Thanks for the reviews. :) I'm so glad you're all enjoying the new direction so much! Before anyone starts speculating, there is no chance that Sawyer is/was the father of Kate's baby -- as mentioned last chapter, SassyLostie is helping me brainstorm, and she asked me to write him... ;)

Chapter 3.

Kate waited until Jack closed the flap of the tent to sit up, counting to ten to make sure he wasn't coming back before spitting the pill out into her palm. She hated lying to him when things were finally going so well, but she couldn't do what he was asking her to do.

She didn't want him to find it either, and realise that she'd only pretended to go along with his plan, so she dug a deep hole in the sand under the mattress and threw it inside, relieved when she didn't have to look at it anymore. While she knew that Jack was only trying to protect her; keeping her safe the best way he knew how; she couldn't help feeling betrayed. He hadn't even given her a chance to be happy; one minute she was having his baby, the next, he was telling her that she had to let that dream go because of what might happen.

She rinsed her mouth out thoroughly to make sure that she hadn't swallowed any of it and risked harming the baby, wondering how she was going to convince him that she'd actually lost it when days, even weeks, passed without any physical sign of a miscarriage. He'd want to know about everything that happened to her, down to the last gruesome detail; if she could learn what the symptoms were, she could fake some of them, but she wouldn't be able to let him get close enough to find out the truth.

What she needed, she realised, was another doctor, one he trusted enough to take over her care; it didn't take her long to figure out who that doctor was, as hard as it was to envision her siding with her against him. If she told her what she wanted, there was a chance that she would go to Jack, and they'd stage some kind of intervention, but as much as it pained her to admit it, if they stayed on the island, there was no way she'd make it through the next seven or eight months without her.

Jack was gone when she poked her head out of the tent. Breathing a sigh of relief, she crawled out the rest of the way, scanning the beach for Juliet, who was nowhere in sight. Why was it that she was always around when Kate didn't want her to be; when all she wanted was to be alone with Jack; but when she actually needed her…?

"You look like you lost somethin' there, Freckles," Sawyer drawled when she failed to notice him coming towards her before she walked into him, her path blocked by his broad chest. He smirked, flashing his dimples at her. "Maybe I can help you find it."

"Not now, Sawyer," she snapped, pushing past him, stiffening when he caught her arm.

"Everything okay?" he asked in a softer tone, using it to turn her around to face him, his light eyes boring into hers.

"Everything's fine," she told him, yanking herself free and storming off before he could say anything else. She needed to be back inside the tent before Jack realised that she was missing, or he'd start suspecting that there was something else going on.

Juliet wasn't in her own tent, or in the kitchen with the other survivors; after searching every place she could think of, she found her further along the beach, rinsing her clothes and draping them over a makeshift clothesline.

Her blue eyes widened when she looked up from wringing out a shirt to see her striding purposefully towards her. "Kate," she said, forcing a smile. "What are you doing here? Didn't Jack tell you to lie down?" Her tone was polite, friendly, laced with mild concern, like that of a doctor to a patient, but the implied criticism wasn't lost on her.

In the end, Kate decided to ignore it. "So you know then?" she asked her, folding her arms when she stopped in front of her. "He told you?"

"He asked me for my advice, and I gave it to him," Juliet agreed, adjusting her sleeves as she reached back into the tub, choosing not to specify what this advice was.

It could have been her imagination, but Kate thought she sounded almost smug; she wondered if she was the one to suggest drugging her in a last ditched attempt to win Jack back. She wouldn't put it past her, especially after she'd seemed almost resentful of her when confirming her pregnancy the day before, like she'd done it on purpose, just to spite her.

"Did you give him the pill too?" she demanded, feeling sick to her stomach when Juliet agreed.

"He wanted to know what I thought the safest method was, and when I told him, he asked if I could get it for him. I was just doing my job," she assured her without any outward sign of guilt, hanging the last of her clothes out before wiping her hands on her jeans and turning back to Kate.

"I was going to come see how you were doing, but since you're here, we might as well do this now. You're obviously feeling okay if you're moving around – are you experiencing any cramping? Bleeding?"

It was a standard inquiry, one Kate could imagine Jack making, but Juliet's casual attitude towards something that was still so sensitive for her made her angry: did she want this to happen?

"No," she told her, shaking her head for emphasis, pleased when Juliet looked confused.

"Well that's good news, Kate," she agreed, recovering her composure when she seemed to decide that as unexpected as this was, it was nothing to worry about. "We want this to be as smooth and painless as possible."

"I'm not experiencing either of those things because I didn't take it," Kate told her, watching her press her lips into a thin, colourless line.

"I'm assuming you know Jack is under the impression that you did," she said once she'd had time to process this new information. "In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that that's what you want him to believe."

"If you assumed that, then you'd be right," Kate agreed, keeping her voice cool as she dared her to challenge this decision. She'd already made it clear what she thought of her dismissing Jack's well-intentioned suggestions.

"You know the risks, Kate," Juliet pointed out with a sigh, doing her best to sound patient when it was clear that she didn't approve. "You know what could happen to you if you don't, so I guess my next question is – why?"

"I don't know, I just… can't," Kate confessed, staring down at the sand, unsure how to explain it to her when she wasn't even sure that she understood it herself. It was careless and stupid, like so many of the things she'd done in her life, but that didn't make her any less determined. "I know Jack thinks he's doing the right thing by not taking a chance on this, but I don't wanna regret it. I wanna at least know I tried."

"And you need my help," Juliet finished for her, raising a thin eyebrow, the corners of her lips quirking into what almost passed for an ironic smile. It wasn't a question, but an acknowledgement of something that they both knew to be true: whether they wanted to or not, they each had something that the other was lacking, something that the other needed in order to do what they thought they needed to do.

"I want you to give me those injections, like you gave Claire," Kate explained, forcing herself to look at her now that they'd arrived at the real reason for their conversation, to show her how serious she was. "But first, I need you to help me convince Jack that I lost the baby like I was supposed to."

Juliet shook her head at these words, something akin to fear passing through her eyes. "Kate, you saw what happened to her," she argued, and Kate thought she even looked a little ashamed.

"I also saw how you saved her," she reminded her, unwilling to give up on the idea until she was sure that they were out of options. She needed to do this: they both did. "But maybe if you started earlier, or changed the formula…"

"What about Jack?" Juliet pressed. "You're just not going to tell him? Don't you think he deserves to know?"

"He does," Kate agreed, a stab of guilt piercing her heart, but she shoved it aside. She was doing this for him; for both of them. She didn't want him to regret it either. "But he doesn't need to – not yet."

"Please, Juliet," she added when she sensed how torn the other woman was. It was her job to create life and nurture it, not destroy it. "You're my doctor, not his – doesn't that mean you have to respect my wishes?"

"Well this is what I want," Kate finished when she nodded slowly.

Juliet sighed, and realising what this meant, Kate wanted to hug her. She was going to help her. She was going to get to keep her baby. "Then I hope you know what you're doing."

Next chapter(again, if you want it): Juliet's P.O.V. as she helps Kate keep her secret... ;)