Tracker, Chapter 18 (Skate, Others)
Title: Tracker, Chapter 18
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Skate, Jana, others
Disclaimer: I don't own LOST
Summary: Set during S2, immediately post-WKD, Kate, Sawyer and several other characters go off into the jungle after Michael, learning secrets of the Island along the way.
Spoilers: Season 2
A/N: Tracker is an extremely lengthy, multi-chapter fanfic that I wrote during Season Two. I plan on posting a couple of chapters a day if I can, so please check back! By the way, blame kirvash if you get hooked on it. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 18
Eko sat on the beach, carving a new word into his club. The club was his rod and his staff, and it comforted him; it was nice to have the things he needed to remember so close. He chiseled carefully, blowing occasionally to remove the shavings; finally he smiled and brushed it carefully, looking at his new addition. James 2:26. Yes, that is always good to remember, he thought.
He wondered how Kate was doing; he rose to go check on her. A whisper flickered by his head and he stopped, turning away from the beach. The whisper moved; it called to him, wanting him to follow it. He moved into the jungle; the whisper went faster, and rose in volume. He sped up; he was getting close. What did it want him to find? He went deeper and deeper into the jungle, his curiosity growing with each step. He couldn't understand the whisper but he could hear urgency behind it.
The whisper stopped as he came into a glade; he spun around, searching for something. He saw it.
It was Sawyer. He was crumpled in a heap, facedown in the dirt. Eko went to him, checking his breathing. He was alive, though blood was seeping through the back of his shirt in streaks; Eko gently rolled him over, looking aside in dismay as he saw Sawyer's face. He was covered in blood and dirt; his face was a mess of bruises and cuts. Blood was leaking over the front of his shirt, too, and his jeans; Eko didn't look under them. He had to get him to Jack. Something flitted silently through the jungle; he glanced up as he caught the movement from the corner of his eye. Whatever it was had gone. He turned his attention back to Sawyer.
Sawyer's eyes flew open and he screamed. "NO! NO! WALT! NOOOO! Don't! Don't touch me!" His eyes seemed to focus a little, and he grabbed Eko's collar, pulling him down violently. "They're coming," he said, raggedly. "They're coming for Mike." His voice started to fade and he let go of Eko, falling back to the ground. "I had..to...give...message...." His eyes rolled up in his head and he was out. Eko sat still, breathless for a moment. He lifted Sawyer and placed him as gently as he could over his shoulder. The hatch was only a mile away; he could run it quickly, even with the added weight.
He ran as smoothly as he could; he could feel the sticky blood seeping onto his shirt, dampening his shoulder. Sawyer groaned sporadically; Eko was trying hard not to jar him but he was sacrificing comfort for speed. He finally made it to the hatch and hollered for help. Sun and Jack came running; Sun froze in horror at Sawyer's bloodstained body, but Jack pushed aside his shock and got down to business. "Put him in the bunk." Eko went to the bed and lowered him gently to it. Jack started to examine him, directing Eko as he did. "Go to the medical stash and get me the alcohol and the bandages. I need some hot water and clean towels." Eko nodded and started after them; Jack pulled open Sawyer's shirt and blanched a little. "Better get the sewing kit too," he added. Jack glanced at Sun, who was still staring horrified at Sawyer, her hand over her mouth. "Sun!" Jack snapped her out of her stupor. "Go to the beach and get Kate." Sun nodded and took off to the beach.
Eko returned with the supplies. Jack nodded at him, "Help me with his clothes." They slid his shirt off with difficulty, and when Eko pulled off his jeans Jack had to look away. What the hell had they done to him? Every inch of him was battered and bruised; he looked like he'd been pushed through a thresher. He looked like he'd been whipped. Jack rolled him up to look at his back; it was a bloody raw mess. Jesus, he thought, what happened? He sighed and lowered him back down gently, and dipping a clean towel in the alcohol he started to dab at the deepest cuts. "Where did you find him?"
Eko watched Jack gently cleaning Sawyer's wounds. "About a mile from here. He was on the ground, unconscious."
"Did he wake up? Say anything?"
