Juliet spent most of the morning picking up debris around the barracks and helping make food in the kitchen attached to the cafeteria. Amy had just left and Juliet was exhausted as she watched the lunch rush fade out. The room had mostly vacated sans a few lingering Dharma workers near the entrance and one face she knew well. Jin's. He was studying a checklist from the security station while sitting at a table alone in the back of the cafeteria.
"Hey...How's it looking out there? Is there any hope?" She said gently as she sat down next to him.
"There is always hope." Jin replied politely.
"Things with you and Sawyer... okay?" He said turning his body towards her.
"Yeh-thank you... I'm trying... to let him in and... I'm terrified of letting him in. Nothing new" Juliet said with a nervous smile as she tipped her chin then stared at the table in thought as her fingers moved up to play with her earlobe. Juliet loved how easy Jin was to talk to, maybe because she knew he didn't always fully understand her. There was comfort in his simplicity and directness.
"He know about Bill now- that is good. Less worry. You tell him about- Edmund Burke?"
Juliet shook her head and made a pinched expression before letting a breath fall from her mouth. She'd told Miles and Jin about Ed, well she told them enough... about Ed- Juliet wasn't one to drag on about the details-partly because she preferred to not have to think about them. Both of the guys had been shocked at first but thankfully supportive. She appreciated them more than they knew for not judging her actions or treating her like a broken doll.
"He knows a bit, but not... everything." Juliet said quietly. She once again hear Bill in the back of her mind. "I don't think the details will help. Either way I lose"
"Not your fault. Details hurt. Is okay - Sometimes hurt is only way to move forward. You don't lose. You win or you learn. Both good." Jin said softly placing a hand on Juliet's.
She closed her eyes with a smile. She knew Jin was probably right. It was something she had banked on about his personality back when she was trying to get Sun to stay on the beach so she would be able to get off the island. Juliet felt a pang of guilt as she recalled informing Jin about Sun's affair before they had crashed here. Juliet nodded in agreement and stood up.
"How did you get so wise?" Juliet blinked sweetly and leaned over touching her hand to Jin's shoulder.
Jin looked up "I learn... by being hurt" he replied resting his hand on hers again and giving a nod. Juliet sighed.
"See you at dinner?"
Jin nodded and Juliet headed out the door and back home.
There were a few children playing on a nearby swing set and Juliet smiled widely at them and waved. She really did like children. Clearly, she hadn't gotten into the fertility business without wanting to help people bring these beautiful little humans into the world in the hopes that they would make it a better place. She paused for a moment and watched them squealing and splashing through the residual mud puddles. She gently crossed her arms in front of herself and rolled back on her heels letting out a sweet laugh. Her mind drifted to Julian and even further back to her life with Edmund. "Everything happens for a reason." She told herself as her smile faded.
...
They lay in bed on a lazy Sunday morning facing one another. Edmund traced his fingers up her arm.
"You're a beautiful woman Dr. Burke. I must be the luckiest man in Miami"
Juliet leaned down and pulled his fingers up, kissing them softly. He stared at her for a moment then shifted closer, his face a mix of excitement and seriousness.
"Jules? Now that you have a solidified position at the company and things are settling, I thought maybe we should start thinking about... you know? Having a little bundle of joy for ourselves. One that isn't created in a lab ." He said pushing her hair back over her shoulder. Juliet's body froze and her eyes darted past Ed and into the blank wall- the corner of her mouth twitched.
"Oh." She breathed.
Juliet's nervous nature took over and she slid upright, taking the sheets with her as she brought a leg up, leaning her elbow on it and touching her face delicately. Clearly she wasn't ready for this conversation. They' hadn't even been married for a year but everything had been going so well.
"Am I wrong that I want that for us?" he said evenly.
"No. no... I... I guess I hadn't really thought about it- this soon." Juliet replied in an honest, quiet apologetic tone.
