I hear the door to the house open. The blonde woman who was talking to Jack and Ben comes into the room. She's holding a plate with a sandwich in her left hand and a bottle of DHARMA water in the other.
"Are you hungry?" she asks me.
"What happened to your lip?" I ask her noticing it bleeding a little at the corner.
"Your friend Kate didn't appreciate my other sandwich," she says, setting mine down on the table.
I let out a breath. "I guess I could eat."
She walks over, holding a key. "If you try anything…" she warns.
"Don't worry. I just want out of here with my friends. I don't want to hurt anybody." She unlocks my left wrist form the cuff and moves my hand away from the post and back into the bracelet, locking it again. I walk over to the couch and grab the sandwich, taking a bite. Turkey and Swiss cheese.
The blonde woman sits in the chair next to me. "I'm Juliet," she says.
"I'd introduce myself, but I'm guessing you already know who I am."
"Tom told me he showed you your file."
"Yeah, well, I don't really want to know what's happening back home." I say, setting down the sandwich and taking a drink of water.
"Why is that?"
"Because, if you tell me anything about my brothers, I might lose it. And it would be fine if I knew I could see them when the sun comes up, but I know I can't, and that kills me. Hearing about them right now? That would be too painful."
"You're not a very curious person, are you?"
"Never really have been. And trust me, it's bitten me in the ass a couple of times since crashing here." I take the last bite of my sandwich and lean back into the cushions. "So what now?" I ask.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Tom said your people would probably let me and my friends go. Which I will gladly do peacefully. But his 'probably' was very much emphasized."
"I don't know what's next," Juliet says. "But for now, you stay in the house."
"You gonna cuff me back on that post?"
"No, we're gonna cuff you to the swing set outside with Sayid."
I stand up and look out the window. There's Sayid, out in the dawn, the sun just beginning to rise.
Juliet walks over to me. "I'm going to lead you to the swing set," she says. "If you try to run, that man out there, Ryan, he will shoot you in the leg."
"Fair enough." I say.
Juliet grabs my hands in front of me and starts leading me through the house. Right as we reach the front door, it opens. Tom walks through. "Put her back in the living room," Tom says.
"What?" Juliet asks.
"Now, Jules," Tom instructs.
Juliet leads me back into the living room and I sneak one more look out to Sayid, whose head is bent toward the ground.
I hear Tom in the hallway. "Don't tell her too much," Tom says to someone. "Jules, get out here," he calls.
Juliet leaves the room and soon, her figure is replaced by Locke's. "Oh, great," I exclaim. "You were captured too!"
"Only temporarily. Then they let me go," he says, sitting down in the chair.
"They let you go?" I ask, confused.
"I came to say goodbye. I'm leaving with them."
"What are you talking about?" I ask him with disbelief. "What did they offer you? The chance to go home, like Jack? If you think they'll keep their word—,"
"Tia, please stop. I'm going with them because I don't want to leave the Island. And Jack's not going anywhere. Not anymore. I tried to make good cases for you, Kate, and Sayid. Then they told me about Kate, how she murdered her own father. And Sayid, all of the horrible things he'd done in the Republican Guard. I guess forgiveness isn't one of their strong suits."
"And what did they tell you about me?" I ask.
"That you had a troubled past. A bad relationship with your father. But overall, that you're a good person."
"They said that?"
"They're not bad people, Tia."
"Not bad people who want to kidnap a twenty-year-old pregnant woman or hang a man from a tree by his bare neck? Not bad people who take three of our people, gagged and hooded to another location and lock them in cages like animals?"
"You're being too judgmental."
"No I'm not," I stare Locke down, conveying as much anger possible through my eyes and words. "I thought, just for a second, that you had changed, but you haven't. This is all a game to you. 'Boone was a sacrifice the Island demanded'. 'The Island killed Eko'. All of this is your way of keeping yourself in control. Boone told me that back home you were a low paid, pee-on at a box company in Tustin. Does being out here in the wild make you feel like you have a purpose? Make you feel like people need you or rely on you for anything? You're nothing." I finish my speech, injecting poison into my words.
Locke stands from the chair. "I'm sorry you feel that way," he says. "Goodbye, Tia."
He leaves, then Juliet is back. "I'm going to move you to the swing set now."
"Why?" I ask. "Why now? Wouldn't it be easier to just keep us all separate?"
"Did you find your curiosity?" she jokes.
"Just answer the question."
"I don't know. They don't tell me anything," she says innocently.
"Right," I say. "You just make the sandwiches." I stand and hold out my wrists. "We leaving or what?"
She grabs my wrist and leads me outside. The morning breeze feels nice on my chaffed wrists. Sayid looks up as he hears us approach and his face shows a look of relief. "You're okay," he says.
"Hey, can it," says the guy watching over him. Ryan, Juliet said his name was.
Juliet un-cuffs my left hand and strings me around one of the posts, locking me onto it.
"You need anything else, Ryan?" Juliet asks him.
"You just go on home, Julie," he tells her.
She leaves in the direction facing my back, so I can't see where she ends up.
"Are you okay?" I ask Sayid.
"I said can it. That goes for you too sweetheart," Ryan says to me.
Sayid nods his head, answering my question with a "yes".
We stay cuffed to the swing set for at least another hour, and by now, I can almost see the sun over the trees.
Ryan starts to move, grabbing his pack and shuffling through it. "What are you doing?" I ask him, but he ignores me. He produces a gas mask, putting it on his head and securing it.
"What is that for?" Sayid asks. Ryan gets up and walks away. "What are you doing?" Sayid calls after him.
Everywhere around us, the Others are putting on gas masks and leaving their houses. I start to smell something funny. "Sayid, do you smell that?" I ask.
His head starts to droop. "They've poisoned the air. Try to hold your breath," he tells me, but I see his eyes start to sag.
I stop breathing immediately. I see everyone gather equipment and pack it in large sacks. But soon, it becomes too much. My vision turns hazy and I take a breath, inhaling the smell and all of a sudden I'm so tired. My head droops and my eyes close. I feel someone remove the cuffs from my arms and lay me on the ground gently. Then I pass out.