Chapter 1
Her
"How long are you going to wait, Jack?", Kate asked.
They were sitting in front of a warm fire and they hadn't spoken since Jack had screamed his lungs out earlier that day. But she couldn't bear this silence anymore.
"Until I get my voice back. Then I'm going to yell some more.", he answered, voice a little bit hoarse.
"Maybe they can't hear you", she said.
"They can hear me."
"I'm sorry I kissed you.", Kate said, feeling as if a heavy weight had been taken off her shoulders. It wasn't true, though. She wasn't sorry for the kiss they had shared a few weeks ago. But she knew that he hadn't liked it, so she had to say something, anything for them to be like they were before.
"I'm not", said Jack after awhile. Kate snapped her head up to meet his eyes. These eyes..., she thought. He looked so sincere, yet she couldn't believe what she had just heard him say. Her heart beat faster and faster as she looked at him with a slightly confused expression. Beginning to lean towards each other, they heard a rustle in the bushes nearby. They both got up, Jack taking out his gun. They waited there, in fear of what - or who - might come out of the bushes. Jack moved a bit closer to Kate, being the protective man that he is.
"You're not welcomed here.", said the man who came out and stood before them. He had a messy beard and dirty clothes. Jack and Kate recognised him immediately. Zeke, as Sawyer had nicknamed him, thought Kate. "I thought I had made myself clear when I told you folks not to cross the line", he continued. "Yet you cross that line."
"We're here to make a deal.", said Jack.
"I know exactly why you're here, Jack." said the man. "But I'm not giving you what you seek."
"Look, we have Henry Gale back at our camp. We're going to trade him for Michael and Walt." said Jack, getting irritated.
"Well that doesn't seem like a fair trade now, does it? Why would I give you two people in exchange of one?"
Jack and Kate looked at each other and Jack asked :"Then what else do you want?"
"Her.", he said, looking at Kate.
Kate felt her heart stop. Hadn't Jack said that they didn't want her? Jack backed up and put himself protectively in front of her. Why? Why would they want Kate again? The answer was obvious to him - he wouldn't give him Kate.
"I'm not giving you anyone." he said, growing more and more frustrated.
"Jack, either you give me that woman right now, or I take her myself." he said. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. It's your call, Jack."
Jack felt Kate's tight grip on the back of his shirt and he moved closer to her. Why would he want me? thought Kate. She was so scared, yet being with Jack seemed to calm her fear. She felt his arm take her waist to move himself closer to her and she just clang to his shirt, not wanting to leave him. He won't let him take me, she assured herself. You're okay, Katie, as long as you're with Jack, you're going to be fine.
"I'm not giving you anyone." Jack repeated.
"Well alright then. I guess you want this the hard way. Don't say I didn't warn you." said the bearded man. With that, he took out his gun from his belt and before Jack and Kate could do anything about it, he shot the bullet toward them. Taken by surprise, Jack and Kate fell to the ground, ducking the bullet. But when Kate lifted her head up, she saw that Jack wasn't moving.
"No..." she moved closer to him and saw the deep wound in his shoulder. "No!" she screamed.
"Don't worry, he's not dead. Now you're going to come with me, Kate." said the man, pointing his gun at her.
Tears running down her cheeks, she lay there beside Jack, caressing his cheeks softly. This can't be happening, she thought. He has to be alright, he just has to. Don't leave me here, Jack... She wouldn't get up and follow Zeke, even if that cost her her life. Just as she was about to take the gun in Jack's hand, she heard another gun shot and snapped her head up. There, on the ground before her, layed the bearded man - dead.
"Are you alright?" asked a voice behind her. She turned around to see... Michael, standing there with a gun in his hands, looking awfully tired and dehydrated. He came up to her, gun in his hand, and saw the wounded Jack who was unconscious, blood spilling out of the hole in his left shoulder.
"We need to take him back to camp." said Kate.
They both took one of Jack's arms and put it around their shoulder. They started walking through the jungle, Kate still crying uncontrollably.
Chapter 2
"What happened?" asked Sayid as Kate and Michael entered the hatch with the bleeding Jack. "Michael?", the Middle-Eastern man added with a puzzled look on his face.
"Get Sun." said a sobbing Kate, not taking the time to explain. Sayid took one last look at Jack and left the hatch, not asking anymore questions. "Let's put him on the bed."
They layed Jack's unconscious body on the stiff mattress and Michael ripped his shirt open. The wound was deep and fresh blood was still coming out of it. Locke came in the room, hanging onto his crutches.
"Hello Michael." he greeted.
"Hey man." the father answered.
"How did this happen?" Locke asked as he saw the wound on Jack's arm.
