Hey gang, I'm back with a new update so please be sure to read and review. The crappy thing was I had this done early Tuesday afternoon but wouldn't let me download it till now. Warning some mention of rape in this chapter, nothing too graphic though.

CHAPTER 19

Jack managed to get Kate awake and dressed before Hurley showed up for his shift. Even though every one knew Kate and Jack were together Jack didn't want to show off his relationship in front of Hurley. Jack knew the man was still crushed over the death of Libby and Jack didn't want to do anything to make it harder on him. He couldn't even imagine what he would have done if he came in and saw Kate lying in a pool of blood. He'd probably lose his mind. Jack shook his head clearing the morbid thoughts from his head. He glanced over at Kate who was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine and he found himself smiling at her beauty. He had no idea how he had gotten so lucky to have her in his life, but he would never take her for granted. She glanced up and saw him staring at her.

"Are you checking me out?" she asked her tone flirty.

Jack smiled as he walked over to the couch and leaned down so their faces were inches apart. "What are you going to do if I am?"

Kate looked at him and looked around the room as if seeing if they were alone. "Well, I might have to tell my boyfriend." She said in a hushed voice her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Your boyfriend?" Jack asked raising his eyebrows. "I don't think there's any reason to bring him into this."

"He's awfully strong and very sexy" Kate said. "I don't know, if he came in and saw you he may feel compelled to beat you up."

"Oh, so you think I should be afraid huh?" Jack asked brushing his nose gently against hers.

"I would be, he's awfully protective of me." Kate said leaning her lips closer to his.

"Well, I guess what he doesn't know can't hurt him." before she could reply Jack closed the distance and gave her a deep kiss. They pulled apart when they heard the hatch door slam and footsteps enter. They watched as Hurley entered the room. The man seemed broken and sad, not the Hurley they had all gotten used to.

"Hey Hurley" Kate said softly. Hurley looked up and noticed Jack and Kate for the first time.

"Oh hey guys, I thought Shannon and Sayid were down here." Hurley observed.

"Yeah they were, we just thought we'd give them a break." Jack explained.

"That's cool, Charlie should be down here soon, so if you guys need to take off." Hurley said motioning towards the door

Jack shot Kate a concerned look and then moved over to Hurley. "Hey if you don't want to be down here, I can cover your shift" Jack offered.

Hurley gave him a sad smile "No, its ok dude. I actually don't mind being down here, it's like I can feel her or something. Makes me feel close to her." Hurley shrugged. Jack patted him on the back and Kate got up from the couch to leave with him when Hurley called back to Jack.

"Hey Jack?" Jack stopped and turned back. "Uh, what are we going to do about Michael?" Jack couldn't believe he had actually forgotten about Michael he had been so wrapped up in Kate and the baby talk he had completely blocked him out of his memory. Before he could answer though, Hurley continued. "I mean Walt's back and the Others are dead what do we do now? What do we tell Walt, I mean he can't keep thinking his dad is working down here? That's what they told him last night and we went with Claire and that Alex girl. I mean what do we do?" Hurley asked.

Jack sighed, in reality he had no idea what to do. If Michael didn't have a kid this could have been solved right away. "I don't know Hurley, I'm actually on my way to Sayid now so maybe he and I can figure something out." Jack said trying to reassure the man.

"You saw them didn't you?" Hurley asked. "You saw the Others and they were really bad right?'

Jack nodded slightly, "Yeah Hurley, from what I saw they were monsters."

"So Michael had a good reason to believe that they would hurt Walt?" Hurley asked

"I think he did yes, the other two children in the camp were executed, so I'm sure Michael was very scared." Jack agreed.

"Do you condone what he did to Ana and Libby?" The question threw Jack.

"I don't condone that he killed our people no. I do however understand his panic, if I saw what I did and knew they had my child I don't know what I would be willing to do to get her back." Jack said.

"So now that the Others are gone and Walt is back, maybe we could let Michael go?" Hurley asked curiously.

"What would you like to happen Hurley?" Jack asked carefully.

"I think I want you to let him out. I hate him and I hate what he did to Libby but there has been so much lost already, why should Walt have to suffer?" Hurley said looking at the floor.

"I will take that into consideration when I talk to Sayid, ok?" Jack asked him putting his hand on Hurley's shoulder. Hurley nodded and gave Jack a nod.

"Thanks Jack." Hurley said and Jack knew it was sincere.

Jack exited the hatch and felt Kate slip her hand into his and give him a reassuring squeeze. When they were in the jungle and away from the hatch, Kate finally spoke.

"So what do you really think about Michael?" Kate asked curiously.

