Chapter 1: The Crash
Chapter Text
Kali let out a deep breath, as she attempted to still her leg that had been bobbing up and down for the last few minutes. They had been in the air for six hours now, but it felt like eternity. She hated fearing something as stupid as flying. She looked to her side as she saw the man sitting next to her had managed to flirt his way into getting some small bottles of vodka.
"Are you going to drink all those?" She questioned, as he turned to her and shook his head after a moment.
Before he could say anything else, she had taken one of the bottles from his lap and within mere seconds had downed the contents. She let out a steadier breath, hoping the alcohol would calm her nerves.
"Gorgeous but an alcoholic…there's always baggage these days" The blond man next to her mumbled.
"I've never flown before" She admitted, not liking the thought of some stranger thinking she was a drunk.
"You don't sound like you come from Australia" The man frowned, noting her English accent.
"I won a cruise to Australia, but I missed my boat. This seemed like the only option…does the air usually seem so stuffy on these?" She queried, squirming a little.
"I think I would have preferred you to have been an alcoholic" He exclaimed.
"Oh, well I'm more than happy to oblige" She replied, as she went to grab another bottle.
"Are you even old enough to drink?" He questioned, holding the bottle away from her.
"I'm almost twenty" She retorted, going to grab the drink again.
"Well this is an Oceanic airline…so that would be a no" The blonde grinned at her, obviously enjoying himself.
"You don't strike me as someone who cares much about the rules" She suggested, giving up trying to get the bottle, as his arms were far longer.
"Are you flirting with me?" The blond's grin widened.
"Maybe in your dreams" She shrugged, sweetly.
Suddenly the plane jerked so hard that Kali almost bashed into the man next to her, who didn't seem too bothered. There was an announcement to put their seatbelts on, which Kali had done the moment she had entered the plane, but she still tugged onto it to make sure it was still tight.
"It's just turbulence," The man told her.
"Right…yeah, totally normal" Kali nodded to herself, as the plan continued to jerk, starting to concern the other passengers.
"Because I'm feeling generous…" He trailed off and passed her the bottle she had been after.
"Well aren't you a gentleman?" She teased.
Before she could even think about opening the bottle, the plane jerked even harder and Kali saw someone a few isles ahead get flung into the air and was mostly likely dead. She let out a scream as she could feel that they were going down. The oxygen masks fell down in front of them, as Kali scrambled to put hers on as she was too short to reach without taking off her seatbelt. The man next to her grabbed hers and placed it in her hands, and she tied it around her face as quickly as she could. They heard a bang from behind them, as Kali looked back and could see the back of the plane was gone. Completely gone. People were getting sucked out of the plane. She gave the blond next to her a terrified look before everything went black.
Her hearing was the first thing that can back, as she could hear shouts and screams from all around her. Then she realised that she was upside down as she could feel her arms were dangling down. She slowly began to open her eyes, coughing through the fumes that surrounded her. She realised that she was still attached to her seatbelt and began fumbling to take it off. She fell to the ground with a bang and groaned as she sat herself upright. She looked at her limbs for any injuries and realised that she had a large cut across her left leg that she hadn't even registered. She then freaked out when her sight in one of her eyes began to blur but realised that it was due to a liquid dropping onto her eyelid. She rubbed at it with the back of her hand and realised that it was blood. Her blood. She cautiously pushed herself upright, finding herself to be dizzy, but she was able to stand. It was then that she realised that the man that had been sitting next to her was unconscious, not to mention upside down. She grabbed a suitcase and stood on top if it, and then quickly unbuckled his seatbelt. She tried to support his body as he fell, but he was much bigger than her. She dragged him out of the wreckage, suddenly realising where they were. A beach. Not giving it anymore thought, she crouched beside the man and checked his pulse, which was still beating. She then held the side of her face close to his mouth and felt his chest.
"Shit…not breathing" She mumbled, as she quickly pushed him onto his side.
Before she could get him into the recovery position, he was throwing up, as she guessed that was why he hadn't been breathing. His eyes began to flicker open, as he tried to sit up, but she pushed him back down.
"You need to stay on your side…catch your breath" She told him.
"I guess…I guess it wasn't just turbulence" He stated, as she let out a small laugh.
"What's your name?" She questioned, realising she had never asked.
"…Sawyer" He replied, after taking a few seconds.
"My names Kali. Does it hurt anywhere? Does it feel like you hit your head?" She asked him, as he shook his head.
"No…no. I think I just passed out" Sawyer admitted.
"Help! Please help me!" They heard a feminine scream from a few metres away.
Kali lifted her to see a woman clutching her stomach…a very pregnant stomach. She rushed over to her and crouched down in front of the scared woman.
"Help me" She cried, as she gripped onto Kali's arms.
"Is it the baby?" Kali questioned, as the woman frantically nodded.
"I'm having contractions…oh god, I'm not even eight months" The woman sobbed.
"How far apart are they?" Kali inquired.
"I…I don't know, a few just happened" The woman told her.
"How long has it been since you woke up?" She asked.
"Um…maybe 15 minutes" The woman replied.
"Okay, how many contractions is a few?" Kali went on.
"Uh, two I think. Yeah, two" The woman informed her.
"Have your waters broke?" Kali queried.
"No" The woman shook her head.
"Okay…you might not be in labour. But even if you are it looks like really early stages. If the contractions get less than a few minutes apart…that's when we need to worry" Kali explained.
"Do you think my baby's going to be okay?" The woman asked, with pleading eyes.
"I…Just focus on your breathing okay? If this is just you panicking, breathing nice and deep should sort it out, alright? Deep breaths" Kali suggested, avoiding the subject.
"Okay…okay" The woman nodded.
"Let's get you away from this wreckage" Kali said, as she helped her to stand up.
She placed her down beside the man she now knew as Sawyer, who was sitting upright and looked much better than he had ten minutes ago.
"Have you had any more contractions?" Kali asked, as the woman shook her head.
"Okay…are you going to be alright here? I need to see if I can help anyone else" Kali told her.
"You a doctor, or something?" Sawyer inquired.
"Student nurse" Kali answered, as she stood up and searched the area for anyone else who needed help.
She quickly spotted two men on the other side of the wreckage who seemed to be disagreeing with how to do CPR. She was about to walk over to them when someone grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to the ground. Before she could say anything there was a massive explosion, which she was shielded from by a large body that covered her and the pregnant woman.
"Thanks" She mumbled, when she realised that it was Sawyer, who had protected them both from the blast.
He seemed irritated by this and took his muscular arm away from her side. She didn't dwell on this and ran over to the pair who were performing CPR.
"Hey, you need a break?" Kali asked, sitting on the other side of the woman.
"Are you a proper first aider?" The man inquired, giving the blue-eyed man next to him a glare.
"I know first aid, man" The other one insisted.
"Student nurse" She replied, as the man gave her a grateful smile as she got in position to take over.
They continued swapping every few minutes, so that neither of them would get too tired and soon enough the woman came spluttering back to life.
"Deep breaths. Take some deep breaths" He ordered the woman.
"It's okay, your going to be alright" Kali soothed the confused woman.
"Good work…?" The man stated, fishing for a name.
"Kali. And you?" She inquired.
"Jack. Doctor" He responded.
"I should have known from the suit" She joked.
Their attention was quickly brought to a sound from behind them, as they saw that one of the wings of the plane looked like it was about to crash down…onto the pregnant lady and a large man who was trying to help her.
"Oh no" Kali gasped, as Jack began to run over to warn the pair.
She was about to follow him when she spotted a young boy holding a leash, who was far too close to the wing for comfort. She took off in his direction, yelling at him to run but he didn't seem to understand why. Without a second's thought, she picked him up and began to carry him away. They were both pushed to the ground by the force of another explosion due to the wing collapsing.
"Hey, are you okay?" She asked the scared boy.
"Yeah…have you seen my dog?" He questioned, as she laughed.
"Sorry kid. It's not been on my list of priorities" She told him, as she sat up.
"Walt! Oh my God, are you alright?" A man cried, as he ran over and hugged the boy.
"You his dad?" Kali asked, as he nodded after a few seconds.
"Thank you. Thank you so much…I saw him over there, but I couldn't get to him quick enough and then-" Kali cut off the frantic man.
"He's safe now" She insisted.
A little while later, everyone who could be saved had been, and Kali finally allowed herself to sit down on the beach, feeling the adrenaline from the day quickly slipping away. She looked down at her leg and grimaced suddenly feeling the pain much more. She split open her trousers and sighed when she realised why that was. She had a bit of glass lodged into her leg, it was only small but every time she moved it hurt.
"That looks nasty" A voice boomed from above her.
She squinted as she looked up to see it was Sawyer, who she hadn't even heard approach her.
"Do you still have that bottle from earlier?" Kali queried.
"I thought you weren't an alcoholic" He replied.
"I thought you were trying to be a gentleman?" She retorted, the bottle being lowered to her eyesight a few seconds later.
She took the bottle from his hand and opened it up, pouring a little onto her hands and then some more onto the wound on her leg. She couldn't stop the hiss that left her mouth, finding it hurt more than she had expected. Sawyer had sat down next to her as he watched her clear away the dried blood on her leg to get a better look at the glass.
"I don't suppose you have a bandage as well?" Kali questioned.
"No…but I can improvise" Sawyer exclaimed, as he ripped off one of the sleeves of his long top.
"I don't know if it's really my colour" She laughed, as she took the cloth from him and wet it in the alcohol.
"Maybe you should get the doctor to…" Sawyer trailed off, as she suddenly ripped the glass out of her leg.
"Jesus…" She mumbled, as she quickly placed the cloth over her thigh and began tying it around.
"Well aren't you brave, lifesaver?" Sawyer said, an impressed tone to his voice.
"Oh right, because all girls faint at the sight of blood?" Kali responded, raising an eyebrow.
Before Sawyer could say anything, they heard a gasp from in front of them, as the large man from before held what looked like food in his hand. Without warning, he dropped to the ground, face first, most likely having seen the whole thing.
