I want to start by saying thank you again for the feedback I've received! Everyone has been so thoughtful in their responses. :) It's very encouraging to see so many Lost fans still out there!

I also want to apologize because I just learned how to create a line to break up different scenes in a chapter so my POVs won't mesh together in a confusing mess anymore.

I hear the Jate fans for sure and can/will continue to explore more of their behind the scenes interactions from Season 2. Skate will definitely be sprinkled in here and there to help lead up to everything that happened with them in Season 3. With that said, thank you again and please feel free to leave feedback as you see fit!


Lockdown 2x17 (taking place after Jack and Kate found the Dharma food drop in the jungle

Kate finally felt like things were normal again with Jack and she couldn't be happier. Having to deal with the tension and awkwardness made trying to survive on an island with monsters and violent natives even harder than it already was. It also felt incredibly lonely not having him around to spend time with.

She wanted to make sure they could stay this way and not let anything get in between them again. That was a big reason why she left Jack and Sawyer to their pissing contest that was guised as a game of poker. Whatever issues they had in between them she wanted no part of and she was tired of being in the middle. Sometimes they could both be so childish, being upset when she spent time with one of them and not the other. Of course, they would never tell her that but between jealous looks and snide comments they weren't very good at hiding it.

There were reasons why she was drawn to both of them, but she had a hard time taking any of it seriously because there was always a part of her that knew any relationships she had in her life were always temporary. Or at least that's what she had been telling herself for years to save herself from any further disappointment. It was no use believing that people would want to stay in her life long term. They always left one way or another, why should Jack or Sawyer be any different? As soon as they were off of the island, they would all go their separate ways. No one would be visiting her in prison when she, inevitably, was caught again.

On the other hand, when she was with Jack she felt a sense of warmth and safety. Something she hadn't felt with anyone before. There was something so simple about the way he viewed things that it made her feel like she was actually normal and not the complicated mess that everyone else made her out to be. She loved that feeling more than anything and didn't want to lose it but craving intimacy with someone yet fearing intimacy at the same time was her own personal hell. After all of these years of running and people leaving her, she became more comfortable with chasing closeness and comfort than actually having it.

She was happy he offered to walk her back to the beach after letting her know that the pipes in the hatch were broken. She didn't necessarily need him to but it had been a while since they had any alone time together and she was used to spending more time with him than they had been lately. Another sign that things were finally getting normal again, sans food falling from the sky and the Others kidnapping their people. Jack and her were finally becoming normal again.

"Does your offer still stand?" she asked, placing the box of macaroni she pulled out back into the plastic wrap filled with food.

"Huh?" he asked, still staring at all of the food in front of them in disbelief.

"To walk me back," she said with a small smirk.

"Yeah, of course," he replied, heading towards her way so they could start walking back to the beach.

"Where do you think it came from?" she asked, referring to the giant pile of food that fell from the sky. She looked over at him as they walked, curious if he was concerned about it.

"If Desmond was still around, he could probably tell us. I'm guessing they have to drop these off every few months for whoever was pushing the button," he suggested as he moved some branches out of her way letting her go ahead of him.

"The others…" she began "at the beach...they're going to fight over it. And Sawyer...he has all of the guns."

He sighed heavily out loud, and she knew it was because she had just vocalized most of his concerns. Things were starting to get out of control with the rest of the survivors and this food drop could be enough to incite an "every man for himself" attitude. Meanwhile, one of the more dangerous men on this island held their entire stash of guns.

"I can talk to him…" she offered as she stopped walking so she could turn to look at him under the light of his torch. Maybe there was a way she could convince Sawyer that hoarding all of the guns wouldn't get him anywhere on this island other than more people hating him and possibly putting them all in danger.

"The last time you talked to him, Kate, he lied to you to get what he wanted," he said with the slightest trace of disdain in his voice.

She bit her lip looking at the ground slightly ashamed. Sawyer had conned her out of a kiss before for something he didn't even have. She knew that she had been able to talk him into reason other times but it didn't change the fact that it happened or that it clearly still bothered Jack.

"Hey…" he continued quietly making her look back up at him, "I know you think you can handle him but after everything with the guns...I don't trust him, Kate. You'll do what you want to do regardless of what I have to say, but I don't want you in harm's way to fight my battles for me."

"Who said it's only your battle? Getting the guns back would benefit all of us," she didn't know if she should be flattered or offended that he didn't think she could handle Sawyer. He was an ass but she knew he wouldn't ever hurt her. Maybe that was just Jack's way of ensuring that she stayed away from him in general.

"Everyone here wants me to lead and I agreed to do it. If someone is holding the one thing that can protect us hostage, it's my battle to make sure we get it back. No matter what, especially now," he explained firmly.

Her face slowly turned perplexed as she started to wonder what else was going on that she didn't know about. Sure, there were issues with the Others but they hadn't been talking for days and it looked like he and Ana Lucia had been planning something with their perimeter walks around the beach. "Jack, are the pipes actually broken in the hatch?"

He looked around nervously before continuing to walk ahead towards the beach again. "Jack…" she pleaded, grabbing his hand to make him stop. "What the hell is going on?"

He let out a small sigh before responding, "We have someone in the hatch...and I'm pretty sure it's one of them."

She couldn't believe what he was saying to her. How could they have someone down there and she had no idea. "You're pretty sure?" she asked, even more confused than before.

