Title: Hydra

Author: Crimson Coin

Rating: T … not quite R but it's romance so things may get a little steamy

Pairing: Juliet/Sawyer

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost or these characters. I just like to borrow them to have a little fun.

Summary: Dharma time story about how Juliet and Sawyer became a couple.

Note: This story is based on a suggestion from tntlostfan for a one shot. It's going to be multiple chapters because, well the ideas just started coming! So I hope I'm forgiven, tntlostfan. But I promise, you'll have your idea in the story.

Juliet lay on a board on rollers under one of the large vans at the motor pool. Her mind wandered as she stared up at the underside of the van. Familiar voices on the other side of her van distracted her and she tilted her head back to glance out. Two pairs of boots walked towards her and stood outside the van, unaware to her presence, hidden under the van.

"Did you see that earlier today?"

"No, but Mike told me about it."

"Yeah, I could hardly believe my eyes. Julie just ripped those cans."

"I know but … I don't know why she had to go and do it though. I mean why's Jim so antsy for her to go to the Hydra with him?"

A laugh. "Really? You really gotta ask that? Look at her! You'd wanna go two weeks on the Hydra with two other guys?"

"I suppose. Not like anyone actually stays there other than security and the couple of scientists who can't pull themselves away from their damn bears."

"You know … just between you and me? I been thinking about Juliet and I think I finally know what it is about her?"

A chuckle. "You mean other than that she's a knockout? What's that?"

"Yeah she's a knockout, but I think you'd be barking up the wrong tree. See I got the feeling Juliet is one of those liberated women, you know? I mean think about it. She works at the motor pool, shoots a gun, never saw her in a dress. And she's been spending a lot of time with Amy lately. Like they have dinner together."

"Woah. You think she's a lesbian?"

"She's gotta be! I mean, I tried flirting with her the other day cuz I mean yeah so she's with LaFleur but you know they may be a bit open or what's the harm in flirting right? And she just looked at me like I had six heads. She wouldn't even flirt back, nothing playful. She just kinda looked at me. But when Amy's around? The girl smiles."

A long pause before the second man said. "Yeah, definitely a lesbian."

Juliet rolled her eyes and purposefully banged her wrench on the metal frame of the underside of the van. The men jumped and Juliet hid her grin, expression cold as she rolled out from the van near the men, glancing up at them. "Boys," she acknowledged with a curt nod.

"Juliet!" Jason exclaimed surprised. "I was uhm … looking for you because Mike wanted to uh, see … me … to go … somewhere." He hurried away, leaving his friend to face the brunt.

A single brow lifted and she nodded slowly. "I see. So are you uncomfortable around lesbians?"

Lenny's eyes widen. "It's true isn't it? You're a lesbian. I knew it."

Juliet tilted her head slightly and with a calm delivery only she could manage, addressed the statement. "Yes, I live and sleep with a man but I'm a lesbian. You have found me out, Lenny. You're just so intuitive."

Lenny watched her, a little confused at her tone. "But … well I mean there's no proof you're … sleeping with … LaFleur." He slowly trailed off as his sentence continued before dissipating into a whisper.

"Proof? Why do I have to prove anything to anyone?"

Lenny huffed "I mean come on, Julie, you gotta admit it's a bit sketchy."

"Sketchy?"

"Well yeah! I mean I don't know any of the other girls here who can do any of that stuff. You picked the motor pool. Most girls don't choose something so dirty."

Juliet nodded in understanding and returned to her tool box to set the wrench down and pick up the big protective gloves she used with the sander. "Yes well, ditch digger was taken so I had to do something to get down and dirty."

"Down and Dirty, eh?" James drawled as he walked towards her from behind Lenny. He slapped the smaller man on the back and grinned. "You gettin' my girl all sexed up?"

Lenny's flush deepened.

James grinned. "Gonna pop there, Nimoy?"

Juliet returned to the van and leaned over the engine, reaching inside. "He thinks I'm a lesbian because I work on cars and apparently I don't scream loud enough to prove I'm sleeping with you."

Brow lifted, James eyed Lenny then laughed. "That so. How many lesbians do you know?"

Lenny fidgeted, squirming slightly. "I don't know."

Leaning on the frame of the car, Juliet peered up at Lenny and James, a knowing smile on her face. "Lenny, I'm not a lesbian and for the love of God, don't start that rumor, ok?"

"I give ya my word there," James said. "The way that girl touches me? She ain't a lesbian."

Fumbling and muttering, Lenny mumbled an apology and scuttled off. Juliet bit her lip to keep from laughing. James sauntered to the van, leaning against the side and crossed his arms to eye her. "Lesbian, huh? Yer holdin' out on my, Sweetheart."

