Lost and its characters belong to JJ Abrams, Bad Robot and The Others. Henry gives Kate a choice and she exceeds his expectations.

Lost – Captive Audience

By Mystic

September 19th 2006

He knew she thought it was a trick. He led her down the hallway, her arms hanging as freely as his and she eyed him every few steps. He never had the thought that she would run, he made certain she knew the consequences of that action with the simple push of a button. She'd watched Jack twitch painfully through a double sided mirror, the chair he sat in buzzing slightly. It should be her fate, not his, he didn't deserve it. That was what she told Henry, rushing to him and pulling the remote out of his hands, studying it.

"Don't do this to him!" She'd shouted, her mind working fervently over the controls.

"It's the green one," Henry offered calmly, waiting as she hesitated, not trusting him. She'd never trust him, that much he didn't question. But she placed a finger on it and squeezed, her eyes shutting before she opened them and found Jack breathing roughly as he tried to shift in his seat, his hands strapped to the armrests. "You try to run, we'll make sure…" he started, but she was already sobbing.

"I won't, please, stop this." He'd held out his hand and she'd given him the remote, turning away from Jack and nodding. "I'll do whatever you want."

Now she walked closely to him. She'd kept her word and he'd kept his. When he asked her for blood, she offered her arm. If he told her he needed her hand, she held it out to him. He once asked her to strip for an exam. They'd stripped her before, forcefully, but this time he stood in front of her in a plainly lit room and watched her quickly removed her clothes, her lips pursed tightly together, her eyes welling over as she waited.

"You've made the right selection," Henry told her silently as they neared a set of doors she knew well. But this time they moved to the other, the one to the room she knew held Jack. "And this is your reward."

"Reward," she repeated with a huff of laughter. "This is probably another test, another experiment."

"And if it is?"

"Tell me what you want." Her words were honest, and her eyes came around to find his. She waited, swallowing hard, frightened, and he laughed.

"What do you want?" He questioned, his hands folding together in front of him.

She eyed the door. "I just want to know he's ok."

Henry gestured to the door. "You go in, there's no coming out. Whatever's in store is for you together. You understand that, you won't be in control as you were before. You give up that freedom."

Something in the flinch of her eyes told him what he knew – what freedom? What Kate didn't truly understand is that the extent to which their experiments could be performed depended on her cooperation. In some ways, she did have control over their destiny.

Henry watched the way she held onto the handle of the door a moment before she turned it. She took in a long breath, preparing herself, and then pushed in, letting him shut and lock the door behind her. She'd made her choice; was now standing only a few feet from the man she loved. Going into the dark observation room, Henry stood at the center as he watched them stare at one another.

Jack was still slightly damp from his ordeal two days before, the ground around him slick, and on the double sided mirror there were the remnants of splashes where he'd pounded his fists into the glass and demanded to know where they were, what was going on. Where was Kate?

Now he stood, slack-jawed, his arms limp at his sides as she opened her mouth to try and speak. Henry could only wonder what was running through her mind. What questions would she be preparing. What explanations she had for him. How was she going to let him know that she'd chosen for them to remain behind. Henry felt the left corner of his mouth tug into a grin as she took a step forward, the first brave enough to do so.

"Jack," she said softly, her hands flinching at her sides, wanting so badly to reach out to him.

"What happened?" He demanded, his voice booming. Kate jerked away, cringing instantly, and he raised an arm, walking towards her and shaking his head. "I'm sorry," he told her, touching her shoulder and pulling her to his chest. She sobbed there, mumbling into him as he nodded.

Henry frowned, taking a step closer to the glass, tipping his head to the side slightly, trying to hear.

"I thought they'd killed you," she told him.

"I'm ok, I'm fine," he assured. "A little wet…" he trailed.

Kate laughed, her hands resting at his waist. She looked up at him. "They let Sawyer go. I told them to."

Jack nodded, processing. "What about us?"

Her head ducked down and she swallowed hard. "They're keeping us. I don't know how long." Her head came back up. "I'm sorry, Jack."

His brow furrowed as he put his hands at either side of her face, caressing her hair as he shook his head. "Kate, there's nothing for you to be sorry about."

She nodded, her face reddening, starting to break. "It's my fault you're here. I wanted you to stay with me. It was selfish and stupid… they need you back…"

Jack glanced towards the mirror at his side and scowled, his nose flaring before he looked back at Kate, now crying, her eyes avoiding his. Jack touched a thumb to her cheek, stopping a tear and gaining her attention. Henry watched the way Jack's body eased as he looked into her eyes, watched his face soften, watched him lick his lips and move forward to kiss her gently.

Her hands gripped his shirt and she leaned into him. They sighed as one when they separated, heads touching, noses flicking together tenderly before he sighed, "I love you." Henry watched her smile, so quick and so shy it made him give a humph of a laugh. She tipped herself up, kissing him again, but this time her hands dove underneath his shirt, teasing the skin at his sides as his breathing quickened and he pulled her away from the mirror before breaking the kiss.

