Disclaimer: Sadly, I do NOT own the show "Lost". However, I do own my Original Character ( Kennedy White ), as well as her background, and her plot on the island.

Author's note: So far, this story has had some pretty short chapters and everything is kind of going at a slow pace. But now, Kennedy has caught a glimpse of the person her hero really is. How is this going to affect how she views him now? And yes, I know that Kennedy is very young, but like I said, I wanted to do something different. It gives the story a nice little twist and I'm surprised that the people who wrote "Lost" didn't think of doing this. Anyways, hope you like this chapter. Don't forget to write a review if you like the story or if you have any advice or ideas you'd like to give me. Thanks, guys! :)

{Kennedy's POV}

I couldn't deny being a little disappointed, even a little hurt. I hadn't expected the man who'd saved me to act the way he did. It seemed like Sawyer, I don't know, regretted what he'd done yesterday. I didn't even know the guy, so I wasn't sure why he felt that way. It wasn't like I'd ever done anything to him.

Just forget it, Kennedy. You said thank you to him, that's all you had to do. The little voice in my head was right. I didn't have anymore reason to speak to Sawyer. I could just leave him alone and mind my own business until a rescue came in. Seemed easy enough.

Just as quickly as the rain had began to fall, it slowed and came to a stop all together. The air was humid the way it would be on a hot summer day, just after a light shower. The other survivors had come out of hiding from the downpour. They were going through the wreckage. I realized they were searching for their luggage and belongings when I saw some of them picking up suitcases and duffel bags. I hadn't even thought to look for mine.

It'd be better to start now instead of waiting for someone to make off with my stuff, where it may be.

I wasn't sure where to begin. I didn't have anything with me in the cabin, with the exception of my book. I knew it must have been burned up in the explosion though. My suitcase could be anywhere though. I just started searching anywhere that I found other luggage. I looked under piles of scrap metal, even inside parts of the cabin. I didn't dare go near the fuselage, that was where the majority of the bodies were and I couldn't handle seeing them all.

So far, nothing.

I didn't know how long I spent in trying to find my suitcase. It was impossible to miss: it was an old style suitcase and its color was teal. It even had my name in bold, white letters.

After I'd went around the whole crash sight, my head started to throb out of irritation. Everything that I had now, everything important to me, and things that I never wanted any of these people to know, was in that suitcase.

If there was anywhere I didn't check, I went there. Still, nothing. I was so frustrated that I started to cry. This only made my head feel worse, so I sat down in the sand and held my face in my hands.

"Hey, you okay?" I looked up at the sound of a voice. A young guy with bright blue eyes was standing over me. I'd seen him yesterday somewhere, but I wasn't sure when exactly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered, wiping my eyes.

"You don't look fine." There was a bit of a laugh in his response. He sat down beside me. I felt my shyness come over me again. The urge to look at my feet quickly took over.

"I just, um," I sniffled as I tried to find the right words. "I can't find my suitcase, and there's things in it that are important to me." Thinking about it made me cry worse. I bet I looked like an idiot. I felt the man wrap his arm around my shoulder. This gesture surprised me and my body instantly stiffened.

"It's okay." He whispered. It was strange, but comforting. "I'll help you look for it, okay."

"No, I can find it." I shook my head.

"Really, I wanna help." His eyes were very sincere, I couldn't say no to him. I smiled, careful to keep my mouth closed when I did. I was very insecure about my smile, which braces aided me in that part during junior high. Even with straight, pearly whites I made an effort to never show my teeth.

"It's one of those old suitcases. It's teal and it has my name on it." I explained to him.

"What is your name?" He asked curiously.

"Kennedy." I said, my eyes quickly going to my sand covered feet.

"My name's Boone. I'll be back when I find your stuff." He said before going off on his search. Nice to know there were a few people here that weren't so bad.

I got up, dried my eyes, and started to look some more. My attention was focused on people crowding around and there was a sort of commotion. As I walked closer, I heard arguing. When I could see the whole thing I found Sawyer and another man with dark skin and curly hair. It was obvious that they were having a disagreement. High school all over again.

They were in each others face for a second, then the other man struck Sawyer in the jaw. I cringed, something about that made me feel weak at my stomach.

"Hey guys, come on." A black man objected (I was pretty sure his name was Michael, or Mike. Maybe his son's name was Michael and his was Walt. Dammit, I wasn't entirely sure).

