I'm a bit stuck on TRT right now, but inspiration hit for this new one shot:) It's jate, with a small hint of C/S if you squint.

"Sawyer! Will you please stop? You shouldn't be out yet!"

"Freckles, I think I know if I can handle a walk through this damn jungle."

"You might think you feel better, but it could just be the pain killers, and if they wear off and you're not lying down-"

"Any particular reason why you're mothering me?" Sawyer questioned stopping and turning to face her. "Thought that was Jacko's job."

Kate breathed in deeply, thinking of Jack. She hadn't seen him since he'd found her in the jungle, and they'd kissed. He'd tried to find her a couple of times, but she'd been avoiding him. It wasn't that she regretted what happened, far from it. Being with Jack made her happy, and brought her more peace than she'd ever felt before. That was why she wanted to be with him, but it was also why she couldn't let him be with her. Jack deserved better than a criminal.

"Jack's a little busy right now."

Sawyer turned and began walking again, muttering about Jack just being an ass who was trying to kill him without anyone realizing what he was doing. Kate rolled her eyes, and followed him.

Meanwhile, Jack had just handed out water to everyone on the beach, and was headed back for the caves, lost in thought. He'd been trying to talk to Kate about what had happened between them for two days now, but she had somehow managed to slip away every time. He'd tried to come up with different reasons why Kate would have run away from him, and avoided him, but now he was beginning to suspect that she just regretted their kiss, and he felt like the biggest idiot in the world. He'd been so thrilled when it had happened, thinking he and Kate were finally going somewhere, and it turns out that Kate probably hadn't even felt anything for him at all.

"Sawyer, please stop now!" Jack was pulled out of his thoughts of Kate when he heard her voice, "You said you just needed to get out, you're out, let's go back in."

He walked up the path a little more, and saw Kate run up to Sawyer, who was standing in the middle of the jungle, out of breath. Jack clenched his jaw, anger taking him over. Sawyer. It always came back to Sawyer. Kate hugs him. She kisses Sawyer. Kate kisses him. She runs to Sawyer. He was sick of being second place.

"Just come back to the hatch, okay?"

Sawyer muttered something to Kate that Jack couldn't hear, but did as she said. Kate was about to follow him, when she suddenly frowned, looking confused, and then turned slightly, looking directly at Jack. She looked surprised to see him there, and Jack was frustrated with her, but they couldn't break each other's gaze.

"Jack!"

Jack jumped slightly, startled, and turned to see Ana walking towards him, smiling.

"Everything okay? I just saw you standing out here."

"Everything's fine," He said distractedly.

"What are you staring at?"

Jack glanced up, and saw that Kate had already left.

"Nothing."

While Jack was trying to come up with an excuse to leave Ana, Kate was walking back to the hatch, trying to remain calm. Ana was just his friend. Even if she wasn't, Kate knew she had lost the right to be jealous the moment she ran away. But just because she didn't have the right to feel this way doesn't mean she didn't.

"Hi, Claire," Kate said the next day with a tired smile, as she walked onto the beach, and saw Claire and Aaron there.

"Oh, hi, Kate!" Claire said in her perky tone. "How are you?"

"A little desperate for sleep, but other than that, good," Kate told her, reaching her tent, and beginning to rummage through her clothes.

"If you ever need someone to watch Sawyer, I'd be happy to."

"Thanks."

Claire watched Kate go through her things in silence for a moment, before remembering something she wanted to ask her.

"Oh, Kate, are things okay between you and Jack?" Claire had heard Charlie telling Hurley that he'd seen them kissing and that Kate had run off, but Kate hadn't told her anything yet, which was surprising.

"Um…yeah, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, uh, I was just wondering. He's been asking everyone where you are the past couple of days, and then he just stopped. Did he finally catch up with you?" Claire tried to sound casual.

"Sort of."

"I'm sensing you don't want to talk about it."

"No, Claire, it's not that, there's just really nothing to tell."

"If you-"

Claire was interrupted by a loud burst of laughter. She and Kate both turned, and saw that it had come from Ana Lucia, and that the person who had made her laugh so loudly was Jack. Kate inhaled sharply, like she was in pain, but wasn't able to force her self to look away until Ana lightly laid her hand on Jack's arm. Claire noticed Kate's hurt, jealous expression after she saw that, and felt her self grow concerned.

"Kate, I don't think it's anything. She doesn't really have any friends here, and you know how Jack is."

"Yeah, I do," Kate said quietly, grabbing her change of clothes and leaving.

Yes, she knew how Jack is. He was sweet, friendly, smart, funny, caring, and way too good for her. She knew that. She just hadn't known it would hurt so badly to actually see him with someone else.

While Kate was running away again, Claire turned back to look at Jack and Ana again, and saw him reach up, and gently remove Ana's hand from his arm, his smile disappearing, as Ana looked upset. Claire couldn't help but grin. Kate might not see how deeply Jack felt about her, but everyone else sure did. It was only a matter of convincing her friend. She knew just the person to do it.

