I write fast. A tee hee hee. Lol not really, I've spent all my time doing this and neglecting my homework. Whoopsie. Anyways, I'm glad all who reviewed liked the story. I actually worked on it away from the computer (gasp) in a notebook I bought so I could write away from the computer (makes sense now doesn't it) so now I have like 3 pages of Jack and Kate…Lol I think I should sell it on Ebay!
This chapter is rated M because of mature (ahem) 'thingies' that take place.

And a special thanks to CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88 for being my fishy, and cheering me on!

8 Months

Chapter 2

Unprotected

He followed her silently, slinking through the grass like a tiger hunting its prey. He pushed some tall grass out of the way as his legs took long strides to keep up with her gait. He'd warned her, he'd warned all of them repeatedly, not to go out into the jungle at all, especially not alone. And there she was, her backpack secured tightly around her stomach, her hair done up with a few small wisps of dark hair falling here and there.

She looked innocent enough, but everyone on the island, even they knew she could put up a fight, and that's what would attract them to her. Kate's face turned upwards as the sun shone speckled through the jungle canopy, dotting the lush ground with bright spots of light here and there. He could see her eyes look at peace, and the healing, bruised skin of her cheek turn an unhealthy yellow color.

He traveled along beside her, ten feet away from her but still parallel, making sure that when she took a step, he was there to match it. She left the camp quickly and quietly, sometime early this morning, when everyone but him was sleeping. She didn't stop to take a gun, or a knife or any form of protection, which was what set Jack off after her.

She stopped suddenly, her foot falling short of her fast pace, and he was too late to catch himself from continuing. His foot fell hard to the ground and the sole of his shoe crushed a twig that echoed loudly through the seemingly vacant jungle.

"Why are you following me?" she questioned irritated, her hands had fallen to her hips as she swung her body to face the direction of the sound.

She waited patiently, an annoyed look plastered to her face as he reluctantly ventured his way out of the line of trees that disguised him, "I warned you Kate," he told her as his eyes dashed around the nearby trees, "It's not safe to come out here alone, especially unarmed."

"Jack," she sighed as she shook her head, the few loose curls bounced lightly in the wind, "You follow me everywhere, you barely let me go to the bathroom alone. I can take care of myself, really," she informed lightheartedly.

"Really?" he questioned as he took his hand and pressed his thumb lightly into the sickly tan colored skin, "Then how did this happen?" He knew how it happened, he was there, partially.

Immediately she moved away from him and dropped her head in something of defeat, "I had to try Jack," she whispered, "I couldn't stand by and just let them take her." Her eyes were angry and spiked with tears.

"They were going to take her either way Kate," he told her quietly, not wishing to start a full scale argument for the sakes of not disturbing the Other's, who he was sure were only lurking a few feet away in the brush. "It would've been easier just to…"

"Let them take her?" Kate cried, "Let them drag her away? Let them kill her, and her baby? Watch Sayid breakdown and know that I didn't do a damn thing to stop them? That's better then being hurt for awhile?"

"They hit you hard Kate," he reminded sternly, "You were out cold for more then eight hours," as he continued his body became looser and his heart beat faster remembering waking up after the Others had come to take Shannon.

The caves in a mess, medical and food supplies thrown everywhere, people lying hurt, a ring of fire circling them in, he thought he was in hell. The whole plane crash of years earlier was recreated as he walked through the aching people he'd gotten to know as neighbors and thought nothing could get worse; then he saw her.

She was sprawled out across the ground by the waterfall lying face up and not moving an inch. Forgetting the whole scene that now embodied the caves, he ran to her instantly, and was relieved to find a plus.

In the light from the fires he saw that the left side of her face was swollen beyond recognition. She must've gotten hit with something large and hard, which knocked her out cold.

Later he would find out that while tending to Kate, coaxing her to wake up and treating her concussion that Sawyer died needing medical attention. Ana-Lucia had been with him across the caves, crying for help, but in the chaos, he'd failed to notice her. She'd never forgiven either of them.

"You couldn't walk for two days, and it took sometime for your short-term memory to come back," he stated. He wasn't trying to bring up painful memories, he wanted her to be okay, he wanted her to be protected.

"What if it was me Jack?" she questioned abruptly, her face falling, "What if I was pregnant and they were coming for me? Would you want everyone else to just lie down on the ground while the Others came and took me?"

His heart broke instantaneously at her comments; he'd never pictured it that way, "Don't say stuff like that," he mumbled, his mind in an uproar of thoughts.

