Alright, here is the very next chapter. I hope you enjoy. I'm sorry I haven't been updating much lately, I just got a new job and it takes away a good amount of my time. I'm trying to keep up best I can.


It has been an entire day since the group left on their trek into the jungle on the rescue mission. And that entire day Kate spent looking out at the vast ocean. The waves were higher than usual, and she wondered if that meant a storm was coming. She hoped it was, because she had a feeling people were sick of seeing her tears, and rain would be a perfect mask.

And just as that thought passed her mind, the heavens started to share their tears with the island. People ran into their tents for shelter and protection from the rain, but she didn't. She just sat; she noticed this rain was a lot colder than it had ever been on the island. Goosebumps found their way onto her soaked skin and shivers ran up and down her spine.

"Kate, you really need to get out of this rain, its freezing." Sun says placing her hand on Kate's shoulder.

"It's refreshing." Kate responded back.

"Kate you're going to get sick." She states the facts. Kate knew she was, for this rain was exceptionally cold.

"I don't care."

"Don't be so stubborn Kate, he could be on his way back right now and he doesn't need you being sick as something to come back to." Sun powerfully states. She was getting angry and Kate didn't really care one bit. But then what she said had a very large truth in it. He has had so much to deal with, her being sick wouldn't lighten the load. So Kate gets up and heads towards her tent. But as soon as she was about to pull back the tarp, something caught her eye. It was them.

She ran as fast as her broken body could carry her. They were carrying someone.

Kate's heart sank as she ran faster and faster, all her strength coming back to her. But when she reached them it wasn't at all what she expected. There was Paulo, dead. Niki was clenching his hand. She wanted to badly to ask about Jack, if they saw him, if they knew anything about him. But she knew she couldn't, not when this woman had just lost her husband. Her hand finds her mouth as she walks to the crying woman. Not a word was said as Kate takes her in her own arms. She thought it was somewhat ironic that just yesterday their roles were reversed.

The men take his body back into the jungle and place a tarp over him until they could dig a proper grave for the man. Sun comes up hearing a bit of commotion and sees what has happened. She goes over to Sawyer and looks at his arm, which is bloody but not two badly injured. "Anything?" She whispers to the tall southerner.

Sawyers head falls down as he shakes it from side to side.

Sun looks over towards Kate who is holding the sobbing Niki in her arms. She gives her a sad smile and Kate knows they didn't find him. Her heart aches but does not want to make this at all

about her, someone died and she has more common sense than that.


The door creeks open.

"Put this on." Juliet says throwing a new clean shirt towards Jack, who hasn't moved from that spot in two days.

Jack struggles to hoist himself up. He groans in pain the entire time, pain surges through his limbs and he wishes he had never gotten up. "Where are we going?"

"To breakfast." She says with a smile walking over towards him. He was having a lot of trouble trying to get the shirt over his head. She helps him slide it down and he winces as the cotton grazes his wounds. "Common." She takes his arm docilely in her hand and leads him out the door.

"What no rope or hood?" Jack inquires sardonically.

"No." She simply puts.

Jack shrugs and goes along down the long narrow hallway with her hand guiding him. His knees are weak and his whole body is aching but actually being in a social setting for once, that is not an operating theater might be somewhat nice.

They soon enter the rather large room, it is filled to the brim with people, some dressed nicely and some in rags. Juliet guides him to a table filled with raggedy people and helps him sit down. "Ill be back with your food in a minute."

Jack nods as she heads off toward the line formed in front of, what looks like to be a buffet.

"So you've won one of them over I see." A woman in what looks to be her early thirties says to him.

He looks at her questionably. He swears he has seen her before, but where he couldn't place it. "You're not one of them?" He asks.

She shakes her head. "None of us at this table are. We all got here by one way or another, and we were taken by them."

It really bothers him that he cannot think of where he has seen this woman before. She was attractive, slightly short hair, reddish brown. He knows he has talked to her as well because he somewhat recognizes the voice. "Were you on flight 815?"

She nods. "I take it you were too?"

"You were a flight attendant right?" He asks, hope in his eyes, finally remembering who she was.

She nods again. "Yeah. Yeah I was until they took me. I was in the tail section of the plane, we crashed in the water and some of us survived and swam to shore." She says with a smile.

"Were you with Ana Lucia?"

"Yeah, do you know her?"

He nodded his head sadly. "Yeah, I met her before the flight even took off and then they managed to make it across to the side of the island we crashed at."

"Really!" Cindy says with hope in her eyes. "How is she? And Libby? What about Mister Eko?"

