Chapter 27- You're the one that I want
Jack grabbed Sawyer by the shirt and then slammed him against the ground.
Sawyer groaned. As Jack yelled at him, Sawyer smiled back at him the least bit phased.
Sawyer's cocky smile, only seemed to infuriate Jack more. Jack raised his fist to punch Sawyer, but Kate startled him by the slamming her hand on the horn and then flashing on the headlights.
Jack snapped out of it. He winced in the direction of the blinding beams.
Sawyer took advantage of Jack off guard by slugging him in the face. Jack went falling backwards.
Kate hoped out of the car. "Stop this!"
Sawyer got up, "He's down, why the hell stop now."
"He saved your life!" Kate screamed.
Sawyer ignored her as he stalked over to Jack.
Jack glared back at him. "You came over here to finish me off?"
Sawyer balled his fists, "I could ask you the same question."
Kate ran over to Sawyer and then pushed him away from Jack, "Stop fighting! We need to stick together in order to get through this ordeal!"
Jack cast his eyes at Kate, "Get through what Kate, what do we need to get through,"
Kate stared back at Jack in confusion, "Are you kidding me Jack, do I even have to go through…"
"A house being blown up, you getting nearly killed with a vase by this idiot…"
Sawyer who was zoning out snapped out of it quickly, "Watch it Jackass."
Jack kept on going, "And me killing someone, what's there to worry about. After all the cops are probably so close to catching us, why should we even care." He got up and then wiped off his jeans.
Kate placed her hand to her bandage. She knew she should be relaxing, but she didn't want to give Jack and Sawyer the chance to kill each other.
"And staying right here is really smart. We obviously want to get caught," Jack said to Kate.
"Then let's go."
Jack looked down.
"I'm not drivin." Sawyer said stubbornly.
Kate crossed her arms, "Are you two serious! Do you expect me to drive?"
Jack sat back down.
Kate's mouth opened, "Jack, you have to stop this."
"Stop what Kate!" He yelled.
"Hey, don't be yellin at her." Sawyer defended.
Jack shot up again. "So you know what's best for her and I don't."
"Yeah, I know what's best for Kate and it ain't you."
Jack grimaced. He clenched his jaw and got right in Sawyer's face. "Say that to me again, and I'll wipe that smug smile right off of your face."
Kate rolled her eyes.
Sawyer pointed to his chin, "C'mon Jacko, why dontcha knock a tooth out this time."
Jack turned away from him. "If I touch you, I might not be able to stop myself."
Sawyer chuckled, "Boy I'll whoop your ass."
Jack raised his fist.
Kate uncrossed her arms, and got ready to break them up again. But she didn't have too. Jack walked away.
Kate stared after him in confusion. "Jack…"
He kept walking towards the woods again.
Kate got ready to follow after him. She didn't think Jack was crazy a la Sawyer, because she could identify with him in a sense. And it wasn't just because of the man he killed. Kate watched him walk farther away. She closed her eyes, and then tried to erase this horrible day.
"We're gonna end up killin each other," Sawyer said in reference to Jack.
Kate bit her lip, "He's hurting. I just wish there was some way I could get to him but…"
"He's a hopeless case, hell we all are." Sawyer leaned against the truck as well. "I'm assuming that they know that one of their men is dead, which means were in more trouble."
"What are we going to do Sawyer? We have no money, no clothes, no…"
"We got our lives don't we…we'll take it one at a time."
"How can you be so flip?" Kate asked in confusion.
Sawyer shrugged, "What choice do I got. To have a nervous breakdown like crazy ass Jack, and end up killin myself in the process. Nah, sweet cheeks it doesn't work that way in my book."
"Are you scared?"
Sawyer watched as lightning streaked the sky. The powerful electricity illuminated the night. "It's gonna rain, if Jack doesn't come back then he's gonna get soaked."
Kate tugged on Sawyer's shirt, "Listen to me Sawyer, I need you to stop fighting with Jack."
Sawyer pulled away from Kate, her hand dropped down to her sides. "What did'ya ask me?"
Kate sighed, "Sawyer please,"
"Why should I do him any favors?"
"Because he hasn't been exposed to the things we have. Jack has never had to kill a man, and now that he has, he doesn't know how to live with his decision. These next couple of days are going to be rough for him, and I need you to…"
"I don't give a damn about him Kate. You don't have to baby him, because we've all been going through the same thing. If Jack can't take the pressure then he needs to be left behind." Sawyer walked towards the driver's door.
