Title: Restraint II
E-Mail: diandrahollman@gmail.com
Website: http://diandrahollman.tripod.com/index.html
Rating: NC-17 
Spoilers: Maybe for a couple episodes in season three but 
   it’s pretty AU.
Disclaimer: Blah blah Bad Robot blah blah ABC blah Abrams, 
   Lindelof and Cuse blah. Clearly not mine.
Archive: No, but you can link to the post as long as I get 
   proper credit. 
Author's Notes: I asked gregoria44 if I could write a 
   sequel to Restraint 
   (community.livejournal.com/lost_slash/320260.html). I’ve 
   been debating whether to finish the story off or leave 
   it as a cliffhanger and pass the torch to whoever wants 
   it. I opted for the latter.
   You should probably read gregoria44’s story before 
   reading this, though you don’t have to for it to make 
   sense.


Restraint II
By Diandra Hollman

Sawyer comes to in a dank looking, windowless room to find 
himself tied to a chair, his neck aching from the awkward 
position his head had been in for lord knew how long. He 
grunts as he tries to work out the kinks, the sound muffled by 
the gag still in his mouth.

He is still trying to take in his surroundings, determine 
where he is, when a door to his left opens with a loud creak. 
His head snaps toward the sound and his eyes narrow as the man 
formerly known as Henry steps into the room.

"Good, you're awake," the man says by way of greeting. 

Sawyer snarls a few choice obscenities, the words indistinct 
through the gag but their meaning unmistakable.

'Henry' ignores him and turns to the door, calling "Bring it 
in."

A couple people Sawyer doesn't recognize push a cart with a 
television and VCR into the room, positioning it so it faces 
him. A half a dozen snide remarks flit through his mind, but 
none of them do him any good with the gag still in place.

"You will be reunited with your friends soon," 'Henry' 
promises as the others leave the room, shutting the door 
behind them. "But first I wanted you to see something."

Sawyer rolls his eyes and gives a garbled reply.

'Henry' once again ignores him and pulls a remote from his 
pocket, turning on the television and pressing play on the 
VCR. 

Sawyer clenches his jaw, frustrated, but watches out of 
curiosity and the lack of anything else to do. The screen goes 
black and for a few moments all he hears is panting and 
groaning. He snorts in disgusted amusement as he wonders if 
they have brought him here to show him porn. His amusement is 
short lived, however, as a door opens and part of the screen 
is illuminated in soft light. All he can see is shadows but 
it's enough to tell him that this isn't porn. The figure in 
the center of the screen moves, struggling against something, 
as another figure approaches. 

"Hello Jack," Henry's familiar voice purrs on the screen. "My 
name is Benjamin Linus."

Sawyer stiffens, feeling "Benjamin" standing only a few feet 
away, eyes watching him eagerly. He still doesn't quite 
understand what all of this is about, but he knows it can't be 
good.

He recognizes Jack's form now as the man shifts, his arms held 
over his head awkwardly by a sturdy chain from the sound of 
it. He says nothing, breathing heavily with forced calm.

"Don't you want to talk to me now," Ben continues, his voice 
laced with mocking offense. "You seemed very keen 
before...perhaps it isn't very civilized, conversing in the 
dark like this."

He snaps his fingers and the room is flooded with light, 
illuminating the two men and Sawyer can clearly see that Jack 
is, in fact, strung up by his wrists in the middle of a room 
much like the one he is in himself. Jack flinches, his eyes 
slamming shut against the sudden brightness and then slowly 
blinks as his eyes gradually adjust. He takes in his 
surroundings for a moment, his eyes seeming to briefly meet 
Sawyer's through the camera lens until Ben grabs him by the 
chin, forcing Jack to look at him.

"I've been considering what to do with you, Jack... Your 
people treat you like a leader and despite initial reluctance, 
you took on the role with great success. You've seen the group 
through some difficult times despite coming up against 
resistance and personal weakness. If I'm honest, I have to say 
you impress me." Ben pauses and cocks his head at Jack as if 
studying a strange, exotic species. "But this leaves me with a 
problem. In order to carry on our work here, I need less 
cohesion between your people. And unfortunately, that means I 
have to break you."

What the hell did that mean? Sawyer's stomach roils as several 
possibilities come unbidden to his mind of ways a person could 
be "broken". He watches Jack fight back his panic, swallowing 
thickly.

"Is there anything I can do or say to stop you from doing 
this," Jack asks, his voice quivering slightly and rough from 
the drugs the Others had knocked them out with, disuse or 
possibly both.

"I'm afraid not, Jack," Ben says almost regretfully. Then he 
turns and asks "is the camera operational, Tom?"

Jack's eyes go to said camera and Sawyer has the bizarre urge 
to console him. 'You can do this.' he thinks. 

Sawyer's blood freezes as Ben reaches behind his back and 
produces a large knife from his belt, the light bouncing 
merrily off the blade as he brings it around to his front. 'He 
did say he just wanted to break Jack, right?' he thought 
frantically. 'Not slaughter him so I can see what'll happen to 
me if I don't do whatever the hell it is they want?'

He raises the knife to Jack's throat, gently tracing it over 
the delicate skin. Jack freezes, his breath coming in tiny 
pants, his eyes watching Ben helplessly. Blood wells to the 
surface, but only enough to suggest the shallowest of cuts, as 
the knife continues drawing a path all the way down Jack's 
body, his clothing sheering apart in it's wake. 

Ben stops when he gets to Jack's belt and looks up at him 
curiously. "Tell me," he musses. "How is it that you and Kate 
never had sex? While even I recognize that women always go for 
the bad guy, you really do have everything going for you. I 
would have thought the two of you were the obvious choice."

Sawyer frowns in confusion. What the hell is he getting at? 

Jack swallows a couple of times, seeming to fight back a wave 
of nausea. Then he flinches, his jaw clenching, breathing 
noisily through his nose. It's obvious he's in pain but from 
his angle Sawyer can't see what Ben did to cause it, the 
shorter man's body blocking the camera's view.

"I don't know," Jack gasps.

Ben lets out a small puff of breath. "Well, it's a shame you 
didn't take the chance while you could." He makes a quick 
flick of his wrist, swiping the knife downward and both Jack 
and Sawyer give a tiny, involuntary yelp of horror. 

Ben steps back, holding Jack's belt up in his left hand and 
Sawyer feels his tense muscles relax slightly. Jack is unhurt. 
More or less. Sawyer can see now what had made Jack flinch - 
the spot where Ben had been careless, letting the knife sink a 
little deeper into his abdomen, drawing a little bit more 
blood. But otherwise, he is intact. Sawyer winces as he 
notices the urine stain on the front of Jack's jeans, blatant 
evidence of Jack's fear. 

Jack sags in his bonds, his head dropping to his chest as the 
man off screen - Tom? - says "Christ, Ben, even I thought you 
were going to do it."

Sawyer watches numbly as Jack's remaining clothes are stripped 
from his body. Jack shivers and looks toward the ceiling as 
Ben walks around him, dispassionately eyeing his naked body, 
as if he were no more than a bug under a microscope. He seems 
to summon up his courage and by the time Ben stops to stand in 
front of him, his face has hardened. He looks Ben in the eye 
and spits defiantly in his face. Sawyer wants to kiss him for 
finally showing some cojones but he's dreading the inevitable 
backlash such an action is bound to generate.

Ben produces a handkerchief and calmly wipes the spit from his 
face before punching Jack squarely in the jaw. Jack reels and 
spits a small amount of blood onto the floor. Then he laughs, 
the sound painfully unhinged. "You're turning into Sawyer," he 
mutters. It takes a moment for Sawyer to realize he's not 
talking to Ben and he squirms uncomfortably. 