"Well that's just embarrassing" Kali grimaced, as she pushed the man onto his side.
"Case and point" Sawyer grinned.
Kali had stayed with the man until he woke up, about ten minutes later, while Sawyer had wandered off down the beach.
"Wow, you really just fell down like a sack of potatoes" Kali laughed.
"Is that a joke about my weight?" The man rolled his eyes.
In response, Kali held up the dish she had been eating, which contained a large amount of potatoes and raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry…is your leg…okay?" He asked.
"It's still attached, don't worry. What's your name?" Kali queried.
"Hurley. You?" He replied, holding out his hand for her to shake.
"Kali…thanks for the food by the way" Kali smiled at him.
"No problem, man. Just maybe do that…stuff in private" Hurley advised, as Kali nodded, trying not the laugh.
The smile on her face quickly died when they heard a horrific clanging sound from the forest, which made Kali almost jump out of her skin.
"What the hell was…?" She cut herself off, when there was another clanging sound.
She looked towards the forest and saw that numerous trees were being pushed over, as if there was some invisible giant standing on them.
"Should we be running?" Kali suggested, as they all heard a large horn blare.
"I think…I think we're alright on the beach" Hurley mumbled, seeing as the trees nearest the beach seemed unaffected.
"You better hope so, because there's no chance you could outrun it" Sawyer announced, coming up from behind them.
Hurley glared at Sawyer before walking towards the pregnant woman that Kali now knew was Claire. She could tell Hurley was still worried about her, he seemed to feel partly responsible for what happened to Claire now.
"Rude, much?" Kali scolded.
"I just speak the truth, sweetheart" Sawyer shrugged, as the clanging continued.
"What do you think it is out there?" She questioned.
"Maybe an animal" He responded.
"I don't know where you've been living, but I've never heard an animal sound like it" She exclaimed, a worried look on her face.
The next morning, everyone was questioning what was in the forest, but it was clear that they weren't going to be able to figure it out without investigating. She had heard that Jack was collecting people to go search for the cockpit to get a transceiver and offered to tag along.
"No. No way" Jack shook his head.
"Oh c'mon, why not?" She whined.
"You have an injured leg, we need you here to look after the injured and…you're too young" Jack retorted.
"There it is" She rolled her eyes, knowing that was the real reason.
"It's dangerous…whatever was in the forest last night might still be there" A woman with brown hair and freckles pointed out.
"All the more reason for me to come. Safety in numbers" Kali insisted.
"It's non-negotiable" Jack told her, as Kali sighed.
"Hey, maybe when your leg is better?" The woman from before smiled at her.
"You think we're going to be here that long?" Kali frowned.
"I hope not" The woman mumbled, but Kali could tell it wasn't quite true.
"What's your name?" Kali asked.
"Kate…your Kali, right? The nurse?" Kate inquired.
"Student nurse. Emphasis on the student" Kali replied.
"Um, if the guy in the suit wakes up…just…never mind" Kate shook her head, before walking away.
Kali looked over at the man in question, who had a piece of shrapnel jammed into his stomach and frowned. She wondered why Kate seemed to care about him? A vague memory of seeing them sitting together on the plane hit her. Maybe they were friends, she thought to herself.
Later that day, Kali was staring out into the ocean, wondering why no rescue team had shown up yet. She had noticed that there had been no planes, no boats, no sign of life had passed by them. It was strange. Her attention was grabbed when she saw Hurley running towards something, as she called after him.
"Hey, what's going on?" She asked.
"Your friend and Sayid are fighting" Hurley panted.
"My friend?" Kali frowned, as she realised who he meant.
"Stop it! Stop it!" She shouted, when she saw the pair brawling on the sand.
Neither of them gave her a second glance, as she groaned and went to take a step forward.
"Don't get in the middle of this, kid" Walt's dad, that she now knew as Michael warned her.
"Thanks, but I can handle myself" She retorted, to his condescending tone.
"Cut it out!" She yelled, as she picked up a large wad of sand and threw it into the men's faces.
"Jesus, what the hell?" Sawyer groaned, as he rubbed his eyes.
"Why did you do that?" The other man, who she guessed was Sayid exclaimed.
"To try and knock some sense into you idiots" Kali remarked.
"I'm sick of this redneck!" Sayid shouted, about to leap back onto Sawyer.
"Hey! Don't even try it!" Kali told him, as he got up into her personal space.
"What the hell is going on?!" A voice suddenly yelled.
They all turned to see Jack standing there, the others from his group all looking dishevelled.
"Yes, why don't you tell them, redneck?" Sayid insisted, throwing his hand in the air and almost hitting Kali.
"You want some more of me, boy?" Sawyer goaded.
This seemed to set Sayid off as he leapt forward about to hit Sawyer, but Kali pushed him backwards. He glared at her angrily, having to restrain himself from retaliating.
"Are you really going to hit a kid?" Jack exclaimed, standing in front of her.
"I'm an adult, jackass" Kali groaned.
"Nice" Sawyer mumbled, at the nickname.
"Thanks, I thought it was pretty good" Kali grinned at him.
"You turned nineteen a week ago, you can't even buy a drink yet" Jack pointed out.
"You said you were almost 20" Sawyer said, raising an eyebrow.
"What's eleven months difference?" She shrugged.
"If we could get back to the incident at hand…what were you fighting about?" Jack queried.
"He thinks I crashed the plane" Sayid announced.
"If the shoe fits buddy" Sawyer glared.
"Look, my kid found this in the jungle" Michael informed them, holding out some handcuffs.
"And this guy was sitting in the back row of business class the whole flight. Never got up. Hands folded underneath a blanket. And for some reason, just pointing this out, the guy next to him didn't make it" Sawyer explained, as Kali held onto his arm to stop him from going for Sayid again.
"Thank you so much for observing my behaviour" Sayid commented, which Kali found a little funny.
"You don't think I saw them pull you out of line before we boarded?" Sawyer questioned.
"That's enough!" Kali insisted, getting in between the pair once again.
"He could just be crossing the damn street and be pulled out of line, that's racism not suspicious behaviour. And you need to calm down" Kali explained, as both men put their hands up.
"She's right. Look, we found the transceiver but it's not working. Can anybody help?" Kate asked.
"…Yes. I might be able to" Sayid offered.
"Oh great. Perfect. Let's trust this guy" Sawyer yelled.
"Hey, we're all in this together man. Let's treat each other with a little respect" Hurley suggested.
"Shut up, lardo" Sawyer mocked.
"Seriously? Are you trying to alienate everyone?" Kali questioned.
"Whatever, lifesaver. Put your trust in that guy, see where it gets you" Sawyer told her.
"Your friend is one serious hothead" Hurley stated.
"He's just the guy I was sitting to on the plane…he's not my friend" Kali replied.
"Oh…huh. I thought you guys had known each other for a while" Hurley admitted, as this seemed to surprise the rest of the group too.
Chapter 2: Day One
Chapter Text
Kali soon heard that Sayid and Kate were planning to go on a hike to higher ground to try to get the transceiver working and hoped they would allow her to join. She wasn't nearly as desperate as the others to get back to civilisation, but there was something about the island that unnerved her. It felt wrong somehow.
"Hey, let's get going" Kali announced, as she walked up to the pair, a rucksack that she had packed a few minutes before on her back.
"It's nice of you to offer-" Kate started, but Kali cut her off.
"What if something happens to one of you on the hike? You fall, break your leg? Are you going to know what to do? No. I'm coming" Kali insisted.
"What about your own leg?" Sayid questioned, looking at the makeshift bandage that was still over her thigh.
"It's just a scratch" She dismissed.
"It's going to be dangerous…there are things out there" Kate went on.
"Look, there is a guy here who is going to die soon enough if he doesn't get to a hospital. And I'm pretty sure that tally is going to start to rise. I don't want to see that happen" Kali explained.
"…Alright, but if we tell you to run. You run" Kate told her, as she nodded.
"Um, I'm sorry about earlier by the way. It wasn't personal" Kali informed Sayid.
"Maybe I was being a little rash" Sayid confessed.
"Truce?" Kali asked, holding out her hand.
"Yes. Truce" Sayid agreed, shaking her hand.
"I'd like to come with you" A feminine voice announced from behind them.
"She's not going. She doesn't want to go" The blue-eyed man from the day before argued.
"The hell I'm not" She retorted.
"This is what she does. She makes really bad decisions to mess with her family, which at the moment is me" The man exclaimed.
"Shut up and stop trying to be charming. I'm coming with you" The blonde spat out.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea" Kate stated.
"What are you, two years older than me? And you're letting this girl go? She's younger than me!" The blonde insisted.
"I have a name...and thank you for pointing out something that no one was aware of" Kali rolled her eyes, making Sayid snigger a little.
"You're going, aren't you?" The blonde asked another man who had suddenly turned up.
"Yep. Are you?" The man with an English accent replied.
"Yep" The blonde told him.
"Yeah, I'm definitely going" The man grinned.
"Look everyone can come, but we're leaving now" Kate pointed out, as she walked away.
"You couldn't tell from that but she's actually really nice" The English man suggested.
"Thank God I'm not the only English person on this island" Kali grinned.
"These Americans can get a bit much sometimes, can't they?" The man joked, making Kali laugh.
"I'm Kali, what's your name?" Kali queried.
"Charlie. You might have heard of me? I was in Drive Shaft" He exclaimed.
"Right…is that some sort of group?" Kali frowned.
"It's a band. Pretty famous actually" Charlie insisted.
"And I'm Boone, by the way. Nice to meet you" The blue-eyed man informed her.
"The lifeguard, right?" Kali suggested.
"Yeah…not that Jack seems to think much of that" Boone mumbled.
"Well, trying to do CPR is better than doing nothing at all. Doctors are just a little bit…dramatic. You'll get used to it" Kali told him.