"Absolutely." She stated and turned her head away from him to focus on the engine again. "I didn't want to hurt you but I suppose I have to tell you now." She sighed dramatically and stood tall, hands on her hips. "Amy and I have been having a voracious love affair for the last three months."

Seriously, Sawyer held his eyes before the smile fought through the calm exterior. He laughed. "Damn, Blondie, you just got a way with words ya know. Sometimes I wished ya'd crack a bit." He slid beside her, a hand easing over her hip to turn her to face him.

She shifted slightly and grinned up at him. "No chance. You have to work harder."

"That a challenge?"

"Maybe."

He leaned down, kissing her slowly once then again. Her eyes fluttered as she returned his soft kiss. He hummed contently, sliding his arms around her waist. "So … guess I gotta start making you scream."

She smirked. "Boil another pot dry and the whole place will hear me scream." Her eyes flickered with amusement.

He chuckled. "Not that kinda screamin', Sweetheart. I mean the kind that can just stroke a man's ego."

"Ah," she nodded slowly then admitted. "I don't think I've ever screamed like that."

"Mmm, another challenge." He ducked his head again to nibble at her throat. "Pissed at me for callin' ya a hooker?"

She hummed softly at his attentions and lifted up onto her toes to hug him. "I'm not pissed. And I know you didn't call me anything. Not to say it didn't come off crass." She sighed and eased down. "I just don't want the people here thinking less of you because of what you said. Living here … it's like high school all over again. Who's sleeping with who and who can't I sit next to at lunch. It's ridiculous."

"So was new Other-town like this too?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I think we were all too petrified of Ben to be so relaxed. At least I was."

Concerned, he reached up to brush the backs of his fingers over her cheeks. "What he do to you?"

With a bitter huff, she averted her eyes and released him. "He thought I was his." She ducked back under the hood again. "Imagine what a sociopath like Ben would do when he thought that."

Stunned at the sudden admission, Sawyer stood, watching the line of her back, the muscles on her shoulders contracting with her work. She never spoke freely about Ben before. With this new knowledge, he could only imagine why. Was Ben at fault for her high walls, her resistances? "Ben ain't here, Baby. Well Big Ben. We still got a baby Ben but he ain't gonna hurt ya."

"It's still his eyes watching me." She responded and turned her head to look at him. "I gotta get this van fixed. I'll see you later, ok?"

"Yeah," He said and smiled for her then ducked under the hood to kiss her again, his lips softly pursing against hers. "Visit me when yer done at Amy's? The night shift is slower than the day."

With a soft smile and a nod, she agreed then watched as he eased out from under the van and walked back to their house.

Sawyer lay on the hammock in his backyard, his glasses propped on his nose and a book open in his hands. He swung slowly, rocking in the gentle island breeze, the large trees overhead blocking the hot sun from his skin. He knew he should sleep however he found it difficult to sleep during the day. He could snooze and he did often on the beach but that was because there was nothing else to do.

His shift for the evening would take him from 8 pm until 4 am. The worst shift to have. Thankfully, he only had that shift once every two weeks. At four, he'd drag his ass home and collapse into the bed, probably pull a pillow over his head.

Or maybe he'd snuggle in to Juliet. She always felt so good against his body, soft feminine curves yet firm toned muscles. His eyes closed as he thought about her, the book falling closed and resting on his chest as erotic visions of a blonde bombshell crossed his thoughts.

"Jim?"

His eyes opened at the voice and head turned to look to his right. Amy crossed the distance from the side of the house towards him. He gripped the book on his chest and quickly glanced down his body to ensure it wasn't showing a reaction to visions of Juliet. In the clear, he spun on the hammock, compensating so he didn't fall. Facing Amy, he grinned, hands propping up his head and feet on the ground to slowly rock in the netted swing.

Amy stomped across the yard, expression scrunched in agitation. "That … manipulative little bitch." She snapped and then lifted her hand to her mouth in surprise.

Sawyer laughed. "I heard that, little Miss Priss."

Amy bristled and then scowled. "Well she is!"

He chuckled and patted the space beside him on the hammock. "Take a load off."

With a sigh, Amy eased onto the hammock beside him and lay back, staring at the canopy. "This is kind of comfy."

"It is, ain't it." He chuckled. "Just don't tell Jules. She'd be jealous."

"Oh please," she giggled. "Sharing a hammock is not sharing a bed."

"True," Sawyer agreed. "Maybe I should see if I can get Juliet on here at night for a little fun." He laughed. "Hell or on here at all. She won't get on it."

