Chapter Thirty One: Promise

Kate cast a nervous glance at Jack as he drove the jeep.

She felt guilty for messing him around so much, yet despite everything they had put eachother through since knowing one another, here he was, right besides her. That was what she not only loved but also hated about Jack. That he would be by her side no matter what happened.

Jack glanced at Kate, she quickly looked away, flustered by the sudden attention.

Jack had an amused smile on his lips as he turned back to the road, 'what're you thinking about?'

'Nothing...' Kate said as she pursed her lips, she glanced at the jeep's clock, 'how much longer till we get there?'

'Another 10 minutes or so...Sayid will set us up with a room on Ben's boat, we should be back on the island within a week.'

'Woah.'

'Yeah,' he whispered softly, 'woah...Kate?' he paused for a moment before glancing at Kate and then turning back to the road ahead, 'You're not gonna leave me again, are you?'

Kate's eyes met his, as he turned back to the road ahead of him, her eyes searched his profile for a moment, 'I'm not leaving you again. I promise.'

Jack nodded, satisfied with her answer, he looked at her, 'there's...something Sayid told me when I rang him...it's...' he looked uncomfortable, 'when we return, due to the properties of the island, we could return to any point of time...'

'What do you mean?'

Jack frowned as he explained, 'You remember the time delay on Daniel's experiment? When he shot it to the freighter and it got there later than it was meant to...?'

Kate nodded, frowning slightly, 'physics isn't really my thing Jack.'

Jack nodded, 'me neither, but basically...we could return to the day of the crash...or any point in time during our stay on the island...'

'that makes NO sense.'

Jack smiled sadly, 'when has anything to do with island ever made sense?'

Kate nodded, they sat in silence for a moment.

'Are you worried?'

Jack looked at her, 'A little bit, yeah.'

Kate smiled at him, 'we're in this together right? We'll BOTH be in whatever time spot we reach the island in, we'll be fine. We'll figure it out...'

Jack nodded, he glanced at Kate, a small wave of relief washed over him. It wasn't much, but she gave him reassurance and that was what he needed right now. He verbalised his main concern,'What if Juliet, Sawyer, Rose and everyone are aliv-'



'Don't Jack. Don't.'

'If they're alive-I'm gonna get them onto the boat and leave the island-'

'Jack.' Her firm tone was final. She didn't want to think about it, she didn't want to hear his stubborn ideas. Not yet.

'Promise me you're not gonna try to save everyone Jack...' he glanced at Kate, he nodded weakly. It wasn't enough for Kate.
'Promise Me.'
'I promise.'
'If you break it, you will lose me. Do you understand?'
'Kate...'
'Do you understand that?' she asked again, Jack fell silent, he understood her reluctance to let him save the day. Last time it had almost destroyed them, it had almost killed him. They were both worried about the possible implications of what they were doing. They were returning to the island.
'I understand.'

End chapter Thirty One:

Chapter Thirty Two: Heat

Two days have passed since Jack and Kate arrived at the docks, they have been on the sea for one day.

Sayid walked over to Ben, 'You sure this is the safest way back? Last time we had alot of turbulence...'

'If the four of us are meant to return the island will let us come back...' Ben replied, Sayid frowned, 'what do you mean IF we're meant to return?'

Ben simply smiled at Sayid's query. Unlike Sayid, Ben saw the greater picture, he saw how these small irrelevant moments formed a larger mosaic when viewed from a distance, he saw life very differently since discovering the island and losing what he had lost.

'Where's Jack?'

Sayid and Ben looked up at the sound of Kate's voice, she was dressed in jeans and a tanktop, her loose curls rested against her shoulders, pouring over them softly, the image was reminiscent of how she looked on the island.

'Hello Kate.' Ben said with a small smile, 'how're you holding up without Aaron?'

Kate ignored Ben completely and turned to Sayid, who informed her, 'He's in his room...down the stairs, at the end of the corridor...'

Kate nodded gratefully, 'how long till we get there?'

Sayid shook his head as he looked at the horizon, 'probably one or two days...'

Ben paused, 'did Jack find the alcohol?'

Kate scowled at Ben, 'he isn't drinking...'

'Isn't he?'



Kate turned to Sayid, Sayid tried to explain, 'Kate, he's just stressed out about returning to the island, he's only had alittle...he took one bottle-'

Before he could finish, Kate stormed down the stairs, fuming.

'Hey, ask him if he thinks you're a good parent...'