A small unsatisfied sigh escaped her mouth, "We've never done anything about it," she announced as she shook her head with regret, "We've had all this time, and nothing's come of it."

"You saw what happened to the others," he uttered with dismay, as he began to walk away slowly, finding some sort of excuse to blame their awkwardness on. There had always been something between him, but his just fell short of love. "Sawyer's dead, and you know what happened to Shannon and Claire, you found them yourself. Do you really want…"

"I'm tired of being afraid Jack," she shouted angrily, "I'm tired of having to walk on eggshells everyday because of the freaks that inhabit the jungle. I used to live like that when I was on the run, and it almost drove me crazy," she paused for a moment as he stared at her with shock over her sudden outbreak, "And I'll be damned if I'm going to let the psychos in the jungle dictate my life."

"Kate," his eyes grew wide with fear as he kept his eyes on the trees behind her. Her body stiffened when she saw his abrupt change in attitude and her senses told her immediately that something was wrong, "run!"

With that one word she flew across the small clearing. He waited for her to pass, then followed her through the maze of trees while looking for cover. "How many of them were there?" she gasped as a low hanging branch hit the side of her face.

"Too many," was all he said as he followed her closely, working his way up to and past her. He reminded himself that she was still getting her strength back.

"How many?" she demanded as her legs seemed to slow gradually, like she needed to know how important it was to run.

"More then thirty," he informed as he reached out and grasped her hand, then began running again.

There were never any footsteps, as Eko frequently said, 'the Others only let you hear them when they want to be heard.' Their feet slammed against the damp jungle ground until they came to the ruins of the cave, everyone had abandoned it after it was attacked.

Jack took no time into running to the nearest cave, dragging the half exhausted Kate along with him, "We've got to hide," he told her as she began to stumble over her own two feet.

"Why can't we just…"

"Because running isn't working Kate!" He whispered to her harshly as they wormed their way down a small crevice in the cave.

Only a few feet wide, the passage stopped when it reached solid rock, which Jack leaned his back against. Kate sat a little before him, panting heavily as they both sat silently.

Suddenly through the dank dripping of the caves, footsteps could be heard, marching footsteps like those of a soldier. Kate turned her head back towards Jack and away from the miniscule hole of light, "They're coming Jack," she whispered almost inaudibly.

Her face had turned a milky white in the darkness, almost illuminating the whole cave. He remembered when he saw her after she found Shannon, her legs wouldn't move and she could barely speak, the sight was so grotesque.

"Come here," he whispered to her, gesturing with his arm. She hesitated only for a few seconds before crawling over to him with skinned knees and letting him embrace her softly.

"Jack," her voice trembled and her skin had gotten awfully cool, "We should have done something about us."

The footsteps drew closer to the opening of the cave now, only fifteen feet away. His arm wrapped around her frail shoulders as he held her to his chest, protecting her as much as he could, "I know," he whispered desolately his voice warm in her ear, his lips comforting on her forehead, "I know."

They could hear echoing from the cave now, more then ten pairs of feet, pacing around looking for clues; it would only be a matter of time before they found them and did whatever they wanted to do. They shuffling fell to the opening of the crevice and they both stopped breathing.

When the feet started moving directly towards them Jack whispered, "Close your eyes," his hand was reassuring on the back of her neck as she hid her face in his shoulder.

She nodded and placed her cheek against his neck, her body shaking along with his as they both drew shorten breaths. Seconds before being discovered, Jack too closed his eyes and sat silently in the dark corner of the cave, knowing that by now more then one pair of eyes were on him.

Then, everything became quiet once again. The mundane dripping of the smelly water continued, and somewhere close outside, a bird's song echoed. Slowly Jack slipped a hazel eye open, the dark ambiance of the cave didn't tell him anything.

"Kate," he whispered his lips almost to her ear, "Are you okay?"

Her head lifted gently off his shoulder and in the dim light he could see her green eyes, "I think so," she spoke softly, her eyes scanning her body for any injuries.

"They're gone," he told her as he edged away from her a bit and down to the opening of the tunnel, he cautiously poked his head around the corner and scanned the area, "They just left," he murmured.

"For no reason?" Kate questioned as she slowly made her way to the mouth of the cave.

"I don't know," he stated as he turned to her with a small smile, "But they're gone."

