A/N: Heh. I need to stop setting deadlines for myself. They always backfire.
This update is for Fire, who went so far as to read one of my older Lost one-shots and urge me to update MH in the review. That made me smile so I set down and finished the chapter. Woot. This is also chapter 10, which means I might be halfway done with this fic, unless I choose to prolong it (which is highly possible.) Thanks to everyone who's sticking by it. I hope you're truly enjoying the ride.
In other news, we've got 5 days to go before a Sawyer!Episode! Aren't ya'll psyched?
I'm attempting to go back to Sunday!Updates, but my mother's coming over from NY this weekend, so I'll have to make you guys wait until next week. I will be posting a one-shot in the meantime, though, if anyone's curious to check it out ;) Look for it in a day or three.
And that's all. So, as usual, enjoy!
---
Kate backed up against the wall and chewed on her the inside of her cheek, trying to think of some loophole in the situation. Her eyes inadvertently trailed after the lone beam of light Sawyer was running over the floor and walls, outwardly unfazed by this turn of events. It took Kate two more dings to finally snap out of it and speak.
"We're going to have to find another way out," she stated pitifully, as if that much hadn't been obvious. Sawyer chuckled and waved a hand in the air between them.
"In case you hadn't noticed, we're locked inside a mighty hunk of solid rock. Now unless you're packin' a jackhammer in that bag of yours, it seems we're stuck here for good."
Kate frowned and shook her head, adjusting the weight of the pup in her arms. "So what do you suggest we do?"
He shrugged, not having expected their next course of action to be thrown into his hands.
"Know anything 'bout bombs?" He asked after a moment. Now it was Kate's turn to be taken off-guard.
"No," her voice was slightly defensive, as if she was ashamed to not have this knowledge. "Why?"
Sawyer pulled himself from the wall and started back towards the main room. "Figure our only option is tryin' to disarm the bitch." Kate didn't bother suppressing a laugh.
"You're kidding, right? That's a death sentence for sure." She followed behind, thankful when Sawyer let the matter drop at that. Their footsteps thudded through the empty hall in between dings. "And we're just assuming that thing is a bomb. Maybe it's just another counter thing." She reasoned, desperately trying to believe what she was saying. "Like the one at the hatch."
"Yeah, and ain't that button ya'll push supposed to keep the world from spontaneously combusting?" They walked out of the dark tunnel and into the soft light spilling from the open door ahead. "Either way, we're gonna be findin' out what happens in," Sawyer glanced up at the opposing wall as he reentered the main room, "34 minutes."
Kate paused at the door and leaned against its frame. Her gaze went to the flashing numbers and she fought the fear that was steadily taking hold of her body. She fought her screaming muscles. (Run, run, run...)
Something yipped and she looked down at the animal in her hands. The pup's gold eyes were now staring up at Kate. As the alarm dinged again, the wolf's left ear twitched and he let out a comically high-pitched bark.
"The hell is that?" Sawyer remarked from up ahead. Kate glanced in his direction and sighed when she noticed him flopped on the couch with his feet on a coffee table, as if he was settled down to watch the Super Bowl.
"The alarm woke him," she explained as she entered the room and made her way towards Sawyer. He peered over at the squirming bundle in her arms.
"It sounds broken." Kate rolled her eyes as she sat on the couch. She untangled the pup from her sweater, tossing it aside (if people said dogs smelled bad, they obviously had never sniffed a wolf...), before setting him down on the carpet. He stood still for half a second before tackling a stray book and proceeding to gnaw on its cover.
Kate and Sawyer watched him for a long moment, but another ding brought their eyes up.
31:00
"We can't just sit here and hope nothing happens, Sawyer." She got up and started pacing. His followed her with his eyes.
"I'm open to suggestions, then, Freckles." His gaze wandered past the red numbers and to the box that surrounded them. "I still say we try and shut the damn thing off," he picked up his previous argument. "Anyone who's seen a movie would know how to. Ya just cut the blue wire."
Kate kept walking. Back and forth. Back and forth.
"Or was it the red wire?" Sawyer questioned. He let out an agitated snort. "Hell, we can cut them both."
(The other door...)
"The other door," Kate whispered, her thoughts manifesting themselves.
"What's that?"
Kate turned around, her eyes wide. "There's another door. Remember?" Sawyer started at her blankly. "When we came in here... Before you got attacked... We split up. There was another door!" She felt like jumping up and clapping her hands. (This was it. This was their way out.)
"Thought you said it was locked," Sawyer deflated her excitement a notch. He brought his feet down to the floor and sat forward.
"It was," Kate agreed. "I mean, it is... But maybe it can be opened." (They had to be able to open it.)
"All right then." Sawyer rose, brushing past her. "Let's see what we got."
Kate quickly followed after him. The pup abandoned his book long enough to howl at the next ding.
---
Sawyer's flashlight landed on the door handle and Kate let out a sigh of relief as she noticed the dark hole beneath it. Her hand dove into her pocket and she fished out the key.
