A Different Place and Time – Ch. 4

Authors Note: Okay so I may have slipped a little time travel into the story after all! I definitely wanted to give Jin and Sun their reunion because they completely deserve it! Now back to some Sawyer & Juliet plot action! This chapter, you'll find, is longer than the rest, and this is because I am headed out of town for a week starting Wednesday, and won't be updating until after I get back. Thanks for the great reviews and, as always, thanks for reading!

PS: from now on I'll be using 1977 and 2007 just to distinguish where we're at!

"We're all walking a fine line and I'm
Walking towards you, and I
Hope that I'm right in thinking, I'll never walk alone
I'm always running from something
Now I'm running towards you
It may not be the right thing, but it's what I want to do

I'll be biding my time, and I'll be
Watching my step, 'cause I don't want to
Be starting something here that I might live to regret
'Cause I have learnt my lesson
And I have learnt it well
There are some things in this life best left for time to tell

I believe I could safely lay my life down in your hands
I believe that's what I'd do if you gave me half the chance

In a different time, in a different place
I could see myself with you
And in a different time and a different place
I believe you could see yourself there too"

Different Time, Different Place ~Julia Fordham

1977

Shivering, Sawyer tried to pull his legs tighter against his chest, but his clothes were soaked through and his hands kept slipping. Resting his forehead on his knees, he thought back briefly to the last time he'd been caught in a torrential downpour such as this; it was about five or six months after they had first joined the Dharma Initiative. He had just finished his shift at the security station and was headed home. He walked into the house expecting to find Juliet there, but the house was empty. He walked back out on to the porch and scanned the area, hoping to catch sight of her.

"She went down to the docks, man." Sawyer looked to his right and saw Miles sitting out on his porch next door.

"'Bout how long ago?" Sawyer asked, hoping he could still catch her. He had some good news and he couldn't think of anyone he wanted to share it with more.

"Oh, twenty minutes give or take." Miles responded.

Sawyer nodded and stepped down off the porch, walking towards the docks.

"So, did ya get it man?" Miles called out.

"First things first Hoss," Sawyer threw over his shoulder as he raised his hand in the air gesturing thanks. Miles watched as he quickly headed towards the water.

She was in her usual spot at the end of the dock with her pants rolled up and her legs dangling in the water. As Sawyer took in the scene he noticed the menacing clouds rolling in, but figured they could squeeze a little more out of the sunset before the rain settled on them. He knew she heard his footsteps, but seeing as they came here quite often for sunsets, when she didn't turn around he just figured she knew it was him. He stopped a few feet from her to take off his shoes, but was stopped momentarily by the sight before him. The setting sun had caught the angle of her face just so, so that her skin looked a pale pink in contrast to the piercing blue of her eyes as they reflected off of the water. Her golden hair shone in that late light, curled around her face in perfect disarray--Sawyer couldn't remember seeing anything more beautiful.

"Take a picture it'll last longer," Juliet said nonchalantly as she placed her hands on either side of her and turned her head towards him to rest her chin on her shoulder. She looked up at him with those big blue eyes and gave him that Juliet smirk and he was quickly shaken from his revere.

"Uh..." he fumbled as he removed his second shoe with a helpless look on his face. He had no idea what to say and found himself more than slightly embarrassed that he'd been caught staring; it was far from the first time too. Sawyer didn't know why, but lately he just hadn't been able to keep his eyes off of her. Every day he learned a little bit more about who she was, and the more he got to know her, the more he couldn't keep himself from wanting to learn more. The feelings she evoked from him were foreign, and he was having trouble figuring out what to do about them. With Kate it had been fast and needy and gut wrenching—similar to the majority of relationships he'd had in his life; if you could call conning women relationships. But with Juliet, it was different. Their progression had been slow and steady. The more she let herself unfold, the more he couldn't help himself from coming back for more. Lately, more often than not, he had butterflies in his stomach just thinking about her; it was quite unsettling and he didn't know exactly what to do. It was becoming a serious problem.

