(no subject)

[slybrunette]

Title: Every Penny
Fandom: Lost
Pairing: Kate Austen/Sun Kwon
Rating: PG - 13 (to be safe)
Word Count: 1,048 words
Prompt: #31 - Sunrise
Progress: 8/100
Part: 1/4
Disclaimer: I don't own Lost.

A muffled light fell over the desert terrain, everything cast in blue illumination. It was silent and still, not a stereo blaring or laughing gang of teenagers in hearing range. A lanky boy sat behind the counter of the small convenience shop, flipping through an auto magazine. The creeping glow that seeped into the sky was like a ticking clock as hands went flying around the dial, and he counted the seconds remaining in the grave shift. The boy was mid-way through a sentence about the aerodynamics of a certain line of cars when the rev of an engine caught his ear like a fly buzzing somewhere near his ear. A few seconds went by before he could actually see the automobile the sound belonged to. A pair of headlights flooded the road just in front of the car and pivoted to point toward the store. Gravel cracked under the tires as the vehicle squeaked to a stop in a parking spot. Two figures, shrouded in partial darkness, slammed their respective car doors and made their way toward the store. It was only until they reached the boundaries of the light that cascaded from the gleaming building that he could see it was two women.

 

One, the blonde, flung open the door with a jerk of her arm and propped it ajar with a tilted hip. The other woman, a redhead this time, came after and her eyes flitted to both security cameras, one behind the counter aimed at the register and the other in a corner by the bathroom. The redhead slid off her sunglasses and tucked them in her shirt into one motion, revealing Asian eyes underneath. Clearly not a true carrot top. The blonde strolled slowly and cautiously along the aisles, her black boots tapping in a hollow clank with every step. She picked up and inspected practically every item, only selecting three before moving on. The other trolled the back wall, peering through the glass case holding only beer and ice cream. They met halfway by the gum. They whispered a conversation, every few seconds looking up at him, then back down at the food.

 

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“Are you sure we need this?” Kate questioned, her eyebrows raised as she poked the tube of toothpaste at Sun.

 

“Kate, I haven’t brushed my teeth in a week, I believe they might start the grow fuzz soon.” Sun swiped her tongue over her front teeth.

 

“Fine,” Kate relented, dropping the tube into the shopping basket, “But that means we have to put something else back.”

 

Sun reached into the pile of stuff and pulled out the box of tampons.

 

“Seriously?” Kate squeaked, raising her eyebrows high enough that they almost disappeared into her hairline.

 

“Perhaps not”, Sun said, hastily replacing the item. “What about the beer? You don’t really need that, do you?”

 

Kate whispered a profanity under her breath, then sighed and put her hands out in defeat. “Alright, alright, I’ll put it back.”

 

She tore open the glass case and slammed the cans on the shelf, not mad at Sun, just at their situation.

 

Kate didn’t mean for it to go this far. She was preparing to slip into the crowd after the rescue, to disappear and never be seen again. To become one of those people you mention fleetingly at reunions, exchange at shallowly worried, “I wonder whatever happened to her,” then never think about any further. But then Sun caught her arm and started saying all these things about her father, his money, his power, his oppression, his violent tendencies, all the while glancing over her shoulder at the suited man standing by a shiny black car. That’s when she asked to come with her, to run with her. She said yes with out thinking of the consequences, the risks, the hassles. All she could think of was the last time, how running with only your shadow beside you was so lonely. So they left, and never looked back.

 

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The two women set the basket carefully on the counter, not making eye contact. From their war-torn look, he wasn’t sure he wanted them to. They pulled out skinny wallets and pockets of change, spreading it all out on the counter. They separated the coinage and counted out each individual one: every quarter, ever dime, every nickel, every penny. Like each one was gold.

 

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They got by with money scrapped together from odd jobs and savings, shoplifting what they needed if they didn’t have enough to cover expenses. But somehow they made it by, week after week, starting over in every new town, never staying long enough to make friends besides each other.

 

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He tallied up the items one by one and added all the prices up. When he told them the cost he raised his eyebrows, silently asking if they had enough, but not willing to say it out loud. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it: they were intimidating, and the blonde had that convict look he could have sworn he saw on a most wanted poster. It was only after they had paid and were on the road again that he realized he had.

 

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Something in the cashier’s eyes made Kate nervous, uneasy. There was a glint of fear there, but most of all was the way his eyes searched her face, trying to remember. It had been instilled in her since she first ran, that she was to keep her head down and if someone made a comment about having met you before or you looking familiar, that’s your cue to hightail it out of there. So Kate whispered a “let’s go” in Sun’s ear. Her eyes darted over the back wall for her picture as Sun slipped her wrist into the handle of the plastic bag. Kate was out of the door in a shot and Sun had to walk quickly to catch up.

 

The sunrise splayed pinky hues and blood reds into the sky, the warm colors blending with the paling blue, melting them, changing them both. The sky had almost rid itself of the evening blue by the time the yellow median strip ran beside the driver’s side and the first road sign for California appeared, green and reflective, waiting to lead their way.