Sawyer saw her and the rest of the group walking off towards the jungle and put the letter that he had been looking over for the past ten minutes back into his pocket. He noticed how Kali was already slightly limping and couldn't see how she was going to make it all the way up the mountain. With a sigh, he got up and began to follow them.
"The Doc's gonna' be awful mad when he hears you've gone on this hike" Sawyer announced, as he caught up with her.
"Right, and I suppose that's why you're joining us? So you don't want to have to deal with his fury?" Kali suggested.
"Maybe…I'm a complex guy, sweetheart" Sawyer replied.
"Hey, wait up! Look, I'm sorry about before. We're all just stressed, I didn't mean to get mad at you" She told him.
"You didn't do anything wrong" He pointed out.
"I know that, but you're never going to apologise, are you? So, I thought I'd take the first step. Be the mature one" She explained.
"What makes you think I wasn't just about to apologise?" Sawyer retorted.
"Were you?" She asked.
"Guess we'll never know now" He grinned at her, as she laughed.
"You're a dick...but you're ok, Sawyer" She told him, a small smile on her face.
The climb up the mountains was a lot more difficult than anyone had expected, as the only thing they had to hold onto most of the time were flimsy tree roots. After a couple of hours, Kali's leg was really starting to ache, but she didn't want to slow down the group. They needed to get to the top before it got dark or they would never be able to see where they were going. Sawyer took the lead as he was the tallest in the group and this meant that he was able to reach things the others wouldn't be able to. Kali let out a sigh when she saw that the nearest tree root to her was over a metre above her head and there was no way to reach it without jumping. She looked behind her and gulped when she saw the ominous fall that could soon be greeting her. A moment later, there was a hand near her face, as she looked up to see Sawyer ushering for her to grab onto it.
"C'mon. I won't let you fall" Sawyer told her, more serious than she had ever seen him before.
Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand in his, as he helped pull her up to the tree roots. She was amazed that he was able to hold pretty much her entire weight with just one arm and gave him a grateful nod.
"Show off" She grinned at him, as he gave her a cheeky smile.
Once they made it to flat ground, and the adrenaline of the climb began to wear off, Kali realised just how badly her leg was hurting. She looked down to see that blood had started to seep through the bandage. She didn't want to tell the others, it would just show that they were right not to want her to come. However, Sawyer had noticed her beginning to slow down and how much worse her limp had gotten. He guessed she was too stubborn to say anything.
"Okay, wide open space. We should check the radio, see if we're good" Sawyer suggested, thinking it was the best way to get them to stop.
"We're not going to get any reception out here" Sayid responded, and continued walking.
"Just try it" Sawyer exclaimed.
"Sawyer, it's fine" Kali told him, as she guessed why he wanted to stop.
"I don't want to waste the batteries" Sayid reasoned.
"I'm not asking you to keep it on all day" Sawyer pointed out.
"We're still blocked by the mountain" Sayid explained.
"Just check the damn radio!" Sawyer insisted.
"If I just check we might not have any juice left-" Sayid yelled but was cut off by a roar.
"Oh my God" Shannon squealed, as they heard a rustling from the bushes.
"What the hell's that?" Boone gulped.
"Something's coming" Kate mumbled.
"It's coming towards us, I think" Charlie pointed out, as they could hear it getting closer.
"Okay, let's run. Let's go!" Kali shouted, as she gestured for everyone to run in the opposite direction.
"I shouldn't have come on this" Shannon cried, and began to scream as Boone grabbed her.
Kali was about to follow her when she realised that Sawyer hadn't moved.
"What are you doing? We need to go!" Kali exclaimed.
"I've got this" Sawyer replied, as he suddenly pulled out a gun from the waistband of his jeans.
"We don't know what that thing is. You're going to get yourself killed!" Kali told him, grabbing his arm and trying to make him leave.
"I'm not running…You should go" He informed her and raised the gun.
"Well with Shannon screaming like that…I expect it will probably just pass us and chase after her" Kali gulped, as she could see it was close now.
Sawyer began to fire a few shots at the oncoming creature but was completely missing. Once the creature was only a few hundred metres away, Kali suddenly grabbed the gun from him and shot the creature head-on, as it dropped to the ground, only a few metres away. Sawyer stared at her in shock, surprised that she knew how to handle a gun so well.
"That's…that's a big bear" Shannon stated, as the others came back.
"That can't be a polar bear" Boone shook his head.
"It's a polar bear" Sayid and Kate both said at the same time.
"Yeah, but...Polar bears don't usually live in the jungle" Shannon stated.
"Spot on" Charlie mumbled, sarcastically.
"Surely this climate is too hot for it to survive in for long" Kali suggested.
"Exactly, polar bears don't live near this far south" Sayid pointed out.
"This one does" Boone frowned.
"Did. It did" Sawyer smirked.
"Where did that come from?" Kate questioned, gesturing to the gun that Kali was still holding.
"Probably Bear Village. How the hell do I know?" Sawyer argued, even though he knew what she meant.
"Not the bear. The gun" Kate rolled her eyes.
"I got it off one of the bodies" Sawyer replied.
"People don't carry guns on planes" Shannon stated.
"They do if they're a US Marshal, sweet cheeks. There was one on the plane" Sawyer informed them.
"How do you know that?" Kate asked.
"I saw a guy lying there with an ankle holster, so I took the gun. I thought it might come in handy. Guess what? I just shot a bear!" Sawyer exclaimed.
"Well I was the one who killed it…but now is probably not the time…" Kali trailed off, when everyone gave her a look.
"So why do you think he's a Marshal?" Kate questioned Sawyer.
"Because he had a clip-on badge. I took that too. Thought it was cool" Sawyer added, holding it up as proof.
"I know who you are. You're the prisoner" Sayid announced.
"I'm the what?" Sawyer frowned.
"You found a gun on a US Marshal. Yes, I believe you did. You knew where it was, because you were the one he was bringing back to the States. Those handcuffs were on you. That's how you knew there was a gun" Sayid explained, as Kali noticed Kate turned away from the conversation.
"Piss off" Sawyer shouted.
"That's who you are, you son of a bitch" Sayid growled.
"Can you two stop fighting for two seconds?" Kali rolled her eyes, but neither listened to her.
"Be as suspicious of me as I am of you" Sawyer told him.
"But you are the prisoner" Sayid insisted.
"Fine! I'm the criminal. You're the terrorist. We can all play a part" Sawyer mocked.
"Alright, that's enough! Look, I know none of us knows each other, and we all have our guard up. But this isn't helping. We don't even know if the US Marshal actually had a prisoner, do we?" Kali pointed out to Sayid.
"The handcuffs-" Sayid started, but she cut him off.
"Weren't found on anyone, were they? He's going to be carrying them around even if he doesn't have a prisoner. And you need to stop being a racist asshole, Sawyer. You're just proving him right and making yourself look more suspicious" Kali insisted to Sawyer.
"Yes, Ma'am. You're the one with the gun now" Sawyer said, giving her a mock salute.
Kali then proceeded to release the magazine and the round that was still in the chamber, as Sawyer raised an eyebrow at this.
"Where did you learn to do that?" He couldn't help but ask.
"…My brother taught me" She replied, as she handed Sayid the magazine and round, and gave the gun back to Sawyer.
"Right, now if we need to use the gun, you two chuckleheads are actually going to have to work together" Kali gave them a grin.
As the others began to walk off, Kali came up beside Sawyer as he was placing the gun back into his waistband.
"Aren't you going to thank me?" She asked.
"For disarming me? Unlikely" He huffed.
"For saving your life" Kali pointed out.
"I had it" Sawyer mumbled.
"Well, I guess we'll never know now" Kali smirked, repeating the same words he had said earlier, making him smile lightly.
Soon enough they were able to get to higher ground, and Sayid decided to turn the radio on. To everyone's relief, he was able to get a bar. However, their joy was short-lived when Shannon listened to a transmission that the radio picked up. Sayid counted to the amount of times it had been playing, and to Kali's horror, it had been 16 years. How could someone go missing for that long, she wondered.
"It's getting dark" Boone stated, as they continued down the mountain.
"Then pick up the pace" Sawyer retorted.
"Hick" Boone mumbled, thinking that Sawyer wouldn't hear him.
"Little louder?" Sawyer dared him, as Kali got in between them.
"Please don't you start too" Kali grumbled at Boone.
"We should make camp" Sayid suggested.
"What, here?" Shannon questioned, grimacing at their grassy surroundings.
"Yes, here" Sayid replied.
"I'm not stopping. Y'all have a nice cookout" Sawyer called back.
"Excellent, walk through the jungle in the dark" Sayid warned him.
"Oooo, afraid the trees are going to get us?" Sawyer mocked him.
"No, what is knocking down the trees will get you" Sayid pointed out.
"Or any wild animal that decides he wants to try some Southern delicacy" Kali added.
"Well, if you're so worried about me, how about you give me the clip back?" Sawyer inquired, pulling out his gun.
"If you use that thing in the dark all you're going to do is shoot yourself in the foot" Kali stated, raising an eyebrow.
"Kali's right, if you keep walking you're not going to make it to the beach," Kate told him.
"Yeah, why's that?" Sawyer asked, as Kali noticed Charlie look away.
"…Trust me" Kate sighed, as she informed them exactly what had happened when she, Jack and Charlie had gone into the forest.
Kali shivered lightly, as she looked into the fire that they had managed to build, but it wasn't because of the cold. Knowing that there was a humongous unseen creature strolling around the jungle was enough to put anyone on edge. She jumped when Sayid stood up suddenly and held up a branch that he lit on fire.
"This is Australia…This is us" Sayid began, indicating to a nearby rock and then the stick.
"Nice stick" Sawyer mumbled, as Kali nudged him with a roll of her eyes.
"Two days ago we took off from Sydney. We fly along the same northeast route every commercial airliner bound for Los Angeles does. Now the pilot, he said he lost communication with the ground, correct?" Sayid asked.
"Yeah, 6 hours in. He turned around and headed for Fiji" Kate answered.