She laughed as she turned back towards the water and kicked her feet playfully through the cool blue surf. "Pull up a seat James." She said as she looked up at him once more with her bright eyes and a full smile. He smiled back as he sat down, thankful for the out, and rolled up his pants and dropped his feet in.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, reveling in the feel of just sitting together after a long, hard day, but after long Sawyer couldn't contain his excitement any longer.

"Have a good day?" He asked, hoping to spark some conversation.

"Not bad," she responded as she scanned his profile. She knew him well enough to know he had something on his mind, but she decided to play along and let him do it his way. "Radzinsky got a flat in grid four today so I had to come back from lunch early to take out a replacement."

Sawyer shook his head knowing the son-of-a-bitch probably gave her a hard time about it too.

She smiled remembering the moment, "So I pull up and he's just standing in front of the van, sweating, pacing, so I decided to take my time with it…it's so fun to piss him off isn't it?" She asked, laughing.

Sawyer smiled, "It sure is," he responded.

"So anyway, with the round trip and the tire change, by the time I got back from that, there wasn't much else I could do so they told me to knock off early, so I thought I'd come down and catch the sunset." She paused for a few moments watching as the last bit of the dying globe of light dipped below the horizon, then… "How was your day?"

Sawyer couldn't help but smile. "Oh not bad," he started, mimicking her earlier words. "Got a promotion."

His voice made it sound like he couldn't care less, but Juliet didn't miss the small smile or the light that came into his eyes. She could tell he was really excited about it.

"Congratulation James," she said as she leaned to knock her shoulder against his. He turned towards her with a wide grin. "So what's the promotion?" she asked intrigued.

"Head of Security."

"That's great!" she exclaimed, finding that she was genuinely proud of him. She continually found herself impressed with how well he'd taken to everything. They had found a comfortable routine in the Dharma Initiative, and it seemed to suit both of them very well. "With a promotion such as that, I think a celebration is in order."

He laughed, "Now how exactly how're we supposed to celebrate when we're stuck in 1974 Dharmaville?" He asked, knowing that there wasn't much to do around there. He turned and again and upon seeing her wide smile found himself staring at her profile.

"Well," she turned, ready to make some sarcastic remark about Miles jumping out of a cake, but faltered when she found him again staring at her intently. She had caught him doing it more and more lately, and each time it gave her a tiny jolt that registered low in her belly. His eyes were so intense; it was almost as if he was staring inside of her. His gazes were never uncomfortable, but rather unsettling. Something was happening with them, and not knowing how she really felt about it, Juliet was nervous to find out exactly what.

"Juliet…" Sawyer whispered, not exactly sure how the mood of their conversation had changed so drastically. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her eyes, and found himself being slowly drawn towards her.

For one quick second Juliet dropped her gaze from his eyes to his lips while involuntarily licking her own. She looked back up and saw he had gotten even closer, she could feel his warm breath on the expanse of her cheek.

She found that her eyes were fluttering shut and she was moving towards him. Their lips were a breath apart and Sawyer moved to close in when, "BOOM!"

The thunder startled them and they quickly snapped apart. Not two seconds later it seemed as if the heavens themselves opened up; the rain was so hard and so heavy, they were soaked instantly. Juliet rose and made a dash for her shoes, but strong hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.

"Oh no you don't!" Sawyer yelled over the rain. "You said we were gonna celebrate, so we're gonna celebrate!"

Juliet had no idea what he meant by that but it didn't take her long to figure it out. He swiftly picked her up and launched her off the dock and into the water.

