I hope you enjoyed that last chapter. Yep, these two are in love, as we always knew they were, but with the added passion and complication of a romantic and sexual relationship while on the Island, while fighting to survive the unthinkable. Makes for some amazing stuff coming up.

I forgot to mention the inspiration for the title of this story. You must live under a rock if you're not aware of the AMC miniseries, "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live", based in The Walking Dead Universe. It centers itself on the romantic relationship between lead characters, Rick and Michonne, the Jack and Kate of that universe.

Danai Gurira, the actress who portrays Michonne, created the story idea and wrote for the miniseries. What she was able to do with "The Ones Who Live" elevated both the TWD property and the Richonne relationship. She flawlessly centered their love story in a harsh world of vultures and villains, with the same level of gore, guts and gravitas as the original series. It is what I want to achieve with my writing. The title also played so well with the story idea I have been sitting on for two years now. It felt like fate.

Danai's work as an actress, screenwriter, playwright and producer reinforces for me that Black women are wholly talented and can construct complicated, intricate story ideas, write and portray worlds that raise the bar to immeasurable heights. I only hope to do that with my stories and with the Jack and Kate relationship. Enjoy! :)


In the early morning hours, Aaron's condition improved, the steam and suctioning the magic formula for his breathing. He still had intermittent fevers that were treated with medication and since he was breathing better, was able to trial breastfeeding. His breathing became labored again at first, but after the third attempt, he was able to take Claire's milk again.

It still worried Jack that the child was so dehydrated that he needed supplemental fluids in addition, while Claire didn't seem the least bit dried out. It made him wonder about the events leading up to Aaron's illness and why Claire didn't tell him sooner.

Claire was with Aaron in the larger bedroom across from the infirmary, holding him close as he finished feeding. She began to cover herself when she heard a knock at the door.

"One second!" Claire called out as she finished adjusting her bra cup and shirt, fully covered now. She gave the okay to come in.

Jack opened the door and peeked inside, a smile landing on his face at the sight of Aaron's contentment to be in his mother's arms again. He knew he was a sour replacement for her throughout the night, his fussy temperament a fine match for more suctioning and water feeds, with some fruit Kate helped him mash up. "How is he doing?"

"Better, I think. Thank you, Jack. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't helped him." Claire told him as he stepped into the room.

"Don't thank me yet, Claire. He still needs monitoring, but I think we're on the right track." Jack assured her.

He kneeled in front of them and moved the stethoscope over Aaron's back and chest and was relieved to hear less wheezing and clearer air movement. He still heard slight crackles in some areas, but he was still hopeful. She watched him and felt he had something to say, or at least ask.

"Do you want to ask me something, Jack?" Claire asked.

"Did Aaron have any symptoms before last night? Maybe even a few days before?" Jack asked with a kind tone.

"Like what?" She asked.

"A wet cough, runny nose?" He asked her.

"Maybe." Claire mumbled, abruptly tense, adjusting Aaron in her arms as she tried her best to avert his probing.

Jack knew she was stalling. Claire was too attentive of a mother to not have noticed that Aaron wasn't okay for days now and his illness hadn't popped up overnight. He felt like he should've picked up on something during their daily check-ins, but Aaron's exam was fine every time. Something wasn't right here, his instincts screamed at him. He treated Boone based on a lie, and he died a senseless and painful death that still haunted him. He didn't want anyone to relive that tragedy, not with an innocent child's life hanging in the balance this time.

He pressed on. "Any signs of him being too irritable to feed?"

Claire went quiet then, shying her eyes away from him, no longer able to prevent being found out. Jack sighed, placing a gentle hand on her knee from his crouched position.

"Why didn't you let me know about that, Claire?" He was still kind, careful not to push too hard, but realizing he not only wanted to know, he needed to know.

"Because I was taking care of it." Claire bit back defensively.

Jack pulled his hand back, his eyes and tone still calm, still kind. "I have no doubt that you are doing everything you can, Claire, and I apologize for upsetting you."

"But you're not apologizing for questioning my judgement as a mother, are you?"

When he didn't answer, the slight guilt for even thinking it and that she caught onto it was all over his face. He shook the guilt away. If everyone ran to him with their medical problems, which everyone did and continued to, he had a right to ask questions. He had a right to know what he was dealing with and for how long it had been an issue, especially with young children. They were resilient, but when they crashed, they crashed hard, leaving him with little recourse. He wouldn't be able to survive it if Aaron died because Claire was determined to do everything on her own. She wasn't alone. Had she forgotten that? Or was something else at play here?

