Author's Note: Yowza, I think I'm updating too fast for you guys to keep up? LOL. Okay, anyways.. No, I wasn't lying when I said we were nearing the end of this story! But the keyword is 'nearing'. :) There's still a bit more to go. Don't forget, Miles got here with Naomi.. which means.. uh-oh.. the freighter. Can anyone say Martin Keamy?!
All Over Again:
'And like a baby boy, I never was a man,
Until I saw those blue eyes cry and held your face in my hand.'
-Blue October
Sawyer was shocked to see it was Jacob who had stepped in front of him and Juliet. He watched in stunned silence as the man seemed to put his hand out and the smoke monster simply disappeared. "What the hell was that?" he questioned with uncertainty.
"That.. was Samuel," Jacob answered, glancing back at the two behind him. "In his.. most basic form," he explained. He glanced at Ben now. "I think it's time you let her go, don't you agree, Benjamin?"
Ben studied Jacob's intent face for only a moment before his eyes drifted downwards to look at Juliet in Sawyer's arms.
Juliet took a moment before her eyes rose to meet Ben's.
"Juliet.. come here," Ben stated, his voice calm, emotionless.
Juliet was silent for a moment as she went to pull herself out of Sawyer's arms.
"No," Sawyer stated quickly, trying to pull Juliet back to him. "Juliet, no, you don't have to go with him."
Juliet smiled a little and put her hand on the side of Sawyer's face. "It's okay," she assured him before standing up completely. She glanced at Jacob before she moved towards Ben and stood in front of him.
Ben arched an eyebrow up. "You honestly would go with me to save his life, wouldn't you?" he questioned, clearly surprised. He took her silence as his answer and nodded. He sighed, "Alright.. then go, be with him," he muttered.
Juliet stared at him in shock. "What?" she questioned with uncertainty. There was no possible way she heard him correctly.
"Did I stutter, Juliet?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow up once more at her. "I said go."
Juliet hesitated. He had to be screwing with her. "You're saying that so that you'll have a reason to kill him," she insisted, shaking her head.
"You have my word, I will not kill him," he assured her. "Or any of them," he stated, gesturing his hand towards everyone behind her. He glanced at Jacob who nodded his head. "I suppose it's time I finally work out a way to send you home.."
Juliet stared at him in shock, then she froze, glancing around in confusion.
"Juliet?" Ben questioned, staring at her inquisitively.
"They're coming.." Juliet stated.
Ben was silent in response as he studied the blank look on Juliet's face.
"She means the people from the freighter," came Richard's voice as he stepped out of he shadows. "We can see the freighter from the beach."
Sawyer stood to his feet and looked at Miles for a moment who just shrugged and shook his head. He went over to Juliet. "What else do you know Juliet?" he questioned.
Juliet turned to Sawyer and met his eyes with her own. She was quiet for a moment as she thought about his question. "We're all going to die.." She glanced around at the people surrounding her. Even Jacob seemed uncertain as to what she was saying. When she met Richard's eyes however, they told a different story.
"They're already here," Richard stated, studying the look in Juliet's eyes.
Jacob had recognition in his eyes now as well. Juliet's reactions made sense to him. He stepped in front of her, between her and Sawyer now. "You've done what you can already, Juliet.." he assured her. "No need to be a martyr for a second time."
"No.." Juliet stated, shaking her head. "It's not over yet.."
Jacob frowned at her response. "Listen to me--"
"Whatever happened, happened," Juliet explained to him. "I died.. no matter what we try to change, I will always die, I'm already dead..."
Sawyer pushed his way past Jacob and put both hands on her shoulders. "That's not true," he told her. "You didn't die, remember?" he questioned. "You didn't die.." he told her a second time. "And all those people that died the last time, they're still alive too.."
"No, James.." she told him, her hand going to his cheek immediately as she smiled sadly. "They don't need to die, because all of them are already dead as well.."
"You never died," Sawyer stated once more, putting his hands on either side of her face.
Juliet was silent for a moment.
Jacob eyed her with suspicion. He stepped forward in silence and reached his hand out, about to touch her shoulder but she shrugged away just in time. "James.. step away from her."
"What?" Sawyer questioned, staring blankly at Jacob.
"Step away from her.." Jacob repeated.
"No," Sawyer replied, shaking his head.
Jacob eyed him now. "That's not Juliet."
Sawyer did back away from her now. He glanced back at Juliet, then at Jacob. "What the hell do you mean that's not Juliet?" he questioned with confusion.
Juliet simply smiled. "Don't listen to him.."
Jacob took a step back. "He initiated contact with her," he stated, staring at Sawyer and the others. "That's not Juliet, it's Samuel."
