I am such a procrastinator! Urgh. Anyway, last night I was working on this, but it just wasn't coming at all. I don't know what it was, probably some sort of writer's block. Apologies for promises made to have it before, I guess I should stop making promises then lol. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.

"Goin' down to the hatch," Sawyer said in response, giving Sayid as friendly of a smile as he could muster right then.

"Down to the hatch? What for," Sayid asked, raising an eyebrow. He could have sworn that Sawyer wasn't on the list for hatch duty until tomorrow.

"Gonna question me all night there? For a book," the southerner said, wanting Sayid to have the answer he searched for and leave him be.

"Oh really. Which one," Sayid asked, disbelief in his brown eyes.

"Watership Down. Why, you wanna read it Mohammed? I have to warn ya, I have a new lending policy. It's a week without fees, but after that- it's two mangos a day for everyday you don't return it," he joked, grinning down at the other.

"No thanks," Sayid replied with a smirk, rolling his eyes at him. He decided that Sawyer was probably telling the truth, so he let him off the hook, stepping out of his way.

"And a goodbye to you too sunshine," Sawyer called back out to him as the other left, shaking his head. He was damn lucky that it had just been Sayid and not Jack or Locke. Watching Sayid disappear into the jungle again, Sawyer turned back around, almost to the hatch.

From where he was, he could see a few birds sitting up in their nests, obviously trying to sleep the night away. Peering up up at them, Sawyer decided to have a better look, walking right up to the tree. The tree was definitely an old one, probably as big around as a Volkswagon Beetle, and at least a hundred feet tall. The birds sat on a branch that seemed to be about ten feet above ground level, so that it was only about four feet above the top of Sawyer's head.

Tilting his head up further, he saw one of the birds shake it's tail feather and glance down at him, letting out a relatively quiet caw. He chuckled to himself, now intent on getting closer to the birds. Lowering his head back to ground level, he tried to find something to raise himself up a bit higher. His eyes led him to a jaggedly shaped rock on the ground, and he smiled. Bingo. Going over to it, he picked it up with ease, guessing that it only weighed about ten pounds.

He set it down on the ground, tentatively placing a foot on it to see if it would hold his weight. Finding that it did, he pushed it over to the edge of the tree, stopping it right in front of a root. He stepped up onto it and saw that he was about two feet short of being able to be at eye level with the birds. Frowning, he wondered how in the world he'd be able to do that, but suddenly noticed a branch. It hung there, in the corner of his eye, and he turned to face it. It didn't appear very stable, not for grabbing onto at least, but Sawyer could care less.

Reaching up, he held onto it with both of his hands, and managed to pull himself up another foot. With a grunt, he swiped above his head to try for another go, and this time was successful. Two birds chirped angrily as he blindly groped for one, finally managed to trap one. Bringing it down, he hopped down off of the rock and shushed the bird, not wanting anyone to hear it being so loud.

"Shhh lil' fellow, I ain't gonna hurtcha," he whispered to the bird with a chuckle. Bird in hand, he continued down into the jungle until he reached the hatch. He glanced down at it, giving his surroundings a once over before opening it up.

It was slightly difficult trying to open a hatch with a bird in hand, but he managed to do it, swinging it open with a grunt. Because of the extra noise the bird made with the loud sound, Sawyer almost decided to let go of it, but didn't- having a better plan for it.

"Now, Sawyer's got a big job for you, can ya handle it," he asked it quietly, smirking as it stopped struggling. Raising an eyebrow, he opened his hand further, to make sure the damn thing was breathing and found that it was. With a sigh, he climbed down into the hatch. It was quieter than normal in the metal enclosed area and hot as hell. Not remembering it ever being that humid, the southerner began to sweat profusely, the salty liquid running down his back. He reached up to wipe a sweat droplet off of his face, and snuck into the main room.

Thinking himself to be home free, Sawyer started walking quickly towards the desk with the computer, but halted suddenly. There at the desk was none other than the man Charlie wanted revenge so badly against, Locke. Biting his tongue, Sawyer ducked behind a random box, hoping that Locke was the only around. But unfortunately for him, as soon as he thought that, he could hear a familiar voice coming from the other room.

"Locke, I'm going to go take a shower," a voice said, calling to the other from the "medic" area.