But neither Kate or Michael had the time to answer, because Jack began to stir and finally, he opened his eyes. He was completely disoriented. What...Where am I? he asked himself. The events of the day before resurfaced in his mind. He was in the jungle with Kate, going to propose a trade with the Others. They got caught in a net for a brief while and they got to the clearing, the line that they weren't supposed to cross. Then they were sitting at a fire and Kate had told him that she was sorry for the kiss. The sadness that had taken over him when she had said that had been painful. Jack then remembered the man with the beard who was asking for Kate, and the gun shot. The gun shot, he repeated. After that, he had lost track of time.
Jack looked around and knew where he was : the hatch. He remembered sleeping in this same bed when he was on button duty, its stiff mattress and uncomfortable pillow. Who had brought him back here? How long had it been since he was here? Where was...
"Kate?" he mumbled in a panicky voice. Had the Others taken her after the bearded man had shot him? If anything had happened to her, he could never get over it. He would blame himself for not being careful enough, and most of all, blame himself for bringing her with him on the trek.
"Yeah I'm here." said Kate, new tears flowing down her cheeks. "I'm here." she repeated, and knelt down beside him, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it gently, relief taking over her body. He's alive, he's going to be okay, she thought.
Jack felt much relieved as he saw her. God she's beautiful, he thought, looking at her tear-stained face. The pain in his left shoulder brought him around and he winced. "Is it bad, the wound?" he asked in a weak voice.
"We can get the bullet out." said Locke. "Sayid's gone to get Sun."
"Okay. I need some water."
"I'll go." offered Michael.
"Was that Michael?" asked a confused Jack.
"I'll explain later." said Kate, still holding his hand. Locke noticed this and smiled to himself.
The hatch door opened with the usual metallic sound and in came Sayid and Sun. They rushed to the room and Sun examined Jack's wound.
"What do I need to do?" she asked him.
"You need alcohol and tweezers. Put alcohol on the wound and the tweezers and get the bullet out of there. Then you have to put a bandage on my wound." said Jack with a slow, faint voice.
Sayid walked out of the room and came back seconds later with the supplies, handing them to Sun. She was clearly nervous, but she knew she had to do it. Jack knew this was going to hurt. Kate knew it as well. She squeezed his hand harder and kissed it lightly. Jack looked at her in gratitude before closing his eyes. He let out a barely audible gasp when the tweezers searched the hole for the bullet, though tears slid down his cheeks. When the operation was done, and the bandages were on his wound, he allowed himself to open his eyes again.
Michael put the glass of water on the night table beside the bed. The alarm sounded and Locke dashed toward the computer while Sayid, Sun and Michael left the room, leaving Jack and Kate alone.
"You want some water?" asked Kate, who was still holding his hand.
"Yeah."
She helped him get into a sitting position. Their faces were inches apart and Jack couldn't help but look at her.
"Thank you." said Jack. Kate smiled up at him, not moving an inch. They looked at each other for awhile but then, realising how close they were, Kate averted her gaze and sat back down, to Jack's disappointment. I guess she really is sorry for the kiss, he thought to himself and let out a sigh. He brought the glass to his lips and drank it slowly while Kate sat beside the bed.
Why had she sat back down? I'm such an idiot! thought Kate. Now he must think I really am sorry for the kiss, when I'm not!
"So, uh... What happened out there?" asked Jack, breaking the awkward moment of silence, not able to bear the tension anymore.
"Well, Michael came out of nowhere and he shot the man. Then we brought you back here." she explained. "Jack, about... about what you said before the bearded man came out, you know, about not being sorry for the kiss... did... did you mean it?" she asked, wanting badly to know the answer.
"Kate, why would I have lied?" he said, putting the glass of water back on the table and looking deep into her eyes.
"Jack, I'm not a good person." she said, tears resurfacing in her eyes. "I..."
"I don't know what you did, Kate, for the Marshall to be after you, but I've know you for about three months now and I never thought of you as a bad person." said Jack, cutting her off.
"I just don't want to lose you..."
"You're not going to lose me, Kate. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here."
Right then, Sun entered the room, not noticing the tension between Jack and Kate.
"I forgot my wedding ring." she said, taking the jewel off the table before leaving the room, leaving them together again.
"I'm going to go get some fresh air." said Kate, getting up to leave.
Jack wanted so badly to say something, anything to make her stay, but not a word came out of his mouth and he just let her go before laying back down on the stiff mattress and closing his eyes, allowing himself to drift away in thoughts of Kate, and finally, fall asleep.
