Chapter 3

Hi guys,

Sorry this took so long. Lots of homework and writers block means I don't get a lot done. But now it's winter break(YES!!!!!) so I got to work more on this.

I think this chapter is just a little longer, but there's not much to say about it here, so you'll just have to read it for yourself.

And reviews make my day happy, so please review!

Happy holidays,

Kate

"Kate, damn it, run!" The words echoed out of the walkie talkie and rang in Kate's ears. She looked at the scene around her, rain pouring down, a man holding a gun to her head, a man with a gun pointed at Sawyer. Her mind was racing. How was she supposed to just run from all this?

"Run, Freckles."

Sawyer looked up at her, and the world was crashing down on her at that moment. She saw the way that everything can turn black so fast, and it was a shock to her.

"Are you crazy?" She was screaming now, and it was driving her insane how he seemed so calm. "I'm not running!"

"Kate, god damn it, please, just-"

"I said I wouldn't leave you-"

"I'll come later when I can, I promise, just go!"

She looked at him again, and she saw something in his eyes, that she had never seen before; fear. Her heart nearly stopped, and almost as if it was out of her control, she flung her fist back at the man holding her, wrestled out of his giant's grip, and ran.

Kate woke to the sound of a honking car in a traffic jam outside her window, a sound she had grown used to by now. At that sound, the memories of the night before came back to her, and, for the first time in weeks, she smiled.

"Been waiting for you to get up," a voice murmured from behind her, turning her smile into a grin. "You know what time it is?"

Sawyer gestured to the clock perched on Kate's desk. The glass on its face was cracked, and it had to be at least a few minutes slow, but it still read 12:30. "You were out for a while there, Freckles," he said gently.

"Haven't slept much lately," Kate mumbled with a yawn. It was an understatement; she'd been up late every night, afraid of sleep and the nightmares it gave her, nightmares like terrifying horror movies playing over and over in her head. And finally, tonight they had stopped.

She felt something warm touch her hands and opened her eyes. "You made coffee?" she laughed.

"Yeah, well, it's not very good," Sawyer said, hiding his reddening cheeks.

Kate brought the mug to her lips; he was right, it was terrible. "You call this coffee?" she teased.

"Your coffee maker does."

"Came with the apartment," Kate grumbled into her coffee cup.

"Yeah," Sawyer grinned, looking around. "Nice place you got here, Freckles."

Kate rolled her eyes, catching the sarcasm in his voice. Though, she realized, no one who said those words about her apartment could have been saying them with honesty. Her bed was crammed into the corner across from the tiny oven and stove, her desk was covered with old books, and the bathroom was in the closet. She hadn't noticed how dirty the windows were, either.

She grinned, "Yeah, thanks."

He looked at her for a few minutes before he finally said it. "How long you planning on stayin' here?"

She let her eyes meet his, knowing exactly what he meant. How long are you gonna hide out here before the cops find out who you are and you have to run again?

She was silent for a few minutes. "I hadn't really thought about it," she whispered. The truth was, she had almost forgotten. Panic gripped her as she remembered what she had done, and what could happen to her. Question after question came rushing into Kate's head. Who would know that she was alive and where would she run to when they came after her..

He saw her eyes flooding with terror again and found himself scrambling for something, anything to say that would calm her down. "No one knows, though, they don't. I know they don't. They think you're dead from the crash. I know, I saw it in the paper," he rambled. Kate gave him a look at the last part; she knew that Sawyer had never read a whole newspaper in his life, but the way he was trying to relax her with his nervous, scrambled words made her smile.

She brushed her hair out of her face, sat up and looked at him. "We need to talk."

"Figured you were gonna say that," Sawyer said with a sigh.

"How the hell did you get off that island? How did you get here?" Kate asked, a sharpness to her voice.

"Long story," Sawyer grumbled.

"I don't have much taking up my time, in case you haven't noticed," she replied bitterly. "Tell me. Everything."

"The guy who had a gun at you got a call that their camp was burning. He ran off. Now I been beat by ol' Pickett before, you remember, Freckles, so I knew what he was gonna do."

Kate remembered the gunshot, and her stomach clenched. "You shot him?"

Sawyer shrugged. "Didn't kill 'em. But I didn't really have much choice then."

"Findin' you was the hard part. I kept looking, but I didn't have any idea where you were, a name, anything. Then I saw a list on the news of everybody's names, everyone from the plane. And I saw old Joanna's name on the list of survivors, said she lived in New York." He gave her a firm but gentle look. "That girl died, Freckles. You remember as well as I do."

Kate closed her eyes tight as she heard the girl's screams echoing through her mind. She remembered.

"So finally I found someone who said she heard that someone named Joanna had moved into her friends old place across the street. Said that she was a pretty girl with green eyes, brown hair and freckles all over her face, never left her apartment." He grinned. "Couldn't have been anyone else but you."

Kate looked at his face again, remembering every bit of it, and she realized that she knew how he felt, and what he was thinking. She realized she'd never known someone that well, and it scared her and made her happy at the same time. She could tell that he was happy to see her by the relieved smile on his face, but something was bothering her, and it took her a few minutes to realize what it was.

"I miss it sometimes too," she murmured, and was surprised to find that it was true.

"Crazy, right?" Sawyer whispered. "Can't imagine living anywhere but on a beach."

Kate nodded. "You seen anybody?" she asked. She needed to hear from somebody, anybody from the island. It was hard to believe how fast anyplace can become your home.

"Saw Charlie on tv the other night," Sawyer said with a grin. "Played some pretty good guitar."

Kate laughed, remembering Charlie's stories of platinum records and sold out concerts. Her laugh faded when she remembered someone else's face that had been reappearing in her mind.

"Jack?"

Sawyer's face hardened slightly, and she saw it.

"We're just friends, Sawyer. That's it, I –"

"I know, Freckles, I know," Sawyer said firmly. And this time he believed her.

"Haven't seen him," he said quietly. "His name wasn't on the list, either."

Kate closed her eyes for a moment before she said what she was thinking.

"I don't think he's dead. I don't know why I think that, but I don't think he is."

Sawyer shook his head, "I don't either."

He opened his mouth to say more, but his voice was cut off by the sudden blare of a siren.

Kate's breath caught in her throat, and her heart pounded louder that a drum as she began to shake. She looked out the window, wanting nothing more than to look away, but her eyes wouldn't let her. She kept watching, the same nightmare playing in her head again. The car whirled around the corner of her street and her heart stopped beating altogether, the red flashing lights blinding her-

And then it was gone. The sirens faded with the lights, her heart was beating, that the world was beginning to start up again after that one moment.

She felt his arms fold around her and heard him whisper in her ear.

"I won't let them near you," he said as he rocked her back a forth like he used to. "I'll punch their brains out if I have to and we'll run. I'll run with you."

She knew that it was a promise that he meant to keep, and that made her feel safe for the first time that she could remember.