"Look at that." Sawyer's voice caused her to look up at the door in full. Large, red letters were printed across its front.
EMERGENCY
"Guess this qualifies, huh?" Sawyer's lopsided grin beamed over the light reflected back at them from the door. Kate allowed herself a smile before stepping up. She slid the key into the lock and her heart beat quickened. She twisted her wrist slowly.
The key refused to move.
"Damn it."
Sawyer mumbled a curse of his own before stepping forward. He nudged Kate out of the way and wrapping his hand around the handle. He gave it a pull. Nothing. He set his other hand against the wall and pulled again. Once more with no result.
Finally, he kicked the door, which only caused him to curse louder.
He took a step back, next to Kate, and sighed. "Well, there goes that idea. Got any more, sweetheart?"
They both stared at the door for a bit. Kate peered down at her hands thoughtfully.
"I broke a nail," she announced quietly, forcing Sawyer to look at her as if she'd grown a second head.
"Don't seem the type," he replied after a prolonged few seconds of awkward silence. She found it impossible not to laugh at that.
"To break a nail?"
"To care." He smirked. "What's next? Gonna go blonde and take up cheerleadin'?" His eyes glittered mischievously, his mood instantly lightened. "Hey, now there's a thought..."
Kate shook her head but continued on seriously. "No, what I meant was..." She didn't finish the sentence, but instead turned and started towards the other room. "I have an idea. Hold on."
Sawyer watched her hurry off, engrossed in trying to visualize her in one of those skimpy cheerleader outfits and completely oblivious to what she'd just said.
---
She was back before he'd really registered the fact she indeed had formulated a new idea. Waving the thin, metal object at him, Kate smiled expectantly.
"How's that supposed to help us?" Sawyer stepped out of the way as Kate went to the door again.
"It's a nail file," she stated, to which Sawyer sighed.
"Well, obviously. Still don't see how it'll get us past a solid steel door." He watched Kate get on her knees.
"Hand me the flashlight?" He lifted an eyebrow as the pieces fell into place.
"You're gonna try and pick the lock?" His voice betrayed his amusement. Kate shot him a glare as she reached forward and snatched the light. "Perhaps you oughta step aside and let me go at it, Freckles. There ain't a lock I can't-..."
Something within the door clicked and Kate stood up. She turned to him, a satisfied expression set, and dropped the flashlight into his hand.
"So, you can't defuse bombs but you can pull a Houdini out of anything, huh?" They shared a knowing smile before Kate turned back to the door.
"Here goes nothing," she let out with a lung-full of air. Her fingers swirled around the handle and she tugged it softly.
A sudden gush of wind swung the door right open. It caught Kate by surprise and she tumbled back. Sawyer arms circled around her waist as she fell back into his chest.
"Easy there," he drawled, right above her ear. A shiver went down Kate's spine, and it wasn't due to the draft coming from the room in front of them. She pulled herself out of Sawyer's grasp, muttering a "sorry" in the process.
Both their attention turned to the darkness laying beyond the frame of the door. A wickedly rotten smell was now mixed with the cold air oozing out into the hallway. Kate brought a hand to her face and suppressed a cough.
"What the hell is that?" She pulled the front of her top over her nose. She looked back at Sawyer, who was breathing into the sleeve of his shirt.
"Stinks like the other room, only ten times worse." He stepped forward, shining the light into the space before them. The beam traveled around the room, which was relatively small and held shelves on all three sides. Boxes and containers were stacked side-by-side. A vent ran across the whole upper portion of the wall opposing the door.
"I guess whatever it is, it originated here. And the vent's been pulling the smell into the other room." Kate turned her head and inhaled deeply before stepping through the door. Sawyer followed suit.
"Hate to say it, but seems we hit another dead end." Sawyer walked over to the nearest shelf and began examining the supplies. The air was starting to clear and Kate allowed herself to breathe more freely, though the smell was still nauseating.
Her eyes scanned each corner, hoping against hope that they were missing something. She looked up to the vent. The cage was bolted shut but maybe they could pry it open. It had to lead to the outside somewhere, right?
"Dharma Pasteurized Cheese," Sawyer remark in amused disbelief. "Who the hell would eat this crap?" Kate glanced over, watching as he set down the small box he'd been reading. As the light of his flashlight moved down the shelf, she mentally listed off the other labels. Canned vegetables, powdered milk, wheat crackers... She offhandedly acknowledged the fact that she was hungry, but thinking about eating made her feel sick.
Something caught her eye. "Wait, what's that?" Sawyer looked up from a crate of dried fruit. Kate walked over to the shelf, picking up a roll of...
"Looks like some old film," Sawyer commented as he closed the space between them, beaming the light on the film in Kate's hands. She unrolled it partially, squinting at the frames before her. The first few shots were of an Asian man. They were followed by pictures of someone's arm. And then a large needle going into that arm. Some sort of injection...
Kate swallowed and looked up. She realized then how close Sawyer was standing. His face was masked in a mixture of concentration, anger and what appeared to be worry. She blinked, and suddenly his eyes were looking at her. Through her.
