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"It's beginning to get dark," Sayid stated before we were almost half way back to the beach. "We might need to stop and make camp."

"Well then pick up the pace, Terrorist," Sawyer spat, beginning to walk slightly faster.

If I had to listen to any more arguing between the two of them, I was sure I was going to lose my mind. It's the only conversation I heard on the way there and now it was taking up the entire way back too. "Sayid is right," I commented. "We don't want to be walking around in the middle of the night."

"Ooh, afraid the trees are gonna get ya, Freckles?" Sawyer grabbed me as if to spook me.

I laughed and swatted him away. "I'm not afraid of anything," I answered, giving him a playful shove. "But if I were you, I'd be afraid of what's knocking down the trees coming to get me."

A grin tugged at the southerner's lips. "I highly doubt that. I ain't afraid of anything either."

I noticed Jack staring at the two of us and felt a twinge of guilt in my chest. I looked up at Sawyer again. "Sayid is still right though. We really should make camp for the night."

"Thank you." Sayid stopped us where we were. It wasn't quite a clearing, but there was still enough space for us to build a fire and get some sleep before we had to continue back to the beach in the morning. "Would you help me get some wood for a fire?" he asked, turning to Jack. The two of them began to walk away.

"Hey," I called to stop them. "We passed some trees with fruit growing on them a few minutes ago. I'm going to head back and see if I can get us any to eat."

"I might as well escort you," Sawyer said.

I looked at him then at Jack. Jack quickly turned away and slowly began to head after Sayid. "I don't need an escort," I stated, hoping Jack could hear me. "Stay here. I'll be fine." I walked back the way we had come from, staring up at the treetops as I went. It didn't take long before I found a good tree with a bunch of ripe fruit on it. When I was off the island, I had missed climbing trees. I once had tried to teach Aaron, but he had been more interested in playing with the ants nest under the tree. I pulled myself up until I could easily rest on a sturdy branch and began picking a few pieces of the fruit. I came across a rotten one and tossed it on the ground.

"Jesus, Freckles, watch where the hell you're aiming those things!"

I groaned and glanced down to see Sawyer holding what I had thrown down. "Thought I told you I didn't need an escort." I managed to lower myself to a place where I could drop the fruit without harming them then climbed the rest of the way to the ground.

"Like that's enough to stop me." He tossed the rotten fruit on the ground then bent down and gathered our food.

"True." I took a few pieces from him so his hands weren't full. After a moment of hesitating, I turned to face him. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Depends on what I get in return," Sawyer answered, smirking.

I wasn't shocked. That was the answer I had expected from him. I opened my mouth to respond, but Sayid walked through the bushes.

"Looks like you found what you were looking for," Sayid stated before looking over at Sawyer then back at me again. "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

I forced a smile. "No. We were just getting ready to head back." I gave Sawyer a look then headed in the direction of where I assumed Jack had started to make the fire. When I got there, I noticed he had set up the wood but seemed to be silently questioning how to light it.

"Ey." Sawyer tossed a lighter in his general direction. Jack looked at it then picked it up, giving what might have been a smile to Sawyer before lighting the fire.

I gave everybody something to eat then took a seat, using a hand to prop myself up. I'm suddenly starving and devour the piece of fruit as the guys begin discussing the crash and Danielle's transmission. Once again, it's already stuff I knew, so I spent my time reminiscing about Aaron and thinking about my new life here on the island.

"If we tell them what we know, we take away their hope. And hope is a very dangerous thing to lose," Sayid stated. The three guys went silent, just sort of looking at each other.

I glanced once at all of them then cleared my throat and tossed the core of my fruit into the jungle. "So we lie," I provided the solution. I could tell none of us were happy about it, but it was the only answer we had.

Sayid lied down to sleep and Sawyer pulled the letter he had been holding onto earlier out of his pocket and began to read it. I scooted over to Jack, sitting so I was facing him and placing my hands on my lap. "Hey," I whispered, smiling at him. "I'm glad you decided to come with me…with us," I quickly corrected myself, feeling my cheeks turn red. Fortunately, it was dark out and I doubted he could see me blushing.

