Kill Me, Kate

Summary: This is my friend Jemma's Christmas present from me. My fan fiction is based on her AU Kate/Charlie video and it is one of the best Kate/Charlie videos I've ever seen! The plot is that Kate and Charlie are married but behind his back she's running a con with Sawyer to get to his money – by "taking care" of him. However what she doesn't anticipate is his survival and how far he'll go to get revenge….

"You scared?" his voice slurred across the bar. She met his gaze, cold but controlled and contemplated her response. Was she scared? In some ways she was but only because this was a plot that could get her sent to prison for life. This wasn't her reputation she was gambling – it was her life.

"Yes," she admitted, hating the fact that she felt so vulnerable in the presence of a man who was the very definition of tough. She glanced down towards her hand and saw the very thing that was mocking her – her wedding ring. She closed her eyes and envisioned her wedding day. The vision seemed to be surrounded by gold, as if it was a treasure she was soon about to bury forever. She could still see it all; her husband, young, in his mid-twenties staring at her with a nervous reverence and her smiling at him with words of assurance that they were doing the right thing.

"Well here's the good news," Sawyer, a cold, sly man in his late thirties, responded, raising his half empty glass to her and bringing her back to the present. "Everybody gets scared." He drank deeply. "But what they're scared of most is missing an opportunity."

Katherine Anne Austen, otherwise known as Kate, stared at him, into the deep, bottomless pits of his eyes. There was not a single trace of regret, remorse or any decent emotion in there whatsoever. She was both scared and thrilled by his confidence. He was the kind of man who dominated every scene he was in, who took every chance hurled at him and whose only principle was that it was every man for himself.

"I'm still not sure," she confessed, tracing her finger around the rim of her glass. "What if we get caught?"

"That's the part that scares you?" Sawyer laughed. "Freckles, we're about to con your sweet, young husband and you're not afraid of what you're going to do to him? Hell, I'd be shakin' in my boots if I were in your position."

"But you're not," she stated coldly. "Charlie's not the problem. He's weak, naïve and foolish – he won't suspect a thing. Even if he does it'll be too late. I know his routine; he'll come home raving about his band practice, eat, drink and fall asleep in front of the TV." She drank again. "Men are all the same – predictable and boring."

"What about me?" he whispered, leaning into her. "Am I predictable and boring?"

She giggled, tasting the alcohol on his breath and inhaling it deeply like it was some kind of drug for her. "No," she breathed. "You're a bad boy." They locked lips and fell into a rough but passionate kiss.

"That's what I thought," Sawyer concluded as they pulled away.

Her eyes flashed with steel as his face settled into a look of cold indifference. They had to remain business like from now on, just until things became a bit more settled.

"Kate," he murmured, staring at her as if to judge whether she was capable of pulling off a con such as this.

"Let's do this," she said with determination. Her conscience fought desperately against her heart in an un-winnable battle, trying to persuade her to not go through with it, but she knew deep down that she'd already made up her mind a long time ago…

Kate went home that night reasonably sober. Her mind was torn in two over this situation – half of her believed they were doing the right thing and that they needed that money and half of her wanted to call it off and save the life of a man she knew didn't deserve to die. Snap out of it, she scolded herself, stop procrastinating.

She half skipped up the stairs, impatient to get this over with.

Act like this is a normal day, Sawyer had advised her. Do whatever you need to do to convince him you're fine and happy and that nothing's wrong. He'd said this latter piece with gritted teeth, and she'd known exactly what he was referring to.

Kate opened the door and walked steadily through to the lounge, wearing the poker face she had practised. She was a natural born liar anyway but that wasn't an excuse to be lazy.

"Katie!" Charlie waved at her from the chair he always sat in. She forced a smile and strode over to him, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"Hey," she greeted him. "How was your day?"

"Band practice was amazing," Charlie gushed, flushed with excitement. "We're practising for a comeback album. I mean I know Liam's threatened to quit several times but I've written a few songs…" he trailed off, looking dangerously perceptive. "You ok?" he enquired. "You look a bit…off."

