Chapter Three

"I'm coming with you," Kate said immediately, her eyes challenging as she met Jack's gaze. It was almost enough to make Sawyer laugh out loud. He'd seen that statement coming from a mile away; hell, it was practically her mantra. The woman couldn't sit still more than a few minutes, especially when she was feeling threatened.

And he was fluent enough in Freckles-ese to know that while Kate was anxious to find out the identity of the chick that was murdered, a lot of her motivation here was that she wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

When the going gets tough, Kate runs like hell.

Jack apparently knew it too, and judging by the look on his face, he wasn't happy about it. The Doc opened his mouth to speak, but Rambina cut him off. "No, you're not. You stay here. Watch him," she nodded curtly toward Sawyer.

He was about to interject that he didn't need a damn bodyguard when Kate took a step toward Ana Lucia. "I said I'm coming," she repeated firmly, her gaze unblinking as she sized up the other woman.

Sawyer started to stand up to intervene, but Jack stepped between the two women before it could go any further. "Both of you, stop it. We don't have time for this right now. Kate, stay here." He pulled the gun from his waistband and handed it to Kate, his eyes pleading for her to stand down. "Look after Sawyer. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Kate's eyes remained on Ana, and for a few seconds, Sawyer was sure that they were going to throw down in spite of Jack's warning. There was no doubt in his mind that Kate wouldn't take kindly to this new broad pissing in her territory, and now Jack, in all his brilliance, had just given her a gun.

Smooth move, dumbass.

"Kate." Her gaze flicked up to Jack; he placed a hand on her shoulder. Sawyer rolled his eyes. All they needed was a sappy ballad playing in the background and it'd be Jerry Maguire. "Please."

After a while, she grudgingly nodded and took a step back. Jack's mouth curved for the briefest of moments before he trailed Ana Lucia and Eko into the jungle. A muscle worked in Kate's jaw as she turned and kneeled beside Sawyer. His eyebrows shot up, and a ghost of a smile flitted at her lips. "She's, um…"

"A bossy little bitch?" Sawyer supplied helpfully.

Her smile widened with something between exasperation and amusement, her hands settling on her hips in a gesture that was both sassy and flat out sexy. "Glad to see you haven't lost your way with words."

"Fits her though, don't it?"

She glared pointedly at him, but the wry humor in her eyes confirmed that she was in total agreement with his 'bitch' assessment. "That's one way of putting it," she said finally, looking up to briefly scan the area before her gaze settled back on him. "They've had a hard time of it on the other side of the island, you know. Sixteen of them were killed; one by one, they murdered them, and then they kidnapped the two children who survived. They took the kids right from them like it was nothing."

Sawyer straightened. "Mike know about this?"

"Yeah, of course, and we tried sending out a search party for Walt, but these people are impossible to track. The few times Eko's seen them, it's been pure luck. We planned to go into the jungle tomorrow to find Rousseau, see if maybe she knew something that could help us find them."

He snorted. "Right. Go through the jungle and track down the crazy French chick with the sawed-off shotgun; meanwhile, the rest of us just sit here like fish in a damn barrel waiting for Hannibal Lector and his tribe to pick us off." Her expression instantly became defensive, and he held up his hand before she could bite his head off. "No, I ain't got a better idea, I'm just sayin'." He paused for a moment, looking out toward the jungle. "Who do you think it is out there?"

A shadow crossed over her features as she followed Sawyer's gaze. "A young woman with blonde hair. I doubt it's Claire or Shannon; Charlie and Sayid stay pretty close to them, so that leaves Rebecca or Kim. I don't know."

Sawyer couldn't help but be a little relieved at that. Not that he wished any of them dead, but he was glad that it wasn't Claire out there, being a new mom and all. No kid should ever have to lose its mama. "Who else'd they get?"

Kate sighed. "Locke found Edward yesterday, a few yards from camp. Most of the bones in his arms and legs were broken, along with his neck."

Wait a second…"Wasn't that exactly what the crazy son of a bitch who kidnapped Claire did when he killed Steve?"

"You mean Scott, and yeah, it was." Kate rose slightly and took a seat beside him on the cot. Sawyer shifted slightly to give her some room and nearly groaned as her arm lightly brushed his. Such a simple movement, yet his body was acutely aware of it, of her, wild hair, disheveled clothes and all. And the woman smelled way too damn good for someone who's been up for a couple days.

