Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. After Sawyer and the others return to the island, he finds Kate has finally chosen Jack. Post Exodus II. (The events that lead up to previously posted stories –Incarceration, Interim, Ineffable) Enjoy!

Lost – Infected

By Mystic

July 2005

Sawyer woke to a hand on his foot, shaking him. He grunted and kicked, hearing her give a shout and then she called his name, sounding amused. Kate, he started to grin, but he stopped himself, opening one eye and peering out to where she was standing at the edge of the tarp, rolling it up. "Hey, sleepy," she told him.

"What do you want, Freckles?" Sawyer drawled, rubbing his eyes.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I want to go to the Black Rock, see if I can salvage anything useful. Jack's got some guy with a poison ivy rash and a horrible case of hypochondria. Keeps saying it's shingles or something. Figured you'd love to get a good look at the ship and could use some stock since you kind of gave everything away before you left."

"What am I gonna find in some hundred year old boat?"

Kate smiled. "Gold," she teased. She kicked his foot. "Come on, Sawyer, you always wanna stick your nose in my business and now I'm letting you and you're turning me down?"

"Someone else already stuck their something in your business," he muttered and she lowered her eyebrows at him, curious.

"What?"

"Nothing," Sawyer spat, pushing himself up and running a hand through his hair. "Let's go."

"This might take the whole day," she warned as he grabbed his pack.

Sawyer looked up at her and gave her his best smile. "Awe, the warden letting you out of his sight that long these days?"

"I told you, Jack can't come."

"Oh," Sawyer silenced himself, lifting his eyebrows in an amused gesture. He shoved an extra water bottle she handed him into his pack along with an extra shirt, some fruit he had stashed in a corner and a second shirt. He didn't even know why, he just wanted to keep her in his shelter longer.

Sawyer watched the way she leaned against the palm tree frame and stared at each item going into his bag. Like she wanted to take care of him. Sawyer frowned, only reason he'd agreed to go was to take care of her. He never liked her wandering off into the jungle on her own. He zipped up the sides of the pack realizing it was more than just that. If he'd lost her romantically, at least he could keep her friendship.

Glancing up at her, Sawyer smiled, holding his backpack up before strapping it on. "Fine then, let's go."

Kate turned out of his shelter and headed along the beach. Sawyer jogged to come to her side and walk with her. He watched as she stared ahead of herself. He wondered if she even knew how to get to the Black Rock. He wondered if it was a good idea, them going. Sawyer glanced behind them and saw his shelter get smaller and smaller as they continued, until they were around a bend and he couldn't see anything but land he'd never seen before.

Soon they were at rocks that met the ocean and he glanced up at the tall mountains at their side. "You think these are active volcanoes?"

Shaking her head, Kate climbed up onto the rocks and headed into the jungle. "Nah. If they were, there'd be smoke, sulfur fumes and heat." She touched the side of the rocks, lifting herself higher on the rock formation.

"You some kind of volcano expert now?"

Kate laughed and ducked her head bashfully. "Used to read lots of books."

"Can't picture you as a big reader."

"Don't have much time to read these last couple years," she told him with a quick shrug of her shoulders. "We should stay quiet. Danielle seemed to think this was a real dangerous zone. Apparently some guy lost an arm out here."

Sawyer wrinkled his nose and touched his shoulder. "Them Others around these parts?"

Kate nodded.

Biting his bottom lip, he turned to look back at the ocean between the trees. The sound was becoming inaudible, replaced by the creaking of bamboo and the odd squawking of birds. Sawyer wouldn't turn back; he knew she'd just go on without him. He watched her as she led him through the jungle.

Her step had an odd limp to it from too much sex and even at her most serious, he could see the hint of a smile on her lips. She seemed… Sawyer thought a moment, trying to find the right expression… happy. For a moment it made him want to kick her feet out from under her. Just to hurt her the way it hurt him. But it'd been a long time since he'd seen someone with the afterglow of genuine love.

Sawyer watched her thoughts wandered and every so often she stopped herself, smirking awkwardly and pointing at the direction they should have been heading in. "You sure you know where we're going?" He asked her a third time.

She pointed. "Yeah, just got distracted."

"Hmph," he breathed.

Breaking through a thick wall of vines, Kate turned back to smile at him as she walked through. "We're here."

Sawyer emerged and stared at the back end of a large boat. He examined the letters on the back and the large hole in the side. Sawyer noticed the island seemed to be growing over it, as if eating it, and he shivered. Sniffing, he looked around, and spat. "Something dead out here."

"Arzt," Kate told him, a frown enveloping her face. "Jack says the humidity is slowing the decay process."

