Chapter 14 - Split Sentence

The next morning they divided the camp evenly, with little debate from the travelers. Once they decided to follow Juliet through the jungle, they had no choice but to trust which direction she pointed, even if it was two ways at once. And they all agreed the turn-based bathroom breaks had become tedious.

Eko and Libby stuck with Ana Lucia, and that trio went with James, Jack, Kate. Their only surprise guest was Hurley, who opted to go with them even though Charlie and Claire were ready to head out with the other group. Sun and Jin also went the other way with Juliet and Sayid. They were happy to part from Michael and Walt, who were headed out with James. Shannon would go with Sayid no matter where he was headed, and both Arzt and Neal seemed to prefer the even keel of Juliet and Sayid's leadership. Jack was too bossy for them, James too unpredictable. Bernard and Rose argued over the benefits and detriments of both options, just as they'd argued about leaving the beach at all. When Rose won a coin flip, Bernard acquiesced. It wasn't worth splitting over. They would both stick with Jack and the remains of the tail section too.

"No offense, Blondie." Rose said to Juliet.

Juliet shook her head. "None taken. Whatever makes it easier for you. We'll see you in a day or so."

Juliet tried not to look his way. A few stolen glances was all she allowed herself, and she kept busy answering questions and helping people with all of their stuff.

They'd brought far too much with them. She didn't say so. It was their only comfort aside from each other.

James was less successful in his attempts to ignore Juliet.

"She doesn't secretly want me to go with her, does she?" James whispered to Kate.

Kate's brow furrowed, and she smiled. James was watching Juliet prepare to leave, and he was worried it was the last time he would ever see her.

"Women do that, don't they?" James begged for answers. "Tell you they want one thing, but it's a test, and they really want the opposite?"

"James…" Kate shook her head and chuckled. "I don't think Juliet's worried about testing you right now."

"Yeah, just checkin'." he said testily.

Kate let him go on his way, but she couldn't help stealing her own glance at Juliet. It was hard to tell what the blonde woman was thinking. She'd been straight forward with them, as far as anyone could tell. They could only hope Juliet was being honest about meeting them on the other side.

"Everybody ready?" Jack asked their group.

James sidled up to him with a scowl. "You mind?"

The doc's turn as leader was over; James wanted to make that clear. Jack smiled to himself, as if the posturing amused him. But he conceded, gesturing for James to take over the proceedings. James' glare followed Jack and his arrogant reaction a few seconds longer.

"Let's go." James called to everyone gruffly.

The group with Juliet and Sayid instinctively took formation around Claire, though it was difficult to detect as they ambled through trees and over grassy hills in a caterpillar crawl. The going would still be slow, even with half the people.

As someone who was very used to taking care of herself, Claire didn't like looking helpless, or knowing the group was slowed because of her. She insisted she felt fine, and she snapped at Charlie the fifth time he asked her if she needed another break. Five minutes later, her mood passed.

"I'm sorry, Charlie." she said quietly, tears in her eyes.

"It's fine." he assured her, as he would continue to assure her even if they had to walk a million miles more around the island. Afraid to say anything else, Charlie stuck by her side and remained quiet.

"I'm not used to this many people," Claire said. "Trying to take care of me. I just wish I was home-"

Saying it out loud broke the dam. Claire burst into tears. Her momentum took her a few steps forward before she stopped in place and hunched over.

Those circled loosely in the nearby jungle all tensed, anticipating an emergency labor, dreading anything unthinkably worse.

Juliet was closer, and she felt Claire's frustration acutely. Juliet glanced subtly at the others, and she knew it was worse for Claire knowing that they were all standing there, stopped and staring at her. Physically, Claire was fine. But she clearly needed a moment.

"Let's take a break." Juliet suggested, a command wrapped in a calm and soothing tone. The group gladly obeyed.