"James!" She screamed as she flailed her arms trying to maintain some semblance of balance. He couldn't help but laugh at the utter surprise on her face. She quickly hit the water and he wasted no time in diving in after her, knowing that he'd have the upper hand if he surprised her. She surfaced sputtering and quickly scanned the docks, surprised to find he wasn't standing there gloating. She treaded water as she spun in a circle, trying to figure out where he went. All of the sudden she felt a tight hold around her ankle and had only a second to take a deep breath before she was pulled under. When she surfaced again she could see him swimming towards shore, about 15 feet in front of her. She dove under the water and used her long legs to catch up. It didn't take long.

She surfaced behind him, pushed with all her might off of the ocean floor, placed both hands on his head and dunked him. He came up spitting water, whirled around and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to him. They were both laughing hard, thinking of how ridiculous they must look, but the warmness of her body rapidly seeped into his, causing his laughter to quickly die down.

She felt the mood change instantly as he expelled a breathy whisper of her name once again. Finished thinking, she quickly pulled his head towards hers, uncertainty be dammed. The kiss was hard and hot. Lips and tongues dueled as their warm breath mixed with the cold, cold rain. He pulled her even more tightly against him as he changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it. Thunder, lightning and rain forgotten, they stood waist deep in the surf, suspended in time, in a world of their own creation. She ran her fingers through his dripping hair, pulling him even closer. She couldn't get enough of him, the taste, the feel; it was unlike anything she had ever known.

Suddenly, keeping their bodies melded together, he pulled his head away just enough to look in to her eyes. She saw his brief uncertainty, his worry that he'd gone too far, but her answer was to pull him back towards her again. The touch of her lips to his was all the assurance he needed. He could have stayed in that moment forever.

Minutes, hours later, Sawyer didn't know which, he felt Juliet shaking. They were soaked to the bone and he knew that no matter how long she might want to stay there, she was freezing. He pulled away from her, and grabbed her hand. "C'mon, Blondie, let's get you out of the rain." She smiled up at him and the two ran up to the beach toward their little yellow house.

A sudden noise broke Sawyer from his memory and he silently cursed. For a moment he could actually feel her arms around him, and he wanted nothing more than to stay there with her. She had been so full of life then, and now, she was barely hanging on. His warm tears mixed with the cold, wet rain as he lifted his heavy head and watched Horace walk through the door and over to his cage. Horace used the keys to unlock the door and gestured for him to come out.

"C'mon Jim, let's get you inside and we'll figure this thing out."

Sawyer unfolded himself and stood slowly, his joints stiff from the freezing rain and the stagnant position. He walked through the cage door and followed Horace inside.

Once inside, Sawyer fought to keep himself in check. His emotions were starting to get the best of him, and he knew the only way to get them out of this situation was to convince Horace to let them go. He was trying to figure out how in the hell he was going to explain things when a sudden commotion from the room up ahead broke his concentration.

The door swung open and he heard all sorts of beeping. Above the noise he heard Jack's voice clear as day, "Get me that blood now! C'mon, we're losing her!"

"Juliet!" Sawyer yelled as he tried to run towards the room, but Horace placed his hand out in front of him.

"There's nothing you can do for her in there Jim. Let the doc do what he can."

"C'mon H, let me at least see her!" Sawyer pleaded.

"You can see her when she's out of the OR." Horace stood firm, only because it wasn't a pretty sight in there and he didn't know if Jim was up to handling it right now. "Why don't we talk things over and if she's still in there when we're done, I'll take you in. Okay?"

Tearing his gaze away from the swinging doors, Sawyer nodded and followed Horace further down the corridor.

Horace first took Sawyer into the bathroom, gave him towels and fresh clothes and shoes, and then gave him five minutes to dry off and get changed. Afterward he brought him in to a small room that housed a table and some chairs. Horace pointed to one of the chairs and asked Sawyer to sit down.

"Now before we get started, I wanted you to know your friend Kate is in the next room. I'll leave it up to you if you want her to be in here for this or not."

Sawyer immediately shook his head. "No, she only has a small part in all of this; let's not complicate things any further."

"All righty," Horace responded. "So what do you want to talk about Jim?"