"Yes." Jack glanced up, waiting for Eko to continue. "He said they were coming. For Michael. He said he had to give the message." Eko looked at Sawyer, quickly. "He was not in his right mind, Jack."
Jack was looking furious and a little guilty. "Look what they did to him," he hissed. "This is the message." He pointed to Sawyer's mangled body.
Eko was quiet for a while, watching Jack minister to Sawyer. He had cleaned the worst of the gashes, now he turned to stitching them up. "Do you like her?" Eko asked suddenly.
Jack was unsure of who he meant. "Do I like who?" He didn't look up; he slid the needle into the edge of a large wound and expertly knotted it, pulling the edges together.
"Ana-Lucia." Jack stopped and glanced at Eko, then looked back down at his work. He didn't answer. He had barely spoken to her since her fight with Kate; he knew she felt guilty about what happened. And looking at Sawyer, Jack hoped she did feel guilty. "She did not mean for it to go so far, Jack. She made a mistake."
"Yeah, well, she does that a lot." He was instantly sorry he'd said it. It wasn't entirely her fault; there was plenty of blame to go around. The alarm went off and Jack nodded his head towards the computer. "Would you?" he asked, and Eko nodded, standing.
"I am going to wait for Kate," he said. "She should have a little warning before she sees this." Jack nodded,concentrating, and Eko went to the computer, a second later the alarm stopped, and Eko left the hatch to wait for Kate outside.
Jack kept stitching. He was closing up a particularly nasty gash when he noticed something. What the hell? he thought, looking at Sawyer's shoulder. The bullet wound was gone; no scar, nothing. What?
He heard Kate before he saw her; her feet pounded on the concrete as she ran into the room. He could see she hadn't been prepared enough. She was crying and she touched Sawyer softly, kissing him all over. Jack swallowed; not because he was jealous, but because the raw emotion of it broke his heart. "He's okay, Kate," he said, trying to ease her. "He's just a little beat up. I've put in a few stitches and I just need to clean him up a little." He stopped and pointed at Sawyer's shoulder. "You should see this."
His wound was gone; there was not even a trace of a scar. "It's gone? How is that possible?" She couldn't understand it.
"I don't know." Jack picked up another clean towel and dipped it in the hot water Eko had brought. "I'm going to clean him up now." He smiled at her. "Unless you want to do it?"
She smiled. It was nice to see that, Jack thought. Since he had gone to her on the beach the hostility and anger had gone; they were friends again, and Jack knew, without a doubt, that friends were all they would ever be. He looked at Sawyer, and thought of what he had done for Kate; he looked at Kate and saw how she loved him. And that was okay; Jack understood now. "Yeah," Kate said. "I do."
Jack handed her the towels and she started cleaning the blood and dirt from Sawyer's face. He worked on his legs, they were cut and bleeding too, but none of them needed stitches. He dreaded doing Sawyer's back; but it was Kate's reaction he dreaded even more.
She looked up at him. "Thank you, Jack," she said softly.
He looked at Sawyer, beaten and bloody; he had taken that for her. Jack was suddenly very glad that Sawyer was someone he could say that he knew; he had a new...respect for him. "I didn't do it for you."
Kate smiled at him. "I wasn't saying it for me."
Jack grinned back and they continued cleaning Sawyer together.
* * * * *
Kate leaned back against the wall, shifting Sawyer's head in her lap a little. He was still sleeping, and she was exhausted. It had taken her and Jack more than an hour to get him completely cleaned and stitched; she had cried bitterly when she saw his back. Even cleaned and with a few stitches it looked like hamburger.
She closed her eyes, her hands gently stroking his hair. Fatigue started to take over, she slipped into a dozing half-sleep. But she was happy. She didn't want to stop touching him; her fingers slid lightly over his bruises. He had suffered this for her; she didn't know what she could ever do to tell him what that meant to her. She didn't know if she could ever even put it into words. Besides, she and Sawyer were great when it came to banter and argument, but serious emotional discussion was not something either of them would ever be very comfortable with.
She was almost asleep, her eyes closed, her head leaned back against the wall. "Hey Freckles."