Jack stops laughing abruptly, his eyes darting in panic as Ben 
walks around behind him. Sawyer cringes as Ben unfolds a thin 
baton with a flourish and brings it down, hard, on the back of 
Jack's knees.

Jack lets out a grunt as his legs collapse, followed 
immediately by a pained gasp. His mouth opens and closes 
impotently, his breaths growing ragged, his head lolling as if 
he were drunk. Sawyer closes his eyes, silently wishing Jack 
would just pass out already. His eyes snap open again as Ben's 
fingers tangle in his hair, pulling his head back painfully. 

"Keep watching," he scolds. Sawyer had almost forgotten the 
man was there, watching him watch this.

Sawyer glares at him and reluctantly looks back at the screen 
where Jack is struggling to stand on trembling legs. Sawyer 
winces as he sees the unnatural angle of Jack's shoulder and 
realizes it has been dislocated. It's the same shoulder he 
vaguely remembers Jack favoring after the cave-in nearly two 
months ago.

"I have thought long and hard about this moment," Ben musses 
as he continues to walk slow circles around Jack. "I have to 
tell you that it was very difficult. You're capable, and 
you've been through so much already. What could I do to finish 
you completely? What could I visit upon you that would 
dissuade anyone from reprising your role? And then it came to 
me."

He stops behind Jack and Sawyer's eyes widen as he begins to 
pry the doctor's legs apart. Jack panics, struggling against 
Ben silently even though it had to hurt like hell, his 
breathing loud and stuttering. Ben just calmly plants his feet 
between Jack's, preventing him from closing his legs, waiting 
patiently.

"Please," Jack begs, straining to look back at Ben, his voice 
high and thready with fear.

"Please, what," Ben taunts. "You know this is going to happen. 
You know there is no escape. Why would reasoning with me help? 
My mind is made up."

Jack begins to babble, desperate to stop Ben from doing 
whatever it is he is so determined to do. "I didn't want them 
to hurt you. When we had you in the hatch, I healed you; I 
tried to keep you safe..."

"One of your many failures, Jack, is your lack of imagination. 
If Sayid or Ana Lucia had got their way, perhaps you wouldn't 
be in this predicament now..." Ben pauses as if considering. 
"I'm sorry, but the notion of 'An eye for an eye' is a little 
too Old Testament for my liking."

He jostles Jack's legs wider and Jack is finally broken from 
his stoic silence, crying out in pain. Sawyer's gut clenches 
in sympathy at the sound.

"By the way," Ben says calmly, reaching his arm around to wave 
a sheathed knife in Jack's face. "Did you ever get to the 
bottom of why John Locke packed so many of these?"

Jack looks at it anxiously and Sawyer stiffens. He doesn't 
want to watch whatever happens next but he knows he doesn't 
have a choice. He is painfully aware of Ben standing in the 
corner, watching his every move. He wonders if the sick little 
man gets off on this - watching him squirm at the sight of 
Jack's abuse.

On the screen, Ben flips the knife over in his hand and brings 
it back behind Jack. Jack stiffens, his eyes slamming shut as 
Ben's other hand grips his shoulder, steadying him. Sawyer 
only has a moment to register the flash of movement between 
Jack's legs, the rough jerk of Ben's arm, before Jack's head 
falls back and he lets out an inhuman scream that makes the 
hairs on the back of Sawyer's neck stand on end. He swallows 
hard, feeling sick as he realizes what, exactly, he is seeing.

"You son of a bitch," he shouts, voice muffled, straining 
against his bindings, twisting violently in his chair.

Ben is behind him suddenly, one hand gripping Sawyer's chin, 
the other fisting in his hair, forcing him to look forward. 
"Keep watching," he says calmly.

Sawyer groans and swallows hard, forcing back the bile 
threatening to rise as he watches Ben violate Jack with the 
handle of the knife on the screen. Jack is still staring at 
the ceiling blindly, his breath whistling through his tightly 
clenched teeth. Tiny, half-swallowed whimpers slip from him. 
His head sags forward again slowly and he looks in the 
direction Ben had earlier when he'd addressed "Tom", his eyes 
wide and damp. Sawyer clenches his fists, wishing he were free 
so he could avenge Jack's suffering by beating Ben to a pulp. 

A curse spills from Jack's lips suddenly and his face twists 
with pain. Sawyer swallows a groan as Jack's cock twitches and 
fills with blood. He thinks about some of the guys he had 
seen and heard about in prison...guys who had come while being 
brutally raped. Most of them completely shut down, feeling 
ashamed even though the prison doctor assured them they had no 
control over their reaction; that it was perfectly normal. 
Jack knows that - he has to...but he is still human. Sawyer 
realizes painfully that this will, in fact, break him.

Jack's eyes screw shut as Ben forces the handle of the knife 
into him again and again, his trembling legs barely holding 
him up. His breath hitches - tiny, pained gasps that make 
Sawyer wince. He comes with a sharp cry, his face twisted in 
an expression that is anything but pleasure, as if the 
reaction has been wrenched from him despite his resistance - 
which, Sawyer realizes, it has.

Jack sags in his restraints with a tiny, pained whimper and 
Ben's arm goes around his chest, straining to hold his weight. 
He removes the knife and Sawyer catches a glimpse of blood on 
the handle before he tosses it aside. "Get in here," he barks.

A moment later the man Sawyer had once dubbed "Zeke" enters 
the room and reaches to undo the chains, catching Jack as his 
bonds are released. Jack cries out weakly as the blood rushes 
back to his arms and moans incoherently as Zeke - "Tom"? 
Sawyer wonders dazedly - lowers him to the ground. His head 
lolls back and forth, his eyes unfocused and Sawyer grits his 
teeth, resisting the urge to scream at the man holding him 
captive.

"Tom" kneels beside Jack, prodding at his shoulder almost 
gently before taking hold of his forearm and wrenching it back 
into place. Jack whines low in his throat, not having the 
strength for anything else, and Tom lets his arm fall limp to 
his side.

"Turn off the camera," Ben says quietly and Tom nods, leaving 
the room. Sawyer sees Ben squat down beside Jack, studying him 
curiously for a moment before the screen turns to static.

"You will be reunited with your friends soon," Ben murmurs 
just beside his ear, letting go of his hair but keeping a firm 
grip on his chin. "If I have to do this again...I will make 
sure that you get a front row seat."

Sawyer grinds his teeth and tries to jerk his head from Ben's 
grip. He grunts as he feels a needle pierce the skin of his 
neck, warm liquid flowing into his veins. Within moments the 
room grows dim and he slips into unconsciousness.

**********

The next time Sawyer wakes it is to the sound of the jungle. 
He blinks against the afternoon sunlight, his brief hope that 
they had been freed from the Other's captivity squelched as 
the now-familiar bars surrounding him waver into focus.

He groans and hears a soft rustling from somewhere nearby.

"Sawyer!"

Kate. He strains to look in the direction of her voice. She is 
pressed against the side of the cage across from his, gripping 
the bars anxiously, watching him.

He lets his head fall back with a sigh. "You okay, Freckles," 
he asks, hoping she had at least been spared these people's 
cruelty. 

She makes a soft, disbelieving noise. "I'm fine."

He sits up tentatively and massages his neck, hesitating as a 
thought occurs to him. "You seen Jack?" Had they shown her the 
tape too?

"No," she says, biting her lip nervously. It's obvious from 
the look in her eyes that she fears he is dead. Unfortunately, 
Sawyer knows that the reality is much worse. "Have you?"

