Chapter 12

He was walking through the jungle, didn't know precisely how long he'd been walking either, it felt like months to him, like his life consisted of just this. The endless monotony of trees, they all look the same, it seemed like the jungle stretched on forever. Maybe it does he though to himself maybe i've finnaly reached hell, isn't it supposed to be repetition? He'd haard that somewhere, be damned if he could remember where, not that it really matter in any sense. Considering he more pressing concerns, like how the hell he'd gotten out here for starters.

And the damn whipsers, they were everywhere he'd been hearing them ebb and flow for the lonngest time, they never shut up it seemed. Sswyer felt like his head would explode if it kept up. Hell it might explode anyways, cause he could hear every other damn thing too. Every sound seemed magnified, like someone turned the volume up on the world and it allowed him to hear even the slightest rustle of a branch or chirp of a bug. It was maddening when combined with the incessant whispering of his seemingly invisible company.

But they werent't always invisible.. that was another part of the problem really. He'd catch glimpses every so often, of strange people in what looked like strange clothes.. The Real Others he remembered Henry saying, one the few things he remembered at all since they'd left the compound actually. Everything else was just disjointed fragments that made no senes. The people that he kept catching looks at would vanish as soon as he looked squarely at them. Very tricksy Preciouss he had thought crazily feeling his mind teeter just a bit more each time.

Speaking of seeing, it seemed he saw everything pretty clearly as well as hearing it, even though it was dark he seemed to have the vision of a cat, he could take in every detail, including large scratches in the bark of the trees. Whitch could only have been made by a bear. One of those damn polar bears most likely. The thought alternatly fascinsted and terrified him at the same time. And he thought he could definatly hear something moving around in the jungle as well, something big, following him in almost the same way as the 'others' but with a different intention. It was cause of the blood. Which was another problem really.

It wasn't just from his hand, that had stopped flowing and begun drying. It was the stuff all over his shirt. He seemed to have been splattered by it, and he was pretty damn sure it wasn't his. Which scared the hell out of him, cause he had no idea how it had gotten there. Every time he tried to think on it he drew a blank. And part of him was starting to think he really didn't want to know.

Sawyer kept walking, not sure where he was headed, he just seemed to be compelled to move forward, in one direction. It was like he was being drawn forward, and the compulsion was overriding the fact that he was tired, and weak from blood loss. Not to mention the fact that he could barely remember the last time he ate. The whispers themselves, though most of the time he couldn't decipher what exactly they were saying, seemed to be urging him forward too, promising relief if he just kept going a bit longer. Almost like a dangerous siren song. He heard them rise again and turned his head to the right, and once again caught a glimpse of a figure before it vanished once again.

"Peek-a-boo, i see you..." he said out loud and chuckled, not liking the insanity he heard in it. He could see things moving out of the corner of his eyes, shapes passing through the trees keeping pace with him. He stopped trying to look directly at them, they clearly didn't want to be seen. Did it occur to you to think maybe your hallucinating? the sane rational part of his brain asked that you've finally just snapped? It was possible he supposed. Maybe there was only so much his mind could take. Come on? Semi invisible people? think about it for a second. He wanted to believe that, he really did. It would be such a relief to just finally give in to it.

In his exaustion, Sawyer found himself not really paying attention to his footing and he f caught a root with his foot, and he found himself tumbling to the ground. He made minimal effort at any self-protection with his hands and hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of himself. He laid there face down for awhile, too damn tired and out of his head to move from his face down position. He heard the steathly sounds around him and even this ceased to make him want to hurry and move, he was simply too exausted to care.

After what seemed like a long time, Sawyer placed his hands on the ground and pushed himself up, ignoring the pain in his hand as hs did so. He then simply flipped himself over on his back and found himself looking through the canopy of leaves above him at the night sky. He thought of Kate, and how wanted nothing more than to simply see her again. To put his arms around her, kiss her and taste her. The mere touch of his hands on her skin always had the ability to drive everything away. All his confusion, all his doubts always fell away when he touched her, held her, made love to her. He had begun to realize that in his whole life, all those woman that he'd taken to bed, none had ever made him feel the way she did. Being inside her, having her wrapped around him in every possible way was like nothing he'd known before. There was completion there, and a sense of safey as well. He wanted that again, he craved for it, trying to conjure her up as looked up at the stars above him... and heard them approach...

"Kate..." he called out, feeling himself slip away "can you hear me?"

And then darkness closed in around him....

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He awoke to the feeling of something brushing against his arm. Something wet. Sawyer's eyes blinked open and at first he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I'm seein things again dammit. But something told him this was real.

Standing above him, looking down curiously, was a horse. A black one. Kate's horse... he was sure of it. What the f**k? He wondered the same damn thing he had the last time he'd seen it, how the hell did a big a** black horse get on a tropical island? Probably the same way the polar bears did. Sawyer laughed out loud, startling the horse a bit, causing to raise it's head and look at him curiously.

It then whickered quietly and brushed it's nose up against his arm, as if to say hurry the f**k up will ya? Sawyer reached his hand up, his injured one and touched the horses nose, trying to piece together the events of the night before, and wasn't having much luck. His mind was a whirl of confused images and thoughts. But one thing he remembered clearly was calling for her in some wierd kind of delirium. And as he looked up at the horses face, he noticed something odd. Instead of the usual brown eyes that most horses had, this ones were blue. Just like Kates.

Impossible his mind said what your thinkin is ridiculous, he sat up and looked again, and found to his disquiet that he hadn't been mistaken there.

Getting weakly to his feet, he put his hand out, leaning against the horse for balance. And it certainly didn't seemed to mind him doing that, not making any effort to move at all. He found himself briefly leaning against it, before stepping back and looking at it again. The horse whinneyed and very gently rubbed it's nose against his injured hand, he could feel it's hot breath against his skin.

