Author's Note: Okay, I really apologize for this taking so long. My internet has been on and off for a while now which makes updating REALLY difficult. I've posted the new story, Broken, but that was only because I was writing that in moments of boredom and my internet sparked to life for a few minutes for me to post it.

In other news.. I'm also moving so, the next update might not be for a few days, not to mention I have a job interview in.. 6 and a half hours. Heh.

This one's for D.D. Casale who requested a longer chapter! Here you go! Enjoy.

All Over Again:

I wouldn't trade those days for nothin'

It was 1970 somethin'.

-Mark Wills

For the next two days Juliet had managed to give everyone the silent treatment and not speak one word. Even then, she managed to keep her eyes on Kate, which wasn't entirely difficult considering the other woman was the only thing she could see at the moment.

She'd been sitting out by the water for a few hours at this point. Each day she managed to find her way back to the same general area by counting her steps. She also knew that someone had been sitting quietly beside her for the past hour and she knew exactly who that someone was. "Are you going to keep sitting there in silence or start talking, James?" she questioned quietly, breaking her vow of silence.

Sawyer glanced at her slightly surprised. It was the first time she'd spoken to him or anyone in a matter of two days and he'd been more then a little worried about her state of mind. "I wanna help you, but you won't let me and I don't know how to help anyways.." he finally explained after a moment of silence between them. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Juliet was quiet for yet another moment while her hand slowly inched across the sand until it found its way to his. She felt bad for the way she'd been treating him, she didn't deny that to herself. Still, she felt the edges of her lips curl upwards slightly when he intertwined their fingers.

Sawyer opened his eyes and glanced over at her smiling face. "Juliet.." he muttered out.

Juliet turned her head in his direction. "Not everything can be fixed, James.." she told him carefully. She released his hand and slowly leaned to the side, grateful that he put his arm across her shoulders to guide her to his side. Finally she felt her head rest against his shoulder and she felt a little more content than she had in the past couple of days.

"I know," he replied. He was just glad that she had finally stopped ignoring him. The physical contact with her was enough to make him happy at the moment.

Juliet chuckled slightly as a thought crossed her mind. "So.. how stupid do I look when I walk around?" she questioned jokingly.

"Is that a trick question?" he asked in reply. "Because I'm sensing a Dharmaville deja vu of the time you asked if your jumpsuit made you look a bit masculine.."

Juliet grinned in response. "The truth is that bad, eh?" she asked him next.

Sawyer couldn't stop himself before it was out of his mouth. "Like a toddler learnin' to walk, darlin'."

Juliet couldn't even try to be angry because in an instant she found herself letting loose one of those deep throaty laughs that only he seemed to bring out of her. "Oh god," she muttered, making herself comfortable against his shoulder. "Your tact leaves something to be desired, James.."

Sawyer chuckled before leaning down and pressing his lips against hers for a moment.

Juliet placed her hand on the back of his head and returned the kiss until she managed to scramble onto his lap and straddle him.

Sawyer couldn't stop himself from releasing a laugh. "You know, this is usually how we always started sex on the beach, but I'm not sure anyone here but us will enjoy or appreciate it."

Juliet smirked. "I don't see anyone else."

Sawyer could only laugh again before kissing her once more. There was something even more endearing about the fact she could finally crack a joke about her condition that made him love her even more, if that was possible at this point.

Juliet sighed in slight contentment as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She already knew how horrible she'd been to him the past couple of days, and still she also knew he hadn't left her side because of it. She wasn't sure how to keep pushing him away when he just kept coming back for more. Perhaps it was safer to keep him close. As long as she couldn't see him, he was safe.

But what if he wasn't? She could see people if she could save them. What if he was in danger and there was simply nothing she could do? She didn't want to think about that. Yet.. she couldn't stop herself from thinking about it. Maybe dying would have been better then this. Better then having the weight of the world on her shoulders, better then having then sitting here trying to figure out how she was going to save these people.

"I'm gonna get you off this island, Juliet.." he told her, tracing small circles on her back. He noticed one thing, the mark that had been on her lower back the entire time he'd known her was gone. That scar that had clearly been burned into her flesh, just disappeared.

