Sorry for the long wait!!! Thank you so much for all those that are still reading and following the story. I didnt expect that so many people would be interested so all those that have commented and favorited this story, thank you SO much. You have no idea how much it means to me. Again, sorry for the wait (I've gotten many impacient emails, coughleylacough) but here it is!!!

R&R!!!

p.s. sorry if you dont enjoy it as much as other chaps, there is no romance in this chapter. It's somewhat a continuation of chap. 17 with the whole plot thing... wow that was random...

ENJOY!!!

"What happened to her? Where did she go?" Charlie asked franticly. With all of Jack's worrying about Kate he hadn't even noticed their relationship.

"Charlie I don't know… I wasn't around, I didn't see what happened"

"Well Jack, what are we going to do?! Claire was due like… yesterday! We cant have her off in the jungle missing with a baby on the way. We have to go find her Jack" Charlie's voice was pleading.

"Charlie if we were to go, we'd need someone who could help us find her or-"

"I can track footprints" Locke cut in

"John, you've helped enough" Jack said irritated.

"Jack"

"Kate?" Jack asked confused, turning around to face her. He expected her to still be ignoring him.

"I-I can track footprints…" She whispered, embarrassed because she knew Jack would choose her over Locke.

"Good, you can come. Grab your pack and let's go!" Charlie said excitedly

"Kate," Jack's voice was serious now, "You cant come"

"Why, Jack?" she asked surprised. Kate was convinced that Jack still had feelings for her and would obviously enjoy some alone time with her.

"Because, Kate… you just cant"

"But Ja-"

"No," and with that he turned around and walked back to his tent with Charlie

- - - - -

Sayid, Charlie, Jack, and Sawyer made their way into the jungle that afternoon. Sayid seemed like and obvious choice to bring to Jack. He was reliable, a hard worker around camp, and one of Jack's biggest allies. Sawyer was a tougher decision but Charlie finally convinced him with "his amazing aim with a gun so we can shoot that bloody bastard who kidnapped Claire". Jack knew they needed a strong force so that if they did find who- or what- took Claire, they could easily get her back.

As much as Jack feared that it was the mysterious black monster that took Claire, he doubted it. If it had appeared, it would have been obvious to everyone. He also doubted one of them had taken Claire; why would they? Every thought he had led back to Kate. "We aren't the only ones on this island". Her words both haunted and soothed him. He needed to save all of these people he had come to know in the past few weeks. That was his job, he was the savior. But how could he save them if there was some force in the jungle working against them and possibly an entire army as well? He had no answer to that.

"Where are we going, Doc?" Sawyer asked annoyed that he had to come into the jungle with his least favorite people. He also welcomed the change though. As much as he liked Kate, he needed to get away from her. He didn't doubt his feelings but he didn't quite welcome them either.

"Sawyer, I'm not entirely sure. Right now we're just looking for any trace of Claire and if-"

"When" Charlie corrected

"Yeah, when we find her, we'll bring her home."

"Sounds pretty optimistic Doc" Sawyer commented

"What do you want me to say Sawyer? We're going to look for a pregnant woman on an island that we know nothing about. You want me to say that we're just looking for her, that there a big odds that we'll find her dead? Because that just sounds like there's no point in trying" Jack's voice was harsh and icy

"Please Jack, at least try to sound hopeful" Sayid said, looking at Charlie. Jack also hadn't noticed his and Shannon's relationship. He knew how Charlie felt. If Shannon had disappeared into the jungle he would take any optimistic comment he got.

"Was I talkin' to you?" Sawyer shot back

"Guys! Calm down. Let's just find Claire and get back to camp as soon as possible. We need to find her soon or…" He had no need to finish his sentence, everyone knew what he meant.

"SAWYER!" they all heard the voice behind them and the sound of moving brush.

"What the-" Sawyer started as he turned around but it was too late. He had already been shot.