Charlie watched Juliet walk over to Claire. The doctor put her hand on Claire's shoulder, with another gentle suggestion that they go over to a nearby stand of trees. Charlie's heart tugged in two directions, part of him jealous he didn't have the same calming effect, another part relieved that anyone could have a calming effect in these circumstances.

"Can't we just sedate her and carry her the rest of the way?" someone muttered.

It was Arzt. His little buddy Neal, equally fed up, chuckled in agreement. Charlie glared at them both, his anger rising. Before he could say anything, Shannon spoke up behind all of them.

"Have you considered shutting the fuck up?" Shannon spat at the first two.

"We could sedate you," Charlie said to Arzt, glaring his way. "And leave you here instead. You're too heavy to carry anyway."

Arzt sneered at them both, and kept any retorts to himself. Charlie glanced at Shannon, and something like gratitude passed between them.

"I'm sorry." Claire sniffled, still mid-cry.

"Hey." Juliet interrupted her gently. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Juliet found a place for the younger woman to sit, and Juliet sat beside her silently, allowing her to get it all out.

"Everyone looks at me like I'm a ticking time bomb," Claire sobbed. "Just waiting for me to make everything worse."

"I know." Juliet said. "I'm sorry."

Claire looked up at her, surprised to hear someone finally admit it.

"It's not fair," Juliet continued. "You're under enough pressure already, without all of their expectations weighing on you. For the most part they're worried about you. They want you to be okay."

"Not Arzt." said Claire. "He thinks I can't hear his muttering all the time, but I do."

"Well, Arzt is a miserable asshole. So his opinion doesn't count."

Hearing the sarcasm in such a soothing voice made a small laugh come through Claire's tears. Juliet smiled.

"I just need people to stop asking if I'm okay," said Claire. "Even if I'm not okay. No one here is okay, I know that. I'm not special. I don't want to be treated like that."

"You're doing amazing, you know."

"Am I?" Claire sniffled and wiped her cheeks. "Pregnant, single castaway? Stopping the whole group to have a good cry?"

"When I was your age, I was making the second biggest mistake of my life. Marrying my ex-husband."

Claire laughed again.

"As a divorced fertility specialist," said Juliet. "I gotta say, I prefer crying pregnant ladies to husbands."

Claire nodded along. "Thanks," she said with equal sarcasm. "That's a fresh perspective."

They laughed quietly together. Claire wiped her cheeks again, took a deep breath and rested her hands on her belly.

"I'm fine." she declared, her voice still weak from emotion. "In that way where you're not fine at all, but nothing is really going to help, so it's better to just keep going and not have everyone worrying about you every other minute."

"How about this: I promise I will not ask you if you're okay again. I'll trust you to tell us if you don't feel right."

Claire half-smiled gratefully.

"And if Arzt says anything else," Juliet added. "I'll take him up this ridge and push him off the other side. If he survives the fall, he can beg the other group to take him in."

Claire laughed. "I don't think Sawyer or Jack would take him at this point."

"Then he better behave himself."

After another cathartic laugh, Claire pushed herself up from her seat. Juliet waited for her to get her balance, and they walked back toward the group together.

Claire eyed Juliet shyly. "If getting married was the second biggest mistake," she asked. "What was the first?"

Juliet smiled, though the light left her eyes.

Coming to this island, was the answer.

"Story for another time," was what she said out loud.

Claire accepted that gracefully. She wasn't ready to list all of her mistakes either.

"You said there are bathrooms there? With showers and everything?"

Juliet confirmed with a knowing smile and nod.

"And peanut butter?" Claire asked.

"There is an entire cabinet in the pantry dedicated to peanut butter." Juliet promised.

"That's all I need to know."

Charlie perked up when he saw Claire and Juliet returning to the larger group. Claire smiled with exaggerated awkwardness, emboldened to address the entire group with self-deprecating humor.

"I'm fine now," she announced. "Hormonal crisis over. We can keep moving."

