Chapter 50

Locke stepped into the doorway; there was a long hallway in front of him, stretching as far as he could see. He flashed his light along the wall and stopped it on the familiar Dharma logo; this one had a thrashing shark instead of a swan or an arrow. Excitement and urgency made caution difficult; he practically trotted down the hallway, his flashlight held out in front of him. His footfalls echoed eerily, bouncing off of the concrete walls; they collected and followed him as he kept going, wondering where in the world this was taking him. He wanted to find whatever it was he needed; he didn't know how long it would be until the others came back.

A mile? Two miles? Distance was impossible to judge in the blank, featureless corridor; there was nothing to break the monotony of smooth concrete walls and floor. Locke was sweating; it was growing cooler, though, and he felt the hallway rise a little in a slight but steady incline, and he smiled. He was close.

He finally stood before it; another airlock, only this one already stood ajar, inviting him to open it. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it open, blinking as bright light flooded his eyes. As they adjusted to the sudden brilliance he noticed that he was in a kind of a foyer; there were overalls and blue slickers hanging next to the door and something that looked like an umbrella stand with the Shark logo on the side; the room opened up into a hall that split three ways and after deliberating for a second Locke took the hall to the right.

It was a short hallway with a bathroom on one side and bunk rooms on the other; Locke counted the beds as he passed- there were four. The end of the hall was the kitchen; Locke bypassed that. What he needed was not here. He turned and went back to the center, this time going to the left.

The walls here were blank and smooth, too, and at the end was a door, with a security lock on it. Locke tried in vain to open the door; he kicked it in frustration and sighed; what he needed was not there either. His curiosity was aroused though, and he resolved to ask Jack for the security badge from the drains.

That left the center hallway; he sighed and walked up it until he came to another door; this one had a security lock too, but it was smashed off and the door was sagging open. Well, Locke thought. Someone wanted in here. Or out. He reached out and hesitated before opening the door; he couldn't wait, he had to find it.

John was stunned; he hadn't expected to find this.

One wall was lined with old, seventies-era televisions; they were on, and as Locke looked closer he could see the ocean surface. He scanned them all, wiping away layers of dust; they were all different views of the ocean from different parts of the island. "Hmmm. Interesting." He glanced above the TV's and groaned; a timer like the one in their hatch was ticking down; as he watched it hit four minutes and started beeping. He looked around frantically, to find the computer, but suddenly it stopped and the timer reset. When it did, the television screens flickered and reset; they flashed back up with the same scenes and an automated voice called out, "Timer reset. One hundred and eight minute surveillance countdown beginning. Nothing detected."

Locke's heart started beating again; it had frozen at the sound of the voice. What the hell was that about? He shook it off, time for questions later; now he needed to find it, and it was close. The wall to his left had some metal shelves with some books lying haphazardly on it and next to that was a file cabinet. John opened it and rifled through the files; nothing. He glanced to the other side of the room, where there were two computers and another television; Locke went closer to investigate. The TV was on, but it was blank; there was nothing in the picture. John tapped at the buttons on the computer but nothing happened; shrugging he turned as something caught his eye, tucked behind the computer. He smiled as he reached and pulled it out; this is it. He tossed it in his hand and tucked it in his pocket, grinning; now he could take his time and explore. He went to the file cabinet and started pulling out files.

-----

The descent into the valley was easier on Ana than the climb; she still sighed with relief as they finally stepped onto level ground; even more so when they melted into the jungle; the canopy at least offered some shade from the sun.

She and Jack walked close, hands touching, but not quite holding. He was worried, still; jealousy flashed through her because she knew it was Kate he was concerned about. "I'm sure she's fine." Jack glanced at her, questioningly. "Kate. She's the one you're worried about." He didn't deny it, and she moved away from him a step. "As always."

"I'm worried about you both, Ana." He didn't try to move closer to her, and she suddenly hated Kate even more; she almost turned around and went back to the hatch to let Jack go after his friggin' girlfriend; only the thought of climbing back up the mountain stopped her.

Ana could feel her anger rising and she didn't really want to be mad right now, so she changed the subject. "What was your wife like? Ex-wife." She amended quickly, catching his look.

