Chapter 11- Kiss The Flame

Kate's eyes started to close.

Jack turned around to look back at her. His eyes drifted downwards to the gun in her pocket, and then back at her. "Do you think she has the safety lock on…" Jack looked up at Sawyer who was singing along with some country song, and then shook his head. Why was he even asking him. Jack reached forward and took the gun out of Kate's pocket. His sighed nervously as he looked down at it.

Sawyer turned down the radio and then turned to Jack, "If that sheriff came and tried to take her away, would you of shot the man?"

"I never used a gun before."

"Would ya of shot him?"

Jack stared back at Sawyer suspiciously, "What does that have to do with anything."

Sawyer smiled to himself, "Dangerous situations bring out the worst in people. I had a feelin' you never shot anybody. A straight shooter like you, upper class doctor…I knew you never had a gun. But I know she has."

"She's on the run, she's got to protect herself somehow," Jack glanced down at the gun again. Just running his hands along the cold black metal sent shivers up his spine. He then opened the compartment, and put the gun safely inside. "When are we going to stop."

"A deserted area, away from civilization, and especially from them damn cops," Sawyer groaned.

Jack turned around to look at Kate once again. If there was anything he could look forward to, it was getting to know her. He knew he was risking sounding crazy, but there was something about Kate that intrigued him. She was tough, but yet so caring at the same time.

"Ain't she a sight?" Sawyer asked.

"What?" Jack asked turning around.

"Kate, ever since we got in the car. You keep turnin' around to look at her, I decided to stop looking at ya, because I was getting whiplash from all that turnin."

Jack smiled embarrassed, "I just want to make sure she was okay,"

Sawyer chuckled, "Checking up on her like a newborn baby, did you treat your old girlfriend like that?"

"Sarah,"

"Yeah, did ya smother her like your doing with Kate…"

"I'm not smothering her, I don't know her enough to…"

"Do you love her…do you think you love Katie," Sawyer asked.

(Break)

Kate wasn't sleep. She was just laying down on her side, and trying to clear her anxious mind. Jack and Sawyer's conversation forced her to stop thinking and listen to them. Sawyer asked Jack if he loved her. Kate bit her lip, she knew Jack didn't love her, because they hadn't been together long enough, but hopefully he felt something. After Kate realized what she was thinking, she rolled her eyes. What was wrong with her! Was she trying to set herself up for heartache. Kate shook her head and sat up, she didn't want to hear Jack reject her, so she was just going to sit up.

"She's a beautiful girl…" Jack replied.

Kate's heart skipped a beat. She rested her head back against the seat again. Jack thought she was beautiful, well she thought he was beautiful too.

"Let's go in here," Sawyer said turning into a vacant lot, which led into a forest.

"This place looks too open, anyone could come by and see us." Jack said.

"Well I don't see no one around, you got a better suggestion?" Sawyer growled.

Jack waved his hand, "No, I just…forget it. You probably have more experience with this kind of stuff that I do."

"You're right I do." Sawyer looked around cautiously, and then shifted the gear into park, he killed the ignition. "We got to be careful."

Kate sat up, "Where are we?"

"Some woods,"

Kate leaned forward, "You got to be kidding me…we can't just drag her body out of the car, and carry her into the woods in broad daylight."

Sawyer drummed his hands on the steering wheel. Kate was right, but he was focused on one thing, and that was moving. "Okay, so you think we should stick around these woods until, the sun go down?"

Kate nodded, "I think so, hopefully no one finds us."

"Drive the car into the woods," Jack advised. He then pointed towards a clearing that would allow the car through.

"Good idea Doc," Sawyer started back up the engine and then drove in.

Kate looked around. Black cars, and Police vehicles had become her paranoia. "Where are we going after this?"

"West Virginia," Sawyer said.

"What, I thought we weren't going there anymore." Kate replied.

"We got to hide out, and it's pretty safe there. I don't think they'll be able to find us there."

"Are you sure about that?" Jack said in disbelief.

"I ain't sure about nothing, I said I think."

