"Workin' hard, Doc."
Jack tried not to cringe when he heard the all too familiar southern drawl. He looked up to see Sawyer smirking at him. He then found himself looking behind Sawyer.
"Where's Kate?" he asked. "Isn't she usually obediently following behind you?" Jack found himself wondering why that came out so bitter.
"Took off yesterday, haven't seen her since," Sawyer replied.
"She ran off?" Jack asked. "What did you do to her?"
"Didn't do nothin'," Sawyer replied. "You know Freckles, she ain't happy 'less she's runnin'." He glanced around the room. "She here?" Jack shook his head. "So where's your little girlfriend?" Sawyer asked. "Isn't he usually obediently hoppin' behind you."
"Talking to Shannon," Jack replied.
"There's something about the way those two are with each other, gives me the creeps," Sawyer said. "You know what I mean?"
Jack sighed. "Did you want something, Sawyer?"
"Came for my pills," Sawyer replied.
"You're not due for another hour, I was gonna walk down," Jack told him.
"Well maybe I fancied the walk myself," Sawyer said.
"I haven't seen her since yesterday," Jack reported.
"I ain't lookin' for Kate," Sawyer replied, getting irritated.
"Kate?"
Sawyer fixed him with a glare. "Freckles," he corrected, but Jack could tell his heart wasn't in it. Sawyer shook his head and sat next to Jack on the couch. "You know the Latino heroine wannabe, right?"
"I don't think she wants to be a heroine," Jack replied.
"You know her, right?" Sawyer pressed, an edge to his voice that was actually amusing Jack.
"Not really," Jack replied. "I met her in the airport, once, briefly. Since we got here I've barely seen her. I've been stuck in here and she daren't come near the place."
"Figures," Sawyer muttered. "You want her to come by?"
"I don't really care either way to be honest," Jack replied. "I don't mind her company but it's not like I'm gonna go out in the jungle looking for her." He looked at Sawyer. "Why do you ask?"
"Just askin'," Sawyer replied, looking away.
"Yeah, why?" Jack prompted. "I reckon you know her better than I do, you're the one that went trekking through the jungle with her."
"Yeah, but in case you're forgettin' I had a slight case of sepsis then," Sawyer pointed out.
"That you did," Jack agreed.
"And the girl ain't exactly a good hostess," Sawyer continued.
"So why are we talking about her?" Jack asked.
"I've stopped," Sawyer insisted.
Jack looked at him. "You got a little love triangle going on with you, Freckles and Latino heroine wannabe?"
Sawyer turned to glare at him. "Ain't nothin' going on," he insisted. "And why don't you mind your own business?"
Jack shrugged. "You brought it up."
Sawyer looked away again and Jack couldn't help but smirk at his predicament. Partly because he could easily see it being him in that predicament. Kate and Ana-Lucia had both shown interest in him. He considered rubbing that in Sawyer's face, telling him he was just second choice for both of them, but it was stupid and immature and he didn't have the energy.
"You gonna give me those pills?" Sawyer asked.
Jack turned to face him. "I told you, you're not due. You're using them properly, I'm not having you wasting our only medicine."
"Yeah, fine, whatever," Sawyer muttered, throwing up a hand. "You want an excuse to stay in my sweet company, you just keep it up. Just know that I don't swing that way though."
"Don't you?" Jack asked before he could stop himself.
Sawyer turned to look at him sharply. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"I dunno, nothing," Jack dismissed, shaking his head.
"Ain't nothing, tell me what you meant," Sawyer insisted.
Jack sighed. "I'm not saying you're gay," he explained. "I just get the impression that you take it where you can get it."
"Well I don't take it there," Sawyer maintained.
"Fine," Jack said. "I didn't mean anything by it, just a passing observation."
"Ain't no observation, observations are based on fact," Sawyer said.
"Didn't mean to hit a nerve, Sawyer," Jack said, finding himself getting amused again. "You know what they say about people protesting too much."
Sawyer clearly caught the smirk in Jack's voice and leaned back on the sofa, shaking his head a little. "Ain't never done that," he said, voice quieter and calmer now.
