Fan Fiction: Joe and Juliana- The Man in the High Castle
She walked into the diner, head down, coat hugged to her body. The bells jingled as she entered. Juliana almost expected to see him there. At the counter, asking her to pour the coffee like he'd done so many times before.
Juliana sighed as she took in the nearly vacant space. An elderly man sat at a corner table. Someone else was behind the counter today. A middle-aged, brown-skinned woman that looked familiar to Juliana. It was like a shadow in the back of her mind, an itch between her shoulder blades that she couldn't quite scratch.
With quiet steps, she made her way to the counter. She sat down and turned to look at the empty seat next to her. There he was. Joe. Her Joe. With the piercing blue eyes and lips so beautiful they must have been painted on. He smiled at her.
"I've been waiting for you to come," he said. Over and over, in her dreams. He always told her that he'd been waiting for her to arrive.
But he wasn't there. In Canon City.
He was on a boat bound for Mexico. A boat that had been meant for Juliana and Frank.
She shut her eyes. There'd been so many mistakes and she had too much blood on her hands to ever wipe them clean.
Frank's family. Ed. All of them dead because of her. Because of her choices.
At the time, she'd thought she was doing the right thing. Finishing Trudy's work. Warning the resistance operatives of the trap set by the Kempeitai. But the cost…the cost had been much higher than she'd ever thought possible.
And now Frank. Frank, who'd always been her rock. He'd always been there for her. Making his decisions based on what would best keep her safe. Always putting her first. And now he'd done it again. Frank was locked in a prison cell, awaiting his own execution.
He was to be put to death for his role in the Crown Prince's assassination attempt. At least, that's what the note had said. Lem said that he'd gotten word. Someone in the Resistance on the inside had found at about Frank's execution.
Frank had left word for her. She was to leave immediately for Canon City. The Resistance would make her a fake ID and put her on the bus.
Because of the film. The film that Joe had fought with his life to win, he'd given that to her. To keep her safe.
It had been three days since Frank had been taken into custody. Three days since she'd double-crossed the Resistance and put Joe on that boat to Mexico.
Lem had been so mad that Juliana was sure he would have killed her right there on the dock as they watched the boat pull away. She'd heard him cock the pistol behind her. Watching Joe leave, all she'd wanted to do in that moment was let him pull her onto the boat with him.
She couldn't leave. Not after everything Frank had done for her. She couldn't do that to Frank. Joe had understood. It was almost like he knew her better than she knew herself at times. So he'd kissed her on the cheek and told her goodbye.
Then he'd pressed the film into her hands. "You're gonna need this," he'd said.
"What about the man? The man you report to in New York?" she'd asked. Joe had said the man would kill him and everyone else involved that he knew of if Joe didn't bring the film back.
Joe shook his head. "The Resistance will kill you if you don't give them something." He touched her cheek. "I won't let that happen, Juliana," he said softly.
"When will I see you again?" Her eyes swam with unshed tears. Her chest heavy with the weight of all the words she couldn't say.
He shook his head. "I don't know." Then he smiled. "But we'll always have Canon City."
Canon City. Of all the places on earth to fall in love, Canon City seemed the most unlikely. But it had happened. It had been real. Maybe the only real thing she'd ever found.
"What will you have, miss?"
The familiar woman behind the counter stared at her, awaiting her response.
Juliana smiled. She didn't even have to think about it. "Coffee, please."
As the woman poured her a cup, she could almost hear him say, "Just like old times, isn't it?"