Looking around, Sawyer saw what looked like the remains of an arm – mostly bone – lying on the ground covered in ants and vines. He'd heard that story from Hurley. Amazingly, the large man had been the one who visited him the most while he'd been secluded in a tent on the beach while the hole in his arm healed. He'd appreciated it though; Hurley had a good humor to him that made all of his stories amusing and entertaining enough to make him forget the pain, forget the kid who was taken and forget the woman who never came.

"Sawyer!" Kate called. He glanced up to see her halfway up the side of the boat, climbing on what looked like an old anchor. He ran to stand below her.

"Woman, are you insane?" He shouted up at her.

She shook her head, creasing her eyebrows. "No, you coming?"

Sawyer walked to the side of the boat and glanced around, listening for any strange sounds. People losing arms; blowing up, Sawyer didn't want any part of that. He climbed quickly, going over the edge right behind Kate, who gripped the side of the boat. It was on a tilt and she let go, sliding to the other side with a grunt. Sawyer gave her a look of disapproval.

"Careful Sawyer, you looked like Jack," she teased, walking the edge of the boat and then making her way across to the captain's cabin at the center.

"I ain't nothing like Jack," Sawyer told her, moving along his edge and sliding to catch the stairway which covered the entryway she was standing in. Kate pulled open the door, turning her head and breathing while the cabin aired out. Sawyer caught a whiff of something rotten. He looked in, but couldn't find the source. Vines had broken into the windows and the ground was covered in grass and leaves. He slipped as he stepped past her, towards a desk.

She rummaged through it and sighed, then moved to another part of the cabin. Sawyer looked at the map on the table in the center. It was crumpled, wet and a layer of dirt made it hard to read, but it seemed to be a map of the Caribbean Sea. Sawyer flipped the map page up and cursed when it ripped. Underneath though, were other maps. The rest of the ocean, he figured. He wondered if this island was plotted.

"Hey, you think Sayid would want these maps?" He questioned, turning to see Kate flipping through a drawer with her bottom lip pressed tight under her top teeth. She glanced up, looking confused, and shook her head.

"Those are just maps of the ocean, Sayid's only interested in maps of this island."

"What if this island is on one of these maps?"

She seemed to consider before shrugging. "You think you can get them back to him in one piece? Jack and I have already told him where this is and have offered to bring him, but he refuses."

Sawyer nodded. "So I heard there was a hatch. Led down into the ground…"

Kate's gaze glazed over a moment as she stared out the cabin windows in front of her. "There's a hatch. Locke's all over it."

"What happened at the hatch?" Sawyer asked, leaning on the table. He watched the way she seemed to be searching her mind, her left hand shifting on some unseen object inside the drawer.

She shook her head. "Lots of fighting."

"What's in the hatch?" He pressed on, cocking his head to the left to get a better look at her face. Jack didn't hit back, he now knew. Or at least, Jack didn't hit women. Sawyer watched her shrug her shoulders and sigh, as if frustrated.

"Don't know. Locke went down; Locke came up, said it was nothing of importance." She tossed a hand in the air absently.

"You trust that guy?"

"Not particularly," Kate told him honestly. She looked up at him. "Why do you want to know so much all of a sudden?"

"I know you'll tell me," he responded with a grin. "You're a gossip about everyone on this island except yourself."

Kate smiled and pulled out a box of old fashioned matches. "These will be useful if they aren't soaked through."

Sawyer gave a sigh and turned, moving out of the cabin and going below deck. He saw the skeletons of slaves chained to the side of the boat and he wrinkled his nose at them. His eyes fell on a chest with some old books inside. He recognized the titles of a few and he jammed one into his backpack, turning when Kate jumped onto the wood floor. Sawyer smiled, his lips pressed tight together trying to fight laughter. She was wearing an old white shirt, unbuttoned, with the sleeves flopping down over her hands. Her grin fell as she saw the skeletons and she started to roll up the left sleeve, going to them.

"Wonder where they were going."

Sawyer scoffed. "Why in the hell would you wonder that?"

"They were prisoners."

"They were slaves," Sawyer corrected.

Kate frowned. "Don't see the difference."

Sawyer didn't question her. He watched her roll up the right sleeve and adjust the shirt on her shoulders as she went towards the bodies and began examining what clothes was left on them. "Whatcha looking for?"

"Anything useful. This shirt's old, but it's still good."

"What you want that old shirt for?" Sawyer asked incredulously.

Kate shrugged, the corners of her mouth tugging into a grin. "Arzt kind of blew up mine." She jumped as the skeleton's arm dropped out of the shackles around its wrist. "Having a long sleeved shirt is good. Keeps the bugs off your skin, keeps the sun off – the white reflects the sunlight. Also good at night when it's cooler…" her voice trailed and she went back towards the stairs. "There's more underneath."