Jack, who had never suspected that Ana might be wanting more than friendship until right now, felt extremely awkward, and eager to leave.

"It was nice talking to you again, Ana, but, ah, I just remembered that I was going to go out to pick some fruit today, and I really should get going."

"If you're going to reject me, don't lie about what you're doing."

"No, I really do have to go pick fruit!" Jack tried again, not sounding a bit more convincing than he did the first time.

"This is about Kate, isn't it?" She sighed in annoyance. "She's not good enough for you," She told him, like she was stating a simple fact. Jack immediately felt defensive of Kate, and glared at Ana.

"You've never even spoken to her, so I'm not sure what qualifies you to make that statement," He said in a cold tone.

"Maybe the fact that she's with Sawyer right now instead of you," She snapped, her mouth working before her head.

Jack just narrowed his eyes at her, and turned to walk away.

"Jack," she sighed, chasing after him. He ignored her. "Jack!"

"What?"

"I'm sorry, that was out of line, okay?"

"Yeah, it was. Anything else you want?"

"Just let me come with you. I'll scale the trees so you don't have to, help you carry everything back, and we'll be even. Deal?"

"Fine," Jack muttered, starting to walk again, not waiting for her.

Claire walked into the hatch, propping Aaron up on her hip, and saw Kate sitting in front of the computer, staring off at the wall.

"Kate?" She asked softly. Kate turned to her, smiling slightly.

"Hey, Claire."

"What are you doing?"

"The timer's gonna go off in a few minutes, I figured I'd just wait here. Did you need something?"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to Sawyer- is he awake?"

"Yeah, he's in there," Kate motioned to Sawyer's room.

"Thanks. Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You seem…sad."

"I'm okay."

Claire nodded, and walked into Sawyer's room, determined to help Kate feel better than okay.

"So, do you think maybe you could do this? For Kate?" Claire asked him quietly. Before he could answer her, they heard the timer go off, and then quickly stop as Kate typed in the numbers, and then walked into the room.

"Everything okay in here? Do you guys need anything?"

"Uh, I need to go feed Aaron, so if you could sit with Sawyer, that would be great!"

"Sure."

Claire got up, and Kate took her place in the chair. Claire turned around to look at Sawyer before she walked out the door, and pointed to Kate, mouthing 'Tell her'. Sawyer glared, and waved at her to leave. Kate was so distracted, staring down at her hands, she didn't even notice any of that.

Claire left, and Sawyer watched Kate, as she sighed, and leaned her head back against the wall. Damnit. She just had to pull the depressed card.

"Freckles, what are you doing here?" He finally asked, sounding exasperated.

"What are you talking about?" Kate asked, confused. "I'm watching you to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine, and even if I wasn't, you aren't the only one willing to watch me. This isn't where you want to be, it isn't where you should be, and we both know it." Kate remained silent. "Heard you and the doc had a fight."

"You heard wrong," She said quietly, looking back down.

"So you didn't play tonsil hockey with him and run off?" Kate's head snapped up, shocked. "That's what I thought. Why are you with me instead of him, like you want to be?"

"I just thought-"

"And before you start, I'd like to remind you that if you lie to a man suffering from a bullet wound, you'll feel guilty later."

"Because I'm not good enough for him, okay?" She hissed, digging her nails into her palms.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The last thing Jack wants or needs is a criminal."

"You're kidding me, right? I don't think he gets a case of puppy dog eyes whenever you're around because he doesn't want you. And, about the other thing…well, I'd prefer not to discuss his needs, so I'm just gonna say I think he'd disagree with you."

"…Really?"

"Yeah."

"He's been hanging around Ana Lucia lately, though."

"And you've been hanging around me lately. Doesn't mean anything." Kate looked thoughtful, like she was contemplating it. Sawyer groaned. "For the love of God, Freckles, just go get him." Kate stood up, smiling gratefully.

"Thank you, Sawyer," She said softly, leaning down and kissing his forehead.

"Yeah, just go."

She turned and did just that. Sawyer waited until he heard the door of the hatch close, and then slammed his head against the wall.

"You did a good thing, Sawyer."

He looked up, and saw Claire, holding Aaron, walk into the room.

"I prefer doing bad things." She grinned, and settled down into the chair.

"But you got over that to help her, so you're just going to have todeal withit- you're a good guy now."

"I didn't do it for her. I did it for me- do you have any idea how annoying it is watching her down here, pining away for him?" Claire laughed.

"Nice try, Sawyer, but face it. You're a softie now," She joked, patting his chest in mock sympathy.

"Yeah, well, this little idea of yours better work, since I had to actually help."

"It will."

Kate found Locke soon after she left the hatch, and asked him if he knew where Jack was. He'd pointed her off in his direction, mentioning he was with Ana, before watching her go with a knowing smile that Kate didn't even notice.