"Claire, in order to best treat Aaron and anticipate his needs, I need to know what actually happened." Jack tried to reason with her.

"You wouldn't believe in the sickness, Jack. You didn't believe me when I told you there was someone after my baby and I knew you wouldn't believe me this time!" Claire shrieked, standing with her son and preparing to storm off.

The sickness? Jack thought. Instead of dwelling on that and the pain her words were causing him, he gently put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Whoa. Claire, wait a minute."

She stopped and looked at him, fuming, defeated and scared. "Whatever you did, Claire, I know you did it because you love him and want to protect him. I'm really sorry about not believing you before, but I'm open to listening now."

Before Claire could speak, Kate walked into the room, having heard Claire raise her voice from the common area. "Hey, what's going on in here?"

"Nothing's going on. I think I need a break." In one deft motion, Claire handed Aaron to Kate and left the room. Kate turned over to Jack with a disapproving glare.

He shrugged. "What?"

"Did I walk in on a check-up or an interrogation?" She asked, the anger clear in her tone as she shot daggers at him with her eyes.

"I was just trying to find out more about Aaron's symptoms. I think Claire is hiding something, Kate." Jack defended himself.

"Okay, but do you think now is the right time for that conversation, Jack? Her son is sick and she's exhausted. Just let it go for now. Please?" Kate begged him, her tone softer, but still firm with an edge of anger. She left the room with Aaron before she could be sniffed out by his bloodhound ability to read into her deflections.

He looked after her, frustrated but still suspicious. He followed her, taking in the used common space, and noticed the countdown winding with a comfortable margin left before the button needed to be tended to. He finally noticed Sawyer stretched out on the larger couch in the corner, deep in sleep.

"What is he still doing here?" Jack groaned.

Kate shrugged. After what he found out last night and the disappointment in his eyes, she figured he would've left at some point for the beach, but he clearly hadn't. She groaned.

Sawyer began to stir then, opening his eyes to Jack staring down at him. He groaned. "Well, good mornin' Jackass."

He looked around and saw Kate tending to Aaron at the breakfast bar.

"Where's Mamacita?" He asked as he straightened out his body into a seated position, rubbing at his head and stretching his cramped calves.

"You just missed her." Jack said, his tone edgy. He put one of his pack's straps over his shoulder, grabbed a water bottle and put his handgun at the back of his jeans.

"Where are you going?" Kate asked, approaching him as he moved toward the back door. She wanted him to stay so she could apologize for biting his head off and tell him that his suspicions about Claire were right, in fact, they were worse than he could possibly imagine. She needed to tell him what she told her last night, but they hadn't had a moment alone since then. Between tending to Aaron and stealing a few moments of quiet rest when they could, there was no opportunity.

"To the beach. I have some things to take care of." Jack said.

"What about Aaron?" Kate asked. Without answering her, he leaned down and planted a kiss that went deeper and lasted longer than he intended, still longing for her, but also put out with her at the moment. He was willing to walk away and clear his head before he brought it up again, not fond of the idea of talking about it with Sawyer within earshot.

He looked down between them, giving Aaron a once-over, the child comfortable in her capable arms, attempting to greedily suck his toes into his mouth.

"He's doing much better Kate. He hasn't had a fever in over six hours, which makes it unlikely that his temperature will shoot up again. That's a good sign. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Kate watched longingly as Jack walked towards the back door, opened it and shut it quietly behind him. Sawyer stole a peek at the exchange from behind her, clocking the tension and the love baked into every word, touch and glance. That was the difference, he noticed. They had both, tension and love, an impenetrable connection. Kate never had as much love in her heart for him, her romantic affections reserved for the Doc, even in moments when he thought he had a chance. He wondered if there was a way to let the tension win out, to see if the love could survive.

"Trouble in paradise?" Sawyer gawked, making Kate nearly jump out of her skin.

"What are you still doing here?" Kate bristled, annoyed.

"I wanted to be nearby in case the squeak's mama needed me." Sawyer lied.

Jack, Kate and Hurley had taken care of Aaron and Claire all night, while Sawyer just laid around, creating a mess in the kitchenette and snoring as loudly as he could. There was no reason for him to hang around the Hatch unless he was brewing to cause trouble. She noticed he never took a single shift to press the button, opting to continue to play up his solitude as a choice instead of a barrier to feel anything real. She didn't have time for him or this.

Kate readjusted Aaron in her arms. "Well, as you can see, she's not here."