"Heard about the dynamite. We gonna take some of that?" Sawyer asked, following her down some stairs under a trap door. "You been her a few times, haven't you?"

Kate didn't respond. She led him to the bottom level, past more skeletons and boxes. She raised her hand, pointing at an axe that lay in a corner. "We should take that," she told him before she went out of a hole in the hull. "It's getting dark; we'll set camp here and…"

"Bad idea, Kate," Locke informed her, sitting on a log Kate recognized as the one she'd approached Hurley on. He'd been distraught over seeing Arzt blown to bits. Locke shook his head. "I've heard some noises out there that indicate we are not alone. Our best bet is to make towards the ocean as quickly as possible."

"Really," she responded, planting her hands on her waist. Sawyer held the axe tightly, shifting it on his shoulder, so it rested against the strap of his backpack.

Nodding, Locke waved an arm for them to follow. Sawyer started, but stopped, hearing something in the jungle, something moving their way, awful fast. "I think we should take cover," he advised Kate in a whisper.

"Locke," she started, but Sawyer pulled her back into the hull of the ship just as something came storming through, missing them just barely. She shoved off him and looked out of the hole, searching the trees for Locke. "Dammit, Sawyer," she spat at him, lunging herself out quickly.

Sawyer gave a shout, seeing her run straight into the trees opposite the boat and she shouted Locke's name. He listened, watching from inside the ship. The jungle was silent and he took several breaths, feeling his heart drumming in his chest. Sawyer pushed off the barrels he lay against and picked up the axe from where he'd dropped it on the ground. He took a step towards the opening and shouted when Locke ran inside.

"Where's Kate?" Locke asked quickly, his eyes wide with surprise.

"She went out looking for you, Brainiac!" Sawyer shouted in response, giving Locke a shove. "God dammit!" He added in frustration. "Why's everything gotta be so complicated in this damned place? All we came to do was ransack the ship. Can't just take a few items the dead people don't need and be gone. No, we gotta get attacked by the monster."

Sawyer held his breath and shot out of the hole, towards the trees he'd seen Kate head into. He heard Locke shout his name behind him before following quickly. They leaned against a tree and glanced around.

"It's just protecting the island."

"What?" Sawyer asked.

Locke looked around at the trees, a wondrous expression plaguing his face. "The security system. It's just protecting the island. We're invaders here."

Shaking his head, Sawyer snorted. "KATE!" He shouted.

Locke grabbed his shoulder. "Be quiet."

"SAWYER!" Kate shouted in response from far off in the jungle.

He shot off, despite Locke's best efforts to hold him back. Sawyer heard the gunshot from somewhere in the trees before it zipped through the material of his pants. Giving a shout of pain, he pressed himself against the nearest tree and threw himself to the ground. Who the hell, Sawyer wondered before remembering the gun that put the hole in his shoulder. The others were out there, he knew. Sawyer grabbed his leg, seeing the line the bullet had made against his thigh. Just a graze, not a wound, he assured himself.

Glancing up, Sawyer saw Kate running towards him, her head never turning, and a few yards from him, Locke tackled her to the ground. She cried out in pain and Sawyer grimaced, watching for movement. Then he saw it: A puff of black smoke circling a nearby tree before shooting off in their direction.

Sawyer shook his head, rubbing his eyes and stared off into the jungle, looking for it again. He saw Kate's head pop up and Locke stood next to her, cautiously, looking around. Kate crouched and advanced towards Sawyer, her hand suddenly gripping a large knife. "Stay there," she told him with the rising of her hand, as he began to move.

Another gunshot and she fell. Sawyer started to shout her name, but she got up again and began to move. Locke followed slower, looking around, trying to find the direction from which the bullets were coming. Sawyer saw a shadow and he focused on it, watching it materialize from nothing and fly through the air, towards Kate. He jerked, raising an arm and Locke saw it, jumping forward and shoving Kate out of its way. The cloud went into Locke, making him seize up, and then it passed through him and left at lightning speed. Locke dropped to the ground and Sawyer could see the grass moving frantically.

"Sawyer, help me!" Kate grunted.

Looking around, Sawyer weighed his options before moving towards the old man who was unconscious on the ground. Kate pulled Locke's right arm around her neck and Sawyer moved to his left, dragging Locke away from the Black Rock together. They arrived on the beach long after the sun had set, both exhausted, and they let him fall onto the sand as they collapsed on either side of him. Sawyer heard the people on the beach shouting and saw Jack come running, a look of terror flashing across his face. Leaning back on his arms, Sawyer realized that Jack wasn't concerned about Locke; he was concerned about Kate.

