Chapter 7(part 1)

Kate had alot of time to think while she was walking, it wasn't that hard considering she couldn't see a damn thing. The sack over her head prevented that. She stumbled occasionally, but wass prevented from faling by the girl who was wallking with her, gripping her arm and warning her of rocks and such. Alex she thought that's her name i think. Kate couldn't figure out why that name seemed to ring a faint bell, hadn't really had much time to think on it actually. The day had been rather chaotic for the most part, actually, chaotic was too small a word for it, hellish had been more like it...

She had recalled them all walking along, not being very chatty, most of them were too damn tired to have any kind of conversation. And besides the lack of sleep and the heat of the day would probably only cause a fight, most likely between Jack and Sawyer, who had always seemed to be on the verge of fighting about something. And even though those fights had little to with her anymore, it didn't stop them from getting really testy from time to time. And Kate knew it would always be that way with them, they were like oil and water, didn't mix well and never would really.

She had recalled becoming aware of being followed, had alerted Sawyer and both of them had opened fire simultainiously, scaring the crap out of everyone else. And they had wanted to go after them, but were stopped by Jack. Who then forced a revelation from Mike. She remembered the shocked and hurt looks on the faces of Jack and Hurley when faced with the terrible knowledge that not only had Mike sold them out, but he'd also pulled the trigger on Ana and Libby. Kate herself had felt hurt and betrayed too, but she had unsurprisingly felt little shock over it, it was almost as if she'd expected it. And when she looked over at Sawyer, she sadly saw the same thing written on his face. We're just both too well schooled in betrayal i guess she recalled thinking we've both dished out and recieved our share of it. And that was the crux of  it, and after awhile you come to expect it, even from people you thought were friends. It was brutal world, and between the both of them they'd seen some of it's worst parts. And the fact that he'd done if for Walt made it that much harder to reconcile. Kate knew there were complicated reasons behind everything, not that it ever excuesed it.

She heard the girl Alex tell her "careful there's rocks up ahead." Kate wished she could thank her, but the gag prevented it. She seemed different from the other ones, less brutal.

She found herself wondering where Sawyer was, and got her answer by hearing a hard twack and the man who'd been identified as Clancy say, "try that one again a^^hole and i'll knock yer teeth in.." Kate knew with absolute certainty who he was talking to. She smiled to herself a bit, in spite of how it mad it made her to think he'd been hit, cause one of the many things she had grown to love about Sawyer was the very fact that he never went down quietly. Even when they darted him he'd fought hard against them, and this had earned him some sharp kicks on the dock as a result. He was simply a fighter by nature, just like her and she wouldn't expect any less from him.

Kate suddenly got the impression that they were now walking at an incline, going uphill it seemed, and she felt a light mist of rain coming down on her, which actually felt quite good under the circumstances. The walk seemed to take a very long time and her exaustion and lack of sleep were starting to get to her, and just when she thought she couldn't possibly hold up anymore, they stopped. She heard what sounded like door being slid open and found herslef being taken inside somewhere cool. Alex seemed to let her go and Kate found herself sinking to the ground in exaustion. And then her hood was removed finally allowing her to see, and the gag was removed from her mouth as well.

The wasn't much in the way of light other the stuff coming through the open door, but it was overcast light which gave the room she was in a sort of black and white feel to it. The room itself reminded Kate of a storage facility of some kind. The walls and the floor were concrete and the sliding door was metal, and seemed to exist on rollers, like the doors you'd see in loading docks. She took all this in quickly before looking up at the man standing in front of her. The man that Sawyer had dubbed 'Zeke', he of the fake beard. Alex had moved around behind him and seemed to fishing something out of a bag.

"What the hell do you want with us?" she demeanded, looking at the man fiercely "Where are Sawyer and Jack?"

Zeke merely smiled and said "all in good time Katherine.. but for now your gonna take a little nap"

"I'm not tired" Kate said icily, glaring at him.

He chuckled, "that'll change real soon girlie" and then motioned to Alex "you can give it to her now, she needs her rest.."

And Kate saw that Alex had a syringe in her hand, and as she walked over to where Kate was sitting, she could see the girl really didn't want to do this. And suddenly something fell into place for Kate Alex she thought Danielle's daughter....She hadn't made the connection before. And as the girl knelt down next her and picked up her arm Kate spoke to her.

"Alex?" she whispered, getting the girls attention "I know your mother.."

Alex stopped and looked at her in surprise "What?" she asked. "my mothers dead."