And without any buildup, he suddenly felt her presence there. Whether she'd sent this animal, or he'd sent for it himself in some weird kind of way, Sawyer knew it was her representative. He reached up with his other hand and stroked it's neck, feeling comfort in its warmth and stability. And felt any confusion and pain begin to wash away. He still didn't remember how he'd gotten out here, or what had in fact happened to him, but it ceased to matter for the moment. She was with him, in her own way.

Without really thinking too hard, he put his forhead up against the horse's and closed his eyes. And sopke 4 words aloud that he still hadn't found the courage to say to her yet.. perhaps in time he would..

"i love you Freckles.."

The horse knicered, and kicked it's foot gently, and simply stood there with him for the time being..

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The horse eventually led him to a stream where he forced himself to drink a little, the sharp coldness of the water clearing his mind a little, allowing him to think more coherently about his current situation. The horse stayed off to one side of him, seemingly watching the jungle, almost like a guard dog, a real big big one. The idea of it was amusing causeing him to laugh out loud a bit.

The truth was he had no clue where he was goin, his mind drew a blank on his destination. And he was now totally turned around in the sense of which way he had been going. Thinking on himself walking was useless, his mind had been a tangled mess at the time.

It made him wonder just what the hell had happened to him after he and Henry had left the bunker, on that he continued to draw another blank.

Turning around he said out loud in the horses direction "hey Black Beauty, you wouldn't happen to know which direction i was walkin in would ya?" It was crazy he knew, talking to a damn horse, but this one was special, and he knew it. And hell it was worth a try.

The horse responded by snorting, tapping it's hoof on the ground and swinging it's head in the direction of the sun. East in other words.

"you wouldn't be yankin my chain would ya there?"

The horse snorted again, a trifle impatiently and swung it's head toward the east again. The look in it's eyes seemed to ask do i have to spell it out for you dipsh!t? It was a look that was, incredibly, very similar to the impatient 'lets get on with it' look Kate occasionally gave him. He'd swear anything on it.

It turned and proceeded to walk in the direction it had been indicating. Sawyer watched it walk off a bit without moving himself. The horse turned around once again snorted impatiently, swinging it's head back and forth. The message was clear come on dumba^^ daylights wasting..

"yeah yeah yeah, i'm comin" said Sawyer, a trifle wearily "how about you let me ride ya Sassafras?"

The horse turned it's head back to look at him, as if it understood what he was saying, and once again he could swear he saw a Kate look in it's eyes. your imaginin things boy he thought to himself, but part of him knew he saw it. The look said nice try cowboy..

Even the damn horse was a smarta^^ it seemed.

" Yeah that line never worked on Kate either.." he said, chuckling a bit as he followed behind it, wondering if it was gonna give him a swift kick if he followed too close behind. That would be a typical Kate move too. At that he laughed even louder, hearing no madness in it for the time being.

as always tbc

"Where's Sawyer?" Kate demanded as she was forced to sit in the chair that had at one point veen overturned. It had now been righted and the nameless person that had been holding her now busied himself with tying Kate's hands behind her back. She found her eyes drifting to the blood on the table, and tried not to let her panic overtake her. "what have you done to him?"

"Those questions will be answered shortly.." spoke and unfamilar voice from behind her. Kate craned her neck around and saw a a dark skinned woman enter the room. She sat down at the table in front of Kate and continued speaking "we need to have a chat first, so you can tell us a bit about yourself.."

"I don't have to tell you a damn thing.." answered Kate, adding just the right amount of snark to her voice "tell me where he is?"

"Your a stubborn one Katherine, don't give an inch at all just like him"

Kate continued to stare coldly at her, while working her hands around and trying to get loose. It was difficult work, they had tied her pretty damn tight, probably knowing of her propensity for escape.

"sorry it's so tight.. we just want to make you sure you hear us out before you bolt."

"What have you got to say that i could possibly want to hear?"

"Well" said Miss Klugh, reaching into some knd of bag on the floor "we just might give you the chance the save the man you love this time.. unless you'd like to let him die like the last one..."

That cut right into her, they know about Tom she thought unsurprised wonder what else they know? In her minds eye she saw herself getting out of the car and running down the street. Had he been dead yet? She honestly didn't know, and it hurt to think about it. It was amazing how these things still had the power to cause her pain. She guessed they always would.

"Now Katherine, i need to ask you a question?"

"Go right ahead, i might answer it if i feel like it.."

"Wy didn't you take the chance to escape when you had it? Seeing as how runnings your specialty i'm surprised you came back."

"Apparently not too surprised.." replied Kate, keeping her voice even as she spoke "or you wouldn't have been ready for me.."

"Well that's pretty observant of you" the woman answered, seeming to finally find what she was looking for and placing it on the table. It looked like a bottle of some kind of medicine, only it wasn't labeled. "We knew the 2 of you had a strong connection, and from simpe observation we logically deduced that if Alex went against the grain, like we thought she would, that you wouldn't leave him behind... and we were right.."

"So you want a medal or something?"

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to be smarta^^ girl?" said the man whose name she now knew was Tom from behind her, but she still thought of him as Zeke for some reason, it just fit better "or was she just too busy with that deadbeat dad of yours?"

Kate held back any anger she felt at this, knowing that's what they wanted. To distract her a bit from what she needed to know, she wasn't about to let them, something told her his life hung in the balance.

"Tell me where Sawyer is" she demanded, looking at the woman, not even giving Tom the time of day

"Do you know what this is?" Miss Klugh asked, not answering Kate's question and poining to the vial she placed on the table.

"Should i care?" Kate aked nonchalantly, keeping up the appearance of being disinterested but something about it caused her some serious unease just the same. Maybe it was the fact that it was unlabeled. Or maybe cause she could still see Sawyers blood on the table.. Focus girl she her mind demanded your not helping yourself. She waited for the womans response.

