Thanks for the reviews. I know it's a little soon for the radio tower, but as I said, I'm not being literal. I honestly don't know why they didn't go looking for it sooner – it seems like the logical reaction to discovering the frequency is blocked to me. It doesn't matter anyway, though, since we all know that without a trip to the Looking Glass, the mission is a bust.

On a different note, there might be a Kevin and Libby avenue to be explored (I should thank Lostbeth for putting the idea in my head, and Shavanda for helping me come up with a ship name -- "Kibby"!), and an Ana and Sawyer one… ;)

Chapter 25. Big And Small Gestures

"Absolutely not," Sayid said, echoing Jack's words, when they took the idea to him the following morning. "You saw what's out there."

"We didn't see anything," Kate felt compelled to remind him, for argument's sake, but Jack interrupted her.

"We're out of options," he said, looking exasperated as he ran a hand over his hair, his eyes drifting seaward, as if checking for signs of life; signs that they hadn't been forgotten. "No one's coming for us – isn't that what the pilot said?"

"The pilot said we were off course," Sayid corrected him with a deep frown, clearly unimpressed by Charlie's phrasing. "The coastguard might still—"

"No," Jack broke in firmly, shaking his head. "We're done sitting here waiting for rescue. It's time we tried something else."

"Even if what you're suggesting wasn't a suicide mission, we have no idea which direction the signal is coming from," Sayid argued, his own temper rising as they shot down each of his points. "The radio tower could be anywhere – it might not even be on this island."

It was an unsettling notion: that they might never be able to locate the tower, or unblock the French woman's transmission, but Kate dismissed it before it had even finished forming in her mind, refusing to admit defeat.

"You said the same thing about that tail and we found it," Jack reminded him, his thoughts seeming to travel along the same route as Kate's, arriving at a similar conclusion. They couldn't give up yet.

"By blind luck, according to the story you told us last night," Sayid rebuked, but Jack folded his arms his arms as he shot back,

"Who says we won't be that lucky again?"

"Who says we will?" The Iraqi raised a challenging eyebrow as his own hands came to settle on his sides.

Tired of watching their verbal sparring match, Kate decided to try a different approach. "You said you picked up the transmission from up in the mountains," she checked, cutting into their argument; glancing over at her, Sayid nodded, curious.

"That's right."

Jack was giving her a similar interested look, so she went on, "So why don't we start there? The signal should get clearer as we get closer, right? Like a radio broadcast?"

"Right," Sayid agreed again, his frown deepening.

"So we might be able to use that to figure out where it's coming from," she finished, fixing him with an expectant look.

Both men were watching her thoughtfully as she finished speaking, nodding slowly in agreement, the corners of Jack's mouth quirking into a smile while Sayid continued to look apprehensive.

"So what're we waiting for?" she pressed when neither of them spoke, pleased at the prospect of having something constructive to do, something that would enable her to keep moving.

"It's an excellent suggestion, Kate," the Iraqi said gently, diplomatically, her heart sinking at the "but" she could hear coming, "but there's no guarantee that once we're up on the mountain, we'll be able to get a lead on the signal. We could be risking our lives for nothing."

"There's no guarantee that thing will stay in the jungle, or that the people Ana Lucia warned us about won't come back," she argued, growing defensive of her idea as she looked to Jack for support, "so who says we're any safer out here? If we stay here, we're sitting ducks for whatever else is out there." She shuddered as the roar of the monster resounded inside her head, loathe to go back into the jungle unless it meant escaping it for good.

"I think it's worth a shot," Jack agreed when she closed her mouth again, and she gave him a grateful smile. "Anything's worth a shot if it'll get us off this island," he added hastily to Sayid, but the Iraqi didn't look convinced.

"If you insist on continuing with this madness, I'm coming with you," he said, the hint of menace in his tone making it clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Seeming to recognise this, Jack nodded. "Get the transceiver and whatever else you think we'll need, and we'll meet back here in half an hour," he agreed with a slightly apologetic look at Kate as they broke from the Iraqi, heading in the direction of his tent.

