Author's Note: Okay! I hope this chapter is up quick enough for you guys! I'm doing my absolute best here! And despite the fact I got a new book, look, I STILL decided to write for you guys first before reading! Cheers!

All Over Again:

Don't know how I would survive,

Without you in my life.

-Jann Arden

There was pure silence when Juliet opened her eyes. She already felt the protective arms wrapped around her and she turned over and looked at Sawyer's sleeping features. She couldn't remember what had happened. One minute she'd been fighting with him, and the next everything went blank. She reached her hand out and placed it gently on the side of his face. "James.."

His eyes opened immediately. "Juliet.." he whispered before sitting up and pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her once again. All he needed to fully wake up was see her there looking at him. "Jesus.. it's been three days," he muttered.

"What?" Juliet questioned. "Three days?"

Sawyer was silent. She didn't remember it. She'd already woken up a few times in the past three days, and every time she was ranting about 'the man from Tallahassee' or how they were 'all going to die'. This was the first time he'd heard her speak out of the delirium. "You don't remember.." he stated.

Juliet shook her head while it was buried in the crook of his neck. "I only remember.. well, I know we were about to fight," she stated. "I just remember trying to call you back, but my voice didn't want to cooperate.."

"You don't remember anything you said after that?" he questioned.

Juliet shook her head again. "No.. everything is a blank until I woke up just now.."

Sawyer pulled back from her and studied her expression. "Juliet, who's 'the man from Tallahassee'?" he questioned.

Juliet was silent for a moment as she thought about his question. She wasn't sure if she should tell him.

"Juliet.." he stated, watching her thoughtful look.

Juliet remained silent now. She couldn't tell him.

"Juliet, dammit.."

"Anthony Cooper.." she answered quickly.

Sawyer was silent now.

"The man from Tallahassee.. is Anthony Cooper.. is Tom Sawyer.." she told him immediately, covering her face with her hands.

Sawyer stared at her in shock. Her delirious ramblings had been about the man who killed his parents.

"That was.. the first time around, James," she assured him. "I didn't even know who he was the first time.. not until you and I discussed in.."

Sawyer nodded slightly. "Did he tell you.. we were all going to die?"

Juliet nodded. "Yes.." she answered honestly.

Sawyer raised an eyebrow up at her. "Alright.. Juliet, you gotta think about this one, ok?"

Juliet watched his expression carefully. These were all things that she'd said over the past few days? She remembered everything else so clearly now, unlike before she'd apparently gone.

"You said that you thought he was wrong, because most of us were already dead.." Sawyer explained quietly, watching the look of confusion on her face grow.

"I said that?" she questioned.

Sawyer nodded slightly.

"I don't.." Juliet paused. That ringing in her head was coming back again. Everything was starting to spin once more and as she looked at Sawyer's face it was all becoming a blur to her. She could barely make out the outline of his face. "Some...thing's wrong.." she managed to mumble out, her speech slurring again.

"Son of a bitch!" he growled out. He quickly moved out of the tent. He was about to yell for Jack when that man Jacob stepped into his line of vision. He was stunned for a moment as he stared at the man.

"Where is she?" he questioned, noting the look of worry on his face.

Sawyer nodded his head to his tent and allowed the man to go inside, then followed behind him and took a seat beside Juliet.

Juliet felt almost numb. She felt empty as she stared at the outline of one person and then another. Everything was coming in a bit cleared now and she stared into the eyes of the one man. "You.." she murmured.

Jacob smiled sadly at her.

"You're.. dead.." she told him. As she looked at Sawyer, his face was still unclear to her.

"As are you, my dear.. as are you," he told her. "Or, we were, at one point, at least close to it.." he assured her.

Juliet stared at him.

Jacob glanced at Sawyer. "What do you see when you look at this man?" he questioned.

Juliet narrowed her eyes, and squinted as she looked at Sawyer. "I don't.. I can't," she explained. "He's a blur.."

"What's happening to her?" Sawyer questioned. For the passed three minutes the two had been staring at one another, until Juliet had looked at him. Almost as though they were conversing, and yet.. her heard nothing from either of them.

Jacob glanced back at Sawyer and raised a hand to silence him before looking back to Juliet. "You have an.. uncanny ability it seems," he told her. "To see the faces of the dying, and not the faces of those who are safe.."

Juliet stared at him, speechless. "What if.. I don't want it?" she asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm not sure the gift is able to be taken back," he explained. "This island is special, it gives gifts to those who need it," he explained. "Your gift, I haven't seen that in a long.. long time," he admitted. "You can see the faces clearly of those who will die."

Juliet was silent. "What if.. what I want to see, I can't see..?" she asked next.

Jacob smiled now. "What do you want to see so badly?"

Juliet glanced over at Sawyer's silhouette.

"I see," Jacob answered. "Many gifts are given on this island, even if we don't know it," he told her. "Richard was given the uncanny gift of never aging," he explained. "These gifts are given for a purpose," he assured her. "Just as you've been given this gift, there is a reason for it.."

Juliet was silent.

"Your blackouts, everything, it's your body adjusting to this gift, and given some time, you'll see everything again," he assured her. "Once you've used this gift for what's needed, you won't have it any longer. Then you will be able to see clearly again."

