You guys are as sweet as ever. Sorry for the long time of a wait. I've got myself a new job and I had midterms to study for this week. I'll try not to let that happen again. Don't worry, I didn't quit on you guys!
Craig, that's perfectly alright and thank you for showing that to me! I'll try and keep myself from doing that in the future! (Or the past if you want to get technical! Hah. I made a pun..)
Living the Lie: April, 1975. Part Two.
April 20,
1975.
"Where's Juliet?" was the first question out of his mouth when Miles came into the infirmary.
Miles eyed him carefully and frowned. "She's at the house, why?"
"You sure?"
"Positive, man," Miles assured him. "I stayed at your place with her last night, she went to sleep, she hasn't left," he explained. "What's going on?"
Sawyer narrowed his eyes. "Did ya' check and see if she was actually in her room?"
"What?" Miles asked incredulously. "No, why would I?" he questioned him. "Jim, what's going on?" he finally dared to ask. He felt like he was playing twenty questions with the man and it was not his all-time favorite game in the world.
Sawyer winced as he sat up, but he ignored the pain that burned through his shoulder and side. "She freakin' drugged me last night, Miles.." he told him. "She ain't in her damned room, she went back to see that Jacob guy."
Miles was silent for a moment and then he lifted the walkie from his waist to his mouth. "Jin.." he called over it. "See if Juliet's in her room.."
There was an eerie silence from Miles, Sawyer and even Jin over the walkie for several minutes.
"No.." came Jin's voice. "Juliet not there."
"Sonuvabitch.." Sawyer growled out.
~*~*~*~
Her first thought was that she really should have thought this through better and brought a gun with her. The next thought was that it was a bad idea. But it wasn't, right? They needed help if they were going to survive. She sighed, blazing a trail back in the direction of the temple. She was glad she'd remembered her way, at least that was a bonus on her part.
"I think we found Jane, maybe we should look around for Tarzan."
Juliet froze as the two men with guns stepped in front of her. These guys weren't Others, she could tell just from the way they spoke. She thought it was sad that she could tell the difference between Others and other people that didn't belong on the island. "Who are you people?" she dared to ask, glancing between the two.
"We're from out of town, sweetcheeks," the man told her. "Why don't you come with us?"
"I don't think so," she stated, tilting her head to the side slightly. "You really shouldn't be out here. It's not safe," she told them casually.
The two men looked at each other, back at her and then laughed. "Not safe? From what, who, you?" the other man asked, snickering. "You don't look very uh.. scary, lady."
Juliet stood her ground, watching as the second man came up to her. She glanced down and around at her own body and patted her body accordingly. "I'd hardly say I'm the threat," she answered with a shrug. "I'm not even armed," she admitted, wiggling her fingertips in front of his face.
"Oh I like her, this one's a keeper Mac," he called back to his friend with a chuckle.
Mac shrugged. "Well, she's a native, I'd say we take her to the Captain."
Juliet reached out as soon as the unnamed man turned to his friend, Mac. Her hands gripped his head and she twisted, hearing the snap. Almost immediately she grabbed the gun, pulling the trigger at Mac. She watched as he dropped too and she let out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She went over to Mac who was staring up at her, blinking, trying to suck in air with a hole in his chest. "I only said I wasn't the threat, I never said I wasn't a threat." And she reached down, plucking the rifle from his hands and swinging it over her shoulder, opting to keep the handgun out.
She felt the pang of regret as the adrenaline wore off. The distress hitting her as the life faded from his eyes and she watched it happen. She squatted down, reaching out and closing his eyes. "Sorry Mac.." she managed to whisper out. She heard footsteps and instantly raised the gun, surprised to see Richard standing a few feet away now.
"Well.. if I hadn't been sure that you were one of us before when you said so, I would have been after watching that display," he stated casually, walking over towards her. "Jacob said you might come back. Though, he thought it would take much longer.."
Juliet reached up and accepted the hand he offered to her. "I'm not proud of myself for this, Richard," she told him as she stood face to face with him. "In fact, I hate myself for it," she assured him.
He was silent at first upon hearing her words.
"I used to create life," she told him. "And since I came here, for the past four years, all I've done is take life away," she mumbled, and she dared to glance back at the two men she'd just killed. "I just watched that man die.. stared into his eyes as he drifted away, is this why you bring me here, Richard? To become a killer?"
Richard sighed. "I don't know the answer to that, Juliet," he answered with a frown. "Come.. I'll take you to Jacob."
She didn't know what she'd been hoping for when she'd blurted all of that out to him. Maybe an answer, maybe a reassurance that she killed because she had to, something. But she'd gotten nothing and now she was watching his back as he walked away. She glanced down at the gun in her hand, at Mac and the man whose name she didn't know, and then she took a deep breath, following Richard to the temple.
