In Shallow Seas We Sail

Author's Note: Okay, all you all have been complaining about my pathetic little chapters, so here's a longer and meatier one for you all. :) I expect much rejoicing about this, okay?

Enjoy,
Sara

*

When your world tries
to blow itself up from the inside,
I will dig a foxhole for two.

The Movie Song

[18]

Sawyer pulled the seat belt across his lap and leaned his head back. Finally, they were leaving. Frank had taken the opportunity to do a little meet and greet with all of them, and loading them all onto the less-than-cozy little plane was a lot like herding cats. The plane was filled with nervous energy, bordering on dread. Sawyer closed his eyes as the plane took off.

"Sawyer." He heard someone calling his name just as he drifted to sleep. "Sawyer."

He opened his eyes and rubbed them. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to sleep. "What?" he said, gruffly.

"Sorry," Jin said, easing in beside him, "I did not mean to wake you."

"It's fine," he replied. He looked over at the other man; Jin gave him a sad smile.

"What are we going to do about Miles?"

Sawyer ran a hand though his hair. "I don't know."

"I—I want to tell him not to get on the freighter," Jin said, "But Ilana said that it will change things."

Sawyer nodded. He'd thought of the same thing.

"Perhaps," Jin mused. He glanced at Sun, across the aisle from them, sleeping with her head against the window. He looked back at Sawyer. "Perhaps we need to tell him, so that things will change."

"But we don't know," Sawyer said. He was afraid of what the repercussions might be.

"Do you trust her?" Jin asked. "Ilana?"

Sawyer had been getting that a lot lately, it seemed. "I don't have a choice. I have to get back."

"For Juliet," Jin said, more to himself than to Sawyer.

"Yes."

Jin nodded. Although they'd spent three years together, Sawyer could think of nothing to more to say. His mind was too far away. After a few moments of silence, Jin moved back to his seat.

*

Kate was jarred awake as soon as the plane hit the runway. She rubbed her hand over her face, thankful, at least, that she hadn't flashed out of the sky and ended up half-drowning somewhere. When she looked up, Jack was staring at her from across the aisle.

"You okay?"

She nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but Ilana stood in the front of the plane. "We will be heading straight to the harbor. Frank will be staying here; only a few of you will need to accompany me to the freighter. There's no need to cause a fuss. You may leave any luggage you have here."

Ilana turned and entered the cockpit to talk with Frank.

"I'm going," Sawyer said. Of course he was.

"Me too," Kate said. She wasn't getting left behind.

"Is that safe, Kate?" Jack asked. She shot him a glare.

"I will go – " Sayid.

"I'm going, too – " Jack.

Jin looked edgy, but one glance at Sun's tired gaze told them all what he would decide. "We will stay here."

"I'm staying here, Dudes. I'm tired," Hurley said.

Locke's confidence seemed to be lacking. He said nothing; it was obvious he wouldn't be going.

The four of them, Kate, Jack, Sawyer, and Sayid, followed Ilana off the plane onto the tarmac. "You two will keep guard," Ilana said, nodding to Jack and Sayid. "And you two – "

Sayid interrupted, "Guard for what?"

"While James and Kate talk to Miles."

"But from whom?"

"Anyone," Ilana replied, "Anyone that you don't know is probably working for Charles Widmore."

"So we talk to Miles?" Kate asked.

"Yes."

"And ask him what, exactly?" Sawyer asked.

"You get the coordinates for the island. I could care less what else you chose to say to him. Just remember that anything you tell him can change what we're working for."

The four looked anxiously between one another for a moment before Jack spoke, "Where are you going?"

Ilana frowned and tossed Sayid and Sawyer walkie-talkies. "Don't use them unless you need them. Let's go."

-

The harbor was like something out of a movie, multi-colored storage units, crates laying everywhere. In theory, it was easy enough to stay out of sight; however, "keeping guard" would be a bit harder than expected.

Kate and Sawyer made their way through the harbor, walking at a quick pace toward the freighter, which loomed in the distance. They kept silent; it was the best option. Kate led the way…after all, she was better at keeping hidden. From behind her left shoulder, she could see Sayid: he'd climbed atop one of the storage boxes and was keeping watch from above. Jack was somewhere that she couldn't see, but she could only assume that Sayid could see him.

Sawyer kept his hand in his pocket, holding on to the walkie-talkie that Ilana had given them.

"Get your hand out of your pocket," Kate hissed, a bit harsher than she'd intended.

He looked at her, and his hand dropped to his side.

Kate pressed herself against the rusted red storage until to their right and peered around the corner. A man in a Hawaiian shirt stood in front of the entrance of the freighter. Beside him, a fishing pool was propped against the rails, though Kate could tell by the way the line moved in the breeze that it was not baited. She pulled herself back to face Sawyer. "Guard," she whispered.

He nodded. "Now what?"

"We find a way around him."

She glanced up at Sayid, who looked around quickly and gave a quick nod. The walkie crackled softly, but they seemed to be downwind enough that the guard didn't seem to hear. "Go around to the back of the unit. It'll be a tight squeeze but you should be able to get Miles' attention from there." Sayid said.

Sawyer led the way now, shuffling to the back of the unit. The concrete of the harbor only reached a few inches from the unit. Sawyer took a deep breath and began inching his way along the back side. Kate followed, breathing a sigh of relief when Sawyer disappeared around the other side. She followed up behind him as he jumped the rail onto the freighter ramp. He kneeled behind some storage crates there, and Kate followed suit.

" – thought I heard something back here," a voice said, feminine, accented; Charlotte.

"Sh—should I call a guard?" Daniel.

