Note: Yes, I know it has been long. I'm finishing up my abandoned fics. Enjoy!

With purposeful determination, Juliet stormed from the medical facility, the vet racing behind her. "Where are you going? You can't leave me here with them."

"I can and will," she stated simply then stopped and turned on the man. "The patients are stabilized just keep them that way until the doctor arrives. I can't do anything more for them here and my friends need help."

"But …" the man looked back to the medical building.

"No buts. It'll be fine. Go." Without waiting for his response, she continued towards the small armory and security building. On route, she glanced to her right to the small bunker where the scientists were gathered during the security emergency. She heard their muffled voices and arguments but couldn't be bothered paying too close attention. She didn't have the time.

Inside the security office, Jin stood at the long table beside the gun cabinet. Three weapons lay on the table; he loaded the tranquilizer rifle. He placed a small pack on the table as well, and gestured to it. "Medical supplies."

The head scientist stood beside him. "You do understand me, right? You cannot kill that bear. He is vital to our experiments."

Juliet approached the table and hooked the pack of medical supplies over her shoulder. Picking up the high powered rifle, she cocked open the bolt, inspecting the chamber then closed it. She set the stock of the gun into her shoulder and aimed towards a high corner of the room, peering down the sight.

Suddenly silent, the scientist watched her with slowly increasing trepidation. "What are you doing?"

She blinked calmly then cocked the bolt of the rifle again. "Arming myself."

"You … you can't use that."

Glancing down at the table, she snatched one of the loaded magazines and put it in her pocket then grabbed another to load the gun. "Watch me." Slinging the gun over her shoulder, she waited for Jin, her stance impatient. Her eyes shifted to the clock hanging over the door.

The scientist pressed his palms into the table, leaning towards Juliet. "You don't seem to understand. You cannot kill that bear. I will not let you kill the bear. I am in charge here and you will do as I say. You have NO idea what that bear actually means to this entire operation." He slammed his hand onto the table for effect. Jin flinched; Juliet did not.

"Mmmm," she nodded in pensive thought, eyes unwavering from the scientist. After an uncomfortable moment, she looked at Jin, a single brow arched. "Ready?"

Jin nodded curtly. "Yes. I believe I know where they may have gone." He walked to the door, head turned slightly to address Juliet as she followed. "Watching the monitors, I last saw them in the fifth grid. We should start there."

The scientist narrowed his eyes. "Juliet? Jin? Listen to me!" The door closed, leaving him alone in the room. The scientist clenched his fists and pounded one onto the table before exiting out the opposite door.

Creeping through the dense jungle brush, Juliet neared a clearing – a break in the vegetation of the jungle. Jin at her side, he peered up and across the tall grass, brow furrowed in consternation. "Wait here," he stated simply then kept low to the ground as he slipped through the tall grasses and into the clearing.

He crawled carefully and paused at the center, studying the muddy earth and the tracks surrounding the pounded down brush. Using a single finger, he pressed gently into the bear track. Still soft, the mud indented and stuck to his finger. Wiping his finger on his pants, he lifted up slightly to eye Juliet. His tongue to the roof of his mouth, he whistled, mimicking a bird call then motioned to Juliet with his head for her to approach.

With a sharp nod, Juliet crept into the clearing then crouched beside Jin. He pointed to the bear tracks. "They are fresh," then pointed to the boot prints. "They all look fresh. And look at the uhm …" he held his hands apart about a foot. "You know … between the steps. Running."

"Spacing. Yes, I see." She stated. "So that way?" Pointing towards the forest to the south, she looked to Jin for approval.

Jin nodded and pointed in the same direction. "That way."

She stood and walked in the direction, careful of her step so as to make as little sound as possible. She ducked under a low hanging branch then stepped over a curled root. Minutes passed as they walked the long yards down the path. She paused at the sound of voices and crouched low, leaping off the path into the brush. Jin followed.

"So you must think it's real damn funny, don't you."

Juliet glanced to Jin and mouthed the word 'Miles.' Jin nodded. She searched the treeline, spotting them near the edge of another small clearing.

