James "Sawyer" Ford
administration.
Revenge has no more quenching effect on emotions than salt water has on thirst
Posts: 248
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Post by James "Sawyer" Ford on Sept 5, 2008 15:57:26 GMT -5
Damn woman; always knew what to say to throw him off. Why couldn’t she just get angry and yell back like anyone else? No, she had to go and say what she did and make it even harder than hell to push her away. Sure, he had wanted to stay on the Island; in some twisted way it was he first place in a long time that had felt like home, but would it have still felt that way if she hadn’t been there with him? The thought of never seeing her again caused a physical ache in his heart but this was how it had to be. He would’ve been better off back on the Island.
“Prolly woulda been better for both of us, Freckles,” Sawyer replied, his voice losing its hard edge slightly and his eyes softening. He quickly recovered, though and pulled his arm away from her light grip. “Dreams and fantasies are for tropical paradises. Back here in tha real world it’s time ta wake up. Gonna get me a pocket full’a cash outta this deal them I’m outta this hell hole.”
That wasn’t a bad idea. Get the hell out of L.A., maybe even the country. Maybe Kate was stuck here with her legal woes but Sawyer had no reason to stay.
None.
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Kate Austen
new oceanic 815.
So here we go again, huh?
Posts: 42
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Post by Kate Austen on Sept 5, 2008 16:25:57 GMT -5
“Prolly woulda been better for both of us, Freckles,” Sawyer replied, causing Kate to look at him confused. She had just said Jack did right in bailing her out and not to be too hard on him... was Sawyer thinking it would have been better for her to stay in jail. She didn't think that's what he meant, so kept her mouth shut though her brows furrowed.
As Sawyer went on, pulling his arm from her grip, Kate began to realize something deeper lie within him. He seemed to be struggling, and by the way he spoke, his struggle was with being back in the real world. Kate sighed, completely understanding in a way. She hated being here sometimes, too, especially knowing everyone was watching her. She was the criminal who had the nerve to come back, after all.
"Wish I could come, too," Kate mumbled. It was complete and utter truth. Her itchy feet were really starting to get to her.
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James "Sawyer" Ford
administration.
Revenge has no more quenching effect on emotions than salt water has on thirst
Posts: 248
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Post by James "Sawyer" Ford on Sept 5, 2008 16:34:37 GMT -5
That was the opening he needed. He needed anger, and he needed to anger her. He needed her to stop looking at him like that, like she knew what he was going though, like she understood a damn thing about him.
“Yeah, well, ya had yer chance at that now didn’t ya? We had it all planned out back on tha freighter but one little talk with Mr. Morals in there and ya get cold feet and decide ta do tha right thing and turn yerself in,” he growled, ignoring the stares of the people that had started to gather as he raised his voice.
“Ya know what they say. You made yer bed, now ya gotta lie in it.” He was the last person to be getting up on his high horse but it didn’t matter at this point. “I’m sure Jack’ll keep ya company.”
Turning away again Sawyer headed toward the elevator.
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Kate Austen
new oceanic 815.
So here we go again, huh?
Posts: 42
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Post by Kate Austen on Sept 5, 2008 16:57:04 GMT -5
Kate stood in something akin to shock as Sawyer just completely turned on her, put her in her place and walked away. She couldn't understand why he turned on her like that, and yet she shouldn't have been surprised. In his statement he proved his jealousy, the same jealousy she knew was always there. She had listened to Jack instead of running away with Sawyer, just another blow to the man who had more than once proven himself to care for Kate deeply.
And that was saying something for a man who cared for no one.
Her senses being regained as Sawyer vanished from her sight, Kate realized people were pointing and staring at her. She shook her head and lowered it, walking back to the table where Jack sat. Kate stopped though before getting there. It was not good for her to be seen with him, especially not after all this. The papers were trashing his reputation for being willing to support a criminal. He didn't need more controversy.
