Aly began to feel uneasy as she trekked through the jungle alone, especially when she kept thinking she heard footsteps. Terrified, it was an equal distance to run back to the beach or to the Hatch, so she took her chances and kept walking.
"Aly!" She heard, riding on the crisp cool jungle air.
She stopped and turned, looking at where she had just walked from, and from the fauna appeared Jack. Aly gave a sigh of relief and Jack gave her a slight smile.
"Didn't Kate and Sayid tell you not to walk alone?" Jack asked.
"I don't follow directions well." Aly answered.
"I can see that." Jack said.
"So, you're a doctor right?" Aly asked, Jack nodded. "Please say you're a plastic surgeon..."
Jack laughed a little and shook his head, "No, spinal surgeon...though now I practice General care, here at least if you could call it that."
"Interesting." Aly said, even though it really wasn't in her opinion.
"Sayid talked to you, right?"
"Can we stop saying his name!" Aly growled. Jack didn't bother to say anything else, he wasn't in the mood to listen to Aly bitch, especially about something petty and ridiculous in his eyes.
They kept walking, not saying a word until Aly decided to ramble on about random things on her mind.
"Sawyer and Kate, I have no idea what's going on there but Kate is harboring serious resentment towards my sister..." Aly started, but she caught Jack's eyes for a moment and was rather pleased that she did so well in Psychology. She studied his body language for a moment, picking up on the discomfort he felt from the topic Aly presented. "Kate seems all right, she's civil to me...she's really pretty too, she'd be even prettier if she wore more flattering clothes, don't you think?" Aly asked.
Jack said nothing, then changed the subject. "Did you get a lot done in the Hatch?"
"I have no idea what it looked like before but I'll just say yes..." Aly said, Jack gave a nod and she jumped right back on her previous subject. "I feel bad for Kate, you know, if she likes him...he's pretty scummy to me personally, especially since he had sex with Kellie..."
Jack tried to act as if it didn't matter to him, but finally he stopped walking, looking Aly in the eyes. "Your sister slept with Sawyer?"
"I'm not one to gossip...wait, who am I kidding, I LOVE gossip..." Aly giggled, "But yes, you thought they were just having an innocent sleepover? C'Mon."
Jack shook his head in disgust. "Now it's obvious what his priorities are."
"Uh, it was obvious the moment I saw the guy... you're a little behind, hun." Aly corrected.
Aly looked over Jack's face again, before they began walking again.
"I'm guessing this isn't the first time?" Aly asked. "Oh, it wasn't Kate was it?" She asked.
"No, not Kate." Jack stated. Aly picked up in a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Whoa, Calm down turbo." She sighed. Jack tried his hardest to ignore the young woman to his right. "So, who was it then?" Aly asked.
"Aly, you came out and told me right away what your sister did, so telling you obviously is not a good idea."
Alu sulked for a moment, then gave a sigh of relief as she spied the Hatch doors, now she could yell at Sawyer and whine for use of the shower.
-------------------------
"Sayid?" Kellie softly said his name, causing him to turn and look her in the eyes. She felt intimidated by the fierce emotion in his beautiful brown eyes and stepped back nervously.
"Yes Kellie?" He responded.
"I...just wanted to apologize on Aly's behalf. She blows her top alot, doesn't think before she says things...and I know she wouldn't have taken the makeup if she had known it meant something to you. She didn't know and I deep down inside she feels really bad for what happened, I know she does. I'm not asking you to forgive her...that's all up to you but I just wanted to make it clear that she had no ill intentions."
Sayid nodded. "I appreciate your sincerity Kellie, but Aly can apologize for herself, she is a grown woman."
"Oh...I know that...I just wanted to say something now...who knows when she'll calm down enough to say it herself. I just didn't want you to be hurt or anything..." Kellie shrugged.
"I am not hurt." Sayid stated, and Kellie knew by the look in his eyes that he was lying.
"Oh, Okay! You and I are on the same page then...I'll see you...later I guess?"
Sayid nodded and Kellie bowed her head and gave a sweet smile. Turning, she eyed Hurley kneeled next to a wooden cross in the distance, a wave of sorrow hit her like a ton of bricks and her heart reached out to him, and she urged herself to go talk to him.
-----------------------
"Speak of the Devil." Jack smirked at Aly as they spied Sawyer at the end of the hallway.
"Hey there kitten, where's the other half of the gruesome twosome?" Sawyer asked, flashing a smile at Aly.
"Why, you ready for round 2?" Aly said, narrowing her eyes in obvious annoyance.
"Shit, is every woman on craphole island PMSin'?" Sawyer groaned. Jack didn't even bother to say anything to Sawyer, slipping past him to find Kate. "Maybe it ain't just the women..." Sawyer smirked as he watched Jack walk off.
"You are a bastard." Aly said with a shake of her head.
"Tell me somethin' I don't know." Sawyer said, as he made his way over debris to the Kitchen. Aly followed causing Sawyer to chuckle to himself.
"You playin' puppydog, princess? You just gonna glare at me all day or tell me why you're foamin' at the mouth?" He asked, surveying the damage that still existed in half the kitchen. "Don't hear big sis complainin'." He said, inserting his signature smirk.
"This isn't about Kellie, and I suggest you keep her out of this right now before I castrate you."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, kitten." Sawyer remarked.
"Look, that makeup you gave me really pissed of Sayid, so Hurley gave me a backstory...you gave me his dead girlfriends makeup?" Aly asked with added shock.
