Okay, so Jack had a general idea. A very vague idea. And he was sure Boone would help him out if he just asked but, well, he didn't really want to ask. Which he knew was ridiculously stupid and proud of him but asking for help would undoubtedly ruin the mood somewhat. He was sure he could work it out.
But first he needed a couple of things. Primarily, a location. He wasn't having sex in the hatch, he'd made his mind up about that. He knew that he'd done everything else in the hatch but he'd always been slightly on edge about it. You could always hear people walking around or talking or that stupid goddamn alarm beeping and Jack really didn't want any distractions. So he'd made his mind up to go back to the caves. Which in some respects actually seemed like a stupid idea because in a lot of ways they were less private, there was no door on a cave for one thing. But at least at night people went to sleep and the area was relatively clear and quiet. There were no button pushers on duty all through the night and if Charlie started that record player up at 2 am one more time Jack might actually have to kill him.
So the caves was probably the best plan of action, no one would bother him there. But he still needed certain things to make the experience more comfortable. The first thing was some sheets, the ground in the cave wasn't exactly the cleanest place around. A bit of padding wouldn't hurt either. He headed over to the closet and took out some linen, putting it into his pack.
"You going somewhere?"
Jack turned around to see Hurley looking at him.
"Heading back to the caves," Jack explained, moving over to his medical supplies. From the little knowledge he had on gay sex he knew that some kind of lubricant was fairly important and he figured he must have something he could use as a substitute in his medical kit.
"So you're moving back there?" Hurley asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Jack replied, still rifling through his things.
"Oh, that's cool," Hurley said. "I actually got a shelter set up at the beach now. Yeah, a lot of people have. I think most people have moved back there now."
Jack looked up at him. "Really?"
"Yeah," Hurley replied. "Guess the whole doctor deal was the big draw for most of them. Now that you're here they figure they may as well stick together. Setting up a little community there, you could say."
Jack nodded. That sounded quite nice. But it also meant they definitely wouldn't be getting disturbed at the caves. "Hey, in that case, don't mention that I'm going back to the caves, okay?"
Hurley looked slightly puzzled. "Erm, okay."
Jack gave him a nod and carried on riffling through his things.
"Hey, you looking for something in there?" Hurley asked.
Jack carried on looking but there really wasn't anything that was gonna help his cause. He sighed and stood up.
"Hey, dude, you okay? You're looking a little stressed," Hurley observed.
"I'm fine, Hurley," Jack said. He put a bottle of water into his pack and closed it up, putting it on.
"So, you're going now?" Hurley asked, following him as he went out to the hall.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I just figured you'd be taking Boone with you is all," Hurley replied.
"I'm gonna come back for him a little later," Jack explained. He spun around to face Hurley. "Hey, if he wakes up can you tell him that? That I'm coming back?"
"Sure, dude," Hurley replied.
"Okay, thanks," Jack replied, turning to leave again. He stopped and spun back round. "And tell him that I love him."
Hurley looked a little uncomfortable. "Erm, okay."
"No, wait, don't tell him that, that's gonna sound weird," Jack said.
"All right," Hurley said, still giving him a strange look.
"No, tell him," Jack said. He turned to go again but then turned back.
"Just go, dude," Hurley instructed.
"Right," Jack said, nodding his head. "I shouldn't be long."
Jack knew exactly where his first stop was going to be. If he didn't have anything useful in his supplies then there was only one other person worth trying. Sawyer. Jack really wasn't looking forward to that conversation. He might have talked to Sawyer the other day but somehow talking about having sex with Sawyer was worse than talking about not having it. And asking for help with said sex, well, that was just something Jack wasn't willing to do.
When he got to the beach Sawyer was laid on the sand with Kate a little away from his shelter, both of them looking out at the ocean. Jack guessed the two of them had patched up whatever lover's tiff they'd had that had made Kate resume following Jack around for a while. But while Sawyer was busy with Kate then maybe Jack could just help himself to some supplies.
He kept an eye on Sawyer as he went into the tent and then went straight to the suitcases, opening the first one up. He started looking through it's contents when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey!" Sawyer rushed in, Kate closely on his heels like she was always closely on someone's heels. "What do you think you're doin', Doc?"
"I came to change your bandages," Jack replied, continuing his search through the suitcase.
"Well they ain't in there," Sawyer said.
"I'm looking for something," Jack said.
"And what might that be?" Sawyer asked.
"Medical supplies," Jack told him. "Wanted to make sure you're not holding out on me."
"You're suddenly doin' this now?" Sawyer asked him. "Why didn't you do it when I was on the damn raft?"
"Just shut up, Sawyer," Jack replied.
"Jack, I don't think there's anything in there," Kate offered. "Sawyer gave us all the alcohol, I don't see why he'd be holding out on anything else."
"He gave you the alcohol when you asked, did you ask for medical supplies?" Jack asked.
"Well..."
