Thanks for the reviews – they're so awesome! I think I'm more excited about this fic than any I've ever done, even "The Edge of the Ocean"! Speaking of which, I have for you today the stand off you've all been waiting for, or at least, the beginning of it – it's a pretty complex situation, so it's going to take a few chapters for everyone to sort themselves out…

Chapter 12. It's Not What You Think

"Kevin?" Kate asked stupidly when Jack swivelled the beam of his torch to her right, revealing the broad figure of her husband. The clothes she'd helped him pick out in Sydney were torn and muddy and speckled with blood, and there was a gash across the left side of his forehead, but other than that, he appeared to be unharmed, and to her confusion, very much alive.

"Your wife?" her captor repeated with a sardonic laugh, tucking the knife into her belt as she relinquished her hold with a rough shove. Kate stumbled into Jack's chest, letting his strong arms steady her for the briefest of moments before stepping back to a less conspicuous distance. "Does she know about the airport, Kev?" the woman continued, the venom in her tone making Kate cringe, because Jack was right, there was no way she could believe that the two of them were strangers after that. "Or should I tell her?"

Kevin gave her a hard look, angrier than Kate had ever seen him. "I think you've done enough," he told her, his voice filled with bitterness.

Turning his attention to Kate, his expression morphed into one of concern, relief evident in his tone as he said, "God, Mon – I thought you were dead." The woman he'd identified as Ana scoffed as he pulled Kate into a fierce hug; sneaking a peak at Jack over his shoulder, she saw his brow furrow with confusion, but when she tried to catch his eye, he turned his face away, lowering his torch to give them some privacy.

"Look at you," Kevin murmured when he pulled away, cupping her face in his hands, and wiping the mud from her cheeks with his thumbs as he studied her in the dim light. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Kev, I'm fine," she agreed softly, tearing up when he hugged her again, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, overwhelmed, as always, by how much he loved her. He looked so happy to see her despite the unfamiliar distance in his eyes; in spite of the evidence Jack had presented her with, the evidence that she'd now seen for herself, she wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

He slid an arm around her waist, apparently not ready to break contact yet, but knowing that Jack was watching their interaction only seemed to add to her confusion so she brushed it away, gesturing to place where their campsite had been. "What is all this? Who're all this people?" she asked when, at Ana's shout of "It's okay", they relit their fire, returning to their former places around it.

"They were all in the back of the plane," he explained, letting his hand fall awkwardly back to his side. "They survived the crash along with us. We thought we were the only ones, until…"

He trailed off when Jack cleared his throat, initiating himself into the conversation. "There's another group of about fifty survivors where we came from," he told him in a tone so neutral that it was hard to tell what he was thinking, dividing his attention evenly between him and Ana.

Tearing his eyes away from Kate, Kevin looked him up and down, studying him with the same mild interest he reserved for any other stranger, she noted with a pang. He didn't seem at all jealous to find her in the company of another man; he trusted her, which was more than she could say about him of late.

"Kevin, this is Jack," she said quickly, trying to keep her voice casual, as if he were as much of a stranger to her as he had been four days ago. "He's a doctor, so when I said I wanted to look for the tail, he offered to come in case anyone was wounded."

Jack gave her an incredulous look, seemingly bothered by her compulsion to lie, but she ignored him, forcing a smile when Kevin reached over to shake his hand. "Hey, nice to meet you, Jack," he said with a warm grin, transferring it to Kate as he added, "Thanks for looking out for my girl."

Jack didn't seem to know what to say to this, given that he'd looked out for her a little too well, so he fell back on his manners, offering him a tepid grin as he echoed the sentiment. "You're a lucky man," he added with a wistful glance at Kate, a hint of accusation creeping into his tone that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone but her.

The exchange was making Kate uncomfortable, so she said, "Who's she?" with a slight nod in the other woman's direction.

She meant for Kevin to answer her, to explain their relationship, but Jack opened his mouth too, closing it again when the Latino woman cut in, "She is Ana Lucia," her voice acerbic as she surveyed Kate with disdain. "And you – I don't have to ask who you are…"

Before she could explain what she meant by this, Kevin flashed her another warning look, silencing her. "Hey. Stand down, okay? She's my wife – let me handle it."

"You'd better," Ana agreed, scowling at him. "'Cause we might be here a while, and your wife is one too many things for me to deal with."

Their cryptic argument was beginning to eat away at Kate's already frazzled nerves; she was missing something, something important, and she was more certain than ever now that she knew what it was. "Handle what, Kevin?" she asked, her voice rising with frustration, determined to get a straight answer from him this time. "Who is this woman? How do you know her? What aren't you telling me?"

A wave of revulsion swept through her when he looked back at the campsite, guilt and shame etched across his face. "Oh God, it's true, isn't it?" she whispered, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as she let the realisation sink in. "He was right – you're having an affair with her."

"What? No," Kevin snapped, looking up at her sharply, his eyes wounded as if he couldn't believe that she would even consider the possibility; with an awkward glance at Jack, he returned his hand to the small of her back, ushering her away from the group.

"Calm down, okay?" he said, lowering his voice once they were out of earshot of both Jack and Ana. "It's not what you think."

As far as defences went, this one was pretty lame. In fact, it just might be the lamest justification she'd ever heard. "That's all you can say?" she demanded, refusing to do what he said and calm down until he told her the truth. "'It's not what you think?' Come on, Kevin, you can do better than that."

He sucked in a deep, unhappy breath, exhaling slowly before fixing her with a serious look, his palms coming to rest on each of her shoulders. "It's not a line, Kate," he said, all traces of his boyish humour gone, making him look older and more defeated than she'd ever seen him. "It's really not what you think."

No, that was not a typo or a continuity error. Next chapter: Kevin's story… ;)