Sawyer debated quickly over the different routes he could take, but decided in the end to just be honest. Either Horace would believe him, or he would think they were all crazy, but in the end, their situation couldn't really get any worse than it already was, so there was no harm in trying.

"Well H, first I want to apologize for all the trouble we caused you over the past few days, and I want you to know it wasn't intentional. Things just kinda spun outta control and eventually I couldn't stop it. Three years back you were kind enough to let our crew stay, and this isn't the way I wanted to repay ya."

Horace nodded and Sawyer continued. "Well there's no fast or easy way to say this, so I'll do the best I can. When we came across Amy in the jungle three years ago, we weren't here because our boat crashed; we had already been on the island, just in a different time."

Sawyer paused, gauging Horace's reaction. "A different time Jim?" He finally asked. "I don't quite understand what you're trying to say."

Sawyer knew he wasn't going to be good at this. "What I'm tryin' to say is when we gave the hostile Sayid the truth serum the other day, we didn't give him too much; he was telling the truth. I was on Oceanic flight 815 with him; it crashed here September 22, 2004. We're from the future."

Horace promptly stood. "Now Jim I'm a reasonable man, but I'm not going to put up with this nonsense.

"Ask Chang," Sawyer countered before Horace could leave. "Ask'im about what his plans are for the Orchid." Horace stopped and turned to look at him. "Ask'im about what Daniel Faraday and the other scientists were working on in Ann Arbor. H, I know it sounds crazy, but you know as well as I do this Island is…different. You and yer people are doin' a lot of special work here, all I'm tryin' to tell you is that it pays off. Chang's theories are right; time travel is possible and me an' my crew are livin' proof."

Horace sat down and tried to make sense of what Jim was saying. He knew of Chang's plans all right, he thought the man was a little crazy, but then again, what did he know about physics anyway. But if what Jim was saying was true…if the Orchid really would be able to harness energy that could ultimately alter time…Horace couldn't think straight. There were still too many holes, too many variables.

"Jim I don't know if you're crazy or if Chang is crazy or, hell, if I'm crazy, but all this talk of time travel just doesn't sit right with me." Horace paused. "So time travel or not, I want it straight. No more lies, no more stories. I want to hear it all from beginning to end, tell me how you got here and don't leave anything out.

Sawyer took a deep breath and started from the beginning. An hour later he had Horace up to the part where he had jumped from the helicopter and found his way back to shore only to find that the freighter had been destroyed. "I swam up to shore and saw Juliet sitting there with a bottle of rum in her hand, not as tipsy as she was last New Year's," The two men both shared a smile remembering how Sawyer had to practically carry her home because she had had too much to drink. "But she had tossed a few back. She pointed to the sky line and all we saw was the pillar of black smoke." Sawyer paused. "Not two minutes later the entire sky lit up, the brightest light I ever saw, and this high pitched noise was all we could hear. It seemed to last forever, and when it was over, everything was gone. Our camp, our tents, food, everything; even that pillar of smoke. All we had were the shirts on our back, we had no idea what happened."

Horace didn't really know what to believe but listened on as Jim continued with the story, explaining the different flashes, and how Daniel had explained it to them as being on a skipping record. He talked about the different things they experienced in each of their jumps, and how the last time jump had landed them in 1974.

"The last flash was different H. It was way more intense, but, in a way--better. The headaches stopped, the nose bleeds were gone. We were okay again. And not five minutes after the flash, we came across Amy…the rest is history."

"So who are these other people that are working with you?" Horace asked. "Kate, Jack, Hurley…"

"Well when we first showed up here and I told you some of our crew went missing, well they are the crew. Only now you know they left by helicopter, but I was told they'd come back. So we kept lookin' for them. And four days ago they showed up."

"And Sayid was part of that group as well?"

"Yeah."

"So that's why you tried your best to keep him alive when we all wanted to kill him."

"Yeah H."

