Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Sawyer/Ana-Lucia, implied Jack/Kate
Characters: Sawyer, Ana-Lucia, Kate, Jack.
Summary: She raised her chin, almost daring him to comment, to defend Kate as well like Jack had, but Sawyer only remained silent.
Warnings: A little swearing...nothing much.
Status of fic: Completed
Author's Note: I'm obsessed with Sana...so sue me! I like Ana-Lucia's character and I love the idea of her together with Sawyer. Great! But I am going to attempt to dabble with Skate and Jana at some point...just to make sure. Oh, and I've not really seen Kate angry at anyone before (perhaps that has something to do with the fact that I'm from the UK and have only seen part of season 1) but I am assuming that she and Ana-Lucia aren't going to see eye to eye. I mean, they both have such strong characters a war is definitely imminent!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Lost related and also I have no claims to Watership Down, it's characters or quotes. It just makes me happy to put them in!
-o0o-
For What it's Worth.
He knew there was an argument going on. After years and years of bar brawls and street fights, Sawyer could quite literally smell a disagreement between two people from miles away.
He watched intently from where he sat propped against his bags and belongings in the shelter that the other survivors had clubbed together to build for him, though it was likely that they had only done so to keep him out of the caves and out of their hair. That notion had made him smirk.
The two women glared at each other, squaring off. Shoulders and jaws set, fists clenched. Harsh words were spat forth from gritted teeth, though Sawyer couldn't quite make out what they were saying or what exactly they were arguing about.
It was strange, he thought, to see them go at it, head-to-head, whereas previously they had only ever sent scathing glares or dark looks the other's way. It had finally come to a head, like the black, thunderous clouds currently culminating above the jungle canopies waiting split the air open with furious lightening as it poured torrential rain down upon them all.
They had always been opposing, Kate and Ana-Lucia. From the minute that they had met. They had never seen eye-to-eye causing tension to hang like a thick smog over the caves, but not even Sawyer had expected them to do anything about it, and from the looks of things, they were pretty close to throwing punches.
He winced at that, remembering being on the receiving end of one too many of Ana's thumps. He wasn't sure if Kate was actually up to taking one of those right hooks…and yet Kate herself had given him a hell of a head-but that had left him seeing double for the remainder of the night.
It was a close call, but if he had to put money on it, he'd back Ana-Lucia purely on her strength. Sure, Kate could fight dirty, but that wouldn't count for a thing if Ana flattened her first.
The strongest female personalities on the island. The most stubborn and opinionated out of possibly all of the survivors. Looked like they were heading for World War 3 and Sawyer dug his elbow into the bags that he was propped up against, getting comfortable for the impending fight. He had a front row seat after all, even if the rain pattered and lashed around him, his only protection the thin tarp above his head.
Then Jack entered the fray, making his way from the cave mouth out into the unforgiving weather to defend the slight brunette as he took his place by her side. Ana-Lucia scowled, grinding her teeth together harder than before and she swore at them both. Sawyer could tell it was profane, something that probably would have made him proud, by the way that Kate glared at her raven haired opponent with obvious distaste. He could tell by the way Ana's lips drew back and revealed snarling teeth and by the way that Jack stepped forcefully between the warring women, no doubt telling Ana-Lucia that her language was uncalled for, that she needed to calm down.
The young Latino woman glared at them both for a moment longer and Sawyer was almost positive that he could see the taint of hurt in her dark brown eyes as they glanced up at Jack. Hurt that he had sided with Kate over her. Hurt that he had not even listened to her side of events. And then it was replaced by fury as she spun away from her opponents, inky-black hair whirling out behind her through the rain as she marched in Sawyer's direction.
She was obviously intent on stalking into the jungle, seeking refuge and solitude but as she neared his shelter, Sawyer called out to her. He didn't know why exactly, perhaps he was simply a bastard set to make everyone miserable. Perhaps he was once again seeking his own punishment by being on the receiving end of yet another of Ana-Lucia's cuffs. And perhaps it was simple because she intrigued him. Whichever it was it didn't matter much to him. He'd long since given up analysing why he was the way he was, why he did the things he did.
"Hey there, Girl-fight!" he called, raising his chin and grinning at his new nickname for her. He was, however, unsurprised when his greeting was met with hostility.
"What!" she snapped, pausing her thrashing movements through the jungle undergrowth to turn towards him with arms folded in impatience.
"You been ragging on my girl Kate again?" he queried and Ana-Lucia replied with a humourless snort.
"Your girl Kate was asking for it!" she retorted testily, sending a brief, livid glare back over her shoulder at where Kate and Jack stood in the dry mouth of the cave, heads bent together as they conversed quietly. "She's got a black-eye with her name on it!"
She raised her chin, almost daring him to comment, to defend Kate as well like Jack had, but Sawyer only remained silent. She was blunt. That was the way she was and her comment was telling him to take her as she was or leave her. It was starkly obvious from their argument moments previously, that Kate had not taken so kindly to such a brazen attitude. But Ana-Lucia was honest about her feelings to the point of indifference and didn't care what he or anyone else thought about her dislike of the other woman. He found that somewhat refreshing.
