almost a year- Jate fic

Ok, so this is my first fic, be nice, please. Sorry it's so long but enjoy anyway =]

ALMOST A YEAR

She hadn’t even noticed someone approaching her tent. Why would she? It was the middle of the night. Well at least it had been. Judging by the light coming through the door that was now open it must have been morning, but still. It was too early for people to be about.
“Kate.” She stiffened. But then the door opened and she realised, to her relief that it was only Sun.
“Kate, I need to talk to you”
Kate didn’t say anything, she just nodded.
“You never told us” Sun began “What happened when you were with the others.”
Kate frowned, lost for words for a second. Were they starting to not trust her aswell? Maybe they thought that, like they thought with Jack, that she had been compromised? “What do you mean, we did tell you…”
“I didn’t mean what happened, I wanted to know what they did to you. How they treated you.”
Kate looked away, the memories flashing across her face faster than she could hide them. She tried to compose herself, but Sun had already seen.
“Why? Do you ask me now, when I had just begun to forget?” Kate whispered, brokenly.
“Because Sawyer found a tape. A tape that Juliet left for their leader after she did my ultrasound. On it she told him about my pregnancy. They are going to take anyone who is pregnant. And I need to know “
Oh God thought Kate. I have been so blind. “Sun, where did you get your test?”
Sun looked at Kate, then her eyes widened. “Are you…”
“I…I don’t know.” Kate took a breath to steady herself. “I could be.”
“Jack?”
Kate shook her head slowly, tears threatening to spill.
“Sawyer?” said Sun quietly, disbelieving.
When Kate said nothing Sun moved a little closer to Kate, put a comforting hand on her arm. “I got it from Sawyer” Kate groaned quietly, she had been expecting that. “Hold on though.” Said Sun “There were two in the box. I still have it. Do you…want to know?”
Kate looked at her. “No.” she said, dropping her head, then looking determinedly at Sun. “But I have to.”

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Nobody was up, it was still early, so Kate and Sun reached Sun’s tent without meeting anyone, and Sun went into her tent for a few seconds to try and retrieve the test without waking Jin.
“Here you go.” She said to Kate. “You want to take it now?”
Kate heard a noise and quickly shoved the test in the back of her jeans and covered it with her shirt. She could see someone coming up the beach, it looked like Jack. She tried to move away, she couldn’t face him, but he had already seen her. He was about to pass them, but seemed to think better of it. Kate was uncomfortably pulling the back of her shirt down as far as she could.
“You ok Kate?” He said. Kate looked at him. It was the first time since they had got back that he had spoken to her without her speaking to him first. And then she realised. It was because Juliet wasn’t with him. Could it be that he didn’t trust her as much as it seemed?
“Kate, you’re staring.” She jerked herself back to reality. Jack was almost laughing at her. He looked so different, almost like he used to.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” she said. “Isn’t it a little early to be up?”
“I could say the same to you two”
Kate just smiled. “I should go” she said. “I’m sure Juliet is waiting for you.” She was sorry almost as soon as she said it. She hadn’t meant to sound like such a jealous bitch. She looked at Jack about to apologize, but there was a look in his eyes, and it wasn’t guilt it was….grief. He was about to defend himself, then thought better of it, and just turned to walk away, not even saying “Good morning.”
“Damn it, why did I do that?” she said, walking furiously towards her tent as soon as she was sure Jack was gone.
“Kate” Sun was trying to keep up “What are you doing?” She was watching Kate throwing a pair of jeans, a couple of clean tops, a bottle of water and countless other things into her backpack. “Don’t do anything stupid will you?”
“I’m not” said Kate straightening up. “I just need some time alone.”
“How much time? Do you not remember? They are out there. How will we know if you are ok? What if…”
“I don’t know. I don’t know when I’ll come back, I don’t know if I will.”
“What will I tell them? What will I tell Jack? “
Kate stilled for a second, and then whispered so quietly that Sun had trouble hearing her “I don’t think Jack even cares.”
“Kate, don’t do this. Please.”
“I have to.”
Sun gave Kate a hug. “Take care of yourself.” She said. Then she watched Kate leave.
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Kate didn’t even know where she was going to go, but she found herself outside the medical hatch she had visited with Claire, the same one that Sun said Juliet had taken her to. She opened the door, it seemed darker than it had before. It was just as empty, but now she knew where to look.
One of the lockers, Sun had told her. A lever inside one of the lockers. She found it, and pulled it down, and the door opened, revealing the hidden room. She closed the door behind her and turned the lights on, and took the test. She sat down to wait.
Those three minutes were turning out to be the longest of her life.