Ignoring him, Sawyer kicked the other in the side. Then, he tried to throw a second hit, but he missed and was hit hard in the stomach. When he doubled over, I felt the nauseous feeling worsen. Please stop. Please stop. I was worried that Sawyer was going to get hurt, despite the fact he'd acted like an ass earlier. Maybe his attitude was what caused this fight in the first place.

More people crowded around to see what all the excitement was about. Sawyer was on top of the other man now, but my eyes averted to Jack rushing to the scene.

"Hey, break it up. Break it up!" Jack came to play referee, pulling Sawyer off the other. Like children, they held onto each other, not ready to end the fight until one stopped breathing. Michael (I think) grabbed Sawyer's foe and tried to help Jack pull them apart.

"Come on, let go." He urged. The other guy (I assumed he was Iranian maybe) was holding onto Sawyer's pants leg.

"It's over! That's it!" Jack yelled, finally yanking the two apart. I didn't feel so worried anymore, it was beginning to be amusing.

"I'm sick of this redneck!." The dark skinned man said with a middle-eastern accent.

"You want some more of me, boy!" Sawyer taunted as Jack tried to keep him under control.

"Tell everyone what you told me! Tell them that I crashed the plane, go on! Tell them I made the plane crash!" The other man shouted.

"The shoe fits, buddy!" The dirty blonde fighter spat. The middle-east guy responded in a foreign language and it founded like he was calling Sawyer a few bad names.

"What is going on?" Jack demanded.

"Look, my kid found these in the jungle." Michael handed him a pair of handcuffs. What the hell? Despite the humid air and the now blazing sun, a cold chill ran down my spine.

"And this guy was sitting in the back row of business class the whole flight, never got up." Sawyer pointed to the dark skinned man. "Hands folded underneath a blanket. And for some reason, just pointing this out, the guy I saw next to him didn't make it."

"Thank you so much for observing my behavior."

"You don't think I saw them pull you out of line before we boarded?" The two started again, Jack and the black man were the only things keeping them from beating the hell out of each other. "Come on, bring it!"

"Stop!" All eyes turned to Kate and the fight instantly cooled down. "We found the transceiver, but it's not working. Can anybody help?"

"Yes." The dark man spoke up. "I might be able to."

"Oh, great! Perfect! Let's trust this guy!" Sawyer yelled sarcastically.

"Hey, we're all in this together man. Let's treat each other with a little respect." A big, curly-haired man said, trying to help cool things down.

"Shut up, Lardo!" The angry blonde spat. A few people made it known that they didn't appreciate his comment. I couldn't blame them.

Jesus, what was the point in getting so worked up and taking it out on people who did nothing to him?

{Sawyer's POV}

"Hey, give it a break." The uptight prick warned, getting in my face. I eyed him, ready to give him a good right hook in the jaw. But something caught my eye behind him. It was a certain little red head walking away. I decided to let it go.

"Whatever you say, doc. You're the hero." I said, walking off. I'd save it for another time.

Most of the crowd dispersed when they realized the good part was over. I watched the girl walk a short distance before she sat down in the sand. I took a cigarette from the pack in my pocket and quickly lit it, trying to calm myself down. I could have hurt that guy if I wanted, but with her watching I thought I'd keep the show PG-13.

"Enjoy the fight?" I stopped just being her, holding the pack of smokes out to her if she wanted one. She really didn't look like the type that smoked.

Her green eyes looked up to me, she seemed caught off guard for a second. She lowered her gaze to the smokes and took one.

"Almost as much as you did." She muttered sarcastically. After lighting her cigarette she took a long inhale and then let it out, she seemed to be a million miles away for a minute. "What you said was mean." Kennedy finally said, but her eyes were directed toward the ocean.

"Eh, Tubby will get over it." I laughed, not thinking anything of it.

"He has feelings." The girl looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes had this funny expression of "You're an asshole".

"Listen, kid. This is survival, feelings don't matter." I told her with a stern voice. She watched me, once again appearing deep in thought. Then, she turned her gaze back to the waves crashing onto the beach. She blinked a couple of times and nodded like a typical girl does when she has nothing else to say.