Juliet wanted to believe him more then anything but found that she couldn't. "Don't make promises that you can't keep, James.." she warned him quietly.

Sawyer already knew she hated when people made her promises that they didn't know for certain they could keep. "It wasn't a promise," he told her carefully.

"Oh?" she questioned. "What was it then?"

"It was a fact.."

Juliet felt herself smiling a little in response. "James, you never listen to me.." she said in amusement. "I don't doubt you could get me off this island, I don't doubt you, I only doubt this place," she explained casually not once shifting her position. "And I wouldn't change anything that happened, I would come to this island again if I got the chance to do it all over again."

Sawyer was silent for a moment as he let her words sink in. "Why?" he finally asked.

"How the hell else would I meet you?" she asked him with a gentle laugh escaping her lips afterward.

Sawyer found himself smiling in response. "Yeah.." he replied. "I wouldn't trade those days for nothin'."

Rose sat beside Bernard and chuckled as she watched the two of them, listened to them as well.

"They making you wish we met a hell of a lot younger?" Bernard questioned jokingly.

Rose laughed and looked over at Bernard. "What we have is just perfect," she answered, patting his hand with her own. She glanced back over at Juliet's face and watched as the woman stared into absolute nothingness.

"What's wrong?" Bernard questioned, watching Rose's worried gaze.

"Look at her," Rose replied quietly. "Something about that girl is just broken.." she explained. "I've seen that look on myself when I got diagnosed with cancer," she admitted. "It's the look you get when you feel like you're carrying the weight of the world and you're afraid you're about to crumble from all of it.."

Bernard studied Juliet's face as well. Rose was right. Those brilliantly blue eyes, although hard to tell emotion without pupils, were in fact easier to read now then they had been ever before. They were hiding something. "She's not telling us something.."

"Exactly.." Rose answered, sighing slightly. "Sawyer either knows it, or he's too preoccupied with worrying about her to have seen it yet.."

Juliet allowed her eyes to wander now in search of Kate. When she finally found her off in the distance there was something different. Not only could she see Kate, but there was something dark swirling around the other woman. She could now make out Claire and Aaron beside her and the same dark cloud was swirling around all of them. "James," she stated, sitting up and her entire body began tensing up.

Something was sending her senses for a loop. Her ears were ringing, her head was spinning. Something even smelled funny.

"What is it?" he questioned immediately, studying her face. There was worry and something else he couldn't explain crossing her features.

Juliet looked around trying to figure out what could possibly be about to happen. Nothing. She could see nothing. How could she help if she saw nothing? What the hell did Jacob.. CRACK.. 'What the hell was that?' she wondered silently. Something fuzzy was making itself clear to her through the bushes right behind Kate and Claire. A black shadow of a man. Her breath hitched and her mind was screaming danger. CRACK.. CLICK..

"Juliet, dammit, what's going on?!" Sawyer questioned, grabbing everyone's attention.

Juliet felt unable to catch her breath and unable to respond with words. She felt the gun at Sawyer's side and pulled it out of his pants.

"What the hell are ya'--"

BANG!

Everyone was frozen in place.

Juliet was standing. She didn't even remember getting up. She felt something in her hands.. a gun. When did she get a gun?

Sawyer sat in shock for a moment before he turned to see what in the world Juliet had just shot. Or who. She'd been aiming in the direction that Claire and Kate were sitting, both women were tucked onto the ground but looked fine.

It wasn't until someone's voice rang out that the silence was broken after a minute or two.

"She shot Ethan.."

Sawyer knew whose voice it was. Jack's. Jack was stepping back out of the jungle where Juliet had taken a potshot and checking on Claire and Kate who insisted they were alright before heading over to them.

"Juliet.." Sawyer stated, gently easing the gun out of her hand. "Juliet.." he said again, trying to grab her attention. No luck, she was simply staring out at absolutely nothing in a state of shock. "C'mon sweetheart.." he said softly, a term of endearment he mostly used when he was truly worried about her.

Juliet stared silently as the dark cloud that she had seen around Kate, Claire and Aaron was gone. There was now a vague glow around them unlike when she'd seen Kate before. She had seen this light glow around Jacob as well. Did this mean they were saved? How did she save them? What the hell had she just done and why couldn't she remember?