"You might care after what i have to tell you" she said, turning the bottle around in her slender fingers "You see part of the research that was done on this island in the early goings was behavoural research, experimental work on the human mind and it's capabilities. One of the things they came up with was this. It's a serum that's put in the subjects bloodstream and was found to open the doors of perception to those with normal capabilities. But to those with above average abilities.. well it causes some very interesting things.."

"What does this have to do with us? Kate asked, afraid she might already know the answer.. they know about us she thought with rising panic they've been looking for us.. She tried to stop herself but the dread was taking over.

"I'll get to that in a minute" the woman answered and then continued "there was a problem with this however, the subjects became prone to violent behavour and there were a few accidents.. you see it caused deteroration of the frontal lobe of the brain, on lesser subjects this happened quickly but we found those with superior abilities withstood it up to 12 hours before their mind snapped completly. So while said subjects showed superior sensory abilities it limited to a small time frame. So we decided to look for those with stronger minds... and we found the 3 of you.."

"The 3 of us?" Kate asked even though she knew who they were talking about.. boy did she ever...

"Yes, we isolated you because of various blips and nuances in the equipment we placed around the island.. but our abilities to come and get you were thrawted many times by the very abilities we were after, the fact that the so-called 'shield' that i'm sure Alex mentioned was in a sense the fact that the whispers and that creature seemed to be drawn to your combined force. And we can't get past that.. unless your separtated.."

Kate was confused by all of this and tried to make sens of it, but things did start to fall into place a bit. The lack of attack for one thing, and those whispers in the jungle, Sawyer kept them at bay somehow, and he wasn't even aware of how he was doing it. And they don't know what they are...she thought wonderingly, not realizing that Sawyer had come to that conclusion himself not too long ago in this very chair too. They don't know any more than we do..

"So when the raft left.." the woman continued "our spies and sensors told us where it was going and we took the boy by force out on the water, the only place that was safe. Cause the boys strength would allow him to call things in for protection, but not out there. Shooting James was an accident, but a neccessary one, knowing he was the biggest threat and all. The shooter on tha tboat was a marksman and could've killed him but deliberatly didn't.."

Kate was shocked and angry "you couldn't have known he would survive though?" she was livid at this, remembering the condition he came back in, how close to death he was, and they had tried to be careful? It made her blood boil "He almost died!"

"But he didn't did he?" said Miss Klugh, with that same calm demeanor "did you ever wonder why that was? Cause by all rights he should've.. Anyone else would've in fact if they'd gone untreated that long.."

"Jack saved his life" said Kate, still angry "no thanks to you guys.."

"No Katherine, Jack had nothing to do with it and you know it.."

"What are you talking about?"

"You.." she answered, looking Kate in the eyes "you were the one that saved him, it was your strength and emotional bond that gave him the strength to fight it.. he would've died otherwise. The bond you 2 share is very rare, and it's the reason he's still alive right now. He healed from that rather fast wouldnt you say? Especially someone as close to death as he was.."

Kate couldn't deny that, that's for sure. And he had responded to her, no one else. Nobody on that island had the pull that she did on him. She remembered being amazed at how quickly he seemed to have recovered, she even asked him about it in passing and he shrugged it off, saying something like 'damned if i know Freckles, maybe it's the ocean air..' But it had nagged at her. Esp seeing as how everyone else who got seriously hurt, well they didn't make it did they? But something else was bugging her too.

"If had Walt why did you let him go and take us?" she asked, slightly calmer than before but not by much.. her eyes kept drifting to the bottle, and the blood. "Wouldn't you have wanted all of us?"

"That's a good question" she answered "but you see we only really needed one of you for the task at hand, and the boy was far too young to be used for this, so we bartered him for you guys, and took Jack simply to lower morale and unity, we need test subjects for our lesser experiments and it would be easier to simply grab them without him there to keep things together. But it was really you 2 we were interested in.."

"why?"

"Cause your both strong enough to withstand it that's why.. which is where this comes in to play.." She pointed once again to the bottle on the counter and elaborated "you see this serum can be adminstered in a couple of ways. Through injection, through ingestion in ifood.. or it can be administered through an open wound, all one has to do and take a weapon, such as a knife, and dip it inside. And then cut someone with it.."

Realization dawned on Kate, making the mental connection between the blood on the table and the bottle of liquid in front of her. Suddenly every color seemed brighter, every sound louder as she took in the knowledge of it. They given it to him, a sickness of some sort, a deadly one.

"Why???" she screamed from her chair, straining on her bonds "how could you do that?"

"Calm down girlie" said Tom behind her "no use gettng all excited.."

"F**k you!" said Kate without even turning around, she looked that woman in front of her with complete hatred "Where is he??"

"You must calm yourself" said the woman still mainiaining that maddening calm "you can save him, there is antidote, and we'll give it to you and let you go find him... but you have to agree to our terms first, and they are non-negotiable..."

"What are you talking about?" Kate demanded "what terms? Cause i'm not agreeing to anything unless i know where he is..."

"See that's the thing Katherine, we don't know exactly where he is either.. your the only one that can find him, and the longer you waste arguing with us, the less time you have... cause in about 10 hours he'll be as good as dead... unless you get to him before then. You see it runs in 3 stages, he's already passed through one.. had a bad time of it too if i've heard correctly.. but why are we wasting time on this? Cause it's valuable time... and it's ticking away.."

Kate sat there, she needed details but couldn't afford to waste anymore time than necceesary, and knew they weren't gonnna tell her a goodamn thing, or give her the antidote unless she agreed to what they wanted. Although the idea of what that might be frightened her to no end, the thought of what might happen to him out there scared her even more. She couldn't allow him to die, and to suffer on his way to doing it. She loved him too damn much for that, she had to find him, even if it meant sacrificing herself in the process. Something he would never let her do, but she'd be damned if he'd win that one. So before voicing her decision she sent out a thought in his direction, maybe hoping to send him a sign of some kind, some hope in the darkness she sense he was in now.. just hang on she sent out.. just a little longer...And with that spoke up to them...

