Chapter 10 -Almost too much to handle

Disclaimer: I don't own LOST

A/N: I thought it was time I gave you people another chapter of this. I hope you enjoy it. Just letting you know I am going on vacation soon so I won't be updating for another week probably. I'm sorry!

You know what they say about curiosity Jack. Bring her out Alex!

It was Kate, gagged. The evil man lifted the bag off her head. She looked so scared.

I'm going to count to three Jack, and if you don't do anything, I'm going to shoot her.

Don't you lay a hand on her!" Sawyer yelled out. Wait, what was Sawyer doing there?

One, Jack felt his chest tightening, what was he going to do?

Two, He was not going to let Kate die, was he?

Three. Kate whimpered and stared at Jack.

What do you say Jack? The evil man that Sawyer had named Zeke asked

Jack was silent. He looked into Kate's eyes. It hurt him so bad to see her this way.

"Do it." Jack said, his voice turning cold, his eyes with a menacing look.

"As you wish, Jack." Zeke replied, happy to oblige.

You could see the terrified look on her face, the look of realization that Jack really didn't care.

BANG! She crumpled to the floor instantly dead.

"It was your choice Jack, your choice Jack, your choice Jack."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jack woke up with a start. He was shaking.

He had a blanket on him. He didn't remember putting it there. The dream had been so vivid, so real. It scared him. Who was Zeke? Why were they there? Was this going to happen in the future? If it was, would he really let Kate die? No, He told himself. He wouldn't. But it really wasn't a lot of assurance.

He looked around his surroundings. The room looked the way it had before he had fallen asleep. He looked over at Sawyer's bunk. There was someone under the covers. It didn't look like Sawyer though because the form of the body was way too small.

Where was Sawyer? Why did he get out of bed? More importantly, who was in the bed now? Jack cautiously got up and went over to the bunk. He winced. He shouldn't have slept in that position like that. He was sore. He softly took the covers off. It was Kate. She was sleeping peacefully. Jack sank in the chair that was beside the bunk and just stared at her. She looked so pretty when she slept, as if there wasn't a care in the world. Had Kate been the one to put the blanket on him? No it was too much to hope for.

He pushed a curl from her face. She looked so fragile. She had a lot of bruises on her body from Ana punching her. Jack took this time to check over Kate and make sure she was ok.

He softly removed the covers from the bed and Kate sighed and shifted positions. He continued to look her over as best as he could and concluded that she would be ok. He got up and grabbed a wet rag from the counter. He wiped the dried blood from Kate's mouth. She sighed again. He wondered what was going through her mind right then. He was glad she was finally resting. He took the blanket off of her and tossed it in the corner then put his blanket on her.

Jack decided to go get something to drink from the kitchen. He went into the kitchen and heated up some water. He normally wasn't a tea kind of guy but since he couldn't find any coffee he resorted to tea. Being a doctor, he had relied on coffee for most of his career, being on the island, he suffered from coffee withdrawals the first week but then he decided it was better for him to get off of it here instead of back at home.

He sat down on the couch. He figured he should check on Gale. He sighed wearily. He knew he was too lucky to have had the rest he had. The day really hadn't been very eventful physically but emotionally this day had been very eventful. He actually didn't know what time it was or what day it was. He wondered about the button. He went over to the computer room and the timer read 15 minutes. So someone had been here a while ago and pressed it. H wondered who had been here while he slept. Then he wondered where Sawyer was again. He went back into the other room and sat down again. Then he heard footsteps in the hallway. He sighed. He knew that this peace wouldn't last long.

It was Locke and Sayid.

"Well it's about time Jack." Locke said.

"You slept a long time." Sayid added.

"How long did I sleep?" Jack asked.

"Well, right now everyone else is asleep at the beach and at the caves. Let's put it that way." Locke said.

"What? It's dark out?" Jack asked, surprised. If that was true, Jack had slept over 12 hours.

"Yeah it's the middle of the night." Sayid said.

Jack got up so he could talk to the other two better. "Has anything happened?" Jack asked, he couldn't believe that nothing had happened that whole time,

"Not really. Except of course Sawyer woke up and caused a stir with everyone." Sayid said,

"Where is he? He should be in bed. He should have never gotten up." Jack said, now in his doctor mode.

"We told him to leave the room because we knew he would want to wake you up just to irritate you. So he moved to the couch with Kate and then we left again and then around sundown Sawyer and Ana appeared and came to the caves. Sawyer caused quite a stir. Everyone was happy to see him and he seemed a little embarrassed by all the attention. " Locke said.

"I can't believe he left. He needs to stay here under my observation. What if he collapses or something? Do you know where he is right now?" Jack asked. He was angry that Sawyer left

"I think he is at the caves with Ana." Locke replied.