"Eko is just fine, well at least last time I was there he was, and I'm really sorry but….Ana and Libby…"

"What? What is it? They didn't make it did they?"

Jack bows his head. "No…no they didn't. They were murdered."

"What!" She exclaims and is suddenly quiet as Juliet comes back over, placing a large plate in front of Jack. It was steak with green beans on the side.

"I hope you like what I picked for you." She coyly says as he nods. "I'll come to collect you later." She smiles as she turns to go towards her table.

"I think she likes you." Cindy says quietly leaning into Jack's ear.

He looks towards her oddly. "Nah, she just feels bad for me."

"Why would she feel bad for you?" She questions.

"Because of everything that has happened to me, or that they have done to me since I've gotten here."

"No, that's ridiculous because that woman is a cold hearted bitch. She isn't kind to anyone except for you." She stops. "What's happened that you would even think she would feel bad for you?"

"We'll..." He starts.

Cindy's eyes are wide and mouth's agape through the entire story. He heard about how her friends died, how they tried to use his friends against him only to end up seeing them screwing on the TV screens. She could tell how that ripped out Jacks heart, and she could tell that Jack loved this Kate woman, just by how he talked of her like she was an angel or something, even after breaking his heart. Then he continued to talk about the surgery and what he did to get her…them safe. And then last but not least the torture, leaving Cindy in tears by the end.

"Oh my God."

"Yeah." Jack says wiping the water away that was building up behind his eyes.

"Oh Jack, I'm so sorry."

"There is nothing you need to be sorry about, you had nothing to do with any of it."

"I know, it's just I feel bad since all that has happened to you and all we've had to do here is work hauling rocks."

Suddenly two small children that were sitting across from them start to fight over a chicken leg.

"It's mine! You can't have it!" The small girl yells.

"No, I want the leg; I don't like what I got!" The boy tries smacking the girls hand away.

"NO! It's MINE!" She pulls hard.

"ZACH! EMMA! STOP IT NOW!" Cindy yells across the table and both immediately stop. "This is Doctor Shephard, he is new here and doesn't need you two fighting."

"We're sorry. It's nice to meet you Doctor Shephard." Emma says yanking the chicken leg away from the boy once and for all.

"Yeah." Zach says bowing his head down.

"Call me Jack." He smiles at the two young ones. He turns towards Cindy. "Are they yours?" He asks.

"Heavens no. They were on the plane going back to their parents in LA, they were visiting their Grandparents."

He nods. "I see." He continues to eat his steak in silence the rest of the time spent down there, savoring the taste.

Seeing he has finished his food, Juliet makes her way over towards the table. "Alright Jack, time to go back." She grabs his arm.

"See you." Cindy says smiling at the handsome doctor.

He nods towards her with a small smile as he is taken away. They walk down the hallway quietly until the reach the set of double doors that lead into the hallway his door is in. "These doors will be locked, as well as all the doors in this hallway. The only doors that won't be locked is your door and the bathroom, therefore you don't have to go in the drain anymore." Juliet says with a small smile. "It has a shower too."

"Wow, so he has decided to ease up on me a bit."

"No, I had to talk him into it." She looks at him with a slight smirk. He meets her eyes and sees she really does care about him. He can't help but think of what Cindy had said, that Juliet actually likes him.

"Am I ever going to get out of here?" Jack asks, sadness clear in his voice.

She looks towards him once more before she exits the room. "I'm sorry."


It had rained all through the following day, but this time Kate didn't listen to anyone when they told her to get out of it. The only person she would listen to now was Jack, and he wasn't here. They couldn't even bury Paulo yet because of the weather. The rains were so fierce that it would wash sand and water right back into the grave, causing it to be heavier and harder to get rid of than before. So he stayed right off the tree line, covered by a blue tarp, slowly deteriorating.

But even though the perfect cover-up was falling out of the sky, her tears had finally stopped, though no one could tell as the rain pelted down on her drenched face. But she could tell. She had nothing left inside of her to cry out, she was completely empty. But something inside of her wishes she still could cry, loving the feeling as it distracted her a bit from her thoughts. She sometimes had even gotten to the point where she would count each tear that feel for him. One of those times she had even gotten to six thousand, four hundred and seventy three until Claire had come over to comfort her. After that she had lost count. But now she was all dried up, well in a sense. Water soaked her entire outer being, but inside she was as dry as the Sahara Desert.