Jack sighed, "I think Michael is lucky because if Walt wasn't here I would have a bullet into him at the minute I got back" Jack said his voice monotone. Kate looked at him out of the corner of her eye and she saw Jack in his military form. No one but her had ever seen him like this and sometimes it scared Kate to death, other times it turned her on. She gave his hand another squeeze and he turned his attention to her. They had just arrived at the beach and Kate told Jack she was going to go sit with Claire while he talked to Sayid. Jack had given her a strange look when she passed on the important conversation. She explained it was best not to tempt her, with that she had rubbed her belly and was off walking down the sand. Jack watched her like a hawk until he saw her meet up with Claire. He then turned his attention on finding Sayid.

He saw the man sitting down the beach looking out at the ocean. He approached his friend and sat down next to him.

After a few minutes he finally spoke. "Hurley would like for us to let Michael go, for Walt's sake."

Sayid gave him a slightly shocked glance. "What do you think Jack?"

Jack chuckled his voice harsh and cold, "He didn't kill the woman I love so if Hurley wants to forgive him then my respect lies with Hurley." Jack said fiddling with his shoe.

"And had it been Kate who was down there in the hatch?" Sayid asked. He watched as a full blaze of fire swept through Jack's eyes and then as his eyes turned deadly and cold.

"I'm not a saint" he said darkly "I doubt I would have room in my heart for forgiveness, I would have ended Michael the minute I saw her body." Sayid didn't doubt for one second that Jack was telling the complete truth.

"We don't really have much of a legal system here and I'm not sure how to even establish one." Sayid said looking out at the sea.

"I claim right now, I don't want to be in charge of it." Jack said ruefully.

"And here I thought you already were." Sayid said with a small smile and Jack smirked.

"Yeah well priorities change. I went after the Others to get Walt back, but I also did it because I knew we'd never be safe while they were out there. They took Claire, who's to say they weren't planning on snatching Sun or whoever the next person they saw in the jungle might be. I had to do it for her." Jack said. Sayid followed Jack's gaze to Kate who was sitting on the beach holding Aaron and laughing. He nodded as he watched his own love Shannon giggling next to them. "She's my main priority now" Jack said.

Jack looked over and saw Alex and Walt walking towards them.

"Hey Dr. Jack!" Walt yelled waving his hands. Jack smiled at the young boy and the girl who gave him a shy smile.

"Hi guys what are you up to?" Jack asked.

"I was just showing Alex around the beach so she doesn't get lost. Do you think I can go to the hatch to see my dad?" Walt asked. Jack looked at Sayid and they both nodded.

"Actually, Walt I was just about to go get your dad now so why don't you wait for him on the beach, ok?" Sayid asked.

Walt nodded and excitedly started to chase after Vincent. Jack gently reached out and took Alex's arm. She glanced up and gave him another shy smile.

"Would you mind taking a walk with me?" Jack asked the girl softly. Alex nodded and Jack said goodbye to Sayid who was off to release Michael. Jack led Alex down the beach and then gestured for her to sit. When they were both settled Jack started to talk.

"So how was your evening? Everything go ok?" Jack asked giving her an easy going smile.

Alex smiled back, "Yes, I stayed with Claire and she was really nice, she even let me hold Aaron" the girl said with a spark of excitement. "How about you? You were gone a long time." Alex said.

Jack chuckled to himself. "Yeah I had a good night too. Kate and I ended up staying the night together at the caves." He said not wanting to go into any details.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Alex asked concerned. "She hit you pretty hard yesterday."

Jack smiled at the young girls protectiveness, "Kate was mad at me because I lied to her, she had every right to be angry with me. We made up though and I don't think she's going to be hitting me again anytime soon." Jack said with a reassuring smile. Alex just nodded and looked out at the sea. Jack continued, "Alex would you mind if I asked you some questions about the Others." He watched as she visibly tensed. "Only answer the questions you're comfortable with and if you don't want to answer that's ok, I won't be mad."

Alex looked at him and gave a small nod.

"The man that I killed who had Walt tied up, was he the leader?" Jack asked.

"Yes, he was the one that made all the decisions. His name was Tom" Alex replied.

"There were only 8 men including Tom, was that all of them?" He watched as Alex counted in her head. Finally she nodded.

"There used to be more but Tom went crazy after awhile. He was convinced everyone was trying to hurt him. He started killing his own men until there were barely any left." Alex said softly.

Jack took a deep breath knowing the next couple questions were going to be hard. "Alex did they hurt you?" Alex bowed her head and shrugged after a few minutes she looked up at him bravely trying to hold her head up.

"They would hit me and kick me sometimes." She said

"Did they ever touch you, or hurt you in a really bad way?" Jack sighed he didn't know how to ask her. Then he thought of something. "Alex did they ever hurt you the way the other women were hurt?" He watched as Alex's eyes widened. She then shook her head hard.