"She won't? Why not, it's so comfortable." Amy said with a smile. "You need to convince her that this isn't so bad. Plus its prime cuddling position, you know, if that would work."

"I'll have to try that some time. So … I gotta ask. Who's a manipulative little bitch?"

"Rosie," she snarled and shook her head. "She's the only one on the island that has the album you're looking for. I wouldn't tell her why I wanted it but she wouldn't give it to me unless I could convince you to go to her place for dinner. Can you believe that? I mean what is her problem!"

Sawyer scowled. "She doesn't get it. You sure? She's the only one that got the album?"

"Yeah, I was asking everyone. Rosie is the only one. Well originally, Carol bought it but she traded it to Sheila for her Janice Joplin album who then traded that album to Edith but Edith traded it to Lilly. You didn't know her she was before you arrived."

"Hey, Hedda Harper. Chill out." He grinned. "Don't need the whole story. So Rosie's the only one that got it?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I couldn't get it for you. And I wasn't going to promise her a date with you. I mean some people here have pretty open relationships but I didn't get that impression from you and Juliet."

"If you think Juliet is a girl to share, ya don't know her to well," he stated lightheartedly. "Not that I want to share her either. But I want that damn album."

"I didn't tell her it was for you. You can talk to her if you want to. But I don't know what good that'll do."

"I'll have to do it in a public place so she doesn't just start ripping my clothes off. I mean she really doesn't get it. Or maybe that's the point. She can't take that I never wanted anythin' to do with her."

"Probably," Amy giggled. "Ego blow that the sexy Jim LaFleur didn't want her when she has just about every other man here eating out of her hand."

"Yeah well my mouth is goin' no where near that hand. Who knows where it's been?"

Amy bit her lip to control her laugh. "You know at first when I saw you and Juliet together you were like night and day and I wondered what else there was between you. I mean obviously there was something physical but what else was there? And I know now. You make her laugh, don't you?"

"Laugh?" Sawyer chuckled. "I don't know. She doesn't laugh too often."

"Well then you make her comfortable, you make her smile and you're sweet and loyal, Jim. That's so nice to see. My Paul was like that with me. He made me smile all the time and sometimes he drove me absolutely crazy but he could be so sweet and sometimes I couldn't stop laughing. I think that's what Juliet sees in you. You're so fiercely loyal to her. I mean most men I know would have caved to Rosie by now."

"Yeah, well I ain't most men," Sawyer responded and thought on Amy's words. When had that changed. Not too long ago, he would have been the first to jump into an open bed and more than willingly. Only twice before had he felt such loyalty to a woman. With Cassidy and then with Kate. With Cassidy, despite betraying her for her own protection, he still betrayed her. And with Kate, well did he even have anything with Kate?

Of course he had something with Kate. He loved Kate but it was a different type of love. He did not want to think about his relationship with Kate. It was a messy and almost gruesome situation, one he willingly placed himself in despite the knowledge that he was always a replacement for a man she could not have. Or at least thought she could not have. With Cassidy and Kate he felt the strange desire to give them his devotion. And he did for as long as he could, and with Kate as long as she would accept him.

He wanted to give Juliet that same devotion. She deserved it. He knew she had a turbulent past with men and rarely did she speak of it. In fact, he knew very little of her past love life and curiously wondered what could have happened to her to implant such insecurity and doubt. He knew she was married at one point. She spilled that juicy tidbit after too much wine, but that statement was the end of it. The conversation quickly changed and he never heard more of it. And of course living for three years under Ben's possessiveness wasn't beneficial to one's mental health.

"So maybe that can work for you." Amy interrupted his wandering thoughts.

"Huh?"

She giggled. "I said that maybe that can work for you. If you talk to Rosie, maybe you can trick her into giving up the album."

"Trick her, huh? Maybe I can scare it out of her."

She smiled and sat up. "Maybe," then pushed up onto her feet and stretched. "I think you might have to try if you really want the album. And you know what? If it's really Juliet's favorite album? I think you should try whatever you have to do to get it."

"Within reason."

She bit back another giggle and nodded. "Within reason. Juliet's coming by for dinner tonight. I'll have her bring you a plate when she heads home."

"Thanks, Ames." Sawyer responded with a genuine smile. "I'll talk to you later."

With a wave, Amy bounced off.

Author's Note: I haven't forgotten Hydra, don't worry. Thanks so much for reading and especially the reviews, most notably my regulars. And for all you "Shattered" readers don't worry. Just because I'm writing that story doesn't mean I forgot this one. I will finish it, I already know where I'm going. So by all means review if you like it and check out my other stories. Enjoy!