Damn, Kate silently cursed. I've let my guard fall down.

"I've just had a busy day," she assured him, pulling him into a swift but firm embrace. She didn't know why but she felt like a part of her needed this hug as a way of saying goodbye. What was wrong with her?

The thing was, she had fallen in love with Charlie and had agreed to marry him. That part wasn't a con. She'd met him during his early band years, back when they were gathering a fan base. She'd thought he was cute and charming and he'd fallen head over heels for her. He'd offered to buy her a drink and from there it had spiralled into a full blown relationship. Their honeymoon had been on some beautiful, remote island and they'd often walked together either through the jungle or along the golden halo of sand which encircled the shrubbery. At some point though, she'd grown bored of him and yet couldn't bring herself to leave. She hated the predictable and that's what her life had become.

That's when she'd met Sawyer. She'd found herself, instead of staying home and making love to Charlie, wandering to bars and drinking herself senseless. Sawyer had encountered her in one of those bars, guessed her problem in one and had quickly become her confidante. She'd made excuse after excuse to explain why she went out every night – some nights it was a work thing (though she was unemployed) and other nights it was a friend's birthday. It became more difficult to get away as soon as Charlie got in his head that they should start a family.

"I know this is gonna sound crazy," Charlie muttered, lowering his head childishly. "I just get this feeling I'm going to lose you soon. You've been acting so distant towards me and I feel like you don't want me."

The guilt that crushed her chest was quickly pushed aside by another feeling – shame. She was in deep water now and she realised she had to do it tonight, as quickly as possible. Thinking on her feet she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply – and desperately. Mistaking it for passion, Charlie responded and she slyly moved their bodies up the stairs, towards the bedroom. Their lips never broke apart until she pushed him lightly onto their bed.

He gazed up at her with reverence, whilst her gaze was slightly cooler, even business-like. She had to do this now; otherwise she'd lose her nerve forever.

"I'll be right back," she whispered in his ear. "But to make things more interesting…" She left the end of that sentence hanging and took out a pair of handcuffs. Charlie's eyes widened and she almost laughed at the thoughts that must've been running through his mind, not one of them close to the truth. She kissed him lightly on the lips, cuffed him to the bed and then walked out of the door.

When she was sure he wouldn't move Kate walked downstairs and out of the door. All the preparations had been handled earlier so she was all set. That thought, as well as the thought that she'd have millions of dollars floating through her palms soon, made her quicken her pace towards her motorbike. She sat on it and allowed the weakness she'd fought inside to take over her for a moment. Guilt, pain, anguish, horror and self-loathing mingled in between her arteries and veins like a lethal drug but she fought the symptoms and kicked her motorbike into gear.

As she drove off into the distance a moment of serenity fell upon the world before it was shattered by the sound of a cataclysmic explosion. She shed a few bitter tears for the man she'd once loved and then increased her speed. As agreed with Sawyer, she would stay at his place for a few days and then wait for the police to turn up with the news of her husband's tragic death. Sawyer was her alibi and she wasn't a fool when it came to covering her tracks. She'd been carefully not to touch anything that might later incriminate her.

If she'd lingered there, for whatever reason, she would've found a disturbing sight. Crawling across the room on his belly like a slug, a bloody figure emerged from between the rubble and flames like a demon from hell. He rocked himself as the intense agony shook his thin body but what made him shake hardest was the sheer betrayal he felt stabbing him all over. The handcuffs had long since been snapped off and he rubbed his wrists out of fury.

Charlie twisted himself free and rose to his feet, stumbling around and clutching his ear. Everything seemed so much louder in one ear then he did with the other and he suspected it was because of the explosion. Flames roared around him and stretched above him like skyscrapers. Orange and red surrounded him and the vibrancy of those colours almost blinded him.

He knew he'd gone partially deaf from the explosion and yet that didn't bother him. The blood trickling down his arm didn't bother him either, nor did the pain that shot through his body like a bullet through flesh. What did hurt him was Kate's betrayal. His sobs were angry, furious hitched breaths as he struggled to break free from his rubble prison. He was surprised to learn that no one had heard the explosion, although the house's isolated enclosure did explain the silence.

