Chapter Text
"Where do you think you're going James?"
Sawyer smirked and tried his best to pull himself up and out of the hole that would become the hatch. Juliet knew she couldn't hold his weight. Even if Kate held on to her ankles and helped her pull him up he was just too heavy. But she had to try.
"I'm not going anywhere blondie. If I could just reach for that piece of scaffolding over there I might be able to get myself out of this."
His mind was reeling. Who was he kidding? For a moment he thought he saw something different in Juliet's eyes, something he hadn't seen there before.
"Just give me your hand James. Kate and I can pull you up. Just give me your hand. Come on!"
The chains around his waist grew tighter around him as they were being pulled downwards with the electromagnetism at the bottom of the hatch hole. Everything was being ripped
downwards. He barely had time to duck his head to avoid the wheelbarrow that just flew past him.
"Just a little lower Juliet, my fingers can barely reach yours."
Juliet struggled to reach Sawyer's sweaty hands as he grappled for anything he could find to hang onto. Turning her head towards Kate, Juliet shouted up to her.
"Kate just a little lower. I can't quite reach him!"
Kate leaning into the hole, grabbed for Juliet's legs and held on. Getting ahold of Sawyer's hands, Juliet tried pulling him up. Juliet was leaning almost all the way into the hole. Tugging on her ankles, Kate grunted.
"Juliet I don't think the two of us can pull him up! He's too heavy!"
Juliet became angry, they'd been through so much in the past three years. She wasn't giving up on him now.
"I am not leaving him! We can get him out. Try harder!"
Kate knew that Juliet was just flustered because she couldn't get a good hold on Sawyer. She pulled as hard as she could on the chains that were wrapped around him. Her and Juliet
were a sort of tag-team. Juliet would pull and then Kate would pull up some slack. But neither of them were getting very far. Meanwhile, more debris was flying down past Sawyer into what looked like an eternal abyss below. Juliet was using all her strength to pull at the chains, but the magnetic pull of the energy was stronger. She saw some sort of calm reach Sawyer's eyes, even though he still looked very terrified.
"It's ok. I'll be fine."
Juliet shook her head no furiously and yanked at the chains harder.
"No. You're not leaving. I won't let you. If you leave, who's going to watch my back? I got your back remember?"
Sawyer had become accustomed to Juliet's sincerity. He'd felt drawn to her ever since she'd said she had his back. They'd both sacrifice themselves so that the other could live.
"I've got yours too blondie. Never forget that."
Juliet knew what Sawyer was about to do, she felt his hands slipping from her own. Shaking her head again, she gripped them tighter.
"No! You hold on James! We'll get you out!"
She knew she was on the verge of hysteria, but she really couldn't blame herself at this point in time. Her best friend, lover and boyfriend of 3 years was being pulled down the semi-constructed hatch hold by electromagnetism. This damned island had taken a lot from her. Her freedom. She had managed to get away from an ex-husband who held control over her by threatening to expose her research to the world unless he could collaborate with her on it. Then when she came to the island, there was Ben. Never letting leave so that she could get back to her sister and her nephew Julian. He always was manipulating her into doing things that he wanted. To say that she'd gained her own freedom back during her first three years on the island, absolutely not. All the turmoil that was going through her mind at the moment was suddenly ground to a halt when Sawyer suddenly let go. Juliet let the tears fall and she lost her fight to keep calm.
"James! No!"
A deep and long sob escaped her throat and she lie down in the gravel and covered her eyes with her hands. Then suddenly she felt hands taking hold of her shoulders.
"Juliet, he's gone we have to go! Now!"
Taking one last long look into the hatch hole under construction, Juliet let Jack pull her to her feet. Just as soon as he'd pulled her to her feet, a blinding white light hit them all and
then there was darkness.
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When Juliet woke she found that she still had a slight throb of a headache. She knew it was caused by the blinding light and jumping through time again. Her throat felt hoarse and dry and she couldn't hear. The constant ringing in her ears was a testament to the time hopping. Managing to sit up, Juliet saw that Jack was lying less than 50 feet from her. Crawling her way towards him, she first checked for a pulse. Finding it to be strong and regular, she pushed back his eyelids to check for pupil response. A groan escaped Jack's mouth. A wave of dizziness swept over her like a sneaker wave in the ocean and it was threatening to drown her at any given moment. Putting her head between her knees, Juliet took a few deep breaths to regain her equilibrium. She felt a larger hand on her shoulder and then Jack's muffled voice.
"Juliet? You alright?"
Juliet kept her head between her knees but she was seeing darkness creeping up on the edges of her eyes. Before Juliet could answer Jack, she felt herself falling. She wasn't sure if
this was a side effect of the time traveling or the child growing in her belly. She'd known for a few days, but hadn't figured the right time to tell Sawyer. If you could hear broken hearts weep, Juliet Burke's was the loudest.
To Be Continued…