"Well, no," Jack replied, continuing his search.
"Now looky here, Doc," Sawyer began.
"You two kiss and make up?" Jack asked, turning to face them.
"What are you talking about?" Kate asked, looking a little uncomfortable.
"You know, after he slept with Ana-Lucia," Jack said.
"Oh come on, now you're just makin' shit up," Sawyer complained. Kate looked at him warily. "Freckles, you know that ain't true."
"You're disgusting," Kate spat at him before turning around and leaving.
"Freckles," Sawyer called after her but she was gone. Sawyer sat down heavily by Jack and glared at him, but Jack noted that he really didn't look as upset as he'd expect. "Now why'd you have to go and do that for?" he asked. "You know that ain't true."
"I don't," Jack countered. "You could be doing anything with anyone for all I know."
"I ain't doin' nothin' with no one," Sawyer replied. "And I ain't gonna the way you're out to ruin my chances. It's not like you want her for yourself anymore."
Jack shrugged and opened the second suitcase, starting a search through it.
"What are you really lookin' for, Doc?" Sawyer asked, watching him.
"Medical supplies," Jack replied.
"No you ain't," Sawyer insisted. "You were lookin' for somethin' so important you would have done it while I was gone. You're lookin' for somethin' else."
"I'm looking for medical supplies, Sawyer," Jack repeated.
A smile came over Sawyer's face. "You're lookin' for lube."
Jack gave him a look. "No I'm not."
"Yeah you are," Sawyer taunted.
Jack shook his head and went back to looking through the suitcase.
"Aloe," Sawyer said.
Jack looked at him. "What?"
"Aloe," Sawyer repeated. "That plant with the stupid slimy stuff in the leaves."
Of course, why didn't Jack think of that? Natural, plenty of it, seemed as good a plan as any. But if he left now he'd be admitting to Sawyer that not only was he right but also that he'd helped him out. So Jack turned back to the suitcase and continued half-heartedly looking through it. Sawyer smiled even wider at that so Jack didn't know why he didn't just admit it and get out of the damn tent.
"You gonna change my bandage when you've finished pretending to look for somethin'?" Sawyer asked.
Jack turned to glare at him, finally deciding to give in. "I didn't bring any bandages," he said.
Sawyer chuckled a little at that. "So you just came to find a sex aid and you weren't gonna give me nothin' in return?" he asked.
"If you choose which girl you want I'll put in a good word for you," Jack offered.
"Thanks, Doc, but I don't need a matchmaker," Sawyer replied, leaning back.
Jack nodded. "Come by the hatch later, I'll change that bandage for you."
"Alrighty then," Sawyer replied. Jack got to his feet and went to leave. "Hey, Doc," Sawyer called. Jack turned back to face him. Sawyer picked up a book from next to his makeshift bed and held it up to Jack. "You can give this back to the kid," he said. "I'm done readin' it now."
Jack smiled at him. "Thanks."
"I'm done with it," Sawyer shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah," Jack replied, giving him a look. He put the book in his pack and carried along his way.
He figured the best place to find aloe would be Sun's garden. He just hoped that someone was still tending to it. When he got there he found Claire working on it.
"Hey," he offered.
Claire looked up and gave him a smile. "Oh, hi, Jack," she said.
"This place looks good," Jack said.
"Well, yeah, a few of us have been working on it," Claire replied. "We figured we should keep it going, you know." Jack nodded. "Jin spends a lot of time here."
"So, do you have any aloe here?" Jack asked.
"Aloe?" Claire asked. "Erm, no, I think Sun kept that up by the caves. She kept it separate cos that was for medical use not eating."
"Right," Jack said.
"You got a rash or something?" Claire asked.
"No, I'm fine," Jack replied. "It's nothing, just wondering."
"Oh, okay," Claire replied, turning back to what she was doing. "Well I don't know if she had some she was growing up there or if she just knew of some nearby but I'd say that was your best bet."
"Okay, thanks Claire," Jack replied. "Keep up the good work, I'll see you later."
Jack found that Sun had been growing some aloe in the area of the caves that she and Jin had shared, along with a few other herbal remedies like the eucalyptus for Shannon's asthma. The area was pretty clear now, though, so Jack guessed that Jin had moved to the beach. In fact Hurley was right, Jack noted, there weren't all that many people in the caves at all. It seemed the community had shifted elsewhere. Which seemed foolish to Jack considering the water was right here but he decided he wouldn't bring it up until tomorrow, he wanted some peace tonight.
He went to his old cave and found it just how he'd left it. Since taking Boone to the hatch he'd only come back once to round up his medical supplies and make sure everything was in one place. He set up some kind of makeshift bed with the linen he had and found a home for his aloe plant, praising Sun for being so organised as to start potting plants. He also managed to construct a makeshift door flap out of some tarp that was lying around the area.
Jack sat back and surveyed the area. Pretty homey considering the situation. Now all that was missing was Boone.