Jack smiled, walking through the jungle. He'd slept for hours, something he hadn't done since crashing onto the island. A sound wafted towards him through the peacefulness of the bird calls and he began to sprint towards the sound, appearing onto the beach. The first thing that he saw was Claire standing by her tent, howling in pain. He ran over to her, seeing that Charlie was already there, attempting to calm her.

"What happened?"

"Jack, where the bloody hell have you been?"

Jack chose to ignore Charlie's question, there were more pressing matters. "What happened?"

"They…they stole…my…baby!"

Jack nodded, instantly knowing who she meant. The Others, they must have come onto camp, took Aaron. "Are you injured?"

"Of course she's injured! They took Aaron, she's distressed!"

Jack was about to explain the differences between being upset and having a broken leg when he heard someone shouting his name. He turned around just in time to have Kate fling herself at him, wrapping his arms around his stomach. He patted her on the back uncomfortably, he didn't need to be comforting people right now, he needed to be getting on with his job.

"I thought that they'd taken you!"

"I'm okay. I was just…"

He saw Locke storming over to him and pulled back from Kate's grip. Kate straightened herself up, looking embarrassed.

"Where have you been Jack? What's your excuse for not being here?"

It was the last thing Jack wanted to hear, and Locke was certainly the last person he wanted to hear it from. "I don't need an excuse, I can go where I want." He tried to keep his voice calm and rational but he couldn't help the self-protective anger tainting it.

"Sawyer and Sayid are injured and you weren't here to help them."

"They're strong, they'll get over it."

Locke shook his head in disgust, walking away from Jack. Jack breathed a sigh of relief before seeing where Locke was going. He followed him over to Sawyer who was still lying on the sand, barely conscious. His face was swollen and large bruises were already starting to form over his chest. Jack just stared at him for a moment, feeling guilt well up inside of him at not being there sooner. He tried to push the thought to the back of his mind, he had deserved a break and he had just picked the wrong night to take it. He dropped down next to Locke and, leaning over Sawyer he gingerly touched Sawyer's chest, checking for broken ribs. He heard Sawyer groan from the pain, but none of them were broken.

"Hey Doc, you come to join the party?" Sawyer's voice was hoarse as he forced the quip out through a sore neck and injured lips.

Jack turned to Locke, "did you do this to him?" If he had thought for a few more seconds he wouldn't have asked, but it was his natural thought. He didn't trust Locke at all, and he wouldn't put a brutal attack past him.

Locke obviously thought different, his face darkened and his voice took on a tone of seething anger and repulse. "What sort of person do you think I am?" The Others came and took Aaron. Sawyer and Sayid were injured in the process, being heroes."

"Sayid, where is he?" Locke indicated behind them and Jack went to see. Sayid was still unconscious, a large bump on his head. After a quick examination he went back to Locke and Sawyer. "He'll wake up soon, he'll be fine." Jack was beginning to feel uncomfortable with Locke there; he wanted to be able to be able to tend to Sawyer. Although Locke wasn't physically in the way, mentally he was making Jack even more stressed and angry. "Move out of the way."

Locke shook his head, "I'm not going anywhere, and I've actually been useful tonight, unlike you."

Sawyer chuckled beneath them, "oooh, I've got the Doc and the hunter fighting over me, don't I just feel like the prettiest belle of the ball."

Jack continued to stare at Locke, half wishing that Locke would take a swing at him so that he could finally attack him under the guise of retaliating. But he knew that Locke wasn't going to do that, it wasn't his style.

"Move out of the way. I'm the doctor John. You're useless."

It worked and Locke stood up, walking away. Jack sighed with relief and busied himself inspecting Sawyer's wounds again. "You're fine, you'll be in pain for a while but nothing's broken." He glanced around to make sure nobody was listening before lowering his voice. "Was it Locke who attacked you?"

"Would that make you feel better Jack? If it had been him?"

"This isn't about making myself feel better, its about not trusting him."

Sawyer chuckled again, shaking his head slightly before wincing from the pain of doing so, "he didn't do anything. He's the one who sprung into action, helping people."

Jack searched Sawyer's eyes, trying to find out if Sawyer was lying.

He found himself interrupted by Charlie encroaching onto him, "Claire's ill."

Jack looked over in the direction of Claire's tent. She had been crying so much that she was starting to choke. Jack stood up, he'd have to go and sort her out before she made herself sick. He went over to her and looked at Kate, who was failing to soothe her.

"Kate, go back with Sawyer and Sayid. If there is any change come and get me."

Kate began to leave but paused, standing in front of Jack and smiling, "I'm pleased you're okay."

Jack nodded, "I'm fine, go see to them. Oh, and don't let Locke anywhere near them." She gave him a questioning glance before leaving. He admitted to himself that it sounded petty and stupid but he wasn't going to let Locke embarrass him in front of everyone.

He turned to Claire and helped her to regain her breathing. Charlie was still hovering nearby, and once Claire had recovered he turned to Jack again. "We've got to get Aaron back, we have to leave right now!"

"It isn't practical at the moment Charlie."

"What do you mean it isn't practical? They have Claire's baby!"

"We'll get Aaron back, but right now people are injured and we don't have any weapons and we don't know where they went." Jack looked around for an excuse to get out of the conversation and saw Sun going past, with something in a bowl. He grabbed her arm to stop her, "Did you get hurt? What've you got?"

"I am fine Jack, and these are some ground up herbs from my garden. We didn't have access to the medication with you gone and Locke said that I should find something to help Sawyer with his pain. If he inhales them then they should help slightly."

Jack let go of her and she continued on her trek towards Sawyer and Kate. Jack felt the anger rise inside him again, Locke had apparently taken over in his absence and that was the last thing Jack wanted. Locke wasn't a doctor, he wasn't medically trained, he was inadequate, and Jack didn't need to keep getting reminded that he had made the right decisions.

"What about Aaron?"

"We'll get him back Charlie. As soon as we can."

"Jack!" Jack heard Locke call his name and spotted him in the tree line and he went over. He was pleased to get away from Charlie and would have been happy if it had been anyone else who wanted to talk to him but it was Locke, so he wasn't happy.

"What the hell do you want John?"

Locke looked down to the ground and Jack followed his gaze. There was a woman lying there. Her hair and clothes were tattered, she was shoeless, there was mud over her face and, most notably, she had a deep knife wound in her stomach. Jack went down to her level and checked for a pulse, for breathing. He shook his head, she was dead and she had been abandoned.

A/N – Sorry about not updating people, I went off writing for a while and then my internet crashed from half-way through last month until yesterday.

sassafras224 – I do agree with you, hurt Sawyer is far better than dead Sawyer!

speckled girl – I'm not sure if this'll have Sawyer/Kate in. I've never really tried to write romance before so I'll see what happens.