Title: Cousin of Greed

Summary: Extended scene from 5x15 – "I knew it was her even before I saw the bottoms of her boots." Juliet/James, implied Skate

Author's Note: The title of this fic comes from a song by Cute Is What We Aim For, "The Curse of Curves. The line says "'Cause jealousy's the cousin, the cousin of greed." Obviously, this fic contains spoilers for 5x15. If you haven't seen it, don't read below this point.

Basically, I tried to capture what I imagine was going through Juliet's mind when Kate entered the sub. I hinted to some things we saw in the teaser for next week – "I saw the way you looked at her." I'm a James/Juliet fan (I refuse to call the ship "Suliet"), but I couldn't help but touch on Skate while writing this. I apologize for the shortness – I didn't want to drag it out for too long.

Enjoy,

Sara

*

I knew it was her even before I saw the bottoms of her boots. That navy jumpsuit, characteristic of the motor pool – I knew it well, I'd worn the same color for the past three years.

I knew it was her even before I saw that curly mane of brown hair.

He knew it was her, too, or otherwise, he must have hoped. His eyes shone when he saw her. That look – it was reserved for her, not me. I admit, he has a look of his own for me, too. I'm not silly enough to wallow in self-pity and tell myself he doesn't love me. He does, but I'm also not silly enough to ignore the fact that part of him still loves her. Part of him wanted it to be her coming into the sub because he didn't think he could deal with losing her again.

I know all this, not out of mere speculation but because I know him. I didn't watch her descend for long; I watched him. Even in our current situation, I saw the corners of his mouth tug upward.

She looked stunned, as if she hadn't expected to see us down here. They sat her down beside me, handcuffed her. He watched her the whole time, glancing at me only once to see my reaction to her appearance. I smiled at her; I knew it didn't touch my eyes.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," James replied.

I let my head fall back in my seat and shut my eyes. I didn't care what she thought of me. I didn't care if I was being rude.

She was here, with us, in this hell-hole submarine, going back to the mainland. We were going to start over, James and I. And here she was. She was the one who'd messed this up all along.

I hated her. Without reason, really. James had never given me any reason for this jealousy. Until now. Until I saw the way he looked at her, and I realized he wanted her here. I didn't want her dead, but I didn't want her here. If I had to choose between the two, I don't know what I'd pick. That scared me, but no more than the thought of losing him scared me.

"Juliet? Are you okay?" He seemed concerned. I didn't open my eyes but merely waved my hand at him. He grunted. I didn't know if he was angry at me for ignoring Kate or ignoring him.

I could hear Kate shift beside me. "I'm sorry," she said softly. I didn't know if she was apologizing to James or me.

Regardless, I did not accept her apology.