Horace just sat there, he didn't say anything for a long time, he just thought about what a tale it was and how maybe it was just possible that some of it was true. His curiosity eventually got the better of him however, "So what exactly what were you doing at the swan before we found you all unconscious on the ground?"

Sawyer waited a beat. "We went to blow up a hydrogen bomb."

"What?" Horace said, extremely confused. "Where did you get a hydrogen bomb?"

"It was hidden in the caves below the barracks."

Horace shook his head, stood up and started to pace. "So you tried to blow up a hydrogen bomb? You know that would have killed everyone on the island."

"No I don't think…"

"Jim, a weapon of that magnitude would blow this island to pieces."

Sawyer sighed. "Listen H, I don't totally understand it myself. The way Faraday explained it was…we couldn't change the past, whatever happened, happened. But, then he changed his mind and said that cause we weren't where we were supposed to be, that maybe we could change how things went down. If we could detonate the bomb, the energy pocket would never be released, which means that the station would never built to control that energy through a button that has to be pushed every 108 minutes. If that button don't have to be pushed, then Desmond will never be there to not push it which means our plane will never crash. Basically what the mad scientist said was that if we set off the bomb, then we could change everything and none of us would ever end up here."

Horace didn't know what to say so Sawyer continued.

"Obviously that plan didn't work because we're still here. But somethin' happened out there, the sky lit up so bright and that's the last thing we remember. But the bottom line is we're trying to get home H. We don't belong here; we belong in a different place, in a different time."

"And how do you think you are going to get home?"

"I don't know," Sawyer said honestly. "But I think Chang might have some ideas."

Horace mulled that over. "Well it could be tough getting to him, he's back on the main island and I know that most of the folk over there aren't too pleased with what happened earlier today."

"Is that why we're stuck over here in polar bear cages?" Sawyer asked.

"It was for your protection Jim. I wasn't happy about what happened either, but you've been nothing but a good man to me and to my people over the past three years, I figure I owe it to you to hear you out. The other guys, they wouldn't have been nearly as kind." Horace paused. "Plus we didn't know how many of you would need medical attention and all the doc's from the main island were on the sub so we figure it best to get you over here as quickly as possible."

"Good thing we got our own Doc with us then." Sawyer said, mostly just to pacify himself.

"She's strong," Horace said, getting Sawyer to meet his eyes. "She's always been way stronger than the both of us."

Sawyer laughed, knowing he was right.

"Listen H, I know I'm in no position to ask for any favors, but if Juliet makes it through this, just let us go. Let us take our chances on our own. I don't want you to be involved with any of this. Let us find Chang and get ourselves back to where we're supposed to be. I'm sure you've got your hands full over there anyway."

Sawyer watched as Horace thought things over. "I'm not giving you an answer now Jim, just know that I've heard your story and that by the time Juliet is ready to be up and walking around, you'll have your answer."

Sawyer nodded. It was more than he'd hoped for.

Horace went to leave the room but then turned back at the door, "Just out of curiosity, was I around when you crashed on the island?"

Sawyer was taken aback by the question. He didn't want to lie, but he'd done what he could to keep some of the truth from Horace; mostly because he was such a decent guy and Sawyer didn't want him knowing that Ben was going to eventually kill him. "No H you weren't. But there weren't any other Dharma folk here then either. My best guess is y'all decided to pack up and go home, but some decided to stay on anyway."

Horace nodded, apparently satisfied. "Alright, stay here Jim. I'll get you some food and I'll see how Juliet is doing."

"Hey Horace," Sawyer said, stopping him from leaving the room. "Thanks."

Horace smiled and left.

Sawyer had already counted the bread crumbs on his plate about twenty times and was half way through the holes in the ceiling tiles when the door to his room was opened. He didn't know how long he'd been in there, but it had felt like hours. As the door opened he expected to find Horace, but was surprised when it was Jack that walked in. He was dressed in scrubs and had sweat across his brow, his eyes looked exhausted but his face hopeful.

