"The Others?" Matt asked, exchanging a glance with Jack. They instinctively moved closer together, presenting a united front against the unknown intruder.
"Danielle?" Sayid said, stepping forward. "Danielle, what are you doing here?"
"The Others are coming," Danielle repeated insistently, her gaze fixed on Aaron, nestled in Claire's arms. "You need to find somewhere to hide."
"Her daughter was taken by the Others," Sayid explained softly to the group who had quickly gathered. "She knows what they can do. What they are capable of."
"What do they look like?" Jack asked, stepping into Danielle's line of sight. "What do we need to look out for?"
"You'll never see them," Danielle said frantically, eyes wide and wild. Matt stepped up next to Jack, laying a protective hand on his arm, Jack wrapping his fingers around Matt's. "They won't be there and then they will be. Then they'll be gone, and some of you will be too." Her gaze once again narrowed in on Aaron, and Claire shrank back, clutching Aaron to her chest.
Matt turned, whispering to Charlie, "Can you take Claire and Aaron back to the tent, keep an eye on them?" Charlie nodded, taking Claire's arm and leading her away. Danielle's eyes followed them even when they were out of sight.
"Do you think we could all fit in the hatch?" Jack asked Locke.
"We don't know what's in the hatch yet-" Locke began, but Jack cut him off.
"You've been obsessed with getting in there," Jack said sharply, eyes suddenly blazing. "Boone died because you had to get in that hatch. Well, now here's your chance." Jack turned and hurriedly walked away, fists clenching at his side.
Staring out at the ocean, ,Jack felt arms encircle him from behind."You're so sexy when you take control," Matt murmured in Jack's ear.
Jack laughed, tilting his head back to meet Matt's kiss, the tension melting out of his body. "So what should we do?" Matt asked, thumbs rubbing circles up and down Jack's neck.
"You're not going to like it," Jack mumbled, relaxing back into Matt's hands.
"Try me," Matt said with a wry laugh, fingers moving up to the nape of Jack's neck.
"We go get the dynamite from the Black Rock and use it to blowup the hatch," Jack said, rushing the words out as he felt Matt's hands still.
"Life with you is never going to be normal, is it?" Matt leaned his forehead against the back of Jack's neck, his laugh reverberating across Jack's skin.
"You definitely didn't sign on for normal," Jack said with a grin, turning to face Matt.
"Nope, definitely not," Matt grinned, kissing Jack, entwining their fingers together. "And you know you're not going to convince me to stay behind, right?" Jack opened his mouth, but Matt lay his finger over it. "I'll just end up following you, and who knows what trouble I'll get into."
"You can't carry any of the dynamite," Jack protested, and Matt rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"Then you can't either," Matt said firmly, arms crossed over his chest.
"I have to," Jack insisted.
"Why, because you're the leader?" Matt shot back. "And I'm some delicate flower? For God's sake Jack, I'm a cop! I've been shot at, threatened with a homemade bomb. I had a crazed drug addict stab me in the shoulder once."
"These are all things I did not want to know," Jack said with a soft sigh. He reached out and took Matt's hand, rubbing his thumb gently across Matt's knuckles. "I just don't want anything bad to ever happen to you."
"And I love you for that." Matt raised Jack's hands to his lips, kissing them softly. "But babe, I don't need protecting."
"I know." Sighing, Jack wrapped his arms around Matt's waist, pulling him in closer. "With…with my wife, I felt like I had to fix her. She was paralyzed in a car accident, and I was determined to make her walk again. And I think I never really stopped." Resting his forehead against Matt's, Jack trailed a hand down his cheek. "Sometimes I just can't help it," he said with a rueful laugh.
"Maybe you could mute it a little, though?" Matt laughed, holding up his thumb and index finger about an inch apart.
"For you, anything," Jack said with a grin.
"Mmm, I like the sound of that." Hooking his thumbs into Jack's belt loops, Matt pulled him in flush against his body. They kissed, Jack's arms wrapping around Matt's back, Matt's hands finding the familiar groove of Jack's hips.
Someone cleared their throat, and the two men turned to find Arzt standing a few feet away, staring down at the sand.
"We heard you were talking about getting some dynamite," Arzt said, kicking at the sand with the toes of his shoes, still not looking up. "I'm coming. I know a lot about the proper handling of dynamite." Turning, he began to head back towards the camp.
"We make him terribly uncomfortable, don't we?" Matt laughed, kissing Jack again.
"We do," Jack said with a wicked grin. As they outpaced Arzt, Jack reached over and slapped a proprietary hand on Matt's ass. Matt fought to stifle his laughter as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arzt suddenly hurry in the opposite direction.
"Someone's become pretty comfortable with themselves," Matt said with a grin.
"No, I just really like touching your ass," Jack responded with a wicked grin, bringing down his other hand to cup Matt's ass.
"Well, you can touch it all you want once we're done collecting dynamite from a ship that' s in the middle of an island, and then blow up a mysterious hatch so we can hide from a bunch of people we've never seen," Matt said, fighting to keep a straight face.
"Kate, you can walk with us, you know," Matt said softly. Kate was a foot or so in front of them, but behind Arzt, who had insisted on leading the way.
"It's fine," Kate said just as softly, keeping her gaze straight ahead.
Matt and Jack exchanged a glance, and Jack nodded. "Kate please," Jack jokingly begged. "You have to come back here. Matt keeps beating me in every trivia game we're playing. I need backup, and fast." Matt gratefully squeezed his hand.
Kate turned, a smile spreading across her face. She paused on the path, waiting for the two men to catch up before continuing on with them. "I should warn you, Matt," she said with a grin. "A girl picks up a lot when she's on the run."
"That sounds like a challenge," Matt bantered back, crossing his arms over his chest with a grin.
"I've already found the dynamite," Arzt said crossly from up ahead. Rolling his eyes, Matt jogged forward, followed closely by Jack and Kate.
A sudden explosion ripped through their part of the island.