Disclaimer: I still don't own it anymore than I did in the last chapter...who knows, maybe by my next post, I'll own it. That would be nice...
The sun was fading slowly from the sky as Jack continued to drive into what felt to him like a vast expanse of nothing. His senses seemed to pleasantly blur as his mind traveled off into the beauty that surrounded him. He drove down a long curving paved road that didn't seem to lead to anywhere, but he didn't mind. In truth, he didn't want to be anywhere just now and he didn't want to reach anywhere anytime soon.
Looking to his left, Jack's eyes were met by the seemingly never ending range of wild grass. It was rare for him to ever see so much uninhabited space at one time having lived his entire life in the busy LA traffic. At the moment, Jack didn't even feel remotely inclined to return to his home. For the first time since his time spent on the island, Jack was free. He didn't have to worry about waking every morning and rushing to the hospital to do his tedious job and even worse, returning home to his empty, lonely apartment to spend his remaining time occupying himself with things that didn't even matter to him. It wasn't a life, he realized. There was something, a very large something, that was missing and until he had gone down with that fated flight from Sydney, Jack had never noticed what he lacked. He had never noticed that he was alone and that loneliness hurt.
He knew it now though. He had known it since he had learned to live on the island. He had known it since he met her. Stealing a glance to his right, Jack's eyes fell upon the single thing that had managed to steal all of his current unconscious thoughts. Jack had never known that there could ever be one single thing alone that could make him nearly wish that he had never been rescued from that hellish island. Sitting in the passenger seat beside him though, lightly dozing off as the sun set, was that one thing. Kate.
It seemed so long ago that they had been stuck together on an island with nearly fifty others struggling to survive. Even longer yet that he had felt the sense of completeness that only she could manage to give him. That special sense that maybe, just maybe things would work out in the end. She had been his driving force for so long on the island. She had held him together in more ways than she could count, though she had probably never realized the extent of her importance to him. At least not until the end, and that was when his feelings of bitter regret came in.
They had spent nearly two years on that God forsaken chunk of land in the middle of Atlantic Ocean and yet he realized now that it had all been for nothing. Not that he had had a choice in being there, far from it, but he had still wasted nearly every second of his time spent there. He should have recognized what would happen when and if a rescue was to ever come. He ought to have seen what he would lose when the inevitable happened.
But he hadn't. He had known that she was a criminal and that she was wanted back in the States. He had known that she was important enough for a U.S. Marshall to escort her out of the country she had fled to, but he hadn't seen for a moment what would happen to her if the rescue they all had hoped and prayed for ever did come. He didn't even see it at first on the day that it actually came. He had been blinded by joy at seeing that silver dot moving over the horizon and soon sweeping over the skies directly above the island. Not even when the helicopter had landed on the beach did Jack realize what he should have. No, it had taken him much longer than that and he regretted that so deeply now. In his mind, he played back those last moments in his mind and he knew what he hadn't known then and it ate away at his mind even now.
FLASH
Jack couldn't begin to explain the feeling of sheer excitement that was coursing wildly through his veins as he ran along the beach, eyes constantly trailing the shining silver helicopter that zoomed overhead. Adrenalin in its purest form drove Jack on as he raced up the beach, arms in the air waving to the pilot that he had yet to see operating the aircraft that flew above him. He could hear the shouts and whoops of his fellow castaways as they to reacted as he did to seeing the helicopter. Many raced along the beach not far behind him, excitement taking over their very being.
As soon as the helicopter made a move to turn around, Jack knew that they had succeeded. They had survived a plane crash, but more than that they had survived life on a deserted, monster inhabited island for nearly two years. Two years! By this time, he had been certain that he was going to die here, never to see civilization again.
It was then that Jack began to envision what exactly his life had consisted of before the plane crash. His life had been hectic, to say the least. It hadn't been something he loved or even something he was remotely fond of. He distinctly remembered before crashing that inescapable feeling, that need to escape from the life he was bound to.