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So Kate might not think he cared, but he did. And that was why he had to pretend he didn’t. He couldn’t let them know he cared, so he couldn’t let Kate know he did. And he hated the fact that it was hurting her, but it was cutting him up even more.
He had made a habit since they had got back of avoiding Kate, but always looking around for her, making sure she was still there. But she wasn’t here now. He thought for a second about going to find her, but then Juliet came around the back of his tent and sat beside him. Finding Kate would have to wait for later, but he would have to make sure she was ok, because he still hadn’t done what Ben wanted. And he was sure that if he failed Ben, Ben wouldn’t hesitate in fulfilling his promise to have Kate killed.

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She couldn’t just sit here and watch the test do its thing. She had to do something. She put the test on a table and walked around, almost tripping over a big box covered with a tarp. She took off the tarp, and there was a load of…well they looked like radios. They probably wouldn’t work, none of the other radios they’d found had, but it was worth a try.
“……..alpha br…..com…..Naomi do yo…..”
Naomi. Wasn’t that the name of that woman? The one in Hurley’s tent?
She pushed the button on the radio “Hello?”
The signal was suddenly clearer, as if someone had tuned in no her. “Hello? Who is this?” she repeated.
“Naomi, is that you”
“This is...” Kate knew that in order to get everyone rescued, she would have to give herself up “This is Kate Austin. I’m a survivor of Oceanic flight 815. We crashed here. This woman Naomi you’re talking about crashed on this island yesterday, she is at our camp. Can you send a boat, anything?”
There was a silence on the other end of the line. “Oceanic 815?”
“Yes, Naomi said you found all the bodies, but that couldn’t have been right. We’re alive, about forty of us. We’ve been here over 90 days.”
“We can send a boat. Expect it later, maybe tomorrow morning.”
The line went dead. Kate put the radio back in the box, knowing that in confirming rescue for everyone she had come to care about over the last three months, and possibly some she didn’t care about, she had probably given herself up to what she’d been running from for over four years.
She noticed the test on the table. It was positive. Not that it mattered much anymore.

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Kate still wasn’t back. He hadn’t seen her since early in the morning when he bumped into her and Sun, when she had accused him of being with Juliet. She hadn’t said as much but it was obvious, that was what she thought and the worst thing was he had to let her think that. Loving her used to be so simple. Where did it go wrong?
It still bothered him that he couldn’t see her. She could have done something stupid like running off into the jungle on her own, and if she had been gone since this morning any number of things could have happened. He decided to go and talk to Sun. She was in her garden again.
“Sun” he said.
Sun turned around to see Jack “Hello Jack.” She smiled at him.
Well at least someone doesn’t hate me thought Jack and smiled back. “I was just wondering if you’d seen Kate?” Sun didn’t say anything for a second. “Sun? Where is she?”
“She...she said not to tell you.”
Jack shifted his position slightly. “Sun, it’s really important that I know where she is, because her being out alone…it’s not safe. I need to know where she went.”
She looked at him for a second. “I don’t know” she mumbled.
“I can’t hear you, speak up” Jack said.
“I Don’t know” said Sun, ashamed. “She left this morning, right after we talked to you.”
“Left?” Jack didn’t know why he was starting to panic, but he knew this what not good news. “Left for where? Was she alone?”
“Yes. I don’t know where she went She said she needed some time alone, and she didn’t know how long she would be gone.”
Jack froze. “You mean…” Jack swallowed. “She’s not coming back?” He tried to feel anything other than guilt and fear. She was out in the jungle alone, and he hadn’t done it. It was late, he should have done it days ago, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t bring himself to kill Charlie. Did that mean he’d killed Kate instead?
“I have to go.” Sun looked at him curiously. “I’m sorry but I have to go. Don’t tell anyone.” He turned to go. “Especially not Juliet.”
“What will I tell them then?” asked Sun.
“Say you don’t know.” He turned to walk away.
“Jack!” Jack turned around. “Be careful. Please.”
He tried to say he would be, but couldn’t look her in the eye and say everything was going to be ok.