"Isn't that how you and Jack like it when you rip each other's clothes off? The worried, young mother and her sick kid out of sight and mind?" Sawyer continued to try to make her feel guilty. Worse for him, she didn't.

"Stop it, James. You know we would've never left Claire and Aaron on the beach last night if we knew he was sick." Kate scolded him.

Sawyer clicked his teeth, trying his best to resist her claim, but he knew it was true. Jack, powering on less than four hours of sleep after hovering over a sick infant all night, was currently headed back to the beach to see to and take care of dozens of others. Kate, running on the same amount of sleep or even less with her vigil over Claire all night, was currently standing there with Aaron in her arms and instead of complaining, she was leaning into it. They were good people and he needed to find a way to stop blaming them for finding one another, and to stop blaming Jack for being the one for her. He doubted he would ever find it.

"I really didn't mean to hurt you, Sawyer. I—"

"Please don't." Sawyer interrupted her. "I know you're in love with him, Freckles. You always were and you always will be. I just wasn't expectin' that you two had already sealed the deal."

"I am in love with him, so much and we're happy. Please don't make this hard for him. He has enough on his plate without you giving him a hard time." Kate pleaded.

"It's gonna take me some time to adjust, but I'll get there." Sawyer assured her under the veiled attempt to assure himself. She simply nodded, proud of him for exercising some level of maturity about the situation.

"This one is still hungry. Can you do me a favor and go find Claire?" Kate asked, trying her best to soothe Aaron away from attempting to latch onto her.

Sawyer groaned, trying to work a knot the size of Texas out of his neck. "Doesn't he eat other things besides…that?"

"What? Breastmilk? You can't say breastmilk, James?" Kate giggled.

"I haven't evolved that far yet." He smirked.

"Jack says the breastmilk is better for him while he's recovering." She added.

Of course she hung on Jack's every word, Sawyer thought as he rose from the small couch. He read the urgency in her eyes and groaned.

He put his hands up in surrender, starting a path for the back door.

"Okay, fine. I'm goin' I'm goin'."


Sun stepped onto the warm sand and into the morning sun, the beach already busy with movement and activities. She stretched, breathing in the fresh air that whisked its way onto the shore from the high tides in the distance. She caught Michael's eye as he walked back from the shoreline, approaching his tent. She smiled at him, waving eagerly. He smiled and waved back.

She turned to her tent, noticing the damage a collapsed palm branch had done to a far corner, the structure now unstable and wobbly. She did the best she could to salvage the blow, pushing at the collapsing post, feeling it shift unsteadily in the sand, making her worry that it would fall right into her.

"Whoa. Hey, need some help?" Michael asked, dropping the bamboo stalks and heavy bundles of twine she would need to keep her tent from completely collapsing and moving behind her, pushing the heavy beam up and away from her. She felt his strong chest brush ever so slightly against her back for the briefest moment and held her breath.

He must have seen the condition of her tent before she had and ran to get the materials he needed to help her. He always checked in on her, considered her, helped her and made a point to talk to her every single day. It was nice, much nicer than any interaction with any man she ever had.

"Oh, yes, please." He took the full brunt of the post's weight, allowing her to escape from underneath. He easily kept the post from collapsing, one large, strong, calloused hand holding it up while another checked the integrity of the post nearby. His activated biceps and solid forearms were on full display to her. She found it hard to avert her gaze from them, from him.

She cleared her drying throat and pushed her gaze to his face to conserve some modesty. "What can I do to help?"

"Hand me that, please." Michael pointed. Sun retrieved bundles of sturdy twine and handed it to him. He expertly went to work tying the post back to the main support beam, her tent good as new within minutes.

"You're really good at that, you know." Sun smiled.

"I've always been told I'm good with my hands." Michael shared. He noticed the suggestion in his statement much too late and walked it back. "I mean—"

"I know what you meant." Sun laughed, taken with his adorable ineptness. At the thought of other things those hands could do, she began to lightly perspire. "You told me once that you worked in construction."

Michael laughed, walking back to the bamboo stalks he dropped in the sand. "Yeah, for too many years." He absentmindedly rubbed at his back. Those years had done their fair share of wear and tear on his body, but Sun couldn't tell.

"And then you moved on to working as an electrician." Sun recalled. Michael looked at her with a flattered smile. She was really listening to him when he was going on and on about his life before the Island.

"Yeah, that too. I was actually on the path to becoming an architect." He shared with her, finding that details about his life fell from his mouth whenever he was around her. He hoped it would one day spurn her to tell him a bit more about her life before the crash, but it never did. She was drum tight about anything before the moment they were currently sharing. He found himself wondering why that was.