"Hell, I wans't thinkin' about Apu gettin' his panties in a twist over lipgloss, kitten."
"ALY...Say it with me...ALY. What is with your excessive need for nicknames?" Aly's cheeks were warming with every word Sawyer spoke, and implying that Sayid wore panties wasn't helping.
"Hey, this conversation ain't about me, so don't start diggin' deep, KITTEN."
"Fine, JACKASS. You're going to help me fix my little situation."
"Do I look like Dr. Phil, fuck that."
"I NEED something of Shannon's...like, a picture...or her driver's license, something he can see her..remember her by...and I know you're some sort of packrat so you've got to have something." Aly said.
"Awww, the queen of snow got a warm tingly side?" Sawyer chuckled.
"Talking to you is so incredibly FRUSTRATING."
"You gettin' hot and bothered?" Sawyer chuckled again.
"Okay, seriously? Fuck off. I'll go find something on my own."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Barbie, hold on a tic. I'll getcha what you need. But I don't do freebies."
"Fine, what do you want?" Aly asked.
"I'm sure you got more then a few options, find things you're willin' to part with that I might enjoy."
------------------------------------------------
"Hi Kate." Jack said as he entered the bunks where Kate was removing the sheets.
"Hi Jack!" She exclaimed with a sparkling smile.
"How is everything? Hatch looks great." He smiled.
"Everything is good." Kate answered.
"How is Alex doing?"
"She's testing the shower." Kate laughed. "She doing good though, she's adjusting alright, at least it seems like it. We talk a lot, she's really smart and I really think we should have her address the group as a whole, she's got answers to questions we're all asking, Jack. We shouldn't leave people in the dark."
Jack nodded. "I just don't want to produce mass hysteria..."
"Jack, people are already scared, you know that. But at least we can lessen the confusion, right?"
"I think people are a little wary of Alex, Kate."
"Then let her talk to them Jack, what's the worst it can do?" Kate asked.
Jack gave another nod and a sigh. "You're passionate about all this, you really trust her?"
Kate nodded. "So does Sayid, and I don't want to get into any who is right and who is wrong arguments but I think you know that Sayid isn't wrong much."
"Well, Alex can come talk to me, Sayid...John and a handful of other's first. We'll see what she has to say."
"Censorship? Is that what you're leaning towards? People know we were taken by the Other's, they know Michael betrayed us...Alex can help us restore some kind of hope Jack."
Jack sighed. "Hope, Kate? I think they all lost hope long ago."
Kate shook her head in disbelief, and He watched the fire behind her eyes and lowered his head to gaze and the concrete beneath his feet. "Fine." He said as he lifted his head to look at her again.
Kate gave a victorious smile and his heart beat faster, he loved her smile.
"Thank You." She said softly.
"How are YOU?" Jack asked, noticing she looked a little tense. He place a reassuring hand on her shoulder and Kate shivered a little under his touch. She loved, yet hated these moments. They left her in confusion, she had given enough to both men in her sights, flirted and talked and dropped her hints, and when she finally gave up on trying to woo them, leaving the ball in their courts, both men bit back. Sawyer biting the hardest but now it seemed like Jack wasn't giving up. She felt pained for a moment, remembering how much he had pushed her away lately. She took a breath and smiled again.
"You're inquisitive today, Jack." She said. Jack smiled back at her and she added, "I'm fine.Tired, but fine."
"Why don't you get some sleep?" Jack suggested.
"Can't, Alex got the washer and dryer working so I'm going to clean these sheets and then sweep up around here."
Jack took the sheets from her hands.
"You're going to rest." He said. "I'll put fresh sheets on, and then you're laying down."
Kate couldn't argue if she wanted to, she really was tired as much as she didn't want to admit it.
Jack searched for some clean sheets, finally emerging, rather dusty with sheets in his hands. He helped Kate make the bed and she laid down with a pleased sigh.
She smiled up at Jack who gathered the dirty sheets in his arms.
"Relax for once." He said.
"I think you should do the same." Kate suggested.
"I'll be fine." Jack smiled. "Sleep tight." He said softly, before leaving the room.
------------------
Kellie made her way to Libby's gravesite, startling Hurley when she softly said Hello. He looked up at her, wild strands of hair whipping about her face as the wind blew by. She had a million dollar smile that could melt the coldest of hearts, and even in his sadness it was hard for him not to smile himself as she loomed over him.
"I'm...sorry about your loss." She said, motioning to the crude crucifix that marked Libby's grave.
Hurley wasn't sure how to reply and finally muttered a quick Thank You as Kellie sat down beside him.
Kellie wasn't sure if she was intruding but she didn't like seeing Hurley sad and alone either.
They sat in the silence for a good while, people passing and whispering, shaking their heads in sorrow over the loss of Libby, Ana Lucia, Boone & Shannon.
"Her name was Libby." Hurley finally said, causing Kellie to turn and look at him with a sweet smile, encouraging him to continue. "She uh...she was ...a psychologist? I uh...I liked her. I liked her a lot."
Kellie continued to smile, placing a hand on his lower right thigh to show her support. Hurley's heart beat faster at her touch and he felt guilty, guilty that his heart beat was quickening over another girl as he sat by Libby's grave.
"She liked me back...she...she cared about me...and she was shot...shot because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time because of ME." His voice cracked and Kellie's eyes saddened at his obvious pain.
She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, and Hurley felt comforted in her arms, and for a few moments everything felt right again.