Kate leaned into Sawyer's embrace as they sat silent alone by a fire. He had his arms around her, resting on her stomach. They hadn't spoken of what had happened. Kate looked into the flames, letting her mind be engulfed by the smoke.

"Sawyer…" Kate finally spoke.

"Yeah?" Sawyer rested his chin on the top of her head. His grip on her tightened protectively and for moral support. Kate took a staggering breath and closed her eyes.

"I lost it. The baby. I..." Sawyer sighed. "And he left…"

"Left?" Kate looked up, her face bitter.

"Said he needed some air. He was going for a walk…" Kate gripped his wrist. "After a while I decided to go find him. To tell him…" Kate paused. "To tell him it wasn't working. To tell him it had to end." Sawyer pulled her even closer to himself. "And I saw… he… and that…"

"Kate?"

"He was with her Sawyer. With Ana Lucia." Kate fought to keep control. She wasn't going to loose it again. She wasn't going to cry over him. Sawyer growled and pulled her head towards him, like if she looked at the fire any longer, it would somehow hurt her worse. "And after everything… and I stopped seeing you for him." Kate bit her lip. "I did everything he asked. All so I could avoid getting hurt…"

"By me." Kate looked up at Sawyer. She could see the pain in his eyes. "You did anything he wanted so I wouldn't be able to hurt you. You thought I'd…"

"Sawyer… I loved you. No, I Love you." She corrected herself. "But he… I guess I just figured that getting disappointed by someone you didn't love would be a lot less painful..." Sawyer sighed, breathing on her forehead.

"I won't hurt you Kate. I would never do that."

"I… I know…" Kate surprised herself. She did know that. Then why had she gone with Jack?

"But I don't want to be the rebound guy." Kate looked into Sawyer's eyes again.

"Sawyer… it's you. It's always been you." Sawyer nodded.

"I love you." The words came from deep inside of him. His voice was soft and caring. He meant it, and he felt the need to prove that to her more then anything right then.

"I love you too Sawyer." She tilted her head up as he leaned down to her. Their lips met and he worked his mouth against hers softly. Placing a hand on the back of her head, he deepened the kiss. Kate moaned into his mouth, all the problems of the day forgotten with the moments intensity.

Sawyer had never felt this way before. The passion in their kiss was the most intense he'd ever felt. This was all he wanted. She was all he wanted.

When they broke apart, he placed his chin on her forehead. They were both breathing deep and stunned.

"Kate?" The moment shattered, the two looked up to see a stunned Jack. "Oh real nice Sawyer. Taking advantage of the current situation!"

"What situation Doc? She was looking for you to end it." Sawyer paused. "But it seems to me it's been over a long time." Sawyer stood up, anger clear on his face. "What the hell were you thinking? You had her damn it! Why would you want anyone else? You had Kate!"

"Because I didn't have her!" Kate froze, looking at Jack in shock.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sawyer growled, clenching his fists. He wasn't sure if he could hold back any longer.

"You had her Sawyer. You've always had her. She never loved me, I knew that. Why else wouldn't I trust her to be with you?" Jack shook his head. "But you couldn't fix her Sawyer. You can't help anyone but yourself."

"Fix me?" Kate stood up now. Both men looked towards her. "You can't fix me. I'm not broken Jack!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "I wasn't... if there was one thing about you... it's I knew... I thought you'd never hurt me. But you did. Now the part of me that you broke... Sawyer can fix that. Sawyer can make me whole again." Kate paused. "You could never fix me Jack."

"Kate..." Jack stepped forward. Sawyer was standing right in front of him in a second.

"Don't even think about going anywhere near her." Jack ignored Sawyer.

"Kate..." Sawyer grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him sideways. He brought his fist to the side of Sawyer's face and swung. Jack fell to the ground, blood rushing to the cut. Sawyer growled and kicked Jack in the stomach.

"Sawyer..." Kate ran up and grabbed his arm. "He gets it." Sawyer was torn. Jack deserved to die for what he did, but the look on Kate's face was pain. She needed him to take her away from here right now. She needed to be as far away from Jack as she could get.

Sawyer sighed, then kicked Jack extra hard once more.

"Alright Freckles. For you... this time." He put his arm around her and led her away.

"Thank you." Sawyer looked down at her.

"He comes near you and he's dead." Sawyer saw the smile that brought to Kate's face. He knew it wasn't about Jack, it was about him this time. "I'm gonna protect you Freckles. No one's gonna do anything to you again... less they got a death wish."