A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed! Your input means a lot. Hope you all like this chapter.

Jack sighed as Eko turned around for possibly the hundredth time since they had entered the part of the jungle that Locke and the rest of the dismantled search party. The clearing they happened to be in was full of twigs and branches that had fallen from nearby trees, which reminded Jack of a forest more than a jungle.

He had noticed that they had slowed their pace, and that Eko was looking around him, taking in his surroundings much more than he had been, almost as if he was searching for a mysterious being known only to him. It had crossed his mind to ask why, as he would have in normal circumstances. But this time was different, and they both sensed it.

He could feel his heart pounding away madly in his rib cage, a drumstick beating upon it with never ending force. Beads of sweat stuck to his forehead, bringing unwanted stains to his shirt as the beads crept further down his body. He suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable, and the fact that he only had one gun on his person was making itself extremely clear at that particular moment. His hand had crept down to the lining of his jeans absent-mindedly, the feeling of the metal bringing a cool sense of relief through him.

"We should've brought more than this," Jack decided to finally point out, though what good the knowledge would do there he did not know.

Eko didn't reply, though Jack thought he saw a slight nod coming from the already alert man. He didn't like this feeling of exposure and vulnerability, and all of a sudden he wished that he was back at the hatch, plotting with Sayid how to get Kate back, using the proper amount of caution. Going out with Eko now felt foolish and unplanned, although he couldn't think of any other person he felt safer with in this part of the jungle.

Jack couldn't understand how they could keep going deeper and deeper and not run into anyone. Half of him almost predicted finding Kate's body somewhere out there, and the people who had taken her were waiting for them to find her so that they could kill them too. The scary part of that was that the scenario seemed almost likely. Jack almost welcomed the thought of them lurking somewhere hidden, waiting to take them and kill them. At least then he wouldn't have to keep looking, holding onto a hope that grew darker and darker with every day that passed. If they indeed kill Kate, then maybe they would be reunited in a better place, a place where they didn't need to keep looking over their shoulders.

He could almost hear her then, her voice rising above all the fear and mixed feelings in his head. "When did you become so pessimistic all of a sudden? Have a little faith in me, would you?" He almost laughed, knowing that those would be the exact words she would use.

He had placed plenty of faith in her, probably more than anyone else had placed in him. After all, he hadn't known Kate when he had asked her to sew him back up. He didn't know her name, her age, her dark past, nothing. And yet, he had still asked her to sew him back up, his life practically in her hands.

So why the hell did he think that, when she managed to get herself kidnapped, she could no longer take care of herself? She had proven herself in difficult situations; he had seen that for himself only a few weeks ago. Why was it that he kept considering her to be completely different after one little kiss?

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Jack challenged, more harshly than he had intended.

Kate turned around, visibly shaking in her rage, something that Jack hadn't seen from her and it scared him. "Yeah, I'm sorry! Sorry that I'm not as perfect as you! Sorry I'm not as good!" she had snapped at him.

She made to turn around and walk away again, but Jack reached out for her wrist, something that Kate did not want him to do. "Let go of me!" she had cried out, but Jack wouldn't. She tried to pull away from him, breaking down right in front of him.

"I can't! I can't!" she kept crying out, and all Jack could think to do was hold her and tell her that everything was okay, that everything would be fine. She had looked so defeated, so haunted. When he had looked into her eyes, searching for an answer, he had found pain. So much pain that it scared him. Yet, at the same time, he had found a cry for help. Help that he somehow knew that she wasn't sure was coming.

He hadn't expected the brush of her soft lips against his, hadn't expected the feelings that had passed from her to him, and definitely didn't expect to find him returning it, to the point where Kate broke away and had run again.

Jack was so absorbed in the memory that he hadn't seen Eko stop, his hands up, looking at the group of all too familiar faces standing in front of them.

Kate didn't know what to do. True, there wasn't much, but she felt that if she wanted to, she could tear the metal door off its hinges. Somehow she needed to get to Jack, warn him of what was going to happen.

If he was dead, she would never forgive herself because it would be all her fault. If she hadn't been so self absorbed, then they would still be at the beach, conferring with each other over the usual small talk. She had loved those moments with Jack, most of them at least.

She could hear the opening of a door somewhere beyond where she was currently being held, and at least three sets of footsteps could be heard traipsing through the facility in which she was being held. All she could do was listen anxiously, hoping that she didn't hear what she was dreading.

"What of them?" the man known as Tom demanded.

"We…convinced them that they were heading into forbidden territory. They won't be back," said a much younger sounding man, probably no older than eighteen.

