At the age of ten Kate had already long passed her happiest moments. Her home had been broken apart only three years before. Somewhere inside of herself, she understood that she could never regain the family she once had. Later she would question this view of her life in the lead-up to her parents separating, knowing that they couldn't have been as happy as she had thought - even before she was born. That did not change the fact that the happiness had not been surpassed. Perhaps it was all merely a testament to the saying 'ignorance is bliss'.
Despite this lingering sadness, Kate found solace in her two ever-present companions, Tom and Beth. Presently, the trio were enjoying the Iowan summer, playing in Tom's backyard. Beth sat cross-legged on a bench, absent-mindedly flipping through a book and watching Kate and Tom across from her. She tended to keep to the shade, under strict orders from her mother, for her scarlet hair and pale complexion made her particularly prone to sunburn. She did not mind this though; she was never the most active of the group.
Kate and Tom were racing. Side by side on swings, Kate pulling hard on the hopes, swinging about twice as high as Tom could ever wish to achieve. She was determined to beat him, to be able to tell everyone she had beaten a boy – yet again.
'I dare you to jump off!' Beth called to them from the bench. Kate grinned.
'What do you say?' She asked Tom, swinging by him.
'No way, Katie!' He called to her. 'No way! My mom would kill me is she saw.'
'Your mom is fixing dinner. So she won't see. Come on, Tom!' Kate rationalised, and Tom shook his head. 'Chicken!' She shouted, and leapt forward off the swing, landing flat on the ground.
Beth jumped to her feet, worried, until she realised that Kate was shaking with laughter.
'That wasn't funny, Katie!' Tom called down to her. Kate rolled over, lying on the grass, still laughing.
'So are you going to jump or what?'
'Of course I'm not going to jump!'
'Oh come on, Tom, you're not nearly as high up as I was, and I'm fine!'
'I'm not jumping!'
'Stop being such a baby!'
And then he did it. Clearly sick of Kate's taunting of him, he leapt from his seat towards the grass. But whilst Kate had obviously played this game before, and controlled her landing, Tom clearly had not. He fell awkwardly on his side, trying to catch himself on one arm.
Ever since, Kate could not shake the vivid sound from her memory, as Tom's arm snapped beneath him.
Her eyes moved between the two of them, undecided on who to be more scared for. Sawyer was leaned in the corner of the cell, barely awake, his eyes periodically rolling into the back of his head as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Jack, meanwhile, was slumped on the floor completely out.
As Kate stood frozen in the doorway, Alex moved between the two men, checking their pulses and examining their pupils. She was muttering under her breath, but the only thing that Kate caught was the phrase 'They've reacted badly'. After a moment she turned to Kate.
'I need you to carry on down the hall. The third door to your left is a kitchen. Get some water, bring it back, and give it to Ford.'
'What about-'
'I'll take care of Shephard,' Alex assured her. 'Just go – we don't have much time.'
Doing as she was told, Kate collected the water, all the time cataloguing in her head everything she saw, just in case she needed the information. She returned, and knelt next to Sawyer. She dipped her fingers into the water and splashed a little on his face, he stirred a little, enough for her to force him to drink the water. At this point he seemed to be awake, though weak.
'They didn't even want me,' he murmured, and despite the lack of noise in the room, Kate found herself needing to lean in closer to hear him. 'They weren't interested in me, or the Doc…all they cared about was you.' He reached forward and clumsily took her hand and she held it tightly.
'You're delusional, Sawyer,' she whispered, tensely. But she couldn't deny the fear that was building from the pit of her stomach at the sound of his words.
She turned around to check on Jack, and was alarmed to see Alex injecting him with something that looked purple.
'What are you doing?' Kate demanded. 'You're going to hurt him!'
'I'm not trying to hurt him, I'm trying to help him,' Alex replied calmly.
'How do I know that, Alex?'
The question was answered for the both of them, when Jack coughed a little, waking up. Leaving Sawyer to fend for himself, Kate moved across the room to Jack, helping him to sit up, slowly.
'Kate…' He whispered, fully opening his eyes for the first time.
'It's me, Jack, I'm here.' She said, gripping his lower arm as though she might die if she let go.
'What are you doing, Kate?' He asked her, his voice thick with concern.
'What do you mean? I'm getting the two of you and we're getting out of here,' she said, firmly, but confusion now mixing with the fear handed to her by Sawyer.
'If there's one time I think you should be running, it's now.' He told her, almost dramatically. Kate's eyes narrowed, the fear building, and the confusion now being replaced by paranoia.
'I am running Jack, Alex is going to help us,' she insisted, but he shook his head, weakly.
'Then let Alex get us out. You need to go, alone. As fast as you can.'
'Doc's right, Freckles,' Sawyer called from across the small room. Kate knew that her sudden fear couldn't be unfounded if Sawyer was openly agreeing with Jack on anything. 'Just leave the both of us with Kim Possible here, and get the hell out.'
Kate almost asked him who the hell was Kim Possible, before she realised what he was actually saying to her. What they were both saying to her.
'I can't go without you. I can't leave you here,' she said, to no one in particular.
'This isn't the time to start acting like a hero, Kate,' Jack informed her, though his voice seemed to have lost the weakness now.
'You're right,' Kate nodded, and she let Jack breathe a sigh of relief, before continuing. 'So you both need to shut up, get up, and help Alex and I get out of here. Stop acting like tragic heroes, sacrificing yourselves for me. It's pointless. You don't need to sacrifice yourselves.'
'I'll go and get some more weapons,' Alex broke in, and she passed Kate her own gun. 'Take this for the meantime.' She headed off, but then paused in the doorway, turning as if she had just remembered something. 'Men, huh?'
'Yeah,' Kate agreed, silently wondering just how Alex could possibly have gotten any information with which to make this statement living in a place like this.
She returned only a few moments later, taking her own gun back from Kate, and handing a similar rifle to Sawyer. She reached back, and took two pistols out, handing one each to Jack and Kate.
Kate held it, first with both hands, and then her right alone, becoming accustomed to the weight of the piece. She had always had great respect for any weapons that became her sole responsibility; they were somehow fragile, beautiful and terrible, all at once. She was suddenly brought out of these musings however, by Alex's hurried voice.
'I hope you two can walk,' she told Jack and Sawyer. 'Because we're about to receive some company.'