A/N: Chapter 4 here. Jack and Sawyer have a friendly conversation on the beach and Kate realizes something that scares her. Only 2 more chapters after this.

Chapter 4

Sawyer stared out into the brilliant blue ocean, attempting to calm his nerves before he, Jack, Locke, Sayid, and Eko started their trek into the jungle to find Kate. It was morning now, almost 12 hours since Kate had been taken by the Others. Just a few minutes ago, the search party had been discussing how to approach the situation. Sawyer wanted to go out at once but Locke and Sayid preferred a more methodical search pattern, saying that they should go out in pairs to look. But Sawyer would have none if it.

"Yeah, sure, we'll go out in pairs!" he had said sarcastically. "Then we'll get picked off one by one by whatever the hell lives in that godforsaken jungle! Brilliant plan, guys!"

"Then what do you suggest, Sawyer?" asked Sayid, crossing his arms.

"I say we all go out at once. Five of us against that one shit brain that's out there. Hell, I'll take the chances. After all, safety lies in numbers."

They argued for a while then, after deciding to go to the hatch to arm themselves further, they agreed.

"Well, it's settled then." said Locke. "We leave for the hatch at noon." With that they separated.

That was a few minutes ago. Sawyer guessed that it was about 10:00 so he had 2 hours to kill. 2 whole damn hours of just sitting here while Kate was in who-knows-where with a bunch of weirdos who ran off with some kids from the other camp just a few weeks ago. Golly, was this picture really looking good. Sawyer sighed impatiently and ran a hand through his hair. Then a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey,"

Sawyer turned to see Jack walking over with two little bottles clutched in his hand. "Well, well, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as the doctor sat down beside him.

Jack scoffed. "Want a drink?"

"Why not?" Sawyer accepted Jack's offer, taking one of the bottles of Jack Daniel's and uncorked it.

"Sorry for tackling you last night, by the way." Jack said after opening his bottle.

"Yeah, yeah."

"I couldn't see you clearly. Really, I couldn't."

"Uh-huh," Sawyer took a swig of whiskey and swished it around in his mouth before swallowing. "Jeez, that punch hurt." he commented, remembering the incident. "I thought we were past the hitting."

Jack grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, that one kinda slipped."

"Yeah, that's what they all say."

That was the weird thing and him and Jack. They were...well, you could call them friends now. Ever since Sawyer had gotten together with Kate, he had been less aggressive toward Jack and vice versa. Kate had explained to Sawyer that she loved Jack as a big brother and that he cared for her as a little sister. And, as a real brother would be of his sister, Jack was extremely protective of Kate but more or less gave her and Sawyer their space. Funny how things work out, thought Sawyer. Sure, they still had their times of conflict and "give a little push on the playground" moments but they were pretty much ok. Together he and Jack teased Kate occasionally and together they comforted her. She must love it having two shoulders to cry on.

They sat a while in silence, drinking the alcohol and looking out into the ocean before them. Then Jack spoke.

"I know how it feels." he said softly.

This caught Sawyer's attention and he snapped his head around to look at Jack.

"To want to protect the one you love no matter what the cost." he continued. "To want to know that they're safe."

"Oh, really?"

Sawyer saw Jack's head drop a little bit as he nodded his head almost ruefully. "Yeah. I was married." He paused and swallowed a swig of whiskey. "Once."

Sawyer chewed over what he had just heard. " 'Once'." he repeated. "So I guess it's safe to assume that you're not anymore."

Jack shook his head slowly. "Yeah. It was a long time ago."

Sawyer took a drink of whiskey, letting the alcohol burn his throat as it went down. So Jack knew how he felt right now. That was a revelation. But then again he was the one who went running around trying to save everybody. He was the hero, not Sawyer. Sawyer was just the person who loved Kate and wanted to keep her safe. He wasn't the world's savior. And he could never be.

Jack drew his eyes away from the water and down to the sand. He seemed to be thinking about something.

"We're gonna find her, Sawyer." he said in a voice even more softer than before.

"How do you know?" Sawyer's voice was flat and expressionless.

"I know because we have to. And I'm not gonna rest 'til we do."

Sawyer knew that Jack meant every word he said. He loved Kate just as much as Sawyer did. "Neither am I. I just hope we find her before anything else in that freak house does." His eyes were distant as he said this like he could see her on the other side of the ocean. And actually, if he tried real hard, he could. He could see her smiling and happy without a care in the world. Without the troubles that her life gave her. Without those scars that that jackass Wayne gave her. And right then she was perfect. As perfect as can be. But only in his dreams. It wasn't going to happen in real life. Not now or ever.

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Kate groaned.

Slowly, painfully, she blinked her eyes open, the action costing her almost all her strength. She raised her neck to take in her surroundings, only for her gaze to fall upon a mass of brown right in front of her. A sharp, tingling sensation suddenly shot up her leg and she shifted them out from under her to allow her blood to flow to the area. Raising a hand, Kate rubbed her eyes to clear them of their fogginess. And as what lay before her came together in one, coherent picture, she felt her stomach drop to her feet.

A wall of tree branches that had been bound together surrounded her, giving her little slits in which to see the outside world while faint rays of light shone through the gaps. Kate looked down; she was sitting on branches too. As she realized this, a single thought came through her head.

I'm in a cage.

Kate forced herself to remain calm. It was only a cage. She could easily get herself out. If she had managed to get herself away from the Feds, she could definitely break out of a cage made out of branches. No big deal. So she stood up. But when she did the cage swayed and creaked dangerously causing her to lose balance and she fell against the branches.

Her hands began to sweat as she thought about what would make the cage sway like that. Slowly coming to a conclusion, Kate peered though a gap in the branches and looked down. Below her was a creek, the water making a soft, rushing sound as it flowed. But it was about 40 feet down, a terrifyingly high drop from her point of view. Her eyes turned to ther left and through the branches' slits. On that side was land but it was a good 20 feet away.

She put all this together in her head, trying to get a logical picture of where she was. And the image that came to her was an alarming thought.

She was in a cage that was dangling over the edge of a cliff. And by the ominous creaking that it made when she stood up, the cage wasn't going to be dangling for much longer.

Her mind racing furiously, Kate quickly scanned her enclosure for any sign of an opening. But the only one she found was above her that, even if she stood on her toes, she could not reach. She dared not try to jump for it, fearing that the pressure would send the cage plunging down but there was no other way out.

Not wanting to take her chances on having the cage give way, Kate had no choice but to sit and wait, hoping that someone would rescue her.

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