Author's Note: I just keep feeling the inspiration flowing. This chapter I've made a little extra longer since I've been getting slow with my updates, so I hope you like it!

Heartland:

Chapter 14: What's Best

Nec mortem effugere quisquam nec amorem potest

(No one is able to flee from death or love)

-Unknown

Juliet sat by the fire, nudging it every so often with a stick. There were only a few hours left until her and Sawyer left and didn't look back. She knew their reasoning for leaving everyone behind was good enough, but she still couldn't help but feel horrible about what her and Sawyer were going to do. She sighed, poking the fire once more with the stick.

"So, a meeting?" came Jack's voice.

Juliet glanced behind her and looked up at Jack. She said nothing and turned back to the fire, jabbing it more harshly then necessary. It wasn't fair to feel bad about leaving him behind. Not after he had left her. He promised that they would get off this island, that they would do it together. She promised she wouldn't get on the Zodiac until everyone else did. She kept her promise, and never got on. He didn't.

Jack sighed and sat down next to her. He could understand why she would feel slightly hostile towards him. Even he felt that way about himself. Not only had he never come back for her, he had led her on the entire time they spent together.

"Did you ever really care?" Juliet finally asked after they were sitting beside each other for a few minutes. "Or did you just take me to the beach, knowing the entire time you just needed somebody there to pretend you weren't in love with Kate?"

Jack wasn't entirely sure how to answer the question. So he just didn't.

Juliet narrowed her eyes at him as she looked at him. "You really have changed.." she stated quietly. "It's like you're not even Jack anymore."

"I'm still Jack," he told her.

Juliet smiled sadly and shook her head. "No.. you're the new Jack.." she told him. "I'm not sure I like the new Jack very much."

Jack watched as she stood and went to the tent she shared with Sawyer. Now both Juliet and Kate had told him the same thing. They didn't like the new him. Had he honestly changed so much? "Juliet."

Juliet turned and glanced back at him.

"It was both," he answered honestly.

Juliet was silent at first. Until she simply smiled at him sadly. "Next time just lie to me, just like you used to.." she told him, then entered the tent.

()()FLASHBACK()()

Tomorrow would mark two years of being in Dharmaville. But for Juliet, really she'd been on this island for five years and counting. By this point she was losing faith of ever truly going home, of ever truly finding her way back to her sister and the nephew she'd likely never meet. It didn't seem fair to her. What had she done before she'd gotten to the island to deserve this kind of servitude?

She sighed, then tightened the last bolt on one of the Dharma van tires. She couldn't help but chuckle at the fact she was now actually quite good at working on cars. It was sad really, until they'd come to 1974, she never knew the first thing about cars. She couldn't help but be amused. Because somewhere in the year of 1976 she was living in, there was another her in the real world. A little six year old blonde bombshell that was still innocent. She was almost postitive she'd lost all of that childlike innocence by now.

She narrowed her eyes, because suddenly her thoughts were filled with Sawyer. Because she also knew, somewhere out in the real word, there was a little boy who would likely see things a child should never see. She closed her eyes and sighed,then put her wrench down on the cart of tools. Why did he have to make her feel again? She was perfectly happy not feeling anything for three years. Then Jack had shown up, and he'd made her feel. Then Jack left, and she simply let the void open up again.

But now.. Now there was Sawyer. There was some sort of irony in the fact two people who hated each other for so long, suddenly were the only things the other had left. But what about Jack, she wondered. She couldn't help it. Was she finished feeling something for Jack? Was Sawyer finished feeling something for Kate? At the thoughts she shook her head, and kicked the cart of with all of the tools.

Sawyer stared at her from where he was leaning on one of the Dharma vans. He'd been watching her for several minutes, mostly because of the intense look in her eyes as she appeared to be thinking about something. He did notice no one else was currently in the motor pool. He assumed that was because they'd all gone home for the night.

Juliet turned, noticing Sawyer after that. She frowned, then narrowed her eyes. How did she explain that she still was angry with Jack? That she still thought of him? And why the hell did she feel like it was so necessary she admit the truth to him.

"You alright?" he questioned, taking the few steps forward to stand in front of her.