"I see." he replied flatly- his eyebrows narrowed as though he'd just assumed she would want what he did.
"Ed, please. Don't be upset. I do... want to. I've spent the last 8 years of my life trying to get to where I am now in my career, I'm just starting to break major ground in my research. I've got 3 new case trials starting in a month and...The timing doesn't feel right." She said carefully, trying not to smother his ego.
Edmund rolled to his back and withdrew his hand. He let out a heavy sigh as he stared at the ceiling fan.
"and..." Juliet paused.
"and Rachel." He finished for her. Juliet gave him a pained look and tipped her head.
"You're being too sensitive Jules. Rachel will understand. You can't put your life on hold just because she's fallen ill."
"No, I know. You're right. I'm not choosing her or work over you. Please don't think of it that way."
"But..." He continued for her again.
"But, I need to be sure, I'm so sorry- would you hate me if I said I'm not ready?"
He turned his back, pushed himself up in a fluid motion and dropped his legs over the side of the bed. Keeping his back to her. He half turned his head over his shoulder as he replied.
"We can talk about it again another time." He said stoically, ending the conversation as he stood up and headed to the bathroom, shutting the door.
Juliet tucked her other leg up to her chin as well and hugged her legs. It was the first time since she'd been married that she felt unsure about herself.
...
Ed didn't speak to her for over a week and it was not long before he started to change. He started growing distant. Juliet understood that he was a bit older than her and she was sure that was why he was disappointed. Unfortunately it was one of the topics they never talked about before they married. She had felt so guilty that she didn't think that far ahead before. It wasn't that she didn't want a baby. She just didn't want one right away. Juliet kicked herself for having been such easy prey when it came to relationships. She gave her heart so quickly to him and he'd used it against her to the bitter end. She had even considered agreeing with it all after their first anniversary just to try to save their marriage. Of course once the proverbial shit started to hit the fan, Juliet could only be secretly glad things worked out the way they had- though at the time she didn't see anything good about her situation. The learning curve with Ed was obvious after her birth control pills disappeared 2 weeks into her cycle for 2 months in a row. After the first time Juliet started keeping a back-up pills at her desk at work. After the second time, Ed started drinking more. She should've confronted him about it but Juliet wasn't that person back then. She just fixed it herself and hoped he would come around. Work kept her busy and he backed off a bit and went on a sweet streak when she'd made her first publication. The money started coming in for her to continue her course of research and Edmund clearly saw her as profitable in different way.
Juliet's mind was brought back to the present by an unmistakable little red head that ran towards the swings, only a toddler, she had piercing pale blue eyes that could only belong to Charlotte. Juliet's expression faded into sadness. Her eyes glossed over and her mind drifted to Daniel. Had he given up? Juliet shook the thought from her mind knowing he probably couldn't. She sighed and turned back towards her house making a mental note to herself to talk to Amy about volunteering at the school house again after the new year. She had been avoiding a poor 10 year old version of Ben for too long. After all he was just an innocent kid.
...
Sawyer and Miles arrived at The Arrow. Two men in matching khaki Dharmaville jumpsuits met them- one moved automatically to the back of the van and retrieved the black body bag that they were told to bring from the medical station. The other greeted them solemnly and led the way down a steep embankment towards the northeast beach. When they reached the sand they saw Stuart standing over a bloated corpse of a man talking on a portable telephone, the cord wrapped around and attached to a metal backpack that looked like a military communications device with an antenna sticking out of it. Sawyer guessed he was using it as a secure line rather than a walkie talkie because it couldn't be accidentally overheard by "the enemy" aka "the hostiles".
"Well- Horace I think it IS important. We can't just leave him here for them to find. We didn't kill him but they won't believe that. The cameras on this area were down the entire time so there's no way of knowing what happened. Plus, they aren't even suppose to know about The Arrow. Do you really want a repeat of what happened last year?"