So instead, Kate walked out of the cafe, leaving some money on her table on the way by so as not to be incriminated more. Kate was confused by so much right now. She wanted to be with both Jack and Sawyer, but while one made it clear she was unwelcome, the press seemed to make it clear Jack was not an option either. She had to protect Jack from herself. Strangely, the idea that Sawyer was doing the same for her never entered her mind.
Kate folded her arms over her chest and walked into the lobby, bewildered and unsure where to go or what to do. She found a seat in an alcove and just sat there, holding her head in her hands, her hair blocking her face from view of any onlookers. Kate wanted to run, but it would hurt Jack more to do that than stay. At this point, she felt confined and caged in, not by walls but by circumstance, and the need to flee was never stronger.
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Jack Shephard
new oceanic 815.
Don't. Pity. Me. You have no idea what I've been through.
Posts: 197
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Post by Jack Shephard on Sept 6, 2008 12:54:09 GMT -5
Jack had forced himself to keep looking down, unwilling to start another fight. His headache was pounding, however, the fruit bowl (which was surprisingly not that bad at all) was almost empty, just as the glass of vodka and orange juice was just as gone. He tossed some bills onto the table, and stood up.
He thought about what he had done, forked up the money to get Kate out of jail without even a second thought. And he knew what he had said was true; if Sawyer had been in the same position, sooner or later he would have bailed him out as well. Then with the papers talking about Kate and about himself...
Since when was living so hard? What had changed in three months that made this world so hard to live in?
Walking out of the cafe, he started towards the elevator until he saw Kate. He wanted to tell her he was sorry, that Sawyer had just goaded him on and on and on and he couldn't HELP but say something, and yet, as he watched her sitting with her head in her hands, he realised that he felt the same way she did. Or that she looked like she felt.
The papers would never let up. He was no stranger to controversy; having a drunk medical doctor for a dad brought loads...but this was something different. This hurt. People didn't know Kate like he had known her on the Island. They hadn't see the other side.
"I'm sorry." he told her, watching as her head shot up. "I shouldn't--I should have just kept my mouth shut. I should have just let him have the last word; it's his mission in life, it seems."
He paused, looking at the empty space beside her, and then at Kate herself. "Y'mind if I sit? And I'm done caring about the press. If they want to trash me, then fine, they can trash me. I just spent 3 months on an Island where I watched people die and nearly died myself, how much more horrible can they make me feel?"
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Kate Austen
new oceanic 815.
So here we go again, huh?
Posts: 42
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Post by Kate Austen on Sept 9, 2008 13:36:13 GMT -5
Kate shouldn't have been surprised that Jack found her. She really should have known he would come looking for her. He always did believe in no one left behind, and it seemed that especially meant her. She had at first startled when Jack spoke to her, but now just stared at him as he spoke, trying to apologize and yet not.
"It's OK, Jack," Kate replied to him. "It wasn't your fault."
Jack asked if he could sit, reiterating how he couldn't care less about the press or what people thought. Kate wished she could feel the same, but her stomach churned with the mere thought she could be putting Jack in any kind of danger, mortal or otherwise. She had been down that path before and letting someone she cared about try to help her ended in their demise.
Still, Kate's heart was too drawn to Jack to so easily dismiss him. She looked up into his questioning and vulnerable gaze and nodded her consent for him to sit with her. She knew it would have been better to run, but where could she go that he would not find her? She could leave town, but Kate would not do that to the man who put his neck out on the line for her time and again. She was stuck in LA, in this place, and the only comfort she had in that was knowing Jack was here with her now. Kate mused within herself at the contradictions over Jack warring in her mind. Everything was as confusing as ever.
"When will the world turn right side up again?" Kate asked with a sigh somewhat rhetorically. "Some days I feel more lost here than I did on the island."
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Jack Shephard
new oceanic 815.
Don't. Pity. Me. You have no idea what I've been through.