"What are your terms?"

tbc as always

Kate stopped in her tracks, hearing the rumbling thunder way off in the distance. She hadn't noticed how much time had passed really since she left the compound, had been moving blindly along, looking for signs of his passage, but knew now that the coming rain would wash away tracks he left. Which caused a near panic on her part. But she came to the realization that blind running through the forest wasn't gonna help her or him. She had to concentrate, focus and put her tracking skills to work. Which Sawyer had only half correctly guessed bordered on the supernatural. Part of her mind knew this but wouldn't allow the rest of her to acknowledge it. She was after all a pratical girl. And there was simply no rational explanation for this she knew.

As she focused her mind on the task at hand, it brought her back in time to when she went on a hunting trip with her father, or at least the man she thought was her father. They had been tracking a deer, a big one if the foot impressions were any indication. Her father had shown her that the depfth of the track and the spaces between them, could not only tell you how large the animal was, but how fast it was going, and maybe whether it had some kind of injury. Kate recalled looking down at the tracks, knowing her father had been slightly mad that the tracks had disappeared in the rain. She squatted down herself, looking closely at it, and put her hand on it. And what had happened next still perplexed her to this day.

She had closed her yes and had gotten a complete mental picture of the deer, and it was a big one. She could see it in every detail and when she opened her eyes she saw the tracks, the line, as clear as day and told her father whcih way to go. And though at first he didn't believe her, saying "Katie we've lost the tracks" she was insistent and sure enough they found it. Kate the distinct impression she'd freaked her father out a bit with this, he seemed to look at her closely for several minutes after he'd taken down the deer. But never asked her about it. He was a practical man and didn't bother with things he had no real explanation for. Even when Kate had used it several other times while hunting with him. But it seemed the less she saw of her father and the more influence Wayne had on her, the less she needed to use it. And stopped thinking about it for the most part. Until she got on this island that is.

It had come back here, a little at a time, an inkling that allowed her to find people like Sawyer, especially him it seemed. Maybe cause she knew him best, it allowed her to hone on him, to make his tracks become clear to her. And she needed that to happen now. It was only way she could catch up to him in time, before the effects of the drug became irreversable. She cleared her mind and focuseed completly on Sawyer, conjuring up a picture of him in her head, which wasn't hard.. she had so many as it was.

She focused on how he had looked the night before they'd been captured, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed in front of him. The look of world weariness on his face mixed with the love and understanding she could see in his eyes so clearly. He rarely showed that with anyone else, it was a look he exclusively gave for her and her alone. He seemed to give everyone else his typical 'i don't give a about you' look. Usually laced with a snarky remark. And with that picture of him in her head, she opened her eyes, and saw his footsteps clearly in front of her.

"Gotcha" she said out loud, smiling as she did so, and proceed to begin running after them, she didn't have time to walk. Running was her speciality anyways. The thunder rumbled off in the distance again, punctuating the need to hurry. And as she ran she tried not reflect on what they'd told her too much. What she'd agreed to in payment for his life, and what they told her happened in his first fugue. It would do her or him no good to dwell to much on it now.. What's done is done..she thought to herself, as she splashed through a small stream just concentrate on getting to him girl.. And she did just that.

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The storm had come up quickly on her just as she felt like she was getting nearer to him. The rain an wind began to blow apart the mist that had settled on the jungle. And the thunder was rolling loudly across the sky, accompainied by bright lightnig zigzagging through the trees. In spite of the multitude of noise she could hear what sounded like the damn whispers again. And she could hear something esle as well.

She could hear Sawyer. Shouting. Very loudly. And she didn't like the way his voice sounded either, even though she couldn't make out the words. It sounded like someone on the very edge of their mental rope. And if he was as far gone as he sounded, she sure as hell didn't want to suprise him. So she slowed down, carefully approaching the where the tracks told her he was. Cause of the mist and the storm, the sound would be distorted, so she didn't bother with that aide.

She heard him yell again, his voice going hoars "I'm right here dammit!!"

He said something else but the thunder rumbled at that moment, and she couldn't hear it. She was trying to control her emotions as well, there was a very good chance he was not in his right mind, she had to be careful. Not for her sake, but for his. Are you sure about that? she asked herself.. cause didn't that shouting in anger sound familar girl? Kate shoved this aside as she got close, it was nonsense. Sawyer would never hurt her, crazy or not.

She stepped around a large tree and and for the first time in 5 days saw him. He was leaning against a tree not too far away, with his eyes closed. He appeared to be clutching something in his right hand, but through the rain she couldn't see what it was. She simply couldn't get over her relief at seeing him alive. She wasn't aware until now how sure she was that she would stumble over his body or something. Carefully Kate stepped out from behind the tree and slowly moved closer to where he was.

She came within 5 feet of him and stopped, taking in his appearance, and seeing the blood all over him in spite of the rain, the stains were plain on his shirt. And craning around she could see his mangled left hand. And found herself hating them for this. He'd been through so much and they had to do this too. He looked worn and beaten, and very tired. The thunder rumbled loudly over their heads as she took one more second before she said his name. She saw his eyes flutter open, and she spoke again..

"Sawyer?" she saked reaching her arm out to touch him "are you ok?, say something..if you are..." And his reaaction stunned her, although it shouldn't have in retrospect.

He truned, grabbed her arm suddenly, and slammed her hard against the tree, putting the knife up to her thought. The look in his bloodshot eyes showed absolutly recognition, it showed insanity actually. And she was frightened indeed.

"Sawyer" she pushed out "it's me, it's Kate.."

She thought she saw a flicker in his eyes, but then he pushed the knife closer and in a voice she barely recognized said "Now your gonna tell me what you people are..."

Although Kate had no idea what he meant by that, she could hear the whispers around them, very close, filling her head as she tried to think of how to get through to him. There had to be a way.... And she felt that knife inch it's way closer to her skin...

sorry for being so evil LOL next one will be up soon i swear...