As Jack began to slow from his current run to a stumbling walk and finally to a stop, the reality of what he had thought he missed and where he thought he belonged hit him like a ton of bricks. What had he been thinking? What was it exactly that he had been longing for these past months? It couldn't have been the busy ER that he stumbled into everyday, or the crowded and hectic LA life as a spinal surgeon. In that moment, Jack began to see just how much he loathed the life he had lived. He only wished he had seen it sooner. Then perhaps his island experience would have been different. It was much too late for that though.
With a jolt of sudden memory, Jack remembered the helicopter and that burst of excitement he had previously had returned. His previous worry about returning to his old life became nonexistent as he pushed it away to be replaced by the joy of finally being rescued. Feeling that sense of ecstasy and exhilaration once more, Jack felt a sudden longing to share this moment with someone. For the past months spent on the island, Jack had made a connection that he could compare to nothing else he had ever experienced with Kate. Unexplainable feelings had formed within his heart since the fateful day of the crash, and had only deepened as he grew to know her. He had only dared to admit these feelings to himself very recently though, for fear of things being unable to work out. Now though, she was his hope for a new future back at home. He hoped that she would feel that way too.
Turning around to face once again towards the beach camp, Jack frantically scanned the crowd for that familiar face that he had grown to know these past months. Though he could hardly call what he had with Kate a romantic relationship, they did have something between them. It was hard for him to say exactly what it was, but so far it had been the most emotionally satisfying thing he had ever felt. It had been even better than what his previous relationship with his now ex-wife Sarah had been and in the beginning, he had been more than certain that he loved her. Jack and Kate had done nothing more than share a few fleeting kisses in the jungle, ones that even they were uneasy to own up to, but there was a certain feeling in the air when they were together. It was different. As Locke might say, if Jack were less of a man of science and more of a man of faith, it might even feel like destiny. But Jack was too practical for that, and he would deny any such feelings to the end.
"Kate!" Jack called out as he spotted her. He immediately picked up his pace, moving from a light jog into an exhilarated run, racing to meet her. He didn't understand this sudden burst of energy and excitement, but he could feel it all around him and it only drove him to move faster. After what seemed to be far too long, Jack finally reached her, his lips twisted into one of his rare grins. His eyes danced excitedly as he spoke to her, "Kate, did you see it!"
Even as he was ecstatic, standing before her with the widest grin on his face and the most jovial expression radiating in his eyes, he could not help but notice that she lacked his same excitement. In fact, her face bore emotions of the exact opposite. She met his eyes, and in hers he could see a look of utmost pain; of regret. He didn't understand. They were being rescued! After nearly two years of struggling to survive and defeat what he had thought was their fate to die here, they were finally going to be rescued.
Lips tight and teeth clenched in obvious misery, Kate nodded, tearing her eyes briefly away from his to stare down at the sand at her feet. Quickly jerking her head back up to look at him, Jack couldn't miss that Kate forced her lips to tug into a small forced smile for him. "Jack..." Kate said, voice cracking in a harsh whisper.
Jack reached out his arms through the small space that separated them and gripped his hands gently on her shoulders. He let his eyes dig deep within her own, hoping to bring some sort of understanding to his mind.
He didn't get it. Why wasn't she as excited as he and everyone else had been at seeing the helicopter? Kate had spent countless hours watching over the rescue fire, always making sure that it was glowing as brightly as she possibly could in the chill tropic night. She had dedicated herself to joining an untold amount of hikes, all of which were extremely life threatening, just to try to get some sort of signal that could lead a rescue party to them. The thing that stuck out the most in Jack's mind though, was that throughout the entire time that Kate had spent on the island, she had spent only three nights at the caves. Because of the hope for rescue that she had claimed to have on many occasions and to him personally, she had refused to move to the caves with him. It hadn't mattered how many times he had pleaded with her that it was safer and easier. It hadn't even mattered after they had shared that first fleeting kiss in the jungle that had followed with him begging her to move with him to the caves. Kate had remained firm the entire time, leaving Jack to wonder why she did not appear slightly happy at seeing a rescue come after all this time.
"What is it?" Jack asked, eyes still piercing into her own, drawing for an explanation.
