A/N: Hello all! Sorry that this took sooooooo long for me to post. Two months isn't that long is it? Ooops. I hope you guys didn't forget about this one. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read.

Leif of Rohan- Thank you for being my first reviewer! I'm so glad that you liked it.

SassyLostie- maybe after all my college applications and what not go out I'll add even more to this and make it a WIP. Time permitting; I'd love to keep it going. Thanks for reviewing!

sassafras224- Thank you for all of your kind words. I'm glad I was able to make you swoon!

steam rolled harry potter- I'm so glad that you liked it. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

Lora- Thanks for leaving your input. I'm thrilled that you liked it so much.

Lostie8989- Sorry this part took so long to post. I hope you like it though!

Piper Chris fan- Thanks for your great review. I hope you like this part just as much as you liked the first.

Niniel204- From looking at your profile and favorite stories, I realized that English is not your first language, and I just wanted to compliment you on using the correct form of "its/its". Most people who speak English don't even do that, lol. Thanks for your review; I'm glad that you liked it.


Intervention Pt II

Kate returned with Jack hot on her heels. As the doctor inspected him, Sawyer kept his eyes on Kate. The girl refused to meet his eye and Sawyer was getting desperate. He knew why she was being distant now- she was disappointed in him. Somehow, that hurt more than the gash on his head, his bloodied fingertips, his split lip, and the stabbed artery in his arm put together. Kate had expected so much more from him and of course he hadn't delivered. Instead, he revealed himself to not only be a despicable person and a coward, but also a liar on top of it all. He knew that now he didn't stand a chance with the one person he didn't want to hurt.

"You look ok" said Jack with a sigh.

"Disappointed?" Sawyer snarked, a sneer on his lips.

"I just need to keep the bandages clean and changed. Get some rest" he said getting up, ignoring Sawyer's comment. "You coming Kate?" he asked as he started to leave the cave.

"I think I want to stay here for a while" she said softly and Sawyer couldn't figure out exactly what emotion it was in her voice.

Jack nodded and walked out, leaving them alone. There was an awkward silence for a few moments and Kate shifted her weight from foot to foot before pulling out an envelope.

"Kate…" he said softly but she cut him off.

"I read it again, and then again, because I've been trying to figure out why you beat up Boone instead of just telling him you didn't have his sister's medication. Why you pretended to have it anyway. The thing that I keep coming back around to is that you want to be hated. Then I looked at the envelope -- America's bicentennial, Knoxville, TN. You were just a kid, 8 maybe 9 years old" she said trying to keep her voice steady yet unable to speak without a slight tremor.

"Kate…" he tried interrupting one more time, still in the same soft tone.

"This letter wasn't written to you. You wrote this letter. You're name's not Sawyer, is it?" she pressed on, ignoring his interruption.

"It was his name" he said gruffly. "He was a confidence man. Romanced my momma to get to the money, wiped them out clean, left a mess behind. So I wrote that letter. I wrote it knowing one day I'd find him. But that ain't the sad part. When I was 19, I needed 6 grand to pay these guys off I was in trouble with. So I found a pretty lady with a dumb husband who had some money. And I got them to give it to me. How's that for a tragedy? I became the man I was hunting. Became Sawyer" he growled. "Don't you feel sorry for me!" he demanded, angry that he was being put in a position that he never wanted to be in. He grabbed the letter roughly from her hand and she instinctively took a step back. "Get the hell out. Get out!" he yelled, just wanting her to leave, just wanting her to stop looking at her like that.

Kate looked at him once more, this time really meeting his eyes. She broke the eye contact and turned on her heel and ran out of the cave, leaving Sawyer along with his own self loathing thoughts.


He sat on the floor of that cave for hours musing over what he could have done differently. He at least wanted to know how to fix it. How could he get Kate to stop looking at him like that? How could her get her to look at him like he looked at her? He knew that he had to find her. After all, they were both stuck on the same deserted island. She couldn't be too hard to find. He slowly sat up, wincing as he did and grabbing at his arm to keep it steady. Holding up his wounded arm with his other he made his way to his feet. He slowly and painfully put on a clean shirt that had been left next to him but gave up on buttoning it after a few feeble tries to get his tender fingers to cooperate. He left the cave and started towards the beach, stopping only by his hidden stash in the jungle to retrieve something. Cradling the object in his hand, he stuck it in his pocket before continuing towards the beach.