Jack nodded, finding himself slouching back too. "I ain't never done that either."
Sawyer turned to face him with a curious look. "You ain't?"
Jack shook his head, wondering exactly why he was having this conversation with Sawyer. "I ain't."
"And therein lies the problem?" Sawyer asked.
"There's no problem," Jack dismissed.
"Except that you like the boy but you don't like the sex," Sawyer guessed far too accurately for Jack's liking.
Jack sighed. "Sex is... It's never been on the top of my priorities list. There's always been something more important."
"Well that ain't the way to keep pretty boy sweet, now, is it?" Sawyer drawled but Jack couldn't help but notice the edge was missing from his voice, and that actually made him more uncomfortable if such a thing were possible. He was talking about sex with Sawyer, how much more uncomfortable could it get? And yet he kept on talking.
"It's not him it's just..."
"That you're a stuck-up prude?" Sawyer ventured. Jack gave him a look. "Just relax, sex is sex, you get in the moment and it happens. If you like them all the better."
That was actually some pretty good advice. Rather simplified advice but fairly accurate none the less. Your body knew what to do, knew what it wanted, you just had to free your mind up enough to go with it. Sex genuinely wasn't something that Jack spent all that much time thinking about, his libido just wasn't as active as the rest of him, never had been. But he couldn't deny that he did want Boone, he just had to get a couple of things straight in his head first.
"So can I get my pills now so I can get the hell outta this soap opera you're runnin' down here?" Sawyer asked.
Jack sighed. "Sure," he said, getting to his feet. He went over to his medical supplies, took out the pills and went back over to Sawyer, grabbing a bottle of water along the way. He handed them to Sawyer who swallowed them and stood up.
"Now if you'll excuse me, Doc, I'm gonna get back to my tent," he announced.
"Who are you hoping to find when you get there?" Jack asked.
Sawyer shrugged. "Whichever one of them's got less inhibitions."
Jack smiled and nodded. "Of course."
"Later," Sawyer called with a wave of his hand as he retreated down the hall.
Jack shook his head a little and headed to the lab where he left Boone and Shannon but when he got there he found Shannon on her own.
"Where's Boone?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm fine by the way, thanks for asking," Shannon responded sarcastically. Jack gave her a look. "Bathroom," she provided.
Jack nodded and wandered over, sitting in the seat beside her. "You guys been talking about yesterday?"
"I thought Locke already told you about that," Shannon said.
"I don't trust Locke," Jack stated.
"And you trust me?" she asked, looking amused.
Jack sat back in the chair and found his gaze automatically going to the timer.
"Don't break his heart," Shannon said suddenly.
Jack looked at her. "Locke?"
Shannon gave him a disbelieving look. "Are you kidding? I'm talking about Boone you tool."
"Oh," Jack said, shaking his head. He really needed to start getting more sleep. "I'm not gonna break his heart."
"He's a mess when he gets his heart broken," Shannon stated. "Not so that you'd notice all that much, he hides it well, he hides everything well. But he gets broken on the inside. Don't do that to him."
"Shannon, I'm not going to," he told her.
Shannon looked at him for a beat. "Okay," she said finally.
"Okay?"
"I just get the impression that you don't want this as much as he does," Shannon said. "And I don't mean that as an insult to you. I just don't think you're a relationship kind of guy. You can take it or leave it. He can't."
Jack nodded. "I know."
"And you have to tell him about your wife cos it's driving him insane," she added.
That was true, he really did have to be honest about his relationship with Sarah, he had to tell Boone everything. He had to tell him about the baby. He'd never told anyone that story before, he didn't know how it would go. But he told Boone about his tattoos and that went okay so he guessed he could give it a shot.
"And don't think that just cos I'm a girl I can't punch you," Shannon said. "Or, y'know, I'll just get Sayid to do it."
Jack smiled at her. "I'll watch my back."
Shannon shook her head. "Watch Boone," she instructed.
Jack looked at her. "I do."
Boone came back into the room and Shannon stood up. "Well, I'll leave you guys to it," she said. She turned to Jack. "Just remember, Sayid was in the army, military training."
Jack gave her a look. "I'll bear that in mind."