A/N: Hey everyone! Just wanted to give a big shoutout to Fanni the Sloth who has made an edit for this story! I've tried to link the edit on my profile so please do go check it out! If the link isn't working, you can just as easily find it by going on Youtube and typing in Sawyer and Kali. It's the first time anyone's ever made an edit for one of my fanfic's and I'm beyond flattered and grateful. So, if you want something a little more visual before reading this chapter, check it out. Thanks for reading and please leave a review:)
Shannon let out an exasperated sound as she ushered Vincent towards the water bowl in front of him, but the dog wouldn't cooperate. He had been acting strangely for the past couple of minutes, whimpering and growling intermittently.
"Vincent!" Shannon cried, as the dog managed to wiggle out of her grip and started racing away from her.
"Dumb dog" Shannon mumbled, kneeling on the ground with a pout.
"Do you have that effect on everyone?" A voice questioned, making the blonde jump out of her skin.
"Who…who the hell are you?" Shannon gaped, at the bearded stranger in front of her.
"That's not the important question…" The man informed her, as he took a few steps forward.
"What is?" Shannon gulped, racking her mind for a way to escape.
"The important question is…do you have any food?" The man went on, making Shannon frown.
"What?" She questioned, as he saw a packet of crackers at her side.
Before she could react his hand shot out to grab the packet, as he began shovelling the tasteless food into his mouth at a concerning rate. Shannon cringed as he finished the whole packet within a matter of seconds, holding the packet above his face to get any small crumbs left. His eyes snapped to hers, as he noticed the strange look she was giving him and dropped the packet to the floor.
"What, you've never seen a starving man eat before?" The man scoffed, as Shannon shrugged, her eyes darting around to find that there was no one on the beach near her.
The blonde cursed herself for setting up her tent further down the beach and prayed that Sayid would soon come looking for her.
"…Anyways, the message. Have you seen him yet?" The man inquired, as Shannon's frown deepened.
"Who?" Shannon asked, completely lost.
"Small kid, about ten years old, his name's…Wayne? No, that's not it…Will…" The man trailed off, putting a finger to his chin.
"Walt?" Shannon guessed, jumping as the man clicked his fingers loudly.
"That's it! Who names their kid Walt anyway?" The man chuckled to himself.
"Walt's on a raft-" Shannon began, but the man cut her off quickly.
"Wow, you really are out of the loop, huh? Look just do me a favour. You see that kid, you run the other way. He's not what you think" The man warned her.
"And why should I listen to you?" Shannon retorted as the man seemed to mull this over for a moment.
"Do listen, don't listen…I don't really care. I've made good on my end of the deal. See you around" The man shrugged, as he turned on his heel to leave.
"Wait! Deal with who?" Shannon called after him, jumping to her feet.
"With Boone" The man replied, as Shannon's jaw dropped open.
Just as she opened her mouth to question the man, she heard frantic barking from behind her, as Vincent came rushing over to her, almost bowling her over as he crawled between her legs. Shannon looked down at the dog for a split second, before looking up to find the man in front of her had vanished.
"What the hell?" Shannon muttered.
Was she hallucinating? And if she was, why was she hallucinating a bearded weirdo with an English accent?
Kali was inspecting the impressive machete that Mr Eko had given Sawyer when Libby came rushing towards the group, a panicked look on her face. She whispered something to Ana Lucia who's eyes widened, pushing herself to her feet and making an announcement to the group.
"Let's go. We're leaving now" Ana informed them, making Kali frown.
"What do you mean, we're leaving?" Sawyer asked, walking towards her.
"Your buddy ran off into the jungle" Ana replied, as Kali let out an exasperated noise.
"Michael, he just left" Libby exclaimed, as Billy came to join the group.
"Goddamn idiot" Billy shook his head, as he grabbed his pack from the floor.
Jin quickly rushed over to Sawyer and Kali, speaking Korean as the others looked at them expectantly. Kali didn't need to speak his language to know what Jin was trying to say.
"Walt…Walt!" Jin insisted as they all knew the reason that Michael had left.
"Your friend made his choice. We're making ours" Billy pointed out, turning to Kali as he was sure she would disagree.
"No! Michael!" Jin went on, pointing in the direction Libby had come running from.
"We're leaving before he can tell them where we are" Ana retorted, as Jin all but shoved past her, standing in front of Kali.
"Michael" Jin repeated to Kali, who had been uncharacteristically quiet.
"As much as I hate to agree with her, Ana Lucia's right. We've got to move" Kali stated, as Sawyer turned to frown at her.