He didn't have to search too hard for her when he finally reached the beach. One glance at the waters edge and he saw her in the distance, sitting in the sand as the water lapped at her feet. He sighed once more and trudged over to her resting spot. If she heard him approaching she didn't acknowledge him. Instead, she remained stoical, sitting in her spot at the waters edge.

"I'm…" he started saying, but he found himself unable to finish his sentence.

After a long moment, he tried again, but found himself in the same situation. The two were in silence for a moment, Kate sitting and Sawyer standing over her. Why was it so hard for him to just apologize?

"My name is James. James Ford" he said instead.

"James" she said slowly in a voice that was almost a whisper. She played with the name as though testing it out. "It fits" she said softly, tilting her head up slightly but still not meeting his eyes.

Sawyer sat down in the sand next to her, groaning as he did and clutching at his arm.

Kate couldn't stop the small pain in her heart that she felt as he groaned and she unconsciously reached up to help him sit and to rub his arm gently. He looked at her and she dropped her hands to her sides, remembering what had occurred between them. Sawyer groaned once more, this time feeling empty without her touch.

"I didn't mean for things to work out this way" Sawyer explained. "I'm messed up Kate; it all comes down to that"

"We're all messed up" she grumbled, pulling her knees close to her body.

"Yeah, I guess we all are. I just needed some… self-absolution. I didn't mean for you to get hurt" he said sadly, looking at his feet.

"That explains why you lied about having the inhalers. But what about trying to get that kiss from me?" she asked.

"I thought that one was fairly obvious" he said, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Kate smiled in spite of herself before suppressing her grin.

"Sawyer…I mean James…I mean… see! I don't even know what to call you!" she exclaimed.

"You can call me whatever you want Freckles" he breathed as he leaned forward a little and rested his lips on her bare shoulder.

She closed her eyes at the contact, relishing the feeling. She knew that she needed to keep a clear mind though if she was going to get the answers that she wanted and needed from him so she pulled away. She tried to look away from his face so that she wouldn't see the hurt look that played so predominately on his features but she couldn't.

"Just say the words you came here to say" she prodded gently.

"I can't" he moaned.

"You can Sawyer. Please, I need to hear you say it" she continued to push.

"I'm… I'm… I'm sorry" he said finally, and all the sudden the damn broke. "I'm sorry that I've been such an ass to everyone, I'm sorry that I took after the one man that I never wanted to be, I'm sorry that I fucking let my parents and that man screw me up so bad, I'm sorry that I'm a despicable excuse for a human being, I'm sorry that I wasn't up front about the inhalers, and mostly Kate, I'm so sorry that I hurt you. That was never my intentions. But one thing I'm not sorry about Freckles is getting on that plane. It was probably the best damn thing I've ever done. Right up there with holding back on that kiss. Because if I hadn't held back, this wouldn't have meant as much" he said emotionally, suddenly grabbing her and pulling her towards him.

Their mouths met in an intense and passionate kiss. It was a kiss like none other that Sawyer had ever experienced. It was genuine, real. It was filled with longing, and not just physical desire, but emotional. It conveyed both of their emotions better than any words. Sawyer lifted his good arm to cup her face and run his fingers through her hair and her hands found their way to his shoulders and neck. The kiss deepened before they both reluctantly pulled away. Kate slowly lifted a hand to place her fingers on her now swollen lips. Sawyer leaned forward and tenderly rested his forehead on hers, both breathing deeply as they looked into each others eyes.

"I need you Freckles" he breathed.

"I need you too…James Ford" she said with a smile playing on her lips.

He reached up both hands to hold her tenderly, the foreheads still touching, but he hissed and pulled back. Kate got a caring and worried look on her face as she gently took his hands in her own and soothingly kissed each fingertip. She then slowly pulled his unbuttoned shirt off and kissed his arm, right on the bandage before reaching up and kissing his head wound.