"No she's not, i've seen her"

"She's lying Alex" said Zeke, "do your job"

The girl looked up at the man, with a look that said she really didn't want to do this, but that she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't. Kate glared at the man in front of her what the hell did you people do to her that look said. She turned her attention back to Alex and tried one more time.

"I'm not lying" she reiterated, looking the girl in the eyes "she's very much alive, she's been looking for you.."

"Do your job Alex" said Zeke, with an air of menace that the young girl clearly picked up on, causing Kate to shoot him another angry look. To which he simply responded with a chilling smile.

"I'm sorry" said Alex, and stuck the needle in Kates arm, and depresesd the lever. And to Kate she did look genuinely sory. And Kate could clearly see she was much different than the man in front of her.

The effect of the drug she was given came on immediatly, she felt woozy and very tired. Alex stepped away, looking at her sadly before leaving the room. Kate looked up at the man in front of her and was able to say one word before she passed out.

"Bastard....."

His smile was the last thing she saw before she plunged in darkness, where she stayed for awhile...

Sawyer found himself droppped unceremoniously on the floor of wherever the hell they'd taken him. He could feel the cold of concrete through the back of his jeans, and tried to ignore the fact that his fingers had just been crushed underneath him, which hurt like hell by the way. Then the a**hole that had been dragging him along pulled the hood off his head, finally allowing him to see around him. Not that there was much to see mind you, just a small room with a sliding door. He felt the gag being taken off his mouth, finally allowing him to speak, which he did so as Clancy rudely yanked him into a sitting position.

"You guys really need to work on yer people skills" said Sawyer conversationally, willing the bastard to get a bit closer to him "cause if yer tryin to sell us time shares, let me tell ya your approach sucks..."

"are you through?" Clancy asked him, and to Sawyer's delight, stepping just a bit closer when he asked, "cause i'm already sick of your bullsh**t"

Sawyer chuckled "i'm just gettin started Jethro" He felt himself trying to stave away any thoughts of Kate right now , it would cloud him up and he had to be clear. So he thought he'd torment this jackass who'd drawn the short straw and had to deal with him "I've been gagged for at least 2 hours so i got tons of material saved up..."

"maybe i should just put that gag back on then..." the man sneered, inching closer to where Sawyer sat, with his legs out in front of him.

"Maybe you should..." Sawyer agreed just a little closer he thought, smiling inwardly "bet you like em bound and gagged like that, only way you can handle em eh bucko?"

"Just keep it up wiseass"

"or what, you gonna tell your mommy on me?"

"No i'll just knock you senseless that's all" Clancy stepped a bit closer as he said this, although not quite close enough yet.

"With what?" Sawyer asked, looking up at him challengingly "your breath? cause no offense but you need to invest in some mouthwash"

Sawyer could clearly see the guy was itching to smack him one, and was happy to see him close the gap a bit. Come a**hole just a bit closer he found himself smiling as he thought this.

"what are you smiling about? cause if i was in your position right now i wouldn't be too happy"

"i think if you were in my position you'd wettin yer pants right now hoss" Sawyer responded snarkily "you certainly look the type"

"You know if you weren't so damn important i'd beat the crap outta you right now"

Sawyer tried ignore what he'd said about being important, it made no godammn sense really, and just tried pull him forward just a bit more. "go ahead, i won't tell on ya"

And with that Clancy stepped that critical inch closer and Sawyer suddenly swung out hard with his left leg, nailing him just below the kneecap and sending him sprawling. Guy clunked himself a good one on the door too goin down, he thought with satifaction. It wasn't enough to knock the guy out but at least he got a shot in he supposed. Sawyer knew perfectly well he wouldn't be able to get up and get out, he just wanted to even the playing field out a bit here. And would probably get his ass kicked for it but hell he'd gotten worse in his life.

Clancy got up, shook himself off and snarled "your just a glutton for punishment aren't ya?" and then proceeded to kick Sawyer hard in the face with his foot, on which Sawyer had a split second to notice was wearing shoes so much for the shoeless natives he thought right before the man's foot mashed his teeth against the inside of his lips. He could feel blood filling his mouth and actually relished the taste of it. He was in his element now, pissing people off.

He spat the blood out of his mouth and sneered "is that all you got? cause I've hurt myself worse shavin.."

The next blow was to the side of the his head which in turned caused his head to slam against the wall from the force of it. Damn that's 3 in 3 weeks he thought dizzily as he fell down sideways my brains are gonna be leakin through my ears pretty soon if this keeps up. He felt a sharp pain in his side as Clancy gave him a swift kick in the ribs for good measure.