Sawyer looks away uncomfortably. "No," he lies.

"What do you think they want," she asks. 

Sawyer waves his arms in a dismissive gesture. "How the hell 
would I know?" It isn't a lie, really. He still doesn't 
understand why the Others feel they need to "break" Jack. He 
turns to Kate and gapes as he finally fully takes her in. "You 
wearin' a dress?"

She sneers. "They made me wear it."

He opens his mouth to comment but his words are instantly 
forgotten as four figures appear from the jungle, moving in 
their direction. Sawyer vaguely notices Tom in the lead but 
his eyes are drawn to Jack, a few steps behind Tom, flanked by 
two other men, their tight grips on his arms both discouraging 
him from escaping and keeping him upright. He has been cleaned 
up and given new clothes. The only thing preventing Sawyer 
from wondering if maybe he imagined the horrible images he'd 
seen on that tape is the man's face. He looks haunted, his 
eyes dead. 

"Jack," Kate yelps. Jack flinches slightly but otherwise 
doesn't react. 

"Stand back," Tom orders as the small group reaches Sawyer's 
cage. 

Sawyer steps back and glowers at the Others as they unlock the 
door and shove Jack in roughly, immediately slamming the door 
shut again. Jack stumbles into the machine that Sawyer had 
only figured out moments before he was dragged into that dank 
room.

"Warning," the cheerful mechanical voice chirps, causing Jack 
to flinch again.

Sawyer rushes to grab him, pulling him from the button. The 
last thing the man needed right now was an electrical shock.

Jack tries instinctively to pull away but Sawyer doesn't let 
him, wrapping an arm firmly around his waist and guiding him 
to the other side of the cage. 

"What did you do to him," Sawyer hears Kate growl.

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend," one of the men he doesn't 
recognize replies before all three of them leave.

Sawyer grits his teeth as he lowers Jack to the cement ledge 
jutting into the cell, beginning to understand the game these 
people are playing. He can either lie to Kate and spare Jack's 
dignity or he can tell her about the tape and possibly 
humiliate him further.

Jack looks up at Sawyer warily, wondering if he's 
hallucinating when Sawyer seems to look back at him with 
genuine concern.

"You need anythin'," Sawyer asks quietly.

Jack shakes his head tightly, his eyes shining with tears that 
just won't seem to fall. He flinches as Sawyer tries to put a 
hand on his uninjured shoulder.

Sawyer hesitates, unsure of what to do, feeling helpless. "You 
hungry?"

If Jack hadn't felt so numb he might have laughed at the 
absurdity of the question. Instead, he shakes his head and 
slowly lowers himself onto his side, wrapping his arms around 
his stomach protectively and curling his knees toward his 
chest.

"What is it," Kate demands. "What's wrong? Is he okay?"

Sawyer only has to think about his response for a moment. 
"He's fine, Freckles," he says, not taking his eyes from Jack.

"Don't lie to me, Sawyer," she spits.

"I don't know okay?" he snaps, sparing her a glance. "Just 
leave 'im be."

She clenches her jaw, quieting reluctantly, watching as Sawyer 
gently prods at Jack's injured shoulder.

"Don't," Jack whispers, voice barely loud enough for Sawyer to 
hear. 

Sawyer pulls his hand back. Then he unbuttons his shirt, 
slipping it from his shoulders and clumsily forming it into a 
crude sling. He coaxes Jack up a little and slips the loop 
over his head, gently tucking his arm into the material. 

Jack stares at him warily as he does this. Ben said they would 
show Sawyer the tape...and if Sawyer knew about his shoulder 
then they must have...yet here the southerner was, treating 
him with a kindness and worry that Jack had never seen before. 
Had Ben been wrong in his assumption that Sawyer wouldn't 
understand and would think Jack disgustingly weak for reacting 
the way he did?

"Get some sleep," Sawyer says, a fleeting, pained smile 
gracing his lips. 

Jack nods and lays back down, letting himself drift away 
mercifully to a place where he doesn't have to think about 
what has happened to him and what will become of them now.

*******

He startles awake some time later to what sounds like a 
college fight song and sees Sawyer bending over the trough at 
the back of the cell, drinking water from a pipe. He looks 
somewhat guilty as he catches Jack watching him. He wipes his 
mouth with the back of his hand and tosses a largish, pink 
object at Jack. Jack catches it instinctively and stares at it 
- it is fish-shaped and has the word Dharma stamped on it.

"Eat it," Sawyer instructs.

"I'm not hungry," Jack protests weakly. 

"Eat it anyway."

Jack sighs quietly and takes a tentative bite. It tastes like 
fish-flavored cardboard. He watches Sawyer place a rock on a 
lever beside him and return to the other side of the cage, 
jabbing the button. 

"Warning," the mechanical voice chirps. 

Sawyer ignores it and tosses a rock into the back corner of 
the cage behind Jack, making him flinch instinctively. The 
college fight song plays again and another fish cake slides 
from the slot in the front of the machine. Sawyer picks it up 
and tosses it to Kate, calling "heads up, Freckles."

Jack forces himself to move, dragging his aching body to the 
trough as water begins pouring from the pipe. He may not be 
hungry, but he *is* thirsty. He doesn't react as Sawyer squats 
beside him. 

Sawyer waits for Jack to finish drinking, then asks, "you 
okay?", his voice soft, low enough that Kate can't hear it.

Jack nods, not looking him in the eye.

Sawyer sighs and places a tentative hand on Jack's arm. "I saw 
what he did," he says. "Don't go pretendin'..."

"I'm fine," Jack snaps, shrugging away from Sawyer's touch.

Sawyer doesn't back off. Instead his hand goes to Jack's 
abdomen, his eyes wide. "You're bleedin'."

Jack glares stupidly at the spot of dried blood on his white 
surgical scrubs - the only clothes they had in his size, they 
said. He lifts the edge of the shirt to reveal the sterile 
bandage the woman - Juliet - had put on him, her eyes full of 
sympathy and disgust that she didn't voice. There's blood, but 
it seems to be clotting. "It's okay. It's stopped," he 
mutters, letting the shirt fall again.

The look in Sawyer's eyes tells him he doesn't believe a word 
but he doesn't push the issue. He nods at the fish biscuit 
still clutched in Jack's hand. "Eat."

"I'm not hungry," Jack repeats, thrusting it at Sawyer. 

Sawyer rolls his eyes, breaks off a small chunk and thrusts 
the rest back. "Just eat the damn thing, would ya?" Sawyer 
knows Jack needs it to keep up his strength and he knows that 
Jack knows that as well.

Jack sighs and stiffly returns to the ledge, curling his body 
into the corner of the cage, the barely touched fish biscuit 
cradled in his lap. 

Sawyer sighs, frustrated, and relents. 'Maybe he's really not 
hungry,' he thinks. 'After what happened to him it ain't 
really surprising.' If Jack continued refusing to eat he would 
have to do something but for now he could let it go.

*******

Jack doesn't sleep that night. That's not exactly unusual for 
him but Sawyer knows the circumstances are not typical in this 
case.

Sawyer creeps cautiously closer to where Jack sits staring 
into the jungle like he's waiting for some sort of ambush. 
"Doc?"

Jack's eyes slowly meet his, his expression bewildered, as if 
he had forgotten Sawyer was there.

"You okay?" He winces inwardly at how stupid that sounds.