"Well, just so you know, LaFleur, you suck." Miles continued.

Sawyer laughed. "Ain't my fault the bastard's in the mood for sushi."

"I'm not Japanese!"

There was amusement in Sawyer's voice when he replied, "Well, then he's still in the mood for Asian tonight. Damn thing keeps circling your tree. Not mine."

"Yeah well … that's because he had a taste of your southern fried chicken legs and thought it was crap."

"I don't have chicken legs."

"Yeah you do. Look at 'em. No wonder you wear jeans in the dead heat. Embarrassed of those drumsticks you call legs."

A pause.

Sawyer responded. "If I wasn't bleedin' out, and trapped in this tree. I'd shoot you with that tranq gun."

"Oh you mean the one you missed with? Good shootin' there Tex. Good shootin'."

"You should be thankin' me, Prickly Pear. If it wasn't for me, you'd have been mauled by that bitch bear back in the fields." He hissed and closed his eyes. "God damn it," he gripped his leg and rearranged it on the tree limb. His leg lower than his knee was slicked in blood; claw markings raked along the flesh. Tearing at his pants, he ripped the leg off at the thigh then wound the fabric around the wound.

Miles hesitated in any retort, his expression one of masked concern as he watched Sawyer bind the wounded limb. "Wrap it tighter."

"Don't go any tighter."

"Well try. You're bleedin' out all over the ground. Sharks in the water and all."

The corner of Sawyer's lip twitched in amusement. "Been there, done that. Blood in the water. Shark almost got me. Almost."

Miles scoffed and leaned back against the tree trunk, arms crossed. "Too bad he didn't. My life woulda been far more peaceful, let me tell you."

"Yeah yeah, you wish, Jabroni. You just ain't that lucky." Sawyer offered a cocky and infuriating smirk before leaning back against the tree again. He closed his eyes, jaw tense.

Miles watched the southerner with concern and when Sawyer stilled, Miles looked back out to the jungle before peering down at the bear. The beast lay calmly on the ground, eyes on the canopy – waiting patiently for his food to drop. Miles spat, a string of saliva hanging from his lip a moment before he wiped it away with a hand. "Elevate it or something." He glanced up at Sawyer. "Don't you have to do that for swelling and blood or something. Put it higher than your heart."

"And how in the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know. Lay down on the branch and put your leg against the trunk. Think with that thick skull," Miles trailed off then shook his head before muttering. "Hick."

"Prick," Sawyer growled and pressed both hands under his hips to lift himself slightly. Wobbling, he gripped the tree tightly. The bear perked up at the sound of the cracking branch and Sawyer's violent curses.

"Forget I said anything!" Miles quickly called to him. "Just don't move."

Sawyer twisted at the waist to look behind him at the sturdy tree trunk. He reached up to grab the trunk above his head and planted his good foot firmly on the branch that bore his weight.

"What the hell are you doing, LaFleur. I said don't move."

"I gotta get the hell off this branch. It's not gonna take my weight much longer."

Juliet crouched behind a tree downwind of the bear. Jin crept into position ten yards away and within sight. She eased down to one knee and braced her elbow on her thigh. Lifting the powerful rifle, she placed the stock firmly into her shoulder and peered down the sight at the bear. She slowly shook her head, cursing at the trees that blocked her shot. She could only wait until the bear moved into a better position. A tree branch cracked loudly.

Her eyes quickly darted to Sawyer's tree. The bear stood and growled; walking to the tree it lifted up on its back paws, standing, stretching to reach for Sawyer.

Minutes passed and the bear remained. Frustrated, Juliet slung the gun back over her shoulder and looked for Jin. Jin peeked up over the brush and waved her over then pointed to the bear. A flicker of fabric indicated the southerner remained in the tree even though the branch broke away.

Crawling through the brush, she positioned herself just west of the bear. She crouched low on one knee, the other leg perpendicular to the ground. She braced her elbow on that leg and held the gun to her shoulder, securing her aim to the back end of the bear. Her shot was clear; she just needed the right angle.