"So, we changed course. Regrettably, no one knew we changed course. The turbulence hit. We know the rest" Sayid explained, as he extinguished the torch.
"But what was that turbulence? Why did we lose communication? Is that connected or just a coincidence?" Kali insisted.
"I don't believe in coincidence" Kate mumbled.
"They'll find us thought, right? They have satellites in space that can take pictures of your license plate" Charlie theorised.
"If only we were all wearing license plates" Sayid pointed out.
"Well, aren't you the pessimist" Charlie grumbled.
"Basic photography - point and shoot. Satellites can shoot, but they must be told where to point" Sayid exclaimed.
"Oh. Bollocks" Charlie frowned.
"Okay, really enjoyed the puppet show. Fantastic. But we're stuck in the middle of damn nowhere. How about we talk about that other thing? You know that transmission Abdul picked up on his little radio? The French chick that said, "They're all dead." The transmission's been on a loop for…how long was it?" Sawyer inquired.
"16 years" Kate replied.
"Right. Let's talk about that" Sawyer insisted.
"How could no one come across this massive island for 16 years? It's impossible" Kali suggested.
"Excellent point, blue eyes" Sawyer stated, as Kali rolled her eyes at yet another nickname.
"Well, we have to tell the others what we heard when we get back" Boone announced.
"You didn't hear anything. I'm not a stupid translator" Shannon argued, doubting her abilities.
"No one's going to tell them anything. To relay what we heard without fully understanding it will cause a panic. If we tell them what we know we take away their hope. And hope is a very dangerous thing to lose" Sayid explained.
"They have a right to know the truth. I'd want to know" Kali frowned.
"Not everyone can handle such a thing" Sayid pointed out.
"So we lie" Kate sighed.
Kali bit her lip, not happy with what had been decided, but she didn't want to alienate herself from the group. She needed to fit in, she couldn't let anyone grow suspicious about her. The group quickly settled down to sleep, but Kali knew there was no point in her even trying. She was too alert, too scared of what could be about to jump out from the shadows. She shivered again, this time from the cold. A moment later she felt something being draped around her shoulders, and looked up to see Sawyer walking away, wordlessly. She couldn't hide the smile on her face, as she brought the blanket over her shoulders.
"Guys…this isn't just a bear. It's a polar bear" Kate realised, as they all frowned.
Chapter Text
"That can't be a polar bear" Boone shook his head.
"It's a polar bear" Sayid and Kate both said at the same time.
"Yeah, but...Polar bears don't usually live in the jungle" Shannon stated.
"Spot on" Charlie mumbled, sarcastically.
"Surely this climate is too hot for it to survive in for long" Kali suggested.
"Exactly, polar bears don't live near this far south" Sayid pointed out.
"This one does" Boone frowned.
"Did. It did" Sawyer smirked.
"Where did that come from?" Kate questioned, gesturing to the gun that Kali was still holding.
"Probably Bear Village. How the hell do I know?" Sawyer argued, even though he knew what she meant.
"Not the bear. The gun" Kate rolled her eyes.
"I got if off one of the bodies" Sawyer replied.
"People don't carry guns on planes" Shannon stated.
"They do if they're a US Marshal, sweet cheeks. There was one on the plane" Sawyer informed them.
"How do you know that?" Kate asked.
"I saw a guy lying there with an ankle holster, so I took the gun. I thought it might come in handy. Guess what? I just shot a bear!" Sawyer exclaimed.
"Well I was the one who killed it…but now is probably not the time…" Kali trailed off, when everyone gave her a look.
"So why do you think he's a Marshal?" Kate questioned Sawyer.
"Because he had a clip-on badge. I took that too. Thought it was cool" Sawyer added, holding it up as proof.
"I know who you are. You're the prisoner" Sayid announced.
"I'm the what?" Sawyer frowned.
"You found a gun on a US Marshal. Yes, I believe you did. You knew where it was, because you were the one he was bringing back to the States. Those handcuffs were on you. That's how you knew there was a gun" Sayid explained, as Kali noticed Kate turned away from the conversation.
"Piss off" Sawyer shouted.
"That's who you are, you son of a bitch" Sayid growled.
"Can you two stop fighting for two seconds?" Kali rolled her eyes, but neither listened to her.
"Be as suspicious of me as I am of you" Sawyer told him.
"But you are the prisoner" Sayid insisted.
"Fine! I'm the criminal. You're the terrorist. We can all play a part" Sawyer mocked.
"Alright, that's enough! Look, I know none of us know each other, and we all have our guard up. But this isn't helping. We don't even know if the US Marshal actually a prisoner had, do we?" Kali pointed out to Sayid.
"The handcuffs-" Sayid started, but she cut him off.
"Weren't found on anyone, were they? He's going to be carrying them around even if he doesn't have a prisoner. And you need to stop being racist asshole, Sawyer. You're just proving him right and making yourself look more suspicious" Kali insisted to Sawyer.
"Yes, Ma'am. You're the one with the gun now" Sawyer said, giving her a mock salute.
Kali then proceeded to release the magazine and the round that was still in the chamber, as Sawyer raised an eyebrow at this.
"Where did you learn to do that?" He couldn't help but ask.
"…My brother taught me" She replied, as she handed Sayid the magazine and round, and gave the gun back to Sawyer.
"Right, now if we need to use the gun, you two chuckleheads are actually going to have to work together" Kali gave them a grin.
As the others began to walk off, Kali came up beside Sawyer as he was placing the gun back into his waistband.
"Aren't you going to thank me?" She asked.
"For disarming me? Unlikely" He huffed.
"For saving your life" Kali pointed out.
"I had it" Sawyer mumbled.
"Well I guess we'll never know now" Kali smirked, repeating the same words he had said earlier, making him smile lightly.
Soon enough they were able to get to higher ground, and Sayid decided to turn the radio on. To everyone's relief he was able to get a bar. However, their joy was short lived when Shannon listened to a transmission that the radio picked up. Sayid counted to the amount of times it had been playing, and to Kali's horror, it had been 16 years. How could someone go missing for that long, she wondered.
"It's getting dark" Boone stated, as they continued down the mountain.
"Then pick up the pace" Sawyer retorted.
"Hick" Boone mumbled, thinking that Sawyer wouldn't hear him.
"Little louder?" Sawyer dared him, as Kali got in between them.
"Please don't you start too" Kali grumbled at Boone.
"We should make camp" Sayid suggested.
"What, here?" Shannon questioned, grimacing at their grassy surroundings.
"Yes, here" Sayid replied.
"I'm not stopping. Y'all have a nice cookout" Sawyer called back.
"Excellent, walk through the jungle in the dark" Sayid warned him.
"Oooo, afraid the trees are going to get us?" Sawyer mocked him.
"No, what is knocking down the trees will get you" Sayid pointed out.
"Or any wild animal that decides he wants to try some Southern delicacy" Kali added.
"Well, if you're so worried about me, how about you give me the clip back?" Sawyer inquired, pulling out his gun.
"If you use that thing in the dark all you're going to do is shoot yourself in the foot" Kali stated, raising an eyebrow.
"Kali's right, if you keep walking you're not going to make it to the beach" Kate told him.
"Yeah, why's that?" Sawyer asked, as Kali noticed Charlie look away.
"…Trust me" Kate sighed, as she informed them exactly what had happened when she, Jack and Charlie had gone into the forest.
Kali shivered lightly, as she looked into the fire that they had managed to build, but it wasn't because of the cold. Knowing that there was a humongous unseen creature strolling around the jungle was enough to put anyone on edge. She jumped when Sayid stood up suddenly and held up a branch that he lit on fire.
"This is Australia…This is us" Sayid began, indicating to a nearby rock and then the stick.
"Nice stick" Sawyer mumbled, as Kali nudged him with a roll of her eyes.
"Two days ago we take off from Sydney. We fly along the same north east route every commercial airliner bound for Los Angeles does. Now the pilot, he said he lost communication with the ground, correct?" Sayid asked.
"Yeah, 6 hours in. He turned around and headed for Fiji" Kate answered.
"So, we changed course. Regrettably, no one knew we changed course. The turbulence hit. We know the rest" Sayid explained, as he extinguished the torch.
"But what was that turbulence? Why did we lose communication? Is that connected or just a coincidence?" Kali insisted.
"I don't believe in coincidence" Kate mumbled.
"They'll find us thought, right? They have satellites in space that can take pictures of your license plate" Charlie theorised.
"If only we were all wearing license plates" Sayid pointed out.
"Well, aren't you the pessimist" Charlie grumbled.
"Basic photography - point and shoot. Satellites can shoot, but they must be told where to point" Sayid exclaimed.
"Oh. Bollocks" Charlie frowned.
"Okay, really enjoyed the puppet show. Fantastic. But we're stuck in the middle of damn nowhere. How about we talk about that other thing? You know that transmission Abdul picked up on his little radio? The French chick that said, "They're all dead." The transmission's been on a loop for…how long was it?" Sawyer inquired.
"16 years" Kate replied.
"Right. Let's talk about that" Sawyer insisted.
"How could no one come across this massive island for 16 years? It's impossible" Kali suggested.
"Excellent point, blue eyes" Sawyer stated, as Kali rolled her eyes at yet another nickname.
"Well, we have to tell the others what we heard when we get back" Boone announced.
"You didn't hear anything. I'm not a stupid translator" Shannon argued, doubting her abilities.
"No one's going to tell them anything. To relay what we heard without fully understanding it will cause a panic. If we tell them what we know we take away their hope. And hope is a very dangerous thing to lose" Sayid explained.
"They have a right to know the truth. I'd want to know" Kali frowned.
"Not everyone can handle such a thing" Sayid pointed out.
"So we lie" Kate sighed.
Kali bit her lip, not happy with what had been decided, but she didn't want to alienate herself from the group. She needed to fit in, she couldn't let anyone grow suspicious about her. The group quickly settled down to sleep, but Kali knew there was no point in her even trying. She was too alert, too scared of what could be about to jump out from the shadows. She shivered again, this time from the cold. A moment later she felt something being draped around her shoulders, and looked up to see Sawyer walking away, wordlessly. She couldn't hide the smile on her face, as she brought the blanket over her shoulders.
