Onwards and upwards. Hope you continue to enjoy. There were so many wonderful reviews for the last chapter, I'm humbled and astounded by all the kind words!

Chapter 10

"Is that Juliet you're talking to? Let me speak to her." She demanded and striding towards him, held out her hand for the phone. He bit back a sarcastic retort, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with this woman.

"She wants to speak to you. Sorry, but at this point she looks scarily like you and I value my life too much to refuse." He handed over the phone with an attempt at a smile that was not returned.

"Why is there a half naked man here eating your cereal and watching tv like he owns the place?"

"I've no idea why he's half naked. You'd have to ask him that."

"I'm serious, Jules, who the hell is he?"

Juliet sighed as she considered what to say. She honestly had no idea, this was James' forte not hers and he'd effectively passed the buck for now. She decided that she could only be as honest as possible while stalling until she got home.

"His name is James, he's… an old friend and he's there because I want him to be. I'm at work but I'll come straight home, we'll explain everything when I get there."

"An old friend that I've never seen or heard of before?" Juliet winced at the sceptical tone in her sister's voice.

"Please, Rach – I'll be as quick as I can, I promise. Try not to start world war three until I get there." She paused for a beat before continuing softly, "He means a great deal to me. I want you to get on."

Rachel realised she wasn't going to get a straight answer over the phone and sighed in resignation. "Ok, I'll be on my best behaviour. Though seeing how good he looks shirtless, that might be a tall order."

"Rachel! What are you even doing there?"

"Ah. I was hoping to borrow your black jacket. Didn't think you'd mind."

"That's why you stopped by when you knew I was at work… I'd say you were busted big sis. Can you put James back on?"

Rachel whirled round to find that he had disappeared. "Hold on a sec." She gave an exasperated huff and went in search of him.

James had taken the opportunity while Rachel was on the phone to go find a shirt to put on. He fetched a t-shirt from his luggage and pulled it over his head as he headed back to the living room. When his head emerged from the neck of the shirt he found himself being intently watched by Juliet's nephew from the bathroom door. He crouched down to the toddler's eye level and gave him a big friendly smile.

"Hey there buddy, you must be Julian. Your aunt has told me all about you little man."

"Who are you?" His big brown eyes regarded Sawyer in a mixture of fear and childlike curiosity.

"My name is James. No need to be scared. I'm friends with your Aunt Juliet." He grinned again in an attempt to put the boy at ease.

"Julian, come here." Sawyer looked up to be met with a distrusting glare from Rachel. He couldn't blame her really, but it stung him that she didn't want her son near him. The Sawyer that he was a few days ago would have barely acknowledged the kid, but he now had his memories of Dharma, where he had become a firm favourite with all the kids and had discovered how much he had loved interacting with them. To go back to being a bit of a pariah in that regard unexpectedly hurt him.

As Julian scampered over to his mom, Rachel held the phone out for Sawyer to take. "She wants to talk to you."

"Thanks." He took the phone back and headed into the kitchen and the relative privacy it afforded.

"Hey, what did you say to her?"

"Just your name really, I've put her off until I get home. I'm leaving now, I won't be long. What are we going to tell her, James? What can we possibly say that would be believable?"

"How about we met while you were in Europe? A whirlwind romance?"

"She won't buy that and will think you're just after my money. I don't know James… I don't know if I can lie to her. I want to just tell her the truth. There have been too many lies."

"She'll think you're crazy!"

"She's my sister."

Sawyer sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He leaned against a counter and looked down at the beach below as he considered her words. "Ok, it's your call, whatever you think is best. We should try to keep the sci-fi to a minimum somehow. Ya know, gloss over the 70s a bit."

He heard her laugh softly at this before answering. "Yeah. I won't be long."

"Ok, bye." He hung up and steeled himself before heading back into the living room. He got there to find the tv had been switched to cartoons. Both were sat on the sofa; Julian was glued to the screen while Rachel stared off into space. He cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"Can I get you guys anything, coffee or something?"

"My son's too young for coffee."

"Yeah, well he was obviously the or something." Oh how he would kill for a beer right now. Juliet didn't have any and he cursed himself for not thinking to get some when he was out.