"You had enough yet a**hole?" he asked almost right next to Sawyers ear.

Sawyer's response to this was to simply chuckle and kick out with his leg again, upending the man onto his ass. "Now i have" he responded, spitting more blood out.

The other man angrily stood up and grabbed him hard by the arm back into a sitting postion. And to Sawyer it looked like he was gearing up hit him again when he heard a familar voice speak up behind him

"Enough" it said, causing Clancy to turn around apprehensivly. "Stop beating the tar out of him and just give him the stuff, he's gonna need his rest for tomorrow..."

Sawyer couldn't see the person spaaking cause the jacka$$ that had been fighting with him blocked the view. He did however see that something had been placed in Clancy's hand. A needle lovely Sawyer thought i'm gettin a shot now.

And then he moved out over just enough for Sawyer to see Henry, or at least that's what he'd gone by. "Well well if ain't Dr. Lecter here to see little ole me...." he said with mock cheer "to what do i owe this pleasure?"

"Your typically chipper James" said the man formerly know as Henry "that's good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor, cause you might need it.."

Sawyer refused to allow the man to see how much that name bugged him and continued to smile coldly at him "Where's Kate?" he asked, cutting to the chase.

"She is fine, you needn't worry your little head about her right now" he said in that strangly calm voice of his "she's getting her rest, just like you'll be in just a minute.." He then nodded to Clancy, as if to say go ahead.

"Ah geez" Sawyer said, glaring straight at Henry "didn't i tell ya that i already got my tetnus shot this year..." And Henry simply smiled at him, which gave Sawyer the creeps for some reason.. it just didn't seem human to him. And for some reason he thought this guy can read my mind, i'm sure of it. It was a disquieting thought.

"Go ahead Clancy" said Henry, never takin his eyes off Sawyer.

"Yeah number 2, do what Dr. Evil says, i'm getting tired of smellin your breath.."

"You have no idea how much i'm gonna enjoy this..." Clancy said, smirking at him "and while your out, maybe i'll just have a go at your girlfriend there.. quite a nice piece of ass you ask me.." and the stuck the needle in Sawyer's arm and depressed the lever.

If his hands had been free Sawyer probably would've choked the guy to death for just that kind of comment but managed to hold in his anger pretty damn well. He could feel the effect of the shot almost immediatly, feeling himself falling away a bit, but he did mangage one parting shot..

""She ain't your type Jeb, she's not a blood relative..."

And then like Kate sucummed to the blackness.. and what dreams may come...

as alwys.....

Sawyer was having his own dream, of the more familar variety. He hadn't had it in awhile, for that he'd been grateful. But lately it had been back with a vengeance. It had always haunted him more in times of stress, and this certainly qualified.

He saw the familar view from under his bed, and the terribly familar sounds that went with it. The sound of the shot, cutting off his mothers screams instantly, followed by an eerie silence. And then the terrifying sound of footsteps approcahing his room. He doesn't want to see this, never does, but it keeps happening in his head just the same. He would come in the room soon, and the boy would be terrified, expecting his own death to be imminent. And perhaps that would've been best, cause then he wouldn't be reliving it now would he? Every sound, every sight, every smell was etched into his memory to create this terrible video footage that would run on an endless loop, always reminding him of the fact that he'd never be normal, never right. How life ever be good or safe or right for a man who as a child saw his fathers blood sparttered all over his teddy bear and soaked into the sheets on his bed. There was a mark that would never fade, ever. And he woke up from it the same way, shaking and cold, smelling blood and gunpowde, and still hearing the shots ringing in his ears. He always felt weak coming out of it, raw, open and vulnerable. And this was no exception.

He'd been laying on his side, his hands still tied behind him, and the concrete floor felt cold and hard, and his neck was cramped from the positiion he was in. Carefully Sawyer rolled himself over, trying not to squash his fingers again and gradually pulled himself into a sitting position. It was difficult but not impoosible to do, and then he moved himself carefully so his back was up against the side wall. The effort was exausting and he laid his head back against the wall and took deep breaths, trying to bring himself back to the reality he was in, and letting his eyes gradually adjust to the dark.

