Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in publishing this chapter! The holidays and a visit with my family kept me busy the past few weeks. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and happy new year!!

Day Eleven

A loud shout of "Dammit!" from the kitchen woke Juliet. It was Miles, she decided, rolling out of bed.

Another shout from the kitchen: "That was my last ace!" That one was James, she smiled. She stumbled out into the kitchen to find Sawyer, Miles and Jin hunched over the table, clutching cards in their hands. Jin was pulling a large pile of cards towards himself, a giant grin on his face. Miles and Sawyer were both frowning. They didn't look like they had moved much from where she'd left them the previous night.

"Are you boys still up?" Juliet asked. "Did you ever go to sleep?"

All three men jumped at her voice, apparently unaware that she had entered the room. "Christ, Juliet," Sawyer growled. "Yes, we went to sleep. But we woke up early to keep playing."

"We're in the most epic game of War ever," Miles added. "Dan got out last night," he said, pointing towards the couch where Daniel was still sleeping. "But the three of us have been going for hours."

"War?" Juliet laughed. "Are you in middle school? Shouldn't you be playing something a bit more advanced for your age?"

"You try teaching a Korean who only speaks broken English what a trump card is," Sawyer retorted.

"Maybe we should have tried a little harder, Jim, considering he's kicking our asses at this," Miles said.

"Was that what all the yelling was about?" Juliet asked, amused at how seriously they were taking the game.

Sawyer scowled. "Damn Korean won a three-way war, took my last ace." He looked up at her apologetically, "Sorry if we woke you though."

She shrugged, really not minding at all. "Don't worry about it." She noticed his deck, "You should be more worried about the fact that you only have one card left." She smirked at him.

"I got it under control," he boasted, flipping his card over to reveal the queen of hearts. Miles flipped an eight of spades. Jin slowly pealed the top card off his large deck and flipped it over with great dramatic effect. King of clubs. "Dammit, Jin!" Sawyer exploded, slapping his hands on the table while Juliet, Miles and Jin all laughed.

"I thought you had it under control?" Juliet teased.

"Can it, wiseass," Sawyer snapped, but with a smile on his face. "I guess I'll take that as my cue to leave." He stood and headed towards the door. "Gotta date with Horace I don't want to miss. But Miles, kick Jin's ass for me." He threw them all a grin and left.

"Alright, Jin. It's just you and me now. I still got an ace," Miles said, diving back into the card game.

But Juliet wasn't paying attention to the game anymore. She leaned against the kitchen wall, lost in her thoughts. She knew Sawyer was on his way to Horace's office to officially join the Dharma Initiative. On one hand, she was proud of him, that he of all people, was willing to commit to Dharma and more truthfully, commit to finding his friends no matter how long it took. It was admirable. On the other hand, she was still annoyed at how easily the others had all made the decision to stay. It was an important, life-altering choice and she wasn't sure if she could make that same commitment just yet.

"Miles, why are you staying?" she asked, sitting down in Sawyer's recently vacated seat. "What do you have to gain from joining Dharma?"

Miles frowned. "We're in the middle of something here, in case you hadn't noticed," he said, holding up his deck of cards. Juliet stared him down and he relented with a sigh. "I guess it's not so much what would I gain from joining Dharma, which obviously isn't much - except maybe some tail - but what would I gain from leaving the island? Probably less. It's 1974 and I have no money or anything. What would I do out there?"

Juliet knew this, of course. As long as they were stuck in the 70's, there was nothing for any of them on the mainland. If she stayed here, at least she would have a few friends and a job if she wanted it.

"And maybe I'll figure out more about my dad." Miles said, quieter and more thoughtful than normal. "I saw my mom again the other day. Some guy with 'Dr. Chang' on his jacket was holding her hand… I got nothing out in the real world and I might solve the one thing I've wanted to know since I was a kid here, so it's not really a hard choice."

Juliet nodded realizing his reasons for staying weren't as spontaneous and careless as she had thought. "Jin, what about you? Why are you staying?" she asked, turning to the other man at the table.