Kate sighed. She didn't want Jack and Sawyer to get into another argument, at least not now. What was so special about West Virginia, and why was Sawyer so determined to go there?

Sawyer opened the door and then stepped out. He inhaled the fresh air around him, and then looked around.

Kate opened her door and stepped out as well. She glanced at the trunk and then looked away with a shiver. If she died would Jack and Sawyer just throw her in the trunk, and get rid of her body too. She looked down sadly. Sawyer probably would.

She looked back up, and her eyes met with Sawyer's.

She gave him a small smile because that was all she could muster.

"I think I hear some runnin water," Sawyer said walking away.

"This is really bothering you huh?" Jack asked leaning against the car.

"I don't want to sound like a baby…but yeah, it kind of is."

"It's bothering me too," Jack said.

Kate rested her arm against the trunk of the car and then leaned closer to Jack. "Remember when we had plans of getting away from him."

Jack smiled, "Yeah,"

"I don't think he's that bad. There's just a lot of things we don't know about him."

"I guess," Jack said bending down to pick up a stick.

Kate rested her chin against the trunk, "Is it shallow to be thinking about a hot shower and a change of clothes right now…I mean there are many other important things."

"Too be entirely honest, I'm thinking about a shower too."

Kate looked back at Jack hopefully, "Do you really think we can pull this off, I mean everything seems okay right now."

"I hope so," Jack said.

"I'm so used to being a one man island that I suddenly feel all turned around with you and Sawyer behind me, in a matter of fact if I was by myself, I probably would have already changed my hair color, style, and dress, and been in Mexico."

Jack turned his body towards Kate, "I'm sure, but Sawyer has some business he wants to take care of first…I know he wants to take out the guy that has a hit on us."

Kate shook her head, "Which is crazy, because that puts him in more danger."

"And you,"

Kate looked into Jack's light eyes. He really did care about her. "Jack,"

"Yes," He said.

"No matter what we have to stick together. Sawyer might decide to go his separate way, but…"

"I'm not going to leave you, not until you're safely where you want to be."

Kate extended her hand to Jack.

He gave her a handshake, and then pulled her into a hug.

Surprised Kate wrapped her free arm around Jack, and then rested her chin on his shoulder. Jack knew how to make her feel safe. If only they weren't in these circumstances, then she knew she would fall for him.

Jack leaned away from her slowly. "I promise you Kate, I won't let anything happen to you."

"I'll protect you as well…being that you don't know how to use a gun."

Jack let go of Kate's hand slowly. "Do you really think I have to die my hair blonde?"

Kate ran her hands over Jack's short brown hair.

Jack closed his eyes.

"Please don't. You look nice with brown hair…and besides I don't think there is a nationwide search for you."

"Is there one for you?" Jack asked.

Kate blinked, "No, but people are looking for me."

A part of Jack wanted to know why people were looking for Kate, but then again he wanted to remain in the dark.

"Jack, I know what your thinking, and I swear to you that I'm not dangerous. I did do something but it was…"

Jack placed his hand over Kate's mouth. He was surprised at his sudden action and so was Kate.

Kate made no attempts to remove Jack's hand.

"Sorry about that I um…" Jack slowly let his hand drop down to his side, "Kate we're in this together for god knows how long, and I don't want to judge you on things that happened in the past."

Kate smiled back at Jack, "Before you were like a detective, you wanted to know everything about me. What changed your mind Mr. Shepard."

Jack raised an eyebrow, "How do you know my last name."

"I was bored last night…and I wanted to see if you had pictures or anything in your wallet…Sarah is beautiful."

"She is…"

Kate looked down.

"But I just realized that I'm not in love with her…well, I knew it all along."

"So then why were you going to purpose to her Jack?"

Jack met Kate's stare. Why was he going to propose to Sarah…maybe it was because he had convinced himself that she was the right one. Sarah had been through so much, and he had been there to help her get through it all.

"Hey you'll, I found a river. Fresh runnin water, salmon jumpin high as the sky, and even better a place to bathe." Sawyer said heading towards them shirtless.

Kate tore her eyes away from Jack for a quick second, and glanced at Sawyer. "What do you mean bathe?"