"An architect? What changed your mind?" Sun asked.

Michael looked down the beach, his eyes landing on Walt, who was playing fetch with Vincent. The boy giggled and hopped with glee at the hound running with everything he had to fetch the large stick and returning it to him. This time, Vincent returned with so much energy, he knocked Walt over into the bed of soft sand, licking at his face with his long tongue. The howls of laughter coming from his son the most precious sound Michael ever heard.

Michael turned back to Sun, who offered him a sweet smile. "He's a wonderful boy, Michael."

He nodded with a sad smirk. The fact that he had very little to do with how wonderful Walt was this far into his young life chewed at him. He was able to play dotting father now that Susan was dead, now that they were stranded on a deserted island, but their issues were far from resolved.

Michael cleared his throat of the anguish suddenly caught like cotton. "So, what were you up to before our plane fell out of the sky?"

Walt suddenly appeared, with Vincent hot on his tail, barking loudly, saving Sun from having to provide another elusive answer to that question. What was her answer the last time he slyly let one of their friendly, lengthy conversations veer into her past? Ah, yes, she glibly mentioned that she lived in Seoul, South Korea, but provided nothing more.

"Can I go play with Vincent further down the beach?" Walt asked, out of breath, but full of energy he desperately needed to get out.

"We talked about this Walt, if it's not within a few feet of the camp and I can't see you, then it's a no." Michael sighed.

"Come on, please." Walt begged.

Michael shook his head, not willing to budge. "Sorry, Walt, you know the rules."

"Whatever, Michael." Walt smacked his lips, his attitude getting the better of him as he ran off just as quickly as he had appeared. Vincent sprinted and barked after him.

Michael started after him in an angry huff, yelling loudly over the barking. "Hey! It's not Michael. It's Dad!"

Nestled between several tents within the camp, Jack busied himself with helping Hurley reassemble one of the water troughs. Hurley watched Jack from the corner of his eye as he unfurled his end of the tarp that needed to be lined with the bamboo frame and tied down with new twine.

Jack could feel Hurley's stare and turned to look at him. "Something on your mind, Hurley?"

Hurley couldn't help the impish smile that crept up on his lips. "So…you and Kate."

Jack shook his head, a small smile forming at the sound of her name. He wasn't ready for this conversation, so he simply decided he wasn't having it. "We're not talking about this."

Hurley laughed. "Okay, but you should know that I knew before the Hatch last night."

"Oh yeah?" Jack took the bait.

"Yeah, dude. Blind bats could see it." Hurley snickered, watching Jack laugh it off and pick up another lopsided end of the large tarp.

"Is that right?"

"Damn right. The poker game? You call my hand with a mere glimpse and all Kate can do is turn ten shades brighter and turn away to try to hide that huge smile on her face. And the shameless flirting!"

Jack was quick with tying his ends down, not waiting for Hurley to continue to accurately spot their foreplay before walking off, but Hurley was hot on his tail.

Hurley gave his best Kate impression. "'What about me? What do I got?' Then Sawyer calls you out, challenges you. I get why you sat there and cleaned him out. He needed to be humbled. Plus, I wouldn't want to lose in front of my girl either."

Hurley could tell that he was pushing it as Jack made a sudden, full stop, and turned, his posture tight and the line of his lips even tighter. This wasn't a game to him or entertainment for the masses to spectate. It was his relationship with Kate, a very special, cherished and personal relationship that he wanted to enjoy and hold onto for however long the gods, or whoever was at the wheel of destiny, allowed. He was constantly at the very center of the gossip that saturated the halls of his hospital back home. It always unnerved him that people felt his personal life was up for human consumption. He wouldn't allow it here.

"I'm sorry, dude. I'm just trying to say that I'm happy for the both of you. Everyone is." Hurley explained.

Jack figured the news made it through the camp by now. Luckily, he hadn't noticed anything different, which was comforting. He lightened up a bit.

"Thanks Hurley." He started down the beach again. He had a few more tasks to complete before his next shift in the Hatch. Hurley followed behind him, hoping to help with whatever he needed.

Jack turned in his stride. "Have you seen Charlie around?"

"Yeah, here and there." Hurley admitted, a bit of hesitation in his tone.

"Here and there? I figured you two were joined at the hip." It was Jack's turn to tease.

"Well, yeah, we used to be, but ever since things got a bit more serious between me and Libby, he's been…"

Jack stopped, urging Hurley with his eyes to continue. "Kind of moody and a bit distant, so I'm giving him his space. Why?"