"Jack! Wait up!" Kate shouted, finally catching sight of him as she rounded the corner.

Jack turned around, and smiled for a brief moment, before tensing up.

"Sawyer need something?" He asked coldly, once she caught up.

"What? No, he's with Claire. I just wanted to come help you, we haven't gone out to pick fruit together in a while," She told him, resisting the urge to tell Ana, who was watching them interestedly, to go away.

"I think we can handle it," Ana said calmly.

"Couldn't hurt to have another pair of hands around, especially since you never know in this jungle- we might need you to shoot something, or someone," Kate remarked, giving her a bright, fake smile.

"I don't think that's necessary, Kate," Ana said, returning it. "For what I've heard, you're probably even better with a gun than I am. I don't know a lot of criminals who go on the run as long as you did without some skills."

Kate was caught off guard by that. Jack told her? Had he been complaining about her to Ana? Just the thought of him doing that made Kate feel sick.

"That's enough," Jack said to them both, firmly. "Let's just go."

Ana and Kate eyed each other, but followed him as he set off.

"So, Ana, heard you all had a pretty rough time on your side of the island," Kate said, giving her a sidelong glance.

"Yeah, we-"

"Us too. It felt like every single day Jack and I went out to do something together, something weird would happen. Remember the skeletons?" Jack chuckled, remembering them running away shirtless from the bees before they found them.

"I remember," He smiled back at her, and Kate grinned.

"Skeletons?" Ana frowned. Jack started to explain, but Kate quickly interrupted.

"It's a long story, you wouldn't be interested."

"Sure I would," She glared at Kate.

"I can tell you later," Jack offered in a friendly voice.

Ana smiled and told him she'd like that, and Kate suddenly wanted to punch her in the face. Badly.

"Jack, do you want to go to the place we normally check for fruit?" Kate asked, to take her mind off those thoughts.

"I think we should go that way," Ana said before Jack could answer her, pointing off.

"Why would you think that? You don't even know where anything is on this side."

"I think that because it looks like a good spot. Have you always been such a control freak?"

"Have you always been such a domineering bitch?"

"Hey!" Jack shouted at them both, shocked. "Kate, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Fine," She hissed, following him off into the trees, leaving Ana to fume.

"What the hell was that?" He demanded, once they were out of earshot.

"What was what about?"

"Trying to exclude her, the insults?"

"Excuse me if I'm not that fond of a murderer!"

"It was an accident, and you know it, Kate."

"Why are you always defending her!" Kate exploded.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, first of all, you told her I'm a criminal! Were you trying to comfort her or something? 'Don't feel bad about shooting someone, afterall, Kate's a criminal!'Plus, you were all set to go kill whoever murdered Shannon until you heard it was her- then you suddenly had a change of heart, and decided to go booze it up with her! And what she said to me was just as bad as what I said to her, but you don't seem to give a damn about that! There's also the fact that every single time I turn around, you're with her!"

"Of course I didn't tell her, Kate, I would never do that to you- everyone at camp knows, anyone could have! And it had nothing to do with it being her, Kate! I just needed a second to calm down and realize it was an accident. I'm yelling at youinstead of herbecause from what I've heard this is her idea of being polite, but I expect more from you! And I spend time with her because nobody else will, and if she's isolated, God only knows what she could end up doing. " Kate was caught off guard by that, and after a moment of silence passed, opened her mouth to apologize for her outburst, but Jack wasn't done. "Don't you think you're being just a bit hypocritical?"

"Excuse me?" She asked, going on the defensive again.

"Sawyer!"

"What about him?"

"Well, here's how I see it Kate- you hug me, and then you go make out with Sawyer. You kiss me, and then you go out of your way to avoid me while spending every moment with him. You like to have your fun with me, but it always comes back to Sawyer, as far as you're concerned."

"You actually think that?" Kate asked quietly.

"What else am I supposed to think?" He responded, suddenly sounding very tired.

"Well, it'd be better if what you thought was the truth."

"Which is?"

"That Sawyer is my friend. That I thought he needed me to spend that much time with him. That when you and I kissed it was the best moment of my life, and I only ran because I thought I was the last thing you wanted or needed. But, most of all, that I might have fun with Sawyer, or spend time with him, but for me, it always comes back to you."

Jack grinned, and looked slightly bashful about everything he said to her. He started to talk, but Kate cut him off.

"You don't have to apologize, as long as you know that I'm sorry too."

"I do."

"Good."

She closed the distance between them, and Jack immediately brought his lips down to hers. It was a soft, sweet kiss, but it made Kate's heart pound in her chest as she moved in as close to him as possible.

They were so wrapped up in each other, neither of them noticed Ana Lucia walk through the trees and see them. She rolled her eyes, sighing, and walked away, knowing that they had completely forgotten about her.

"Damn," She muttered. "The good ones are always taken."