Sawyer was silent now.
"Where is she, Samuel?" Jacob questioned, staring at Juliet.
Samuel chuckled.
"She is not a loophole, bring her back," Jacob demanded.
"All that pain, heartache," Samuel stated. "She's somewhere on this island," he replied with a shrug. "I suppose you guys better get along to finding her before those people from the freighter do, " he stated.
Ben's stared at him.
"Fortunately someone tipped off the freighter already that Alex isn't really your daughter, and that you're in love with Juliet," Samuel stated. "Can anyone else say uh-oh?"
Ben's eyes widened out of surprise.
Sawyer wanted to hit the son of a bitch more then anything else in the world. But he couldn't bring himself to do it when the man looked exactly like Juliet. "How the hell did you do it?" he finally asked. "How did you switch out with Juliet without us noticing?"
Samuel grinned. "That's the beauty of it. You guys were all so distracted by the smoke monster, me, when I disappeared, Juliet and I switched places. I just made sure to look exactly like her."
Sawyer stepped forward but not in enough time. Samuel had already changed back to the smoke monster and shot off out of sight. "Sonuvabitch," he growled out.
"With language like that, I'm surprised she can love you and stay with you," Ben stated, eying Sawyer with baffled annoyance.
Sawyer narrowed his eyes slightly. "Ya' know what bug-eyes--"
Jacob chuckled now.
Sawyer glanced at Jacob and shook his head. "Forget it, we need to find her now," he stated before turning to walk away. "You comin'?" he questioned, glancing back at Ben.
Ben arched an eyebrow up in response before nodding. "Of course.."
~*~*~*~
Juliet groaned slightly as she opened her eyes. What the hell had happened? The last thing she remembered was being in Sawyer's arm, now she was out in the middle of the jungle again. Had she somehow wandered off again without realizing it?
"James?!" she called out, glancing around. She heard and saw nobody. For a moment she was ready to say it had all been some sort of dream, falling over the cliff, running into Ben. But she could see again. It couldn't have been a dream, right?
Crack.
"James?" she questioned, turning around to see who had come up behind her. She didn't recognize the man. Instinctively she took a step back. "Who are you?"
"I could ask the same," he replied, glancing over the woman. "But I guess I can answer first, my name is Keamy. Martin Keamy."
Juliet frowned. She didn't recognize the name either, who was this guy? Someone who'd never been to the island before. She hesitated for a moment. "I'm Juliet.." she replied with uncertainty.
Keamy arched an eyebrow up. It shouldn't have been so easy to find Romeo's little Juliet. Yet here she was, all alone out in the middle of the jungle. "Nice to meet you," he stated.
"Juliet!!"
Juliet turned around for a moment at the sound of different voices calling out her name. She went to speak when a hand covered her mouth and an arm wrapped around her. She let out muffled calls to Sawyer, unable to break free from Keamy's grasp on her. Was this sonuvabitch on steroids?
"Get down on your knees," Keamy stated, shoving her down to the ground.
Juliet barely had a chance to react as he forced her down, the next thing she knew, there was a gun to her head.
"Start screaming," Keamy ordered.
"No," Juliet answered.
Keamy raised an eyebrow up in response. "I don't believe your in any position to disagree," he told her, pushing the barrel of the gun up against her head a little harder.
Juliet frowned slightly. "Obviously you need me for something, so you aren't going to shoot me yet," she stated. "So I guess that means I am in a position to disagree." She vaguely recalled when Miles had come after her, pointing out the fact they were looking for Ben. Was that Keamy's goal by using her? To get to Ben?
She let out a laugh now. "Oh, I see who you're looking for," she stated. "You're looking for Ben."
Keamy narrowed his eyes before pulling the woman to her feet. He turned her around to face him before lifting her up the the throat. "Very smart, so where is Ben?"
Juliet flinched and attempted to suck in air as her feet dangled over the ground. This guy had to be on something. How was she supposed to know where Ben was when she couldn't even figure out how she got to this spot? "Don't.. know.." she managed to mumble out.
"Put it this way, Juliet," he stated in a low voice. "Either tell me where he is or I'll kill you."
"JULIET!!"
"Is that him?" he questioned with a smile.
"No.." Juliet huffed out. Of course she wasn't lying, that was Sawyer yelling out for her, not Ben. She got the feeling Keamy wouldn't believe her regardless. She felt his fingers loosen slightly and she was able to suck in a little more air.
Keamy just chuckled now. "Love is useless if you're not alive to enjoy it."
"Love?" Juliet questioned, staring at the man in confusion. "Now I think you have things a little backwards.." she muttered. "What I feel for Benjamin Linus is far from love, the exact opposite in fact.."