Kate turned on her heel and gave Ben an infuriated look, Sayid let out a relieved breath as Kate headed towards Jack's room instead of heading towards Ben's direction, Sayid had seen enough death lately, he didn't want to see more.

Kate knocked on Jack's door, there was no response.

She pushed the door open, Jack walked out of the shower, he was dressed in jeans, his hair was wet, 'you took a shower.' Jack smiled at her, surprised to see her, his smile faded as he noticed the angry expression on her face.

'Hey, what's wrong?'

Kate walked towards him, stopping with her lips inches from his, 'have you been drinking?'

Jack held her gaze firmly, 'no.'

Kate broke into a small fake smile, Jack leaned in, anticipating a kiss, but she brushed straight past him and headed towards the bed, 'Kate...! Wait, I can explain-'

He stammered as she pulled out an empty bottle of alcohol from the bedside draw, 'Have fun explaining to yourself, I'm going.'

'Where?!' he asked, also infuriated by the invasion of privacy. So WHAT if he had had one bottle? It was just a bottle.

'None of your damn business-' she shot back as she headed for the door, Jack grabbed her arm, she immediately tried to pull away, he over powered her as she struggled against him, pushing her up against the wall, he glared down at her as she seethed at him.

'WHY are you so mad at me!? It was ONE bottle!'

'You LIED. You looked straight at me and LIED-'

Jack studied her, he shook his head, 'no, there's more to this than that-did Ben say something?'

Kate felt her blood boil, 'what would Ben say exactly, Jack? That you don't think I'm good enough to raise Aaron-?'

Jack stared at her, 'I never said that-'

'Yeah right-'

She turned to leave again, but he grabbed her by the waist, holding her firmly, with her back pressed against the wall, they were both seething. A frustration had spread over them.

'It doesn't even matter what I think Kate-Aaron's gone-'

'I KNOW that-'

'You're not supposed to be his mother-you're a MURDERER Kate-'



Kate slapped him, hard enough for them both to fall silent as soon as he felt the impact. His words were left hanging mid-air. He nodded, letting go of her, 'alright, go. Go on, Leave.'

He threw the bottle at the bedside table, it shattered as it hit the wooden draw, Jack glared at her, 'and you know what Kate? you are NOT mother-material, and we both know it-'

'Oh, you know what Jack? SCREW YOU- who're you to judge me? You're an alcoholic for pete's sake-!'

'You're a commitophobe-!'

'You're an arrogant jerk-' she retorted.

'You're a criminal!'

'Atleast I had the COURAGE to step up and take care of YOUR nephew!'

Jack scoffed, 'He kept you outta jail!'

'No-YOU kept me outta jail!'

Jack nodded, caught up in the fury, 'If only I could turn back time-' he smirked vindictively, Kate's eyes were on the brim of tears as she softly replied, 'Yeah Jack, if only.'

With that she headed for the door, Jack immediately shook his head, realising how much he had hurt her, 'no, no, no...Kate- wait, no, you're not running away from me-'

Kate sped up but Jack grabbed her arm, she felt the painful wave of heartache building inside her chest, as her heart thumped against her ribs, 'let-go-of me!'

She gritted her teeth as he spun her around again, so her back was pushed up against the wall.

'Jack-'

'No-I'm not gonna let you run from this-'

'Stop it-' she ordered, as he forced her to face him.

'LOOK at me Kate...' she didn't meet his eyes, Feeling confused by her emotions, she avoided his gaze, she was infuriated at him and attracted to him both at once, and she HATED it because it left her powerless against him.

'Kate.' His stern tone managed to get a response from her, she looked up at him, giving him an icy emerald glare, Jack scowled at her, he had never felt both enraged and drawn to someone before, it made his heart pound in his chest.

Without saying another word, Kate grabbed his head, pulling it towards her as she kissed him hungrily, Jack pushed her up against the wall, returning the kiss vehemently, pushing herself up against him, she kissed him harder as he lifted her up into his arms. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she cupped his face as the kiss became more passionate and less aggressive, he carried her over to the bed as they made out, laying her down on the bed, she stared up at him breathlessly, a vulnerability in her eyes.

Jack suddenly found himself out of anger, he broke into a smile as Kate gazed up at him, she broke into a grin as he slowly lowered himself over her, pressing her hands up against his chest, she kissed him softly, Jack closed his eyes, enjoying the moment as he returned the kiss tenderly, they found themselves in a blissful place for the night. They found themselves in eachother's arms as they lost themselves in the whirlwind of love and attraction.