"It's nothing..." Kate tried as she always did to brush him off, to make him think that there was nothing wrong, but as always, he didn't buy into a word of it.
"No, Kate, I can see it," Jack pushed on, the excitement he had felt mere moments ago now completely gone, "What's wrong?" A smile spread across Jack's face, almost as though it were some final attempt to make her recognize that in this moment, she at least should be happy. She should be overjoyed that this ordeal was now over with and they could move on with their lives. But she wasn't. That much was clear.
In a sudden rush of passion, Jack drew her roughly to him, his hand moving behind her head to push her into a deep kiss. His lips crushed her own on contact, and though he had expected to receive a passionate response from her, he received only a sad, almost desperate need. She kissed him back with longing and sadness, drawing into him with all that she had. Breaking the kiss in confusion, Jack couldn't take the mystery any longer. "Come on, Kate, it's finally over! We can live again. Try to enjoy." Jack pushed once more. When she finally did respond, everything became utterly clear to him and he suddenly wished that he had never wondered what was on her mind.
"Jack, you of all people should know why I never wanted to see this day!" Kate snapped, jerking out of his hold completely and taking a step back. Though he doubted it was intended, she looked at him with an icy stare, glaring daggers. Her explanation hit him like a ton of bricks. In that very instant, all of the hopes that he had had were suddenly shattered with a sickening thud. Kate couldn't come back with him. She would be lucky if she could come back to anything at all. Against his will, Jack felt his heart twisting tightly within his chest, as if mocking him for his false hopes.
"Oh, God Kate..." was all Jack could seem to say, his face falling to mimic her own look of misery. His voice shook as he spoke, and gazing upon her he stepped towards her, drawing her back into his arms in an attempt to comfort her. He should have known. He should have been thinking about all of this. How could he let himself forget? Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard a voice that much to his dismay sounded eerily like his father telling him that he had tried too hard to ignore the simple truth and that that was why it was hurting that much more in the end. His father had always been a practical man; all business, even with his own wife and son. Now Jack understood.
Both Kate and Jack stood silently, his arms wrapped firmly around her waste, pinning her comfortingly against his frame. This was the closest they had ever been, but this wasn't how Jack had wanted it to be. He had never thought that a moment like this would come, but how could he have ever let the truth of everything slip his mind so easily?
In the back of his mind, Jack could hear the frantic yells of excitement from the rest of the survivors. He knew from their enthusiasm that the helicopter had landed by now, and he didn't even have to turn away from Kate to see out of the corner of his eye that there were already three men stepping out of the aircraft.
Just as Jack was about to return his full attention to the woman in his arms, Charlie came bounding over to where they stood, his voice practically shaking with excitement. "Jack! Hey Jack!" Jack heard Charlie yell as he raced across the sandy beach to meet them. Though he knew without saying how odd he and Kate must look, Jack made no move to let her go. Instead, he just shifted her in his grip so that he could turn to face his approaching friend. Kate didn't seem to mind as he had assumed she would. For once, she seemed to welcome his closeness, even appreciate it.
When Charlie reached them, he panted heavily, out of breath, "Jack, they're looking for Kate," Charlie voiced, accent thick as ever, "They wanted me to find her." The confusion was obvious in the younger man's eyes and in his voice as he spoke, but his words made Jack's heart momentarily come to a stop. Knowing something was going to happening and then witnessing it as it came were two completely different things, he was learning. In this moment he wished that he had managed to inherit some of his father's naturally calm resolve.
"Go back to the caves, Kate," Jack said tiredly, trying to analyze the situation. He knew without looking that Charlie was staring wide-eyed with confusion at him, mouth hanging open.
"No, Jack. Its okay. I have to face this," Kate said calmly, though one look into her greenish gray orbs told him an entirely different story. She was terrified, Jack knew.
"Kate, you can't-" Jack began, but was immediately cut off by a sudden shift in emotion from Kate as she roughly jerked out of his hold, eyes staring back with cold fright.