Jack blinks at him for a moment and returns to staring at the 
jungle. "They have a camera," he says flatly. He points to a 
seemingly random spot and Sawyer follows the gesture, noticing 
for the first time the tiny red light blinking at them from a 
tree. He clenches his jaw and glances at Kate's cell. She's 
been asleep for a while now. He carefully takes Jack's hand in 
his, turning it over a couple times to get a good look at the 
deep bruises encircling the wrist.

"These hurt," he asks quietly.

Jack says nothing but Sawyer can feel him flinch and try to 
pull away as he traces the edge of the bruise with a gentle 
finger. 

Sawyer sighs. "You can't go blamin' yourself, Jack."

Jack looks mildly startled at Sawyer's use of his given name. 
"Do you blame me?"

Sawyer frowns. "For what?"

Jack looks away, blinking rapidly. "You saw the tape," he says 
softly.

"I saw that bastard rape you if that's what you mean."

Jack stiffens. "It wasn't rape."

"Well what the hell would you call it then," Sawyer demands, 
momentarily forgetting to keep his voice down.

Jack flinches and glances at Kate's still sleeping form. 
Sawyer forces himself to calm down, consciously softening his 
features. He moves closer to Jack, clutching his hand tightly. 
"Rape ain't always about sex, Doc."

"I know that."

"Then why don't you..."

"Because I can't," Jack blurts. Damp eyes finally meet 
Sawyer's, pleading with him to let it go. Within the span of a 
few heartbeats the pleading turns to something else and Jack 
leans toward Sawyer impulsively, kissing him.

Sawyer stiffens but doesn't pull away, unsure how he should 
react to such a sudden, odd turn of events. 

Jack sits back after a few moments and searches Sawyer's face, 
nodding slightly at what he sees there. "Don't insult me by 
pretending to be sympathetic. I disgust you. Admit it."

Sawyer's face twists in confusion. "What?"

"You saw what happened. After everything he did to me...after 
I..." Jack falters, his voice wavering, and swallows thickly. 
"You saw me come."

Sawyer shakes his head, staring at Jack in shock. "You 
couldn't help it. He forced that outta you."

Jack looks surprised and Sawyer slowly begins to understand. 

"You think I don't know what a prostate is, Doc? I been to 
prison. I've seen guys get off with all sorts of shit shoved 
up their asses whether they wanted it or not." 

Jack chuckles humorlessly, his eyes looking up toward the sky, 
moonlight glinting off the still unshed tears. "They thought 
you wouldn't understand," he says softly. "That you would 
blame me."

Sawyer lets go of Jack's hand and reaches to frame his face 
with both hands, forcing Jack's eyes to meet his. "I don't 
blame you. And I ain't disgusted." He leans forward to capture 
Jack's lips in a tender kiss, pouring as much sincerity into 
the gesture as he knows how.

Jack pulls away abruptly, his eyes avoiding Sawyer's. "Don't," 
he rasps.

Sawyer clenches his jaw, biting back the urge to yell at Jack. 
He wants to keep pushing until Jack cries, screams, punches 
him...does *something*. This...shell-shocked depression he 
doesn't know how to handle. "Get some sleep," he says after a 
long hesitation.

"I can't..."

"God damnit, Doc," Sawyer spits, barely remembering to keep 
his voice low. "Quit arguin' with me! I ain't gonna let you 
kill yourself because you're too damned stubborn to do a 
descent job of takin' care of yourself."

Jack gapes at Sawyer, surprised, a seemingly wounded look 
flashing briefly in his eyes.

Sawyer softens slightly, his eyes nervously shifting for a 
moment before meeting Jack's again. He sighs and reaches to 
carefully trace the already scabbed over cut on Jack's neck. 
"Let me take care of you."

Jack is silent for a long minute. He doesn't know why Sawyer 
is suddenly acting so kind and gentle toward him. Every 
instinct screams at him to not trust the man, but the 
sincerity in his eyes makes him doubt his assumptions. Sawyer 
may be a bastard, but he isn't cruel enough to twist the 
handle of the knife after it had already been driven into 
Jack's gut. He nods slowly.

Sawyer breathes a sigh of relief. "Finally," he mutters. "Now 
get some sleep before I have to knock you out myself."

Jack shakes his head slightly, his eyes sliding from Sawyer's. 
"I don't think I can," he says meekly.

Sawyer's expression goes from pissed off to understanding in a 
heartbeat. He glances over his shoulder at the camera and 
turns back to Jack, leaning closer as if to make sure nobody 
else could hear him. "I'll keep watch. You'll be safe."

"It's not that..." The truth is, Jack can't close his eyes 
without seeing Ben's sadistic gaze or Tom's unnerving, 
blatantly lustful stare.

Sawyer sighs deeply. "Lay down," he orders.

Jack slowly, reluctantly moves to obey, laying on his side 
facing into the cage, arranging his injured arm until he is 
reasonably comfortable. He feels a wave of instinctive panic 
when Sawyer lays beside him, facing him, his body much too 
close, until he realizes what the man is doing. He has trapped 
Jack between himself and the bars of the cage, making it 
impossible for anyone to get Jack without waking him up. Jack 
swallows the lump threatening to form in his throat, resisting 
the instinct to flinch as Sawyer slings a protective arm over 
his hip.

"I'll be right here," Sawyer vows.

Jack slowly closes his eyes, allowing himself to finally relax 
when Ben's leering face doesn't immediately spring to his 
mind. He sinks quickly into a much needed sleep, faintly 
feeling Sawyer's fingers drift across his back.

*******

Sawyer wakes abruptly as someone bangs on the bars of the 
cage. He looks toward the source, his hands instinctively 
clenching into fists. He feels Jack stir beside him.

"Get up," a man he vaguely recognizes from the dock snarls. 
"Tom" is with him, as is another man Sawyer doesn't recognize 
at all. 

"It mornin' already," Sawyer asks nonchalantly as he slowly 
drags himself to his feet. Jack stands as well and Sawyer 
subtly maneuvers so he is standing between him and the Others.

"We need you to come with us, James," Tom says.

Sawyer clenches his jaw briefly. "Or what? You gonna shoot 
me?"

"Sawyer," Jack hisses. "Don't..."

"You might wanna listen to him," Tom says. "You do this the 
easy way and nobody has to get hurt."

Sawyer understands that the threat is not directed at him, but 
at Jack and Kate. He clenches his jaw and reluctantly steps 
toward the door of the cage.

"No," Jack blurts, reaching a hand toward Sawyer. A needle 
strikes his neck almost instantly. Sawyer only has a moment to 
register the snap of electrical current. He spins around, mid-
step, and catches Jack as he slumps, bearing his weight to the 
ground, wincing as the doctor's body spasms in his arms, eyes 
rolling back in his head. Sawyer hears Kate scream in outrage.

"What the hell're you doin'," he hears Tom snap at the Other 
brandishing the tazer. 

A moment later the door to the cage opens. Sawyer leaps to his 
feet, spinning to confront this new threat. He gets a brief 
glimpse of movement and hears Kate scream "No!" a second 
before something slams into the side of his head, knocking him 
out cold.

******

Jack is pacing the cage restlessly by the time Sawyer is 
returned, brushing off Kate's anxious questions. He stands 
back as the cage door is opened and Sawyer is shoved in 
roughly, a bucket of water and a burlap sack thrust into his 
hands. He seems strangely docile suddenly.

Jack rushes to Saywer's side as the cage door is locked once 
again, vaguely hearing Tom talking to Kate a few yards away. 
His good hand hovers near the southerner's bicep hesitantly, 
eyes searching his face. "Are you okay," he asks quietly.

"'m fine," Sawyer mumbles, shoving the bucket toward Jack. 
"Here."

