Wow I have totally neglected this fic and I sincerely apologize, btwn starting up a new MB and hosting a ship I have been soo tied up. But that is no excuse so, I hope I still have some loyal readers out there. I'll try to update as often as I can but with the new season I am very caught up and busy else where so they won't be as frequent as before. Btw the new season has been great imo and I am gonna try to follow some of the same patterns and maybe grow off that story line; but as I have said before I have a plan and as far as I am concerned, I am gonna stick with my storyline for the most part;).

Chapter 3: confusion

The cold wet air let them know the time. It was filled with a heave sense of moisture; with no breeze to whip it away. Each foot was spaced before the other, moving the shadowy form through the dense darkness.

A nine millimeter gun was tucked in the back of a pair of worn down jeans, held up by a leather belt. The green grass was on defined by its feel beneath the hiking boots that treaded its soil. The darkness was created by not only the thick forest but by the thunder clouds blocking the stars from shinning out upon the jungle terrain. Site within two yards of a figure was nearly impossible.

"We have to stop! There is no trail to follow, not to mention that there is certainly no light to track by. Wait a few hours."

Sawyer stop walking; her logic got to him every time.

"Just till dawn?" Kate asked more instructively than quizzically.

"Okay."

Sitting down on a stone Kate surveyed her surroundings best she could in the night.

"Which way should we head?"

"I don't know, you're the tracker here, Freckles."

"I say…" Kate began before taking a sip of water. "We head east."

"Well alright then. I guess we are headen east"

Closing her eyes Kate slipping into unconsciousness, letting a different darkness take a hold of her, relieving her of stress, worry and fear. Her mind went blank as she rejuvenated. Sawyer saw her shoulders drop and he body relax, he knew she had drifted off to sleep. Not daring to go to sleep he sat up and kept his eyes wide and ears open.

Sawyer saw her silhouette through the piercing darkness, she lay nearly lifeless, not tossing or turning, just peacefully resting. Quietly, he moved closer. Sawyer positioned himself a few feet away from her body and in clear few of her face. He watched her chest move up in down as she breathed in each breath through her nose. Her mouth was pinched shut. Wavy brown locks fell across her shoulders covering the top part of her blue shirt.

Sawyer's dark eyes stared down at the small figure before him. He wanted so much to protect her, to defend her and keep her safe; safe from her past and from the future. But he of all knew best, that there was no way for him to always be there. He trusted her; Sawyer knew that if push came to shove she could take care of herself; she had been doing it her whole life.

Slowly the same darkness that had captured Kate pulled Sawyer in as well. Strength began to rebuild in them both. A few hours past before they woke with the sun rise. Although the cloud had not parted all the way, so there was a dim light that spread across the jungle.

Kate woke up first. Glancing over toward her left, she saw Sawyer leaning lazily against a near my by tree. His mouth hung open slightly, breathing in the forest air. His shoulders lay at a slant, relaxing. His left leg extending out into the grass while his right one stayed tucked up in a bent way. Kate stared at him for a moment before quietly getting up and crawling toward him. She sat to his side and brought her lips softly to his ear, kissing it gently. Sawyer moaned; hesitant to get up.

"It's to damn early to be getting up, Freckles."

She kissed his ruff cheek quickly.

"Ya sure about that?" Kate asked in nearly a whisper as she continued to taunt Sawyer; kissing him along his neck.

Reluctantly, yet with an air of willingness, Sawyer turned his head toward her and opened his eye, yet just barely. He pulled her into a good morning kiss with just the sere power of his physical effect on her. He didn't use his hands, yet his lips rapped around hers and pulled her in. He took her vary breath away.

"Mornin'." Sawyer said in a husky but still hushed tone. He brought his hands up to her face and stroked her cheek sweetly.

"Morning." Kate greeted him back smiling from ear to ear. "Ready to go?"

"Well, Shortcake I don't think it matters much if I am ready or not, cause you seemed pretty much determined to wake me up and get us outta here."

Kate smiled once again, wrinkling her nose. Then, extended her hand to help him up off the forest ground. After helping him up, they each slide on therir backpacks and headed out toward the stream to fill their water bottles. The cool water felt refreshing again their dirty skin. The water bottles were filled then put into their backpacks for later use. Kate now held not only a knife put the man's, that Sawyer had killed, gun. She had it tucked in her pants.

They carried on for hours, looking for any trail or sign that people may have been there. Nothing was ever found. Kate occasionally would stop and inspect the area around them, but she came up empty handed every time. Every broken twig or print in the dirt was not one of the Other's. Kate found boar wallows and what appeared to be paw prints of a rather large size; which Kate assumed to be bear prints. Near noon she came across several hove marks that resembled that of a horse's. Kate was still frightened a little by the idea of her past once again haunting her; so she did not mentions her discovery to Sawyer.

It was late afternoon and the heat had begun to get the best of them. Heat poured upon them as if there was no shade or trees to help. The sun streamed down causing droplets of sweat to form on Sawyer's brow. Kate rolled up her short sleeves in a weak attempt to cool off.

"Where the hell could these people be?" Sawyer asked in an irritated tone.

"And just how am I suppose to know that Sawyer?" Kate said back rather bitter. She was at her wits and end quite tired of walking; let alone tracking.

"It was a rhetorical question, Kate." Sawyer answered back with an annoyed air.

"Y'all two bicker like an old married couple." A laughing voice echoed.

Sawyer and Kate pulled out there guns but could not place a direction to point to. Every direction seemed to be the way to point. The voice had not come from one particular place; it had echoed through the trees reaching their ears, all to leave then guessing as to where it had come from. Each of them kept their faces expressionless, and kept their focus.

"Who the hell you are? Why don't ya just go ahead and show yourself? It would save us the trouble and you the pain." Sawyer called out in a harmful emphasis.

"What; you gonna do to me what ya did to poor George yesterday?" The same ever happy voice asked. A cocky air lay about everything the voice said. They where confused by why the person's tone was so animated. Kate laid a hand on Sawyer's chest, as if to warn him not to move.

"She must have been following us for a while. I don't know how I didn't pick up on that" Kate whispered, mentally kicking herself for being so careless. She had focused so much on tracking down these people she had nearly forgotten the possibility that they could have been being followed. "Maybe there are a bunch of them around here." Kate said still in a hushed tone.

"Naw, it's just lil ol' me Katie."

Kate and Sawyer's attention was immediately drawn to a small figure that appeared from behind a group of trees. She wore a pair of old blue jean and a black tank top, a dark sweat shirt was tided around her waist. Sun kissed blonde hair lay upon her head in a tight ponytail. Blue eye's like the sky after a storm stared back at Sawyer and Kate. Her skin looked clean yet tan; as if it was use to being out of doors. She held a gun at her side; but made no attempt to use it. Nor did she give any implication that she was intending to use it.

"Now why don't y'all just put the guns down for a second so we can talk."

Sawyer stood by a stunned Kate. The past came rushing back to them each in a different way. A mixture of pain, sorrow, sympathy, and forgiveness filled their hearts. Kate lost all mental conscienceeness as she stared out at the figure. Her mind was engulfed in the situation. She tried so hard to figure it all out. Sawyer on the other hand, was containing his anger and affection all at once. As each sat silent, they thought their own thoughts. They remembered their own memories. But one common thinking crossed each of their minds and overruled all other logic; confusion.