"Aaron is sick, Claire is beside herself with worry and he's nowhere to be found? All night?" Jack asked.

While trying to keep his relationship with Kate safeguarded, had he completely missed the dissolution of Claire and Charlie's relationship? He didn't keep his ears to those things, but it comforted him to know that they could all lean on each other and that he wasn't the only one who found love out of their chaos. Maybe love was too strong of a word for Claire and Charlie, who always seemed to be on the cusp of something, then swiftly pulled back from it.

He knew Charlie was a bit unhinged when it came to Claire and Aaron, but it was always based in protecting them, and loving them, even if it was one-sided.

"I don't think they're in a good place." Hurley confessed. He went on to explain to Jack what he thought was going on with Charlie and Claire.

Further down the beach, Sawyer sat slouched over the tree trunk outside of his tent. He had given up on finding Claire, deciding that she was a grown woman and the rest of the camp had to start treating her like it. Plus, he was still in a sour state about the news of Jack and Kate's relationship. He looked up and saw Jack immersed in a serious conversation with Hurley a few feet away and groaned again.

He was everywhere, Sawyer thought. The Hatch, the beach, the jungle when he needed to be. While there were only two or three places they could possibly be at any given time, he ran into Jack in every one of them these days, and their encounters were even more tense than before for him now that he knew. He felt foolish for his feelings for Kate, knowing they wouldn't be reciprocated, and that she gave her body, heart, and very likely her soul, to Jack.

They were good, he thought, recalling the last few weeks of interactions with them separately and together. They hid in plain sight, not giving any indication to a change in their level of intimacy. They continued to lead, organize, treat, and feed everyone like nothing changed. Or he hadn't noticed the change because he didn't want to notice it. She still came along to hang around him, bringing him reading material from the Hatch, engaging in poker games she was no good at, and shell hunting with him to pass the time. She had gone on like nothing was different, which angered him. Did he not deserve to be told about them? To at least be allowed time to save face and pretend it didn't bother him as much as it did? He hated being taken by surprise. He needed time to keep that tough exterior in check.

He tried to calculate how long they had been together. He was there when Jack stalked off while Kate tried to explain herself to him about following him to confront the Others. Jack spent days keeping his distance, and Kate spent even longer in a funk, not her usual self, as close to going through the motions as he had ever seen her. Were they together before then? The comment about Jack and Ana Lucia as they came from around the bushes had angered her, opting to cut and run, to be by herself. It couldn't have been that long ago, right?

He wondered if she told him or kept the details of that night to herself, omitting the information entirely. He elected that Jack had no idea. Kate loved him, but she still had a lot of learn about honesty and how much Jack valued it. She also had something to learn about what he was willing to do with the information and how it could best destroy her relationship. The tension could definitely win out with what he had planned.

While Sawyer continued to sulk and plot, Sayid approached him, readying himself for spit and vinegar. "Do you mind lending me a hand?"

Sawyer looked up, cross and in no mood to be of service to anyone but himself. "I certainly do, now buzz off."

Instead of buzzing off, Sayid dialed in, crouching in front of him. "Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine."

"I ain't in the mood, Hussein." Sawyer growled, close to barking it.

"What exactly are you in the mood for these days, James?" Sayid prodded. "It certainly isn't about helping or contributing in any real way."

"What can I say? Just lookin' out for number one." Sawyer sneered.

"I take it the news of Jack and Kate's courtship has found you." More like punched him in the face and Sayid knew that. Hell, everyone must have known that by now, and it pissed him off.

"And what about it?" Sawyer asked, a touch less scorn in his tone.

Sayid found the cavernous wound and would no doubt generously pour the salt. "You scare the camp and you take the guns for yourself at a mere challenge from Jack. You want him to respect you, to see you as his equal, to—"

"What the hell are you gettin' at?" Sawyer angrily interrupted him.

"You may have thoughts, maybe even a few ideas about how to make sure 'number one' is taken care of where his relationship is concerned. I'm going to implore you to consider a different approach, James." Sayid tried to reason with him.

Sayid found it difficult sitting by while Sawyer slipped inch by painstaking inch into the dark abyss of the persona he tried so hard to uphold and safeguard. When the things he wanted were denied to him, he became a vengeful monster, tacking on, egging on more hatred and division, more distance from him and the people he knew he needed to survive. Sayid often wondered if Sawyer had a death wish. It was the only explanation for alienating himself and spurring Jack's temper the way he loved to. Maybe if he allowed Jack to be his friend, things could be different. A good different.