As he sat there, he found himself wanting to see Kate badly, it beyond words how bad it hurt not to have her next to him when he woke up from his nightmare. Even when she hadn't woken up when he did, just having her there had been a source of strength. Just putting his arms around her and holding her close had had the ability to drive away the pain and calm him. No one else in his life had ever had the power to do that, or precisely, no one had cared enough to even be there when he woke up. He remembered the first time she'd been there for it, the morning after they'd played I Never, and he'd been tempted to tell her then, to just spill about it, she had seemed so concerned, and she'd barely known him then. But life got in the way that time. And here they were months later and he couldn't bring himself to tell her, guess i'm just a coward he thought to himself, and felt his strength waning in the solid darkness and confinement of the place he was currently stationed in.

And that's when he heard her voice, seemingly out of nowhere, and damned if she didn't sound like she was right next to him.

"Sawyer...." she said "are you ok?"

And even though he knew it had to be an hallucination he found himself answering her "other than feelin like i went 10 round with Buster Douglas.. i'm just fine and dandy..." Your losin it pal part of him warned voices are the next sign of madness.. But he didn't care, if he was going mad then he welcomed it, if it meant he could talk to her.

"Be strong.." she said to him, every word seemingly washing away the pain of his nightmare "don't let it hurt you..let it go for now"

Sawyer felt it ebbing away, and even though he knew the pain would come back soon, for the moment it seemed to be gone. He felt himself drifting off again, being carried off to sleep yet again, and this time the dreams were pleasant. He knew morning would come all too soon, and with it the potential for more pain, but for now that didnt' matter. For in his dreams he was with her, safe in her arms, and there were no monsters, of a smoke-filled, or human variety...

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Kate had woken up from her bizarre dream of Walt, shaking and sweating. Remembering his words you have to help him. It still didn't make much sense even now. She rolled over in the dark, trying to sit up, not realizing how closely she and Sawyer were in their actions at the same time. She got herself into a siting position and pulled herself over against the wall, relishing the feeling of the cold concrete against her sore back. It was utterly dark where she was, impossible to see anything at all, and she fought the panic that threatened to rise up at the thought of being confined. You need to be strong now.her mind warned for both of you. And even though she didn't feel it, she willed herself calm.

For reasons she couldn't think of Kate found herself saying his name out loud, and even more bizzarly asking if he was ok. Like he could actually hear her or something, but she felt complelled to do it for some reason. And to her surprise heard his voice respond, with his typical sarcasm. It sounded like he was in the room with her, even though she fairly sure he was just in her head just fine and dandy...Sawyers voice said, sounding exausted.. And even more bizzarly she found herself talking to him as if he was there.

"be strong.." she told him, sensing his weakness and pain, feeling it as if it were her own "don't let it hurt you..let it go for now.."and when she said that, found herself falling asleep again, forgetting for the time being about her fears and her strange dream as she found herself dreaming of him. In fact they shared the same dream, unbeknowset to both ot them, a brief respite from the madnees that would come soon enough..

Sawyer could feel the tips of his fingers going numb, the pain was shooting up his arm in waves that made him feel like passing out. But he held himself together and continued to glare at the man sitting in front of him, not giving him the satifaction of seeing how much pain he was in. He knew well enough to know that the knife had probably severed a tendon in that hand, his dominant hand of course. Oot of the corner of his eye he could the blood oozing up around the blade, and wished he could pull it out and stick in Henry's throat, he could just about picture what that would look like too. His mind was turning in those old directions again, wanting to inflict pain on those that had hurt him. It was like a knee jerk reaction, it had been practiced since he was a kid.

"You'd like me to take that out wouldn't you?" Henry asked, "and if you could, you'd use it on me in a heartbeat wouldn't you?" He smiled and sat forward, meeting Sawyer's challenging stare with his own cold eyes "that's how you do things isn't it James? It would certainly be true to form"

And he kept calling him by that name too, the pain seemed to empasize it, calling up memories he wanted to stay buried. The sight of the blood doing it's part as well, recalling the image of his mothers bloody hand on the kitchen floor. He fought this back along with the pain, trying to hide it from the pyscho in front of him. And continued to say nothing at all.

"Your stronger than i thought, most people would be begging for that to be taken out, but your not most people are you?"

"I've had worse" Sawyer simply said, continuing the stare down with Henry.

"i'll bet you have, pain just seems to find you dosen't it? not that you don't deserve most of it, considering the pain you've inflicted in others yourself"

Sawyer said notihng in response to this, there really was nothing to say on the subject. He thought of Frank Duckett, bleeding in the rain with a bullet in his stomach, one that he'd put there. Cause he blindly followed his rage rather than thinking clearly. and had payed with his soul in a sense. He had sold it for vengeance, and was eternally damned as a result. He heard a little voice i n his head say that wasn't the cause, there was still hope there but the pain was drining it back, taking away rational thought.