"What happened to 'Team Raft'?" Sawyer questioned, as Kali let out a bitter scoff.
"Michael lost his membership" Kali muttered, grabbing her water bottle.
"Kali!...Friend…Michael!" Jin insisted.
"That asshole is no friend of mine. I hope Walt's alright, but as for Michael? He can go fuck himself" Kali replied, as even though Jin didn't understand a lot English, he understood that last sentence.
With an angry shake of his head, Jin turned on his heel and started to march in the opposite direction. He didn't get far before Kali grabbed his wrist, trying to pull him back.
"Jin, he's not worth it! What about Sun? You need to get back to her" Kali explained, as she watched Jin frown at her words.
"This Michael do something to you?" Billy queried, having never paid much attention to the man while he was in the group.
"Kali?" Sawyer insisted, when she didn't answer Billy's question.
"I pulled you and Michael out of the water when our Raft got destroyed. There wasn't enough room on the part of the raft Michael and I were holding onto so...he wouldn't pull me up. He let me drown" Kali confessed, seeing the anger grow in Sawyer's eyes.
"He, what?!" Sawyer and Billy cried at the same time, turning to glare at each other in annoyance afterwards.
"He's not your friend, Jin. He doesn't care…bad man" Kali tried to explain, hoping to get through to Jin.
She wasn't sure if he just didn't understand her words or simply didn't care. Either way, he was storming off back into the jungle a moment later, a determined look on his face.
"Jin!" Kali called after him, knowing he wouldn't make it far on his own.
"…Eko, go with him. Bring Michael back here" Billy announced, as all eyes turned to him in surprise.
"Why the hell would you want that son of a bitch back here?" Sawyer exclaimed, confused.
"Because he knows things. He could tell the Others about your camp, your people. It's a tactical decision, not personal" Billy responded, as Mr Eko nodded, grabbing his weapon and quickly rushing after Jin.
"…And it's been a while since I've properly kicked the shit out of someone" Billy shrugged.
Sawyer began to stir in his sleep as he could feel someone's presence nearby, his eyes slowly fluttering open. He jumped when he saw Billy looming over him, a blanket in his hand as he placed it over Kali. Sawyer's eyes trailed down to where she was pressed up against his side, Sawyer's own good arm wrapped around her shoulder's. She wiggled slightly under the blanket, still in a deep sleep, as Billy stepped away, not seeming to realise that Sawyer had woken up. The events of the day started coming back quickly, just as the pain radiating from his shoulder did. He was sure that when he had fallen asleep Kali hadn't been so close, but he certainly wasn't complaining.
"How long have I been out?" Sawyer mumbled, as Billy slumped down against a tree a couple of metres away.
"A couple of hours…she was mumbling in her sleep…" Billy trailed off, as if that explained fully why he had placed his own blanket over Kali.
Sawyer turned to look down at Kali, who seemed more settled than she had a few moments ago. He pulled her closer to him, stroking her shoulder lightly with his thumb.
"She still having nightmares?" Billy questioned, as Sawyer slowly nodded.
"Wonder who's fault that is" Sawyer muttered, as Billy scoffed.
"She's been having nightmares for a long time before I came into the picture, mate" Billy retorted.
"Yeah, no thanks to your best buddy" Sawyer pointed out, getting annoyed.
"I'd keep my opinions to myself if I were you" Billy warned him, as Sawyer smirked, knowing he had hit a weak spot.
"Well, lucky for me I ain't you…how exactly did her brother reward you for your loyalty?" Sawyer went on, as he could see Billy's jaw tense.
"You want to dig into my past…James? How about we have a chat about yours? Maybe about what you were doing in Sydney?" Billy exclaimed, feeling smug at the shocked look on Sawyer's face.
"No smart retort this time?" Billy goaded, as Sawyer glared at the other man.
"How do you know-" Sawyer began, but was quickly cut off by Billy.
"I looked into everyone on the flight before I boarded. Didn't want any nasty surprises" Billy scoffed, at the irony.
"Would you two keep it down?" Ana scolded, in a hushed voice as she approached the three.
Her voice seemed to wake Kali up, as she began to stir in Sawyer's arms, rubbing at her eyes. Sawyer pulled his arm away and waited for her to scoot away from him, but she made no such move.
"Ana, it's been over an hour. Shouldn't we start moving again?" The stewardess, Cindy, suggested.
"Let them rest a little while longer" Ana replied, as Kali looked down at the blanket that was wrapped around her with a frown.
"Yeah, but what if they catch up with us?" Cindy insisted.
"Eko will be back soon-" Ana started, but Cindy cut her off.