"Sayid found him in the jungle. He claims that he crashed here with his wife in a hot air balloon. That's where Sayid, Charlie, and Ana Lucia went. They went to go see if his story was true...but I have a feeling they're going to come back and tell us that he's lying."

"And you've just been keeping him down there? And not telling anyone? Were you going to ever tell-" she started before he cut her off.

"I wasn't keeping it from you, Kate. I was protecting you from it."

"Protecting me? Since when did you decide to start treating me like a kid you have to babysit?!" she snapped. After his comments about Sawyer and now this, it was like he forgot how long she had been surviving on her own. Especially here.

"Since you decided to do whatever you want without thinking of what could happen," he said sharply, making her feel even angrier. He had a point, she made her own selfish and impulsive decisions but it didn't take away from feeling left out of the club. "You don't think that you would have wanted to see him or talk to him? After they held you at gunpoint?" he asked, walking closer to her. "Sawyer took all of our guns. If anything happened...if you tried anything and he attacked you..." he let out a deep breath. "I had to make sure I was keeping you safe." his voice softened and she could already see the apology spread across his face.

She frustratedly moved her hand through her hair looking away as she processed everything he was saying to her. She couldn't tell him not to care about her. She wanted him to care about her but not at the expense of being the last person to be informed. She was more comfortable fending for herself and making her own decisions about her safety than having someone make those decisions for her. "You used to tell me everything…" she whispered quietly.

"I agreed to be our leader knowing that the people I care about won't always like what I have to say...but I'm more worried about keeping you here, safe, than about the popularity contest," he sighed reaching over to grab her hand lightly. "I wish it didn't have to be this way."

She looked down at her hand before looking back up at him. "I think things were a lot easier when you didn't care about me…" she said with a dry laugh.

"That's never been the case, Kate," he confessed, taking another step closer to her.

She maintained eye contact with him. A part of her always knew that he felt that way but she knew him. These words didn't come easy to him so when he was finally able to say it to her, it made her feel so validated in the way she felt about him. For the first time in her life, there was someone who genuinely wanted to protect her. It was terrifying to think about in general, but in the moment it was overwhelming. She felt herself involuntarily squeeze his hand as he moved closer to her.

"Kate...I -" he started to say until he heard rustling from the bushes behind her. She quickly turned around and pressed her back against his chest to stay close to him as they waited for whatever danger was about to come out of the jungle. He instinctively placed his arm around her stomach pulling her closer as he held his torch out to hopefully get a better view. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting, Sayid and Charlie emerged with Ana Lucia shortly behind them.

Jack and Kate let out a sigh of relief at the sight of them but were immediately reminded that the three of them had just come back from confirming their prisoner's story. They quickly moved away from each other and Jack walked closer to Sayid. "What'd you find?" he asked, bracing himself for the answer.

"This," Sayid replied, holding out a driver's license with the name Henry Gale on it.

Kate rushed over to take a look at who this person was. She immediately saw the picture of a bald man and looked over at Jack. "Is that him?"

As soon as Jack saw the picture he began shaking his head. "This is Henry Gale," Sayid explained, holding out the card in his hand. "I have no idea who is in the hatch," he stated grimly looking at both Jack and Kate.


Kate was pacing back and forth in the hatch while Sayid and Jack were dealing with Henry in the other room. She heard the armory door latch shut which made her quickly perk her head up to see if there was an update to the situation. Before she could walk back into the kitchen, Jack met her in the hallway. "I need you to head back to the beach," he said firmly.

"Jack, I'm fine I'm not going to do anything," she replied quickly, already annoyed that he was trying to keep her out of the loop again.

"I think I have a plan but I need to talk to him first. In the meantime, I need you to go back to the beach and make sure no one else hears about this. Once I'm done here I'll meet you back at the beach, ok?"

"What's the plan?" she asked backing up towards the hatch door as he tried to walk her out.

"I'll tell you when I meet you at the beach but I need you to be ready. Grab a pack and get some water for at least 2 days. Get some of the food from the drop on your way back. I'll come get you."

She didn't know why he was basically pushing her out the door or what the urgency was but she was happy to be included again, so she complied. "If anyone asks where I am or what's happening, just tell them that Locke has a bad infection and that I'm treating him at the hatch. I don't need anyone coming there and I don't want anyone to panic," he continued to explain.

She nodded her head before turning around to twist open the hatch door. He reached behind her, placing his arms on either side of hers as he helped her twist open the handwheel on the door. "Thanks," she whispered with a small smile before walking through and heading into the jungle.

"Hey Kate, I'll see you soon, ok?"

She couldn't help the smile that formed after hearing him say that. She had never known someone like him. She never knew someone who wanted her to feel safe and would reassure her in order to make her feel that way. It was moments like these she didn't know why she wanted to run away from how she felt about him. She didn't know why she had been dumb enough to run after she kissed him. She didn't know why she always ran when they started to get close. She had been running her entire life and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep going. She didn't want to run anymore.

"I guess I'll see you soon," she said, still smiling before heading into the jungle.


I'll admit I was incredibly tempted for Jack to tell her he loved her but I think the first time he does in the Season 3 finale is too perfect to tamper with.

Sorry if this chapter was a little cheesy - hope you're not lactose intolerant because there's more where that came from. I feel like Jate hits a lot of deep feelings that come across cliche but are actually pretty relatable. It's hard not to write about.

Also, I changed the end of 2x17 a little bit so that Jack and Kate could have a moment before Sayid comes back to tell them about Henry/Ben. Thank you again for the sweet reviews! I love the feedback so keep sharing :)