"What are you doing?" Kali heard a shout from nearby, as she shot up from where she had been sleeping.
She rubbed her eyes as she saw Boone was standing there holding the gun, with an angry looking Sayid.
"Standing guard. You heard what they said is out there" Boone pointed out.
"You took my gun off me, boy?" Sawyer growled.
"Please, you've never even held a gun. He doesn't believe in guns. He's goes on marches" Shannon mocked him.
"I don't go on marches" Boone retorted.
"Give it back to me" Sayid insisted.
"Yeah, give it to Al Jazeera, he'll protect us" Sawyer argued.
"Al Jazeera is a network" Charlie mumbled.
"I'll keep the damn gun" Boone told them.
"We should give it to her" Shannon suggested, ushering over to Kali.
"What, me?" Kali frowned.
"Yeah, Kali should hold the gun" Charlie nodded.
"Um, no thanks" Kali retorted.
"You know how to use it, which makes you more qualified than Boone. Your less likely to kill us all than, Sawyer. And everyone thinks you're more trustworthy than me-" Sayid explained.
"Don't I get a say in this? I don't want it…we should give it to Kate. I trust her" Kali exclaimed.
"Fine with me" Sayid shrugged, as Boone reluctantly handed over the gun.
"Now can we all get back to sleep" Kali rolled her eyes, as she settled back down to sleep.
If they knew who she was they wouldn't want her anyone near the gun. The damn irony, she thought to herself. She noticed Sawyer staring at her and hoped that he didn't find her insistence strange.
"Why did you suggest I have the gun?" Kate cornered her when they got back to camp.
"You seem like a smart woman" Kali shrugged.
"Smart enough to know that's bullshit" Kate replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you really want me to say it?" Kali sighed.
"Say what?" Kate frowned.
"I know that you were the one the Marshall was escorting…and I know that you've done something terrible. I reckon probably killed someone" Kali whispered.
"I don't know-" Kate started, but Kali cut her off.
"I'm smart enough to know bullshit too, Kate. Look, I'm not going to tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me" Kali explained.
"I don't understand, why would you want me to have a gun if you know…who I am?" Kate questioned.
"Because it means that you won't be afraid to use it. Sawyer's a loose cannon, Sayid will probably shoot Sawyer, Boone would shoot himself in the foot, Shannon would just drop it and run, and Charlie…he's too twitchy" Kali went on.
"Then why not you?" Kate queried.
"…I don't like guns" Kali mumbled.
"You seem to know how to use them" Kate pointed out.
"Why do you think I don't like them?" Kali said, raising an eyebrow.
"…Well, thank you. For keeping this a secret" Kate replied.
"No problem" Kali shrugged, as she started to walk away.
"Making friends, blue eyes?" She heard a familiar voice a few seconds later.
"Is that name going to stick?" Kali questioned.
"It's the front runner" Sawyer smirked, as he came up beside her.
"Maybe you should try making some friends…you never know, you might like it" Kali mocked.
"Sounds boring" Sawyer responded, as suddenly a downpour of rain began.
"Shit" Kali grumbled, as she ran for cover under some nearby tarp.
Sawyer followed close behind her, but they were both soaking wet by the time they were under cover. Kali quickly allowed her eyes to roam over Sawyer's muscular frame that was on show due to his shirt clinging to his body but forced her eyes away when he looked over at her.
"You know I can't put my finger on it…why you were so adamant about not having that gun" Sawyer couldn't help but say a moment later.
"It's a lot of responsibility" Kali dismissed.
"You said your brother taught you how to use a gun…you got some bad memories that come with that, huh?" Sawyer tried to dig deeper.
"That's none of your business" Kali retorted.
"Just making conversation" Sawyer mumbled, as he went to walk off.
"…I got shot. That's why I don't like guns" Kali exclaimed, as he stopped in his tracks.
"Who shot you?" Sawyer asked.
"You're not getting that out of me" Kali told him.
"Alright, story for another day" Sawyer suggested, as they drifted into a comfortable silence.
Kali cringed as she heard another agonising cry from the US Marshall who they all knew was slowly dying. She could see Kate not far away looking into the fire intently, obviously trying to ignore the screams. The only reason the man was there was because of Kate, and they both knew it.
"You must be happy to have given the gun to her now. We all knows what's got to be done, and the only one who can do it is the one with the gun" Sawyer announced, from where he was sat beside her.
"There are other ways to kill people than with a gun" Kali suggested, as Sawyer raised an eyebrow.
"Well aren't you cheery tonight" Sawyer stated.
"Those cries aren't getting to you?" Kali responded.
"Nothing I can do about them" Sawyer shrugged, as they both noticed Kate walking over to them.
"Can I talk to you? Alone?" Kate questioned, indicating to Sawyer.
"…Fine, fine. I'll take the spot at your fire" Kali sighed, as she stood up and began to walk away, curious about what Kate wanted to talk about, but she was too tired to put up a fight.
Her eyes shot open when she heard a deafening gun shot and realised at some point she must have drifted off to sleep. She was on her feet in an instance, thinking that they might have been under attack.
"What's happened?" Kali shouted at Hurley, who looked as confused as her.
It was then that they both saw Sawyer exiting the tent that the US Marshall had been in, the gun in his hand, as they put two and two together.
"What did you do?" Jack yelled, he sounded so angry that it made Kali jump.
"What you couldn't" Sawyer replied, his voice almost breaking.
"Look, I get where you're coming from being a doctor and all, but he wanted it. Hell, he asked me. So, I don't like it any more than you do, but something had to be done" Sawyer insisted, but it did nothing to quell Jack's anger.
Suddenly they heard a choking sound from the tent, as Kali gasped, realising that the US Marshall was still alive. She rushed past both men and sat down beside the man, who had a gaping wound in his chest.
"You shot him in the chest?" Kali questioned, as Jack rushed in and tried to stop the bleeding.
"I was aiming for his heart" Sawyer mumbled, eyes wide with guilt.
"You missed…You perforated his lung. It'll take hours to bleed out" Jack informed him
"There was…I only had one bullet" Sawyer told him, showing more emotion on his face than Kali had ever seen.
"Get out. Get out!" Jack screamed.
"I didn't…I thought I was helping" Sawyer tried to explain.
"Just go, Sawyer" Kali shook her head, looking away from him.
"If…If I can stop the bleeding…maybe I can create-" Jack started, but Kali cut him off.
"There's no point, Jack. He's suffering. Listen to him" Kali insisted, as the US Marshall grabbed her hand.
"P…Pl…Pl…" He stuttered, blood coming from his mouth.
"How should we…" Jack trailed off.
Kali grabbed the pillow from under the man's head, as Jack realised what she wanted to do.
"I should do it" Jack suggested.
"No. Trust me, you don't want this on your conscience" Kali shook her head.
"And you do?" Jack frowned.
"My conscience hasn't been clean for a long time. Go, you don't want to see this" Kali went on, as Jack reluctantly left the tent.
Sawyer was surprised when he saw Jack leave the tent but could still hear the choking sounds from the US Marshall. His eyes widened when he heard them become muffled a few seconds later, and then stop all together. Kali exited the tent soon after that, a far away look on her face as she started to walk towards the sea. Neither men said anything to her, both too ashamed to even look in her direction.
Things were tense between her and Jack the next day, as he clearly felt guilty about letting her put the US Marshall out of his misery. She understood where he was coming from, but sympathy was a luxury on this island. Most of the camp had assumed that it was Jack who had performed the deed, the idea of the small girl killing someone was too much for them to wrap their heads around. But Sawyer knew. If he hadn't been confused by her before, he sure was now. Kali was clearly upset afterwards, but she didn't act as if she had killed someone. She slept soundly that night. Got up and acted as if it was only Walt's dog that had died, not that she killed someone. Sawyer couldn't understand it. He approached her the next day when he saw her digging a grave, which he assumed was for the US Marshall.
"You need a hand?" He offered, as she nodded.
"Yeah" She replied, giving him a grateful smile.
"You seem to be handling this all pretty well" He couldn't help but say, as he joined in on the digging.
"The killing or the grave digging?" She retorted, grimacing at the almost joke.
"He wanted to die" Sawyer stated.
"I still suffocated him" Kali mumbled.
"Why did you want to do it and not Jack?" He asked.
"It would have eaten him up inside. We need him as a leader" She shrugged, as she continued to dig.
"I could have done it" Sawyer offered, far too late.
"There's a big difference between pulling the trigger five feet away and pushing a pillow down on a man's face until he stops breathing" Kali pointed out.
"That's a pretty dark train of thought, sunshine" Sawyer exclaimed, as she shrugged.
Soon enough they had dug a hole that they hoped was deep enough and had placed the US Marshall inside, and began to bury him. Kali had made a cross from pieces of wood a few hours earlier, hoping that one day they would be able to bring his family there, so they could say goodbye.
"His name was Edward Mars" A feminine voice announced, as Kali stuck the cross in the ground.
"How'd you know that?" Sawyer frowned.
"I found his passport" Kate responded, as Kali began to carve the name into the wood.
"So…does anyone want to say anything?" Kali questioned, as she stood up.
"Sorry for shooting you in the chest" Sawyer exclaimed.
"Emotional speech, Sawyer. Thanks for that" Kali rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry this happened to you and-" Kate started, but was cut off by another voice.
"And that we couldn't save you" Jack finished, walking over to them.
"Rest in peace, Edward" Kali sighed, as the sun started to go down.
Sawyer was surprised when he saw Kali approach him that night, after everyone else had fallen asleep. He raised an eyebrow at her, as she crouched down beside him.
"Can't sleep?" He suggested.
"It would seem I'm not the only one" She replied, leaning back, using her arms as support.