"What if he's not? They can guide us back to their camp. We should just keep going" Cindy went on, as Kali leaned forward to look at her from a few metres away.
"What's with the rush all of a sudden?" Kali questioned, as Cindy averted her eyes quickly.
"I just…I don't like being out in the open like this…" Cindy stuttered.
"Like Ana said, we wait a little longer for Eko. He'll make sure we all get there in one piece" Billy interjected.
"If you hadn't sent Eko to follow their Japanese friend then he'd still be here and we'd already be halfway to their camp" Ana muttered, as Billy gave her a look.
"He's Korean, dumbass" Kali scoffed, making Sawyer chuckle lightly.
"He's probably already dead" Ana suggested.
"Jin would do anything to get back to his wife. He's a smart guy. He'll be here" Sawyer told her, as a twig snapped from behind them, causing them all to jump into a fight or flight mode.
"Speak of the devil" Kali grinned, as she saw Jin and Eko walking towards them.
"And here comes the actual devil" Billy mumbled, seeing Michael trailing behind them a few metres behind.
Sawyer was on his feet in a matter of seconds, a furious expression on his face, gripping his machete tightly in his hand. Michael's gaze followed this motion, as he audibly gulped, staying a safe distance behind Jin.
"Look man, no one feels worse about what I did than me-" Michael began, but Sawyer quickly cut him off.
"Oh, except maybe the girl who almost drowned?!" Sawyer exclaimed, marching forward, stopping in front of a confused Jin.
"Emphasis on almost…" Michael said so quietly Sawyer barely heard it.
"You son of a bitch!" Sawyer yelled, reaching behind Jin and grabbing Michael by the collar of his shirt.
"Sawyer…don't" Kali exclaimed, stepping forward and placing her hand on Sawyer's arm.
"She's right. He could be useful" Billy added, as Sawyer kept his grip tight on Michael's shirt.
"Useful for what?" Sawyer scoffed.
"Well, you never know when you might need a human shield" Billy shrugged, making Kali chuckle.
"…Once we get back to camp, we're done. You hear me?" Sawyer warned, bringing Michael close to his face.
"Y-yeah. I hear you, man" Michael nodded, as Sawyer reluctantly let go of his shirt.
"I'll let you do the honours, blue eyes" Sawyer announced, as he took a step back.
"Honours?" Michael gulped, as Kali came to stand in front of him.
Before Michael could say anything else, Kali grabbed Michael by the shoulders, kneeing him in the crotch as he let out an indignant squeal of pain, dropping to the floor. Sawyer smiled proudly at the scene, as it was another reminder that Kali could take care of herself.
By noon that day, the sun was high in the sky and making them all sweat. Sawyer more than most, but Kali knew it wasn't due to the heat of the day. He had a fever, and no matter how much she tried to get him to drink she knew it wouldn't be enough. They needed to get to Jack yesterday. She was quickly distracted from her thoughts as she watched him fall to his knees in front of her, as she rushed to crouch beside him.
"Sawyer?" She exclaimed, reaching out to touch his good shoulder.
"I'm okay…I'm fine" Sawyer replied, trying to catch his breath.
Kali reached out to place her hand against his sweaty brow and could tell his temperature had gone up once again. She trailed her hand to touch his cheek, as he leaned into her cool skin. If there was one thing Sawyer hated, it was being fussed over, but in his books, any attention from Kali was good attention.
"You need more water," Kali told him, pulling her hand away.
"Here," Billy announced, looming over them, as he passed his flask of water down to Kali.
"Where's your water?" Sawyer frowned, as she placed the bottle to his lips.
"You drank it all" Billy answered for her, as she turned to glare at him.
"You need something, Billy?" Kali questioned, as Sawyer brushed her hands away, not wanting to drink any more.
"Eko needs to talk to you" He informed her, as she placed the flask on the ground next to Sawyer.
"About what?" She asked, only getting a noncommittal shrug in response.
With an irritated huff, she pushed herself to her feet and began to walk over to Eko. Sawyer frowned as Billy then crouched down in front of him, his eyes on the bullet wound visible through Sawyer's frayed shirt.
"Come on, get up," Billy told him, as Sawyer leaned against his machete planted in the ground.
"Just give me a minute" Sawyer huffed, beginning to feel dizzy.
"You want me to leave you behind?" Billy threatened.
"Even if I wanted to, I…I don't think I could stand" Sawyer sighed, wiping at his sweaty forehead.
"…I don't get it" Billy exclaimed, running a hand over his stubble.
"Get what, pretty boy?" Sawyer retorted.
