The Haircut

[Anna]

Rated PG-13. Written post-"What Kate Did." Fun stuff. Tell me what you think.


The Haircut

Kate watched as the dark and majestic horse trotted back into the jungle. Turning to face Sawyer, she wasn?t surprised to see that he was confused but unbothered by what he had just seen.

?Well, if that wasn?t one of the most?? he trailed off, incapable of coming up with anything clever to say for once. Kate smiled and turned him back towards the hatch. As she pulled his uninjured arm over her shoulders again, she swept his messy hair away from his face with her free hand.

?Come on, Sawyer,? she said, looking up at him with a falsely serious expression. ?We?re finding you a pair of scissors.?

?Alright, Freckles,? Sawyer drawled, putting a little extra weight on his helper?s shoulders. A smirk crossed his face as she immediately dropped her hand from his head onto his chest to brace his weight.

?Back to the hatch,? Kate said forcefully as she steered him through the grasses and hanging vines in their path.

?So tell me,? Sawyer said, thoroughly examining the hatch for the second time. ?When d?you get down here??

Kate cast about for a pair of scissors. There had to be some. The hatch had nearly everything else, even an old computer. ?The night after you left on the raft,? she said, beginning to lose her breath from dragging Sawyer around, ?Jack and Locke blew the door off the hatch. I went in first.?

?Did you, now?? Sawyer said in an impressed voice, putting a little more weight onto Kate?s shoulders.

?Yes. And Desmond, when?finally!? Kate muttered. ?Scissors.?

Sawyer yawned as she struggled to pull him over to a small desk on the far side of the room. ?Sit down,? Kate managed, easing him onto the chair with his back to the desk. She eyed his hair momentarily, bracing herself with her hands on his shoulders. When she had an idea of what she wanted to do, she reached over his shoulder with her left hand to pick up the scissors, her right hand still leaning on him.

?Hey!? Sawyer yelled. ?You?re pushing on my shoulder!? He grabbed her wrist and her other arm in each of his hands, holding her in front of him; Kate?s left arm floundered behind his head, still reaching for the scissors. ?You trying to kill me all over again?? he demanded.

?Sorry,? Kate said, not entirely meaning it. He didn?t loosen his hold on her wrist. Intending to make him let go, she stared directly at his face. ?Sawyer,? she commanded.

For a moment, neither one of them blinked. Sawyer?s eyes were locked on hers for a moment; then, glancing at her mouth, he smiles his lopsided grin. ?Right where we started, Freckles,? he murmured.

Kate immediately broke his hold on her left arm and grabbed the scissors. ?You can cut your own hair,? she exclaimed, dropping them on the floor far to her right. Without another word, she pulled herself off of his lap, where she didn?t remember ending up. She turned on her heel and left the room, arms folded. Sawyer smirked at her retreating back until she was out of sight.

Since she?d dropped the scissors on the side of his hurt arm, he opted to turn his body all the way around instead of straining his injury. Once he had the scissors in his right hand, he gazed across the room. Was there a mirror in this place?

Sawyer wandered around for a few minutes before giving up. He hadn?t yet searched all of the rooms, but he decided being difficult would be more interesting. ?Hey, Kate!? he called. Hurley stuck his head around the corner.

?Sorry, dude. She just went outside,? he explained before disappearing again.

?Damn it,? Sawyer muttered under his breath. Heading quickly for the door, he wrenched it open and strode quickly outside. Kate hadn?t left the clearing yet. She must have waited outside for a while before deciding to leave, realized Sawyer with growing self-satisfaction. Otherwise she would have been out of sight.

?Freckles,? she said again, holding up the scissors. ?There?s no mirror down there. You?re going to have to do it for me.?

She faced him, arms still crossed. ?I have to?? she asked, raising her eyebrows. ?Hurley can?t do it??

?I don?t think I trust Hurley with an important job like this,? Sawyer said quietly, tossing her the scissors.

Kate sighed, as if giving up. As if she hadn?t given up before she?d told him to do it himself. Sawyer knew that it was an act. She?d pushed him away before, but somehow? Somehow things seemed a bit different after he woke up and found himself in the hatch.

Kate sat him in the same chair as before, still facing her. She hadn?t cut anybody?s hair but her own before, and that had been with a mirror. She decided to start in the front and work her way around, as that seemed the simplest approach. And Sawyer didn?t seem to mind facing her as she stood over him, bearing the scissors.

?Here we go,? she sighed, picking up a lock of his hair and quickly clipping it off. Sawyer seemed suddenly nervous.

?Don?t scalp me,? he spoke up, staring at the scissors with apprehension.

?I?m not going to,? Kate protested. ?Just sit still and I?ll cut it off.?

A few minutes later, she decided the front was satisfactory. Besides, it wasn?t as though he was going somewhere important, like a job interview or something like that. Kate suddenly wondered if Sawyer had ever had a real job.

Preparing to cut the sides, she hesitated before gently placing her hand on the back of his neck. Sawyer watched her silently as she examined what she had to work with. Realizing it would have been easier to wash it first, she moved around to his side, trying to ignore his eyes.

Sawyer seemed to have forgotten his fear of scalping. He watched her intently. Clip, clip. More hair fell.

Kate forced herself to ignore him, though part of her couldn?t stand it anymore.

Soon, she was done. She set the scissors on the desk and leaned over Sawyer from the side to brush the clipped hair off his lap. He looked down at her hands.

Then, before she knew what was happening, Sawyer pulled Kate onto his lap so that she faced him head on; her mouth opened slightly in shock. His hands went immediately around her back as he pulled her to him. To his genuine surprise, she didn?t fight him, but snaked her arms around his neck and lodged her fingers in his newly cut hair, pushing her lips against his with a long-denied need. She forced him back against the chair.

Sawyer, having realized that she was dominating him, pushed Kate to her feet and jumped up. Surprised at his strength, Kate stepped away from him, as if in a dream, and found her back was against a wall. Sawyer pressed himself against her, loosening her hair from its tie and kissing her neck.

For a moment, Kate thought she might forget where she was. At last, she forced her eyes open.

Sawyer felt her stiffen and let go. Stepping back, he turned to follow her gaze.

Locke smiled, looking utterly harmless. He said simply, ?Someday, we?ll all look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject.?

Kate nodded wordlessly.

[losty09]

Nice! You seem like a good writer Anna.

[hyperhotty]

That was really good.

[Lpspider]

Not bad....

[Lpspider]

So, we gonna see a sequel anytime soon?