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She didn’t know how long she had been in the hatch, but she knew it was time to leave. She took a quick look around to make sure that everything was the same way as it was when she arrived, and left, still holding the pregnancy test in her hand. She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter, that after tomorrow she would probably see neither Jack nor Sawyer again, and once this baby was born and she was in jail where she belonged…she didn’t know.
She didn’t know why she wanted to make sure neither man found out. So she buried the test, and she covered the mound with leaves and she tried to walk away. But this was something she couldn’t walk away from. For the first time ever, she couldn’t run away from someone who needed her, because she now she carried that person with her wherever she went. And that terrified her.
It must have been getting late, it was starting to get dark. Kate started a fire, sat down beside it and tried not to remember anything. But the dreams came anyway.

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Jack had been looking for hours. He didn’t even know how to track, it was insane him coming out alone, and it was getting dark. He decided to stop for the night, lit a fire and sat beside it, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
It was getting cold, and he didn’t know what was out there. He had been here on this island for over 90 days now, and still this jungle scared him. He was scared, and he could never show it in front of the others. He tried to tell himself that he would be doing this for anyone, but came to the crashing revelation that there was nobody else he would come this far for. Only her.
Which was why he couldn’t let her die.
“Hey Jack” Jack looked up and saw Tom, and his insides froze. He had run out of time. “I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”
Jack got up and tried to run, but Tom stopped him.
“I wouldn’t do that Jack.” Jack turned around and saw Juliet emerge from the jungle.
“I’m not going with you” said Jack.
“Then we’ll have to bring her to you.”
And with that Jack knew that he had come after her too late.

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Kate woke up suddenly, not knowing quite why she did, but she sat up and quickly realised she didn’t have any food with her. Taking the water bottle out of her bag she took a drink, and reached up to a low branch of a tree to grab a piece of fruit. Biting into it she turned around and froze when she saw Juliet standing across the clearing from her. She threw the fruit down on the floor.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“We need you back at the beach.
“What for?”
“Please Kate we need you, we have to leave now.”
“How long have you been there?”
“Only a couple of minutes.”
“Why do you need me?”
“There’s something wrong with Sun. You were with her yesterday I need you to tell us exactly what happened.”
“Why?”
“Kate…just come.” Kate looked at Juliet curiously. It was the first time she had seen the woman show any emotion, and it creeped her out even more than Juliet’s usual cold exterior did.
“Please Kate?”
“Ok, I’ll come” said Kate, grabbing her bag and storming out of the clearing.
Juliet watched her go. It’s a good thing for Ben that I’m a good liar she thought. God, she hated him.