Chapter 3
Fresh start
It was Kate's shift in the hatch that night. She was sitting in front of the computer, replaying the same scene over and over again in her mind.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I am not as perfect as you, I'm sorry that I'm not as good!" she yelled.
"Okay, what's going on with you?" Jack asked.
"Just forget it." she said, turning to walk away. But she felt his tight grip on her arm.
"No, don't walk away from me."
"Let go of me, just..."
"No, Kate." he said while struggling with her. "Kate, Kate, Kate..."
"Don't, I've got..." she started to cry. It was too much. She stopped fighting back and let him embrace her in his strong arms, berrying her face in her hands, crying on his broad chest.
"It's okay, it's okay. It's alright, it's alright." he comforted her. Then she had done what her heart had told her to do : she had kissed him. At first, he looked confused, but afterwards, he kissed back. It was such a beautiful moment... and she had ruined it by running away.
Why did I ran away? Kate thought. She couldn't keep this up. She had to tell him, she just had to. I have to tell him that I love him. It was the only explanation. Whenever she was around Jack, she had butterflies in her stomach and everything around her seemed to be nicer. Whenever he talked to her, she felt as if she was the most important thing for him. She looked up at the timer. It read 27:00. She had enough time to talk to him. Gathering her courage, she got up, walked toward the bedroom and entered, finding a sleeping Jack. She sat on the bed, beside him, and took one big breath before shaking him lightly.
He began to stir and his eyes opened. He looked around and saw Kate's silhouette beside him.
"What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night." he said with a sleepy voice, rubbing his hands over his eyes.
"I know. I just need to talk to you."
"Whatever it is you have to tell me can wait till morning." Jack said, his voice awfully cold. He was mad at her for going away after Sun had interrupted their conversation. Why does she always have to run? Walk away? But he knew it was his fault too. He could of had said something for her to stay, but he had kept silent. It's the same as the day she kissed me, he realised. She had ran off and he had just stood there, saying her name once. I could've gone after her. But he remembered that she had gone to Sawyer. Yah, Sawyer. He had heard Sawyer say that he loved Kate, but did she feel the same way?
"Actually, it can't." Kate insisted. Jack let out a sigh and lifted himself up a bit, leaning on his good shoulder and staring at Kate, who just sat there silently.
"So, what's so urgent?" Jack asked impatiently.
"This." Kate said, leaning down on him and putting her lips on his.
Jack was taken aback, once more, and this time, he kissed her back with all his might. She brought her hands to his face and he put his good arm around her waist. Losing his balance, he fell back on his back as the kiss intensified, more passionate than their last one had been. When they pulled away, only to catch their breaths, Kate rested her forehead on Jack's and they both kept their eyes closed, still tasting the beauty of the moment. Kate smiled to herself. She had had the courage of doing it! She opened her eyes and looked at Jack, who still had his closed and was smiling too. This time, the silence that was between them was not full of tension, it was a comfortable silence that none of them wanted to break, afraid to say something that would ruin it all. But finally, Jack spoke up.
"What was that for?" he asked sweetly, opening his eyes and looking into Kate's green ones. Their faces were so close that Kate could feel Jack's breathing on her face, which reminded her of their time spent in the net the other day.
"I needed to tell you that I wasn't sorry for the kiss." she said while resting her hands on his chest. "The only thing I'm sorry for is that I ran. I'm really sorry, Jack." she said sincerely. "I just... it's hard for me. Everyone I ever loved, I lost them, and it was always my fault. I don't want to lose you Jack. I don't want to hurt you. You're too good of a person to ever deserve me."
"Don't say that, Kate." Jack said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and cupping her face, caressing her cheek softly. "Don't say that. Remember when I told you that everyone deserves a new start on this island?" Kate shook her head, remembering that conversation quite clearly. "Well, why don't you start yours now? I... I love you, Kate. I love you."
She felt as if her heart would explode with happiness. Tears of joy running down her cheeks, she threw her arms around his neck and she felt his strong arms on her waist pulling her closer, if it was possible. "I love you too, Jack." she whispered in his ear. She kissed him on the lips once more, tasting their sweetness. A loud beeping sound came to her ears. Oh, the computer, she remembered. She reluctantly pulled away and took one last look at Jack. "I have to go." she said and he shook his head, his eyes slowly closing from his lack of sleep. "And you need some sleep." she added laughing. She gently stroke his short hair and whispered "Sleep..."
"I love you Kate." Jack murmured before his eyes fully closed.
Kate got up and stopped at the door. "Goodnight, Jack." she said before returning to the computer. While entering the numbers, she smiled to herself and knew that Jack was right. She deserved a fresh, new start on the island. She deserved happiness, and true love. No more running, Kate, she said to herself.
FIN