There is swearing in this chapter, be warned!


Chapter 17

"There is no hatch!" Jack said angrily through gritted teeth to one of the crew from the cruise ship.

The crew member sighed. "Well I've had six people at least tell me Mr.-er..?"

"Shepherd ." Jack supplied bitterly.

"Mr. Shepherd ." Continued the crew member. "And they all mentioned a hatch and a button and they all mentioned you ."

"THERE IS NO HATCH!" Jack yelled angrily, getting a few strange and worried looks from the other survivors who were standing a little way off. His eye caught hold of Sun holding a frightened looking Lilly's hand and his heart jumped.

If they went to the hatch they would find Kate, and if they found Kate…. Well he didn't want to think about that. There was a Marshal on board the ship, and they already had a list of everyone on the plane. They knew Kate was still alive, and they were looking for her.

If he could buy Kate some time, then maybe she could get away, blend in somehow. Logically, he knew it was hopeless, but there is something inside every human being that urges us to try, to keep going, even when we know we can't, even when we know all hope is lost. And that was what urged Jack on now.

Suddenly the guy Jack recognised as a Marshal came over. "I'll take over," he said with a smile, the crew member nodded, glad to leave.

"Jack, right?" The Marshal stated, rather than asked. "Heard a lot about you. You're the leader, the hero. You seem like a nice guy to me, or at least that's what everyone's said about you. Then again, they keep mentioning this hatch, which you seem to think…doesn't exist." There was a long, drawn out silence. "Well?" the Marshal asked, looking as if he expected some sort of confession.

Jack tired to look as relaxed as possible. "I told you," he said, trying to keep himself calm. "There is no hatch; I don't know what there talking about."

The Marshal raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Oh really? Why don't you and I go for a walk Jack?" Jack found himself forced to oblige.

"You know Jack, I wasn't born yesterday." The Marshal said dryly. "You see, four people have already told me Kate Austen is here. Alive, On this Island. They also told me you two were 'close' and I'm guessing she's hiding out at the hatch right now. And that's why you won't admit there is a hatch, which, I know there is. Now, there's two things you can do. You can help me get there sooner, by taking me there, or," he took his gun out of his holster, "there's that other way."

"You hurt anyone and I swear to god I'll shoot you myself you basted!" Jack turned round to see Sawyer approaching, his newborn son cradled in his arms.

The Marshal didn't seem angry at Sawyer's sudden and blunt appearance, instead he grinned. "Ah, you must be Sawyer, I heard about you too. You and Kate." He turned back to Jack. "See Jack, no point in being all difficult, it there? I got it all figured out already." He pointed the gun lazily at Jack. "You're all gonna be heroes when you get back to the real world. I'd hate to spoil that by telling everyone how uncooperative you were."

Jack didn't say anything. Sawyer shot off a bunch of curses and threats, but this seemed to just amuse the Marshal. "Don't let your kid hear that Sawyer." He said quietly, "or you don't know what his first word might be."

Sawyer looked like he wanted to put a bullet in the Marshal's head, and if he hadn't been holding his son Jack was sure he would have beaten the crap out of the Marshal at least. But it was no use; there was nothing they could do.

"Take me to the hatch," the Marshal repeated, and when no one moved, he got impatient. "Now!" still, neither Jack or Sawyer moved.

"Fine!" the Marshal snapped. "But if you don't take me to this 'hatch', if you don't help, I'll make sure that little wife of yours never gets out."

Sawyer took a step forward, but before he could do anything, Jack punched the Marshal hard in the jar. The force of it sent him to the ground, and his gun went off with a bang that echoed throughout the jungle. The Marshal scrambled to his feet, and Jack slammed him against a tree.

"If we take you there, if we give her to you! Will you promise you won't do anything to jeopardise her case-to ruin her chances?" he shouted.

"What chances?" the Marshal spat, he threw Jack off, "I won't say anything, but only because she doesn't have a chance anyway!"

"There's another condition!" Jack barked, ignoring the last comment which he knew, deep down, could be an awful truth. "You give Sawyer time to say goodbye."

The Marshal was quiet for a long time. "Five minutes." He finely agreed.

"Fifteen at least!" Sawyer growled in a menacing voice. The Marshal threw him a glare but didn't object.

The walk to the hatch seemed to take forever, and in a way, Sawyer wished it would. He wished that they could just keep walking, like this forever and ever, that they would just keep going and for some reason they would never get there and the walking would never end, but soon reality broke through as they arrived at the hatch door.

The Marshal headed for the door but Jack pulled him back by the scruff of his neck. "Give them 15 minutes, alone!" he stated. For a minute Sawyer thought a fight might break out, but the Marshal just nodded.

Everything felt strangely surreal to Sawyer as he walked into the hatch. He noticed Ana Lucia straight away, fast asleep on the couch. For some reason he looked down at his son, he was awake, staring up at him with Kate's eyes, Sawyer wondered numbly if he would ever get to know his mum.

It seemed to take forever to walk into the room he knew Kate was in, the pain was cutting like a knife and he wondered if he would be able to tell her at all. Wild plans raced through his head, but each was as futile and stupid as the other.

He had never felt so much all at once, so much pain and so much helplessness.

Kate was sitting up on the bunk bed, tired but awake. She smiled at him as he walked in. "How's our boy, and where's Lilly?" she asked, looking for her daughter.

"She's not here." Sawyer managed to answer. His voice sounded strange, like it wasn't even his own.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked, immediately sensing something was astray. "What happened, Is Lilly ok? Is he ok!"

"Everyone's fine." Sawyer answered, trying hard to hide the emotion that was threatening to show in his voice. He handed their son back into her arms. She had to hold him; this could be her last chance.