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Kate and Juliet had only been walking for about 10 minutes when Kate sensed that something was not right. She turned around. Juliet had disappeared. She’d been walking right behind Kate and she wasn’t there anymore. Kate started to run, and stumbled into a clearing. It was full of people, and Ben was there, with Juliet standing beside him. Kate looked around, confused, at the several guns pointed at her.
“We’ve been expecting you.” She felt a thud at her feet, and saw a pair of handcuffs which someone had obviously just thrown to her. “Put those on for us please” said Ben in a slightly bored voice.
“No” she said, turning to run, even though she knew that there was really no point. If they wanted to take her, they would do it. But she couldn’t face going back there again.
“Kate,” said Ben “You are going to put those on and come with us” Kate turned and saw Jack, tied and gagged with a gun against his head.
She looked at Jack, he was shaking his head, telling her to run, but she couldn’t. She wanted to, so badly. But she couldn’t just leave him again. She heard the click of a gun.
“Come on Kate.”
She picked the handcuffs up, trying to stop her tears from coming. She looked at Jack, she could hardly see him, but he was still shaking his head, looking at her, asking her not to do it. She turned away from him and faced Ben and Juliet. She put the handcuffs on and dropped her hands.
She heard movement behind her as Jack was freed, but she didn’t look. She didn’t want him to see her cry. Juliet stepped forward and took her arm, about to lead her away, when Jack shouted “5 minutes.”
She turned to look at him. “Give us 5 minutes” he said, never taking his eyes off Kate “You owe us that much.”
Kate locked eyes with Jack for what seemed like eternity, and then felt Juliet’s hand release her arm and push her gently towards him. All the Others melted away into the jungle until only Ben was left. “5 minutes” he said with a warning look, and also left Kate alone with Jack.
She turned to him, hesitating before moving closer. “What are they going to do Jack?” she whispered. He didn’t answer, but he turned his head away for a second, and when he looked at her again there were tears in his eyes. Kate began to shake. “Are they going to…”she could hardly finish. “Am I going to die?”
“I’m sorry Kate,” said Jack, barely audible. “I couldn’t protect you. I am so sorry. I…”
“Jack,” Kate stepped a little closer and put her hands gently on his face. He put his arms around her, holding her safe and close one last time. Then she kissed him. Slowly and softly, silently telling him “It was you all along.”
Kate reluctantly broke away. “I have something to tell you.” She said. “A rescue boat is coming, either tonight or tomorrow.” She swallowed. “You’re going home.”
He looked at her, torn between the hope of finally going home, and knowing that he would have to leave her behind. “I want you to do something for me” said Kate.
“Kate, please. I don’t want to leave you, I…can’t live without you…”
Kate looked him in the eye fiercly. “Don’t you dare Jack” she said in a whisper, trying to disguise the tremble in her voice. “You have to go home. You have to find someone…someone who deserves you. And you have to be happy.”
Jack was shaking his head, trembling like Kate. “No, I can’t…”
“Promise me you will.”
“Kate!” he lowered his voice. “How can you even ask me to be happy without you?”
“Because, Jack,” her voice broke. “If you were standing here in front of the person you loved you would want the same for them.”
Jack held her close, her leaning against his chest. He kissed the top of her head. She was sobbing uncontrollably, and so was he.
“Promise me,” she said between her sobs. “Promise me you’ll be happy.”
“I’ll try.”
“Forget about me,”
“I couldn’t. Even if I tried I never would be able to.”
She could hear someone coming up behind her. “I’m sorry Kate but it’s time to go” she heard Juliet say.
“Forget about me Jack,” she whispered so only he could hear. “Just…don’t forget about me too much, ok?” she added as she was separated from him. He grabbed her hand and held it tight until it was wrenched from him. He could do nothing but watch as her hands were cuffed behind her back and her head was pulled back as a gag was put on. The guy called Richard threw her to her knees.
“You don’t have to watch Jack” said Juliet.
Jack looked at Kate. She shook her head. Don’t stay Jack. She thought. Please don’t watch.
“Jack, just leave. You don’t need to be here” said Juliet.
“I’m not leaving her.”
Juliet looked at Ben. “If you want to stay” said Ben with a smirk. “Stay. But you’re going to have to do it.”
Jack stared at Ben, knowing that there was never going to be anyone ever again that he could ever hate as much as this man. “I love you Kate” he said then turned to run before Kate would see him cry. He ran until he couldn’t see them. And then he waited.
They’re bluffing he thought, desperately trying to grasp for any thread of hope. They couldn’t actually kill her like that. They are not that evil.
Then he heard the gunshot.

