A/N: When I finished this chapter, the total number of pages added up to 21. Yes, you read that correctly (laughs). I apologize for taking so long but as the story progresses, I tend to get more and more anal and picky about what goes into each chapter and combined with college, sometimes it takes longer than I would like. I hope you enjoy this update. Due to its length, I am loading it into two parts. Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for all your attention this far.

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Chapter Twelve: Hearts and Minds (Part One)

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Faith couldn't help but think of how it was oddly refreshing that she was strangely content to remain seated where she was, the waves lapping at her toes. She squinted against the attack of the blaring sun but continued to look down at the piece of wood and the knife that rested comfortably in her hands.

"What are you doing?"

Faith glanced up to see Walt standing a few feet away from her with his dog Vincent panting beside him, the leash held firmly in the boy's hands. She paused to shield her eyes with her hand. "I'm knitting a sweater."

Walt gave her a weird, suspicious look. "Don't you need like wool or cotton to do that?"

"I can't get a single thing past you can I Kid?" Faith chuckled as she glanced back down at her hands. "What are you doing out here; where's your dad?"

"He's playing golf, again." Walt made a noise in the back of his throat but glanced around. "He said he'd teach me how to play but… I guess he's just busy." He paused to focus on her again. "So what are you really doing?"

"Well…" She tilted the piece of wood in her hand as Walt took a seat beside her, "It started out as a bow… progressed into a stake…" Faith shrugged, "But I might as well make it into a toy boat or something. I'm starting to think that a hobby in whittling isn't for me."

"A stake?" Walt looked down at the wood as well. "What would you need a stake for?"

"You know… to stake things."

"What were you making a bow for?" Walt frowned at her, "Where you thinking about going after Claire?"

Faith's hand clenched around the stake and she directed her gaze out towards the incoming ocean waves.

"Who do you think took her? Was it the monster?"

She couldn't stifle the snort that escaped. "There aren't any monsters here Walt, that's all in your head."

"But we heard it, we saw the trees move before. Maybe it went into hiding, it's been a while since we last heard from it…"

"I know monsters Walt and the people that took Claire are a different sort of creature all together." Faith muttered still staring at the ocean. "Human sure but there's more to it than that."

"Obviously. I mean it's not like there's anywhere to go but the island right?"

Faith blinked as she looked over at Walt but said nothing else, her gaze sliding past him to see Boone sitting on the beach leaning against a tall tree. He was staring straight at Sayid and Shannon, a deep frown on his face as he watched them talking and laughing.

"Do you think maybe I could go with you, Boone, and Mr. Locke hunting?"

She tore her gaze from Boone and glanced back at Walt with a cocked eyebrow. "I don't think your dad would be too happy with that idea." She took another second to look over at Boone again and found him talking with Hurley, the larger man standing over him. "Besides Kid, you're a little too young to be hunting; you could get hurt."

"I already told you, I'm not a kid."

"I know what you told me." Faith grinned as she stood up. "Tell you what, I'll talk to your dad later and see what I can do. For now…" She tossed the stake into his lap, "Happy birthday. Don't spend it all in one place."

"Gee, thanks." Walt looked down at the sharpened piece of wood with narrowed eyes. "And what exactly am I supposed to do with it?"

"Not much around here." She muttered as she slid her knife into her belt. "Go stake some ants or something, I think you can handle that." Faith turned to see Locke heading towards her from the jungle. "Look who it is. What's going on Mr. Miyagi?"

"Mr. Locke!" Walt jumped to his feet, leash in one hand and the stake in the other.

"Walt." Locke smiled and then focused his attention on Faith. "You're starting to sound like James with all those nicknames."

"James?"

"Sawyer." Locke chuckled. "His real name is James."

"Oh." Faith was quiet for only a split second. "Hey now, I've hardly even been around the hick since we crashed here," She crossed her arms, "Besides, he's stealing my mojo, not the other way around. What's up?"

"I found some fresh tracks. We should go hunt."

"Can I-"

"No." Both Locke and Faith interrupted Walt.

He looked disappointed but sighed and turned, dragging Vincent up the beach.

Faith watched him go then glanced to see Locke watching her. "What?"

"Did you give him that… What was that?"

"A stake."

"A stake?"