"You've killed, and conned and used your way through your life, did you actually believe that you deserve any kind of happiness?" Henry asked, smiling. He almost seemed to be powered by Sawyer's pain, like a strange kind of vampire "I bet you wished he'd shot you too huh? would've made life easier for alot of people wouldn't it?"

Sawyer had had a hard time hiding how much this cut to the quick, the way he'd always felt about it, and about himself. How much better it would've been had he died. He broke his look from Henry, and stared at his hand and in his mind heard the sound of the blood from his fathers hand hitting the floor of his bedroom. The pain was enforcing these memories, bringing them to the surface in all their horror with the clarity that only severe pain could bring. And he had a feeling that was their plan all along, and he found himself very scared of what they might do to Kate as well.

"And her, Kate, the woman you love, who has the mistortune to actually love you.." Henry sneered leaning over the table and giving the knife a slight tap, sending a new wave up Sawyers nerve endings. "your worried about what we could do to her aren't you? And you be right to, there's alot we could do, but probably not half as bad as the damage you could. Considering the damage you cause to the last woman who was stupid enough to love you.."

Sawyer rdidn't have to be reminded of who Henry was talking about here, how he knew about that was buging the s**t out of him though. He hadn't thought of Cassidy in years, but remembered clearly how he had turned tail and run on her. A woman, who unlike the others had actually loved him, and whom he could've loved himself had he just given himself a chance. Another big piece of wreckage left in his wake. He found himself wondering what had become of her, he had taken her money and had stepped all over her heart,. and why? Cause he let that man control how he felt once again. You owe me he heard clearly, the implication being clear there, after everything i've done for you.. And for that he'd given up the potential for something good, and settled for the familar route of being alone.

"So i guess your wondering why your here?"

Sawyer smiled through the pain and answered "was wonderin when you were gonna get to that.."

"You see James, you really don't get your importance here, what you bring to the table so to speak."

"And just what might that be?" he asked "my ability to bleed on command"

Henry chuckled "you see ever since you people arrived this island has come to life, and we tried to figure out why that was. Cause it's definatly causing us a problem here, so we had to figure out who was causing it. And we figured it out."

Sawyer was confused by this, it really made no sense, and made less sense when Henry continued.

"You see James, through observation we isolated three individuals, ones that seemed to make things appear that weren't there before. Basically to alther their environment under moments of stress. And their mere proximity to eachother seemed to power them even more. want to guess who these 3 are?"

And Sawyer had a feeling he knew, some tickle in his mind said he'd always known. But the pain seemed to be blocking it's reality to him. He felt himself getting weaker but needed to maintian his strength. At least while the bastard was sitting in front of him. So he went back to his old standby.

"Sorry, don't know any holy triinity on this island, ain't nothin holy about anyone here in fact"

With that Henry simply smiled that shark smile agian and said "those people that are causing us all the trouble, that would be Walt, Kate and you.. but i bet you knew that already didn't you?"

Sawyer stared back at him, trying to take this in. And having a very hard time, his mind was a whirl of pain and confusion. He felt more blood seep out of his hand and his mind start to waver. gotta hold on a bit longer now... he waited for Henry to continue.

"Which brings to the reason why we're here...."

more to come soon..

Kate awoke to a sharp pain in her left hand. It felt like a spike was being driven through it. Of course she couldn't see her hand, it being dark and all. Never mind the obvious dilemma of them being tied behind her back. But she had a distinct feeling that that wasn't all that had woken her up. Someones in here with me she thought with a shiver. She could feel it even though she couldn't see a damn thing.

"Who's there?" she asked, feeling a bit stupid just your imagination girl she berated herself get a grip. Her hand was throbbing horribly, sending pain up her arm steadily. It made no sense really.

And just when she thought she was gonna write if off as her mind playing tricks on her, she was suddenly blinded by light. She closed her eyes from the glare and heard a familar voice come out from behind it.

"Kate?" It was the girl, Alex. "are you alright?"

Kate opened her eyes and saw the girl approach. She immediatly tensed up when she saw she had a knife her hands. She's gonna kill me she thought irrationally. She raised her leg to kick out at her but realized the way the girl was holding the knife and approaching her didn't look like a killing move. Looked more like someone unsure of her actions.

"Alex" she whispered, still blinking in the light "what are you doing?"