"Don't tell me what I can't do, Jack," Kate said, her voice trembling as she spoke. Her calm masquerade was slowly fading and the truth of what she was really feeling just now was beginning to show.
"Wait, Kate. Jack, what the bloody hell is going on? What's she talking about?" Charlie questioned feebly, his eyes twinkling with obvious confusion. Jack didn't have the time or the desire to fill the other man in, and instead ignored the question.
Jack turned back to Kate just in time to see her walking quickly away from him. To his dread, she was walking directly to where the helicopter had landed and the several men that had been onboard were now out on the beach conversing with the rest of the survivors, obviously still looking for Kate. He couldn't understand what could be possessing her to so readily run to meet her fate. She could still escape, there had to be a way. But deep down, Jack knew that there wasn't. He knew that he was just fooling himself as he had become so professional at doing over the years. He just couldn't let go.
Seeing no other alternative, Jack raced blindly after Kate, catching up to her in a few quick strides. Before he could utter a single word to try and change her mind, he saw that he was too late. One of the newcomers on the beach had already spotted her from behind his dark sunglasses. Jack watched as the man in the suit reached to a walkie-talkie inside his suit jacket, speaking a few words into it before signaling to his partner to follow him as he walked over to where Kate stood.
Jack nearly ran into Kate's back as she stopped suddenly in her tracks as if just now realizing what exactly she had been walking into. He could see her entire body tense up immediately, and he felt the sudden need to protect her, though he saw no visible way that he could do that. He quickly stepped in front of her, reaching back to wrap a comforting arm around her shoulders, drawing her to his side. Jack realized then that she was shaking like a life, trembling violently within his hold. That realization cut Jack like a knife, having never seen her so visible terrified before. He didn't like what he was seeing. He was so used to seeing her being strong despite everything that went on around her. Jack supposed this was just the one thing she couldn't face without fear. She was only human, after all.
"Kate Austin," It was not a question. The first man Jack had seen stepped forward towards Kate, arm outstretched with his badge in hand. Jack swallowed hard, knowing that this man was another US Marshall, not unlike the one that had died soon after the crash. "You're under arrest for the murder of Tom Brennon," If Jack wasn't mistaken, he thought he could trace a sense of amusement in the Marshall's voice, and that made his body burn in anger. This wasn't a laughing matter. "Everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law." Yup, the Marshall was definitely wildly entertained by this whole affair. The vicious smirk on his face said it all. Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. He hadn't expected it to be like this. He hadn't known it would be so cruel. "Would you prefer that I read you the rest of your rights now, or would you rather I wait and not embarrass you in front of your new friend?"
Kate was stony and silent, refusing to utter a single word. Jack was at a loss. He had no idea what he should do. All he could manage just now was to keep his death grip on Kate as he looked on at the two Marshals in disgust. "What, you aren't shy, are you?" the Marshal probed, obviously seeking to push Kate's buttons. Jack knew that the two men could sense her fear as well as he could, but unlike him, they were thoroughly enjoying it. Jack had no doubt that much like the Marshal that had died, these two men had waited a very long time to finally catch Kate and now they were savoring the moment. "You weren't a shy girl when you killed your sweetheart, were you?"
Jack's blood was beginning to boil. These men, authorities or not, had no right to treat her like this. She was a criminal, but she had changed. He knew she had. He couldn't stand to see her treated this way. It was too cruel, but there was little he could do about it.
Without warning, Kate jerked her way out of Jack's protective hold, no longer able to take what was before her. She could no longer bear to face what she had rightfully earned, and just as she always had, she was going to run. She always ran. But as much as he wanted to, Jack couldn't let her run now. "Kate!" he shouted, suddenly afraid for her safety. Turning to the two Marshals, horror like Jack had never felt began to wash over him, chilling him faster than a cold shower. Both men had their guns drawn and were ready to break off across the beach after Kate, who had already come close to disappearing into the stretch of jungle at the end of the beach where she and Jack had previously been standing. Looking to the Marshals, Jack knew she would never get out of the open space in time before they fired.