Charlie stood there amongst the ruins of his house, breathing heavily and feeling like a great injustice had befallen him. He knew Kate had felt a bit suffocated recently but he'd never believed she was capable of murder as a way of escape. That's when he began to wonder if someone else was involved. He might've been young but he wasn't stupid. His mind began to piece it all together – she'd probably gone to some bar, met some guy and started an affair. Then she'd probably begun to wonder how to get rid of her husband and that's when the murder card had come up. What a bitch! he thought angrily.

Rubbing his ear, he began to search the ground for some sort of clue and that's when he spotted it. A piece of paper, sullied by the mud on the ground, lay underneath the rubble and it had an address written on it. He memorised it hungrily and decided that murder was a game for two. Whether or not he was capable of it was up to fate to decide but he knew he couldn't let her go unpunished.

With the betrayal still flaming the pieces of his broken heart, Charlie inhaled deeply and then stalked off. His eyes would've scorched flesh itself had anyone been around to gaze into them. Revenge was tattooed on his heart and rage burned itself into his flesh.

She let herself in with the key Sawyer had given her. It had taken her a few minutes to work up the courage to let herself in because she knew Sawyer would be overjoyed by the news she was bringing. Well, maybe overjoyed was pushing it a bit, but there was no denying he would be pleased and she wasn't sure if that was the sort of emotion she wanted to see right now.

Kate walked into his bedroom and was almost surprised to see him reading. She was so used to seeing him drinking or scuffling with someone that it was a shock to see him doing something so serene. It was almost endearing.

"Hey, freckles," he greeted her, smiling.

She sat down on his bed and giggled as he pulled her close to him. He stared into her eyes as she stared into his and he pulled her into a kiss that was so deep and full of passion she wondered how she'd ever lived without it.

Little did she realise that someone was gazing through the window with an expression of heartbreak and loathing. She released the kiss and then grabbed his face and plunged into another, feeling utterly free of the world (and man) she'd relinquished.

"So," Sawyer whispered as they broke apart. "Did you do it?" His expression was one of expectancy.

"Yes," she breathed back. "I took the house insurance out a few weeks ago, just to be sure. So we'll get that on top of the money Charlie left behind."

Sawyer grinned at her, elated at the words she'd said. She smiled softly back. They fell into each other and kissed as if the world was shattering around them. The flickering shadows of the moonlight on the curtains faded into darkness by the time they fell asleep. Well, Sawyer was out like a light but Kate was still troubled by what she'd done. She'd taken away a life and for that she'd never be forgiven.

Unable to sleep, she rose to her feet as fluently as a ghost. She got dressed and walked outside, hoping that a little walk under the moonlight would calm her troubled nerves. She shivered as a particularly sharp breeze fluttered under her clothes and glided over her skin like ice. Something felt wrong and she could feel it in the bottom of her heart.

Sawyer's quiet little house was set in the perfect location for two outlaws such as themselves. It was located on the edge of a forest – well, it seemed more like a jungle – really and wasn't that far from the airport. She stared at the forest now, intimidated by how the night could make even the simplest things look like something out of a gothic horror movie. The trees seemed to blend into each other and looked black against the flicker of light which slit through the clouds and gave her a feeble source of light.

She walked through the forest with her hands in her pockets, sighing as it began to rain. Her feet sunk into the mud as though it was quicksand and she began to slip and slide as she walked. She felt frightened against her will and decided to make her way back. All of a sudden she froze. Here eyes gazed upwards, to the top of a steep bank of mud which rose upwards to another cluster of trees.

A wet, soaking figure in a hooded jacket glared at her from his spot and all she could think about was Sawyer. How cruel was that? She couldn't run, nor could she breathe as she stared at her supposedly dead husband. He looked at her with such betrayal, such loathing that she shivered with fright. How had he survived?!