She smiled, and lowering her head she kissed him. It lasted forever; neither of them wanted to break it off. She finally did; if they kept on she wasn't sure she would be able to stop, and he was definitely not in any condition to continue. "Hey Tex," she whispered back.
He stared at her, that curious shine in his eyes again. He swallowed. "Are you okay?"
She stroked his hair, a few tears escaping down her cheeks. "Yes."
He was quiet for a second. "Am I okay?"
She laughed at that. "I think so. You're pretty beat up." He stirred, groaning. "Don't move."
"What happened to me, Kate? I don't remember anything after...after I left." She let out a little sob, and his eyes filled with tears. "Please don't cry, Kate. I can't stand it." He tried to move but he was too sore; what the hell happened to him?
She tried to stifle her tears but they wouldn't be stopped. "Why did you do it, Sawyer? They could have killed you. I thought they had." She stroked his hair, gazing into his tear-filled eyes. "I thought I killed you."
"Kate." He wanted to touch her but his arms wouldn't move. "Kate, you know why." His voice was breaking. "You know why, don't you?"
She stared at him forever. "Yes."
She kissed him again, their tears mingling together. Breathlessly she drew back, smiling at him. "I'm so glad you're back," she whispered into his ear, and he grinned, weakly.
"Yeah," he whispered back to her, "I notice you couldn't wait to get me in bed."
She laughed, wiping away her tears. "Well, that's the truth." Her face turned serious, and she looked into his eyes, swallowing hard. Her gut clenched at what she was going to say. "I do too."
His eyes lit up, shining. "Well, hell, Freckles," he said softly, "what are we wasting this perfectly good bed for? You already got my pants off; the rest shouldn't be too hard."
"God, Sawyer, do you ever think about anything else?" she laughed, wishing she could think about something else.
"Nope. I have a one track mind, sweetheart, especially when it comes to you." He reached up, wincing; he had to touch her. Her hand found his, meeting it halfway. They sat that way for a long time but he was starting to ache terribly and his back was on fire; he suddenly felt very, very tired. She was here; he was safe. "Don't leave me, Kate," he murmured, slipping into sleep. His eyes closed.
"Don't worry," she whispered into his sleeping ear. "I won't."
* * * * *
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Skate, Jana, others
Disclaimer: I don't own LOST
Summary: Set during S2, immediately post-WKD, Kate, Sawyer and several other characters go off into the jungle after Michael, learning secrets of the Island along the way.
Spoilers: Season 2
A/N: Tracker is an extremely lengthy, multi-chapter fanfic that I wrote during Season Two. I plan on posting a couple of chapters a day if I can, so please check back! By the way, blame kirvash if you get hooked on it. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 18
Eko sat on the beach, carving a new word into his club. The club was his rod and his staff, and it comforted him; it was nice to have the things he needed to remember so close. He chiseled carefully, blowing occasionally to remove the shavings; finally he smiled and brushed it carefully, looking at his new addition. James 2:26. Yes, that is always good to remember, he thought.
He wondered how Kate was doing; he rose to go check on her. A whisper flickered by his head and he stopped, turning away from the beach. The whisper moved; it called to him, wanting him to follow it. He moved into the jungle; the whisper went faster, and rose in volume. He sped up; he was getting close. What did it want him to find? He went deeper and deeper into the jungle, his curiosity growing with each step. He couldn't understand the whisper but he could hear urgency behind it.
The whisper stopped as he came into a glade; he spun around, searching for something. He saw it.
It was Sawyer. He was crumpled in a heap, facedown in the dirt. Eko went to him, checking his breathing. He was alive, though blood was seeping through the back of his shirt in streaks; Eko gently rolled him over, looking aside in dismay as he saw Sawyer's face. He was covered in blood and dirt; his face was a mess of bruises and cuts. Blood was leaking over the front of his shirt, too, and his jeans; Eko didn't look under them. He had to get him to Jack. Something flitted silently through the jungle; he glanced up as he caught the movement from the corner of his eye. Whatever it was had gone. He turned his attention back to Sawyer.