Kate placed her hand on her hips. "Sawyer, what are you doing?"
Sawyer jingled the keys in his hands, "What does it look like beautiful."
Rain started to fall from the Heaven's above.
Kate looked up, a small droplet of cold liquid fell against her forehead and then slid down the bandage to her cheek.
"C'mon in," Sawyer said.
Kate crossed her arms, "I'm not leaving Jack behind."
Sawyer shrugged. He started the engine and then turned the headlights on.
Kate winced as she tried to shield her eyes from the blinding beams.
Remembering that Kate had got hit pretty hard earlier, Sawyer turned off the headlights, but didn't kill the engine. "I got the heat turned up, you'll wanna get outta that cold rain. It feels good in here."
Kate knew Sawyer wouldn't hesitate to leave Jack, but she wasn't leaving without him. "I'm not leaving Jack,"
Sawyer shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm not leavin you."
"Thanks, I guess." Kate mumbled as she walked into the woods after Jack. Kate knew she should be sitting down or at least eating something. "Jack!" Kate yelled.
She stepped over a twig, and then shielded her eyes from the rain with her hand. "Jack where are you!"
Kate heard someone behind her, just as she was starting to feel weak, and drained of energy. Kate winced as her vision grew blurry, she was pushing herself to hard. She placed her hand against a tree and struggled to regain her strength.
Seconds later, Kate felt someone picking her up.
"Wa…we have to get Jack, Sawyer…" Kate said closing her eyes.
As Jack carried her back towards the car, he didn't feel the need to clarify that it was him and not Sawyer. He knew Kate needed her rest after the trauma she had experienced earlier. He looked down at her. "I don't understand why you would come after me Kate…after what I said to you," Jack closed his eyes. She should have just left him in the woods to drown in his own self pity. He sighed, What made him think that he could bring back the man he killed, his father, and the innocence that his name once possessed. Jack was an outlaw now, and he was going to have to deal with that.
Jack clenched his jaw. How do you get used to that? How do you ever get used to taking a man's life.
As all of these conflicting thoughts raced through Jack's head. He opened the car door.
"Wai..Wait Sawyer, we have to get Jack," Kate said grabbing onto Jack's shirt. She forced Jack to let her down, and then she started to walk back towards the woods.
Kate still thought Jack was Sawyer, because she hadn't looked at him.
Jack stopped her by grabbing onto her wrist.
Kate turned to him. "Jack!"
Jack gave her a small nod, because that was all he could muster in the state he was in.
Kate pulled him into a hug.
Jack was hesitant and was about to pull away, but Kate had one arm wrapped around his lower waist, and her other hand was placed against his head.
"I understand what you're going through."
"No you don't," Jack whispered.
"Jack, believe me I do."
Jack slowly pulled away from Kate. "We should go."
"Are you going to build up walls now Jack? Are you going to push me away? I thought we were in this together,"
"That hasn't changed…Kate, I don't want to talk about this now. You need to relax, all this activity isn't…"
"How can I possibly relax when I know you feel like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders."
Jack smiled, "I'm used to it."
Kate could tell that he was putting on a show. He was trying to convince her that he was okay, but she knew he wasn't. "Jack, don't worry about me. You need to get some rest."
Jack shook his head, "No, I can't sleep."
Kate stared back at Jack in disbelief, "Jack, you need your energy, and maybe a little sleep will help you to…"
"Feel better?" Jack asked sarcastically.
Kate placed her hand on her hips. "Jack, I'm trying to help you."
"Maybe I don't want your help."
Kate's eyebrows furrowed low over her eyes. She felt another wave of exhaustion coming over her, but she tried to ignore it. "You're stubborn Jack, and you have to realize that everyone need's someone."
"You've been alone, and you didn't turn out so bad."
"Actually I was never alone until…"
Jack stared back at Kate. His eyes were starting to play tricks on him. He could swear that he saw someone in the woods.
"I wasn't alone until Tom died, and after he died, you came…"
Jack kept his eyes trained on the woods. The silhouette disappeared. He placed his hand to his head.
Kate stepped closer to him. "I'm here for you Jack, but I can't be there for you if you keep on pushing me away."
Jack turned around stubbornly.
Kate sighed, "We had something great…or at least it seemed that way…"
"You don't want to be with me Kate,"
Kate looked down. Actually she did.
"I was just a way to deal with Tom's death."