"Why you haven't made your move on Kali?...I mean, you haven't right?" Billy questioned, as Sawyer's eyes widened.
"The hell are you talking about? We're just…friends" Sawyer muttered, rubbing at his painful shoulder.
"Friends? I'm sorry, are you blind?" Billy scoffed, as Sawyer squinted at him.
"Excuse me?" Sawyer responded, with an irritated tone.
"I mean it's your loss, man. She's a great kisser…and as I remember…always so eager to please-" Billy smirked, as anger flashed across Sawyer's face.
Before he knew what was happening, Sawyer had lunged forward, grabbing Billy by the throat, and pulling them both up. Billy grinned, as he easily pulled Sawyer's arm away, as the blond was so weak from his bullet wound.
"And just like that, suddenly you can walk again" Billy exclaimed, as Sawyer realised what he had been trying to do.
"You asshole" Sawyer huffed, making Billy's grin wider.
"Hey, what's going on?" Kali frowned, as she walked over to the pair, who appeared to be at each other's throats.
"You're welcome" Billy smirked at her, patting her on the shoulder, leaving his hand there for far longer than he needed.
A couple of hours later, they were slowly trudging over the jagged rocks that covered the shoreline on that part of the island. Kali had Sawyer's arm firmly planted over her shoulder, as she hauled him over the uneven terrain. She could see Billy and Eko had stopped a few metres in front, seeming to argue about something, as Billy kept looking over at Kali.
"I think it's time" Kali whispered, as Sawyer looked at her in confusion.
"Time for what?" Sawyer inquired.
"For a prison break. I can grab the gun, if he gives me any problems, I throw his ass in the sea" Kali theorised.
"You won't be able to get close enough" Sawyer muttered.
"I'm very resourceful when I need to be" Kali grinned, as she shrugged Sawyer's arm off her shoulder.
"Hey, Jin…it's time" Kali exclaimed, pointing to her wrist, where a watch would be, as Jin seemed to get the idea.
"I still don't see how you're going to…" Michael trailed off, as Kali removed her plaid shirt and handed it to Sawyer.
"Uh…" Sawyer stuttered, his eyes widening as Kali pulled down her tank top to show more of her cleavage.
She pushed up her bra at the same time, as Michael looked away awkwardly, and Jin covered his eyes with his hand. Sawyer's mouth went slack as he continued to watch Kali, as she bent down and pulled her hair back, trying to give her brunette locks more volume. Kali looked up with a smirk when she saw Sawyer's staring at her chest, not needing any more encouragement as she turned away to walk towards Billy.
"Hey, can we talk?" Kali questioned, coming to stand beside him.
"Sure" Billy nodded, as Eko quickly made his exit.
"We're going to cut inland. Ana's not gonna' like it, but hey, when have I ever done what cops wanted, right?" Billy suggested, looking down at her.
"How come?" Kali inquired, confused.
"Looks like there might be a peninsula up ahead…safer to cut into the jungle" Billy shrugged, as Kali put two and two together.
"And quicker…you don't think Sawyer's going to last much longer" Kali realised.
"He needs to get back to your camp ASAP" Billy replied.
"You'd risk your group's lives…your life, just to help Sawyer?" Kali asked, trying to understand Billy's angle.
"I'm sure you'll think of some way to thank me" Billy grinned at her, leaning forward.
"Oh, really? Did you have something in mind?" Kali flirted back, surprising Billy.
"I can think of a few things…" Billy trailed off, raising his hand forward to brush some of her hair behind her ear.
"Well, why don't we go somewhere a little more private and I can show you just how thankful I am?" Kali suggested, trailing a hand down his chest, feeling the muscles underneath.
"You know…" Billy began, leaning forward so his lips were almost brushing against hers.
"…If you wanted the gun, all you had to do was ask" Billy finished, as Kali pulled away just before their lips touched.
She all but pouted, crossing her arms as she realised he must have guessed what her game was.
"C'mon, I had you going there for a minute" Kali stated, as Billy snorted.
"Debateable" Billy mumbled, as he pulled the gun out from the waistband of his jeans.
"And you're just giving me the gun out of what, the goodness of your heart?" Kali frowned, as he held out the gun to her.
"Well, it is your gun in the first place. I'm just returning it" Billy shrugged, grabbing her hand, and placing the weapon against her palm.
"How'd you know I won't shoot you?" Kali questioned.
"What's life without a little danger?" Billy smirked, raising an eyebrow as he walked away.