Jesus, he was a pervert. Here he was, fresh off a near-death experience and waiting for word on the murder of one of their camp; then Kate touches him and now all he could think about was getting a roll. It wasn't just pathetic – it was downright embarrassing.

Sawyer quickly scooted over, but in his haste inadvertently put too much weight on his bad arm, causing his shoulder wound to flare painfully. "Damn it!" Well, at least now he wouldn't be thinking about sex for a while. He'd bought himself a good five or six minutes of gutter-free thought, easily.

He felt her hands on him and gritted his teeth. Nope, he had maybe three minutes, tops; two if she kept touching him like that. "Are you okay," she asked, concern in her voice.

"I'm fine," he snapped with a glare. She immediately drew back, placing her hands back in her lap. He cursed himself for being an asshole, again, but hell, he'd done the right thing, hadn't he? What was he supposed to tell her, 'Kate, please take your hands off of me because I'm about three rubs from a raging hard-on, and I can only handle one throbbing body part at a time, thanks.'

Yeah, that'd go over real well.

He cast her a sidelong glance, caught her looking out into the jungle where Jack had gone. Damn. "Look, if you want to go out there and find them, then go, just find someone to take with you first. The Goonies might still be out there."

Kate shook her head. "No, Jack's right. I need to stay here with you."

Oh, she needed to stay because Saint Jack decreed it. To hell with that. "I don't need you playin' nursemaid here, Freckles. I can take care of myself just fine."

She laughed. The woman actually threw her head back and laughed. "Please, in the month and a half that I've known you, you've managed to get yourself punched, kicked, clubbed, tackled—"

"If I remember right, Sweetness, you were the one who tackled me."

"Tortured, stabbed, attacked by a boar, shot…"

"Alright, you made your damn point," he muttered irritably. She flashed him a saucy grin, and he had to struggle to maintain his glower. It proved to be a losing battle; that little smile kicked his ass, and he felt his own mouth curve slightly in response.

The conversation was easier after that, with both of them falling into their familiar, teasing banter. It beat the hell out of sitting and worrying; besides, he'd missed her company. Damned if he'd ever admit it, but it was the truth. He told her about the raft journey, the sharks, and the fun of meeting the tail-end survivors.

"She hit you," Kate asked incredulously.

"Couple of times," he nodded solemnly, but knew the cocky grin twisting his lips spoiled the innocent effect. "You gonna go beat her up for me?"

"That depends," she replied, not missing a beat. "What'd you say to her?"

"What did I say to her?"

"You do have a way of pushing people's buttons, Sawyer."

Damn, she had him there. "The chick's a couple cans short of a six-pack, in any case."

"Yeah she is, and she's not endearing herself to anyone by criticizing Jack. He's been a good leader; even you have to admit it."

Sawyer shrugged. Maybe so, but that's another one of those things he'd never 'fess up to in his lifetime.

He heard the soft fall of footsteps and glanced up. Jack was approaching them; Rambina and Shaft were nowhere to be seen. "Who was it," Kate asked without preamble.

Jack pursed his lips, his brow furrowing in regret. "Rebecca. Ana Lucia and Eko are bringing her body back so that we can do a proper burial in the morning." The frustration in his tone was clear; even Sawyer had figured out that each life lost took a little bit of Jack's soul. "We can't stay here. The watches aren't working. Tomorrow morning after the funeral, we're moving everyone into the hatch."

The hatch? What in the hell was the hatch? "Jack, how are we going to fit all those people into—"

"We'll discuss it in the morning, Kate. Right now, I want you to get some more rest. I'll stay with him." As much as he wanted to, Sawyer couldn't argue that one with the Doc, because hell, he was right. She did need to rest. Like it or not, he knew without a doubt that Jack honestly cared for Kate.

Bastard.

"First thing in the morning," she confirmed, pushing herself to her feet. She glanced back and forth between the two men, offered a tentative smile. "Good night Jack, Sawyer. You two play nice while I'm gone."

Sawyer scowled. Jack let out an uneasy laugh. "Good night, Kate."

"Sweet dreams, Freckles." With that parting drawl, Sawyer let his eyes drift shut.