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 12

"Maggie, come out NOW!" Kate stood at the edge of the water and stared at the child who waded close to the center of the pool. Kate took in a long breath, feeling her stomach bubbling with anger.

Maggie pointed at the waterfall behind her. "I just wanna swim to the waterfall and back."

"For the tenth time! No! Get out!" She pressed her lips together tightly and kicked off her shoes. Just as she pulled her shirt over her head, Maggie shouted, "ok, ok," and began swimming back towards shore.

Kate sighed in frustration. She watched her daughter paddle her way to the rocks at the edge of the water and climb out, slapping her bare feet onto the sand as she came to stand in front of her mother. Maggie frowned as Kate wrapped a blanket around her small body and began trying to dry her off. Kate felt her cheeks burning. Her temper had been flaring since she'd had to tell Charlie that Claire was now infected.

The woman had walked into their camp and started to walk off with Aaron. The boy immediately pulled away, before Kate and Jack arrived. He rushed to Kate's side, gripping her thigh and she could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "Mommy's sick," he whispered up at her. She'd run off into the jungle and they hadn't seen her since. Charlie spent his days with Aaron in the company of Jack and Hurley.

Looking out into the jungle, she kept an eye out for movement as she pulled a shirt over Maggie's head that fit snugly and then held out her shorts. The girl grabbed Kate's shoulders, putting one leg and then the other and waited patiently while her mother pulled the shorts up. Maggie understood she was in trouble, so she watched the jungle while Kate tied the vines at the front of her shorts and she watched her mother fold up the blanket to shove it into her pack. Kate sat on the ground and pulled her own shirt over her head, then pulled her shoes towards her.

"I'm sorry, momma," Maggie whispered.

"This a new phase?" Kate asked quickly. "I ask you do to something and you ignore me?"

Maggie shook her head. "I just wanted to swim a…"

"We have to get back to the caves before dark, you know that!" She shouted, hearing her voice echo through the jungle. Maggie jumped back. "Baby, it's not safe out here at night."

"Baby, it ain't safe during the daytime," Sawyer cracked back from a nearby tree. Kate jumped up and grabbed Maggie, putting the girl behind her. Sawyer glanced around. "Nowhere to run, Freckles. Just you, me, the birds and the bees." He pointed, "And the twerp."

Maggie started to say something, but Kate gave her a quick tug towards the jungle. Sawyer moved in the same direction. "Sawyer, what do you want?"

"Awe, now, I thought I'd been plain about that from the start," he smiled, his dimples deep and his eyes wide. He raised his eyebrows quickly and then looked down at Maggie. "Just want myself a good little family. Pretty wife, little girl, maybe a few more, and a house in a tree."

Kate felt her bare feet brush against leaves and vines and she wondered how quickly he could run. He'd caught up to her once before and now she'd have Maggie. Clenching her jaw, she started to devise a plan – he wasn't a very good climber, she could be up a tree and be able to take him there with no problems. But Sawyer also wasn't stupid, he'd just wait her out.

"Come on, Freckles, wanna play house with me?"

Shaking her head, Kate knelt slowly and Maggie jumped up on her back, wrapping her arms around her neck tightly. Giving Sawyer one good look over, Kate dashed into the jungle. She felt Maggie's legs encircle her midsection as she jumped over a log and went around a large tree trunk that lay at an angle against another. Kate heard him behind her, catching up. If she could just get far enough, she could shout and someone would hear her.

"Can't lie to yourself, Freckles," he told her calmly. "Ain't nothing Jack can do this time. You're mine."

She felt her chest release a sob just before he tackled her. Kate landed hard on her left shoulder, making sure Maggie's legs weren't crushed and she shouted, feeling something pull painfully. Kate was suddenly aware of the fact that Maggie wasn't on her anymore and she jumped up, feeling Sawyer's fist connect with her face, sending her back to the ground with a shout of surprise.

Kate heard Maggie cry out and she looked up just in time to see the girl's body hit the ground several feet from her, next to a tree. Sawyer's hands gripped her arms and he straddled her, shaking his head slowly. "Kids, never listen, do they?"

"Sawyer, please, don't…" she cried, feeling her blood freezing in her veins. "Don't do this, not like this, please."

He stopped a moment and stared down at her. Kate could swear, for just that moment, he was himself and he frowned. She took the chance and pulled her arms loose, throwing a blow at his stomach and then his face and she scrambled to get away when he fell over. Rushing towards Maggie, she started to pick her up, but she felt him grab her and toss her against a tree. Kate groaned and he slammed himself into her, knocking the air out of her lungs.

"Just play nice, Freckles," he whispered in her ear as she gasped. Kate could hear him undoing his belt buckle and she shouted, elbowing him in the gut and she ran away from him, towards the beach. He wouldn't hurt Maggie, she told herself over and over, but the thought of abandoning the child made her legs slower and as she glanced back, she saw he was on her tail. Kate thrust herself forward, but he caught the back of her shirt and pulled her hard, then punched her, kicking her feet out from underneath her. Sawyer landed on her and hit her again.

Kate struggled, trying to keep his fists from her, but he knocked the air out of her again and then she felt something slice through the flesh of her left shoulder and she shouted out in agony. Her hands tried to find the source, but her vision was blurred and he slapped her hands away. Kate felt him tugging at her pants and she moved her legs, trying to kick him, but he hit her again. Kate knew if she let him have his way, it would happen faster. If it didn't happen faster, eventually she'd pass out from the pain.

Slamming her eyes shut, she gave up.

…

Finis