A/N warning: If you have not seen the episode "What Kate Did" of season two, and don't want to be spoiled, don't read this chapter! Or just skip down past the second line like the one below. ;)

Chapter Fourteen

A frenzy of barking and hissing erupted beneath Kate and Sawyer in the living room. They could hear the scratching of the dog's claws against the wooden floor as it struggled against its leash. The cat began to growl as the dog seemingly was inching closer. With another explosion of sound as the officer hit the floor and the dog escaped his grasp and went after the cat.

"Damn dog's chased a cat again! Worthless mutt!" echoed Frank's voice.

At this point Kate and Sawyer heard the dog whimper. Whether it was from the cat or one of the officers was indiscernible. But Kate automatically flinched and started forward. She didn't get too far with Sawyer's firm grasp on her shoulders.

"What do ya think you're going to do? Turn yourself and me in so the poor dog gets justice?" Sawyer whispered into her ear.

Kate was forced to realize the stupidity of the instinctual action she was about to take and was glad Sawyer was there to stop her with his words. She turned her face towards his and shook her head. She wasn't even sure that Sawyer could see her answer in the pitch-blackness of the attic but she was still too frightened to risk an audible reply.

"Come on, Paul. They're not here. They probably are two or three states away by now. Don't know why they insist on making us look after a sighting hits the news. Just a waste of our time…Useless dog led us on another wild goose chase," Frank finished with another cry echoing from the dog.

Again Kate winced at the sound. The officer's footfalls echoed away out of the house. They both relaxed at the front door slamming shut. Sawyer let go of Kate and leaned back on the box behind him. Kate, too, moved to a more comfortable position.

"So, how many close calls do you think we'll have Freckles?" Sawyer asked. All of the bitterness of before was apparently removed from his demeanor.

Kate couldn't help but smile.

"I don't know. I guess it depends on how many times we let our emotions take over our logic." Kate was gladdened to see that her answer elicited a returning smile from Sawyer. Though in truthfulness, she felt that he smiled more than she saw. Tranquility again encompassed the house, as they both knew the recent threat had disappeared.

But some things still lingered upon Kate's consciousness. It seemed that Sawyer was content to let their argument go, to forget about it completely. Kate wasn't that ready. It had brought up too many truths in their relationship that couldn't easily be unanswered.

"About what I said early. About not knowing you Sawyer. It's not true. You've haven't been anything but truthful with me about who you are. And I haven't told anything about my past. It's just…I didn't want to risk seeing you disgusted or detest me. I didn't want things to change. And I'm sorry for that," Kate finished with silent tears threatening to flow down her cheeks. She sensed that Sawyer's mood had changed and was no longer in the state of mind to crack jokes.

"Kate, you don't have to apologize. You can tell me everything when you're ready. I don't have to know right now. I'm satisfied just to be with you," Sawyer said tenderly.

"No, but I want to tell you, Sawyer. I want to tell you why I'm so uncomfortable in this house, why I'm a fugitive. I need to explain everything to you," Kate said resolutely.

Silence emitted from Sawyer's end and Kate took it as a cue to forge on.

"When I was little, maybe four or five, my mom left my dad and married this guy Wayne. Everything was fine at first. He would take us out to movies on weekends, have dinner on the table when my mother got off the late shift at work. Everything seemed perfect.

"But then something happened. I'm not sure what. He began drinking all the time. I remember he used to take me to school drunk. He started to beat my mom if she said the littlest thing that upset him. I started to live in constant fear…He wouldn't let me see my dad anymore," Kate paused as the 'almost' tears were no longer almost. Sawyer reached out to her through the darkness and took her hand in his.

"Anyway, I moved out as soon as I was old enough. Got my own apartment, made my own curtains." Kate couldn't help but smile through the tears.

"I was able to see my dad again regularly. One year I was going to make him a scrapbook for his birthday. I asked him for pictures from when he was in the service. The pictures he gave me…they had dates on the back…he was in Korea just four months before I was born. Wayne…he was….I was so angry."

Sawyer moved closer to Kate, putting his arm around her small shoulders and pulling her to his chest as the tears continued to stream down her face.

"My mother called me one day. Said that things had got out of control between her and…him. He was getting more violent. She thought he would kill her. I offered to let her stay with me and she agreed. But when I went to her the next day, she denied everything she had said.

"I couldn't stand it any longer. I hated that something so foul and loathsome could be a part of me. It made me feel unclean. That somehow he had stolen my innocence by being my father…I hated that my mom said she loved with all that he did.

"My mother was working the graveyard shift at the diner one night and I knew he would come home drunk…. I went over to the house. I disconnected the gas line from the stove in the kitchen…I took him inside the house when he drove up…He could barely walk. I put him in bed…Then I threw a match back into the house as I left…I couldn't let him live. I couldn't live with him breathing…"

"So, I planned to leave town, to—"

"Shh, that's enough for tonight Kate," Sawyer said softly. "Let's get to bed. We'll pack tomorrow and leave in the evening. We won't stay here one more minute than we need too."

Sawyer felt an overwhelming sympathy for Kate. Her life was just as screwed up as his had been. He knew that she had only told him part of the story, though. There wasn't anyway that what she told him could drive her to do what she did. He was sure that she hadn't escaped Wayne's violence unscathed.

And when he thought about what might have happened to her, what he might of done, an anger rose in him that was even more fiery than his desire for his own revenge. He wanted nothing more than to hold her all night and soothe her horrible memories. He never wanted to let her go either. She was even more fragile than she had been in his eyes now. He craved to protect her from anymore pain.

Kate lay still against Sawyer's chest. Many moments had passed since he suggested that they get to bed. But she was unwilling to move. Something about being there with him, in the darkness was so restful. She felt more peace within her soul at that moment, than she had for many years.

Having someone who had become so close know some of her past relieved her immensely. The burden her crimes left upon her heart had been lifted. Sawyer now helped her carry the load also. She didn't feel that she was alone in the world either anymore. He knew her the center of her being now.

The comfort was broken when Sawyer stood up and walked over to the entrance and disappeared through the floor into the next room. Kate followed him. She looked through the hole to see him waiting for her. She carefully lifted herself down and felt Sawyer grab her around her waist. She was expecting that he would set her on the floor but he continued to hold her as he walked towards the bedroom.

The next day dawned with a clear, pale blue sky that slowly faded into a light violet as the sun began to set. Sawyer carried their bags to the car as Kate stood nearby holding the cat, scratching his ears.

"I wish we could take him with us," she said to Sawyer. Then to the cat, "You saved our butts, you know."

The cat looked like it was in a blissful heaven. It probably hadn't had that much attention since it was born and it certainly hadn't eaten that well either. He would miss them. But Kate had insisted on leaving the rest of the tuna that they had bought alone a large bowl of water.

"Yeah, me too. Kinda got attached to the thing. But how do you expect us to take care of a cat when we can barely take care of ourselves?"

"You're right," Kate said warily, her expression becoming clouded for a moment.

She put the cat down and walked toward the car. Kate opened the car door and sorted through her bag before producing a license plate and a screwdriver.

"Now, where in the hell did you get that, Freckles?" Sawyer said as he saw what Kate was doing.

"Like I said, there was everything up in that attic. I was able to pick some stuff that's going to be pretty useful."

"And what would that be?"

"You'll just have to wait and see," Kate said with a mischievous smile as she walked back around the vehicle opening the passenger door. "Come on. Let's get going."