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It had been almost a year. Almost a year since Jack had boarded a rescue boat and left her behind. Kate didn’t know how she had survived when all the other pregnant women had died, but she had. And now they were going to let her go. Or so they said. She didn’t believe them, they had told Jack he would go, and then they made him stay, and even now, 8 hours before she was supposed to leave she didn’t really believe she was going home.
“You ready Kate?” she heard a voice behind her say. She turned and saw Juliet standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She smiled. She and Juliet had become a strange kind of friends, despite the fact that Kate might have thought it impossible.
“Yeah, we’re ready” she said, looking down into the cot beside her at her daughter, Skye. But the truth was, she was scared. Nobody remembered her. Except maybe the US Marshalls who, once they heard her name mentioned at any airport terminal anywhere would realise that she was not dead, and Skye would be taken away from her and…
“Kate, I’ve got something for you.” Juliet sat down next to Kate on the bed and opened a thick envelope, pulling out two passports. Puzzled, Kate opened the first one. It held her picture, next to the name Kate Burke. She looked at Juliet curiously.
“I…I had a sister” she began. “Called Kate. She was born when I was 11.” Juliet stood up. “She died when I was 12” Kate stood up also, putting her hand on her friend’s arm. “Just to let you know, it took a lot for me to use my sister’s name for you.”
“Thank you” aid Kate, “I didn’t expect you to do anything like this for me, I…” then Kate had a thought. “If you lost all communication,” she said, “How could you apply for a passport?”
“There’s something else we haven’t told you” Juliet said. “Since Ben died we found out that he didn’t exactly tell us the truth about a lot of things.”
“Like what kind of things?”
“Like when he told us that we had lost all communication. We have been able to contact the outside world for months now.”
“Why are you telling me now?”
“Because” said Juliet “I was one of the people who separated you from someone you loved. I thought I should fix that.”
“Jack?”
Juliet nodded. “Yes.”
Kate picked up her baby and sat down on the bed holding her close. “What if he doesn’t remember me?” she whispered so softly that Juliet had trouble hearing her. Juliet sat down beside her. “What if he forgot about me?” Just like I told him to she thought.
“He didn’t forget about you” smiled Juliet
“How can you tell me that?” asked Kate not looking at her.
“Because he came all the way back here just to take you home.”
Kate looked at Juliet disbelievingly. “He’s here?”
“He will be soon.”
Kate looked down at Skye. “Does he know…about my daughter?”
“Yes, he knows.”
Kate couldn’t stop the tears flowing. Jack was coming, he had come back to this island, for her! Even though he knew she had had Sawyer’s baby.
“When will he be here?”
“Any second now” said Juliet, smiling.