"I'm glad you invited me," Jack replied. He lied down on his back, glancing into my eyes before turning his head to stare up at the sky.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my smile fading slightly. "You seem a bit distracted."

"I'm good."

It was emotionless and not quite the answer I was looking for. I nodded my head. "Alright." I scooted back over to where I had previously been sitting. "Goodnight then." He responded with his goodnight which at least slightly satisfied me that he wasn't angry at me. I lowered myself to my side so I was facing him and shut my eyes, slowly drifting off.

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I woke up in the middle of the night to someone muttering my name and shaking me. I yawned and rubbed my face, rolling over to stare up at Sawyer. "What?" I muttered, slowly pushing myself into a sitting position.

"Shhh," he replied, bringing his finger to his lips. "Don't want to wake up Jack-O and Muhammad, do we?" He sat back, propping himself up on his elbows. "I wanna know about this favor you were gonna ask me to do. Like I asked, what's in it for me?"

"Whatever you want," I answered quickly, suddenly feeling awake. "Take your time in deciding." I pulled the gun I had taken from him from my pocket.

"What the hell you gonna do with that?" Sawyer questioned, eyeing it.

I laughed quietly. "You act like I'm going to shoot you with it." I held it out to him, but kept my fingers tightly around it. "I need you to shoot someone for me. I need you to shoot him in the head." I glanced at Jack and Sayid to make sure they were still sleeping.

Sawyer gave me a look that was clearly asking if I was out of my mind. "You want me to…"

"Listen," I cut him off. "Back at camp, there's a man with a piece of shrapnel stuck in his side. He's dying. But if for some reason he lives, things won't be good. I need you to do this for me."

"If you're so desperate to take a man's life away from him, then why the hell don't you do it yourself?" Sawyer tore his eyes away from the gun in my hand and looked directly at my face.

"He was the marshal on the plane," I told him. I was sure my nervousness in telling him this was causing me to shake. I lowered my voice and he leaned in to hear me. "I was his prisoner. If he lives, he'll lock me up right here on the island. People are going to find out I was the one he was escorting. And if I kill him, God knows what they'll do to me. I need you to do this for me," I begged. "Please, Sawyer."

The way he was looking at me almost seemed as if he understood. I felt a sudden connection between him. I couldn't explain the feeling. He apparently felt it too, because when I unwrapped my fingers from the gun, he nodded his head and took it in silence.

"Thank you." I whispered. I didn't get a response from him, not that I really expected to. I lied back down and shut my eyes again, letting out a long breath of relief.

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It was mid-afternoon by the time we arrived back at camp the next day. We had slept in late then stopped to chat as we ate a few more pieces of fruit for brunch. Sayid began explaining our trip to the group of other survivors. Jack stuck around to listen and Sawyer wandered off somewhere. I walked around for a few moments before I made my way over to Edward. He was surrounded by a tarp and I was thankful no one could see me after I walked inside.

I stared down at the marshal in disgust. He looked like he was unconscious. I glanced around then slid my hand into his pocket and pulled out the picture of my mugshot. I slipped it in my pocket then grabbed for his wallet too. I slowly slid it out of his pocket. I just needed to get the key for the case and…

The marshal's eyes flew open and his hands went around my neck. I would have gasped in shock, but I couldn't breath. He tightened his grip and I began to claw at his hands, struggling to get away.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" Jack rushed in and just as he was about the pry the marshal off of me, the man went into convulsions. "What did you do?" Jack shot me a glare as I backed up against the tarp.

"I didn't do anything. I was checking to see if he was okay and he grabbed me." I placed my hands on my neck, rubbing it slightly. "I'm going to go find the guy with the antibiotics."

"I need to take the shrapnel out," was the last thing I heard Jack say before I rushed out of the tent to go find Hurley. I ran straight into the guy, literally. The water bottles in his arms fell to the ground and I quickly knelt down to pick them up for him. "I'm sorry." I shook my head, getting to my feet and handing them over to him. "I was looking for you."

"For the medicine, right?" Hurley shoved his hands in his pockets. "This is all I found in the luggage on the beach and in that guy's stash." He handed over two bottles of pills.