The moment they began trekking through the jungle, Billy's whole group had tensed, obviously fearing to go into the territory of the Other's. Kali kept an anxious eye on Sawyer the whole time, seeing how he seemed to be slowing down as the day passed. He put on a good front, but it was clear he was almost at his limit. Sawyer had been off with her ever since her flirting failure with Billy. She'd much rather have an almost kiss with Sawyer, but she still wasn't sure if he'd return such an action. Kali noticed how the stewardess, Cindy, seemed to slump against a tree for a moment and realised the woman had no water in her pack. Deciding to hold out an olive branch, she approached the older woman, holding out the flask Billy had given her.
"Here" Kali announced, watching as the woman almost flinched out of her skin.
"Uh…I'm fine. Thanks" The woman stuttered, averting her eyes from Kali's once again.
Kali frowned as she realised the woman had only jumped once she saw who had been offering the water and decided to push further.
"C'mon, you look thirsty" Kali insisted, thrusting the water in her face.
"I said I'm fine! Just…just leave me alone" Cindy replied, her eyes snapping up to Kali's.
Kali started to get a sinking feeling in her stomach, as she noticed the familiar fear in Cindy's eyes. The fear that everyone off the island always gave her. Cindy knew. She knew who Kali was. But how? Billy would never have told her, he couldn't without revealing some of the awful things he had done at the same time. Neither would Sawyer. So, how could she know? Kali came to a sudden stop, as she heard Sawyer came to a halt behind her as well. Jin, who hadn't left Sawyer's side, did too, both men recognising that something was going on with the younger girl. Kali's eyes widened when she realised she could still hear someone's footsteps. She slowly turned to look at Sawyer and Jin, realising that the rest of the group were in front. Someone else was following them. Shit.
"Hey Cindy, you were a stewardess, right?" Kali called over to the older woman, who turned to look at her.
"Yeah?" Cindy replied, as Kali came to stand beside her, watching how Cindy took a step back.
"You remember me from the plane then?" Kali inquired, as Cindy seemed to mull over the question for a moment.
"Sure. You…you were dressed up a stewardess" Cindy shrugged, as Kali's hand slowly went to the gun that was in the waistband of her jeans.
"Well, that's strange…considering you never saw me on the plane" Kali announced, as she could practically feel Sawyer tense from behind her.
"W-what?" Cindy stuttered, panic flashing across her face.
"I sure remember you though. I saw you coming up the aisle early in the flight, hid in the bathroom and changed out of the uniform. By the time I came out you were on the other end of the plane and I went to sit next to Sawyer…so, when exactly did you see me?" Kali insisted.
"I…uh, Billy…Billy must have said…" Cindy trailed off, as the group began to surround the pair.
"No. No, I didn't" Billy replied, with a frown.
"Let me ask you again…when exactly did you see me?" Kali asked, grabbing the gun and raising it to Cindy's head in one quick motion.
"Woah, woah! What're you doing?" Bernard cried.
"Just wait…just think about this-" Cindy exclaimed, holding her hands out in front of her.
"Who are you?" Kali went on, taking the safety off the gun, making Cindy flinch.
"You don't want to do this!" Cindy warned her, panic in her voice.
"And why would that be?" Kali scoffed.
"Because you're outnumbered" A gruff voice announced, as Kali whipped her head around.
Kali's face dropped as she saw four men approaching her, all with guns in their hands, beards and dirty clothes covering them. It was almost impossible to make out their faces but from the steady hands of two of the individuals, she could tell they would have no trouble in shooting them.
"The Others, I'm guessing?" Kali announced, raising an eyebrow.
carmelitajones: Poor Kali definitely hasn't had it easy. I hope you enjoyed Kali's failure at flirting with Billy, haha. Thanks for the review:)
rhiaraves: Aw, thank you so much! Kali won't be taking any crap from Ana or any of the other characters, that's for sure haha. Thank you for reviewing:)
DrLexieSloan: I'm glad you liked the backstory and Sawyer's protectiveness! Got to thank you for the hundredth time for the edit you've made, I still absolutely love it as I'm sure lots of the readers will:)
BlueBloodsSVUOrder: You can go check out what Kali looks like in the edit for this story, hopefully, the link on my profile works or just type Kali and Sawyer into youtube and it'll come up:) Kali's bisexual, but so far she's only had relationships with men, but who knows what the future holds! Poor Boone indeed, but at least he could a mention this chapter. Looks of more badass Kali moments to come. Aw, thank you so much, that's really kind of you to say:)
scripturient3201: I'm glad you liked Kali's backstory! Billy's defintely made some awful decisions, we'll have to wait and see whether he can make it up to her, but I think the boat has truly sailed away for any relationship between him and Kali. Thanks for the review:)