Posts: 197
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Post by Jack Shephard on Sept 25, 2008 14:26:03 GMT -5
He wasn't sure if she knew. He wasn't sure if she knew that she was saying everything that he had been thinking, worrying over, since they had stepped off the boat. Jack moved, sitting down next to Kate. She spoke about the world turning right side up again, and that some days she felt more lost than on the Island. Jack found himself scoffing slightly, nodding in agreement. "It's like," he started, looking out at the people that passed. "It's like 3 months turned into 30 years. I don't--I don't remember this place being so...strange." he agreed with her.
A frown spread on his face as he looked over at Kate. "But I was serious what I said. Just because we're off the Island, we can't just...walk away. We've had hell happened to us. We've had a life changing, world altering incident happen to us and it's going to haunt us for the rest of our lives. If we break away from that...we'll get eaten alive." He motioned to the reporters off in the distance. "But we'll get through this. I mean, we survived an Island. These are just people."
He paused for a moment, and moved, laying his hand slowly over hers. "You know, I read in the papers the other day that they're looking to take you to trial if they can get enough of a case against you." He paused, looking from the reporters to Kate. "I don't know what the papers are going to continue writing, but I told Detective Callis that I'd be a character witness. No matter what the reporters say, I've still got the fact that before the crash I was a respected surgeon." He felt himself shrug slightly. "If it means anything, I'll do everything I can to get you off if comes to that. I'll use every resource to clear your name. These people deserve to know that you're not what they claim you are. Even if they don't exactly know what happened on the Island."
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Kate Austen
new oceanic 815.
So here we go again, huh?
Posts: 42
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Post by Kate Austen on Oct 5, 2008 5:06:13 GMT -5
Kate appreciated the fact that Jack seemed to completely understand her feelings. It was like they were linked in their minds and not merely through circumstance. Kate had to wonder what it meant top have him here, consoling and commiserating with her, or if it meant anything beyond the fact they both were survivors from a now infamous plane crash. A part of her longed for it to mean a lot, while the more practical part told her not to even think it. Kate had done too much to expect anything from Jack.... And yet he kept on giving anyway.
When Jack mentioned her possibility of going to trial, Kate looked away from him, her previous attentions and agreement with his statements forgotten. She didn't like to think of the trial or any of her past for that matter. It only ever complicated things further, and complications were the last thing Kate needed in her life. It only ever seemed like trouble and mistakes could ever find their way into her decisions. Likely as not, her coming back at all was a mistake. Kate could've stayed on the island indefinitely, but she didn't want to. Jack really didn't have to convince her. Kate needed the freedom to run and that island was not a candidate for such innate desires.
Jack's words interrupted her thoughts again, as they often did. Kate looked at him sharply when he mentioned volunteering to be a character witness. "Jack, I don't want you ---," she began but Jack continued, oblivious to her objection.
"If it means anything, I'll do everything I can to get you off if comes to that. I'll use every resource to clear your name. These people deserve to know that you're not what they claim you are. Even if they don't exactly know what happened on the Island."
Kate looked at Jack seriously and replied in am urgent and barely hushed whisper, "But what if I am, Jack? What if I am exactly what they claim me to be?" Kate shook her head and looked around with her eyes briefly before continuing, letting her gaze reach into Jack's eyes so he knew she was serious. "You shouldn't do this. I don't want you putting yourself on the line for me anymore. You shouldn't lose your life because I lost mine a long time ago. You can't always save me from myself..."
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Jack Shephard
new oceanic 815.
Don't. Pity. Me. You have no idea what I've been through.
Posts: 197
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Post by Jack Shephard on Oct 5, 2008 22:46:06 GMT -5
"What if I am, Jack? What if I am exactly what they claim me to be?"
Instantly, Jack shook his head surely. Of course, he couldn't believe it. He had been face to face with Kate for most of three months; he had seen her strong side and he had seen her weak side. If she was a murderous killer with nothing to live for, then why didn't she kill them when they were on the Island? He needed to show the people here what he had seen on the Island. "No. I can't believe that. I won't believe it. It was hard to lie out there on the Island, Kate, because sooner or later, we all found out who we truely were. And if--if you were this murderous black widow or whatever they're saying you were, then we'd have all been dead on that Island. I can't believe that, Kate. Not after everything that we've been through."