Keamy narrowed his eyes slightly. Something in her tone rang through as the truth to him. "Then why protect him?"
Juliet snorted out a laugh now as the man lowered her feet back down to the ground. Though he now had his gun trained back on her, at least she wasn't fighting to breath any longer. "I would throw the man under the bus if I knew where he was," she assured him. "Unfortunately for both of us.. I don't know where he is. I don't even know how I got here."
Keamy arched an eyebrow up. He was fairly good at judging the truth from people. And it seemed to him like she was being completely honest. "Well, regardless, he loves you."
Juliet nearly felt her eye twitch in response. "If you call that love, I loathe to see what you call hate."
"Juliet!" cames Sawyer's voice once more, even closer.
"So who is this man?" Keamy questioned now, eying her with suspicion.
Juliet chuckled. At least she appeared to be getting somewhere with this man. She figured she'd be a bit rusty by now on talking her way out of dangerous situations, yet here she was, talking this man down. It's like they say, an old dog doesn't learn new tricks, thankfully they don't seem to forget the old tricks either. "If he's not Ben, does it truly matter who he is?"
Keamy thought about that one. "No, I suppose it doesn't," he replied. He took a moment to think over the entire conversation he'd just had with the blonde woman. Finally he narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh, you're good.." he stated with a smile. "I could grow to like you."
"Excuse me?" Juliet questioned. Though she admitted his tone made her a bit more frightened then baffled.
"Strong-willed, good-looking, and quite manipulative," Keamy stated with a bit of envy. "My kind of woman."
Juliet instinctively took a step back from him but she stopped herself from going further when he waved the gun a little.
"Hey!! Get away from her!" Sawyer yelled out. He'd caught a glimpse of the blonde hair as they were walking and immediately turned in her direction only to see Keamy as well. He'd never forget this guy, who shot Ben's teenage daughter who'd been perfectly harmless, had done nothing wrong.
Juliet turned immediately to see Sawyer emerge from the jungle and she was only slightly surprised he'd found her already. "James I--" she was cut off when a hand covered her mouth once more and she knew exactly why that happened. Ben had just appeared as well, along with Kate and Jack.
"Well hello, Benjamin Linus," Keamy stated with a grin. "Tell me something, does this woman mean more to you then your daughter did?"
Ben remained silent in response.
Keamy glanced at Juliet's look of worry. He was pretty sure she was right. "I guess she doesn't," he said with a sigh. "Too bad, I'll regret killing her," he stated with a shrug, cocking the gun and putting it to Juliet's temple. He lowered his hand from her mouth to her neck. "Quite the woman, very good at manipulating. She got me off track from you pretty easily."
Juliet narrowed her eyes. "This will probably be the most pointless reason someone's decided they're going to kill me," she muttered. "If you don't realize he wouldn't risk his own neck to save somebody else, then you don't know shit about him."
Keamy glanced at her out of curiosity.
"You could kill everyone on this island, and the only reason that would bother him is because he would run out of people to manipulate, harass and lie to."
Keamy let out a laugh. "Boy, she thinks less of you then Widmore does."
"A few years ago if you held her hostage, I'd have told you to kill her already," Ben stated. He glanced at Juliet now. He recalled Richard telling him that his wounds showed someone with very little surgery skills had attempted and helped keep him alive long enough for 'them' to save him. He realized fairly easily that regardless of what he'd done to that woman, she'd still tried to save his life as a child anyways. "But you let her go, I'll go with you." He still had the scars to prove Richard's statement.
Both Keamy and Juliet stared at him with bafflement.
"Not what I said," Keamy pointed out. "If you come with me, that means I won't kill her," he stated. "Doesn't mean I'm going to let her go."
"Why not?" Ben questioned.
"Because.." Keamy stated, running the barrel of the gun down from her temple, down her face and along her abdomen. "I think I like her."
Sawyer went to open his mouth but Ben held up a hand to shush him. He locked eyes with Juliet now, there was no way in hell he was letting this kid-killing bastard take her away from him. But the look in her eyes was the same look of hopelessness she'd had when she realized there was no way for him and Kate to save her at the Swan. Now instead of saying 'It's Okay' aloud, he was seeing the statement in her eyes.
But it wasn't okay. Not even close. Not until he heard Ben mutter something to him that Keamy didn't hear. Still.. he couldn't be sure if he heard the man right, and if he did, he wasn't sure he trusted him.
()()TBC()()
Oooh.. so Ben's not so bad anymore. Or is he? We can't know for sure just yet. Had you going there for a moment that Keamy wasn't so bad, didn't I? Oops.. well. Nah, that would just make things easy for Sawyer and Juliet, things can never be easy in Lost.