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
The baseball game was tied and Jack bit his bottom lip, touching Kate's knee. He watched her raise her eyes from her magazine and looked out onto the diamond where the boys were playing. She leaned into Jack and asked, "Who's where?"
"Jamie's on second and Chris is up to bat."
"Oh," she said, sounding upset. He watched the concentration that took over her face as she put the magazine down and started watching. Baseball was only entertaining for two innings, she'd once told him – the first and the last – because all the others were just filler between the two in which the teams tried the hardest.
Jack wasn't going to argue. He watched Chris swing on two high pitches and he shouted at him to watch the ball. Chris threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes and gripped the bat as Jamie shouted more instructions from the second base. He turned when Kate jerked and sat up straight, looking around.
"Where's Maggie?" She asked quickly.
Pointing towards a group of girls chatting under a tree a few yards away, Jack smiled, "You worry too much."
She lowered her eyebrows at him. "Take a good look at the papers Jack, kids disappear all the time."
Jack kissed her nose. "You're cute when you're worried."
The crack of a bat against a ball made her shove him away and jump up, shouting. He smiled up at her and shook his head, turning to see the girls with Maggie start to point and giggle as James began trotting backwards across home base. The boy pointed and winked and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Got some of the ol' pop in him afterall," Sawyer drawled from his side. Jack grabbed Kate's arm, balancing her as she jumped away from the voice. She sat and he could see she was breathing hard, afraid. Sawyer flicked a cigarette onto the ground and stomped it out. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."
"What are you doing here?" Jack asked.
"Talk to the Mrs', she gave the ok," he pointed at Kate with a frown. "Didn't you tell him, Freckles?"
Jack turned and looked at Kate as she stared at Sawyer. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Something you forgot to mention?"
"He comes to the games," she breathed. "I told him he could."
"Really." Jack licked his lips, watching her turn her vision towards him.
Kate frowned.
Nodding his head, Jack looked back at where Chris was standing on second and James was shouting at his little brother. He watched the rest of the game in silence, feeling Kate's eyes on him. He could sense she was worried, she knew he'd be mad at her, Jack felt her take his hand and try to get him to look at her.
Sawyer went towards Maggie and nudged her with his knee. The girl looked up and smiled, waving a hello as he continued walking past the trees, back towards his truck. Jack watched him go as the boys gathered their stuff and approached them, both looking tired and hungry.
"Dad," James called loudly. "Hey Dad!" He put a hand up and waved it, raising his eyebrows in an amused manor. "Man, you're getting old," he teased.
Jack laughed. He looked at James and touched Chris' head as the younger boy tried to climb the bleachers. "He comes to every game?" Jack asked Kate.
She smiled, nodding her head. "He just comes to see him, Jack. Not me."
Jack believed her. He didn't have to choose to because he'd learned a long time ago to tell when she lied and around that time she'd learned to stop doing it. Climbing down, he lifted a hand to help her off the last step. She didn't need the help, but she held his hand as they walked back to the car. James and Chris raced one another across the grass as Maggie chatted with Kate and Jack sighed.
He kissed her temple and she turned to give him a confused amused look that made him laugh. Jack nodded, a sign telling her it was ok, what she'd done. She hugged him and he lowered his head, shaking it as Jack and Chris started shoving one another at the car door.
"So, this is normal," he sighed.
"Normal is relative, I've heard," Kate responded watching him pull the car keys from his pocket and hit the switch to open the doors. James shoved Chris out and Maggie groaned, going to stop the fighting and claim her window seat.
"Nah, I like normal. It's just weird enough for me." Jack grinned, opening the door and climbing behind the wheel. He watched Kate click her seatbelt and look back at Chris who stared out the window.
Jack watched James spread himself along the back row of seats and cross his legs, pulling a worn book from the back of Maggie's seat. Kate took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "Any regrets, Jack?"
She asked him that sometimes, when he seemed to be contemplating his life. Jack wondered if she thought he was going to make a run for it. It made him smile seeing how domesticated she'd become since they'd met and knowing that in all reality, it would be him who would hit the pavement for the door. He watched James flip a page and he shook his head. "Nah. None."
Finis