"Yes, well thanks but we're fine, plus I think I know where the kitchen is."

"O-kay." He gave up and sat down on an armchair and hoped that they could just watch the cartoons in silence until Juliet got back.

Rachel had other ideas though; her curiosity got the better of her and after stealing glances at him for a few minutes spoke up. "So what do you do, James?"

"I'm between jobs at the moment, but uh… security mostly."

"Security. Interesting," her tone suggesting she found it anything but. Silence prevailed for ten minutes more, but it wasn't to last. "How long have you known my sister?"

"It's complicated. I think we should wait for your sister to answer that." Off her suspicious look, he continued, "I can tell you though that she means the world to me and I would never hurt her," hoping that would appease her a little.

"That's reassuring," she replied dryly and Sawyer prayed that Juliet would get home soon. He braced himself for further questions, but the next one unexpectedly came from Julian.

"Are you a cowboy?"

"Ah no, I'm sorry to say I'm not a cowboy."

"You sound like a cowboy. Like on tv." At this he clambered over the couch to sit closer to Sawyer.

Rachel laughed out loud at this before admonishing her son. "Julian, leave James alone. Sorry about that, he's going through a cowboy phase at the moment."

Sawyer laughed too and flashed the boy a grin before answering. "That's ok, he's fine." Addressing Julian he continued, "There are lots of cowboys where I'm from, but I'm not one. Never learned how to ride a horse you see."

"Auntie Juliet gave me a horsey!" He bounced up and down in excitement at this statement.

"Did she now? You must have been a very good boy! What have you called him?"

"Tonto." He replied proudly.

"It's a rocking horse," Rachel interjected. "She bought it in Europe last month and it's all he's talked about this last week."

"Does he like apples and sugarlumps?"

The toddler giggled, "No, he's not real silly!"

"Ah, I see! Does he like oats then?" Another giggle. His next words threw Sawyer for a loop however:

"Is Chris your friend too? He gives me horsey rides!"

Sawyer glanced nervously at Rachel before replying but her face was impassive and gave nothing away, though she intently awaited his answer.

"Uh no, I'm not a friend of Chris'." Rachel's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to speak, but before she could a key could be heard in the front door. Sawyer bounded out of his chair and sped out the room towards it. Rachel also stood and followed him slowly, waiting in the doorway; interested in seeing how they would greet each other.

She was barely through the door before he reached her. "Thank Christ you're back! I'm dying in there!" He whispered urgently then spotted what she was carrying, "You brought beer! My angel." He reached to take the proffered six-pack from her and leaned in to give her a tender kiss and hug, which she eagerly returned.

"I figured you'd be needing those. Mmm… I could get used to this kind of greeting when I get home." She released him slightly and leant back to look him in the eyes. "Bit different from the couple hundred yards walk from the Arrow or motor pool, isn't it?"

"Too different. I've missed spying on you on the monitors when you're least expecting it. The tv's just not the same." She laughed at this and attempted to give him a stern look, but failed miserably. "Maybe you could hook me up with a security job at the college."

"If you like, I could try. I doubt it will be up to what you're used to – hardly hostiles and burning hippy vans."

"If it's anywhere near you I'm sure I'd love it."

"We'll talk about it later then," she leaned in to kiss him once more before stepping back out of his arms. "Right now there's the small matter of my sister to contend with." At this she looked over to notice Rachel standing there, arms crossed, for the first time. Masking her surprise she gave her sister an apprehensive smile before approaching her.

Rachel had watched their exchange with a great deal of curiosity and surprise. Her sister had greeted this stranger with such ease and warmth. She'd never seen her like that with a man before – with Chris it had always frustrated Rachel that Juliet had maintained an element of aloofness and with Edmund, well she was too afraid of him to ever be herself. Yet here she stood in this man's arms, talking in hushed tones with him and looking like it was the most natural thing in the world for both of them. It was a puzzle and Rachel was anxious for answers, her little sister's wellbeing foremost in her mind. She noted with some disgust that she'd bought him beer.

"Rachel, how are you?"