"A… stake." Faith nodded repeating slowly. "I got bored, sue me."

"Do you often find yourself making stakes when you're bored?"

"Well you know when I started out, I was so gonna totally make my very own soap box derby league but we were all out of boxes."

Locke chuckled but said nothing more to her, calling out to Boone. He motioned the man towards them and then glanced back at Faith. "You coming?"

"Did you really want to hunt or was that Miyagi code for 'more hard work clearing glass hatch'?"

"It needs to be done Faith."

"No, what needs to be done is for you to keep your end of the bargain by providing meat for these people." She paused to eye the bag that he had slung over his shoulder then looked past them to see Boone talking to Sayid. The conversation didn't look pleasant. "Did you take any more time to think about what we discussed concerning Boone?"

"You're right," Locke nodded, "He is held back by Shannon and he's blinded from what's important because he's so protective of her."

"It's going to get him killed if he doesn't watch it." She fixed a stern gaze on him. "Boone has a problem with trusting people that he shouldn't."

If he noticed the deadly serious tone in her voice, he didn't mention it. Locke motioned to his bag. "I've got a plan, don't worry about it."

"I'm sure you do. Just be careful."

"Boone!"

Boone finally stepped away from the other man and began to walk towards them. Sayid remained where he was, simply watching.

Faith grunted as she caught his eye, raising her hand in a friendly wave, and she threw Locke another look. "See you around Johnny-san. Don't get the next karate kid into too much trouble."

She barely paused as she passed Boone, nodding her head at him before continuing on towards Sayid.

"How's it going? How's the leg?"

"Fine," He answered smiling back, "And you? How's the head?"

"What were you and Boone talking about?" Faith cut quickly to the chase. "It didn't look like anything too exciting from where I was standing."

"It seems Boone has a problem with me talking to his sister."

"Ah," She nodded still grinning, "The protective older brother routine. I can't say I understand, I never had any brothers…" Faith shrugged. "And I was usually the one beating people up."

"Sounds like an interesting story."

"A long one, maybe I'll tell you later." Faith glanced around. "Don't hold your breath though," She rambled on before he could say anything else, "If I asked you to tell me where Danielle had you held up, would you?"

Sayid's eyes narrowed instantly and he tilted his head. "Why?"

"You saw her, she had weapons."

"And you think she's just going to let you take whatever you want?" He shook his head, "I already told Jack it was a foolish idea to go after her; my answer is no different for you."

"I think you'll find that Jack and I really don't have a lot in common and so your answer for him doesn't really mean shit to me. I can make it to where I found you with her, it's from there I have a problem."

"Faith, it's not worth it, trust me." Sayid frowned, "She didn't want to come with us and we both know for a fact she's not very open to the idea of unexpected company."

"Her problem, not mine." Faith glanced around, "Help me out on this Sayid, I'll owe you big time. Might even throw in a good word or a hundred to Shannon for you."

"I appreciate the offer but it's not necessary." He studied her for a few minutes then nodded, "Fine, I'll see if there's a map in the batch of papers I took from her and if not, I'll draw one to the best of my ability to point you in the right direction."

"Wicked! You rock." Faith nodded. "I'll find you later to get it." She turned and started to make her way back down the beach.

"And where are you going?"

"To the grocery store!" Faith shouted over her shoulder, "I hear we're out of everything!"

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There were two things Faith was happy about at that very moment. One: that all the items that would prove helpful to her were in one easy-to-find spot and two, that the person who she was stealing them from wasn't around to protest. Faith smirked as she ducked into the makeshift tent and pushed the grass and mud stained tarp to one side. She kept her hand clutched to the dark blue material in order to provide light into the tent, pausing as she let her eyes scan the cluttered items, as they lay scattered around on the sandy floor.

"And just what in the hell do you think you're doing darling?"

Faith didn't move other than to glance over her shoulder to see Sawyer with his hands on his hips and the usual frown pasted onto his face. "Oh, yeah. This would be your place, wouldn't it?"

"You damn right it would." He glared at her. "How about you get the hell out of it then?"

"Alright, alright." Faith smirked as she stepped back, watching as he stomped around her and ducked into his tent. She crossed her arms, continuing to watch as Sawyer glanced around. "I didn't take anything yet."

