Locke had set up a parameter around the beach to stop Ethan from being able to get to anyone in the group, but it didn't matter. Somehow the man had come in from the water, which Kali realised must have meant he had some sort of boat. And most likely help. Boone had taken the news hard, feeling like they could have done more to stop one of their group from being killed.
"It's not your fault," Kali told him, placing her hand on his shoulder, as she approached.
"We said we'd protect the camp. And now Scott's dead" Boone replied.
"There's nothing more you could have done" Kali insisted.
"I just hate feeling this way…like I can't protect anyone" Boone explained.
"I know, and it's great that you care so much but…you're only one man, Boone. You can't save everyone" Kali went on.
"You're right, as always" Boone smiled at her.
"It's what I'm here for" Kali grinned, but she could tell Boone was still feeling guilty.
"You'll catch this guy, I know you will" Kali insisted, as Boone pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.
Kali was distracted by a flash of blue behind Boone and saw Sawyer was wearing 'that' shirt, that emphasised the tan of his skin and the blue of his eyes. She could see Kate even did a double take when she saw him. Boone turned to see what Kali was looking at and couldn't help but feel a sliver of jealousy.
"Let me know if you need any more volunteers for the parameter" Kali informed him, as she began walking towards Sawyer.
"Guess old Steve drew the short straw" Sawyer announced, as Hurley cringed.
"Dude, that was Scott," Hurley told him, as Sawyer inwardly groaned.
"Wow, we really need to work on your people skills" Kali pointed out.
"I'm a joy to be around" Sawyer scoffed, making Kali laugh.
Kali didn't see how Boone clenched his fist as he watched this interaction, and if Sawyer did, he wasn't going to mention it.
The pair were surprised when Kate and Jack approached them later with an offer. They were planning to trap Ethan, and they had a gun spare, so their first candidate was the burly Southerner.
"Help? Moi?" Sawyer exclaimed, with a teasing tone.
"You know how to handle a gun, or not?" Jack asked, obviously not in the mood.
"Well, I know at least one polar bear that seems to think so-" Sawyer started but was cut off by Kali.
"Actually, I'm the one who shot the polar bear, remember?" Kali smirked.
"I'd say it was a group effort…Where'd you get the hardware, Hoss?" Sawyer questioned, as Jack handed him a gun.
Kali's eyes snapped to Kate's for a moment, who raised an eyebrow at her, clearly wanting to avoid the subject.
"I want to come" Kali announced.
"No way. It's too dangerous. And besides, we don't have enough guns" Jack stated.
"How much ammo you got?" Sawyer inquired.
"100 rounds give or take" Jack answered.
"All 9's, right? 9 millimetres - the guns?" Sawyer clarified when Jack lot at him blankly.
"Yeah, why?" Jack frowned.
"Because, if blue eyes wants to come...Lifted this off the Marshal back in the old days. Remember him, don't you? Surly guy, kind of square of jaw, carries a Sig 9" Sawyer explained, grabbing the gun he had been keeping in their tent.
"Yeah, I remember you shot him. And missed" Jack pointed out.
"Yeah, well, bygones. And hell, 6 guns are better than 5" Sawyer retorted, but Jack still didn't look convinced.
"C'mon Jack, I can handle myself" Kali insisted, raising an eyebrow at Kate.
The older woman seemed to mull this over for a few seconds, as she knew she owed Kali.
"She's not wrong, Jack. Kali's not a kid" Kate agreed, as Kali raised her hand out in an 'I told you so' gesture.
"Look, I'll keep an eye on her, okay? I've got her back" Sawyer added, as Jack nodded.
"I'll go get the rounds" Jack mumbled, as he began to walk away, with Kate following him close behind.
"Did you mean that? That you've got my back?" Kali queried, once they were out of hearing distance.
"Yeah, and you've got mine, right?" Sawyer suggested.
"Always" Kali smiled, as he placed the gun in her hands.
Kali watched nervously from her hiding place in the bushes, as Claire walked around aimlessly in the pouring rain. The poor girl looked terrified as she clutched at her baby bump. Kali turned to her side to see Sawyer crouching behind a tree on the other side of the clearing, as he nodded at her. Something seemed to be shifting in their relationship recently, but Kali's only fear was that it was more on her side than his. Shaking those thoughts from her head, she picked up on a twig snapping from behind her. With wide eyes, she saw Ethan sneaking towards Claire, as Kali tried to hide. She couldn't let him realise it was a trap or it would have all been for nothing. The moment Claire spotted him, she screamed and set off in the other direction, quickly followed by Ethan. Unbeknownst to Ethan, Claire was leading him right to where Jack was hiding, who suddenly jumped out from behind a tree and tackled Ethan to the ground. Kali set off running behind them, ignoring the shouts of protests from Sawyer. She wasn't about to let Ethan hurt anyone else from their group. Kali came to a halt as she saw them wrestling on the ground, both having their hands clawing at the other's neck. Without a second thought, she ran up behind the pair and pulled her arm around Ethan's neck, creating a painful headlock. Ethan instantly let go off Jack and began to try to pry Kali's arm away from his neck, but Kali simply added more pressure. She then used her other hand to bring her gun slamming down on the back of Ethan's head, who fell to the ground, barely conscious.