Kennedy took a second hit from the cancer stick and threw it down next to my shoe as she jumped up and walked away. She was cute when she was upset, but she was also weak. She was the type that was walked on, thrown to the side. It was going to take more than a couple of rude comments to piss her off. They were things were looking as far as rescue goes, I'd have plenty of time to get under her skin.

xXx

{Kennedy's POV}

I spent some more time looking for my suitcase, no such luck of finding it though. Boone had came to check on me a few times, he wasn't having any luck with it either. Still, it was nice having someone that wanted to help me. Kate came to me and said she was going to clean up down at a less crowded part of the beach, she asked if I'd keep a watch out for any peeping toms.

As she cleaned herself in the ocean, I took the time to think. Jack and Kate were suppose to be going after the cockpit alone, and yet when they returned I saw another person with them. It made me wonder if Jack had told me to stay on the beach to keep me out of his way. My feelings were hurt very easily, and this time was no exception. I tried to convince myself that I was just being a cry baby.

Maybe Jack wasn't trying to shoot you down. Maybe he really thought you'd get hurt.

I wanted to stop thinking about it. While Kate was washing her hair out, I was getting concerned about my own hygiene. I had no clothes, my body wash and shampoo, all of that was in my suitcase. I'd hate to imagine how this could get worse.

As Kate was finishing, an Asian woman came over to us and was saying something in her native language. I had no clue what she was saying, but Kate must have gotten a hint. She put on an orange shirt and a pair of pants and went to the man Sawyer had the scrap with. I quickly learned that his name was Sayid.

"Is it working?" Kate asked, looking at the transceiver in the man's hands.

"It seems to be, except we're not picking up a signal." He answered.

"Why do we need to pick up a signal? Aren't we trying to send one?" Kate questioned. I listened to them carefully, but it was all jibberish to me.

"Yes, but what you want to see here is little bars. The bars would show the radio is getting reception."

"We need the bars?" She asked.

"We could broadcast blind. Hope that someone - maybe a ship somewhere - picks up our distress call, but that would be a waste of the battery." Sayid explained. "Which might not last long." He added.

The look on Kate's face was full of disappointment. I should have been concerned than I really was. Maybe the situation hadn't sunk in yet, I don't know.

"There is one thing we could try." Sayid suggested.

"What?" She asked hopeful.

"Seeing if we could get a signal from high ground." The middle-eastern man answered.

"How high?"

Sayid's eyes led us to turn around and see a very big mountain, with very jagged edges. Just looking at it gave me a sick feeling. He couldn't be serious.

xXx

Kate decided that she was going, now she just had to break the news to Jack. I followed her, beginning to get the feeling of being a lost puppy. The doc was with the man with the shrapnel sticking out of his side, still unconscious.

"How is he?" Kate asked. She'd been pretty concerned about his condition. "Can you do anything?"

"Pull out the shrapnel." Jack answered gloomily.

"But you said yesterday, if you take it out-"

"I know, but that was yesterday. I was hoping he's be at a hospital by now." He interrupted, obviously stressed about the situation. "If I leave him like this, he'll be dead within a day. If I open him up, if I can control the bleeding, and if he doesn't go into sepsis, and if I can find some antibiotics, he might be all right."

Kate took a few steps toward Jack, they were nervous steps.

"We're going on a hike." She said. Jack quickly turned around, not expecting her words.

"Sorry?"

"Sayid fixed the transceiver, but we can't use it. Not from here." She explained. Jack was already shaking his head no.

"Kate-"

"You're the one who said we need to send out a signal." She interrupted.

"Look, you saw what that thing did to the pilot." Jack whispered, but I could still hear him. That thing? As in that thing tearing down trees last night? What did it do to the pilot? They'd failed to mention anything about it when they came back. I guess it would be better not having other people know and get scared, but I was getting dizzy with fear.

"Yeah, I did." Kate nodded. "What makes you think we're any safer here than we are in the jungle?" She questioned, raising a good point. Jack couldn't say anything to make her change her mind and he knew it.

"Wait for me. I don't know how long-"

"Sayid said the battery won't last."

"Alright." Jack surrendered. "If you see or hear anything - anything - run."

"We'll be careful." Kate assured the doctor, but he still seemed wary.

"You're going too?" He turned his attention to me. The idea wasn't appealing to me after the conversation I'd just witnessed. Though for some reason, I had an annoying need to not be left out again.

"I thought about it." I admitted shyly.

"Kennedy, I don't know if that's such a good idea. How have you been feeling today?" Jack insisted. I felt like a child being told what to do.

"I feel fine." It was half true. My head hadn't hurt much in a while and my brain function seemed to be normal.

