Author's Note: So a little smut here (very, very tame). May not really fit the storyline but come on, if you were alone with Sawyer, wouldn't you jump him? Don't lie, I know you would.

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, even if I did, I'd be fired for trying to jump Josh Halloway.

Sawyer and Kate's eyes locked, surprise and terror filling them both. The man looking down at them didn't inspire any trust either. His face seemed to be covered by his beard, which was starting to grey. He had little beady eyes that he could barely manage to keep open.

"Best we get you two out of that water," he smiled jovially at them.

"Who the hell are you?" Sawyer sneered at the man.

The man ignored his question, giving his hand down to Kate, offering her hand up. Kate gave Sawyer a questioning look, not sure what to do.

"Listen, you can either come up here or you can freeze to death in that water. Doesn't seem to me like you have much of a choice."

Kate tentatively grabbed a hold of the man's hand and let him pull her up out of the room, never letting her eyes off the man. Next he pulled up Sawyer, with only some difficulty because of the arm.

"There you go, much better," he smiled at them warmly. He reminded Kate of some deranged Santa Claus, only this guy was much dirtier and had no shoes.

Sawyer immediately took the chance to punch the man but Santa was too fast and ducked, sending Sawyer to the floor. Kate immediately moved towards him but felt arms grab hers, holding her back.

"What do you want from us?" She screamed, struggling with the new captors.

Santa smiled at her again, "Why don't you follow me, you can have a shower, get warmed up, get some sleep. Sounds good to me, how about you?"

Kate glared at him, Sawyer tried to dive towards him again but two men grabbed him. They were shoved down the hallway, Santa leading. The hallway was made out of concrete, similar to the hatch but this smelled like it was rotting away. The walls and floor were damp with condensation and the string of lights leading down the hallway kept flickering off. Finally they came to a door, Santa stopped and smiled back at them.

"We'll let you two get comfortable and we'll see you in, how about, twenty-four hours. Give you plenty of time." This time his smile had a darker side.

They were shoved into the room, the door closing with a thud. Kate stayed quiet, silently searching the room, while Sawyer beat the door with obscenities. They were in a bedroom, it was almost as if they were in a hotel, minus the concrete walls and floor. There was a big bed in the centre, soft lighting and a white bathroom to the right. It was almost comfortable.

"Son of a bitch!"

Kate had to smile at that, he really didn't change. "Sawyer, calm down." He looked at her as if she was alien. "We have to take this one thing at a time," she said, a slow calm entering her thoughts. "First off, we need to warm up."

This Sawyer smirked at, "Well, I can think of few ways to do that…"

Kate rolled her eyes, pointing to the bathroom. They both walked in, Kate turning on the water for the shower. Sawyer, already shirtless, started to undue his belt.

"What are you doing?" Kate asked, partly shocked, partly not.

Sawyer stopped what he was doing, his face serious but his smile friendly. "Listen Freckles, I don't know how they do it in your end of the woods but we take our clothes off before we get in the shower."

Kate kept her eyes on him, she hadn't forgotten what he'd told her only a few minutes before. In fact, besides their impending doom, that's all she thought of. It was clear to them, without anyone saying anything, that they had been kidnapped by the Others but as to what for, Kate couldn't guess. Just the idea of them though, sent chills down her spine. At that, her calm interior cracked, panic setting in.

Sawyer saw it instantly, though she hid it well. "Hey." He moved closer to her, his good arm up beside her on the wall, so he was right in front of her face. "One thing at a time, right?" Part of him couldn't care less what was going to happen to them, only a few minutes before he'd thought he'd lost her forever. Damn, he was going soft. He was singing, caring about a girl…next thing you know, he'd be off trying to save the whales or something. Despite that, all he wanted to do was take Kate into his arms and kiss her. This though, wasn't the right time for that. Hell, they had twenty-four hours.

"Sawyer…" There was fear in her eyes and he couldn't help but worry that he'd put it there. This was exactly why he'd never said those words before, they made him more vulnerable than ever before. He could tell she wanted to tell him something, something that was important and scary for her but he was afraid to find out what.

"Let's get in the shower first, then you can talk my ear off," he joked, trying to diffuse the situation.

He removed his jeans but left on his boxers and waited for her to get rid of her clothes. She paused for a second, she wasn't wearing a bra, a fact Sawyer had realized a long time ago. So, she left her tank top on but took off her pants and entered the shower without so much of a look at him. She did though, leave the door open for him. Not missing a beat, Sawyer joined her, closing the door behind him.

It wasn't a big shower by any means, so Kate only took a short shift under the water before switching so Sawyer could get under. As soon, as he'd moved under the water though, feeling the instant chill, Kate moved closer, leaving only a few sparse inches between them. Sawyer tentatively moved his hands up to her arms, pulling her under the water more. Kate tried her best to resist any physical impulses but all she wanted to do was jump this man.

She slowly brought her eyes up, to look at him. His eyes were closed, his head bent back into the water, the water cascading down his very tanned chest. She was losing it. They were about to be tortured, probably murdered and all she could think about was how hot Sawyer looked wet.

"Should I be charging admission?"

Kate was about to lower her eyes in embarrassment but realized she really wasn't all that embarrassed. "You could make some good money."

Sawyer slowly took his head out from under the water and looked down at her. She had an enormous smile on her face, although her eyes were filled with mischief. "I could say the same for you." He had to try very hard not to stare at her breasts under the wet tank top. Instead he focused on her face. He moved a piece of her hair behind her ear, just needing to touch her soft skin. He was trying hard to resist his…need but looking at her made it so damn hard. "Switch?"

Kate nodded her head, moving so she was under the water, though she was no longer cold. She wanted to say something about what he'd said but she knew he wouldn't want to talk about it and she wasn't sure she did either. It hadn't been long after Sawyer had gotten back that Kate had realized she was in love with him but with all that surrounded their relationship, she had vehemently denied to herself. All that stuff though, her father, Sawyer's betrayal of her trust, what he'd said to her before he'd left, all seemed to be irrelevant now.

"Sawyer, about before-"

Before she had a chance to say anything, Sawyer grabbed her close and kissed her. He couldn't hear whatever she was going to say. Whether it was that she didn't love him or that she did, if he knew, it would change everything. It was alright for him to love her because the only person that he could disappoint or hurt was himself. If she loved him though, then he couldn't guarantee that he would hurt her in some way.

The kiss was rough, just like the others but Kate knew there was something different about this one. She had been right, he hadn't wanted to talk about it. She wanted to tell him because in this situation, she could love him freely. Outside it would have been different, she would have still loved him but there would have been so many other issues.

Sawyer turned off the water and leaned his forehead against hers. "Don't tell me Kate, it'll only screw everything up. I'll only screw it up."

Kate couldn't help from laughing, "You'll screw it up? I shot my ex-boyfriend." Sawyer looked up, his face not really surprised. "And anyways, we're probably not really going to get a chance to screw it up," her voice was sad.

Sawyer brought his hand up to her face again, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I love you, Kate."

Kate pressed her face into his hand and brought her arms around his neck. "I love you too, Sawyer."

This time when they kissed, there was no haste, it was soft and slow.

"It's James. My name's James."