"The Doc been giving you a hard time?" Sawyer asked, having noticed the man had been following after her the whole evening.
"He thinks I'm in shock and Kate keeps asking me if I'm okay every ten minutes. Safe to say I'm happy they're asleep…I was this close to knocking them out" Kali confessed, holding her thumb and index finger almost together.
"Funny…I feel like that every time the Doc opens his mouth" Sawyer mumbled, as Kali let out a small giggle.
"So, why can't you sleep?" She inquired.
"Well let's see, it's been four days on this damn island with no sign of a rescue comin'-" Sawyer began, but she cut him off.
"You shouldn't feel guilty about it…shooting the Marshall in the chest. You were trying to help" Kali explained, as he took a few seconds to formulate an answer.
"Who says I feel guilty?" Sawyer retorted.
"Your pouty face the past day" Kali pointed out.
"You been checking me out, blue eyes?" Sawyer grinned at her.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know…and don't think I don't see you trying to change the subject" Kali exclaimed.
"I'm fine" Sawyer grumbled.
"So am I" She shrugged, as they heard Vincent begin to bark not far away from them.
"I'm really starting to wish that mutt had died in the crash" Sawyer groaned, as the dog continued.
"Hey! Don't say stuff like that" Kali insisted, as she nudged him.
"Or what?" He smirked at her.
"Or…" She trailed off, as she grab some sand in her hand and through it at his face.
He let out a laugh at her childish behaviour, and shook his head. Sometimes it was easy to forget the girl was barely nineteen years old. Kali's grin turned into a frown as they heard a strange creaking coming from the fuselage. By this point everyone had begun to wake up, as Sawyer and Kali went closer to investigate the sound.
"What is it?" Kate queried, visibly scared.
"If somebody's in there-" Claire started, but she was cut off.
"Everyone in there is dead" Sayid pointed out.
"Sawyer" Jack suggested, as the pair came up behind him.
"Right behind ya, jackass" Sawyer grumbled.
"Hey, that's my line" Kali insisted, as they all began to edge closer.
"You can't own the term jackass" Sawyer replied.
"Sure I can, asshole" Kali told him, with a sweet smile.
"Sh!" Jack shushed them, taking a small torch out of his pocket.
"Jack" Kate whispered, as he went ahead of them.
Sawyer wasn't far behind, as he held up the very large torch that he had brought from his stash.
"You trying to compensate for something?" Kali couldn't help but joke, the serious atmosphere making her nervous.
"I said sh!" Jack insisted, as they both rolled their eyes.
Kate made sure to keep Kali behind her, as they got to an opening in the fuselage, her protective instincts kicking in. Kali could see that Charlie, who was beside her, was absolutely terrified.
"It's probably just rats" She suggested, trying to calm him.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Charlie grimaced at the thought.
Jack shone his light on a figure inside that seemed to be making a low growling noise, but he couldn't see what it was exactly.
"I'm going to shed some light on this thing" Sawyer sighed, as he raised his large light to the creature.
Jack instantly shoved the torch down, but it was too late, the large creature had been spooked.
"Run!" Jack yelled, as his eyes connected with the animals.
"Get out of here!" Jack shouted, as they all rushed away, the whole camp falling into chaos.
A flurry of pig like creatures ran out after them, and could clearly be dangerous if you got in there way. Once she was far enough away, Kali dropped to the floor, hoping that the pigs wouldn't bother with her. She felt Sawyer's arm drape around her protectively, as he crouched behind her, shielding her completely from the onslaught.
"They're gone" Sayid announced, a few seconds later.
"What's your problem? Hand them over" Kali heard Hurley shout from not far away.
She had been talking to Kate for the past ten minutes, who as usual was probing how she was doing. The older woman didn't seem to understand that Kali was trying to forget the events of the day before, and she wasn't helping. A fight between Hurley and whoever he was shouting at suddenly seemed very interesting.
"How about no?" She heard Sawyer respond, as she walked over to where a crowd was gathering.
"There's other people here or don't you give a crap?" Hurley questioned, as he lunged for a rucksack that Sawyer was holding.
"Well if one of us wouldn't eat more than his fair share..." Sawyer trailed off, as Hurley tried to restrain the taller man.
"Oh that's bull and you know it. You're not happy unless you're screwing over everybody-" Hurley insisted, as Sawyer shoved him away.
"Hey I'm peachy, pork pie" Sawyer retorted.
"Guys knock it off" Boone exclaimed.
"Stay out of this, Metro" Sawyer called over to him, as Kali decided it was time to intervene.
"Are you guys gonna start mud wrestling or stop acting like children?" Kali asked, with an exasperated tone.
While Sawyer turned to look at her and was about to respond, Hurley saw it as his chance to lunge for the bag and soon the two looked like they would pull the rucksack apart.
"What's going on?" Jack shouted, as he and Sayid ran over and pulled the pair apart.
"Jethro here's hoarding the last of the peanuts" Hurley announced.
"My own stash. I found it in there" Sawyer told him.
"Peanuts? Seriously?" Kali rolled her eyes, as Kate came to stand by her.
"What about the rest of the food?" Jack frowned.
"There is no rest of the food, dude. We kind of—ate it all" Hurley admitted, as Kali's eyes widened.
"What?" Shannon gasped, as Kali could tell the atmosphere around them changed.
"I'm sure Hurley here is just being a little overdramatic. We've probably just not found all the food yet" Kali stated, trying not to cause a panic.
"No. It's all gone. Like everything" Hurley replied.
"Are you trying to cause a panic?" Kali hissed at him, as he cringed.
"We can find food. There are plenty of things on this Island we can use for sustenance" Sayid informed everyone.
"And exactly how are we going to find this sustenance?" Sawyer inquired, sitting down on one of the plane seats.
A second later a knife was thrown very close to his head, as everyone turned to see a bald man looking very pleased with himself.
"What the hell, man?" Kali exclaimed, holding her hands up.
"We hunt" The bald man announced.
"How'd you get that knife on the plane?" Kate asked, as Jack grabbed the knife.
"Checked it" The man shrugged.
"You either have very good aim, or very bad aim, Mr..." Jack probed.
"Locke. His name is Locke" Michael told them, as Kali could tell from his tone that he didn't like the new man much.
"Okay Mr. Locke, what is it that we're hunting?" Jack queried.
"We know there are wild boar on the Island. Razorbacks, by the look of them. The ones that came into the camp last night were piglets, 100, 150 pounds each. Which means that there's a mother nearby. A 250 pound rat, with scimitar-like tusks, and a surly disposition, who'd love nothing more than to eviscerate anything that comes near. Boar's usual mode of attack is to circle around and charge from behind so I figure it'll take at least three of us to distract her long enough for me to flank one of the piglets, pin it, and slit its throat" Mr Locke explained.
"And you gave him his knife back?" Sawyer raised an eyebrow at Jack.
"Well, if you've got a better idea" Jack replied.
"Better than the three of you wandering into the magic forest to bag a hunk of ham with nothing but a little bitty hunting knife? Hell no, it's the best idea I ever heard" Sawyer scoffed, sarcastically.
Locke then walked over to a nearby briefcase and opened it up with his foot, showing them numerous knives, of all different sizes.
"Okay…wasn't expecting that…" Kali mumbled to herself.
"Who is this guy?" Hurley questioned.
"I think that's the first time I've seen you speechless since we got here" Kali said to Sawyer, who had a shocked expression.
"Baldie is prepared, I'll give him that" Sawyer exclaimed.
"And he's back" Kali stated.
Notes:
Currently exporting this story from FFN so expect daily updates! Leave a comment if you want to see more of this story!
Chapter 4: Live Together or Die Alone
Chapter Text
Kali grimaced as she picked up a book that was practically falling apart, the water having destroyed all the words. She had decided to help Claire with looking through what could be scavenged from the plane, as the pregnant woman was planning to do a memorial of sorts. Kali thought it was a nice idea, as otherwise burning the bodies in the fuselage was far too depressing. She also secretly hoped that she would find the few belongings that she had brought with her. Kali couldn't help but giggle when she came across a ridiculously high-heeled stiletto.
"Who do you think brought that?" Claire laughed.
"Hmm, no idea. If I was back at home I'd think my flatmate" Kali stated, smiling at the memory.
"Are you close to her?" Claire inquired.
"Yeah, he's a good friend" Kali shrugged.
"Him?" Claire asked, her eyes widening.
"Yep. He's got much better legs than me. I used to get jealous" Kali admitted, with a laugh.
"I've never met anyone who does…that" Claire stuttered, not being able to find the right words.
"Oh no, you're not one of those people who-" Kali groaned, hoping she hadn't got the girl wrong.
"No! No, I would never judge someone for something like that" Claire promised.
"Well in honour of my friend…I think I better try this on" Kali grinned, as she took her shoe off.
"I guess the other one must have got lost in the crash" Claire suggested, as Kali placed the stiletto on.
"What do you think?" Kali questioned, raising her leg in the air, making Claire giggle.
"Damn, I might have to change your name to legs" A voice boomed from behind them.
Kali turned around to see Sawyer giving her legs a very appreciative look, as she had decided to wear shorts that day, needing a change from the jeans she had been wearing. They had to wash their clothes in the sea, allowing them to dry on the beach, which would take days with fabric as thick as jeans. After Sawyer's comment, she made a mental note to wear the shorts a little more often.
"Whatever floats your boat, dimples" Kali responded, getting a chuckle out of the older man.
"Did you find something?" Claire inquired, spotting the wallets in Sawyer's hand.
"These were um…I found these the other day when I was uh…aw, hell, just take it" Sawyer mumbled, as he passed them over.
"Thank you" Claire nodded at him.
"Are you sure you can bear to part with them?" Kali said, sarcastically.
"Money ain't no use here" Sawyer shrugged, as he walked away.
"You two seem to be getting on well" Claire pointed out.
"He's…interesting" Kali replied.
"And hot" Claire added, making Kali laugh.
"Won't your baby daddy be jealous hearing you speak like that?" Kali asked, raising an eyebrow.
