Title: Edge of Night
Chapter: 2 - Along Came an Other
Pairing: Very vague Sawyer/Kate
Characters: Jack, Kate
Rating: PG13 for frightening scenes
Word Count: 1271
Timeline: Takes place after 2x11 The Hunting Party
Summary: After Jack tells Kate what Sawyer's done, she storms off into the jungle after him, not realizing what's about to happen to her.
Disclaimer: I don't own LOST, or Bad Robot, and I know no one involved with anything about the show, or anyone at ABC. This is merely fiction.

Along Came an Other (Chapter 2)

"He WHAT?" exclaimed Kate, as Jack explained what had happened on the beach an hour or so before.

"He left." Jack repeated wearily, tucking a water bottle into his bag as they stood together beside the springs at the caves. Kate gaped at Jack.

"But... for what? Revenge?" she asked incredulously, making an indignant noise as Jack nodded.

"That's what he told me. He wants revenge for being shot." Jack said dully, completely tired of Sawyer and his attitude. "I'm going to go after him as soon as I tend to Sun's head." With that thought, Jack walked away briskly, obviously in a great hurry. Kate paced for a few moments after watching him leave, trying to decide what to do. She could follow Jack and insist he let her go with him, or she could go and try to find Sawyer on her own. The thought of not doing anything didn't even cross her mind. She knew she had a much better chance of finding him than Jack did. She hurried over to her tent and ducked inside. She dug through her backpack, finding the gun that Sawyer had given her and fingered it gently for a moment, thinking.

She quickly changed into a t-shirt and jeans, cinching the pants with a belt and tucking the gun in the back waistband. She hurriedly pulled on socks and her hikers, and pulled her hair back out of her face, tying it in a tight ponytail and brushing her bangs out of her face distractedly. Deciding she was ready, she left the tent and hurried across the beach and entered the jungle, running at first, hoping to gain a bit of ground since Sawyer had about an hour's head start.

After nearly twenty minutes of running, Kate slowed, panting, her body covered with a sheen of sweat. She needed to start looking for a proper trail now. Her chest heaving, her eyes peeled the ground. She noticed a footprint and bent down to look at it. It was definitely Sawyer's. She followed the direction it was pointed in, noticing many broken branches, ripped leaves. He must really have been in a hurry... she thought as she observed all these signs, shaking her head. If she could follow him this easily, the Others would have no trouble whatsoever. She easily followed his path for about an hour, when she decided to take a break. The midday jungle heat was overwhelming, and stupidly, she hadn't brought any water with her. She sat down on a large rock on the edge of a small clearing for a moment, catching her breath, wiping her sweaty brow. She had to find him. The Others... they'd kill him if he tried to kill one of them first. And she knew he would, knew it for a fact. She sighed and after a few moments her breathing had slowed to normal. She got up warily and began to walk again, but she'd barely moved when she suddenly heard bushes near her rustle.

"Hello?" she asked cautiously, walking a few steps forward tentatively, looking around. She knew she wasn't imagining all the rustling leaves and her heart was pounding. Her hand slowly snaked behind her back, her fingers curling around the handle of the gun. She could feel eyes on her, and she couldn't tell from where. Extremely creeped out, she began to walk slowly, trying not to look too hard into the bushes. So far nothing was attacking her, and as she reached the end of the clearing, she relaxed a bit, relieved nothing had happened, though her grip on the gun remained tight.

No sooner had she thought that she was safe when she heard someone jump out from the bushes behind her. She whipped the gun out of her pants and was aiming when whoever the person was hit her hard across the face with a large branch before she could get her arms up to aim properly. She let out a half-grunt, half-cry as the pain exploded in the side of her face and the gun dropped from her hands as she fell sideways, her hand clutching her cheek, feeling blood pouring from a gash that the branch had left on her cheekbone. She was slightly dazed but tried to stagger to her feet, nearly falling over as she fought for balance. Before she could run she felt hands grab her arms, two sets of hands, one holding her still as she screamed and attempted to thrash, the other tying her wrists together. She fought as hard as she could, screaming at the top of her lungs, hoping someone could hear although she knew no one was close enough.

She choked as a gag was suddenly pulled into her mouth and tied behind her head, muffling her screams effectively. She continued to thrash wildly, though the grip on her arms from behind was tight, almost painful. Her eyes widened as a man, obviously an Other, in tattered clothes and wildly messy and dirty hair stooped down in front of her and picked up her dropped gun. She whimpered in fear as he cocked it and touched it to her throat in front, his eyes menacing. She tried to lean back away from him but the man behind her wouldn't let her go far. So she stood still, shaking, forced to comply from the 9mm that she knew could kill her in an instant. She shivered as she felt blood dripping from the cut on her cheekbone, waiting in terror for what they were going to do.

Her heart plummeted and felt as though someone had plunged it into ice as she suddenly heard a sickeningly familiar voice in her ears.

"Hello again, Kate." said the man behind her casually. She immediately recognized the voice of the man who had held her at gun point not even a week before, where she had stared helplessly at Jack, Locke and Sawyer. She whimpered in fear behind her gag, her shaking body trembling even more. "Good, good." he said in satisfaction. "You know who I am." He pulled her around to face to the left of where she had been heading, staying behind her, his grip getting painful on her upper arms. He shoved her forward and she let out a cry of fear and alarm as she nearly tripped, but saw where to step at the last second.

As though they sensed this, a sack was suddenly pulled over her head, plunging her into darkness. Quiet tears ran down her cheeks as she was marched blindly forward, falling hard to the ground many times, as he seemed to enjoy letting her go as she tripped and letting her do a face plant. She whimpered in fear and pain this time as well as he picked her up off the ground for the umpteenth time, her body aching. She could feel the cut on her face was still bleeding, thanks to the rough material of the sack aggravating it every time she fell. She supposed he heard her soft crying because his grip got even more painful, prompting a short squeak of pain from her.

"You know, you really shouldn't follow people, Kate." He said conversationally as he pushed her along. "I mean, last time we were easy on you. Let your people take you home, safe and sound." He paused thoughtfully as her heart pounded in her throat. She tripped and sprawled to the ground as he let go, and he picked her up roughly, annoyed she'd interrupted his thought. "This time it may not be so easy."

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