Jack takes it automatically, even as he protests "you need it 
more than I do."

"You ain't gettin' that sponge anywhere near that wound o' 
yours after I used it," Sawyer mutters as he peers into the 
burlap sack. Just as he'd expected: bandages and medical tape. 
He nods to the ledge. "Go sit over there."

Jack reluctantly moves to sit. Sawyer doesn't look injured, 
but something is obviously wrong. "What happened," he asks 
softly as Sawyer sits beside him.

"Don't worry about it," Sawyer says as he reaches to pull up 
Jack's shirt.

Jack grabs his hands, halting his movements. "If you don't 
want me to lie to you, then don't lie to me." His mind 
suddenly registers the almost foreign feel of plastic beneath 
his hand and he looks down, baffled to find a blue sports 
watch strapped to Sawyer's left wrist. He turns the wrist so 
he can see the face and frowns at the blinking number next to 
a symbol of a heart. "Why are you wearing a heart monitor?"

Sawyer jerks the arm from his grasp. "It ain't important," he 
grumbles. "Forget about it."

"Sawyer..."

"Just leave it be, Doc," Sawyer spits, pained eyes meeting 
Jack's.

Jack reels. "What did they do to you?"

"Nothin'," Sawyer mutters as he peels the bloodied bandage 
from Jack's abdomen, grimacing at the sight of the wound 
beneath. Jack was right; it had stopped bleeding, but it is 
deeper than Sawyer had anticipated. He reaches into the bucket 
of water for the sponge.

Jack falls silent, watching Sawyer as he cleans the wound with 
surprising gentleness. "Did they threaten to hurt us," he asks 
quietly. "Me and Kate?"

Sawyer presses his lips into a thin line, saying nothing. It's 
enough to confirm Jack's suspicion. Jack closes his eyes 
tightly, letting his head fall back against the bars.

"Don't worry about it," Sawyer repeats softly. He dabs at the 
wound a couple more times and reaches for a fresh bandage, 
applying it carefully. He feels Jack's fingers in his hair as 
he finishes. Before his mind can register the movement, Jack 
tilts his head back and kisses him. He responds instinctively, 
opening his mouth eagerly to accept Jack's tongue...until his 
watch begins to beep. 

He pulls back abruptly, his eyes sliding from Jack's to avoid 
the look of hurt confusion.

"What is that," Kate demands from her cell, pausing in the 
middle of her sponge bath.

"It's nothing," Sawyer responds shortly. "My watch is just 
busted."

"Since when do you have a watch," she demands skeptically.

"Just leave me alone, damnit," he snaps. "Both of you." He 
shoves the sponge into Jack's hands and backs away from him.

Her eyes flash for a moment. "What the hell is going on..."

"Kate," Jack interrupts quietly. "It's okay."

Kate's arguments cut off abruptly. She fumes silently as she 
finishes washing up and dressing in the jeans and flowing top 
Tom left for her. She watches as Jack finishes cleaning 
himself and hands the bucket to Sawyer, a concerned look on 
his face. Something is going on between them. She isn't sure 
what, but it bothers her that they seem so determined to hide 
it from her. What are the Others doing to them that they can't 
talk to her about? 

She paces her cage restlessly, eyes running all along the bars 
once again, searching for a weak point. It isn't until she 
finally looks up that she finds it.

"Hey," she calls, squinting at the cage's high ceiling. "I 
think the bars at the top of my cage might be far enough apart 
for me to fit through."

She catches a brief glimpse of Jack's warily hopeful look 
before she begins climbing the cement blocks forming a crude 
sort of staircase to the top of her cell. She misses the look 
of dread on Sawyer's face.

"Stay put, Freckles!"

Jack looks at Sawyer, startled.

"I don't know what they did to the two of you but I know it 
scares you both," she says as she ignores Sawyer's command, 
pulling herself through the bars easily and climbing down the 
outside of the cage.

"Damnit Kate, you're gonna get us all killed," Sawyer spits.

Jack turns his attention completely to Sawyer. "What's going 
on? What aren't you telling us," he demands.

Sawyer ignores him, reaching through the bars to grab Kate's 
wrist before she can smash the padlock holding them in with a 
rock. "Leave it," he growls. "Just go." He knows he's being 
selfish - that he should let Jack escape, even if he can't - 
but he promised he would take care of Jack. And the thought of 
him running through the jungle from hell with the Others on 
his tail scares him. Kate's tough though, he tells himself. If 
anyone can survive such an escape, he thinks, it's her.

"Why," she practically shrieks. "What did they do to you?!"

Sawyer opens his mouth but his argument is cut off abruptly as 
the watch begins beeping. He glances at it and visibly forces 
himself to calm down.

"What *is* that thing," Kate demands.

"Kate, just go," Jack cuts in. "Run!" He doesn't fully 
understand what is happening, he knows something is wrong with 
Sawyer. Something is preventing him from escaping. And if 
Sawyer won't leave, he won't either, but maybe they can at 
least spare Kate whatever is to come. Sawyer shoots him a 
grateful, if sad look.

Kate gapes at him. "I can't leave you..."

"Yes, you can. Go!"

Kate looks back and forth between the two of them and finally 
staggers back, dropping the rock with a dull thump. She shakes 
her head and turns, marching purposefully back to her cage and 
climbing back up the bars. 

"Kate!"

"Damnit, Freckles, what the hell're you doin'?!"

She drops to the ground on the inside of the cage and shoots 
them a determined look. "Live together, die alone," she says 
firmly.

Jack drops his head in defeat. 

Sawyer beats his hand against the bars with a loud curse and 
then closes his eyes, taking a few deep breaths as his "watch" 
lets out a warning beep.

Jack whirls on him suddenly and shoves at his chest, knocking 
him off-balance. "What the hell is going on," he demands.

Sawyer stares at his lips, if for no other reason than to 
avoid his eyes. "I can't...Just leave it be, Doc."

Jack clenches his jaw and resists the urge to slap Sawyer - 
shake him until the truth is dislodged from its moorings and 
simply tumbles from his lips. He moves to the ledge and slumps 
dejectedly, head in hand. 

Sawyer moves to sit beside him. "I'm sorry," he says 
awkwardly.

"Don't," Jack mumbles without looking up. He sighs deeply. 
"She's right. We need to stick together."

Sawyer tentatively places a supportive hand on Jack's bowed 
back. They fall silent for several minutes. 

"How long have you known," Jack finally asks softly.

Sawyer's fingers falter where they had been rubbing tiny, 
soothing circles on Jack's spine. "Known what?"

Jack's eyes meet his. "Known that you wanted me," he says 
simply.

Sawyer's lips slowly curl into a lazy smile. "Since a couple 
weeks after we crashed I s'pose."

Jack shakes his head in disbelief. "Why didn't you say 
something?"

Sawyer snorts quietly. "'cause you didn't seem interested."

"I was," Jack says quickly. "I am..." He leans close, cupping 
Sawyer's cheek in his palm and bringing their lips together in 
a heated kiss. 

It only lasts a few moments before Sawyer's watch beeps 
warningly. He pulls back abruptly with a string of curses. 
It's just his luck...Jack finally offers to fulfill the 
fantasy he's been harboring for months and he's helpless to do 
anything about it. Not that he should, he reminds himself. Not 
after what he saw them do to Jack. It's too soon...

He doesn't struggle as Jack unbuttons his shit, a worried look 
on his face. He shoves the material aside and stares at the 
small bandage on Sawyer's left pec in confusion. Sawyer closes 
his eyes as Jack's fingers ghost over it softly. "What did 
they do to you?"

