The rains stayed away. That part was good. Everything else pretty much sucked. You couldn't move without the risk of slipping. And carrying Miles and Ben was becoming increasingly hard. Sawyer had to keep telling himself every step is one step closer to the beach. Right now his tent and the prospect of not having to do anything seemed like heaven on earth. He was so damn tired. His shoulders hurt and blisters were forming on the inside of his thumbs.

Another steep descend was ahead of them. He and Frank were the first to go down, carrying Ben's body between them. Frank slipped behind him and James had to improvise to keep the stretcher steady. He stepped to the left, right onto a loose rock covered by mud. It moved and Sawyer moved with it. He landed hard on his left arm and shoulder and the stretcher slipped from his hands. Ben's body rolled downhill for a few meters. Sawyer cursed out loud, then looked back at Frank and muttered "Sorry man". Miles, after hearing Ben fall, started wailing about the extra pain that was about to be his (since getting down and staying on the stretcher seemed wishful thinking). All Sawyer thought was dead people make better passengers.

They had been hiking for over twelve hours when they reached the beach. The sun was setting and Jin and Sun shared a quiet moment by the water. They had just finished their daily afternoon routine (laundry, fetching water, cleaning their tent) and had made it their habit to watch the sunset together. Juliet was out looking for fruits, a lame excuse to be alone for a bit. Jack was leaning back on one of the remains of an airplane chair. Juliet had borrowed him her book this morning and he was using the last bit of daylight to read a few more pages. While turning a page he briefly looked up and saw her walking onto the beach. Kate! He jumped up and stared as the rest of the team entered his view. There were Hurley, Sawyer, Frank. Two stretchers. His relief turned into worry but then his doctor's instinct kicked in. He rushed over. Jin and Sun followed. Sawyer, who had been scanning the beach claimed Jin's attention by grabbing his shoulder.

"Where is she?"

"She went to get some fruits. That way." Sun pointed to the other end of the beach. "She's not f…."

But Sawyer was already off. Fuck. Coming back to the beach and she wasn't even here! Jin had promised him to not let her out of his sight. He walked through their camp and then passed the first trees into the nearest bit of jungle. After a few minutes he abruptly stopped: there she was, back towards him. Blonde hair, same old purple shirt and shady jeans. Seemingly unaware of the commotion on the beach. In her own world.

She was just about to head back when she heard footsteps behind her. Alarmed (as always, since she knew they were not alone on this island) she turned around instantly. But it was him.

She dropped whatever fruits she was holding and they just stared at each other for a few seconds. She felt herself scanning him for injuries. No blood (easy to see. No shirt too). Bruised? She couldn't tell. He looked so tired.

She managed to slowly move in his direction. He moved frantic, hastily. When they were close enough to touch, he reached out his arms to pull her in but she resisted. "Damn you" she stammered, while slamming her clenched fists against his chest. She was half expecting him to joke about the whole situation, but he didn't. Instead he looked surprised and grabbed her hands.

"Juliet."

She lifted her head and could read the confusion on his face. She felt her anger melt away and tried to smile. His face softened at that and she rested her forehead on his right shoulder.

"I was so worried. You've been gone for six days" she mumbled against his skin.

He let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her back. "I'm fine baby." He could feel her tears on his chest. When she put her arms around his shoulder blades to hug him tighter he flinched. "Maybe not totally fine."

She backed away a bit. "Just my shoulder. Kinda slippery out there." He smiled, not wanting her to worry more.

"Where's your shirt?"

He inhaled. "Bandage for Miles. He ran himself into a little trouble out on Hydra." Her expression turned serious and she looked over his shoulder in the direction of their camp.

"Fuuuuuck. That hurts man!" "I know. I'm sorry." Jack had cut open Miles jeans up to his knee and was now cleaning the wound so he could have a better look. He could clearly see the bullet, but he needed something to remove it with. If you think this hurts, wait until I'm trying to remove it. He was already apologizing in his mind, feeling sorry for Miles.