~*~*~
"Anything from the security videos?" he asked Miles when the man came back a little later on.
Miles frowned. "It just shows Juliet late last night or really early this morning going through the fence.." he admitted.
"Horace really wants to evacuate?" he dared to ask.
Miles nodded.
"We ever wanna get home.. we better hope that whatever the hell Juliet's planning to do actually works.." he muttered out, flinching as he sat up in the bed.
"Thing is man.. the sub won't be able to get here for a few days," Miles told him. "And there's a crapload of those freaks out in the jungle and far as we can tell, they're planning on a second attack.." he explained.
Sawyer closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"If they still have more people, if that wasn't all of them.. I don't think we'll survive another attack."
Juliet's words from the previous night were ringing through his head now. She was right. If they didn't get help somehow, they were all going to die before they even got the chance to evacuate. What he didn't understand last night he was definitely beginning to understand right now with Miles telling him the same thing.
"What exactly is Juliet planning?" Miles dared to ask him.
Sawyer sighed. "Visiting Jacob to find out what happened to her is the excuse she's usin' to ask them for their help with those people.." he admitted.
"Shit.." Miles muttered.
"My sentiments exactly.." Sawyer agreed. He could only hope she'd make it to Jacob to ask for help. Knowing that woman, she'd find a way.
April 21,
1975.
Fortunately they hadn't run into anymore uninvited guests on their way to the temple and they managed to reach it fairly quickly. By the time she followed Richard into the pool room Jacob was standing there waiting, as though he knew she would be showing up. Then again, maybe he did know. Jacob was an enigma to her, somebody or something that she knew absolutely nothing about. As they stepped up to him, she eyed him with uncertainty as he smiled at her.
"Hello again, Doctor Burke."
Juliet frowned slightly, nearly asking him how he would know her profession and last name. But she decided it wasn't worth it to ask, he seemed to know absolutely everything regardless of that fact that she would technically not be a doctor, nor bare the last name Burke for years to come. "Hello, Jacob.." she greeted in return. She figured he probably already knew she had ulterior motives when coming here today.
Jacob motioned for the room to be cleared. "Why don't we get started so we can get to the other problem you truly came here for," he suggested.
Richard glanced between the two in confusion.
She could only nod her head in response. He, of course, had just proved her suspicions true with that statement.
"Richard, wait," Jacob stated calmly, stopping the man from also leaving the area. "I think it would be best if you stayed, in case we need any help in here."
Richard arched an eyebrow, remained tight-lipped, and then nodded before leaning against a wall obediently.
Juliet thought about asking him what he meant, but she figured she probably didn't want to know what he meant by that. It probably meant something bad. Yes.. it was definitely better if she didn't ask. But apparently Jacob decided to explain himself regardless, apparently he couldn't read thoughts.
"This is a temperamental procedure, my dear Juliet.." Jacob informed her, studying the unsettled look on her face. He reached his hand out for hers and waited until she accepted it before he led her down the steps and into the water pool. He motioned Richard over. "You're going to want to fight it, your body will instinctively do so," he explained until they were fully emerged in the center of the pool. "Take a deep breath, keep your eyes open, it only works when you stop fighting."
"What?" she questioned immediately, shocked by the last words that came from him. Before she had much more time to react, she felt a hand on her head and her face was shoved into the water. Instinctively she struggled and she felt another pair of arms holding her down.
"Keep your eyes open, it only works when you stop fighting."
She forced her eyes open and managed to relax her body in the arms of the two men.
"She took to that faster then I thought she would," Jacob informed Richard with a chuckle.
Richard stared down at the unmoving blonde, remembering her words the day before clearly. About how she hated herself. He was going to feel bad when he brought her to this island in a few decades. He knew what she was like now, but what was she like before she came to the Island?
She woke up, untangling herself from Sawyer on the bathroom floor in a full-blown panic and barely escaping without wanting to scream. She changed, ran, ran, ran and ran some more from the fear that last nights encounter may be seen as weakness and that somebody else would once again use those weaknesses against her. She ran.. straight into Jin where she finagled the security code from the Korean and broke freak from the constraints of the Dharma barracks. She kept running until she ran into Richard. Proceeded to shout at him, shove him around some. At least until she'd been shot.
Jacob frowned slightly. Her thoughts as she saw what she'd done going through his head. Her panicked state in the beginning showed him more about her character then he'd already known.
"We're going to drown her," Richard stated, remaining calm despite the fact he was helping hold her head under the water.
Jacob simply shook his head, keeping his eyes down at Juliet. The woman had remarkable courage to remain absolutely still considering the situation.
