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

It felt like eons had passed and Sawyer found himself missing the other man's presence. Sawyer and Sayid never did get along properly, but they had an understanding and Sayid was a decent man. Sawyer had met few of those in his lifetime.

He'd been counting the days since they'd found Sayid in the jungle, it'd been a hundred a thirty five. Sawyer sighed into the wind as he walked along the paths away from the caves into the jungle. Jack blamed himself, of course, knew if he'd paid more attention, he'd have seen it. They all told him to stop blaming himself for not knowing Locke was infected. Kate and Sawyer told him to stop blaming himself for Sayid's death.

Jack was the leader; that was his justification. He should have known.

Sawyer blamed himself, but he told no one else. He figured he was the only person who saw the black cloud go through Locke and he never told anyone. Sawyer had even started to think it was all just a figment of his imagination. He tossed the rock he'd been handling and jumped back when he heard her grunt in pain. Kate emerged from the bushes looking frazzled with one hand on her forehead and the other wavering around her waistline. She frowned at him.

"Why'd you hit me with a rock?" Her voice was hoarse and she looked angry.

Taking a step towards her, he pulled her hand back, seeing the red welt just above her left eye. She winced when he touched it and Sawyer noted the redness in her eyes, the flustered look on her face. "You alright, Freckles?"

"I was taking a piss and you beaned me on the head with a rock, what do you think?" There was an annoyance in her voice he'd never heard before. And Sawyer knew he'd pushed too far on numerous occasions. She pulled her head out of his grasp and walked away from him, finding her bag and strapping it to her back.

"What are you doing out here anyways? You know Locke's out here."

"I can handle Locke," Kate told him, her hand absently thumbing a hunting knife on her hip.

"That so?" Sawyer sounded amused and he grinned, showing off his dimples. Dimples that still had an effect on her. He saw it instantly. Her stance relaxed and she sighed, releasing the tension that had built on her shoulders.

Kate smiled, shaking her head. "Locke hasn't been here in a good long time."

"I don't get that about you, kiddo." Sawyer raised a finger, pointing it at her. "You can track boar and hunt it down for the masses, but finding Locke and taking him out – you refuse to do it."

"He's a human being," she told him, disgusted.

"Infected," Sawyer told her with a nod. "That's what Jack said, what Danielle said before she went and disappeared too. Don't see why you can't track him down. Hell, one of us'll take him out."

Kate bit her bottom lip and grimaced. "Can we not talk about Locke?" Then she added, "Please?"

Sawyer nodded slowly, following Kate as she made her way towards some trees. She turned and Sawyer took in her profile with a raised eyebrow as she made to pick some fruit, tossing him one. Sawyer knew every curve on her body like the back of his hand, so to see the new one, made his stomach flutter just a little.

"Let's talk about Jack then," he shot quickly, taking a deep bite of mango.

Her head whipped around to face him and she lowered her eyebrows. "He's at the caves. He's re-categorizing the stock. Sun's gardens are doing really well, and they're experimenting with all sorts of stuff." She smiled. "I think when they get back to the States, they'll get rich writing a 'survival' guide…"

"Let's talk about what Jack don't know." Sawyer stepped towards her, breathing hot on her ear.

Kate didn't move and Sawyer peeked down her tank top, feeling dirty. Turning around, she shoved him and shook her head. Sawyer watched her walk away from him and he read into her confusion. She didn't know either? Sawyer raised a hand.

"Hey, wait up," he said, his voice dropping the pretension. He saw her turn, looking at him curiously. "Don't you know, woman?"

"Know what?" Kate asked.

Sawyer looked back at where he'd found her. "You was throwing up, wasn't you," he realized.

"No," she told him, too quickly.

"When you gonna break it to the good ol' doctor?"

Kate began to sob, catching Sawyer off guard. He jerked back from her, his eyes going wide with fear as she brought a hand up to her nose and shook her head. She covered her face with her hands and Sawyer watched her shoulders convulse as she continued to cry. He swallowed hard, taking a step closer to her and pulling her into his chest. She didn't pull her hands away from her face; she just continued to cry in his arms.

"What's wrong? Thought you'd be happy about having a baby," Sawyer admitted. He'd seen her playing with Aaron, cooing at him and coddling him whenever he was near.

She whined something high pitched and muddled and Sawyer pulled her back, prying her hands off her face. Her eyes were slits, her mouth was pulled wide in a frown and she flared her nose. He wanted to look away, he hated when women cried. "I'm scared," she managed.

"Well, hell, I'd be concerned if you weren't," he laughed.

Kate responded by crying more.

Sawyer let his head fall back slightly. "Look, Freckles, he'll take care of you. And if he don't, I will. I'll make sure you eat all you want and are comfortable and I won't make fat jokes or piss you off and when it comes time, I'll let you break my hand if you have to…"

She shook her head, but he saw her mouth drifting into a smile.

"What's really bothering you?" Sawyer asked suddenly, knowing it wasn't Jack.

She shrugged her shoulders. "What if we get rescued?"

"What if we get rescued?" He repeated, confused.

Kate looked up at him and rubbed one of her wrists absently. "I go back with a baby, there's no more running."

"And what's so bad about that?"

"No more running means going to jail." Kate looked to the ground and touched her stomach, flinching before balling her hand into a fist and letting it drop at her side. "It means putting Jack through hell."

Sawyer reached forward and touched her chin, raising her face to look into her eyes. "Doc ain't dumb. He knows full well what he's getting himself into."

Kate shifted her chin out of his grasp and gave him a nod, walking away from him. Sawyer was tempted to follow, but he could see where she was going and he didn't want to be anywhere near the caves when she broke the news to the other man. He could just see Jack's face. He'd give her that look, the one where his lips are pressed together tight and his eyebrows are so high on his face they're almost in his hairline. And then he'd smile.

She would turn red, her head bowing as she looked from the ground to him with those big green eyes, Sawyer knew, and Jack would burst with some kind of girly squeal. Sawyer snorted a laugh and went further into the jungle. He'd officially lost her, he knew. And he hated that he cared.