"And I wonder—is he different?
Is he different?
Has he changed what he's about?
...Or is he just a liar with nothing to lie about?"
Ani Difranco

Chapter Sixteen

"Is she here?" Sawyer asks, out of breath, as he comes upon Michael and Walt by the fire. He looks somewhat worried, but when Michael stands, spreading his hands in a classic 'I don't know' gesture, that worry etches deeper into his features. "Where's Heather?"

"I don't-" Michael starts, but Sawyer brushes past him, kneels down in front of Walt.

"Where is she?"

"She left. Which straight into the jungle," Walt says, and points to where Heather disappeared. Sawyer moves to stand and follow, but the boy stops him, grabs his arm. "Don't follow her."

"You think you're going to tell me what to do, kid?" Sawyer's height is intimidating, menacing—and Michael steps forward. Walt however, is stern, unmoved.

"She doesn't want anyone to follow her. She'll come back. She'll be okay." Walt stares straight back into Sawyer's intense glare, as if the say, 'Trust me, if I thought she was in danger, I'd be gone by now'. Sawyer, stubborn as ever, shrugs the boy's hand off, keeps walking. Walt, haughty, follows for a moment: "She has do to this herself! Haven't YOU ever had to do something alone!"

This, however, stops the grown man, who turns and gives Walt a long, scrutinizing glare. That's twice that the boy had used the 'if it were you' card on him, and Sawyer's frustrated that it's such an effective sort of logic.

"She'll be all right then?" He says, after a long moment, voice a thick growl. Walt nods, mimicking the same angry expression. You wouldn't be able to find her in the dark anyway, not where she's going, Walt wants to say, but has a feeling that this would incite Sawyer, drive him into doing it, if only to prove him wrong. And right now, he has an obligation as Heather's friend to keep Sawyer still and safe. "You're sure? You know?" Walt nods again. "She better be." With this the grown man stalks off, back in the direction he came, obviously unwilling to be around the others in the moments of such high tension.

"Is that true? That she'll be okay?" Michael asks his son, after Sawyer is gone.

"Yes." I hope, Walt thinks, closing he eyes—he can barely feel her out there, and he knows that's she's keeping him out. Stay safe.

The next day, a crowd forms around Claire and her baby. Sawyer is there, because as much of a bad boy as he is, seeing a woman have a baby out in the middle of nowhere is something that gives them hope, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. Somewhere in here, Heather comes out of the jungle, walks right up beside him before he notices her.

"This place is making me nuts," She says, and her voice is hoarse, as if she's been screaming all night. Sawyer jumps at the proximity of her voice, and in the blink of an eye his grin transforms into a scowl.

"What the hell was up with you disappearing last night?"

"Bother you?" Heather responds, obviously tending towards a playful (though exhausted) tone.

"Yes." This time it is her turn to look shocked. Sawyer tilts his head, seems all the more irritated by the surprised look on her face. "Yes, it bothered me. Okay? I don't need to know where you are all the time, but damn it, don't just go running off into the jungle without a word." Heather, still somehow unable to get past the first 'Yes' (which is a large admission for Sawyer, regardless of how good of terms they are on), watches him almost blankly. The man resents this, rolls his eyes, turns to go—but she catches him, slipping her hand into his larger one, and each is heavily calloused. She pulls him back to her, circling her other arm around his midsection.

"Yeah. Okay." Then, because she is even more so shocked that she feels bad about it, adds, "I'm sorry." Sawyer tightens his grip of her hand, and then leans over and kisses the crown of her forehead, in a brief but emotional moment.

"It's all right."