Sawyer pulls Jack's hand from his chest, holding it tightly. 
"Just let it go, Doc. Please," he begs, a pained look in his 
eyes.

Jack sits back reluctantly, glancing at Kate's cage. She is 
watching them, even though she is pretending not to. He 
doesn't really understand what is going on - what the Others 
have done to convince Sawyer to stay or how it is connected to 
their need for "less cohesion". He wants to force Sawyer to 
tell him what happened. He doesn't care what they threatened 
to do to him - let them. He can handle it. But if they 
threatened to hurt Kate...he couldn't risk that possibility. 

He squeezes Sawyer's hand with forced reassurance. "We'll get 
out of here. Together."

Sawyer just nods silently.

********

Jack paces the cell nervously again. Ben had come for Sawyer 
early in the morning and he had been driving himself crazy 
wondering what they were doing to him ever since.

Kate watches him, wanting desperately to say something that 
would put him at ease, but at a loss as to what that might be. 
"What do they want," she finally asks instead.

"I don't know."

"Bullshit," she spits. "They hurt you and they did something 
to Sawyer to scare him into staying here. They must have said 
something." She softens her voice and looks at him 
imploringly. "Please, Jack. Talk to me."

"I don't know," he repeats. It's not a complete lie, he tells 
himself. He doesn't know why they need to be broken.

She is frustrated, he can tell, but she doesn't push any 
further. "What did they do to you?"

He closes his eyes, as if that alone could shut her out, 
silence her questions. 

"Did they torture you," she asks quietly.

"Please, Kate, I don't want to talk about it," he pleads.

She takes that as a confirmation. "Does Sawyer know?"

Jack sighs heavily. "They made him watch."

Her eyes widen, anger and sympathy waring for dominance on her 
face. "Oh, god...Jack..."

He shakes his head, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't."

"Did you see what they did to him?"

"No," he says honestly. "But the watch is a heart monitor. He 
seems to believe something is going to happen to him if his 
heart rate goes too high."

Understanding dawns on her. "...so he can't run."

Jack nods wearily. "That would be my guess."

Her mind races. "But there's nothing preventing *you* from 
running," she adds, moving purposefully to the "stairs". "We 
can get out, go get help - we can come back for him..."

"No, Kate, don't," Jack says forcefully. "I can't leave him 
here. I don't know what these people would do to him if they 
found us gone but I don't want to find out."

She clenches her fists and backs down reluctantly.

"We'll find a way out of here," he assures her. "All of us. 
Just...wait."

They jump as a sudden rustling noise comes from the woods 
nearby. Sawyer emerges a moment later, Tom beside him, a firm 
hand on his elbow. Jack obediently moves to the corner of the 
cell as Tom unlocks the door. Sawyer steps in, shoulders 
slumped, a pained look on his face. Jack notes that the watch 
has disappeared.

"Don't try anything funny," Tom says as he locks the cage door 
again. "We're watching you."

Sawyer cringes and stays standing fixed to his spot, staring 
at the ground as Tom leaves. 

Jack moves toward him hesitantly, reaching out to touch his 
arm. "Sawyer?" He gasps as Sawyer knocks his hand away 
viciously. He doesn't see the fist coming at his jaw until 
it's too late. He staggers, his hand flying to the throbbing 
bruise. It's obvious Sawyer didn't hit him with his full 
strength - just hard enough to daze him.

Sawyer seizes his arm and spins him around, slamming him face-
first against the bars of the cell, twisting his one good arm 
behind his back.

"Sawyer," Kate yelps as Jack groans.

"I'm sorry," Sawyer whispers in Jack's ear.

Jack gasps as his pants are yanked down and struggles 
instinctively, his heart pounding. His breath catches as 
Sawyer wets his fingers with saliva and shoves one inside him 
without warning.

"Sawyer," Kate shouts, banging a hand on her cell bars. 
"Stop!"

"Turn around, Freckles," Sawyer barks. "Close your eyes!"

"You don't have to do this, Sawyer," Jack babbles desperately. 
"Whatever they threatened to do to you..." His words cut off 
with a hiss as a second finger plunges into him, stretching 
him roughly.

Kate moves to the steps of her cell with the half-baked idea 
that she can stop this if she can just get to their cell. She 
hesitates as Tom's words ring in her ears. 'We're watching 
you.' How far would she get before they stopped her? Or worse, 
before one of them was killed? She swallows a scream and grips 
the cell bars helplessly, watching wide-eyed as Sawyer pulls 
off Jack's "sling" and uses it to tie his hands to the bars of 
their cell.

"Just relax," Sawyer whispers in Jack's ear as he fumbles to 
unbutton his jeans. "I don't wanna hurt you."

"Please...you don't have to do this," Jack repeats, feeling 
his limbs begin to tremble. 

He doesn't see the tortured expression on Sawyer's face as he 
replies "Yeah...I do...I'm sorry." He coaxes himself erect, 
spits into his palm several times and coats himself generously 
before lining himself up. He hesitates then, noting the 
stiffness of Jack's back and shoulders. If he doesn't do 
something to force Jack to relax, he could cause him a lot 
more damage than necessary. He clenches his jaw and reaches 
around Jack, wrapping a hand around his throat and squeezing 
firmly.

Jack's eyes widen and he thrashes helplessly against his bonds 
and Sawyer's grip, choking. "It's all right," he hears Sawyer 
murmur again and again as his vision blurs. His voice sounds 
strained. He hears Kate yell at Sawyer again but can't 
decipher the words. Everything spins away and his body goes 
slack, his eyes beginning to slip shut. His body spasms as 
Sawyer shoves inside him abruptly. The pressure on his throat 
is released in the same instant and air floods into his lungs, 
bringing the world back into sharp focus. He cries out, the 
sound ragged, broken. Tears spring to his eyes, his breath 
coming in shallow, pained gasps.

Kate sinks to the ground, one hand covering her mouth 
unconsciously, certain she is going to be violently ill. She 
shakes her head in denial. This can't be happening. Sawyer may 
be a bastard, but he would never do something like this...

Sawyer reaches for Jack's hands, pretending he is checking to 
make sure he is tied securely. He rubs Jack's wrist lightly, 
the movement so small he's sure Kate can't even see it, much 
less the camera perched in the tree. "Hang on," he mutters 
under his breath. Jack whimpers softly and his chest 
constricts. He abandons the doctor's wrists to grip his hips 
firmly, rubbing surreptitious circles on his lower back with 
his thumbs in apology as he moves.

Jack closes his eyes tightly. He knows now that Sawyer is 
doing his best to not hurt him, but he is still too raw from 
his previous abuse. He moans and tugs at his bindings, feeling 
a fresh burst of pain in his still-healing shoulder. "Stop," 
he begs pathetically.

Sawyer closes his eyes and tries to focus on the feel of 
Jack's body surrounding his cock, gripping him. The sooner he 
comes the sooner this nightmare will be over. He thrusts over 
and over into Jack's unresisting body. Jack moans almost 
continuously and it distresses Sawyer to realize that he 
doesn't know if the sounds indicate pain or (reluctant) 
pleasure. He reaches one hand to cup Jack's mostly-flaccid 
length and Jack shakes his head tightly. 

"Don't," he begs.

"Stop it," Kate shouts angrily, finally finding her voice. 
"You're hurting him!"

"Shut up, damnit," Sawyer snaps. Her input isn't helping him a 
damned bit.

Sawyer clenches his jaw and strokes Jack firmly, coaxing him 
to harden further. "Just trust me," he whispers, lips barely 
moving. "I'm gonna kiss you. When I do, you gotta bite me, all 
right?"