Arzt grabbed his bag with relish. He didn't need to say anything out loud; he made it clear with his body language he didn't appreciate the interruption. When he turned to follow Juliet and Sayid, he found Jin standing in his way. Jin looked him in the eye, and said something to him in Korean that the science teacher didn't understand.

Sun appeared in Arzt's view behind her husband, eyebrows raised with a subtly smug expression as she situated a backpack over her shoulders.

"He says you're to stay to the back of the group," she translated for Arzt.

Arzt looked between the two of them in disbelief.

"Suddenly you care about 'the group'?" Arzt challenged him.

"If I were you, I would do what he says," Sun added.

Jin continued with a few more instructions. Sun didn't have to translate the rest. Jin pointed briefly to his own eyes, then Arzt, and then motioned to the outer limits of the group formation. When Arzt hesitated, Jin opened his eyes wide, motioning impatiently with his head.

"I got it, I got it!" Arzt groused. He let them get a head start, casting sullen looks at the rest of the traveling companions. He saw a few smirks among them.

As they all got moving, Juliet glanced behind her. Everyone was in sight and accounted for. She was doing head counts every few minutes, any time she remembered the story Ana Lucia told her. The one about her school girl crush, as Ben put it, kidnapping and attacking people from a roving band just like the one she was leading now. She wondered if she wasn't the only plan Ben currently had in action out there, deep in the jungle. If Ethan had somehow gotten word to them…or if word of Ethan had somehow been brought back with details that conflicted with her taped message…

Juliet felt a deep pang of panic and regret, thinking in that moment that she and Sayid should have taken the same route as the others, or at least taken the time to inspect Ethan's drop sites before leaving his body behind.

"Based on the map," Sayid said beside her. "I believe we stay on a northward tack?"

He interrupted her intrusive thoughts, making her focus on the most immediate task at hand.

"Yes," Juliet confirmed. "Until we're around this entire ridge."

Sayid eyed her a moment longer than she expected for such a simple answer.

"Let's get going." Juliet suggested, before he could say anything else.

They came upon an embankment. With an increasing number of people glaring warningly at him, Arzt did not argue or lecture about their methods as much as he normally would have. He hung back, waiting for Jin to tell him it was his turn.

"If you were missing Sawyer," Charlie muttered near Juliet. "I think we've found our new outcast."

He scrambled up the steep incline first, moving fast enough to keep his footing on the loose, root-strewn dirt. He then turned and put his hands out for Claire to take. He pulled her up the two foot rise, with Juliet pushing from behind.

"Thank you," Claire said, keeping her hand in Charlie's after regaining her balance.

"It's what I'm here for," he assured her. Claire kept her hand in his after regaining her balance and, after a moment's hesitation, leaned in closer to wrap her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

Sun was there to help Juliet when it was her turn. At the top of the embankment, Juliet ventured a smile, thanking Sun for the assistance. Juliet wasn't sure what would make Sun feel confident trusting her. She'd have to trust that Sun would tell her when something didn't feel right, too.

Once everyone made it safely up and over, Juliet and Sayid resumed taking the lead on their alternate path. Shannon's energy was flagging; she was ten paces behind them, lost in her own thoughts.

"You keep asking everyone else how they are doing." Sayid said to Juliet.

She glanced at him and let the statement hang in the air.

"Has anyone checked in with you?" he asked.

Juliet smiled to herself. "Did James corner you before we left?"

"He did." Sayid smiled at her dry tone. "But I swear, I'm not asking because of his many threats."

"He did threaten to threaten you," said Juliet. "The last time we spoke."

They chuckled.

"You've risked a lot to help us." said Sayid.

"Have I?" asked Juliet. "It feels like I'm using all of you to help myself."

"It's a mutually beneficial agreement."

"If you say so."

"And it took a lot of integrity to tell us the truth."

Juliet stopped abruptly, and set her hand against the nearest tree. There was a slight incline on the path, and she was more out of breath than she let on.