Sawyer and Juliet walked back to the beach, finding everyone gathered around the two stretchers. "How is he?" Juliet rushed up to Jack, who was on his knees next to Miles.

"A little moody."

"You think that's funny?" Miles grabbed the sides of the stretcher, needing to squeeze something (or someone). "Jules." He looked up at Juliet, who was standing next to Jack now. "You happen to have some secret medical kit hidden somewhere? That'd be really nice right now." His face grimaced again.

"Sorry Miles." She kneeled next to Jack, putting her hand on top of Miles'. "How deep is it?"

"I can get it out. But I need tweezers or, just something sharp." Jin was already on it as he left for his tent to get whatever medical supplies remained from the van.

"Fucking great. Jim, you wanna punch me out? I'm giving you official permission. This is your chance." Sawyer looked at him, shaking his head.

"What kind of friend are you?"

"You're going to be fine Miles." Juliet grabbed his hand and held it.

An hour later Juliet was sitting next to Ben. She had touched his face but immediately stopped when she felt the coldness of his skin. He doesn't look dead. Many people's expressions change after dying, like they want to show you there is no mistake: they're gone. Not Ben. Apart from the damage to his face he looked exactly the same. Like he could wake up in an unguarded moment and say "I had you all fooled!" Jin and Jack dug a grave on their old grave yard and in the dark they buried him. No one said a word.

That night, as they had fish and fruits for diner near Miles' sleeping spot, the highlights of their trip were shared with the people who'd stayed back at the beach. Frank gave a description of the plane. Sawyer portrayed whatever they knew about the survivors still stuck at Hydra Island. They talked about what had happened on the beach. And about the phone. Hurley's narration of the conversation with his dad let to tears and smiles from Sun and Jin (the possibility of him ever meeting his daughter had just opened up). Jack and Juliet stayed quiet. Too much had happened that evening and Hurley's words just wouldn't sink in.

The night had come and gone. The rains had returned during diner and everyone had just pretty much gone to bed early. It was now morning and Hurley sat next to Miles, digging with his toes in the still wet sand.

Miles, in need of a little more active distraction from his own misery, just had to ask. "So tell me. You were in a mental institution? What's up with that?" He looked at Hurley. He'd had a good night sleep and the pain was not as sharp as it had been.

"Oh, you know. I have regular chats with dad people." Hurley stared at the ocean while adding his fingers to the digging process. Miles looked genuinely startled.

"It was a nice place. Can recommend it if you need some space from 'normal people'." He looked at Miles, who was now staring at him like he was a mad man. Hurley laughed out loud. "Dude, gifts like that aren't understood by society. Ask Sawyer." He gave Sawyer a look, who in return just raised his hand as a 'no comment' sign.

Sawyer had his eyes closed. He hadn't been this comfortable in days and felt like a king in his palace. He was leaning against a small rock Juliet was sitting on. She had one leg on each side of him and was slowly massaging his shoulders. Ah sweet heaven. Home again.

"There's somethin' I haven't told ya." The conversation he'd had with Kate popped up into his mind, as a nasty disturber of the peace.

"What's that?" she asked, not interrupting her work.

"I ain't a wanted man."

She stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"Back home…. I ain't a wanted man. No one ever linked my name to that guy… Back in Australia."

Back home. When he said that, her first thought had been the Dharma Initiative. He meant Back Home. Her hands slipped from his shoulders to his upper arms. He turned to look at her. She clearly needed more than this. "Cassidy checked. Or…. " He rotated himself a bit and placed an elbow on her knee. "Kate asked Cassidy to check." He looked up at her, half expecting her to turn cold again. OK give it to me. Ask me. Why would Kate do that? But she didn't. Instead she just said "That's good news right?"

He sighed and briefly touched her chin. "Yeah, that's good news." He turned back and she continued pressing his muscles. He closed his eyes again and relaxed into her touch. That was easy. He didn't see her chin trembling. And she didn't know whether it was because of the Back Home part, the Not Wanted part or the Kate part.

After a few minutes she stopped. "I need to show you something."

