"So, you're just going to leave? You think Boone's dead too?" Shannon announed, once she saw Kali walking back to the beach.
"No, and I never will. He's alive, Shannon. Can't you feel it?" Kali stated.
"No…I can't" Shannon admitted, with a guilty expression.
"I'm coming back, okay? And when I do, we'll find Boone together" Kali insisted.
"What if it's too late by then?" Shannon pointed out, sadly.
"We'll never be able to search the entire island for him on our own. It's too dangerous. We need help. That's why I'm going" Kali tried to explain.
"You won't forget about us?" Shannon asked, as Kali's eyes softened.
"Never" Kali told her, as she pulled the blonde into a quick hug, who practically collapsed into her arms.
She hated leaving Shannon in such a vulnerable place, but there was nothing she could do to help her. The only thing that would help her was to bring Boone back. She prayed that Shannon would be wrong, and she wouldn't be too late. As she pulled away from the hug, she noticed Sayid walking over to the pair and made her excuses to leave.
"Wait, Kali! I need to talk to you" Sayid announced, rushing towards her.
"If Sawyer sees us-" Kali began, but Sayid cut her off.
"It will only be quick. I have something for you" Sayid informed her, taking her hand in his own.
Kali frowned as she felt him press a metal object into her hand and saw it was a small knife. She looked up to him in confusion, as Sayid tried to block the knife from Shannon's view.
"What's this for?" Kali questioned, as she placed the knife in the waistband of her jeans and placed her shirt over the blade.
"Just in case. You might need to protect yourself" Sayid exclaimed.
"Won't it be better for you if I ended up dead?" Kali retorted.
"What I did…what I tried to do…it's one of my biggest regrets. I hope one day you'll be able to forgive me" Sayid went on, making Kali sigh.
"Take care of her. Please" Kali told him, as she watched Sayid's lips twitch into a smile.
"You don't even need to ask that. I will protect her with my life" Sayid informed her.
"Okay, Romeo" Kali teased, as Sayid chuckled lightly.
"I'll see you around" Kali announced, taking a step back, as Shannon waved a goodbye to her.
Kali was helping to pack the last things onto the raft when Claire approached her, with her baby in her arms. She seemed teary as Kali reached out to stroke the baby's head softly.
"What's wrong?" Kali questioned, as Claire sniffled.
"I'm going to miss you. A lot. We both are" Claire told her, rocking her child back and forth.
"I'll be back before you know it" Kali insisted.
"Do you want to hold him?" Claire asked, watching Kali nod enthusiastically.
"Hey there, little fella" Kali grinned, as Claire carefully placed him in Kali's arms.
"He's never usually this quiet" Claire mumbled, rubbing his little hand.
"It must be my calming personality" Kali teased, as Claire scoffed with amusement.
"Right, that must be it" Claire mocked, as the girls giggled together.
"How's my little buddy doing today?" Charlie announced, walking over to them.
"He's doing the same as he was the last time you checked. Twenty minutes ago," Claire stated, raising an eyebrow at the Brit.
"Sounds like someone's got baby fever" Kali suggested, as she handed the baby back to Claire, placing a soft kiss on his head.
"And you haven't?" Charlie retorted, as Kali nudged him.
"What's in the bottle?" Kali frowned, seeing there seemed to be numerous notes tucked in the green bottle.
"Everyone's been writing notes to people at home. You want to write one?" Charlie suggested, holding out the bottle.
"I'm going on the boat, remember" Kali stated.
"Yeah, but if something happens then at least the bottle might get to people" Charlie insisted, as Kali shook her head fondly.
"I'm glad you're already feeling so confident in Team Raft" Kali laughed, as Charlie realised what he had said.
"Oh…no, I didn't mean it like...it might still be nice for you to write something, don't you think? Michael and Walt did" Charlie explained.
"Got no one to write to" Kali shrugged, as Charlie and Claire frowned in confusion.
