Juliet understood James when he gave her the look…the I'm sorry this is happening and I'd do anything to change it look. It was the second time he had done it in the last 24 hours. Last night she told him they should let fate decide and it seemed like fate was determined to keep them apart. As she watched him leave with Phil she couldn't help but wonder if this was fate protecting them from making a big mistake. She tried to push the idea from her mind as she had breakfast with Jin and Miles, both of whom wouldn't stop smiling at her.
Miles dived right in with the 20 questions. She had to wonder what James was thinking making whatever this was between them public before they even had a chance to define it. And despite staying silent, she could tell Jin was treating her differently than usual. She was pretty sure he was younger than her, but it was like he was an older brother. She half expected him to lean over and give her a wink and a nudge with his elbow.
She tried to wrap up breakfast as quickly as possible and excused herself to go shower. She needed a nice hot shower to focus her thoughts before James got back to cloud them with all his charm again. Underneath the warm water she could think more clearly and so she replayed all the events of last night.
She had fully intended to talk sense into James. They were friends and she really did want him to see that no matter how much they kept each other company, she was not Kate. And then somehow all objectivity had flown out the window and she was kissing him. And when he tried to slow them down it only made her want him more. She would have slept with him last night if they had come home to an empty house. And then before bed he had caught her in the hall and asked if she'd go on a date. She answered yes without a second thought. As the water poured over her now, she still wasn't sure if she was making a mistake.
"It's not too late to change your mind," she told herself quietly.
Sure they had made out a little, but she could still stop whatever was happening between them before it started. Alright, maybe it was a little more than making out, she admitted to herself. Thinking about his arms around her this morning still made her knees feel like Jell-O. She laughed at the memory of how she had described their relationship: "A mutual appreciation, huh?" Who was she kidding?
She knew deep down she was lying to herself about the way she had been feeling lately. At first she had told herself it was just because she was lonely and his dimples were irresistible. And now she was telling herself it was just lust. It had been a long time since she had sex. The only problem with that thought is that it led her to think about her relationship with Goodwin. That was exactly what they had been: two lonely people keeping each other company and warm in bed. And no matter how she tried to compare whatever this was with James to her and Goodwin, deep down she knew it was not the same thing.
"Then what the hell is this," she thought out loud.
The water was running cold and she hadn't even washed her hair yet. She hurried to clean herself. She was worried he'd be back soon and she might have to lock herself in her room until she could figure it out. Little did she know, fate once again had other plans. After getting dressed she fully expected to find him back by now. Instead she found 3 other expectant faces waiting for her in in the living room: Horace, Jin, and Miles.
"What's up guys?"
"Good morning Juliet. We were just waiting for you."
"Okay," she said nervously now worrying about James.
"The reason I'm here is to let you know that we've taken Jim into custody. I don't want you all to worry. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding. Until we get things sorted I need to ask for your cooperation."
"In custody for what," she loudly interrupted.
Horace with his usual cool manner was not fazed by her outburst. "For suspected sedition."
"What?," Miles yelled, adding to the protest.
"That's ridiculous!," Juliet objected.
Jin looked on with concern. Based on their reactions he knew whatever was happening wasn't good, but he still wasn't clear about what Horace was telling them.
"As I said. We will need your full cooperation so we can get this cleared up."
"Alright, but where is James now," Juliet said, hiding her anger with coolness that surpassed Horace's.
"He's perfectly fine. He's in custody as I said. In a little while I'm going to ask you all to come down and answer some questions. Until then I'm going to have an officer stationed outside. If you will all just hang tight until we are ready."
"Why don't you just ask us now," Miles griped.
"We just have a matter to take care of and then you'll all come down. Don't worry."
Seeing as they didn't have much choice in the matter, Juliet agreed with a nod. Miles and Jin copied her and nodded as well.
"Alright good. It won't be long."
Horace took his leave and the three sat down not saying anything at first. Juliet got up and paced back and forth. The only thing she could think of that they would be holding him for is if they knew he talked to Richard.
"Do they know about Richard," she asked Miles.
"No, we haven't told them. I have the tape in my desk. There's no way…"
She rolled her eyes at him as though he was an idiot.
"Maybe they found it," Miles admitted, realizing he should probably have kept it somewhere else.
"Damn it Miles. They're never going to believe him now."
Jin still completely confused, made them stop and explain everything. When he was up to speed, he shook his head. He really hated being left out of the loop all the time. It was bad enough with the language barrier. If he had been able to speak English, he was pretty sure half the stupid stuff on this island would never have happened.
Juliet went to see who was stationed outside. "It's just Randy, maybe if I talk to him he'll let us out."
"And then what?"
"And then we can go explain what actually happened before they do anything to James."
"Yeah, good plan She-ra. Only you're not even supposed to know about any of this. And I'm sure Jim is telling them the exact same thing right now. Let's just wait for them to come back and we'll be honest. Only maybe you shouldn't tell them you know anything."
She kept pacing while they watched her in silence. When another hour passed she was ready to knock Randy out and go find James herself. Luckily Horace showed back up before she resorted to any of those plans.
"Alright, thanks for waiting. You can come with me now."
They followed him into the security office and down the hall to the holding cell.
"What the hell Horace?," Miles protested.
"It's just a temporary precaution."
"If we're in here, where the hell is James?," Juliet interrupted again.