Four days since she had last seen him, or was it five? She really didn't know. In all honesty she really didn't want to know. Her mind thought it was less, but her heart thought the complete opposite. It felt like years since she had seen him. She was missing him so entirely it was ripping at her heart strings. She wishes she didn't feel for him so bad, she wishes she could rip out all those feelings stored in her pained heart and throw them into the ditch like she would with any other guy, any other worthless, good for nothing, man…but Jack wasn't worthless or good for nothing. He was flat out amazing, and he made her feel just as amazing as he appeared to be. No one has ever been able to make her feel like he does, like her world could one day be perfect as long as she was with him. That she could be good, that she was worthy of something as perfect as him. Even if he wasn't as perfect as he seems he is still the best thing she has ever come across. No one has ever treated her with such dignity and respect. She has never seen so much love reflected in someone's eyes like his do when he looks at her. She has never felt so completely terrible for sleeping with another man, but when she slept with Sawyer the regret engulfed her. She has never fallen for someone so hard like she has fallen for Jack Shephard. And God does she miss him.

"Hey Freckles." Sawyer says plopping down next to her, sand immediately clinging to his soaked clothes.

She nods in response but doesn't turn to face him.

He sighs. "You really should go into your tent, you are going to get really sick if you just stay out here."

She doesn't move.

"And I was told you haven't eaten in days, so I brought you this." He places a mango next to her sitting form. "Common just look at me, let me know that you are still in there, somewhere." He almost pleads.

And it hurts her to hear him like this, Sawyer of all people begging her. So she decided to give him something. She turns and gives him a polite smile. He nods at her as she looks back towards the ocean.

"That's all any of us needed." He smiles and gets up, not even attempting to brush off the moist sand. "You really should get out of the rain though, otherwise I might have to force you."

There's a pause. "You know as well as everyone else I would be back out here in minutes." She says in a monotone voice.

He nods. "Well, if you need anything, everyone on the beach is willing to help."

"Thank you Sawyer." She says as he turns away to head up towards a waiting Claire.

"We'll?"

"We'll what? Does it look like she is comin' to her damn tent."

"Sawyer, you don't have to be so rude."

"Sorry."

Claire mouth drops at his apology. "Wait…Wait a sec…Did you just say you were sorry?"

"Yeah so, what's it matter?" He says grumpily.

"Wow this really is affecting you isn't it?" She pauses. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't talk." He sneers.

"I find that hard very to believe, sometimes you won't even shut up." Niki says coming around the tent, hearing their conversation.

Claire smiles a bit, seeing how someone is finally being tough towards Sawyer. He gets up and walks to his tent as the two women follow. "What are you broads followin' me for?" They make it to his tent and he goes in, the two women hot on his heels. "What the hell, that wasn't an open invitation."

"Sawyer, we can see you're hurting. Why don't you talk about it?" Claire says sympathetically. Seeing that he really is hurting over this, knowing there is a nice guy somewhere in there.

Sawyer huffs. "Fine, if I talk will it get you two off my back?"

They nod, smiles hidden on their faces.

"Nothin' leaves this tent, you hear me!" He demands.

They just watch him, knowing he is about to break. There was a long pause until Sawyer takes a breathe.

"He was my friend…is…is my friend. Even though it doesn't seem like it, he was…is the closest thing I got. Besides Kate who…she is just falling apart with this. She loves him, it's not hard to see, but after all the time on the island it took this for her to really realize it. She says us sleeping together was a mistake, and I, for the first time in my sexually active career, agree with her. She is the first woman I ever agreed with when it comes to sex being a mistake. She has grown damn far away from me because of it, and I think it hurt her more than anything. Hell that might have been what got her to realize her love for the Hero."

A tear falls down his cheek. He's quick to wipe it away.

Both girls feel his pain, never thinking he was capable of breaking like this. He had such a hard exterior that it was almost impossible to think he was soft like the rest of them inside.

He coughs which brings them both back to reality. "Eh, it was a good screw. So I really don't regret it. I've been wanting to do that to her since the beginning." There he goes, being the selfish pig they have all come to known. But the girls don't care, he actually opened up to them, of all people he chose them to actually show his true self to. Maybe it was because they were the most defenseless people on this island, Claire with her baby and Niki having lost her husband no more than two days ago, but they couldn't help but feel the pride that came along with this all.

Claire is the first to exit the tent. She sees Kate shivering on the shore. She runs into Jacks tent and grabs his blanket, knowing he won't need it right now, and thinking if Kate does go into her tent she will need her own blanket dry. She goes down towards her figure and places it around her shoulders.

Immediately she recognizes it.

"What if he comes back and needs it?" She asks clenching it tighter around her body, taking in the scent of Jack that still lingers there.

Claire sighs and walks away. Not knowing how to answer that one.