"C'mon, there must be someone. Parents, friends, siblings…" Charlie trailed off, when Kali seemed to cringe when he mentioned siblings.
"See Chuckie, when you've got a friend like me, no one else compares. No need to send a message off in a bottle" Sawyer announced, appearing out of nowhere and slinging his arm over Kali's shoulders.
"Careful Sawyer, we might have to throw you off the boat. I think your big head is gonna' weigh it down too much" Kali teased, looking up at the blond with a grin.
"We'll leave you two to it" Claire smiled, as she pulled Charlie along with her, thinking the pair needed some alone time.
"Have you said your goodbyes yet?" Kali inquired, making no move to shrug Sawyer's arm off her shoulder.
"Only important person to me is leaving on the raft…I hope" Sawyer stated, raising an eyebrow at her.
"You know flattery will get you nowhere, Mr Ford" Kali replied, as she felt his hand rub small circles on her shoulder.
"In my experience it gets you a lot of places" Sawyer exclaimed, wiggling his eyebrows at her mischievously.
"Am I not allowed on the raft until I promise you that thing from earlier?" Kali questioned, a moment later.
"Pretty much. I'm thinking I might tie you to that tree over there…or was that a dream I had…" Sawyer trailed off with a grin, as Kali nudged him in the ribs.
"Alright, alright. I promise I'll keep myself safe" Kali told him, looking up into his blue eyes.
"That means no being a martyr. No putting yourself in unnecessary danger-" Sawyer began, but she cut him off.
"But putting myself in unnecessary danger is like 70% of my personality" Kali stated, as Sawyer had a thoughtful look on her face.
"And the other 30% is being a smartass" Sawyer retorted, as the pair shared a grin.
"…There's something I need to tell you too. Uh, it's kind of a big thing…so I'm just gonna' come and out and say it…" Kali stuttered, making Sawyer gesture for her to elaborate.
"I…uh, well you know we've gotten close…and…certain feelings can happen when two people get close…" Kali trailed off.
"What are you saying?" Sawyer frowned, as Kali's heartbeat faster.
"I think you need a haircut" Kali blurted out, as Sawyer's jaw dropped.
"A haircut?" Sawyer tried to clarify, as Kali nodded insistently.
"Yeah…it's gonna' be as long as mine soon. That's what I'm feeling right now. That you need a haircut" Kali went on, as Sawyer gave her a funny look.
"Are all Brits as weird as you?" Sawyer inquired.
"I am pretty unique" Kali shrugged, with a grin.
The moment Sawyer look away, Kali's grin fell from her face, as she cursed under her breath. That had been far too close. What was she thinking telling Sawyer how she really felt? There was no way he could feel the same.
Before long, it was time for them to leave, as everyone on the beach crowded around the raft to help push them. Kali jumped up onto the raft with Walt, as neither of them would be able to help much. Kali found herself crossing her fingers as she watched them all straining to push them into the waves and with a sudden jolt, they were in the water. Walt helped pull his father up, as Kali reached down to hold a hand out for Sawyer, who gratefully intertwined their hands. They couldn't stop the smiles from growing on their faces, as they watched everyone on the beach wave them off. Sawyer pushed himself up further on the raft to attempt to unfurl the sail, as Kali felt a strange sense of sadness. She realised that she had been happier on the island than she had been in over a decade. Would that all change when they got back to civilisation? Would Sawyer really stay with her? She was distracted as she heard the man in question cheering, as the sail unfurled, and the boat started to pick up speed. She wondered whether she had made the right choice leaving the island.
Sawyer watched over Kali as she slept with a smile, thinking that he had never seen her look quite so peaceful. She needed to sleep more than usual now, most likely due to the injuries she had sustained only a few days ago. It was a miracle she was still alive, yet alone able to come on the raft with them. As if able to hear his thoughts, she began to stir, her eyes fluttering open and meeting his gaze. She looked around, confusion written over her face, seeming to mumble a name that Sawyer couldn't make out.