"No, a couple of them tried but Tom would stop them. He said I was his and that I was going to be his bride. I don't even know what a bride is, but he insisted I was going to be one" Alex said softly and Jack's blood ran cold. Thank god he got there when he did. He noticed Alex crying quietly

"I heard the women screaming" she whimpered. "The men were hurting them bad and I couldn't help them. I can still hear their screams." With that Jack took Alex in his arms and let her cry. He stroked her hair gently. This poor kid had been through too much for someone at her young age. Alex hugged Jack's arm and relaxed in his embrace. She trusted him, if he was going to hurt her he would have done it already. Jack just comforted her and reassured her everything is going to be ok.

Down the beach Kate, Claire and Shannon were sitting in the sand and playing with Aaron. Kate liked to hold him because she wanted the practice.

"Uh oh Kate looks like someone has a crush on Jack" Shannon said with a tease in her voice.

Kate was looking down at Aaron but replied, "I swear if it's Susan I'm going to rip her hair out by the roots." Kate said in a sing song voice to Aaron. They baby smiled and patted her face with his tiny hands.

"Nope not Susan" Shannon said. Kate glanced up and saw Jack and Alex walking down the beach. Jack was talking to her and Alex was hanging on his every word. Kate couldn't help the big smile that came over her face.

"That's so cute" Kate said. "I think she does have a crush on Jack."

"She couldn't stop talking about him last night" Claire said with a smile. "She told me how Jack came in and rescued her and Walt. The poor thing wouldn't talk unless it was about Jack. Then Walt told her stories about Jack and the poor thing nearly had a heart attack when he told her about Jack being trapped in the cave-in." Claire said with a smile.

Kate shuddered, "I don't like that story either."

"You're awfully cool with her spending time with Jack" Shannon said with a smirk.

Kate rolled her eyes at the blonde, "She's sixteen Shannon."

"So I was sixteen once too and let me tell you I wouldn't have cared about age." Shannon said laughing.

"I think the circumstances are just a bit different Shannon. Alex has been isolated from people and Jack is probably the first man she's ever met who hasn't tried to hurt her. I'm glad she has someone like him to look up to. I wish I had someone in my life when I was her age to help me out." Kate said. She then realized that she had just spoken about her past. She looked up and saw Claire and Shannon looking at her concerned. Kate just shrugged, "Let's just say I didn't have a great father. It's funny Jack didn't have real good parents either, that's why I know when he and I have a baby we're going to work overtime to make sure we do everything right." Kate said with a smile.

"Wow, I would have figured Jack came from one of those cookie cutter homes where everything is perfect." Shannon said. She was answered by Kate's snort.

"I never knew my father," Claire said softly. "He took off when I was born, he was married and had a family in LA and left me and my mom behind."

"Sounds like you were better off without the jerk" Shannon said.

"Yeah, but I always wonder every once in awhile, where he is, what's he doing, does he ever think about me? I actually have a picture of him; my mom had it and gave it to me on my 18th birthday."

"That's all you know?" Kate asked.

"Well, I know what he looks like and I know his first name." With that Claire reached into her bag and pulled out a small snapshot that had been tucked in between the pages of a book. "Ironic that it survived the crash huh?"

Kate and Shannon peered at the picture. He was handsome and there was something about him, but Kate couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"Well hello ladies, are we looking at our photos from our last vacation?" the three girls all looked up to see Sawyer standing there with a smirk.

"It's a picture of my dad." Claire said handing the photograph to Sawyer. The southerner almost looked surprised at how quickly he was brought into the conversation. Shannon asked Claire something and they started talking. Kate kept her eye on Sawyer as he looked at the photo. She noticed as he suddenly looked pale. He cleared his throat and handed the picture back to Claire.

"Hey Freckles, would you mind giving me a moment of your time?" Sawyer asked.

Kate regarded him warily. This was the first time they had spoken since he had grabbed her. Even though Jack said things were worked out she wasn't sure she wanted to be off gallivanting with him. "Please Freckles, it's important." Sawyer said stress in his voice.

"Fine" Kate said as she stood up. "We can go right there." Kate pointed to a spot on the beach where no one was camped out but still close to Claire's tent. She followed Sawyer over. "Alright what is it?" she asked, her arms folded across her chest. She looked down the beach and saw Jack and Alex sitting in the sand deep in conversation. The last thing she wanted was for Jack to see her with Sawyer and get ticked off.

"That picture was supposed to be of Claire's old man right" he asked and Kate nodded wondering where this was going. "I've met him Kate, I met him in Sydney. Now you want to know the real shitter? That guy in the picture, is Jack's father."

Oooh cliffhanger ending, or something like it ok be sure to hit the little review button.