Juliet smiled as she laid there with Goodwin, her head resting on his back, wine glass in hand.

"I wish we could do this all the time," he mused, "I hate that we have to be so…private." If he could have spent every moment with Juliet, he would have. He wished they could just get on the sub and go away from the island, be together without worries of his wife, but Juliet wouldn't have it.

"What's the matter with being private?" she asked a moment later, as he'd known she would.

He sighed, "It's ridiculous, I've been sleeping on the couch for a year. Why am I not just telling her?" The thought had crossed his mind many times, but this was the first time he said it out loud. He knew she'd object to the idea. Juliet and Harper didn't get along very well as it was; throw in the fact that Juliet had been sleeping with her husband, and Harper was liable to become dangerous.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Juliet answered simply. Not only did she have his wife to contend with, but she also knew the woman had no qualms about going to Ben. She sat up, and Goodwin followed suit, a worried expression on his face.

"Why not?"

She paused for an instant before replying, deciding not to mention that Harper already knew. "Ben wouldn't like it."

"That's what this is about, you're worried about Ben?"

Juliet looked at him knowingly, as if to say, 'Shouldn't I be?'

"Why, because he has a crush on you?"

His question caught Juliet off-guard. She didn't realize Goodwin had any knowledge of Ben's feelings towards her. Hell, she hadn't even thought about it until Harper mentioned it. "You know?"

"Come on, everyone knows, he follows you around like a puppy!" Goodwin exclaimed with a soft chuckle. Why wouldn't Ben have a crush on her? It surprised him that she didn't think it was obvious, that she didn't realize how beautiful she was. Ben wasn't the only one on the island who was crushing on the gorgeous, blonde doctor, he was just the most dangerous.

Juliet half-smiled for a moment. "And you don't think that's a problem?"

He sighed, "Now, a little less than a kilometer from here, he has me working with chemicals. They could kill every man, woman, and child on this island if I flip the wrong switch," he explained, "Trust me, Ben has enough on his plate. The last thing he cares about is you and me."

"I just…get the feeling that he would be upset." Juliet replied, feeling uneasy.

"What's Ben gonna do?"

"That's a wonderful question, Goodwin." came the chilling reply from behind them.

Juliet froze as she looked into the eyes of the very man they'd just been talking about. "B-Ben…" she stammered, her throat suddenly going dry. She stood up, not daring to look at Goodwin.

"Yes, Juliet, it's Ben. Glad to know you still remember my name, what with you moaning Goodwin's all the time, and all. I had hoped Harper was just being paranoid when she told me that the two of you were seeing one another, but it seems she was right, after all. That makes me very sad, Juliet. I thought after all this time, you understood where your loyalty should lie."

"My loyalty?" Juliet asked, a hint of anger in her voice, "Ben, I have been nothing but loyal to you for three years! Which, if you remember, is two and a half more than you originally told me. If you had some kind of feelings for me, you should have said something about it! It's not my fault you were too afraid to." She was the only one who could ever get away with talking to him like that, though it still angered him. Goodwin looked on, shocked she'd had the nerve to say such things to him. He knew she was a strong woman, but not quite that brave.

"You're right, Juliet. It's not your fault. But it is your fault that you decided to take up with a married man, instead. Which is why I'm going to have to punish you." Ben said calmly.

"Punish me?" she repeated apprehensively, her heart rate picking up.

"Hey now, Ben, come on, there's no need to get dramatic, here. We're all adults, we can work this out, and really, whatever's going on is between me, Juliet, and Harper, it doesn't concern you." Goodwin jumped in.

Ben chuckled softly, "That's where you're wrong, Goodwin. The welfare of everyone on this island is in my hands, and when something threatens to jeopardize that…I have to eliminate the threat, Goodwin. I'm sure you understand."

The shot came an instant later. Juliet gasped in horror when she saw the blood pouring from Goodwin's chest as he fell to the ground. "NO!!!" she screamed, tears filling her eyes. She knelt beside him, desperately trying to find a pulse, but there was none. "What have you done?!?" she screamed at Ben, looking at him through watery eyes.

"I haven't done anything, Juliet. I don't have a gun." Ben said coolly. Rage boiled inside of her as Danny Pickett stepped out from behind the trees, grinning wickedly, a gun in his hand.

"You're a monster!" she said angrily, standing up again, her entire body shaking with anger and grief.

"I'm not the monster, here, Juliet." Ben said, as if accusing her and excusing himself. "Go home, Danny, your job here is done." he told Pickett, who turned to leave, a sickeningly amused grin still on his face.

"What, you're saying this is my fault?! What's the matter with you, Ben, how could you just have him killed in cold blood?!" she shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why would you do that to him? To me? If you really had feelings for me, if you really cared about me at all, you'd have let us be! You'd have let me go home when I wanted to! You don't care about me, not really. You only care about keeping me. You want to possess me. Well, I'm not yours! Do you hear me??" she demanded, stepping closer to him with every sentence she spoke. "I'm not yours! You can keep me here as long as you want, you can continue to punish me for the rest of my life, but I will never belong to you."

Her gaze was ice cold, and Ben felt it. Something inside of him seemed to break with her words. She really thought he didn't care? Maybe she was right about the way he'd treated her, but it was only because he loved her, and she'd crushed him over and over again. He'd always treated her better than he did anyone else…hadn't he? "Juliet, you don't honestly believe that, do you? My feelings towards you have always been clear, I love you. And you broke my heart."

He said it, but she felt nothing. Nothing, perhaps, but pity. And anger. "If you love me, then prove it. Let me go home, Ben." she said, moving ever closer to him. "Please. I need to go home. Let me go, Ben. Let me go now, and I'll leave with the fond memories I still have of you. Keep me here, and all I'll have for you is hatred." She spoke softly, closing in on him until they were only inches apart. "What'll it be, Ben?"

He paused, staring at her for a good long while. She thought perhaps that he'd never answer, until finally, he spoke. "You can go home, Juliet." he replied softly. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard his voice break slightly.

"What's the catch?" she asked suspiciously.

"There isn't one. Not this time. I'd rather have you thousands of miles away still caring for me than to have you here hating me, though you have every right to do so. I'm sorry, Juliet. I let my jealousy get the better of me today, and I shouldn't have done that." He seemed sincere enough. She decided to accept it. It was the best she'd ever get out of him, she couldn't push it, and it seemed he was finally letting her go home. She couldn't jeopardize that opportunity.

"Thank you, Ben." she said softly, tears still escaping from her eyes. As a means of sealing the deal, so to speak, she leaned in to him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. It hurt her heart to do so after just losing Goodwin, but Ben had been good to her (or as good as Ben could be to someone), up until now.

He looked at her in surprise. "I do love you, Juliet, the best I know how. Please remember that about me, even if you choose to forget everything else. Go now and pack, the sub leaves in the morning."

"But Goodwin, he--"

"I'll take care of him." he assured her, somehow not quite so reassuringly, but she couldn't take any more chances. She'd come to terms with her grief once she got off the damn island.

Juliet nodded, taking one last look at the body of her lover. "Please do." She looked back at Ben and paused a moment. "Goodbye, Ben." she finally said.

"Goodbye, Juliet." And she was gone.