"Hey, you okay?" Sawyer inquired, crouching down beside her.
"Yeah…weird dream…" Kali trailed off, rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, I bet. You were drooling in your sleep. Thinking about me, huh?" Sawyer teased, chuckling as Kali wiped at her lips, realising that he had just been mocking her.
"Oh, ha ha. Says the creeper who was watching me sleep" Kali retorted, with an amused smile.
"Pft, no I wasn't" Sawyer stated, pushing himself upright.
"Uh, you definitely were, man" Michael announced, watching as Sawyer turned to glare at him.
"Yeah well…not much else to do on this raft" Sawyer shrugged, as he seemed to get an idea and turned to start rifling through the cool box they had brought on board.
"Is that a man-bun?" Kali chuckled, as she saw how Sawyer had tied his hair up.
"You said it was getting too long" Sawyer replied, taking something out of the cool box that Kali couldn't see.
"I'm flattered that you value my opinion so much" Kali giggled, stretching her arms above her head.
She found herself trying to remember the strange dream she had, now only remembering flashes of what seemed like a memory. She had been in a large room, a mixture between a home and a work station. The fact that there had been no windows stuck out in her memory. A song was playing that she didn't recognise, as a bearded man walked past her and sat at the dining table. He had shoulder length brown hair, hazel eyes, and was undoubtedly attractive. He was probably around mid-thirties and looked desperately lonely. Now wide awake, Kali realised with a scoff that seemed to be just her type. He had sat at the table with his hands outstretched as he stared off into the distance, his eyes welling with tears. Kali found herself reaching out for his hand before she knew what she was doing, feeling sorry for the man. That was when she suddenly woke up, her eyes connecting with Sawyer's blue ones. It was strange that she remembered the man's face so vividly from her dreams. She must have seen him from somewhere before, but where?
"Those are the messages everybody wrote" Walt exclaimed, his voice bringing her out of her thoughts.
She looked up to see Sawyer reading a piece of paper, keeping a hold of the bottle of messages with his foot, a smug smile on his face.
"Sure are" Sawyer replied, as Walt looked appalled.
"They're private" Walt insisted, making Sawyer grin.
"Yep. I, for one, never knew how much Tracy missed her hubby and 2 kids back in Fresno. Yet she's sleeping next to good old Scott to keep her warm at night" Sawyer told him, as Kali decided to bring herself into the conversation.
"That's Steve. Scott's dead" Kali informed him.
"Whatever" Sawyer shrugged, as he went to read another message.
"Sawyer, Walt's right. What you're doing is fu…screwed up. Stop it" Kali scolded him, as she pushed herself upright to loom over him.
"Okay...I suppose you don't want to know who the hell Hugo is and how's he got $160 million dollars to leave to his mom" Sawyer responded, watching as Kali's jaw dropped.
"What?!" She gaped, grabbing the note from his hand.
"Oh man, some people have all the luck" Kali grumbled, looking over the note to see Walt giving her a judging look.
"Uh…but like I was saying, this is totally wrong" Kali added, as she handed the message back to Sawyer.
"How would you like it if I read yours?" Walt questioned, looking at the pair, as he crossed his arms.
"You can't read mine because I didn't write one" Sawyer admitted, seeming to surprise Walt.
"Why not?" The young boy frowned.
"I've got no one to write to" Sawyer murmured, placing the notes back into the bottle.
"There must be someone" Walt exclaimed.
"Everyone I ever cared about is dead, kid" Sawyer stated, in a dark tone.
"Then I guess your lucky" Walt replied, making Sawyer scoff.
"How the hell do you work that out, Einstein?" Sawyer retorted.
"That you found someone on the island to care about" Walt pointed out, his eyes falling on Kali, who's lips twitched into a smile.