The bear paced between the two trees, looking up at both Miles and Sawyer. She lifted her head slightly, looking over the scope and she bit her lip. Sawyer swayed slightly in his tree and Miles openly taunted the bear, keeping its attention away from his friend.

She released a slow and steady breath; she could not let any emotion affect her. She peered down the sight of the rifle, waiting for the bear to turn. She needed a kill shot, a shot to the heart. The bear paced to the left then the right. It stood, reaching with a big paw up towards Sawyer. Her breath hitched in her throat, the claw within inches of Sawyer. He shifted and tried to move, to bring himself higher.

She aimed at the chest of the bear, ignoring the sounds and distractions around her. She ignored the crackling of the brush in the wind. She ignored the intense pounding of her heart. She ignored the muffled curses of Sawyer and the distracting calls of Miles as he tried to get the bear's attention.

A bead of sweat trickled down her brow and over her eye, dangling from her eyelids. The salty liquid burned her eyes and she blinked a long moment to clear her vision before taking aim again.

"No!"

The call echoed across the clearing, and then a gunshot sounded. The bear seemed to startle at the noise and charged into the brush and away.

Juliet lowered the gun and turned an icy stare to the east. At the edge of the wood, two scientists from the station stood side-by-side, one of whom was the team leader of the project - Arthur. Arthur held a long-barreled tranq gun, loaded with a single dart. The man next to Arthur was a young and lanky man, likely barely twenty five years old. The young man held a handgun, the barrel aimed to the sky. He trembled, his eyes focused on the direction where the bear had retreated.

Sawyer gestured at the jungle where the retreating bear had run. "You're supposed to aim at the bear, Bean Pole. You're trying to shoot the threat, not signal the start of a damn sprint."

Juliet glanced at Jin and slung the rifle over her shoulder. At Jin's nod, the two pushed through the brush to approach the rest of their team. Jin kept his rifle pressed into his shoulder, aiming towards the west where the bear had run.

When Miles pointed to their approaching team, Sawyer turned his attention in that direction and smiled. "Welcome to the party, Sunshine. Glad you could make it."

"It's a buffet," Miles quipped. "Just grab yourself a plate." Shooting a dirty look at Sawyer, Miles lowered himself from the tree, shimmying down the trunk to reach the ground.

Juliet's eyes never left Sawyer as she scanned what she could see of his body to try and assess the damage. The details of the injury were obscured, both by the branches of the tree and his distance from her. What she could see, however, was the deep crimson stain that covered his leg and the smears of blood that coated the tree limbs and trunk. Droplets of blood were scattered along the jungle floor beneath the branch upon which he perched.

"Can you get down?" she asked, trying to spot an easy way for them to help him out of the tree, and in that moment, she wondered how he managed to scurry up so high with his injury.

"Course I can get down," he responded, and twisted at the waist to try and reposition himself along the tree so he could descend.

Juliet doubted he could, and though she suspected that Sawyer thought he projected confidence and calmness, she noted his hesitations and the way that he heavily favored his uninjured leg.

As Sawyer slowly descended from the tree, Juliet leaned closer to Jin and said, "We may need to help him back, if he can't put weight on that leg."

Jin nodded. "I think the bear is gone."

Sawyer dangled from the lowest branch which was still a few feet from the ground and he pressed his feet into the trunk for leverage before dropping to the ground. His injured leg buckled, and he leaned forward to catch himself, scraping his palms against the tree roots. Pushing himself upward, he stood before her, putting very little weight on his injured leg.

Juliet approached him, her gaze fixed on his leg. "We need to get you back to the station and clean that out right away."

Sawyer huffed and there was a sly smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "It ain't that bad, Doc. Flesh wound."

"Yes," she agreed. "But still a serious one." Taking the gun from her shoulder, she handed it to Miles. "Here, let me help you."

"I can manage," he snarled.

Juliet paused where she was and watched him with a cool and detached focus. "Fine then. Go ahead. Walk."

Nodding in acknowledgement to her challenge, he took a tentative step towards the compound. His injured leg trembled and he wobbled on his feet.