Horace shrugged his shoulders, seemingly displeased with his position at the moment. "Look, I promise you he's just fine. We just took him somewhere so we can get to the bottom of all this. Now I have some questions for each of you. We can start with Jin, if you'll come with me. I'll be back for you both shortly."
He left them in the cell. Juliet was shooting a death stare at Miles. "Look it's not my fault he didn't tell Horace. I was just doing what he asked me to do."
She knew it was true, but she didn't like it. "I know."
"He'll be fine. This is Jim we're talking about. He can talk his way out of anything."
"I know."
He decided to stop talking because her tone was only getting sharper. A few minutes later Jin showed back up and Miles was up next.
"I told them I know nothing. They not tell me where he is."
"It's okay," she looked at him sympathetically. It was good he didn't have anything to hide, but she realized for the sake of friendship they should have probably looped him in earlier anyways. She sat curled up on one of the benches until Miles came back. It was her turn. Now alone in a room with Horace and Radzinski (she wasn't sure why he was here), they asked her to sit.
"So Juliet. You and Jim. I know he doesn't keep anything from you. So why don't you just tell us what his real plans are with the hostiles. Why was he meeting one of them?"
She decided there was no point to pretend not to know, so she simply told them. "Yes he does tell me everything Horace. And I know he wasn't doing anything with that hostile except protecting all of you from him and whatever they're trying to do here."
Horace looked at her with sympathy, but Radzinski looked like a wolf after blood.
"And just what would you know about what they're trying to do?"
She knew exactly what they were trying to do and wanted to tell them their future fate just to spite them in the moment. Instead she smiled and played her part well. "I don't know anything about it. All I know is James told me they're dangerous and he told them to leave. What makes you think he's betrayed you?"
"Well that's what we're trying to determine. It will be best for Jim if you're honest with us now," Horace cooly threatened.
"Why? What are you doing to him? Where is he?" She didn't resist the urge to cry because she really did want to and she knew it would only help them underestimate her.
Radzinski, having no sympathy for her tears chided, "oh don't you worry. We'll take care of him like we did Ralph. We have zero tolerance for disloyalty around here."
She looked up, now fearing what he meant by that. Were they already planning to take him off the island? How did this escalate so quickly. These idiots didn't trust anyone.
"We'll see what happens, but Juliet…Please if there's anything else you know that can help us…that can help Jim," Horace prodded.
"I told you. All I know is the man came out of the jungle one day and James ran him off. That's the end of the story. So unless you have anything other than that then you need to let him go!"
"Take her back, Horace. She's useless."
Horace gave Radzinski a look that meant to watch himself. He was starting to realize he and Phil really were too zealous sometimes.
"Alright Juliet. Well if you think of anything else let the guard know. I'll take you back now."
"You're not letting us go?"
"Not yet. Not until we have proof."
"How are you going to get proof if there's nothing to find?"
He ignored her questioning and brought her back to Jin and Miles. When they were left alone they all discussed what they had said. She told them about Radzinski's threat.
"I'm sure he was bluffing. The sub doesn't even leave until next week."
"Yeah, but you remember what they did to Ralph. No one ever saw him again after they caught him. They just kept him locked up until it was time to go."
"Maybe they send us too?," Jin said with a worried look on his face.
"Maybe. I doubt it," said Miles bluntly.
Juliet voiced her worries, "What the hell do you think they're doing to him? It sounds like they were going to torture him for proof."
She sat down next to Jin and went quiet thinking about all the possibilities.
Jin tried to console her, "Juliet, James is strong…he be okay."
She smiled in agreement, but was still clearly upset.
Miles tried another tactic. "So he just came out and said it huh?"
"Said what?"
"That he liked you."
She smiled at the memory. "No. He used you as an excuse actually."
"Me?"
"Yeah, he tried to convince me you had a crush on me and that you didn't want to say anything because you knew he had one on me too."
Miles got up to avoid her eyes. "Well that's ridiculous!"
She laughed, which relieved both men. Miles chimed back in, "Course, I did tell him you'd never date anyone as long as he was around. I was right about that! Wasn't I?"
She smiled and rolled her eyes at Miles who was now studying her closely again. Under scrutiny her smile became a grin she couldn't hide. She begrudgingly answered, "yes, you might be right about that."
"You've got it bad," Miles teased.
She smiled again, but suddenly her smile faded into a pensive frown as she thought about James. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Uh oh, you've got it worse than I thought."
She couldn't help the tear that escaped the corner of her eye. Then suddenly all the tears flowed. Both men noticed.
"Aww, come on don't cry," Miles begged more than soothed.
Jin scooted closer to put an arm around her shoulder as Miles tried to lighten the mood again.
"What happened to strong Juliet?"
She looked up at him with a quirked eyebrow, wiping the tears still forming in her eyes.
"Miles you didn't know me before this island. I'm not strong."
"The hell you aren't," he protested.
She laughed wryly. "What you call strong…that was just…survival. It's funny, these last few months…with you all here. For the first time in a long time it seemed like maybe we didn't need to survive. Maybe we could just be."
Both men looked at her with understanding before she added bitterly, "I guess I was wrong." They all grew quiet again, lost in their own thoughts. Earlier Juliet had been wondering if she should slow things down with James; maybe they were making a mistake. And now she was worried about what would happen if they took him off the island. If fate seemed determined to keep them apart, all Juliet could think about was seeing James again. The hours went by and they all waited for any sign of James or any sign of their own freedom. Neither came.