Jin paused for a moment, a wistful smile crossing his face. "Sun," he said. Juliet reached over and squeezed his arm, unsurprised by Jin's love and devotion to his wife. So he and Miles were both staying for family, because they refused to give up hope – Jin, that he could one day be with his wife again, Miles that he might someday know his father. Juliet thought of Rachel and Julian, not wanting to give up on them either.

But Miles and Jin have only been here for a few months, not years, Juliet reminded herself. They haven't realized the island is a prison, that there is no hope for seeing their families again.

"Juliet?" Jin asked, interrupting her reverie. "You stay too?"

She looked down. "Honestly, I don't know yet."

"You should stay," Jin said.

"Yeah," Miles agreed, picking up his cards again. "It wouldn't be the same without you." He flipped over a ten of diamonds and he and Jin were quickly lost in their game again.

At dusk, Juliet found herself sitting at the end of the dock, staring out over the water. Towards home. But it wasn't home yet, she thought. It was 1974; there would be no use in going to the mainland now. She ran her hands over her face. Had she really changed her mind about this? This was her chance to escape the island, to escape Ben. After everything she had been through, could she really not take it?

"I'm getting some déjà-vu here," a voice said behind her. Recognizing the voice, she smiled and turned to see Sawyer striding down the dock towards her. "You gonna make a habit of sitting out on the dock late into the night?" He sat down next to her.

She ignored his teasing and asked, "How did your date with Horace go this morning?"

"Just fine. Maybe if you hadn't been avoiding us all day, you'd have heard about it already."

She sighed, feeling a twinge of guilt. "I needed some time to think things through," she said, hoping he would understand.

"That's what I figured. Thought I'd give you the day to get things in order. I know how crazy women can get with all their feelings."

"So what happened with Horace?" she asked, refusing to rise to the bait.

"You're looking at the newest member of the Dharma security team," he said, sitting up straighter.

"Congratulations, James!" she said, smiling at how proud he obviously was. She raised an eyebrow, "But security, really? Somewhat ironic, considering you're a criminal."

He laughed. "According to Horace, since I'm so good at dealing with the Hostiles, it was a natural fit. And my test scores matched up."

"Test scores?"

"Had to take an aptitude test and all. Probably the first test I haven't failed since second grade. Miles and Jin got assigned to security too. Our first day is tomorrow."

Juliet smiled, thinking of the three of them all on the security staff together. "I'm sure you'll all do great. I'm also sure this is the first honest job you've ever had."

He considered for a moment. "Besides a summer working construction for my uncle, I think you're right."

"Usually am," she grinned.

"That ain't so hard when you got files on everyone," he joked, receiving a glare in return.

"What about Daniel?" she asked, changing the subject.

He looked crestfallen for a moment. "He's going to work for Dharma, but at the University of Michigan. He'll be leaving on the sub in a few days."

Juliet nodded, knowing Sawyer didn't want him to leave, but also knowing this was best for Daniel. She patted his leg. "He will never be okay here as long Charlotte is around. And at least he will still be with Dharma, so we can still get in touch with him if needed."

Sawyer looked up at her, an intense and hopeful look on his face, "Are you staying?"

Juliet was confused for a moment, before realizing that she had all but implied she would be staying with her use of 'we.'She looked away, but she could still feel his gaze. "I don't know." She felt guilty she couldn't give him the answer he wanted.

"Juliet," Sawyer said, reaching over and taking her hand. "You've stayed for two weeks when you didn't have to. That's two more weeks than anyone has ever given me before. I'm not going to ask you to stay longer. If you want to leave, I can understand why and I won't try and stop you.

She squeezed his hand. "Thank you," she said, grateful to finally have someone that understood.

"But don't get me wrong, Blondie. I want you to stay. I don't think I could have gotten through the past few weeks without you. But I know you have more baggage about this place than me, Jin and Miles combined. I guess what I'm trying to say is, whatever you decide to do, I got your back."

Juliet looked away, tears in her eyes. She took a few moments to get her emotions under control before turning back to him and giving him a hug. "Thank you, James," she said again, burying her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her. She was so grateful for his support and understanding. But at the same time, he was making it nearly impossible for her to leave him.