Kate slowly started to walk towards Sawyer, not knowing what she was going to say or do, not knowing how to feel or how others would feel…how Jack would feel if she…no she couldn’t go there, she wouldn’t go there again.. she was just there to help them, all of them, get off the island for good.
She stood before him looking into his eyes, she felt his hand stroke hers… she couldn’t hold back, she wrapped her arms around him, feeling him breathe against her…she never wanted to let go.
Jack turned to look away, he couldn’t bare to see Kate in the arms of another man, especially this one...again.
They pulled away from each other, still no words coming from either of them.
Hurley and Jack approached Sawyer, shook his hand. “Good to see you again Sawyer” Jack said, “Doc” replied Sawyer nodding his head, “It’s been a while”.
Hurley looked Sawyer up and down, “So Dude, Why ARE you wearing a Dharma suit?”, they all stared at Sawyer, waiting for an answer. “Uh, let’s just say we’ve had to adapt to the situation” said Sawyer, “Let me take you to our home”.
Sawyer and Jack jumped in the jeep, Kate, Hurley and Jin following in the VW behind them. In the Jeep they were silent, both of them had so many questions to ask each other, but neither of them knew where to start. Jack spoke first, noticing Sawyer’s name badge on his Dharma suit, “La Fleur?”…Sawyer didn’t say anything, they sat in silence for a few minutes. “Listen Jack, since you’ve been gone a few things have changed around here, that’s all I’m gonna say right now- but we’re gonna have to come up with a story for you, otherwise the gang’s gonna start asking questions”.
“What gang Sawyer? What have you got everyone into here?”
Suddenly they heard a bang, several of them, one after the other. Gun shots. The Hostiles.
Sawyer swerved the jeep, narrowly avoiding missing them. Both of them turned to look behind them, the VW was gone.“What the hells going on?” Jack screamed. “No time Doc..” Sawyer opened the door of the Jeep, “Run!”.
Shots still flying at them from every direction, Jack raced behind Sawyer deep into the forest.
They could hear footsteps following behind them, getting faster. Jack felt like he was going to collapse, he kept looking at the ground, felt like he had to keep making sure his feet were still there. After what seemed like forever running into unfamiliar territory, Jack looked up, Sawyer wasn’t there. Who had he been following all this time? Was he following anyone? He had to find somewhere to hide, he could hear the footsteps gaining on him.
Kate, Hurley and Jin had been stopped. In all the panic, Jin had crashed into a large rock.. ‘The Black Rock’ and they now had five armed gunmen surrounding the VW. They didn’t move, the VW was locked, one of the hostiles tapped on the window and pointed the gun. “What are we gonna do Dude?” Hurley panicked. “Don’t worry, we have a truce”, Jin pulled up the lock and opened the door, he stepped out with his hands in the air.
The Hostile stepped forward, “What do we have here then?” he said, nodding towards Kate and Hurley.In the distance he could see Richard, the leader of the Hostiles coming towards the VW. The four other gunmen had moved in closer to the vehicle, “They’re not part of the truce” they said before opening the doors and grabbing both Kate and Hurley.
Elsewhere, Sawyer had worked his way to the Flame station and raised the alert that the Hostiles were invading. He had to quickly find Kate, Hurley and Jack, and make sure the Dharma Initiative didn’t mistake them for Hostiles. He grabbed another gun from the cache, and ran out the door.
Jack had been captured too, after all his efforts of trying to hide, the Hostiles seemed to sniff him out. His head had been covered with a brown sack, and he had been thrown into a van with Kate and Hurley.
They arrived at a camp, they didn’t move.
Horace walked up to the jeep.
Jack looked at Horace, he was wearing a Dharma Initiative suit. The Hostiles must have brought them to the Dharma camp, thinking that because they were with Jin and Sawyer, that they belonged here. Horace looked like some sort of down and out drunk, Jack thought to himself. Could this be the leader of the Dharma Initiative, he wondered. Even after all this time he still didn’t know much about them.
The call came in on Sawyer’s walkie, it was Jin, he sounded worried. Jin told him what had happened. He had to get back to his camp quick, he had a lot of explaining to do.
When he arrived, Horace was standing next to the Hostile’s van with a gun in his face, talking to Richard.
“I found some of your people on our land Jim, I thought we had come to an agreement on this”, Richard said.
“Listen Richard, it was a mistake, it won’t happen ag-..” Sawyer was cut off, “Let me talk to you Jim, alone”, Richard urged him over, the gun shifting its focus.
After a few minutes, Sawyer returned to the Van with Richard. Richard gave the signal to his men, they opened the door of the van and pulled Kate, Hurley and Jack out. The gunmen hopped back in the van along with Richard and drove away, leaving the newcomers standing there, alone. Horace looked at them in a confused state.
“Right, what’s going on La Fleur? Who are these people? And what sort of deal do you have going here with Richard?” he yelled. Sawyer hadn’t had time to think, his mind had been racing; seeing Kate, and the others again, dealing with the Hostile situation, what was he going to tell Horace?
“I had a thing for a girl once and I had a shot at her, but I didn't take it. After a little while I'd lay in bed every night wondering, was it a mistake? Wondering. I never stop thinking about her. But now I can barely remember what she looks like. And her face is, she's just gone”
Sawyer thought back on his conversation with Horace, only hours earlier. What had he been thinking? Her face wasn’t gone, he had never stopped thinking about her, and now she was here, staring at him helplessly, relying on him to get them out of this mess. Although, explaining everything to Horace wasn’t the only problem he had to deal with, there was Juliet too. Juliet, the one he had come to love over the past three years, the one who he had tried to… replace Kate with. What was he going to tell her? Now that Kate was back. How could he possibly choose between the two of them?
Kate, Hurley and Jack had huddled together, the three of them intensely watching the conversation between Sawyer and Horace. Hurley started to panic again, “What if they find out who we are dude? What if they think we’re here to hurt them? What if they try to KILL us dude?!”
Jack tried to calm him down, he was worried enough himself, he had no idea what was going on- What sort of role was Sawyer/La Fleur playing here?
They stood there in silence.
A few minutes passed and Horace approached the group, “I guess I should say welcome then…”, the three of them looked confused. Sawyer gave them an encouraging nod, “Go on Horace”, “Yes… Welcome to your new home” he finished. Kate, Jack and Hurley stood there in amazement, each looking at one another.
“Yes, you are the new recruits of 1947, Welcome”.