Sawyer's brow furrowed as they moved closer. He recognized the man's attire, a simple military style outfit. "Great!" He thought to himself as he let out an exasperated sigh.
"I Understand this situation calls for the utmost care and secrecy."
Miles and Sawyer exchanged a look. Miles stopped walking about 6 feet from the body- his eyes closed and his brows angled in concentration. Sawyer kept walking as he looked out at the span of ocean in front of them. There it was.The Hydra he thought as he frowned at the small island cropping out of the perfect water.
"And how do you propose he got all the way over here? He clearly drown but he wouldn't have been able to swim far enough to wash up here so fast- not in the storm last night. Something isn't right."
Sawyer soaked up as much information as he could and squinted curiously as he watched Miles turn away. The two men that had met them at the van dropped the black bag and roughly shifted the body over onto it and tucked his limbs inside as though they'd done this before. One of them ducked his face into his shirt as though he might puke from the smell that was starting to rise.
"All right- I'll put together a team, we wont know any answers until we get there. Get me someone from the power station to go over with security. For now, we need to keep this quiet. The best way to do that is to get rid of the body."
Sawyer waited for the men to zip the bag most of the way before moving in and bending down to get a look at the guys face. He let out a breath when he realized that though this guy didn't look exactly the same- he recognized him. It was one of the four men that he and Juliet had run into when they went to talk to Richard. His eyes where open, an intense dark brown. The radio man that Juliet had knocked the wind out of. He was sure of it. He looked at Miles with a deep crease running through his forehead. "What the hell was this guy doing over on the Hydra Island?"
"I'll get back to you, LaFleur just arrived. Yeh. Got it." Stuart tucked the receiver into his waist band and gave both Sawyer and Miles a look of uncertainty.
"Well, so much for no casualties from the storm." He said wiping his brow with his sleeve before adjusting his glasses and stepping up next to the body and looking at it in disgust.
"You gunna tell me what the hell one of them was doin' on the wrong damn island Stu- or are we just here to tag and bag him?" Sawyer said irritably.
"Calm down now- There's a certain circle of trust here LaFleur- Horace clearly thought it was time you were both brought in a notch or you wouldn't be here. So let me explain what needs to happen."
Miles arched a brow with a look of seriousness as he stepped closer- pretending to have no real interest. Sawyer stood up and let out a sigh.
"There's a place over there that The Initiative has set up for "situations" that might arise with the hostiles. It contains a room with the capabilities of... shall we say - disrupting certain brain functions and causing low level amnesia."
Miles face contorted. "You're brainwashing them?"
"Well now Miles. We prefer to call it ensuring the safety of our Dharma stations and its team members" Stuart said matter of factually.
"So this guy stumbled upon a station he ain't suppose to know about and we take it upon ourselves to make sure he don't remember it- then we send em back home?"
"Yes, it has worked at least 5 times now without territorial repercussions from the the hostiles. The men disappear for a day then reappear closer to their own lines without knowing how they got there. They usually pick up flu like symptoms and it's forgotten, dismissed as a simple viral infection. No one has ever died before being returned... until now. So as you can see- this is a serious matter."
"Sonofabitch... And I s'pose no one's able to reach the island and find out what the hell is goin' on? ." Sawyer spat.
"True. That's where you come in."
Sawyer's head dropped. Juliet was gunna kill him. Miles's eyes widened.
"Wait... what? you want us to go over there?"
"I can't very well send the night crew can I? You'll meet back here at 0500, we'll have someone who can get the comms back up heading over with you. You can inform Jin that he should go with you and Horace and myself will be monitoring the barracks while you are gone. This could be a very good career move if things work out well over there LaFleur. You will be heading the team."
Stuart gestured for the two men to follow him and they picked up the body heading up towards station and off the beach.
"Juliet is gunna killlll you. This is bad. So bad."
"Sonofa... YEH. Thanks for the vote of confidence Enos." Sawyer huffed as they turned back towards the van.