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It had been almost a year. Almost a year since Jack had boarded a rescue boat and left her behind. And despite everything he had been through on that island he could not keep his promise to forget it and move on.
The week before he had received a call from Juliet. At first he had thought it was a wrong number, but Juliet had started to say that he probably wouldn’t want to speak to her after everything she had put him through, but she had to let him know that Kate was alive, and she was going to be leaving the island very soon.
He couldn’t believe that Kate was alive. He had just spent a year getting over her death, and now she had to come and shake his life up again. But he smiled to himself as he thought there is nobody else in the whole world I would rather have my life shaken up by.
He looked across at Rachel, the woman with the little boy who had said that she was Juliet’s sister. “You think we’re nearly there?” he asked her
“I talked to the driver a while ago. He said we should be docking any minute now.” She looked like she could hardly contain her excitement at seeing her sister again. Just then Jack felt a bump as the boat landed. “Wow” he said “Talk about perfect timing, huh?” he smiled at her. “Shall we go?” he helped her climb the ladder up to the deck, and then passed the child to her. Well he thought for better or worse, I’m back.
He climbed up the ladder himself, shielding his eyes against the bright sunlight. He walked down the pier, where Tom met him. “Hey Jack” said Tom
“Hey” Jack nodded.
“I know you probably hate me right? I haven’t been the nicest of guys towards you.”
Jack looked at Tom, the smiled. “Hate is a very strong word Tom.” Then he laughed, and Tom joined in. “You going home as well Tom?”
“Yeah” said Tom, a grin spreading across his face. “Yes, I’m finally going home too.”
“Look me up if you’re ever in LA. It will be fun to kick your ass at football again” said Jack.
“That I will do.”
“So which house is Kate’s?” asked Jack looking around the village.
“Down the path, number 12. It’s on the left.”
“Thanks man.”
“Welcome.”
Jack jogged down the path, passing Rachel and her son. He looked on each of the house to try and find number 12. But it turned out he didn’t have to look, because Kate was watching out of one of the windows for him. He saw her before she saw him, and when she did her entire face lit up and she disappeared. She reappeared seconds later out the front door. She ran towards him, hugging him so fiercly it almost bowled him over.
“Kate” said Jack, just enjoying the sound of her name. “God, Kate I missed you so much.”
Kate stepped back, holding his hands. “You didn’t keep your promise Mr Shepard” she said playfully.
“I really don’t care, Miss Austin” replied Jack, and then he kissed her. He kissed her as softly and tenderly and as passionatly as he could, making up for all of her that he’d missed. And he had missed her. So much.
“The boat’s leaving straight away Jack. We’re all ready to go.”
“I know.” Juliet had warned him about the baby, the baby that wasn’t his. But she was hers, she was a part of Kate, so she would be a part of him.
Kate returned into the house and came out a second later carrying a backpack and a baby carrier. She put the carrier down on the ground, and so tenderly she reached into and took out her baby.
“Jack,” she said. “Meet Skye Austin.” She looked at Jack, worried. Would he hate her daughter? Would it remind him of all the times she had hurt him, of what she had done?
Jack swallowed, she was a beautiful baby girl. “She looks just like you Kate.” He said, smiling. “Just as beautiful as her mother.”
He picked up the empty carrier from the floor and offered to take Kate’s backpack and they walked towards the boat. After walking for a few minutes he stopped her. Putting down the carrier and the bag he fumbled in his shirt pocket and took out a ring.
“Kate, I know this is insane, but I don’t want to lose you again, for anything. For almost a year I tried to live without you. I tried and I failed. So, since I met you on this island, fell in love with you here, lost you here,” he paused, “and then found you again, it’s only right that I should do this here.” He got down on one knee. “Kate, will you marry me?”
Kate looked at him, and she knew that she wouldn’t hurt him. He would keep her safe. “Yes, Jack. A thousand times.”
His smile was immeasurable. So was hers. He took her hand and her bags and they walked towards the boat. Kate looked at Jack, who was looking at Skye. “Jack, are you sure you want to do this?”
“What do you mean ‘Am I sure’? Of course I’m not sure” he said, but then turning to look at her he added “but sure is for people who don’t love enough.”

It is very long, although i dont have time t read it now i will make sue I do, every fanfic deserves my viewing.

I have watched it now and It was very good, I liked it, especially the last few paragraphs, well worth reading.

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"Take what you can and give nothing back!"
"Trust is the hardest thing to gain, yet the easiest thing to loose,"

I've not read all of this yet, however from what I have read I've enjoyed.

Keep up the good work!
You obviously have a talent!
Very Happy

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Like a few of us here Wink

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"Take what you can and give nothing back!"
"Trust is the hardest thing to gain, yet the easiest thing to loose,"

indeed!

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