I just wanted to thank you all for your lovely reviews. I cant express how much it means to me, it really maked me want to keep writing this insane, out of character story. Um, this next chapter is pretty cracked out, so I hope y'all don't abandon me, I swear the next chapter will actually make sense!

Chapter 4

The next morning,Jack awoke from his restless sleep with a willing determination. He had only one thing left to do before he could give Kate his answer. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was only 6:40. What the hell, he thought, if the lawyer wasn't in his office this early, he wasn't worth the small fortune he was paying him.

Eric Brady, it turned out, was in his office. However, it took some doing to get through the chipper receptionist. "Mr. Brady is due in court in an hour and is unavailable until 3pm, would you like his voicemail?" she asked brightly. After much cajoling Jack was finally put through to him about 20 minutes later.

"You're a hard man to talk to Mr. Brady." Jack said testily.

"That I am Mr. Shepard, that I am. Now what can I do you for. I can give you about 5 minutes."

"I need to know," Jack exhaled, "What are her chances? Can you do anything for her? And no bullshit."

Eric Brady sighed deeply and waited a moment before answering. "Jack?" he finally spoke. "I'm gonna be honest with you here, man. Against my better judgment, really. I probably haven't had enough coffee yet... At any rate,I've been looking through the files and Miss Austin? She's in it deep. She killed, well murdered, a prominent, well loved resident of a very small town. There are numerous witnesses, almost all of which are willing to testify. Including her own mother. If we had some decent character witnesses it might help, but her history of petty delinquency prior to the crime didn't really help her in that respect. Of the two people willing to testify on her behalf, one is dead, and the other either is or was a drug addict and a relation. That, and usually when people run from the law, it doesn't inspire trust from a jury."

He paused, perhaps waiting for a response from Jack, but there was nothing but dead air.

Eric continued. "Now, even if I believe Miss Austin's story, which I do by the way. Im gonna have a helluva time convincing a jury. There is no physical evidence to support her claims. In this era of CSI and Cold Case, people want hard tangible proof. God damn network television." He chuckled slightly.

"Best case scenario?" Jack asked ignoring the joke.

"Best case scenario." Eric repeated. "I can probably cut a deal and get her 25 years. But if this goes before a jury, she'll probably get life. Good news is, historically jury's have had trouble sending pretty young women to the gas chamber."

"Jesus Christ" Jack muttered.

"Hey Jack, Im sorry man. I can tell you're wrapped up in this thing emotionally, and I hate to be the bearer of such bad news. But I do think that you need to prepare yourself, and her, for whats coming." He waited a beat. "You're more than welcome to get a second opinion, of course."

"No." Jack said "That won't be necessary. Thank you for your candor." And with that he placed the phone back in its cradle. It had been what he'd expected, but it was still shocking to hear it out loud.

Waiting for his scheduled visiting hours was excruciating. All he could do was go over and over in his mind his conversation with the lawyer and read again and again Kate's letter. Finally though, it was 2:30 and he set off.

As he arrived at the station just outside Kate's cell block one guard said to the other, just loud enough so Jack could overhear, "Sleeping Beauty's prince is here."

"Sleeping Beauty?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, she's been out since yesterday afternoon, right after the doctor saw her."

"What time did he see her?" Jack demanded.

"Um, just after you left?" the guard answered as if he wasn't sure. Like he didn't want to make trouble.

"Nearly 24 hours." Jack murmured to himself. "What did he give her?" he said addressing the guard.

"Don't know, but whatever it was, it worked." The guard paused in front of the door, waiting for a response from Jack.

"Wanna hurry this up?" Jack asked raising his eyebrows. He opened the door and Jack pushed passed him, jogging down the hallway to Kate's cell.

There she was, sprawled on her back, mouth agape. One hand was thrown almost recklessly off the edge of the bed. And she was snoring, rather loudly.

"Kate!" Jack yelled through the glass. No response. "Kate!" He tried again rapping pounding his fists on the cell. She only moaned and rolled over to face the wall.

Jack turned to the guard. "You're gonna need to let me in. Do whatever you need to do to get clearance. And I need the number to the nearest fax machine." As he spoke he flipped open his cell phone and called the lawyer for the second time that day.

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Kate looked darkly at Jack through the wooden bars of her cell. Night was falling in the jungle and she could just make out his features in the dim light.

"Don't worry, Kate." He told her brightly, "Everything will go fine tomorrow. You just wait and see."

"How can you say that Jack, my lawyer is ten years old! And you know," she continued, slightly puzzled, "I'm beginning to think that he doesn't really have a law degree."

"Don't worry." He repeated, "Walt catches on quick, hes a bright boy."

"Why can't you be my lawyer, you're smart." Kate whined.

