Title: My Brother's Keeper, Take Two
Rating: PG
Summary: Sawyer knows good and well what she wants to talk about, he just wants to put it off to the last possible second. Claire, tiny though she is, can be incredibly scary at times.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: I little while ago I posed another fic by the same name which is here, which was a little on the angsty side, but promised that I had a fluffy one too. Well, this is the it. :) Enjoy the unmidigated sap! And all author's notes apply to this one as well as the one before it.



“Sawyer, answer the phone!”

Jack is in the kitchen, within five feet of a phone, and as far as Sawyer knows he still has two hands that work, so he turns to lean over the back of the couch, facing toward the kitchen.

“You answer the phone.”

“I’m busy.”

He changes the channel on the television, but he isn’t really paying attention. He should just roll over and pick up the phone from the table, which is also about five feet away. He is going to do it anyway. He just happens to be in the mood to be contrary at the moment.

“ ‘M busy too.”

“You are not!”

“Am too!”

“Sawyer, answer the phone.”

With a sigh, he rolls over and picks up the phone.

“Hello.”

“Sawyer?”

Sawyer sits up straight on the couch. He has expected this call to come for a while. He knew it would come sooner or later, but that does not mean he is ready for it.

“Hey Claire. You, uh, wanna talk to Jack?”

“No, actually, I was hoping to talk to you. Yes Charlie, it’s him. Just a…oh fine. Charlie says hi.”

Sawyer rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, hi.”

“So, I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a couple weeks now, but with Aaron in school and another one on the way, I’ve been a little busy.”

“What do you wanna talk about?”

Sawyer knows good and well what she wants to talk about, he just wants to put it off to the last possible second. Claire, tiny though she is, can be incredibly scary at times.

“Jack. I want to talk about Jack.”

“Of course you do.”

“Sawyer, do you have to be difficult?”

“Yes, he does.”

Sawyer’s eyes snap wide open.

“Jack, get off the line!”

“Yeah, Doc, I’m trying to have a private conversation with your sister here. Butt out.”

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re talking about me.”

Sawyer covers the receiver with his hand and leans over the back of the couch, facing the kitchen once more.

“Hang up the phone!”

“Yeah, yeah, alright.”

With an amused sigh, Sawyer brings the phone back to his ear.

“Sorry about that Mamacita.”

“Quite alright, mate. Can’t blame Jack for being interested, though.”

“Listen Has-Been, put Mrs. Has-Been back on, would you?”

“Sawyer? Sorry about that, Charlie took the phone. Bit unfair I think, considering I’m pregnant and it’s hard to fight back.”

“Weren’t you gonna chew me out or something?”

Claire sighs.

“I am not going to chew you out. I’m just calling to make sure that you know what Jack means to me, to all of us, and that if you hurt him, you’ll have a whole lot of people waiting in line to kick your ass. And I’ll be right in front.”

“I’m not gonna hurt Jack.”

“Yeah, you better not.”

Sawyer leans over the back of the couch, yet again, and covers the receiver, yet again.

“Jack! Tell Claire I ain't gonna hurt you.”

“How do I know that?”

Sawyer snorts indignantly, knowing Jack is joking, that they are beyong the point where there's even a threat that one of them is going to back out, and that they are now free to joke about it in passing.

“Just tell her.”

Jack shakes his head, smiling, and picks up the phone again.

“Claire, leave him be, okay? It’s been six months.”

“You can’t exactly blame me Jack, you only told me two months ago. At my wedding, no less.”

“I appreciate the concern Claire, really, but everything’s fine.”

“Hey, Doc, after the speech you gave Charlie at the wedding, you had this comin’ you know?”

“I believe you’re the one getting the lecture. And butt out Sawyer.”

“Hey, she called me, Jackass.”

“Well she didn’t need to. I appreciate her concern, but everything is fine-”

“She is still on the line, you know.”

“Sorry Claire, I’ll hang up now. But go easy on him, okay?”

“Of course.”

Sawyer snorts and shakes his head.

“We got reservations in a couple hours, so you wanna hurry this up?”

“Sawyer, I know you hate this and you think it’s stupid, but right now, you and I are pretty much all the family he has. His father…our father is dead. He doesn’t talk to his mother. I just want to make sure he’s taken care of, treated right.”

“Look, Claire, I get it. More than you think I do. But by now, you gotta know...I couldn’t do that, not to him.”

“Do you love my brother Sawyer?”

Now there’s a hell of a question. A hell of an easy question, but one that it no less enormous in his mind, no matter how much time passes or how strong the feeling gets. It’s, literally, like nothing he’s ever felt before.

Jack joins him in the living room, kicking back in a chair with a mug of coffee and the front page of the day’s newspaper. He smiles, despite himself, and nods slowly, even though Claire can’t see him.

“Yeah. I do.”

“Good. I’m glad.”

Something on Claire’s end of the line crashes, creating a terrible, loud shattering sound. He can vaguely hear Charlie talking and Claire swearing under her breath. “Sawyer, I have to go. Aaron’s knocked over another vase.”

“Take good care of those rug rats of yours Claire.”

“I will Sawyer. Maybe we can all come to visit some time.”

“Long as they don’t break anything.”

“That, I can’t promise.”

“Bye Claire.”

“Goodbye Sawyer. Give my love to Jack.”

“Will do.”

He turns the phone off and tosses it onto the couch, stretching his legs out on the coffee table, glad he survived that conversation. It could have gone worse. Sawyer knew, deep down, Claire was capable of a lot. He had seen it on the island, mostly when it concerned Aaron. Once she and Jack had found out they were related, it was like they had both experienced a deeper connection, a more profound sense of family, than either of them had ever had before the island. They also became incredibly protective of each other. Claire would do awful things to him if he ever hurt Jack, they all would. So it was good thing that was the last thing Sawyer ever wanted to do.

Jack looks up from his paper and catches Sawyer staring at him

“What?”

Sawyer finds Jack’s eyes and holds his gaze.

“I ain’t gonna hurt you. Ever.”

“You can’t promise that Sawyer. Neither can I.”

“Like hell I can’t. And I won’t.”

Jack smiles and nods, the returns his gaze to the paper.

“I know.”

Mere seconds later Sawyer is pulling the paper away, tossing it on the floor, and climbing into his lap. Jack doesn't bother protesting, becuase he doesn't want to, because he cares far more about what's right in front of him than whatever is going on in the world outside his front door.