Suddenly realizing their intent, Jack screamed with all that he had to stop them, "No!" he yelled, forcefully pushing his way into their line of fire, causing them to keep from shooting. Their window of opportunity now gone as Kate successfully disappeared into the thick mass of trees, the two Marshals were less than pleased.
"Get out of the way!" the nearest Marshal growled angrily, glaring menacingly at Jack. He forcefully tried to push Jack out of his path as he went to follow after his fugitive, but Jack refused to budge, hoping that he could not only buy Kate some time, but also allow himself a chance to convince these Marshals to let him handle the situation. He couldn't allow them to harm her. "I said, move!"
When Jack once again refused to step out of the Marshal's way, the man roughly beat Jack across his shoulder and chest with the butt of his pistol, then turning to kick Jack in the ribs as he began to sink into the sand. Jack was falling to his knees in pain immediately after the force hit him, the air knocked out of him. He felt as though he could scarcely breathe and his head was swimming with pain and confusion. These men meant business.
Dizzy from the pain of the blows that had just been dealt him, Jack attempted to rise from the sand. He quickly forced himself to his feet, despite the dizzying affects of his swirling head. He had to stay conscious. He couldn't give in to the sudden exhaustion that the pain was bringing to him. "Wait!" he called out frantically to the two Marshals that had already began tearing off after Kate. Reluctantly, they stopped and turned to face him. They were not amused by his new interruption. Fearing that they would once again attack him if they came near, Jack called out to them, "Let me find her," he pleaded, pulling himself to his feet shakily as he clutched onto his aching ribs. He wouldn't be surprised if he had broken several of them after that blow. "Please..." he voiced desperately, but calmly, "don't hurt her."
He could feel the worried and frightened glances of his fellow survivors. It was obvious that none of them understood what was going on, and why should they? He had kept Kate's secret well. He began walking slowly towards them, only a single step at a time. They both raised their guns hesitantly, smirking with amusement after hearing his pleas. "Who do you think you are?" the nearest one asked, voice full of sick satisfaction. Jack found himself being more and more disgusted as this encounter progressed.
"My name is Dr. Jack Shepard," Jack stated as boldly as he could muster at the time, still clinging tightly to his wounded ribs, "When that plane went down nearly two years ago, I died just like every other person you see here. We got a chance to start over and it was a chance we all deserved. Even Kate. She saved my life on this island and more than that she's become one of my dearest friends. I don't care who she was or what she did before the crash, but I'm not going to let you harm her now. I owe that to her."
The grin on the first man's face only seemed to grow wider, making Jack's insides churn in disgust. These men truly defined the meaning of the word heartless. He wondered how they had come to be allowed to stand for justice. "And why should we do that, Dr. Shepard? We've waited too long to let Ms. Austin evade us now. She's a dangerous criminal. She has obviously manipulated you into thinking otherwise. You won't stand in our way. If you try, well, there's no telling what we might have to do to ensure her arrest."
All eyes were on Jack now, wondering if he would continue to press his luck. He had gone too far already and he knew it, but for Kate's sake, he wasn't going to back down now. "I know the terrain better than you. You don't know what's out there. You can't imagine what it can do and I promise you that you don't want to find out. I swear that if you let me go after her, I'll bring her to you. Just give me that," Jack said, once again pleading with them to hear him out. He knew that if they didn't agree to this, then he would once again have to risk getting shot because there was no way he was going to allow them to go into the jungle after her only to shoot her down in their lust for glory. She deserved better than that. "You have my word."
For a long moment, what felt like the longest moment of Jack's life, he and the Marshal locked eyes. The man stared him down boldly, as if trying to decide if Jack's word was worth anything. Jack knew that both men had never wanted to go trekking through the jungle, most likely fearing what it might contain and he hoped to use that to his favor. The two men turned to one another and began talking in whispers, obviously considering what they should do. Within a few moments, Jack found them walking briskly across the sand towards him.