His eyes traveled to her as Jack fell on his knees at her side and saw she grimaced suddenly, painfully and sobbed out loud, holding Jack's arm with a bloody hand as he examined her. Sawyer sat up quickly, shocked, and saw the bullet wound to her right shoulder. He hadn't seen it before. How had he not seen it before, he asked himself. Jack pulled off the old shirt and used it to press into the wound. Sawyer listened as Jack started barking orders to those on the beach to get the stretcher for Locke. He then picked Kate up in his arms and took off towards the beach shelter they used for medical emergencies. There weren't as many supplies as in the caves, Sawyer knew.

Jack called for Sun and Jin ran off into the jungle. Sawyer stood, helping the two men who came with the board made from bamboo rods. He rolled Locke onto the board and watched the way he continued to sleep. He pushed the others faster than they were traveling and gained odd looks from them as they went towards the tarp. Sawyer could hear her. She wasn't screaming like he'd expect someone in her position to do. She just cried silently as Jack cleaned the hole with water and then with a small bottle of alcohol. He tossed her shirt to the ground and pulled at her tank top, ripping the right shoulder strap.

"Sawyer, hold her arm," he heard Jack command.

"What are you going to do?" Sawyer asked, watching him thread a needle. Kate lifted her head and Sawyer saw her eyes water over as she closed them and turned away again, her lips spreading with a sob she swallowed. "What, you're gonna sew her up like a damned pillow?"

Jack clenched his jaw and whispered in Sawyer's ear, "I sew her shut or I take a piece of metal, hold it in the fire for a couple minutes, and burn her shut."

Sawyer nodded and he gripped her arm, feeling the muscles tense under his grip. Jack straddled her stomach and nodded to a man behind him, instructing him to hold her legs. Sawyer watched him press the skin of her shoulder together and he waited, watching as she swallowed hard several times before looking up at him. She nodded, almost imperceptibly, and braced herself. Jack sewed quickly and Sawyer was amazed at how stiff she went in his arms. Occasionally, a tear fell down her cheek and Sawyer wanted to wipe them away, but he held her left shoulder and right arm tightly.

Just as swift, Jack sewed up the hole in the back and by sunrise she was asleep. Sawyer yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth, as he watched them together. Jack had been sitting on the ground between Locke and Kate, making sure both were alright before letting himself doze off. His head lay on his arm, which was stretched out above Kate's head. Beside him, Locke stirred, opening his eyes slowly and looking up at the tarp that flapped above him. Sawyer watched the man's face in the orange light of sunrise.

Taking a step forward, he started to tap Jack on the shoulder, but Locke shook his head, giving Sawyer a smile. "I'm fine, Sawyer, just got a bit winded."

"Got run through by a ghost's what it looked like."

"Don't worry," Locke told him, sitting up on the cushions. He looked over at Jack and Kate. "Let them sleep." Then he saw her arm in a sling, a sling Sawyer recognized from a long time ago that Kate had made for Jack. "She took a bullet?" Locke asked, curious.

"Yeah, I thought you knew. You were right behind her." Sawyer crossed his arms over his chest.

"You should have Jack look at your leg," Locke told him, pointing at the blood stained jeans Sawyer wore.

Sawyer moved it and shrugged. "Nah, it's fine."

"It could get infected," Locke said, cocking his head to the left slightly, examining Sawyer.

"I'll take my chances," Sawyer said with a grin. "You up for a walk, old man?"

Locke shrugged towards Jack and Kate. "They bother you, don't they?" He stood and walked out of the shelter, waiting for Sawyer to step out with him. He scratched his bald head and watched the sun creep up in the sky, turning to bring the tarp down to block the light from the duo sleeping inside.

"No," Sawyer lied.

Locke gave him a grin, his eyes squinted towards the tarp they'd just emerged from. "You're not a very good liar."

Sawyer snorted. He wondered what Locke would think if he told him his profession was a professional liar. He walked towards the beach, watching others pass him, not looking him in the eye. They seemed surprised to see Locke though. "They bother me, that what you wanna hear?"

"You could probably have her, if you wanted," Locke told him with a shrug of his shoulders.

His head snapping up to look at him, Sawyer frowned. "What you trying to say?"

Locke shook his head. "It's just curious. I thought you were the stronger man." Locke walked away from him and Sawyer lowered his eyebrows. Something was off with the balding man. He should have figured it out immediately that Locke was now infected, Sawyer knew, it shouldn't have had to take Sayid's death.