But Kate was awoken by a sharp crack, followed by a loud crash much later on. It sounded close too. She opened her eyes, already aware that it was still raining and thundering as well. She scanned the area around them and could see what looked almost like a fire about a half a mile away lightening strike she thought with an ounce of panic better move now. She looked down, wondering if it had awakened Sawyer but he was still out cold on her lap. And hadn't really moved all that much either, except to turn slightly to the side. Feeling a slight tinge of real panic at this, she moved her hand down to his neck just to make sure he was still breathing. And he was of course to her great relief, but that fact was she had to get him moving, they couldn't stay where they were that's for sure.

Bending down, she got as close to his ear as possible and whispered "Sawyer.. you have to wake up now.."

She didn't expect a response but was suprised when she got one, although it wasn't exactly a coherent one "why are ya always up so early girl.." his voice was raspy as he said this, and he didn't even open his eyes, it was purely unconcious response "just let me sleep for once.."

She smiled a bit at this, it was the typical demeanor he'd always shown whenever she tried get him out of bed, for any reason at all too. He wasn't a morning person that's for sure. But it wasn't morning now, in fact it was close to evening and storming like hell out to boot. She had to find some form of shelter, and was hoping she wouldn't have to drag him to it. So she tried again.

"You need to get up ok?" she whispered, trying not to panic in any real way as she mentally counted the space between the flashes and the rumbles "we need to walk for a bit and then i'll let you sleep again ok?"

Sawyer moved his head and opened his eyes, but she didn't see any real comprehension there, just a reaction to her voice. He was clearly operating in a different time frame, probably thought he was dreaming or something. She thought it was proably side effects of the antidote and probably the infection in his hand as well. Well at least he's not homicidial anymore.That was at something.

"where are we goin?" he asked her barely above a whisper himself, and to give him credit he was at least trying to move a little, very weakly though "goin on another hike girl?"

"yeah you could say that, but i need your help cause i can't carry you"

"Alright.." he rasped and lifted his head off her leg and attempted to sit up, with very little success and then added "does it ever stop rainin here?"

"Occasionally" she repiled, smiling as she reached out and helped him sit up, fighting the urge to push him along a little faster. He wasn't with it yet so she had to show patience, something she wasn't always good at. She helped Sawyer maneuver so he was leaning against the tree for support and then she stood up herself and looked down at him. He looked back up a her through the rain with cloudy eyes, and just as she was about to reach down and help him up, he said something strange.

"We have to go east, that's what they say.."

Kate was confused "what?"

Sawyer continued to look up at her, wearing a strange expression on his face "that's where it is.. they say we have to go there.."

Kate tried to hid how much this strange statement unnerved her "We have to go now" she told him, reaching down and grabbing hold of his right arm. But she was met with some restistance as she did so. "Sawyer please we have to go" She could feel the wind whipping up and knew the danger was iincreasing. But instead letting her pull him up he pulled her down closer, and the look in eyes started to scare her a bit

"can't you hear them?" he asked, the slight tinge of madness coming back "we have to go that way.. it's the only way.."

And she did hear them, just below the rumble of the thunder, and she found that even though his intesnse look frightened her a bit, she was also drawn in by it too. It's his him, his power she thought wonderingly he draws them and yet keeps them at bay. Another loud crack of thunder brought her out of these thoughts and made it more urgent now.

"ok Sawyer" she complied, knowing it was the only way to get him moving "we'll go that way, but you gotta get up now..." And this time when she pulled on his arm, he cooperated and let her pull him him up to her. He was slightly unsteady and almost fell over, but somehow managed to stay upright with her help.

"Thanks.." he said in a low voice, and Kate couldn't help but smile at that, it reminded her of when she'd helped him up once before. After throwing the banana at him that was. It was a pleasnt memory that she simply couldn't allow herself to get caught up in right now.

"We gotta get going now" and with that said she put her arm around him and began to help him along, "east it is.."

"I swear Freckles " he stated, leaning on her shoulder, but only a little bit she noted, even in this strange stupor state his was in he refused to put the burden too much on her "I ain't never never gonna drink this much agan..."

Kate laughed aloud at that, as they walked along, eastward and out of the dense part of the jungle.

---------------------------------------------------------

It turned out they were right to go east, not only did the storm seem to be moving slightly to the south, but they also found shelter as well. There was a rock outcropping near another small stream which she thought would do the trick for the moment. The fact that it was near water was a plus as well, cause they clearly needed some of that too. She pointed it out to Sawyer, whose state she judged was something akin to being half asleep, but she shouldn't have been surprised by the respone.

"Real nice, could use some curtains though.."

Kate laughed again and when they reached it, she set him down on the ground underneath what looked like a natural jutting rock fomration. And it was just high enough so that when they were sitting down there was no risk of hitting their heads. But the most important thing is that is was shelter for the time being.

Sawyer leaned his back up against the back of what could only be roughly called a cave and shut his eyes again, clearly exhausted. Kate crawled over next to him and sat down. And as soon as she did so, he almost unconciously laid his head on her shoulder. And from what she could tell immediatly fell asleep again.

Kate herself stayed awake for awhile, watching the storm blow itself out in front of them and thought on the whispers, which she herelf could still hear occasionally. And on Sawyer, and whether he would really be ok, he seemed to be in another strange state. She'd give anything to have him wake up cranky, with his typical snark, just so she knew he was out of the woods. Cause she was still scared for him. And had the feeling more bad stuff was coming.

