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

Chapter 11

Kate put a finger to her lips and Maggie silenced herself with an inhale and a sigh. She'd been talking non stop for twenty minutes telling her all about Walt teaching her how to climb trees, Sawyer reading her A Wrinkle in Time, Shannon painting her nails, Jin letting her help change the baby's diaper, Charlie playing bongos with her, and Hurley trying to show her how to juggle. But she was most excited about her father showing her how to play golf.

Maggie widened her eyes just like Kate did and they both shared a smile. "You," she poked her daughter's stomach. "Talk too much."

Maggie shrugged. "I had a busy morning."

"That was all this morning!" Kate laughed out loud and gave Maggie a prod so she'd continue moving.

They were taking a walk, like they always did in the afternoons when they had nothing else to do. Kate wanted her daughter to know her way home from anywhere. She was afraid of the Others coming again. There'd been a plume of black smoke the day before. It showed up for a couple hours and disappeared. Walt told them not to worry, he hadn't heard anything about a kidnapping in a good long time. Kate listened to him because he only spoke when it was important.

"Momma, why doesn't Sawyer have a girlfriend?" Maggie asked suddenly, kicking at a rock. The girl picked up a long stick and used it to poke at random trees, swinging around and hitting Kate in the leg softly with a smirk.

Shrugging, Kate responded. "Don't know; don't care."

"He likes you, momma." Maggie sniffled and rubbed her nose with her free hand.

Kate pulled a rag out of her bag and knelt in front of her, putting the rag to the girl's small nose. "Blow," she instructed, waiting until the child closed her eyes and blew her nose roughly into the rag. Kate grimaced, cleaning off her daughter's nose. Then she folded it, putting it into her pocket so she could wash it later. Maggie took a long breath.

"Much better," she sighed on the exhale. "You love daddy, don't you momma?"

Nodding her head, she mumbled an 'uh-huh' and watched as Maggie hopped from rock to rock and then balanced herself as she went along a log on the ground. Kate raised a hand quickly as her daughter lost her balance momentarily, but the girl recovered. Kate felt her heart thump double and she touched her head. "Yes, Maggie, I love your daddy."

Turning, Maggie lowered her eyebrows in an accusatory stare she'd inherited from her father. Kate stopped and stared back, challenging. Slowly, Maggie relented, walking and jumping over a thin stream and she started to climb up a small slope. Kate shook her head wondering what the stare had been for. She hadn't lied. Kate loved Jack; there was no question in her mind. They'd just been having problems.

"You fight too much," Maggie grunted, pulling herself over top of the slope and waiting for her mother.

Kate grabbed hold of a branch and went over the side easily. "We don't fight that much."

"You fight all the time," Maggie threw herself on the ground, crossing her legs in front of her and removing the small backpack she wore. Kate had found it in a pile of discarded items in the caves. Things that seemed useful, just not after the crash. It had Mickey Mouse on it and Maggie stole a permanent marker from Sawyer's stash to color it black. Kate could see the red pants coming through the fading marker. "I hear you when I'm sleeping, you know."

Maggie had the same slight lisp Kate had as a child, the one she outgrew with a good smack to the face at the age of five. She looked down at her daughter, a girl who never had to be told twice and had only been spanked once. Kate couldn't even bring herself to do it. She'd looked at Jack and whispered to him that he had to. Hearing the sound of her daughter sobbing an apology for breaking Charlie's guitar brought back a million memories she thought she'd never see again.

Shaking her head, Kate sat on the ground in front of her, spreading her legs out and seeing the child pull a banana and a small bottle of water out of her backpack. She pulled away the skin and chomped down on the yellow fruit, staring up at Kate. Kate frowned, rubbed her head and tried to think of something proper to tell her. She didn't feel like apologizing for her problems, or for Jack's. Maggie shrugged her shoulders.

"I know why you're mad at him."

"Are you mad at him?" Kate asked, curious.

Maggie considered, playing with the grass in front of her. "Yes." She frowned. "No."

"It's ok to be a little mad," Kate offered, knowing the confusion she must be feeling. "He doesn't spend the time he should with us and that's not ok."

"Is that why you fight?" Maggie lowered her head, as if feeling ashamed to ask the question. She took a sip of her water and re-capped it quickly, putting it into her backpack and burying the banana peel.

Kate shook her head and shrugged. "Sometimes. When you're older, you'll see how complicated it all is and how simple it all is at the same time." She poked the girl's nose and watched her smile.

"I love you, momma," Maggie told her, standing and moving to embrace her. Kate closed her eyes and took in a deep breath wishing she could just get Jack to stop being such an idiot. He blamed himself for Sun's death, even though he knew from the start it was possible. He spent all his time helping Jin now, feeling responsible for Shai. Kate was jealous; he hadn't spent that much time with Maggie in three years, since she'd been an infant herself. Now she was nearing four. If Kate remembered right, in only another two months.