"Jesus, Kali! I had it under control!" Jack exclaimed, knowing that if she had made one wrong move she could have been killed.
"Oh sorry, next time I'll let him strangle you to death," Kali said, sarcastically, as the others began to appear from behind her.
Ethan went to stand up, but Jack quickly pushed him back to the ground. He then began to punch Ethan in the face, anger in his eyes that was rare to see.
"Claire! Are you alright?" Locke questioned, as he rushed over to the blonde.
"Hey, what was all that about? You could have got yourself killed!" Sawyer exclaimed as he came to stand beside Kali.
"Like Kate said before…I can handle myself" Kali insisted, as she saw Kate run up and hug Claire, who was still shaking.
"Jack, that's enough" Sayid stated, as he tried to pull Jack away from Ethan.
This seemed to pull Jack from his daze, as he pushed himself upright, knowing Sayid was right. They needed Ethan alive.
"Now maybe somebody can tell me who or what this son of a bitch is?" Sawyer asked as Ethan pushed himself upright.
"Ah, ah, ah. Jungle boy, not even for one second" Sawyer announced, a dangerous tone in his voice, as he and Kali raised their guns at Ethan.
"This shouldn't have happened…" Ethan trailed off, barely audible.
"What, not used to being beaten by a girl?" Kali questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"You're not even supposed to be here" Ethan stated, as Kali frowned.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kali insisted.
"The island didn't want you, Kalista. But now it's got you…it can't let you go" Ethan went on, as the others shared looks.
"Jesus, you're insane" Kali stated, unnerved by the fact that Ethan knew her real name.
"And you're naïve. This was never about you. It was about your brother. And he-" Ethan was cut off as there were six loud gunshots.
Everyone whipped around to look at Charlie, who's gun was still raised, a menacing look on his face. Charlie had killed Ethan, without any remorse.
"Charlie!" Jack exclaimed as he stormed over to him, as Charlie lowered the gun.
They all looked at Charlie, who may have just lost them any chance at finding out what the hell was happening on the island. Everyone except Sawyer, who's eyes had stayed firmly planted on Kali throughout the shootout.
Later that day, at the caves everyone was drying off, and trying to piece together what had happened. Sawyer ushered Kali over to one of the small tunnels that led deeper into the caves, as she reluctantly followed.
"You shot him" Sawyer stated, as Kali sighed.
"There were six gunshots. I know there was…but when I looked at Ethan's body, there were only five bullet holes" Sawyer went on.
"That's just the thing, I did shoot him…but my round was filled with blanks" Kali admitted, taking the gun out.
Sawyer grabbed the weapon from her hand and opened the chamber to find she was right.
"I filled that round myself before we went into the jungle. They weren't blanks. Someone put them in there" Kali explained.
"When?" Sawyer frowned.
"I don't know…when we were discussing our plans maybe? There were a few minutes when I didn't have the gun on me" Kali told him.
"But why would someone do that?" Sawyer queried.
"They wanted me to go out into the jungle without a weapon. That's the only answer" Kali pointed out.
"They wanted you to get hurt…killed even" Sawyer realised, a dark tone to his voice.
"Someone in this camp wants me dead" Kali nodded, with a scared expression.
"Well if they want to get to you, they're going to have to get through me first," Sawyer told her, taking her hand in his own and squeezing it.
Neither of them noticed that Boone had seen them sneaking away and was looking at their now linked hands, with an angry expression.
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Sorry, it's taken so long to update, I've been super busy at work recently. Also, I don't have much knowledge about guns so I apologise if there are only certain guns that can fire blanks or something like that. You might have to use your imaginations a bit, haha. Things are going to start to get very interesting from here on out. Please leave a review:)
DrLexieSloan: Aw, thank you! I always read fics really fast, so I can understand that haha. I'm glad you enjoy Kali's fiesty side, as there's a lot of that in this chapter:)
scripturient2301: Thank you:) I'm glad you're liking the different relationships, they're a lot of fun writing!
kz4valentina: Thank you! I love a cheesy fanfic trope, haha. I can never get enough of Sawyer either, don't worry:)