Bits and pieces of conversation from Richard and Ellie came through, then she was being carried through the jungle. Why? Because she was 'one of them'. When Richard took a break was when it went to hell. Her eyes opened briefly and she squinted over at Richard through the darkness. His eyes were closed and he was resting against a tree. She never heard it. She almost always heard it before she saw it. But instead, there it was, the pillar of smoke billowing above her. She was face to smoke and fear completely ravaged her mindset, she was frozen with the fear.
Jacob kept a steady hold as the blonde began to flail in the pool of water.
Richard eyed him but he said nothing this time.
When the smoke enveloped her, she thought of calling out for Richard, for help. She couldn't find the words to do so. Within seconds she was dragged off and Richard was completely out of sight. She only felt darkness, corruption and the feeling of being lost within herself. But she didn't feel the pain anymore, it was gone, lost in the darkness.
Jacob pulled her up, watching as she coughed, sputtered and spit water back into the pool surrounding the three. "Outstanding.." he marveled, throwing her a smile. He could see Richard eying him with curiosity. "He tried to corrupt her. He failed though, quite miserably," he explained casually.
"Corrupt me?" Juliet managed to get out as she stared between the two men. "What do you mean he tried to corrupt me?"
Richard shook his head. "You don't want to know the answer to that," he assured her. He watched, along with Juliet, as Jacob left the pool and went back to his 'chambers'. He glanced at Juliet and helped her out as well. He helped her to sit down and rest before taking a seat beside her. "So, why did you really come here?"
She glanced at Richard. "I'll answer that if you explain how that thing tried to corrupt me."
Richard chuckled. "Very well," he replied with a shrug. "Think of it, as a possession of sorts, he possessed you, tried to see if he could completely take over your body with his will."
"You can't be serious.." she muttered, ringing out her hair and letting the water soak to the floor.
"You were fighting for that control back," Richard stated. "Doing that is no easy feat, you would have developed serious mood swings, probably said things to people you most likely didn't mean," he explained to her. "Had your friends not brought you here, you might have died fighting to control your own body, it becomes self-destructive to have two entities in one single body."
Juliet stared at him as though he'd completely lost his mind.
"Now why are you really here?"
She sighed slightly. "You've seen those people that came to the island," she pointed out. "They've wiped out nearly one fourth of the Dharma Initiative already, Richard," she explained with a frown. "Injured a lot more, I came here because we need your help."
Richard looked at her in silence for a moment as he judged that statement. "I'm going to assume they have no idea you came to ask for help."
She shook her head. "Regardless, those people--"
"They're military, soldiers," he told her, cutting her off. "They've been here before.."
Juliet narrowed her eyes.
"You were with John Locke twenty years ago," Richard stated. "You were there in 1954, did you see the bomb?"
"The hyrdogen bomb?" she questioned immediately. "You're kidding.. the military stuck that thing on the Island?"
Richard chuckled. "That's correct. And obviously they've realized twenty years later that the bomb didn't quite do its job," he replied nonchalantly. He studied her carefully, "Very well, they're a common enemy, we'll help."
Juliet was shocked that he agreed so easily. Though, considering these people had attempted to kill everyone here and blow up the island once before, obviously the Others' would want to get a little payback. She was about to reply when Jacob walked out of his chambers fully dry, and held out a long white dress and a pair of sandals for her. "You're kidding, right?" she questioned, staring at him.
He chuckled. "I'm not, no," he stated. "Go change, you can't go running through the jungle soaking wet."
Juliet frowned and took the dress with a roll of her eyes, She took the sandals into her other hand and went into his chambers. This would be the most ridiculous way to go back to the barracks, wearing a dress and carrying a rifle. She rolled her eyes at the thought of it as she slipped the dress over her head. She glanced into the mirror that took over almost the entire wall. It went to her ankles, too far down to maneuver in any way she would need to. Alterations were in order and she tore it just above her knees and tossed the bottom to the floor. She slipped on the sandals and exited the room.
Richard chuckled at what she'd done to the dress.
Jacob looked amused as he looked at the fraying edges of the dress. The bottom looked like a slightly longer version of the Wilma Flintstone dress. "We're not done, when you're truly ready for the rest, you can return and I'll show you," he told her. He handed her rifle to her.
She simply nodded, though she was almost positive she wouldn't ever want to know the rest.
"Come," Richard stated. "We'll go get my people and go help yours."
Juliet would have laughed at the way he worded that if it hadn't been so ironic. She didn't even know who her people were anymore. She followed him regardless.
April 22,
1975.
The alarms were blaring into the barracks again, the shooting was starting once more. Sawyer watched as Miles got up and got ready to run outside and he himself got out of the infirmary bed.
"What are you doing man?" Miles groaned out. "You got shot, twice," he reminded the southerner. "You can't go out there.."
"I can do whatever the hell I want," Sawyer growled out. "Gimme a damn gun or watch me go find one."