He took a step towards her and that decided it. She bolted like a frightened animal and found herself slipping and sliding as she tried to run from him. Somehow she knew she wasn't hallucinating or dreaming because the wind and rain on her skin felt too vivid to be anything but real.

Charlie chased after her, hell bent on getting the answers he wanted. It wasn't his intention to harm her but he needed to know why she tried to kill him and, perhaps just as seriously, who she was having an affair with.

Kate was quite a fast runner and for that she had to be grateful. Her long, skinny legs gave her the velocity she needed and she managed to skid around a corner just in time to slide in between some banyan trees. She held onto them and felt imprisoned between them, which made the tears start to pour. All her life she'd felt like a fugitive, trapped between her mother and brutal Wayne and now she was one. She may not have committed murder tonight but she'd attempted it and that was just as bad. She needed to get back to Sawyer and tell him that Charlie was still alive.

Charlie realised he was far from the fastest runner on Earth. He skidded to a halt and whipped round and stalked off in the other direction, constantly looking back in case she decided to make a quick dash for it. His blood rushed to the surface of his skin and he became immune to the cold as revenge filled his mind.

Kate began to sob as she clung to the trees she was surrounded by. Everything seemed to be blue for some reason, a rather depressing colour. Her whole world had spun out of control so rapidly, like a car on ice. She leaned against the trees and tried to gather her thoughts together. For the moment, Charlie was gone. She inhaled deeply, once, twice and then a third time.

With all the courage she could muster, Kate stepped out of the shelter and headed back towards the house. Each step she took reminded her just how unstable she was feeling. If she could've begged for Charlie's forgiveness she would've done but it was too late for that. She saw the murder in his eyes and knew that revenge was the only thing on his mind now. Anguish filled her frail body as she realised what she'd done. She'd gone down and taken him with her. They were too far gone to think about redemption now.

She didn't even hesitate as she approached the back door. She pushed the door open and scurried in, racing down the corridor as though the devil himself were chasing her. To her surprise, Sawyer was up and reading…again.

"Sawyer!" His name got caught in her throat as the fear took over.

"You ok?" He was straight on his feet, walking over to her with a concerned look in his eyes.

"He's alive," she breathed.

Sawyer looked clueless for a second or two as he absorbed that information and then he clicked on. With a grim look, he marched over to the closet and grabbed his jacket which had a gun sticking out of one of the pockets.

"Before you ask, I bought this fair and square," he announced, smirking at her. The worried look never left his eye. "How can the little squirt be alive?" he muttered. "You blew up the damn house with him still inside. Does fate love him or something? 'Cause I swear to God that he wasn't supposed to survive." He sighed. "You got everything you want sweetheart? 'Cause we ain't coming back here on account of you forgetting something."

"I swiped a few grand from the house. We should be good for a while," Kate replied. "Whatever we do, it's for the best." She gazed at the floor, apprehensive about running away but she knew she couldn't wait around for Charlie to catch up with her. He'd become a scary man, someone she'd hardly recognised in the storm but what had he seen when she'd walked away from him with the intention of killing him? Certainly not the same woman he had fallen in love with.

He smiled at her and wrapped her in his arms tenderly. As much as he hated to admit it, he was falling in love with her. She was so beautiful and the fear in her eyes now was making him so angry he could just kill someone. But he understood that protecting her was his first priority.

Kate kissed him quickly and dashed into the bedroom where she'd dropped her suitcase full of her old stuff. The money stashed in there was both a blessing and a curse in her eyes but she couldn't dwell on it now. She smiled quickly and then picked it up, checking to see if it was light enough to run with.

She wandered back into the living room and saw that Sawyer was ready for action. She smiled, lightly gripped his arm and then walked out of the door. The wind that greeted them howled and moaned and then they took off. Sawyer pushed Kate forwards as she stumbled and slid amongst the mud but, luckily, the dawn's light gave them the extra push they needed.

