CHAPTER 9: THE BOND OF BETRAYAL
"Jack?" Said Jin uncertainly. Jack stared back dumbstruck, his confusion seemingly equal to Jin's - clearly he hadn't expected to see 5 of his fellow survivours here.
"What are you doing here?" Whispered Jack, his voice cracked in his throat as he seemed to fight his shock.
Sawyer stepped straight towards Jack and delivered a right hook to the man's jaw. "What are we doing here? What the hell are you doing here Doc? We thought you were dead!" Roared Sawyer as two of their captors ran forwards and restrained him. "They shot Kate because of you!"
Jack slowly stood up, his hand held to his now bloody jaw, looking at Sawyer with an expression of disbelief. "They what?" The man called Bill looked uneasy, but Jack failed to notice.
"Jack, you'd better tell us your story if you expect to be told anything from us." Said Locke, reverting from his dumcstruck state to one of neutral calmness.
Jack nodded to show his agreement; his eyes had not left Sawyer since he'd revealed Kate's predicament. Tearing his gaze from Sawyer, Jack turned to the man called George. "Can you give us a minute?"
George shook his head. "You're not gonna talk to your friends until we do Jack."
"I told you they don't know anything!" Said Jack angrily.
"Well Doc,unless we report back to Minkowski and the captain with some good news, they're gonna fry our a$$es for leaving the freighter and coming here ahead of the main expedition." Said George.
"Leaving the freighter? I thought we was on the freighter!" Said Sawyer.
"Then you don't know jack about boats pal." Smirked the man called Bill.
"The freighters still anchored 80miles off shore." Said Jo from the corner.
"You said you are not the main expedition. If you took this boat, how will they arrive?" Asked Rousseau, cutting off Sawyer's chance of responding to Bill.
"Same way as Naomi. Frank's bringing them in a chopper." Said Mel. "Let's just hope he doesn't crash it."
Desmond opened his mouth to ask another question but was interuptted by Bill. "Where is Naomi anyway?"
Desmond and Locke exchanged glances while Jin looked confused. George noticed the exchange. "Right. Mel, you Tony and Jo take those three to one of the other rooms, find out what they know about Naomi." He looked over at Danielle. "Second thoughts, take the lady too."
The small group filed out of the room until Jack and Sawyer were left alone, not counting the two men stood in the doorway.
"Can we get a little privacy?." George shook his head.
"Do we really look that dumb to you?" Asked Bill.
Sawyer smirked. "You really want me to answer that question Popeye?"
"Bill, go down and check on the others." Said George. Bill started to splutter an angry response. "I've got a gun - I can handle them. Go Bill."
Bill left muttering to himself.
"Jack you've got five minutes. You take any longer and your friends are gonna regret coming after you." Said George.
"Too late." Muttered Sawyer as George shut the door.
Jack looked at the door, and then at Sawyer. "We don't have long so I'll get straight to the point." Whispered Jack. "They're not here for us. Apparently thewreckage of our plane was found off the coast of Bali-"
"-Cut the crap Doc I know all that from the chick Rambo used for knife practice." Said Sawyer angrily. "How about you tell me something I don't know. Like how the hell your alive?"
"They shot me with a tranquiliser. I woke up on this boat, they questioned me for a day, found out I'm a survivour of 815, then decided to keep me hostage. They thought it might make some of you come after then on a revenge mission. Clearly they were right." Said Jack.
"You think we came for you Hoss? Locke came to scout the camp and Rousseau tagged along 'cause she wants to protect Sally Slingshot and her boyfriend. Chewy and the Bagpiper stayed at the caves to hold off those guys long enough for Ali to lead everyone to Othersville so that the triple Other agent has long enough to operate on Freckles. And me Jack? I came for Kate, and if she dies it's on your head. Cause Jules ain't no surgeon, and the only reason she's doin' the op is because we all though you were dead!" Sawyer finished his rant and took some deep breaths.
Jack was silent, absorbing every word Sawyer had just thrown at him. "Kate? Is she-?"
"Looking mighty like the Marshall from the old days." Growled Sawyer.
Jack looked disturbed.
"You got two more minutes!" Yelled George from the other side of the door. Both men jumped, having forgotten he was there.
Jack dragged Sawyer to the far side of the room. "He doesn't know Naomi's dead."
"Well I sort of figured from the way they dead everyone out of here for interrogation." Said Sawyer.
"It's a facade." Said Jack, speaking quickly. "There's two things you need to know." Sawyer nodded so Jac could continue. "The real reason they're here, the freighter, it's for Ben." Jack held up his hand so Sawyer wouldn't interrupt. "They all work for a company which is looking for him, the main expedition was headed by Naomi. I heard Bill talking to George yesterday, another four people willl be coming by a chopper today. The pilot is a guy called Frank, from what I heard they'll be three other people, two guys and a girl. I think their names were Miles, Daniel and Charlotte. These guys we're with are like lackeys."
"Thanks for the update but names ain't much good. How bout we tell them where the little weasel is in exchange for a ticket off this rock?"
"It won't work because they'll already know by the time we get out of this room, and Ben already knows they're coming." Jack said quietly.
"How?" Asked Sawyer.
"Because that's not the only thing I found out yesterday." Said Jack. "The freighter been in the area for a few weeks now, and Ben knew about it, it's one of the reason he was jamming transmissions off the island."
Jack sighed. "When he let Michael leave the island, they cut a deal. Michael is on the freighter, and he's spying for Ben."
Sawyer was almost speechless. "You said they'd know where to find him, did they turn the ba$tard?"
"No, and we can't tell them, it's the one card we have to play. They'll know where Ben is because Rousseau is working with them."
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