Juliet didn't want to know these things. "Why me?" she squeaked.

Jacob smiled sadly. "You're the variable, my dear.." he explained. "You're the one person on this island that can still save these people," he admitted.

"How can I save what I can't see?" she asked.

Jacob grinned. "That's the beauty of it.. you only need to save what you can see."

Juliet found herself uncertain. "I can see you.." she explained.

Jacob smiled now. "Yes, you can," he stated. "But you already saved me."

"How?" she questioned immediately. None of this made sense to her.

Jacob chuckled. "I was dying, or dead.. I can't recall now," he admitted. "But it was by your hand that I lived again. You see, you saved me that day."

"I can.. only see faces," she noted to him. "Everything else is blurry."

Jacob lifted an eyebrow in response. "You cannot see anything else at all?" he questioned. At the shake of her head he found himself frowning. "It seems your gift also wishes to prove a point to you," he explained. "You'll need to allow yourself to rely on other people this time around."

Juliet was silent for a moment.

"Now then," he stated. "When you wake up, you shouldn't need to adjust to this gift any longer," he told her.

"When I wake up?" she questioned.

Jacob nodded before reaching out to touch her face.

"Wait!" Juliet stated quickly, and watched as he paused.

"Yes?" he questioned.

"Richard's been like this for maybe a hundred years or more," she stated quickly.

"Well.. let's hope it doesn't take you so long," he stated before touching her face. He watched as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and the man, Sawyer, grabbed hold of her quickly as she drooped to the side.

"What'd you do?!" he asked quickly.

Jacob stared at him. "She's going to need your help," he told him carefully.

Sawyer stared at him in stunned silence.

"And she's going to try and push you away, she won't want your help," he explained. "But she needs you, and do not let her tell you otherwise," he stated. "This is where you heed my warning not to listen to anything horrible she may say to you.."

Sawyer eyed him warily. "I don't understand.."

Jacob smiled sadly. "You will soon.." he admitted. "Stay by her side, because if she goes through this alone, she'll surely die.."

Sawyer was shocked into nodding his head.

"You're a good man," Jacob stated with a nod. "I was right in choosing you."

"Choosing me for what?" Sawyer asked immediately.

Jacob smiled as he stood. "Well.. I had to help fate choose someone to help her lead the people on this island to safety," he answered. "Fate chose Jack, but I chose you."

Sawyer opened his mouth to reply, but he closed it again. When he opened it again he wasn't sure about anything. "You're saying I'm with her because you made me?"

"Of course not," Jacob answered. "Fate is never a certainty. We're all here are we not?" he questioned. "All these people that have died, almost died, myself and Juliet included," he explained now. "We're all here again because she was the variable fate never expected."

Sawyer was silent now as he listened to the man.

"Fate chooses people, people choose whether or not to agree with it," he stated cryptically.

"So you're saying that you're fate?" Sawyer questioned now.

"Far from it," Jacob assured him. "But occasionally I find it necessary to interfere with fate's plans, and that is my gift."

Sawyer was silent now. "How do you do that?"

"With a simple touch," Jacob explained, holding out his hand. "I altered the fate of eight people," he explained. "Juliet's fate was never altered until that day on Hydra Island, I simply altered the fate of her memories. In fact, Juliet never had a fate."

Sawyer watched him, studied him, wondering if he even believed the truth in the man's words. And for some reason, he did.

"Juliet is different.." he admitted. "Her choices, they are always her own," he told Sawyer next. "Fate gave her Jack, and yet.. she chose you." He smiled now. "Just as fate gave you Kate."

Sawyer narrowed his eyes. "Kate can't be given," he told him.

"She can," Jacob explained. "I gave Kate, Jack," he explained.

"So who'd you give me?" Sawyer asked next.

Jacob found himself smiling again. "That's what you'd like to know?" he asked him. "The thing is, you have no fate either."

"Fate gave you Kate, and you chose Juliet," he explained. "Ironic that two people who are without fate, wind up finding each other," he admitted.

"But you said that fate gave her Jack, and you chose me," Sawyer pointed out.

"Indeed I did," Jacob replied cryptically. "And as I said.. I am not fate."

Sawyer frowned as he glanced down at Juliet. He swiped some hair out of her face and glanced at her. Where had all of her bruises gone? "You're not making any---" he paused and looked up, noticing Jacob was gone, just like the last time at the cages. "Sense.." he muttered. How did the man alter his fate, if he didn't have one?

()()TBC()()

This was such an odd thing for me! I have no idea where the idea came from but I just completely changed where I was heading with this story in ONE chapter. Hot damn.. it's amazing how that can work.

For anyone wondering. 'The Man From Tallahassee' was a season 3 episode, in case you forgot. When Locke has Alex in Ben's closet and Ben tells Richard to get him the 'man from Tallahassee'. I'm almost positive that was a reference to Locke's father: Anthony Cooper, AKA 'Tom Sawyer'. I'm basing the assumption that Cooper had been there for a bit. And Juliet seems to be the primary caretaker for prisoners, is she not? So 'the man from Tallahassee' is Locke's dad. :) Hope that clears things up.