"She'll be okay, Jack." Kate added with an assuring smile. At least someone was looking out for me.

xXx

Kate, Sayid, and I were getting ready on the beach to go on the dreaded hike up the , they were the ones getting ready. I had nothing to pack, no appropriate hiking clothes. And I was not about to loot shoes from one of the bodies, I couldn't handle that. I was scared, very scared. But I was tired of standing around being useless.

"I'm coming with you." A female's voice said from behind us as we started walking. We turned around. It was Boone's sister, Shannon. I had seen her a few times, she seemed a little spoiled to me. Not the type to want to go on a hike.

"She's not going." Boone caught up with her. They were obviously having a fight. They started arguing, I couldn't even make out what they were saying. "She makes really bad decisions to upset her family, which at the moment, is me."

"Shut up and stop trying to be charming." Shannon stared at him with hateful eyes. She turned to Kate. "I'm coming with you."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Kate admitted, only thinking of everyone's best interests.

"What are you, two years older than me? Please!"

You'd think from seeing me standing there that age wasn't the question. Out of nowhere, a scruffy man with long, blonde bangs comes walking up to us randomly and smiling. He was the same one that had went with Kate and Jack earlier.

"You're going, aren't you?" Shannon demanded as he stopped next to her.

"Yeah, are you?" The man answered.

"Yep." Shannon turned, looking around at us as if trying to prove something.

"Yep, I'm definitely going." The man smiled.

"Look, everybody can come, but we're leaving now." Kate got things under control and we started walking again. Shannon, Boone, and the little blonde guy followed suit. It made me more comfortable to have more people going with us, and surely if Shannon could go on this hike I could too.

{Sawyer's POV}

I looked up from the letter I was reading, something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I watched six people walking toward the jungle. Red with one of them.

What in the hell was she thinking going off into that death trap? She had no business going with those Indiana Jones wannabes, they'd get her killed.

She was weak, fragile even. I could picture her dropping like a fly in the heat, they'd all just leave her to fend for herself. I couldn't let that happen, now could I? I had already taken role as her personal Superman, I was in too deep to call-it-quits now.

xXx

{Kennedy's POV}

We'd walked for a few minutes through the jungle. So far, so good. No sign of any large, tree crushing creatures. Then, a familiar man with long, whispy hair walked past me as well as Sayid and Kate. What the hell was he doing here?

My first guess was that he was trying to piss Sayid off, after their disagreement before. Surely, he wouldn't go through so much trouble as to go hiking up a huge mountain. Would he? I was beginning to think that he came just because I did, just to spite me. You sound like an idiot, Sawyer has no interest in you.

"You decided to join us." Kate sighed sarcastically. She didn't seem too thrilled.

"I'm a complex guy, sweetheart." Sawyer replied, making sure he was a few strides ahead of all of us. I watched Kate's jaw tighten as if she were fighting nasty words back.

We continued our trek, I was surprisingly holding up okay. No more mouth out of Sawyer, no whines from Shannon. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad. I realized that I'd spoken way too soon when we came to the part of your adventure where we had to start going up. Climbing wasn't one of my best skills. As a kid, I was inside learning to play the piano and violin instead of out climbing trees and playing in the dirt.

The cherry on top was that we were going up a loose-soil incline. Nothing to hold onto except for exposed tree roots. What in the hell have I gotten myself into? I asked myself this at least a dozen times while I attempted to crawl up the steep, unstable side of the mountain. I noticed Sawyer was behind me. Close behind me. I was taking my time and being careful, I thought he'd get impatient and go around me, but he didn't. I tried not to think about it, I wanted to stay focused on what I was doing.

I grabbed a weak root and it snapped when I tried to pull myself forward. My bare feet slid along the loose dirt and mud for a second, I was in a panic and couldn't think of how to stop myself. Suddenly, a hand caught my leg and held it still. I looked behind me shyly. A flash of heat blanketed my face when Sawyer's eyes met mine. I was too winded by it all to read his expression.

"You okay?" Kate called down to me and I quickly turned my attention to her.

"Mhm." I hummed briskly. I kept climbing, wanting to melt the awkwardness that froze my thoughts.

We came to a steep angle of the mountain. My heart was pounding, rattling against my rib cage. There's no way I'm getting up there, I thought as Kate maneuvered effortlessly up the death-trap obstacle. I could only describe the feeling I had as gut-wrenching. We'd made too much distance between us and the beach for me to turn around. I wouldn't get back before dark. I had to do it.