Once he'd closed the flap behind them, and they were alone, his demeanour changed; he caught her around the waist, pulling her flush against him, and drawing her into a passionate kiss.

Grinning against his lips, she didn't discourage him, waiting until he pulled back to ask, "What was that for?", giddy, but confused by the spontaneity of his actions.

"Because you're a genius," he said, his arms still tight around her, "a beautiful, sexy genius. I just couldn't help myself."

"Suck up," she breathed when he moved in again, knowing that he felt guilty for agreeing to bring Sayid on the trek, but she didn't object when he kissed her again, ducking his head to trail his lips across her throat.

"Jack," she gasped when she felt his hands slide up under the back of her shirt, shifting them back around to her hips.

"What? We've got half an hour," he murmured, letting go of her just long enough to check his watch. "Twenty minutes now, but I can think of a lot of things we could in that time…"

Trailing off, he brought his lips down to nuzzle her throat, but she wriggled out of his grasp, trying not to laugh as she cautioned him firmly, "I love you, but I'm not gonna have sex with you with Sayid waiting outside, even if it is our last chance..."

His hands dropped awkwardly to his sides while she was speaking, and she found that he was staring at her with a mixture of fear, awe and shock.

"What?" she asked, confused by this abrupt change in his behaviour.

"You said you loved me," he pointed out, his voice tentative, as if he were afraid that at any moment, she would revoke those words.

"No I didn't," she told him, frowning, wondering how she could have said something so important without realising it.

"Yes you did," he insisted, his face falling in defeat, and she knew that she had. What she didn't know was whether the fact that it slipped out meant she meant it more, or less, than if she'd thought it through first. "But it's okay," he added hastily, seeming to sense how torn she was, "It doesn't have to be a big deal."

"It is a big deal," she reminded him, turning away so that he couldn't see the blush that had crept into her cheeks. "It's a huge deal. It took me months to say that to Kevin, and it was still a big deal."

Behind her, Jack was silent for a long moment. "Do you?" he asked finally, hesitantly, taking one of her shoulders in each of his hands and turning her back to face him. "Love me?"

"I think… I do," she agreed, overwhelmed, a lump forming in her throat as she tried not to burst into tears.

"I… I love you too," he choked out, kissing her again, slower, and more sweetly, this time.

When he pulled back, resting his forehead against hers, she let her eyes flutter open, staring into his until he said, taking his hands off her reluctantly, "As much as I wish we could just stay here and do this, we should get our stuff and get moving."

Shoving things hastily into his backpack, he added, as he ushered her though the flap, "We still have to find someone to take over the watch."

Stepping out of the tent, into the sunlight, they almost walked into Kevin, who appeared to have been waiting for Jack. His expression darkened with anger on seeing them together, as if he knew, or at least suspected, what they were doing, until he seemed to remember what he came for. "I'll do it," he said softly, staring at some point over their heads, and Kate wondered how much of their conversation he'd overheard. For his sake, she hoped it was only this last part.

"Sorry?" Jack asked, stopping in front of him, tensing for another confrontation.

"You need someone to keep the look out going while you're away, right?" Kevin asked, and Jack nodded, relaxing only slightly. "I'll do it," he repeated.

Apparently unsure of what to say, Jack nodded again. "Sure," he stammered when he recovered from his surprise. "Get Ana to help you."

Kevin gave them each a grim smile, more of a grimace than an outward sign of friendliness, before continuing on his way, stopping once he arrived at the spot where Ana was talking to Libby.

"Fun guy," Jack said as they moved on to Kate's tent, shaking his head in a mixture of amusement and disbelief. "I wouldn't wanna be one of Them."

Perhaps it's too soon for "I love you", but it's a pretty intense situation they're in, and oh well, it made for good fluff. I'm not sure they could find the radio tower that way either, but it makes sense to me.

Next chapter(s): Jack, Kate and Sayid head for the radio tower, and receive help from a familiar face on the way. I'm thinking Smokey might put in a repeat appearance as well… ;)