But for now she contented herself with the fact that he was here with her, safe for the time being. She turned slightly, and put her arm around shoulder and rested her head on his. And as the storm gradually began to pass and the sun went down, she fell asleep as well, her last thought being i'll worry about this tomorrow, that's all you can do. And then drifted off into sleep.

hopefully that'll hold ya for a couple more days

Ok this a slong chapter, well long for me and it's sorta nice and cutesy for the time being, figured i'd be nice to you guys for awhile, i should have the second half up sometime tonight..

enjoy

Chapter 16(part 1)

He felt like , to put it mildly, that was the first thing he was aware of upon regaining wakefullness. His whole body ached and his head hurt like hell, felt like a hangover actually. Sort of the way he'd felt after many of his famous benders. In pain, disoreinted and weak as a kitten. What the f**k? he asked himself did i fall or somethin, hell it certainly hurts enough.

Sawyer found himself struggling to simply open his eyes, it seemed his body lacked the energy to even do that. He forced them open and then had to close them immediatly in pain. It was bright out, too bright in fact. And he could hear the damn birds, or whatever the hell those things were, chirping their happy little asses off. Which made no sense cause the last thing he remembered was rain and thunder.. and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on. All he knew was that he was laying on what felt like cold rock. And that he didn't seem to have his shirt on either. And he also could hear water splashing, like in a stream, and thet made him very thirsty as well. He turned his head in the direction of the sound and once again forced his eyes to open. As they adjusted to the brightness of the light, he saw what was causeing the noise that he heard. And felt his heart skip a beat.

He saw Kate. She was kneeling by what looked like a stream, splashing water on her face on her face and shoulders. It didn't take him all that long to notice she didn't have her shirt on. Just her bra, the shirt was laying on the rock next to her, drying in the sun it seemed. And next to it was his. Sawyer found himself simply too stunned to speak, cause he sure didn't remember much about the day before. He had a million questions he needed to ask her but simply couldn't raise his voice to say anything. He elected to simply watch her instead.

He watched as she flipped her wet hair, sending little sprays of water all around, including little droplets of it landing on her back and her bare feet. She then began combing her fingers through it, the natural curls springing back the minute her fingers left them. He watched the muscles in her back ripple with her every movement and thought if he'd had any energy at all, she'd probably be without the rest of her clothes by now too. Considering the effect of just seeing her was having on him. And that point realized the fact that question of how she got there was meaningless for the time being, the fact was, she was here.

Kate finished combing her fingers through her hair and proceeded to tie it back with a shank of some kind, and seemed to realize she was being watched and turned around to see him watching her and smiled. One of her dazzling Kate smiles too. And without even bothering to put her shirt back on she walked over and crouched down in front of him, and placed her hand on his forhead, smoothing the hair back from his face. Her hand felt good and cool on his forhead and he closed his eyes for a brief second, slightly overwhelmed by how he was feeling.

"Good morning.." she said from above where he was laying, looking up at her "how are you feeling?" The last question was filled a hint of concern. He could see worry in her eyes in fact, and what looked like a slight bit of fear as well, which confused him a bit. But he pushed it aside for now.

"well to be honest darlin.." he answered in a cracked voice, his throat felt like sandpaper "it feels like i drank a load of moonshine and tried to pick a fight with a train..."

She threw her head back and laughed, with what to him sound like relief. A small tendril of hair slipped out from her makeshift ponytail as she did so and brushed across his face. Reaching up with an unsteady hand pushed it back behind her ear. And then he moved his hand to the back of her head and pulled her face down to his and kiss her, slowly and deeply, neeeding to touch and taste her. It had after all, been awhile, at least for him. He put his hand up on her bare waist as they deepened theri kiss a bit more, and began to raise it higher, loving the feel of her smooth skin under his rough hands. He felt her react slightly to where is hand was travelling and took a deep breath. But then she seemed to remember something and pulled away, breaking the kiss with a look of regret in her eyes.

"Well.." said Kate, looking flushed and slightly out of breath "your definatly feeling better.."

Sawyer felt a bit puzzled at this "was i sick? cause frankly i don't remember much of anything after leavin that freaky compound" Although that wasn't exactly true, he did remember wandering about a bit, flashes of some kind of fight, and fuzzy memories of being followed. And the horse too his mind reminded him let's not forget that shall we? All these memories managed to do was confuse him at best, so he looked back at Kate, which for the moment allowed the confustion to go away. But he had to ask her something first "just how in hell did you find me anyways?"

Kate's reaction to this question only seemed to puzzle him cause he could swear he saw what looked like a flicker of fear in her eyes, which she covered quickly. "I found you passed out on ground, almost tripped over you actually.."

For some reason Sawyer couldn't shake the idea that she was lying to him, even though she was looking at him straight, this just felt like an untruth. He attempted to haul himself up to sitting postion, and Kate, seeing that he needed a little help, grabbed ahold of his hand and helped him up. He then looked at her and decided to question her a bit more.

"How'd you get loose in the first place?"

Kate looked like she didn't really want to talk about this but answered it anyways "One of them, the girl Alex, helped me and Jack get loose" she then turned slightly and stood up and looked down at where he was sitting "then Alex took Jack back to camp and i went looking for you..." Her expression as she finished was to the effect of 'can we drop this now?' She was clearly hidign something that's for sure, and that's when he noticed what looked like a bruise on her right wrist. Which caused a strange feeling of disquiet within him.

"Where'd ya get that?" he asked her in a low, serous tone, pointing to her wrist.

Kate looked down and at it and then back at him "I think one of them grabbed me too hard, i don't really remember though.." She turned her head slgihtly and seemed to take in the view of the rock wall for a second and then looked back at him "it's no big deal, it dosen't even hurt"

Your lying he thought but didn't say out loud why are you bullting me babe? He felt angry not tjust that someone hurt her but that she was obviously lying to him about it. The look in her eyes at the moment though said she really ddidn't want to go there so he respected that much at least, but it still bothered him slightly. It seemed to bring some half formed memory that his mind pushed back roughly. He shook it off and switched gears.

"So what now? We gonna have ourselves a campout?"

Kate smiled, looking a little relieved to him "maybe.." she answered, bending down to grab his arm gently, "but first we gotta get you cleaned up"

"Baby you know i ain't never ever gonna be clean.." he said with a wink, smiling up at her.