Sawyer looked back a couple of times and could've sworn he heard someone muttering and cursing under their breath but, not wanting to alarm Kate, he ignored it. They bolted through the trees, Kate ahead and Sawyer lagging behind. Both of them were fuelled by the same triplet of emotions which catapulted across their mind in a similar manner to ping pong – shock (how could he have survived?!), fear (what would he do if he caught up to them?) and worry.

They stopped for a moment to shelter amongst the trees, fully aware that their situation was backwards. In reality they should've been running scared in the middle of the night not at the break of dawn. Kate inhaled deeply and staggered a few steps forward before realising Sawyer wasn't following her. She looked round, only to feel something hard crash against the side of her head. As agonising as it was, it didn't stun her but it did make her vision become blurry. She was aware that she was moving only her legs weren't exactly in action. The forest seemed to run past her and all of a sudden she was flying through the air, landing softly against someone's chest. It was an almost tender movement, as if she was in the arms of a lover. Part of her wanted to melt into oblivion and forget about running but her mind was still on red alert. She didn't trust these arms anymore than she would a venomous snake…

She awoke on the cold, hard ground with her legs sprawled out. At some point, her mind deduced, she must've succumbed to unconsciousness because she sure as hell didn't remember what had happened between the moment she was picked up and the moment she woke up here. Another notable difference was the fact that it was night, leaving her to deduce that she'd been unconscious for a good chunk of the day.

"Freckles? Freckles? Kate?" Sawyer's worried voice was the exact pull to reality she needed.

Kate pushed herself into a sitting stance and then crawled to her feet. She clutched onto something hard and steel and realised, to her astonishment, it was a bar from the structure of a cage. She stared at it in incredulity, taking her eyes off it to meet Sawyer's equally astonished gaze. The difference between them, however, was the fact he seemed vaguely amused by the situation.

"Husband's a bit kinky, isn't he?" he enquired, gesturing to the cages. "Can't see why we're in separate cages. Makes it a bit more challenging."

Kate rolled her eyes. "I don't get it," she murmured. "Why did he bring us here? What is this place?"

"You know that map I showed you?" Sawyer asked. "Turns out about three quarters of a mile away from our hideout, there used to be some kind of zoo here." He patted the cage as if to demonstrate his point. "Presumably some kind of bear used to be in them." He shrugged, not really caring.

She stared around and tried to search for some kind of exit. There was a big padlock on the door of the cage and there was nothing else visible which could've aided them. For the first time in her life, she felt completely helpless.

"What are we supposed to do?" she growled, slamming her hands against the bars in frustration. "We can't just sit here waiting for something to happen. We have to escape!"

He threw her a piteous look. "Unless your powers of observation are greater than mine, there's no way out," he said sarcastically. "And I think sitting here is about the only thing we can do. Who knew your husband would turn insane and come after us like some sort of serial killer?"

She threw him a dirty look. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this," she muttered. "This whole thing feels like some kind of Freudian nightmare." She rubbed her head.

"Don't you pin this on me," Sawyer snapped. "You were looking for a way out and I gave you one. We're in this together, Kate. I know this thing's messed up but we gotta get each other's backs. Deal?"

Kate smiled weakly at him. She gazed up at the bars of her cage and allowed her eyes to hover there for a moment. Suddenly, she tensed up as something came to her attention and she walked towards the corner of her cage with a small smile on her face.

Something else caught her attention at the same time as the corner of her cage. Someone's footprints could be heard and soon Charlie came into view. His face was one of cold indifference but betrayal flashed behind his steel blue eyes. He didn't say a word as he strode towards her cage and he ignored Sawyer completely.

She wandered over to the front of her cage and stared at him, shocked by how completely void of emotion he had become. I've done this to him, she thought to herself guiltily, I'm the reason he's become so cold hearted.

Handcuffs, the exact same pair which had sealed his fate, snapped around her wrists and the cage door was yanked open. She was forced out, down a muddy path and into an unfamiliar building. He took the handcuffs off of her, threw her an angry look which said so much more than words ever could and then stormed off, presumably to get Sawyer.

