Disclaimer: see chapter 1 for further cries about Lost not belonging to me!P

Author's note: thanks to all those who review! Now I understand what other authors said: writers feed on reviews!D Thanks to Ludovico for beta-reading.

Chapter 2

Kate was exhausted when Mr. Friendly arrived to take her back.

"Had a nice day at work, Kate?"

She nodded.

"It ain't so easy when you're lonely, right?"

Kate thought it had been somehow way worse without Sawyer there to distract her, no matter how unusual his methods were. But she remained silent.

"Well, I hope you find the strength you need in your little apartment."

"I won't be able to work much longer if you keep feeding me fish biscuits."

"They have all the nutrients you need, believe it or not."

"Yeah. And I have to rely on Sawyer so I can eat them. How nutricional is that!"

"He'll gladly starve for you to eat, Kate" Tom said, in a confessional tone. "But that won't last forever."

She didn't reply , not sure of what to say.

Mr. Friendly opened the door of Sawyer's cage and sent her in there.

"Why am I in Sawyer's cage?" she demand, her voice failing her. "Where is he?!"

"Let's just say you're gonna have to start feeding yourself." the Other informed. "See you tomorrow, Kate."

Kate waited until everything was silent. And then she began to cry.

Sawyer only arrived at the cages when the sky was already dark.

"Thought the deal was for the day and night, boss" he said, lowering his voice.

"It is a long journey, James, and you get tired easily. And make too many stops just for chit-chat. The late's on you."

"There" the youngest guy who escorted Sawyer indicated. "Get in."

"This is Kate's. I want my cage. I want my fish biscuits!" he objected, humorously.

"I'm sure she can provide some of those" Ben replied, pointing at his former cage. "Good night."

Sawyer watched as the door of his cage was locked with two turns of the key and then he approached the bars, searching for Kate.

"Freckles? You there?"

Nothing. He was becoming agitated. He had sold his ass off not so much time ago just for the opportunity to talk to her one last time and now she wasn't there!

"Kate!" he yelled. "Come on, girl, don't you fail me now!"

"Hey." The sound of her voice sounded like Heaven to him. He quickly rubbered the awkward thought and looked up.

"You up there, sweetcheeks? Thought you said you weren't leaving without me."

"I wasn't leaving." She squeezed through the bars and went back down. "I just couldn't stand being stuck here, by myself. So I studied this cage and realized it had the same problem as that one."

Sawyer looked down when he heard her words. What kind of sick games were the Others playing by separating them?

"You hungry?" she asked, approaching the bars closest to Sawyer's cage.

"Didn't they turn off that thing?"

"It's back on. Here." She imitated Sawyer's ritual to get the bear food and then threw the fish biscuit at him. He bit the biscuit and chewed it loudly.

"Now, Freckles, would you mind explaining me how you managed to be up there all comfy when a bunch of Others were passing downstairs?"

Kate smiled, her eyes sad.

"They don't care. As long as I'm here when they come for me."

"Is that supposed to mean you're gonna start moonwalking, short cake?"

She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You okay?"

"Of course I'm okay. It's gonna take more than shocks and kicks to make me die here!"

"You seem a lot more light-hearted than yesterday. What happened?"

"I was apparently under the illusion that this subject was done between us, Freckles." He sat down on the floor, his shoulder leaned on one of the bars. "How was your day?"

"Sad. Breaking rocks the entire day."

"Missed the kissing parts, sweetcheeks?"

Kate rolled her eyes again and turned her back to him.

"You're disgusting, Sawyer." She crossed her arms and looked above. "What's happening, Sawyer? Why don't you talk to me?" She turned around again and grabbed the bars with her hands, a fierce expression on her delicate face. "Where's that watch of yours?"

"They conned me, alright?" he burst out, angrily. "Now cut it!"

"Did they?" Kate let out a faint laugh. "So now you know what it's like to be conned."

Sawyer mumbled a few words that Kate was unable to understand.

"What did you say?"

"I'm sorry, Kate" he repeated, louder, his voice raw with emotion. "I'm sorry I conned you."

"It's a little late for that."

Silence fell between them for a long time. Kate had been worried since the minute she woke up, but now that he was there with her, she felt herself being overwhelmed by a sensation of rage and despite she just couldn't get over with. She was mad at him for not trusting her.

"I'm leaving."

His voice came as a thunder blowing up inside her mind and it took her a few seconds to understand what he had said.

"You what?" she asked, trying not to shiver.

"I'm leaving. They want to move me outta here." He turned his head so he could face her.

"You're leaving me? You can't just leave me!" Sawyer tried hard not to smile. For a moment the scene looked like a break-up situation. But then he remembered how serious this was and his grin was replaced by a darkened expression.

"I don't want to, Freckles, I really don't..." he admitted, defeated.

"Why?" she demanded, wildly. "Why are they taking you away from here?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're bringing Jack here" Sawyer suggested, his tone very low and very soft. "You'll be fine if they bring Jack, won't you?"

"I'm not waiting for Jack!" Kate spat, angrily. She let go of the bars and started climbing all the way up to the outside of the cage. "If you're leaving, then I'm not gonna stay here."

"Kate, don't!" Sawyer stood up quickly. "You can't run away!"

"Why not?" She was already climbing her way down.

"This is not our island."

"Did they brainwash you, Sawyer?" she questioned, glaring at him. "This is their island now?"

"You don't understand!" he exclaimed, feeling helpless watching her leave without even saying goodbye. "Kate! Wait! There are two islands!"

She was already gone.

"Son of a bitch!" Sawyer allowed himself to fall on the floor, his back supported by the strong bars, and hid his head between his knees. He always ended up screwing everything when it came to Kate. But now he just couldn't comprehend why she had been so tempestive. And he wasn't quite sure why the alarm hadn't sounded yet.