I tried to mimic Kate's actions and get a sort of running go at the roots on the ledge above. Either I didn't get enough momentum or I was just too short, I came sliding back down. Again, I felt Sawyer's hand on my leg, preventing me from sliding further. Just don't think about it. Then, his hand went to my thigh, just below my butt. I will never be able to explain just how badly I thought I was going to explode from embarrassment. I also couldn't explain why Sawyer made me so nervous. Calm down, Kennedy. Focus on what you're doing.

I regained my focus and tried again, I felt Sawyer's hand pushing me as I made my second attempt. This time, I succeeded in grabbing a thick root. I had a good hold and was making my way up onto the ledge, but Sawyer's hand never left contact with me until I'd made it the whole way. The voice in my head tried to convince me that he'd only done it so I wouldn't slip or lose my balance and topple him and anyone else in the way. That's possible, right? Once Sawyer had made it himself, and Sayid helped the rest, and we continued onward.

Finally, we'd found flat land. It was a grassland, literally. At first, I was glad there were no more hills and mountains. Then, my bad luck convinced me otherwise. The grass was taller than me, the blades making small cuts on my feet when I stepped on them. That's what I get for going barefoot.

I was tired, hot, and my head was throbbing again. It was starting to make me feel sick, but I didn't want to seem weak by asking to take a break. I wasn't about to let Kate regret bringing me along. I kept going, but I fell behind (to the very back to the group to be precise). Sawyer had somehow drifted back and was walking beside me.

I tried to ignore him, I really did. He made it difficult when I caught him glancing at me from the corner of his eye every few minutes. The farther we walked, I felt that it was harder to breathe, I thought my head was going to split in two. If I didn't vomit, I just might pass out. I could see Sawyer turn and look at me. I was a little more concerned with myself, but I almost saw sympathy in his eyes.

"Okay. Wide, open space! We should check the radio, see if we're good." Sawyer called up to the others. What the hell?

"We're not going to have any reception here." Sayid refused.

"Just try it." The man beside me urged. God, what was he doing?

"I don't want to waste the battery." Sayid replied a second time.

"I'm not asking ya to keep it on all day." He persisted. I wasn't sure why he was acting this way when he'd been completely content this whole time.

"We're still blocked by the mountain." The Iranian still refused to listen.

"Just check the damn radio!" Sawyer shouted, seeming very determined to make the group stop. I really hoped he wasn't doing this because of me.

"If I just check, we might not have any juice left when we get to-" Sayid began to yell back.

He cut off by a loud, sound that resembled a roar. It silenced everyone. In the distance we could hear rustling and short growling noises. Something was coming toward us.

"My God." Shannon said under her breath.

"What the hell's that?" Boone asked, not to anyone particular.

"Something's coming." Kate answered. Everyone's eyes on the moving grass blades ahead.

"It's coming towards us, I think." Charlie muttered as the thing approached faster. Fear was building up in my throat, like vomit. Maybe it was real vomit.

"Come on, let's move." Kate said as she made her way back through the grass. Charlie and Sayid were close behind her.

"I shouldn't have come on the hike!" Shannon screamed as Boone dragged her with him. I started to run, instantly feeling like the Energizer bunny, but I saw that Sawyer wasn't moving.

"What the hell are you doing?" I yelled, going back to him. I grabbed his arm and tried to pull him with me. It was a very sad attempt. As the thing got closer to us, Sawyer grabbed me and pulled me behind him as he withdrew a gun and aimed it. He started shooting at whatever was in front of us, my eyes stayed tightly closed. I grabbed his free hand and held on for dear life, believing that I was about to die.

The roars of the thing came closer and closer until finally something hit the ground so hard that I felt it quake. The shooting had ceased, but my ears were still ringing. I felt Sawyer relax his muscles and I took that as I sign that we were okay. I stepped out from behind the him to see a white, fluffy mass laying on the ground just several feet away. It was making weak, whining sounds. The others came back, moving cautiously.

"That's, that's a big bear." Shannon stated.

"You think that's what killed the pilot?" Boone asked.

"No. No, that's a teeny, tiny version compared to that." Charlie answered.

"Guys, this isn't just a bear. It's a polar bear." Kate said. I felt Sawyer squeeze my hand, which I'd forgotten was holding his, and I quickly let go.