Juliet was silent for only a moment. Regardless of whether she wanted to or not at first, she had been falling in love with Sawyer. And she still was. "I just wish I didn't have to feel anything.."

Sawyer raised an eyebrow up at her statement. "Not sure I'm followin'.."

"For three years until your plane crashed, James," she stated. "All I felt was anger. There was only one person on the island who made that anger go away, and Ben sent him off on a damned suicide mission."

Sawyer glanced around. There was no one around still, thankfully. Otherwise this conversation would be a little out of hand.

"After that I just felt nothing.." she muttered.

"You preferred to not feel anything?" he finally asked.

"Dammit, James," she growled out angrily. "I cared about Jack, and he just left me here!" she stated, sitting down against the tool cart. "Now look at me.. I'm a mess!"

Sawyer sighed, sitting down beside her against the tool cart. "You're not a mess, Juliet," he told her. "You're just human."

Juliet shook her head, closing her eyes. "I don't want to be.."

Sawyer just smiled a little. "You know what, for a while I thought it was easier to feel nothing too."

Juliet glanced at him.

"But if you can't feel the bad things, how will you ever feel the good things?" he questioned, watching as she contemplated the question. "And yes, they did leave and never come back, but you know what?"

Juliet tilted her head to the side in curiosity. "What?" she asked in response.

Sawyer smiled. "I'm glad they did it."

"Why?" Juliet asked.

Sawyer chuckled at the pure innocent look of bafflement on her face. It wasn't often he saw the childlike side to Juliet, but when he saw her as he did now, it was one of the reasons he found himself falling harder. "Otherwise I wouldn't be here with you. Is it so bad being here with me?"

Juliet looked slightly surprised at both parts of his statements. "No.. no of course not," she admitted. "If you weren't here, I'd probably go insane."

"Likewise," Sawyer said with a laugh. He pondered his next thought before he actually voiced it. "You know, there's a sub coming in, in three days."

Juliet eyed him. Was he going to see if she still wanted to get on board of the sub? Maybe he was worried because of their conversation. "I'm not leaving, if thats what you think.."

Sawyer laughed. "That's not what I was going to say.." he stated with a grin. "Actually, I was going to say, they're one house short for the ammount of recruits."

Juliet blinked, and the childlike bafflement once again colored her face.

"We're usually at each other's houses, why don't you just move in with me?" he finally added. In truth, he just used the recruits as an excuse, Horace would have simply found somewhere to put them.

Juliet was silent for a moment, in thought. She glanced down at their hands, which at some point had become intertwined.

Sawyer held back the frown at her silence. "You can take some time to think about it if you want."

"No that's okay," Juliet admitted. "Actually.. I'd like to do that."

Sawyer looked shocked.

Juliet laughed at his face, it was absolutely priceless. "Who gets the bed?" she asked suddenly.

Sawyer looked unsure of how to answer. "Uh.."

"I'm kidding," she said, laughing even harder. She grinned and tapped him lightly on the face.

Sawyer chuckled.

Juliet simply smiled now as she leaned forward and kissed him. "I guess I should go pack up my clothes."

"Want some help?" he questioned, standing and holding his hand out to her.

Juliet took his hand and let him pull her up. "That'd be great."

()()END FB()()

Juliet was up before Sawyer was. She noted that nobody else was awake, so she gently shook him. "James.."

Sawyer opened his eyes and sat up, glancing at her.

"Are you sure we should do this?" she questioned quietly.

Sawyer just smiled at her, kissing her on the cheek. "We gotta do what's best for us right now," he told her. "Let's go."

Juliet nodded, grabbing one of the backpacks they'd packed up the night before. "Amy should be waiting at the treeline for us already," she explained, nodding her head down the beach.

"Let's do this," Sawyer said as they got out of the tent. He held his hand back to her and smiled as she took it. "Everything's gonna be alright," he told her. "I won't let anything happen to you.." he whispered. "To either of you.."

Juliet's eyes softened at this words. She was positive not many had ever seen this side of him before. The gentle side, the side the truly cared. "You got my back and I got yours," she said quietly before they headed to the treeline.

Sawyer smiled back at her. "Always."

Amy smiled at the two as they made it over to her. "I'm glad you guys are going," she stated. "Though.. I admit I'm going to miss you."