"…The father and I…we're not…" Claire trailed off.
"Oh, well that's alright. I'm sure with you as a mum he'll be fine" She told her.
"He? Why do you say that?" Claire queried.
"Oh, I thought you told me…you don't know what the gender is?" Kali questioned, as Claire shook her head.
"It just sounded right" Kali mumbled, as Claire grinned, rubbing her stomach lightly.
"Hey! Um…can I ask you to do something?" Boone approached Kali later that day.
"Yeah, shoot" She replied.
"Um, I got a cut a few days ago and I've been trying to bandage it myself but…" Boone trailed off, pulling his trousers up to show the bandage that was barely holding up.
"Jack's probably-" Kali started, but he cut her off.
"Actually, I really don't want to go to Jack. So, I was hoping you could help me out. Please" Boone begged.
"Fair enough. Come on, we'll go behind some of the tents…I don't want to give Jack an inferiority complex" Kali laughed.
"So, how'd you get into nursing?" Boone inquired, once Kali had started to clean up his leg.
"I know it's cheesy, but I guess I just needed to help people" She admitted, as she began to re-dress his leg.
"Needed?" Boone asked, noticing she didn't say want.
"I have some things to make up for" She shrugged.
"I can't imagine that's true" Boone couldn't help but laugh, she seemed so innocent to him.
"I was the one who killed the US Marshall" Kali blurted out, feeling good to admit it.
"But I thought…I'm really sorry, Kali" Boone frowned.
"What for?" She queried, confused.
"You shouldn't feel guilty. Mercy killing doesn't make you a bad person" He insisted.
If you knew the truth about me, you wouldn't be saying that she thought to herself.
The memorial that night was sad, but Kali would have felt guilty if she wasn't there. The dead deserved to be remembered. After it was over she walked up to Claire, having begun to like the blonde. She wore her heart on her sleeve, making it easy to warm up to her.
"It's a really nice memorial, Claire. I think we all needed that" Kali told her.
"I didn't need any more guilt on my conscience" Claire responded.
"Amen to that" Kali sighed.
She noticed that Jack had been absent from the service and saw him sitting not far away looking into the waves. She hoped the Doctor was alright, she couldn't nurse everyone on the island on her own. They all needed him. She frowned as she realised maybe that was the problem. He had too much weight on his shoulders, most of which he had place there himself.
The mystery of where her things were was answered early the next morning. She was able to spot her black bag in Sawyer's growing stash and approached him with angry steps. He must have known she'd be looking for her stuff, it felt like a betrayal of trust.
"What the hell, Sawyer?" She growled, gesturing to her bag.
"Oh, how did that get there…" Sawyer trailed off, with a smirk.
Rolling her eyes, Kali grabbed her bag and began to rummage around it, finding that almost everything was accounted for. Almost. The things that meant the most to her had all been kept in a small purse, which was missing.
"Where is it?" She asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about-" Sawyer began, but she cut him off.
"I'm serious, Sawyer. Where is it?" She insisted.
"I'll give it back to you…but I have a few questions first" Sawyer told her.
"Fine" She grumbled.
"Why do you have a bullet in your purse?" Sawyer questioned, taking the object out of his shirt pocket.
She tried to grab it from him, but he was too fast, and his arms were far too long for her to reach. She pursed her lips, trying to reign in her anger, knowing it wouldn't help the situation.
"Ah, ah. It's been used. Is it the bullet that shot you?" Sawyer suggested.
"No. I used it" She answered.
"You shot someone?" Sawyer inquired, surprised.
This threw him off enough that she was able to grab the bullet from his hand and stare at it for a few seconds to make sure it wasn't damaged. The stupid thing meant something to her now. It reminded her of what happened when she got close to someone.
"This your mama and daddy?" Sawyer asked, holding up a picture of a family.
"Give. It. Back." Kali told him, an unusual venom in her voice.
"I'm guessing this older one is you, and that must be your little sister. But what I want to know is who this is?" Sawyer questioned, pointing to the person in the picture whose face had been burnt out.
What Sawyer hadn't been expecting was for her to suddenly burst into tears. He thought for a second maybe it was just a ruse to get him to give the picture to her, but he had seen enough people fake cry to know that it was real. Tears rolled down her red cheeks, as she looked away from him, horrible sobs leaving her lips. She never looked at the damn picture for a reason.
"Shit, blue eyes. Don't cry. Look, here you go" Sawyer exclaimed, standing as he handed her the purse and the picture.
Kali used her free hand to cover her face, embarrassed at her emotional outburst. Sawyer grimaced as he placed his hands on her shoulders, not sure how to comfort her as it was his fault she was in the state she was. Feelings weren't exactly his expertise. He usually just ignore them as best he could.
"What the hell is going on?!" Jack shouted, as he seemed to have noticed the crying Kali.
"I didn't…it's not…" Sawyer stuttered, backing away.
Kali slipped the picture into the purse before anyone else could see it, as a crowd was beginning to form around them.
"What did you do to her?" Jack yelled, as Kate placed her arm over the younger girls' shoulders.
"It's fine. I'm fine" Kali shook her head, wiping away the last few tears from her face.
"You're not. Did he hurt you?" Kate asked, anger in her voice.
"No. I just…got upset. Just leave it" Kali told them, shrugging off Kate's arm.
"Hey, you can talk to us-" Boone started, but she cut him off.
"No! Just leave me alone" She exclaimed, as she began to rush away.
"Kali, wait!" Sawyer called after her, using her actual name for once, but she was already too far to catch up.
She returned later that morning to find out one of the survivors had drowned while she had been gone and felt the familiar guilt start to creep into her mind. She could have helped but instead, she'd run off like a child. She still couldn't believe she had such an outburst in front of everyone. It was bloody pathetic. She began to search for Boone who she had heard had almost drowned as well, only adding to her guilt.
"Hey! Your friend is sick!" Walt called over to her, as he rushed towards Jack's tent.
Kali quickly followed him, and almost cursed when she saw Claire unconscious on the floor in the tent. She looked awful. And just like that, her guilt increase once more.
"What happened?" She asked Kate, who was sitting by the pregnant woman.
"I don't know. She fainted…we think" Kate responded.
"Did she hit her head? Where did she fall?" Kali queried, as she went to Claire's other side.
"I…I don't think so…she was on the beach, we moved her-" Kate stuttered.
"Where the hell is Jack?" Kali cut her off.
"He vanished this morning" Charlie informed her, as she cursed.
"Claire? Claire, can you hear me?" Kali exclaimed but got little response.
"Claire, I need you to wake up" Kali insisted, as she pinched Claire on her shoulder, roughly.
"Hey! Why did you…" Charlie trailed off, as Claire began to wake up.
"We need to keep her awake, that's why. Claire, do you remember hitting your head?" Kali asked her.
"No…I fell onto my side" Claire told her.
"I need some water. I think she's got a fever" Kali sighed, placing her hand on Claire's sweaty forehead.
"The water's gone! Someone's stolen it!" Charlie realised.
"Oh, for God's sake," Kali groaned, not thinking the day could get any worse.
Kali stayed by Claire's side the rest of the day, too scared to leave the pregnant girl as Jack had disappeared. Knowing that the water was gone she quickly became aware that she hadn't drank anything since before the memorial. In fact, she had given her last bottle of water to Claire while they had been looking through people's belongings. She was beginning to feel a pain in her back and knew that she wouldn't be able to last as long as the others without water. Kate and Sayid had suggested that Sawyer was the one who had stolen the water, but Kali couldn't believe that. Sawyer may have had questionable morals but by now he would have known that Claire was unwell, and she couldn't see him wanting to see that happen.
"How's she doing?" A familiar voice questioned from the tent opening.
"Not great" Kali replied, as she turned around to see Sawyer standing there.
"Look…about what happened earlier…I didn't…I wasn't trying to upset you" Sawyer mumbled.
"Is that supposed to be an apology?" Kali asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. Is it working?" Sawyer inquired.
"A little. Actually say the words and I'll consider forgiving you" Kali told him.
"I've never said sorry in my life, sweetheart" Sawyer informed her.
"Well, it's never too late to start" Kali replied, with a mischievous smile.
"Fine, I'm…sorry" Sawyer stated, looking extremely uncomfortable.
"Apology accepted. Now was that really so hard?" Kali questioned.
"Yes" Sawyer grumbled.
"Sayid and Kate think you are the one who's stolen the water, you know" Kali exclaimed.
"Of course, they do. Probably think I crashed the damn plane too" Sawyer suggested, crouching down next to her.
She was surprised when he suddenly placed two bottles of water in front of her and she gave him a questioning look.
"The last water from my stash" Sawyer said, as she picked a bottle up and placed it to Claire's lips.
"Will she be alright?" Sawyer queried, the tiniest hint of worry on his face.
"For now" Kali sighed, as she rubbed her back lightly.
"Are you?" Sawyer inquired.
"Just thirsty" She shrugged.
"And as if by magic, water appears. Drink up, blue eyes" Sawyer insisted, putting the other bottle in her hand.
"Everyone's thirsty" Kali pointed out.
"What's wrong with your back?" Sawyer asked, when he noticed she was still in pain.
"…I've only got one kidney" She admitted, as Sawyer raised an eyebrow.
"Well, now you're definitely going to drink" Sawyer told her, as he took the lid off the bottle.
"I'm fine" Kali retorted.
"Either you drink, or I take this bottle back" Sawyer announced, as she rolled her eyes and took a quick swig of water.
"You never said how much" She pointed out, as he shook his head, fondly and stood up.
"Oh, and by the way, Kate and Sayid are following you…so you might not want to go back to your stash under that mango tree" Kali advised her.
"How did you…" Sawyer trailed off, an impressed look on his face.
"A girl's gotta have secrets" Kali shrugged, amused.
Kali realised she must have drifted off to sleep at some point, as suddenly she was being woken up by an angry Charlie dragging Boone out of the Doctor's tent. She hadn't got five minutes of peace since they had landed on the damn island. She rushed over to the crowd forming around the pair, finding Charlie was practically seething.