Kate gasped, "Jack, C'mon!"
Jack shrugged, "Let's just focus on getting you out of the country."
Kate couldn't even look at Jack anymore because she was upset. "If I didn't care about you, then what do you make of that letter I wrote you? Did I just make that up too Jack?"
Jack opened the door for Kate, "You should get in."
"No,"
Jack looked away, "Why not?"
"Because we need to talk."
"What if I don't want to talk about this."
"Well you're going to have to, because I'm not backing down Jack."
"And you're calling me stubborn."
"I understand that you went through a lot tonight, and you have every reason to feel lost and confused and…"
"Guilty," Jack added.
"Guilty for what," Kate whispered.
"Killing a man, leaving his body there. What if he had a family Kate, a wife, or maybe even kids waiting for him to come home?"
Kate reached out for Jack's hand but he pulled away. "Jack, you can't save everyone."
As soon as Kate said that. Jack looked up, he saw his father Christian standing in the brush. Christian stared back at Jack in disappointment. Jack tore his eyes away from Kate and then kept his eyes locked on Christian. As Jack stared back at his father in horror, his words echoed in his head.
"Jack," Kate said again.
Kate's voice had been replaced by Christian's.
"What kind of son betrays their own father. You're not my son Jack, I went off to Australia destroyed from the blow of you turning me in, and you didn't even go after me, you left me to die."
"No, I didn't, I couldn't reach you, and even if I could, you didn't want me to reach you." Jack said with wide eyes.
Kate stared back at Jack in concern, "What?"
"You didn't want me to come after you! Right before you left you told me what a disappointment I was, and how ashamed you were of me. You even told me that you regretted the decisions you made in bringing me up!" Jack's face was red and he was yelling at Kate.
Kate's mouth dropped open, "Jack, who are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you Dad. I'm talking about you. I would've went after you if you didn't turn your back on me for doing the right thing." Jack placed his hand to his head. "I would've went after you if…"
Kate didn't know what was going on. She knew the Jack had issues with his dad, but she didn't know the extent of it until now. She debated whether she should touch him or not.
Jack slammed his hand against the truck, waking Sawyer up.
A sharp pain sliced through his hand, because he had hit something jagged.
"Jack," Kate said.
Jack placed his bloody hand to his face, so Kate couldn't see him. He didn't want her to seem him like this, a mess. Jack placed down his hands and then stared back at Kate.
Kate walked over to him. She kept her mouth shut and then reached for his hand. "We have to clean that up,"
Sawyer got out of the car, "What the hell is goin' on out here!"
Kate looked back at him, "Can you get me the alcohol, and any bandage that is left over."
Sawyer glanced at Jack's hand wearily, "If you'll keep on cutting ya selves up like that then you'll ain't gonna have no blood left." Sawyer said cracking a smile.
But neither Kate or Jack found it funny.
Sawyer muttered under his breath, "Well curses to me for tyrin to provide some comic relief when everyone's losin their damn minds."
Once he was in the car, Sawyer grabbed the alcohol and then the leftover bandage that Jack had used on Kate's head earlier. As he pulled it out, his hand grazed the box that held Sarah's engagement ring. Sawyer looked up, Kate was still holding Jack's hand, and Jack was staring straight ahead.
Sawyer tucked the box in his pocket. He had a feeling they were in more trouble than ever, and with the Doc losing it every second Sawyer needed some insurance. And if selling Sarah's enagement ring had to be it…then that's what he was going to do.
Kate tapped on the window. "He's still bleeding Sawyer, could you hurry up the pace a little bit?"
"Yeah, sure," Sawyer patted his pocket, and then stepped out of the car. Maybe it was time to leave Jack and Kate behind once and for all?
"I'll take care of you Jack," Kate said.
Sawyer scowled. Maybe if Kate showed him a little more attention then he would want to stick around, but he was tired of playing second string to Jack.
(Hey, you all are so great! Thanks for the reviews and I apologize for the long wait.)
Kballgetlost- I would be an evil person if I kept Kate and Jack away from each other. I admit I like Sawyer with Kate sometimes, but I am a Jate fan myself.
Nikki-da-latina- Hey, I'm glad your back! Missed ya, and what happened to your story?
October Sky- not to big of a fight, but then again anything with these three of possible…so maybe another fight is in the future soon.
(Also rain1657, bwcheer, Kristen, sunny102, and Orlando-crazy, thanks for taking time to review my story!)