Kate glanced over her shoulders looking at the trees that lined the jungle's entry. Nothing stood out of the ordinary, yet she still had some obscure feeling that she was being watched, "So this is like a…"

Her eyes widened with surprise as Jack's lips spread over her delicately, only for a second or two, but it was enough to knock her off her feet, "second chance?" she finished after he'd moved away.

"We should do something about this," he told her as he grasped her hands in his, "About us." He bent his head down and captured her lips, pressuring her to open up to him, yet she didn't respond.

As he pulled away from her, his eyes were questioning, "Are you okay?" he asked, moving his hands away from her cheeks and to her shoulders.

"Yeah," she replied hesitantly, her eyes moved away from his face to the soft-soiled ground. "I'm just a little," she paused and sighed as her mind searched for the right word, "Overwhelmed."

The corners of his lips curled up into a small smile, "We don't have to do this now Kate," he informed her as he gently brushed back a piece of hair from her face.

"Her cool hands reached out and gripped his, "But I want to," she replied as her head tilted up and captured his lips.

The kiss was slow and passionate, enjoying the intimacy rather then forcing it, and she quickly opened up to him, letting his tongue explore the inside of her mouth.

His hand slipped slowly up her back, until it became entangled in her hair as he pulled her closer. His other hand slowly moved down the smooth curve of her body.

Her fingers curled around his neck, feeling the lean, overworked muscle. Her fingers dropped, tracing the sweaty surface of his hot skin until she felt his muscles through his shirt.

His lips left her mouth and traveled down her jawbone to the supple skin of her neck, and when he began to suck her skin, she let out a soft moan.

His fingers gripped the fabric of her shirt and slowly lifted it above her head and watched as her dark curls fell perfectly over her shoulders.

Quickly his lips fell to the exposed skin on her chest. Her arms hooked around his neck as his lips moved from the skin on her collarbone, to the soft skin of her breast that her bra didn't cover, leaving red marks randomly.

The shirt he wore was swiftly discarded, as it became to clingy to the thin layer of sweat on his chest. Her hands ran across his chest, to the zipper of his jeans, and their lips locked again in a fiery embrace.

His fingers spread out across her stomach, brushing the rough denim material of her blue jeans. The kiss was broken, and without a word spoken, they both discarded their jeans into the growing pile of clothes.

"Kate, are you sure about this?" he questioned one last time, himself having second thoughts over the consequences.

She nodded as she moved back against him, the silky material of her bra pressing against her chest, "We've waited too long Jack," she assured as she kissed his neck.

He bowed his head as his hands worked the clasp on her bra, he felt it give, then felt the naked skin of her back. The material slipped over her arms and to the ground in a matter of seconds, and her naked chest was to his. Her form was so cool, so comforting against his as his hand moved up to her breasts.

Slowly, they began to fall towards the ground; he guided her gently, until her pale back was pressed against the dry earth. The waterfall dripped in the distance, as birds sung in the trees, neither seemed to notice.

His lips were everywhere one her body, her face, her chest, her breasts, her stomach, letting out all the pent up desires he'd had ever time he'd seen her, whether it be in the jungle as he cautiously checked her out while she wasn't looking, or when he accidentally barged into the bathroom while she had her shower.

His hand slid up between the strap of her underwear and her bare hip. The softness of her skin tingled his fingertips as he pulled down on the article of clothing until it was discarded. He pulled away to remove his underwear, and she followed, gliding her hand across his thin hair as she continued to kiss him.

He led her back to the ground, this time situating himself between her legs as his face became equal with hers. The nervousness in her eyes burned into his, the need to have physical contact evident for both of them. What seemed like hours in built up anxiety was extinguished as soon as he was inside of her.

A small gasp escaped her mouth as he held her tighter, as he thrust against her. Her hands clutched his back as he continued moving on top of her, the connection between them almost electric.

Her nails dug into his back as he began to thrust faster, she could feel it coming to an end and her breath hitched in her throat until she felt a wave of pleasure course through her.

At almost the exact same moment, they both let out a moan, which seemed to echo through the jungle, almost triumphant. His body faltered and his head fell to her chest were it rose constantly with her excessive breathing as her fingers ran gently through his hair.

His weight shifted and her body seemed to roll on top of his, as he captured her lips again, "We waited way to long," he told her as his arm wrapped around her lower waist.

"What exactly are we supposed to do now?" she questioned as her head fell gently to his shoulder, her eyes dirtied with consequences. "I mean the others won't approve at all."

"Well if we got away from them once, we can do it again, right?" he questioned as his fingers wound through her curls, "We'll just have to be really discreet about it."