"I'm not your leader." she said quietly.

She glanced behind, and saw Shannon stop too, maintaining the ten paces distance. It had a cascade effect; everyone assumed they were taking another group break, and they set their bags down to give their backs a rest.

"I'm only walking in front because I'm the one that knows the way back." Juliet insisted.

"A good leader leads because they must; not because they want to."

Juliet nodded. She understood the epithet, she just didn't think 'good leader' applied to her. Not for what she was planning.

"I want you to be able to continue without me," she said. "If it comes to that."

"Are you planning on leaving us before we get to the settlement?"

"No."

"Then let's keep moving. We can renegotiate the terms of your savior contract later."

Juliet saw his smirk and chuckled. She nodded and started walking again. The rest of them followed.

On the other side of the ridge, the other group moved at a similar pace, helping each other over different inclines and cresting a different set of rolling hills.

Somehow, Hurley ended up walking next to James. James took it as a bad sign; they must have been moving slow for burly Hurley to have caught up to the leader of the pack.

"So did your doctor lady, like…break up with you?"

"Why? You wanna take a shot when the groups link up?"

"Nah," Hurley played along. "I've got a few too many irons in the fire already."

James chuckled in spite of himself. He must have really been exhausted.

"No, Hugo." he said. "She didn't 'break up' with me."

"So…you dumped her?"

"No, I didn't-" James cut himself off abruptly, before he really got riled up and defensive. "Why do you care?" he spat.

"You both seemed kinda sad!" Hurley said, raising his voice to match James' attitude. "When the groups split. You were gazing at her longingly."

"You should be writing romance novels, you know that?"

"Hey man, she's cute. And a doctor. I'd be missing her too."

"Is that why you came with us?" James asked Hurley. "Cause of your 'doctor lady' Libby?"

"Honestly? Yeah. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I've got a huge crush on her. And she keeps me grounded."

"Why don't you go talk to her, then?" James suggested sarcastically.

"I didn't want you to be lonely. I don't know if you realize it, but, since you came back to the beach with Juliet, you've been way nicer."

And the minute he'd gone off on his own, he was cranky again. That was the implication. James certainly felt the bad attitude creeping up again. It was so nice to know everyone had noticed and sent the team mascot ahead to cheer him up.

He'd told himself there were bigger things to worry about than nicknames and isolation. But who had taught him to feel that way? Who inspired him, and kept him from lashing out even though she was miles away? He didn't want to disappoint her. There was too much riding on the plan.

"I appreciate the effort, Hugo. But the last thing I need right now is you crawlin' up my ass."

"Come on, you and I both know I wouldn't fit up there."

James couldn't fight it; he laughed a little.

"Ahh! See?" Hurley encouraged him. "Life isn't all bad."

"Ya got me." James sighed.

"I'm here for you, dude."

"Should one of us rescue him?" Ana Lucia said quietly to Kate, a few paces back.

Kate smiled. "Nah. He could use some Hurley time."

"If you say so…"

Their next break was at the bottom of a small hill. They found some shade and took fresh water from a nearby stream. James sat purposefully by himself against a tree, a few long paces up the hill from where the rest of the group clustered. His solitude didn't last long. Kate trudged up the hill and stood next to him, glancing back at the group and then at James to eye him curiously.

"How you holdin' up?" she asked.

James looked up and squinted against the sun.

"You really worried about me, Freckles? Or did Hurley put you up to this?"

Kate grinned. "Hurley operates all on his own."

"Yeah. Doesn't keep you all from giggling about it though."

"Come on, he's not that bad."

James chuckled noncommittally, and looked again at the rest of the group. Michael was telling Walt, who had boundless energy and an infinite number of questions, to leave Jack alone. Jack didn't mind the attention; at least not today. Libby and Rose were re-packing an unwieldy suitcase, splitting the weight between it and two others. Hurley had laid himself out flat on his back, spread eagle on the soft grass. Bernard stood over him with a grandfatherly smile, making sure the big man was alright. Hurley shot one hand up from the grass, his thumb raised in the affirmative.

