Thanks for the reviews. Alerts are down again -- I really hate that.
Sayid and Ana -- that's an interesting idea, given that the circumstances of their meeting are different here, but I was actually thinking of giving her chemistry with a certain snarky southerner, since I always regretted that the writers killed her off so soon...
Chapter 24. We Can Do This
Once the schedule for the first night's watch had been determined, the gathering broke up, Jack, Kate, Ana and Charlie heading back towards the campsite while Sayid behind stayed to stoke the signal fire. Ana disappeared first, to where she'd pitched her tent away from the others, Charlie hanging back, turning to Kate with a tentative look as he paused halfway between her and Claire.
"Hey, Kate – did you find your husband?"
"Yeah," she agreed, unsure of what else to say. It was sweet of him to ask; he obviously still felt bad about the insensitive comments he'd made the day they'd met.
He seemed to be waiting for something; scanning the beach for Kevin's familiar figure, she wondered if she should point him out, when that was likely to lead to more questions, like why she was still spending so much time with Jack.
Following her eyes to the campfire where Kevin was sitting with Libby, looking happy for the first time in days, he let out a barely audible, "Oh", offering her a strained smile before scurrying over to Claire.
Jack, on the other hand, was more interested in Kate, searching her face for some sign of jealousy; anything that would confirm his fears about her still having strong feelings for Kevin.
She couldn't deny the fact that it made her uncomfortable to see him enjoying himself with another woman, even if that woman was only Libby, but she didn't want Jack to know that, not when he was already so insecure, so she slipped her hand into his, leading him away to the fire closest to their tents.
"Feels good to just sit and do nothing," he said, kicking off his shoes and relaxing as people began to pass around platters of meat from a boar Locke had killed that afternoon.
"It does, doesn't it?" she agreed, doing her best to shut out the sound of Kevin's deep chuckle as she pulled off her own boots, inspecting the blisters on the soles of her feet.
"I should have some antiseptic in with the rest of the medical supplies," Jack said, eyeing her sympathetically, as she winced, setting them back down in the sand. "I can take a look for you after dinner if you want."
He was being serious, but she couldn't resist teasing him by asking, "So you wanna play doctor with me?" succeeding in making him blush when she followed this up with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.
"I am a member of the medical profession, Kate," he reminded her mock innocently, pretending not to understand her, but he was grinning, clearly unopposed to the idea of spending another night like the one they'd just shared.
The two groups remained separate during the meal, and for the hours they spent lounging by the campfires afterwards, the Tailies clustered together like the freshmen in high school. On the other side of the campsite, Kevin and Libby carried on their conversation, chatting like old friends, while Ana sat alone, until a man whose name, Kate thought, was Goodwin, dropped down into the sand beside her.
Since they had to be up early for their shift, they went back to Jack's tent as soon as the group began to disperse, but it was a long time before either of them felt like trying to sleep, enjoying the first semblance of privacy they'd shared since they'd gotten together. After taking their time, exploring each other more fully than they had the night before, Kate curled against Jack under the blanket with her cheek on his chest, her arms wrapped securely around his torso while his moved to stroke her hair, until, contented, they both began to drift off.
The next thing she knew, he had bumped her awake while trying to shift her off of him, still apparently determined to assume his post alone. "What time is it?" she murmured, cracking her eyes open only slightly, wondering if it could really be time to change shifts when it was still so dark outside.
"It's still early," he told her, pressing a soft, sweet kiss to her forehead as he set her back down on the bed of airplane seats without him. "You should go back to sleep."
It was a tempting suggestion, given how tired she was, but since there was little chance of getting him to do the same, she counted to five before hoisting herself up into a sitting position, more determined than ever to go with him now that he'd tried to stop her.
He didn't look happy as she slipped back into her clothes and followed him out of the tent, but he seemed to realise that there was nothing he could do to convince her to stay behind, because he didn't say anything as he led her to the edge of the jungle where Ana was waiting for them to take over.
"You should take this," she said, handing her crude, makeshift spear over to Jack as she stood and brushed the dirt off the back of her jeans. Glancing over at Kate, surveying her with obvious mistrust, she added, "Sorry, but I only got one."
"That's okay," Kate told her coolly, producing the knife Jack had given her before they started their trek. "I brought my own."
She was pleased when the other woman looked taken aback, disappearing among the tents without another word.
When Jack raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a dubious look, she added, shrugging, "She started it," and he cracked a smile, kissing the top of her head affectionately as he pulled her down to sit against him.
"She might've started it," he told her, wrapping his arms around her while she responded by tucking her head under his chin, "but I'm not sure you should bait her like that – not unless you want her to rat you out when we get home, before we can even find you a lawyer."
"If we get home," she corrected him, wondering how he could still sound so optimistic after everything Sayid and Charlie had told them.
"When we get home," he repeated, kissing the top of her head again, then her temple, then the side of her cheek, until his lips were brushing hers.
Turning in his arms, she tried to deepen the kiss, her hands moving up to cradle his jaw, but while he continued to go through the motions with her, she could tell that his mind was no longer there with her.
"What?" she asked, pulling back when, after sliding her hands down to his chest, pushing him back against the tree he was leaning against, she failed to elicit a more enthusiastic response. "Do you want me to stop?"
"No, it's okay," he agreed, but, unsatisfied with this answer, she drew back her hands, folding them across her lap as she moved to sit cross-legged beside him.
"Okay isn't really what I was going for."
She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, but he must have heard it anyway, stroking the back of her palm with his thumb as he took her hand gently in his. "I'm sorry, I just can't stop thinking about what Sayid said – about the radio tower," he explained.
"You want to find it," she said, more as a statement of fact than a question once she realised why it was occupying so many of his thoughts.
"No, it's too dangerous," he argued, shaking his head, as he seemed to remember the hidden perils lurking in the jungle, but he didn't sound convinced.
"It could get us rescued," she pointed out, playing devil's advocate, encouraging him not to dismiss the idea outright. "Doesn't that mean it's worth the risk?"
He offered her a grateful smile, but when he spoke again, his tone was defeated. "We don't even know where to look."
"We didn't know where to look for the tail, either," she reminded him, "but we found them, just like you said we would. We can do this," she added with what she hoped passed for a reassuring smile, in spite of her doubts, squeezing back, when he still looked unsure. "I know we can."
"You're right," he agreed, pulling her back into her arms so that she was resting against him again. "We'll have to talk to Sayid in the morning, but I think we can do this – we have to."
Next chapter(s): A new mission, and I might finally get around to working in Rousseau... ;)