A/N: First of all, let me just say that I am so sorry for the huge delay. I absolutely hate giving excuses since it only serves to make me feel worse, but some family and friend stuff came up(everything's explained on my profile), and then with school having started...Ugh. So, here's Kate's chapter. I hope you'll all forgive me for the outrageously long wait, and once again, I sincerely apologize!

Disclaimer: See chapter one...

Reviews- Thank you to MagicSwede1965 and DragonRider8 for reviewing!

MagicSwede1965- I'm glad you thought I did a good job!

DragonRider8- I'm really happy to know that you thought I portrayed Sawyer well! He was difficult to write, but not as difficult as Kate, as I found out. Maybe I still have some lingering traces of Writers' Block? Sorry I wasn't able to update sooner; I feel so bad about that! I hope you still like this chapter!

Returning the Favor

Something wasn't right. I had an uneasy feeling from the beginning, ever since Michael had come to us with a plea to help him get Walt back by launching an almost spur-of-the-moment rescue mission. Or maybe the sense of apprehensiveness emerged before then, when Jack and I discovered Michael wandering through the forest in the middle of the night, heading back toward camp. Whenever it started, the bottom line is that I knew there was more to the mission than the obvious. There was something else going on, something else at work, but I just didn't want to see it. I didn't want it to be real.

My suspicion only increased when, just before we set off, Michael mentioned that the Others were nothing but a bunch of hillbillies, that we'd easily overpower them. After all, we even had the element of surprise on our side.

I agreed that we had the element of surprise, but what Michael had said about the Others being hillbillies couldn't be right. Everything we'd discovered pointed to the fact that the Others were anything but hillbillies. It just wasn't possible. The Others had guns; they were smart enough to plant an imposter inside of our camp. And what about the medical hatch Claire, Rousseau, and I had stumbled upon while wandering around in the jungle, trying to restore Claire's memory of her kidnapping? All of the evidence seemed to lead us to the conclusion that it had been the Others' hatch, but that would mean that the Others were sophisticated enough to have their own medical station and to wear makeup and disguises- too sophisticated to be hillbillies.

So, where did that leave us? Michael claimed that they were hillbillies, but I was almost entirely certain that they weren't. Could it be possible that Michael was lying? But what reason would Michael have to lie to us? He was our friend, one of our fellow survivors. We'd all been through a lot together- Michael more than most maybe- but I still had a difficult time believing he would do anything to purposefully endanger the rest of us. Then again, Michael had been with the Others, and we had no idea what could have happened to him while he was a prisoner. Could the Others have found some way to turn Michael against us, to get him to betray us?

I hated thinking that Michael might betray us, but we couldn't take that risk. Although I felt bad that I couldn't bring myself to trust one of my friends, I knew what I had to do. Pulling Jack a little aside from the others, I warned him of my suspicions and doubts. Before Jack could reply though, Michael beat him to it, defending his claim by saying he was the one that had been held captive by the Others and had seen how they lived firsthand. Immediately I felt guilty about my inability to trust, but I knew somehow that I'd done the right thing. If Michael really wasn't a traitor, then warning Jack wouldn't do any harm. Besides, it was better to be prepared. Right?

As hard as I tried, even after we left the beach and started towards the Others' camp, the uneasiness I felt never fully left. Each step I took only succeeded in making me all the more troubled, and I couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was wrong, that we were heading towards more danger than we were prepared for. Telling myself it was nothing and that I was overreacting, I masked my feelings by falling into one of my usual conversations with Sawyer. After awhile, when the only sign of anything out of the ordinary was the run we had with a large bird that said something that sounded suspiciously like Hurley's name, I finally allowed myself to relax.

The relief I felt was short lived however, when the skills I had learned hunting with my dad aided me once again and I became aware of people following us. Knowing everyone else was completely clueless, I quickly decided that I had to do something, and I wasted no time in enlisting Sawyer's help in turning the tables on the two men across the river. Taking out the gun Jack had given me back on the beach, I turned and fired at the Others, Sawyer following my lead. Between the two of us, we managed to hit one, but the other man was running. Not good. Determined to stop him before he got away and the Others were alerted to our presence, Sawyer and I crossed the river and started after him, but Jack called us back. Sawyer immediately began to try to get Jack to see reason. Jack however, was adamant, leaving Sawyer and I to question his decision.

I knew Jack had to have a reason for stopping us from going after the man, but I couldn't understand his logic. He had to know that if we let the Other go, we'd be discovered. But looking at Jack, I suddenly saw how defeated he looked. What was going on? Sawyer seemed to sense it too, although he was still eying Jack with a look that seemed to question his sanity.