"Are there people stationed at the entrances? They might come back in the middle of the night," Tom stated obviously, sounding as though only he could possibly have foreseen this.

"Of course, sir. But they know not to come back. They have been informed of what will happen if they do," the man said, sounding quite proud of himself.

Kate's insides churned at these words. She could only imagine what these people could have done to convince them not to look in the right direction. They had threatened to kill her; it was clear by the man's tone of voice. She only hoped that Jack knew better than to take them at their word. All those years on the run hadn't impacted her critical thinking.

These people needed her for something. She wasn't sure of what yet, but she knew that it had to be important, otherwise they would have just killed her, or let herself be killed by all the unknown elements that awaited them all in the mysterious jungle.

"Well, we can't underestimate the doctor's intelligence. We need to move faster. Get her to The Room." Tom's voice held an air of finality, and even Kate would've followed his orders if he had addressed them to her. Her mind was still reeling from all that she had overheard, so much that she didn't notice the door opening, the two pairs of arms that grabbed her own, taking her from her cell into what promised to be a much darker and depressing place.

"Hello again, Jack." The voice sent a chill down Jack's spine as he glared into the eyes of the man that was always at the bearded guy's side. The man was young with dark brown hair, and a smirk of knowing something than he or Eko did not.

"Let us by," Jack demanded coldly, not at all in the mood to deal with these people.

The man looked like he was thinking in the opposite direction. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You see, as you might remember, a couple of nights we informed you of the boundary, and the consequences that come with the violation of the boundary. This is amongst that land." The dark-haired youth sounded like he enjoyed telling this to Jack almost as much as Jack hated hearing it.

"Where is she? If you harm her, I swear to God…"

"You'll what? Beat us to death with your sticks?" the man laughed. "We have all your weapons. You can't do anything to us that we haven't already prepared for. The girl is fine, for now, as long as you obey these rules. If you ever think about coming here again, we'll kill her, nice and slowly, and we'll tell her why. She'll die knowing that you were the one that did it," he explained.

Jack turned to Eko, trying to figure out what he was thinking, what was going on inside of his mind, but found that his poker face was one of the best that he had ever seen.

"Remember what I said. And tell your friends. If we see just one, we'll kill her. And we'll know whether you do or not."

And with that, the man and those that he was with turned their backs on him, seemingly unafraid of what Jack and Eko might do to them. Jack was about to take a step, preparing to pounce on him and demand that they take him to Kate, but Eko stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"No. We must listen."

"What? We have to find her…" Jack started incredulously, feeling for a second time that he was the only person who truly wanted Kate to be found.

"There are other ways of finding something, and right now we need to do as he says. Anything we can do at this point will seal her fate. This needs to be handled quietly," Eko assured him. Somehow, these words made Jack feel better, calmer than he had a few hours ago. Eko had to have a plan.

"Right now we need to go back to the others. From there we will decide what to do," he continued, then turned around, with Jack at his heels.

The hands threw Kate into a much smaller and darker space. She had only stumbled two spaces before her body made contact with a brick wall. She slid to the floor hardly, and she hit her head on the floor. Without another word, the door was shut and locked behind her, once again making her a prisoner, only this time she was a prisoner without anything.

Rubbing the back of her head, she stood up, feeling with her other hand just how much space this room contained. There wasn't much. Going from the front of the room to the back only took four steps, and going from side to side was five. It was tall enough that Kate could stand to full height, but the top of her head brushed slightly with the ceiling, which was all brick.

If she had anything other than her bare hands, she knew she could've managed to dig her way out. That was what angered her the most; the fact that she could actually get herself out, but couldn't.

She could feel the tears fighting to get out, but wanted to push them away. She couldn't let them see her weak and defenseless. It would only make things easier for them, and harder for her.

This was exactly what she had been afraid of. Being locked somewhere, confined so that she couldn't run when she needed to. Because it all came back to the same conclusion; Kate needed to run. Needed to keep moving because then she couldn't become attached or vulnerable. It brought out the worst in her. Even growing up she had had the worst case of claustrophobia than anyone else around. Wayne had found that out, and had used it against her to get his way on more than one occasion.

She sat down, giving in to the inevitable, when she felt something brush against her leg. Feeling around, her heart skipped a beat when she found exactly what she had been looking for.

The handle of a gun.

A/N: I know I said that wrong, but I don't know what the handle of the gun is called. Other than that, I thought it was pretty good. Yay for another cliffhanger! Please let me know what you think!