"What's going on?" She asked, groggily.
"Here's your thief" Charlie announced, throwing Boone to the sand.
"Where'd he hide it?" Michael inquired.
"I don't know. This wanker had three bottles on him. Why'd you do it, pretty boy?" Charlie accused, as Boone went to stand up.
"It was just sitting…it was just sitting in the tent. And Jack took off!" Boone exclaimed.
"Claire could have died" Charlie pointed out.
"I tried to give some to her sooner, but it just got out of hand. No one would have understood" Boone replied.
"So, you were just going to leave us all to die of thirst?" Kali retorted.
"No! Of course, not" Boone stated.
"Then when were you going to man up and admit it was you? Two days? Three?" Kali questioned, angrily.
She was about to shove Boone, her dehydrated mind not thinking too clearly, but Sawyer held her back. A light hand on her shoulder was enough to stop her in her tracks.
"Someone had to take responsibility for it. It never would have lasted!" Boone insisted, as Charlie lunged for him.
"Leave him alone!" A commanding voice announced, as everyone turned to see Jack was back.
"Where the hell have you been? Claire's been sick" Kali whispered to Jack, who looked guilty.
"Is she alright?" Jack responded, as Kali nodded.
"It's been six days and we're all still waiting. Waiting for someone to come. But what if they don't?...We have to stop waiting. We need to start figuring things out. A woman died this morning just going for a swim. And he tried to save her, and now you're about to crucify him? We can't do this. Every man for himself is not going to work. It's time to start organising. We need to figure out how we're going to survive here. Now I found water…fresh water up in the valley. I'll take a group in at first light. If you don't want to come, then find another way to contribute. Last week most of us were strangers, but we're all here now. And God knows how long we're going to be here. But if we can't live together…we're going to die alone" Jack explained to them all, in a passionate speech.
"He'll be expecting us to sing songs around the fire next" Sawyer mumbled, as the group began to disperse.
"I'm just happy our unofficial leader is back" Kali admitted, almost breathing a sigh of relief.
"Don't put yourself down, blue eyes. You took charge today…people will remember that" Sawyer pointed out.
"They better. Because I am not doing that again" Kali laughed, making Sawyer let out an amused sound.
"They look like they've made up" Jack said, from a few metres away where he was watching the pair talk.
"He's got her wrapped around his little finger" Kate suggested, as Sawyer seemed to make a joke which resulted in Kali punching him in the shoulder.
"I don't know…it might be the other way around" Jack mumbled, seeing the fond look on Sawyer's face.
Kali could barely contain her laughter as she watched Sawyer's tantrum at not being able to win the game the pair had created. It was simple enough. They had a water bottle that they would try to hit with rocks, and whoever was able to hit the target the furthest would win. They were at a stalemate which seemed to irritate Sawyer from the way he was grumbling.
"You are throwing too high. Throw underarm instead" A voice suggested from behind them.
The pair turned around to see Sayid, who was staring at them in amusement, seemingly enjoying the frustration on Sawyer's face. As it was Kali's turn to throw, she took onboard Saiyid's advice and managed to hit the bottle, throwing her arms up in triumph.
"I wouldn't get too excited…I'm in this to win" Sawyer smirked at her, as he positioned himself.
He missed the bottle by a few metres, having given too hard a swing, as Kali laughed.
"Ha! I win" She grinned, smugly.
"You cheated. Abdul over here helped you" Sawyer retorted.
"He gave you the same advice. Maybe you should listen next time" Kali suggested, earning a roll of eyes from Sawyer.
Suddenly they heard screaming from close by, and ran towards the noise in unison. They quickly spotted the culprits, seeing Jin attempting to drown Michael in the sea as Walt looked on in horror. Sayid expertly tackled Jin off Michael, as Sawyer and Kali helped Michael to stand up who had blood dripping all over him. If they had been a minute later, she was pretty sure Michael would be dead.
"The handcuffs from the Sky Marshall…now!" Sayid insisted, as Kali took the weight of Michael onto her own shoulders.
Soon enough Jin was handcuffed to a part of the wreckage as Kali tried to look Michael over for any injuries. He was lucky that everything seemed superficial, as it could have been much worse. They seemed to get nowhere in trying to find out why the Korean man attacked Michael. When Jack arrived back from the caves he presented a new problem entirely. He wanted to set up a camp there as they had fresh water, and it would be more sheltered. But if they left the beach they could risk losing the opportunity to flag down a ship. However, Kali wasn't too bothered about being rescued. It was nice to feel free for once. She was still pondering about what she was going to do, when Sawyer approached her.
"So blue eyes, what's it going to be? Go with the pessimists or stay here and wait for the rescue boats?" Sawyer inquired, taking off his sunglasses.
"Nice shades" Kali laughed, as he crouched down in front of her.
"You're avoiding my question" Sawyer pointed out.
"I don't know the answer yet" Kali shrugged.
"They'll be expecting you to follow the Doc, most likely it will be safer up in the caves" Sawyer suggested.
"And miss out on your wonderful company? How could I?" Kali teased.
"I didn't say I was staying" Sawyer replied.
"It's pretty obvious you want to be around if a rescue appears," Kali told him.
"You'd really stay here just for me?" Sawyer asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, you big-head. The Doc is going inland, so the nurse needs to stay on the shore. It just makes sense" Kali shrugged.
"Whatever you say" Sawyer grinned.
Convincing Jack was a lot harder than Kali had expected as he didn't like the thought of her staying and was already in a bad mood as Kate had decided to stay too. They hadn't known each other long, but Kali was already learning that Jack was ridiculously protective over the people he cared about.
"Look I get where you're coming from but I'm not a kid, Jack. I can make decisions for myself" Kali stated.
"I'm just trying to look out for you. I don't want you to make a mistake just because of him" Jack suggested, ushering at Sawyer who was further down the beach.
"I already told you, I'm staying in case anyone gets hurt. It doesn't make sense for the two medical people on this whole island to be in the same place and you know it" Kali rolled her eyes.
"I'm not going to be able to change your mind?" Jack questioned, as she shook her head.
"Then just promise me you'll look after yourself, alright? Look out for number one" Jack went on, surprising her.
"You too" She nodded.
"…Oh, and Jack? Kate's not staying here to hurt you, she just…needs to be here. She's probably hoping you'll stay here for her" Kali explained.
"I can't put her feelings above everyone's safety" Jack replied.
"You guys not at that level yet then?" Kali teased.
"Has she said something about me?" Jack frowned.
"Nope, but your face lighting up whenever she's around tells me enough" Kali grinned, watching the Doctor blush.
"You move quick…I'll give you that" Kali announced, as she walked into what used to be the medical tent, but Sawyer had now made it into his home.
"Welcome to my Palace" Sawyer grinned, from where he was sitting in one of the plane seats.
"Oh yeah, it seems real cosy" Kali laughed, as she flopped down on the seat beside him.
"I don't remember inviting you in" Sawyer stated, not looking up from his book.
"I don't remember asking" She retorted, with a smile.
"Hey, I need a battery…something from a laptop should do" Kate interjected, as she came rushing over to them.
"Why?" Kali frowned.
"We want to locate the source of the French transmission, but the transceiver is dead…so we need a battery" Kate explained.
"Can't help you" Sawyer shrugged.
"You've been hoarding like a pack rat ever since the crash and you don't have a single laptop?" Kate asked, crossing her arms.
"Looks that way" Sawyer mumbled, more interested in his book.
"Could you be any more of an asshole?" Kate mumbled, only earning a grin from Sawyer in response.
"Don't you want to find out who sent out that transmission?" Kate insisted, now looking to Kali.
"We should probably find out who else is on this island…" Kali trailed off, turning to look at Sawyer.
"You two want to go running off into the jungle, be my guest" Sawyer stated.
"Alright, let's do it" Kali announced, standing up.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kate frowned.
"Oh right" Kali said, as she crouched down and moved a few papers and books to reveal a laptop.
"You knew he had one the whole time?" Kate grumbled.
"It was kind of funny watching you get annoyed" Kali teased, as Kate rolled her eyes and went to take the battery to Sayid.
"You sure you don't want to come?" Kali questioned.
"It won't work" Sawyer replied.
"Now who's a pessimist" Kali pointed out.
"I ain't leaving this beach" Sawyer insisted.
"I know you're hoping that someone is going to turn up and save us and you'll be able to sneak away from the authorities if you're fast enough but-" Kali was cut off.
"Don't act like you know me. Just because I'm southern and harsh must mean I'm a criminal right?" Sawyer hissed.
"I didn't say that" Kali shook her head.
"And what about you? I've got a feeling your past is a whole lot murkier than mine" Sawyer suggested.
"You know what? Stay here and sulk. That's what you do best" Kali rolled her eyes and walked away.
Annoyed at how he acted, Sawyer threw his book to the ground and leaned back against the chair.
Kali, Kate and Sayid had been walking through the jungle for no more than an hour when a sweaty Sawyer suddenly approached them. They all stopped in their tracks, surprised to see him after his earlier outburst. She knew he didn't mean what he had said, as neither did she, but there was still tension between them now.
"Hey" Sawyer exclaimed.
He appeared like he wanted to tell them something, as it was obvious he must have been running for a long time to catch up with them. Kali felt her eyes drifting down his neck where droplets of sweat were forming and then down his chest, but quickly looked away before anyone could spot her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kate inquired.
"Easy, just came here to tell you something" Sawyer responded.
"Well, we're not interested" Kali told him, as she continued walking, wincing at little at how childish she sounded.
"You're really going to turn away someone willing to help y'all on your little quest?" Sawyer suggested.
"Why would you want to help? You said this wouldn't work, remember?" Kali frowned, turning to face him.
"I'm done sulking, that's all" Sawyer shrugged.
"Just try to keep up" Kali mumbled, as the four walked further into the jungle.
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