Miles rolled his eyes. He took a second rifle out and threw it to him. "You get shot again, I'll shoot you a fourth time just for good measure."
"Lookin' forward to it," Sawyer replied with a smirk as he followed Miles out of the infirmary.
They took cover on the side of a house, Miles squatting low and Sawyer standing. They were taking potshots at all the men that had intruded.
Sawyer could feel the protest in his shoulder and side as he shot the rifle. The kickback was making it agonizing. But it was better than having to sit in a bed and listen to the massive firefight going on. The sight he and Miles saw next made them both stare in shock. Shots, lots of them, were coming from behind the men attacking them. And as the group of helpers got closer they recognized them as the Hostiles, Others, whatever name they went by. And they were being led by Juliet and Richard.
He had to give the people of Dharma props for not deciding to shoot at the Hostiles too. Horace had told them to stand down and they'd listened. He couldn't believe it though, that crazy woman had managed to recruit the help from them after all.
"Holy shit.." Miles muttered. "I can't believe she did it.."
"No kiddin'.." Sawyer said in astonishment.
Miles snickered. "That bitch has balls.."
Sawyer had to roll his eyes. "Bet they're bigger then yours.."
"Probably bigger then yours, mine and Jin's combined.." Miles amended.
And Sawyer laughed, he couldn't help it. It didn't matter that guns were blaring all around, the comment was just wrong and hilarious for their situation. "Wouldn't doubt it," he agreed.
They once again joined the battle, leaving the jokes aside that had just been going on a moment ago.
Within an hour most of the intruders were dead, the rest had retreated, barking orders about getting the hell off the island before it was too late. Sawyer managed to keep himself steady as he, Horace, Miles and Jin met up with Juliet and Richard. For the first time, Sawyer noticed how the blonde was dressed.
Horace and Richard stared at each other silently for over a minute. The silences was almost deafening, nobody was making a sound.
Finally, Horace spoke up. "I can't tell you enough how much we appreciate your help," he admitted with a sigh.
"We may not like your people, Mr. Goodspeed," Richard began. "But we liked those people even less," he told him casually. "You can thank Juliet here for daring to ask me for our help. We'll take care of driving them off the island from this point on."
Horace watched as Richard collected his people and left just as suddenly as they had all come. He glanced at the blonde who looked a little afraid of her actions. "Juliet.." he stated, waiting until she met his eyes. When she did, he continued. "As reckless as your actions were.. you might have just saved everyone here."
Juliet was stunned by the words.
"Thank you," he stated, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm glad you're alright."
The four watched as Horace walked off to help with the wounded.
Sawyer glanced at Juliet now. He should have been pissed that she'd drugged him, but he couldn't find it in him to really be offended by it. She did what she thought she had to and how many times had he done the same in the past? He gave her the once over from head to toe. "Nice dress, Sheena."
The corners of her mouth curled into an instant smile.
Miles was grinning from ear to ear. "Holy gazzangas.." he stated.
Juliet, Sawyer and Jin all stared at him in confusion. They were all absolutely positive 'gazzangas' wasn't even a real word.
"You got a nice rack.." Miles stated with a nod. "Keep that dress and I'll be your Fred Flintstone."
Jin was covering his mouth to keep from laughing.
Sawyer couldn't resist but to laugh out loud in response.
Juliet was turning slightly red as she folded her arms over her chest. "I'll shove your caveman club up your ass if you talk about my 'rack' again," she assured him.
Sawyer laughed even harder, which made him unsteady and in even more pain now that the adrenaline was wearing off. He staggered forward slightly.
Juliet's embarrassment quickly turned to concern as she reached out and grabbed hold of him. "Are you alright?" she asked softly, lowering him and herself to the ground so he could rest. "Why are you even out of the infirmary?" she questioned, just now remembering where he should be.
"Dingbat there wouldn't listen when I told him to stay in the infirmary," Miles answered for Sawyer with a roll of his eyes.
"Shh.. be quiet.." Sawyer muttered. "I'm feelin' a little better here.."
Juliet froze. She stared down at him in shock, realizing now that he was resting his head right on her chest. "Oh my-- you're all a bunch of perverts," she groaned out, pushing him away lightly. "Jin's the only one of your gender with a sense of decency," she stated, rolling her eyes and getting back to her feet.
"Is decent rack," Jin assured her, managing not to grin from one side of his face to the other when Miles and Sawyer both laughed like hyenas.
"I take that back.." Juliet reiterated with a full-on eye-roll that would make any eye-roll master faint in envy. "You've taken Jin to the dark side," she stated, shaking her head and walking away.
Miles grinned. "The dark side has cookies!" he shouted after her.
()()TBC()()
Again, I am so sorry for making you guys wait so long for this chapter. I swear I'll try not to let that happen again. I still have to see the latest two episodes of Lost :( at least I thought of all of you first!