Just one big happy fuckin' family, James thought bitterly.

He saw Ana Lucia talking to Eko on the outskirts. She happened to glance up at him at the same time. She seemed to excuse herself from that conversation, and Eko agreed to something with a nod. James watched Ana Lucia make her way up the hill toward him and Kate.

"How are we doing on time?" she asked without ceremony. He appreciated her straightforward nature, when everyone else was inserting themselves into his business. Now that he was likable.

"Won't know for sure til we reach the end of this thing." James gestured at the ridge they were following. "But I think we're doing alright."

Ana Lucia nodded.

"The whole group is doing okay," Kate said, pleasantly surprised. "Considering."

"They think we're getting rescued." James reminded her darkly.

"They need hope." Kate countered. "I think beds and showers are enough for now, to keep them in good spirits."

"That's how I can tell you haven't been to prison." James joked. "You get showers and beds there too, you know."

He could see that remark stung. He knew too much about her to be saying shit like that. It wasn't a contest.

"She's right." said Ana Lucia, siding with Kate. "It might not last forever but the houses you described are going to make them happy. It'll buy us a few days 'til that feeling wears off."

James put on an obviously fake smile. "If that's all it takes, then Ben might have himself forty new recruits after all."

"I don't know," Ana Lucia's went on, a rare smirk forming on her lips. "From what I heard, a little time in bed did wonders for you."

James closed his eyes and groaned. "Not you too."

"Or was it who you shared it with?"

"What about you?" James opened his eyes and smiled at the cop. "Eko bent you over a log yet?"

"So defensive." Ana glanced at Kate. "Must have hit a nerve."

Kate chuckled behind her water bottle as she took a sip.

James sneered at Kate. "I don't know what you're giggling about. Playing nursemaid to the surgeon all these weeks."

Kate smiled at him, unbothered, and capped her water bottle.

"Nah," James went on. "You can tell Jack hasn't gotten any yet. He's way too tense. Altar boy like that probably needs to propose before he even considers first base."

"For real though, he could use a hand job or something." Ana Lucia chimed in.

James smiled smugly, far too thrilled to have an ally in his teasing game.

Kate looked at Ana Lucia, the edge of annoyance entering her tone. "Are you volunteering?" she asked the other woman.

"He's not my type." Ana replied dryly.

"Once you go black-"

Ana Lucia immediately kicked dirt toward James, shoving the tip of her shoe deep into the hill surface to get a good chunk out. "Fuck off, redneck."

James coughed and swept stray grass from his jeans. "Don't make fun of the boyfriend. Got it."

"I'm not a prostitute." Kate told them both.

"I'm sure he'd return the favor," James said. "If you let him."

"Fuck you both." Kate said lightly, punctuating the statement with a mirthless smile.

"Now we're talkin." said James.

Kate started back down the hill.

"Take one for the team, Freckles!" James called after her. A raised middle finger was her only reply. James turned to Ana Lucia, chuckling at their handiwork. "I guess a threesome's off the table?" he asked.

Ana Lucia moved suddenly, as if she was going to kick dirt again. James flinched and put his arm up to protect his face, but Ana Lucia stopped and chuckled to herself. James mocked a laugh in return, and watched her go back down the hill after Kate.

"You're just jealous anyways," he muttered at them, though he was the only one that could hear it. He couldn't help it if the prettiest doctor of them all was interested in him. He'd read their files. They were no better than he was.

James thought about Juliet, and hoped to god her journey was going as smoothly as his. He hoped they'd get to the end of the ridge before they found out who the next Goodwin or Ethan was going to be.

It looked like everyone else was ready to start moving again. James stood up and brushed the excess dirt off his jeans, and rejoined the group below.