No one was prepared for the explanation Jack gave us. Out of all the possible explanations we were expecting, no one had even thought Jack would say it didn't matter. In fact, Jack's explanation only served to make me feel even more confused. What did he mean it didn't matter? But none of us could ponder what Jack meant for very long, because our thoughts were suddenly forgotten in hurry when he started yelling at Michael to tell us the truth.

We had no idea what was going on. What truth? Why was Jack yelling at Michael? I was so confused, and by the looks of Sawyer's and Hurley's faces, I wasn't alone. I had never seen Jack so angry. It was true he was angry at Locke after Boone had died, but this seemed different. Nothing made any sense at that moment. All I knew was that Jack was yelling at Michael, the man we were helping to get his son back, and that I had to do something. I shouted for Jack to stop, but either he didn't hear me or he didn't care, because the next minute, he had pinned Michael against a nearby tree. What was he doing? What was going on?

Then suddenly, all I could hear was Michael, begging, pleading for us to understand that he'd had to, that he hadn't had a choice. And I understood. Oh, god. I should have listened to my instincts and what they were telling. I had suspected all along what Michael was confirming now, but I just told myself I was imagining things, that Michael would never betray us. I had been right. Off the island, I wouldn't have wasted time second guessing myself. Off the island, I was a fugitive, and instincts were what I relied on to survive. I couldn't believe I'd allowed myself to be so blind, that I'd allowed myself to actually trust him.

I could only stand, horrified, as Michael told us there had been no other way, that Walt was his son. My eyes widened as I realized what he'd done, and anger surged within me. "You let Henry go?" I accused. Michael sputtered more excuses, but I knew the truth. And if he'd done that...Hurley was thinking along the same lines as well. "Did you kill Ana-Lucia...and Libby?" The silence was deafening, and we all faced him, waiting for the answer we already knew. Again, Michael offered excuses. But this time, I wasn't paying attention. I felt sick. He'd betrayed us. We were his friends, and he'd repaid us by murdering Ana-Lucia and Libby in cold blood, letting Henry go, and then trying to lead us into a trap. How could he?

Betrayal wasn't new to me. I'd been betrayed many times before- by my mom, by my dad, by Ray. I was used to it. But that didn't mean it didn't still hurt. Especially here, on the island, where I'd essentially started over, where I'd tried to forget the past.

Out of all of us, it wasn't hard to see that Hurley was the most affected and the most hurt by the revelation of Michael's betrayal, which wasn't surprising because of how close he had been to Libby. I had felt bad for Hurley originally, knowing how it felt to lose someone I loved. But I couldn't imagine how he must have felt after learning one of his friends was responsible for Libby's death. That's why Hurley declaring he was going to head back to camp wasn't unexpected. What was unexpected was Jack's reaction, however. I never thought Jack would prevent Hurley from going back to camp, especially with what we had just discovered.

When Jack explained why Hurley couldn't go back to camp, Hurley turned to him, accusing him of leading us into danger and reminding me that Jack had known that Michael had betrayed us. He had known Michael was leading us into a trap, and he had still let us follow Michael into the forest, without warning us ahead of time. I had hoped Jack would have at least warned me, and I was hurt when I found out he had known all along what Michael was planning, what Michael had done. But I also knew, from looking at Jack, that he had done what he thought was best and that he was sorry.

I knew better than anyone that, despite what the other survivors thought, Jack wasn't perfect. He might be the leader, but he was still human, and all humans have their faults. I'd always known that Jack wasn't the invincible hero that everyone made him out to be, and seeing him then just confirmed it. He was desperate for us to believe that he wouldn't have lead us out there and into danger without a plan. And I believed him, because Jack felt responsible for our safety and I knew that he wouldn't have kept the truth from us without a good reason. He'd never lead us astray before, and even though I was wary about trusting anyone, especially after what had just happened with Michael, I trusted Jack. He'd done a lot for me. He'd been there for me when everyone else learned that I was a fugitive and turned away. And now it was time for me to return that favor and trust him in return.

A/N: So, that's it. 'Daring to Trust' is now officially complete. I decided to stop there since the series focuses on the choices the characters made during the finale, and Kate's was whether or not to continue on with Jack. I'm currently working on the next story in the series, 'Down the Hatch,' which is about Locke's, Eko's, Charlie's, and Desmond's POVs. I'm trying to get it done before Season 3 premieres this Wednesday, but I'm fighting a losing battle. If I'm lucky I'll get two out of four chapters done, but that's only if I don't get much homework. Either way, I'm hoping it won't take as long to update as it did with this one.

Thanks for reading, and remember: I'd appreciate any constructive criticism.

LostObsession, a.k.a. Ana