The smile faded from Jack's face. "I've told you Kate, I'm far too busy. There's a lot I have to do on this Island. Everybody's depending on me."

"I know," Kate sighed. "But are you at least coming to my trial?"

"I'll try Kate," he answered, "But I still have to organize the band aids both alphabetically and by color. It's a really big deal. I'm sure you understand." The smile returned to his face.

"Alright." She said quietly, tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Don't cry Kate, it'll turn out okay."

"You keep saying that Jack, but I don't think it will!" she yelled "Whose bright idea was it for Ana Lucia to be judge! Shouldn't it be someone impartial? You know she hates me. Can't it be Locke?" She pleaded.

"Now now, Kate," He said "You know he's opposing council."

"I suppose so."

He continued "Even if you're convicted, the Hatch isn't so bad. We'll come and visit you! We'll even throw some fruit down when we remember!"

"But I don't want to go in the hatch."

He got up and reached into her cell, ruffling her hair like a child. "Buck up little camper!" he said and turned to leave.

"Jack!" she screamed after him "Don't let them put me in the Hatch!"

Jack turned back to face the cell and began shaking it violently.

"Kate." He said.

"Kate, time to wake up"

"Katie."

Kate opened her eyes quickly and inhaled deeply. She was back in her cell. Jack was there, crouching beside her bed, gently shaking her shoulder. "Don't call me Katie" she said sharply, coldly.

His face crumpled, "I didn't mean…I'm sorry" he said.

Kate blinked and groggily tried to recall why he was in her cell, but her brain came up with nothing.

"Oh Jack" she said, tears immediately coming to her eyes. "Im so sorry, its just Tom used to call me that, and he..." she trailed off. "Wait." She visibly tried to concentrate. "What are you doing in here?"

"Its okay," he said, "I was just trying to wake you up." He said, he reached out and traced his thumb under her eye, wiping away the tears. Her vision blurred and gradually came back into focus. He let his palm rest on her face slightly longer than necessary, but when she reached up to touch it, he moved it away. Why was it so hard to remember what was going on? It had to be the middle of the night, what was Jack doing here?

She tried to sit up, and a wave of dizziness overwhelmed her. She plopped back down on the pillow with a grunt. Jack chuckled at her, then looked slightly ashamed of it and put a serious expression back on.

The only explanation she could come up with for the extremely odd situation she found herself in was that she was still dreaming. "At least this is a good dream though." She murmured to herself.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Oh, nothing" she said in a sing song voice and closed her eyes. She could feel the bed rocking back and forth slowly, like she was back on that boat. This bed was just about as uncomfortable as that one had been.

"Oh no you don't, Kate." Jack said. "I need you to try and stay awake for me now."

"But I'm dreaming now Jack, what difference does it make if I go back to sleep?" she said rationaly.

"Right," Jack said slowly, "But I need you to pretend to stay awake, at least keep your eyes open okay?"

"That doesn't make sense." She giggled.

"Humor me." he answered. "Now Kate, can you remember what the doctor gave you?"

She cocked her head to the side puzzled by the question. "But Jack," she whispered, "You're the doctor. And you didn't give me anything, even though I really wanted you too. Why are you smiling?"

"No Kate, the other doctor."

"Tom?" she asked.

"No Kate, try and remember yesterday."

"I remember yesterday, I did something really dumb. I can't quite remember what though." She said, wrinkling her forehead. "I thought maybe you wouldn't like me anymore, but I guess you do, cause you're here." She paused, thinking again. "Wait, if this is a dream, then maybe your not really here and you do hate me. You don't hate me, do you Jack?"

Jack walked over to the bed again and looked at her closely. "No Kate, I don't hate you," He said firmly.

"That's good," Kate said relieved. "I like it when you come and see me."

"I like coming to see you." He answered.

She reached out her hands and kneaded his cheeks, pursing his lips, then mushing the skin back. "You should stop shaving though, I miss you're stubble. It looked nice and scratchy."

"Okay." He said smiling. He got up and walked to the tiny holes in the glass. "Can we get some coffee in here?" He yelled.

"Is it time to wake up again?" Kate asked disappointed. Why did she always wake up before the good part?

"Kate, I need you to do me a favor." Jack said to her, retrieving a piece of paper and a pen from atop the orange chair. "I need you to sign this. It says that I'm the only physician allowed to treat you. You think that's something you can do?"

"Sure!" she said brightly.

As she signed, one of the guards brought some coffee. Jack handed it to her gingerly. "Careful, its hot."

She sipped the coffee as Jack sat in the orange chair, looking at her.

"So," she said conversationally, "You coming back tomorrow?"

"Sure am," he answered. "That should be interesting." He said under his breath.