"Sawyer, what's wrong?" Kate asked. She sounded frightened and confused. Sawyer tried hard to avoid her eyes. If he looked her in the eye, he might just break down entirely.

"Sawyer…." Kate persisted.

"There's a boat Kate."

Kate seemed confused by this statement, "A boat?" she questioned, not understanding. Sawyer could feel himself breaking inside, God, why did it have to hurt this much?

"A cruise ship," he said hoarsely, "they saw smoke, and, they found us…" A sudden realization passed over Kate and fear crept into her eyes.

"They have a list," Sawyer continued, "and, and they know. There's a Marshal outside. We have about 10 minutes left."

Kate didn't reply. She was hugging her child close to her. The look on her face was utterly heartbreaking. The sudden life she'd been forced to make, the life in which she was so settled in, had been torn completely apart within a matter of seconds.

Sawyer took her into his arms, hugging her hard. "I love you Freckle's," he whispered fiercely. "I ain't gonna let them take you away. We can escape, now!"

"How?" Kate whispered. Her voice trembled as she spoke, but she was holding back the tears, at least for now. "Sawyer, I can hardly walk."

"I know," he admitted, still holding her tight. "But I ain't gonna let them take you!"

"There's nothing you can do." She sounded utterly broken.

He drew back a bit, so she was looking him in the eyes. "I love you, you know that right?" he asked. She nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to stop the tears.

"Well then you know we'll be together soon." He held onto her tightly again.

Kate suddenly pulled back and Sawyer turned around to see Jack standing behind them. "Times up," he said quietly.

Instead of sobbing Kate tried hard to compose herself. She nodded, giving her son what might be their last hug, and whispering "I love you" into his ear, then she handed him to Sawyer who handed him to Jack and then helped a shaky Kate to her feet.

Ana Lucia had entered the room now; she seemed to have been already informed of the situation. "I'm sorry Kate," she whispered softly, pulling her into a hug. Kate didn't speak, just hugged her tight. "We'll get you out," Ana whispered, "I was a cop, I'll pull a few strings, I promise."

"Can you look after him while, while I say goodbye?" Kate asked softly.

"Of course," Ana took him into her arms off Jack.

"I'm so sorry Kate," Jack whispered, pulling her into a tight embrace, rubbing her back as it to soothe her. "Sawyer and I are going to get you out Kate, we all are." Still Kate said nothing.

At last she allowed herself to fall back into Sawyer's arms. She felt his warm, strong arms around her, took in his touch and even the way he smelt, and for a moment felt safe.

An impatient knocking from the Marshal brought them back to reality.Slowly Sawyer helped Kate towards the hatch door. Kate felt terror rise up within her, and for a moment she felt like she might black out. She clutched Sawyer's hand hard, never wanting to let go.

The Marshal was waiting impatiently for them. As soon as Kate appeared he produced a pair of handcuff and dangled them in front of her. "Hold your hands out." He ordered.

In numb disbelief Kate held her hands out and felt the cold metal once again lock around her and hold her prisoner.

"Lets not waste anymore time then," the Marshal said with a grunt, "it's almost dark."

The Marshal grabbed Kate roughly by the arm and dragged her forwards, and within seconds Sawyer retaliated. "Don't touch her like that! I swear to God, you hurt one fucking hair on her head, and I'll fucking kill you!" he was breathing hard, and meant every word of what he had said.

The Marshal ignored him, and began to pull Kate along with him at a fast pace.

They'd only been walking for about five minute when Kate tripped and fell. Sawyer was immediately at her side. "Are you ok?" he asked, hauling her to her feet. Kate nodded, even though it was obvious she wasn't. After all, it was only hours ago that she'd given birth, and with everything that was happening, she was surprised she had walked this far.

"What's the hold up?" complained the Marshal.

"Shut up!" Sawyer roared, "Can't you see she's exhausted? She's just had akid for fucks sake!"

He turned back to Kate, suddenlygentle, and picked her up. She felt so light and limp in his arms. He just wanted to hold her there, safe forever. Kate didn't say anything, she could feel him shaking slightly as he held her, and she could almost hear the thumping of his heart as beat inside his chest at a furious rate.

The walk continued, slow and in strained silence. Kate buried her head into Sawyer's shoulder and he felt her hot tears through the thin fabric. He placed one hand protectively on her head, playing with her tangled curls. He could feel the lump in his own throat getting bigger, but he pushed it back. It was alright for Kate to break down, but not him, he had to be strong for her at least.

There weren't many people on the beach when they got there. Sawyer couldn't see Sun or Lilly anywhere, he couldn't see Charlie, Aaron or Claire either, and he assumed they must already be on the ship.

A lifeboat was quickly loaded with the last of the survivors, including Ana Lucia, Jack, and his own son. Slowly it made its way towards the cruise liner with its second last load of people. Kate heard the noise of the boat and clutched onto Sawyer tighter, head still buried into his shirt. She knew they were next.

When it came back Sawyergot miserably into it. Kate was visually sobbing now, shoulder heaving, but she still kept her face buried in Sawyer's shirt, as if ashamed to show her tears.

The two crew members in the boateyed them with some confusion. Sawyer ignored them and the Marshal. Instead he rested his chin on Kate's head and closed his eyes, wishing it would all be over.

It was worse than he imagined when they got on the ship. A path had been marked out for them, with plenty of crew members guarding it, but it was completely surrounded by passengers. Sawyer, who wasn't used to crowds anymore, felt a little jumpy just seeing so many eyes staring directly at him.

Kate was trembling now; face still hidden from the world. With a feeling of suffocating dread, Sawyer made his way through the crowd, followed by the Marshal.