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The Letter

Summary - Jack made a promise to Juliet to find her sister and give her a letter. But that was before she betrayed them all. But then he finds out what really happened and the guilt starts to eat him alive and he knows he has to find his way back to her.

Ch 2 - What's in a Name.

Jack sat nervously tapping his fingers on his legs while Rachel read the rest of Juliet's letter. Rachel looked up at him. "Are you ok?" she asked.

"No" he replied "I promised her…I would get her off the island and I…I didn't" he said closing his eyes and bowing his head.

Rachel was trying to take everything in; it was so much and it was confusing and the things Juliet was writing about sounded nothing like her. "She…she was your…jailer?"

"Yes" Jack answers with a smile on his face thinking back to that day. He kept pulling on the chains above his head; he knew it was stupid and would probably result on them falling on his head rather then get him out but he continued doing it. He was so busy concentrating on the chains that he didn't hear the door open. When he did, he turned around and saw her standing there.

"Hi Jack, I'm Juliet"

Rachel looked at Jack smiling with a goofy grin in on his face and was even more confused. Maybe her original thought was correct, this man was crazy. Or maybe she was because she couldn't ignore the letter in her hand, it was in Juliet's handwriting and she was talking about thing only the two of them would know. It took her awhile to believe that her sister was dead; she didn't want to believe it. But she could not imagine Juliet being anyone's jailer not when she lived in her own jail with that ex-husband of hers. While it was tragic the way Edmund died, she silently rejoiced that Juliet would finally be free. But now she was reading that Juliet imprisoned these people. This couldn't be. "I'm sorry, but this sounds nothing like Juliet, I think you're mistaken" she said standing up to lead him to the door.

Jack took a deep breath he had to get Rachel to believe him; she had to know that Juliet was alive.

He walked up to her when he saw her using the wood from the trees to build a shelter. "You a Doctor or a Carpenter?" he asked playfully. She looked up at him and smiled "What your dad never taught you how to use a hammer?" Later that day they talked a little bit more about what their fathers taught them.

"When you fourteen and Juliet was twelve, your father dropped some lumber on the ground and told you both to build a doghouse even though you didn't have a dog, he wanted to use the skills he taught you and make something." He paused as he watched her sink back down on the couch. "You didn't want too, but you started to gather the wood so you can cut it. After a while and lots of frustration one of your friends, Beth I think, came by and saw you working in the back yard. She asked if you wanted to walk to park because a bunch of people were meeting up there. You took one look at Juliet who you were mad at for stealing your favorite shirt earlier in the day and you just left. You came home late night snuck in through your window and went to bed. The next morning you woke up and saw Juliet eating pancakes that your father made and he never does that. He was beaming at the great job the both you of did on the dog house. You walked outside and…."

"Saw that Juliet had finished the whole thing; she stayed up all night working on it" Rachel finished for him. "She never told him that I didn't help" Rachel said going back to that memory. Although when they were in college Juliet confessed to her that the real reason she stayed up working on it was that she could see the doghouse in her mind and she was afraid that if she went to bed it would be gone and she didn't want to get in trouble for staying up late on a school night so she let their father believe that I helped.

Juliet was ten and I was twelve when they lost theri mother to Cancer. They were raised by their father. He wanted boys and he was stuck with two girls. So he taught them how to how to change tires and build things with their hands. He told them that it didn't matter that they were girls they should know these things. He was hard on them but he loved them and they both loved him. Juliet was always good at building things she said they formed in her mind before she even started. That's what got her interested in biology. She wanted to know how the human body worked and if you could would rebuild when they broke down. That's what she did for me, Cancer ravished my body and all the Doctors told me I could never have children. Juliet rebuilt the cells in my uterus and now I have Julian. I named him after her because he exists because of her.

She was in shock; Juliet never told anyone that she didn't do anything. She let everyone think they both did it. And it was an amazing piece of work. Their father thought they would be Architects. This man could not have known this story without talking to Juliet. Juliet was alive. She brought her hand to her mouth "Juliet's alive" she said as her eyes started to water.

"Mommy, mommy look what I made" Julian said running into the room, she was still in shock from everything she just learned that she didn't hear the door open. She wiped her eyes and smiled at her son and held her hands out to take the picture he drew. Her husband walked in a few seconds later and stopped as he saw Jack sitting on their couch.

Jack looked at the five year old that was Juliet's namesake. The person she made possible with her knowledge. It was incredible what she did; she made someone out of nothing. It would've been a medical breakthrough if anyone found out about it.

"This is Dr. Jack Shephard" Rachel said introducing them. "And this is my husband Jason"

Jack just nodded his head and didn't make a move to get up. He couldn't not when he saw the miracle that Juliet created; she should be here she should be meeting her nephew not him.

"Jack Shephard" Jason repeated "From that Oceanic flight?" He asked his wife confused as to why someone from that flight would be in their living room.

"Yes" she replied softly.

He saw that she had been crying. "What's wrong?" He asked concerned and looking over at Jack.

Rachel looked up at her husband "Juliet's alive" She said starting to cry again. She watched the confusion run across his face.

"What?" he asked "How? What?"

"Jack…he met her on the island they were on" she replied

"Island? I thought you said her plane crashed in Seattle, how did she end up on an island?"

"She was taken there by the company she went to work for. They lied to her and they told me she was dead" she told him holding the letter out to him. "Juliet she explains some of it in here" he took the letter from her shaking hands and put his arms around her as she fell into him.

"What's wrong mommy? Julian asked as he ran to them and put his arms around his mother leg. She was upset and he didn't know why and wanted to know why a grizzly man was in their house.

After they ate dinner they set Julian up in front of the tv, Rachel and Jason sat across from Jack so she could watch Julian in the other room. Jason read the letter. "You think this is really her?" he asked.

"Yes, she knew I wouldn't believe him right away…so she talked about things that only she and I know about" Rachel replied. "That letter is in her writing and it's dated three years ago" she said having to take deep breaths because her heart was pounding. "She wrote that three years ago, Jason…I thought she was dead" Jason grabbed her hand and held on to it tightly.

"Why did you wait so long to give to this her?" He asked Jack "You've all been back for three years" he asked a little angrily.

Jack bowed his head "I know…I should've…but… I thought…"He couldn't bring himself to tell them what he thought happened at least not yet because he was beating himself up for believing it. "The rest still on the island…I thought lying was protecting them…but I was wrong"

Tbc….