Kate looked around the room and saw it was a very low lighted room but she couldn't understand why. She felt afraid – no, terrified. She'd seen the good, the bad and the ugly side to her husband but never the insane, murderous side to him. She shuddered as the sound of footprints reached her ears and she felt even more terrified seeing Sawyer, a strong man, being shoved into the room, steered in by the fact that a gun was pressed between his shoulder blades.

"Leave him alone," she begged, the tears starting to flow down her face. "It's me you want."

"Shut up!" Charlie's first words were spat out. He was infuriated by how calmly she stood here and defended her lover. It just added insult to injury.

She stood back and cowered in her little corner as Charlie steered Sawyer to a table and shoved him on it savagely. He strapped him in, ignoring Kate's shaky sobs, and pulled out an enormous needle from his back pocket.

"Please! No!" she yelled, sobbing more violently as the fear shook her body. Her yells and pleas were ignored though.

Charlie stabbed into Sawyer's flesh with vindictive satisfaction. In that jab he conveyed his frustration, fury and betrayal which Kate had given him in one fell swoop. Tears of rage filled his eyes but he didn't allow them to show. Instead, he pulled Sawyer to his feet (and this quite a feat considering the ratio between his size and the older man's size). He turned to Kate and stared at her vindictively but with sorrow rooted in his eyes. He still loved her and they had shared some beautiful moments. They used to take hikes together, despite the fact he could never keep up with her, used to swim together, have deep and meaningful conversations and above all else, they loved each other. Now it was all messed up.

"I wanted you to feel like a fool," he told her coldly in response to her questioning look, "to feel like a fool – like I did, for believing in you and me."

Kate stared guiltily into his eyes and then dropped her head in shame. She waited numbly as he came back for her after dropping Sawyer off at the cage and then allowed him to drag her off. She was too weak to protest, too numb to find a spark of energy to run on. He had found her weak spot – her guilt – and had struck it well.

"What did you inject him with?" she found the courage to ask as they walked back.

"Just something to weaken him a little," he replied coolly. "The guy's bloody strong and it took all my bloody strength to knock him out in the first place. It's like he's on bloody steroids or something."

Kate almost smiled as she remembered his habit of repeating the word "bloody". She lost that ghost of a smile as soon as she saw the gloomy silhouettes of the cages. Her fear tightened her throat and made it hard for her to breathe.

Once she was in, Charlie didn't give her a second look as he stalked off into the shadows. She gazed at Sawyer who was rubbing his chest and swearing profusely underneath his breath.

"You ok?" she called.

"Just swell," he responded, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Coulda given me a little more help back there, freckles."

"What was I supposed to do, kill him?" Kate snapped. "I've already tried to kill him once; I don't think I could stomach attempting it again." She rubbed her head out of worry and frustration.

Sawyer sighed and looked at her with an unreadable expression. They stayed like that until the flickers of morning emerged across the murky, gloomy sky which they were under. She was scared, apprehensive and worried about Sawyer. She knew that Charlie was capable of anything now – she'd seen that spark of hatred in his eyes. The big question now was when and how he would strike.

"I've been checking out my cage," she suddenly said, remembering her earlier epiphany. "If I climb to the top I could squeeze through those bars."

Sawyer rose to his feet slowly, a flicker of disbelief in his eyes. "What are you saying, Freckles?"

"I'm saying we have a chance at escape – and we are gonna take it."

Sawyer smiled briefly at her. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Let's get the hell out of here."

She was already in the process of climbing as soon as she saw his smile of approval. Her nimble frame was both light and slim and it made squeezing through the bars a less laborious task than normal. She smiled triumphantly as she slid through the bars and landed gracefully on the ground.

The next task was a bit less graceful and involved a lot more labour on her part. With a grunt, Kate lifted up the nearest rock she could find and began to bash away at the padlock on Sawyer's cage. It took her a good few minutes before she made any visible progress but her strength and determination managed to get the lock off after a few hard bashes.

They didn't hesitate. Side by side, they bolted into the forest oblivious to the fact that a camera was recording their movements. They ran like the wind, laughing occasionally at the fact they had burst free. They didn't even slow down as it began to rain, though their feet started to slip and slide amongst the mud.