Sawyer grinned, "You know, take off our clothes and take a swim."

Kate stepped closer to Jack and elbowed him.

Jack laughed.

"What, ya'll too good too freshen up in the river."

Kate leaned against Jack, "Well, aren't we stopping again…maybe at a better hotel than The Quarter…where people don't get murdered."

Sawyer smirked, "You got a dry sense of humor ya know that freckles."

"Well it's not easy making light of dark situations,"

"Okay, well I was just suggesting, because we have some time until night falls, and we get rid of…" Sawyer paused.

Kate sighed, "Please don't say get rid of…"

Sawyer nodded, "Okay then sweet cheeks take care of."

For a second Kate had forgotten about the body in the trunk, and the people chasing after them. But of course Sawyer had to remind her about all of it. She swatted at some mosquitoes and then crossed her arms. She liked Sawyer…but he had excellent timing…just when Jack was making promises with her, and showing that he genuinely cared, Sawyer had to show up.

"Well, I'm going skinny dipping." Sawyer said.

"Are you kidding me? Sawyer…" Kate said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, precious?" He said.

"People are trying to kill us…and your talking about skinny dipping."

Jack smiled down at Kate. "Let him go, we'll hang out here and keep watch okay."

"Okay," Kate said almost instantly.

Sawyer clenched his jaw. He envied that relationship of theirs. "Fine, I'll go by myself."

Jack smiled, "I think he's mad."

"Do you think we should go…I mean if were not stopping again for while."

"I'll go if you go." Jack said.

"Let's go,"

(Break)

Sawyer dived into the mildly warm water. He swam towards no particular target. All he could think about was revenge. Before he realized that Jack and Kate were tighter than a knot in a shoe, he had found himself falling for her. He chuckled to himself. He was a man without attachments, but yet he was trying to form one with this woman he barely knew. Not anymore, he was going to focus on the big picture. He was going to focus on handling his revenge, killing the man that wanted him dead, and then skip the country. As for Kate, she could stay with Jack, and they could have each other. He only loved one woman in his life, and she was dead.

Sawyer stopped for a couple of seconds to catch his breath. He looked toward the grassy area where Kate and Jack were now talking.

(Break)

Kate pulled off her coat, and then tossed it on the grass. She was still struggling to ignore the nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Just thinking about what they were going to do to Hailey's body still haunted her. Kate watched from the corner of her eye as Jack pulled off his shirt.

Well that could make her forget about Hailey for a couple of seconds.

As Jack turned around Kate quickly focused on pulling off her shirt. She was going to keep her bra and panties on because she wasn't really into skinny-dipping, and now definitely wasn't the time to have fun.

Jack stripped down to his boxers.

(Break)

Jack was a true gentleman, but he was finding it hard not to admire Kate's body, and sexy lingerie. Jack shook his head. What was wrong with him, he couldn't keep his eyes or thoughts off of her, it was as if Kate had put a spell on him.

"Hey Jack?"

Jack snapped out of it, and realized that he was uncharacteristically staring back at Kate with his mouth wide open. "Oh…I um…I was just admiring the scenery."

Kate smiled, "I'm sure you were."

Jack directed his attention towards the gently rolling waters of the river lapping at his feet. "Are you ready to go in."

"I don't know,"

Jack reached out his hand for Kate's, "We have to live our lives the best we can until this all rolls over…we're both scared but we can't stay that way forever."

"You always know what to say Jack." Kate whispered taking his hand.

"I try." Jack focused his eyes on the water in front of him.

Kate smiled back at him for a couple more seconds. "Are we jumping in?"

"I'm glad to see that smile of yours again."

Kate's smile widened. She was on the run all of her life, and what a coincidence that the one time when she was in the most danger, she didn't want to run anymore.

"Are you ready?" Jack asked squeezing her hand tighter.

"Yes,"

Jack nodded, and she nodded back at him. Together they jumped into the water.

They surfaced with their hands still together.

"Damn this water is cold," Jack said with a laugh.

Kate shivered, "The water is cold."