Sawyer snorted, shooting her another heated glare before resuming his survey. When he was satisfied that she was telling the truth, he stepped back out of the tent and flung the tarp down to close it off from view. With watchful eyes, he mimicked her stance by crossing his own arms across his chest. "Mind telling me exactly what you were looking for in my stuff?"

Faith bit back the sarcastic reply that threatened to fly off the end of her tongue. "I need some rope and word on the street is that you're the man to get it from."

"Rope huh? What exactly does a girl like you need rope for?"

"Use your imagination, I'm sure you've done that plenty of times."

Sawyer smirked but shook his head. "No deal sweetheart, you'll have to come up with a better answer than that. You need rope… for what?"

"It's not like it's really your rope anyway."

"Finders, keepers. Pretty sure it's the eleventh commandment. My tent, my stuff; simple as that."

"Your so-called tent is made up of a blue tarp that was probably used for moving dead bodies around earlier." Faith glared at him. "But I have to hand it to you; you did a real nice job with the floor. I love the sand finish, looks authentic."

"If this is your way of buttering me up for the rope Fire Cracker," Sawyer chuckled, "you're going about it the wrong way."

"Actually, this is my way of asking you nicely before I knock you on your ass and just take it."

He scoffed at the idea immediately "That's cute." Sawyer paused, "Give me one good reason why I should give you the rope and I'll give it to you."

Faith rolled her eyes but nodded. "I need it to make snare traps."

"Shouldn't Mr. Clean have some rope you could use?" Sawyer eyed her, smiling slowly. "Or perhaps the reason you're not talking to him is because you don't trust him to not ask questions."

"If it were questions I was trying to avoid, I wouldn't be talking to you now would I?" Faith snorted. "You ask enough questions for the both of you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me."

"I find that hard to believe." She lowered her arms. "Can I have the rope now?"

Sawyer continued to smile at her. "Can I have the rope now what?"

Too bad her list of slayer powers didn't include being able to fry people with her brain. Faith glared at him but swallowed back her bitter response. "Can I have the rope now…please?"

"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Sawyer ducked back into the tent and reemerged with the bundled rope in one hand. He winked as he extended it towards her. "All you had to do was ask nicely."

Faith scowled. "Yeah. Thanks." She remarked dryly as she took it and turned away.

"What's the real reason you need the rope?"

Faith stopped but didn't turn around. "I told you already, I need it for traps."

"Boar?"

She shot him a look from over her shoulder and shook her head. "Something a bit bigger than that." Faith answered, "It's not food I'm after."

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Rope. Tree trunk. Rope.

Faith glanced back and forth between the two objects, her eyes moving slowly as she followed the trail of the rope from where it was positioned in the trees and connected firmly into the ground.

She hesitated but went ahead with the plan, bringing down her knife to slice against the taunt rope. Faith stepped back as the connected rope pulled tight and immediately the tree jerked backwards. The action caused the looped rope at the bottom to spring up and a satisfied smile lit up Faith's features.

"Wow, that was cool."

Faith glanced over to see Walt, his eyes wide and a smile on his face.

"Can you do that again?"

She turned back to stare at her contraption and tilted her head, tapping her knife restlessly against her thigh. "I'm gonna need a heavier object to test this baby out."

"Can I help?" Walt came up beside her, still smiling. "I can help."

"Sure partner." Faith smirked, "Where's the poochie?"

He frowned. "You want to use Vincent?"

Faith couldn't stifle the chuckle that rumbled deep from her chest and she shook her head. "Not in the way you're thinking Kid but I could use your help." She directed her gaze back to the rope as it hung in the trees, swinging back and forth. "I'm gonna need more rope."

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Faith waited several minutes after Walt was completely out of sight before she turned and began to make her way back to the beach after him. She stayed alert listening to the sounds around her as she trekked through the bushes, shoving past tree branches and leaves. The birds singing were somewhat relaxing and she couldn't help but snort at the very idea that a place like this would do such a thing to her.

After years of living in rundown apartments and crowded cities, places she felt like she belonged and fit in to, it was ironic to find that an island in the middle of nowhere would give her anything close to resembling peace.