"Don't i ever know it.."she replied sarcastically as she proceeded to pull him to his feet.. "But it's not your mind i'm cleaning thank God"

"Sounds interestin Sassafras" He was still very unsteady, and had to fight off a wave of dizziness as he stood up. Never mind the fact that he still felt very achy and sore. But seemed prepared for this and put her arm around to him to help him walk over to the stream "plannin on washin anywhere interestin?"

She rolled her eyes as she helped him sit down on the edge of the stream"Yeah your hair, it badly needs it"

"Damn" he answered, slightly dissapointed "didn't it get wet enough yesterday with all the rain yesterday?"

"That's not washing Sawyer that's simply getting wet.."

"Besides don't ya need shampoo or somethin?"

Kate rolled her eyes again "Sawyer just stop stalling and lean over please?"

Sawyer looked her questioningly, and with complete seriousness asked "your not plannin on drownin me are ya Freckles?"

"IF i was gonna do that..." she said, not missing a beat "i would've done it when i had you fully immersed in the water..."

"Ouch" he replied, as he bent over and saw her out of the corner of his eye, cup a handful of water and proceed to dump it over his head. The water felt very cold but it seemed to clear whatever fog he had left in his head. She repeated the process until his hair was completly soaked and the proceeded to run her hands through it, scrubbing it a bit. Which he had to amit felt very good as well. She could do wonderful thngs with her hands in more ways than one he found himself thinking, which caused him to think about what he wouldn't mind doing with his own hands as well. Yup, she's right, i'm definatly feelin a whole lot better.

He realized he hadn't given a whole lot of thought to what had happened over the last couple of days, it seemed like he didn't want to dwell or thing about it too much right now. For some reason he couldn't fathom he felt that his time her with her was short and that this stuff could wait another day. He thought it maybe had to do with his old insecurtiies, the fear that there was danger lurking around the corner, and although he right on this occasion, there had been many times when he'd been wrong and blew something up cause he got freaked out. That got him thnking of Sun again, and he found himself pushing that back. It did him no good to dwell on that now. He was here with Kate, and things were, for the time being ok. And she was washing his hair, which he found amusing.

"You enjoy doin this stfuff don'tcha Freckels" he asked her, looking up throuh his wet hair "it's like you get off on it or somethin.."

He saw her smile as finished up 'washing' his hair and simply said "someone has to do it i guess"

Sawyer looked at her, the implication so farily obvious on her part that it stunned him slightly. He wondered how long it had been since he'd had someone to look after his dumb a** and make sure he didn't get himself hurt or killed. No one since his mom died he realized. And this not frightenind him to high degree, but it is also put his mind at ease as well. The girl sitting next to him may be a tiny thing but he began to realize that she was in many ways stronger than he was, and he wasn't sure whether he could live without her now. He found that last though a bit scary and decided to lighten up a bit. Smiling he dunked his hand in the water and splashed her with it when she wasn't looking.

"you bastard" she said, amused as she wiped off the water off her face "i just got dry dammit"

"That was the point sweetcheeks.." he retorted, smiling mischevously "you gonna get me back or what?"

Kate tood the bait and what followed was alot of splashing and goofing around, and Sawyer found his was coming completly back. He had a thought that maybe she had something to do with this, but it was vague and unformed. He didn't want to think too daeeply, he was having way too much fun now. They ended up having a little wrestling match in which he ended up pinning her to the ground a bit, which of course resulted in fooling around of a diferent kind. But as usual Kate came to her senses quikcer than he did.

"I gotta go get something for us to eat" she said looking up at him, out of breath. "So you gotta get off me now"

"And what are ya gonna do if i don't?"

She looked up at him with that fiiestyness in her eyes and simply said "then you'll probably end up knocked out for a couple more hours that's what..."

"Damn your one mean girl sometimes Freckles"

"You better believe it..." she whispered, getting her face maddeningly close "Now get up."

"yes ma'am" he aquiesced and allowed her to get up and grab her shirt and shoes. "And may i ask whats gonna be for dinner?"

"you'll see" she replied, tying her shoes and standing up "there's plenty of game around her to pick from"

Sawyer was perplexed "pardon for askin Wonder Woman but how are you gonna wrangle us up somethin if you ain't got a weapon?"

"I have my ways" she answered simply, "just wait here.."

"where else am i gonna go sweetheart?"

She smiled and turned to go, and for some reason Sawyer found himself nervous about letting her out of his sight. Didn't understand, there seemed to be no immediate danger but he just had stange inkling. He pushed it aside for now, she could after all take care of herself. Stop being such a damn moron his mind chastised him just relax for once. And he tried to do just that, grabbing his shirt throwing it on, and then laying on the cool grass at the edge of the bank he  closed his eyes.

tbc probably tonight..

Dinner turned out to be some kind of animal, Sawyer didn't know what it was, wasn't sure he really wanted to know, and to be honest didn't care. He was that hungry, it had been a few days since he'd anything substantial after all. And it did taste good he had to admit, but then again after having not eaten much over the last 4 days, s**t wrapped in a leaf would've tasted good. She had also come up with some kind of berries that Sawyer looked at suspiciously, causing Kate to get a bit ornery.

"I don't think you have the right be picky right now Sawyer, will you just eat them?" She was getting pissed he could tell by the look she was giving him, which he enjoyed the hell out of "they are ok trust me.."

He decieded to goad her a bit more "are ya sure? Cause the last time i trusted ya like that i ended up in the jungle for about 2 hours, it was not one of my fondest memeories..."

Kate just gave him a sour look "your so dramatic sometimes."

"Well darlin, you try bein all happy go lucky after having to use a ton of those damn leaves.. i'm lucky i didn't bleed to death..."

Kate shook her head and then gave him a hard look "Just eat them, stop bein a pain in the ass.."

"Sorry Freckles, no can do.."