A whirlpool of wind and rain surrounded them and, for one instance, it seemed as though they were in some sort of protective bubble which nothing could penetrate. Kate knew it was wrong to feel this gloriously high when danger was practically snapping at their heels but, for the first time in her life, she was glad to be running. Her life had spiralled out of control and for what? For a few hundred grand, a gorgeous but bitter man and an adrenaline rush she'd thrown away her safe – albeit boring – lifestyle with a man who had worshipped the ground she walked on. She suddenly felt dispirited as her conscience began to push through the barriers she'd put up.

"You ok?" Sawyer called through the rain.

"Yeah, are you?" she yelled back, pushing back her hair as it fell across her face.

She didn't hear his response however because that was the time the wind chose to pick up. It howled like some kind of wild beast and the rain roared with it. A bitter chill clung to the air, causing her to shiver violently. Kate's eyelids were soaked with the freezing cold droplets of rain and her arms and legs were slowly going numb as the cold tackled her body but she continued to run.

The sound of a gun clicking into place was what caused her legs to shudder to a stop. She slowly turned round and saw the wet and soaking figure of Charlie glaring at them both. His hands were shaking and yet they were stretched out purposefully due to the fact that the gun he was holding rested in between Sawyer's shoulder blades.

"No," she breathed in terror.

Suddenly Sawyer whipped round and savagely pushed Charlie out of the way. He whipped out his own gun and aimed carefully. His finger squeezed the trigger but the roar of the gun he was expecting never came. A clicking sound, indicating the gun was empty, was all he was greeted with. A roar of frustration escaped the conman's mouth and he turned to meet Kate's terrified gaze with something close to despair hovering around his own eyes.

Charlie smirked slowly, with a dangerous, half crazy look burning his eyes. He raised his arm back up, aimed the gun carefully and slowly began to pull the trigger.

"NO! NO! NO!" Kate screamed in despair. "Don't hurt him, please!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. She stared in horror as the man who she used to watch play guitar in such a loving way, treating his guitar like he would a baby, pulled the trigger in such a callous way. She remembered every inch of the previous night and saw it all again in retrospect. The bewildered look in his eye mingled with suspicion; the silver handcuffs snapping around his wrists, thereby sealing his fate; the loud, cataclysmic explosion hurling bits of brick in the air. It was imprinted into her mind and would forever haunt her.

"Sawyer!" she sobbed as a loud gun shot rang across the night. Her eyes were closed tightly and she welcomed the black oblivion which greeted her. She was guilty of three things, of that she was sure. One, she'd conned and attempted to murder her husband who had done nothing wrong; two, she'd had an affair with a gorgeous man and was now responsible for the fact that he was in this situation; and three…though she was in floods of tears, she couldn't summon any remorse for what she'd done. She was numb, she was empty, she was…vacant. A broken shell of a woman, who'd lied, conned and deceived her way into a world where all the aforementioned acts were considered acceptable. How sad.

As the rain stopped falling, Kate fell to her knees and stared at the ground. She was broken beyond repair and she had to live with the fact that this was all her fault. Not Sawyer's, not Charlie's but hers. She was numb with both the cold and the guilt.

"Sawyer…" she called out his name in the same broken voice. That one lone voice carried through the forest and clung to the air like a spirit. She buried her head into her hands and sobbed – out of self-pity or self-loathing, she'd never know. Life had ceased to mean anything for her. She was alone now and it took her until now to realise it had never been about the money but about the game. Now that the game was up, the players gone and the dice scattered to the wind, she could taste the bitterness of loneliness. And she had no one else to blame but herself.

The End

A/n:- hope you liked this Jemma! For those who need a visual image of this, look up JemmaLynette on YouTube and flick through her videos until you find the video called "Kill Me, Kate". Hopefully I've kept true to the story and if I haven't I'm sorry :( I did my best and I'm quite pleased with the result if I do say so myself :)