Juliet smiled back at her. "You'll see me again.." she told her. "I just won't know.." she admitted.

Amy chuckled in response. "Alright, if we hurry, we can make it to the temple within two hours," she told them. "Richard says that the Dharma boys are out, we're going to try our best to avoid them."

Juliet and Sawyer glanced at each other and nodded.

It took a moment before Juliet realized that Ethan wasn't with Amy. "Where's Ethan?" she questioned as they walked.

"Elle is taking care of him until I get back, it was safer then bringing him with me," she admitted.

Juliet nodded.

~*~*~*~*~

They were on the move for about an hour and a half when Amy spoke.

"We're making good time.. its only another mile from here," she stated quietly.

It was only a moment later when they all heard the gun cock.

"James.."

Sawyer turned quickly to see Phil pull Juliet away from them. "Dammit, Phil, let her go.." he growled out, moving to step forward when Amy put her hand on his arm. He knew she was doing exactly as Juliet always did, which was stop him from doing something stupid. Afterall, Phil did have his at Juliet's temple.

"I have one simply question for you, Jim.."

Sawyer narrowed his eyes at Phil. "Fine.." he stated in response.

"What exactly are your motives?" Phil questioned. "Why the boy? And now Amy?"

Sawyer frowned, how was he supposed to answer? He glanced at Amy beside him.

Amy took one step forward. "Phil.. I wasn't kidnapped."

"I've got her, Amy," Phil stated. "You don't have to defend them.."

Amy shook her head. Phil wouldn't understand. She knew Richard had to be nearby somewhere. All they had to do was hold off until then.

"You know what.." Phil said. "I don't need to know your motives," he finally stated. "Horace might need to know, but I don't," he admitted with a shrug. "If you're going to take from us, Jim.. I'll just have to take from you."

Sawyer was silent in response. "You wanna shoot somebody Phil?" he questioned. "Then you shoot me, Juliet never did anything but follow me."

Phil narrowed his eyes.

Juliet stared in shock at the sound of a gunshot. She was frozen to her spot, unmoving, even as Phil slid down away from her.

Sawyer wrenched his arm from Amy's grasp and went to Juliet immediately, ignoring Richard who stepped out of the bushes. He cupped her face with both of his hands. "Are you alright?"

Juliet was silent at first as she simply turned and looked down at Phil. It took another moment for her to glance up at Richard.

"We have to go. Fast," Richard stated. "There's about ten more out here, and they'll be heading this way now."

Sawyer nodded at Richard's words. "Juliet.." he said quietly, grabbing her hand. "Come on.. we have to go.."

Juliet glanced back at him and nodded.

All of them turned as they heard the yelling coming towards them.

"Run!" Richard yelled. "Hurry!"

Juliet kept her hand intertwined with Sawyer's as they ran after Richard and Amy, the Dharma men following behind them. She frowned, only a few minutes later when Sawyer let go of her hand as he fell to the ground. She already knew it was his attempt at telling her to keep running. Instead she turned and grabbed his hand again, pulling him back up. "We're in this together, James!"

Sawyer didn't question what she did, he simply continued running beside her.

Richard was silent as he listened to Juliet's words. It was one of the few things that made him believe they really were worth helping. He stopped as they reached the outskirts of the temple, waving his men over as they all stepped out of the woods, guns aimed towards the treeline where the Dharma men were coming.

Juliet stopped short with Sawyer nearly running into her as one of the Dharma men jumped in front of her. In only a second he was lying on the ground after another gunshot. She glanced over to see Widmore had shot the man.

Widmore remained silent as they continued to run passed him. If it was Jacob's wish for them to leave, then he would help them leave.

Richard opened the door of the temple. "This way!" he told them, waving them in. As they came to the door he picked up a bag laying on the ground. "Take this," he said, shoving it into Sawyer's hands. "You don't have a life out there, consider that you're new life."

Sawyer glanced down at the bag.

"There's no time to look at it now," Richard stated. "Get inside," he told them. "When I shut the door, you're gone. You'll be exactly where you need to be.."

Sawyer glanced at Juliet who nodded in silence.

"Jim!"

Sawyer and Juliet both looked back to see Horace with the Dharma men.