Once they had reached them, the nearest one, the one that had struck him, stepped forward, looking Jack up and down in obvious disgust. "Alright, Dr. Shepard. I'm feeling generous," he growled menacingly, making certain that only Jack could hear what he was saying and not the large crowd that gathered around them. "But frankly Dr. Shepard, we don't trust you as far as we can throw you. We're going to come with you and make sure that you hold up your end of the deal; no questions asked. We don't want you running out on us. Lead the way."
"And Dr. Shepard?" the once silent Marshall finally spoke up to Jack, stepping up next to his partner. Jack lifted his head and gave the man his full attention. "I'll wager you're a smart man. A man such as yourself should know what aiding and abending a criminal means, am I right?"
Staring the man down, Jack flashed him the coldest look he possibly could, not breaking eye contact before nodding, "Yes, I do."
"Then you know what it would cost you," the man prodded further, obviously enjoying what he was doing to Jack.
"I do," Jack still did not break his gaze from the Marshall. He didn't want to give the man the pleasure of thinking he had won.
"Very good," the man flashed Jack a mocking grin, turning briefly to look at his partner before turning back to Jack, "I just want to be clear that if you give me even a hair of a reason to believe that you are helping Miss Austin to evade us, you will be very sorry. You would do best to remember that."
Jack only nodded in response, knowing that even if he wanted to, there was nothing he could do to help Kate escape capture now.
Feeling his heart pound with adrenalin at being granted very nearly what he had wanted, Jack moved quickly past the two Marshals, leaving it entirely up to them if they were going to be able to follow. Worry clouded his mind as he stepped off of the sandy terrain of the beach, and into the humid climate of the jungle he had come to know so well. He had guessed from the very moment that Kate had broken away from him and into the jungle where she was going. He knew that she had fled to the caves, the home she had never learned to accept.
(About and hour and a half later...)
Jack approached the caves with a heavy heart, knowing that he would have to bring Kate out to the men that waited a short distance away. They had agreed that things would be more likely to run smoothly if Jack went into the caves alone to seek her out while they waited for him just outside. In his heart, Jack knew that Kate was here. It was as if he could feel her presence.
Before long, his assumptions were proven to be right when he heard the faint sound of someone fighting back tears and losing not far from where he stood. "Kate?" Jack called out, voice as gentle and smooth as he could make it. In these last moments that they would be together, he wanted desperately to comfort her because he knew that this could very well be his last chance to do so for a very long time. He feared that very thing.
"J-Jack?" came the ragged reply, questioning if her ears had deceived her. He could feel hope in her tone, and even caring. He felt a small surge of happiness that he had caused that tone to arise, but that happiness was short lived. The reality of what he was here to do soon came back to him.
"Yeah, I'm here," he replied, stepping out of the shadows and into the light where she could see him. He saw that she had been sitting on a large slab of rock, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Oh, Jack..." Kate cried out desperately, more desperate than he had ever seen her as she rose to her feet and quickly lurched over to where he stood waiting for her. She roughly threw herself into his waiting arms. This was the first time she had ever willingly come to him like this, but Jack couldn't let himself find any joy in it. He hadn't imagined it would be like this. Looking deeply into his eyes, locking his dark hazel eyes with her own greenish gray orbs, Kate spoke to him in a hushed, ragged voice, "I'm scared, Jack." It was an admission that Jack had never wanted to hear coming from her. He had never imagined that he ever would.
She trembled violently within the circle of his arms, and her shaking only seemed to increase as he gently reached forward and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. "It'll be okay, Kate. I won't let them hurt you," Jack assured to her, lightly caressing the side of her face with his thumb and forefinger. Even as he made her this promise though, he had known that he had no way of guaranteeing it as he felt the ache in his ribs from the Marshal's previous show of violence to him. She need never know about that though.
To his great and pleasant surprise, Kate leaned forward quickly then and captured his lips with her own. She brought him into a passionate, urgent kiss as if attempting to draw him as closely to her as she could. There was a sense of impelling need in the way that she kissed him then, pulling away only when she had to draw in a ragged breath of air. This can‘t last, Jack thought to himself, eyes clamped tightly shut as he drew her closer still and kissed her back, I should end it now. His hands slid apart, one staying on the small of her back, rubbing small, comforting circles on her back and the other moving to her hair, entangling itself there as he pushed her face closer to his own.