"Kate?" Libby questioned as she poked her head between the blue tarps, "Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, I'm just grabbing a gun," she informed as she stood up and stuck the fully-loaded revolver into the back of her blue jeans. Her eyes closed momentarily before she got the nerve to step outside.

"Is everything okay?" Libby questioned as Kate caught up with her and Sun down the beach a bit. They were planning on going into the jungle to collect fruit for the next three days.

"Yeah, I just need some bullets for the gun," she informed, "I don't know where Jack keeps them, and he's out with Sayid and Eko isn't he?" she questioned innocently.

"Yeah," Sun replied, nervous at the idea of venturing into the jungle unprotected, "Maybe we should wait until he comes back."

"I think Sawyer had some bullets in his stash, I mean if Jack wanted to keep them all in the same area, and all he wanted to do was piss off Jack, then our chances are good," she disclosed as she gestured to his tent.

"I don't want to go in there," Libby voiced, "Ana would get so upset if she caught us," he face turning white just at the thought.

"Libby this isn't high school, we need the bullets to survive," Kate enlightened as she turned towards the tent, "I'll be back in a few seconds, okay?" Sun and Libby nodded hesitantly as they watched her scamper towards Sawyer's old shelter.

Upon entering it, and making sure no one could see her, Kate immediately emptied the barrel of the gun onto the ground, then began rummaging through Sawyer's belongings until she found what she was searching for.

The brightly colored box stuck out among the other bleak medical supplies Sawyer still had hidden from Jack. Upon seeing it she swiftly shoved it into her backpack, burying it at the bottom, then casually collected herself before walking out of the tent nonchalantly pushing bullets into the gun.

"Ready?" Libby asked anxiously playing with the strap of her bag as Kate slipped the gun back into her blue jeans.

"Yep," Kate smiled and began to follow them down the beach. She'd take the pregnancy test later, when she was sure she could be alone and then sort this out for good.

Yay for smuttiness (somewhat!) I hoped you guys liked it, because it's not going to happen again for another chapter. So enjoy it now! Yay for question time!

lostobsessivefreak
it's okay, work on your speech. It's almost 4am here and I still have to speed read A Clockwork Orange again. And like I told Crazy, by speed read I mean read after I do speed. They should make a Dr. Seuss book like that.

CrAzYhOrSeGiRl88
You got to read it first! Yeah for being a fishy! Lol I know you liked it already, but…I hope you liked it! Lol I had to say it, because I like to bug.

Whirlwind-2005
I know I do it in every story, mostly because it's what I'm good at writing. Seriously who can right a pregnant Kate better then me? Huh? Lol I'm kidding. I write it because I'm good at it, and it's fun. Besides I like freaky names and this way I get to use them all (laughs maniacally). And I did continue it! See, see I liked it too.
I like Eko because he's scary, like Ethan (and Desmond) and I love Libby because I see her as a crazy/horny psychologist. And it makes me laugh. She reminds me of me in 20 years.

October Sky
Lol everyone likes a little twist. I seriously don't know what else to say…

Freckles-101
They're going to have kick ASS names, because I'm the best name picker in the entire universe! I mean who has such original names? I got Maverick from a commercial and I got Ainslie from a street. Lyndan from a guy from Mortal Kombat. Seriously I'm all over, just wait…
if you want to suggest something, I'll listen to it, but if it's like "Make Jack and Kate fall in love forever" I'm not going to listen, it'll have to be realistic to the storyline, but other than that, I'd love to hear them.
I believe this gave out more details on Shannon's disappearance, versus Claire's, but I'm still working out the last few kinks in hers. Anyways it's going to be explained slowly, because like a fat kid and a chocolate cake, you can't let them have it all at once or they'll have a heart attack.

I swear I thought Cindy was autistic. She was like more out of it than Libby. Wow. But yes I had to work that night, but I taped it and ate my veggie burger at 2am while watching it. It was sweet lol.
Lol I call Ana-Lucia, Mana-Lucifer. Feel free to use it And I almost cried when Shannon got shot because Shannon looks almost EXACTLY like my sister from hell. And when she fell over dead I was like (mouth agape) and then I thought "So that's what it's gonna look like when I kill her…" It was freaky.

Next chapter- It's been a month after the twins have been born. A month of being cooped up in the hatch, and no one is to happy about that, especially Ana-whateva… I mean Ana-Lucia. And we find out a few more things about Locke…and his evolvement…in…all………this.