"Now? I'm kind of enjoying this you know." Grumble.

"Come on, it's in our tent." She needed him and herself back in the here and now, away from all these big elusive things such as Rescue and Their Lives Back Home that had absolutely nothing in common. And this would be pretty perfect.

He sighed but got up. What could possibly be good enough to give up this massage for? "You got me an early birthday present?"

"Sort of." She was smiling now and crawled into their tent. She grabbed something from under her airplane pillow and handed him a small box. He stared at it, unable to read what it was without his glasses.

"It's the pill."

"A pill… For what? You comin' down with something?"

"It's THE pill, as in birth control." She bit her lip at his shocked expression.

"Where did you get this?"

She told him about Sun. "I guess Jin told her about our.., you know… situation." Now it was his turn to smile. "Our situation huh?" Then he turned serious. "Is this ok though? Is it safe?"

She took the pills from him and put them back under the pillow. "She gave it to me two days after you left. I already started taking them. We're good. For as long as this lasts at least."

He was lost for words for a few seconds, but recovered quickly and grinned. "Well", he said, "Guess who's goin' to bed real early tonight?"

He couldn't think of a time he'd ever been hornier. Or, no. Horny was not the right word. Eager to have sex? Desperately aching to touch her. That was more like it. He pulled his shirt over his head, since he couldn't bring up the patience to wait for her to do it. His belt was next. It was stuck and he mumbled a few words of frustration before he was finally able to open it. Then he looked up. And stopped whatever he is doing. Cause... good Lord, she was so gorgeous.

Juliet looked at him. She was in the middle of unhooking her bra, when he seemed to have stopped undressing himself. And he just stared at her. She felt awkward instantly. "What's wrong?" she asked. Still, always, that damn insecurity streak playing up. He didn't immediately answer. Instead his mouth just dropped a bit. She frowned and her eyes were begging for him to just stop looking like that.

"Come here" he mumbled, after realizing he hadn't answered her yet. They were both still half dressed. He placed his left hand on her knee while hooking his right index finger in the waistband of her jeans. He slowly pulled her onto his lap. He felt her naked breasts pressing against his chest. She looked at him, expectant, patient. Insecure push over Juliet had gone as fast as she appeared two minutes ago. He moved in to kiss her, but lingered for a second just before their lips touch, trying to grasp the energy that is in that little space between them. It was the most intense thing he'd ever felt. Then she kissed him. Mouths half open, tongues exploring, slowly, gently. It felt like time was slowing down just for them, so this moment would feel like a lifetime instead of just a few seconds.

And that was that. They managed to get rid of the rest of their clothes. He turned to move on top of her; the heat of their bodies touching felt electrifying. He placed a trail of kisses, starting at her neck, right below her earlobe, all the way down to her belly button and beyond. He thought he'd never kissed softer skin. She thought… she really couldn't think anymore. She couldn't capture the way they're moving together right now in words. This wasn't James trying to please her. It was like her pleasure was his and vice versa. When he moved inside her, sweat slid down his back. She moaned, without holding back. The rains were working in their favor, not that they noticed. He had to control himself a couple of times. But for some reason, it wasn't difficult. This needed to last as long as possible. For the both of them.

At the end, they were back where they started: her on his lap. He was still inside her, breathing heavily, licking some sweat of her shoulder. Out of nowhere he felt like crying. Crying? Seriously? Get a grip. He rested his forehead on her shoulder, trying to regain control of his emotions. His brain was waking up again. Of course, she noticed. As a response she did nothing more than gently stroke the back of his neck while whispering into his right ear "I love you." He tightened his arms around her back and the thoughts just dissolved.

When they finally were lying next to each other, they didn't speak. They never had sex like this before (and they'd had plenty of intense amazing love making sessions). They were both so taken aback by the experience that none of them could sleep. So instead they just lay there, her head on his chest, his arm lightly stroking her back, her arm curled around his stomach. By now it was poring outside and the sound blocked out all possible jungle noises. And for a while the island seemed like another world.

To be continued!