End chapter thirty two:

Chapter thirty three: One journey's End

Kate stirred in her blissful sleep, a satisfied smile on her lips, she reached out, expecting to find Jack next to her. She frowned as her hands landed on an empty space, 'Jack...?'

She suddenly became aware of the room swaying, she jumped out of the bed, her eyes scanned the room as she pulled on her jeans and tanktop, 'Jack!'

There was no reply, she tried not to stumble as she headed for the door, but the ship shook violently,

what was going on upstairs?!

Kate opened the door, she was immediately hit by the sound of waves crashing upon the deck of the ship, and items hurtling across the hallway, 'JACK?!' she called out above the chaos.

Alarm filled her as the ship suddenly swung her into the hallway wall, she grunted in pain and scrambled to her feet, 'Kate...?!' She looked up, becoming aware of the rain pouring heavily as she squinted through it, she saw Jack.

He was standing at the top of the stairs as Kate ran to him, 'Kate?' he yelled, 'we're caught in a storm...!'

Kate flung herself into his arms, holding him tightly, 'you okay?' he asked as he cupped her face to get a good look at her.

Kate nodded, 'yeah, you?'

Jack nodded, 'I'm okay-' Kate noticed a cut on his arm, 'Jack-you're hur-' before she could finish the sentence, they were both tossed down the stairs as the ship jerked to the left.

Jack pulled Kate to him, she grunted in pain as the ship shoved them both into the wall as they toppled down the stairs, 'Argh,' Jack mumbled as he hit his head on the way down, it was closely followed by Kate's response to hitting the floor face first, 'Urgh!'

Jack shook his head rapidly as he stood up, trying to gather his senses, he put out his hand to Kate.

'You okay?' he asked, Kate nodded as she rubbed her head, 'You're bleeding Kate, let me have a look-'

'I'm fine-'

It was too late, he was already fussing over her, Kate looked past his shoulder, an alarmed expression spread across her features, 'uh Jack, I don't wanna interrupt you playing doctor...but-'

Jack followed her gaze, just as his eyes adjusted to a large chest of draws hurtling down the stairs, he felt Kate yank his shirt along with him into the storage room.



They stared at the chest of draws swerve past their room and hit the end of the hallway, 'we have to go up there-Sayid needs our help with the ship-'

'what are we gonna do up there? We can't sail a ship! We'll just get in the way and you know it-' Kate argued.

'I can't just sit here whilst everything's falling apart up there Kate-'

Kate studied him for a long moment, 'then i'm coming with you.'

'No, you're bleeding,' he gestured towards her forehead, she shook her head.

'You should know better than to try and stop me. I'm coming with you.'

Jack sighed, 'alright.'

Sayid grunted with effort as he tightened the knot, he peered up the sails, they were torn down the middle, the winds were too strong and the storm was too violent. Sayid wiped rainwater from his face and looked for Ben, 'BEN?!' Ben was nowhere to be found.

The wind howled as the boat shook violently, Sayid lost his footing and hit the deck with a hard thud, he groaned in pain, before he could climb to his feet, another jolt to the ship sent him sliding towards the edge of the ship, 'Oh god-' he let out a yell as he flung off the side of the ship, he grabbed onto the rails with both hands, panting and heaving. Adrenaline pumped through his glands as he called for his friends, 'JACK?! JACK?! KATE!!'

His hands were slipping, he dared not to look down at the rough ocean beneath him as he dangled helplessly from the rails. Several thoughts fluttered through his mind, the faces of all those he had murdered flashed before him, how every choice that seemed random at the time had led him to this point, suddenly became more meaningful as he could almost see himself living his life and leading himself to this point. Was he going to die? Tears filled his eyes, through the panic and the entropy that surrounded him, he suddenly saw a pattern forming of what he thought was the mess that was his life. Everything did happen for a reason, not necessarily a good reason. But for a reason, and as he envisioned the life he had led upto this point, the tragedy of it all rang louder than anything. Just like his tears were lost in the rainfall, he would be lost in this ocean. Before he could register what was happening, he felt a fleeting feeling fill his gut, it was as if he was floating, all the panic seemed to vanish, he found his hands empty where the rails should have been.

The impact of the ocean was the last thing he felt before he was lost amongst the sea.

End chapter thirty three: