Disclaimer: I do not own Lost or its characters. I only own the story in my head.
Summary: They changed everything. Flight 815 never crashed, the island is underwater, and the same people are living different lives. So they think, because fate as other plans.
Sideways Stories from the Castaways
Kate
Kate Austen sees her window shopping at a baby store. She fights back and forth with herself about whether or not to go over to her. It was strange to see her; LA was huge city, what are the chances that they'd meet again a month later? She still felt bad about what she did, so she runs across the street. "Claire!" she says.
"Kate?" the Australian woman asks surprised.
"Yeah, how are you and Aaron?" Kate asks looking at Claire's belly.
"We're fine, I guess." Claire answers hesitantly. "I still don't know if I could do this."
"Come on, you'll make a great mom." Kate tells her. "Do you have a place to stay?"
"Yeah, this nice French woman is letting stay above her flower shop and gave me a job." Claire replies. "Her daughter already offered to babysit." She says with a small smile.
"That's great!" Kate replies smiling. She was happy things were working out for her. She'd spent the past few years running and conning her way into places to stay that she really missed having a place to call home. "Is there something in there that you need?" She asks pointing at the baby shop.
"No, I think I have everything, it's just that outfit on the mannequin is adorable." Claire says with her eyes lighting up.
"Then let's get it, I'm sure Aaron would look even cuter with it on. I'll buy it for you." She didn't know why she felt the need to protect them so badly. She did still feel guilty about what she had done that she knew she had to keep making it up to her and her son. But for some reason she felt like there was something more.
"No, you don't have to." She says shyly.
"I want to; it will be like a baby shower gift." She hoped Claire would take her up on her offer, she wanted to get something for Aaron and this may be her only chance.
They go inside the store, she finds the outfit and they ask the salesperson what size a newborn wears. She pays cash for it she can't leave a trail. They walk outside and find a bench to sit on she hands Claire the bag with the outfit and her credit card back. "Here, I didn't use it and you need it more than I do."Claire looks at her confused. "You have a baby to take care of soon, I'll be fine."
Claire takes the card hesitantly and slips it into her purse. They sit there enjoying the nice warm California day when she sees a cop car pull up to the store next to the baby shop. Her heart starts racing as she's the cops stare at her. The salesperson must've called them; she shouldn't have gone in there not when they were probably passing her picture around all over Los Angeles.
"Sorry, I have to go." She tells Claire as she takes off running. They follow behind her. She runs through the crowd hoping to lose them, she looks behind to see that she hasn't. She tries to run faster but her lungs are burning, she knocks things down to slow them. She turns a corner then another, then back tracks the way she came, running past them on the other side of the street. She runs a little more than stops to catch her breath, the last she saw them they were running in the other direction.
Suddenly she's thrown against the wall and feels the cold metal handcuffs being placed on her wrists. She moves her jaw around and feels a little blood trickling down her cheek. "Kate Austen" he says in a southern accent. He turns her around.
"Not as slippery as you thought." The Asian one says.
She looks at him recognizing him. "You let me go at the airport." She tells him reading his nameplate Officer Ford. She knew he saw her cuffs and she thought he understood her and that's why he let her go. Obivously she was wrong, but yet the look in his eyes still gave her hope that she could get him to let her go.
"Yeah, so I could catch ya, there's a hefty reward for you." He says with a smile. "And the Chief she likes reward money."
She looks at the other one's nameplate Officer Straume as he reads her, her rights. "You have the right to right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"
She nods. LA cops would be easy to escape from. They push her forward and they each grab on to her arms and start walking back towards their car.
Claire was still there looking at her as they approached. She gives her a small smile as they push her head down and into the police car. Suddenly Claire grips her stomach and screams. The officers close the door and run to her.
"I think I'm in labor" Claire tells them, they look at each other and open the door telling her to move over. They help Claire into the vehicle; Ford gets in the driver's seat while Straume takes shotgun. They turn on the sirens and race towards the hospital.