"Yeah and what's that?" Sawyer mocked.

"Being happy for them? Moving on?" Sayid offered.

Sawyer smirked, playing into Sayid's attempt to appeal to a man who didn't exist for him. "There was a girl, before the Island. What was her name?"

Sayid shifted uncomfortably, but playing along, his love for her seeping from his eyes before he said her name. "Nadia."

"Right, Nadia. How would she feel about you bumpin' your ugly with a beautiful, leggy, busty sweetheart like Shannon?"

Sayid set his jaw tight at Sawyer's tactless description of Shannon, but he knew he had done so to get a violent reaction, a rise that he was not easily brought to. Sawyer could find wounds too and he poured salt with the best of them.

"I believe she would be happy for me." Sayid said through slightly gritted teeth, the lines of his face hardening.

Sawyer shifted, leaning in from the tree trunk. "And you would be happy with Shannon."

Sayid nodded, sadly, bowing his head for a second before looking back up at Sawyer, watching the slick, devilish grin creep up on his face as he drove the knife home in a maliciously cruel jeer.

"So happy. Too bad you can't be now that she's dead."

Sayid's hands balled into white-knucking fists, ready and eager to bash his head into the trunk of the tree behind him until he lost consciousness, until his skull cracked into pieces, his empty brain mushing into spurts of blood, until his eyeballs were hanging from their sockets. He could do it. There were plenty of ways to kill a man and he knew just about every one of them. It would be over before Jack and Hurley, still standing nearby, even noticed.

Aha, Sayid thought. The death wish. He wouldn't be the one to kill Sawyer. At least not today.

He stood, staring down at the slimy worm in his nestle of grass and sand, frying with hatred in the baking sunlight, no semblance of a human being in sight.

"Have a terrible day, Sawyer." Sayid offered calmly and walked off.

Sawyer, proud of himself, waved cheerily after him. "You too."


Claire kicked at the rocks at her feet, sitting in the middle of the jungle, but not too far from the beach. She heard rustling nearby, and stood, on guard. Her pulse raced and her palms clammed. Charlie suddenly appeared from behind a sheet of leaves, looking like ten miles of bad road, rubbing absentmindedly at his eyes, having just woken from wherever the hell he was all night long.

He blinked again, surprised to see her. What was she doing out here? Where was Aaron? "Claire?"

She careened over to him, her fists beating furiously at his chest. He was startled at first, then caught her wrists in his hands, urging her to stop and talk to him.

"Where the hell were you?!" Claire seethed at him, eventually stopping out of exhaustion and despair.

She looked him over. He appeared like he had slept on the beach, sand sprinkled along his black hooded jacket and dusty blue jeans. He smelled terrible. Wherever he was, a bath hadn't been in his plans.

"I was on the beach, I just decided to take a nap…." He lied.

"Well, while you were taking a break, Aaron almost died!" Claire screamed, slapping at him again, watching the guilt shape his face.

Charlie reached for her. "Died? Is he okay?"

"He's fine no thanks to you!" Claire yelled at him, pushing away his attempt to touch her.

"You promised me you would be better, Charlie. That if I gave you another chance, you would be there. You weren't there!" Claire screamed, her tears wet and wild as they poured down her face.

He reached for her again and she fought him off of her. He eventually wrestled her into a hug and let her cry and ramble on about how scared and alone she was.

"I'm sorry Claire. I messed up." Charlie offered, his heart breaking.

Claire continued crying into his chest, comforted by his firm embrace. He had been through the danger and the threat of the Others with her more than any one else had. His protection of her and Aaron bonded them from the start, but was it enough to keep them together? Did she love him? She didn't know, but she wanted to know.

As she cleared her mind of anger towards him, all that was left was fear that while she needed him to be the man she could allow Aaron to call his father, she didn't know if she really should. She was never really sure if Charlie could actually do it. She had been suckered into Thomas' web of lies, urging her to keep the baby only to disappear entirely. Her father came in and out of her life in phases, showing up on a whim and disappearing along the same impulse to deny her a permanent place in his life. Now Charlie, who was becoming unreliable and unremorseful at the pain he was causing her. Just like the others.

It was one of too many disappointments in her life at the hands of a man. She had enough. She couldn't let it happen again.

She needed to be sure this time. She wasn't even sure of what her mind was doing to her, so how could she be sure that Charlie was ready for this? She took a few deep breaths. For now, she would take the comfort of his embrace and the knowledge that her son was still alive, no thanks to either of them.