"Thank you." I held them in one hand without looking them over. "I don't think we've officially met. I'm Kate." I reached to shake his free hand that wasn't holding the water bottles.

"Hurley." He took my hand then glanced around. "I gotta go get this water to Sayid. Will you take one to uh…Jack?" He offered me a bottle.

"Yeah." I took the bottle and held it in my hand that wasn't holding the medicine. "It was uh…nice meeting you, Hurley." I forced a smile then headed back to the infirmary. I felt dizzy again and hesitated outside before slowly walking in. I approached him just as he yanked the shrapnel out of the man's side. Feeling sick, I looked away. "I uh…I got the antibiotics from Hurley." I glanced over again as he was finishing wrapping up the wound to put pressure on it.

After a few moments, he got up and took the bottles from my hand. He gave what sounded like a sarcastic laugh. "These are for ear infections and foot fungus, Kate. Did he check the inside of the plane?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. He said those were all he found on the beach and Sawyer's stash. Do you want me to…"

"It's fine. I'll do it." Jack shook his head. He took the water bottle as I offered it to him and used it to wash the blood off his hands "You okay?"

My hand found whatever was holding up the tarp. I found myself suddenly wondering if I was getting side-effects from my twisted time travel experience. "I'm good. I'm…" My stomach turned. "I might throw up."

At one point in time, I probably would have simply turned and darted into the jungle. Now, I shrunk slightly into his embrace as he led me out and around back of the infirmary. "Do you think you're coming down with something?" he questioned. "You're just suddenly not…"

"I think…I don't know." I stopped out back of the infirmary, and began trying to get my hair out of my face. I had gotten so used to wearing it down -because Jack liked it that way- that I realized now I hadn't even pulled it up to go on either hikes. He had one arm around me to support me and I felt him taking over in lifting my hair back away from my face. I gripped the arm that was around me, trying not to dig my nails into his skin as I heaved a few times then emptied my stomach.

I would have felt disgusting, but last year I had caught the stomach flu from pretty bad from Aaron and ended up vomiting twice on the floor and once on Jack. Needless to say, it was a pretty bad night. This put me in nowhere near as much shame. I wiped my mouth and slouched back against him when my stomach began to feel better. I followed him as he led me back a few feet and let him help me sit down.

I noticed Sawyer watching me off to the side, but my attention got pulled back to Jack when he knelt down in front of me. He laid a hand on her forehead then put both hands on my cheeks. I knew I didn't have a temperature. His hands lingered comfortingly on my face and I glanced up at him and swallowed. Looking into his eyes, I suddenly felt the same connection I had felt with Sawyer not that long ago.

"Feel any better now?"

I was about to answer him when a gunshot went off from inside the infirmary. We both jumped. Jack got to his feet and rushed in just as Sawyer walked out. I leaned my head forward slightly and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes again, Sawyer was kneeling beside me. He uncapped a bottle of water and handed it to me. I rinsed out my mouth then took a few small sips.

"You owe me big time, Freckles," Sawyer muttered. He got to his feet and turned to walk away.

Jack came storming out of the tent. "What the hell did you do?" he questioned, giving Sawyer a shove.

"I did what needed to be done," Sawyer replied, shoving him back. "He was gonna die anyway! Why put him through all the suffering!"

I got to my feet. "Jack," I said, taking a few steps toward him. He didn't even look at me. "Jack!" This time he looked at me. "I have to give you something."

"Kate, now really isn't the time." He went to follow Sawyer as he began to walk away.

"It's important." I looked at him pleadingly. I reached in my pocket and pulled out my folded mugshot. I held it out to him. "Take it," I insisted.

Jack looked at the paper then took it from my hands. He began to open it, but I grabbed his hands to stop him. "Not right now," I said, shaking my head. "Wait till I walk away. You're my friend and…I just thought you should know that Sawyer is my friend too." I hoped it would explain why Sawyer shot him and Jack wouldn't take out his anger on him. I turned and walked away, not glancing back as I knew Jack was unfolding what summed up my entire past.