Falling asleep finally at four, Kate woke up two hours later, discombobulated and in pain. She was in the living room instead of in the bed. It took her a moment to remember that she'd curled up in the armchair last night, resisting the urge to throw on her coat and storm out of the apartment.

She untangled herself, standing and feeling the consequences of sleeping there – her neck was stiff and throbbing, and her legs were on pins and needles from being bent for so long. She walked to the kitchen and flipped the coffeemaker on. Then she leaned over the counter and stared out the window. It was another overcast day. Those days were Kate's least favorite. Either let it rain or shine, but she hated to see clouds that she knew would never burst open, but rather sit in the sky dejectedly.

She rubbed her neck irritably. This was going to be an unpleasant day.

As if on cue, Jack's alarm went off, and a few minutes later, he staggered into the room, still half-asleep. They looked at each other for a moment. He was the first to break eye contact, shifting his to the coffee.

"Thanks for turning it on." He muttered.

Kate didn't say anything, but turned to watch the clouds again. She could feel Jack's glare on her back.

"What, am I getting the silent treatment?" he asked with more than a touch of annoyance in his voice.

Kate didn't turn to look at him, knowing that if she did, she'd only get angrier. "No, Jack.You're not. That's a bit juvenile." She tried to make her voice even and indifferent. It didn't work.

"It's also a bit juvenile to be stubborn enough to try to fix everything on your own. Asking for help doesn't mean it's the end of the world."

This time, Kate did turn, causing a searing pain to go through her neck, traveling down her shoulders. "Do you have to keep jabbing at me? This is why –" she cut herself off mid-word, feeling shaken. She didn't want to fuel the fire. Things were bad enough right now, without her going there. She got up, despite her deep discomfort and looked through the cupboard.

Jack took a step closer, so his face was inches from hers. "This is why what?"

She slammed down a coffee cup. For a moment, she wondered if she broke it. She hoped she did, and that it was expensive. She turned to face him head-on. She was just going to spit it out. Too late now.

"This is why I didn't want to be with you in the first place. On the island? You always had to be perfect. You couldn't let any disorder or dysfunction or anything happen on your watch! Oh, no! You needed everything to be your way. Your orders. Your decisions. You can't do that all the time, Jack! You're obsessed with fixing everything. You can't put me on pills and fix me!" Kate pulled away, seething. She touched her finger tips to her forehead, trying to stop the pounding. Then she stood straight and screamed, "You can't fix everything with the push of a button!"

Jack stood a few feet away, his hands at his sides, looking shell-shocked.

Kate was breathing heavily, her mind whirring. She should have known that this wouldn't work. She should have just stayed friends with him. They were too different. She would only destroy his life, and he would only drive her crazy. Her heart broke. She loved him.

Jack picked up the porcelain cup that Kate had slammed down on the table. There was a chip at the bottom, and a sliver of a crack that spindled up to the rim. He blinked a few times and swallowed before speaking. "You think I want to fix you?" he asked, his voice defeated and broken-sounding. He shook his head. "You think that that after-"

But the phone rang shrilly over his soft voice.

They both jumped.

Kat reached over and picked it up. "Hello?" She tried to make her voice sound normal, but she was sure that whoever was on the other line would know that she was unhappier than she'd ever been in prison.

"Kate? It's Claire." Claire sounded cheerful; Kate couldn't believe that someone was cheerful when she was so miserable. How was it that the whole world wasn't as desolate as she was?

"Hi Claire." Kate waited for there to be some important reason that she and Jack were interrupted.

"Did I wake you? I just wanted to confirm that we were still getting coffee this morning at seven-thirty before I go to work. Is Jack coming?"

Kate hesitated. Should she cancel? No. She needed a reprieve from this hell. "No, I don't think he can." she lied. "But I'll be there at seven-thirty, ok? Bye."

She hung up rather rudely but didn't care. Claire would know soon enough what was going on. If Jack didn't want to deal with her anymore, Kate was sure that Claire would let her stay with her and Charlie, just for a week or so. Her gaze shifted from the phone in its cradle back to Jack.

He looked like he hadn't slept much either. He was very pale except for the dark bags underneath his eyes. He still wore just a pair of gym shorts and a ratty old t-shirt. He actually looked physically sick at this confrontation.

She cleared her throat and averted her eyes, unable to look at him anymore. "I, uh… I'm going to go get coffee with Claire."

"What, now?" Jack said incredulously. "I didn't finish –"

"I can't listen anymore. I can't. Not right now. I'm going to change into my clothes, and then I'm going. Can I borrow the car?"

"Not unless I'm coming with you."

"Then I'll walk." Kate went into the bedroom and pulled a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt out of the dresser. She threw them clumsily on; her hands shook with emotion. As hard as she tried not to allow it, two tears spilled over her cheeks as she bent to put on her sneakers. She strode across the kitchen, grabbing the keys before Jack could, and slammed the door of the apartment. As the stumbled down the stairs, she heard the door reopen and slam again, and she knew Jack wasn't giving up.

Her stumbling turned into a run, and it was suddenly as if they were racing to the car. Once she reached the garage, she leapt into the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition. Just as she was about to start the engine, the passenger door opened and Jack defiantly got into the car.

Kate glared at him. "Get out of the car." She said furiously.

Jack didn't bother to mention that it was his car. "No. You have to listen to me. You can't keep running. You could have a real life if you stopped running."

"Get out. Of the car!" Kate yelled.

"You can't drive when you're like this!" Jack yelled back.

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" she screamed.

There was a long moment of tension, where they simply glared at each other and hated themselves. Jack's eyes glittered with fury like Kate had never seen. She wanted more than anything for him to leave, so she could get away from him. She wanted to cool down, she wanted to leave L.A. She wanted to go to the beach, where she could relax and be in a wide open space that smelled like the island when she was free. She wanted to get away from this morning that had turned into a nightmare.

But instead she started the car with the jerk of a hand, and pulled out. She drove fast, but she wanted to drive faster. She wanted to barrel through the morning traffic and go a hundred miles an hour until she'd blown off all the steam.

"Kate, you should slow down –"

Kate looked daggers at him. "Don't talk to me."

She brought the speed down a little, realizing that she was going a little fast. She couldn't help it; she couldn't concentrate. Her hands shook and her face was flushed. She couldn't stop thinking horrible thoughts about leaving Jack forever and never seeing anyone she loved again. Never seeing the only person who loved her again. Just running and running and jumping from place to place, just like she did when she was on the run.

She could never be fully happy because she would never change. Her past self was still her present-day self, so she would never be any better than when she was five years ago. Her life would just keep repeating itself over and over until she died.

Kate came to this realization, and a split-second later, she drove straight into a tree.

The last thing she remembered was her own voice screaming, "Jack!" over and over, until the name she screamed changed to Tom, and then back again to Jack until she didn't know what she was screaming and she didn't know how to stop.

Not again.

A/N - Okay, a cliffhanger. I'm evil. I apologize. Please forgive me and review!