The mood Sawyer and his crew were in could be described as GRIM- and that still would be a huge euphemism. Daniel was in some dark place, totally isolating himself from the outside world. He became a shadow, a transparent figure with no hope for better days. Jin kept thinking about Sun, and their baby. He gave Locke his wedding ring, and told him to keep Sun away from the Island, because, as Charlotte gently put it, "This place is Death". He would never see her again, but at least he knew she was safe. The only thing Jin regretted was being so stern and cold towards his wife. If he could change the past – or the future – he would have been a warm and loving husband despite all the unfavorable circumstances.

Juliet was getting sick of the Island, and kept waiting for the sub to arrive. She really hated this place, and seeing all the members of the Dharma Initiative, who will be inevitably killed by Ben in a couple of years, made her extra edgy. Although she would force a smile, and desperately try to hide her irritation, Sawyer knew very well what was in her head. He felt guilty for having her stay for two weeks, but he was hoping that maybe she'd grow to like this place. Obviously, his plan was based on an erroneous premise.

"I talked to Horace, the sub's coming next week" – he told her, attempting to sound nonchalantly.

She just nodded. She'll do her dance of joy later.

"So, what are you gonna do? Buy a little house in Iowa and make cherry pies for your elderly neighbors?"

"I'm bad at cooking" - she smiled, remembering the time she burnt all the brownies.

"Horace said we could work for The Dharma Initiative. There are vacancies for the security service and the motor pool..." That was his last attempt to make her stay. A lousy one, he realized as soon as he heard his own words....

"I'm even a worse mechanic than a cook." She winked at him, letting him know that she wasn't going to change her mind. "Did you talk to Miles?" – she asked, trying to change the topic.

"Yeah, and I wish I hadn't" – Sawyer snarled. "Apparently that woman from the cafeteria is mommy Miles."

"So this means.... Lara and Pierre Chang are Miles' parents?" – Juliet asked in disbelief.

"That's a very smart observation for a fertility doctor" – Sawyer teased.

"So what is he going to do?"

"He said he wouldn't talk to them. And considering the fact that he technically isn't born yet, that's not a bad idea".

"Well, where is he now? Is he ok?" – no matter how cold she could sometimes be, Juliet had this layer of sympathy for every living creature. Sawyer first noticed this when she was trying to console Dan, after Charlotte's death.

"I don't know, he's probably utilizing Dharma beer supplies" – Sawyer shrugged. "And you know what? We could all use some booze right now, before we go all Sylvia Plath."

Juliet chuckled. "I'm not sure if alcohol is a solution to all our problems..."

"Consider this your goodbye party" – he stated, knowing that this will convince her.

It did.

**********************************************

Miles was wandering around the campus, thinking what to do about this awkward situation. Ever since he set foot on this Island, things were going from bad to worse. First he was captured by Locke, and got a grenade stuffed in his mouth. Then, after uniting with the survivors, he got attacked by The Others and their flaming arrows. And now he is stuck in the 70s on an Island, where his good-for-nothing daddy is bossing around like he owned the place. Maybe leaving this crazy-hippie-town is a good idea after all? He can't change anything, so why bother?

"Hey, you there? Mind helping me with these boxes?" – Miles was once again distracted from his thoughts. This time it was some janitor named Roger who needed help with transporting some lab equipment. "I need to take this to Chang's lab, and I could use a hand" – Roger called out.

Before Miles could come up with a good excuse about a sore back, he was given a heavy box and forced to deliver it to Dr Chang. "Great, just what I need right now" – Miles thought, as he had no choice but to take the package and give it to the man he has despised all his life. He took the box and placed it in what appeared to be his father's office, near the recruitment center.

"What is this?" – he was welcomed by an unpleasant, raspy voice. Miles turned around to see a very annoyed Dr Chang.

"It's a box" – Miles stated sardonically.

"I can see it's a box, but that's not the thing I ordered". The unhappy scientist proceeded to unwrap the package. "It was supposed to be a LARGE electron microscope. Does this box look LARGE to you? Can't these people at Ann Arbor READ?"

"Gee, I hope you still have the receipt" – Miles sarcastically feigned concern.

Dr Chang glared at Miles. Apparently he didn't like wise-guys. "What's your name? I've never seen you before. Are you one of the new recruits?"

The set of questions made Miles uneasy. Sawyer warned him not to step out of line. They are new in Dharmaville, so they are not supposed to make people suspicious. Their mission was to "BLEND INTO THE SCENERY". Miles was never good at that. Fitting into the society was not his thing – ever since he could remember, people looked down on him with distrust. His truculent attitude didn't help either.

"I'm one of the survivors of the...shipwreck." Miles hoped his answer was self-explanatory.

"What shipwreck? Horace haven't told me anything about a shipwreck."

Miles felt strange being interrogated by his father. He felt as if he had broken a window, and now he has to come up with an excuse to get away with it. This was bad. "If he starts asking for details, I'm screwed" – Miles thought.

"Hello, am I interrupting something?" – a female voice broke the long awkward silence, and literally saved Miles' ass. It was Lara. "Honey, you left some files on the desk, I thought you might be looking for them" – she gave her husband a set of papers, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, as a matter of fact, I've been looking for them the whole day" – he smiled, turning his attention away from Miles. Unfortunately, Lara didn't.

"Hello, you must be new here? I haven't seen you around. I'm Lara"- she gave him a warm smile, and anticipated a reply.

"I'm Miles" – he said quietly, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Like Miles Davis" – she stated cheerfully. As much as Miles liked seeing her so joyful, he really wanted to storm out of the lab as soon as possible.

"Apparently, Miles is one of the survivors of an alleged shipwreck" - Dr Chang stated mistrustfully, trying to elicit some answers.

"Oh, I've heard about you guys. That must have been horrible. I hope you find the rest of your crew" – Lara's voice was full of sympathy. Dr Chang decided to take her words at face value, and drop the subject.

"Thank you. I really should be going now" – Miles tuned to leave.

"See you around" – Lara called out after him.

"You bet" – Miles thought, and left the lab hastily.

"Poor fellow" – Lara said to her husband

"He seemed a little odd"

"He's probably shy" – she replied, giving her husband a small wink.

*********************************************

Next chapter – Sawyer and Juliet are having a little booze party. When people get drunk, secrets are revealed, and hilarity emerges (and some angst too). Jin tells another Korean ghost story, and Miles tells a genuine ghost story. Pls R/R.