Quickie:

Mathildou - Haha! You're right. If it takes after Sawyer, it's damned well bound to be a pain in the butt.
bonboni - Bah. Expensive? Whatever. Sawyer's got money.
Diger - Yay. Glad you decided to come out of the darkness of lurkville. :)
LostSista - Well, who's to say Sawyer wanted to go?

You know what's funny? Every single one of you picked the same part to copy into your reviews. Teehee! Guess that means I did something right.

Anyway, I need to learn to kick this rapid update habit. (I know, I know. You're all yelling NO! DON'T!) But see, here's the thing. With the previous stories, they were all completed already. So I was just able to update them like there was no tomorrow. This one is not completed. Still in the works. And if I run out of the chapters too quickly, I don't want you all waiting an eternity for an update. So remind me again to calm down with these. Hehe.

Chapter 16

"You sure you want to do this?" she asked him seriously.

"Would you just stop and lemme do my thing?" he replied, annoyed.

"I'm just saying. This is your last chance to – "

"I got it, Freckles."

He tossed his last remaining ball, of three, missing the target – a hole in the mouth of a colorful Mickey Mouse painted on a wooden board. Kate sucked in her lips, forcing herself not to laugh. He sighed, and glanced at her, glaringly.

"Thanks for playing," the vender said.

They started walking again. She glanced up at him, trying hard to stop smiling, but the corners of her mouth kept turning up.

"Game's gotta be rigged," he said, finally.

"Uh-huh," she said, giving up restraining her smile.

"I mean, who in the hell could get the ball in that mouse's mouth? And they expect kids to be able to win that?!"

She laughed. "It's a game, Sawyer. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"I'm just sayin'…"

"You did your best."

"That wasn't my best."

"Really? Four tries in a row. That's…what? Twelve chances to get the ball in its mouth. But none of those were your best, right?" she teased.

"I'm glad you're gettin' such a kick out of it, puddin'."

"Don't worry. There's plenty of other games you could attempt," she said playfully.

"You think you could do better?"

She grinned at the ground as they walked, staying silent for a moment as she contemplated. She came to an abrupt stop and turned around to face him.

"Pick a game."

"What??"

"Just pick one, Sawyer."

He looked around him, the colors blinding him. He lingered the longest on the water gun game called "Thirsty Work". Shooting water into the mouth of one of many Disney characters in order to pop the balloon attached to its head. It was always the mouth, he thought to himself.

"That one," he said, pointing to Thirsty Work.

She looked, and immediately a smirk appeared across her face.

"What?" he demanded.

"You're sure you want to do that one?"

"Pretty darn."

"All right," she laughed. "Come on."

They got to the counter top and paid the fee. Kate picked up her gun and began to position herself.

"Had much practice?" he teased.

"Have you?" she shot back.

He snickered and leaned over the counter, getting into position. Kate glanced over at him, grinning.

"You're going down, Ford."

"In your dreams, Sassafras."

The bell signaled to begin and the water shot out. Kate's aim was dead on, while Sawyer's was about an inch off. He fixed that and glanced over at Kate's balloon. She was winning. Then he looked at her, and saw how concentrated she was. He got an idea, and shifted his body to the side a bit, giving her a nudge. Her arms wavered and her gun moved off the target.

"Hey!" she laughed looking up at him.

He smirked, keeping his own water gun perfectly aimed. He was now in the lead. She nudged him back and his gun moved. He looked at her, stunned.

"That's it," he said, nudging her again, harder.

She bumped into the person next to her, laughing. She forced herself to stop as they glared at her.

"I'm so sorry," she managed to get out before laughing again as she moved over.

The bell rang again, ending the game. Kate and Sawyer looked at their balloons. Both were extremely inflated, but neither popped. They looked down the line and saw a child, maybe five or six years of age picking out her prize. Sawyer looked back at Kate again, and she up at him. She laughed again, shaking her head, as they began to walk once more.

"You cheated."

"Maybe."

"Don't think you're getting away with it."

"What're you gonna do about it?"

"Rematch. And this time, I'm picking the game. "

"Oh. This oughta be good."

She looked around as they walked, trying to find a game which she'd have the upper hand in. They were all children's games. Toss the rings onto the bottle, flip the frog on the lily pad, and throw a dart at a balloon. None of those would do. Then she saw one that caught her eye. It was a game where a BB-gun was used to shoot the paper targets. Eight targets, eight bullets. If you got them all, you won a prize.

"Come on," she said, pulling him over to the game.

"Got a gun fetish, Freckles?"

"Shut up."

"Two," Sawyer told the vender, giving him the money.

"Eight bullets, eight targets. Miss one, and you lose. Whenever you're ready," the guy said.

They exchanged a glance, and Sawyer noticed a sparkle in Kate's eye. It was the same sparkle she always got when she was doing something that was of criminal nature. She took the gun, holding it perfectly, and looked up at him – waiting. He took his, and also aimed perfectly. No. Guns weren't a problem for him. Except maybe water guns that happened to be attached to the countertops…

Soon, the sound of BB-gun shots filled the area. In an instant, all eight of Sawyer's were gone. He lowered the gun, realizing that Kate had too. He stared at her sheet and saw she'd gotten all eight targets, perfectly. When he looked at her, she was looking at his sheet. He, too, had gotten all eight. They shared a long, knowing stare and the same excited feeling they got after committing a crime. He smiled at her, and she smiled at him – a secret smile. One that only they knew.

He could have easily swept her up in his arms right then and there. But there were too many people. Hell, he would have anyway. He didn't care. But she would…

"Yo. You guys wanna pick out prizes or what?" the vender called.

They looked up at the assortment of prizes. Sawyer chose a stuffed white rabbit which he knew he would give to Kate. She picked a small wolf plush. They started walking, yet again, and looked at each other's prizes.

"Wolf, huh?"

"I thought I'd give it to Aaron."

Ah. He nodded. That figured. Kate looked at his rabbit.

"How cute," Kate teased.

"Funny."

"I didn't know you had a soft spot for bunnies."

He rolled his eyes. "I picked it for you," he said, handing it to her.

She stopped, and looked down at it. The amusement left her face.

"Really?"

He looked down, trying to hide the color that started to fill his face, and kicked the pavement.

"Yeah."

She looked down at the rabbit again, its floppy ears falling into its face. It was one of the most thoughtful things he'd ever done for her. She looked up at him, her eyebrows knit, nodding.

"Thank you."

He kept his eyes on the ground. "You're welcome."