"They could be watching," he pointed at the mirror.

Kate nodded, glancing back at the mirror, staring Henry in the eye. "I don't care anymore." She shook her head. "I've been their lab rat too long already," she looked back up at him. "I love you." She took in a deep breath and she added, in one long stare: I want you; I need you. An unspoken declaration of her desires that reddened both their cheeks.

"Kate," he said, a million other words packed into her name.

"Jack," she replied, the same level of intensity.

Henry took another step forward and he watched their looks and ticks tango their way through a discussion before he shook his head in amazement. He waited for Jack to be rational, to hold her and tell her they just had to wait it out together, but Jack surprised him by sliding a hand through her long waves and pulling her back to him, crushing their bodies together.

Kate gasped into his mouth as his hands explored her body, finding the edges of her shirt before tugging it off , tossing it to the ground and starting to kiss a trail down her neck and towards her bosom. She moved with him when he pulled her into the shadows, his lips working their way down her stomach as he fingered the buckle of her jeans. Henry heard her whisper his name, her hands scraping over his hair and giving his shirt a yank before Jack squirmed out of it.

Swallowing hard, Henry raised a hand when he heard Bea enter the room. "Later," he uttered.

"Are they…" Bea started, anticipation in her voice.

"Yes," Henry turned, giving the woman a stare before she backed out of the room.

When he turned back, Jack stood, staring down at Kate as she kicked off her jeans. He put his hands on her waist, his fingers tangling themselves on the waistband of her panties and his eyes came up, somewhere to Henry's right before he shifted, pulling her around, shielding her from Henry's view before pulling her panties down and sliding his hands back up, holding the back of her thighs as he nipped at the space between them with his lips.

Kate half-shouted Jack's name, her hands scratching at his bare back before lowering her head, hiding her face from Henry. But he watched her jerk once before her hands cupped under Jack's arms and pulled at him. Jack raised his head, standing and working his fingers back into Kate's hair as he kissed her, ducking his head down to her before she slipped away from him, kneeling precociously in front of him.

Henry gave a short shake of his head and took another step closer, then jerked away from the mirror when Jack slapped a hand up against the wall behind them, his body shuddering before he shook his head and now he was the one urging her off the ground. Henry watched her latch her arms around Jack's neck and he hoisted her up off the ground, her legs coming around his back and hooking together.

Then slowly, and with breaths held, Kate lowered herself down onto Jack, taking him in as her hair draped over his face. Henry put a hand up over his mouth and let it drop off as Jack cradled her backside and began moving in rhythm with her. She kissed his neck, working her way up his jaw line before finding his lips and exploring his mouth as he explored her, pushing until she grunted and Henry raised an eyebrow.

His nose now breathed a smoky film against the mirror as Jack moved closer to the wall, deeper into the shadows, deeper into Kate. She buried her head in Jack's neck as her legs lost their grip, but Jack held her, pressing her to the wall as he jerked up into her quickly and then relaxed. Henry watched her arms tighten and she crossed her ankles again, pulling her head off his shoulder and she took his head in her hands, kissing him slowly, lovingly. Jack's body gave two more short spasms against her and she accepted them with a long breath, her lips hovering over his.

Jack's legs trembled, and he lowered to the ground, keeping her hidden, keeping her connected to him and he spoke to her softly, words Henry couldn't hear, but he could see the gleam of her teeth, the tears in her eyes as she nodded and ran her hands along the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, his head falling back slightly before she brought him back, kissing him soothingly.

"That'd be ok," she sighed. "We'd be ok."

He watched them sit together, whispering and then saying nothing, just leaning against each other for support and eventually drifting off to sleep when they realized no one was coming to take her away. Henry watched them, watched the way even their breathing seemed timed to one another and he shook his head as Bea entered the room again. "You know, this excites you far more than it should."

"Look at them," he gestured. "Human beings go their whole lives looking for that missing piece to their puzzle, the part that makes them whole. We have communities, journals, magazines, websites and support groups devoted to finding it and sometimes we think we find it, the pieces connect, but it's not an exact match and everything falls apart. But this…" he looked. "Falling from the sky, from two different worlds, and look at them."

Bea moved beside him, nodding slowly, her eyes darting from the sleeping couple back to the gleam in Henry's eyes. "What now?"

He gave a nod. "Move this project to phase two."

"But, it's too early to…" Bea started.

Turning his eyes on her, he pressed his lips together. "No, move to phase two."

"Should we move her back to the med-lab?" Bea asked, her arms folding in front of her.

He took a step away from the mirror and turned to the door. "No."

She said his name. Demanded to know what he was thinking with that simple word, but he smiled and turned. "Leave them be, the more they're together, the better for everyone involved." Then he added, with the upward flick of one eyebrow, "Trust me, Bea." He walked towards the door, opening it swiftly and letting it slide shut behind him. Bea was absolutely right, he was far more excited than he should be. But he couldn't help it, he knew, everything was going according to plan.

Finis