Jack doesn't respond.

"Damnit, Jack. Pump your fist if you understand."

He watches anxiously as Jack's hand slowly clenches and 
releases.

Even with the warning, Jack hisses as Sawyer grips him by the 
chin and turns his head forcefully, taking his mouth in a 
bruising kiss. Jack doesn't respond at first, too stunned by 
the barely restrained violence of the display. Then he bites 
down, hard, on Sawyer's tongue. 

Sawyer yelps and pulls back, muttering a few expletives, 
though he realizes he can't really fault Jack for biting 
harder than he anticipated. He spits a small amount of blood 
on the ground and wraps his hand around Jack's cock again, 
tugging insistently. "Come on," he breaths. "Come for me and 
this'll all be over."

Jack comes a minute later with a soft cry. Sawyer climaxes a 
moment behind him, feeling nothing but relief and guilt as he 
empties himself into Jack's body. He pulls out immediately and 
fumbles to untie Jack's hands. Jack wavers, but otherwise 
doesn't move, hands gripping the bars tightly. Sawyer places a 
tentative hand on his shoulder, pulling back when the touch 
causes Jack to flinch violently.

Jack spins around, pulling his pants back over his hips with 
shaking hands. 

"Your shoulder..." Sawyer begins pathetically.

"It's fine," Jack mumbles.

"Jack..." Sawyer reaches a hand toward Jack's face.

Jack slaps his hand away. "Don't touch me." His eyes meet 
Sawyer's and Sawyer feels his gut twist at the blatant hurt 
and betrayal he sees. "Just...stay away from me."

Sawyer's face draws in pain but he takes a step back 
obediently, hands out in a non-threatening gesture. "I'm 
sorry, Doc," he says again quietly.

For a moment Jack looks like he might just fall apart and cry, 
but instead he staggers over to the opposite side of the cell 
and sits curled in the corner, hiding his face behind his 
arms.

Sawyer realizes suddenly that Kate has fallen silent. He looks 
to her cell warily. She has her back turned completely to 
them, her posture stiff, angry. 

He sighs and sits in the corner of the cage as far away from 
Jack as he can get, burying his head in his hands. He tells 
himself he had no choice - that he did what he had to to save 
them all. But he knows that in the process he has given the 
Others exactly what they wanted. He has broken Jack and 
created a rift between the three of them that will destroy 
what trust they may have had in each other. Less cohesion 
indeed, he thinks.

******

He is awoken from a fitful sleep that night by a crashing 
sound. He barely manages to scramble to his feet and away from 
the door before the padlock smashes apart and Kate throws the 
door open. In his surprise he doesn't get out more than a 
"Freckles, what..." before she slams the rock she used to 
break open the cage into the side of his head.

He falls to his knees, fighting to stay conscious, struggling 
to see her through his pain-blurred vision as she stands above 
him, her eyes flashing furiously. 

"Kate?" Jack sits up painfully, blinking sleep from his eyes.

She hesitates, her eyes darting to him. "Get up, Jack," she 
says with forced calm. "We're getting out of here."

Jack's eyes widen as he sees her preparing to bash Sawyer's 
head in with a rock. "What are you doing?" he yelps as he 
scrambles to his feet. 

"Go," she orders. "The cameras are off but I don't know how 
long they'll stay that way. Run! I'll be right behind you!"

Sawyer glances in the direction of the camera as she is 
talking, his vision gradually swimming back into focus. She's 
right, he realizes. The blinking red light has disappeared. He 
takes advantage of her momentary distraction, rushing at her, 
arms around her waist, tackling her to the ground. The rock 
tumbles from her hand and he knocks it away.

She drives her knee into his groin, forcing a pained grunt 
from him, and rolls him onto his back, straddling his chest. 
She wraps her hands around his throat. "Give me one good 
reason why I shouldn't kill you," she snarls.

'Because I just got our ticket out of here,' he thinks, but he 
says nothing. Honestly, he doesn't think that's good enough 
and he's sure she would agree. 

Her jaw clenches and she squeezes his throat. His arms are 
pinned at his sides under her knees but it doesn't matter. He 
doesn't try to fight her.

"No," Jack shouts, dropping to his knees beside them suddenly, 
reaching to pry her hands from Sawyer's neck. "Let go!" He 
curses as he realizes he can't dislodge her grip. He is too 
weak from his repeated abuse - his right arm even weaker from 
injury.

"Why are you protecting him," Kate practically screams.

"Because I love him," Jack shouts back.

The pressure on Sawyer's throat disappears suddenly and he 
gasps raggedly. 

She shakes her head, staring at Jack wide-eyed, her wrists 
still held in his hands. "I saw what he did to you..."

He shakes his head. "He didn't have a choice. They..." He 
swallows. "They threatened him somehow."

Sawyer doesn't bother to correct him. Now is not the time to 
discuss blame.

"Please," Jack continues. "Let's just get out of here."

Kate relents but grinds her knee one last time into Sawyer's 
arm as she scrambles to her feet, helping Jack stand with her.

Sawyer groans and drags himself up, watching her warily, half 
expecting her to change her mind suddenly and find another 
rock to bash his skull in. He understands her need for 
revenge. If he were in her shoes he'd want to kill him too.

"Let's go," he grumbles.

********

Sawyer watches Jack run ahead of him anxiously. He stumbles 
every few steps, his gait unsteady. Something is obviously 
wrong. Sawyer catches up to him as he slows and finally stops 
completely, slumping forward, hands on his knees. 

"Kate," Sawyer barks, crouching beside him and placing a 
tentative hand on his back. 

Several feet up ahead, Kate turns and hurries back. "What's 
wrong?"

"Nothing," Jack gasps around heavy breaths. "I'm fine, 
just...give me a minute."

Kate frowns and reaches to feel Jack's forehead. "You're 
burning up," she announces.

"I'm just dehydrated," he mumbles.

Sawyer bites back a curse. The man had barely had anything to 
eat or drink for at least a day and had been drugged and 
tortured. He was lucky he had any energy left in him to run as 
far as he had. Sawyer slides Jack’s left arm around his 
shoulders. "Come on, Doc," he says gently. "We're almost 
there."

"Almost *where*," Kate demands as they begin moving again. 
"We're headed toward the beach. He needs water. We need to 
move inland!"

"We can't," Sawyer says. "Not 'til we're back on our island."

Her eyes widen. "What?"

They break through the forest line onto the beach and her 
breath catches as she sees the island looming up ahead, 
separated from them by a narrow strip of ocean. "Welcome to 
Alcatraz, Freckles," Sawyer mutters, staggering a little under 
Jack's increasingly heavy weight.

"You knew about this?" she splutters.

"Since this morning."

"When were you going to tell us?!"

"I'm tellin' you now, okay," he snaps. "Now help me look for a 
boat, would ya?"

*******

They are only halfway across the channel when Kate stops 
rowing and reaches for Jack, sprawled in the front of the boat 
where he'd practically collapsed. Jack sighs as her cool hand 
presses to his forehead and then his cheek, soothing his 
heated skin. Sawyer stops rowing long enough to rip off his 
already torn sleeve, dip it in the cold ocean and hand it to 
her. She gives him a wary look as she accepts it, draping the 
cloth over Jack's forehead.

"You made a deal with them," she says with quiet accusation. 
"They agreed to give you a boat if you hurt Jack."

Sawyer's jaw twitches. "Something like that."

She glares. "How could you agree to that?"

"I got us rescued, didn't I," he snaps indignantly.