"What's going on?"

Juliet stuck her head into the living room to check on Julian. He was engrossed in his cartoons once more. Turning back to her sister she suggested, "Perhaps we should all go into the kitchen. Sit down and talk this through."

#####

Half an hour later, Rachel sat back in stunned silence as she took in all that she'd just heard.

"You realise how insane all that sounds? I'm supposed to believe that you've relived the last three years after been held prisoner on a Pacific island, time travelled to the 70s, then set off a hydrogen bomb that sent you back to 2001 and you back to a few months ago? That you just happened to find each other again after living together for three years in this fantasy world?"

She looked over to her sister with hurt in her eyes. "Why can't you just tell me the truth? Why make all this nonsense up?"

"We are telling the truth, you have to believe me Rach." Juliet pleaded. "It's because I can't lie to you that we did tell you all this, despite how unlikely it all sounds. There's no other possible explanation for how long we've known each other."

"Well you said you met him in Vegas, maybe you've been carrying on a secret affair since then? Let's face it, he's hardly your usual type is he?" She directed a slight sneer in Sawyer's direction at the last statement. Before Sawyer could respond, she continued, "Maybe poor Chris was just for appearances sake for your career. Wonder what the academic elite would think of this beer-drinking slouch."

"Hey lady, I've held my tongue out of respect, but I ain't standin' for this! Who do you think you are? You don't know me! Why do you even care what or who your sister does or see? Seems to me it's jealousy talking. I mean what do you even have, other than your son, and even that's thanks to your sister?"

"James," Juliet said quietly, covering his hand with hers.

Rachel was taken aback at his outburst and her sister's reaction to it, but was determined to show Juliet that she was being played for a fool. "So it's just a coincidence that he shows up not long after you get a cheque for over a million dollars, is it?"

Sawyer sucked in his breath at this piece of news. He glanced over in confusion at Rachel's smug expression before turning to Juliet. "A million dollars? I swear I had no idea, the newspaper made no mention of money!"

"It's no big deal, I gave half of it to the university." It was her turn to look smug as she addressed her sister, "He didn't know."

"You seriously believe that? How could he not have known?"

Juliet gave a deep sigh and gripped Sawyer's hand tighter as she considered her next words. She didn't think this would be easy, but Rachel's hostile attitude towards Sawyer was starting to wear on her.

"I do believe him." She stated softly, "I love you Rachel, but please don't make me choose."

Rachel caught the implication of her sister's last statement and sat back in amazement. Before she could formulate a response, Julian wandered through, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm hungry mommy. Can we have dinner here?"

Rachel sensed that Juliet was near breaking point and that this would be a good time to step back from the situation. "No honey, I think Auntie Juliet and her friend want some time alone. We'll have dinner at home. Go put your shoes on and we'll get going." They all rose from the table and looked at each other warily. Rachel walked round the table to pull her sister into a hug and whispered into her ear:

"I only ever want what's best for you, Jules."

Juliet softened her stance and hugged her back before replying just as softly, "I know, but right now that's him. You have to believe that, even if you don't believe the explanation."

Rachel released her sister and looked over at Sawyer. They both gave each other a tense nod as Julian traipsed back into the room. She walked over to him and ruffled his hair. "Say goodbye to your aunt."

Juliet crouched down and opened her arms wide as Julian barrelled into her. She squeezed him tightly and kissed his forehead as Rachel smiled from the doorway.

"See you later squirt. Love you."

"Love you too Auntie Juliet!" The boy stepped away from her and stopped in front of Sawyer on his way over to his mom. Looking up at him, he asked, "Do you want to come see my horsey?"

Sawyer grinned in delight before answering, "I'd love to! Some time soon huh?" Julian nodded before joining Rachel at the door.

"We'll let ourselves out. I'll call you later?"

Juliet nodded and they watched them leave in silence. Once the door shut, Sawyer turned to Juliet to see that her eyes were watering and she was struggling to maintain her composure. He quickly strode over to her and opened his arms up.

"Hey, c'mere. It'll all be alright, I promise." He whispered soothingly. She collapsed into his arms and clung to him as she let go and wept.