At that Jack took off running towards the caves. Half way there he wondered why he was so intent on yelling at Sawyer. He wasn't Sawyer's father. Sawyer was a grown man. He could fend for himself. Then he thought maybe it was because he was with Ana. But why would he be jealous of Ana? Sure they had spent some time together, especially after he and Kate had had that awful conversation. Why did Kate have to torment him so? Wait, crap. He had left Kate alone with Locke and Sayid. He shouldn't have done that. He didn't mind Locke and Sayid being there but they wouldn't understand and would probably treat her differently then she deserved at the time. He would go quick, yell at Sawyer, and then come to the hatch.

When he approached the caves, he stopped to catch his breath. At night it was chilly but Jack was far from cold, he was just heating up. He silently walked around until he got to Ana's cave. Sure enough, Sawyer was snoring lightly on the ground. Ana was sleeping up in a crevice. At least Sawyer hadn't done something stupid. Jack looked Sawyer over from where he was standing. He looked fine from what he could tell. He would come back in the morning and yell at Sawyer. So he ran back to the hatch, embarrassed that he had left in such a hurry in the first place. From then on, he wasn't going to waste his time worrying about people like Sawyer, especially Sawyer.

When he got back to the hatch, Locke and Sayid were discussing what to do about Gale. They both agreed that he was probably an Other. Jack felt differently. His instincts told him that he needed proof that Gale was in fact an Other before he treated him like one. Locke and Sayid fell silent when Jack walked in the room.

"Did you find Sawyer?" Sayid asked.

"Yeah. He's fine. Has Kate woken up?" Jack asked.

"Kate's still here?" Locke asked, surprised. "She's still asleep? When we left she was sleeping on the couch."

"Well when I woke up she was sleeping in the bunk." Jack replied, relieved Kate hadn't woken up yet. "I'll go check on her."

He walked into the other room, as Sayid and Locke gave each other a knowing look. Maybe finally, the two would clear up the stupid disagreement they had had for so long. No one at camp knew exactly why Jack and Kate treated each other so differently, but neither one of them would talk about it to anyone. Obviously, it was a touchy subject for both of them.

Jack walked into the room. Kate was still sleeping. He smiled. Good. He thought. I hope she is getting good rest. Maybe when she wakes up I can talk to her.

Jack went back into the other room, just as the button started going off.

Locke eagerly got up to go push the button, but not before he gave Jack a disappointing stare.

"What John? What?" Jack asked, throwing up his hands.

Locke stopped to give Jack some of his insight. "Look Jack, we all pay attention to you and follow you because you are our leader, but sometimes, you don't know how to lead yourself. "

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, exasperated. What was Locke doing now? Jack was in no mood for a heated discussion with Locke.

"Jack, don't you see? Don't you see what it is doing to you, to us, and more importantly, to her?" Sayid joined into the conversation.

"You mean Kate?" Jack asked, his face going into a sad smile.

"Yes Jack. You two haven't been on good terms and we all know you want each other. Why won't you move? " Locke said, the button continually going off during this whole conversation.

With each beep of the timer, Jack felt himself get angrier and angrier.

"It is none of your business to tell me what to do with my life." Jack spat out.

"We are not telling you what to do, we are merely leading you in the right direction." Sayid said.

Even though Jack had already known that he needed to confront Kate, it made him mad that Locke and Sayid were telling him what they thought was best.

"Would you press that stupid button Locke!" Jack shouted.

"I know how it feels Jack. To know you are so close to being with the person you love, to finally get through to that person how much that person means to you. You must act quickly on your feelings Jack, or else you will not get another chance." Sayid said, sadly looking down after he finished. He had finally gotten through to Shannon how much she meant to him, and then she was gone. Just like that. Now Sayid almost didn't have a reason for living anymore. Almost. The thought that kept him going was that Shannon wouldn't like it if he just sat around all the time moping. So he put all his heart into the people around him, like Jack did, but a different way. So now, Sayid hoped that Jack would get the message and he would go, go to Kate. Go to the one he loved.

The button was quiet, as a result of Locke going and punching in the buttons. Jack and Sayid faced each other. Sayid looked up at Jack again. It was utter silence in the room.

Jack had a look of grief and realization on his face. Sayid had gotten through. Slowly, a sad smile appeared across Sayid's face. "Don't you see Jack, life is not worth living unless you can spend it with the one you love."

Locke stayed in the computer room, blankly staring at the timer. For the first time ever, Jack had demanded that Locke press the button. Jack must be at na all time low. Locke thought.

"I-I need to go. " Jack said shakily. Then he left. He needed to think. He needed to be away, from everyone, from the world. But with each step he took, grief pored into him. He didn't know how long he walked. But it was a long time. Just walking. Just thinking.

A/N: So, what do you think? I promise I will start putting more people in the story now. I just needed to get past this part. Just letting you know the Hunting Party didn't happen. They didn't go after Michael and the whole thing with Zeke hadn't happened, yet. Just a hint. :D I don't think I will be updating this again until next week so enjoy this!