"You *raped* him, Sawyer."

"You think I wanted to hurt 'im?"

"You could have said no," she snaps. "You could have found 
another way."

"You didn't see what they did to him," he blurts.

She gapes at him. "What?" 

Sawyer tries to backpedal, shaking his head, his eyes sliding 
from hers as he resumes rowing.

"Tell me," she demands. "What did they show you?"

He looks at Jack over her shoulder. His eyes are closed, his 
face tilted away from them. 

Sawyer takes a deep breath. They both know she will find out 
eventually. There's no sense in delaying the inevitable. 
"'Henry' got hold of one of Old Baldy's knives," he says, not 
meeting her eyes. "He shredded the Doc's clothes and fucked 
him with the handle."

Her face pales. 

"I figured it was better me 'n them," he adds.

She stares at him silently for a long time, her face a mixture 
of emotions he can't quite sort out. She turns to Jack, her 
hands twitching like she wants to reach out to him but is 
suddenly afraid to. "Why would they do this," she asks softly.

"They want to break 'im," Sawyer replies stiffly, remembering 
what Ben had said on the tape. "They wanted him to quit bein' 
the leader. And they don't want no one takin' his place."

She frowns in confusion and turns to him again. "Why? What 
difference does it make to them whether or not we have a 
leader?"

"You think I know?" Sawyer fires back.

"They want to create chaos," Jack says tiredly. Kate looks 
back to him and he adds "They're watching us. We're like lab 
rats to them."

Kate falls silent, clenching her jaw as her anger redirects 
from Sawyer to these people who would manipulate, hurt and 
humiliate them just to see the results. 'You'll have your 
army, Jack,' she thinks as she picks up her oar and resumes 
rowing. 'They'll pay for what they've done.'

***********

Jack practically collapses to his knees beside the stream, 
slight tremors running through his hands as he scoops water to 
his lips. Sawyer hovers beside him, watching anxiously, no 
longer certain that Jack's condition can be entirely explained 
by dehydration. Kate stands several feet away, her eyes 
scanning the jungle for possible threats.

"Maybe we should rest for a while," Sawyer suggests 
tentatively.

"No," Jack argues stubbornly. "We have to keep moving."

"Damnit, Doc, you look like you're gonna fall on your damned 
face!"

"I have to get back," Jack snaps wearily, his unnaturally 
bright eyes meeting Sawyer's. 

Sawyer's own eyes widen as he fully takes in Jack's rapidly 
deteriorating appearance. He is pale, exhausted, and he has a 
disoriented look Sawyer recognizes all too well. The pieces 
begin to fall into place in Sawyer's mind and he reaches for 
Jack's shirt, shoving the material aside and taking hold of 
the edge of the bandage covering his wound, intending to rip 
it off and confirm his suspicion. 

Jack's hands halt his progress. "Don't," he spits.

"It's infected, ain't it," Sawyer asks bluntly.

Jack nods reluctantly.

Sawyer curses under his breath as he fully understands Jack's 
urgency to get back to their camp. If he doesn't get 
antibiotics soon... Sawyer refuses to think of what might 
happen. "What about..." he falters and nods silently toward 
Jack's hips.

Jack shakes his head. "It's okay, just...help me get back to 
the hatch." His eyes slide shut briefly as Sawyer's cool hand 
cups his burning cheek.

"I'm sorry," the southerner murmurs, his eyes pained.

Jack shakes his head. "It's not your fault. *They* did this."

"I said I'd take care o' you."

Jack presses a soft, clumsy kiss to his palm. "You are," he 
mumbles.

**********

"You sure we're goin' the right way," Sawyer gasps, shifting 
his grip on Jack's waist. He doesn't know how much farther the 
doctor can make it. He is leaning on Sawyer a little bit more 
with each increasingly clumsy step.

"The beach should be just up ahead," Kate calls over her 
shoulder.

They don't make it more than twenty steps further before 
Jack's legs crumple beneath him. Sawyer strains beneath his 
dead weight, barely managing to keep him from falling on his 
face. "Kate," he barks.

She is at their side in a heartbeat, helping Sawyer ease 
Jack's unconscious body to the ground. "Jack!" She feels his 
forehead and flinches at the intense heat radiating from him.

"Go on," Sawyer orders, slipping his arms beneath Jack's knees 
and shoulders. "I got 'im."

"What," Kate stammers. "No, I can get help..."

"There ain't enough time," he snaps. She stiffens, her fiery 
eyes boring into him and he adds "he needs medicine. Now!"

She stands back reluctantly, watching Sawyer lift Jack, 
grunting as his muscles take on the added strain. "Lead the 
way."

***********

If Kate had known of a path leading directly to the hatch from 
where they were she would have taken it to avoid having to 
parade Jack through the entire camp. But she doesn't and they 
do.

"Oh my god..."

"Is he okay?"

"What happened?"

She babbles something partially coherent about needing to get 
him to the hatch. 

"The hatch is gone."

She whirls on Hurley. "What?"

"It, like...imploded."

Sawyer curses loudly and carries Jack to his tent without 
further explanation, vaguely hearing Kate order somebody to 
get the antibiotics and first-aid kit.

He isn't all that surprised to find his stash missing. Vaguely 
pissed off, yes, but not surprised. Not that it matters at the 
moment. He lays Jack on his bedding as carefully as he can and 
tears at his shirt, feeling a sort of dull satisfaction as the 
material rips, folding back on itself and hiding the Dharma 
logo.

Jack chooses that moment to surface through the haze, 
struggling against Sawyer instinctively. 

"It's just me, Doc," he says, grabbing Jack's wrists to halt 
his flailing arms. "You're safe now."

Jack looks at him with slow recognition. "Sawyer?"

Sawyer nods and Jack lets himself relax, his head falling back 
to the ground. "Stay with me, Doc," Sawyer pleads. "I got no 
idea what I'm doin'. You gotta help me here."

Jack visibly struggles to remain conscious. "Antibiotics. Four 
times a day. Change the bandage once a day. You can use 
antiseptic but don't use too much..."

"What about..." Sawyer places a hand tentatively on the 
waistband of Jack's scrubs.

Jack shakes his head, his eyes drifting shut. "Antibiotics," 
he mumbles.

"Hey," Sawyer snaps, grabbing Jack's chin and shaking firmly. 
"Stay with me." Jack's answering moan makes him cringe. 
"Antibiotics what?"

"That's it," Jack says, his voice beginning to slur. "Nothing 
else you c'n do..."

"Don't lie to me," Sawyer warns.

"'m not..." Jack's eyes flutter closed and his head lolls as 
he loses his fight with unconsciousness.

**********

Jack drifted in and out of consciousness for the better part of 
two days, barely aware of the hands that forced him to drink 
fluids and take pills every few hours. Hands that soothed his 
fever and stilled his thrashing limbs when he woke from fevered 
dreams he couldn’t remember. He could hear voices around him 
but couldn’t decipher the words. 

When he finally drifts into peaceful, cool darkness a harsh 
slap shocks him back to semi-awareness. 

“Damnit Doc,” he hears a relieved voice say from somewhere 
above him. “Don’t you dare do that to me again, you bastard.”

He frowns but doesn’t have the energy to open his eyes or 
speak. He can only moan weakly as his upper body is lifted and 
he is propped against something he vaguely recognizes as 
another person. Arms wrap around his chest and he feels warm 
puffs of air on his cheek. 

A hand strokes his forehead and he drifts back into a restless 
sleep, wondering if the voice whispering “I love you 
too...don’t you go anywhere,” in his ear is just a trick of his 
imagination.