"Juliet.."

She heard him call her name again and finally she felt his hands touch her face. She felt herself shudder out a breath before she leaned forward and rested her cheek on him wherever it landed, she guessed it was against his shoulder and she wrapped her arms around him.

Sawyer was silent for a moment before he tucked the gun back into his side and wrapped his arms around her as well. "Relax.." he told her quietly, her whole body was shaking. "Calm down, you're alright, everyone is alright.." he assured her. He stood there, glancing at Jack for a moment as he felt Juliet's breathing even out. She'd fallen asleep on his shoulder, just like that.

"Ethan had a gun.." Jack told him quietly. "There's no chance in hell she could have seen him.. how the hell did she make that shot?"

Sawyer held onto her tightly. "She's got a secret she ain't tellin' us, Doc," he explained.

"Obviously.." Jack retorted, staring at the blonde in Sawyer's arms. Used to be he was he one who held her like that. He was undecided about whether or not he missed that. Though.. that pang of guilt for leaving her here on this island had never subsided. He'd hidden it down pretty far inside of him, but it had surfaced again as soon as she opened the door to hers and Sawyer's house in 1977.

He'd managed to lock it away again pretty quickly after realizing she'd moved on. But it kept surfacing. It had surfaced when she'd stopped Sawyer from nearly killing him. It had surfaced when he'd passed her and Sawyer and she had a look of anger and devastation on her face when he was heading to plant his bomb. And it had surfaced again when he'd woken up to find she'd been dragged down the hatch of The Swan station by a metal chain.

He'd lost both her and Kate. He might still have a chance at getting Kate back, but seeing Juliet now, he knew Juliet was both out of reach for him and off-limits.

"What are you starin' at?" Sawyer questioned, eying him with unnerving curiosity.

"What made you stop hating her?" Jack finally dared to ask. "How did you go from hating her to loving her?"

Sawyer was silent for a minute as he pulled Juliet up into his arms to allow her an easier sleeping position. She didn't bat an eye, she was out like a light. "I jump off that helicopter and swim to shore, wanna know what the first damn thing I see is?"

Jack nodded.

"I see Juliet, sitting there drowning herself in a bottle of alcohol.." he muttered out. "Cause by the time I get back the freighter's already up in smokes and she just sat there watching her last chance of going home go kablooey.."

Jack was silent now.

"She was nice enough to share the damned bottle though, course by the time I'd gotten there she'd already sucked half the damn thing down," he admitted. "You run around the jungle with someone long enough and they save your ass enough times, you learn to get over your differences."

Jack sighed slightly and stared at Juliet in Sawyer's arms.

"I got no shame admittin' that you were right about one thing, if anything, the entire time we've been here Doc," Sawyer told him. "She was always a good person."

Jack nodded a bit in response. He didn't have any words to reply and he knew Sawyer wasn't finished yet. Better not to interrupt him while he was still speaking of his own free will.

"Good people do stupid shit to survive, I would know, we all do," he pointed out to him. "I got no clue when I when from tolerate to like.. like, to care about, and etcetera to love, but it happened.." he admitted. "And the only damned time I regretted it was when you guys came back and she got pulled down the damned hatch."

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt.." Jack told him carefully.

"Yeah.." Sawyer muttered. "You never do, but somehow people always get hurt," he stated, not really caring how much his words might sting. "I already lost her once, and I ain't dealin' with that again.. I got enough nightmares still goin' from that damned incident at the swan station."

Jack was silent as he watched Sawyer head into his tent with Juliet in his arms. He ran his fingers across his short-cropped hair and let out a strangled breath. He deserved that one.

()()TBC()()

Hope you guys enjoyed that. I was going to end it sooner, but I remembered D.D. Casale asking me to write longer chapters and well.. I figured I might as well concede to the idea! So here you are! Hope it was long enough. I ran out of time to write anymore, I need sleep before my interview.

In another note.. holy crap. Chapter 20? I never realized this story would be so damned long. I should probably get moving along and finish it soon before it gets TOO long.