Behind them, the alarm gave off a hollow-sounding ding. It was probably just Kate's imagination (or wishful thinking), but she could've sworn it sounded weak. Dying. Maybe it was wearing itself out.
Maybe they would be okay.
"Sawyer, we need to..." She didn't finish her thought as his body pressed against her. They fell back onto the shelves and Kate winced as she felt the hard wood digging into her spine. Sawyer's hands snaked their way around her waist and the pain instantly dulled.
The flashlight and the film dropped to the floor as she pulled his face down and kissed him. It was a needy and urgent act and she would've felt guilty for using him like this if she wasn't sure that he wanted it as much as she did. Their mouths blended into one as their bodies shifted aimlessly. Sawyer somehow managed to turn them so that his back was on the shelves, with Kate molded tightly against him.
The room seemed to melt away as they devoured each other, hands flying under shirts, over skin, into hair. At some point, Kate (or maybe it was Sawyer) realized that air was necessary, but that didn't stop their mouths from traveling down necks and nibbling on collar bones.
Kate's foot hit something soft and she mustered up enough control to peer around Sawyer's arm and investigate. The fallen flashlight beam was casting a steady glow on the large, black sack tucked under the shelves in the right corner. Something about this sight sent a prick of rationality into her mind and it was enough for her to pull away.
"Sawyer, wait, wait..." He growled against her ear and his stubble scraped her cheek as he stood back and looked down at her.
She felt the flush of her face and was thankful for the limited light.
"There's something on the floor." It had made a lot more sense in her head and she mentally kicked herself for not wording the statement differently. Sawyer ran a hand through his hair and sighed, licking his lips. Kate quickly looked away, unsure if she would be able to stop if they started something again.
(Unsure if she would want to stop.)
"Wonderful," Sawyer spoke finally, crouching down to retrieve his flashlight. He eyed the stuffed bag and glanced up at Kate. "Want me to open it?" She stepped back and nodded, self-consciously folding her hands across her chest.
Sawyer quickly located a zipper and pulled it back in one shift motion. A retched smell filled the air instantly, forcing Sawyer to stand up and cough.
"God damn..." He set the light on the open gap of the bag and it reflected off a pair of empty hazel eyes, surrounded by sickly green-gray skin and a few strands of dark, wavy hair.
Kate tried to look away but she couldn't.
Instead, she stepped forward and bent down. Her hand made its way toward the bag.
"Hey," Sawyer was suddenly beside her, his arm wrapped around her; his hand pulling hers away. "Kate?"
Her name, cloaked in emotion, seemed to draw her to reality again. "I..." She swallowed back a lump in her throat. From here, she could just make out the swan in middle of Dharma logo on the dead man's chest.
("Look at the wall. You see that? That's a timer. It's counting down. I've got to enter the code. I've got to push the button.")
Sawyer watched her carefully before speaking. "You know him?" It was a question, yet it was a statement at the same time. Kate closed her eyes and didn't protest when Sawyer helped her up. She turned around and got her breathing under control before nodding.
"That's the man who was occupying the hatch before we found it." She looked back at Sawyer, keeping her eyes away from the corpse. Her mind searched for a name. "Desmond."
Sawyer tilted his head, letting this sink in. "He ran off, didn't he?" His recollecting of the events Kate had filled him in on after his return were fuzzy, but this particular bit had been too strange to forget. Again, Kate nodded. (Things were only getting stranger.)
"Guess we know where he ended up, then." Sawyer chuckled humorlessly and Kate's eyes wandered back to the corner despite herself.
"Why..." Her question, rhetorical though it would have been, went unvoiced. Instead, she started forward again. She'd noticed something just now.
Sawyer quickly reached for her again but she held up a hand. "No, look. There's something under it..." She bit her tongue. "Under him."
They both turned to the body and Sawyer took note of the carpet, or lack thereof, underneath it. He snorted in disgust, waving a hand at Kate to bid her back, before grasping the edges of the bag with both hands. He heaved it out of the corner and let it drop to the ground with a dulled thud. A hand fell from the gap and Sawyer felt his stomach twist. He turned and was relieved that Kate apparently hadn't noticed. She was standing in the corner, previously occupied by the body, looking down at the floor.
He came up beside her and looked down as well.
A couple of wooden boards were nailed together, covering what appeared to be a hole in the stone. Sawyer reached down, lifting the latch that held the makeshift door closed, and pushed the boards aside.
The beam of the flashlight hit the floor a good 15 feet down. Sawyer looked up at Kate, and she tried to smile, but images of derange brown-green eyes kept dancing around her head.
"Come on," Sawyer stated, unable to bear watching her like this. His hand automatically rested on the small of her back and she instantly felt a bit safer. A little less alone. "We ain't got much time."
She nodded, allowing him to lead her back to the other room.
From the hole in the storage room, another pair of deranged eyes gleamed, empty and haunting despite the life that swam in their blue depths.
The alarm gave off a ding and the eyes blinked and disappeared.