"All better" she said softly.

"All better" he agreed. "Doc should quit and let you take over the practice" he said, but he immediately regretted it as her eyes darkened with worry.

"Jack" she said absentmindedly. "I forgot about him" she mumbled.

"And we should keep it that way" Sawyer snarked, but Kate could see the begging and pleading look in his eyes and knew that he was hiding under the obnoxious comments.

"Only you" she told him with a smile as she leaned forward and captured his lips once again in a deep kiss.

"Only you" he repeated as he kissed her back.

When they broke away again Kate moved herself so that she was sitting in his arms as they watched the sun set over the horizon.

"I…uh…got you something" Sawyer muttered.

"What? Did you go shopping at the island mall?" she teased with a grin.

"Actually, I made it for you" he said sheepishly.

Kate looked genuinely surprised and all the joking was gone from her face.

"When?" she asked.

"A few days ago" he answered as he pulled the thing out of his pocket.

"Oh my god, it's beautiful" she said as she fingered the necklace he handed her.

It was made of sea glass and shells that he had found and strung on to a piece of twine that he had hoarded in his stash.

"Put it on me?" she asked as she turned around and held up her hair.

Sawyer tied it around her neck and then dropped a kiss on her bare skin before she let her long dark hair fall back down. She turned back around to sit between his legs and he pulled her closer with his good arm, his wounded one hanging limply over her.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"You're welcome" he said back, surprised at how serene he felt.

"How do you feel?" she asked. "I hope I didn't hurt your lips" she told him, her cheeks flushing as she recalled their bruising lip-locks. She knew that his lip was split from Jack's angry outburst that night at the caves.

"Don't worry about it Freckles" he assured her. "I feel better now that you're here and kissed it all away" he said as he planted another kiss on her bare shoulder.

"Good" she said. "It was just torture for me listening to Jack and Sayid do what they did to you" she confessed as she started to tear up.

"I know" he said as he pulled her even closer. "I never meant for you to feel that way. I should have just been honest from the start"

"Yes, you should have. But that still doesn't excuse what they did to you"

"It's alright. I had an angel come and rescue me" he said with a smile.

"I'm no angel" she said, her smile slightly strained with her words.

Sawyer planted another kiss on her lips and smiled in satisfaction as her lips curved upward again.

"You're my angel. Look, I know that things are going to be complicated now that we're together, and I know that I'm not going to win Craphole Island's yearbook superlative for most popular, but…"

"I don't care" Kate interrupted. "I just wanna be with you"

"I just wanna be with you too" said Sawyer as he hugged her tightly to his body.

He noticed that the sun was almost completely set now and it was getting colder. He rubbed his hands up Kate's arms to keep her warm.

"We should head back" he said quietly.

"Yeah, back to reality" she filled in with a sigh.

"If only we could be on a deserted island together" he said sarcastically.

"Ha ha" she deadpanned before getting up and brushing the sand off of her pants. "Let's go before I fall over from laughing so hard"

"I think I'm hysterical" he teased as he got up with help from Kate.

He wrapped his good arm around Kate and held his bad arm to his chest to keep it from bouncing around too much. He kissed her neck once more as the two started the short walk back to the camp at the beach. They received some intrigued stares as they walked back to Sawyer's tent but they paid them no attention. Let the other survivors think what they wanted.


As Kate lied in Sawyer's arms that night, she knew that she was finally safe. It didn't matter that they were stranded on a strange island with polar bears and mysterious monsters and god knows what else. All that mattered was that they were together. Their harsh pasts didn't make a difference. Perhaps Sawyer was right; the island was a blessing in disguise. It was a way to put the past where it belonged- behind them. All that they both cared about at that moment was the present and the future. Sure, they couldn't know what the future would bring, but if the present was a good indication of it, which it seemed to be, the future would be bright. They both knew that they could get very used to the feeling of falling asleep in each others arms. Because somehow, everything hurt a lot less when they were together.

END


A/N: So, that's it. I hope you guys all liked it. Please review, if I get enough reviews I may even continue this story and turn it into a WIP. Let me know what you all think.

Thanks,

Leanna Ross