Amy walked up to the two. "Go, quickly.. don't look back."

Juliet frowned and wrapped her arms around the other woman.

Amy smiled. "Don't be like that, I'll see you again," she told her with a small laugh. "Now hurry."

Sawyer grabbed Juliet's hand and pulled her inside, not acknowleging Horace's calls to him.

The last thing either one really saw was the bright white light before everything disappeared.

()()FLASHBACK()()

Two years and two months, Sawyer noted to himself as he walked from the security office back to the little house he was now sharing with Juliet. Most people always told him that once you start living with someone is when you finally start to lose your love for them. For whatever reason, he found himself loving her more, if that was even possible at this point. He was already two hours late from coming home, since he mostly never got home on time. But he stopped at the motor pool when he heard her laugh.

It was finally getting normal to hear her laugh these days. Where before, she would mostly keep to herself except around Horace and Amy, now she spoke to everyone. He glanced around the van to see her and Caleb, the man who ran the motor pool, both covered in oil, Juliet's face had a clear area where she had covered her face with her hands. He had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing too hard.

Juliet glanced over at Sawyer and chuckled while Caleb seemed to simply laugh even harder then he previously had been. She smirked and headed over to Sawyer. "Hey James.."

"What the heck happened to you?" he questioned with amusement.

Juliet shrugged. "Oil war.." she stated simply with a smile.

Sawyer eyed her curiously. "What's an oil war?"

Juliet grinned. "This is.." she stated before taking her hands, which were covered in oil, and brushing them across his face.

Sawyer stood shocked for a moment before he started laughing with her. She was definitely changing, and he was beginning to see the child-like side to her more and more. "Hope ya' don't mind, Caleb," he stated with a smile. "I'm gonna have to steal her."

"Be my guest," Caleb said with a laugh.

Juliet eyed him with nervous amusement.

"Come on," Sawyer stated, grinning and picking her up.

"James!" she yelled out with a laugh when he threw her over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Sawyer smirked, letting himself glance at her backside since it was now next to his face. "Well now I need a shower, and who else is gonna get my back?"

Juliet blinked at first in confusion before his words hit her. She laughed and smacked him playfully on the back. "Well.. I'm sure Phil would love to."

Sawyer narrowed his eyes. "Phil?"

"Yup," Juliet stated as he put her down in the house. "He follows you around like you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm pretty sure he's in love with you."

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "That's just wrong.."

Juliet grinned now. "Maybe that's why he hardly ever talks to me, he resents me for cutting in on his LaFleur time.." she said with a laugh.

Sawyer stared at her incredulously before he started laughing. He just cupped her cheeks with his hands and brought her face forward to kiss her, oily face and all.

Juliet pulled away at the knock on the door and watched as Sawyer rolled his eyes and went to answer it. As soon as he said, 'Hey Phil' she immediately started laughing.

Sawyer turned and eyed her with amusement before shaking his head and turning back to Phil. "What can I do for ya, Phil?" he questioned, only vaguely hearing Juliet saying something about soap.

Phil seemed to eye him with disdain at the oil on his face. "Uh.. Jerry said he wasn't feeling well tonight."

Sawyer raised an eyebrow up. "And?"

"And who should we get to replace him?" Phil questioned.

Sawyer sighed. "Go find Pete," he told him before shutting the door. He turned to look at Juliet who was trying her best not to laugh. "What?"

"I'm telling you, its true love.." she said, bursting out laughing.

Sawyer chuckled. "That ain't true love," he stated, walking up to her. "This is," he said, pulling her until she was pressed up against him.

Juliet only managed to feel nervous now as she glanced up and into his eyes. Finally she smiled after a moment. "True love, really?" she questioned.

"Well, I know I love you," Sawyer stated.

Juliet chuckled and kissed him first this time. "Well.. I know I love you too."

Sawyer grinned. It was technically the first time she decided to really say it to him.

"Now how about that shower?" she questioned with a grin.

"Of course," Sawyer laughed. "And what the hell did you say earlier about the soap?"

"Uh.. nothing," Juliet stated with a shrug, leading him to the bathroom.

()()END()()

Next chapter coming soon. That was just some friendly neighborhood Phil bashing for ya.