darkness.
There was a short pause before either of the men realized what she meant and how bad of an idea it was.
Sawyer stood immediately to follow her. Hell if he was gonna let her get abducted again. She might not survive the second time.
"What a woman!" He said, quiet enough so she couldn't hear him but loud enough to get his point across.
Jack shook his head and laughed lightly at the comment. Sawyer rolled his eyes at the other man's behavior, knowing he didn't understand the exact meaning of the words he'd just said. Eventually Jack stood and followed Sawyer outside.
"Hey Freckles, wait up!" Sawyer shouted. He had heard Jack stand up to follow him but resisted saying another word to the man. The most important thing now was to find her and try to convince her that he wasn't an immature asshole, at least not most of the time anyway. But he was getting more and more worried by the minute. He'd just caught a glimpse of her back as he exited the cave and she seemed to already be deep into the jungle. He listened, trying to hear her footsteps, but quickly realized that he was following a so-called expert tracker here. If she didn't want him to find her, she wouldn't be found.
"Hey sweetheart! You really think this was the best idea?" He shouted, more nervous and less cocky this time. He heard his voice waver as he realized that he had, indeed, lost sight of her entirely.
"Kate!" He tried one last effort. He pushed himself deeper into the jungle. He didn't sense Jack behind him and figured the man must have gone in another direction to look for her. Fine by him. Hell, he wouldn't wanna be blamed for the guy gettan' eaten' yet again.
He stopped in his tracks them. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. She couldn't really be gone, could she? She was just messing with him; it was what they did after all.
Then he saw her. He looked up and saw her standing there, in between two large trees. She was completely still. He approached her immediately.
"Kate, what the hell is going through your mind huh? A walk? Are you outta your mind!" He stormed up to her and looked at her. She was completely still and looked frightened. But this didn't register with him right away, so he continued talking. He tried a new approach this time. "Look, I'm sorry alright. I'm sorry! I don't say I'm sorry to anyone ever, especially a woman! But I am! You were right. I'm sorry dammit!" He threw his hands in the air, trying to show how much he meant the words. The gesture only came off as arrogant and cocky though, as most things did with him.
"Sawyer please stop shouting." She whispered harshly. He stared her square in the eyes for a solid minute. To his surprise she looked straight back at him. And he noticed, for the first time, how much he did fancy her eyes.
After the minute had passed he wanted to say something. Sawyer wasn't one for awkward silences, even if this one hadn't been too awkward.
'Kate what the hell is…" He didn't get to finish the sentence because she kissed him before he could.
The kiss was short and to the point, and it did shut him up.
It was also the first time they'd kissed in a good long time.
And when it ended he felt her against him. But she wasn't just leaning on him, she was shaking. She was terrified. But of what?
"Kate?" He whispered this time, with fear in his voice. "What is it? Are they here?" She looked up at him, paralyzed.
And she nodded. She made him look at her, look at her eyes. They were the only part of her moving, and they were looking up.
So, he followed her lead this time. He looked up. And he made the same face he had on the day they'd first discovered the bodies under the waterfall.
And when he did all kinds of words and phrases came to mind. All kinds of "what that hell?", "who was that?", "what did that?" and "how did they get that to bend that way?"
Instead he just looked back at her, swallowed a thick lump in his throat, and said. "I don't know bout you Scarlett, but I ain't planning' on sticking around to watch the old south fall."
She looked at him, fear in her eyes, and nodded her agreement to his coded question.
He took her hand slowly and carefully, and they ran as quickly as they could.