Kate remained silent throughout the short trip to the larger boat, which at second glance appeared to be some sorts of a cruise liner. Kate was glad knowing that tonight, her children would sleep for the first time in a real bed. She knew that Jack would put them into a double bed with him as well, as none of the three liked to sleep alone. After the long years of finally being a family, Jack and Kate had not spent one night apart in eight years, and nearly six of those sleeping in a cave with their children beside them. No wonder neither of them had welcomed rescue.
Then, halfway to the cruise liner, it happened.
She noticed that one of the boats men was speaking into a walkie-talkie, communicating with the other boats and ticking off the names of survivors on the manifest. She heard them mention Claire and Aaron, that he had been born on an island. Then, after an age it seemed, he came over to them. Kate grimaced, and Jack grasped her hand reassuringly. She managed to give him a small smile. There was no running this time.
"Ok guys, mind if I check your names?" The Australian man, Ken, asked them cheerfully.
"Jack and Kate Sheppard." Jack answered for them. Kate smiled, it wasn't the first time she imagined his surname with her forename, but it was the first time that he had spoken it. It made it sound real, attainable even. In everyway except the ceremony, however, they were married.
The man looked down the list. "I've not got a Kate Sheppard." He said awkwardly, eyeing Kate with a strange look.
Kate sighed, and looked at her children, who were staring up at their parents, slightly confused. Curtis sat in Kate's lap, as she had needed to stop him leaning over the side of the boat and falling in the water. Kaia could swim, yet this far out it was a no go. Usually it was only in the shallows of the sea on a calm day, and Curtis was way too young in her eyes seeing as they had no inflatables for him. However, she had expected curious Kaia to be the one leaning over the edge, yet it was Curtis who struggled against her to try and dip his hands in the passing waves.
"Austen." She said heavily, feeling like she was handing herself over. "Kate Austen."
The man grinned cheerfully again. "That's the one. There you are." He ticked her name, and then crouched down to the kids. "Pretty kids. They on the flight?" He asked innocently.
"No." Jack said. "They were born on the island."
"Aha, just like the other little guy." He noted, meaning Aaron. "And what are your names?"
"Kaia-Sahara, and my brother's called Curtis." Kaia said proudly. Kate always loved that tone of voice in her daughter when she spoke her full name, how proud and sure she was of herself. She smiled softly, smoothing her hair for a moment, and catching Jack's eye.
"Pretty names too." The boatsman complimented. "Can you tell me how old they are?"
"Kaia's five, and Curtis is two." Kate answered softly.
"Both surname Sheppard?"
Kate nodded. He made a note of their names on the bottom of the manifest. "Well, thats all thanks." He said, wandering back off and speaking into the walkie-talkie, announcing their names.
On the other boat, Claire, Charlie, Sun, Shannon and Sawyer all heard Kate's name being announced, over the manifest. They exchanged mixed glances, which all turned to ones of panick and worry when they heard the boatsmen turn into his radio and mutter into it.
"Boat 12 to Main deck."
"Recieving boat 12, go ahead."
"Yes sir, we've got Austen."
"Ready and waiting for you boat 12, over."
Claire looked like she was about to cry. "Oh no." She whispered. She glanced over the side of the boat, spotting Jack and Kate in the last boat on their own. By the look of things, Kate had no idea what was about to happen when she hit the deck. They were clearly waiting to arrest her. Claire looked at Charlie desperately, as if he could help in some way, but all he could do was put an arm around her shoulders. He was about to speak when Sawyer spoke instead.
"It was her choice." Sawyer announced, again, showing a deeper side of him that day.
"She chose to go to prison?" Shannon asked incredulously.
"No." Sawyer said, shaking his head sadly, and looking in the same direction as Claire. "She chose to stop running."
Kate and Jack had been talking on the boat, and hadn't heard the message being sent across about Kate. Unfortunately, nearly everyone else had, and were all thinking the same thing. Shit.
She was the last to step onto the boat, with Curtis in her arms, and Kaia in Jack's as they stepped onto the hardwood deck, and she looked around at the fellow survivors. All of them looked at her with terrified glances, and some sympathetic, while some, like Sawyer's, were as more determined than anything else. She didn't notice anything wrong, until she heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked beside her.