Jack sighed. Why did women insist on asking questions like this? He didn't mind talking to women, in fact, he loved it, but these questions...there were never good answers to these. "She was...great."

Ana cocked her eyebrows at him. "That's it? She was great? Wow, I feel like I know her already." She threw him a look of disgust as he chuckled at her.

"I don't know, what do you want to know?" He was still looking at the ground, smiling.

"What did she look like? That's always a good place to start."

"Well, looks aren't everything, you know." He looked aside at her, grinning. "But she wasn't ugly."

Ana rolled her eyes. "Blonde? Redhead? Oh, I know, brunette. You seem to have a thing for them." She moved back a step closer.

"Blonde. Blue eyes."

"How did you meet her?"

Jack sighed, glancing over at Ana. "Why the sudden interest?"

Ana moved to his side; he was uncomfortable with the subject, but she really was eager to know. "I wanna know what kind of woman makes you tick, Jack. Other than Kate."

He ignored the jab and sighed. "She was in a car accident; crushed spine. She was never going to walk again." he paused and glanced aside at Ana. "But she did. Somehow, some way, I fixed her, and she walked again." he smiled sadly. "And away, eventually."

Ana nodded; the truth was dawning on her. He wanted a woman he could fix. "Jack, you can't fix Kate."

Glaring at her, he asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

She stopped, putting her hand on him. "I've watched you, Jack, more than you know. I like to study people," she grinned, "Especially you. I know how you drive yourself, and I get it now; you want to help everyone, fix all of their problems so you don't have to focus on yours. Because you think, maybe, if you help enough people you can make up for the ones you can't. And that includes you. And Kate," she rolled her eyes, "that girl needs some serious fixing." She nodded at the look in Jack's eyes; she was on target. She sighed and leaned close to him, trying to be as kind as she could. "You can't fix her, Jack. That isn't for you to do."

"I know." Grinning to himself, he said, "It's cute that you're so jealous."

She looked into his eyes. "Do I have anything to be jealous of?" He didn't answer right away and she smiled sadly, dropping her hand from his arm. "Right."

"Ana, wait," He grabbed her arm, spinning her back to him. "I will always feel something for Kate. I can't stop that. But I know nothing will come of it. So, no, you don't really have a reason to be jealous." He pulled her close, and she didn't struggle; he grazed her lips with his and she sighed and leaned into him.

She didn't want to say it, but she had to. "If Sawyer died tomorrow, and Kate came to you, would you drop me for her?" She pulled back and looked in his eyes. "And I will know if you're lying."

He frowned at her. "I can't answer that, Ana."

That was answer enough. "Right. That's okay, you just did." She pulled away angrily and kept walking, leaving Jack shaking his head in defeat. Women.

-----

Eko and Vincent had returned just before dawn; Kate and Sawyer were still awake, sitting curled up together by the burnt-out fire. They had talked all night; Sawyer filled her in on everything he knew which wasn't much, but it was plenty to scare Kate to death.

They had crossed the pass quickly and quietly; no one talked much, not even Vincent. Kate didn't look at the carved stone as they passed; it made her a little sick still. As they pushed further into the jungle, Vincent stopped, sniffing the air; he woofed softly at Sawyer, who glanced up sharply. "What?"

They all stopped as Vincent barked again, and even Kate could detect the urgency in it. "Yeah, Rover," Sawyer said, looking concerned. "Go check it out. But be careful."

Vincent disappeared into the trees and Kate looked up at Sawyer with fear; she hoped it wasn't Frank again. Even after Eko's warning, she wasn't entirely sure Sawyer could restrain himself around him. She thought she might be putting the pieces together; Sawyer couldn't do what he wanted to so badly because it would destroy him, but if he didn't, that was one hole in their defense that they couldn't patch and that would destroy them; it was a catch-22, and Kate didn't know how to handle it. But it was most importatnt that Sawyer not fall under the Island's control; he could not kill Frank Sawyer. "What is it, Sawyer?"

Sawyer shook his head, dropping his gaze from the trees to Kate; he smiled a little. "He just said someone was close." Hugging her close he said, "Don't worry, Freckles. We'll be okay."