"Okay Jack, but don't be too long," Locke replied, going back to a piece of paper he was staring at in front of him. Sawyer couldn't quite make out what it was on the piece of paper, but he knew he didn't matter and quite trying.

"Locke, I think you can manage to push the buttons by yourself if I'm not back in time," Jack said in response, now in the main room with Locke. With a hand on his hip, Jack approached the table which Locke was sitting at and peered down at that same piece of paper.

"Whatcha got there Locke," he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspision.

"Oh, nothing. Just trying to keep myself occupied," Locke replied with one of his creepier smiles, looking back up at Jack. Jack shrugged and left the room, wanting to hurry up and take that shower already.

Sawyer just sat crouched quietly behind the box as the two interacted, waiting for Jack to leave the room. Seeing that he did, he waited for what seemed like hours for the right moment to do what he was going to, and finally found it.

Locke stood up and stretched, seeing that the timer didn't go off for another five minutes, and left to go into another one of the hatch's rooms. To make sure Locke stayed in the other room for at least a couple more minutes, Sawyer quietly creeped to where he was almost where Locke was, and gave the bird (still in his hand) a small pat on the head.

"Make me proud lil' fellow," he said almost inaudibly to the other, letting it go. The bird, very happy to be set free from Sawyer's grasp, began to sing and fly around in big circles next to Locke, as if it really knew what Sawyer wanted. Sawyer waited to see Locke's reaction, wanting it to be the one he was hoping for.

Just as he thought, Locke was surprised but strangely amused by the bird, watching it with his probing eyes.

"Well hello there. What are you doing in here," Locke asked the bird, caught off guard by a sudden swoop the bird made in front of his face. The bird proceeded to do several loop-de-loops around Locke, prompting Locke to chase it out. But, Locke didn't quite have the reaction Sawyer wanted, and just stood there. He then started to whistle at the bird, holding his hands out to see if the bird would come down, but the bird had other plans. It flew up to sit on one of the shelves in the hatch, making it self at home right at the top.

Locke shook his head, laughing to himself, and went for the ladder in the corner of the room. Seeing that now was his chance, Sawyer ran into the other room, going to the desk Locke was just sitting at.

"Come on, come on," Sawyer whispered to himself, rummaging through the stacks of papers on the desk. "I know you're here somewhere dammit." He continued to search, knowing that he really didn't have very much time to find it. Flipping through a notebook, he wondered if it was there, but sighed as it wasn't. Frustrated, he felt as though he really wasn't going to find it in time, now down to the last paper. Eyes scanning it quickly, he shoved the paper into his pocket, not sure if that was it- but not wanting to get caught either.

Stacking the papers up as neatly as he imagined he found them, Sawyer started to head off to leave the hatch, when Locke reentered the room.

"Jack, is that you," Locke asked, seeing that there was a figure sitting at the desk. He couldn't see if it was Jack or not, because the person wasn't facing him, but he figured it was.

"..." Sawyer stood perfectly still, not making a move. God dammit, he should have come before. Now he was really screwed. He sat there for what seemed like two eternities before he heard movement. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the bird had managed to set itself free from Locke's grip, and now flew back into the other room.

"Hey, we have a bird in here Jack- but I'll go take care of it," Locke said, thinking that the silence did mean that it was Jack. The bald man went back to the other part of the hatch, trying to figure out a way to catch the bird other than with his hand.

"Shit, that was close," Sawyer whispered to himself, thanking his lucky stars that Locke didn't expect him to answer. Standing up, he quickly yanked the paper out of his pocket, not wanting them to find out that it was gone. Well, if that paper was the right one. Looking down at it, he saw that it was and smiled. Silently memorizing the numbers on the paper, he uncrumpled as best as he could and set it back down on the table.

9 14 56 87 23 58

Sawyer said the numbers to himself in his head over and over again, intent on not forgetting them. Sure that he had them done, he hurriedly left the hatch, his heart pounding like crazy. As soon as he was out of it, he let out a low whoop, happy with himself for doing the deed. Since he had a distraction tomorrow, thanks to good ol' Charlie boy, he didn't have to retrieve the guns right then and there.

Sitting down under a tree, Sawyer leaned his head back and wondered if Charlie had formulated a plan yet.