Her peace was disrupted however by the sound of a twig snapping and Faith stopped, hand immediately drifting over the handle of her jackal. Her eyes darted among the tree line in front of her, the leaves rustling at the exact moment her fingers curled around the metal firmly.

Her eyes narrowed as the trees continued to shake, something obviously approaching, and she felt her back stiffen as she slid the blade smoothly from her belt.

Jack appearing from the bushes with Hurley trailing shortly behind him was the last thing she expected to see.

"Dude, what can I do?" Hurley was muttering, "There's no boar. No boar, no protein."

Faith was quick to thrust the blade back into her belt and she placed her hands on her hips as both men spotted her and came to a stop as well. Hurley fidgeted and she smirked as she noticed his gaze was shifty and nervous.

"What's going on boys?"

Jack smiled. "Just having a little chat with Hurley," He glanced around, "What are you doing out here alone?"

"Afraid I can't take care of myself?"

"There's nothing wrong with worrying about you Faith."

"Right." Faith smirked. She wasn't sure where the words came from but they were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I see how much you worried about Claire and look where that got her."

Hurley shot another nervous look at her then directed it to Jack. "Maybe I should go and…"

"Nah, I was just passing through." Faith shook her head, "You guys can keep talking about… whatever it was you were talking about." She paused, "Oh right, boar wasn't it?"

Jack's dark eyes were watching her more closely then she would have liked. "You have to admit Hurley has a point. You and Locke haven't caught any boar for a few days."

"Maybe you should take that up with the great white hunter Doc, not me. I'm not in charge of making sure people survive here, that's your job."

"You seem to care about it."

"That so?" Her defense mechanism kicked in automatically and Faith shrugged as she started to edge around them. "You sound pretty confident about that Jack."

"Guys…"

They both ignored Hurley. "I know if you didn't care you wouldn't be helping out at all in the first place," Jack argued, "and I also know if you didn't care about anyone but yourself that you wouldn't have gone after Claire when she went missing."

"Got it all figured out don't you?"

"Guys…"

"What?" They both turned to glare.

"My stomach is really upset…"

"Great." Faith rolled her eyes before shooting another look at Jack. "I need to get down to the beach. Catch you later."

Jack said nothing as she marched by but she knew he was watching until she disappeared from sight into the bushes.

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"I'm telling you for the last time squirt, I don't have a tennis ball."

"You have everything else, can't you just check?"

Faith smirked from her position leaning against a tree trunk as she listened to Walt continue to harass Sawyer. She kept her attention focused on them as Sawyer let out a huge sigh.

"I'm not a pet store."

Faith shoved away from the tree. "You're more like a Wal-Mart."

"Ah hell Fire Cracker, not you again." Sawyer's smile gave away his stern words and he glanced her over. "Lookin' a bit sweaty there, been having fun without me?"

"I wouldn't dream of it." She replied dryly. "Are you gonna check to see if you have a tennis ball or not?"

"A tennis…" Sawyer frowned as he noticed Walt had suddenly disappeared. A flash of brightly colored clothing going by alerted him once again to the kid's location and he let out an angry yell as Walt went running past him from the tent. "Hey! Get back here with…" He swung his gaze at Faith who was smirking at him, "What'd he take? What'd you tell him to take?"

"Me?" She glanced around, "I didn't tell the kid to take anything. You might want to catch him though, it might have been something valuable you might can trade later."

He shot her a look, grunting, but took off running.

Faith chuckled as she watched him start to gain on Walt who had slowed down, turning as he ran to taunt the older man while he waved an object in his hand. She shook her head as she ducked into Sawyer's tent. "That was way too easy." Faith grumbled. Her eyes lit up as she spotted more rope among other useable objects. "Look what I just found and no one around to claim it. What is it you always say Sawyer?" Faith grinned. "Oh yeah, finders, keepers."

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"You speak English?"

There was a hesitant pause from the other person.

"Please ... don't tell anyone."

Kate and Sun froze as the bushes in front of them parted and Faith came out, swatting at something. She brushed at her arm then shot a look at them with a careless shrug.

"Thought I saw a bee." She glanced between the both of them, noting their wide-eyed looks, especially the Korean woman who looked panicked. "Don't worry, I already knew you spoke English." Faith squatted down on a nearby rock, resting her elbows on her knees as she glanced down at the turned-up dirt that had obviously been worked on for a period of time with care. "Nice little garden you have here."

