Chapter 4

Immeasurable time after that in a daze.

Looking back, he realized that Jack had been grinding up sleeping pills, putting small doses in his food and water, keeping him tractable. An' he must've been out for some time just by virtue of the fact that he'd gotten meals. At the time though he didn't do much thinking. Certainly not enough to notice how long it was taking those first two pills to wear off, or realize that he always dozed immediately after a meal.

It was damn near impossible to keep track of time. Each catnap seemed onto to last a couple of seconds- but just like when Jack had punched him out, every time he closed his eyes and opened them, everything had changed.

It was like watching a movie, set and characters always changing, each new scene a cliffhanger- except for the fact that they made no sense on their own and added up to a completely incoherent whole.

There was a Korean woman wailing and sobbing as Kate tried to console her. "I can't see this. I'll die if I see Jin like this. Oh Michael- Michael!" Closed his eyes. Black.

Some lanky blonde teenager staring at him like he was half freak show.

You're in my light, sticks.

Oh- dammit- no. They couldn't start now- closed his eyes. Black.

Charlie staring at him, his eyes like two burnt holes in a blanket as he said with a startling ferocity, "You touch Claire again- you touch Claire one more time- and I'll make you bloody sorry."

"What are you gonna do, Chuckie? Headbutt my knee?" He managed to mumble before drifting back to sleep. Black.

Opened his eyes. Jack talking to some fat Spaniard about him, not seeming to realize he was awake enough to hear. "I don't know what to do at this point. It's like talking to a brick wall. A brick wall that threatens nursing mothers."

"But… they same thing happened with Claire, right? She remembered, dude."

"And what are we supposed to do until he decides to remember, Hurley? We can't keep this up. And he's unpredictable- violent."

"Which is… completely different from the Sawyer we're used to."

Sigh. "You know what I mean."

"Dude, you socked him out, crashed his Hatch Party and drugged him up… like… repeatedly. I'd be violent too."

"The bizarre thing is that he's- he's in perfect physical shape. Better than when he left the island. It took me and Sayid just to hold him down. Given his mental state he should be weak; shaky. But he's not. However confused he is, however disoriented… he's the most dangerous man on this island."

"You said he kept on asking for some drugs, right? Maybe The Others gave him… steroids or something. You know. To beef him up."

"Okay," Jack snapped, "First of all, there ARE NO OTHERS. There's going to be some way of explaining this without resorted to- ghost stories. But about the drugs- you may be right. They're not steroids, his build is the same, but they may enhance strength somehow. If that's true, though, it's just one more reason I don't want Sawyer of all people to have them, especially right now. But without them… I'm almost afraid to face him. He's completely irrational."

"You wanna keep it down, Cortez?" he had grumbled before falling back to sleep, not even realizing the significance of what was said and ignoring the glass of water Jack had quietly placed by his bedside.

((A/N: Hmm, another short one. I considered making this a part of chapter five, but that would make chapter five ridiculously long. Plus I still haven't figured out how to make my asterisk stay in place, so to show time passage I'd have to write TIME PASSAGE! Which would ruin the magic. ;; Chapter Five should be up very shortly, and Chapter Six a little while after that.

Reviewers- thank you for all your kind words and wisdom! I told you all that I love feedback and concrit, and you seem to have taken me to heart. (Yasia! All the way from Russia! Sawyer-love is truly universal. I always knew. ;)

-Locked Heart Ami))