"What you are not gonna eat them?"

"Oh i'll eat em," he said slyly, popping one in his mouth "but i won't stop bein a pain in the ass, it's one of the only things i'm good at.."

"Ain't that the truth.." Kate replied, smiling back at him, while eating some of her own.

"And you love it, admit it.." he replied in that same sly tone..

"actually i just pretend to,"Kate shot back, tossing a berry at him, which he caught in his mouth like a seal i'm actually just using you for sex.. you just annoy me when you talk.."

Sawyer gave a look of mock shock and then with a knowing smile said "somethin i've even better at then..."

"You are definatly all better now"

At Sawyer took a bit of the meat and just winked at her, causing the familar eye roll yet again. And with that that he changed the subject, he was curious about something. Something he realized he'd never asked her before.

"Where'd you learn how to hunt anyways?"

Kate looked up at him, and in a quiet tone replied "my father taught me.."

"Which one?" Sawyer asked, and then mentally kicked himself Dumba** he chastised you need a proofreader for your mouth sometimes idiot. "Sorry" he said, the word sounded unfamilar even though he did mean it.. he realized she was probably the only one ever really apologized to for the most part. He supposed there was a reason for that.

She smiled wearily, not all that offended really he saw and answered, "Sam of course, Wayne wasn't much good for anything more than drinking and hitting women.." The world-weary way she just threw that out there, as if there really wasn't much more to say on the subject, hurt him in some way. He supposed it was cause he'd brought the subject up to begin with. Which caused him to get a little angry at himself as well. But he felt more anger toward the bastard that had hurt her, even though she had denied that he had ever laid a hand on her he knew the son of a b***h had. He ddidn't know how he knew, he just knew. And if i could reach down to hell and pull him up i'd kill him all over again. But she had done a damn fine job of erasing his a**. Girl was a tough cookie.

Kate seemed to want to talk a bit about it though which surprised him, she was about recitent about talking about her past as he was about his own. But he figured maybe she just needed to spill something and she did.

"Sam used to take me hunting all the time, and loved it. Anything to get me out of that house.."

She fiddled with the laces of her shoes and continued "he taught me how to track and to shoot, and how to defend myself, i guess he thought i might need it.."

She ddidn't have elaborate on that too much, the implication was clear. And Sawyer found himself a bit angry at this other dad too, He clearly knew something was wrong in that house, and still let her stay there. And if he ever met this one he'd probably kick his a**. Just to make a point. He opened his mouth to say so but she had a bit more to say.

"Some life huh?" she said in a slightly meloncholy way "we couldn't be more f**ked up if we tried.."

She certainly was right on the money there. And considering all the crazy s**t they'd deakt with lately, it's a wonder they hadn't lost their minds. Sawyer had time to reflect that it was just 1 maybe 2 days ago that they were being held hostage and now they were sitting by a campfire in the middle of the freakin island just chatting like nothing was going on at all but a get together of sorts. It's like neither one of them wanted to bring it all up, they'd rather talk about anything else than what was happening around them. And although he knew that sooner or later they were gonna have to deal with it, he was happy for the moment to just put it aside, regardless of what was going on back at camp right now. Nothing they could really do about that anyways.

"Well.." he said, as cheerfully as he could muster while throwing another stick on the fire "at least we are f**ked up together sweetcheeks.."

Kate looked up at him and smiled, and her face lit up by the fire was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. He watched as she got on her hands and knees and crawled over to where he was sitting with his knees bent. She crawled in between them and placing one hand on each knee pulled herself into a kneeling position. She put one hand on his shoulder and the other somewhre else, and damn if he wasn't acutely aware of where that was, and his own reaction to it. Damn she's good, he thought proudly switches gears better than a stick shift. She was as close to him as she possible could be, and he still hadn't moved his own hands yet.

She brushed her lips over his ever so slightly, and doing some more work with thand down tthere, not that he needed any help there. He could feel her breath tickle across his face and asked in a husky whisper "are you tryin to seduce me Freckles?"

"maybe.." she answered playfully and then pulled away slightly with a look of mock regret "but you don't want me to.."

Sawyer's answer to this was grab her hips and roughly pull her back up against him. With her face a mere breath away from his he growled "I don't recall sayin that..."

Kate smiled "i didn't think so..." and then they closed the remaining distance, locking thier lips together and tasting eachother fully. Kates hands worked the buttons open on his shirt and she suceeeded in pulling it off without breaking the kiss, something Sawyer couldn't do with hers unfortunatly, having to pull away briefly to pull it over her head and toss it aside. "don't lose that" she admonished breathlessly as she worked feverishly at the belt of his jeans "it's the only one i got right now..."

LIfting his head up from her shoulder, where he'd been lavishing some attention he responded "your not lettin me forget that are ya?" And as reached around to undo her bra became aware of a minor problem.. closing his hand hurt quite a bit.. "i might need some help here darlin.."

"you didn't have a problem with it last time.."

"last time i had 2 working hands girl.."

Kate smiled and simply reached around and undid it herself, removing that particular obsatcle. it was tossed aside along with the shirt. "That better?"

"hell yeah it is..but i need help with the pants now too, seein as how i'm handicapped and all."

Kate sighed, and pushing him down his back, not gently either, responeded with "must i do everything around here bucko?"

"Well..." he responded, pulling her down with him, "If you insist..."

And before got too deep within her to make sense, he heard, or thought he heard, the jungle fill wilth whispers, but this time they instilled absolutly no fear whatsover. Cause they really mean us no harm.. was his last real thought.

Kate seeing the slightly bewildered look on his face, pulled up for a second "what's wrong?" she asked, momentarily concerned.

Sawyer, looking up at her face, flushed and beautiful in the moonlight simply said "Absolutly nothin at all..." And pulled her back to him. And for the time being, nothing was wrong, which was in itself a good thing. And they tried to make that last just a little longer if they could..

tbc...