They had kissed several times in the past two years, none of those times lacking in passion, but this was their best by far. It was different. There was an unmatchable need in the way that they held and kissed each other now and as long as they lived, neither would ever forget the way it had felt. How it hadn't satisfied them, but only intensified their need.
Finally pulling away, Jack kissed a line down from her face to her neck, his lips lightly nibbling on her skin. He was engulfed in the passion and the need of the moment, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not forget the presence of the two Marshals that stood just outside, waiting to steal Kate from his life, possibly forever. He brought himself back to her lips once more, easing his lips over her own and once again diving into the passion that seemed to be radiating from them both.
The two finally broke apart, though this time they did not return. Kate lowered her head to look down at their feet, her forehead pressed against his muscled chest and her arms still wrapped tightly around his waist. She was breathing long, ragged breaths as she sat that way, listening to the pounding beat of his heart.
"Kate, we have to go now..." Jack urged, never wanting to have to tell her that. Her head snapped up suddenly and when she met his eyes, he knew right away that she understood. Without saying a word, she knew that he had led the Marshals to her, but much to his surprise and her own, she did not hold it against him. He had done what he had to prevent them from shooting her and for that she was grateful.
Without saying a word, Jack loosened his grip on Kate and linked her arm through his own, leading her out to meet the anxiously awaiting Marshals. This time, the one nearest to Jack already had his handcuffs drawn from inside his suit jacket. As soon as Jack appeared from the mouth of the cave with Kate at his side, the Marshal stepped forward triumphantly and reached out, roughly gripping Kate's arm and tugging her out of Jack's hold. Jack immediately made a move to protest the man's brutality, but Kate met his eyes and gave him a look as if to say that he should stay out of it. Jack watched as the two men roughly jerked Kate's arms behind her back and locked the cuffs securely onto her wrists. They four of them then made their way back to the beach, two of them in a deep state of misery and the other two feeling completely satisfied.
Back on the beach, Jack found that all of the survivors were anxiously awaiting their appearance, a worried look plastered on each of their faces. Jack nodded, letting his eyes scan over each of them as soon as he stepped out into the clear, noting that they all looked extremely confused, perhaps more so than they had before at seeing Kate being escorted to the waiting helicopter in handcuffs. In fact, the only one who seemed to be unsurprised by any of this was the ragged, smart mouthed southerner that Jack had grown to greatly dislike these past months spent on the island. Sawyer had a look plastered on his face that almost said 'I told you so'.
Jack followed the two Marshals as they led Kate up to the waiting helicopter. Just before they were about to boost her inside and take her away, Jack stepped in front of them, once again blocking their path. Jack could sense their anger at his actions, but he didn't care. He would get his last good-byes to her if it was the last thing he did. No one could take that from him now. He stepped forward towards Kate boldly, not daring to look at the two Marshals that stood on either side of her. Jack immediately cut off the small distance between them, roughly kissing her one last time. He poured all that he had into that kiss, bringing up an arm to sling around her shoulders and entangle in her mass of deep brown curls. As the kiss went on in the brief moment that it was allowed to last, Jack could feel a storm of tears running down her cheeks. She kissed him back sadly and desperately, as if begging for him not to forget her and urging him that this wouldn't be the last time. Deep in his heart, he knew that it was. He dreaded that it was.
They were roughly pulled apart as one of the Marshals jerked on Kate's arm, pulling her out of Jack's hold. Before Jack could say or do anything else, Kate was being lifted up into the helicopter and taken out of his life forever. "Good-bye, Jack!" Kate called down to him just as she disappeared miserably into the confines of the helicopter. That would be the last thing that Jack would hear from her in well over a year.
A/N: Well, I hope you guys liked it! Yes, I know, overly cheesy. Hopefully I'll be more intune with things when I try my next post. After finishing this story with Shiggity, I do have plans for other Lost stories, all of which are J/K, so we'll see how that goes. Please review because I really need your feedback!