Maggie's head came up quickly as the howl started somewhere deep in the jungle. Kate jumped, watching her daughter's eyes stare wildly out in the trees around them. She'd never heard it, not from the jungle. Maggie thought they were nightmares when it howled. She'd heard it from the beach or the caves, mostly at night. Never in the middle of the day. Kate thought they had the safe spots plotted out. There was a stomping and she heard trees being knocked over. Standing, she grabbed Maggie and pulled her off the ground, feeling her latch onto her body as she started to run, looking for a place to hide.

She felt a hand grip her upper arm tightly and yank her towards a bunch of trees. Kate shouted in fear, pressing her back against the trees farthest from the woman who pressed a finger to her own lips and shushed her. Watching Danielle, Kate gulped down air, feeling the earth shake under her as Maggie cried on her shoulder. Danielle turned, harshly and whispered,

"You must quiet her, now."

It took her a moment to figure out what Danielle meant; she was still trying to calm her own nerves. She hugged Maggie tightly, but then pulled her daughter's chin up out of her own shoulder, smoothing hair away from the girl's cheeks and Kate put on a brave face. "You have to be quiet," Kate told her softly, nodding her head. Maggie sniffled loudly and gave a short nod before burying her head back into Kate. She moped, but it was inaudible against her skin and she looked back up at Danielle, who stared at the duo.

The floor shook with several steps and Kate could almost hear it sway, searching for them. She turned around, putting Maggie against the tree, trying to make her feel safe and she felt the cool breeze playing on the sweat that soaked the back of her shirt. Kate felt exposed, but she heard her daughter breathing roughly against her. The trees shook and Maggie raised her head, giving a short shout before Kate clapped a hand down on her mouth. Kate felt something warm press against her back and realized it was Danielle.

Pressing her back against Kate's, Danielle looked up through the trees, trying to determine whether it was safe. "We must remain where we are, make sure it's safe to move."

Kate turned her head slightly, nodding. She brought herself slowly to the ground, letting Maggie put her feet down and she knelt in front of her, adjusting her small pink shirt. It had been packed away inside the Mickey Mouse backpack along with two others – orange and turquoise – and some jean shorts that fit Maggie too big. It belonged to a six year old girl named Emily Tylor Sanchez who'd been traveling with her parents and older brother Rene. Aaron was now the proud owner of far too many Power Rangers shirts and no clue as to who they were.

Charlie had tried to explain.

"She's four now, no?" Danielle asked after a few moments.

Kate undid the vines she'd been using as a belt for Maggie and retied them tighter. Then, she adjusted the straps on her daughter's backpack to make sure it didn't fall off if they had to start running. Maggie watched her, but let her vision fall upon the wild woman she'd never seen before. Kate glanced up at the girl, seeing her staring at Danielle and she lifted her off the ground, balancing Maggie on her hip.

"You're old," Maggie told the woman, who laughed. "And your voice is funny."

"She's French," Kate corrected, feeling her own cheeks burn red.

"What's French?" Maggie asked her.

Danielle hung her rifle over her shoulder and sighed. "Your mother is from America – that is one continent. Do you know where America is?" The girl nodded slowly. "I am from France. It is another continent across the ocean."

"I know what that is too!" Maggie bounced her head once.

Kate bit her bottom lip and looked out into the jungle. "I thought we were safe here."

"You stepped over the boundary an hour ago. I was surprised it took as long as it did for the security system to react."

"A flaw in the system?" Kate asked, curious. If there was a flaw, they could find it and destroy it. But Danielle shook her head. "How long have you been following us?"

"Don't you know?" Danielle grinned. "I would have thought having a child would have made you more alert."

Kate felt ashamed. Like she'd let her daughter down. "We should get back. Jack will be worried."

Nodding slowly, Danielle stuck her head out from between the trees and then began walking towards the ocean, waving an arm so Kate would follow. "I have tried to keep an eye on the girl since the day she was born."

"Why?" Kate didn't mean to sound angry and she grimaced.

Danielle lowered her eyes to the ground and Kate could read the sorrow there. Maggie reached over and touched Danielle's shoulder, making the woman jerk in response. Flinching, Maggie apologized quietly. "Thanks," she added quickly before laying her head down on Kate's shoulder.

"For what?"

Maggie made a monster face and roared, chomping her teeth. "Saved us from the monster."

"Your mother would have protected you," Danielle assured her.

Nodding, Maggie asserted, "Oh, I know."

Kate grinned as Danielle laughed. They didn't say another word and by the time the jungle trees gave way to the sand and the ocean, Kate had a sleeping child hanging limp in her arms. Jack approached quickly, looking panicked, but Kate smiled and he nodded, touching Maggie's back. The girl moaned in her sleep as Kate passed the girl to her father. He touched Kate's cheek and looked at Danielle, curious.

"What…" he started.

Danielle shook her head and looked towards Kate, "Two more in your group are infected. You should know. They attacked the others yesterday."

"The smoke…" Jack trailed. Kate could see his mind at work, trying to recall who he'd seen in the last twenty four hours and who he hadn't.

"Who?" Kate asked, pressing her hands onto her waist, exhausted.

Danielle thought a moment, as if trying to remember. "Claire, and the man with the strange glasses."

…

Finis