Jack placed his hands on Kate's shoulders, and started to rub them, "Is this making you warmer."

"Yeah," She said breathlessly.

Sawyer swam over to them, "It's getting dark…we can take cara the business soon." He then swam around Kate and Jack and went back to the surface, "We've got to get to West Virginia…the quicker I handle my business, the sooner I can get outta here."

Jack let go of Kate's shoulders. He was so caught up in her, he had forgotten about their main goal, well at least for a second. But then again wasn't that the plan.

As the sun started to pull low over the horizon, both Jack and Kate fought their feelings for one another. Jack struggled to convince himself that he wasn't in love with Kate because he didn't know her, and Kate fought with Tom's death. She had known Tom all of her life, and she had only known Jack for a day and a half, but yet she was feeling like this about him?

They both swam to the surface, and got out seconds later.

Kate put back on her tee-shirt, and then her pants

. "I'm going to go check on Sawyer,"

Kate nodded, and watched as Jack walked away. There was no denying the energy between them…there was something, and although Kate was scared to explore it, she wanted to be as close to Jack as possible. She wanted to tell him everything, and lean on him for support, and most importantly she wanted to tell him that he was helping her through Tom's death. Jack was her comfort, and she couldn't deny it any longer, she had fallen for him.

Kate bit her lip. "I love him. And I don't want to go to Mexico alone, I want Jack to come with me. But that's never going to happen."

She looked down sadly. If they lived through this, they were going to go there separate ways, and she would lose him, just like she had lost Tom. A teary Kate looked up at the sky. Maybe she just wasn't meant for love.

(Break)

When Jack found Sawyer, he was looking back at a fire burning.

"Did you already take her out of the trunk and…"

"Yeah," Sawyer placed his cigarette to his mouth. "We're not safe out here, do you remember what happened last time you and Kate went into the woods?"

"Yeah,"

"Where is she anyway?" Sawyer asked.

"By the river, I'm not going to get her, because she doesn't need to see this." Jack said.

Sawyer crossed his arms and looked down at the fire, "Be prepared to die, these guys ain't playing nice."

Jack looked back for Kate, and then raised an eyebrow at Sawyer, "You sound like your giving up. Why would you give up after you have been running all this time."

"I'm not givin' up, so don't put those damn words in my mouth Doc, I'm just sayin'…look at what happened to Hailey, that could've just as easily been Kate."

Jack placed his hand to his head, "It could've been, but it wasn't. Nothing is going to happen to her…"

"I don't think you know who your dealing with Doc, this guy Julian he's a ruthless bastard, and his hands are far from clean…he's killed pregnant women, children…"

Jack raised his hand, "I got it, but you don't need to scare Kate. All we can do is try to keep her safe."

"She'll never be safe. Not until I kill him." Sawyer said staring down at the fire with determination in his eyes. Maybe it was for the best that he didn't fall for Kate, because every woman he had been with since Julian went after him had been killed. Hunted down, and killed savagely.

"You did that all by yourself Sawyer?" Kate asked walking over to them with her hands wrapped around her body.

Sawyer clenched his jaw. Why did he drag them into this. Maybe he could get away, because he had made it his life. But he was one person, and he couldn't save two people. Shit, why did he care so much?

Kate sat down and stared back at the fire with a hint of sadness, "Do we have somewhere we can put her ashes?"

Sawyer looked down. She had a heart too. Yeah, he cared about Hailey, but he wasn't attached to her, after his last girlfriend's death, he had become a master at downplaying his feelings, but he had a feeling that was if Kate died things would be different.

(Thanks guys for the reviews. I hope you'll know that you are all much appreciated. Lostelf76, nikki-da-latina, rain1657, October Sky, kballgetlost, and bwcheer. October Sky, you're right, Jack doesn't know how to use a gun…well at least not in this story. I made sure I added that in…thanks. bwcheer, definitely, they are on the run, but Kate and Jack are human. They're falling in love quick, and they haven't really acknowledged their feelings for one another yet. Nikki-da-latina, no I definitely don't want to kill you…lol. I hope I fulfilled your Jate fix slightly. Peace guys.)