Chapter Nine
Michael and Jack woke up in the middle of the jungle drowsier and unaware of their surroundings. "Are you okay Mike?" Jack got up first. It was morning and although the rain was not pouring as much as it was last night it was still raining. "I am fine" Michael answered. 'We need to make it back to camp. The others must be worried and there we can deal with the situation better. We can plan it out more. We can get more people involved and recover more weapons. I sure don't want to stay here for long," Jack instructed.
Michael was hesitant because he didn't want to feel like he was abandoning Walt. But he conceded. He knew Jack was right. They had no weapons, were not in the best condition to fight, and were out numbered. Jacks idea was better. "The quicker we get back, the quicker we plan this thing out, the quicker we get my son back so lets go" Michael demanded. They headed back west to camp. As they made their way back though the jungle they started chatting like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a while and had a lot to ketchup on. Michael asked all sorts of questions about camp. He wanted to know how Sawyer was doing since the last time he left he was fighting for his life. He wanted to know how Sayid was dealing with the death of Shannon and who was taking care of Vincent since he and Walt were gone and Shannon was dead. He wanted to know how the merge of the two camps was going since its dramatic introduction. Jack explained all of this; most of it was hard to talk about because it was all negative. Michael sensed this and decided to talk about easier to talk about topics. 'So what is going on now with you and Kate?" Michael grinned at this. "Last time I left you two seemed pretty cozy with each other. Have you guys hooked up yet? "What are we in junior high?" Jack laughed it off. 'Well last time I looked you and Kate were acting like two junior high kids too shy to tell each other their real feelings. So you tell me Jack, are we in junior high?" Michael joked. "To be honest I don't know where Kate and I stand right now. I don't even know if there is a place to be at all," Jack said getting serious. "I mean we send each other all these mixed signals you know? One moment Kate and I can never be any closer to each other and then the next moment we couldn't be further away it seems. I have never felt this way about anyone else in my entire life. We always communicate but when it comes to certain things we still don't feel comfortable telling each other everything. I want her to be able to let me in but she is real afraid of telling me cretin things about her past. I can sense it. I don't know what it is that she is keeping from mew either. I have no clue. I have given her every signal that she can tell anything to me and feel comfortable with me no matter what." At this point Michael interrupted "You are a hard guy to revel flaws to. It always seems as if you are in control. You always seem to know what to do. People feel uneasy about that. They feel inferior to that. Kate tried to portray that too until her secret was revealed."
"I am not perfect Mike, I am far from it. From the first time I started to help people when we crashed people have looked at me for help. They wanted me to lead. I did not ask nor want that position. The group and the set of circumstances we were in pushed it that way. Someone had to step forward and lead. I never wanted it to be me believe me. All my life people have been directing me to be what they believe I should be so I just roll with the punches. Kate understands this. She is the only one who understands this but she is still afraid to open up."
"Jack, have you told her how you feel?" "Somewhat" Jack replied but not in so many words." "I think you should tell her exactly how you feel man. It is okay to show that you are human once in a while." "I will tell her when I get back to camp."
As they trekked through the talk about Kate continued. Jack told Michael about how he is more himself around Kate than anyone else. And he sees a side of Kate not too many see since Kate revealed she was a criminal. He sees Kate more as a victim of circumstance who decided she was no longer going to be a victim. She is so much more though. She is smart, funny, hot, caring and most of all around him she is herself. Michael finally interrupts again "So what are you waiting for man? Go for it. What is stopping you, Sawyer? Give me a break they are only friends who understand each other's pasts. If you don't go for it someone else will." And with this Jack knew what he had to do. He had to lay all his cards on the table for Kate. This was going to be really hard for him because after he would do this he wouldn't be in control. He would be vulnerable. Open for rejection. Rejection he thought he left behind with Sarah and his father. It was why he held his cards close to his chest with Kate. Because with Kate it would hurt so much more to have her reject hum because he cared so much more about her than anyone else in his past. But he had to give it a shot. If he never explored it the regret would be worse than the rejection his logical brain for once not thinking for him instead it was his heart.
After that Michael and Jack changed the subject because it was getting kind of mushy for guy talk. Michael talked about his days in construction and all the hospital visits and funny stories he had because of it. Jack told funny stories too of patients coming in and some of them hurt on construction jobs. They shared a few laughs and kept on trying to find home but both of them knew they were lost and neither of them could track. They both know they were in trouble but at least they enjoyed each other's company.