"You knew? I mean, you knew that she… How'd you know?"

She couldn't help but chuckle at the other ex-prisoner's stuttering. "You had me worried for a second there you weren't going to get a complete sentence out." Faith glanced over at Sun who was still eyeing her nervously. "No need to worry, I've known for a while… Before Michael I think."

"Michael knows too?" Kate asked shooting a look at Sun. "Does your husband speak English as well?"

"No," Sun shook her head. "I took lessons in Korea. It's a long story I'd rather not go into right now." She glanced between the both of them. "Please…"

"Don't worry," Faith interrupted her, "Us two chicks are excellent at keeping secrets." She flashed Sun a smile. "In fact, we might be the only two that can keep."

Sun returned a nervous smile as she grew quiet again and glanced back down at the plants at her knees.

Kate watched her a few seconds then directed her gaze to Faith. "Havin' luck catching any boar?"

"I haven't been hunting for boar." Faith stood up, not looking at Sun. "Can I speak to you a minute alone?"

"Sure." Kate rose as well and the two started walking away from the small garden. Kate brushed her hands together to knock off any loose dirt, eyeing Faith. "What's going on?"

"I need your help."

The other woman's eyebrows rose at the serious admission. "With what? I'm not much of a boar hunter, we both saw that before."

"It's not about the boar." Faith shook her head, "Locke hasn't been hunting boars for a while now, and I'm not much for following him around these days…" She waved a hand to dismiss the topic as she caught sight of Kate's confused expression. "I haven't told anyone but Sayid this but I'm going back to where we found the Frenchwoman. I need to see if I can get supplies, like weapons from her, and maybe some information concerning where Claire might be."

"Faith, that's insane, you could get hurt, we don't know what's out there." Kate objected, "And I don't see how I can help you with this…"

"It's simple. Look, I've seen you with Jack and it's obvious the man trusts you. All I need is to get some supplies, maybe some medicine or anything useful that I can take that he has stashed away. Danielle might barter with me or be more willing to talk if I have something as leverage she might need."

"Why not just ask Sawyer? He's the one that's been hoarding a lot of the stuff from the crash."

"Asking Sawyer is an oxymoron Kate and we both know it. The man's too much into head games." Faith snorted as they continued walking. "Besides," She chuckled, "I've already raided his tent and took a few things but I'm more than certain Danielle will be more interested in medicine or bandages than she will sunglasses or computer batteries."

"You raided Sawyer's tent?" Kate smiled with a laugh. "How'd you manage to pull that one off?"

"Let's just say someone helped me distract him." She shrugged smiling back. "Will you help me or not?"

Kate studied her a few minutes then nodded. "Fine but in return for helping, I want to go with you."

Faith came to a stop and turned towards the other woman, waiting until she did the same. "And why would you want to do that?"

"You're gonna need help, someone to watch your back, and Sayid obviously can't go with you this time. His leg is still healing."

Faith shook her head, "No can do. I need you here to keep an eye on things. I don't know a lot about you Kate but I do know you don't become an enemy of the state because you baked a batch of burnt cookies."

Kate grew quiet and broke eye contact with Faith. She bit at her lower lip and it was then Faith noticed she was fingering something in her pocket.

"Where'd you get that from?"

"Huh?" Kate's eyes glanced back to hers. "What thing?"

"The airplane I saw the other night, the toy one. Where'd you get it?"

Kate's shoulders stiffened but she kept her eyes on Faith's. "It was in my belongings, in the marshal's briefcase. It used to belong to someone I loved."

"What happened to him?"

"I ended up getting him killed."

"See?" Faith nodded, "Burnt cookies…"

Kate let out a long sigh but nodded. "Fine but if Locke's not going with you, who else is there?"

Faith paused and it was then a loud noise caught their attention a few yards ahead of them, the sound of ropes snapping echoing through the trees, and it was quickly followed by Sawyer's masculine yell of anger.

"Son of a bitch!"

She couldn't help but chuckle and Faith flashed Kate a wide smile.

"You're kidding."

"One thing is for sure, even if he doesn't agree," Faith shrugged, "at least I know my traps work."

TBC