Things had been going well for them as the wind was picking up speed, helping to push them further and further from the island. That was until they hit something under the water, and their rudder suddenly became unattached. Kali quickly jumped into action, dashing towards the mast to bring the sail down. Her eyes widened when she turned around just in time to see Sawyer jumping into the sea.
"Sawyer!" She screeched, running to the back of the raft.
Relief flooded through her when Sawyer rose to the surface a moment later, but he swam further from the raft in an attempt to retrieve the rudder.
"Sawyer! For God's sake, come back!" Kali yelled, but he wasn't listening.
"Grab the rope! Rope!" Michael ordered Jin, who did as he was told, throwing the rope at the other man.
"It's sinking!" Sawyer called back to them, as he grabbed onto the rudder.
Michael threw the rope into the water as far as he could, but Sawyer had drifted out too much. He would never be able to reach it in time. Kali watched as the rudder began to pull him down, as Michael tried to throw the rope once again.
"Just leave the damn rudder!" Kali insisted, but he wouldn't listen, as he tried to drag the rudder behind him.
"I can't reach it" Sawyer exclaimed, as Michael threw the rope too short once again.
"The things I do for this guy…" Kali grumbled, as she stripped off her plaid shirt, leaving her in just her tank top and jeans.
"Why are you stripping?!" Michael gaped, as Kali grabbed the rope from him.
"Wish me luck" Kali sighed, as she wrapped the rope around her wrist and took a couple of steps back.
"Oh no, not you too-" Michael was cut off as Kali sprinted off the raft, diving into the waves.
The water was colder than she had expected and the waves stronger, but soon enough she was able to push herself to the surface. She was glad to see Sawyer wasn't far from her and threw the rope the rest of the way. Sawyer gripped onto the rope with a grin, and started rapping it around the rudder, as Kali gave the others on the raft a thumbs up. She was greateful to the support the rope gave her, as her legs burned from swimming in the deep water. Soon enough they were being pulled back onto the raft, as Michael helped give Kali a hand to crawl back on. Jin rushed to the other side of the raft to help pull the rudder back on, not wanting to lose it once again. Kali whipped her head around as she noticed Sawyer was having a problem pulling himself back onto the raft, as he had exhausted himself from swimming against the waves. She held out her hand which he gratefully took, as she pulled a little too hard as Sawyer ended up falling on top of her. They both panted for a moment, as neither made a move, Sawyer's hands on either side of her face. Sawyer realised they had never been so close, as their faces were only inches away from each other. Despite himself, his eyes dropped to her lips for a moment, his heart beating even faster than it had been in the water. For a split-second Sawyer thought she was going to pull him closer as her hand touched his arm. However, what came instead was a slap to his arm and Kali's face morphing into anger.
"You stupid son of a bitch! What the hell was that?!" Kali scolded, continuing to hit him, as he rolled off her.
"Ow!" Sawyer exclaimed, as he brushed her hands away.
"God, I hate you sometimes" Kali complained, as she pushed herself onto her feet and began to storm away.
"You love me really!" Sawyer called after her, as she held her middle finger up.
"You two have one of the weirdest relationships I've ever seen, you know that" Michael announced, later that day, once the sun had gone down.
They had just turned on the radar to see whether they were any ships in the area, but so far there had been nothing. It wasn't looking good; Sawyer couldn't help but think. He looked towards the back of the raft, where Kali was helping to make sure the rudder was secure with Jin.
"How's that?" Sawyer replied, knowing instantly he was talking about his relationship with Kali.
"You want to die" Michael exclaimed, as Sawyer's head snapped up to look at him.
"What?" Sawyer frowned.
"So does she. But you both want to keep the other alive. It's kind of ironic, don't you think?" Michael went on, as Sawyer's frown deepened.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Mike" Sawyer shook his head, keeping his eyes on the radar equipment.
"Since the day you told me you wanted on this raft, I couldn't figure it out. Why does a guy who only cares about himself want to risk his life to save everyone else? The way I see it, there's only two choices - you're either a hero or you want to die" Michael explained.