With a soft sigh, she stepped closer to him and pressed her palm against his chest, steadying him. Her expression remained calm as she watched him with a pointed and unblinking stare, keenly aware of its effect.

Sawyer glanced at her, holding that unflinching gaze. "I suppose things would be a bit quicker with some help."

The corner of her lip curled upward at his words and she nodded just slightly. "Mmm, it would." And when she glanced to her left, Jin took the queue. Sawyer draped his arm over Jin's shoulder, leaning more heavily against their friend than Juliet was expecting. Turning, she started back towards the station.

Sawyer followed with Jin's help as Miles came up at the rear, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the bear was nowhere in sight. Juliet peered back as well, but she was watching Sawyer and not the treeline. Her eyes darted down to his exposed calf again before returning to his paling face. "It's not far," she said as encouragement.

Sawyer smirked, and gestured towards her with a smooth motion of the hand. "Then lead the way, Magellan."

Juliet resisted the smile that threatened to show at his words and instead led them back towards the Hydra station. How he always managed to jest or tease during times of great stress or anxiety was somehow both infuriating, and oddly reassuring.

Arthur moved closer to intercept the security team. "Hey, where are you going? The bear is the other way. We can take him back to the station."

Miles glared while the others ignored him. "Get your own damn bear."

Sawyer fought the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him. His wounded calf throbbed with a rhythmic and pulsating burn. The world was fuzzy, a bit blurred as he struggled against the exhaustion. "I want you to stitch me up, Blondie."

"Will is a fine doctor, James," she replied. "His stitches are neater than mine. He should do it; that gash is deep."

"Don't care," he said. "Keep that Victor Frankenstein away from me."

She stopped and turned to look at him. He paused when he noticed that she had stopped and stood straighter, trying to hold himself more upright and lean less on Jin for support, though he suspected that she already knew how difficult the journey was for him. Perhaps it was still his own pride and ego, unwilling to just ask for a bit of help when he needed it.

Juliet shook her head. "I have already risked too much by helping the way I did. That's on me. I didn't think because Curtis hesitated to administer any first aid, so I reacted. I'll likely have to explain that."

"You don't have to explain nothing," Sawyer sneered with a shake of the head. "You saved their lives. What's to explain?"

"How a motor pool mechanic knows enough about first aid to treat a pretty drastic chest wound, for one."

"Then it don't matter," he said. "You already have to explain one thing. What's one more?"

There was silence a long moment before she said, "You made me a promise, James. Do you remember that? I'm still here because you made a promise. I know that I slipped up, and that won't happen again."

"Bullshit," Sawyer challenged. "If someone is bleeding out and in need of medical attention, you won't just let them die. Jesus, Juliet, you ran back onto the beach to try to save some schmuck with a flaming arrow sticking out of his chest while more arrows were flying down around you. So forgive me if I don't believe that you're just gonna stand back and watch somebody suffer. It ain't in you."

Juliet arched a single brow, and a chilled facade slipped into place, one that Sawyer had not seen for months. "Well, then it's a good thing that your faith in my actions or lack thereof isn't required." Without waiting for a reply, she continued towards the Hydra station, and this time at a faster pace, one that she likely knew would be too quick for her wounded companion to match.

Sawyer muttered a few choice curses as he watched her walk away. He knew in that moment that he had pushed her too far, and he hated himself for misreading her. For the last few months, he had managed to coax Juliet out of her comfort zone, earn her trust and weasel behind the walls that she kept so carefully erect. He could only hope that he didn't just toss it all away with what was, in essence, an unnecessary betrayal of trust.

Flashback

"Just give me two weeks," Sawyer suggested. "All I'm asking. Two weeks."

Juliet didn't answer him at first, searching his expression for something, but for what exactly, he wasn't sure. He also couldn't explain why he wanted to stop her from getting on the submarine to leave the island. Hiding those uncertainties and the panicked desperation, he schooled his features to project the calm confidence that so often succeeded during his cons off island.

"Alright, two weeks," she said.