"Turn around" the girl said "so i can cut you loose, i have to get you out of here now.."

Kate was perplexed but did as she was told. And with one quick swipe of the knife her hands were free. She put her left hand up the light and examined it. And saw there was absolutly nothing wrong with it. Nothing at all. It just hurt like hell. What the?

Alex tugged at her impatiently "we have to go now..." She pulled a wobbley Kate to her feet, and carefully pulled the door open, spilling the low light of night inside. "And we have to be quiet"

They carefully stepped out the door, Alex taking a quick look around and then quickly leading Kate along the side of the building to the door of a similar building. There seemed to be a couple of them like this. It once again reminded Kate of storage bunkers. Reaching into the pocket of her worn pants Alex pulled out a gun. It looked like one of theirs actually and handed it to Kate.

"Stay here" she whipsered "wait for me, don't move at all i'll be right back" And with that warning proceeded out to the front of the building. Kate could hear the door being rolled back as quietly as possible, and once again did as she was bid. She looked at her hand again, trying to make sense of why it hurt when it suddenly came to her it's not my pain she thought, they're hurting him. It didn't occure to her to really understand how she could feel his pain, it just suddenly made perfect sense. We've always been connected she mused i just didn't know how until now. And she got the feeling it wasn't just pyhsical pain he was feeling now.

Her thougths were interrupted by someone approaching. Kate backed into the shadows, readying the gun in case she needed to use it. She pulled her breath in quickly and watched as 2 shadows came into her field of vision. Pointing the the gun she took a step forward and was relieved when she saw it was Alex, and she had Jack with her.

Letting out her breath she stepped forward more and smiled at him. She was relieved to see him, alive and looking relativly ok. But she would've beeen more relexed had it been Sawyer. Speaking of that, she felt the pain sharpen again in her hand, causing her to clench it slightly. But she refused to let the worry and pain show on her face.

"hey Jack" she said, giving him a brief hug and then stepping back "are you ok?"

"i'm alright" he answered, and seemingly picking up a bit on her distrees "are you?"

"Yeah i'm ok" she lied, feeling the pain shooting up her arm, and Jack must've seen something on her face cause he didn't seem to believe her.

"are you sure?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped, worried sick all of sudden. She turned to Alex "where's Sawyer?"

Alex, fishing around in her bag said simply "they took him"

"Where?" Kate demanded, trying to keep her voice low. She looked toward the campsite, making sure no one had heard them "where did they take him?"

The girl looked up from her bag, pulling out a second gun to hand to Jack and fixed her eyes on Kate. They looked slightly sad "They took him to the mountain.."

"What mountain?" Kate asked, stepping forward "and why him?"

"They're working on him" she answered, looking away "you can't help him right now. I can take you back to your camp but we have to leave now"

Kate looked at her in shock, and without thinking too clearly, grabbed the girl by the arm and threw her against the wall.

"Kate what are are you doing?" Jack demanded, trying to grab her arm "she's helping us" Kate simply ignored him and threw him off, focusing on the girl in front of her. She pointed the gun at her, not caring if she was scaring her or not, it was a matter of life and death now. Her left hand was going numb now.

"You are gonna take me to him now" she said, icily, looking into the girl's frightened eyes "cause i'm not leaving without him"

"Kate.." Jack said behind her, a trifled worried now.

"Not now Jack" she hissed in his direction and looked back at the girl "well?"

"We can't go there" Alex stammered "there's too many, and they'll know i helped you.."

"They'll know anyway Alex, when we're gone so cut the crap"

"you don't understand..."

"understand what?" inquired Kate, getting right up in the girls face "they're hurting him, and i am not about to let that happen so why don't enlighten us as to what's going on?"

Alex seemed to consider her options and decied to spill "they needed one of you 3 to do something, the boy was too young to do it, so they decided to grab the 2 of you..."

"the 2 of us?" Kate asked incredulously, feeling a dawning realization coming on "you mean, me and Sawyer? Then why did they grab Jack?"

"They needed to rid the camp of it's leader, as well as the shield that the 2 of you provide" Alex leaned back against the wall, seemingly exausted, and continued "you see that's reason they couldn't attack your side like they did with the others. You 2 along with the boy created a shield that protected the camp, they don't know how you did it, but they knew it was you when the 2 of you started seeing things. And hearing them as well......"

Kate tried to take this all in, trying to form it into some coherent sense. And in her mind kept picturing the damn horse. Which had no earthly right to be there at all.. And Sawyer had seen it too. But only him...