"Well, I ain't no hero, Mike" Sawyer stated, sadly.
"Kali seems to think you are" Michael pointed out, looking towards the brunette.
"Yeah, well…like she's says, she hasn't exactly had a lot of good male role models" Sawyer scoffed.
"I'm just saying…doesn't she make you want to live?" Michael questioned, throwing Sawyer off.
He was just mulling over Michael's comment, as he realised just how important Kali had become to him when he heard a ping come from the radar equipment. Everyone's heads snapped up, as Kali rushed over to the men to see what was happening.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sawyer inquired, as he could see a blip on the radar was getting closer to them.
"Something's out there" Michael announced, as they all shared a worried look.
"It's closer. Give me the damn flare gun" Sawyer exclaimed, holding out his hand.
"Hold on a sec" Michael replied, taking out the flare gun.
"I'm telling you, it's closer. I'm telling you, look" Sawyer insisted, pointing to the screen.
"I know, okay. I've got one flare" Michael pointed out, as Walt dashed over to them, excitement written over his face.
"What is it? Is it a ship?" Walt queried, jumping up and down a little.
"We don't know, little man. We don't know" Michael stated.
"Exactly. We're not in any of the shipping lanes yet. We've been out here for what? Eight hours? How could we have found a boat yet?" Kali explained.
"Well what else could it be? We have to fire the flare!" Sawyer insisted.
"We don't know what it is. It could be anything-a piece of floating junk. We don't even know if Sayid's radar works!" Michael went on.
"Have you ever known that guy to fix something up that don't work?" Sawyer retorted, as they all had to admit he was right.
"It's moving away" Walt interjected, his eyes glued to the screen.
"Floating junk that knows how to steer, huh?" Sawyer scoffed.
"Look, we are too close to the island for anyone to have found us yet! This doesn't make sense" Kali told him.
"Exactly. And we're moving, so how could-" Michael began, but Sawyer cut him off.
"Are you going to give me the damn gun, or am I going to have to take it?!" Sawyer yelled, getting angrier by the second.
"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" Michael retorted, a dark look in his eyes.
"No one is shooting anyone. You two need to calm down, alright? Let's just think about this for a second…" Kali trailed off, as everyone remained quiet.
"It's almost gone" Walt warned them, as he turned to look at his father.
The whole group looked to Michael to decide what to do, as he was holding the flare gun. Kali was the only one who seemed unsure with what to do.
"C'mon!" Walt insisted, as Michael sighed and raised the flare gun in the air.
"I have a bad feeling about this" Kali mumbled.
"Please, god" Michael prayed, as he fired the flare, as it lit up the pitch-black sky for a moment.
Jin quickly rushed to take down the sails, knowing they needed to stay where they were if anyone was going to find them. As Kali watched the flare slowly drift back down, she heard the bleeping from the monitor stop. She knew she shouldn't, but she felt relieved. Something felt wrong about the whole situation.
"It's coming back!" Walt exclaimed, as the bleeping reassumed much to Kali's disappointment.
Kali didn't join in the cheering, as she watched the boat getting closer on the monitor. Jin quickly shushed them, gesturing to his ear, as he thought they should listen out for a motor. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Kali took the knife that Sayid gave to her from the waistband of her jeans. Sawyer didn't miss this action and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Just in case" Kali announced, as she went to crouch down underneath the mast, so that she would be out of view of any incoming ship.
"What're you doing?" Michael frowned, as he watched Kali disappear.
"Hopefully nothing" Kali murmured, gripping the knife in her hand.
Suddenly the raft was lit up with flood lights, making Kali flinch as she brought her legs closer to her, making sure no part of her was in view. She heard the rest of the group cheer and shout, obviously thinking they were about to be rescued any minute.
"Are we glad to see you!" Michael grinned, as Kali could hear an engine cut out near them.