"Where is he?" Charlie whispered.

"With Kate, in the Hatch." Claire mumbled into the fabric of his jacket.

Charlie, acutely aware of how he massively blundered this opportunity to prove to Claire that he could be the man she needed, pulled her away from him and took a good look at her for the first time since the last time he saw her. She was pulling at his desire to not be a screw-up, to do the right thing by her and her son.

He fell into that desire, for as long as his other desire lurked in the shadows, satisfied for the moment.

"Lets go be with him."


Jack beat the worn path through the jungle towards the Hatch. He looked up at the rustling of leaves ahead of him and saw Kate magically appear, walking towards him, relief present in her features. He couldn't resist the smile that caught his lips, her presence the cure for any and everything he could imagine being put through, even when he was mad at her.

They stopped in front of each other, the urge to wrap each other up in a kiss suffocating them, but they knew they needed to talk about Claire and Aaron first.

"Aaron?" Was all Jack could manage.

Kate pushed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, cupping her behind through the material. "He's doing great just like you said. Claire and Charlie are with him now."

When she saw Charlie escorting Claire into the Hatch instead of Sawyer, she sighed. She asked Sawyer to do one thing, and he couldn't do it. She wondered what else he couldn't do that she asked him to. Erasing thoughts of him from her mind, she looked up at Jack and offered a timid smile.

Jack nodded, happy to know that Claire was back in the Hatch, but decided not to approach her once he got there. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing that Charlie was suddenly back in the picture after disappearing all night long. From what Hurley shared with him, there was something going on with him, but he had more pressing fires to put out before he could adequately tackle that one.

"I'm sorry about accusing you of interrogating Claire." Kate offered, her words and her tone sincere.

He moved around her, continuing on his path. "Okay."

She closed her eyes with a sigh and marched after him. "Okay? That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it. Do you actually think I was trying to make things harder for Claire?" When she didn't immediately answer, he scoffed, his boots grounding harder into the jungle floor.

"Jack—" Kate started, but was cut off.

"Everyone wants me to help them until I start asking questions. I have a right to ask as a doctor, and a pretty shitty one at that, because I don't have the proper tools to really help anyone if it got bad enough." Jack blurted out, his tone sad and disappointed. Flashes of the dire lengths he was willing to go to save Boone filled his mind.

"You're right. I'm sorry Jack. I guess I get overprotective about those two." Kate admitted.

"I know you do, Kate. So do I. I just don't know how I could have gotten it so wrong." Jack stopped and turned to her, beginning to beat himself up. Kate moved in closer, the hurt in his watery brown eyes tearing her apart.

"From the second she trusted me with what the Others were doing to her, I dismissed her."

She started to understand. He was still harboring guilt over what happened to Claire, about not believing her about Ethan, being taken and Charlie almost being killed. Her accusation earlier set him barreling back down that dark path to nowhere but pain and regret.

"Don't Jack, please." Kate reached for him, placing her hands low on his hips, rubbing gently.

"It doesn't matter. I should—" He started.

She stepped in until their torsos were pressed together and wrapped her arms around his waist. She pinned her chin into his chest, looking up at him with those beautiful green eyes he never had a chance of resisting for very long. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing soothing circles over her back with his large, warm hands, not able to be upset with her any longer.

"I know I let her down before, but I felt like we were moving past that, then bam, she throws it in my face. I was wrong, Kate. I shouldn't have tried to ask her about Aaron's illness so soon. I just need to make sense of what happened and why she isn't being honest with me." He said, so confused he was getting a slight headache just thinking about the emotional landmines he could trip with Claire.

Kate bit her bottom lip as she pressed her ear into his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She couldn't keep this to herself any longer, not when Jack suspected something he definitely should about Claire and not when he was beating himself black and blue about it.

"You were right too, Jack. Something is going on with Claire." Kate confessed.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, loosening his grip on her.

"Last night, when you were working on Aaron, Claire told me she's been...giving him something."

"What?" Jack asked, shocked by her confession. "Giving him what?"

Kate looked up at his handsome face, deathly aware that what she said next would put him on high alert. "She doesn't know. She doesn't even remember where she got it from."

Kate could see the disapproving, angered flare catch in Jack's eyes. She knew what he was thinking, asking himself. How could Claire give Aaron something she couldn't remember and from God only knows where? And how could she not tell him, hell anyone, about it? Before he could open his mouth to express what she read in his eyes, she spoke up.

"She's scared for Aaron's life, Jack. She didn't know what else to do." She offered in defense.