Alex wasn't done though, she looked from Jack to Kate as she spoke "you see as long as one or 2 of you are there, they can't do anything. They needed to get you away, and the stability that he provides" she said pointing to Jack "this is why you need to go back now, cause they are gonna start raiding your camp, they need new quinea pigs..."

Jack looked at Kate, trying to read if she was taking this in, and said "we need to go back Kate." he said, looking at her with worried eyes "i'm not sure of this other stuff, but we need to warn them"

Kate pulled the clip out of her gun, checked it and pushed it back in. She looked at Jack with set eyes and said "then go"

It was Jacks turn to look incredulous "i'm not leaving without you"

"i'm not leaving without Sawyer"

Alex stepped forward "you an't help him" she said pleadingly "you can save everyone else though, it's the only way.."

"you 2 go back, i'm staying" she looked back and forth at the 2 of them "you can't make me go, and all your gonna do is waste valuable time trying to make me.."

Jack saw that determined look in Kate's eyes and knew it was a lost cause. And he couldn't fight the strange feeling that this would be the last time he'd ever see her. And he knew at that point what Sawyer meant to her. She wouldn't leave him, cause all they really had was eachother, and nothing he was gonna do was gonna convince her otherwise.

"ok" he said, resigned to the fact. "We'll go"

Kate smiled at him and then turned back to where the girl was standing "now tell me where that mountain is Alex"

Alex reluctanty told her where to go, and then handed her what looked to be another clip for the gun. She then smiled sadly and turned to walk away, and Kate stopped her suddenly, needing to tell her something.

"Alex" she said, looking the girl in the eyes "your mother would be proud.. and when the 2 of you find the boat they'll be a man on it named Sayid, he knows how to find her.."

Alex looked at Kate through slightly teary eyes, and then impusivly hugged her. Kate was slightly shocked by the guesture but reciprocated. Then the girl stepped away, seeming anxious to be off. And with that Kate turned to Jack.

She felt the same thing he had, the idea that they would never cross paths again, she thought of all she'd been thorugh with him, he'd been a good friend. In spite of the ways she'd hurt him he was still a friend and always would be. Without thinking she threw her arms around and him and hugged him.

"Take care of yourself Jack, and everyone else.." she whispered in his ear, and then added for reasons she didn't understand "your special too, don't ever forget it..."

Kate then pulled herself out of his arms, and looking back at him one more time, walked off in the direction that Alex had pointed her in. She walked in the direction of the man who was now her life. The only thing that mattered.

tbc probably tomorrow night

Kate inched her way along the back of one of the sheds, she wasn't sure if that's in fact what they were, but her mind insisted on looking at them that way. She held the gun close to her side and moved carefully between them, pausing only when she saw the shadows of people walking by. She flattened her back up against the wall, hiding herself in the shadows and tried to focus her mind, closing her eyes and trying to process what Alex had just told her.

The idea that they created some kind of protection for the camp wowed her, yet unnerved her at the same time. It made no sense to her, cause she certainly hadn't been aware of doing anything particularly special, but what about the horse? her mind asked and the line, did you forget about that? Those might have accounted for something unique, but she didn't want to think to much on it, it only messed up her head and she had to think clearly. She had to find Sawyer.

She carefully stepped from from behind one building and quickly darted behind the next one, watching for movement, any sign of danger period. This appeared to be the last solid structure on her route toward the mountain, which she could clearly see looming to the west of her position. The only other objects appeared to be tents, some occupied, some not. Kate gathered herself and then stepped out from the shelter the building provided. She was fortunate that no one happpened to be nearby at the time, so at the moment she was undetected.

She ran over and crouched beside one of the tents, and peaked around the side to see the mountian Alex mentioned just ahead of her. There appeared to be a door similar to the one on the medical hatch, she recognized the Dharma symbol easily from her position, the torches planted in the ground at intervals providing ample ilumination to see by. And the door appeared to be closed. And there didn't seem to be a way to open it from outside. Great she thought dismally, now what?

Her answer came as she saw a man approach it, carrying what appeared to be a bundle of some sort, Kate couldn't recognize what it was, and didn't care really, all she saw was a way in. Because for all intents and purposes, the guy was alone.

Steeling herself, she broke cover, walking carefully and quietly toward said Other, moving at a diagonal angle that would intercept him at the door. She looked all around her as she was walking but fortuantly saw no one else at the moment. He reached the door as she was 5 feet away from him and rapped on it with his free hand. As Kate completly closed the distance she heard an answer from inside and heard the hinges on the door creak as it began to open. And turning the gun around carefully in her hand she swung out hard, connecting with the side of the mans head.