He felt the tension leech from his body at her words, and he wondered if she could see the relief on his face, or if he was able to hide it.

"So what's the plan?" she asked, staring out towards the darkened horizon over the ocean. "Just sit here and wait? What if John doesn't come back?"

"Well, I didn't really get that far yet," he admitted. "But you know this island. So we can set up a grid, do a search, see if we can find anything."

She hummed, nodding. "And if we don't?"

Sawyer thought about that, trying to formulate some kind of plan or solution, but in reality he had no idea what they would do. So he simply sighed and stared out over the water as well. "I don't know, Blondie, but we'll figure it out."

She didn't reply for a long couple of minutes. Water lapped against the pylons of the pier, soothing and steady with the current. Jungle insects and amphibians sang in a cacophony of voices that was somehow both dissonant and yet pleasant. Despite the late hour, the air hung with a heavy humidity, the typical sign of pending rain.

"What did you tell them?" Juliet asked. "About how we're here? Who we are?"

"Left out the details," he answered. "But I told them that we've been stranded here a couple of days. Boat sank offshore and we're missing some crewmates that we were trying to find in the jungle. Ain't that far from the truth."

"And about all of us?"

"Didn't tell them anything," he said. "The less, the better."

"What kind of boat?" Juliet asked and when no answer was offered, she glanced back at him. "We need to keep our story straight."

"Didn't clarify that part either," Sawyer said. "But considering present company and all, it may have to be a research boat."

Smirking, she shook her head and turned her focus back out to the sea. "You don't really look like the researcher type."

"Is that right," he drawled. "Well, for your information there, Cupcake, before we were stranded on Gilligan's Island here, I was a pretty damn good conman and could fleece anyone out of anything. I doubt this hippy commune will be much trouble."

She hummed and hugged her arms around her bent knees. "So a research vessel? What were you researching?"

"Can't disclose that," Sawyer replied. "Classified."

"Classified?" she questioned. "Alright then, where are you from?"

"America."

"Where did you set sail from?"

"What part of classified don't you understand?"

Smirking, she pressed. "Your point of origin is classified? Doubtful. The point of origin?"

"We both speaking English here when I say classified? Look, Hoss, you don't expect me to believe that whatever you got going on here would ever be plastered on the front of the New York Times. So if you're interested in the complexity of the things we are actually researching, why don't you go on and have your resident mad scientist have a conversation with our mad scientist and we can see which one is crazier."

She stared at him at the reply, and Sawyer found that over the last couple of days, he didn't find the tactic nearly as unsettling as he did only a few short weeks ago. It was like she peered beyond the surface into the cracks and crevices of his very being. If she actually saw anything, he could never say and she never showed her hand. He also found that suddenly, he didn't think he'd mind if she saw everything.

"It could work," Juliet conceded. "Did you notice that there are three women on the island right now who are pregnant?"

"I did not," he answered. "Was a bit too busy trying to come up with a quick con than to notice who was ready to pop."

Exhaling a steady breath, Juliet watched him, and he could see the warring options in her eyes. He wondered when he started learning how to decipher her internal process especially since she offered so few external clues.

Finally, she spoke. "James, I want to tell you something. I was recruited to come to this island three years ago because of my research. I am an OBGYN with a specialty in high-risk pregnancies. Before coming here, I delivered hundreds of babies. Sometimes, things were unsuccessful, but for the most part, it worked. I spearheaded research in advanced techniques for in vitro fertilization; I helped women have children when by all accounts they never should have been able to conceive, much less carry to term. And when I saw those parents with their newborn child, there was no other feeling that could ever match that moment.

"But then I came here. For three years, I treated the women on this island. And for three years, every single one that was pregnant suffered and then died. I can't do that anymore, James. I just can't. So if we're going to stay here, I won't practice medicine."

He let those words linger a long moment, waiting to see if she'd offer anything else. When she didn't, he nodded. "Alright then. So the island is gonna have to do without its Doctor Ruth. No big deal."

"So we have a deal?"

"Yeah, it's a deal."

Flashback End