Sawyer's eyes flew open and he screamed. "NO! NO! WALT! NOOOO! Don't! Don't touch me!" His eyes seemed to focus a little, and he grabbed Eko's collar, pulling him down violently. "They're coming," he said, raggedly. "They're coming for Mike." His voice started to fade and he let go of Eko, falling back to the ground. "I had..to...give...message...." His eyes rolled up in his head and he was out. Eko sat still, breathless for a moment. He lifted Sawyer and placed him as gently as he could over his shoulder. The hatch was only a mile away; he could run it quickly, even with the added weight.
He ran as smoothly as he could; he could feel the sticky blood seeping onto his shirt, dampening his shoulder. Sawyer groaned sporadically; Eko was trying hard not to jar him but he was sacrificing comfort for speed. He finally made it to the hatch and hollered for help. Sun and Jack came running; Sun froze in horror at Sawyer's bloodstained body, but Jack pushed aside his shock and got down to business. "Put him in the bunk." Eko went to the bed and lowered him gently to it. Jack started to examine him, directing Eko as he did. "Go to the medical stash and get me the alcohol and the bandages. I need some hot water and clean towels." Eko nodded and started after them; Jack pulled open Sawyer's shirt and blanched a little. "Better get the sewing kit too," he added. Jack glanced at Sun, who was still staring horrified at Sawyer, her hand over her mouth. "Sun!" Jack snapped her out of her stupor. "Go to the beach and get Kate." Sun nodded and took off to the beach.
Eko returned with the supplies. Jack nodded at him, "Help me with his clothes." They slid his shirt off with difficulty, and when Eko pulled off his jeans Jack had to look away. What the hell had they done to him? Every inch of him was battered and bruised; he looked like he'd been pushed through a thresher. He looked like he'd been whipped. Jack rolled him up to look at his back; it was a bloody raw mess. Jesus, he thought, what happened? He sighed and lowered him back down gently, and dipping a clean towel in the alcohol he started to dab at the deepest cuts. "Where did you find him?"
Eko watched Jack gently cleaning Sawyer's wounds. "About a mile from here. He was on the ground, unconscious."
"Did he wake up? Say anything?"
"Yes." Jack glanced up, waiting for Eko to continue. "He said they were coming. For Michael. He said he had to give the message." Eko looked at Sawyer, quickly. "He was not in his right mind, Jack."
Jack was looking furious and a little guilty. "Look what they did to him," he hissed. "This is the message." He pointed to Sawyer's mangled body.
Eko was quiet for a while, watching Jack minister to Sawyer. He had cleaned the worst of the gashes, now he turned to stitching them up. "Do you like her?" Eko asked suddenly.
Jack was unsure of who he meant. "Do I like who?" He didn't look up; he slid the needle into the edge of a large wound and expertly knotted it, pulling the edges together.
"Ana-Lucia." Jack stopped and glanced at Eko, then looked back down at his work. He didn't answer. He had barely spoken to her since her fight with Kate; he knew she felt guilty about what happened. And looking at Sawyer, Jack hoped she did feel guilty. "She did not mean for it to go so far, Jack. She made a mistake."
"Yeah, well, she does that a lot." He was instantly sorry he'd said it. It wasn't entirely her fault; there was plenty of blame to go around. The alarm went off and Jack nodded his head towards the computer. "Would you?" he asked, and Eko nodded, standing.
"I am going to wait for Kate," he said. "She should have a little warning before she sees this." Jack nodded,concentrating, and Eko went to the computer, a second later the alarm stopped, and Eko left the hatch to wait for Kate outside.
Jack kept stitching. He was closing up a particularly nasty gash when he noticed something. What the hell? he thought, looking at Sawyer's shoulder. The bullet wound was gone; no scar, nothing. What?
He heard Kate before he saw her; her feet pounded on the concrete as she ran into the room. He could see she hadn't been prepared enough. She was crying and she touched Sawyer softly, kissing him all over. Jack swallowed; not because he was jealous, but because the raw emotion of it broke his heart. "He's okay, Kate," he said, trying to ease her. "He's just a little beat up. I've put in a few stitches and I just need to clean him up a little." He stopped and pointed at Sawyer's shoulder. "You should see this."
His wound was gone; there was not even a trace of a scar. "It's gone? How is that possible?" She couldn't understand it.