"How long?" He asked, the confusion and panic evident in his tone.

"She doesn't remember that either."

He stepped away from her, the fingers of one hand rubbing at his temples, his eyes closed, concentrating on digesting this information. She watched him with pain and guilt in her eyes. He did so much for everyone, to keep them safe and secure, and it was driving him crazy that he couldn't prevent the damage they were inflicting on themselves.

"Do you think it explains Aaron's symptoms?" She asked, hoping for some clarity that she knew he couldn't provide with any certainty.

"I don't know Kate, maybe. I didn't even know she was giving it to him, whatever the hell it is!" His voice rose in frustration.

Kate stepped into him, rubbing her hands over his upper chest and softly urging him to look at her. When he brought himself to it, his breathing slowed and his pulse settled, her effect on him instant.

"Claire was missing for awhile. We don't know what really happened to her over there and what lies or stories the Others filled her head with. Breathe." She soothed, wrapping her arms around his waist again and rubbing along his lower back.

Or still filling her head with, Kate thought. She decided not to speak that part out loud, not while Jack was spiraling with worry. She didn't think the deal they brokered with the Others was truly enough to protect them. They could use Claire to incite fear and unease, but she also knew that Claire hadn't been fairing too well mentally even before she was taken by the Others, her abduction the tipping point for an already worried and scared young woman who was pregnant with a child she was going to give up for adoption.

Jack took several deep breaths, letting her smile up at him radiate over his face as he banded his arms around her waist again. He started to think the worst. What if the Others had some kind of hold on Claire that defied distance and her perceived safety? Could the Others be after Claire again? At the line in the jungle, they vowed to leave them alone if they left them alone in return. Jack couldn't recall a moment since where they encroached on that agreement or that invisible, but palpable line in the dirt. If Claire was even approached by an Other since then and had any inkling of fear of them, why not say anything?

"She really doesn't trust me, does she?" Jack asked, not able to hide the hurt he felt and not easily soothed by Kate's reasoning.

"I'm not so sure that it's about trust, Jack." She placed a gentle hand to the side of his face as she spoke. "She didn't tell me about it either, not until she was practically forced to. She trusts you Jack, or she wouldn't have brought Aaron to you last night."

"Treating her sick child because I'm the only doctor she's got is not trust, Kate. It's desperation."

"You're wrong." She told him with the upmost confidence.

"Is that right?" He asked her in a teasing tone, hoping to share in that confidence with her someday.

"You have an aura, a way about you that people trust and believe in." It was that aura, that way that had her ready to bare her crimes and her soul to him after knowing him for less than a few days. "Claire believes in it too. She trusts you."

"So, what am I missing here then?" Jack asked.

"She feels misunderstood. Have you ever asked her about what she went through after Ethan took her? When she was with the Others?" Kate asked, continuing to rub large circles over his wide back, smiling as his tense muscles relaxed into her touch.

He cupped the back of her head as he buried his nose in her hair and took another deep breath. Sea salt and sunshine. "I wanted to, especially when she first got back, but she was always so fragile, too fragile to bring it up without retraumatizing her. Then we found the Hatch door and the rest is history. I forgot to reach out to her and help her through it."

"Stop it, Jack. You've had more than your fair share of fires to put out, you can't take care of everything and everyone."

Jack looked down at her, their eyes touching again. "Have you ever gotten her to open up?"

"Once. She told me about a nightmare she had. It sounded pretty scary. She's been through a lot." Kate sighed, feeling truly helpless about how to help her friend.

"Yeah, I know." Jack said.

As he lightly swayed in Kate's arms, he reconsidered his tense conversation with Claire in the Hatch in a new light. She mentioned the sickness. It threw him in the moment, but when he inspected it under this new light, it made sense why she was afraid of it, and why she had given Aaron what he could only assume she believed was medicine to fight it. She was desperate, and like she said, afraid that he wouldn't believe her, which wasn't far from the truth. He didn't know what to believe.

Belief in this place and all its blind, winding corners met a man who had run out of the ability to believe anything beyond what he could see. That was starting to change for him, bit by bit, but obviously not fast enough.

Claire believed it, enough to give Aaron something that almost killed him, and if he wanted to help her, which he did, he had to believe it too.

He had another revelation about the sickness and Claire's staunch belief that it had already infected Aaron. She gathered this information from Danielle Rousseau, who was still roaming around in the jungle, aware of their camp's layout and how to get to both mother and son.

Jack held Kate tightly against his chest as he silently planned his next move.