"You shouldnt' lose your life because I lost mine a long time ago."
Jack found himself scoffing slightly. "You--you seem to think that I had a perfect life before I stepped onto that plane. Before my father died, I ruined his life. I was the reason he went to Australia, I was the reason he drank himself into a heart attack. I was coming back to Los Angeles to a mother who hated me for what I had done to her husband. A ex-wife who cheated on me. I didn't even want to work anymore. I had already started to drink before the plane even took off and I'm sure, after the funeral, I'd be right back to getting completely wasted..." And now that he was back...that was exactly what he was doing again.
Jack moved, slowly moving his hand to hers, fingers curling around it. "I told you when I thought I was getting off the Island that I wouldn't leave you alone. I'd come back for you." When she looked away from him, Jack moved, moving her chin back to look at him. "You didn't lose your life, Kate. As far as I'm concerned, our lives began again on that Island. Whatever we were before...it's not who we are now. We've been through too much together to just give up. Maybe you're right. Maybe I can't always save you from yourself." He told her honestly, eyes watching hers as his voice took on the same whisper as hers. "But I will never stop trying for you. Never."
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Kate Austen
new oceanic 815.
So here we go again, huh?
Posts: 42
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Post by Kate Austen on Oct 10, 2008 15:29:37 GMT -5
Kate knew Jack would tell her that she wasn't who everyone believed her to be, that he knew the truth. The thing that struck Kate was exactly how little he really knew. Jack had no idea of her life in the years between her murder of her father and the crash. He didn't know her struggles, her crimes, her flings or any other compromises she made along the way. As Kate saw it, she was much more the person the public perceived her to be than Jack would ever know, but she knew. And Kate could never forget.
Jack started revealing a bit more about his life before the crash and Kate found herself staring at his profile. She never thought his life was so hard prior to the crash. He never let anyone inside his tough exterior to know anything beyond what he wanted them to know. It appeared that now he was letting her. Kate contemplated the ramifications of that. Jack was opening up a part of his life he really hadn't before, admitting a secret weakness to Kate that he previously would never had unlocked, not on the island and so far not since they were back. Kate's eyes softened as she stared at Jack, understanding what it took to admit his weakness, but also in commiseration of his hard life. She could relate.
When Jack took Kate's hand, she didn't resist. There had always been something there, something between the two of them that Kate had been loathe to admit and yet could never deny. A small tingle of electricity coursed through her and Kate turned away as Jack began to speak. He touched her chin with his forefinger and brought her eyes back to his as he finished. Kate knew the vulnerability would show in her eyes, but he wasn't letting her keep her secret. His eyes locked on hers as he mentioned never leaving her alone. It was something Kate would love to cling to, but fear gripped her heart at his last words even though they also brought her more comfort than she had known in a long time.
"Jack, I....," Kate began, trying to find her voice and force some logical thought back into her mind. "I..." another sigh escaped her lips and she looked away briefly before looking back and completing the only words that seemed appropriate. "Thank you."
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Jack Shephard
new oceanic 815.
Don't. Pity. Me. You have no idea what I've been through.
Posts: 197
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Post by Jack Shephard on Oct 21, 2008 13:08:00 GMT -5
The first thing they had taught him in medical school, after all the medicine and termonolgy and mnemonics that had made his brain go to mush for a time, they taught him one simple thing. How to lie. They told these fresh faced doctors how to lie to a patient when they know that the result would be certain death. They told these smiling men and women in white coats to look at family members, tell them that they were sorry, that there was nothing they could have done, but of course, there was always something that they could have done. Hindsight always proved that. But they had always mastered the ability to lie for people's benifit. Straight-faced and stoic, they could easily pass one of the best lie-dectector systems.