"I don't know." Jack picked up another clean towel and dipped it in the hot water Eko had brought. "I'm going to clean him up now." He smiled at her. "Unless you want to do it?"
She smiled. It was nice to see that, Jack thought. Since he had gone to her on the beach the hostility and anger had gone; they were friends again, and Jack knew, without a doubt, that friends were all they would ever be. He looked at Sawyer, and thought of what he had done for Kate; he looked at Kate and saw how she loved him. And that was okay; Jack understood now. "Yeah," Kate said. "I do."
Jack handed her the towels and she started cleaning the blood and dirt from Sawyer's face. He worked on his legs, they were cut and bleeding too, but none of them needed stitches. He dreaded doing Sawyer's back; but it was Kate's reaction he dreaded even more.
She looked up at him. "Thank you, Jack," she said softly.
He looked at Sawyer, beaten and bloody; he had taken that for her. Jack was suddenly very glad that Sawyer was someone he could say that he knew; he had a new...respect for him. "I didn't do it for you."
Kate smiled at him. "I wasn't saying it for me."
Jack grinned back and they continued cleaning Sawyer together.
* * * * *
Kate leaned back against the wall, shifting Sawyer's head in her lap a little. He was still sleeping, and she was exhausted. It had taken her and Jack more than an hour to get him completely cleaned and stitched; she had cried bitterly when she saw his back. Even cleaned and with a few stitches it looked like hamburger.
She closed her eyes, her hands gently stroking his hair. Fatigue started to take over, she slipped into a dozing half-sleep. But she was happy. She didn't want to stop touching him; her fingers slid lightly over his bruises. He had suffered this for her; she didn't know what she could ever do to tell him what that meant to her. She didn't know if she could ever even put it into words. Besides, she and Sawyer were great when it came to banter and argument, but serious emotional discussion was not something either of them would ever be very comfortable with.
She was almost asleep, her eyes closed, her head leaned back against the wall. "Hey Freckles."
She smiled, and lowering her head she kissed him. It lasted forever; neither of them wanted to break it off. She finally did; if they kept on she wasn't sure she would be able to stop, and he was definitely not in any condition to continue. "Hey Tex," she whispered back.
He stared at her, that curious shine in his eyes again. He swallowed. "Are you okay?"
She stroked his hair, a few tears escaping down her cheeks. "Yes."
He was quiet for a second. "Am I okay?"
She laughed at that. "I think so. You're pretty beat up." He stirred, groaning. "Don't move."
"What happened to me, Kate? I don't remember anything after...after I left." She let out a little sob, and his eyes filled with tears. "Please don't cry, Kate. I can't stand it." He tried to move but he was too sore; what the hell happened to him?
She tried to stifle her tears but they wouldn't be stopped. "Why did you do it, Sawyer? They could have killed you. I thought they had." She stroked his hair, gazing into his tear-filled eyes. "I thought I killed you."
"Kate." He wanted to touch her but his arms wouldn't move. "Kate, you know why." His voice was breaking. "You know why, don't you?"
She stared at him forever. "Yes."
She kissed him again, their tears mingling together. Breathlessly she drew back, smiling at him. "I'm so glad you're back," she whispered into his ear, and he grinned, weakly.
"Yeah," he whispered back to her, "I notice you couldn't wait to get me in bed."
She laughed, wiping away her tears. "Well, that's the truth." Her face turned serious, and she looked into his eyes, swallowing hard. Her gut clenched at what she was going to say. "I do too."
His eyes lit up, shining. "Well, hell, Freckles," he said softly, "what are we wasting this perfectly good bed for? You already got my pants off; the rest shouldn't be too hard."
"God, Sawyer, do you ever think about anything else?" she laughed, wishing she could think about something else.
"Nope. I have a one track mind, sweetheart, especially when it comes to you." He reached up, wincing; he had to touch her. Her hand found his, meeting it halfway. They sat that way for a long time but he was starting to ache terribly and his back was on fire; he suddenly felt very, very tired. She was here; he was safe. "Don't leave me, Kate," he murmured, slipping into sleep. His eyes closed.
"Don't worry," she whispered into his sleeping ear. "I won't."
* * * * *