Thanks for the reviews- it makes writing much more fun :). Thanks to Imzadi for clearing up about the death penalty- shows what I know. I shall probably do a Jate story at some point- because that's equally fun.
Jack wiped the bitter tears from his eyes, smearing her blood across his face. He supposed it helped with act, but that wasn't why these tears were falling. These tears where falling because he'd finally figured out that he couldn't have her. She'd been floating around him ever since he'd got here, inhabiting his dreams as much as she had his waking thoughts. But whenever he thought he knew her, whenever he made a decision involving her, she would float away, becoming something else completely. And it wasn't until now that he realised why: she wasn't from the same world as he was. He was from the respectable part of society, she wasn't part of society at all. And whilst she might fascinate him, whilst he might want her more than he had ever wanted anything, he was never going to be able to have her, because she wasn't reachable, at least not for him.
So he was going to protect her, to do what she asked, to live for him, because she couldn't live for herself. The first part of that involved getting everyone of the island, leaving her alive, albeit alone. The marshals had easily fallen for his lies, people always did if you told them what they wanted to hear. They were going to be the last to go back though, just in case. He hoped Kate would be smart enough to stay away that long.
Some of them had gone already, Claire being helped onto the helicopter by an overly exuberant Charlie, Sayid guiding a still subdued Shannon onto another. It wasn't until most of them had gone that Locke approached him.
"It's a shame. About Kate." Locke squinted at Jack's blood-streaked face, reading on it what he had expected. "She shouldn't have to stay here on her own."
That caught Jack's attention, his breath catching in his throat as he started up. Glancing around, he saw that no one was paying attention and a wave of relief washed over him. Feigning ignorance particularly badly, Jack answered, "She's dead Locke."
"Jack." Locke held Jack's gaze for a moment. "We both know that's not true." Locke watched Jack squirm for a minute, unable to lie about it, but unwilling to admit she was alive. "You realise they're not going to buy it, don't you?"
"They bought it already, Locke."
"No they didn't, they're still here aren't they?" Letting his words speak for themselves, they both watched the marshals as they passed out guns. "I'm not going to turn her in Jack. I want to help. Sawyer left and hour ago, they saw him go. They're going to want you to take them to where Kate 'died'. You better hope she did a good job of making it look authentic."
Disgust was a mild word for what Jack was feeling, Sawyer was such an idiot sometimes. He was going to get Kate caught, and somehow make it all Jack's fault in the process. "What are we going to do about Sawyer?" Unconsciously, Jack had already built Locke into his plan for helping Kate, despite his dislike of the man, there was no one else left to help.
"I'll bring Sawyer back." All Jack's misgivings at this were kept silent by the approach of the marshals.
"Dr. Shepherd, a word please." Although the phrase was polite, it clearly wasn't a request. Jack followed with a glance over his shoulder, watching Locke disappear into the jungle. He just hoped to god that Kate was as good at this as she thought. The marshals clearly hadn't bought the story, and he hated that his incompetence might have hurt her. He ignored the fact that Sawyer's idiocy was far more likely to hurt her, hoping Locke could find Sawyer before he wrecked everything.