So, it didn't worry Jack when he knew he would have to face a court, face the fact that he could instantly be thrown in jail. Because he knew that he could get Kate off. He could hold her up higher than any other person on that plane, make her be the hero of the Island. The saviour. He could tell the court stories about how Kate kept them all from going insane. How she brought him back to heath. She would be the one to have gotten them all rescued. His mind was already thinking of a story, a lie that would save her. She could have pulled him out of the water, given him CPR. She could have banded them all together, made them forget all their former problems. In that moment, Jack didn't mind giving her that responsibility, because he knew she could have done it. She did do it.
"Jack, I..."
Her words broke his minds puzzle, twisting and turning the peices until they fit into a nice little picture. Eyes looked from where they had been fixed at her lips, and he looked into her eyes, brows narrowing slightly. His hand moved to her cheek, thumb rubbing slight circles as he watched her in slight confusion, more so when she looked away from him briefly before looking back at him.
"Thank you."
He felt the side of his mouth twitch up into a slight half smile, though under the circumstances, it wasn't as happy as it could be. "You don't need to thank me." he told her softly. "I mean, compared to the shit we had to deal with on the Island, this should be a peice of cake, huh?" he asked honestly, and it was the truth. All of the death, the pain, the fear...they could deal with this. This was the normal world. It wasn't some Island with polar bears and hatches and smoke monsters...this was the world where THEY had control.
"We can do this, Kate. When we crashed on that Island, our old lives, what happened before, it didn't matter anymore. And it shouldn't matter anymore. We've done things that people can't even begin to dream of. Even if they don't know the full truth of what happened...crash landing in the middle of nowhere bad enough. We just have to use that to our advantage. It worked for those people who crashed in the Andes in '72, and they had to eat each other. I think we got a better deal in terms of life-changing traumatic experiences, but they don't have to know that."
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Kate Austen
new oceanic 815.
So here we go again, huh?
Posts: 42
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Post by Kate Austen on Oct 29, 2008 17:50:03 GMT -5
Kate wasn't certain if she wanted to laugh or throw up at Jack's comment of the people eating one another. She ended up settling on a small, impish smile and just nodded her head in agreement. Surely it was good they had mangoes and fish. Kate didn't want to think about cannibalism, not in regard to her friends.
Noticing she was still holding Jack's hand, or perhaps that he was still holding hers, Kate got a warm feeling through her. She could not admit to herself, let alone Jack, that she liked his holding her hand or touching her in any way. In truth, if Kate could be honest, she liked it more than she could voice. That was the problem. Kate couldn't let herself have feelings for Jack any more than she should have let herself fall into bed with Sawyer on the island. Of course with Sawyer, Kate thought it could be a one night stand, believing that the Others would kill him the following day, but that wasn't completely honest either. Kate had feelings for Sawyer, just like she also knew she had feelings for Jack. It wasn't fair to any of them, especially Jack as it was him who always seemed to get the short end of the stick where Kate was concerned. First she slept with Sawyer, now she owed him more money than she could hope to repay not to mention the numerous times he'd already saved her life.
If Kate were smart, she would just let it be. She would allow herself to be with Jack, give him her body and, hopefully, her whole heart in time, if for no other reason than she owed him that much. But Kate wasn't the smartest person when it came to matters of her heart. Her internal instincts told her to flee and have no strings attached. In thinking about fleeing with Sawyer though, there still would have been strings. Kate couldn't win, and sadly, neither could the men in her life.
Gently Kate reclaimed her hand. She gave Jack a smile and a small nudge on his shoulder, playfully like she might have when they used to sit side by side on the beach and stare into the blue horizon. "Well, what they don't know won't hurt any of us," Kate replied. She stood and looked around, noticing no one seemed any the wiser to the closeness the two had shared just a moment ago. That was probably a good thing. "Thanks, Jack. Maybe I'll see you later?" Kate asked as she began to walk away. In her own way, she was fleeing again, but at least this tie it was slightly more subtle and hopefully less hurtful to Jack's heart.
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