"Oh would you stop jumping at every sound, for God's sake. Get back in the cabin and sit down." This time it was Miles. Kate saw a slight smile creep over Sawyer's face, and after a few moments, he looked over the crates.

Kate scooted around him. Miles was standing on the deck, leaning against the rails. Sawyer waved his arms, and with a start, Miles opened his mouth, looked toward the cabin and then back at Sawyer. He stared for a moment more before walking slowing down the ramp.

Sawyer grabbed Kate's wrist and pulled her back into one of the units, out of sight. After a few moments of each other's breathing, Miles stepped in. "Am I interrupting something, LaFleur?"

"Shuddup, Miles."

Nearly unable to contain himself, Miles grinned and threw his arms around Sawyer. Kate scooted back farther in the space, giving them room. Sawyer looked at her pathetically over Miles' shoulder.

"Where have you been?" Miles said; his voice growing alarmingly loud.

"Keep quiet. I been in Miami, in Albuquerque. Hell, I don't know where I've been. We're going back to the island, to get Juliet and 'cause we have to, and we need the coordinates."

Miles stared at him blankly for a few moments. "Wait…what?"

"We don't have time for questions," Sawyer said. "Ben got Juliet; I gotta go get her."

"LaFleur…Dan and Charlotte, they don't remember. I think the people who died – "

"I know. She wasn't dead, Juliet. She remembered and she was in Miami, but now Ben took her back, and some of us that were on the flight are having mind flashes, nose bleeds and the like…"

Miles nodded. "I don't know why, man, but I gotta go back. That's why I'm here."

Sawyer was silent; Kate could hear him swallow. "Yeah," Sawyer said, "It's something like that. We have to. We need the coordinates, you know them or not?"

"Yeah, I know them," Miles said, looking at Kate apprehensively. He looked back at Sawyer and lowered his voice for effect. "Can I go with you?"

Kate held her breath, anticipating Sawyer's reaction. "We're goin' the same place, Bruce," he said, though he seemed slightly out of breath.

"But –"

"Don't argue," Sawyer said. Kate could see he was trying to maintain eye-contact with Miles, but he was having a hard time with it. There was turmoil in his eyes. "Just give me the coordinates, Miles. For Juliet."

Miles took a breath. He seemed to notice that something was up but was either too relieved that they were all going back or too scared of Sawyer's reaction to ask about it. After a moment, he relayed the coordinates, and Kate committed them to memory.

"Thank you," Sawyer said. Uncharacteristically, he stepped forward, giving Miles a one-armed hug and a pat on the back. "We'll see you there, then, if we stay that long."

Miles didn't seem to listen to his words. "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do when I get there…I just had this feeling, this feeling like I had to get on the freighter again, like I had to be here."

Sawyer only nodded, glancing at Kate. "Well, it's a good thing you were." He shook Miles' hand firmly, and Miles still seemed confused, worried. With that, Sawyer peered out the unit and disappeared around it, no doubt expecting Kate to follow.

Miles turned to go back to the freighter, but Kate caught him by the arm. He looked at her, alarmed. "Don't go on the freighter." The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them.

"What?"

"It's not going to make it to the island. You're all going to die."

Miles stared at her. "How—how do you know?"

"Trust me."

Miles continued to stare, and Kate gave his arm a gentle squeeze. "Please. Trust me."

Miles opened and closed his mouth, then gave a tight-lipped nod. That was all Kate needed, and she turned to follow Sawyer back to the tarmac.

*

Juliet could do nothing but look at the ground when Karl emerged from the jungle, proudly holding Alex's slingshot. "Found it," he called.

Alex smiled gratefully. "Thanks," she said, taking it from him. "Anyway, Juliet, it was nice seeing you out here. I think we're going to continue our walk."

Juliet nodded and found her voice, "Nice seeing you, too, Alex."

"Nice meeting you," Karl said lamely.

"You too," Juliet responded. The two turned to go. "And Alex?" Alex turned to face her. "I don't think you should judge a book by its cover."

"What?" Alex said.

"The book I suggested," Juliet replied, "I know you didn't like it last time you read it, but this time it may be different."

The point appeared to hit Alex, and she shrugged. "I don't think so." With that, she and Karl disappeared into the jungle, and Juliet was left with a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why had she defended Ben? Because he let her go? Who knew what sort of game he was playing in the first place?

*

Ben sat in front of the monitors, watching as Juliet and Alex conversed in the jungle. He held his breath, wondering what was going on in the conversation. He knew Alex remembered nothing of time before the reset; the dead did not remember. Still, something about the girl's body-language toward Juliet…it seemed almost as if she knew who Juliet was. But that was impossible. He could hardly pull his eyes away from Alex's face as he heard someone enter from behind him.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked.

"Juliet," Ben said by way of an explanation. He felt it best to mention Alex as little as possible. If he did not mention her, maybe they would forget it, and if they forgot her, maybe this time she wouldn't have to die.

Tom gripped his walkie.

"No need for that," Ben explained, "I let her go."

"You let her go? Why?"

"I felt like that was the thing to do," Ben said, looking into the other man's eyes until he looked away.

"Why is she important?" Tom asked.

"She will help us win the war," Ben said.

"So why did you let her go?"

"So she would be on our side. If she is on our side, they will all be on our side," Ben said.

"Jacob's chosen?"

"Yes," Ben replied. He watched as Alex and Karl retreated from Juliet, who continued through the jungle until she was off-camera.

"How do you know she'll come back?" Tom asked.

"I know."

"What do you gain, Ben?" Tom said in a menacing way.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you gain from winning this war?"

Ben looked at the other man and smiled slightly. "Everything."