"She's alive." He stated simply.

Sawyer let out a whoosh of breath and laid his head on the table, feeling the cold wood against his warm skin. He squeezed his eyes shut and thanked the heavens that they'd been given another chance. He lifted his head and looked at Jack, not being able to help the smile that stretched across his face. He stood and wrapped Jack in a big bear hug, forgetting that mere hours earlier, if Juliet hadn't stopped him, he very well could have beaten him to death.

"Thanks" Sawyer whispered.

"Do you want to see her?" Jack asked, seeing the hesitation in Sawyer's eyes.

"Yeah." He answered; wanting nothing more than to be by her side, but so afraid to see her lying there bleeding and broken. Horace was right, she always was the strong one, and sometimes it was hard for him to play that part, but he'd do anything for her. Anything.

The two men walked side by side down the corridor, past the operating room and to a smaller room next door. Upon entering Sawyer looked everywhere else first. He noticed the IV's the monitors and the bustle of the two nurses that were checking to make sure everything was okay. When there was nothing else to look at he took a deep breath and started at her toes. He noticed the cast on her leg that ran from ankle to knee and the IV that stood out in stark contrast to the ugly purple bruises on her hand. Her torso was covered with a hospital gown so he could only imagine the ugly welts that were covering her waist. Working his way up further he finally reached her face. Cuts covered her neck and chin, her mouth still displayed the welt where Phil had struck her earlier this morning, her cheeks were red and raw, and her eyes…as blue as ever.

Sawyer blinked as Juliet smiled. After a minute of staring it finally registered with him that she was alive, awake, and looking right at him.

"Hey there," She whispered.

The tears he didn't realize he was holding back silently streamed down his cheeks. He walked slowly to her side, not quite believing it was real. He sat down on the bed next to her and lifted his hand to touch her cheek, but at the last minute hesitated.

"Juliet?" He whispered, questioning his sanity. He was too afraid that this was all a dream, too afraid that he would wake up again surrounded by bars with freezing water dripping down his back.

She sensed his reasons for hesitating and tried her best to reassure him. "Hey," she coaxed. 'I'm here, you're here, and we're okay."

He cupped her face with his hands and slowly brushed his thumbs over her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. She was real, she was alive. He couldn't believe it.

Taking care not to harm her further, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face in her hair. "God I thought I'd lost you." He whispered in her ear.

He pulled back then, fury in his eyes. "Juliet don't you ever do that again. Do you hear me?"

She nodded, tears now littering her cheeks. "I'm so sorry…"

But she didn't finish the thought for he pulled her back into his embrace. "Sweetheart I'm sorry," he countered. "I shouldn't be yellin' at you. You have no idea how much I love you do you?" He asked, pulling back again to look into her eyes.

"I wanted to believe James," she said with a broken voice, "I…"

"No," he stopped her. "Juliet, I know I gave you reasons to doubt me, and for that I'll always be sorry. I also know that it wasn't until the Doc went to drop that bomb that I realized what I was losin'. And to think I'd never have a shot at tellin' you that, well that almost destroyed me." He brought her hand up to kiss it. "But you're here and I'm tellin' you now Juliet Burke that you are the love of my life and I ain't never lettin' you go again."

She couldn't stop from smiling and she used most of her strength to pull him back into her arms.

"I love you so much." She whispered against the heat of his neck.

"I love you too." She heard him respond strong and sure.

With a quiet "ahem" the nurse interrupted, saying that they'd kept Juliet awake briefly to say hello, but that she needed to rest and heal.

"Can I stay?" Sawyer asked.

The nurses obliged warning him not to touch anything or upset her in any way. They and Jack then quietly left the room as Sawyer settled in the chair next to her, never letting go of her hand. He watched as Juliet drifted peacefully to sleep and then he laid his head on the bed next to her, hoping to get a few hours himself.

"Love you," he whispered as he kissed her hand once more and closed his eyes.