Eko came to them, glancing into the jungle. "James, I think it would be best if you keep your abilities between us for now, no matter who it is we run into. That includes talking to Vincent; I know it is natural to speak to him, but it is not wise to let on too much about you, yes?"

Sawyer nodded and Eko looked at Kate, who nodded too. "Why, Eko? I mean, shouldn't we tell our group? Jack and Locke?" She glanced up at Sawyer, who was watching Eko too. "We're all on the same side, right?"

"That remains to be seen, Katherine. Sides have not been chosen yet, not by everyone." He turned as Vincent came trotting back onto the path, grinning. Sawyer almost asked him a question before remembering that he couldn't talk to him; it was a good thing because Jack and Ana came stumbling through the bushes just as he closed his mouth.

Kate was stunned. "Jack? What are you doing out here?" Ana was glaring at her and she returned the stare; what the hell was her problem?

Jack caught his breath. "We were looking for you. Rousseau is one of Them; she led Them to us and They took Michael out of our camp."

Kate and Sawyer exchanged glances. Sawyer said, "Yeah, we know. We saw Them. We tried to stop Them, but they threatened to shoot Kate." Jack's eyes flew to Kate, looking her over to make sure she was okay.

Ana snickered nastily; she could see Jack staring at Kate. She hated Kate with a passion right now, though she knew it was irrational; it wasn't her fault at all but it was easier to hate her than Jack. "Sounds like a fair trade to me."

Kate bristled; she was already sick of Ana. "Excuse me? Do you have a problem, Butch?"

Sawyer grinned at Kate's adoption of his nickname as Ana retorted, "Yeah. I don't like being this close to a murderer. I get worried." She glared at Jack angrily before turning her attention to Sawyer. "Better sleep with one eye open, Cowboy, 'cause when she's done using you to get whatever she wants you'll wake up in a box like her other boyfriends."

Sawyer started forward angrily, but Kate blocked him; she could feel the electricity building in him and if he fried Ana, while it would be satisfying, it would also be a little hard to explain away. "What the fck do you know about it?"

"Enough," Ana spat back. "Daddy's girl."

Kate paled and Ana sniggered again. Bingo. "You don't know anything about anything. You don't know anything about me; if you did you wouldn't be pushing me, Ana."

Ana's eyes glowed softly as they faced off. "Oh, I know you Katherine Austen. Aka Maggie Ryan, Joan Hart, Katherine Dodd."

Kate slugged Ana across the jaw, sending her sprawling on the ground; she jumped up quickly. "Don't ever mention that name to me again."

Sawyer and Jack were staring at them; this was like deja-vu; Sawyer was the one to break it up this time. He grabbed Kate by the arm and she could feel her skin tingling; his touch calmed her and she stepped back, her eyes blazing as she stared at Ana, who had glanced at Jack. Sawyer pulled her against him, cradling her to his body as he whispered to her. "Stop. Okay, Freckles?"

She looked away from Ana, who was still glaring at Jack and nodded, her tension disappearing as his energy flowed into her. "Yeah, okay Tex." She grinned. "I didn't think anyone could piss me off as much as you do."

Sawyer smiled as he held her; as he watched, Jack went to Ana and said something to her angrily; she spat some words back at him then disappeared the way they had come, Jack following her into the trees.

When he was positive they had gone, he turned to Vincent, who had been observing them with raised eyebrows. "You had to bring them here? Couldn't you lead them into a well, Lassie?"

Vincent woofed and grinned; Kate laughed with Sawyer when he said, "I know. I would have liked to see them wrestle too." He cut his eyes to Kate, who was giggling, her face pressed against his chest. He sighed, then glanced at Eko. "Never a dull moment, eh Ed?"?"

Eko smiled. "A very smart man once said, 'There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibilty. Inside the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, a tragedy.'" He touched Sawyer's arm. "Let us hope yours has a happy ending."

Sawyer smiled. "I do hope that." He cocked his head. "Who said it?"

Eko grinned. "Mark Twain." He winked at Sawyer. "You know, he created the most famous mischief-maker of all time. Tom Sawyer." Laughing to himself, he and Vincent followed Jack and Ana into the jungle, leaving Kate and Sawyer smiling happily at each other.