They considered each other for long moments before Sawyer broke the stillness once more and with another smirk.
"Why don't you step over here, Rocky. Give the invalid a bit of your attention, huh? I'm sure the good doctor won't miss it for a couple of minutes." he asked beckoning to her with the hand of his uninjured arm and though her features remained furious, Ana surprisingly did as he asked, stopping just outside his shelter where his booted feet protruded through the plastic sheeting into the rain and mud.
"So," she demanded, peering into his makeshift tent and resting her weight onto one leg as she scanned around almost curiously. "What can I do for you, Invalid?"
"You gonna stand out there in the rain while you talk to me?" he enquired, amusement clear on his features as he feigned upset and she grunted at him in response, an angry sound that made his grin wider, and his dimples more prominent.
Again, startlingly, she did as he asked, ducking into his new home and standing with her head bent at a strange angle because of the low roof as she waited for him to continue speaking.
"Don't that hurt your neck, standing like that?" he beamed up at her and she loosed a frustrated growl. She didn't respond, however, simply kicked out at him, catching him in the side of his leg and making him wince and chuckle at the same time.
"Move over then, Fat-ass, before I change my mind." she demanded impatiently, her voice laced with ire and he did so, shifting enough so that she could sit herself down beside him, resting her elbows upon drawn up knees.
"What do you want then?" Ana queried at length as they stared out into the slashing rain in tandem, their view of the caves and a certain conspiring doctor and fugitive obscured by the weather's increased intensity.
Sawyer shrugged though it made the pain in his arm flare up once more.
"Nothin' much." he responded, gaze still intent on the small triangle of scenery that they could glimpse from between the two plastic tarps that constituted his 'front door'. "Just wanted to let you know. For what it's worth, Sugar, I think Dudley Do-Right can't see no wood for the trees." Sawyer stated. Her dark brown gaze flickered to his face for the briefest of seconds, meeting his eyes first before following the line of his brow, smoothing over his cheek and jaw before finally resting upon his mouth. "The doctor…" he illuminated, waving the hand of his good arm in the direction of the caves and Jack. "Jack don't know what he missin' out on with you."
"I dunno what you're talking about." she snapped, turning away from him swiftly to hide the growing tint of embarrassment upon the apple of her cheeks, but Sawyer shrugged and lay back, staring up at the ceiling with his arms folded behind his head for a pillow.
"Don't try to kid a kidder, Darlin'." he replied with a bitter chuckle. "I know all about it. Known all about it since she chose Saint Jackass over me."
Ana-Lucia remained silent, her eyes unmoving from where they focused upon the muddy ground outside Sawyer's tent. She knew exactly who he was talking about. She had seen the way that he looked at her. Kate.
Suddenly and out of the blue it seemed, a pair of dirt coated boots stopped in front of her line of vision and Ana glanced up to meet the stare of the very woman that she had crossed swords with earlier. The very woman that she and Sawyer had, not so directly, been discussing.
"What do you want?" Ana spat and Kate glared down her nose at her before turning her attention onto the recumbent form of Sawyer, ignoring his companion entirely.
"Get up, Sawyer. Jack wants to check over your wound." she announced and Sawyer laughed out loud, propping himself onto his elbows to fix his blue-eyed watch onto the petite brunette.
"'At this, all four rabbits felt the trance of utter panic. They grew rigid. Then Bigwig, his eyes set in a fixed, glazed stare, began to jerk his way up the ditch towards the opening. You have to go, he muttered, so thickly that Hazel could hardly catch the words. You have to go when he calls you'." Sawyer muttered, rolling his eyes to the ceiling and Ana chuckled, drawing curious stares from both him and the impatient woman stood at their feet.
"Watership Down." she explained. "I actually enjoyed studying that book in school. Although, I don't see how you can liken Jack to the Black Rabbit of Inlé. He's more like the Threarah."
"Chief Rabbit." Sawyer chuckled again, shaking his head in mild disbelief.
"Can we skip the little English lesson?" Kate demanded with a huff and Sawyer pushed himself to his feet with effort.
"Stick around, Chica." he told Ana when she began to stand also, getting ready to leave his shelter. "Don't want you catchin' your death out there in that rain. Make yourself at home."
She did, stretching her legs out before her and watched as Kate strode away into the rain followed by a somewhat reluctant Sawyer.
"Hey, Bigwig!" she called out suddenly, smirking when his head twisted in her direction, eyes narrowed slightly. "Just wanted to let you know, for what it's worth, Bonnie don't know what she's missin' out on with you!" she echoed his words and watched as his face lit up with recognition of her nickname for Kate.
"Bonnie. Bonnie and Clyde!" He loosed a bleat of hilarity to the thunderous sky, tossing his head back. "You're getting' good with them nicknames, Darlin'. You'll be giving me a run for my money soon."
"Sure will." she retorted, leaning back against his bags and belongings, not even attempting to swallow the satisfied smirk that played across her lips at Kate's disgruntled face, furious that she was being left out of the joke.
-o0o-
Let me know what you think!