Kate watched the man stagger, and without giving him time to regain himself, she whacked him again, and appeared to knock him out. She looked around once again to make sure no one was around, and it made her slightly nervous thinking about how easy it had been so far. Almost as if their letting me go she thought. Shaking this off, Kate grabbed the man by his shoulders proceeded to drag him inside, something she'd had practice with. She had practically carried Wayne to bed several times, including the last time. And this guy wasn't as heavy. As they got inside, she heard a whirring sound and the door proceeded to bang shut behind her, causing her to jump slightly as a result. She dragged the man into the corner and sat him against the wall, not really caring if anyone saw him, she had other things on her mind.

Looking ahead of her, she saw a lighted hallway with several doors on either side. Kate began to move down said hallway, seeing doors on her left and right. Some of the rooms looked like offices, and one big one looked like a conference room of some sort. There were people in that one and Kate skirted that door carefully, avoiding being seen. She walked for awhile and came upon a closed door. It looked like any other door to her but for some reson she was sure he'd been taken into this room. She was waging an internal debate as to whether she should just walk in when she heard footsteps approching from around the corner. That made her decision for her, and she turned the knob on the door and pushed her way inside.

Kate closed the door behind her and turned to see what was in this room, pointing the gun out in front of her as she did so. And slightly perplexed by what she saw.

The room wasn't anything special, and the fact that it was very dim in there didn't allow to make out details too much. It appeared to be sparsely furnished with nothing but a table in the middle of it, and a chair, actually an overturned chair, she corrected herself. It looked quite a bit like an interrogation room, like Sawyer she'd had experience with this as well. And as her eyes adjusted to the dimness she could observe something on it that ran her blood cold. There appeared to darker area on the table, about halfway in the middle of it actually, and it reflected the dim light from the opaque window on the door.

She stepped closer, and reached down with her left hand, feeling a startling throb of pain go through it as she did so, and touched it. It was still warm and only slightly tacky. It was blood alright, and it was his, she knew instinctivly. He was here, not even an hour ago she thought they cut his hand. Suddenly the pain in her hand made perfect sense. She ran her fingers through the blood again and found a sizable nick in the table, right square in the middle of the pool. It was totally clear to her what had happened. His hand had been pinned to the table. She absent-mindedly wiped her hand off on her shirt, leaving a stain on it. She tried to clear her head of the anger she felt at this, and the whirling images of what he'd gone through in here, it was like she was seeing through his eyes. She barely had time to register how strange this was when she heard the door open behind her.

She whirled around, pointing the gun at the figure that came through a large shadow that blocked any light coming through. And she heard a familar voice speak to her, in a tone that seemed rather unsurprised by her presence.

"Well well Kate, nice of you to finally join the party" the voice said, and at that point she became aware of movement to her left.

Kate moved to react to the person who'd been hidden in the shadows, but was a hair too late. She saw a flash in the dark and felt a wave of pain go through her, causing her to fall to the floor in a heap. Stun gun she had time to think, before the shadow fell completly over her.

The light went on, causing her to be briefly blinded from her postion on the floor. She couldn't move at all it seemed, she no control over her muscles at all. She blinked up angrily at the perons standing over her.

"Where is he?" she hissed "what have you done to him?"

"All in good time swetheart" said the man Sawyer had dubbed Zeke, it was all she could think of him as "but right now we have more important business to tend to.."

Kate felt herself being hauled to her feet by the person who had apparently zapped her, she still couldn't see who that was, not that it mattered really in any sense. Her legs felt numb and unsteady beneath her as said person held her up to face Zeke, who smiled broadly at her. And to Kate that smile reminded her an awful of Wayne, with the same stupid malice in it. Which was what probably caused her to spit in his face. And Zeke, without breaking that smile smacked her across the face, completing the picture for her. And she would've fell if it hadn't been for the person holding her up she'd be on the floor again. She looked at the man in front of her coldly and spat blood out of her mouth.

"I killed the last man that hit me" she said, her eyes never leaving his "and i'll kill you too"

"We'll see about that" he said, stepping closer to her "you might not have the energy when we get done with you..."

Kate didn't answer, just continued to stare at him, as if to reinforce what she just said. But this didn't seem to faze Zeke in the slightest.

"Now.." he said, retuning her challenging stare "it's your turn to be tested girlie...."

tbc as always...