"What's going on?! What are you folks doing this far out here?!" A male voice called out.
"We were…the plane crashed! We were on the Island for a month, man!" Michael informed them.
"Plane crash, huh? Well, how about that?" The man replied, jollily.
"We were on an Island…hey, where are we?!" Michael inquired, as Kali begun wondering whether she should make herself known.
"Well, it's a good thing we found you" The male voice exclaimed, as Kali noticed he had deflected the question.
"Yeah, yeah, we survived and there's a whole group of people on the island…" Michael trailed off, as Kali silently groaned, wishing Michael wouldn't give out so much information.
"Well, ain't that something?" The man chuckled, something about his tone making Kali's skin crawl.
"Only, the thing is, we're going to have to take the boy" The man informed them, as Kali could see the grin's fall from her friends faces.
"What? What'd you say?" Michael frowned.
"The boy, we're going to have to take him" The man repeated, as Kali looked to Sawyer, who's eyes flitted over to hers for a moment.
"How many?" She mouthed to him, watching as he raised four fingers behind his back.
"Hey, what the hell's going on here? Who are you people?" Michael questioned, as Walt gripped onto his father's hand, fear washing over his face.
"Just give us the boy" The man insisted, as Kali could hear shuffling on the boat.
"I'm not giving you anybody" Michael retorted.
"Well, alright then" The man replied, as Kali could tell something was about to happen.
Deciding it was now or never to make her entrance, she jumped out from behind the mast, just in time to see one of the men on the ship raise a gun. She threw her knife, expertly hitting the man in the hand, as he dropped the gun with a cry of pain. The other men seemed surprised by this attack, as the one who Kali guessed had been talking, turned off the floodlights. Making a split-second decision, Kali lunged towards the man, jumping from the raft to the boat, hearing Sawyer call after her. She managed to shove him into the helm of the ship, using her hand to bash his head against the glass behind him, as he slipped to the floor. She managed to duck as one of the other men threw a punch her way, as she dropped to her knees and swung her leg out, pushing him off his feet. Seeing the gun that was on the floor of the boat, she lunged forward to grab the weapon. Standing back up she raised it at the man who had been holding it, a dark look in her eyes, as everyone stilled for a moment.
"I think that's mine" Kali exclaimed, leaning down and pulling her knife from the man's hand, making him scream and clutch his limb in pain.
"Kali, right?" The man who's head she had bashed in questioned, from where he was leaning against the floor.
"And I'm guessing your one of the Others" Kali suggested, watching as the man grinned.
"You know I can see the family resemblance. You might even be a better fighter than your brother…but you're not smarter" The bearded man informed her, watching fear wash over her face.
"What…what did you say?" Kali gulped, her hand trembling a little as she gripped onto the gun.
A loud bang suddenly made her jump, as she saw the other man who had been standing at the wheel held a gun in his hand. She whipped her head around to see Sawyer falling into the water, as she realised in a panic, that he had been shot. Without a second's thought, she dived into the freezing water after him, everything else but Sawyer forgotten.
"So predictable" The bearded man smirked, as he indicated for his crewmate to go forward and take the boy.
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! A big thank you to everyone as this story now has 100 reviews, and for a show that ended a decade ago that's pretty amazing! Sorry this update took so long but at least you guys have got probably the longest chapter I've ever written, haha. Please leave a review:)
scripturient3201: Aw, thank you! Lots of raft drama for you in this chapter, haha. And Kali is certainly scary when she wants to be, looks like her brother showed her a few things.
farrahjohnson21: Hmm, I think you'll be very pleased with the direction this story is going in then. Especially with Kali's dream in this chapter, haha.
kz4valentina: Thanks for the review:) I love Kali and Sawyer's banter, it always flows so easily. Kate being nice was a fun surprise, wasn't it? Haha.
carmelitajones: We'll have to wait a little while to find who wrote the message...and why. Lots more of Kali and Sawyer coming in the following chapters.